What are the Odds?

"How the holy hell, sorry, how?" The girl asked, and I listed off the clues just like dear old Sherlock. "That was amazing!"

"I am an amateur compared to her." I said gesturing towards Nali.

"I'll bring your order over if you want to sit down."

Nali picked out a bench by the large glass window to sit. She shrugged off the light backpack she wore everywhere. She unzipped it and took out her tools, parts, and notebook. She opened the notebook and set her pen next to it. On the first page was a list of movie and TV tech she was trying to invent. I had created a monster that could binge with me on any sci fi show or movie series.

"I got it working last night." She giggled triumphantly. "I still need to fine tune the settings, but it works."

"I am so proud of you." I told her, and she beamed proudly. "What kind of settings are we talking about?"

"Here's some water and your utensils." The barista said setting down the glasses and silverware. "Is that a sonic screwdriver?"

"See, I told you she'd know what it is." Nali said making me look like the bad guy.

"My dad and I used to watch it together when I was growing up. He was a big geek." She said. "Does it work? Make noise I mean."

"Oh, it works alright." Nali laughed. "Watch this." She said as she aimed the ornate metallic cylinder at the one of the glasses of water. She touched the power stud and the classical sound came from the device. "It is working." Nali whispered she said as she upped the power setting. The water began to swirl into a whirlpool inside the glass. "Shit!" The glass began to vibrate, and she switched it off before the vessel shattered. "That was close."

"It needs fine tuning." I said, and our server returned to the counter shaking her head.

"Sorry. I know. I know. Don't show off the tech." Nali said smiling completely unrepentant. "She is so cute."

"Yes, she is. So, does it work on things besides water?" I asked. "Just yes or no."

"Yes. When I'm done it will not only mimic the effects displayed on the show but other things as well." She paused and made big eyes at me. "When will you let me see your vambrace?"

"How is your English coming along?" I said changing the subject not so subtly.

"Take a look." She said pushing her notebook in my direction. "I am still getting used to base ten number system."

"Your penmanship is much improved." I told her. "You have worked hard, and it shows."

"Thanks Louis, that means a lot." She replied and took a sip of tea.

"Hey, what is this? It looks like a cat toy." I said holding up the odd-looking sphere. It had irregular protrusions along its bumpy surface. A surface marked with arcane characters and tiny LED lights. "It looks interesting. Ooh, it just lit up." I squealed just as the door to the coffee house opened and a drenched man walked in.

Nali froze and stared at the thing in my hand and then slowly turned her head and eyed the dripping figure at the counter. The color drained out of her face and she looked back and her hands became a blur of activity. She charged the sonic screwdriver, adjusted the settings, and told me to hit the orange button when the time came.

"Aim carefully." She whispered as she put the rest of her things away. "I made this for Arachne." She said continuing to whisper as she took it from me. Her fear is toxic. "It is a demon detector. I never really expected it to work."

"How does it work?" I asked as I palmed the screwdriver up my sleeve.

"It picks up on certain energy fields. According to Arachne demons give off a massive aura. It is how they hunt. She described it to your sharks and how they can smell blood in the water. Demons can pick up on human emotions and determine who are easy prey."

I felt the aura sweep over me and I willed myself to be calm and silent. The man was cradling his drink in his hand and walking towards us. He smiled and sat at one of the tables nearby. He wasn't going to speak to us, yet. It was still pouring down outside. If I attempted to affect it, I knew this demon would pick up on it. The attack was so subtle I almost missed it. Imagine a worm wiggling its way along the floor and when it is close enough it burrows into you flesh. In this case the worm was a psychic tendril. Thanks to Lolth's training I knew how to deal with it. I reached out with my mind and gripped the tip of the tendril and squeezed. It was the polite way of saying fuck off and keep your distance.

"Interesting." I man muttered aloud. He turned his attention to Nali and I intervened instantly. "Ho-ho, protective eh?" The demon chuckled as it stood up. "May I...?"

"No." I said and got to my feet. Nali eyed me and I could see the fear in her eyes. "We are here to sit out the bad weather."

"Not very sociable." It said as a dull blood red light seeped into its eyes.

"HEY! No, you don't." The barista called out holding up the phone. "I don't want any trouble."

"I am starved, and someone is going to feed me." The demon growled.

"Nope." I said pondering a desperate strategy. "Drink your coffee, wait out the weather, and then move along. No one here is food."

"Not true," it said licking its lips. "Everyone is food."

I felt the attack and instincts took over. I had to protect Nali and the barista was an innocent. The demon sensed what I had done but didn't know what had happened. It stopped and looked around. A predator relies on its instincts and the demon's instincts told it something was terribly wrong.

"What do you feed on?" I asked.

"I'm not telling you anything." It growled.

"I am asking politely now. I want to keep this civil." I offered as it attacked.

Dozens of those psychic tendrils attempted to bore into me. I kept most of them at bay, but a few got through. I felt memories being triggered, strong emotional recollections. It was a psychic vampire. It fed off death, sex, and joy. I had my answer. I attempted to change the nature of the reality bubble I had thrown around the demon and me. The pain was sudden and intense. I was reliving the accident where I had broken my left leg. I had been sixteen when it happened. The pain was excruciating, and it threatened to shatter the reality bubble. I held onto it as if my life depended on it. The man closed those hellish eyes and drank in my misery.

"Enough!" I growled as I willed our surroundings to change.

"Stupid human." It snapped as it opened its eyes. "What?!" The demon screeched as it regarded its new location.

"Nice acoustics huh." I said as my voice echoed in the interior of the church. "Your turn to feel fear."

"It's just an illusion," the demon growled and slapped one of the wooden pews. "Ow." It said snatching back its hand. "It is real. How?"

"It is just a building right now. That can change however." I said, and the second assault was more intense than the first. It dropped me to my knees as I fought off the pleasure. "Stop that!" I screamed, and I invoked the bubble and made the church holy ground.

The attack stopped instantly, and I staggered back. The man was on the ground convulsing. I moved towards him and then stopped. Ghostly vapors rose off the body and began to coalesce into a nightmare shaped cloud. I stopped and took a few steps back.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" The exposed demon hissed. "We are the same. Broken. Abandoned."

"You tried to feed off me and my friend." I snapped my disgust clearly showing.

"Don't look at me like that." It snarled. "I can't help I got a shitty roll of the dice. If I don't eat, I starve and die just like anyone else."

"I was told that demons don't exist. Tell me you aren't one, make me believe it." I said.

"Fine. My name is Jacob Winthrop. I was heir to the Winthrop fortune before my aspect manifested. I began to lose weight. The doctors were stumped, and I was on the verge of death within months. My first host was a nurse at the hospital. It was an accident. It was self-preservation. I learned by trial and error how to use my abilities. I have been reduced to this and forced to use people as hosts to survive. I don't like it but what am I supposed to do?"

"Winthrop." I said the name triggering a memory. "They used to own most of downtown way back in the day. Hold on, they lost it all when the market crashed back in the 30's. How old are you?"

"I was born on January the first in the year of our lord nineteen hundred." Jacob said, and I pondered his story.

"Let's get him out of the equation." I said and raised the bubble so that the demon's host slipped free and lay unconscious on the floor of the coffee house.

I pondered a solution and what I should do with this poor soul. His aspect, if his tale were true, was dangerous. I couldn't just let him go. The solution presented itself. It was harsh, but it was fair. I focused my will and the exterior of the bubble darkened as time outside slowed to a crawl. Jacob looked about more curious than afraid. I reached for the connection I had created the day that Nali and Lolth had entered my life and found it. The exterior cleared, and I took a step forward to test it. The interior of the coffee house changed. It was weeks in the future and the building was empty and dark. I guessed that it was after business hours. I took two steps back and the place was bustling with activity. I set my plan into motion. I thought about a world free of intelligent life and stepped to the side.

We were in the middle of a primeval forest. I cancelled the bubble freeing us to move around. Jacob looked around and hovered around overwhelmed at how clean the air was and how quiet it was. I felt a sudden twinge of guilt. I couldn't kill him but was I damning this pristine world with a potentially immortal parasite. How many lives had he destroyed in his need to feed?

"Teleport?" Jacob asked.

"After a fashion." I said. "I can't kill you. I am not wired that way. You can have a new life here without harming people."

"You are exiling me?" He laughed. "Fine. I can use animals until someone comes by. You are only delaying the inevitable." He said revealing his true face.

"I don't understand. You don't need to be like that. You could find pleasant memories to feed from."

"Sure, I could but they are so boring. Birthdays and Christmases go only so far but fucking and pain are such a rush. Pity some folks don't deal with my touch as easily as you did. Some people fall into a deep depression. Some lose their faith. Some just kill themselves or others."

"You are a demon." I said, and it laughed.

"I was born human, but I am so much better now." It said. "Go little godling, save some people make their lives better knowing that I am out here destroying them!"

I brought the reality bubble back up trapping us within it. I touched the power and willed us to a new place. The exterior changed again and there was desert for as far as the eye could see. I dropped the bubble and gasped at the weak atmosphere. I surrounded myself with a protective bubble as the demon laughed.

"A desert! Isn't this a bit biblical even for you? I can enter insects or scorpions as easily as I do people. This isn't a size thing for me. It might take a bit, but the desert has got plenty of life to sustain me. You are an... idiot. What the hell is that?" I looked over my shoulder at the horizon. A shattered moon rose slowly, and the truth hit him. "NO! How?! You didn't teleport me to another place on the Earth. This is a different world altogether."

"A different universe." I said as I drew on the power. "The world is safer with you here."

"Don't leave me!" It wailed as it rushed me and slammed into the bubble. "No! You can't do this!"

"Yes, I can." I said and was haunted again by the Daughter of Ratri's words. "Enjoy your stay."

I willed myself home and there was that jarring sensation. Not again, I thought as I focused on the park near the house. Hopefully it would late at night and empty when I arrived. Why was this happening? It felt like I was crashing. I was thrown to the ground, but I wasn't alone, and I wasn't in the park. I was sitting on my ass in the middle of what appeared to be a college campus. Sitting near me on the soft turf were two girls. One looked albino at first glance and the other had blue skin. We got to our feet and I asked if they were okay. They rushed me and hugged me.

"You saved us!" The would-be albino declared.

"And he's cute!" The blue skinned gal added.

"Wait. I've seen you two before." I said and then stopped. "What happened?"

"We walked into a battle and got our ship shot out from underneath us." The fair skinned girl said. "Oh, I am Jarael. This blue skinned beauty is Naiah, and we owe you big time. Where the hell are, we?"

"I'm not sure." I said and looked around. "I got caught up in a wake or Jetstream."

"The door just opened." Naiah said pointing behind me.

"Oh, hello?" I said turning to face the open door. "Is someone there?"

I walked towards what looked like an old frat house. The interior was warm and cheery with a fire in the great stone hearth in the living room. The girls each took a hand when a figure sitting next to the fire stood up from his high back chair. He greeted us and gestured to one of the three couches in the room.

"Sit." He said and unlike the demon I felt no threat from him. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"I feel dehydrated." Jarael said and Naiah agreed.

"Wine, beer, or tea?" Our host offered. Jarael asked for wine, Naiah was a beer girl, and I shared the wine with Jarael. "Excellent. Will you give me a hand young man?"

"Sure. I'll be right back." I said.

I followed the old man. While he moved slowly and cautiously almost, he didn't come off as infirmed or frail. Sure, his hair was that silver tone that I hoped I got if I ever reached that age. I had no reservations that since my abilities had manifested my life expectancy was reduced. The house had a cozy homey feel to it. The old man took me to the kitchen and pointed at the basement steps.

"Take what you like. Wine is on the right side just off the steps."

"You are very generous." I said as I walked down the steps. "Holy shit man, this place is stocked better than most five-star restaurants!"

"Really, I hadn't noticed." He said from above. "Bring up a couple of bottles it might prove interesting."

I was hardly a wine connoisseur, but two bottles did catch my fancy. I brought them up and the old man approved. He opened one and I helped him carry in the snacks and drinks. We settled in and the girls took tentative tastes of the food and booze. Once they identified what they liked I relaxed. I felt a little warm and moved to the chair furthest from the fireplace. My hand began to shake and when I touched my forehead it came away covered in sweat.

"Oh shit!" Jarael cried out alarmed. "Mandalorean Flu!"

"I'll attend to him." The old man said as he rose to his feet and moved over to me. "You are going to be okay. Let's see." He said touching my vambrace.

It opened for him and he took out a futuristic looking syringe. He touched it to his forearm pressed a button on the side. It let out a slow hiss as the man's blood filled the syringe. He touched a second button and as I watched a faint light filled the capsule holding his blood. The light faded and after a few seconds he pressed the business end against my skin and a soft hiss of escaping gas was the only hint of the injection.

"Sleep. You'll recover now Louis." He said as my eyes shut on their own.

"I... never told you my name." I said fighting the urge to sleep.

"I know." He said just before the darkness swallowed me up.

My dreams were jumbled and chaotic. Images and sounds assaulted me, and I fought to make sense of it and failed. I woke suddenly and opened my eyes. I was under the covers of a large bed. I felt cool skin against my own. I looked to my right and Naiah was sleeping there. To my left the pale skinned Jarael snuggled close. I lifted the covers a little and saw we were all naked.

"Boobs." I giggled still feeling ill.

"Sleep." Naiah purred. "You are still sick."

"Okay." I said with a smile and closed my eyes.

I stood at a crossroad. Three lanes met here, and I was drawn to the middle of that connection. I moved to the nexus point and felt the power beneath my feet. The roads burst into flame and power coursed through me as my body fought off the infection threatening my life. The aggressive virus ravaged my body as I hung suspended between life and death. I had feared the other Broken, but it was an off-world virus that might kill me. Irony? Stupidity? I had used my ability without thinking of the outward rippling effects. I suppose I deserved this and if I survived, I would have to rethink my careless attitude towards my gifts.

"The house likes you." A voice said. "It is clear now. Your aspect and the house's purpose are synergetic."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I replied my voice weak as my throat complained.

"You reside within the House of a Thousand Doors." The man said as if I stood upon holy ground or a sacred space. "Be at peace Keeper. You are home."

"I am dying." I said and the ground beneath me roared. I screamed as a column of light engulfed me and I felt my mortal life burned away. "Shit!"

I sat up covered in sweat and alone in the king's sized bed. I was alone. Aww. It must have been a bad dream. A door opened, and two naked figures exited what looked like a bathroom.

"It wasn't a dream." I muttered my throat still sore, but the worst was over. "Wow."

"Thanks." Jarael said her skin blushing an icy blue.

"So sweet." Naiah purred. "Do you need help getting to the Head?"

"The Head?" I asked and gestured to the bathroom. "Oh, the bathroom."

"Yeah." She laughed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." I said as I moved to the side of the bed and then in increments stood on my own. "Nope."

They helped me to the toilet. I sat and did my business while they watched me.

"I'm sorry about getting you sick." Jarael said frowning.

"It is okay. Once I'm healthy enough I'll get you guys home. We don't want you spreading a plague. What is that look for?"

"The old male gave us injections. He said it would keep us from getting sick as well as getting others sick. He used his blood as a kind of universal serum." Jarael explained. "The house is very accommodating." She continued. "The refrigeration unit stocks itself with just a simple request. It even provides fruit and other foods we are familiar with."

"Can... can we stay?" Naiah asked and they both gave me big eyes.

"Sure. If you want." I said. "I smell like shit."

"We'll help you." Jarael offered. "Shower." She said, and I heard a chirp. "41 degrees Celsius please."

"Confirmed." A sensuous female voice replied, and water fell from shower heads in the ceiling of the shower. "Enter when ready."

I was helped into the shower and savored the hot water. Once we were in the confines of the shower shimmering panels of distorted light snapped into being. I rinsed off some of the funk when Naiah produced a sealed plastic pod. She cracked it open and set the ball of jelly on the top of my head.

"Try and relax. Let it do all the work." She said reassuringly.

"Let what do its work?" I asked as I felt the jelly move. "I... fine, I'll relax."

The jelly grew and expanded and began to envelope me. I felt thousands upon thousands of tingling cells that fed off dead skin, and other unwanted material. I was told it ignored healthy bacteria but gobbled up the unhealthy ones. The worst part was when it covered my head, but it passed quickly. Jarael plucked a bit from the mass and stuffed it into my mouth. The jelly worked my gums and cleaned my teeth before dissolving without leaving anything behind. The same happened with the larger portion. Once it reached the bottom of my feet it broke down and washed down the drain.