Pandemonium

by Sonia Harper

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gregory fell onto his back, both hands grappling with a guardian's claws. He grunted as the creature bore down, reaching its talons toward his neck and screeching angrily. He kicked his leg up, trying to make contact with the creature, but it pinned his thighs down with bony knees and pushed all of its weight onto him.

  Grunting, he tried to ignore the pain and turned his head down the hallway to stare longingly at his handgun, tossed aside to the floor when the creature had gone for his neck. A hiss brought his attention back to the guardian above him.

  “You are not one of them.”

  Gregory ignored the statement and thrashed his legs, trying to free them from under the guardian's knees. Gunshots, yelling, and screeching echoed in the hallway, most of it coming below from the first floor. Gregory hoped the daemons were able to fight off the invasion without Gideon. The daemon was trapped within him until nightfall, and they were still hours away from switching bodies.

  “You are not human,” its golden eyes narrowed as it continued to try and push its claws toward his neck.

  A flash of anger bloomed inside Gregory's chest. “I'm more human than you are,” he countered.

  “We are both abominations,” the guardian hissed slowly, one of its claws jerking close enough to Gregory's face to briefly pierce the skin on his chin. “But where we serve the good of mankind, you serve evil,” the unnatural voice drew out the last word and renewed its efforts to slash his throat.

  He grunted in pain as its claws managed to scrape against his jaw, cutting the skin and getting dangerously close to his vulnerable throat. Even though he was tied to a daemon, his body was still somewhat mortal; he didn't have Gideon's healing abilities. Even though he had never come close to being mortally wounded while he was “out” during the day, he had no desire to find out what would happen to the two of them if he was.

  An explosion rocked the house and momentarily distracted the guardian. Gregory jerked one leg to the side as hard as he could, freeing it from the guardian's knee. He immediately positioned his leg and kicked the guardian square in the gut, forcing the creature off of him. Its claws were forced to abandon their target and flew back behind it to stable itself on the floor.

  Taking advantage, Gregory twisted onto his stomach and quickly grabbed his gun. He turned around and shot the creature in the face just as it was lunging toward him again. Its heavy body dropped instantly onto his legs.

  He roughly kicked it aside and stood, shooting it a few more times in the head for good measure.

  “Gregory!”

  Gregory turned and caught sight of Pytho. The daemon's arm was waving around in a circle, trying to force back guardians with his flames.

  Ah, Gregory thought to himself, that's where most of the screeching was coming from.

  At least five guardians were trying to reach the redhead, screeching in pain every time his flames ignited their outstretched arms. He was alternating between shooting his gun and reaching his hand out to scorch them.

  “A little help?” Pytho yelped as two more guardians flew through the destroyed bay window at the end of the hall and joined in the effort to reach him.

  Gregory tensed at the sight of so many guardians, but lifted his gun anyway and took careful aim. He crouched down and tucked himself against the hallway wall to make himself as inconspicuous as possible before he began shooting. He managed to take down two weaker ones that were already covered in burns. Their bodies fell to the floor. Pytho didn't even spare a glance before throwing his arm in their direction and scorching their bodies to ash so they wouldn't resurrect.

  A guardian turned and noticed Gregory crouched in the hallway, aiming at his next target. It screeched and lunged forward to attack him. Gregory shifted his aim to catch it before it reached him, but a wall of flames erupted a few feet in front of him, cutting off the guardian's path to him. He could barely see the creature through the flames, but he shot anyway. He must have hit the mark because the flames curled inward from the wall they were in to cover a body on the floor and roar through it, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.

  Pytho and three guardians remained, but their fight had moved further down the hallway and away from Gregory. Gregory stood from his crouched position and moved closer, keeping to the wall. He passed the staircase and was relieved to find it empty, though he could still hear yelling and fighting from downstairs.

  He heard a woman's scream echo from downstairs, and he turned back towards the railing, eyes scanning the entrance hall for Adelyn.

  “Gregory!”

  Pytho's voice had just called out his warning when Gregory felt unbelievable pain shoot through his back and he screamed, dropping his gun to the floor as he fought back and tried to dislodge the guardian that had run him through with its claws. He looked down in horror as the tips of claws poked through the shirt covering his abdomen.

  “Die, false human,” Gregory heard a hiss in his ear as the claws retracted and left his body. He cried out and fell forward to the railing, one hand pressing hard into the bleeding hole in his gut.

  “Gregory!” He heard Pytho scream his name from down the hallway, but he ignored it as his focus centred on the agonizing pain in his back and his gut. He took a ragged breath in, relieved that the guardian seemed to have missed his lungs. Drowning in his own blood did not sound like a fun way to go.

  Then again, he thought to himself as he felt his body start to slide down against the railing, neither did bleeding out on the floor.

  “The scent of your mixed-blood offends me,” the guardian hissed from behind him.

  Mixed?

  He barely had time to react before two clawed hands grasped his thighs and pulled them back before pitching them over his head and throwing him over the railing.

  Mixed?

  Adelyn screamed as something dropped from the balcony on the second floor. She raised her gun, but quickly lowered it when she saw who it was.

  “Gregory!” She screamed and scrambled up from her position next to the duffel. Donovan, Derion, and Cain had driven away all of the guardians on the first floor, yet she continued to swivel her head around and search for danger in every direction.

  A groan escaped his lips, but he otherwise didn't respond to her. He was bleeding from his abdomen, and a pool of blood was starting to form underneath him.

  “Oh god, not again,” Adelyn shook her head in denial as her hands hovered over him, unsure of what to do. “If we all survive this, I'm putting in an order for body armour for each of you!” She snapped angrily as she carefully unbuttoned his ruined silk shirt and peered at his injury. “Shit,” she swore. The bleeding wasn't just coming from the front, she realized. This injury was too small.

  “'delyn,” Gregory's head rolled in her direction as his eyes opened slightly.

  “I'm here,” Adelyn reached up and cupped his cheek, tapping it lightly to try and keep him conscious.

  “Make him stop yelling at me,” he pleaded in a soft, barely audible voice.

  Adelyn leaned down closer to hear him. “Make who stop yelling at you?” She asked, frowning. Was he delirious?

  “Gideon,” he replied in a whisper.

  “Gideon?” Adelyn frowned again. “Gideon is yelling at you?”

  “Mhm,” Gregory's head leaned further into her hand, his eyes sliding shut. “He's angry.”

  “Why is he angry?” Adelyn decided to humour him as she eyed the duffel bag behind her, debating whether she should try the serum once more.

  “'cause I'm dying,” He whispered before his head rolled back and off Adelyn's hand, hitting the floor with a soft thud.

  “Gregory!” She exclaimed, leaning over him and patting his cheek again. “Gregory!” She shook his shoulders, hoping the movement would cause him pain and would wake him up. He didn't stir.

  She had no choice. She was going to have to chance the healing serum again. Groaning, she turned away from Gregory and quickly crawled back to her duffel, pushing aside the
remaining two grenades and various clips to find the crushed cardboard box. As she lifted the flaps, her heart plummeted as she saw two broken syringes, the serum coating the bottom of the box with a clear fluid.

  “Shit,” she muttered as she carefully extracted an unbroken syringe. Three down and only six left. She quickly, yet carefully, placed the box back into the duffel.

  She turned around to crawl back to Gregory and immediately bumped into something hard. Gasping at the sight of grey, sinewy thighs, she slowly raised her head to take in the sight of the guardian standing between her and Gregory. When her eyes finally met its glowing yellow eyes, it bared its sharp pointed teeth at her and moved faster than she could see, grabbing her by the throat with one hand and yanking the syringe out of her hand with the other.

  “Ah!” She screamed as the guardian lifted her to her feet, applying pressure around her neck.

  “Where did you get this?” It hissed angrily, bringing the syringe up to her face.

  She yelped in response as it shook her by the neck, demanding an answer. Her thoughts raced and her hands were torn between trying to dislodge its grip on her neck and reaching for the gun in her back pocket.

  Luckily, she didn't have to flail for very long. The guardian twitched, then dropped like a stone as a shot rang out from behind it.

  Gasping, Adelyn took a huge step back from its body and rubbed her neck, trying to ease the pain.

  “Gregor-,” her voice caught in her throat as she caught sight of Gregory – no, Gideon. The daemon was lying on his back, gun still aimed at the guardian. He was panting heavily, and his arm was visibly shaking.

  “Are you o-,” her voice trailed off again as Gideon's wild, frantic eyes focused on her. She had never seen this expression on his face before. It was almost as if he was...afraid?

  She glanced down at his bare chest and saw the same injury that Gregory had, but this one was disappearing before her eyes. Feeling weak with relief, she slowly walked over to him. “You're healing,” she dropped to her knees beside him, fingers hovering over the injury.

  “Don't touch me,” Gideon snapped, but it didn't have the usual force or anger behind it. His head and arm fell back on the floor as his eyes closed. She watched as he tried to control his erratic breathing.

  “Are you okay?” She asked tentatively, arm hovering over his trembling shoulder and taking in the torn shirt sleeves that hung off his arms. Gideon was taller and more muscular than Gregory. It was no wonder the shirt seams burst.

  “Fucker nearly got us killed,” Gideon's voice was barely a whisper as he swallowed and took in a deep, ragged breath. “I had to force my way out to protect us both. Humans are fucking useless.”

  “Hey!” Adelyn frowned. “No need for insults!”

  One eye cracked open, and he glanced at her. “Case in point,” he replied before lifting his arm above her head and firing his gun.

  Adelyn shrieked and covered her ears. “What the fu-,” she glanced behind her as the guardian dropped to the floor once again, a new bullet hole matching the first in his forehead.

  “Warn me next time!” She rounded in on him angrily. “My ears are ringing now,” she complained.

  “Shut up,” Gideon grunted as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. “Your voice is annoying.”

  And yet, you keep saving my life, Adelyn thought wryly as she watched Gideon roll over onto his knees and slowly stand. The shaking in his body had all but disappeared as he rolled his head and his shoulders, working out the kinks. He looked a bit ridiculous with a torn shirt hanging from his biceps and pants that were obviously too tight and short. The button on Gregory's pants was missing and the zipper had burst open, revealing dark underpants underneath.

  “Who's guarding the gate?” Gideon demanded, looking down at her as he ripped the remains of the ruined shirt off his arms.

  “Derion,” She replied, standing up and stepping over the guardian to retrieve the fallen syringe on the floor.

  Gideon snorted behind her. “At least it's not the kid,” she heard him grumble as she replaced the syringe in the box and took up her position next to the duffel, one knee on the floor and her gun in hand.

  “Fuck these things,” Gideon snarled before bending down and pulling off the tight pants, struggling to get them down and off his muscular calves. Gregory's shoes had long-since disappeared. Standing in only a tight pair of undergarments, he checked the clip on Gregory's gun before catching her stare.

  “What?” He snapped angrily. “What the fuck are you staring at?”

  “Nothing,” Adelyn bit the inside of her lips to keep herself from laughing at the ridiculous thought of Gideon fighting guardians in nothing but a pair of dark blue boxer-briefs.

  “You think this is funny?” He shouted angrily. “We're in the middle of a war, bitch!”

  “Oh, calm down,” Adelyn rolled her eyes. “Geez, nearly dying makes you so grumpy.”

  “I am not grumpy!” He roared indignantly.

  “Would a grenade cheer you up?” Adelyn asked, pulling the remaining two grenades out of her bag and holding them aloft in one hand.

  He growled and stomped over to her with bare feet. “Tossing you back to where you came from would cheer me up,” he grumbled as ripped the grenades out of her hand and knelt beside her, rummaging in the duffel for more clips.

  Adelyn couldn't help the snort that escaped her. “So, uh, where are you going to put those extra clips?”

  Gideon didn't respond verbally. Instead, he continued to rummage through the duffel with one hand while he raised his other arm over her head and fired off his gun.

  Adelyn shrieked as the guardian fell beside her again, three holes in its forehead now.

  “Damn it, would you stop doing that?” Adelyn yelled over the ringing in her ear.

  “Stop what? Saving your life?” He replied as he tucked in a few extra clips into the tight waistband of his undergarments. “Gladly,” he snarled in her face before jumping up and running outside to find the others.

  Adelyn huffed and frowned, then looked over and shot the guardian in the head for the fourth time as it began to twitch and come to life again. “Stay down, would you?” She snapped at it and shot it a few more times for good measure. She wished Pytho would lean down the staircase and torch the body as he had for the mountain of bodies on the first floor minutes before Gregory flew over the balcony.

  Speaking of which...shit, he was up there alone, wasn't he?

  “Pytho?” Adelyn called up to the second floor.

  She strained to hear sounds of a struggle upstairs, but it was difficult when her ears were still ringing thanks to Gideon. She could still hear fighting outside, but nothing from upstairs.

  “Pytho?” She shouted louder and stood, shooting the guardian in the face as she passed by and rounded the staircase.

  She still couldn't hear anything.

  “Damnit!” She shouted, torn between running up the stairs and staying near the duffel bag. “Pytho, I swear, if you're up there dying on me like all the others...” She shouted up the stairs and glanced back at the duffel. Cain had told her to stay put, but she couldn't just leave Pytho all alone up there.

  Racing back to her bag, she shot the guardian one more time before scooping up the duffel, zipping it up, and placing it on her back as Pytho had shown her. She turned back to the stairs and gasped.

  “You looking for me?” Pytho gave a weak grin as he leaned against the railing on the bottom step. His hair was dishevelled, and he had a bleeding cut on his forehead, but he was otherwise unharmed.

  Relief flooded her, and she sagged slightly. “Damnit, don't scare me like that!” She chastised him.

  “Sorry, I was a little busy,” he stepped away from the staircase and waved his hand, igniting the body of the guardian on the floor. “Where's Gregory?” He demanded, concern flooding his features as he scanned the entryway.

  “Long story short?” Adelyn asked. “Gideon came out, grabbed some grenades a
nd ammo, and is currently outside in a pair of boxer-briefs that are about three sizes too small for him.”

  Pytho's head jerked back in surprise. “Wait. What?”

  “I know,” Adelyn nodded. “Surprised the hell out of me, too. I thought he couldn't come out until sunse-,”

  “I always pegged Gregory as the tighty-whitey type,” Pytho frowned off into the distance. “I'm going to have to completely re-think my opinion of that man.”

  “Are you serious right now?” Adelyn sighed wearily.

  “Well, it's either I focus on Gregory's choice in underwear or think about the frighting fact that Gideon is now strong enough to fight the curse and come out earlier than he should,” Pytho paused, then frowned again. “Or focus on the image of Gideon in his underwear. Gross!”

  “I don't think it's because he fought his curse,” Adelyn shook her head. “I think it was because Gregory was dying. He seemed pretty shaken up after switching bodies. He was pretty pissed that Gregory had put their lives in danger.”

  “Gideon? Shaken up?” Pytho's eyebrows reached his hairline. “Nope, I think you're imagining things. That daemon isn't afraid of anything.”

  “The fuck are you doing in there?” Gideon's voice echoed from across the front lawn, and both Pytho and Adelyn turned towards the entrance. “Having a nice conversation? Shall I put on the fucking tea for you?” Gideon roared as he punched an oncoming guardian in the head and sent it flying back ten feet. “Get the fuck out here, boy!”

  An angry grunt escaped Pytho's throat, and he gripped his handgun tighter. “Nice undies, GQ!” He shot back.

  “I don't know what the fuck that is, but I'm going to kick your skinny ass when all of this is over,” Gideon promised and pointed a finger at him before delivering a roundhouse kick to a guardian that came up behind him and slashing its throat open.

  “Whatever,” Pytho rolled his eyes before turning back to Adelyn. “Top floor is clear – care to join me outside?” He quickly slid the duffel off her shoulders and reached inside, pulling out a few magazines and inspecting them before sliding them in his back pockets.