“No, Kassia,” Auralee said.
“Yes,” Noe said at the same time.
I couldn’t look back at them. I hadn’t put my power ‘away’, and I’d end up hurting everyone in the store. Slowly, I made my way to the door. It was hard trying to keep the power up while doing something else. Multitasking wasn’t easy. I pushed open the door and stared straight at them.
A few of the demons let out a high-pitched shriek that sent chills down my spine as they fell to the ground. The little ones in the back were rushing towards me with their speedy little legs, but I was taking them down pretty easily. The bigger ones lasted a little longer, writhing in pain on the ground, before dying and melting into the earth.
Finally, the demons were all gone. I couldn’t move. I stood there shaking uncontrollably. My friends joined me outside and grabbing me, rushed back to the car. “Good job, Kassia!” Zane hollered.
“Thanks.” I smiled, proud of myself. The minute I leaned back against the seat, I fell asleep. Fighting demons took a lot out of me. I was exhausted.
We got a hotel room that night. Daxton and Zane studied the maps, trying to figure out which mountain to try first. They were in an intense discussion. Auralee and Noe were watching TV. Mira was in the bathroom taking a shower. I was sitting on the floor, leaning up against the bed, just thinking. I had taken off the dagger and was fiddling with it.
“Think she’s okay?” someone asked.
“I think so.”
“She’s been quiet lately.”
“We all have been. It’s different now.”
“Wish it could go back to how it was.”
“I think we all do.”
That was an understatement. I’d do anything for all this to go away, for Mira not to have been raped, to not have killed people, and to not have demons chasing us.
“She’s making me nervous playing with that dagger.”
Suddenly, the dagger was ripped out of my hand and slammed down on the nightstand. “Hey!”
“You’re making us nervous.”
“Sorry.” I looked away, my eyes moist.
“Let’s play truth or dare,” Auralee suggested.
“Seriously?”
“Yup.”
“Um…okay.”
She talked us all into playing, although the guys didn’t look very happy about it. “Just play,” Auralee said. “It’ll get our minds off things.”
“Whatever.”
It was fun to play, but I wouldn’t say my mind ever wandered away from reality for long. It brought me back to the dorm rooms and how much fun we had just being kids. We ended the night with a gigantic pillow fight; all of us collapsing on the beds with feathers everywhere.
After the laughter subsided, Noe asked, “Kassia, can I play with your hair?”
“Yeah.” I always enjoyed having someone do my hair.
I sat on the bed, and she brushed and braided it.
The boys laughed. “Oh Zane, can I do your hair?” Daxton batted his eyelashes.
Zane laughed. “Oh yes, please do.”
We shot them looks and stuck out our tongues. “Oooh, real mature.” Daxton smiled.
“Maturity is out the window tonight,” I replied. “Screw maturity.”
“Oh, in that case…” He rushed over to me and kissed me hard on the lips.
“Hey, I’m trying to do her hair!” Noe yelled. I laughed.
Mira flipped through the channels until she found a cartoon. We all sat on the beds eating candy and laughing at the TV. It felt good to let go and relax. It was like we were letting our inner child come out for a while. If only it could stay like that.
We all accidentally fell asleep that night. A scratching sound on the door woke me up. My head snapped up, and my eyes opened wide as I stared at the door. My dagger was still on the nightstand. I was pretty sure I could get to it fast, but if there was more than one demon, I’d need help.
Quietly, I elbowed Mira who was asleep next to me. “Shhh.” I told her and pointed to the door. She kicked Zane. Soon everyone was awake, and we all clutched the daggers in our hands. Zane crept close to the door. He raised his eyebrows and looked at each of us, silently asking if we were ready. We nodded in response.
Quickly, he unlocked the door and yanked it open. Two small cat-hound demons jumped back in surprise. Zane and Daxton thrust their daggers into the demons’ bodies, and they went limp.
We watched as they looked down the hall. Their eyes suddenly widened, and they hurried back into the room. “There’s more, lots more.”
“Outside too,” Noe said.
“Shit.” Mira paced the room. “What are we going to do?”
“Fight and run.”
“We shouldn’t have missed this,” Mira chided.
“You know what. If I die today because I was having fun last night and had the best sleep I’ve had in weeks, then so be it,” I said, trying not to let them know how scared I was.
We were on the bottom floor of the hotel. “Let’s go out the patio door,” Daxton suggested.
We threw our backpacks on our backs, clutched our daggers, and went for the back door. The second we were out, the smell of sulfur stung my nose, and demons lunged with their claws out. I got the first few with my dagger, but then I planted my feet.
Zane shouted, “Mira, stay near Kassia. Keep them off her while she takes them down. The rest of us stay in back of her.”
I felt a demon-cat on my leg, tearing through the skin before I heard Mira stabbing it. I concentrated on killing the ones in front of me. Every now and then, I’d feel pain cut through my body. After all the ones in front of me were dead, I let the power go and turned around. There were still quite a few left, but it was too risky to use my gift. Still clutching my dagger, I leapt at some of them, stabbing them. I yanked one off of Mira and another off Auralee. Noe was doing a good job keeping them off her.
Suddenly, there was a demon near me. I could feel the air around me turn cold before I could see him. When he came into view, my eyes widened. He looked like a deformed human. There was no fat on his bones, and his skin was translucent. He was frail looking. His head was too big for his body, and he had only a few strands of hair. I screamed.
Although weak looking, when his hand clamped around my wrist, it was strong and powerful…and cold. His touch sent a chill through my body that I’ll never forget. Before I had stopped screaming, Mira had plunged her dagger into his heart. He sunk into the ground; his vacant eyes never leaving mine for a second.
Just when I thought we were done, five giant demons stepped out of the woods behind the hotel. I could feel the blood drain from my face. Death felt like it was only a moment away. I was completely terrified. These beasts had almond shaped eyes that I didn’t dare look into. A low growl came from one of them, freezing me in place. I bit my lip so hard that I tasted blood.
“Fuck,” someone swore under their breath. Their fat bodies were lined up and coming right at us. Thankfully, they were slow, and it gave me a few seconds to think. I quickly realized if I was to use my power, nobody could be fighting them, or I’d hurt them too. My power by itself wasn’t strong enough to take five giant demons down at the same time. Mira was the only one immune, but I couldn’t let her go out there alone.
Daxton turned to me. “This is going to sound crazy, but it’s the only shot we have.”
“What?” I was all ears.
“Kassia, you have to use your power while we try to stab them. The second we feel pain, we will retreat. If we can get in a couple of stabs, it might weaken them enough for you to take them down easier.”
“You’re right, it’s crazy.”
“Noe?” He looked at her.
“Go,” was all she said.
He rushed at one of them, stabbing it in the side before I could refuse. Mira ran at another. “Aw, hell…” I planted my feet again and closed my eyes for a second trying to find the energy to do what I needed to do. I was tired. My body wanted to
rest after all the demon killing it was doing. Opening my eyes, I faced the huge demons. Their soulless eyes were a freaky red color. Staring at them, I released the power. I tried to focus it above the heads of my friends, right at the demons’ eyes.
The demons that had been injured swayed quicker than the ones that hadn’t, but I couldn’t get them to fall yet. They might have been slow, but they were strong. Noe kept dashing back and forth from behind me to stab one and then retreat. Auralee copied her. But, the boys were hard headed and they tried to stay at it. I couldn’t tell if they were in pain, and it was distracting me. I couldn’t stop to find out. I knew I almost had it. Thankfully, Noe and Auralee saw it too, and they each grabbed one of the guys and dragged them back.
With them out of the way, and Mira repeatedly attacking, it didn’t take too much longer for the demons to go down. As soon as they were melted into the ground, I collapsed.
It was a few minutes before anyone spoke. “Shit, Kassia, you can really hurt someone,” Daxton mumbled, still rubbing his head.
I turned my head towards him and muttered, “Sorry.”
“You idiots had to stay out there so long. What were you thinking?” Mira yelled, protectively kissing Zane’s head — which he was loving.
“They weren’t thinking. They were trying to be brave,” Auralee defended them.
“It worked,” Daxton said proudly.
“I could have killed you,” I stated.
Zane placed his hand on my back. “You didn’t.”
“I couldn’t stop,” I said weakly. “The power takes over completely until the threat is gone.”
“Yeah, the threat.”
“I can’t seem to distinguish what’s a threat and what’s not when we’re battling something.”
“I bet you can. I bet you just have to focus harder,” Daxton said.
“Don’t you think I’ve tried?”
“We better go,” Mira suggested. They all stood up, but my body wouldn’t let me. I was physically drained. “Are you coming?”
“I can’t get up.”
A concerned look crossed her face. “Are you injured?”
“Just really weak.” Fighting to stay conscious, my eyes blinked a few times.
Daxton and Zane walked over to where I was laying and looked me over. “Nothing we can’t fix in the car.” Daxton scooped me up and carried me to the car, kissing me the whole way there.
Noe and Auralee had the least injuries. After putting some Band-Aids on her cuts, Noe started driving. We helped each other get patched up. I put the faerie salve on some of Mira’s deep cuts. Only one of my cuts was deep and needed the salve. I didn’t want to waste it on the smaller ones. The guys had some wounds on their arms that we bandaged up, but I was more worried about their heads. Both of them continued to complain about headaches.
I dug out a bottle of Ibuprofen and insisted they both take a couple. I worried that I had caused some permanent damage. They shouldn’t have gotten in the way. I should have known better than to let them. I swore not to let it happen again.
Chapter Ten
By nightfall, we were all exhausted. We knew we’d have to stop and sleep. “I think we should sleep in the car, and two of us have to stay awake at all times.”
“I think that’s the best idea.”
It wasn’t comfortable, but I believed it was safer. We took turns keeping watch. Morning came and there were no signs of demons. We got gas and food and continued on our way. “We’ll be in Colorado by this evening. Do you guys think we should check out Mt. Elbert or go straight into California?”
“If we go to California and can’t find her, we’d have to backtrack to Colorado, right?”
“Yes, and up to Washington.”
“Then it makes more sense to check out the closer one so we don’t waste time.”
“Agreed.”
The next morning, we were at Mt. Elbert. “So, what do we do? Start hiking up?” Mira asked.
“Yes, and Zane will start talking to the animals. I don’t think we’ll have to go far.”
“I hate leaving the car behind. Maybe some of us should stay?” I suggested.
“No, we must stay together,” Noe said. I gave in. I wasn’t arguing with her.
We all started the hike. Zane said, “We need to go off the trail to find the animals, but we’ll scare them off if we all go together.”
“But, we shouldn’t split up,” I said.
“Okay, the two of us will go just a little bit off trail, the rest stay close by,” Auralee suggested.
None of us liked it, but we agreed.
Auralee and Zane slowly veered from the path until they disappeared. We stayed where we were anxiously awaiting, looking back and forth between where they had disappeared and Noe. Noe informed us, “They’ll find some animals, he’ll talk to a rabbit.” She giggled. “It looks funny.”
I laughed, imagining geeky, dark haired Zane talking to a bunny. They came back fairly quick. “The animals I spoke to said they’ve heard of the shaman, but she’s not here. They think more west.”
“Do we trust what these animals say or…get a second opinion?” I wasn’t quite sure how to ask that.
“Um…” Zane stuttered. “I guess I could ask another one?” he didn’t sound sure of himself. “Do you really think animals can lie?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just saying.”
His mouth twisted a little and he headed in the opposite direction to try and find another animal.
“Really, Kassia?” Mira sighed.
“What? I want to be sure.”
Less than five minutes later, he was back. “I talked to a deer this time. No shaman here. She too thinks she heard west. I’m guessing Mt. Whitney.”
“Fine. California, we’re coming home.”
I was relieved we didn’t find any demons waiting for us when we got back to the car. Turning up the radio, Mira and I sang loudly and off key. “Oh please, shut up!” Zane yelled, holding his ears. We laughed.
“How long is the drive?”
“About seventeen hours.”
“That’s seventeen hours of singing we can do!” I giggled.
“Oh God, help us.”
We all burst into laughter.
Four hours later, we were hungry. “Pull over, Daxton!”
“I’m trying to get us as far as possible.”
“Ugh.” Mira threw back her head.
Noe spoke softly as always, “There’s a sub place and a gas station a few miles ahead. We can fill up, get sandwiches, and get right back on the road.”
“Fine,” Daxton scowled.
We pulled into the gas station. “Noe?”
“No demons.”
“Let’s go, be quick.”
We all had jobs to do. Mine was going to the bathroom, getting the drinks, and getting back to the car. I did my job quickly, getting back to the car and letting Daxton go to the bathroom. I started up the car and drove it over to the door for a quicker exit.
When everyone was back, I took off down the highway. I let them eat while I drove. Daxton unwrapped my sandwich and handed it to me. “Thanks.” I smiled. I drove us about three more hours before getting tired. “Can someone take over?” I asked.
“Of course,” Mira said. “I’ll drive.” We pulled over without getting out. Mira and I switched spots. Seven hours down, ten to go.
“Think we’ll make it tonight?”
“Yes.” Noe answered. “But, we’ll have to wait ‘til morning before heading up the mountain.”
“I hate waiting.”
* * *
“Hey.” I sat next to Noe after our next break. “How ya doing?”
She smiled. “Okay.”
I took her hand. “Thanks Noe. I know you gave up a lot to come with us. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
“Thanks, but I don’t feel like I’ve been that helpful.”
“You have!”
“I feel blind.”
/>
“You’re awesome, Noe. We’re all doing the best we can.” We leaned shoulder to shoulder for a while. “You’re a great friend.”
“Thanks. You are too. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
The sun set in front of us. Another day done. “Hotel tonight?”
“I don’t know. God! I hate all this not knowing,” Noe answered, frustrated.
“We’ll get as close to Mt. Whitney as we can, park, and then sleep. We have to get up by dawn and get going,” Daxton spoke up.
We all nodded silently. This had to be it. I didn’t know how much more driving around we could take. When we arrived, we couldn’t park as close as we had hoped, but we got as close as we could. We slept, uncomfortably, for the night.
When I woke up, Zane was already outside of the car. He was sitting on the ground face to face with a squirrel. I held back the giggle that was threatening to come out of my mouth.
I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but his lips were moving. His head was bobbing up and down and then he smiled. I swear the squirrel looked like he nodded too before he took off. Quietly, Zane snuck back in the car. I crept up to him. “Hey.”
He jumped. “You scared me.”
“Sorry. How did… uh… that go?” I glanced out the window.
His cheeks turned a deep red. “Okay. I think we might be on to something.”
“Really?” I didn’t want to get my hopes too high.
“He says he doesn’t go up, but he has heard that strange things happen up there.”
“Strange things?”
“Yes. He said that the birds might know more. They go up and down often.”
“Naturally.”
He shot me a look. “Don’t knock the gift.”
“Gosh, wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago you were scared shitless of me?”
“A lot can change in a couple weeks.” He looked down.
“Yeah…” I looked at my hands. “Zane?”
“Hmmm?”
“If something happens, you take care of Mira for me.” It wasn’t a question.
He looked over at me and our eyes met. Seeing how serious I was, he responded, “Of course I will.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“I need something else from you.”
“What?” He looked confused.