Little Girl Lost

It's true that I could see I hadn't damaged him perceptibly, but what other weapons did we have? I thought that, if we distracted him/it, maybe I could wrest the weapon away. I might get shot, but if it would save Kes, it would be worth it.

Oddly, the demon jerked backwards then, perceptibly, and a look of fear came over its face. "You can't defeat me," it said. "No one has. I'll take the little girl and the old man, for once and for all. And I'll take your souls too, you and the other woman, and leave your cold corpses behind. But don't worry, I shall arrange your bodies so that it appears that one of you murdered the other, then took her own life, all while you were engaged in a lesbian sixty-nine on the filthy floor. Won't that be a nice treat for your mother, Kendall, and for your relatives, Kes? To see your maggot-filled bodies caught in a forbidden sex act? They'll be so proud." He giggled maniacally.

I lunged at the demon, and it fired my Glock, hitting me in the arm. I fell to the floor, and Kes rushed over to hold me. "Not so fast, police officer Kendall. Don't make me put too many 'difficult to explain' bullet holes in you. I want the world to see your shame," it declared.

"Fuck you!" Kes yelled then. "I love Kendall, and I think she loves me. I don't care what happens to our bodies OR our souls when we're dead, so long as I can be with her. And to be with my little sister one last time..." The look of fear on the demon's face was quite noticeable now, and demon, not man it was, its face appearing to melt in front of us.

I felt as though I'd been reborn in an instant. All my doubts and fears of the previous few hours melted away, like an ice cube in the hot Texas sun. "I love you so much, Kes," I said. "I don't care what happens to me either, as long as I'm with you. And daddy," I said, turning to the ghost of my father, "I love you SO much, and I've missed you for so long. Just know that you were the bravest man I've ever known."

I thought then, that Kes and I were facing the end. We had lost. I turned to her and said, "I'm sorry we couldn't destroy it Kes. But I do know that, whatever happens to us, I've found perfect happiness in knowing and loving you, if only for a short time. I love you, Kes."

She smiled sadly back, and said,"I'm so happy, Kendall, to have been your lover too. I only wish we had an eternity together, and whatever hell we end up in, it will be tolerable for having known your love."

Just then a loud, strong wind arose, blowing furniture, papers and all manner of debris about, our eyes squinting near closed. A horrible shriek arose from the demon as it stood poised to strike, its body slowing, then halting as though frozen, and suddenly, but in slow motion, its body shattered into a million billion pieces flying in all directions but touching nothing, until the tiny fragments of evil dissipated on the wind, and a calm silence descended on Kes and I, and the two spirits across the room from us.

Kes and I opened our eyes. "What happened?" I said.

"It looks like that monster was destroyed," Kes said, a smile beginning to appear on her face.

"Destroyed? By what?" I said.

"I'm not quite sure," Kes said. "But, it's definitely gone now. Do you feel the weight? It's gone, too."

Kes and I stood together, holding hands. My dad and Izel stood together across the room, her small hand in his. They both smiled tentative, hopeful smiles, the little girl showing crooked baby teeth through her spectral lips. "Thank you, thank you both. I think that we can go now, where we were intended to be, and so long delayed. Goodbye, Kendall, I love you." His voice was echoed by the small girl saying, "G'bye Kissy, I love you too. Thank you." and then they both just....faded out.

I turned to Kes, and her cheeks were tear-stained, then she began bawling like a baby, and pressed herself against me, my arms instinctively, and gratefully, wrapping themselves around her, holding her warm body next to mine. I cried too, anyone would. Kes cried so many tears, an ocean of them, really, but finally, her body still shaking, she looked up at me, her sweet brown eyes full, and whispered, haltingly, "She called me 'Kissy,' Kendall. That's what Izel called me when she was little. My little sister called me 'Kissy.' And look, she gave me this."

Kes opened her hand to show me a small turquoise and silver cross.

EPILOGUE

Kes and I lay on a blanket hidden away in the sand dunes of South Padre Island, Texas, a week later. The closest living creatures to us were a flock of seagulls about 200 yards away. The closest living people were probably a mile or more away. The closest ghosts, well, my father had said that if he were free, he could watch over me, so I figured that he was with us, as was Izel, but that they both had the good sense to look away at certain times. Like this.

"I've been thinking about that demon, and what ultimately destroyed it," Kes said. I looked at her expectantly.

"The only thing that I can think did it," Kes said, wonderingly, "was that love destroyed the demon. Each of us alone was an easy victim for its evil. That's what happened to Izel, and your father, ten years ago, when they were caught alone. Their courage, both of them, was impressive and enough to nearly hold it at bay for ten years, but not enough to defeat it. Only love could do that. Izel and your father were its captives, held in a stalemate that they were slowly losing, because there was no relationship between them, no real life-generated love. Remember, their relationship began after their deaths."

"But you and I were somehow a conduit to the power in this magical place, ten years later, the energy that we felt whenever we touched. It grew stronger as we fell in love, and I think that, when we both fully realized our love for each other, we became something more than just the sum of our love, something far stronger." I squeezed Kes' hand at that, tears welling up in my eyes.

"When you, your father's loving daughter, and I, Izel's loving sister came along to upset the balance, only then, the love of a father for his daughter, and her love for him, plus the love of two sisters, plus our own new love, you and I, were more than it could stand."

"Was it just chance that brought you and me here, the only people that could help Izel and my father beat the demon?" I asked.

"Oh gosh, I don't think so. I think someone was looking on, and wanted Good to win, and these two souls to be freed," Kes said. "And that's a wonderful thing, don't you think?" I squeezed her hand, glad that two innocent souls could be saved, and that Kes and my journey together might begin, to what destination we couldn't know for sure, but the picture was a little clearer now.

"Now, who wants some suntan lotion?" Kes said. "Ma'am, if you're going to lay there all naked like that, with only a little band-aid on your arm, I'd recommend some of this high-SPF stuff, all over your body." She grinned as she held the big, big bottle of lotion over me.

"C'mon over here, miss, and put that stuff on me, and don't miss a spot. Anywhere. Then, just to be safe, lay on top of me," I told her. "And I want to hear more about where those military issue panties came from...."

"Yes, ma'am," she said, squeezing out a handful of lotion.