by Avril Sabine
“No. Well, I don’t think so. But that dude that was driving, I thought I saw him. It’s all your fault. I had nightmares about you getting into that car. Now I’m seeing Nathan and that other one.”
“Eric.”
“Whatever. Just don’t do anything as stupid as that again. Okay?”
“Okay.” Alyssa hoped that was all it was. Erin seeing things she was worried about. But she didn’t really believe that. Scarlett better have a tonne of people watching Erin and her parents.
“And what’s this your mum told mine about you being on a religious retreat? Surely they didn’t get that right.”
Alyssa couldn’t help laughing at her friend’s tone. “It seemed the easiest way to explain things.”
“So you aren’t really then? I knew it couldn’t be right. I mean, you’re an atheist, right?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Suddenly even a smile seemed too much of an effort.
“You know you can tell me anything, don’t you? Even if it’s completely off the wall, I’ll believe you.”
“How completely off the wall?”
“Anything. Even alien abduction,” Erin assured her.
“Thanks, Erin.”
“So… you’re not on an alien spaceship are you?”
“No. But what do you know about demons?”
“Horns, forked tail, cloven hooves and fire engine red?”
“Something like that.”
“Ah… Allie, you’re scaring me again.”
“Yeah, me too.” There was silence between them before Alyssa spoke again. “Erin, I’ve got to go.”
“Where are you?”
“You’d never believe me.”
“Try me.”
Alyssa took a deep breath. “We’ve just arrived at a graveyard.”
“What the hell are you getting yourself into, Allie?”
“Aiming for the opposite of that.”
“Well aim a little harder. Don’t you dare let anything happen to yourself. You’re the sister Mum and Dad were meant to give me.”
“I know, Erin. I feel the same way. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Are you in danger?”
“Erin, I have to go.”
“Call me every hour.”
“Erin!”
“Fine. I won’t be able to sleep at all until I hear from you.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything to you.”
“Yes you should. Allie, come home.”
Alyssa looked over at Riley who held out his hand. “Ah, Erin. Someone wants to talk to you. Riley.”
“What for?”
“How would I know?”
“Okay.” Erin sighed heavily.
Alyssa handed the phone to Riley who promptly hopped out of the vehicle. He moved away from her and Alyssa would have followed if Blake hadn’t grabbed her by the arm.
“Let me go.”
“Don’t be dense, Allie Cat. He walked off for a reason.”
Alyssa glared at Blake. “Yeah, but he’s talking to my friend.”
“Who you were trying to scare witless by the sounds of it.”
“I wasn’t. We tell each other everything. She’s the sister of my heart.”
“Then let my brother reassure her that we’ll take care of you.”
Alyssa glanced over to Riley, outlined by moonlight, as he sat on the fence that edged the graveyard. “Okay,” she whispered. “But I do need to ask him if they’ve still got people watching Erin and my parents.”
“No you don’t.” Blake smiled momentarily. “Nice excuse though. And yes, there’s still people watching them. Scarlett told me.” He paused. “Come on. Help me find a comfortable place to wait for Nathan. There are torches in the back.”
Alex was at the back of the vehicle, the swag on his shoulder, a torch in his hand and his backpack on. Scarlett stood a few paces away with a picnic blanket and another torch. Blake handed Alyssa a torch and then shifted some of the gear in the back of his vehicle forward so he could lift the floor panel. On top of the spare wheel was a sword in a scabbard.
Scarlett laughed when she saw him pull it out. “Give up, huh?”
Blake ran his hand over the hilt. “It’s been in there since I left.”
“Blake-” Scarlett’s laugher evaporated immediately.
“Shh. As Gran says, I choose which path my feet tread.” Blake closed the back door and then turned to Alyssa. “Grab your backpack and let’s go.”
They set up under an old tree. Scarlett was given the swag and told to take a rest while Alex, Alyssa and Blake sat on the picnic blanket.
“Please tell me there’s something we can do other than watch stars,” Alyssa said.
“I’ve got that deck of cards no one wanted to use earlier,” Blake said.
“Hardly seems a fair game when I’m hopeless at poker.” Alyssa stared at Blake, but his face was little more than shadows.
There was amusement in Blake’s voice when he replied. “I guess we could always play Strip Jack.”
“Does that involve the removal of any clothes?”
Riley joined them in time to hear Alyssa’s last comment, a lantern in his hand. He handed her phone to her before he turned to his brother with a grin. “What’s it with you and the removal of women’s clothes these days? Sounds like you’ve been working in nightclubs too long.”
“Probably.” Blake pulled the cards from his backpack. “All in?” He glanced around the circle.
“I’m not agreeing to anything until I know the details,” Alyssa said.
Blake continued to shuffle the cards as he stared at her. “Remember that, Allie Cat. That’s good advice to live by.” Alyssa started to get to her feet. “Sit down, Allie.”
“I’m not-”
“Leopard rug?” Blake mocked.
Alyssa’s lips thinned. “Fine. Explain your bloody game.” When Blake continued to watch her, she demanded, “Well?”
Blake’s lips slowly formed a smile. “We might survive this after all, Allie Cat.”
Alyssa tried to ignore the good feeling his words and smile gave her. She tried to hang onto her earlier annoyance. By the time they were about ten minutes into their game, it was forgotten.
Alyssa placed a Jack on the pile. She glanced towards Blake who held four cards in his hand. “Your turn.” She couldn’t resist a grin as he turned over a four of clubs and had to pick up the pile of cards. Her smile vanished and she clutched her stomach.
“Allie Cat?” Blake dropped his cards to reach for her, one hand going to her forehead.
She shook her head, her cards scattered in her lap. Then she bent in two and screamed at the pain that shot through her.
Blake drew her onto his lap. “Riley?”
“He’s found her blood.”
Blake swore. “Why didn’t you warn me, Ry?” He tightened his arms around Alyssa and rocked her as she screamed again. “Alex, there’s a bucket in the back of my vehicle.” He pulled the keys from his pocket as he tried to hold Alyssa while she groaned and writhed.
Alex grabbed the keys and sprinted for the vehicle.
“How much blood?” Blake demanded.
“I didn’t think it was much, but I’m not sure,” Riley said.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Scarlett said as Alex ran back towards them. She’d joined them at the first scream.
“Blake,” Alyssa gasped.
“Shh, I know.”
“You don’t know.” Alyssa screamed again. She tried to push away from Blake. She wanted to curl up and die.
Alex squatted beside them, the bucket held in front of him. Riley finished rummaging through his backpack and pulled out a vial, a bottle of water and a cup. He added a splash of water to the cup, a few drops from the vial and then held the cup out to Blake.
“You’ve got to listen to me, Allie Cat.”
“Go away,” Alyssa moaned. The burning fire stabbed at her again.
“I have a cure for this,” Blake whispered again
st her forehead. “You have to drink this cup.”
“I can’t.” Alyssa clutched at her stomach.
“Come on, Allie. That’s an order.” He pushed her hair away from her face and looked up at Riley.
Riley held the cup to her lips and tilted it so she could drink. Once she’d drunk the couple of mouthfuls, she pushed the cup away and screamed. She turned tear filled eyes to Blake.
“Sorry,” Blake murmured. He helped her sit forward as another intense pain shot through her. This time she gagged and Alex held the bucket in front of her. Blake held her hair out of the way as she threw up the water she’d drunk.
Scarlet leant forward with a damp cloth as soon as Alex pulled the bucket away. Alyssa moaned and collapsed in Blake’s arms. She felt the cool cloth on her face again and she took hold of it to wipe her mouth. She tried to pull away when she saw the dark stain on the cloth.
“Everything’s fine, Allie Cat.”
“Blood.” Alyssa continued to stare at the cloth. “Blake?” Her voice rose.
His arms tightened around her. “You have a blood tie with the demon. He found some more of your blood. We gave you holy water to mute the link. While he felt a rush of pleasure when he consumed your blood, you felt pain.” Blake glanced into the bucket. “Maybe an eighth of a cup. Not as bad as I feared.”
“Why fear?” Alyssa felt drained.
“Because the more of your blood he consumes the more of his power he can bring through into this world.”
“This blood?”
“Alex will dispose of it properly. You trust him to do that?”
“Yes.” Alyssa’s eyes closed. “Thank you.” She fell silent for a moment. “How?” She heard the sound of Blake’s laughter rumble in his chest where her ear was pressed.
“You must be doing okay if you’re curious, Allie Cat.”
“How?” Alyssa opened her eyes to stare up at his shadowy face.
“Fire. It cleanses. Let me put you on the swag so you can have a rest.”
Alyssa clutched at Blake’s shirt. “Don’t leave me.”
“Shh. I’ll stay with you.” Blake lifted her and several cards fell to the ground. He carried her the few steps to the swag. He sat beside her and Alyssa grabbed his right hand and linked her fingers through it. She held it against her chest. His left hand gently stroked her hair back from her forehead.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Blake,” Riley said.
“I do too, Ry.” Blake sighed. “Where was her blood? How long are we likely to have?”
“About half an hour,” Riley said.
“Longer.” When the two of them looked towards her, Scarlett said, “Nathan’s sure to call the demon to tell him where she is. He’ll misjudge how long the demon’ll need because he won’t know about the blood. I’d say we have at least an hour. Possibly longer.”
“Good,” Alyssa whispered before she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Nineteen
“Wake up, Allie Cat.”
Alyssa blinked up at the shadow over her. She reached up and ran her fingers along the stubbled cheek, ending her exploration at his lips. She smiled when he lightly nipped them.
“No time for playing, Allie Cat,” Blake said softly.
“Then what is it time for?”
“Hide and seek.”
“What?” Alyssa sat up and Blake moved back so she could.
Blake held out his hand. “Trust me?”
Alyssa glanced around. Alex, Riley and Scarlett stood a few metres away. They had their backpacks on, a torch in their hands and the lantern was on the ground between her and them. She looked back to Blake, decision made. She placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet.
The moment she moved off the swag, Riley rolled it up and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The three of them walked towards the vehicle with all the gear except a single torch Blake held. They even took Blake and Alyssa’s backpacks with them.
“What’s going on?” Alyssa demanded. “Where are they going?”
“The demon can only track you. He can’t come into the graveyard, but Nathan can. So we’re going to play hide and seek. We’ll stay in the middle of the graveyard and when dawn’s getting closer we’ll aim for the place I’ve organised to meet the others at and hopefully Nathan’ll be at the opposite end of the graveyard then. And if we’re lucky the weather will continue to cooperate with plenty of cloud cover.”
“He has guns.”
“I know. But we have the advantage.”
“And what’s that?”
“I know this place. I’ve wandered it in both daylight and dark. Even in the rain. I moved into that apartment because sanctuary was so close. I won’t let him get you, Allie Cat.”
“This morning I could’ve sworn you’d have tossed me to the first demon that came along.”
Blake laughed. “I was tired. Lack of sleep makes me cranky. Come on. Didn’t you ever play hide and seek as a kid?”
“I was never very good at it.”
“Let me guess, you’d get impatient and check to see where everyone was.”
Alyssa laughed. “How’d you know?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you patience.”
“There are other things I’d rather you taught me.”
“I know, Allie Cat. Make do with what I’m willing to teach you.”
“For now.”
“That’ll do. Come on then.” He tugged on her hand and she followed.
* * *
“This is not my idea of a good hiding place,” Alyssa whispered her face nearly against Blake’s. They lay facing each other beside an unkempt grave that had a short metal fence around it. The ground was sunken and Alyssa tried not to think about the reason why. “I’m visualising bony hands reaching out and dragging me into that grave.”
“I think you’ve been watching too many horror movies.”
Alyssa shuddered. “I don’t care what it’s from, just take my mind off my thoughts.”
“Nice try, Allie Cat.”
“Blake, I’m serious. You might not be worried about evil in this graveyard, but I’ve reached my limit. If I have to lie beside one more broken grave, I swear I’m going to beg Nathan to take me out of here. Every little sound makes me want to scream. I’ve never liked graveyards.” Not to mention the regular threats Nathan had called out were getting to her. They had better have someone really good watching over Erin.
“I’m sorry. I’d swap sides with you, but they’re too close.”
“Blake, please.”
“You’re asking more than I’m capable of giving.”
“So are you.” Alyssa wished she could see his expression, and then she was immediately grateful she couldn’t since it meant they were hidden in the shadows.
“Allie Cat.” Blake moved forward, his lips brushing hers.
Alyssa closed her eyes, her hand drawn to his chest as she savoured the warmth that filled her. When he pulled away, Alyssa followed and made a noise of protest.
“Allie. Have pity on me.” Blake pressed a kiss against her forehead.
Alyssa wriggled closer, her lips curving into a smile as his arms tightened around her. She’d give him his pity, for now. With her eyes closed and surrounded by Blake’s warmth, she started to drift off to sleep. She almost jerked upright when Blake whispered near her ear.
“Time to move again.”
Alyssa groaned.
“Final move. Getting close to daylight.”
“How do you know?”
“My arm.” Blake pressed his fingers against her lips. “No time for questions.”
Alyssa kissed the fingers he held there and smiled as he quickly pulled them away.
They crouched low and slowly made their way across the graveyard with trees, headstones and monuments to hide their progress. They sat with their backs pressed against a large tree when they reached the other end.
Alyssa held onto Blake’s hand. “I hope you’re praying he stays at the other end o
f the graveyard.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Oh, I’d believe. Right now I’m wondering why I never learned any prayers for desperate moments.”
Blake laughed softly. “Just speak from you heart.”
“My heart is saying, please don’t let me die.”
“You nearly had it right. Next time try, please don’t let me die, God.”
“If we ever get through this, promise me you’ll go somewhere with me?”
“Where?”
“I don’t care. Movie, restaurant, nightclub. I’d even go to your church with you as long as it wasn’t because we were hiding out from a demon. Just somewhere. You and me.”
“We’ll get through this.”
“Blake-”
“Shh, Allie Cat. We’ll go out somewhere. Even if it’s to Mass to thank God for helping us survive.”
“A nightclub would be more fun,” Allie suggested.
Blake stilled, his head came up like he listened for something. “Demon’s gone.”
“How-”
“Like calls to like.” He held up his left arm. “Come on. Let’s get as close as possible to the meeting point. Keep low.”
They had nearly reached the road when Nathan and Eric spotted them. Instead of running towards them, they ran for their car, which was the closest choice. Blake grabbed Alyssa’s hand and they ran to the road. He pulled out his phone as they ran.
“Make it quick,” Blake said as soon as his call was answered. He ended the call and tucked the phone in his pocket.
“How far away are they?” Alyssa clutched at her stomach, a stitch starting.
“Seconds.”
“They better be.” The words were barely out of her mouth when Blake’s four-wheel-drive raced around a corner, heading towards them. Alyssa stopped, her hands resting on her knees as she tried to slow her breathing.
Alex pulled up beside them and the back door swung open. Alyssa hopped in as Riley moved out of the way, Blake behind her. Alex took off as soon as the door was closed. Alyssa buckled up as she recalled the first time she’d been in a vehicle Alex drove.
He wove in and out of streets and even though Alyssa watched behind them, she didn’t see any sign of Nathan.
When they reached the highway, Alex asked, “Where to?”
