Demon Trackers: The Anointed

by Clover Autrey

  Henry raced into the clinic after Jake, following the swarm of gremlins that had honed in on Cael's scent. Cael was asleep. Cael was unarmed. Cael was vulnerable. The nasty little beasties would rip his son to pieces in minutes.

  Gun fire blazed ahead. Shouts and thudding. Little monster shrieks. Henry skidded into Doc Wal's personal quarters, his own gun instantly firing. Gremlins were everywhere, Jake shooting point-blank into them, but having little effect. There were beasts shredding the couch. No Cael. Gremlins on the dressers and TV cabinet. Gremlins climbed up the ceiling, pouring into a square hole—attic access—coffee table below. Cael must have pulled himself up inside there. Good boy. Henry nearly bent in two with the relief, except his boy was in the attic now with however many of the monsters got up in there. Bangs and crashes thudded above them.

  "I'm out!" Jake's gun clicked. He pulled his kremloc dagger out and flung it at one of the creatures. It shrieked, its skin instantly bubbling as it flung itself around the room. Jake disappeared through one of the doors.

  Henry kept firing, knowing his clip didn't have much more either. He leaped onto the coffee table, concentrating on the gremlins closest to getting into the attic, and shot a hairless monkey right in the eye. It thumped to the floor. Hard to kill his ass. There was more than one way of getting past an impenetrable skull.

  The gremlins went crazy. Soap or no soap, they rushed Henry, bearing him down and dragging him across the room. For such little guys, these beasts were strong. Suddenly Jake was back, flinging a bucket of white powder over them all.

  Little nasties howled, jerking away and jumping around like they'd been burned, shaking and slapping at their heads. Jake flung out more powder and the gremlins scattered, yowling and crashing through every door, through windows, a few into the attic to get away from the soap.

  Jake reached down, assisted Henry up. "You bit?"

  "No." Henry rubbed soap powder from his eyelashes. "Good thinking." The thuds overhead had moved to another part of the clinic. Henry rushed outside, backing up enough to see the roof. Doc Wal ran up to him from the barn, a couple of rifles in his grip. "Is there a rooftop access to your attic?"

  The Doc's scraggly brows rose. "They're in my attic?"

  Several of the creatures that had scattered outside were now climbing up the side of the clinic. "Jake! Get that soap out here!" Henry grabbed one of Doc's rifles and began shooting, moving closer, trying for more eyeball shots, while he wondered why Jake hadn't shown yet.

  Doc ran toward the other end of the building. "Attic window on this side!"

  Henry swiveled and sure enough, there was Cael, pulling himself onto the peak of the roof from the window Henry couldn't see on the other side. He watched, heart lodged in his throat, as Cael ran across the roof, a slew of gremlins galloping after him, more coming from the other end. Come on, Son. If Cael could make it down to the edge, it wasn't that far of a drop. Henry cringed as Cael slipped, his socks providing no traction, and quickly recovered his balance. "Cael!" Come on, come on. Henry just wanted his son down off that roof, where he'd shove him behind him and douse him in that soap powder.

  Sighting a beast several paces behind Cael, Henry pulled the trigger. He didn't dare shoot any closer to his kid. Beast paused, hissed, and leaped ahead. Realizing he was caught behind two groups of nasties, Cael started angling downward, socks slipping on the tiles.

  "I'm right here, Cael. I'll cover you!" Henry ran toward the middle of the building to meet him. He was going to make it. Cael was going to make it. Just get to the edge and jump. Gremlins launched at the teen, pulling his legs out from under him. He went down hard, sliding headfirst down the roof on his back.

  Shit! Henry dropped his gun and raced forward as though he'd be able to catch him, at least break his fall. Cael fell headfirst over the edge and jerked to a stop, dangling upside down. Several gremlins had hold of his legs.

  "Dad!" Cael's tone sounded very young and striped with fear. Long arms stretched out for Henry like they had when Cael was small and wanted to be picked up.

  "Got you!" In easy reach, Henry latched onto Cael, hand's looping beneath his armpits. "I got you," Henry gritted out, heaving against the strength of the gremlins, feeling his son being pulled upward. Where the hell was Jake?

  Doc Wal joined in the tug-of-war, grabbing onto Cael, but their combined effort wasn't a match for the supersized strength of one gremlin, let alone several. Henry roared. He was not giving up.

  Cael screamed. Henry's gaze wrenched up to the roof where a gremlin lifted its head from Cael's ankle, razor teeth dripping red. Growling with rage, Henry pulled harder.

  "Dad…" Cael clung to him, fingers digging into Henry's forearms, his voice vibrating with fear. "Don't let go of me."

  "Not letting go. Never letting go."

  But Doc Wal did.

  Gnarled fingers flew to Cael's belt, scrabbling to get it loose, popped open the button beneath and grabbed onto the kid again. With one giant heave, they pulled him right out of his jeans and thumped to the ground in a snarl of arms and legs.

  Henry didn't have time to make sure he was okay because the gremlins dropped around them even as Henry dove on top of his son, shielding him with his own body as the beasts clawed at his back, trying to peel him off.

  "Stay down!" Jake's growl. Henry covered Cael's face as a spout of flame roared above them, then moved away in another direction. A cacophony of shrieks rattled the air. "Go! Go!" Jake shouted.

  Henry looked up, seeing gremlins turn into fire balls as Jake poured bursts of fire into them with little more than spraying some kind of aerosol can flamed by his lighter. He had several more cans balanced beneath his armpit for extra ammo. Doc jumped up, scooping up the rifle and firing.

  Jake yelled over his shoulder. "Get him out of here!"

  Henry hauled Cael off the ground. Soap. Kid needed that soap. The way to the clinic was blocked by angry, swarming gremlins and spinning fiery husks, leaving smatterings of fire all over the ground. The gremlins that got past Jake and the doctor were edging toward him and Cael.

  Henry nudged Cael toward the barn, threw his arm around his waist when the kid nearly went down on the first step, and drew him close, helping him hobble across the gravel and into the barn.

  "Dad."

  "I see them. Keep going." Gremlins scurried upside down across the top of the ceiling, stilling and sniffing the air. He had to get Cael out of here. Henry prodded him forward, moving quietly with him toward the other end of the barn toward the large open door leading out.

  The pregnant cow watched them go past, round eyes wary. They made it to the opposite door without any of the gremlins dropping down. Outside, Henry surveyed their options. A dry grassy field beyond, stretching for miles. And another older, much smaller barn, most likely the original by looks of the weathered wood.

  "This way." They could barricade themselves in there until Jake could get the soap to them. Henry pulled Cael with him and was hit from behind, shoved to his hands and knees, dragging Cael down with him. Damn stupid ape-monster stomped across his back and grabbed up Cael, pulling the kid away from him.