The Demon Senders by T Patrick Phelps Page A

how to get this stink off me?” I asked.
    “Yeah,” she said, “but it isn’t fun.”
    “Neither was doing what I just did,” I said before collapsing to the ground. It was lights out for me.

CHAPTER TWELVE

    I came to after a good long spell of unconsciousness. I can’t say I was asleep because it didn’t feel like that at all. I passed out like an old lady in church who had too many nips of the church wine. The whole thing with the demon must have overwhelmed me and caused my brain to reboot. Last thing I remembered was asking about how I could get rid of the stink that was all over me, then I woke up a few hours later in the woods.  
    One thing I picked up on right away after waking up was that my clothes were all off. I was laying naked as a newborn on a bunch of pine needles and dirt.
    “Where are my clothes?” I asked Rachel, who was several feet away from me throwing sticks and a few good sized branches into a fire she had apparently whipped up while I was in la la land.
    “In the fire. Probably nothing but ashes at this point.”
    “I take it you had a reason to burn them?”
    “The stench the demon released wasn’t something you could wash away. I could have either buried them or burned them. Burying them is too risky, burning is the safest way.”
    I was not quite back to full reality yet, but I was pretty uncomfortable lying around naked in front of Rachel. “Any chance you have a blanket in the car I could use?”
    “You’re using it as a pillow,” she said. She smiled which made me feel wonderful. Since she picked me up at my apartment, her wonderful face was marred by worry and fear. Seeing her smile told me that things were okay now.
    I reached under my head, pulled out the blanket and wrapped it around my body. “Thanks,” I said. “I still smell pretty horrible. You took care of my clothes, can you take care of my body?”
    “Like I told you, it isn’t all that fun.” She smiled again. “You need to take a smoke bath. A long, uncomfortable smoke bath.”
    “Doesn’t sound all that bad,” I said as I stood up and walked closer to the fire.
    “Well,” she chuckled, “you’ll need to stand in the smoke for a good hour or two. And I’ll need that blanket back.”
    “Any good bath should require the bather to be naked,” I said as I dropped the blanket to the ground.
    I stood in front of the fire, smoke pouring over my body, for well over an hour. My lungs were burning and I was sure my eyes would never be the same by the time she told me to step away from the fire. Rachel said that while my smoke bath was over, I had one more step to take to get the stench completely off my body. A step she hadn’t mentioned before. She handed me a bottle of liquid and told me to pour it over my body. “Start with your head and let the liquid work its way down. Keep your eyes and mouth closed. This stuff isn’t anything you want to breathe in or get in your eyes.”
    I grabbed the bottle, popped it open and poured the stinging, foul smelling liquid over my head. I wanted to scream when the liquid started to burn my scalp, but before I could even open my mouth in protest, she called out “Keep your mouth closed.”
    I stood there, naked, for a few minutes till the burning subsided.
    “You can open your eyes now,” I heard Rachel say. “But do it slowly.”
    “Any chance that when I open them that you and I will be dressed the same?”
    “Not a chance in the world, cowboy.”
    Despite everything I just went through and despite now knowing everything Rachel had told me was true, I felt wonderful standing there in the woods with her by my side. I felt alive and centered with a purpose. I had a direction, though I had no certainty where that direction was leading me. She was laughing softly as I opened my eyes and teased me by holding out the blanket in front of her, asking me if I wanted to borrow it again. Her smile was like a silent melody that only my ears could hear. There was the