Demon Hunters (27 page)

“How’d you do that?”

“I’m good with machines.”

The elevator arrived and the door opened. It
was a rickety thing, but we got in anyway. I mashed the button to
go down and it slowly, and loudly, began its descent. The
screeching of its rusty gears and worn cables almost drowned out
the chattering of the monsters above us. Soon, they were jumping
down onto the elevator, swiping at us and clawing to get our flesh.
Suddenly, the cable carrying the elevator snapped and we fell the
rest of the way.

The doors flew open as it hit the ground and
we both tumbled out. We ran for the creek. It looked to be at a
good level. Deep enough for what was required. I had the dagger and
I was just a few feet from it when I felt pressure hit my back. It
was Jackal. His eyes were crazed as he clamped down on my arms with
one hand and slashed at my face with the other. His fingernails
were like Samurai swords. He began laughing with every blow. The
sky was completely black and small droplets of red were hammering
down on us.

“Jake!” I looked over. Gwen was just yards
away. I threw the dagger over to her and grabbed onto Jackal. Gwen
picked the dagger up and raced to the creek. Jackal broke free of
my grip and he was almost on top of Gwen when she tripped. She fell
forward, letting go of the dagger and sending it flying through the
air. It landed with a loud plunk into the water. Jackal stopped and
let out an unnatural shriek. He began scratching at his skin like a
maniac.

“It burns! Oh god! Get it out! Get it out!”
He cried as he clawed at his own flesh. Blood trickled from his
skin and the black liquid I had seen him suck up, spilled out and
seeped away someplace.. He writhed around in agony as the water in
the creek began to bubble like a hot tub. The dark clouds above
began to part, revealing a clear, starry night, and Jackal finally
fell to the ground and slowly returned to normal. The zombie
creatures that had been chasing us fell to the ground in dusty
heaps.

I shambled over to Jackal. He was out cold.
I checked for a pulse, just in case. It was weak, but it was there.
I went over and helped Gwen up to her feet. I looked her in her
eyes and I was surprised to see her smiling.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m great,” Jackal mumbled something. We
both turned to him. He was still out cold, but it seemed he was
having some kind of flashback or nightmare. “What about him?”

“He’ll live.” I picked Jackal up and walked
back to the elevator, which lay in complete destruction.

“Great. How are we going to get out of
here?” I looked around and I noticed a small staircase built into
the cliff. Gwen gave a huff of disapproval. I secured Jackal over
my shoulder and we started up.

We finally made it to the top and Jackal was
still out of commission. We trudged back to the car. I found some
rope in the trunk and tied Jackal up and dumped him in the back
seat. Gwen mentioned that she thought she might like to stretch out
back there on the way home at some point, so I transferred him to
the trunk and we were on our way.

As we passed through town and headed back to
the interstate, Gwen put her hand on my leg. I looked over at her
to see her smiling at me.

“What’s that for?”

“You were great back there.”

“I did what I could. How about you and that
elevator thing? Nice stuff there.”

“Thanks. So, what are we going to do about
your situation?”

“What situation?”

“You’re still wanted by the police.”

“It’ll be fine. We’ve got Jackal and when he
wakes up, he’ll be able to tell the police the truth about all of
this and I’ll be back to being only a minor public threat.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, they already know I didn’t kidnap or
harm Demonica. Jackal can clear me as far as Tyler’s concerned and
as far as I know, it’s not illegal to run from the law when you’re
innocent.”

“What if he doesn’t talk?”

“He will. Trust me.”

“So that’s it? We’re done?”

“Yup. Case closed,” Then a little bit of
reality began to creep in. “What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. I guess I could go back to
Blue Haven. My house is probably still a mess, but
salvageable.”

“That’s an option.”

“Did you have something else in mind?” I
looked over at her and in the glint of her eyes, I saw a reflection
of Tyler and I felt the guilt come back up to haunt me. Whatever
good was done, I still felt responsible for Tyler’s death and the
pain I caused Gwen.

“I don’t know.”

The Return

When we got back into town, we were pulled
over by a police cruiser almost instantaneously. It seemed like an
alert had gone off in every police car in the county the minute we
crossed the city limits. We were escorted back to police
headquarters where we received a lukewarm reception from Detective
Reynolds. It took some doing and a lot of shouting, but I finally
convinced her to listen to reason. I explained again what happened
and I was able to force a little truth out of Jackal. He confessed
to everything, after I threatened to never release him from the
trunk, and I was cleared of all charges, much to Reynolds’
chagrin.

She also informed me that once Ivar’s trick
had worn off, he had been taken into custody. She took me to the
holding cells where he was meditating quietly in a dark cell. As
the door opened, his eyes flinched. He quickly came to and stood to
his full height. I could see the corner of his mouth twitch
slightly. His version of a smile.

“You are alive.” He said, almost
surprised.

“Yeah, we scraped by. Gwen’s fine too.”

“You destroyed the dagger?”

“Yeah. I’ll tell you all about it later.
Right now I just want to get home and sleep for a thousand
years.”

“Understood.”

We met with Gwen in the lobby and she seemed
rather happy to see Ivar. She tried to give him a hug, but as
usual, it was like hugging a tree. He just stood there, ramrod
straight, as she tried to get her arms around his frame. She gave
up and merely offered him a gentle pat on his arm.

“As it stands, Corba, you’re free to go, but
just so you know, I’m going to be keeping an eye on you,” Detective
Reynolds said. “You’re a troublemaker. I don’t like
troublemakers.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Detective. It would
seem people like me keep people like you in business,” I said with
a smirk. “Did you ever check out that Dr. Zucker?” Samantha’s eyes
darted away from me.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“He doesn’t remember signing anything for
Jackal. He doesn’t even remember going to the asylum to see him,
but we have him on the security cameras meeting with Jackal. He was
volunteering some of his time there, though. The best we can figure
is that he was under some kind of influence. We tested him, but
there were no drugs in his system, but according to some of our
more specialized investigators, he did carry some traits of some
kind of mind control. Hypnotism, most likely.”

“Sounds about right.” I said with a deep
satisfaction. Detective Reynolds looked back at me, supremely
pissed. She was clearly a woman who did not like to be proven
wrong. Not really an exclusive trait.

“I’ll see you around, Corba.” She turned and
walked away.

“I’m sure.”

We stepped out of the precinct. It was a
clear, crisp day. Despite what we had been through, I felt rather
energized and oddly happy. I looked over and saw Jackal being
helped into the back of an ambulance. He was strapped into a
wheelchair and seemed to be giving his caregivers a real hard
time.

“Hold on.” I said to Gwen and Ivar and
hurried over to Jackal. I could see the orderlies were about ready
to smash his head in with a bedpan, but I quickly diffused the
situation.

“Take five, boys.”

“Watch him, man. He’s wiry.” One of the
orderlies said as they stepped back. I looked down at Jackal. His
wounds hadn’t healed as quickly as mine had. He just looked up at
me with his crazy eyes and sick grin.

“You look pretty happy with yourself.
Considering you’re heading back to another round of electroshock
treatments. I was just wondering, since you were big enough to
confess everything else, you think you could tell me how you
suckered Zucker into getting you out of the looney bin?” Jackal’s
grin just tightened even more. “Did you hear me?” Jackal just began
to giggle and spit at me.

“He had a weak mind, Zucker. I don’t know
why he signed to get me out. It just happened.”

“You told me the Reborn got you out. Did
they arrange it with Zucker?”

“I don’t know, Corba! And even if I did, why
would I tell you?”

“I don’t know, Jackal. Maybe some goodwill?”
I locked my eyes onto his. I could feel them squirming in my head
and suddenly Jackal started going nuts and thrashed around. The
orderlies rushed over and stabbed a syringe into his neck. Within
seconds, he was out like a light.

“Sorry. When he gets like that, knocking him
out is all we can do.”

“It’s fine. I’ll catch him later.” I went on
back to the car where Ivar and Gwen were waiting.

“What did he have to say?”

“He didn’t know anything, or at least
claimed as much. It could be he was nothing more than a pawn. It’s
no big deal.”

“We should really find out for sure.”

“We’ll come to that when we come to it. For
now, we are closed for business.”

Parting Ways

Ivar had gone on to his home while Gwen and
I took some well-deserved naps at mine. I woke up close to six and
stepped out of my room to see that she was already awake and had
gotten a modest little dinner set up on the table. It was just a
bowl of pasta and a green salad. Simple, but not unappreciated.

“Thanks.” As I sat down, she set a plate in
front of me and slopped a healthy spoonful of noodles on it.

“I got up a few hours ago and I felt the
need to do something. I also cleaned your fridge.” She said as she
served herself a helping of pasta.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. I wanted to. By the way, do you
ever clean that thing? I found something in there that I think had
a pulse.” She asked. I put my hand to my mouth to keep my mouthful
of pasta from spraying out as I laughed unexpectedly. I swallowed
quickly and took a sip of water from a nearby glass.

“I knew I missed something. I guess you can
tell I’m not exactly Donna Reed.”

“No kidding.”

“Look, after dinner, we can get on the road
and get you back to Blue Haven. Cool?”

“Sure.”

We ate in relative silence with only a few
spurts of conversation here and there. We were both careful to
avoid the big subject. My eyes would meet hers and she would look
away and vice versa. I was about to get up my nerve to speak, but
something in me told me to stop. It wasn’t the demon. It was
something else. Something deeper.

“It’s really silly for you to drive me all
the way back. I can just take a bus or get a flight.”

“It’s fine. I know the way now. I think I
can get you there before dawn.”

Gwen smiled as only she could and went back
to her dinner. There was a knock at the door. A slight panic came
over me and I could see Gwen felt it too. I walked over to the door
and pressed my back to the wall next to it.

“Who is it?”

“Please open the door, Jake.” A familiar
voice said in a cool, steel tone. I opened the door and saw
Dontavius standing before me. He stood there like a pillar of black
cloth with an angular head stuck on top. His hair was brilliant as
always and I felt my skin crawl when his eyes found mine.

“What is it?”

“I’ve heard about what has happened and I
wished to come and thank you for your service on behalf of the
Black Flame,” He said. “I’m so glad to hear you and your friends
survived the ordeal. Relatively unscathed.”

“Thank you. I guess you won’t have to worry
about Morgan anymore, now that she’s dead. For good.”

“Well, her body was destroyed. Jackal held
her soul and it left his body as well.”

“You think it’s still out there? Morgan’s
soul, I mean.”

“I could not say. I can only tell you that
since all souls are a form of energy, even Morgan’s, there is a
slim chance her soul may have survived. Although with no body for
her to roost in, only time will tell where she has gone. Until
then, we can only hope for the best.” He shot a smile at me that
just felt like steel wool being rubbed against the hairs on my
legs. He was definitely different from Tyler. A totally different
vibe.

“Was there something else you needed to
discuss with me?”

“Actually, yes,” Dontavius dug into his coat
and produced a small slip of paper. A check. “I realize you never
quoted an exact price, but I hope this amount will cover your
troubles.” I took the check and nearly fell to the floor. I hadn’t
seen such a large number written on a check that was payable to me
in a long time.

“This’ll do.” He merely nodded and turned
around on his heel and walked away. I shut the door and tucked the
check away in my pocket. I felt Gwen walk up behind me.

“What was all that?”

“Just payment for services,” I said. “Now, I
just need to get a shower and then we’ll be on our way. Okay?”

“Sure.” I nodded and went on into the
bathroom and turned on the water in the shower.

I stripped down and got in. It felt like it
had been years since my last shower as I scrubbed the muck and dirt
of Slater off my skin. I winced as my hands found a few cuts on my
arm I had not seen. They seemed deep, but I knew they would heal in
time. I finished up and dressed in some clean clothes. I felt like
a new man. I stepped out into the living room, but discovered that
Gwen was gone. I saw a note on the table. It appeared to have been
written rather hastily.