by Jill Cooper
“Mommy!” Ten-year-old Jessica ran over in a flowered nightgown. She choked on her sobs to see so much blood. To see so much of her mom’s blood.
A growl from the stairs scared her. Her heart pumped with fear as she looked up. She screamed when Donna grabbed her ankle.
“You must protect her. Keep Amanda safe.”
Amanda. Jessica was terrified that whatever noise she heard on the stairs was headed into their shared bedroom. By her mother’s feet was a knife, a knife covered in her mother’s blood.
Sobbing she picked it up. “Mommy!” She screamed because she was scared, but there was no answer from Donna. Her eyes were frozen open like pearls, staring up at the ceiling. The beautiful nightgown she always wore drenched red.
Protect Amanda. She had to get to Amanda!
Just then the door burst open and a light shined inside the room. Jessica screamed as someone approached. Sobbing, Jessica backed up. She didn’t know what to do!
“Drop the knife, sweetheart. Drop the knife!”
Police were everywhere swarming all around her while upstairs, a sweet voice called out to her. “Jessie?”
Her head whipped around to see Amanda, little eight-year-old Amanda clinging to the railing, her naked toes gripping the carpeted stairs hard. “Don’t look!” Jessica ordered, her emerald eyes shining brightly. “Don’t look, Mandy!”
“There’s another body in the study.” One of the officers said and gave a glance at Jessica. “He has a stab wound too.”
What? No? Daddy!
Jessica snorted awake. The red and blue knitted blanket was coarse against her face as sunlight streamed in through the windows. The remnants of the dream fading in the daylight, but they were never far. Not far at all. Her eyes snapped open in a hurry and she rolled over on the wooden floor toward the sofa.
Through her matted hair, Jessica saw the sofa was empty.
She pushed herself up, tangled in the blanket, but finally kicking it away with a frustrated huff. Some demon hunter she was.
“Well, good morning, sleepy head.”
Pivoting on her butt Jessica peered into the kitchen nook. Amanda was bustling about like Mom once did. She had bowls laid out on the serving bar and there was an old flowered dishtowel thrown over one of her shoulders. Busy as a bee, Amanda’s hair was kempt and glowed like a sunrise in the morning sun.
Not only was she healed, but her strength appeared to be back. Jessica was relieved as she balled and tossed the blanket on the sofa. “Why’d you let me sleep?”
Amanda’s face softened with a smile. “Because you’re human. You need sleep just like the rest of us. I think Aunty Gwen must have been here recently. I found coffee. Want some?”
Not even exhaustion could hide that glorious aroma. With a nod, she rose from the floor and sank onto a bar stool and pushed her tangled mess of hair from her face. “Good thing I like it black.”
Jessica nodded her thanks as Amanda presented a green mug of steaming coffee. Blowing on it, Jessica took a sip. Closing her eyes, she let the strong brew slide down her throat, enjoying every beautiful drop, before asking her next question with dread. “Have you heard from her?”
Amanda shook her head as she slid a bowl in front of Jessica. “My phone has no messages, yours?”
Sliding her phone from her pocket Jessica quickly checked. Sighing, her eyebrows rose. She masked her disappointment so Amanda wouldn’t lose hope. “Nope, but maybe that means she’s just on her way.”
“Maybe.” Amanda shrugged and popped a bit of dry cereal into her mouth from her own yellow bowl. “Not really fresh, but not stale either. I’ve always loved Frosted Flakes.”
“You and your sugar.” Jessica smirked and gathered up a handful of cereal herself. She’d rather have eggs and steak in the morning, maybe with a side of hash browns, but beggars couldn’t be choosers in their crazy world.
“I know, I know.” Amanda played her finger on the counter. “But it always makes me feel better. I swear the sugar enhances my gifts or grounds it. I don’t know.” Amanda shrugged and stirred her cereal with a finger.
“Well…” Jessica gazed at her bowl and the half a dozen blueberries that sat in the middle. Why, they were perfect and plump; not dried out and old. Perfect.
Jessica held one up like it was a disease and her nose scrunched. “Where did you get these?”
Amanda immediately stopped chewing. “Umm…well. You were asleep and I—”
Her older sister leaned forward. “Spit it out, Amanda.”
“I picked them.” Amanda sighed and sat on her bar stool. “There’s a small bush outside, by the back door. I remembered it from when we were kids and—”
Jessica’s heart skipped a beat and she popped the blueberry into her mouth. It was sweet and juicy, but that was beside the point. “You went outside while I was asleep.”
“It’s morning.” Amanda’s voice cracked as she pointed to the door. “Demons aren’t going to come out in the morning! It’s not like they’re out doing brunch, Jessica.”
“They’re not vampires, Amanda.” Jessica’s face reddened and anger thrust through her veins. “Now that they’ve picked up our scent again, you have to be more careful. If they wanted you bad enough and knew where we were, you’d bet your cozy little peasant dress they’d be waiting for you.”
Amanda gazed at the countertop, her hands folded together. “Well, I’m sorry that I sometimes like to do normal things. Blueberries in the morning with my sister is that so much to ask?”
Yes. The answer for today and tomorrow was a big fat definite yes, but Jessica wished it wasn’t. She wished she could have said no. Christmases and birthdays, casual brunches in the city, wouldn’t that be nice? Quaint?
Normal.
“What’s done is done.” Jessica picked up a handful of cereal. “Thanks for the berries and especially the coffee. You do good work in the kitchen.”
Amanda grinned and her happy expression lifted Jessica’s spirits. “How long are we going to stay?”
“You know we can’t. We can’t stay. We might have been still for too long already.” Jessica looked away, unable to gaze into Amanda’s crestfallen eyes a moment longer. “We’ll grab more ammo, weapons. Then we’re gone.”
“But, it’s nice here. It could be home for a while. A few days.” Amanda chewed on the inside of her lip and stared down her sister. Her eyes widened and she sighed. “Don’t you miss it? Having a home? Living in motels, on the road, maybe it was fun once—”
“Of course, I miss it.” Jessica’s stomach rolled. She hated saying what Amanda forced her to admit. “We haven’t had a real home since these monsters busted through our door and killed Mom and Dad. Everything changed after that, Amanda.”
They couldn’t stay. Couldn’t get comfortable. In this line of work when you got comfortable, you got dead.
Still Amanda’s sad eyes were almost too much to bear. “It wasn’t always like this. We had homes. We had—”
“You did,” Jessica strained her voice so not to cast blame at her sister. Sure, Amanda was the good one. She had what Jessica didn’t; foster parents who wanted to adopt her, while what happened to Jessica? She was locked up, and when she wasn’t under observation for violent tendencies, her foster parents beat her.
It might have been horrible, but at least she and her sister were still alive. Not everyone in their line of work could say that.
“I know you don’t blame me,” Amanda said softly. Her head down, a soft curl covered her face. “But right now, it sure feels like it.”
Jessica puckered and stroked Amanda’s hair back, cupping her chin. “Listen, sister and listen good, okay?” Her own voice was soft and betrayed everything Jessica was—everything she had to be. “If I could fix things, go back to that night and do things different—”
With soft eyes, Amanda put her hand on Jessica’s “Don’t even, you were ten. Ten. It’s not on you.”
“Then who is it on?” The question echoed through th
e room and Jessica fought to keep from quivering.
“The demons. The bastard demons that took them from us.” Amanda’s lips drew in a thin line together.
“Wow, I’m impressed you didn’t flinch, using such harsh language.” Jessica raised an eyebrow and Amanda burst out laughing. Good, that was what Jessica intended. The conversation was too serious.
“We give Aunt Gwen until sunset. Then we have to move. Those demons are going to want revenge badly. Eventually, they’ll pin us down if we don’t go.” Jessica rose from her seat. “I’m going to see if there’s running water here. I need a shower.”
“There’s a hairbrush in the bathroom if you need it.” Amanda busied herself gathering up the empty bowls and coffee mugs.
“What, you don’t like my nest?” Jessica ran a hand through her long knotted hair. “I bet I could hide a weapon in it.”
Amanda laughed, her nose crinkling up. “Knowing your luck, you’d blow your head right off!”
Wasn’t that the truth? “I’ll freshen up and then we can head to town. We need supplies. Money.”
Amanda’s face darkened and it stopped Jessica’s footsteps. “We do what we need to survive, Mandy. And until we can get these guys to stop, pick up a job…”
“I know.” Amanda’s voice was hushed, almost sing-song. “I made peace with it a long time ago. Demons play by a different set of rules, right?”
She said it, but Jessica saw the tear in her eye. Amanda hated the lying and deceit. Jessica did too, but had made peace with it a long time ago. Besides, it didn’t affect her physically like it did Amanda.
“Clean up here. I’ll be right back.” Jessica forced a smile before hurrying away. In the darkened hallway, Jessica leaned against the wall and scrolled through her smart phone’s messages.
There weren’t any. At least, no new ones.
With a huff, Jessica dialed her aunt and waited with an impatient stomp. No answer and it went straight to voicemail, Jessica’s vision split. “Aunt Gwen, where are you? Get here or call me back. I don’t know how long it’s safe to stay here, so just call me back.”
There was nothing Jessica could do but wait and that made her the most nervous at all.
****
Run a scam, get some supplies.
It all sounded well and good, except when you didn’t know how long you were going to be in town, it made things tricky. They were going to have to be careful because the money from their last legit demon hunting job was nearly bled dry. If they weren’t being chased, maybe they could get a leg up long enough to get a legit gig.
Demons were everywhere, and there was always someone who needed help; —and was willing to pay for it. The way things were now, taking a job would be suicide. As it stood, they were driving a stolen car, a sweet one at that, but going into a small town where the local sheriff knew everyone by name, made Jessica downright paranoid.
The town square was small, but cozy, just as Jessica remembered. The lawns were freshly mowed, and had pots of red and gold flowers hanging from the trellises tresses. The buildings were alternating white and brick. Outside the small corner grocery store, a woman in a red and white checkered apron swept the sidewalk. It was the perfect epitome of small town Americana.
Which made it a great target for fresh demon activity. If there was something a low-level demon loved, it was a small town. Mostly because he could get a foothold, bide his time, and build his gang large enough that he could take on an urban city master. All the while unsuspecting humans got high on drugs laced with demon essence, their lives fell apart, and they were none the wiser while demons gained strength.
Amassed an army.
Jessica parked the car down a side street not far from downtown, but distant enough to give them space. Her red curls were tame again and framed her face. Her skin was freshly washed and her freckles across her nose visible. There was nothing she could do about the scar running down her cheek, so people would just need to deal.
Fishing a quarter out of her pocket to feed the meter, Jessica watched through the windshield as an elderly couple walked down the road hand in hand. “You go first and I’ll wait a few minutes. I’ll meet you back here with the supplies.”
“I know, Jessica,” Amanda smirked. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“If you see me, just keep on walking.” Jessica pressed on. “If this is to work—”
Amanda laid a hand on Jessica’s shoulder and a wave of calm washed over her. Almost like Amanda’s empathy was able to soothe her nerves. Could it do that? It never had before, but maybe things were changing. It wasn’t as if Amanda was always like this.
“We’ll be fine as long as you don’t steal anything from the store,” Amanda said.
Jessica snorted with a shake of her head. Unbelievable. Like she’d ever steal food to survive, except for maybe one or two times when things got really bad. “I’ll try to keep my hands off the nachos. Remember if you see a baby with a bump on its head, don’t heal him. Keep on walking, Amanda!”
Amanda’s answer was slamming the door shut. Her purse over her shoulder, Amanda waved before she walked down the hill toward town. If she didn’t get them caught, Jessica was going to run out and buy a lottery ticket because this was her lucky day.
Checking the time, she tried her aunt again, but it dumped to voice mail. Jessica grunted and slid the phone shut in anger. Where the hell was that woman? She was always around when Jessica didn’t need her and now that she did—
Well, that wasn’t true, was it? Aunt Gwen got them out of foster care just when things got really bad. Not foster parent bad, but demon bad. They might not even be alive if it wasn’t for Aunt Gwen, so Jessica would cut her some slack. She just hoped her aunt had a really good reason for ditching her calls.
A really good reason.
*****
The air was fresh, crisp. Everything about the day was perfect and Jessica tried to relax as she walked to the corner store. It was a nice downtown with park benches and kids playing on the sidewalk. Did that mean it was a weekend? Jessica had lost track of time during the demon debacle.
When she stepped inside the corner store, Jessica inhaled deep to take in the smell of fresh pastries. That was something she hadn’t gotten to treat herself with in a long while and there was nothing she loved more than a warm pastry with fruit filling. Some might have loved pie, but Jessica was all about the breakfast Danish.
Checking out the pastry selection, Jessica caught the old man from earlier staring at her. He wore big bifocals and his face was sprinkled with age spots. Dressed in light blue trousers and a white button-down shirt, he stared with his mouth fallen open at the sight of her tight leather pants.
Jessica cleared her throat and adjusted the hem of her jacket. “Laundry day,” she said with a shrug. When the old man’s wife slapped him with her purse against the gut, Jessica suppressed laughter and strutted around to the back.
It probably was well enough she didn’t buy the Danish pastries. If she did, she’d just want them all the time and get grouchy when forced to eat stale Frosted Flakes for breakfast.
Picking up a red basket, Jessica loaded it up with apples, frozen chicken burritos, and for dessert a bag of marshmallows. A few bottles of water and energy drinks rounded out her supplies. If she was lucky, the cash she had would cover it.
Jessica kept an eye on her surroundings as she hefted her basket onto the counter. With a distracted half-smile at ‘Bob,’ she listened to him scan her items while her eyes stayed trained on the mirror in the corner.
“Have I seen you around here before? Because I think I’d remember you.”
She barely paid him attention, but from the rise of goosebumps on her arm could tell he was leering at her. Should never have worn leather pants in a small town, but it was the only thing she had on her.
“Doubt it. Just passing through.”
A bell jingled as the front door pulled open, and through the mirror, Jessica saw a cop entering. Great, just what
she needed.
Cops and Jessica didn’t go together. Hadn’t since the beginning. Jessica tried to keep calm and ward off her growing nerves. She fiddled with her hair, twisting a lock around her finger as Bob nodded his head with a smile. “Morning, Larry! How’s the old world treating you today?”
Larry had his thumbs in his pockets as he strolled through the place. Jessica kept her eyes front to appear nonchalant, but she twitched her thumb against the counter.
Run. Leave everything and get out of there.
But she ignored those feelings and handed her cash over with a smile. “Paper’s good.”
“About as good as any other day. Nothing much going on as usual, minus a missing cat or two.” Larry’s voice was bored, uninterested like he’d rather be somewhere else.
Jessica couldn’t blame him. She grabbed her groceries and headed toward the door. When his voice rang out, she froze in her tracks.
“Miss, you forgot your change.”
She turned and saw a few pennies and quarters on the counter. Jessica shrugged. “You keep it.” She pushed open the door and blew out a deep breath. That was close, or maybe it wasn’t and her demeanor was going to get her in trouble again. Cops always made her uneasy; they had ever since the very beginning.
Her morning dream certainly didn’t help. She could remember screaming and crying. Pleading that she had nothing to do with her parents’ murder. She had only picked up the weapon because she found it. Scared. Someone else had been in the house that night, but nobody believed her. At least no one over the age of eight.
But the past belonged in the past even if Jessica couldn’t shake it. She’d head back to the car, wait for Amanda and then they could return to the cabin. She’d feel safer there. Better. If they were lucky they’d have time to heat up some burritos over a fire and maybe even bake some apples.
Jessica climbed the hill toward her car and saw another police officer. How many cops did this place need anyway?
Panic thumped in Jessica’s chest as he hitched up his trousers and leaned over to read her license plate number. He was running the plates.
