Demon Hunters (21 page)

“I don’t blame you.”

“What?”

“I know I said some things the other night
and maybe at first I did blame you, and I’m not saying you aren’t
totally at fault here, but I don’t think I can really hold you
completely responsible for Tyler. Maybe it was for the best. I
can’t imagine how horrible it was living with that curse for so
long. I remember once he told me about how hard it was for him,”
She crumpled the napkins up and tossed them aside and bowed her
head quickly. “It was a month or so before he left us. He got me up
in the middle of the night in tears. He told me how much it hurt
and how he wished he could be free. We talked and before long, he
told me that he had been thinking about taking his own life. He was
in pain, Jake, and as well as he looked, I think he was still in
pain.”

“Gwen.”

“No. I truly believe he’s happier now. Don’t
you?”

“You’re asking the wrong guy. I cashed in my
faith in the supposed afterlife a long time ago. Don’t get me
wrong. I believe in Heaven and Hell, but only because I know they
exist. I can give you their addresses. Getting into one or the
other does not cure your problems. There is a whole new set of
issues to deal with after you get there, believe me,” I could tell
my pep talk wasn’t lifting Gwen’s spirits as I had intended. “But,
I’m sure wherever Tyler is, he’s better off.” I looked back into
Gwen’s face. She was looking at me as if waiting for a life
preserver. I understood her need. There was so much no one knew
about what happens after we die. I was lucky to have some bit of
insight, but not near enough to calm Gwen’s fears.

“You really don’t get this comfort thing, do
you?”

“No, I don’t. Sorry.” A small crack of a
smile appeared on her face, which relieved me. Suddenly, a sharp
gust of cold wind blew past us. I wouldn’t have thought too much of
it, except the city had been experiencing a heating trend for the
past few weeks. A familiar chill ran up my spine and the hairs on
the back of my neck shot out like daggers. My phone began to ring
and I answered.

“What?”

“You need to get down here. Now.”

An hour later we were walking up to
Demonica’s shop in Devil Town. Everything seemed all right. We
hurried into the shop. Ivar was waiting for us.

“What is it?” Ivar turned his head toward
the back room where Demonica gave readings. I made my way in. I
peered inside and there she was. Demonica was sitting in the
corner, shivering. I knelt down to meet her eyes.

“Demonica? What’s going on?”

“They were here.”

“Who?”

“The Reborn. They came for the dagger.”

“Did they get it? Where is it?” Demonica
reached into her robe and slowly pulled the dagger out and held it
out to me.

“Were you able to neutralize it?”

“Not yet. The Reborn barged in here in the
middle of the last rite.”

“Well, can you start it again?”

“No! You need to get this thing out of here!
Now!”

“We can’t.”

“Don’t you understand? They know where the
dagger is now and they certainly know what you’re planning! It’s
not safe here anymore! Take it!” She pushed the dagger back into my
arms. I heard a loud crash and Gwen screamed. I ran out to discover
a large hulking creature standing before a large hole in the wall.
It was similar to the monster that had crashed into my office. Its
face had no trace of any humanity with its glowing red eyes and the
razor sharp teeth jutting out from its mouth.

Ivar had Gwen in his arms shielding her from
the falling debris. The creature slowly turned towards me and once
I was in its eyesight, it changed its posture. It hunched down,
stabbing its claws into the floorboards. With a low growl, it
stalked forward and then it jumped up at me. Its full weight hit me
square in my stomach and pushed me into the floor. I looked up and
saw it rise up with its arm held high over its head. Just as the
creature brought down his giant fist to flatten my head, I managed
to free my own hand and hold it at bay. I shut my eyes and
concentrated. I felt the power well up in my belly and I felt a
surge. I bucked up and the monster flew off me, bringing down a
large portion of the roof with him. I staggered up and turned to
Ivar who was still shielding Gwen.

“Get her the Hell out of here! Now!” I heard
the monster gather itself up and it came rushing at me again. It
slammed into me and buried me in the wall. It pushed and ground me
deeper into the wood and cement. I could hear Gwen screaming behind
the chaos of the falling lights and wood. My fingers began to
tingle. It was a familiar sensation and I knew what was
happening.

Suddenly, I felt fire pour out from within
my head and out into the world. Heat was searing my flesh from the
inside and I lost all feeling in my body. I could feel my teeth
clench together and my fingers dug into the monster’s shoulder. I
yelled out and the voice that rang out was not my own. It was a
voice as powerful as thunder. I pushed and the monster fell back
again. I turned and saw my reflection in a broken mirror
nearby.

My eyes were bright and giving off a silver
glow. My body had bulked out and I could feel the pressure of my
growing muscles pushing against my skin. My hands were large with
bloody claws jutting out of my fingers and a dark aura inflamed my
body. The demon had awoken. I looked over at Gwen and Ivar. He
didn’t seem surprised as he had seen me like that before, but
Gwen’s face was frozen in some kind of mix of fear and pity.

I returned my attention to the beast. It was
lumbering up to get its footing. I charged forward and hit it hard.
I pushed it down and starting beating it furiously. I rhythmically
plunged my hands down on the monster’s flesh over and over. The
walls shook each time I connected and it screamed out in what I
could only assume was pain. It found an open moment and it clipped
me pretty good and knocked me back. It leapt up and landed flat on
me. My sight was filled with nothing but a glowing silver light and
then darkness.

I awoke in the midst of the rubble of the
store. The monster was gone, but Ivar and Gwen were still there. I
got up and noticed my clothes were torn and burnt. I also noticed a
great deal of police officers swarming around. Ivar came up to
me.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine. Where is that thing?”

“You fought it off, but then I blacked out.
I don’t know what happened after that.”

“What about Demonica?” I then realized the
dagger, which she had given me, was missing. “The dagger! It’s
gone!”

“Mr. Corba?” One of the officers said. He
indicated me to join him. I learned a long time ago it was easier
to just play along with the police than argue. I walked over to him
and I saw it. A body was lying on the floor. “Sir, can you identify
this person?”

“I can,” Gwen’s voice said from behind. I
turned to see her standing behind me. Her face was white as a sheet
and tears were pouring down her face. “That’s my brother.
Tyler.”

Scene Of The Crimes

Gwen was in the corner crying as Ivar tried
to comfort her. I was surrounded by police at the other end of the
store. My hands were cuffed and two guns were pointed at my head as
Detective Lowell was questioning me.

“And how do you know the deceased?”

“He was a friend.”

“How long did you know him?”

“Not long. Look, I’ve been answering your
questions for twenty minutes. How about you answer one of mine?
What happened here?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out
ourselves. We received a call about a disturbance at this address
and when we arrived we found you here and the dead body over there.
What were you two fighting about?”

“Nothing! That wasn’t the guy I was
fighting!”

“Then whom were you fighting with?”

“You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

“Some great big, rotting behemoth. It
crashed in here and we fought. It threw me around a little and I
blacked out. When I woke up, all this was happening. Tyler over
there was already dead. He was killed days ago in Blue Haven.”

“Killed?”

“By someone else. Jackal Bledsoe.”

“Did you report the murder?”

“No.”

“Why not? You are aware it’s a crime not to
report a murder.”

“It was late and there were unique
circumstances.”

“Such as?”

“Tyler was a werewolf. He was a werewolf and
a homicidal warlock killed him. I was thinking it was going to be
kind of hard to report that.”

“A werewolf and a warlock.” I was almost
certain he was going to break out the straightjacket right
there.

“I know that to you it sounds crazy.”

“It does, but for now, can you explain how
his body is here with your fingerprints on it”

“What? Jackal killed him! We buried him
right there in Blue Haven, for god’s sake!”

“We?”

“Me and his sister. Gwen.” Detective Lowell
turned his head and looked over at her. She was still bawling into
Ivar’s arms. He looked back at me.

“Well, whatever the case may be, we have a
body here and it appears to be a fresh kill. You’re the only
suspect as your fingerprints are the only ones on the body and we
found this gun,” He held up one of my silver guns. I realized then
my holster was empty. I began to wonder exactly how long I was out.
“...And I’m willing to bet a shot from this will explain how our
victim got that hole in his chest.”

“Just let me go and I’ll find some way to
straighten this whole thing out.”

“That’s not going to happen. We’ll be
keeping you in custody until forensics comes in here and we can get
a clear picture of what happened. What really happened.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Don’t push me! I haven’t even gotten around
to the missing person charge.”

“Missing person?”

“Store owner. Seems she was here, but we
can’t find her anywhere. Maybe you got some idea where she
went?”

“If I had anything to do with that, why am I
here now?” He looked at me with his sharp eyes. It was almost as if
I could hear him thinking.

“I don’t know. I get a lot of calls from
this area and everytime it’s always some weird thing. I’ve come to
expect the unexpected. Maybe you’re working some angle. Maybe
you’re just stupid. Either way, I’m going to find out.” Detective
Lowell stepped away and walked over toward Gwen. I watched them
talk. I couldn’t hear a word either of them was saying. I looked
down at my hands and the small set of cuffs that connected them.
They didn’t seem very sturdy. I figured at least one good jerk
would snap them off.

“Don’t.” I looked up and Ivar was standing
before me.

“What?”

“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it.
It’ll only make things worse.”

“Demonica and the dagger are both missing
and Tyler’s dead body has landed back in our laps. So far I’m up on
kidnapping and murder one. How much worse can it get?” Ivar turned
from me and looked toward Gwen who was still being questioned. Her
eyes were red as fire. She was probably dying all over again,
seeing Tyler’s lifeless body right before her eyes.

“I know you’re innocent and so does Gwen.
I’ll get back to the office and find out what I can. Until then,
just play along and don’t stir anything up.”

“How? You think they’re just going to let
you waltz out of here?”

“Why not? They haven’t seen me.”

“What are you talking about? They’ve all
seen...” I began and then I saw two uniforms walk past Ivar without
so much as blinking. I looked up at him.

“Old mind masking trick I picked up a long
time ago. I’ll be in touch.” He calmly walked right out what was
left of the front door. I looked back over to Gwen. Lowell was
walking away toward the back. Gwen looked over at me like I was an
alien. I couldn’t quite translate her emotion. There was anger and
rage but also a bitter sadness. She came over to me as soon as
Lowell let her go.

“Gwen.”

“What was that?”

“What?”

“When you turned into that monster! What the
Hell was that?”

“Oh. That.” I realized Gwen didn’t know
about me. For all our conversations, I never got around to telling
her that I was possessed.

“Yeah! You just hulked out there.”

“The thing is; I’m kind of possessed.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a long story, but the Cliff’s Notes
version is I have a demon inside of me and when certain things
happen, it kind of takes over. It’s something I’ve had my whole
life. It’s totally in control, but when some big monster starts
pounding me, it can get a little crazy. It doesn’t always come out
like that, though.” Her face blanked on me.

“You’re possessed.”

“Yes.”

“By a demon.”

“Correct.”

“I want to say I don’t believe you, but
after seeing what I saw, I can’t.”

“I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this
before?”

“I meant to at first, but it kept slipping
my mind.”

“Could you just give me a second to take
this in?” She turned away from me. I could see she was thinking
hard about something. I found it interesting how other people could
look upon something so common, such as demonic possession, as
unusual.

After a long while, she finally turned back
to face me. “This demon. It doesn’t get you to kill people or
anything, does it?”

“No! You don’t think I had anything to do
with this, do you?”

“Of course not! I was there the first time,
remember?”

“So, you’re good?”

“This is just a lot to absorb.”

Gwen sat down by me and her eyes landed upon
Tyler’s corpse in the middle of the room.

“What is going on?” She asked.

“I don’t know.”

“You were sure he was dead?”

“Yes. I guess Jackal dug him back up
and...”