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

heaved a sigh as did Michael, while Andy and James looked annoyed at them.

Andy said with a mild groan, “Some people believe the president these days is nothing more than a figurehead or puppet for the deep state. He doesn’t have the kind of power people think he does.”

James remained disgusted, saying nothing. He didn’t want to offer his opinion. He still wanted to believe his home nation was still a republic based off of principle and the rule of law. But he knew his best friend Daniel thought the US was ruled by an oligarchy which was working hard to destroy all the foundations the nation was built on. The only reason James didn’t bicker about it was that he did believe the government had gotten too big and was no longer acting as the founders had intended. He just wanted to hold onto the dream of freedom.

“And many people believe the CIA has been acting on its own for quite some time,” Andy added.

“They killed JFK,” Daniel said.

James shot him a weary look.

The Chinese agents stared at them, thinking about that with intense skepticism.

Then one said with nearly a snarl, “What about your friend? We know he is in the country and has been traveling with you. Thomas Brown. He is CIA.”

They all lifted their eyebrows, impressed they were aware of Tom—or pretended to be.  

“Tom is CIA only to protect our friend Howard Richard Deacon the Third,” Daniel replied. “He came because Howie requested special help.”

“Tom is as loyal to the CIA as far as they pay his bills.” Eddie chuckled, arms folded.

“He was infuriated to see the agents here working with the demons,” Daniel added with a nod.

“It does not change that he works for—”

“It does,” Andy cut him off. “You don’t know Tom Brown. The guy is twisty as a cork screw, but he sticks up for what is right.”

They glowered at him.

The agents looked to Michael again. “Why did you choose now to come and deal with the demons? This is a bad time. It is spring festival.”

“Because they came,” Michael replied, gesturing to Andy and the others. “They contacted me about it, saying it was urgent. I was going to wait, but they decided it was important to deal with it now.” He didn’t mention Rick at all. He didn’t want to cause trouble for him or Deacon Enterprises.

Flustering, the agents stared at Andy and rest now. “How did you find out about our demon problem?”

Dryly, Andy raised his eyebrows, glanced to Daniel and whispered, “Should we tell them?”

“We’re the Holy Seven,” Eddie said. “We’re connected to the supernatural realm.”

“I count six,” one of the agents snapped back.

They exchanged looks and sighs.

“Two of us could not come,” Eddie replied.

The agent huffed. “That makes eight.”

“So?” Semour replied. “There are eight of us this generation.”

Grumbling, the agents discussed something in Chinese which they did not understand. They wished they had Chen with them. This was the most unsettling part about being with these Chinese agents. They could not tell if they were being lied to. Tom would have been helpful… though his presence probably would have also caused trouble.

Then one asked, “How come you traveled separately then?”

The Seven exchanged looks.

Daniel said to Andy with a look to Michael, “Your call. Should we say who summoned us here?”

“Summoned?” murmured the agents.

They nodded. Michael smiled, nodding. “Yeah, we should tell them. It matters.”

So, Andy squared his shoulders and said, “We came because we were contacted by Sun Wukong who said it was important.”

“Sun Wukong?” The agents stared at them, undoubtedly thinking their group was delusional.

“Yeah,” Daniel chimed in. “You know him as the Monkey King.”

“He’s real,” James spoke up.

“Not fictional,” Semour said.

Michael then sighed. “So you see, I had to come now. When a legendary supernatural being such as Sun Wukong requests we deal with demons in China, then the problem has to be really bad.”

“Because normally Sun Wukong would be able to handle the situation by himself,” Daniel explained.

Eddie nodded.

The agents shared glances, paling. Either they had not known Sun Wukong was not fictional, or they had thought he was dead. His legend, after all, was ancient and it had been fictionalized so much that he had become the equivalent of a superhero such as Superman.

After that, the argument seemed to fizzle. The agents had each of the Seven fill out paperwork, including possible property damage. Not that they actually did list all the damage they had done. The Seven had long agreed that the only damage they would ever mention would be about what happened at Huaguo Mountain. They omitted the information about the triad building they had set on fire, the apartment they had used, the ‘borrowed’ cars from the CIA or any of that stuff, and they stared blankly when the agents mentioned the fire at the factory.

“No kidding?” Daniel had replied when they asked him about it. “A fire? Really? Wow. You should investigate that and find out how that happened.”

The others claimed spontaneous combustion.

There would be no proof of arson, of course. Magic did not leave traces like that.

As they were about to leave the building finally, all of them shouldering their bags and lugging that rice-filled suitcase, Andy turned towards those government agents with a look and said with gravity, “By the way, the Bai Nian family—”

The agents’ eyes widened, shocked Andy knew about them.

“What is your problem with them?” he asked.

One of the agents lifted his chin stiffly and replied, “That is not your concern.”

“Actually, it is,” Daniel cut in, stepping to Andy’s side.

The others nodded.

“You see,” Daniel explained as Andy nodded, “The Bai Nian family acted the same as the Holy Seven for China for ages. By getting rid of them, you basically shot yourselves in the foot.”

“It is a Chinese affair,” the agent retorted, the tendons in his neck tightened. Apparently the issue with the Bai Nian family was as sensitive as the situation in Tibet.

All of the Seven raised their eyebrows.

“What? Are they that scary?” James asked.

“Or maybe they were not fans of the Cultural Revolution,” Daniel said as an aside to him.

The agents bristled. “You will leave now.”

Semour snorted. “Fine.”

Eddie rolled his eyes.

But Andy did not budge as the others headed to the door. He said, “For the record, we are allies with the Bai Nian family.”

“Especially since they are descendants of the Monkey King,” Daniel interjected while stepping away.

Andy shot him a tired look while the agents flustered over that knowledge. The Seven wondered if perhaps they had not known. Or maybe it was because they had assumed the Seven had not known. But now that the information was out and the Seven were leaving the office, the agents’ eyes took on an almost stricken sense of panic.

“Yeah,” Semour muttered. “It is pretty stupid to do something that would offend the Monkey King. It’s like asking for trouble.”

One of them looked like he wanted to shoot Semour. However, the man restrained himself.

As the Seven walked out onto the street with their backpacks and suitcases, going past the armed guards at the gates, they stared at the busy road and looked around. Cars, scooters, and bicycles went by with hardly a look at them except to see a bunch of foreigners.

“What now?” Eddie propped his hands on his hips, frowning.

“We go back to the youth hostel?” James suggested.

Semour shook his head, thinking that was a bad idea. Michael voiced it. “No. Even with that whole conversation with those agents, this still does not feel done. We aren’t safe, and we have upset a heap load of demons.”

“Not to mention the CIA, a Chinese triad, and possibly the Chinese government,” Daniel muttered with a glance back to the building.

“No one is happy with us, are they?” Andy laughed, rubbing his forehead.

“I am,” the ‘monk’ in yellow robes showed up out of the blue. He smiled at them, his bald head shining. But the Seven could feel he was as insubstantial as the original monk clone had been. Sun Wukong was not actually there. The monk then jerked his head to the side to say, “Follow me.”

Seeing this as the best option, they did.

 

Journey Back to the West

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

 

The ‘monk’ took them to a monastery where they met back up with Rick and Chen. The Buddhist monks there were more than happy to give the Seven rooms to sleep in, as long as they didn’t mind the cold. They did not have central heating.

Tom showed up as they were midway through their dinner—which was actually made by the monks at the monastery—and he just sort of strolled in, looking bored.

“Where’ve you been?” Rick asked.

Shrugging, Tom replied, “You know, here and there. I had a lot of thinking to do.”

Rick wondered on that, especially on what would be so serious enough to make Tom become so serious.

Tom sat himself down between Rick and Andy on the floor where everyone was eating from a low table. With a heavy sigh, he said, “I am going to be in a bit of trouble with the Company when I get back, and I might lose my job.”

“I’ll hire you—” Rick started to offer.

But Tom waved him away like he would a mosquito.

“That’s not necessary.” Tom then grabbed some chopsticks and started to pick through the food on the table. He, like the others, noticed the monks had made sure to not use garlic, so the food was even more bland than usual—but Rick was not going into anaphylactic shock either. “I think it is more important that I stick it out to hold them accountable for their actions. Besides, I really think they need to understand the danger of working with the Unseelie Court. They have no clue how dangerous that it, and I am going to have to be the one to teach them.”

That was a lot to think about. The Unseelie Court meddling in China seemed almost more unthinkable than the CIA meddling in China. Supernatural beings were (for the most part) not political. They didn’t care about human nations or politics. Not even the wicked elves. Elvish folk in general were such self-absorbed, self-indulgent creatures that they hardly would have gone out of their way in any regular circumstance to make alliances with anyone. It was unprecedented, really. It showed a shift in the movement of the world. A different kind of climate change, so to speak.

Rick gazed silently on Tom. He had never really butted into Tom’s business or concerns, but Rick knew the guy had to have a lot of things on his mind, especially in regards to the Unseelie Court. And despite being in everyone’s business, Tom was always private about his own life. Rick thought perhaps it was time that changed—not because he thought turnabout was fair play, but that despite Tom’s open and often loud behavior, Rick realized that Tom seemed to be suffering his private pains in silence. Besides, he was sure Tom was now aware of all his darkest secrets and he really didn’t need any of it getting out. Despite the Seven knowing about Wolverton and all that had transpired there, they did not have a clue about Loup Garou in France or his connection to them, and Rick had to keep it that way.

Tom