Ghoulies Abroad by Julie Steimle (bts book recommendations txt) 📖

Rick like they were traveling with them, but not one of their group. Then Chen added that they all came to protect Rick.

They eyed Rick’s passport more, especially taking in his business visa and all the stamps. The group’s leader gestured that they all go to their main station in the metro stop.

The police marched up the steps, dead bird demon in hand, empty gun in hand, and eight foreigners following. The Seven sheathed their swords. James’s sword seemed to vanish as he sheathed it. Semour’s appeared to blend in with his clothes, hard to focus on to make it out. Andrew strapped on his sword belt, letting it hang normally—but once Rick took his eyes off it and then looked back, it seemed to be gone. Daniel tied the feathers from the bird demon on a string around the hilt, then tapped it a few times before it too seemed to blur from vision. It reminded Rick of the time when he had seen goblins in the Macey’s Thanksgiving parade in New York. He could see them if he squinted hard and focused, but it caused a lot of eyestrain. His friends had learned some magic. And Rick noticed that Chen was subdued by this understanding as well.

At the police station, the policemen talked to their superiors, reporting in whom they had encountered and what they had encountered. Then their superiors had to make calls. This took a while.

Tom went invisible after a while and wandered off. Rick also noticed that his wallet went missing. When thirty minutes had passed, Tom eventually returned, materializing next to them while carrying several bags full of take out.

“Not the same as New York dim sum, but I managed to find some garlic free options,” Tom said, handing one bag to Rick.

Rattled by his sudden appearance, the police stared at Tom, inching away.

“Ta shi shenme?” the policeman asked Chen.

Chen shrugged. “Yi yan nan jin.”

“What did he say?” Daniel whispered to Rick.

Rick shrugged. “The cop asked who Tom was, but I have no clue what Chen said.”

“It’s a long story,” Chen replied.

“That short sentence was a long story?” James stared at him.

Rolling his eyes, Chen said, “No. I said, ‘It’s a long story’ as in it was hard to explain.”

As they waited, Tom hissed into Rick’s ear, “They are contemplating arresting all of you anyway—regardless of their UN approval. They’re impatient.”

“Should we leave?” Rick hissed back. “Or would that cause us trouble?”

Tom cringed. “It would cause trouble, but at the same time… it may be what you will have to do. These guys don’t know how to deal with demons showing up with a gun in a subway, or with what they saw. They are all devout atheists.”

“Devout atheist?” Andy muttered. “Is that possible?”

Tom met his gaze with a grave nod. “Atheists tend to be more devout than the religious. Their lifestyle often depends on the nonexistence of God—any god.”

Daniel nodded. Yet, with a keen look in his eye, he said to Chen, “Can you tell them we are waiting for someone important and we cannot be delayed. Tell them that if their records are in fact legal, then they should let us go.”

Shooting him a disapproving look, Chen said, “They won’t like a foreigner telling them what to do.”

“Well, you’re telling them,” Daniel said. “Didn’t you say you were born here?”

“I’ve got an American passport,” Chen retorted. Yet he moved to talk with the police. “They’ve been calling me a banana.”

All of them stared.

“A banana?” Rick voiced, “How does that—?”

Moaning, Chen replied, “Yellow on the outside and white on the inside.” He then looked to the police who were listening in.

All of his traveling companions stared more.

“That’s racist,” Eddie said.

Chen shrugged, his cheeks coloring. He turned to the nearest policeman.

Yet the policeman rattled something off in Chinese, his tone showing he was tired and finally relented something. Chen thanked them then turned to the others. “We can go. They have no clue how to report this and so they are going to pretend it did not happen. But they told me to tell you not so set things on fire anywhere else.”

All of the Seven automatically waved their hands at the policemen, crossing their hearts with adolescent promises to never set anything on fire… which wasn’t likely they could keep if they were to encounter demons. All of them left the metro station together, though Rick glanced back, noticing the policemen still talking on the phone to their superiors—not quite resolved as he hoped.

Once out of the metro stop and on the road, all of them stared around at where they were. Then every one of them looked to Rick.

“Ok, where are we? And where do we go from here?” Andy said. “That monk is dead—or that demon or whatever. So now what?”

Rick nodded to himself, thinking.

“I say we find a place to sit and eat dinner,” Tom replied, lifting his bag of food. “Then we either go back to the hotel where Rick can contact his monk friend, or we wander around this city and try out the night life. I am for both myself.”

“Going to the hotel would be a good idea,” James murmured. “I really could not sleep on that plane.”

Rick nodded more, still thinking. He needed a decent internet connection to contact the monk. The hotel had decent wifi. And he was hungry. He pointed to Tom, “Ok, your plan is good.”

“The night life then,” Tom said cheerfully.

Daniel snorted, stopping a laugh.

But Rick shook his head. “Hotel. And I can order a didi or two.”

They stared at him.

“A what?” Semour closed one eye.

“A taxi,” Rick chuckled, forgetting he was probably the only one in the group except for Tom who traveled.

Tom immediately pointed the way to a short wall where they could eat. As the cold air blew, their group munched with a lot to think about.

At the Outset…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seven

 

 

After dinner, they reached the five star hotel well into the evening and checked in. Rick had gotten them simple two-bed hotel rooms on the same floor next to each other. Their sleeping arrangements were sorted out with Daniel and James together (like always), Eddie with Semour, and Tom with Chen, leaving Andy with Rick. Rick had offered to room with Tom for Chen’s sake as he knew how restless a sleeper Tom was, but Chen was uncomfortable sharing with Andy, as he had so thoroughly offended the Seven on the flight over. And when Rick offered Chen to room with him, Andy objected as he wanted to talk with Rick over the details of their trip.

“That friend of yours is a piece of work,” Andy said once they pushed their luggage to the side of their beds.

“Which one?” Rick muttered.

Andy laughed, nodding. “Ok. I guess we all have some self-improvement to do. But that Chen… What’s his deal?”

Frowning, Rick lifted out his laptop and set it on the desk, plugging it in. “I’m not sure….” The machine’s screen rippled on with life and booted up to a desktop image of is current basketball favorite. “Chen’s always been a little whiny, but I’ve never seen his attitude this bad before. It may be he is just really stressed because of his job, but—I dunno—it could be something else. He could be scared. Some people lash out when they are scared.”

“A lot of animals lash out when they are scared,” Andy muttered, taking his shoes off. “Are you sure he is a spirit warrior?”

Rick turned his eyes from the computer screen where he was putting in the WiFi password. “Definitely. I’ve seen him change at will from a dog to a tiger to an anaconda to a huge horse to an ox to a rooster to all sorts of animals, battling that demon who clawed me. I know he has been really hostile to you guys, and I’m gonna find out why. But you should remember most of the demon hunting world is savagely jealous of the Seven.”

“Tommy Whitefeather isn’t,” Andy replied with a thought.

Smirking, going back to his internet searching, Rick said, “Tommy Whitefeather is unique. For some amazing reason, he isn’t so prejudiced—and that’s even after Tom Brown teased him like crazy back at Gulinger.”

Raising his eyebrows, Andy chuckled. That was true.

Rick activated his VPN then pulled up his email and wrote to A MonkK.

 

We’re in Shanghai. But your monk friend did not meet us at the airport. In his place was a shapeshifting demon, which looked like a white bird with six legs, many eyes, and red tail feathers. Though the Seven killed the demon, we were unable to find out where it came from, and we still have no clue where to meet you. Email or text me. We need to know where to go from here.

Anonymous_Wolf

 

He then signed off.

“He may or may not respond tonight,” Rick murmured as he stared at the computer screen.

“Do you mind if I check my social media while you wait?” Andy asked, raising his eyebrows.

Shrugging, Rick got out of the seat. “Have at it.”

As Andy sat down, Rick dropped onto the nearest bed, feeling wiped out. He hated jet lag. The worst part of it was that as soon as he adjusted to a time zone, he would have to go home and deal with jet lag there.

*

He didn’t know when he had nodded off, but Rick woke with a start with the sensation of something sitting on his chest. The room was dark. He could barely breathe let alone see, but when he opened his eyes for a second he thought he was staring into the face of a monkey.

“Chen?” Rick struggled to sit up.

Immediately, whatever it was hopped off his chest and ran away, going out the door. Rick stared at the glowing crack of light, then he hopped off the bed to follow it. He dashed into the hall.

Barely catching sight of the monkey’s tail slip around the corner, Rick ran after it. In the next hall, his eyes scoured for the monkey, but all he saw was one of the maids walking by with a cart sorting out towels and other things for the rooms. She saw him and nodded with a small smile as he looked around and rushed past.

No monkey.

He went into the next hall.

Nothing. But he heard sobbing.

Following the sound, Rick turned another corner.

Leaning against the wall, hugging himself across the torso, pale with exhaustion, was Chen.

“Chen?” Rick looked him up and down, as he was fully clothed and could not have dressed himself that fast to have been the monkey. Jerking up his head in horror then staring in mortification at Rick, Chen quickly rose. He hastily wiped his face and turned to go back to his room. Rick followed him. “What’s wrong? What happened? Did a monkey come into your room too? Or was it a demon?”

“Monkey?” Chen wiped his eyes, sniffling. “What are you talking about?”

Shrugging, Rick said, “I woke up with a monkey on my chest. I thought it was you.”

Chen shook his head. “It wasn’t me.”

“Obviously,” Rick gestured at him fully dressed. “Now what gives? ‘Cause the monkey somehow led me to you.”

Chen stared, taking in a sharp breath. He blinked for a second, registering that. Slowing nodding, he closed his eyes and