Demons at Deadnight (2011), page 3
“Hey, give it back!” I yelled before I had the sense to censor myself but the jerk just smirked and kicked it with a vengeance, arcing it well into the surrounding forest.
“Herman!” Coach Slader said. “You kicked it, you fetch it.”
“Come on, Coach. I didn’t—”
“Don’t mess with me, son,” Coach Slader snapped. “I’ve spent all morning explaining to that infuriating insurance company that I have no idea why my SUV looks like Godzilla flattened it with his big fat foot on his way to destroy Tokyo. One minute I’m hiking, and the next I come back to a twisted piece of metal. Do they believe me? Nooooooo. They think I’m lying! Sure, they didn’t come right out and say it, but—”
“Hey, Coach,” I picked up a jog toward the woods, “I’ll get that for you.” It was the least I could do.
The lush greenery immediately muted the sounds of my classmates, and I reveled in the quiet solitude, wishing it could alleviate my guilt about Coach Slader’s vehicle. Humid air offered scents of fresh pine mingled with damp earth, wood, and musty animal. Spongy ground, thick with layers of pine needles and organic debris made footing difficult. I headed in the general direction of the ball’s trajectory when—
Oh, crap.
Weightless, lightheaded, I pitched into the nearest tree. My mind’s eye tunnel-visioned, taking me on a mental serpentine speed race through the woods surrounding the school. Sharp lefts and rights lurched me dizzy until the vision halted before a huddled heap of mottled green and brown. The mass stood. Basically humanoid but with an apelike hunch, it had large grotesquely proportioned arms and legs with a head too small for the massive teeth that dripped something dark.
I hoped it wasn’t blood. A lump of guts and fur that could’ve been a deer in another life lay mutilated at its feet. The demon ran a clawed hand across its mouth, moved branches aside and turned pale, glowing eyes toward a clearing, sniffing the air.
Across a neat lawn I saw what had the demon’s attention. And choked.
A playground for kids Selena’s age, with twisting plastic slides, monkey bars, swinging bridges, castle towers, tunnels, and a pirate ship all gleaming in bright primary colors. A mass of kids squealed and played with delighted abandon. One scream caught my attention, and both my and the demon’s gaze focused on a little girl at the helm of the pirate ship. She brandished a stick like a sword and barked orders to her crew on the ground.
Her head fell back in a great belly laugh, blonde braids glinting in the sun. Four braids, not two. Two is boring she’d told me this morning when she’d requested my hairdressing assistance.
Selena.
A scream reverberated in my head, and I mentally pulled in reverse at lightning speed. My vision yanked back through the forest and slammed like a fist to the gut, leaving me breathless, disoriented, and on my butt.
And that’s how I find demons. I don’t mean to and, trust me, I’d rather not. But somehow when they’re somewhere in my general vicinity I latch onto their location and mentally, rather than physically, go there. Like it or not. I call it psycho-location. You know, like bats with echolocation? Only “psycho” in that one, I do it psychically, and two, it makes me nuts. Clever, huh?
Yeah, finding demons was easy, but fighting them? So not in my repertoire.
But he was here. Stalking a bunch of little kids.
Stalking Selena.
I wasn’t sure where her school was but it couldn’t be far.
Something caught my eye. I crawled over, picked it up, got to my feet and ran.
CHAPTER SIX
Call it a quirk, but I tend to steer clear of suicidal tendencies. So while I’ve had this insane ability to mentally go to a demon’s location, I’ve never tried to use that vision in my head to physically track one down before. Which is why I never knew I could before. Never wanted to find out before.
Never had one threaten my family before.
Can’t explain it. I simply knew which direction to go, desperately seeking out a thing of nightmares that until now, I’d desperately tried to avoid.
So intent on the playground, he hadn’t heard my progress through the woods, stealthy as a T-Rex on the hunt. I stared at his back several yards away, green, mud stained, vegetation seeming to sprout from his pores. Gross. Horrific. The bottom fell out of my stomach, courage struggling for grip.
I looked at the football in my hands, the one I’d found when I’d ended up on my butt and had my brilliant brainstorm to hunt the demon down. I juggled it back and forth, shuddered a sigh. No sense waiting. Death comes to us all, but not today, not to my little sister. My fingers found the laces. My arm reeled back and…
No lazy arcing spiral on this one. Nope. Dad called this baby The Bullet. And I was the Lahey star quarterback.
Which is why it was no surprise when the pigskin rocketed against the back of the demon’s skull and bounced off, disturbing dirt, leaves, a few Jurassic sized insects—and his unpleasant nature.
He slapped a grimy oversized hand to his head, and swiveled glowing green eyes my way.
“Tag,” I gulped a raspy whisper. “You’re it.”
His eyes lit up. I mean literally lit up with an emerald fire. And he smiled. “So,” he graveled out the words. “The Divinicus Nex comes to me.”
***
Muscles burned and breath raged as I raced through the woods, leading him away from Selena and back toward the high school. I hoped the crowd would scare him off. I nearly made it when a tree exploded to my left. Splinters rained down like shrapnel. I visored my eyes and kept running—until a tug on my ankle yanked my feet out from under me.
A loud crack as my knee connected with a rock. My face slammed into soft ground, much of which ended up in my mouth. I sputtered dirt, scrambled for footing, but plant roots rose from the ground and twisted around my legs. “Rooted” to the spot, I pressed against a tree trunk and stared in horror when the demon arrived.
The monster towered ten or twelve feet tall. Its bright green leathery skin was covered in dirt, moss, leaves, and patches of grass, the stench repulsive. His teeth gleamed brown. Evidently he wasn’t aware of the multitude of whitening products on the market. He reared back his arm. The deer carcass made squishy noises in his grip as he used it for a battering-ram aimed at my head. I ducked into the fetal position. The body hit the tree with a loud thud that jiggled my eyeballs in their sockets, and a mist of gooey, wet, gelatinous gobs I didn’t even want to think about splattered all over me.
To the untrained eye, it may have looked like I was cowering in fear, but it was actually part of my brilliant master plan to claw off the roots and run. Which I did while the beast revved up for another attack, the fleshy mass spraying bits of goo as the demon swung it in accelerating circles over his head.
Pine cones rifled off the trees and pelted like bullets. My arms blocked. I ran without looking back, leaping over obstacles and praying for acrobatic abilities I knew I didn’t possess. I jettisoned through the last line of trees and past a surprised Coach Slader.
“What’s going on?”
Oh, nothing, just a demon trying to obliterate my existence. I yelled, “It’s a—a—run!”
Confusion smeared Coach’s features. I studied the fortress-like gothic structure we called school figuring I could lose the beast in that maze, but instead headed toward the empty parking lot, away from unsuspecting people.
The beast broke through the forest. Screams erupted. Several students shrieked “Bear!”
If only. But it was odd. Bear? Demons usually liked to remain invisible, keep a low profile, make me look crazy. Maybe I was. I glanced back and saw the demon pause to scrutinize the panicked crowd until his cold eyes latched onto mine. He charged.
Weaving through cars, I ached for a plan. Changing clothes for P.E.? Big mistake in hindsight. I kept running, waiting for inspiration…still waiting and…nope. I had nothing.
Up ahead, a kid was on his knees changing a tire. I flailed my arms in a shooing motion.
“Get out of here!”
He glanced up, looked past me, panic registered, then he skedaddled, dropping his lug wrench with a clang. I reached down and grabbed it—shaped like a big X—and threw it Frisbee-style, remembering to flick my wrist like Lucian had taught me. I couldn’t tell if I’d hit him because he’d hurtled a boulder the size of Rhode Island directly at me. It came fast.
An engine revved to my right. A dark sports car screamed toward me. Brakes screeched, dropping the nose of the car, gravel flying, and sending the back end spinning into a graceful counter-clockwise arc. The back fender swung in front of me and punched the boulder out of the way with a metallic crunch. The vehicle finished its 180-spin and jolted to a stop, chassis rocking on smoking wheels, passenger door flying open, all in a blur of dust.
A sudden gust of wind shoved me from behind, and I tumbled into the passenger seat. Spitting rock and dirt, the car peeled out before I made it all the way in. The driver, the green-eyed albino from P.E., hooked a hand under my knees and yanked my legs over as the bottom of the door skimmed my ankles on its slam shut. I jammed my feet against the floor, one hand white-knuckled the handle above the window while the other groped without luck for something else to grab.
The demon slipped from my peripheral. A plant vine whipped through the open window, wrapped across my chest and around the seat. I screamed. The Albino slammed on the brakes, my new organic seat belt holding me steady.
I clawed the vine, green, thick, pulsing with determination.
The driver yelled, “Hold still!” and made a slicing motion near my shoulder with his hand.
I felt a tingling buzz. Severed, the vine retracted out the window with a thwack and the pressure around my chest relaxed. I unfurled the twitching piece left on my body and flung it out the window.
The Albino glanced in the rearview mirror, jerked the gear shift, swung his right arm over the back of my seat, twisted to look backwards, and flew in reverse.
“You’re going back?” I screamed.
He ignored me.
I looked back in time to see the demon’s startled face just before our car slammed into him, popping the body up and over. I heard him bounce above us, saw the metal of the roof dent into a mass of wrinkles, then he came back into sight, sailing over the hood, and tumbled onto the ground. The Albino slid the car around and sped off.
A red Ferrari-shaped cardboard pine freshener danced manic on a string hanging from the rearview mirror as we fishtailed down an aisle, skidded around a corner, and zigzagged through parked cars. I would’ve preferred to shut my eyes but was too enthralled by the fierce concentration on the Albino’s delicate features, and watching his hands and feet execute a graceful, rapid ballet between steering wheel, stick-shift, and floor pedals.
My stomach lurched as he yanked the emergency brake and we dove into another spin, two actually, before we jerked to a stop after the passenger-side tires briefly lifted off the ground.
A yank on my arm had me screaming again. I was pulled out the window and the car screeched off. I struggled against the hand curled around my mouth. Dad’s basic self-defense kicked in. I stomped on the guy’s foot, drove an elbow into his stomach, turned the instant his grip loosened, grabbed his shirt, and flung him to the ground, knee to his chest, my arm cocked for a palm to his nose.
I hesitated. “Tristan?”
“Quiet!” came his sharp whisper. Tristan swung a leg up and in a blur of motion I was on the ground next to him, pinned across the front of my shoulders. “Stay down.” I did.
Kids ran everywhere, screams echoed. The demon whizzed by. Gulp. It had resilience in spades.
“Am I interrupting something?” His voice husky and low, Gigantor loomed bigger than ever. “Tristan, you know she wants me, right?”
“Shh!” Tristan removed his leg, helped me up, and crouched next to the front wheel of a parked car, gesturing for me to stay back while he peeked around the bumper.
Gigantor squatted behind me. “Mmmm. Your hair smells nice.”
“Shut up,” Tristan snapped.
“Well, it does.”
Shouts amplified. Heavy footsteps thundered. A dull thud, and the car I leaned against tremored. The demon came back into view. He seemed bigger but that could have been the terror talking. I wanted to run but was stuck between Tristan and Gigantor and cars on either side.
The demon’s nostrils flared. His head swiveled. Hungry, glowing eyes locked on me. A thick, wet snarl gurgled up like bubbles in a muddy swamp.
Tristan focused on the beast, his voice low and urgent. “Little help?”
A heavy rumble rolled the ground, tipping me against a tire. Gigantor’s arm dropped across my body, trapping me against the car.
“Come on, come on,” Tristan chanted through clenched teeth.
A whoosh sucked through the air. Something long, thin, and white rocketed into view, clipped the demon’s rib cage, and scattered into a milky translucent cloud. The hellion spun backwards with a bloodcurdling screech that forced my hands to my ears. A dark liquid splattered the air and sprayed hot on my face. The beast grabbed its side, stumbled. Another throaty snarl and it disappeared in a swirl of gravel that tornadoed up from the ground. What the—? I tried to lean forward but Gigantor’s arm held firm.
“Dude, she’s bleeding,” he whispered.
There was an empty second. Tristan and I said, “What?”
Holes in my sweatpants framed scuffed knees leaking crimson. My shirt felt sticky. I lifted it to expose a nasty looking gash in my side. Just great.
“Anything else wrong?” Tristan said.
“Uh, no, but—” Pain cracked the back of my head. I whimpered. My body lost all skeletal function and slumped like a deflated zeppelin.
Gigantor pulled me back against a chest so unyielding it could’ve been a stone wall except for the heart I felt pounding against my spine. “Dude, what the—?”
The Albino Ricky Racer skidded into view. “Did you see— Holy crap!” he choked. “What’d you do?”
A shroud of pain, muted voices arguing, someone calling my name. Then consciousness went AWOL.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I blinked. It hurt. I was on the floor of the gym. How? Why? Had Tristan and his pals dumped me here? Were they still around? An attempt to rise plunged what felt like a thousand needles into my skull. I waffled in and out of consciousness until muffled voices clawed through my perception. My lids pried open to a blurry sea of faces.
“Jayden’s right! She’s over here!”
Ouch. Too loud.
“Everyone back. Give her some room.” Coach Slader knelt beside me. “We’ll get you to the nurse.”
I sluggishly made it to my feet, but swayed when a wave of nausea hit. Someone scooped me up and carried me toward the door.
“Coach, I’m fi—” It wasn’t Coach. I squinted. “I know you?”
“Science.”
Long black hair swung away from a handsome face with dark brown, almond-shaped eyes, deep set with long lashes. Chiseled cheekbones, strong jaw. Exotic. And familiar.
“No, well, yes but I met you before.” Didn’t I?
“I get that a lot,” he said in a level tone.
Coach Slader caught up followed closely by a trail of curious students all as surprised as I at this turn of events. Coach spoke in a delicate voice, like he didn’t want to spook a dangerous animal. “Jayden, what are you doing?”
“She needs medical attention.” The guy didn’t pause stride.
“Yes, but—”
“I’m taking her to the nurse.”
“Okay, but—”
“She’s too weak to walk.”
I huffed. “I am not. Put me down.”
In one swift movement the boy stopped, dumped me on my feet and stepped back. My knees buckled and before you could say “Bob’s your uncle” he scooped me up again and kept walking. A chorus of giggles erupted behind us.
“See,” he said.
I put my arms around his neck and shut up.
***
“We’re on lockdown.” The school nurse snapped off her latex gloves. “Bear’s gone. Just means everyone stays inside until Animal Control deems it’s safe.”
In her gleaming, sterile smelling office she’d dressed my wounds with efficiency. Minor cuts and scrapes, cheese-grated knees, and a gouge in my side from a chunk of splintered bark. She’d let me wash up, given me fresh sweats and a brush to somewhat clear my hair of gag-worthy debris.
“I’ll have lunch brought over.”
“No, I’ll go to the cafeteria.”
Only a faint wobble when I got to my feet. I left my pant legs rolled up to keep the fabric off my knees. The fashion police could ticket me later.
“You shouldn’t be wandering alone.”
“I’ll take her.”
We both turned startled looks toward the doorway.
“Well, you are the one who found her, Jayden.” The nurse pushed her gloves through the swinging top of the trashcan and bit her lip. “But—”
“Really, I’m good as new. I can evaluate injuries. My dad’s—”
“The big city doctor.” She smiled. “I’ve heard good things. Fine, but you,” she pointed at Jayden, “make sure she gets there safely. And any problems, bring her right back.”
Jayden saluted but didn’t move when I reached the doorway.
“Did you perform a blood panel?” he asked the nurse. I paused, unsure I’d heard correctly. His expression was serious, hers taken aback.
“No.”
“Did you ascertain any irregularities with her injuries?”
She stared at him quizzically. “She needs food. If you’d rather not take her…”
His movement fluid, Jayden eased back and swept out a gallant arm. “After you.”
I brushed past and walked down the empty hall like I knew where I was going. Hadn’t a clue since I didn’t have the map and it wouldn’t have mattered if I did, I just wanted to get away from my off-a-bubble escort, but behind me Jayden’s sandals flapped a steady rhythm. After turning a multitude of corners and ending up nowhere, I faced him. He stopped with his hands behind his back and cocked a curious look.
