The Shikari Box Set

by Dora Blume

They entered the house, and everyone was seated around the dining room table. Erik had maps spread out across the table. He was pointing to where the bars were that we’d visited earlier. He pulled a map of Colorado Springs out from under the pile.

  “The school was large, with a campus of four older stone buildings. It was protected on one side by the mountain. They picked the perfect place from what I could discern from their thoughts. I know it’s near the mountain, but it’s a little out of the city, so they have little interference with others. Many of the teachers drive in, but the students are there all the time. If the demons decided to possess the teachers as well it really would be their perfect recruitment place.”

  Magnus nodded to Erik before he began explaining the plan. “Okay, so we are going to need to break off into two groups. Erik, Jessie, Sloane, and Mike will head to Colorado Springs. I have a place there where you can stay, and Caroline will meet you at this address.” He scribbled an address on a piece of paper and handed it over to Erik. “You will be comfortable there as long as you are needed. Bryant will stay here and coordinate with me while we try to figure out who is on the inside and helping these demons. We have contacts and can discreetly try to figure out how to stop the traitors. We will also direct others to deal with the problem here in Denver.” He looked to Bryant. Bryant nodded once in agreement.

  Erik looked back to Sloane, Mike, and Jessie. “We will need to leave as soon as possible.”

  “I have to head up and get my things before we leave.” She turned to leave, she grasped Mike’s hand, and he turned to follow her.

  “We’ll leave in an hour or so, is that enough time?” he asked.

  “Plenty,” she said as she walked out of the room.

  Mike bent to her ear as she walked, “Plenty, huh?” he said before he squeezed her hand.

  “Well that depends on you,” she smiled and bounded up the stairs with him right on her heel.

  She walked through the door and pulled him in behind her, she closed the door and pushed him against it. She reached up to kiss him. His reaction was hungry, he crushed her mouth with his, then backed off running his tongue down the center of her tongue sending a surge through her entire body. He placed his hands on her hips and grasped tightly. She smiled and moved her mouth to trace his jaw and down his neck. He moved his hands up her back and to the clasp of her bra. He set her free with one flick of his hand.

  “Hey!” she said, can I get my shirt off first. She reached and pulled her shirt up over her head. She held her arms out, so her bra fell to the floor in front of her. He kissed her along her jawline tracing a trail from her earlobe down her neck, finally suckling her breast. He flicked his tongue across her nipple and nibbled. She gasped and twined her fingers in his hair gripping tightly as he flicked his tongue across her raised nipple. She couldn’t take it; she was going to come before they’d even started. She thought back to her fears from earlier. Right now, she couldn’t imagine her life without Mike.

  As her mind wandered back to the present, Mike moved back to her mouth to kiss her, biting her lip, and kissing her until her mouth was wet and swollen. She tugged on his shirt, lifting it.

  He smiled, “Something you want love?”

  “Yes, you naked. I want to run my tongue over these hard muscles.” She traced the lines on his stomach with her finger causing him to tremble a moment.

  “Happy to oblige, my lady.” He smirked and raised his hands above his head. She pulled his shirt off and traced the lines of his chest, memorizing every curve. They savored each other, every touch, every kiss. When they were finished Sloane lay, staring into Mike’s eyes.

  She ran her hand along his face. Gazing into his eyes, she couldn’t get enough of him. That thought scared her. She felt like a schoolgirl with butterflies in her stomach. She didn’t want to look away.

  “Love, although I would like to stay in this bed with you all day. I believe we have to be going.” He kissed her lips, nipping her playfully and then moved to get off the bed.

  “Do we have to?” she pouted.

  “Yes, I’m afraid we do.” He held his hand to help her off the bed.

  “After that performance, I’m not sure I want to do anything else.” She took his hand and let him help her off the bed, but she moved to wrap her arms around him as soon as she was standing. She held him close and reached up to whisper in his ear. “I owe you one,” she said and nipped his lobe.

  “Try not to keep score, love.” He bent to kiss her running his tongue along hers. He bit her lip before he released her mouth. They were both satiated and needed to join the others. She watched as he retrieved his shirt and pants. He tossed her shirt and bra at her. She caught it and bent to retrieve her panties and pants. It felt like they’d been in the room for hours, but it’d only been twenty minutes. She smiled as she looked at her phone and realized she had more time. She walked determined toward him, desire in her eyes. “I believe we’ll need to shower before we leave.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the bathroom.

  “Again?” he said before she crushed her mouth to his. “We’re never going to leave if you keep this up.”

  “Whatever, we’ll leave, but I think we should be clean before we head out in a car for an hour.” She turned around and walked into the bathroom. She turned on the water, looking to the door as Mike stood there, leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest. Man, he’s hot, she thought.

  She returned her attention to the water, letting it run over her hand and arm while she tested the temperature. She looked up to him, and he moved with determination toward her. She straightened, the water was ready. Mike stepped behind her, running his tongue down her neck to her shoulder.

  “Ready to go again I see,” she smiled.

  “It must be you,” he said as he picked her up and deposited her under the running stream of water. “It’s good we didn’t get dressed,” he said as he pressed her body against the wall. He reached down grabbing her thighs. He lifted her, bracing her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around him. Kissing him, she nipped his lip playfully.

  She grabbed the soap, smiling up at him as she lathered the soap in her hands. She winked and moved her hands to his chest. She ran her hands all over his body caressing and rubbing every inch of him as he watched. When she was done, she moved him under the stream of water and continued to run her hands over every part of him. He took her chin in his hands and kissed her. She lined her body to his as they kissed under the water.

  “Your turn,” he said and took the soap from her hand. He began doing the same for her. He kneaded her muscles as he went and she could feel the calluses of his hands as they ran along her skin. She blew out one final breath; she hadn’t realized she was holding. He smiled at her and pulled her to him. He kissed her again as they stood under the running water. She pulled away.

  “The water’s changing,” she said as the water went from hot to lukewarm.

  “Showers over,” he smiled and opened the door for her. She reached and took his hand. She interlaced her fingers with his. She didn’t want to stop touching him. She wanted to feel connected to him. He grabbed the towel off the rack and pulled it around her, rubbing his hands on her arms creating and enticing friction. “Oh god, we’re never leaving this place,” she said.

  “Oh yes, we are,” he said and stepped back to grab himself a towel to wrap around himself.

  “Yeah, like that’s going to work,” she said.

  “It will,” he smiled and headed back to the bedroom.

  “Okay, that will work,” she said as she watched him leave. She dried herself off and joined him in the bedroom. He had already gotten dressed, and she sighed. She didn’t want to deal with demons. She wanted to spend all day with him. She looked down to her clothes which she placed on the bed before heading to the bathroom. She picked them up and began dressing. She finished and went to grab her bag. She packed her stuff back into the duffel before turning toward the door. He waited and watched her get her things
. He smiled when her eyes met his.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “I guess,” she said reluctantly.

  “You’re adorable you know that,” he said and reached out to take the bag from her hand.

  “Yes, I do know that,” she said as she followed him out the door.

  “You know I can carry my bag.”.

  “I know, but why would I let you,” he winked at her.

  She couldn’t help but smile back. Jessie and Erik were in the kitchen talking when they entered.

  Jessie looked from Mike to Sloane and smiled. “Back together, I see.”

  “Yep,” Sloane said, reaching out to take Mike’s hand.

  “Whatever, are you two ready because we should have left already?” He moved quickly up from the chair and reached for the keys.

  “Lighten up Erik, at least someone here is having a little fun,” Jessie smiled at the two again.

  “Yeah, whatever,” Erik grumbled and moved quickly out of the room.

  Jessie watched him leave and shook her head. “He hates when people are having more fun than him. He seems to be all business, right now.” She turned and looked at Mike

  “I’m happy for you and all, but you both have your head in the game, right? We can’t afford any missteps right now.” She looked pointedly at Mike then at Sloane.

  “Seriously Jessie, we’ll be fine,” Sloane said.

  “I just want to make sure,” she said. “It could be our life on the line.”

  “We know that,” Mike said.

  “Okay, well let’s go then.” She turned and headed out of the door.

  Sloane looked up to Mike, and he shrugged, “I guess we’re off.” They followed behind them out to the car, and Mike went to open the door for Sloane.

  Jessie smiled, “Awe, he’s even a gentleman.” She moved to open her door and got into the front seat.

  Sloane stopped at the door and leaned to give Mike a quick kiss before bending to get into the car. Mike closed the door as soon as Sloane was in and went to deposit her bag in the trunk. Erik was putting his bag back there along with another duffle of guns. Erik glared at Mike.

  Mike shook his head, “Are we going to have a problem?” he asked looking at Erik.

  “My sister, really?”

  “Yes! We have a history, Erik. You know it. You of everyone shouldn’t be surprised.” He said it so strongly that Erik’s mouth dropped involuntarily.

  “Oh!” He clapped Mike on the back of the shoulder and said, “Alright then,” and headed to the front of the car. Mike shook his head and closed the trunk. He got in the back next to Sloane. Erik started the car and headed to the highway.

  Sloane traced a heart on Mike’s palm. She clasped his hand in hers and smiled.

  Jessie pulled out the map of Colorado Springs and began studying it. “Where do you think the best place to begin looking for this school is?” she asked as she folded the map over to look around the areas closest to the mountains.

  “Well, I saw it was on the side of the mountain, but I’m not sure which side exactly. It’ll be away from the city, so that narrows our search.” He looked over to the map.

  “When we get close enough, I’ll be able to track any demons in the area,” Mike said.

  “That will be helpful, how close do you think we need to be for you to be able to track them?”

  “We can be a few miles away, and I’ll be able to track them. Especially if there are a few together that will help. They give off a kind of buzz that I’m able to pick up. The more there are, the stronger the sensation will be.” He looked out the window at the passing road.

  Sloane looked to him and closed her eyes. She tried to concentrate on the future. She hadn’t been able to see anything lately, but she also hadn’t felt this relaxed and happy in a long time. She took Mike’s hand in hers to keep her grounded as she searched for the world beyond this one. She let her mind wander and reach for that beyond herself. Suddenly, she saw colors swirling around her, felt light and distant. She clutched Mike’s hand as she drifted deeper into the vision. The world solidified, and there was a teenage girl in front of her. She had dark eyes, chocolate to match her hair which was pulled back into a messy bun. She was talking about Chase, which was some guy she was dating. It took Sloane a minute to catch up. “Chloe, earth to Chloe are you listening?” she looked annoyed.

  “Oh yeah, sorry,” she said.

  “So, what do you think I should do?” the girl asked.

  “About what?” Chloe responded.

  “Seriously, you weren’t listening? Chase, what am I supposed to do about Chase? He’s changed, he’s different, and I feel like I should let the teachers know. I know him, and something’s wrong with him. He’s like a different person. He’s been going around talking to others. Day trips to Denver and coming back with other students, some of them are girls. We’re supposed to be together, and he’s going off and getting these new girls to come here from Denver. The weird thing is the headmaster is letting them sign up. They’re not even one of us, how can they go to school here? I also think he’s changed, turned evil even. The other day he yelled at me for interfering, told me he didn’t even remember we were dating. I mean we’ve been together for over two years, how is it possible he doesn’t remember.” she stopped to take a deep breath. She was getting worked up.

  “That’s weird,” Chloe said.

  “Right,” she responded. “So, do you think I should tell the teachers?” She put her nail in her mouth and started chewing a nail that was already well past the wick.

  “I don’t know; it’s a little weird that the headmaster is taking students that don’t belong. Shouldn’t there be an application, interview, and waiting until the next semester? It’s strange that they’re starting at our school in the middle of a semester.”

  “I know, Colorado Springs Prep is a well-established institution. They have high standards for attending this school. I was on a waiting list until my father made a sizable contribution to the school.” She flipped her hair. “I don’t understand that I’m a great student,” she sighed.

  “Maybe we should wait to tell anyone, see if anything else strange happens. I mean, we don’t want to set off any unnecessary alarms.”

  “Or make anyone suspicious of us. What if it’s some kind of conspiracy and they come after us because we’ve figured it out?” She clutched her binder to her chest.

  “I think you’ve been watching too many spy movies. It’s probably nothing but for now, let’s keep this to ourselves.”

  Sloane felt the hand in hers and opened her eyes slowly. She hadn’t expected to transport to another’s mind. That was strange. She must be doing better than she thought, to be able to go so fully into her vision. Mike rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. She shook her head a minute trying to piece everything together.

  “Jessie you got your phone?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” she held her phone in her hand.

  “Search Colorado Springs Prep. That’s where we’re headed. Start digging into the headmaster, too. He’s in on it.” She took another deep breath to steady herself. She felt drained after her vision.

  Mike looked at her concerned, “Are you okay?” he asked. “You got pale.”

  “Yeah, we just need to find the school, and a kid named Chase. He’s been bringing kids from Denver, and the headmaster has been letting them in without any paperwork. I know these two are in on it for sure. Check them out.” She felt light headed. She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath through her nose. She slumped over to the side nearly hitting her head on the window.

  ✭✭✭

  Mike reacted as soon as he felt her hand go limp. He grabbed her and pulled her against himself. He felt for her pulse which was still strong. He stroked her hair back from her face and held her against himself.

  “She’ll be fine,” Erik said, “She used to pass out all the time after one of her visions. She’ll need to rest before she is ready to go again. It’
s good she had one before we were in Colorado Springs. We’ll dig into the headmaster, the school, and try to search the school records for a Chase,”

  “So, it looks like the school is near the mountain as you described.” Jessie showed the picture on her phone to Erik then Mike. She pulled up the picture of the headmaster. “This is the guy Sloane was talking about.” She showed them both the photo of him. Then she began to read his bio. “An alumnus of Colorado Springs Preparatory School, Jonathan Hall has since received his degree in Social Studies education and Ph.D. in educational leadership. He has been an active member in keeping the traditions of the school alive. Yada Yada Yada,” she said. “He’s kinda boring.”

  “Is there anything in there that will be useful to us? Does he have a family we should be checking with?” Erik assumed Sloane was right about this guy, but it would help if they could interview his wife or kids to see if he changed lately. Not that it mattered all that much. They would know as soon as they found the school if he’d been possessed.

  Jessie searched the information. “It doesn't say anything about his family on the site, but I can dig more when I have a computer. I can find anyone associated with him. He seems very dedicated according to his accomplishments.”

  “Think you can get into any school records to find this Chase?” he asked her.

  “Not right now, I can’t do too much on the phone in the middle of the mountains. When we get to the other house where there’s a decent internet, I should be able to hack into the system to find out who the kid is. I’ll check out where he’s from, too. If he’s taking off to Denver for the weekend, he’s getting help from someone,” she said. She continued to learn more about the school. She began digging into the Facebook page photos, and anything else she could find that may be useful to their purposes. They would need to get close to find out how many demons were there, but without being seen by the demons. The last thing they needed was another war they weren’t prepared for.

  Jessie turned to look at Sloane, resting against Mike. “How’s she doing?”

  “Sleeping soundly,” Mike answered.