Demontouched: The Demontouched Saga (Book 1)

by Wayne, Douglas

  “I don’t really like guys like you,” he pushes my head down into the cold tile floor. I look down the hall, trying not to think about the blood and piss that has surely been all over this floor at some point. Looking up I notice a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall behind one of the goons.

  I reach out at it and draw my arms in, pulling the extinguisher towards me. When it gets close I flip my wrists back at Shawn causing it to hit him square in his face. Within seconds I’ve given the janitors some extra work to do.

  I push myself up to my knees just to get rewarded with a kick to my ribs. The force of the kick knocks me into the wall. I don’t hear any of them crack, but I’m still going to be a bit stiff in the morning.

  The goon laughs, I suspect because he is going in for the kill. I focus on the fire extinguisher, flicking it into his kneecap. The loud crack tells me he may want to schedule some knee surgery before he leaves.

  My stomach turns as I watch his knee go in the wrong direction before watching the goon crash to the floor.

  I stand up and face the other goon who I notice reaching into his pocket. I rush him trying to take him to the ground, NFL style. I don’t want to take a chance that he is pulling out a gun.

  Apparently, it is possible to be a smart ass AND a dumb ass at the same time, because goon two doesn’t budge an inch. He laughs and delivers an elbow directly to my spine, dropping me to the ground. If this keeps up I’m going to have to remember to find a supply of Vicodin before I leave.

  In my chest I can tell Eunie isn’t happy. It is taking everything I can to stay conscious. If I go out, this hospital is fucked. I can’t let Nancy go out like that. I have to hold it together.

  He pulls me up by my hair and spits in my face.

  “Bad move asshole!” I put everything I have into a punch to his nuts which drops him to his knees. Getting to my feet I decide I to make a run for it. I’m about to round the corner when I catch a glimpse of Shawn swinging a red ax at my head. I duck in time to avoid decapitation, but the vertigo is starting to get thick, which makes me fall on my back.

  Come on Eunie, give me two more minutes.

  I look up to see Shawn perched above me, blood dripping off of his obviously broken nose, holding the axe over his head.

  Shit.

  I put my arms in front of my face, trying to focus on the blade of the axe.

  He swings.

  I got nothing. My only response is to wince, hoping it actually helps to speed things up.

  Seconds pass. Since my head is in one piece, I decide I open my eyes.

  What.

  The.

  Fuck.

  Shawn is still above me, but instead of holding the ax above his head he is holding it in his head. When you consider my powers, it wouldn’t be odd, except that the ax is also embedded into the ceiling.

  Nice one Eunie. Glad to see you can play without blowing up everything in sight.

  I look at goon two, who is still holding his jewels. Then over to goon one, who is slowly crawling his way down the hall away from me. Both with a look of pure terror in their eyes.

  Can’t say I blame them. It was probably freaky enough with me flinging a fire extinguisher around. If I still had it together there, I would have definitely lost it seeing my friend become part of the spring decorations.

  I pull the fire extinguisher into my right hand and point at them with my left.

  “Pockets. Empty them. Now.”

  Both goons comply, throwing their worldly possessions onto the ground. Dropping the extinguisher, I pull both of their guns to me and level one at each.

  “Now, you are going to tell me why you decided to fuck with my home.”

  “I’m not telling you shit,” Jewels says.

  I pull the trigger, putting a bullet square into his upper thigh. Something tells me that he isn’t worried about his balls anymore.

  “Next one will have you singing soprano.” I look back at the other one. “How about you, Kneecap. Want a matching set?”

  “Fuck you, man. I’d rather die,” Kneecap says.

  “Granted.” I pull the trigger. Kneecap’s head explodes spraying blood and brains against the wall.

  The janitor here is really going to hate me today.

  “So.” I look down at Thigh. “You want the same thing as Kneecap back there?”

  “Just do it. At least it will be fast.” Thigh is holding his leg tight, tears streaming out of his eyes.

  I put the second gun in my waistband at the small of my back and reach out towards the ax still embedded in Shawn’s skull and pull it into my hands. “Nah, that option is off the table.” I reach back and swing the ax right at Thigh’s good leg. I miss it by inches, leaving a notch on the floor.

  “What the fuck man? We are just here to watch over the whores. The boss is going to be pissed enough when he finds out half of the girls ran off.”

  “Who’s your boss?” I pull back the ax, preparing to swing again.

  “Duncan man, nobody you would know. He isn’t from around here. We came up from…”

  “Memphis.” Thigh’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. “What does Duncan Stansbery want with St. Louis?”

  “He wants to own everything and he is going to kill anyone who gets in his way.”

  “He’s gonna have a fun time with me.” I lower the ax. “Here is what is going to happen. You are going to go back north and tell King Dumbass to pack his shit and head back to Memphis. Tonight. I don’t want to catch a trace of you fucks here tomorrow.”

  He begins to laugh. “When I get back to Duncan and tell him what you did to Shawn, he is going to come down here and give you a royal ass beating himself.”

  “Then tell him I look forward to it.”

  I tell him to get on his feet and get to walking, keeping the gun pointed at him for good measure. When he is out of sight I turn around and walk towards the exit I sent Sara to.

  Looking back at the two corpses in the hall, I half-ass regret that I didn’t bring my bag inside. Guess the demons can just have these two fucks.

  -7-

  Sara is out like a light.

  I would be too if I just had to go through shit like that for the first time.

  Instead of laying down, I walk to the fridge and grab a few beers in hopes that they can erase the memory of Shawn’s cleaved head.

  I pop one open, sit down on the couch, and kick my legs back. Sara would kick my ass if she saw me with my boots on. I’ll take that risk. I want to be ready just in case someone barges through my door.

  Eight beers later and I finally decide I need to come up with a plan to get the girls out. After thirteen I forget about the plan and decide to sit at the computer to watch some porn. It still amazes me that these were the first sites back up after the Rising.

  Not weather sites.

  Not map sites.

  Not Craigslist where people could actually try to contact people they thought were missing.

  Nope. Tits were priority numero uno, not that I’m complaining right about now.

  I’m on my third video when sleep finally decides to take me.

  * * *

  The loud ring of my Metallica ringtone wakes me up. I stumble around and pull the phone out of my pocket.

  It’s Nal.

  “Nancy told me you ran out of the hospital in a hurry. Everything good on your end?”

  “Yep. Shit’s under control. I left a mess in the hallway somewhere near the maternity ward.”

  “They had the balls to come down here?”

  I fill him in on all the details from yesterday from the conditions at the corner to Shawn’s cleaved skull.

  “Thanks for getting Nancy out of there. She said you are going to get the others.”

  “Yeah, as soon as I take a few aspirin, I’ll be on my way.”

  “I’m heading down to the hospital later today to pick her up. Going to pay their friend a visit while I’m there.” Something tells me ole Randy won’t be making a speedy rec
overy after all.

  I hang up the phone and pull myself off of the floor. I shutdown the computer before Sara wakes up. The last thing I need is for her to see what I had been up to the night before.

  Walking into the kitchen, I start a pot of coffee and then grab a bottle of pills off the counter and take a few.

  “When are we going to the motel?” Sara walks in and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

  “As soon as I get my coffee and pack my gear.”

  “Why do you need your gear? It’s not like we are going against a demon.” She grabs the pot and pours us both a cup.

  “I hate leaving the dead unmarked. Every soul that doesn’t make it into purgatory is one that can come back to cause trouble later. I was caught with my pants down yesterday at the hospital.” I take a drink. “That won’t happen again.”

  Most of the survivors don’t understand the war we are in. They just believe that God took the good ones and left the rest of us here to carry on. In reality, God took the good ones to get them the fuck out of the hell he is about to unleash here on Earth. The ones he left were the ones that didn’t believe. Unfortunately for us, that puts the odds square into the assholes’ court.

  I take a long, hot shower before heading to my den to stock up. I pull out the clerical shirt and collar I picked up from an abandoned church a few months ago. Clothes became hard to come by after the Rising.

  Most commodities did. I figured since the churches were going to be empty for the foreseeable future that they wouldn’t miss them. As an added bonus they allow people to let down their guard around me. A fatal mistake if you are on my shit list.

  Next, I pack a dozen vials of holy water, grab a few crosses, my knife, and put an extra pocket edition of the bible in my pants pocket. As a final touch I strap Tamiel’s blade to my belt. This is as ready as I was ever going to be.

  I reach down to grab my car keys when I hear a knock at the door. I look at Sara knowing we are firmly in the ‘not expecting company’ camp. I can feel Eunie start to stir, and in a hurry. Whoever it is, they’re pissing him off.

  I pull out my gun and walk to the door. Taking a deep breath, I open the door with one hand while holding the gun up with the other. “Who the…” I look down and notice little girl. She couldn’t be older than six with long blonde hair tied in a pony tail.

  “Who are you?” I say, relaxing my grip on the gun.

  “I am Uriel, I was sent here to deliver a message.”

  “Who, might I ask, would send you to deliver a message? It’s not exactly safe out here.”

  “Michael sent me. He commends the sacrifice that you made for your family. He has always admired that trait in humans. But, unless you end your pact with the demon Einuir, you will be hunted and killed. Your soul will be dragged right to hell with your demon friend.”

  “How does he know about Eunie?” This is shit that most people don’t know. Shit, Nal just believes that I turned into a mini Magneto after the Rising.

  “He is God’s lieutenant. He knows everything.”

  “Well, tell Michael, as much as I would love to end my pact, I don’t think Eunie will give me up without a fight.”

  “Then a fight you must give him, or it will be Michael giving you a fight. You wear the cloth of the father. It is time you walked in his shoes. It is in his path that you will find the answer.”

  “I walk in his shoes every day, sister. You are going to have to do better than that.”

  “Walking his shoes and walking his path are two different things. Hopefully you can live long enough to learn the difference.” She turns around and walks away so I turn to get my bag. She gets to the road and turns around. “And Mitch, one more thing.”

  I look back at her.

  “Thank you for going to save the women.”

  But I haven’t…

  I walk inside and shut the door. This rabbit hole just got a shit ton deeper.

  -8-

  “How do you plan on getting the demon inside of you out, so you don’t end up being hunted by the angels?” Sara asks, skimming the copy of the Bible I keep in the glove box.

  “There might be something about it in Blaine’s journal. He made a pact with a demon like I did. Unlike me, he did it for selfish reasons. I personally think his control had a lot more to do with being on the same team. Eunie and I are the apocalyptic version of the odd couple.”

  “Talking about that, I’m surprised he lets you wear the suit.”

  “He doesn’t care what I wear as long as I don’t touch my skin with holy water, salt, or one of the iron crosses.” I flash my gloved hands at her.

  She lets out a slight gasp. “I always thought you were just a germaphobe.”

  “Part true.” It is hard to keep everything off of you in my line of work, but I try when I can.

  I park the car about a mile away from the motel. We could have come in the front entrance and saved some time, but I can’t risk someone noticing the car. With the dented passenger side and all of the bullet holes, it stands out like a sore thumb.

  “From here we walk.”

  Thirty minutes later we are in a wooded area behind the motel. I chose this path because the spring foliage will give us some cover when we get the hell out of here. It wouldn’t stop a bullet, but it may make it harder to aim.

  “Nancy said the rooms bordering the pool are used to do business, so that means there will be a few guards there. The girls are kept on the second floor on the other side of the complex. That would put the other half of the guards there. First we are going to hit the guards around the pool, save any girls that are in service. Then we hit the guys on the other side.”

  Sara looks over at me and unbuttons her shirt. “I have a better idea.”

  * * *

  I pull out my binoculars as Sara gets close to the pool. As expected, a balding guy with a fairly large beard approaches her from the pool house. They talk for a few minutes and start to make their way towards one of the rooms.

  Damn that girl works fast.

  They are about to go inside when another guy runs out of the poolroom. This is a younger guy, maybe twenty. He has long black hair, a sleeveless white shirt and sagging black pants. Beard waves him over and the three enter the room.

  Two goons occupied, hopefully Sara can hold her own for a few minutes so I can get the girls.

  I walk out of the woods and work my way to the other side of the complex. Out front I notice two black SUVs sitting out front. Inside one I see a middle aged man on the phone. Once he notices me, he gets out of the vehicle.

  “You lost, holy man?” He puts the phone in his pocket and walks my way.

  “I just found this on the ground behind me,” I pull out the knife. “I just wondered if it belonged to someone here.”

  He gives me a quizzical look that quickly changes to one of horror when I push the knife out of my hand and into his skull. I walk up to the body and pull out the knife. I place a cross on his chest and say a few words then start walking towards the stairs.

  I walk up to the room 203 and knock on the door. A fat guy answers the door in nothing but his not-so tidy whities. “World has gone to shit if a priest is here for a whore. Take your pick, Father.”

  I look in the room and notice three of the girls. Their faces light up once they recognize me.

  “I’ll take all three, if you don’t mind.” I reach for my wallet.

  “We don’t do group deals. Pick one or fuck off.” He says, reaching for the door.

  In one fluid motion I pull out my knife and shove it in his gut. I pull the blade up causing his intestines to spill onto the floor. If that wasn’t nasty enough, it releases the most horrid smells I have ever smelled. Like the dead cat I found under the porch when I was a kid. I swear it had to have been there for two weeks before we finally noticed it. I always figured the dog managed to piss off a skunk. I’m definitely going to file this in my “Don’t ever fucking do this again” file.

  When the body hits the floor a
nd I place a cross down on his back.

  “Ready to get out of here?” I clean my knife on the now dirty-reddies and walk out the door with the girls in tow.

  When I get to the bottom of the stairs, I notice one of my crosses in a pool of blood nearby on the parking lot. My eyes following the trail of blood heading back towards the pool area.

  Well shit. This is a bad way to find out you are dealing with demons.

  I go back to the room and stick the angel blade through fattie’s heart. The last thing I want is this nasty fucker following me around smelling like that.

  “I have to pick up a friend at the pool.” I pull out a gun handing it to one of the girls. “Stay close, but not too close.”

  I follow the trail of blood back to the room that Sara went in. This is going to be fun.

  “Through the woods, follow the trail back across the creek.” I hand my keys to one of the girls. “If I’m not there in an hour, take the car back to the Nal’s pad.”

  “We want to help, Mitch.”

  “Look. These guys are going to pissed enough. The blood trail is from one that I thought I killed. I can’t promise that I can keep you safe if you follow me. I’ll be fine, just go.”

  “Kick their asses then, Mitch.” The girls kiss me on the cheek and run into the woods.

  I walk up to the door and give it a few knocks.

  Beard pokes his head out of the door. “Girls are over in room 203.”

  “I’d prefer the smokin’ redhead you have in there.”

  Something tells me he doesn’t like my answer because he opens the door and pulls a gun out on me. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  I look into the room. Sara is hogtied with a gag in her mouth on the couch. “Let her go and nobody else dies today.”

  “The only one dieing today is you.”

  I focus my thoughts on the gun and flash my hands up. The shot goes off but it misses me high. I pull my hand in and try to force the gun out of his hand. When the gun doesn’t budge I throw my weight into a punch to his gut.