The Evil Headmaster

by Dora Blume

  “Okay, can you call Bryant? He’s with the other group. It’d be good if we were all set to go when we got there.” Jessie asked.

  Erik looked down at his phone. “Ah, he’s calling me,” he said in surprise. He hit the button and raised it to his ear. “What's going on?” Erik listened. He raised his hand and ran it through his hair. “Shit, okay,” he nodded. “Okay, I'll tell them. Yeah, we'll figure it out.” He dropped the phone to his lap. His voice dropped in surprise. “Bryant and the others aren’t coming.” He stared forward for a few moments.

  “Wait, what? Are they not coming? How can they not be coming?” Jessie blurted.

  “Something’s going on. It must be big. Bryant didn’t give much of an explanation, just said that they couldn’t come. He said there was an emergency, and they had to go.”

  “Okay,” Jess spoke slowly as she processed what that meant for them. “So, we have to go in there with the five of us.” She nodded, wrapping her mind around the idea.

  “I’m not sure we should go in there with only us. We needed back-up, and now we have none. If something happens, we’ve got no one else coming to help. It must be pretty damn bad for them not to be coming to help.” Mike said shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Well, there are only ten of them since our last visit. Does that help?” Jessie shrugged. She was grasping at straws, and she knew it. They needed to save the guy.

  “You’re counting on them not bringing in anyone else. If they called in help, we’re screwed. They will get us with our collection of powers, and the rest of the Shikari would be fucked. I don’t think this is a good idea.” Erik ran his hand through his hair again.

  “Erik, we have to save him. We can still pull off the same plan as before, but we split up. Our focus is on getting the guy in the back. Maybe, we don’t dispossess them. Maybe we just focus on getting him out of there. We worry about the rest later.” Jessie knew she was rambling, but she needed to convince them to still go through with the plan.

  “Okay, okay, maybe we all go in a back way. I think splitting up would be a bad idea. We need to stick together. We’re better as a group. Sloane could you focus on getting some vision of what we’re walking in to. I know you’re weak, but anything could help us.” Erik looked to Sloane.

  “I can try.” Sloane settled into the front seat and closed her eyes.

  “Mike since your power still worked, you need to tell us what we’re walking into. When we get there, focus on how many are in there, and what powers we might be facing. I will do the same. I’m going to try to pick up any thoughts about the amulets. Maybe we can deactivate them, so Jessie can freeze again as we go.” Erik reached for Jessie’s hand. “We could use you, so we need to see if there’s any way for you to be able to use your power.” Jessie nodded.

  “I overheard they were loading up amulets for other areas in the warehouse. I forgot about that part. If we can locate those, we can stop this from happening to others. That would put a huge dent in their plan.” Sloane said, darting up in her seat.

  “Yeah, it would. Okay, so we need to locate the amulets while we’re there. Our priority is to get to the guy. If he’s conscious, we could use his help. Then, we move on to the amulets,” Erik said.

  “Well, we’re about there, time to start praying to whatever God you believe in.” Sloane slapped Mike playfully on the arm. “What? It’s a good idea. We’re about to go into a warehouse full of demons that outnumber us. I’ll take all the help we can get.” Mike shrugged.

  ‘We don’t need help. I’m all the help we need. Now, let me focus will you.” Sloane relaxed back.

  “Ever the humble one, huh sis.” Erik shook his head.

  “Shut it, I’m amazing, you know this.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I know no such thing. Although, if you get a vision before we go in, I might change my mind.”

  “No pressure or anything,” Sloane said and held her hand up for silence.

  Mike parked a half a block down from the building. Jessie took Erik’s hand as he focused on the thoughts in the building. It felt as though everyone in the car was holding their breath while concentrating. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Jessie waited but began drumming her fingers against the door.

  Erik’s eyes snapped open, and he placed his hand over hers on the door. “Jess please.”

  “What? You guys ready, yet?” Her tone was biting, and she bit her lip after she’d said it. “Sorry, I just hate waiting in here when we need to be in there.” She clasped her hands together.

  “We need to know what we’re getting into before we go charging in, Jess.” Erik placed his hands over hers, and she unclasped her hands to take his.

  “Okay, I know. I’ll be patient.” She blew out a breath.

  “That hard, huh?” Mike joked. “I’m ready; there are still only about twelve in there. They didn’t call in reinforcements which are good for us. I can’t sense any special powers beyond the guy who’s still being held in the back. How about you, Erik? What do you get?”

  “I agree with you. There are twelve in there. They didn’t call for back-up. They didn’t think they needed it since Sloane was gone. I guess you guys are taking her spoiled their plans.” He looked to Sloane. “I have bad news for you, Sloane. Mr. Hall isn’t here. He left before they even got to you. Something else is going on, but I don’t know what for sure. It has to do with a school here. That’s all I know. I think if we go in through the back like we planned, we should be fine. There’s no one back there right now, so we’d be smart to go now.”

  “Alright, let’s do this.” Sloane clapped her hands together, smiling.

  “Sounds good to me.” Erik turned to look out the back window. “Where’s Caroline? She said she would be joining us. It’s been a while. She should have a say in this plan.” He tried to peer out of the window to see if he could see the car.

  Jess turned to look. “Yeah, she should’ve been right behind us.”

  Erik closed his eyes a moment. “I don’t hear her thoughts. She’s pretty good at blocking me out, though.” He reached for the door handle and stepped out of the car looking around for her car. Jessie got out with him. “Shit, her car’s not here.”

  “I know she said she’d leave if she had to, but you’d think she’d at least let us know.”

  “It must’ve been important for her not to come,” Jessie said.

  Erik shook his head in disbelief, “Yeah, it better have been damn important.”

  Chapter 16

  “Where’s Caroline?” Mike asked as Erik got back into the car.

  “I don’t know. The car’s gone.” Erik’s voice was concerned. “You think she’d have sent me a message before just taking off like that.”

  “It must’ve been an emergency, Erik. There’s no way she would have left us, otherwise. You know she was taking her car, in case she had to leave because of her daughter. She must’ve heard something and had to run. Come on, let’s get on with this.” Jessie said.

  “Okay, well we better get on with it. We may need to help with the emergency when we’re done here. It must be big considering both Bryant and Caroline left.” Erik shook his head.

  Jessie looked to the front. “You two ready to go?”

  “Yeah, let’s do this.” Sloane rubbed her hands together in anticipation. She looked over to Mike. “You ready?”

  “Always ready, love.” He lifted a brow at her answering smirk. She bit her bottom lip thinking about the last time they’d been together.

  “Let’s do this.” She raised a brow at Mike, running her hand up his thigh before turning to get out of the car. Mike slid out, and Sloane met him on the other side. He hooked a finger in her belt loop and pulled her against him. “You know you’re paying for that when we’re alone.” He whispered in her ear.

  She leaned against him and turned to whisper next to his ear. “Looking forward to it.” She reached one hand back to run up his thigh, stopping to cup him throug
h his jeans. She looked over to Erik and Jessie, thankful that for the moment, they seemed to be occupied.

  Erik looked over to Mike and nodded. Mike grabbed Sloane’s hand and brought it back around to her stomach. “Babe, we have work to do.” He whispered in her ear. She pulled on her bottom lip with her teeth slowly releasing it.

  She turned around. “So, you got any guns in this car?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “Love, I told you I have everything you need.”

  “Good, because I want a big one.” She smirked.

  “Of course, you do. I would expect nothing less.” He shook his head again and walked to the trunk to get the weapons he’d stored when he’d gotten back to the car. “You can have all the big guns you want.” He dropped his hand and slapped her ass. She jumped in surprise and then cast him a devilish grin.

  Erik walked over. “You two done? Cause we have work to do.”

  “Yeah, we’re ready,” Sloane said, as she tucked a 9mm in her waistband.

  Jessie walked over to join them. “Okay, we make our way to the back. I’m going to check the windows as we did before as we go.” She looked to Mike, and he nodded.

  “You know I can just tell you where they are, right?” Erik moved to stand next to Jessie.

  “I still want to check. I like being able to see them.” She rolled her eyes at him. She headed toward the building. The others followed. She stopped when she reached the first window. She peeked through the same hole as before. Erik leaned next to her against the building and gave her a playful look.

  “There are two guys in there.” He leaned next to her ear. “One’s thinking about the sex he had with his girlfriend last night. He’s trying to conceal his erection by staying seated at the table. The other guy is thinking about the last hand they’d played. He had cowboys and thought he could have pushed harder to get more of their money, but he played it safe. They’re taking a break cause the third guy is in the bathroom. I won’t tell you what’s taking him so long. Anything else you want to know?” He smirked at her annoyed look.

  “Okay, I get it. I’ll follow your lead.” She glared defiantly into his eyes, and his smile grew wider.

  “Now, was that so hard?”

  “Whatever, let’s just go.” She huffed out a breath and walked along the side of the building. Erik took a few hurried strides to catch up to her. He reached out to grab her wrist.

  “Jess you need to let me lead. Your power isn’t going to work in here.” His look was stern.

  “Fine,” She swept her hand in front of her, palm up. “Go ahead.”

  He shook his head, “Always so stubborn.” He glided past her to the back door. He stopped and waited. “You ready?” He looked into Jessie’s eyes.

  “Yes,” she said.

  He placed his hand on the door and opened it, knowing no one was on the other side. He took a step in, and the others followed. Jess stood at the ready next to him. He took a few steps toward the first door. He listened. No one was in the room. He took another few steps to the next door. He stopped., There were two men on the other side. He nodded to Jess, then Mike and Sloane. He mouthed, one, two, three, then he swung the door open. Mike went for the one on the right. He had his back to the door and was pouring himself coffee. He set the carafe down as Mike hit him in the back of the head with his gun.

  The second guy whipped toward the door with stunning speed. He reached for the gun in his belt. Sloane pulled the trigger, hitting the arm reaching for his gun. She took a step toward him and rounded a kick to his face. He stumbled a moment but got his grip on the gun.

  “For peat’s sake.” She rounded again kicking him square in the jaw. He stumbled sideways but raised his gun level with Sloane.

  “Fucking bitch.” He spat. Mike moved silently behind him and hit him in the back of the head with his gun. This time he fell unconscious, making a loud thud when his head ricocheted off the table as he fell.

  “Thanks, babe,” Sloane said. She stepped over the guy to take Mike’s hand.

  “Two down, ten to go.” Erik turned, and another guy stopped dead in the hallway looking from the group to the two guys on the floor.

  “Holy Shit, Hunters!” He yelled. He reached for his waistband, his focus on Erik. Jessie came from the side and landed a jab to his jaw. He shook his head, and Erik stepped forward, pointing his gun at the man.

  “Move your hand up, slowly.” The guy stopped mid-motion.

  “Or what?” The guy glared at Erik’s gun.

  “Or I’ll shoot you in the head,” Erik said.

  “Oh? You don’t care that I’m in one of your own. You would shoot your own man?”

  “Absolutely.” Erik didn’t flinch. Jessie moved around him and ripped the chain from his neck. Once he was free, she raised her hands to freeze him.

  “Ah, much better. I like it when they don’t talk.” Jessie rubbed her hands together. “I noticed that they are all wearing the amulets Sloane mentioned. That means it’s not the building that’s protected, it’s the individuals. So, if we can get the amulets off their neck. I can freeze them, and we can dispossess them. If they’re Shikari, they can help us.” Jessie cracked her knuckles looking at the frozen man.

  “Okay, well we got a girl and three men sprinting down the hall. Back in the room, we’ve got a better advantage if they don’t know where we are. Jess, Sloane you go one room down, across the hall. Jessie be ready to freeze when we get the stones off their neck.” He stepped back into the room with the two unconscious men. He could hear them running. He stood on the side of the door frame, and Mike took a position on the other. They had weapons and planned to shoot them. One had the gun aimed down the hall, but Erik knew from his thoughts that he’d never actually shot a gun before. “Ready?” he whispered. Mike nodded.

  They reached the doorway and stopped, looking at the two men on the ground. The woman hurried into the room not noticing them in the doorway. The woman dropped down next to one of the men. “Scott, baby are you okay?” She shook him.

  The men looked around the room, guns up. Neither turned toward the door. They turned back, looking down the hallway. Mike and Erik moved quickly, grabbing the men from behind. They yanked the chains off. “Now!” Erik called. Jessie stepped out and froze them.

  The woman turned, “Wha…” Sloane stepped in the room and hit the woman in the back of her head. She slumped over the man who she’d been shaking. Sloane ripped the chain from her neck, tucking the amulets in her pocket.

  “Did anyone else hear him?” Jessie asked.

  “I don’t hear anyone else coming, but if they stay in the hall, someone will see. We have to move them.”

  Mike took a step forward. “How about we drag them into the room with the other two, so they’re out of the way and this time? When we dispossess them, we close the door.” Mike raised his voice at the end. His sarcasm was thick.

  “Oh, now you got all the bright ideas. Where was that genius two minutes ago?” Erik shook his head. Mike raised a brow at him and moved to cup his arms under the largest of the three, dragging him back toward the room. The back of the man’s heels left a black mark along the floor as he went. Erik grabbed the other while making sure to stay alert for anyone coming. He didn’t want to screw it up again. If the other guy hadn’t been so surprised, he could have easily got a shot off. Erik couldn’t let any of them get hurt.

  They got the three in the room, and Mike and Sloane went to dispossessing them. When they were finished, Erik went for the door again. The men who had been playing poker were still in the room. They hadn’t made it to the Shikari man, yet. They had taken care of five of them. There were still seven of them in the building. Erik listened for a moment to take a mental inventory of where each of them was. He had the three in the room playing poker. Two were at the front of the building packing boxes to load into their pickup. They needed to get a few things to the school here in Denver. It sounded like these demons were also taking on some of the life events of the people th
ey possessed, just as the couple had in Minneapolis. He concentrated. He could hear two other men discussing some plan that had to do with the school. One man was arguing about which door they should enter through, and whether the girl would be there as they planned.

  Erik blew out a breath. He looked wide-eyed to Jessie, then Mike and Sloane. Jessie’s eyes narrowed. She looked in the direction of the hall. “Erik, what is it? Is someone coming?”

  “No, no one is coming here. I think I know where Caroline went though, and it’s not good.”

  He clenched his hands into fists at his sides. “We need to make this quick. Caroline is going to need our help.” Suddenly a dark flash of fabric caught his attention. He forgot he had already opened the door while he was listening. Jessie stood next to him, staring up at him in concern.

  As he listened in shock at the thoughts of the two men, he heard a subtle click and looked up just in time to see a guy standing with a revolver pointed at Jessie. He reached his arm out and pulled her towards him as the bullet left the barrel. Erik wasn’t fast enough, and the bullet went through Jessie’s arm and lodged in the wall behind her. Erik heard the click again as he went for a second shot. Before he could fire, Jessie raised her hands to freeze the guy, but nothing happened.

  Mike and Sloane both moved behind the wall. Erik saw red in an instant. He flew forward, knocking the gun out of the guy's hand and shoving him against the wall. His fingers wrapped around his throat. He pressed so hard his hand turned red.

  “You will pay for that.” Erik spat through clenched teeth. He tightened his grip and pulled him back to slam his head into the wall. He felt the shock reverberate down his arm. His eyes shut, and a stream of blood ran down his nose. Erik dropped him to the floor and whirled. Jessie was holding her hand pressed against her upper arm.

  “Are you okay?” Erik asked, fear shaking his voice.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.” Her eyes were wide as she looked down at the blood soaking through her clothes to her fingers.