by Sonia Harper
"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice," she replied, gripping the gun tighter in her hand. "Just don't blame me if I accidentally blow your head off."
"You won't,” he assured her. “Hey,” he called out, almost as an afterthought.
“What?” She asked.
“I'm glad you're still alive," Pytho winked and shut the door. A second later, she heard the lock turn.
Snorting, she slowly sank down into the wing-backed chair behind her. She felt oddly calm. Although Gideon and Cain still made her nervous, she was a lot more comfortable around the daemons than she was yesterday.
Now, the guardians, on the other hand...
Adelyn gripped the gun in her hand tighter. She had no clue what those things were capable of, but based on what she saw in that fight between that guardian and Gideon, she had a feeling they were capable of inflicting a lot of damage, especially if they were able to get inside the Manor.
Inside the Manor.
Adelyn's head jerked up as she suddenly remembered Sinatra. If he was still in her room where she had left him that morning, he would be vulnerable to anybody who opened the door. She didn't know what those things would do if they encountered an animal, but she didn't want to think about it. Sinatra was her responsibility, and she couldn't bear it if something happened to him.
Jumping up from the chair, she quickly made her way to the door, stepping over various boxes on her way there. She carefully leaned against the door and pressed her ear to the heavy wood, checking to see if she could hear any noises.
Hearing nothing, she felt around the door and found the cold metal handle with her free hand. Carefully unlocking and opening the door, she raised the gun up and scanned the sliver of the hallway that was in front of her.
Seeing nothing, she opened the door wide enough to slip through it. She kept the gun raised and looked both ways down the hallway several times before she was certain that it was empty.
In fact, she thought as she carefully closed the door as much as she could without shutting it, it seemed as though nothing inside the Manor was moving at all.
Comforted by the silence, she quickly made her way toward the staircase. She waved the gun around in every possible direction, her arm whipping back and forth around every open doorway as she started to climb the stairs. She was sure that she looked like a complete amateur waving her gun around, especially considering she had never really held a gun before. Moving as quickly as possible, she tried to keep her breath even as she felt her heart start to pound. Reaching the top of the stairs, she immediately turned right and sprinted down the hallway, her shoes barely making any noise as she approached her bedroom door.
Again she paused outside the door and pressed her ear to it. After a few seconds of silence, she turned the handle and threw the door open. A furry head popped out from under her bed covers as she turned on the lights. She entered the room and shut the door behind her, locking it for good measure.
Relief flooded through her as Sinatra wagged his tail and circled several times in excitement at her approach. Carefully laying the gun on her nightstand, she reached out and picked Sinatra up, clutching his little body to her chest.
"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you," she whispered as he started to lick her chin. "We've got to get out of here," she added as she turned around and made her way into her closet.
Turning on the light inside her closet, she rummaged around a few shelves before finally finding a large backpack. Placing it down on the ground, she unzipped the top and held it out to Sinatra. He sniffed the bag twice before finally jumping inside.
"Good boy," she said before zipping up the top, leaving it open just enough to give him some air. Throwing it over her shoulder, she raced back into the room and picked up the gun from her nightstand. She made her way to the door and turned out the lights in the room, pressing her ear to the door.
Confident that there was nothing in the hallway, she quickly opened the door, gun extended out and swept the hallway. Once she was sure that it was completely empty and no sounds were coming from downstairs, she turned towards the staircase and started to make her way down the hallway.
She took three steps before a deafening crash exploded behind her, and she shrieked as bits of glass shattered around her. Ducking her head, she clutched her backpack strap tighter and quickly turned around.
The beautiful bay window at the end of the hall had been shattered. Little pieces of glass were strewn down the hallway, reflecting brightly as the moonlight spilt through the broken window.
Adelyn jumped as a grey creature slowly raised itself from a kneeling to a standing position from where it had landed just inside the window. Pinning her with its glowing golden eyes, Adelyn felt the air leave her lungs as nothing short of pure panic coursed through her veins and paralyzed her body.
Her mouth dropped open, but a scream caught in her throat as a second grey figure shot through the shattered window and landed next to the first. The minute it noticed her, a piercing screech erupted from its lungs and it lunged forward.
Adelyn's eyes squeezed shut involuntarily, and her body tensed, waiting for the inevitable painful contact that she was expecting. When a moment passed and nothing happened, her eyes flew open.
The first guardian had restrained the second with a clawed hand on its shoulder.
"This one is human," it said, a surprisingly deep voice echoing in the quiet hallway. "We do not harm humans. We will remove her from here and take her somewhere safe."
"This one aligned herself with the monsters," the second one hissed, its voice higher and raspy. "It does not deserve our protection!" It screeched and broke free of the other's grasp and lunged forward again.
Shrieking, Adelyn instinctively raised her gun and fired three shots as quickly as she could. Her arm jerked wildly as the gun recoiled with every shot. A shriek pierced the hallway, and she knew that one of her shots had hit at least one of them. The creature that had lunged at her fell down to the ground, motionless.
"Adelyn!" Pytho's voice came from behind her. She turned her head for a moment and felt something hard hit her hand. Gasping, her gun flew out of her hand and slid across the hallway floor.
Satisfied that she was disarmed, the first grey creature turned away from Adelyn and launched itself at Pytho as he came running down the hallway. Pytho managed to fire his gun twice, but the guardian moved quickly, picking up a vase from a side table in the hallway and hurling it at Pytho. The vase shattered as one of Pytho's stray shots hit it, and the ceramic shards flew at his face. As Pytho turned his head down and away for a moment to avoid the shards, the guardian rushed forward and tore the gun out of his hand, twisting his arm back as it did so.
Letting out a scream of pain, Pytho leaned back slightly and kicked the creature in the head, causing it to stumble backwards and release his arm. Pytho dove for his gun, but the guardian had already recovered and kicked it away. Adelyn watched as it slid down the hallway and came to a stop two feet away from her shoe.
Another scream tore out of Pytho's throat, and Adelyn looked up just in time to see that the guardian had Pytho pinned underneath him. Its claws were digging deep into Pytho's shoulder, and dark red was seeping through his shirt. Pytho was doing his best to keep its other arm away from his throat, but it was clear he was struggling.
Adelyn suddenly jerked into action. She scooped up the gun quickly and tried to take careful aim. Terrified of hurting Pytho, she aimed for the guardian's leg.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," She repeated under her breath as she fired the gun.
The guardian screeched and hurled itself off and away from Pytho, clutching its shoulder. Apparently, her aim needed improvement, she thought briefly as she watched Pytho jump up and rush toward her, arm outstretched for the gun.
She held it out for him, but it was too late. The guardian screeched one more time before taking off down the hallway and back toward the bay window. Pytho took the gun from her hand and fired off several rounds, but the guardian h
ad already jumped through the window and disappeared.
"Damnit!" Pytho roared in anger as he ran toward the window, searching down below. He fired the gun off a few more times but was apparently unsuccessful as he cursed some more.
Footsteps pounded behind her, and Adelyn jerked around, holding her breath before releasing it with relief.
"You got them?" Derion asked as he jogged toward them. Blood covered his pant leg, but he otherwise appeared to be unharmed.
"The one that got away was strong," Pytho replied quickly. "I barely held him off. Took one down, Adelyn got him," Pytho replied as he rushed back toward them.
"She did?" Derion looked surprised as he looked down at her. "How'd she manage that?"
"I gave her a gun before I told her to stay put in the goddamn library," Pytho's voice got louder as he rounded in on her, emphasizing the last few words. "What the hell were you thinking?" He demanded as he grabbed her hand and put her gun back into it.
"I-," she stumbled over her words. "Sinatra-," she was cut off by another loud screech through the open window.
"Fuck," Pytho turned around, gun raised. "Get her back down there. I've got this hallway."
"I'll be back," Derion reached down and grabbed Adelyn's shoulder as he guided her back toward the staircase. "Cain and Gideon pretty much have control over the front. Once I take one last sweep around the back, I'll back you up," he called to Pytho over his shoulder.
Adelyn reached up and grasped Derion's arm as they descended quickly down the stairs. She jumped as glass exploded from inside the parlour and scattered into the hallway. Without breaking stride, Derion pulled Adelyn along and calmly raised his gun, firing twice. A guardian screeched as it was shot twice in the head, falling back into an armchair.
"Unfortunately, they'll recover in about ten minutes and get right back up," Derion sighed as he reached for the door to the library and checked the room before all but shoving her inside. "Stay here," he said before slamming the door shut, the lock sliding into place.
Adelyn nodded, almost to herself, before running to the back of the room, thankful that the library had no windows. Reaching the armchairs, she sat down and opened her backpack. Checking to make sure Sinatra was okay, she zipped up the bag half-way again and sat, gun aimed at the door.
She could hear a few gunshots, and then another muffled screech from the hallway, but after that, the room gave way to silence. The whispers that she had first heard in the cellar slowly returned to her head.
Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?
The last whisper ended in a scream that pierced through her skull. Moaning and clutching her head, she shook it several times, trying to get the voices to stop.
Blessedly, after repeating themselves several more times, the whispers slowly died down and left her in silence.
Chapter Nine
About an hour after the voices had settled down, the door to the library opened suddenly. Surprised, Adelyn jerked her arm up and aimed her gun at the door, but immediately lowered it once she caught sight of the figure walking through it.
Donovan.
He didn't seem surprised to see her there as he walked in and threw a gun and a few clips on the table. "Are you okay?" He asked in his usual soft voice, reaching up and pulling a tie out of his hair, shaking his long, dark hair loose from the ponytail. He glanced up at her, eyebrow raised. If Adelyn hadn't known better, she would have thought he just came out of a business meeting. His white dress shirt was remarkably clean, save for a dark stain where his shirt tucked into his pants. She couldn't tell if the blood was his because he wasn't walking as if he was injured.
Either one of the guardians had made their way into the basement, or he encountered one on the way down there.
"Yeah," Adelyn finally found her voice. "Is everything...okay?" She asked.
"Yes, they're gone," Donovan placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "I think they underestimated us," he continued. "There weren't as many as I had expected."
"Is everybody okay?" Adelyn asked, reaching over and placing her gun on the opposite armchair.
"I'm about to find out," he turned and left the room, leaving Adelyn to sit and wonder if she was supposed to follow him.
Confused, she carefully stood up and left her backpack on the chair. "Stay," she said distractedly as Sinatra's black nose poked out of the opening. She turned and made her way out of the room, shutting the door behind her as she left. She caught a glance of Donovan's white shirt as he walked down the west hallway and disappeared into the room Derion had treated her in days ago.
Adelyn jogged lightly down the hallway to catch up, tossing glances over her shoulder to make sure that nothing was behind her. As she approached Derion's office, she heard voices coming from inside.
"What are you trying to do, dig deeper into my shoulder?" Pytho's voice echoed into the hallway as she cautiously stepped inside the room and took everything in with a sweeping glance.
Four of the five daemons were perched around the room, each in their own state of disarray. Pytho was standing shirtless against the long surgical table she had once laid on. His entire shoulder was covered in blood, and he had several long cuts along his cheek that looked suspiciously like claw marks. Blood matted his hair and plastered bright red clumps to his forehead.
Derion was standing over his shoulder, a wet towel in one hand and a bottle of liquid in the other. A long rip cut across the front of his pants, and Adelyn could see that he had already bandaged up his own thighs underneath. Tiny spots of red were starting to bleed through the white bandage.
"Calm down, you're being overly dramatic," Derion said in response to Pytho as he poured the liquid over the wound and held the wet cloth on top of it.
Pytho grimaced, biting down on his lip as his eyes squinted shut. "That shit burns!" He ground the words out.
"Let it heal on its own. Maybe next time he'll smarten up and won't get hit," Gideon snapped from across the room. He took a swig out of a large crystal bottle and leaned against the wall. Adelyn didn't have to see the label to know that it was some kind of alcohol. Other than a large cut near his hairline and what looked like the beginning of a black eye, he seemed fine. His simple green t-shirt and black jeans, although covered in dark bloodstains, were intact. The blood must have come from the guardians he killed.
"This coming from a guy who's bleeding from the head?" Pytho muttered as he glared at Gideon from around Derion's head.
Gideon's eyes narrowed, and he slammed the bottle down on the counter he was leaning against. "I took down ten of those fuckers, once with three of them on my goddamn back! How many did you get around to, kid?" He exploded, throwing an accusatory finger in Pytho's direction.
"This isn't a contest," Donovan said forcefully as he took a step forward, glaring at Gideon. "Now back off right now and seal those bags," he pointed to a pile of bloody plastic bags that sat next to Gideon's bottle.
Adelyn stared at the bags in horror, barely noticing as Gideon shot Donovan the finger once his back was turned. "They're already sealed, asshole!" Gideon shot back, pointing a finger in Donovan's direction, his face contorted in anger. "And I don't remember having to take orders from you. Unless it comes straight from Cain's lips, I don't have to do shit around here. I don't care if your family ranks high in the Court, you still don't outrank me here!" He exploded.
"Leave my status out of it!" Donovan snapped suddenly, shocking Adelyn. She had never heard him raise his voice above a normal tone.
"Stop trying to give me orders," Gideon shot back, reaching back and grabbing one of the plastic bags. "See these?" He pointed at the bag as it dangled from his fingers. "I don't deal with this shit," he sneered. "This is Derion's job, and if he wasn't so busy trying to play healer and deciphering useless texts all the fucking time, maybe he could actually do the damn job that Cain brought him here to do!" He tossed the bag in Donovan's direction. It landed on the floor and slid past him, coming to a stop two feet away from Adelyn's foot.
"What are these?" Adelyn asked as her eyes narrowed in on the bloody mass inside the plastic bag.
Everyone seemed to notice that she was in the room finally.
"None of your damn business!" Gideon shouted at her.
"Back off of her, Gideon!" Pytho shouted back, jerking his body forward. He knocked Derion's hand over in the process and amber liquid spilt out of the bottle he was holding and onto the table.
"Stop moving!" Derion shouted in frustration, mopping up the liquid with the cloth in his hand and quickly grabbing another clean one. "Everybody just calm down!" He reached up and grabbed Pytho's shoulder, pushing him back against the table.
Pytho gave an involuntary yelp as Derion made contact with his injured shoulder. He grunted in pain as Derion went back to cleaning the wound, albeit roughly this time.
Gideon snorted and grabbed his drink, taking a long swig. Donovan glared at Gideon as he bent over and picked up the plastic bag from the floor. He then proceeded to walk around Gideon, matching his glare and picking up the other four bags that were on the counter. He carried them to the other side of the room and opened up a small refrigerator that sat below the counter. Carefully placing them inside, he shut the door and turned back around, facing Adelyn.
"Don't touch those," He warned her as he wiped his hands using a nearby rag, his voice already back to normal.
"What are they?" Adelyn asked again, her curious nature getting the best of her again.
"They're...tissue samples," Donovan finally spoke after a pause, confirming her suspicions. She thought they looked like bloody organs.
"Why are you keeping them?" She asked, glancing at the fridge. "Are they from the guardians? Is that how you kill them?" Questions spilt from her mouth unfiltered.
"We don't know much about the guardians," Derion's voice spoke up behind her. She turned around and watched as he carefully stitched up Pytho's shoulder. He paused, concentrating on the wound in front of him for a moment before continuing. "What we do know is that they have extraordinary healing powers, far above our own. I, well-," he paused again. "I guess you could say that I run tests on the samples we collect to find out how and why. They weren't always this difficult to kill." He paused again as he pulled the needle through Pytho's skin.
