Dates from Hell(111)
Was it because I might be dead soon? Or was it because I was with him?
“Everyone I knew,” Chavez answered. “In Mexico City there were way too many people, not enough houses or jobs.”
Mexico City explained the accent. I doubt Chavez would ever be able to completely explain his occupation. How did one become a rogue demon hunter?
Chavez pushed open the door, motioned for me to stay in the hall. I was about to argue, but did I really want to be caught breaking and entering? Of course just being here was probably enough to get me arrested. Nevertheless, I stayed behind. For about thirty seconds.
When Ricky Ricardo–like cursing erupted, I trailed the sound to where Chavez knelt next to Eric’s dead body.
“Oh-oh,” I muttered.
I was suddenly not having fun.
Chavez glanced up. “He was dead when I got here.”
“The cops are not going to believe that.”
“Which is why we won’t tell them.”
I blinked. “But—but—we have to.”
Chavez examined Eric, hands still covered in the plastic gloves. “Where is that written?”
“In the code of common decency.”
“Never read it.”
Why wasn’t I surprised?
Chavez went on with the examination. Pushing at Eric’s skin, turning him this way and that, ruffling through his hair before leaning back. “There’s no visible means of death.”
“What difference does that make?”
“Could help to reveal what kind of demon this is. For instance, if the demon killed Eric, then inhabited the body, he’d want to kill him so as not to leave a mark.”
“Okay.”
“But if he inhabited him, then killed him when he was finished, no reason not to cause graphic bloody death.” At my sharp glance he shrugged. “Demons are evil. They like to make a mess.”
“Wait a second.” I was suddenly so dizzy, I had to sit and I didn’t want to do so next to the body. With no convenient chair nearby, I made do with leaning against the nearest wall. “Are you saying I had a date with a dead guy? I kissed a dead guy?”
“Sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am.”
I dragged the back of my hand across my mouth and got a good taste of plastic glove. At least it made me stop tasting Eric.
“Look at the bright side,” Chavez said. “At least you didn’t screw a dead guy.”
Hey, there was a silver lining to every cloud.
“If Eric was dead on our date, how could he seem so alive?”
“When demons animate a body, the postmortem changes are frozen. Once the demon exits, the decomposition begins.”
He lifted Eric’s arm, or tried to. Eric was stiff as a…corpse.
“By the state of rigor mortis, the demon has been gone less than eight hours.”
“Why bother to exit at all? He’d found a perfectly good body.”
“Several reasons. One—I’d seen his face, and he knew I’d be searching for it. Two—decomposition can only be stopped for a few days. Demon reanimation or not, dead is dead.”
Chavez stood, but continued to stare at Eric, thinking out loud. “A demon inhabiting the newly dead makes me think night wanderer—a Rakshasas.”
“Hindu,” I said.
His gaze flicked to mine. “How do you know that?”
“I have a degree in ancient civilizations.”
“Why?”
A question I’d often asked myself.
“I was interested.”
“So am I. What else do you know about Rakshasas?”
“Squat. I remember the name, but I didn’t spend too much time on ancient religions. I was more concerned with the rise and fall. Weapons and wars.”
“I wouldn’t think that would be up your alley at all.”
I shrugged. “I do recall that one thing most civilizations have in common is a belief in a greater good, as well as a greater evil.”
His gaze sharpened. “Exactly. Demons by any name are still demons.”
“And God is still God. If you search long enough you can find a similarity even in the most disparate societies.”
“Too bad no one ever takes the time to look.”
“Too bad,” I echoed. “Now tell me about the Rakshasas.”
“A Hindu demon that reanimates corpses. Except the Rakshasas isn’t interested in sex. Unless it’s with the dead. Or maybe they eat the dead.” His lips tightened. “I can’t remember. Either way, fire is how you kill them, and it didn’t work on this one.”
“You didn’t use fire on Eric, that was on the other guy.” I frowned. “Whoever he was.”
“Has to be the same demon inhabiting different men. Otherwise why did he come back for you? Why did he say, ‘We aren’t finished’? Why did he know me?”