Things That Go Bump At Night Part 11

"You'll probably have more that you haven't even thought of yet." He said gently. "But if you need to ask, go ahead."

I had so many, but which to ask first?

"So, do they take just any person, or are there certain people they go after most?"

"Not really. Though they are drawn to fear; it's a strong emotion."

"So does that mean happy people are safe?"

"No. Any spirit will make them strong, but fearful spirits are easier to take, so they go after that first, but the thing is, there is always a sense of fear in the human spirit, and if anything out of the norm for an everyday person were to happen to them, that fear will spike. Fear is easy to come by."

"Okay, so what would have happened if some normal person had hit that demon we saw tonight? I mean...if normal people can't see them..."

"First off Remi, we are normal. We just have an extra...sense. It doesn't make us freaks just because we can protect ourselves and others from something they can't see. But, if someone else had hit the demon and got out of their car to investigate, they'd see nothing, and most likely a.s.sume they hit a deer or another animal and that it ran off into the woods. Although, on most occasions, getting out of the car to investigate probably wouldn't end well for the normal person."

I ignored his emphasis on normal and frowned.

"How did you become a hunter?"

"It runs in my family. I didn't have to find out the way you did, my dad had been preparing me since I was little. Ryan we found years ago on the side of the road; he'd had an accident and we found him fighting a demon. I found Ana at my last school..."

I frowned again.

"Ana is a teenager?" I would have put her older.

"Yes, she's my age. Eighteen."

"Why isn't she still in school?"

"She dropped out when she started seeing them. I went looking for her one day after she'd missed about a week of school and found her holed up in her house. Her parents had pretty much had enough of her. It took a couple days, but I finally got her to come out and see my dad. The rest is history."

"So, this is a new group of hunters then?"

He shook his head, it took him a few seconds to speak.

"No. Ryan and Ana are fairly new, but this has been my dad and my uncle's team since before I was born. People don't always survive this line of work Remi."

I really wanted to avoid that line of questioning for as long as I could.

"Um...if the demons prefer to go after fearful souls, what do you do then when you hunt? Skip off to battle thinking happy thoughts?"

Jake laughed softly.

"In theory that should work, but like I said, they'll take any kind of spirit. As for us being hunters, the demons will destroy us just to get rid of us. The thing we've got going for us though is bravery. It's the hardest emotion for a human to accomplish and it anchors our spirit to us. Very hard for a demon to take without a pretty intense fight. So, can we die? Yes. But we're pretty tough to kill."

I still very much wanted to avoid that conversation. The thought of Jake battling demons in the woods in the middle of the night with the possibility he could die at any given moment was not something my brain would accept at this point in time.

"How do you find other hunters? I mean, it's not like you can advertise on craigslist, right?"

He thought on this for a moment, like he was trying to find the right words. He watched me closely as he finally spoke.

"You know that pull I was telling you about? The one I felt with you, and you for me the first time we saw each other?"

I couldn't help my sharp intake of breath. That was a definite blow. I had a.s.sumed that ever so magical pull he felt towards me was just because he wanted me. I had to admit, this hurt a little.

"It's not like that with you Remi." Jake explained, seeing my expression. He reached out and grabbed my hand. "Yes, I felt a pull to you that I should have been suspicious of, but that day I first saw you...you were the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. I was from that second on truly attracted to you. In many ways. Okay? I mean, think about it, I feel a pull towards my uncle, but it doesn't mean I'm attracted to him. And I was so attracted to you, I didn't even stop to think that it could have been something else as well."

It was a good explanation. I smiled, albeit weakly.

"I still don't understand why you were attracted to me. I mean, with all the pretty girls around school..."

"Come on, Remi. You're beautiful, and you know it."

"Well, now! But last year? Not so much."

"Yes you were. Do you seriously think that baggy clothes and your hair in your face could hide that fact?" The look he favored me with made me feel a little ridiculous.

"It did. Look at the way people talk about me." I defended myself.

Jake shook his head.

"You're so clueless. Half the guys in that school have a thing for you. You weren't hiding anything from them. Which in turn made girls jealous. So they started saying things about you, and everyone else just sort of blindly followed along."

"Did you? Follow along? I mean, why did it take a year to talk to me?"

"No, I didn't follow along. I was actually your biggest fan. Unfortunate circ.u.mstances kept me from approaching you. You were never around, you ran from place to place, I could never catch you. You'd disappear after school. We had one cla.s.s together and you were rather good at evading me there too. I could never get to you, and trust me, I tried."

I smiled at that. Little did he know that had been on purpose. I regret that now.

"So, imagine my extreme pleasure when I saw you in my very first cla.s.s on my very first day of school this year."

I covered my face with my hands, embarra.s.sment colored my cheeks.

"Oh my G.o.d, I was so rude to you!"

"Yeah you were." Jake laughed and grabbed my wrists to pull my hands from my face. "But luckily for you it only made you more attractive. For a year I had nothing but my imagination where you were concerned and I imagined you as...different. So, imagine how disappointed I would have been if you had turned out to be some giggly flirt like all the other girls at school."

Oh wow, he had imagined what I'd be like for an entire year?

We stared at each other for a span of time. A truly t.i.tanic moment, cue the cheesy romantic music in the background. He used my wrists to pull me to him, since he was still in a sitting position I had to lean against his chest to meet his lips oh what a truly erotic moment! Four days ago I'd never even kissed a boy and here I was laying halfway across a supremely hot one's naked chest! We kissed...and kissed...and kissed. When it started to intensify to a very dangerous level Jake wrapped one arm around my waist and rolled me very smoothly I might add, he was entirely too good at this. Not that I was complaining or anything- so that I was laying on my back and he was now halfway across my chest. He continued to kiss me as I felt his hand leave my waist and push my tank top up over my rib cage, his hand played across my bare stomach. It then snuck under the fabric and just before he'd worked his way up to my breast I broke from the kiss and pushed at his shoulders.

He didn't argue, he backed off well, he moved away slightly anyway.

"I can't." I said on a strained breath that I couldn't quite catch. "I don't think..." gasp for breath, "I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet."

While there was definite disappointment in his gaze there was also understanding. He nodded and backed further away.

"Okay." Now he rolled away entirely. He laid back on his back, not touching me at all, and I panicked.

"Are you mad?" I asked. His head whipped over to look at me. A bit incredulously if I do say so myself.

"What? No!" He grabbed my wrist again and pulled me into his side, I rested my cheek against his chest. "What kind of a.s.shole do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're an a.s.shole." I said. "I just wasn't sure what was expected of me, sharing a bed with you and all."

"Nothing is expected of you, Remi." Jake angled his head so he could look down at me, I looked up at him, a bit sheepishly. "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for." I nodded into his chest. "You take as much time as you need. But...don't get mad at me if I keep trying. I'm a guy, with a hot girl in my bed, it's kinda what we do."

I smiled then, what he said next had my smile vanis.h.i.+ng and a warm glow spreading through my chest...and if his next words had been said solely to convince me to have s.e.x with him, they would have worked.

"I've waited a year for you and I'd wait a thousand more." He murmured it into my hair and I almost couldn't make out his words. But I did. And I fell in love that very second.

I woke the next morning much like I had from my nap the day before, halfway on my stomach with my pillow tucked under me, and much like after my nap, I rolled over to find Jake gone. I sat up and stretched. Had he gone to school today? I got up from bed and went to one of his large widows and looked out, my eyes immediately going to the woods beyond the house, but Jake said they didn't come out during the day, so I relaxed. I reached out and touched the pane of gla.s.s, it was slightly warm. It was still early September, it would be warm outside for a few more weeks. I turned to the totes that Jake had carried in the night before. I'd have to unpack them sometime, but for now I just started rummaging through them.

Kendra had been generous. There was even a large pink makeup bag filled with shampoo, conditioner, and the face creams she knew I liked. She even remembered deodorant and a toothbrush. Thank you Kendra! What would I ever do without you? I finally settled on a pair of leggings that went just below my knees and a pale pink ribbed tank with tiny faux diamonds forming a little heart over my left breast. Did Kendra own anything that didn't have bling attached to it?

After digging out a pair of running shoes and brus.h.i.+ng my teeth I headed downstairs. The house was silent, but I could smell coffee and it drew me to the kitchen. The room was empty, except for Quinn's wife, who was sitting at the island, sipping the coffee I'd smelled and reading a newspaper. She looked up at me and smiled. Finally! A kind face in this house. I smiled back and followed my nose to the coffee pot. I a.s.sumed the coffee mugs would be in the cabinet above the pot, and I a.s.sumed right. I poured a cup, and Quinn's wife finally spoke.

"There is creamer or milk in the fridge. Sugar is in the cabinet next to the cups." I went for the sugar. Unless I was treating myself to a Starbucks, I liked my coffee black, strong and sweet. I leaned back against the counter and took my first sip, closed my eyes and reveled in the perfection that was this particular cup of coffee. I didn't even care that that first sip singed my tongue and my throat on its way down.

"I'm Maria, by the way. We haven't been properly introduced."

I opened my eyes and looked to her with a smile.

"Remi." I took my cup to the island and stood across from where she sat. "Where is everyone?"

"Out back. Training."

"Training?"

"Yes. They don't become what they are by laying around watching TV all day." She winked at me.

"They?" I asked, setting my cup on the granite. "Aren't you a hunter too?"

"No. I can't see them."

Wow. Did not see that coming.

"You can't see them?" She shook her head, folded the paper neatly and set it aside. "Then...how come you're still here? I mean, I can see them and I still think we're all a little bit nuts."

She laughed softly at that.

"I believe in my husband. And David. And what they do is incredible. I'll admit, at first it took me time to come to grips with it, but now, I help where I can. I'm a doctor outside of this group, which comes in handy when they need to be patched up. I can also get them resources that they might not have access to otherwise. Whether it be medical equipment or items needed to make their protections."

"Their protections come from a hospital?"

"No. Well, not entirely." She stood then, stopping our conversation. I guess some of the tricks of the trade were to remain a secret for now. "Come on, Jake asked me to bring you out when you woke up."

I followed Maria out a back door off the kitchen and along a rock path that led to the big red shed. There was no way to see inside, the windows themselves were big, thick pieces of fogged square gla.s.s. The attached lean-to had no windows at all. And no door for that matter. We stopped at the big sliding door at the front of the shed and Maria lifted a piece of the red wood siding to reveal a keypad. She looked back at me and smiled at my raised eyebrows.

"Don't need little hooligans sneaking in here." She punched in a code and slid the big red door open enough for us to walk through. What opened up in front of me was a high ceiling long room that looked exactly what I though a Bally's Total Fitness would look like. One side of the room had workout equipment that I didn't even know the names to though I did spy a couple treadmills, score one for me- the other wall was lined with weights and weight benches. At the far end was a large mat area which was clearly for sparring, because Ana and Ryan were doing just that. And on the wall beyond that was something not found in any Bally's in any part of the country. Weapons. Knives mostly. Long ones, short ones, fat ones, thin ones. And guns. Long ones, short one, fat ones, thin ones. The wall was covered. My wide eyes immediately sought out Jake. He was near the sparring mat s.h.i.+rtless again, YUM!-, pulling on a pair of fingerless gloves, large muscles rippling all over the place. I went weak in the knees, it seemed to be a condition I'd developed since meeting him. He smiled at me, I smiled back.

Maria led me through a door to our right, which from the outside would have been the lean-to, but inside it looked like a hospital. Three hospital beds sat against the wall across from us. There was a bathroom complete with a shower to the right of us and to the left a long metal bench spanned the far wall. A big computer sat on one end of the desk, while supplies sat neatly in bins or hung from the wall above the table. Everything in its place. The hair on my neck stood up and I looked over my shoulder to see Jake doing his door leaning thing. Would that sight ever get old? I sure hoped not. Maria gave my arm a gentle squeeze and walked off to the table to boot up her computer. I turned fully to Jake.

"Come on." He held his hand out to me and led me out to the main floor.

"This is impressive." I breathed.

"We need to keep fit. Fast and strong. I know I said that certain human spirits make demons strong, but even if one hasn't fed for days doesn't exactly mean they're weak. Weaker, yes, but weak, no."

Good to know.

"What are all the weapons for?"

"Well, for hunting. How do you think we kill demons? With strong language?"

I blushed. Duh.

I saw everyone but Jake's dad, so I asked.

"Where's your dad?" Maybe he had a job he went to during the day.

"He scouts with the other team leader during the day, they also clean up from the hunt the night before. We don't know exactly where the demons go, but we have found out that where ever it is they do go, they reappear at the same place at night. They leave a trace."

"Black goo?" I asked, almost off handed. Jake's brow crinkled and he c.o.c.ked his head at me.

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"I saw it in my dream...not them disappearing, but the goo. I guessed." I said with a shrug. Before Jake could reply, Quinn appeared before us.

"Going out on a limb here," He said, eyeballing me. "But I'm guessing you've never worked out a day in your life."

I frowned and looked down at myself. What was he implying? I didn't have an ounce of fat on me. And I actually had extremely nice legs if I did say so myself, I'd spent the last seventeen years walking everywhere I'd went.

Still...he wasn't wrong.

"No." I replied, a mite curtly. Jake chuckled.

"I've got this, Quinn."

"You're with Ry next." Quinn said, nodding over his shoulder to where Ryan and Ana were sparring.

"I know, but let me get Remi started. I'll be right over." He stood his ground until Quinn huffed and moved off, then he led me over to the weight side of the room, he handed me three pound bar bells. I looked at him blandly.

"Really?"

"Don't get p.i.s.sy, it's not an insult." He laughed. "You'll be surprised at how tired untrained muscles will get when you start to use them properly."

He showed me several different moves over my head, behind my back and out in front of me while using the weights as resistance. He was right. Sure the first few reps were easy peasy lemon squeezy, but after just a few, I could feel my muscles starting to protest.