by Judi Calhoun
The distant horizon was gradually transforming from a dull grey with dark lavender streaks into blue-black sky, lit only by a waning full moon.
I spied Jake’s Mustang under a chestnut tree at the side entrance, behind Nate’s blue Mercedes. Although the gates were padlocked, the eastside entrance was easiest to climb over. We ran into the shadowy woods, making our way up the hill toward the edge of the cemetery lawn.
We stood between the trees at the edge of the oldest gravestones, eerily outlined by the strange light of the moon.
Jake took my arm and pulled me aside. “We need to talk in private.”
Before I could respond, Joey tripped over tree roots and fell on his face. “Ouch!” he whined, and fumbled trying to find his glasses, awkwardly sticking them back on his face as he stood up.
“Why did you bring the geek?”
Jake sighed. “That’s why we need to talk.”
“That is so cool!” said Joey gawking at me. “Shonna, where'd you get that killer sword? Whoa! Jake! That black leather is wicked sci-fi, dude! Were you wearing that before?”
“You can see my sword and Jake’s armor? How’s that possible? You’re a Bleater!”
“Hey, don’t call me that!” said Joey.
“It happened last night,” said Jake. “He's one of us now…my doing.”
I gaped at Jake in disbelief; Joey Miller… a newbie? I was trying to process this, but for some reason, his goofy presence was really annoying me.
“Hey guys, I don’t like the woods,” said Joey. “There’s ticks here that can suck your blood make you sick.”
I sneered at him, wanting him gone. When he continued whining, I lost it. I leaped at him with my blade drawn. “Listen up, Geek!” I didn’t even try to hide my impatience. “I'm telling you this for your own good. When a cherubim named Ariel…”
“What's a cherubim?" he interrupted, nervously stepping back into a tree.
“Your Slayer trainer, half lion, half man,” I said. “When he gives you a sword like mine,” I raised it and placed the edge close to his neck, like I would take off his head- “you just tell Ariel, no thanks! Tell him you do not want a sword. You don’t want to fight ... okay?”
He gulped loudly. His hand shook as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. Was it possible that I might have gone a little too far? I didn’t even recognize myself. Where was all this anger coming from?
“Why?” he asked softly.
“Can’t you see I'm trying to save your life, Geek?”
“I can handle a sword,” he whispered. “Jake,” he glanced at his friend. “We do it all the time. Right Jake? Our kill scores are really high, like off the charts high.”
I turned to Jake. “The geek thinks it’s a game.” Behind me, Nate and David started snickering.
“Aren’t you being a little rough on him?” Jake asked, moving closer to Joey.
I knew Jake was right I didn’t care. I needed to lash out at someone. Joey’s eyes darted back and forth watching us argue.
Jake stepped between us pushed my blade off Joey’s neck and gently gripping my arm. “Let’s talk,” he said, pulling me away from the others. I glimpsed Gabby stepping off in the opposite direction. She was now the only non-Slayer among us tonight.
“What the heck’s wrong with you?” He snapped. “You almost took off Joey’s head.”
“Joey wasn’t in any danger of losing his head, and you know it.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that your sword can’t kill him. Joey came here to help. We all did. What is wrong with him joining us anyway? We could use the extra help.”
“Are you out of your mind, Jake?” I asked, “Joey has no weapons. They’ll smell his fear and he’ll become their first target.”
“What about Gabby? At least Joey can see them. Gabby won’t have a clue what’s tearing her to pieces.”
“I know, I know, I know.” I grabbed the top of my head. “I can’t believe I let her follow me. What are we going to do?”
“Wait a minute,” said Jake. “Joey’s under special protection, being a newbie. He should be okay.”
“Under normal circumstances,” I said. “Sure, he’s already been assigned some evil spirits by now, like all of us, but they'd be low-level powers, not these big bad boys we're dealing with.”
“Didn’t you fight Belial right after receiving your sword?”
“Yeah, but…”
“Your battle was different,” Jake interrupted. “You were Sam Well's daughter.”
“I'm still his daughter,” I said. “Besides, what does that have to do with all this?”
“You're kidding me, right?”
I shook my head, no.
“Ariel didn’t tell you your father’s history?”
“I never even knew he was a Slayer until you told me, remember.”
Jake glanced away for a moment. “Maybe I shouldn't say anything else.”
I grit my teeth. “Tell me what you know!” I demanded, “...or I swear, I'll…”
“You’re such a hothead. Relax, I’ll tell you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets “Ariel had to prepare you early, for the attack against your family. It was revenge. Your Dad had upset Belial’s plan. Did you ever hear about the Battle for the Elders?”
I shook my head no.
“It was kind of like what happened with Hitler, except darkness was attempting to control the Elders. Angelic guardians aren’t always able to do their jobs. Slayers are called in you already know this. Look, all I know is, your father was a hero. He fought a Familiar by himself. He died trying to save England’s Prime Minister. There’s more to it. That’s the only thing Gauge told me. You should talk with him, since he was with your dad when it happened.”
“What?” I took a step back to steady myself. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I don’t know,” Jake said. He was saying more, but a cloud of numbness silenced every word he said. Another piece of the puzzle had just slipped into place. Now I knew a little more about dad’s death, but what I didn’t have were details, like who had killed him or why. Gauge was with dad when he died. Finally, after all this time, someone could tell me the truth. If I survived tonight, I would visit Mr. Brian Waters. I would finally get answers.
“You’re right,” said Jake. “Joey and Gabby need to leave. Come on.” He took my hand. “Let’s get back before Gabby kills Nate.”
I followed like a zombie; concentrating on a history, I had known nothing about until a moment ago. Gauge and my dad were best friends like Gabby and me. It wasn’t until I saw her face that it hit me. I had to protect her. After all, didn’t I agree to lay down my life to protect the innocent? Like all Slayers, I swore an oath that I would die defending the innocent, most were people I didn’t even know. Gabby was my best friend. I would do whatever it took to keep her alive.
“Why doesn’t anyone want to talk with me privately?” Nate whined in a fake sad voice, joking around, as I passed by him heading for my best friend.
“Let’s bail this freak show and go have some real fun,” said Gabby.
“You followed me here, remember? I didn’t ask you to come.”
“You’d rather hang out with these creeps. Fine. I get it. I can leave.”
“Good. GO!” I said a little too loudly. I’d hurt her saying that, but this was exactly what I wanted, for her to leave, to save her life. I just didn’t want her to leave angry. I hesitated when she turned walking away seeing the hurt expression on her face. I couldn’t stand to see her hurt.
“Wait a minute, Gabby.” I reached for her arm. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I don’t know what is bugging me. Look, I’d rather be hanging with you and having fun. If I didn’t have to deal with this thing, we’d be out of here right now, but…”
“But what?”
“I can’t go.” I gave her a pleading look. “The truth is Gabby, if you stay, you might die. I’d feel much better knowing you were safe.”
She let out a long sigh. “Okay, so
you’re going to attack our new principal… am I right?”
“Yes.”
“And all this has to do with some evil spirit stuff you’re always talking about, right?”
“Sort of.”
“You guys are insane,” she said. “You know that, right? You are so lucky you got me, cause I won’t tell the cops anything. They can torture me too I will never talk.”
I was tying the strap from my leather wrist pad onto the hilt locking my blade into my hand, listening to Gabby go on and on about how she keeps secrets. I watched her glance at Nate, mildly disgusted. “Why does he have to be here with us, anyway?”
“Nate’s here because he’s a gifted fast runner. He’s also an excellent fighter. David’s gifted in other ways, with seven thousand confirmed kills, we need him, too.”
I was doing my best to remain calm and still work on getting rid of my best friend painlessly. “Let me just warn you, Gabby. When the monsters come and the fighting starts, I want you to run and keep running. Promise me, okay?”
“Sure, running and screaming. I can do that. No problem.” She glanced over at Joey. “What’s up with Miller? He thinks you have a sword? So…let’s see it, where is it? Come on give. Show your best friend.”
I glanced down at my heavy broad sword, now tied securely to my hand. “It’s sort of invisible,” I said, trying to imagine how this was all going to play out, since Gabby was not leaving. I knew that sometimes in extreme cases, Yesher opened non-Slayer eyes to see their spiritual attackers, not that they could fight them off, but they might be able to outrun them. I only hoped that He would do the same for Gabby if it were ever needed, because demons like Ian were lethal. My guess was Ian might not come alone; he’d bring his spies or other evil guardians.
“There are…creatures here that can kill you Gabby. You can’t see them. It might get kind of weird.”
She raised one eyebrow. “You have an invisible sword. Invisible monsters might attack me. You’re acting all bounty hunter on Joey. If you ask me, things are already pretty weird. Look, best friend in all the world, I do not understand any of this. I just wanna have fun tonight. Hanging out in the woods is not my idea of a good time, unless I was kissing someone like Ben Barnes.” She crossed her arms in front and leaned against the tree next to me. “Besides, if I can’t see them, they can’t hurt me, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “I give up.”
“Stop worrying. I got it. No problem,” she said. “Afterwards, you wanna come to my house?”
“Shhh!” I said, thinking I heard footsteps. I did. A shadowy figure was moving close, Ian.
I flashed Jake a quick nod. He replied with the same.
The eerie glow, like a giant flashlight beam, shot up into the sky above the gravestone. It was the same one I’d seen the night I tried the save the old man, the same night I’d first met Jake and found out he was a Slayer.
Jake and I moved slowly, the rest following, crouching, and ducking behind granite stones, closing in on our target.
Ian vanished.
A noise like sandpaper scratching against wood filled my ears. A dozen demons started pouring from the grave like giant cockroaches, running toward our small band of Slayers.
They are here!
I glanced toward Joey and Gabby and prayed they remained hidden.
A vampire started for the woods. Jake burst into a run, and lunged at the ugly fanged vermin, swiftly taking him out.
Two other Vamps were on me. The anger that had consumed me a moment ago was gone, just when I needed it the most. They split off, attempting to trick me into following one, while the other attacked from behind. I shook my head. They never learn. I jumped back, stabbed one spinning right I took out the other…too easy.
Three tall shadows stood frozen, their heads and bodies leaning toward the darkened trees, sniffing the air. Chills ran through me. Crap! They smell fear. They know an innocent is hiding.
David charged them. I was right behind. “Yesher!” My sword cut clean through two, and David took out the other. I glanced the dark woods and tried to shake off my anxiety.
I felt as if I were moving in a vacuum, slowly, too slowly, grunting and swinging at anything that stirred. I felt it before I saw it… Jake was hurt. A shiver quivered deep inside me. An internal sound roared my ears. It was my heart slamming hard into my wall of my chest. The roar was panic…fear.
Everything went soundless as I danced with my sword; tearing apart demons, all the while my eyes searching for Jake. I saw something terrible. He lay on the ground…knocked out; his sword rested near a tree in the shadow of Joey’s foot. No, no, no, I screamed inside my head, watching Joey move out from his hiding place. He was yelling at the demon that was about to kill Jake. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I knew what he was doing. Joey was trying to draw attention away from Jake. When his fingers reached for Jake’s blade, my mouth went dry and I couldn’t scream. I tried. It came out hoarse. Oh God, no… “JOEY, RUN!”
I was too far away. I wouldn’t be able to reach him in time. The demon would kill both Joey and Jake by the time I got down the hill. Panic raced through me… I screamed heavy- metal loud. “Somebody, HELP!”
That was the wrong thing to scream, everyone turned to look at me. A Dreader demon smiled as he sensed my fear. Big mistake since Dreader’s subsist on the weakness of terror, he pounced on me. My adrenaline kicked in. I went berserk, stabbing and stabbing with only one thing on my mind, I have to save Jake and Joey.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. Someone else running from the woods...
Gabby!
I killed the last demon and froze in fear watching as a dozen demons all vampires moved in a trance toward my best friend. Joey and Jake needed help I did not know what to do.
The screams building inside of me melted into tears. Inside my head, I saw myself running and killing every demon and rescuing all my friends, but I hesitated overwhelmed with fear. What do I do? Who do I save first?
I forced myself take a step, that’s when I realized I couldn’t move. I hadn’t seen or felt the Serpent from the pit of Abaddon. The boa constrictor sized snake with lizard legs and incredibly poisonous fangs…he had me. My ankles were wrapped up. Too late, I tried to stab the thing while keeping my balance, but I was falling backwards.
My wrist struck a headstone, breaking open the strap loosing the strings that fastened my hilt to the palm of my hand. My blade fell away as my back and head slammed jarringly hard onto the ground.
I lay momentarily dazed, feeling the snake winding around me. I painfully tried to raise one shoulder, but my arms were gift-wrapped in serpent flesh. I saw the hunger in his eyes. I could not believe that I got myself into this mess.
The snake’s head swayed sideways looking for a good place to plunge in its poisonous fangs.
Without my sword, I had no defense against Serpent venom. His eyes rolled back, his jaw clamped down…fangs cut into the exposed skin around my wrist.
I screamed arching my back, feeling a tsunami of poison rush through me, dulling my senses, and weakening my brain. The effect was immediate; my wrist was paralyzed.
More screams. Not mine, somewhere in the near distance. Fear gripped me. This time, I didn’t see his fangs, but I felt his spikes tear me open, filling my already poisoned veins with more venom. My head rushed with agonizing weakness. I lost the use of my left leg.
Once he filled me with his poison, I would be his dinner. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
His scaly body was inches from my mouth. The desire to hurt him roared through me. If he can bite, I can too! I opened my mouth and took a bite.
Ew! I wanted to vomit.
It worked!
The snake’s grip loosened enough for me to free one arm. I raised my head to see my sword. The power of my blade in my hand would be instant anti-venom.
It lay less than a yard away, next to a gravestone. I stretched my arm my fingers reaching, feeling the snake tighten its grip agai
n. Digging into the dirt, summoning all the strength I could muster, I dragged the dead weight of my body and the serpent, stretching…breathlessly reaching, closer and closer. Finally! Gratefully I found the steel end, just as the snake’s jaw opened to bite again.
There was a surge…instantly the fire of authority was released. Triune Power. The snake uncoiled and I jumped free and scrambled to my feet, flipping the blade I caught the hilt with one hand. The snake drew himself up, fangs dripping with my blood.
“Die, pond scum!” My blade slashed down through the snake’s neck, cutting off its head…spraying me with brown blood as it fell in two pieces, before vanishing.
Screams, demonic and human.
My eyes squinted down trying to figure out what I was seeing. Jake bent over. Is he okay? I don’t know, I do not know. Joey? Oh, Lord no, Joey lay covered in blood. Dead? Was Joey dead?
* * *
Chapter 16
