Free The Demon Conspiracy by R. L. Gemmill Page B

cavern. The demons held onto
their anger. The man looked them over. He frowned. “Forget it! You
don’t deserve this offer! Good day!”
    He turned and marched off the stage, leaving
the silver fire hydrant.
    Suddenly, the Green Demon was able to move
again. It looked around, feeling foolish. Then it leaped back into
the audience.
    The Boss got very upset. “You fools! Listen
to him or I’ll lop off your foul heads and put them in my soup!”
The Boss hurried after the man, returning a moment later. He
beckoned the man to come out and try again. If it hadn’t been so
terrifying, I might have laughed. That giant demon acted like a
humble servant to the much smaller human. The Boss made a
threatening gesture at the audience then stepped aside.
    “Listen to him!”
    The man stood before the
horrific mob, confident and now in control. “I’m here with a
serious business proposition and I will not be disrespected again. I
represent a business group called The Concern and I’m going to
offer you something you haven’t had for a very long
time.”
    Jon shook his head. “That guy acts like a
salesman!”
    Travis wasn’t worried about job
descriptions. He was more concerned about the danger. “Jon, we
gotta to get outta here! They’re gonna see us, an’ you know what
they’ll do to us.”
    “You’re right,” said Jon. “Keep taping,
don’t miss a second. Come on, Kelly, let’s see what we can do about
Chris.” We crawled back to Chris, while Travis taped. We were only
a few feet away, but I didn’t like leaving Travis alone on that
ledge.
    Jon looked over the splint and nodded. “It’s
a good splint, Chris. Do you think you can climb if we help
you?”
    “No,” said Chris. “I’ve never climbed
before. My head is busting and the pain in my leg is really bad.
I’m afraid I’ll yell, or something.”
    “That wouldn’t be good with those things
down there,” I said.
    “What are those things?” he asked. “I don’t
understand what’s going on?”
    “Neither do we, Chris. It looks like some
guy is trying to sell them something.”
    “ A guy? Who’s he trying to
sell to at the bottom of a cave? What’s he selling?”
    Jon looked at me gravely. “I don’t know, but
Travis is taping it all. We’ll figure it out later. What do you
weigh, Chris? One-sixty?”
    “One-seventy-five. Are you thinking of
pulling me up with the rope?”
    “I doubt I’m strong enough, even with
Kelly’s help. I weigh ten pounds less than you. If we had a pulley
we could get you up, but then we’d need a lot more rope.”
    “Find Mark,” said Chris. “He could pull me
up by himself. The man’s a bull.”
    “That’s just it. We don’t know where he
is.”
    At first I was curious about what Jon had
planned for Chris. But the Salesman became louder and more
animated. I crawled back beside Travis who was still taping.
    “You are Demon Nation! You are mighty! But
when was the last time you stayed on the surface in your own
bodies? A thousand years ago? Ten thousand years?”
    The Green Demon called out. “Ever since the
frickin’ sun popped up! Forever!”
    Other demons agreed. “Yeah, forever!”
    “Yes,” said the Salesman. “The sun. Your
dire enemies, the humans, stay on the surface while you remain
trapped down here in these caves. And it’s all because of the sun.
The sun is your nemesis. If you take my offer and do everything
you’re supposed to, in a very short time the surface will be yours.
And humans will live in the caves!”
    The applause was deafening. But the Green
Demon wasn’t completely sold.
    “What’s the timetable on this, eh? Another
thousand years? Maybe two thousand? ‘Ow do we know it’s worth our
effort?”
    I heard a low growl and even without looking
I knew it was the Boss. The Salesman spoke.
    “A good question, your Lordship. You have a
smart, young demon there.”
    The Green Demon stood up taller. It stuck
out its chest proudly. Some of the other demons patted it on