outer demon wars 01 - comic book demon by emily cyr

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    “ANNABELLE!” 
    DID HE HAVE TO say my name as though it were a cuss word every single fucking time he needed me? 
    Yes, fuckwit. How may I help you, oh dear overlord? I didn’t say it, but oh how I wanted to. 
      “Ann-a…”
      “Holy Millennium Falcon , Carl! I’m right here! What do you want?”
     Carl was my boss. The unfortunate truth of the situation was he was also my cousin. Carl was a level Mighty Morphin Power Ranger kind of creepy. I was that hard up for a job that I had to work for my cousin Carl in his comic book shop. He was a thirty-five-year-old who still lived with his parents. My uncle was desperate to kick him out, but my aunt Diane would never let him do it. Poor schmuck. At least, he had a home. I had a couch at my ex’s, Jamie’s, place. I was a twenty-one-year-old college dropout who was slightly obsessed with Star Wars. I was so close to finishing my art degree, but my world had shattered into millions of tiny glass shards. 
      “Annabelle, you cannot be serious. You put a signed first edition X-Men in with the newer X-Men 's. Annabelle let me break this down for you. All of the new comic books go right here,” he pointed to the large rack in front of him, “and all of the signed editions go over there under the glass. Come on. This was the first appearance of Jubilee.” His whole face was slick with sweat. It even dripped off his bulbous nose. 
    It was taunting me. Drip, drip, drip. I could nearly see the droplets slow down as they fell. I widened my eyes and tried to focus on Carl’s face. Not a pretty sight. He needed to brush his teeth and hair—his everything. He was just standing there with his mouth agape. His brown gaze weren’t focused on me. His eyes were on me, yes, but they were distant. He was frozen in place. I waved a hand in front of his face. Nothing happened. No one home. I snapped my fingers only an inch from his nose. Again nothing. I turned and glanced over my shoulder. It was about eight pm and the shop closed at nine, with closing time approaching, I couldn’t have been happier. I scanned the store. Nothing. I scanned the windows. The only thing I could see beyond the glass was the red glowing pavement from the neon open sign. I turned back to face Carl. 
      “Carl?” 
    As his name fell from my lips, his mouth shut, and he shook his head. “What was I talking about?” he asked, blinking in utter confusion. 
      “Uh, the comics. I put them in the wrong spot.” I narrowed my eyes at him. What the hell just happened?  
      “Oh, yeah don’t do it again.” He looked shaken.
     Hell, I felt shaken. What the hell just happened? Did he just freeze? The whole situation rattled me. 
     Carl walked back to the cash register and grabbed a nearby bottle of water. He downed the container and met my concerned gaze. 
      “Hey, Carl why don’t you head home and I’ll close up the shop?” 
    He nodded, grabbed his keys, and walked to the door. Just as he reached it, he turned and called, “Thanks, I feel weird. I think I’ll let you open tomorrow too.” Then, without another word, he left. 
      I shouldn’t have been surprised when weird shit like that happened to me. Because it happened all the damn time, but still, that had been strange even for me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I shouldn’t even care. Carl was an asshole. A creepy asshole even. He looked as though he were the love child of a bridge troll and gnome. He was short, round, and very, very hairy. As in, dear sweet baby Chewie, is that a yeti or Bigfoot, kind of furry. I should not be feeling bad. He tried to pass me off as his girlfriend all the time. I should be elated that something weird had happened, and that it had freaked him out. Yet, I felt bad, as if I had been the one who did it to him. 
     

     
    I glanced up at the clock. Eight-fifty. So, close! I just wanted to go home, well Jamie’s home, and not