Awaken (Divine Hunter Series) (15 page)

“
Where d’ya think you’re going?” Michael growled as he tightened his grip on Jake’s throat. The son of a bitch was trying his damnedest to wriggle free; nearly succeeding at one point until, from nowhere, a large fist came flying through the air. Before Michael could blink Jake flopped unconsciously onto the tiles.

“Huh! I expected more resistance,” the large guy
said as he squeezed his own fist with a look of pure satisfaction.

“
Jesus! Evo. I had it under control”

“Even more so now.”
His face was smug.

“
You ruthless bastard.” Michael shook his head in amusement. Evo was right though, this guy was possessed so there’s no way he should’ve gone down from just a punch to the face.

Evo crouched
on one knee and rolled Jake’s sleeve up.

“
You need to be quick with this.” Michael said as he watched Evo pull a small knife from a strap on his ankle. His buddy drew the blade over the palm of his own hand and, using the forefinger of his other hand, he traced along the wound. Next he reached over Jake and drew a symbol on his forehead in blood: a circle within a circle, then he finished in the middle with a hexagram. Michael had seen, and drawn, that very same symbol on more occasions than he dared to remember. It worked every time, though, trapping the demon or spirit inside its human host.

“Done!”
Evo said as he placed his blade back under his trouser leg. Then he grabbed hold of Jake and threw him over his shoulder like he was nothing but a sack of laundry. “Let’s get him in the car quickly.”

A
s she paced back and forth in her living room−squeezing her fingers together like she was kneading Play-Doh−Lacy waited for word that Michael and Evo were okay, and that they’d managed to catch Jake. She was worried sick, almost to the point of actually throwing up. She took a few deep breaths and decided that if she was going to wear a hole in her blue area rug, she might as well do it with a mug of hot coffee in her hand.

In the kitchen, she placed the contents in her mug and opened the fridge door only to see she was out of milk. Dammit! Never one to drink her coffee black, and not wanting to nip out to the store just in case Michael called, she thought about pouring a glass of wine instead, cringed for a second, then thought better of
it. New rule: she was no longer allowed to consume alcohol when under any kind of stress.

Mr Hinckley
. Her sweet neighbor, and the only person in the street that she’d ever interacted with, would perhaps give her a drop of milk, though she didn’t feel comfortable calling on him at this late hour. He was a nice old man. Lonely now after his wife had died four years ago. He’d popped by a few times with some fresh vegetables that he’d grown in his back yard.

Lacy grabbed her coat from the hook in the hallway and headed next door. A biting wind made her shiver as she walked down her path towards the street so she tucked her coat in tight to her chest to keep out any draughts. Although it would be early, it wouldn’t surprise her if they had some snowfall before the night was through.

She reached Mr Hinckley’s front gate, but before she opened it, she paused, feeling a familiar sense of unease like the other night when she was being watched. She looked down the street one way, then the other. No one there. Her neighborhood was always quiet at this time and tonight was no exception. There were lights on in most of the houses that she could see, their occupants savoring the warmth inside. She checked around again but there wasn’t another soul in sight. Putting it down to still being a little spooked after the incident with Jake, she ignored it.

She knocked on the old man’s door, noticing a small, hand carved, wooden angel that was severely weather beaten hanging next to the door. Just the kind of symbolism she needed to see right now. She heard the click of a bolt and the slide of a chain before the door opened and out popped Mr Hinckley’s head from behind the door.

“Who is it?” he said, squinting as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “Oh. Lacy. Hello.”

“Hi Mr Hinckley, sorry to bother you this
late, but you couldn’t spare a drop of milk could you? I can drop some in for you in the morning after I’ve been to the store.” She blew on her hands and rubbed them together for warmth.

The old man had the kind of smile that made his eyes disappear. His thin gray hair was always combed neatly to one side with a little wave in the front. “Of course, would you like to come in for a minute? You look frozen stiff my dear.” He opened his door wider and Lacy felt the warm air from inside hit her in the face. His house must have been stifling though the ol
d man was wearing a thick, woolen pullover. Wine colored, to match his tie.

“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to keep you. Besides, I’m waiting for a phone call from someone so I can’t stop.”

“That’s fine. Just give me a minute then, dear,” he said, shutting his door to keep the heat in. After a minute or two, he returned with a carton that was a third full. “Is this much okay? I have another carton so you can take that with you.”

“Oh, that’s great. Are you sure you don’t mind, Mr Hinckley?” She tried, but failed, to hold back a shiver.

He belted out a wheezy cough, his face turning plumb purple, and then finished off by patting his chest. She’d noticed his health had deteriorated over the last couple of months. “Don’t be silly child. Now, is that all you need?”

She smiled. “Yes. Thanks. I just needed a coffee fix that’s all. Busy day, you know. . . ”

After saying good night, and after Mr Hinckley waited for her to get back to the house before going back inside, Lacy heard the muted sound of her phone ringing inside as she approached her front door. She cursed, grabbed her front door key from her coat pocket, nearly dropped it in a panic, and hurried to unlock the door. As soon as she stepped inside, the ringing stopped. “Shit!”

She rushed into the living room and saw that the red light on her answering machine was flashing. She pressed play and was relieved to hear Michael’s voice coming through the loud-speaker.

“Lacy it’s Michael. We got Jake. Figured the cops needed to speak to him, so we’re gonna escort him to the station to let them know what happened. Just wanted to tell you everything’s okay. Oh, and I’m gonna pop to my place before I head back to yours. Uh. . . Yeah, that’s it. Bye.”

Lacy sighed with relief, the tension draining right out of her shoulders. Thank God everything was okay. Mind you, she should never have doubted that it would be. She had a feeling both Evo and Michael were very capable of handling themselves physically, especially Evo who was the size of a WWE wrestler. There was no way Jake would have gotten away, not with how angry Michael had looked before he’d run after him.

And had they really nearly kissed? Just thinking about the way he’d looked at her back at the hospital filled her stomach with butterflies. Yep, she was definitely attracted to him. And going by what had almost happened, Michael must like her too. She couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her face.

She
realized that the cops were also going to want to speak to her about what had happened. If she left now she could meet them both over there. She grabbed her scarf, her car keys from the little wooden bowl on the sofa table in the hallway, and headed out.

It only took her ten minutes to drive to the County Sheriff’s office in the middle of town. She came to a stop right outside the gray, unadorned, concrete
building, but there was no sign of Evo’s SUV anywhere. Perhaps he’d parked around the back. Inside the station, Deputy Teresa James, who Lacy had known since moving here, was sifting through files in one of the cabinets behind the front desk. She looked up and greeted Lacy with a smile. “Hey Lacy. . . Strange seeing you in here.”

“Hi. How’s things? It’s been a while huh?”

“Yes, it has. I’m good. And you seem to lose more of that cute British accent every time I see you. You’ll be one of us soon.”

Lacy laughed and rested her arms on top of the counter. It was nice to see her friend after so long. It must have been over a year since they’d talked last−apart from the odd hi or hello in passing−just after Teresa had started work as a full time deputy after completing all of her train
ing. She looked different now: older, without the makeup she used to always wear, and her deep brown hair tied back off her face in a tight bun. But she still had that same way of making Lacy feel welcome.

“Anyway, I’m guessing you haven’t just popped in for coffee,
as this stuff tastes like piss.” She mumbled that last part so no one else could hear. “What can I do for you?”

“I’ve come to give a statement about what happened last night at work.”

“Something happened at the college?” Teresa asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

She didn’t know? Strange.
“Yeah. Two friends of mine just brought a guy in that tried to attack me after I’d left my office last night,” she explained, wondering why Teresa didn’t already know. “He tried to get into my car before I drove off. We think he might know something about what happened to Nina Murphy.”

Teresa still looked confused. “The girl who tried to commit suicide?”

Lacy nodded. She began to worry. It had to have been at least thirty minutes since Michael had called.

“Hold on.
My shift only started fifteen minutes ago. I’ll go through and speak to Don; he’s probably got them in the back there in one of the interview rooms.”

That’ll be why. Lacy let out a relieved sigh. The sooner she got the statement over with, the sooner she could get home and flop into bed. What a rough night.

She took a seat in the waiting area and began to pick the chipped polish from her thumbnail. She jumped as the front door flew open and two officers hauled a man who was in cuffs inside. He was protesting loudly and two more officers appeared behind the desk. As the scruffy man with the dishevelled black hair got dragged passed her, he noticed Lacy sitting there and his leering smile made her physically sick.

“That’s enough Milton.” One of the officers ordered as they pushed him to the front desk.

Lacy wondered how Teresa could stand having to deal with this kind of thing every day. She’d only been sat waiting for five minutes and she wanted to bolt out the door and forget giving the statement altogether. But she knew she had no choice and managed to stay in her seat for another five minutes until Teresa finally returned. Avoiding the commotion at the desk, she sat next to her.

“Lacy, when did you say
your friends brought him in?” Teresa asked with the same puzzled look that she’d had a moment ago.

“Would have been a lit
tle over thirty minutes ago. I guess.”

“Don said no one’s reported anything like that tonight, and your friends haven’t been here.”

What? Where the hell were they?

“Oh. . . Um, perhaps they’ve been delayed for some reason.” Lacy said as she stood up from her seat, her mind began to think all sorts of things: What if Jake had
gotten violent and hurt them? What if they’d been involved in an accident? She couldn’t understand why Michael would lie about bringing Jake in. She had to call him.

“Are you okay? Would you like to make the report yourself? What happened at the college?”

She hadn’t even realized Teresa was talking until she felt her place a hand on her arm. “Lacy?”

“I. . . I need to go home actually. I’m not feeling too good. Can I call in sometime tomorrow?”

“Sure. Or I can call round after my shift’s finished in the morning.”

She heard her friend’s rushed reply fading away behind her as she hastily walked out of the station.

Lacy raced back to her house and immediately checked her answering machine. No new messages. She knew if Michael had turned up at the sheriff’s office after she’d left, Teresa would have called her straight away. Not knowing what to do, the pacing started up again, but this time she was right by the phone, waiting for the damn thing to ring again.

A
t a motel just off I.52, Michael stood by the window of Evo’s room watching his buddy, who was currently taking out his mood from lack of sleep on their captive’s ass. Jake was all skin-stealing demon strapped in that chair, no question about it. It was staying silent, though. No matter how much Evo pressed, the bastard wasn’t talking.

Evo turned away−his frustration clear by the way his lips were tightly pressed together−
as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a different knife than the one he’d used in the hospital stairwell. This one was much bigger, like a Bowie Knife on steroids. It had an unusual gold colored blade protruding from a black, leather bound handle. “Looks like I’m going to have to try another way to get this asshole to talk.” His mouth curled up at the sides as he winked at Michael.

“What’s that going to do?” was the first thing
to come from the demon’s mouth since they’d captured it. Michael sensed its enjoyment.

Evo smirked.
“Well, lucky for you, you’re just about to find out.” He pulled the guy’s sleeve up, placed the blade down on his forearm and cut a small slit down to his wrist. At first the demon looked totally unimpressed with what Evo had done. His eyes looked down at the sliced flesh, which Jake’s blood was now trickling from, as though he’d just drawn a line down it with nothing but a sharpie. Jake smiled.

Evo stood
perfectly still, watching the demon like he was waiting for some kind of reaction. After a couple more seconds, and just after Jake had started to grin up at Evo, the cocky expression changed dramatically. He looked down at his arm as if the thing had sprouted legs and was about to run away from him. His eyes widened, his mouth opened and his breath caught. Evo continued to watch with both arms folded over his chest without saying a word.

Michael wondered what the hell was
happening and left his position by the window and approached slowly. As he looked down at the guy’s arm it began to twitch uncontrollably. His skin looked like it was moving, then he noticed creeping black veins growing out from the fresh cut, spreading outward in all directions. He watched as the demon began to pant frantically, struggling against the tight restraints on his wrists and ankles. Jakes eyes widened with fear as they locked onto the arm that was now almost black all over. . . then came the hellish scream.

“What the
..?” Michael had no idea what was happening. He’d never seen anything like it before and he’d dealt with many demons in the past. He looked at Evo waiting for some sort of explanation, but the guy just continued to watch with an eerily satisfied grin on his face. As the demon continued to react to whatever the hell it was that was happening, Evo began to repeat the line of questioning that he’d gotten no response to before.

All he got was a,
“Fuck you!” then an “Arghhhhh. . . ” before Jake’s head flipped back with the pain that was now obviously shooting up his arm.

“
Burns doesn’t it?” Evo sneered. “I can make it stop, as soon as you cooperate.” It was said with complete military composure−one of the things Michael admired most about his friend: his ability to interrogate his subjects with such prowess, whether human or not, was impressive. He had to hand it to the guy, he was no longer the nervous, scruffy, male that he’d met in that alley all those months ago. Now he was a warrior, a beefed up assassin that could hold his own with anyone or anything.

Yes. . . he was actually jealous
of the guy.

But all that tough-ass
came with a price. Evo was well known in the underworld and when you’d managed to carve out a reputation as lethal as he had in such a short time it got you noticed, and often by the wrong people, or. . .
things
.

“
Arghh. . . ” The demon possessing the man in front of them was having a hard time in there. Whatever it was that Evo had done to the SOB, it was having a profound effect. His face had begun to distort in such a way that his features were no longer Jake’s own, and the screeching that was now leaving his mouth and filling the room could only be likened to that of a tortured animal.

His eyes flicked up to Evo a
s he continued to pant and growl like a rabid dog. “What have you done to me?”

“
I’d be more worried about what will happen next.” Evo smirked. “Start talkin’ or things are gonna get much worse for you. You feel me?”

A deep
rumble came from Jake’s throat, which then erupted into a sinister laugh. The demon glared at him through evil eyes that had now turned crimson. He’d stopped panting by now and was looking Evo straight in the eyes. “You’re playing with fire, boy.” His voice had become deeper, and it sounded like two people talking, a mix between poor possessed Jake and the evil itself. Still, Evo wasn’t fazed. “You have no idea who you’re messing with. Your actions will lead to your deaths I assure you−you and your friend. . . ”−he turned his head away from Evo and straight towards Michael−“Michael? Isn’t it?”

Michael was momentarily
aghast and noticed Evo glancing up at him with an equally shocked expression. “How the fuck. . . ?”

“
How do you know who I am?” Michael asked through gritted teeth as he took a couple of steps towards the demon.

“
Oh. . . we all know.”

“
What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” The demon just smiled at him in a way which almost made Michael’s borrowed skin crawl. “Tell me you son of a bitch!”

“
You’ll know soon enough. He’s coming for you; sooner rather than later when I tell him where you are. And what a good demon I’ll be, delivering that good news to him myself.”

Mi
chael’s voice grew louder. “Who? What the hell are you talking about?” The demon said nothing. Only the sound of deep breathing was coming from the man whose eyes were still burning Michael.

“Enough of this. This bastard’s full of shit.”
Evo said as he waved his knife right by Jake’s face. “Are you going to tell us why you’ve been offing those students?”

Silence.

Before Michael could blink Evo had stabbed his knife through Jake’s leg so hard, he heard the blade hit the wood from the chair below it.

The demon let ou
t a vicious roar and black smoke began to rise up from where the knife had penetrated the poor, innocent young man’s skin right up to the hilt. Michael knew Jake had no chance of living through this. They rarely survived possession anyway. If the demon had its way, it would make sure of it. Michael knew that from experience. Those wounds were sure to kill the guy. Besides, the first slice that Evo had given him had bled out all over the floor. He had no chance.

Poor guy.

“Talk!” Evo shouted over the deathly scream that was filling the motel room. He clamped his hand over Jake’s mouth, halting the demon who was now scowling at him from under heavy eyelids. There was a long pause and then Evo pulled his hand away. He bent down so that his mouth was by Jake’s ear “I said, talk!” Just as Evo looked set to pull the knife back out−no doubt ready to drive it into the other leg−the demon’s face changed. He knew he was defeated. Damn his buddy was good.

“
I have a debt to pay.” The demon growled the words with fierce intensity and howled with pain again. “Remove it and I will tell you what you want to know.”

Evo reached down and yan
ked the knife out, satisfaction evident as he looked briefly towards Michael for approval. All Michael did was roll his eyes.
Smug son of a bitch.

“
Continue. . . or this goes straight back in there.” Evo ordered, assessing the guys weeping thigh.

“I am bound to Varesh
. Indebted to him for a crime I committed more than a century ago. He feeds off human souls, they empower him, make him stronger. But the only way he can get those souls is if a human ends their own life: suicide, I think you call it. The Creator doesn’t accept those who take their own life, so there’s no going through the pearly gates for them. Instead, they go down, where Varesh intercepts them and can claim them for his own. And where better to find those souls than a place where there are lots of vulnerable humans. There are plenty of parasites in a college campus−depressed little whiners, hormonal, with nothing better to do than feel sorry for themselves. Places like that are full of them. I just gave them a bit of guidance, a
push
in the right direction.”

His words enraged Michael.
“You’re not exactly giving them guidance by taking over their bodies and doing it for them.” he bit out at the demon that had now calmed. “
They
are not choosing to end their own lives,
you
are!”

“But
it’s inevitable. I see what’s in their minds, the way they imagine doing it. So I help them. It just saves time. The more souls I collect for my master, the easier my existence becomes. You see, I’ve always believed in self-preservation.”

It took all of Michael
’s strength not to knock the guy’s haughty expression right off his face, but what would be the point of striking him? He’d only further injure the innocent male who was being possessed, and besides, he knew it would take a lot more than that to affect the evil bastard. Why waste the energy.

“
I’ve given you what you asked for?”

Evo stepped up in the
guy's face. “Oh no. . . We’ve not finished yet.” He flipped the knife in his hand and smiled at the demon as he held it over Jake’s other leg. “What do you know of my buddy here?”

Michael
had seen many demons before this one−had fought against them numerous times, knew their ways, their weaknesses−but there was something very different about this one. This one was a whole other level of evil; he could see it in those crimson eyes.

“I know this
. . .” he warned, looking only at Michael. “Varesh has been looking for you for a very long time, but for some reason, you weren’t to be found−hidden somehow. Then all of a sudden there were whispers amongst my kind that you’d been seen. We found out you were hunting us. My master has had his ear to the ground, so to speak. So after all of this time trying to find you, imagine my joy when you came wandering right into my hands.”

Evo laughed. “You have a strange way of looking at things. From where I’m standing, you seem to be in our hands.”

The demon smirked at Michael, ignoring Evo’s words. “This news will be received along with great repute. Varesh will be most pleased when I tell him you are this close and when he finds you−”

“Who is this Varesh and w
hat does he want with me?” Michael was done with the pleasantries.

A subtle laugh
came from the demon and Michael thought he looked surprised for a moment. “You really don’t know do you? I must say. . . Great look you’ve got going on there; although I did prefer you as a brunette,” the demon mocked.

Michael walked around the guy that was t
ightly bound to the chair. He had no doubt that this demon knew exactly who he was. This was the first lead he’d come across. The demon might actually have relevant information which could help him find out the truth.

“Damm
it! Just give me a straight fucking answer,” he demanded. If he could just get him to say something, anything. . .

Evo snarled and began to lift the knife again but before he had
a chance to do anything with it, the demon began to shake violently before snapping at Michael. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Evo gave Michael a look that indicated he had nothing to do with what was hap
pening. Both men slowly backed away as the shaking began to get more violent. Jake’s skin began to glow from within as if someone had just hit a switch on his internal organs, lighting him up like a goddamn neon sign.

“Shit!”

Both Evo and Michael stood watching as the glow underneath the guy’s skin grew brighter, his veins and arteries becoming visible under the surface. The demon continued to writhe, an evil laugh rising from deep inside his gut as an eerie chill filled the dark, damp motel room.

“
You won’t stop him!” the demon growled. “No one can. He knows who you are and he doesn’t fear you.”

What the hell was he talking about?

Michael threw a bemused glance at Evo, who now looked about ready to pounce on the guy. He wasn’t sure if he should stop him, but soon had the decision taken out of his hands as the glow coming from the captive’s body grew so bright that they both had to look away. Then, just like that, it was gone.

And so was the demon.

Jake’s body was slumped forward. He wasn’t breathing. Michael walked towards him, carefully assessing him before placing his hand on his shoulder and pushing him back.
“Jesus
,” he said. Jake’s face was contorted, eyes wide with no trace of color in them as they stared, lifelessly.

Evo let out a sigh as his
fingers pressed against Jake’s neck confirming that he was dead. “Poor bastard.”

“Have you ever
seen anything like that before, Evo?” Michael asked, knowing how much he knew about this stuff. Hell, Michael had sent enough of them back down where they belonged, but nothing like that had ever happened.