Prey (13 page)

“I’m through playing games, angel!” Drake growled. “I’m putting you down for good this time!”

Alex’s eyes flare up in the same manner as they did before. “It’s time to send you back to Hell,” he responded.

Alex and Drake fearlessly march from opposites ends of the parking lot towards each other, paying little mind to the large group of people watching their every movement or the incoming sounds of police sirens.

Alex and Drake stare at each other in pure hatred as they close the distance them. When they close the gap to mere feet, Alex balls his fist and Drake does the same. They both clench their fists so tight their knuckles pop. When their distance is narrowed inches, they raise their fists prepare the engage each other.

To prevent them from fighting, Jade boldly steps in between them, placing one of her hands in Alex’s chest and the other in Drake’s. Jade may not fully realize it, but the love and respect that Drake and Alex have for her is the only reason the petite young woman was able to stop the two from clashing.

“Stop it!” Jade commanded.

Alex’s eyes return to their natural hazel color and Drake’s return to their piercing shade of blue. They’re combative modes have been switched off, but their animosity towards each other remains the same. Even with Jade standing between them, the two continue to stare each other down with malicious glares.

Jade faces Drake first. “Drake, in the last twenty-four hours Alex has saved my life more times than I can count. If you care for me as much as you say you do, then you should be grateful to him for that.” Jade then turns to Alex. “Alex, I’m definitely grateful to you for all you’ve done. But now I need you to believe in me as much as you wanted me to believe in you. I trust Drake. I know him and he wouldn’t hurt me. He’s here to help…Just like you.”

Alex and Drake consider Jade’s argument. Jade can feel the pressure on each of her hands relieve as the two men draw back from their aggressive stances.

A single gunshot is fired from a distance. Alex jerks forward as a bullet enters his upper back and exits through his chest. Apparently an overzealous rookie cop has mistakenly taken Alex’s harmless gesture of reaching into his pocket for Jade’s car keys as a hostile action.

“Alex!” Jade screamed in horror.

She makes an attempt to get closer to Alex, but her plans are thwarted by Drake. Drake grabs her by the arm and pulls her behind him. Alex collapses to the ground. Drake and Jade follow Alex with their eyes as he hits the pavement. Seconds later, they look up and see an arriving army of police cars, systematically surrounding them. Before they know it, they’re the target focus of nearly twenty semi-automatic handguns and numerous shotguns. Jade gets free from Drake’s protection and rushes to Alex’s side.

“Go get your car,” Drake told her. “I’ll cover you.”

Jade looks at Drake through teary eyes and asks, “What about Alex?! He’s hurt bad!”

“He sure is. But if you’re worried about him dying, then don’t. He’s going to be fine. Now go!”

Jade makes a run for her car. “Freeze!” a number of police officers shouted. Jade is so focused on making it to her car that she doesn’t hear the warning. The cops become so distracted by Jade’s actions that they fail to keep an eye on Drake. One of the officers glimpses over at him and notices his glowing red eyes. He immediately relates this to what he remembered about the ordeal that transpired in Los Angeles only days prior. The cop proceeds to call out to his fellow officers, warning them of the potential threat. “Hey, guys! Male suspect! He’s just like that thing in LA! Take him down!”

The officers switch their attention off of Jade and onto Drake. Drake, in the target sights of over twenty guns, grins at the cops before unleashing his fury. With the slightest twitch of his hands, all of the cops’ guns are yanked from their hands. With their weapons suspended in the air, Drake balls his fists, causing the guns to explode.

Jade’s car slides to a stop directly behind Drake. She gets out and urgently tries to drag Alex back to her car. She sits him up, wraps her arms underneath his and pulls. She wants to ask Drake for help, but she knows he’s preoccupied with the cops.

In the meantime, Drake continues to handle the unarmed officers. The barricade they initially set up to keep anyone from leaving the parking lot is now being utilized by Drake to keep them from running away. He blows up two cruisers on opposite ends of the barricade to prevent any escape. With their squad cars of no use to them, the officers, along with many civilians, take to fleeing on foot, hoping to elude Drake’s wrath.

Once Jade has successfully loaded Alex into her car, she hurries around to the driver’s side and hops in. She rolls down the passenger’s window and yells out, “Come on, Drake!”

He turns his head so that he can partially see Jade from over his shoulder, but still keep an eye on the scampering crowd also. “You go ahead. I’ll catch up later.” He resets his focus back on the scattering mass of people. Some of the people are running away from the premises, while others have taken refuge in the store. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun,” said Drake, giving a menacing look that would send chills through anyone.

Jade reluctantly presses the gas pedal to the floor. The car screeches through the parking lot and towards the blocked entrance. She’s just about to slam on her breaks to avoid crashing into a burning police cruiser when it is suddenly pushed out of the way by an unseen energy. Jade doesn’t think twice about how or why the cop car has moved, she simply takes off driving out of the lot and onto the street.

The second Jade’s car clears the exit, Drake gestures his hand once more, sliding the burning police cruiser back into the exit way. He soon realizes that he has scared every living thing out of the lot. Drake picks up the car door he threw at Alex earlier and walks it back to the wreckage that was once his car. He easily tosses the car door on top of his destroyed Corvette. With a wave of his hand, the Corvette violently bursting into flames. Staring at the hypnotizing flames, Drake manages to break free of rhythmic wave of fire and prepares to leave. As he’s leaving, he catches glimpse of a large group of people inside the store, all are staring out the window, watching him closely.

Severe heat resonates from his red eyes, saliva oozes over his teeth, purplish veins faintly emerge, and his skin partially dehydrates.

“What the hell are you all looking at?” he angrily said to the gawking watchers.

The insatiable hunger for chaos and destruction that he’s successfully kept hidden deep inside of him for so long is badly trying to get out. It’s obvious that he wants nothing more than to inflict abundant amounts of pain on everyone inside the market. He knows he could easily blow up the entire building with a slightest movement of his hands, but despite his demonic urges, Drake fights off his natural instincts to cause havoc and death. He closes his eyes and takes several slow, deep breaths, trying to regain his composer and alleviate what’s left of his will to kill.

Once he feels that he’s calmed down enough, he reopens his eyes. His appearance has returned to normal and the need he once felt to cause harm has passed.

The second round of incoming sirens, in addition to the humming of helicopters, hints to Drake that it’s time for him to make a hasty departure. It’s not like he’s leaving because of fear for the authorities; he’s leaving because he knows that if he stays he might not be able to fight off his evil desires again, which would undoubtedly lead to destruction.

Drake raises his nose to the air and sniffs. He sweeps his head from side to side before he locks on a specific scent. Without wasting another second, Drake takes off running. In the blink of an eye, he’s crosses the entire lot and vanishes out of sight.

CHAPTER 16

Jade goes against her better judgment and doesn’t take Alex to the hospital. Instead, she takes him back to her parents’ house. The way she figures it, with all of the damage he’s taken over the last twenty-four hours, she has yet to see him incur an injury that he couldn’t heal from. Jade keeps this optimistic outlook even though Alex remains unconscious.

Moments later, Jade speeds into her parents’ driveway. She pulls in close to the back door, leaving only inches of space between her car and the house. She hurries out of her car, unlocks the back door, rushes to deactivate the alarm system and runs back to her car to retrieve Alex. When Jade reaches the doorframe she’s surprised and relieved to see Alex leaning against her car. Although he seems to be healed, the toll taken on him from the wound and the energy needed to regenerate from it has exhausted him.

Tugging at the bloody sweater, Alex tells Jade, “I guess I owe your dad a new sweater. I could probably patch the hole, but I seriously doubt club soda will get this stain out.”

“Are you okay,” Jade asked.

Alex rotates his arm in a circular-motion, stretching his chest muscles. “I’m doing better than I was a minute ago. What happened to me anyway?”

“Maybe you should come inside first.” Alex walks inside the house, Jade closes the door behind him. “You were shot,” she told him.

“Shot?! Who shot me?”

“The cops.”

Stunned by the update, Alex takes a seat at the kitchen table. “They just shot me? Damn, whatever happened to “reach for the sky” or “freeze”? They didn’t even give a warning shot.”

“I’m not saying what they did was right, but in all fairness, you guys didn’t really put yourselves in a positive light. You turned a Wal-Mart parking lot into a battlefield.”

Aggravated, Alex rubs his forehead. “My entire human life I managed to stay away from all forms trouble. Now that I’m an angel, I get shot by the cops and become a suspected menace to society. I’m gonna be in so much trouble when I get back.”

“You’re not a menace, Alex. But the things you guys were doing mirrored the things that took place in LA earlier this week. I probably would’ve responded the same way.”

“Maybe you’re right.” He glances around, looking for Drake. “Speaking of menaces…Where’s the demon?”

“He stayed behind so we could get away. He said he’d catch up to us once we were clear.”

“What?!” Alex said, rising to his feet. “I have to go back.”

“What? Why?”

Moving towards the back door, Alex responds, “He’s going to kill everything that crosses his path. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cop, an old lady, or a snail…He’ll slaughter them all.” Alex opens the door and finds Drake standing on the other side.

“Don’t wet your pants, angel…It’s only me.” Drake takes a single step forward to enter, but Alex steps in front of him, blocking his path. The two stand face-to-face. “Jade, maybe you should invite me in first. That way I won’t have to hurt your little doorman here.”

“I’d love to see you try,” said Alex, unmoved by Jade’s threat.

Trying to de-escalate the growing tension, Jade puts her hand on Alex’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Alex. Let him in.”

Alex unenthusiastically moves aside, allowing just enough room for Drake to pass through. As he passes by, Drake stops in front of Alex and stares at him with a smug grin. “I would say thank you, but I don’t care for you too much,” he openly admitted.

Alex ignores Drake’s statement and slams the door shut. Drake walks up to Jade with open arms. “Thanks for forgiving me, babe. I know I have a lot of explaining to do.”

When Drake is finally at arm’s length, Jade surprises him by slapping him with every ounce of strength she could gather.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Alex happily grinned.

Drake strokes his face. “I deserved that.”

“I don’t recall saying I forgave you,” said Jade. “So this entire time you were one of those demon things? Pretty much everything you told me was a lie, wasn’t it?”

Alex butts in, “Yep.”

Drake looks at Alex in annoyance. “I am what I am, Jade,” said Drake, turning away from Alex to face her. “There were a lot of other lies I told you, but the love I have for you is real.”

“Yeah, right,” Alex interjected once more. “I didn’t know demons could feel love for anything but themselves. That is an accurate summation for a typical demon, isn’t it, Drake?”

“Why don’t you mind your damn business?!” Drake said hostilely.

Alex smiles at Drake’s frustration. Drake has a glare in his eyes that gives the strong impression that he wants to hurt Alex. “Look, Jade,” Drake started, “I was sent here to keep tabs on you. Some big planning went into works a couple years before you enrolled in college and I was the one sent here to monitor you. It was my duty to know the general area of where you’d be twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I was supposed to do this until the day came a when you’d be called upon to serve as the sacrificial lamb for the greater good of Hell.”

“And then what, Drake?” asked Jade. “Were you supposed to be the one who killed me?”

“No. The boss doesn’t want you dead…Not yet anyway. Killing you would only destroy any plans that he has. He wants you alive until the day comes when you’re needed.”

“And when you say the boss, you mean the Devil, right?” Drake nods. Jade then asks, “So when that day comes around, you were just going to hand me over to the Devil?”

“That’s exactly what he was going to do,” Alex answered for him.

Drake moves closer to Jade. “I hate him, but he’s right. That’s exactly what I was going to do. I figured the best way to keep tabs on you would be to make you my girl. It would’ve been simple enough. Just like how your punk friend over here can lure people in with love, I can lure people in with lust. I can have any girl on this planet, except for you. For some reason you’re immune to my magnetism. It was only when we started dating that I got a chance to know the real you.” Drake takes Jade’s hand. “You made me feel things that I never felt for anything or anyone else before…Other than myself of course.”