Remembering My First Save

An "Inner Worlds Trap" Teaser for Friday the Thirteenth

In honor of Friday the Thirteenth, here is the first chapter of the second book in the Soul Salvager trilogy, The Inner World Trap.

Quick background: in the first book of the series, Chris Murphy accidentally sold his soul to the devil. He managed to extricate himself with the help of some friends and pledged his life to helping others escape from a similar fate. His first save was a fellow student at his high school, Steve Marino.

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When the phone rings late at night, it’s rarely good news. I squinted at my cell phone as I walked through the airport, not recognizing the number.

I had to answer, though. I’d chosen a path that put me in danger pretty regularly—and some of that danger had rubbed off on my friends, especially those who had helped me at one time or another.

“Hello.”

“Chris Murphy, is that you?” The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it.

“Yeah. Who’s this?”

“It’s Steve…Steve Marino.”

That name took me back. Five years ago, Steve was the first person I’d saved from a pact with Satan. I hadn’t heard from him since I’d graduated, though. I was surprised he still had my number.

This didn’t feel like a social call, an impression reinforced by the slight tremor in his voice.

“Steve, how’re you doing?”

“You remember me.” I couldn’t tell from his inflection if that was a statement or a question.

“Sure, man, of course, I do. Everything OK?”

“Chris, I need your help, but I can’t really go into details right now.”

His voice dropped in volume, and I could hear background noise that suggested he was in a public place. I knew exactly what he needed if it was something he didn’t want other people to overhear.

“I’ve been on a trip. I just landed at Merced Regional. Where are you?”

“Luckily for me, Merced. Look, I know it’s late, but I need you to meet me at Saint Cyprian’s Hospital right away.”

I hadn’t had much sleep in the last three days, and the idea of getting involved in another fight with a demon was about as appealing as cleaning the runway with my tongue—but I couldn’t say no. Steve wouldn’t have called if it hadn’t been important.

“I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

“Thanks, man. The place is kind of difficult to navigate. I’ll meet you out front.”

As soon as I said goodbye to Steve, I booked an Uber and hustled over to the nearest pickup point. I traveled so much these days that I could take care of the whole process on autopilot.

Saint Cyprian’s was a relatively new facility lying almost due north of the airport, off West Bellevue on what had once been farmland. Traffic was light, so I got to the hospital in just a few minutes.

Getting out of the car took surprisingly long, though. I had only a carryon bag, but I had a hard time keeping my balance as I dragged myself out. Once I was standing up, my feet felt unsteady, almost as if the sidewalk was moving beneath them.

The walk from there to the front door seemed like a mile hike. The effect was made worse by the sheer size of the sparkling new hospital in front of me. My fatigue made it look even taller than it really was, a medical tower of Babel whose top spire might accidentally snag the moon. Even the steps leading up to the front entrance seemed discouragingly steep. The only thing that kept me going was seeing Steve hovering nervously right outside the glass double doors, just as he’d promised.

As soon as I got close enough, Steve smiled and shook my hand much harder than seemed necessary. Then he looked at me critically.

“Are you OK? You look—”

“Nerdish? Pasty-faced?” He looked shocked. I managed a weak smile to let him know I was joking. The old high school habit of putting myself down before someone else could was hard to break.

“I was going to say exhausted, man. You looked as if you could barely make it out of the cab.”

“I’m having a hard week, but I promise I won’t collapse on you. That said, I could use a place to sit down while we talk.”

“Oh, sorry, of course,” said Steve, holding the door open for me and putting a hand on my back as if to help me through.

“I’m really not that feeble,”

Inside the door was a high-ceilinged reception area that in some ways reminded me more of a luxury hotel than a hospital. It was sparkling, white, and huge, the illusion broken only by the pervasive smell of disinfectant. At the far end from the front entrance were a large reception desk and a row of elevators. In contrast to most medical waiting areas I’d seen, this one had very few chairs, though there were a couple of benches flanking the front door. I plopped down on one, and Steve sat next to me.

“This place doesn’t look very…medical,” I said.

“This area is only for direct admissions and visitor information,” said Steve. “Almost the entire back half of this floor is the emergency room. That has a much more traditional layout.”

I looked at Steve closely and frowned. “You’re very…muscular.” He bore a strong resemblance to a guy in t-shirt ad.

“It’s all natural, I promise.” Steve flexed his arms a little. “No demonic enhancement whatsoever, just hard work. After you saved me, I wanted to prove that I could do it on my own.”

“You tried to go pro?”

Steve chuckled. “No. Buff or not, I knew I wasn’t good enough for pro baseball. To keep myself from disappointment—and temptation—I figured I needed a more realistic career goal. I ended up in teaching. As a matter of fact, I teach English at our old high school. Don’t look at me like that. Just because I was a jock doesn’t mean I don’t have a brain.”

“Sorry, that’s not me being surprised. That’s just me trying to get my eyes to focus. I never doubted you had a brain.”

“I guess I better tell why I called before you fall asleep on me. Then I’ll drive you home, and we can figure out what to do tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a plan,” I said, wondering if I should get sleep first and then hear what was going on. The urgent look in his eyes prevented me from making that suggestion.

“Within a week, five of our students have lapsed into comas. As far as I can tell, none of the doctors have been able to find an explanation.”

I managed to raise an eyebrow. “That’s strange, but it still sounds medical in nature. What makes you think it’s demonic?”

“I don’t really know,” said Steve, looking embarrassed. “Hearing the question out loud makes me realize I don’t have an answer. I just feel it. Like you told me Gavin felt with you. Like you felt with me.”

“It wasn’t just feelings, Steve. Gavin noticed the sudden appearance of a spectacular girlfriend in my life. I noticed your sudden surge in athletic performance. Any of these students exhibit suspicious signs like that? Any of them suddenly improve faster than they should have been able to? Any results that don’t make sense given their previous records?”

Steve shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of. I know they were all unhappy in one way or another. That makes them good targets for temptation, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but every temptation in life doesn’t lead to a demonic pact. It could just as easily lead to trying some new designer drug doctors don’t yet know to look for.”

Steve looked down. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

“I’m offering alternative theories. I never said I wouldn’t check, just to be sure. These days I have better ways to tell if someone has been touched by demons.”

Steve looked up and frowned. “You mean there’s a test for that?”

“Not exactly. Let’s just say I have allies who’ve gotten me some really good gear, so I can investigate more easily.” I pulled what looked like awkwardly designed sunglasses out of my shirt pocket and showed them to him.

“These don’t exactly have a high coolness factor, but they’re one of a kind. The lenses are heliodor—golden beryl. They were crafted by Gwenc’hlan, a druid who lived at about the same time as King Arthur. When I put them on, I can see magic. I can also see through any kind of magical concealment. No disguise, no illusion, no invisibility can prevent me from seeing the truth.”

“You’re kidding?” He looked at the glasses as if I had gotten them in a joke shop.

“Try them on,” I said, holding them out to him.

I had to give Steve credit. Even though they were at best geeky-looking, he took them and put them on without hesitation. Maybe the fact that nobody was around except the nurse at reception, her eyes glued to a computer screen, made it easier for him.

“This is so weird. The lenses are gold, but what I’m seeing isn’t gold-tinted. It’s as if the lenses are clear.”

“Notice anything else?”

“I’m seeing…little glowing things. It’s like glitter is floating in the air.”

“Ambient magic,” I said. “You’d see a little of that anywhere. A demonic presence would be a lot more obvious. Someone a demon had touched would be obvious as well.”

Steve took off the glasses and passed them back to me. “That’s great, but I can’t think of a way to get you close enough to the coma ward to be able to look at the students through those. The rules are pretty strict—only family members. Someone from one of the families could invite you in, but I don’t know how we could explain what you wanted, and those glasses are…pretty conspicuous.”

“If you tell me how to get to the coma ward, I can view the students without even being seen. Let me give you a quick demo.”

Angling myself so the receptionist couldn’t see, I pulled the dagger out of the scabbard that was belted around my waist.

“What the hell!” Steve stiffened as if he thought I’d gone crazy.

“I’m not planning on stabbing anyone. Just watch.”

I willed the dagger to work its magic, and Steve’s eyes widened as he watched me disappear. So that he wouldn’t panic, I made myself reappear almost immediately.

“How’d you do that?” Steve asked. His voice was shaky. I probably should have told him what I was doing first.

“It’s funny how everybody knows about King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, but very few people who aren’t experts in Welsh literature have ever heard of his dagger, Carnwennan. It is said to have been a gift from God Himself. Stories tell of its ability to make its wielder invisible. What they don’t say is that it bestows true invisibility. When I use it, I’m not just invisible to human eyes. I’m invisible to any magical means of detection as well. Demons can’t find me. Satan himself can’t find me.”

“How did you get that through the metal detectors at the airport?” asked Steve.

I shrugged. “God only knows—literally. Even when I’m not using it, it doesn’t seem to register on metal detectors, and no one seems to notice it unless I draw attention to it.”

“If I hadn’t just seen what it can do, I’d never have believed it,” said Steve. “I might not have, anyway, but I saw a lot—way more than I wanted to—when the demon Kimaris was corrupting me. And when you saved me…the demon panther who attacked you—”

“Yeah, I don’t get attacked as much when they can’t find me. Anyway, I can slip up to the coma ward without being seen and check on your students. If the powers of Hell had anything to do with their condition, I’ll be able to see some clear signs. Then we can decide what to do.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

I wasn’t in the mood for a Hallmark moment. “No need. What I do need, though, is directions.”

Once Steve had told me how to get to the coma ward, I thanked him, willed myself back into invisibility, and put my glasses on. If all five students had been involved in demonic pacts, odds were at least one demon was hanging around. If I got a good look, it would be easier to figure out how to defeat it.

I glanced in the nurse’s direction. She was still occupied with something on her computer, but I wanted to be sure she wasn’t looking when the elevator doors opened, and no one was there. She’d have no way of knowing what was up, but why make her nervous for no reason?

I’d been too out of it to pay much attention, but there was a large mural on the wall behind her. Without the glasses on, it had reminded me of artistic representations of the holy spirit descending on the disciples as tongues of flame. With the glasses on, the flames were ascending, not descending, and they were destroying the people they surrounded rather than inspiring them. Above the killing blaze loomed a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes.

A hospital with a hidden depiction of the fires of Hell? There could be only one explanation for that.

The students weren’t the only ones making pacts with Satan.

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The Inner Worlds Trap is part of the Soul Salvager trilogy.

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