Things That Go Bump At Night Part 24

"Put them on." He said when he glanced at me and saw me just standing there, unmoving and confused. But, he said put them on, so I put them on. I was a.s.suming this was Dane's sister's room. She was in college and to my joy she was as tall as I was! Though she was obviously a size or two larger because I had to cinch the waist to make the pants fit. Jake then tossed me a t-s.h.i.+rt from the closet. I dropped my dress over the bed and pulled the s.h.i.+rt on.

"What is going on, Jake? Why am I wearing someone else's clothes?" I pulled my head through the s.h.i.+rt as Jake thrust out a pair of converse tennis shoes much nicer than the ones I used to wear. Thank G.o.d Dane's sister wore a seven.

When I was dressed, Jake led me to the window.

"Look." He turned his own gaze from mine to the window, I followed.

"You've got to be kidding me." I muttered. The tree line just past the side of Dane's house was littered with red dots. Demon eyes.

"I think they followed you here." Jake explained.

"Of course they did. Because it is my destiny to always be interrupted any time I'm doing something I enjoy." My sarcasm was thick. Jake actually smiled.

"Not always." He shot me a smile.

That was true, if we waited and most of the time we couldn't- until everyone else had gone to bed, then the nights were always ours, interruption free.

"What do we do, Jake?" I hated to wipe that smile off his face, but my nerves were spiking. Jake sighed and looked out the window again.

"I'm not sure yet, it's just the two of us. I tried to call dad, but there was no answer, I tried the others and they didn't answer either, so I'm a.s.suming there's trouble at the farm too. I gave a call to Mick since he's in town, but no luck there either."

"Well..." I looked out the window too. "The protections seem to be holding."

"Yeah. But eventually people here are going to start leave and some of them are parked outside of the protections."

c.r.a.p.

"So we go out there, make sure everyone gets to their cars okay."

Jake nodded.

"That's what I was thinking." He was shrugging out of his jacket and he laid it over my dress on the bed and topped it with his fedora. I guess fighting demons in a suit jacket and a hat was only done in the movies. "We'll get our stuff from the truck, hide out at the tree line at the end of the drive, and keep them at bay while people leave. We have to lay low though, we can't let anyone see us down there with knives and guns."

I took a deep breath.

"Okay, let's go."

"Wait." Jake stopped me and turned me back to him, he gathered me up in his arms and kissed me. I sighed and leaned into it, felt strength and safety as he held me tight against him. Felt how much he wanted and needed me and reveled in it, let myself drown in it. My head went hazy and all I could think about was getting my skin against his, but he pulled back from the kiss before I could make that happen. His forehead rested against mine and we tried to slow our heavy breaths. "Hold that thought." He whispered, his breath brus.h.i.+ng my lips.

"It isn't going anywhere." I whispered back.

Eventually Jake pushed back from me, his eyes scanned my face and that jaw worked as I knew he debated whether to waste a few more minutes and take what we both very much wanted right now. Instead he reached out and touched my cheek, smiled softly.

"I'm so lucky." He said. It made me smile.

"So am I."

"d.a.m.n demons." He growled and finally stepped back. He led me out, we avoided as many people as we could by taking a back stairway that led to the kitchen, then out a sliding door at the side of the house. There were still couples around every dark corner inside and out of the house, the night reaching the point in both time and inebriation for people to couple off. I'd spied, momentarily, Kendra and Dane in the porch swing just off the sliding door we'd come out of, but they were out of sight as Jake and I made our way to the front of the house where the truck was parked.

Jake stopped suddenly and I nearly ran into his back.

"Remi," he hissed. "We've got a problem."

"What?" I came around him and followed his gaze.

Oh no.

The thing about the protections was, it caused the demons agony, it sucked power from them, energy, but it did not kill them because so far no hunter in history had found a way other than good old fas.h.i.+on head wounds, to kill a demon- It weakened them and any spirits they'd collected they'd lose and they'd have to start all over again. Demons avoided the protections like we humans avoided the plague.

Right now, we were watching as demons pushed other demons right through the protections. There was intense howling that only Jake and I could hear and demons scrambling to gather what strength they had left after pa.s.sing through the wall to be able to defend themselves from the hunters that they knew were on this side.

And there was a whole buffet of people here to help provide them with sustenance again.

"They're trying to break the protections." Jake frowned. "I think they're hoping that by shoving some through the line'll be broken."

This new development presented a couple new problems; we couldn't fight them here in the open where people could see us waving guns and knives at apparently thin air -they'd have the police here in minutes, and they'd probably have us committed- and we couldn't jump in the truck and drive away, a demon couldn't keep up with a vehicle, so they'd just stay behind and join the party.

"Jake, we've gotta get them out of here." I glanced around at the couples outside. They'd die first. Kendra was outside.

"s.h.i.+t. We can't get to the truck." Jake said. I looked to see that several demons had made it there before us, and more were coming. We were weaponless.

"Oh my G.o.d." I whispered. Now would be a good time for the blue light special; but I felt nothing. "What do we do?"

"We'll lead them away." He nodded towards the woods and every fiber of my being wanted to object. Really? He wanted us to run out into the woods with an undetermined amount of demons without weapons? Was he crazy? But Kendra's pearly laugh reached me and I knew he wasn't crazy, we had to get them away from the party.

"Okay, let's go." I made to move, but Jake grabbed me.

"You stay with me, Remi. I don't want any heroics out of you if things get rough. No running off trying to lead them away from me, got it?"

I nodded.

"Promise me, Remi."

d.a.m.n it, he was too smart for his own good. I would have led them away if I thought this man was in danger and that I could save him, even if it meant sacrificing myself, I would. In a heartbeat.

"Only if you promise first." I retorted, knowing he'd do the same. But we both knew that he couldn't lead them away from me, since it was me they wanted.

"Remi!" He said through gritted teeth.

"Jake!" I spat back.

"G.o.d d.a.m.n you're stubborn. Fine, I promise, we stick together."

"Okay, I promise too."

With that we made for the woods next to Dane's house, trying to look casual as we disappeared into the tree line, all the while keeping an eye on the demons advancing quickly behind us. The second we reached the tree cover Jake grabbed my hand and we ran. We dodged low hanging tree branches and jumped over tree branches lying on the ground, we veered left when group of demons came from the right and right when they came from the left. We came up short when they came from directly ahead.

Jake went low, a football move I'd recognized and took one around the middle slamming it on its back, he double tapped it in the face then stood and spun, jamming his hand in the next demon's throat. A third came forward, and a fourth. Both turned their attention to Jake. I ran forward and tackled one, we tumbled over the ground, and I reached out and grabbed a stick and jammed it through its eye.

Jake called my name and I sprung to my feet, we ran again.

I glanced behind me once to see if the demons from the party were still following not that I could tell any of them apart- the larger number behind us meant there was a good chance the partygoers were safe.

There were a lot of them behind us. My fear ratcheted.

"Jake." I nearly choked.

"Keep running." He ordered just moments before we were blindsided by several demons coming at us from our right side. I was tossed back, my shoulder hit a tree and I went down. I had thought it healed, but this pain was intense. It knocked the wind out of me and I saw stars, my stomach rolled and I groaned. I vaguely heard Jake call my name and I forced myself to focus. I had to get up. I had to get moving. I forced myself to focus my eyes and saw the demon who'd hit me was nearly on top of me, but I saw Jake grab it from behind and twist it's neck until it snapped.

"Come on baby." He held his hand out to me. Oh, those strong hands. I took it and let him haul me to my feet and we began our race again. The demons behind us so dangerously close now.

"Where are we going?" I gasped, choosing to ignore the pain shooting through my shoulder and the fact that I was now winded because of it.

"There's a parking lot on the other side of these trees. A 7-11."

Were we planning on hiding out in a convenience store?

That was certainly not his plan. We burst through the other side of the tree line and sprinted across the highway. We had put a little distance between us and the ensuing demons, though I wasn't sure how we'd managed that, they were fast. I suspected maybe they weren't as strong as they normally were, had they been too busy hunting me down to feed? We needed the little extra time we'd given ourselves because it only took me a second to realize what Jake actually had in mind. He led me around the three different vehicles parked in the lot and finally decided on an old pickup truck parked in the shadows far enough away from the front doors. It was unlocked. He pulled open the driver's side door and shoved me inside, then climbed in after me and closed the door. He reached down and pulled paneling away from under the steering wheel, found wires and hotwired the truck.

He was just full of talents that I wasn't even aware of yet.

"What are we doing?" I felt slightly guilty at stealing someone else's truck.

"We gotta head back to the party." He said peeling out of the parking lot.

"Jake!" I exclaimed.

"Listen." He said before I could protest any further. "We have to get my truck and get out to the farm. We've led the demons away from the party and you've seen what happens to them when they cross the boarders, if you're not there, they won't cross again. The people at the party are safe, but I don't know if that's true out at the farm."

I nodded. "Okay." I'd trust him. If he said the partygoers were safe now, then they were safe.

We parked just down the street from Dane's driveway. Jake said the police would find the truck and just figure it had been taken for a joyride. He did lock it when we left it though, no reason it should actually be taken for a joyride. We kept low as we made our way back to his truck which he always strategically parked for a quick exit, it didn't matter where we went, he was always looking for the best way out- and climbed in, he didn't turn his headlights on until we were away from the house, and he didn't start speeding until we were out of town.

"Reach back and get our stuff, we should be prepared in case we walk into something at home."

So I did. I loaded our clips into our guns, put extra in my pockets. I pulled knife belts from the hollowed out seat and looped one around Jake while he drove, but waited until we were close to home before filling it with blades he was driving extremely fast, if we were to get pulled over how would he explain a belt full of knives to a police officer? Then I put mine on and had our guns on the ready, safeties already off as we pulled into the driveway.

And into chaos.

The farm was overrun with demons. There was gunfire coming from the windows of the house, Jake hit the gas and mowed down as many of the beasts as he could before we skidded to a stop in front of the house. He jumped from the truck.

"Dad!" He yelled.

"Get to the shed." Mr. Wagner called back to him from a window. "We're running low on ammo."

"Come on!" Jake shouted at me, we ran, shooting as we went. As we rounded the house I was. .h.i.t; knocked down by a demon, whether on purpose or just bad luck, I wasn't sure, but I went down hard, my gun fell from my grasp and bounced several feet away. I got up as far as my knees before the demon had me by the foot, I turned and kicked it in the face several times, but it was determined. I let it advance up my leg slightly before I brought my other leg around its neck and used the pressure of both legs to twist and snap its neck. I scrambled on my hands and knees to my gun then rolled, and with a gun in both hands I shot as a second and third demon loomed above me, rolled again to avoid the ooze and jumped to my feet.

"Jake!" I called. I couldn't see him. I popped off a couple more shots and went back around the house, Jake was hand to hand at the moment, slas.h.i.+ng with knives in both hands.

"Get the ammo Remi." He called back. And once again, I was running. I keyed the code into the shed and didn't even hit the lights, I knew this place blind. I grabbed a duffle bag and filled it with as much ammo as it would hold and hauled it back out of the barn. The weight was a lot to bear, my movements were hindered and I wasn't going to be running anywhere very fast. I kept my gun out in front of me, picking off demons as I went. Jake came around and hefted the bag from me I covered him as we made our way back to the house.

As if it were by design it was frightening that the demons seemed to know exactly how to hit us- they had the house surrounded, and every time we picked one off, two took its place.

"We can't get in." I hissed, turning my back against Jake's to keep the oncoming horde off our backs. Jake swore loudly and dropped the bag. "Dad." He shouted and waited for his dad to acknowledge. "We can't get in. They've blocked the house."

His dad swore just as loudly, because of the porch, the team inside couldn't get shots at the demons closest to the doors. Mr. Wagner then asked if we could make a hole.

"No." Jake replied, as he turned his gun on a demon trying to sneak in on a blind spot. "We don't have enough fire power down here."

"Alright, come around to the back, we'll cover you from a window there, if you can get them off the door there, we can keep them off your backs."

So we made our way to the other side of the house. And we saw where the demons were coming from, just waltzing in as they pleased.

"s.h.i.+t." Jake hissed. "There's no protections back here anymore."

"Jake!" I cried. He turned to me, to the direction I faced and before he could join me, my shots we were overrun and they took us down. Our guns couldn't even help us, and there were so many we couldn't reach for knives. I was on my back, I felt my arms being pressed into the gra.s.s, holding me down. "Jake!" I screamed again. I heard him call back to me, but I couldn't see him, I was covered in demons. I heard Jake growl out a shout in pain. "Jake!" I screamed again as a mouth yawned over me. I heard nothing back from Jake and my panic skyrocketed. "Jake, please!" Please say something, but I heard nothing. Oh my G.o.d, had they gotten him? "Get off!" I screamed and I tried to raise my arms to shove at the demon on top of me. It disintegrated. I gasped and brought my hands up. They were glowing blue. "Oh thank you G.o.d!" I cried and began reaching out and touching every demon around me. I found Jake with a demon over him, he hadn't yet pulled his spirit from is body, but it did have its claws sunk into his ribs. I reached out and pushed it away. It turned to ash.

"Jake?" I said and rolled him to his back. The moment my hands touched him, he gasped, his eyes shot open.

"Remi! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" I ripped his s.h.i.+rt back, he had four neat puncture wounds between his ribs bones. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. It didn't hit anything vital." I helped him stand, his eyes widened as he looked at me. "Rem, your hands."

They were still glowing.

"It's you." I whispered. "You make it work." I looked up at him and he frowned his question. "Both times now, this has happened because I thought you were about to die."

Jake opened his mouth to say something but then we heard a great shout.

"Hit the deck!" A voice boomed.

So instead, Jake grabbed me and pulled me back to the ground. A hail of gunfire burst around us from what seemed to be an automatic weapon of some kind. Demons fell or ran, I reached out and touched as many as I could as they pa.s.sed us in their race for the safety of the woods.

Soon, it was quiet again, as if nothing had happened. It was almost eerie.

"You guys okay?" A gruff voice asked.

Jake and I looked up.

"Mick. Good to see you." Jake said.

"Yeah." Then he turned his attention to me and my fading blue hands. "Well, this is interesting."

I stood next to Jake as Maria patched up the wounds in his ribs. He leaned over to kiss my worried lips, but Maria scolded him for moving so much. He chuckled at her and held my hand instead. Mr. Wagner and Mick and several of each team's members were out reinforcing the protections again, Mr. Wagner suspected that the rain from the night before had washed away the line in several areas. They joined us in the kitchen when they were finished, Ana handed out bottles of water.

Mick's team was made up of five others besides himself. Two women and three guys. Not unlike my team. Sarah was an older woman well, older compared to me- in her thirties maybe, she was very butch. Her body thick and wide with muscle, but she had a head of long auburn locks that should have belonged to someone far more feminine than she. The second, Cora was a little pixie of a thing, right down to her super short spiky blond and pink hair. She was just as small as I was and probably a good three inches shorter. And she watched with entirely too much interest as Jake pulled a fresh s.h.i.+rt down over his impressive abs I told myself if I continued to get jealous every time a girl looked at Jake like that eventually I'd actually turn green. She looked to be around our age, but I knew Mick's team didn't have teenagers, so she was in her early twenties somewhere. Two of the guys, Wally and Shane looked similar, even though they weren't brothers. Both in their late twenties with big arms, noses with b.u.mps from being broken a time or two, brown hair, though one had mischievous green eyes while the other had cold brown ones.