Interview and Excerpt from Author Sophie Queen
Jonathan Reddoch and Elizabeth Suggs interviewed Sophie Queen, author of Riley’s Excellent and not-at-all Fake Exorcism Service Book 2) (Riley's Excellent and Not-At-All Fake Exorcism Service series and short story in The Darkness Between “The Green Window.”
Here’s an excerpt from Krino Blade Riley’s Excellent and not-at-all Fake Exorcism Service.
Warning: Strong Language
Preface
Well . . . Fuck
Stepping out of the car into the bitter night air, he pulled the strings of his hoodie. He trudged down the cobblestone path toward the Victorian estate that rested on top of the hill. His midnight eyes stared up at the dark windows, which were devoid of life and light. If it wasn't for the bright moon casting an eerie glow around the home's round turrets, he would have been enveloped in darkness.
"Emmanuel." He turned to meet a pair of umber eyes framed in deep-set lines. "You're late once again, I see. But at least you're here, which I suppose is an improvement."
"Amanda," he responded to the scowl on her face with a bright smile. "I was simply waiting for you to arrive."
"You joke," she said, scoffing. "But your tardiness as of late has been troublesome, to say the least."
"Have you ever tried to get a pair of two-year-olds to bed?" He raised his brow. "It's not easy."
"Which is why I choose not to procreate." With a long stride, she moved past Emmanuel.
"Yeah," Emmanuel muttered, "That's the reason . . ."
"Keep up," Amanda called back. If she had heard what he said, she clearly had chosen to ignore it. "The meeting began forty minutes ago. Do not dawdle."
Stuffing his icy hands into his jacket, he turned and quickly followed. They climbed the steep steps to the double entry doors. Amanda extracted an ornate iron key from within the large fabric satchel she carried on her person at all times. Once inside, Amanda took a candlestick from the small table at the foyer's center and waved her hand over it, muttering softly until a small flame ignited.
"You know," he flashed her his broadest smile. "I have a lighter you could have borrowed."
"And why would I require such a trinket?" She cast him a sideways glance.
"Relax," Emmanuel said, with a mischievous grin. "You don't have to take everything so seriously."
"Don’t you ever wonder, Emmanuel," Her furrowed brow deepened as her eyes narrowed. "If you are the only one who finds yourself amusing?"
"Well,” he paused, scratching the bottom of his chin as his eyes drifted upwards. "My kids think I'm hilarious."
Deep within Amanda's throat, a visceral noise stirred. She turned on her heels, then walked up the wide staircase before them. Emmanuel shrugged to himself, but soon followed suit. His heavy steps caused the old stairs to squeak something awful. He had, on numerous occasions, begged his coven to look for a new covenstead. It wasn't even because he found this place creepy beyond all imagining, which he did, but because he doubted that the old structure could handle his muscular six-foot-two body for much longer. He had more than a few nightmares of the old steps or floors breaking beneath him, sending him plummeting down into the dank basement.
But the High Priestess, Aradia, preferred tradition, as well as the property's low tax rate. So for the time being, they were stuck there, much to Emmanuel's chagrin. He followed Amanda into the dusty library. He hung back as she approached one of the shelves that lined the walls. She grabbed hold of a book, pulling it toward her. In classic haunted- house fashion, there was a loud click and a slow creaking as the bookshelf opened.
The first time Emmanuel had seen this, he had thought it was kind of cool. But after the millionth time, it lost its charm and seemed more redundant than anything else. Following Amanda through the hidden entrance into a small candle-lit room, he immediately found himself tackled by a pair of small, bony arms.
"Mano!" The small woman grinned up at him broadly. "You finally came!"
"Emma." He patted her wild, frizzy locks. "It's good to see you."
"Come, sit by me!" She ended their embrace by grabbing his hand and marching him around the circle of cloaked people until they reached two empty velvet pillows on the floor. He nodded politely to the rest of his coven before struggling to make himself comfortable on the tiny pillow beneath.
"Are we finally ready to begin?" asked the woman seated in front of a large chalice, the coven's high priestess, as she removed her hood with a delicate hand. Emmanuel ignored the sideways glances as he and the rest of the coven followed suit and removed their hoods. The elderly witch gazed at her coven with heavy eyes. "I'm sure most of you are aware of the reason I gathered you all here so urgently today. As of late, there has been a startling increase in the amount of demon activity in our area. I have spoken to many of our coven brothers and sisters across this nation and it seems that they have seen no such spike in demonic energy."
"Isn't that old news?" Emmanuel regretted speaking the moment several sharp eyes turned to him, but he didn't let them faze him and pressed on. "Hasn't there been more demon activity around here for like . . . almost thirty years?"
"You aren't wrong, Emmanuel," the high priestess confirmed before turning back to the rest of the coven. "Yet as of late, it has grown far more threatening."
"Threatening how?" Emmanuel asked, noticing Amanda's lips tighten from the other side of the circle.
"Besides increasing amounts of possession, two months ago, there was a whole community of demons not too far from where we are sitting now."
"There was?" He peered over at Emma with wide eyes, who gave him a small somber nod in response. In the back of his mind, he was starting to wonder if it was time to pack up his family and move them far away.
"Yes," the high priestess continued. "Though it seems they have been eliminated by some unknown force. We have been looking into it, and have spoken to some of the formerly possessed. Not many were willing to divulge much information. But from what we gathered; it was an apparently "rude" blonde woman in her mid to late twenties that banished the demons."
"Was she a witch? A hunter?" Emmanuel asked.
This time, it was Amanda that spoke. "We aren't sure if she's a hunter, but we know she isn't a witch. No coven has vouched for her and we find it unlikely that an untrained witch would be able to take down an entire demon community."
"Hunters usually travel together in at least a group of three," Emmanuel crossed his arms.
"We have reason to suspect she isn't with the hunters either . . . It seems it was a demon that assisted her in freeing the possessed." Amanda shook her head. "Though this isn't confirmed, as only two of the formerly possessed reported this. I'm not confident in that information as of yet."
"Help from a demon?" Emmanuel ran a hand over his shaved head. "Is that even possible?"
"We have no way of knowing if that's true." The high priestess shook her head, causing her curls to obstruct her soft wrinkled face from view. "Yet if it is true, we have someone more powerful than a witch, and more fearsome than hunters among us. Someone who can bend demons to her will, and banish a whole community of those cursed beasts back to Hell. I pray to Mother Earth that whoever she is . . . she is a friend, not a foe."
Silence fell over the coven, but before Emmanuel was able to concoct a full get out of Dodge plan, Emma jumped up from her seat and dashed to her bag, extracting the largest bottle of red wine Emmanuel had ever seen. She also pulled out red plastic cups and started pouring generous amounts inside.
"All right, I think that's enough negativity!" She bounced back over to the circle, handing everyone a cup, ending with the high priestess. "Let's have a drink and celebrate being gathered together today! It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom!"
"Celebrating usually happens after achieving something," Amanda retorted, placing her cup on the floor. "We still know nothing."
"Oh, lighten up." The high priestess let out a soft chuckle as Emma rejoined the circle. "Things may be grim, but we still have many things to be grateful for. After all, this is the first time we have all been together in some time."
"Alright, I get it," Emmanuel conceded. Emma elbowed Emmanuel playfully, slightly holding up her cup. Taking her cue, he raised his own cup up high. "How about this? I promise I'll be a better witch moving forward."
"I'll hold you to that." The high priestess raised her cup and the rest of the coven followed. Even Amanda, though she appeared somewhat reluctant. For the first time in a while, Emmanuel felt a sense of unity with his fellow witches, and knew by their bright smiles and cheerful laughter that they felt the same.
‘To demon hunting,’ he said, about to bring the cup to his lips.
Before they could even take their first sip, the floorboards below them began to rattle. Emmanuel stood up fast, moving toward the room's edge. Emma clung to his arm; her eyes glued to the floor. Amanda grabbed the high priestess, moving her to another corner. As the boards began to rise, Amanda met his gaze from across the room. He moved his head toward the exit and she nodded, slowly making her way to the door with the high priestess. The coven readied themselves.
"What a day to come back," he muttered under his breath as the floor burst open. Dark billows of smoke filled the room in seconds. It was thick and choking and reeked of burning trash, assaulting every one of his senses and he retched. A scream pierced the air beside him, as Emma's hand slipped from his arm. "Emma!"
He reached out to grab her but there was only more smoke. Under his breath he muttered an incantation, and his hands began to glow. But the light wasn't strong enough to cut through the thick black smog. Chaos erupted around him, yet he saw nothing, as the smoke began filling his lungs. He feared using an attack spell as he could so easily hit a member of his coven. He tried to call out to them but barely a wheeze escaped. He tried moving closer to the walls, but each step grew heavier until he felt just about ready to collapse.
Not like this. He thought of his kids, and their annoyingly cute faces. And his wife, her arms crossed, her nose scrunched up in the way it did when she nagged him for his recklessness. No, he couldn't go down like this. There was a time he would have laid his life down for his coven without a second thought. But he had more to live for now than he ever had before. So he turned slowly to the center of the room. He couldn't see anyone but he felt the presence of two individuals approaching him on either side.
Now or never.
Using all the energy he could muster, he leapt forward, down the rabbit hole. Or... you know . . . the gaping hole in the floor. Through the smoke he plugged down, only breaking through before crashing into the old oak floors. He landed on his right arm and cried out in pain. He was sure it was broken but knowing he didn't have time to dwell, he struggled to his feet.
"Emmanuel!" Amanda called to him from the stairwell. Her eyes were wide as she guided the high priestess down the rest of the stairs. "Are you hurt?"
"That's not important right now," he said through gritted teeth. He grabbed Amanda with his good arm and ushered both women towards the door. "We have to get out of here and fast!"
"But what about everyone else?" Amanda glanced back at the stairs, where a billow of smoke was making its way toward them.
"Get out now," he said, pulling the two women with him. "Help them later."
Amanda seemed like a lost child, clearly concerned for her family of witches and unsure of what to do.
But the High Priestess met her fearful gaze and nodded, saying, "We must go, Amanda."
They ran as fast as the high priestess was capable, with the thick smoke following closely behind. They piled into Emmanuel's car. As the headlights turned on, through the cloudy substance, two figures became visible. He cursed under his breath as the figures ran towards them. He put the car in reverse and booked it down the driveway onto the old empty road.
"Who were they, hunters?" Amanda asked the older witch, who shook her head.
"Perhaps . . . but I've never seen hunters use anything quite like that."
"Why would hunters come after us?" Emmanuel barked. "They haven't hunted witches in decades! No, that was demonic shit! I'd bet my life on it."
"I . . . didn't feel demonic energy." Amanda fiddled with her chunky necklace. "Did you?"
"Well, no . . ." Emmanuel admitted, but before he could speak further, there was a loud bang overhead. He looked up to see a large indent on the roof of his car, and yelled, "You son of a bitch! This is a rental!"
"Stop the car, Emmanuel!" His attention snapped back to the road. The smog had appeared before them, engulfing the car, and a solo figure standing within it. He hit the breaks. The figure was standing there, unmoving, like it was taunting them. A loud scratching sound filled the car, along with Amanda's scream. The roof had been torn open, and a large hand had grabbed Amanda by the hair, pulling her outside.
"Amanda!" he called after her but only her fading screams responded. He turned to the high priestess, "Stay in the car."
"Emmanuel," the older woman urged him, grabbing his shoulder. "Out there is nothing but death."
"In here ain't lookin' too great either," he retorted, grabbing the door handle. " I'm going to do my best . . . if I start screaming or otherwise disappear in that fog . . . make a run for it."
"I'm too old to run," she said, shaking her head. "If anyone, you should run, Emmanuel. Let me hold them off as long as I can."
"No . . ." It was a tempting offer. He wanted to get home, to see his family again and hold them tightly. But he was beginning to accept that that most likely wasn't going to happen. And if he was going to go down, he would fight, not run. He turned to her, casting a crooked smile and said, "Old lady, why don't you let us youngins handle the dangerous stuff. Just don't get snatched while I'm away."
She called out his name as he jumped out of the car, shutting the door behind him. He glanced up at the car roof, but whatever had snatched Amanda was gone. He turned and slowly approached the figure in the fog, muttering under his breath, his good hand lifting into the air. From his fingers erupted sparks of deep green light that grew until it encompassed his hand entirely. He knew there wasn’t much time before the fog weakened him so he charged forward, not bothering with the niceties.
He held his hand forward and the green light sprung to life, blasting the figure before him. Or so it should have.
But the figure remained there, unflinching.
Cursing under his breath, he began another incantation, when without warning, the figure vanished. He peered around, preparing his spell.
When next to his ear, he heard a voice whisper, "Boo."
Before Emmanuel could even react, he was on the ground, with the thick smoke choking him. His head was pounding, eyes losing focus. The figure loomed over him, smiling down. Its eyes glowing, a deep crimson red.
"Well . . ." Emmanuel sputtered, as his body went limp and his vision faded. "Fuck."