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Later that day, while I’m doing something as mundane as taking care of my dirty laundry, the absolutely extraordinary occurs. As I’m standing by the washing machine, sorting my whites from my coloureds, (or in my case my whites from my blacks and very few coloureds) a little speck of golden light buzzes in my face and flits around me like an annoying wasp.
I swipe at it, but it continues flitting around my head, growing in size. One second it’s the size of a pea and the next it’s a golf ball, another second it’s a football and another it’s a hula hoop. It fizzles and crackles, sputtering actual physical sparks like you’d see come off of a bonfire.
I back up against the washing machine, my hands braced against it and my heart pounding. My heart rate increases further when a blue foot sticks out of the golden circle, followed swiftly by a blue leg. That’s when I recognise Edwards in his demon form and a huge smile lifts my features. He made it back! He falls to the floor with a sizzling thud, and then another body emerges, a human one, thudding to the floor right after him.
My dad’s skin is blistered from head to toe, and his hair is all patchy, like parts of it have been singed off. Emotion floods through me at seeing him like this. He lies on the floor, unconscious but breathing. I’m distracted from staring at his horrendous state by Edwards coughing loudly, “A glass of water, please, if it’s not too much trouble.”
Wide-eyed, I go and pour him a glass, handing it down to him. Then I go and crouch before my dad, who groans when I touch his burned skin but doesn’t wake up.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask desperately, tears clogging my eyes as I turn to Edwards.
“Human skin is not made to withstand the atmosphere in hell. That’s another of the reasons why I changed into my demon form before venturing there.” He hands me the glass of water and I refill it before handing it back. He downs it in one long gulp and I get him another.
I really want to comfort my dad in some way, but every time I try to touch him his entire body shakes as though in pain. I sit on the floor beside Edwards instead. “I almost lost hope that you’d be back. What took you so long?”
“The dimension didn’t want to let your father go. He had taken the place of a sorcerer, a very powerful player indeed, and it was angry at the unequal exchange. A human for a sorcerer is not a fair swap. I had to take my time in order to rescue Martin and leave a cat in his place, which is an even more unequal exchange. When the dimension realises your father is gone it won’t be happy.”
I get a chill from the way he describes hell as this living, breathing entity with conscious thought.
“So how long were you actually over there, if time doesn’t move the same as it does here?”
“Months,” he answers. “It was tough, but I truly had a ball of a time.”
I raise a brow at this strange little fellow. “I think your version of a good time is a lot different from mine.”
Edwards chuckles. “I’m half demon, dear, of course it is. We demons delight in mayhem.”
My dad chokes out a strangled cough and I rush to his side again. I try not to let the tears flow when I ask, “Is he going to recover?”
A wary expression comes over Edwards’ features. “Nobody recovers fully from what he’s been through, but with my help he can come close.”
He gets to his feet and I suddenly realise that his blue self is still naked. “Now, could you bring me my suitcase?”
His suitcase? Damn, I think it’s still in Ethan’s car. “Um, I’ll go get it for you. Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes, a clean room with a bed for your father. I may have retrieved him, but he’s far from being out of the woods yet. I have medicines and ointments in my suitcase that will assist in his healing.”
At this, Finn, Ira and Delilah walk into the kitchen. Seeing me standing there with a little naked, blue skinned man at my side and my equally naked, completely burned father lying on the floor, Finn exclaims, “For the love of God! What’s happened?”
He has his hand half covering his eyes, like he doesn’t want to see Edwards’ nakedness, but is morbidly intrigued all the same.
Edwards steps forward with a smile, entirely unashamed of his naked form, like those Naturists you see on tv. “E.J. Edwards, at your service. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Finn stares at him, bug-eyed. “Uh, the pleasure’s all mine?” he says, high pitched. It comes out sounding like a question. Ira and Delilah grin at Finn’s startled expression. Unlike Finn, they’ve clearly encountered their share of demons in the past.
Delilah leaves to retrieve Edwards’ suitcase from Ethan’s car and I escort the little demon up to my room, while Finn and Ira carry my dad to the bed as carefully as they can manage. We don’t bother putting any clothes on him, because it would only irritate the blisters. Instead I find a soft cotton sheet and lay it over him.
Emotion catches in my throat as I again study how badly burned he is.
Delilah walks into the room, carrying Edwards’ suitcase. Miraculously, he still has his leather satchel intact. Remembering how he said sugars aid him in his change f
rom human to demon and vice versa, I run downstairs and grab him a coke from the fridge. He smiles at me gratefully as I hand it to him, swallowing it down in a few quick gulps. He gathers some clothes as his body changes, his blue skin turning back to its human shade and his tuft of grey hair returning.
He dresses quickly and efficiently, and I’m more than surprised at how able bodied he is, given his age and the fact he just spent the equivalent of months in a hell dimension.
Next he pulls several corked glass bottles from his suitcase, all containing blue and green coloured mystery liquids.
He glances at me. “Before I begin, could you please return my token to me?”
