I love this scene…
Even from that far away, the presence called to him; he knew the girl was in trouble and the decision to induct her was made. It was now the only way he could save her life.
He entered the apartment. The stench of blood never failed to raise the coppery taste of bile to the back of his throat. Her mother lay curled in a crumpled heap in the bedroom just off the front door. He wasn’t sure anyone would be able to identify what was left as human. A few short steps further in and he saw the girl lying face down on the small couch. Her clothes had been torn but not removed. He breathed a small whisper of relief. He had gotten there before the demon could defile her any further.
Said demon, a lesser demon but strong none-the-less was ridding the body and mind of the mother’s sometime boyfriend. He hunched over her body, his back to Warner. The high insectile buzzing of its thoughts gave Warner an instant headache–which of course, pissed him off to no end.
“Hey, stupid. “
“Meat.” Oh yeah, this one was definitely not the brightest bulb in the lamp.
“Um, no, stupid. That’s my new apprentice.” Warner hoped the small talk would keep the demon from guiding the knife in Chad’s hand any deeper into the girl’s back. There were already three deep gashes running with blood. It looked like the demon wanted to add at least one more. Warner was slowly pulling his gun from its holster and easing around to get a good shot.
“No apprentice. Meat.”
“No, not meat. My protégé.”
The demon stopped moving. It finally realized that it was in the presence of a hunter.
“You…kill me?” He held the knife over the girl’s left shoulder blade. The threat to end the girl’s life was obvious, but Warner wasn’t worried. He had his shot. It helped that the stupid demon had picked Chad who was hopefully so doped up on heroine he wouldn’t even realize he had been possessed. Chad’s body was horribly messed up from the drugs, even sober, Chad didn’t have the reflexes to dodge Warner’s bullet and no matter the supernatural strength of the being currently inhabiting his body, it was going to be near impossible to get that drugged up husk to move any faster than the bullet Warner was prepared to put through its ribs. A killing blow to the demon’s life center, a serious bullet wound to the human host. Depending on how fast the ambulance got there, Chad would live to do time for the murder of the girl’s mother. Sad, but at this point, Warner didn’t have any sympathy. He had heard the awful things Chad had said and seen the aftermath of the beatings he had delivered. Warner wasn’t surprised that the demon had chosen Chad to do its dirty work.
“Yes, stupid.” He said as he fired, “I’m going to kill you.” The bullet struck before the last word was from his lips. The demon wailed as it died, its essence flowing from the wound in a sickly yellow fog that stank of sulfur. Chad’s eyes cleared just a bit, the haze of his high creating a fuzzy film across his pupils.
“What the fuck man? What the fuck?!” Chad began to chant that phrase as he slumped to the floor.
“Chad, you’ve just been shot. The police and an ambulance should be here in, oh, twenty minutes or so. But don’t worry. You won’t die. Not yet anyway. I predict though that detox and jail might be what finally does your sorry ass in.”
None of Warner’s words reached Chad’s brain. He just kept uttering, “What the fuck?”
Warner thought briefly that the demon’s presence had sparked a ricochet. It happens sometimes when the human possessed is of especially weak mind. A demon’s sudden departure sets off ripples in the human’s brain. Most ricochets lead their victims to madness and suicide. Warner wished both on Chad as he stepped over him to pick the girl up from the couch. He took off his jacket and laid it over her back before turning her over and lifting her into his arms.
She moaned from the pain but didn’t regain consciousness. Warner offered a brief prayer then wove the spell that would take them to the Order’s infirmary inside The Academy.
In spite of WordPress’ changes being a nuisance, I’m sticking to my 40 day post commitment. Hope you enjoy :-).
Happy writing and as always,
Love,
Dana
Dana Ellington, MAPW 