by B. Groves
Kyle leaned over, folded his hands, and prayed. He didn’t know how long he prayed, and he couldn’t quite remember what he prayed for except asking God to guide him through this mess.
When he finished he realized the answer was still eluding him and he would seek more guidance later. He gave one last glance at the door before he reached into his nightstand drawer to make sure his 9mm was locked and loaded. He never thought of another demon taking revenge for one of their own, and he was happy Alison mentioned it. He would be more vigilant.
Kyle had a lot on his mind, but once he climbed under the covers, he listened to the thunder rumbling outside and fell asleep.
***
Kyle jerked awake from his alarm. He could have sworn he closed his eyes minutes ago. He vowed that after services today he would lie around in bed the rest of the day and catch up on his sleep.
Kyle sat up in bed while his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, sniffing, and yawning. He rubbed his eyes and reached over for his spare glasses on the nightstand. Nothing looked out of place as his eyes scanned the room.
Kyle turned to the doorway as the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted into the room.
Kyle needed that coffee—badly and thought he’d better drag his ass out of bed before Miranda arrived and pounded on his front door.
He hated chasing Alison out, but he knew Miranda well and he knew that the old women would chatter after service about the mysterious blonde woman in his home.
He listened for Alison or her dog. This house was over seventy years old and you could hear every movement. After old Reverend John Miller died, and Kyle moved in, the settling and the noises of the house would keep Kyle up all night until he became used to them.
Kyle stood and stretched thinking about that coffee before he showered and shaved.
The sun hadn’t peeked through the trees and even though Kyle had central air, he could still feel the humidity weighing down the air from the storms the night before.
Kyle listened for movement as he slipped on his t-shirt and shorts, but didn’t hear a thing.
He thought he would hear the patter of dog feet over the hardwood floors, but the house was silent.
Frowning, he did his business in the bathroom and listened again for some movement.
He exited the bathroom and opened the door.
“Alison?” He called. He expected Simon to come out of the living room to greet him, but no dog appeared in the hallway.
Kyle walked down the hallway and entered the living room.
He didn’t deny his disappointment when he spotted the blankets neatly folded on the couch with the pillow sitting on top. He walked over and pulled back the curtains to find Alison’s Toyota Camry gone.
Well, that’s that, he thought as he let go of the curtains and turned to grab some coffee before he dressed and walked over to the church before Miranda arrived and beat down his door.
Kyle walked into the kitchen and over to his coffee pot. He found a folded note there with his name on the front.
He didn’t open it and placed it back onto the counter. He grabbed the cream from the refrigerator and poured his coffee.
“At least she made me coffee before she left,” he said to himself.
Taking his first sip he grabbed the note and unfolded it.
Thanks for letting us stay the night. You have my number.
Alison
Kyle couldn’t get angry or hurt. He hardly knew the woman. She had a life of her own and came out here to help him when no one else would. Yet, the questions lingered in his mind about how Alison Stark, an accountant from Charlotte, was so powerful she could exorcise a demon with her bare hands.
Kyle guessed he would never know. He would have to go back to The Network if he needed help.
Chapter 13
Journal Entry February 15, Late 2000s
I still want to live a normal life. Kids, house, 2 cars, etc. Hunting is exciting, but it becomes work after a while, and there isn’t always a happy ending.
Brady says I need to learn to put my emotions away.
I haven’t hunted in 2 months because an older woman I helped exorcise is now on life support because she had heart failure after the exorcism.
She won’t make it. She’s brain dead and I feel responsible. Her husband called us for help, and now he’s losing his wife. What could I do? I wish I never went there. I wish she was the happy person her husband described to us when we arrived.
Brady has been trying to reassure me it happens sometimes. You can’t save them all. The longer they’re possessed, the harder it is to save them.
I don’t know if I want to continue this life.
Brady keeps me going, though, as do my friends from The Network. They have the same issues we’ve had. Their exorcisms don’t always go perfectly.
I’m hoping for better outcomes in future cases.
Brady becomes overzealous when he’s exorcising. It concerns me sometimes because it might hurt the victim. I’ve asked him about his past hunts and how they ended, but he always blows me off. I will keep a better eye on him. As my experience grows, I worry more about how Brady acts around the victims. We’re trying to help people not ruin their lives. It’s not their fault the demons possessed them.
Chapter 14
Alison wasn’t planning on leaving Kyle high and dry. She’d planned on staying and saying goodbye, but he was sleeping soundly and she didn’t want to wake him up.
She made sure she made coffee before she left and didn’t leave a mess.
Alison looked forward to her drive home and climbing into her bed for the day. The sky was turning from purple to orange with the leftover storm clouds moving across the sky.
The roads were soaked, and the humidity was stifling when Alison pulled into the gas station before the exit onto the highway.
She hadn’t slept much on that couch that night. It wasn’t because the couch was uncomfortable, but she felt like eyes were watching her from a distance. There was one time when Simon awoke and was pacing the living room and kept gazing out the front door. Alison had sat up the rest of the night, her body tense and ready for any kind of situation, but nothing happened.
A dark cloud hung over this town. A silent menace that haunted the shadows of its buildings and homes.
Alison tried to shake off those feelings.
She saved Olivia and that’s all that mattered to her. The little girl would recover and hopefully not remember what really happened to her mother. If she never remembered she could look forward to living a normal life. That’s all Alison cared about.
Alison rolled down the windows and glanced in the back seat, smiling. Simon was lounging on the seat with his eyes half closed.
He lifted his head and yawned. Alison chuckled and said, “Three hours, buddy, and we’ll be home.”
She opened the door and looked around. No one was around, the road had a few passing cars, but the area was quiet. She felt comfortable enough to leave Simon inside the car with the windows rolled down while she bought a bottle of water for the trip home.
She filled her gas tank and checked on Simon. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
Alison turned and walked into the convenience store. The clerk looked up, gave her a nod, and went back to his phone.
Alison walked along the wall back to the refrigerated area. She thought about coffee but decided the water would energize her better for her drive home.
She spotted a particle board with the usual local ads tacked onto it when something caught her eye.
Alison stopped and gazed at the board, her eyes narrowing as she studied it.
Missing persons happened everywhere, but as she peered closer at the missing person pictures, she realized these people were local.
The board was filled with them, but there were those marked with a red pen that claimed they’d been found.
There was no discrimination to the people who were missing. They came from every background and were always local.
>
Alison checked the dates and noticed most of the pictures only happened within the last five years.
Alison turned away from the pictures and thought it was odd how so many had gone missing but some were found alive and well.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Kyle hadn’t told her much about the town, and she hadn’t asked him.
The signs had been there when she first drove into town, but she realized how bad the problem was here.
Alison ran a hand through her hair and debated whether she should leave or question Kyle about the problem here.
Alison rubbed her eyes and groaned. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to get involved. She left this life years ago. She had settled into a nice job, a great car, and a beautiful apartment. This wasn’t her job anymore, this was something other hunters could take care of.
She decided when she arrived home she would log into The Network and put the town of Wolfpine, North Carolina into the forums and ask for help. Then she would log off and live her life.
Satisfied, Alison picked out her water and made her way to the clerk to pay for it.
The clerk had been watching her while she checked out the missing person pictures. As he rang up her water he commented, “Weird, huh? People disappear and then turn up weeks sometimes months later.”
Alison hadn’t wanted to talk about what she noticed on the posters, but the clerk speaking about it intrigued her. “This is a mountain town. I’m sure it happens all the time.”
“My dad owns this place, and he said he’s never seen anything like it,” the clerk commented. “If someone gets lost in the mountains, they don’t stand a chance, but these people are surviving.”
Alison placed her debit card back into her pocket. She made a face to act like she was worried. “That is strange. I’m just visiting I hope that doesn’t happen to me.” She laughed trying to act innocent.
The clerk smiled and said, “I’m sure it won’t.”
Alison turned away from the counter when she heard Simon bark from the car. She knew that bark well. It wasn’t the friendly bark when he wanted to greet another person. It was what she nicknamed “Simon’s warning bark.”
She turned back to the clerk and said, “Thanks for the chat. Excuse me.”
“Have a nice day,” he answered.
Alison walked outside to find Simon looking to his right, barking, snarling, and baring his teeth.
The familiar feeling of dread washed over her. She froze in place when she spotted three of them standing over by another set of gas pumps. The shadows masking their human bodies, swirling around them like a cloak.
Alison reached into the back of her jeans pocket and wrapped her fingers around the switchblade.
Two men and one woman.
She reached over and opened the car door to let Simon out. He jumped out of the car and circled her while barking and growling at the three demons, warning them to stay away from her.
All Alison had to do was give Simon his signal and he would attack the demons without question.
Alison sucked in deep breaths. She didn’t show her fear, but her heart was pounding against her ribcage and sweat was forming on her hands and brow. She needed a plan. She needed to be smart. She didn’t want Simon to get hurt and she couldn’t see if the demons were carrying any weapons.
The demons took a step closer. A drop of sweat ran down her face. Her breathing became shallow. She tightened her grip on her switchblade and glanced down at Simon who continued to circle her while snarling at the blackened souls.
“Are you all right, miss?”
The clerk walked out and stared at Alison confused by her and Simon’s behavior.
“Go back inside,” Alison ordered.
“What?”
Alison side-eyed the confused clerk. His gaze turned to the demons standing opposite of Alison.
“I’m calling the cops,” the clerk warned.
Alison pulled her switchblade from her pocket when the demons looked between her and the clerk.
“Go back inside and call the police,” Alison said.
Seconds ticked by. The silence was deafening. Alison waited for them to make the first move, but instead of attacking they turned and piled into the pickup truck, started the engine, and squealed out of the parking lot, almost hitting a passing car. She heard the man curse and blow his horn at the retreating vehicle.
Alison bent down, putting her hands on her knees and tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat.
She inhaled and exhaled as Simon leaned against her leg, knowing the danger was over.
Alison stood up straight and wiped the sweat from her brow.
The young clerk eyed Simon with wariness as he asked Alison, “What the hell was that? I know Justin, and he’s a great guy.” The clerk stood looking between the empty space where the three shadows were and Alison in shock. “He had a weird look on his face.”
Alison placed her knife back in her pocket and gave Simon a pat on the head for a job well-done. “Which one was Justin?”
“You don’t know them?”
“Nope. I’m not from around here,” Alison answered, opening the car door for Simon. The dog jumped into the back seat and Alison closed the door behind him.
The clerk scratched his head in confusion. Alison didn’t further comment on the incident that just happened between her and the three shadows. She opened her car door, got in, and started the engine. She watched the clerk walk back into the convenience store while she thought about what happened.
Simon nudged her from the back seat, and she turned to him and smiled. She was trying to calm her nerves from the standoff, and think about what she wanted to do next.
This had been a warning, but by who? Was this an infestation? Was it the same as New Mexico?
Alison started her car and pulled out of the parking lot.
As she exited Wolfpine and entered the highway, she tried to convince herself that this was not her problem and she would place a message on The Network for other hunters to take care of it. She would give out Kyle’s information and tell them to talk to him.
She wondered if Kyle knew about the problem. He didn’t mention it after she exorcised Olivia, but he asked if there were more demons in the town.
Alison felt their presence, but she didn’t realize there was a serious problem until they threatened her.
Alison saw the big green sign for a rest stop about a mile ahead. She pulled into it and parked away from the other travelers getting an early morning start like her.
She placed the car in park and sat back in the seat debating on what she should do.
Alison glanced in the rearview mirror, watching as Simon sniffed around the backseat.
If she turned around now, she would lose her job. That wasn’t a problem because the hunters had connections to keep them funded. She would go off the grid. She would enter dark places that no regular person knew existed. Stepping into the darkness was never easy, you needed a strong stomach and you had to keep your mind sharp. Never take it personally because that could get you killed.
Alison reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through the numbers until she reached Brady’s. She stared at the number for a long time. She didn’t want to call him right now.
She hit the off button on her phone and placed it into one of the cup holders. She was trying to fight her craving for a cigarette to help calm her nerves. She, again, reached into her bag and grabbed her “chew” pen. Of all the things in this world to help her quit smoking, it was those cheap, plastic Bic pens that did the trick and she had gone through bags of them, sometimes biting them so hard she ended up with ink all over her face and clothes.
She wouldn’t call Brady. He had a new life with another girlfriend and she didn’t want to bother them.
Alison leaned over when Simon climbed over the seat to be in the front with her. She knew he was sensing her raging emotions. Her inner debates about how to handle a town like W
olfpine.
“What should we do, boy?” She asked her dog. “You liked Reverend Ellis, didn’t you?”
Simon yawned in response. Alison patted his head and turned to stare at the small brick building in front of her, watching the travelers go in and out of the bathroom.
