Adam never doubted Bryce so much as when Bryce’s demon woke up and tried to attack them. Adam felt as if Bryce had set up the whole thing. Of course Adam didn’t have much of a chance to be angry at Bryce. Not with a demon climbing to his feet and demanding their blood. The demon eyed Adam up and down. Adam still had his demon costume on, except for the head, which sort of ruined the effect.
“Hey,” the demon said. “You’re the one who gave me that red-colored ice-cold lemonade. That gave me a terrible headache. You owe me. Give me your arm and open a vein.”
“You think he would at least say please after making a request like that,” Sally remarked.
“Grab some sticks!” Adam yelled, reaching for a branch himself. The trouble was, in this particular dimension, there weren’t a lot of heavy branches lying around. Adam came up with a stick that probably wouldn’t have frightened a goblin, never mind a demon. The others did about as well. Yet the demon seemed upset that they were arming themselves. He continued to rub his ugly head.
“I am not in the mood to fight,” he said. “But if you wish to surrender, I will be happy to drink your blood and bring your cursed souls before the Gatekeepers.”
“Somehow that doesn’t appeal to us,” Sally said.
The demon turned away. “Then I’m going for my partners. They’ll be more than happy to fight with you and eat you alive. Stay here until we get back.”
Adam shook his head as the demon left. “Bryce gave us the same instructions. And it looks like it’s going to get us killed, or worse.”
“You have to quit blaming Bryce for all our problems,” Sally said.
“We could blame you,” Watch said.
Adam sighed and threw down his flimsy stick. “I don’t want to blame anyone. I just want to go home. We can’t stay here, but if we leave we’ll miss our chance to get back through the portal.”
“That is if Bryce returns with our demons,” Watch said. “For all we know he could be at home already, watching TV.”
“Maybe a Twilight Zone rerun,” Adam agreed. “To remember us by.”
“I have faith in Bryce,” Sally said. “If he can’t save us, he’ll die trying.”
“That should be the least he’d do after leaving us here,” Watch grumbled. He checked his watches. “They’ve stopped. This dimension’s got heavy time distortion on top of everything else.”
“We’ve got to come up with a plan of action,” Adam said. “Sorehead, Bryce’s demon, and his friends will be back soon.” He paused. “The only thing I can think of is to run.”
“Can demons run fast?” Sally asked.
“Like we’re all experts on demons,” Watch said.
Sally frowned. “You’re in a bad mood.”
“It must be because I’m about to be tortured to death,” Watch said. He turned to Adam. “Where should we run?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Adam said. “This place is gross and disgusting, but it mirrors our Spooksville as far as its design. I’m thinking it probably has a chapel in the same place our town has a chapel. We might be able to hide there for a while. I imagine demons would stay away from there.”
“But we have to time our return to this spot to match Bryce’s return with our demons,” Watch said. “And that is next to impossible with the time differences and Sorehead and his friends chasing after us.”
“We’ll just have to hope for the best,” Adam said, cocking his head to the side. “Do you guys hear that?”
Sally jumped. “Yeah. It sounds like a bunch of screaming demons, coming this way. That Sorehead sure moves fast.”
Adam began to back up. “We better do the same. Let’s head out the back way and circle around to the chapel. I just hope we can make it that far.”
“I just hope the demons don’t hold parties there,” Sally muttered.
* * *
They managed to make it to the chapel, but the going was rough. It was fully night now and the dark had brought about more evil changes in the town. In many places huge fissures had opened in the ground, out of which shone steaming red light. From these holes they thought they heard pitiful screams.
Yet the chapel looked much as it did in their Spooksville, perhaps a bit more neglected. The place definitely needed paint and a good cleaning, but the walls and windows were reasonably intact. In fact the chapel was one of the best-kept buildings in the entire Dark Corner, and Adam felt a measure of relief. He was sure the demons could not enter the building. Hurrying inside, he locked the door behind them and hoped they would be safe for the time being.
“Maybe we should go to church more often,” Watch said, looking around.
“It’s got to be a safer place to hang out than in the cemetery,” Sally said, plopping down in one of the pews.
“But not as exciting,” Adam said, trudging toward the altar.
“I could use a little less excitement in my life,” Watch said.
Sally was astounded. “I can’t believe you said that. Fearless Watch, who is always ready for the next big adventure.”
Watch removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. “I’m still disgusted that we will probably be tortured and eaten before dawn.”
Adam spun around and looked back at his friends. “I hear the mob again! They’re coming this way!”
It was true. The howls were growing louder by the second.
Sally jumped up. “We have to get out of here!”
Watch put his ear to the back door. “No. It’s too late. They’re already on the same street. We’d be cut down as soon as we stepped outside. We’ve just got to trust that they won’t enter this holy building.”
“Is any building holy in this evil dimension?” Sally asked.
The demons surrounded them a minute later. Adam and his friends could see them through the stained-glass windows, dozens of them. Their burning torches sending shafts of light across the wooden pews. Their hideous faces glaring at them with hunger. Yet in the midst of the attack Adam smiled.
“See,” he said. “We’re safe. They’re afraid to come inside.”
But a minute later the gang smelled smoke.
The demons were not afraid to set the chapel on fire.