starkdiary2

Stark Diary Two – Where is the Mad Hatter When You Need Him?

Jasper left me with an amulet, a feeble patient, two dogs, and dire warnings. I felt safe in the circle. They brought back memories of my teenage years. I felt peaceful even. I crouched down and introduced myself to Cecily. She explained a little bit about the demon that was hunting her. She kept one hand on her gun and acted as if she fully expected to get up and fend off anything that might attack us. I looked at her and realized that any movement was going to break open the stitches. She insisted on staying awake. However, I was used to ignoring my patients and doing what was best for them. I told her that I was going to infuse some antibiotics into the wound. I did, I also gave her a little ketamine I thought it would help her relax. She did, and I covered her with my shirt. I didn’t want her going into shock.

I occupied myself for a while reading her book on demonology. Some of the pictures were fascinating. I wonder how they got to stay the demons to stay still long enough to sketch them. I found it a little fantastic, but then again I was the one with a dragon wrapped around my shoulders. I got up and walked around with the gun for a while, checked on Cecily and she seemed as she had been before. I was just reading an interesting passage about a hermaphroditic demon when Jasper appeared. He crawled towards the circle and made it in before I could run out to get him. He gave me the amulet and told me it should protect me as long as I remained neutral and then he died. I stared in shock at the bloody circular metal thing in my hand. I stared in shock at Cecily and at the woods. Whatever had done this to the both of them.

I shook myself out of it. Ran to the car, it felt great to be doing something finally and drove hell-nell to Blythe. Talking to Cecily’s brother Harrison was a little surreal. Seeing her brother dressed in tweed was even more surreal. When he started spray painting my body with "protective" glyphs I decided to go along for the ride and see where this bizarre adventure was going to take us. I even briefly thought of a TV show called Demon Hunters and then I remember Jasper’s mangled body and got silent. Harrison talked some while we were in the car, but I didn’t pay much attention. I was driving like a bat out of hell, and sincerely hoping that the police in Blythe were all busy eating doughnuts. We pulled up to the circle and ran in to get Cecily. She was awake and drowsy and clearly startled by Jasper’s body. We decided she needed the help more and loaded her into the backseat of the wagon.

Harrison directed me where to drive. I realized we weren’t going towards a hospital and started yelling at him a little bit. He told me to wait and see and we drove up to a large farm house. I could see some sheep in the distance and thought that Pyrite and Topaz were going to love it here. I got Cecily settled in with what seemed to be her personal doctor. Based on the scars that I noticed while stitching her, I could see why she needed him.

Harrison proved himself to be even more odd by giving me hard time about lending me a shirt. I was walking around in genes and a white muscle shirt, covered with blood and spray paint and he seemed concerned about getting the loaner shirt back to me. Whatever.

The night passed uneventfully. The morning did not. I took Jade over to Jasper’s apartment and Jasper or what looked like Jasper was sitting alive on the steps. In light of what I’d read about in the demon book I didn’t think it was wise for Jade to go running up to it.