Demon's Doorway (12 page)

"Stay low," he said. He pulled out another vial of water and handed it to her. "If you get hurt, drink this. If someone else is hurt, have them drink it."

"Okay. Thank you."

He nodded, and stood up once again.

The humans were finally fighting. Some wielded chairs and anything else they could find. A man and woman worked together to trap a demon between the wall and a desk, pushing with all their might. A demon sailed through the air, letting out a horrible scream, and he could only imagine Victoria was in the thick of things, helping who she could.

The problem was too many humans. The humans had to go.

Kevin pushed his way through the crowd, grabbing items from his coat as he went. A small mirror, and a potion he'd learned an upgrade for not long ago. He jumped over one demon, and glanced down to smear the potion on the mirror.

When he looked back up, the large demon was right in front of him.

He stopped, which saved his life. The demon swiped, raking its claws across Kevin's face. He fell to the floor, the mirror landing several feet away. Fear took over as he put a hand to his face and pulled it away to see blood. The demon grinned a toothy, terrible smile.

Kevin reached into his coat for another vial. He threw it as hard as he could at the demon's chest. It was immediately engulfed in flame, but didn't flinch. It actually seemed to enjoy the blaze.

"Shit."

It raised a fiery claw above its head.

A desk soared through the air and slammed into it from the side, knocking it to the ground. Kevin only knew one person that strong.

Victoria leaned over him. Her claw changed to a hand as she pulled him to his feet, but her other features remained. Black flesh dangled from her fangs. Her red hair was wild and caked with blood. Her once beautiful dress was a torn and ruined mess.

She said nothing, only giving a fang-filled smile before running away, slashing at demons as she went.

He grabbed his mirror and headed for the windows once again. Jumping on the windowsill, he turned to face the chaos.

"Hey! I need everyone to look over here!"

The demons ignored him, and not every human looked at Kevin. Some were distracted with fighting, or simply hurt. But many of them did. Their eyes caught the mirror, enhanced by his magic.

They disappeared without a trace. Some were in the grip of demons, and the creatures looked at each other. Kevin couldn't be sure, but he almost thought they were confused.

He spun and stared at the mirror. It no longer showed a reflection, but about thirty people, all cramped together. They were terrified, and some looked injured, but they were alive and safe.

Kevin had learned the potion of capturing a soul with a mirror from his spell-book.

Altering the potion to capture bodies as well, that was an improvement only he could claim.

"Kevin!" Victoria shouted, six demons swarming her.

He looked up just in time to see the chair a demon tossed flying toward him. It struck him in the chest, forcing him through the glass window. He saw the outside of the building, and the sky, for just a second. His hands flailed, reaching for anything to grab onto, as the mirror left his grip.

He gripped the ledge with one hand, hanging from the side of the building. The sphere still hovered, unmoving, a few windows down, somehow powering the demonic invasion.

He watched with wide eyes as the mirror fell nine floors down. It shattered on the grassy field behind the building. The glass shards morphed into the people Kevin had trapped. They searched around, confused, until they looked up and saw Kevin. They shouted words of hope and encouragement as he hung on for dear life.

Reaching up with his free hand, Kevin's fingers folded over a piece of glass still in the window, slicing them. He winced and pulled his hand back. His other hand was slipping.

A second before his grip weakened completely, a hand grabbed his arm. He looked above him, expecting to see Victoria. It wasn't her, and he blinked to make sure his vision was okay.

A man he didn't know leaned out the window. He showed no signs of fear, no panic on his face. He actually looked annoyed as he struggled to pull Kevin up a few inches.

"Damn," he said. "You're heavier than you look."

A young girl stood next him, her head poking outside. She was the one with fear in her eyes. She looked back and forth between Kevin and the sphere.

"Hi there. I'm Jack." Jack smiled, perhaps the strangest thing Kevin had ever seen, given the circumstances.

"Can you save him?" the girl asked. "I'll help."

"No, Tiffany. There's glass."

"The monsters are everywhere."

"I know. Just stay close to me."

A frightening growl spun Tiffany around. A demon ran past her, chasing another human. It bumped into her, and sent her over the sill.

"Tiffany!"

Jack quickly grabbed Tiffany's arm with one hand. She screamed as her body smacked into Kevin. Jack was halfway out the window, the glass piercing through his shirt. He held both Kevin and Tiffany, one in each hand.

"Jack! Daddy!"

They started slipping through his fingers.

He had to make a choice.

"Sorry, kid."

Jack let go.

CHAPTER 6

Jack gripped Tiffany with both hands and hauled her through the window. He didn't put her down, instead hugging her close to his chest. She cried into his shoulder and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, not wanting to look at the demons and chaos around her.

He was at peace with his decision. He was keenly aware that fact should have surprised him, but he wasn't. Tiffany was more important than his suffering, his curse. In fact, Tiffany almost helped lessen the suffering. She was a bright light in his cursed life.

He would kill one hundred witches, if it meant protecting her. He'd do it without hesitation, with a smile on his face.

The witch screamed as he fell, and the mortals screamed with him below. He almost turned from the window when something in the sky caught his attention.

From a distance, it looked like a giant bat. As it approached at an unbelievable speed, Jack could make out details. There were two arms and legs, dark pants, and dress shoes.

It was a man.

The winged man fell from the air, his wings collapsing for a moment, before throwing them back out and gliding mere feet above the ground. He banked slightly, aiming straight for the building, and climbed.

He tackled the witch in mid-air, and they crashed through a second floor window. The crowd below scattered, some playing heroes and running toward the building, while others ran away.

Tiffany sobbed, her body shaking, and Jack stroked her hair while carefully making his way back across the floor. He stepped over moaning mortals and disoriented demons. He made no sudden moves, didn't draw any attention to his daughter or himself.

"I'm scared," she said.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm getting you out of here now."

"That guy at the window. Is he okay?"

Jack smirked and shook his head. That was Tiffany. A victim of an abusive foster system, no family or friends. She had every reason to hate the world, like he did. But she didn't. She worried about everyone else first, and then herself.

The complete opposite of him.

"I'm not sure. We're gonna go find out now. I dropped him."

She pulled her head back to look at him. "You
dropped
him?"

"Yup. It was him or you. I picked you. I'll
always
pick you."

She rested her head on his shoulder and clenched her eyes shut, trying to ignore the terrible sounds around her.

"I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too."

Jack nearly tripped when someone grabbed his foot. He looked down angrily at a man with a gash across his forehead.

"Please, help me."

Jack said nothing, wrenching his foot from the mortal's grip.

As he walked, he searched the area for one of three people he cared about in his life. Victoria stood near a row of sewing machines, using them as weapons against several demons. She was more than holding her own.

He ducked through the hole in the wall he'd cut with an ax, making sure to watch Tiffany's head. The stairwell and elevators were just ahead. He ran down the stairs, still not putting Tiffany on the ground. He wasn't stronger than a mortal, but he never tired. His muscles never ached. He could carry Tiffany forever.

It wasn't difficult to see where the witch and flying man crashed on the second floor. He peered through a set of double doors and saw a group of people gathered around a shattered window. He stepped inside and immediately scanned the room, his hyperactive mind locking away details.

They were in a doctor's office. Employees wearing scrubs and sick people hovered over two motionless figures on the floor, twisted in a heap. One of the flying man's wings completely covered the witch, like a funeral shroud. People were on their cell phones, talking excitedly, but didn't dare get too close. A small crowd was still gathered outside.

Jack surveyed the people, searching for the safest one there. His eyes fell on a woman clutching her purse to her chest. He broke down the important parts of her life in the five seconds it took to approach her.

Married once, but recently divorced. She had at least two kids of her own. Diabetic. There was at least one cat at her home, although she was allergic.

The most important detail was that Tiffany would be safe next to her for a few minutes.

He set her down and looked her in the eye.

"Okay, Tiffany, I want you to stay here with this ugly woman. I'll be right back."

She nodded obediently, and Jack gave a quick ruffle of her hair. He passed a man filming the mess of bodies with his phone. Jack casually plucked it from his fingers and dropped it in an open cup of McDonald's soda on the counter.

"Hey, man! What the hell is your problem?"

He ignored the mortal and approached the pair of males. Jack was amazed at how large the wings were. He thought he'd seen it all in his two centuries, but he was obviously wrong. The other wing was stretched out completely, covering the floor. The winged man wore no shirt, but his pants and shoes suggested an event, and it was hard to miss the shiny new ring on his left finger.

It was Alex, the half-demon Victoria had told him about.

Jack moved to lift the other wing, and drag Kevin from under it, when a man grabbed his arm.

"Hey, look, are you a doctor? Or, maybe, from the circus?"

"Nope."

"Then you shouldn't get near them."

Jack's reaction was more subdued than it normally would have been. His daughter was watching.

"Let go of my arm, immediately, and never touch me again, or I'll break your fingers."

The man backed away at Jack's tone.

He pulled the witch away from the wing. The witch's chest rose and fell slowly, but he made no movements otherwise. Jack opened his coat and looked through some of the pockets, seeing the unusual items and liquids.

"Holy shit. It's a witch's pharmacy."

He remembered the few witches he encountered in his life all storing their disgusting ingredients in pots and shelves, ready to be used at a moment's notice for a spell over the fire. Times had changed.

Jack found what he was looking for. A vial of water.

The man who stopped Jack before stepped forward. "Hey, he's robbing the kid! Look, asshole, you can't—"

He placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack grabbed his hand and twisted expertly, without dropping the vial. Three fingers broke, and Jack shoved the man through the hole in the wall. The crowd below tried to catch him, and they fell over like bowling pins. Jack tried not to laugh too hard.

No one else approached him.

Grabbing the witch's hand, he pressed his finger to the vial, and watched the water turn blue. The gathered crowd watched in awe.

"A little for you," he said, pouring water down the witch's throat. He moved to Alex. "And a little for you."

The two men stirred. Everyone cheered and clapped. Tiffany ran to Jack, hugging him around the waist.

"You saved them!"

"Well, I can't take too much credit. But…sure, I saved them."

The crowd jumped back when Alex's wings vanished into his back.

"Kevin?" Alex said, leaning on the counter for balance.

Kevin didn't miss a beat, his mind immediately returning to where it was before.

"Where's Victoria?"

"She's still upstairs."

Jack scooped up Tiffany and the four of them went to the stairwell again. They heard the violence and fighting as they approached the ninth floor. Jack led them through the hole in the wall, not far from the main door.