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

trying to free the captive elves, bashing the machine works with his staff to no good effect. He shrieked out. “I can’t break them from this!”

Chen whipped up into the shape of a green dragon, battling off demons left and right, unable to answer though he saw.

Michael jumped down, sword in hand, and chopped into the machinery. It did nothing more than split the plastic and aluminum.

“Wait!” Daniel shouted, rushing up. “You either need a key, a spell, or a cure.”

“A cure?” Sun Wukong exclaimed, watching Daniel then set his flaming hand on the iron manacle etched in bespelled writing. Concentrating on it, though the captive protested, Daniel focused all his inner light on the thing. It melted in his fingers.

One hand was freed.

“We’re the cure,” Daniel said, raising his searing, sun-scarred palm.

“To end all curses,” James said, joining him and grabbing another captive’s iron bond. He melted it easily, like plastic.

A cheer went out from the workers.

Unfortunately, demons attacked them once they saw what those two had accomplished.

“Hold them off!” Daniel shouted, pointing to the Monkey King—who promptly spun his staff and nodded. Sun Wukong jumped back into action.

Chen-the-dragon dived in also, biting and clawing each and every demon who tried to attack them while they freed the captives. One by one, hands on spell-wrought iron, they let the drained elvish workers loose.

When they had freed a dozen or so, the roof started to catch fire. The flames heatedng up the pieces of tar and tin with a frightful stink and black sulfurous clouds.

“Evacuate this place,” Daniel said to those he had already freed. They had been standing around, cowering yet not running. “Get out of here!”

“Shenme?” one begged.

“Wo ting bu dong!” came from another.

Daniel pointed toward the exit. “Get out!”

Sun Wukong landed with a dramatic pause, “Gunkai!”

All of them paled as they stared up at him nodding—and ran.

Daniel and James hurried to free the rest. Several of their enemy fled by this time, believing undoubtedly that they had to cut their losses and escape, where others seemed to be at home in the flames, desperately attacking to stop the rescue while Tom hovered like a floating piece of ash on the hot wind, throwing at them all sorts of things with a whirlwind of imps dancing around. He looked like he belonged with the demons, his expression manic though he was definitely not on their side. The imps around him were gleefully enjoying the arson like revelers in a feast. The Seven could almost see them in their glee, dancing in the flames as the fire consumed stacks upon stacks of boxed items and machinery.

“Come on!” Semour shouted, running in. “This place is gonna collapse!”

They had five more captives to unshackle. Daniel and James grabbed each a wrist cuff while Eddie and Michael were freeing another. Their eyes looked to the ceiling in horror that this would all end in getting badly burned.

Almost reading their fear, Chen swelled up from the small dragon into an enormous blue white dragon, the air quickly filling with the damp fog of water, steam billowing around them. For a moment he shielded them from the hot flames while Sun Wukong, Tom, and Andy kept off the rest of the demons with brutal combat.

Then three more to free.

Semour pounced on the last one who watched the other two getting loosed by his fellow knights, doing exactly as they were.

Then there was one manacle left. Daniel melted it and let the captive elf go. The elf took its original form of a wispy green animalish thing for just a moment before flickering back into a convincing ash-smeared Chinese worker escaping a smoldering factory.

“Time to go!” Michael called out, gesturing that they hurry to the exit.

“Where’s Howie?” Andy looked around, coughing from smoke.

“He didn’t come in,” Semour said, covering his mouth. “He followed the plan and stayed where he was supposed to.”

But Andy shook his head. “No, he didn’t. I didn’t see him when we ran in. He was gone.”

They shared worried looks.

“He did say he had smelled something familiarly stinky,” James called out as they all ran for the door. But before the door was a toppled blazing wall of melting microwaves. They backed from it, quickly looking for another way out.

Chen-the-dragon trumpeted from above.

“Ah, crap, we’re gonna have to ride him out.” Daniel moaned, ashy shoulders hanging. “I don’t want to have to ride another dragon.”

Eddie patted him on the shoulder, running ahead to Chen.

“You should be an old hand at it by now,” James said, laughing then coughing.

Chen heard them well enough through the sound and smoke as the building seemed to cave in. He hastily lowered his head to let them on. Except for Sun Wukong and Tom, all climbed astride the giant blue white dragon which immediately launched itself at the breaking ceiling, tearing it apart with his thick claws. Ripping through, Chen-the-dragon lifted into the smoky air.

Tom hung on the end of his tail, letting it pull him out. As for Sun Wukong, he somersaulted from the building to the one across it—a feat which seemed superhuman. Chen took them all to that near roof-top, letting them quickly slide off his back.

Tom tossed over some clothes the second he landed on his feet, it landing at the dragon’s feet.

The rest of the group ran to the building’s edge, looking down.

“Where is Howie?” Andy stared down in panic.

“Can you feel for him?” Chen asked, pulling on his pants. He jogged over to them.

They shook their heads, almost in tandem.

“Too many demons around,” Daniel muttered.

“They’ll probably just relocate,” Eddie grumbled, his eyes following the scattering crowd below.

“He was probably kidnapped,” Michael breathed, feeling pale, blaming himself. He had left Rick alone after all.

Andy turned and slowly shook his head. “No. Howie is used to being chased. He’s probably running.”

“But to where?” Chen asked, feeling sick over it. He blamed himself, as Rick had brought him along as a bodyguard.

Tom was the only one not panicking. He peered down the building’s side with a slow dark look, his eyes perhaps seeing all the imps down below in the chaos. He could probably also hear their shouts—which Andy picked up on, and so had Daniel. They watched him, waiting for what he knew. Tom turned toward Sun Wukong. “Rick said it was a familiar smelly or something, right?”

Sun Wukong nodded.

“Familiar to just him? Or familiar to this whole fiasco?” Tom mused.

Sun Wukong shrugged. Even he was at a loss.

“What I wouldn’t give to have Matt here right now,” Tom muttered.

But then, panting, came Rick onto the rooftop. He emerged from a doorway which was probably connected to some stairs, his clothes askew and dirty. When his eyes set on them, he smiled. “There you are! It took forever to find you guys!”

Seeing him brought a wave of relief over them. Rick was ok.

Until they saw a savage rust-haired wolf spring out of the stairwell and pounce on him. Its claws dug in as it bit hard into the back of his neck.

“Howie!”

They ran forward, drawing their swords.

Seeing them, the wolf snarled, letting go its bite. Whipping his head up, blood trailed from his sharp canines. His savage gray eyes fixed on Andy.

Andy slapped the top of the wolf’s head. “Don’t scare us like that!”

The others stared, expecting the wolf to bite off Andy’s hand next.

Yet shaking off the fur, Rick climbed off the dead imposter. “Sorry. I was ambushed. I just barely got away.” He was panting as blood was still garishly around his mouth—but that demon in his stolen his clothes no longer moved, remaining face down as he bled out.

Groaning with true relief, they all checked Rick just to make sure. He felt right. Rick savagely looked to the now demonic shape in his clothes and grimaced. Demon blood was all around its head now. It had been a perfect bite to the jugular… but the blood had puddled, soaking into his once clean shirt.

“You’re getting scary, Howie,” Andy said, glancing at his teeth-work on the demon also. It didn’t even have a chance.

Rick nodded as he crouched down on the demon and reclaimed his pants at least, getting dressed as quickly as possible. “I’m scaring myself. I’m just glad demons don’t taste good.”

Sun Wukong raised his eyebrows.

Rick went after his shoes next, swearing under his breath at the smell of demon feet as he left the socks.

“We shouldn’t stay,” Daniel murmured with a glance back to the burning building as Rick pulled his shoes over his sockless feet. The air was black with it. “If we were seen—”

“It would have only been by demons,” Semour interjected. “We never got recorded—so there is no evidence we were even there.”

“But many of those demons got away,” Daniel snapped with agitation. “And for all we know, the police here have also been bought by the triads or those demons. We can’t trust anyone down on the ground.”

Michael nodded, agreeing.

“So… back to the hotel or…?” James held up his hands with a shrug.

“I could steal us some clothes and a car,” Tom suggested with a wry finger raised. “Overtake an apartment….”

All of them rolled their eyes at Tom except Sun Wukong who seemed to be considering it. However, the Monkey King walked to the edge of the roof and peered down, watching those below. “I need to make sure those elves don’t get recaptured by the enemy.”

All of them looked to him. It was undoubtedly Sun Wukong’s most pressing concern. But it wasn’t theirs. As far as they knew, their job was done.

Rick nodded, meeting his eyes. “Yeah. We’ll be ok. You do that.”

Nodding with a fond wink to Rick, Sun Wukong somersaulted off the building edge. It was amazing to watch, even for Tom. But perhaps to viewers below, he looked like a suicide. And yet, if he landed in the smoke below, would anyone actually see him hit ground? Would they look for him? One thing they knew for certain, Sun Wukong would probably blend in with the crowd and slip off to guard the freed elves. Perhaps he would battle it out still with demons. And yet that was no longer their concern. The Seven exchanged looks.

“So what now?” James asked again.

Daniel nodded. “We get out of here.”

“Best path?” Andy looked to Michael whom he was sure had an escape route planned but had failed to tell them about it.

Michael nodded. “Follow me.”

They went down the stairs. There were several flights which switched back dizzily downward. Most of the stairwell was dark. And as they went down, they found crumpled and bleeding demons on the steps—demons with severe bite and mauling damage.

Rick averted his eyes from them, uncomfortable at the scene of carnage that he had caused.

“Oh my gosh…” Andy murmured, taking in the sheer number of them.

“They were coming to kill you.” Rick still could not look at him.

“Dude,” Andy said, grabbing his arm. “I know that but—”

“You once took an arrow for me,” Rick muttered, passing yet another mauled demon. Tom looked impressed. Chen looked sick. “And all of you know some of my worst secrets—and for some crazy reason you are still my friends. So I just lost it.”

Tom wrapped his arms around Rick giving him a fond noogie.

There was a crowd around the bottom of the stairs just outside their exit. Police were everywhere. Their fire department was struggling to put out the blaze, but Daniel whispered “good luck” as they watched those men run around. However there was no going out that way and there was no other exit.

“What do we do…?” Eddie whispered.

“We could use a distraction,” Michael murmured.

But even with a peek to Tom, they tossed that idea out. Their entire group was looked for. A distraction of Tom proportions would be more like an alarm bell in this case. They could feel the demons swarming outside, searching for them. And human witnesses.

“What was need is cover,” Rick muttered.

“I got it.” Chen rushed out there, grabbing Tom’s arm.

Tom went with him, amazed. Yet he