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now. She is always a wonderful hostess. I suppose you are here for a specific reason. Please, come in,” he said.
     
    Demona smiled at the older man. “Thanks, Mr. Jacobs.”
     
    “None of that.” He waved a hand at them. “Call me Barty.” Barty showed them into the parlor.
     
    After the three of them had settled into their chairs Bartholomew waited eagerly for the two visitors to begin. Demona scanned the animal figurines that lined the shelf above the TV stand and noticed a few additions to Anne’s collection. Nothing else had changed in the outdated pink and green colored room.
     
    Demona was instantly serious and ready to get down to business. “Mister…Barty, I have a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”
     
    “Of course, has Balen sent you for further research?” Barty asked.
     
    Demona looked hesitantly away from Barty. Please, let this work, we will need him. “No… I’m here about a completely different matter,” Demona said, “one that requires your expertise. I’m afraid there’s no easy way tell you this...”
     
    Barty seemed to slide to the edge of his seat as he excitedly waited the answer as to why Demona and Felix were visiting him. He clearly felt that the visit was for a very important reason. Demona thought he would fall off of the tacky flowered print sofa before she could get another word out. He was a very curious man.
     
    Now I see why Darius was afraid he’d figure things out if we said too much about demons.
     
    “I used to work for Darius Grier, as I’m sure you know, since he had arranged for our meeting the first time. Darius had mentioned that you had certain suspicions about the existence of beings other than demons. He advised me to be careful about what information we brought up on our visit, becau—”
     
    “Hello,” Anne Jacobs entered the room carrying a tray of tea cups and a tea pot. She sat the tray on the coffee table and invited them to each take a cup. Demona grabbed one of the delicious cookies she had had before.
     
    “Quiet Anne!” Barty barked.
     
    Demona shoved the whole cookie into her mouth as she watched the awkward situation. The little woman in a plaid buttoned-up dress, clearly not used to her husband scolding her, promptly sat in one of the chairs and clasped her hands tightly in her lap. She quickly regained a calm composure as if his words had not stung at all, but Demona noticed her fluster on the way to her seat. Anne self-consciously tucked a loose strand of hair back into the tight bun on top of her head.
     
    “Please, continue,” Barty said.
     
    Demona quickly finished chewing the cookie, which seemed to take forever. She swallowed a large clump and it went down her esophagus difficultly. “He wanted us to be careful, because he didn’t want your suspicions to become reality…”
     
    It took a few moments for Barty to catch on to what Demona was saying. “You’re telling me that there are other beings in this world? Beings other than humans? Other than demons?”
     
    Demona nodded.
     
    “I knew it! What are they? Or where are they? ” Barty quickly realized that he was getting ahead of himself. His excitement had taken full control, but now he fought to quell his curiosity.
     
    “Where to begin… There are many different beings and different sides to those beings. You see, Darius is the head of a corporation and pseudo-leader of an underground city, where dark and sometimes neutral beings live and work.”
     
    “Dark…neutral. I suppose there is a light side to this as well? And these dark beings, they are evil?” Barty asked.
     
    “Not entirely, they’re of a more evil nature, but not necessarily entirely evil like demons. I’m not really here to discuss the different beings, so much as the demons,” Demona said. “Barty, we’re at war, or as close to a war as there can be.”
     
    Barty’s eyebrows rose. “The light and dark?”
     
    “No. The dark, neutral, and light beings against the