Demon Hunters 2: Retribution (Stand Alone Series) (Demon Hunters.) (12 page)

“Where are we going?” Scarlett asked.

“That’s none of your business.” Nathan gestured to the man behind Scarlett. “Deal with her.”

An arm encircled her, pinning her to the seat. Another hand appeared with a needle that was jabbed in her arm. Scarlett didn’t even have time to struggle, it happened so quickly. Then her vision blurred and she lost the struggle to stay alert.

Scarlett slowly woke. She kept her eyes tightly shut. She could sense demons somewhere nearby. Not close enough to smell them. All she could smell was a dusty, unused smell. She took inventory of herself as she lay there. Her ankles were bound, her hands tied behind her back. She could feel her mobile phone still tucked in her back pocket. She lay on her side on something soft yet lumpy, probably a mattress by the feel of it. She could hear no sounds other than her own soft breathing. She still wasn’t certain if she should open her eyes, but what choice did she have? She needed to find out where she was. She opened them slightly. The bright daylight made her want to close them again.

“I know you’re awake.”

Scarlett turned her head so she could see Nathan. “Where am I?”

“You aren’t in any position to demand answers.” Nathan came to stand over her. “Thirsty yet?” He held up a bottle of water and shook it.

Scarlett didn’t answer, even though the sounds of the water made her feel thirstier. She watched as Nathan carried it away from her sight and she struggled to sit up so she could see what was around her. Just about nothing. Nathan placed the water bottle on a chest of drawers as far from the bed as possible.

“Do you know what it’s like to dehydrate?” He stalked towards her. “Silent treatment? Doesn’t matter. It won’t change anything. Now where was I? Yes, dehydration. You’ll already have the early stages. Thirst. It will get worse as the minutes pass. I really wish I was going to be here to see it, but I have other things to do.”

“Like what?” She wished she could have thought of something better to say. A comment that would wipe the smug expression from Nathan’s face.

“Your cousin will be next. That’ll hurt Allie. She should have accepted my plans for her. It was her own stupidity she was in the situation to start with. You do something stupid, you should accept the consequences.”

She had once agreed with that comment. Well, a little. But it still annoyed her hearing him say it. “Being sacrificed to a demon isn’t a logical consequence for climbing into a stranger’s car.”

“Death is. And your death will be a replacement for hers. Have you heard how hard it is to die of dehydration? Some say it’s usually only the first few days that are the most difficult. Then the hallucinations can make things easier on you. But others say they can make things worse. If you’re lucky, you won’t last three days, but I’ve got a feeling you’ll probably manage ten. There won’t be much in your body by then that’s functioning properly. Dizziness and light-headedness will be the nicest symptoms. Muscle cramps, nausea and eventually vomiting, even if you have nothing to throw up. Difficulty breathing, seizures, chest pains. It all sounds so lovely, doesn’t it?” He smiled at her mockingly. “And now I’ll leave you to get on with it.”

His smile sent fear through her and she fought against it, reminding herself it was from his demon enhanced smile and not his words. But the fear had been building even before he’d smiled. “Where are the demons?” She was relieved she still sounded calm.

“Outside.”

Dehydration was probably the least of her problems then. “They’ll get me before the dehydration.” She wasn’t sure which would be worse.

Nathan laughed. “No getting out of it so easily. The entrances have been salted. So if you manage to get loose, I’d advise staying inside. There are three demons out there that are minor enough they can walk in the daylight.

She didn’t think a full day had passed. She was neither hungry nor thirsty enough for that. They had to be the demons they’d faced that morning. “Three? What happened to the fourth?” When Nathan ignored her and started to stride towards the door, Scarlett laughed. “I guess someone sent him back to hell.” Her satisfaction was short lived.

Nathan paused at the open door. “Goodbye, Scarlett. I can’t say it’s been nice knowing you, but I’m going to cherish the thought of how painful your death will be.” The door closed behind him.

Scarlett sagged against the bed and ignored the urge to call after Nathan. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been alone with demons. And no matter what she said, nothing would convince him to let her go. She’d have to find her own way out of this mess. She ignored the thought that kept returning uninvited. It was an impossible situation. She couldn’t let herself believe those words.

She heard a car drive away, a sinking sensation accompanying the sound. Had he left anyone other than the demons with her? There was only one way to find out. She lay on her side and struggled to draw her legs up and pull her tied arms around them. Eventually her hands were in front of her. She eyed the rope that tied her hands together and then brought it to her mouth. The rope was new and strong. Chewing through it was a slow and tedious process. Not to mention it tasted bad and made her thirstier. She spat bits of nylon onto the bed, determined to get through it. And then she was free, the rope falling uselessly to the bed. What she needed most was water.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and hopped to the chest of drawers. She checked the bottle of water and was relieved to see it had never been opened and there was no damage to the bottle. She had a mouthful and put the cap back on, trying to ignore how thirsty she was.

Focus. She had to focus. She looked at her ankles. Next task. Remove the ropes. Her eyes were drawn back to the water in her hand and she forced herself to place it carefully on the chest of drawers. She stared at it longer than she should, wanting to reach out and drink every last drop. But she didn’t know how long it would be before she could get more.

A quick check showed her the ropes were going to be difficult to untie. She decided to search the room to see if there was anything that could help.

Other than the bed, the drawers were all that was in the room. She slid them open one at a time. There were plenty of clothes and mice had made homes in some of the drawers. She swallowed the squeal that threatened to erupt when they scurried from the drawers. She found a box of matches, once the residents had been disturbed, but nothing else that was useful. Sitting on the floor, she fumbled at the ropes, taking longer than she liked to untie them. She needed to get out of this place before dark, but there was still a lot more to do before she could leave.

Second task completed, she thought as she rubbed feeling back into her ankles. Now what? She looked out the window as she tucked the matches into her pocket. Her phone. She pulled it out and found no coverage. But at least she knew the time. It was just after one in the afternoon.

“Think,” she muttered when her gaze was again drawn to the water bottle. She turned her back on it and assessed what she did have. A bottle of water, a handful of matches, her mobile phone and a small vial of holy water that she always carried on her. Not much at all.

She rubbed her wrist, warm from the demon mark. “The demons. Where are the demons?”

She tried the door. It was locked. Next she checked the window, careful not to disturb the line of salt across the ledge. The frame was nailed shut. She saw Pain, standing guard. Beyond him the land stretched out endlessly, filled with gum trees and browning grass, some of it waist high. Nothing else was visible. She was all alone in the middle of nowhere with only demons for company. Fear hit her anew and she grabbed the frame of the window to steady herself. She couldn’t give into the fear. That wouldn’t help her escape.

Scarlett took a deep breath. She didn’t know where she was, but she couldn’t go anywhere until she’d dealt with the demons. The next task had to be praying out loud. She could do that.

It took an hour of praying to get rid of one demon. Luckily it looked like the demon had been told to stay within view of her or it wouldn’t have worked. Scarlett sat on the bed and took a couple of small sips from the water bottle. Her stomach grumbled, but she ignored it. Hunger wasn’t as bad as thirst and she was managing to ignore it. Kind of. She placed the bottle on the chest of drawers, her fingers still wrapped around it.

Dizziness. Light-headedness. They didn’t have to be dehydration. Hunger caused them too. Her fingers tightened on the bottle as her breath caught in her throat. Difficulty breathing. That was a symptom. No. She let out a shuddering breath. Not yet. Panic also caused that. And she wouldn’t panic. She’d been taught better than that. She had to focus.

There were still two demons to go and neither of them were close enough. She had thirteen hours to get rid of the other two demons and find somewhere safe before the next demon or demons were called at three a.m.

She needed to get closer to the demons so her prayers would be effective. She forced shaky legs to work as she rose and looked out the window. Why hadn’t she had something to eat before she went demon hunting instead of planning to eat afterwards?

Pressing her face against the dusty window so she could see most of her surroundings didn’t help. She couldn’t see either of the demons. She checked the room. There was nothing that could be used as an effective weapon. Looking through the dusty glass again she saw a tree limb that would make a reasonable staff. It was a little crooked on one end and the middle slightly bent, but it would do the job.

She pulled a drawer out and tipped the clothes and mice onto the floor, doing an odd sort of dance as she tried to avoid the mice that scampered frantically across the floor until they found another hiding space. A pity finding her own safety wouldn’t be as easy.

Tightening her grip on the drawer she crossed the room and swung it at the glass of the window. Careful of the salt line, she knocked out the jagged shards with the corner of the drawer. She needed to have somewhere to retreat to if things were more than she could handle. Tossing the drawer onto the bed, she vaulted outside and grabbed the tree limb. Walking around the side of the house, she scanned the area.

“This better be worth it,” she muttered. Alex had to be safe. And Riley and Blake. She pushed them from her mind, focusing on her surroundings.

The house was an old Queenslander on stumps about forty centimetres out of the ground, the paint long since peeled away. Then she saw him. Misery. He came at her, claws extended and Scarlett raised her staff to block, her lips already forming a prayer. The demon continued with his relentless attacks. Scarlett met each one and wished she had her sword, or any blessed weapon. Holy water would have worked just as well as having a weapon blessed by a priest, but she didn’t have enough for a staff.

Then the second demon joined in and Scarlett found herself being driven away from the house. She desperately tried to manoeuvre herself back towards it, but had no luck. The other demon, Anguish, managed to cut her arm with his claws and she hissed at the pain. She kept praying and nearly shouted in relief when, with a roar, Misery burst into flames, returning to the place he came from. That left only Anguish, but Scarlett was tiring fast. The tree limb was a lot heavier than a sword.

“You don’t look too good, hunter,” Anguish taunted.

Scarlett forced herself to stand firm, makeshift staff held ready. She felt blood trickle down her arm. “The odds are more even now.”

Anguish laughed, the sound chilling in the heat of the late afternoon. He launched himself at her and she was driven further from the house. He smiled and took a couple of steps away from her. He held her eyes for a moment before he stared at the ground.

Scarlett looked down to see the dark spots on the earth. Her mouth opened, then snapped closed. She dropped the staff and ran towards the room. She nearly made it. The moment the demon consumed the drops of her blood from the ground pain tore through her and she dropped to one knee. She made herself push through the pain and staggered to her feet again. Grabbing the window ledge, she pulled herself inside, her teeth gritted against the agony that tore through her.

Forcing herself back to the window ledge, she smoothed the salt into a continuous line before she collapsed on the dusty floorboards. A scream was torn from her and she clutched her stomach. Her demon mark burned as the power of the demon increased. A pity it wasn’t enough of a power gain to banish him from the day. She crawled towards the chest of drawers and pulled the bottom one out, a sob of pain escaping. Dumping the clothes on the floor, she ignored the mouse that scurried away, pulling the vial of holy water from her jeans. She forced her hand to stay steady. There was only a few millilitres of holy water so she couldn’t afford to spill them.

Taking a deep breath, she sipped from the vial, putting the lid back on before she collapsed over the drawer. Intense burning pain shot through her and she gagged, bringing up most of the water she’d drunk earlier, streaks of blood through it.

She collapsed onto her back and panted as she tried to fight past the lingering pain. She felt drained and wanted to sleep, but she couldn’t. Rolling to her side, she nearly cried when she saw the blood trail that marked her progress from the window to the drawer.

“Des, if ever I could have done with a demon to call on, it would have been now. I could really do with some help… Jesse.” Her voice was barely a whisper. She closed her eyes, and took in a shuddering breath. She really hoped she wasn’t the only reason Des had chosen to become human.

Opening her eyes, Scarlett forced herself to sit up. There would be no help. No one knew where she was. She didn’t even know where she was. She was on her own. Her body shook with the exertion. Looking at the time on her phone, she groaned. Nearly five o’clock. About two hours until sunset. Then she’d be alone in the dark with a demon. She had to get rid of him before then.

First she had to make sure he couldn’t get more of her blood. Looking through the clothes, she found the cleanest one and used it to bind her arm tightly. She tried not to think about the dust and mouse droppings she’d shaken from it. Then she tore off a piece of a shirt and dampened it with her precious water, using it to clean the blood droplets she’d left on the wooden floor. Looking out the window, she searched for more blood. There was none. Relieved, she sagged against the window frame. There was no time to rest.

Straightening, she saw Anguish standing far enough back that prayers wouldn’t help. She’d have to go out there again. Throwing the rag in the drawer, that contained the rest of her blood, she took a mouthful of water and climbed carefully outside. Her staff was on the ground past the demon. That wouldn’t help her. She warily moved along the wall of the house. Anguish continued to watch her. She came to another window and peered inside. It was a lounge room. A dusty couch that was now a rodent motel sat along one wall, a broken coffee table in front of it. A cabinet sat along the opposite wall. Sitting on it was a bowl, filled with fake fruit and covered in dust.

She tried the window. It didn’t budge. Picking up a rock, she tossed it at the glass and quickly grabbed another to remove the last of the shards. A glance at Anguish showed he hadn’t moved. Why hadn’t he moved? What was he planning?

She didn’t know and couldn’t wait around to find out. She had to come up with her own plan. Climbing in the window, she avoided the broken glass on the floor, then leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Her body was still shaky from the earlier pain.

Scarlett wandered through the house until she found the kitchen. Going straight to the sink, she turned on the tap. A shudder went through the pipes and a couple of drops of rusty water landed in the stained sink before the pipes shuddered again. Scarlett automatically turned off the tap and surveyed the kitchen. There was no furniture in here. The linoleum was brittle and lifted in the corners, the cupboard doors hung open and a couple were missing. She opened drawers and looked through cupboards.

She found a handful of cutlery, some broken crockery, a partly rusted tin that had leaked some of its contents, a bag of salt that was new enough to have been left by Nathan and a bone handled carving knife with a dull edge.

She took the knife to the sink and dribbled some of the holy water over the blade. Picking up the half full bag of salt she went looking for the room she’d been locked in. The key was in the lock and she turned it, letting the door swing open. Picking up the bottle of water she had another mouthful before she checked her phone again. Still no coverage. And it was nearly five-thirty. Time was running out. She had to move faster.

Running back to the kitchen she tried the back door. It swung open with a groan of protest. Seeing there was no handle on the outside, Scarlett put the rusted tin in front of the door to keep it open. The bag of salt in one hand, the knife in the other, she walked down the two steps and rushed around to the other side of the house. Scarlett froze when she noticed Anguish had come closer. She quickly poured a salt circle on the ground, about two metres in diameter, and dropped the bag of salt in the middle. She grimaced at the circle of salt that surrounded her. Sometimes you had to use whatever was at hand, regardless of personal feelings. Salt was used by summoners, not hunters. She thought of Blake. Well, not most hunters. She straightened and her gaze sought out Anguish.

Ignoring the tremble of exhaustion that threatened to make her limbs collapse, she strode towards him, reluctant to leave the salt circle. Hopefully she wouldn’t need to retreat to it. “Go home, demon and save yourself some pain.”

“You will be the one to feel the pain, hunter.” Anguish laughed as Scarlett held her knife in front of her. “You might as well hold a toothpick.”

“Come and see what I can do with my toothpick.”

The demon threw himself at her and she whirled away, striking with the knife as she did, only years of practice keeping her going. She grinned at the hiss of pain from him. Beckoning him forward with her left hand, she kept the right ready to strike with the knife.

“Didn’t feel so good, did it demon?” Scarlett struck again as the demon attacked and jumped out of the way at the last second. “Let’s see if we can make that holy water in your system really burn.” She started to pray and had to leap out of the way as the demon attacked her with a bellow of rage and pain.

If the demon lasted too long, Scarlett didn’t know how she’d keep her body going. Hunger, thirst, exertion and pain were not a good mix. She stumbled and the demon’s claws caught her right shoulder. She hissed at the pain, but kept praying. She stood, half out of breath, each word an effort as she faced the demon and waited for his next move.

He threw himself at her, his arms outstretched. She tried to twist out of the way, but she wasn’t quick enough and the steel arms bound her in place. They squeezed as she fought to continue her prayer. There was a flash of light, a burning pain swamped her body and the arms around her dissolved. She collapsed onto the ground her hand still clutching the knife.

She lay there, unable to move as her breath came in gasps. Her eyes closed as a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She had to move, but her limbs didn’t want to obey. Her eyes opened and she noticed how low the sun was. Even that wasn’t enough to make her move. She felt blood, from the cut on her shoulder, trickle towards the earth. That did make her move. Sitting up wearily, she wiped at it with her hand, then cleaned her hand on the front of her black singlet. She looked on the ground and saw one dark spot. Scooping it up she staggered to her feet. Dizziness hit her and she swayed on the spot until she could bring herself to move. Every step towards the house was an effort. Only her will kept each foot moving. She knew the window would be beyond her so she went the long way round through the kitchen.

Once she was in the bedroom again, she wiped the blood and dirt on another rag and dropped it in the drawer. Picking up the bottle of water, she forced herself to stop at one mouthful. It was hard when that mouthful did very little to quench the thirst that raged through her. Checking the cut on her shoulder she grimaced when she realised it would need to be bound. Gingerly she searched for another piece of clothing and bound her shoulder, forcing from her mind how many germs inhabited the rag. It was better than leaving blood for demons to consume. A million times better.

Scarlett picked up the drawer and the bottle of water before heading outside. She quickly built a small fire in a dusty part of the yard using broken slats from under the house, and when it was large enough, added the drawer with her blood. She wasn’t going to leave it lying around for other demons. She checked the time on her phone. About fifteen minutes until dark. It had taken far too long to fight the demon and clean up.

Scarlett looked around, uncertain which direction would take her to civilisation the quickest. “I really could have used co-ordinates right about now, Des,” she muttered, her voice little more than a croak. “Jesse.” She sighed. It was still hard to remember to call him Jesse all the time. She looked around again. Every direction seemed the same. She took another mouthful of water and looked at the level in the bottle. Half full. She hunted outside the house until she found a tap. Nothing came out of it. More searching revealed a corrugated iron water tank on a stand, partly rusted out. There’d be no water here. Not unless it rained and the clear skies indicated that was unlikely. Swaying on her feet, she continued to stare at the sky, the light rapidly fading. She had to move.

It took long moments for her body to obey, before she could stumble over to the fire. Once she was satisfied her blood was burned beyond demon use, she spread it out so it’d die down quicker and kicked dirt over some of the embers. She wished she had water to put it out fully, but she didn’t. Nor did she have the time to stand around and watch it. The last of the daylight was disappearing.

She grabbed the nearly empty bag of salt, glanced at the water bottle and knife in her hands, thought of the mobile phone, holy water and matches in her pockets and wondered how she was going to manage with so few items. She had to decide on a direction before it was too dark to choose. Moving away from the house she walked the perimeter. There were three tracks leading from the area. She didn’t know which one to use. They all looked to be in similar condition. Each showed signs of recent use with tyre marks cutting through the long grass.

She sighed and chose the one leading away from the front of the house. The last of the light faded as she started to walk along the track. The moon was nowhere to be seen and Scarlett hoped it wasn’t a new moon. She had better than average eyesight in the dark, but even she couldn’t see on a pitch-black night. She forced her feet to follow the ruts in the dirt, one foot in front of the other. Stumbling, she barely managed to catch her balance in time. She didn’t think she could’ve risen if she’d landed on the ground.

Pressing her hand against her stomach she tried to ignore the hollow feeling from hunger. She swallowed, her mouth dry, and had another mouthful of water. Moving forward, she lost track of time as she plodded along until she noticed the grass that had been bent over in the middle of the two ruts, suddenly standing upright ahead of her. No vehicle had gone beyond here recently. She looked around and saw the broken grass and tyre tracks where a vehicle had turned around and gone back along the track towards the house.

She breathed in deep and forced herself to turn back the way she had come. Despair threatened to swamp her. She refused to give in. Her body wanted her to drop to the ground and curl up, never to move again. She forced it to co-operate. The time on her phone said it was nine-thirty when she arrived back at the house and had another mouthful of water. Five and a half hours until more demons were sent after her. She closed her eyes and swayed on her feet. She wanted to rest. Even ten minutes, but she knew those ten minutes would rapidly become hours.

Since she was at the house, she checked the fire and was relieved to see it had completely burned out. Her fingers went to her cross. “God help me. I don’t think I can go much further.”

She staggered to the house and leaned against the wall. Her arms hung limply at her sides, dropping the water bottle, salt and knife to the ground. Her eyes closed and her body trembled. She knew she had to keep moving, but she was so tired. Beyond tired. Beyond exhausted. She didn’t know how her body had kept going this long.

Opening her eyes, she looked at the items at her feet. She had to find another way to carry them. The salt could stay. Her mind sluggishly discarded ideas until she settled on a suitable one. Staggering inside the house, she returned to the room and tore up another garment. She used the strips to tie the knife and water bottle to the belt loops in her jeans.

She forced herself to the next track. Exhaustion dragged at her and she tried to pray for strength. Fear skittered through her when she could think of no words. Never before had she been at a loss for words to pray. Relief washed over her as the Lord’s Prayer came to mind, each word accompanied by another step forward. She had barely gone twenty metres when she heard the sound of a vehicle. She looked around. Lights bounced along the third track. Scarlett moved off the track she was on in the direction of the lights. Then froze. Light didn’t mean rescue. She crouched in the long grass, glad to take a break, no matter the reason. Her body trembled even harder and she relented and lay in the grass. What did it matter? She probably couldn’t get up from a crouch either.

She heard the engine stop and doors open. There was silence. She waited. Then she heard cursing and recognised Nathan’s voice. Her hands tightened into fists and adrenaline rushed through her. She wanted to run blindly from her hiding place. She forced her limbs to relax slightly and came up in a crouch.

“Spread out! She can’t be far,” Nathan ordered.

Scarlett watched as six men, highlighted by the headlights, headed in different directions. She dropped to her hands and knees so she was below the top of the grass. She began to crawl towards the track Nathan had driven along. Rocks and sticks dug into her knees and palms. She ignored them. Something scurried through the grass in front of her and she smothered the shriek that nearly escaped.

“It didn’t slither,” she whispered. “It didn’t slither.” She took a deep breath and forced herself forward. She froze as a beam of light wandered across the grass in front of her and pressed her body against the dirt. The light meandered around the area and then moved on. Taking another shaky breath, she got back on her hands and knees, slowly crawling forward as her heart beat rapidly and her mouth felt drier than ever.

She started to pray under her breath again. A tear trickled down her cheek and she wiped it away. She refused to give in to more. Seeing the ruts of the track ahead of her, she shrunk back from them. They were too exposed. She turned in the direction they headed and continued to crawl through the long grass. She froze when she heard Nathan’s voice ring out in the still night.

“Back to the van. We’ll be able to track her at three. Can you hear me, Scarlett? You can’t escape. Did you think you could get rid of all the demons and I wouldn’t know? You’ll be mine again soon. I’ve got handcuffs this time. Think you can get out of them?”