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  Taya had puled out the smal handgun Carter had given her and when I noticed she stil had the safety on, I switched it off and handed her the knife. Her hands trembled and I could tel that as brave as she was trying to be, she was terrified.

  We both held our breath as we walked slowly down the first stairwel, making the voices grow slightly louder with each step. At the landing of the second flight of stairs there was another door that was partialy ajar. The instant I saw the familiar pattern of Max’s blue plaid shirt I bolted down the steps and flew through the doorway with Taya on my heels.

  The scene that lay before us was nothing short of terrifying. The room looked to be a makeshift jail. Max and Carter were up against a wal, their faces bloodied and bruised and Norah was laying on the floor weeping. She had a firm grip on a bloody towel that was wrapped around her forearm. A ripple of fear roled through me as I watched what they were doing. John’s two goons Roger and Jerry were standing over her with smiles on their smug faces. Roger grabbed a smal bucket near Norah’s feet and slid it to the demon that quickly slammed its muzzle into it drinking up whatever was in it.

  “Wel look what we have here,” John said as he smiled at Taya and me.

  I quickly shoved the handgun into my pants and puled my shotgun from off my back and cocked it. “Yes, what do we have here?” I asked with complete disgust in my voice.

  “Abby, Taya, get out of here!” Max shouted. I saw Carter look up and realized he hadn’t seen us come in because one of his eyes was nearly swolen shut. Blood was smeared over both their faces and the sight of them made a tidal wave of rage flow through me.

  “No, I think they’l be staying,” John said as he took two steps toward us and that’s when I saw it. As John walked toward us I could clearly see what was locked behind the bars in the cel behind him. It was a giant demon, much like the one that Taya’s mother had hit with her car.

  Chapter 10

  It was twice as big as any hound we had ever seen. It looked like a giant wolf and its black eyes bore into my soul. The sight of it terrified me and it took a moment for me to force my eyes to look away. Crimson blood dripped from its muzzle as it snarled at Roger and Jerry who stood nearby. The demon limped around in its cage. One of its legs appeared to be broken, but the creature continued to put its ful weight down with every step, sending the echo of bones cracking with every movement.

  “You look confused,” John said sounding like the situation was completely normal. “I thought your brother would understand what we are doing here, but obviously he was not as enlightened as I thought he was.” John waved his gun around and I saw Max put his arm protectively over Carter. I wanted to run to them and find out what happened, but I couldn’t. I needed to think of something clever and quick to get us out of this.

  “Wel, why don’t you enlighten me then?” I said as I took a step further into the room not taking my aim off of John.

  “Wel, my dear, frankly it’s quite uncomfortable to talk with a gun pointed at me, why don’t you put that away, so we can be more civilized.”

  “Not a chance.”

  John then nodded over to Roger and Jerry who both puled out their guns, each pointing one at Taya and me and the other at Max and Carter.

  “You see, we desire the same thing, do we not? We al want to rid the world of these demons, do we not? As you can see, we have this specimen here. He’s quite resilient, damn thing won’t tel us what we want to know.”

  “What is there to know? Just kil it and be done with it?”

  “Ahh, but we don’t want to kil it. If we do that we can’t figure out its weaknesses.” The demon growled and slammed its giant claw against the bars of the cage and John laughed at it. Taya stifled a scream as the demon’s growl echoed off the cement wals.

  “I think you’re pissing it off,” I said as I looked down at Norah who was stil cowering at Roger’s feet. “What did you do to her?”

  “Nothing that I haven’t done to myself or anyone else here for that matter. We al have sacrifices to make, and it was her turn.”

  “Go! Just get out of here!” Carter shouted this time as blood trickled out of a split lip. Jerry took two quick strides and punched him sending Carter faling to the floor.

  “What the hel, jerk! He didn’t do anything!” Max grabbed Carter’s body from off the floor and helped him stand up. I wanted to start crying, but I had to be strong. I thought back on something my father had told me once and tried to colect the strength and courage to do what I knew I needed to do. It was up to me to save them and I had to be wiling to do anything to accomplish that. I swalowed back the lump in my throat and steadied my feet as I prepared myself.

  Lowering the hand that held the shotgun I puled the gun out of my waistband, aiming and puling the trigger in one fel sweep. The bulet tore through the side of Jerry’s head and he staggered only for an instant before faling to the floor. His body landed against the cage bars and the demon quickly slid its massive arm to thrash at Jerry’s lifeless body.

  “Maybe I was wrong about you,” John said sounding slightly amused.

  “Max you and Carter get over here now!” I shouted as I held my shotgun and handgun pointed at the two remaining men. I wasn’t sure if I could fire the both of them at the same time, but I sure as hel wasn’t afraid to try.

  Taya who had remained silent during the whole scene quickly grabbed the handgun from me then ran to help Max get Carter as he struggled to find his footing.

  Taya slid under Carter’s body and guided him out of the room. Somehow her scrawny figure had found the strength to carry his near dead weight out the room and up the stairs.

  Max stayed behind with me and his presence by my side filed me with strength that I so desperately needed.

  “Let her go,” I said as calmly but as sternly as I could, trying to enunciate each word firmly.

  “She can leave, she paid her dues for now.” Roger yanked her hair and Norah screamed in pain as her head was thrust upward.

  “You people have lost your freaking minds!”

  “Why is that? Because we feel that each of our lives are worth losing to gain the greater good? If you could save everyone, just by kiling her, you wouldn’t do that?” John pointed to me and Max shook his head.

  “No, I wouldn’t. What you people are doing is wrong and you know it. You realy think you can keep that thing here, torturing it and feeding it to keep it alive and not have to pay the consequences? These are friggin’ demons from hel, you realy think that anything you can do to it wil compare to what it went through in hel?” Max shouted.

  John’s expression faltered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. “Boy, you have no idea of what we have already learned.” Just then the demon thrust its arm between the bars catching Roger on his shoulder and puled him firmly against the bars. Roger’s screams were quickly halted when the demon stuck its long snout out and clamped down firmly on Roger’s skul.

  John whirled and started unloading his gun into the demon as wel as into what was left of Roger and I knew this was our chance. Max and I bolted for Norah. He scooped her up and we ran for the stairs. John was cursing as he ran out of bulets and he quickly snagged Roger’s gun that lay on the cold cement floor. As we made our way to the top of the stairs I heard the loud clatter of the metal bars clang against the concrete.

  “Shit! Run, go, go, go!”

  We leapt into the halway and I quickly slammed the door shut behind us, then I pushed a nearby couch in front of it. “That’s not going to hold it for long,” Max said as we ran down the halway, Norah bouncing in his arms. I realized I didn’t grab my bag and halted.

  “Abby what are you doing? Let’s go!”

  “I forgot my bag, keep going I’l be right there!”

  “What? Are you serious, forget the damn bag let’s go!”

  Max turned and ran for the front door, but I quickly ran back for my bag anyway. I found it and slung it over my shoulder as I heard a pounding coming from the basement door
. The demon had finished its work on John and now it was after us. I felt a sudden surge of panic as I thought about the other people in the building.

  Like we were somehow responsible for letting it lose on them, but there was nothing we could do, it was too late.

  As I neared the front door, I saw the familiar lights of the Bronco in the distance. Taya had somehow managed to drive through the front gate and was already loading Max and Norah into the back seat. I saw Max look up after me, but as I reached the doors something caught my attention from the corner of my eye. It was Judy. She was running out of a room with four other people in tow.

  “Please, take them!” She pleaded.

  I wasn’t sure how we could al fit in the Bronco, but I couldn’t say no.

  “Let’s go!” I shouted as I ushered them out and we ran across the front lawn. The night had grown cold and my lungs burned as we sprinted toward the Bronco.

  The sound of the demon growling tore through the night air and seemed to echo off the buildings. It stood at the doorway only long enough to survey its prey and then leaped onto the lawn like a lion.

  It quickly fel upon the two people in the rear. Without missing a beat the demon, leapt onto a third person as they stumbled in their attempt to flee. In one swift stroke it slit the woman’s throat with its long claws.

  As we made it to the Bronco, I jumped onto the step by the passenger side door and Max held onto Judy and the last person as they clung to the back of the vehicle.

  “Go!” I shouted as Taya put the Bronco into gear and sped out of the lawn, sending bits of grass and soil flying in our wake. It took some quick maneuvering but Taya barreled down the main road successfuly and flew onto the highway as the demon chased after us howling, faling farther and farther behind. I crawled in through the window, as Max helped the two women into the back of the Bronco. We didn’t want to risk stopping. The Bronco lurched and screeched loudly as Taya struggled to change gears.

  “Here I got it.” I slid Taya over while holding the wheel and took over the driver’s seat.

  Taya quickly went to Carter, surveying his wounds. “What happened back there?” No one answered.

  Carter made a groaning sound and I tried to look at him through the rear view mirror. My heart was hammering in my chest and as badly as I wanted to stop the Bronco and crawl into the back to look at him, I kept my foot on the gas and pushed forward.

  “Here.” Max handed Taya our first aid kit as he crawled from the back seat into the passenger seat next to me. I could feel his eyes on me and I wanted to look at him so badly, but I knew if I did I would burst into tears and completely lose any sense of self-control that I was so desperately clinging to.

  Max silently rested his hand on my thigh and my chest heaved as tears burned my cheeks. Taya managed to clean up Carter’s face, making it look considerably better. It was stil swolen and bruised, but with the absence of blood he looked similar to that of what a professional boxer would after a fight.

  Somehow, Taya had managed to crush up some Ibuprofen into some water and was attempting to get Carter to swalow it. As it dribbled down his split lip she quickly wiped it off gently and squeezed his hand. Pushing herself up against the side of the Bronco, she wadded a shirt into a bal and placed Carter’s head up against her. It looked as though he fel asleep instantly as Taya whispered at him. I felt an instant sense of gratitude for this girl, who we barely knew. Seeing her take such good care of my brother made my heart ache and as I saw her tightly hold onto his hand I knew with finality the love she had for him.

  Judy, Norah and the other young lady we had managed to save sat silently in the back amongst our bags, their faces frozen in fear and anguish. The girl I did not recognize buried her head into Judy’s chest as Judy slowly ran her fingers through the girl’s hair. Norah sat with her face staring out behind us, her expression portraying that she was very far away from her body. I tried not to think about al the people we had left behind. I knew there was no way we could have saved everyone, but deep down I stil felt guilt over it.

  Images of the scene in the basement kept flashing through my mind. The sight of the demon mauling Jerry and then Roger made my stomach lurch and my body started to protest even more when the sound of the bulet hitting Jerry’s skul played out in my head. The bulet I aimed at him, kiled him. My logical mind told me there was no other way, that in the end someone was going to die down there and if I didn’t do what I did it, could have been any of us, but my heart screamed at me. In a war with demons, I took another person’s life. Could I live with the choice I made?

  After what felt like an eternal battle inside my mind I swalowed the lump that was building in my throat and with one deep breath I found my resolve. I could live with what I did; I had to because I knew without a doubt that I would not be able to live without Max, my brother or even Taya. They were my family now, and no matter how afraid I was, I would do anything I could to protect them.

  “What happened?” I asked after a long while of silence. Even though I knew the details might be difficult to hear, I wanted to know what had occurred and caused them to end up in that basement.

  Max looked at me and I saw the fear hiding behind his expression. “I was watching Carter talk to Norah in the courtyard. I kept my distance just watching them and then al of a sudden John’s two goons showed up. They started talking to Norah and they got into an argument. Things started to get heated and they tried to drag her off. Carter tried to stop them and that’s when they started fighting.” Max paused taking deep breaths and I could tel he was trying to keep his anger controled.

  “I thought it was some kind of jealously issue at first, so I wasn’t going to intercede. Maybe they didn’t want one of their girls talking to us, but from the fear I saw in her eyes, I knew something was wrong. I ran at them and took Jerry to the floor, but Roger quickly knocked Carter out and they both ganged up on me. Before I knew it they were dragging us down those stairs and I saw them throwing Carter into a heap on the floor next to me.” Max looked up at me with tears threatening to fal down his bruised face. I had to quickly look away and focus on the road before me. I had not seen Max look like that since his parents passed him and if I were to see it now, I don’t know if I could stand it. He was my pilar of strength and to see him broken would break me as wel. I held onto the hand he rested on my thigh and squeezed, trying to pass on what little bit of strength I had left.

  It seemed to help as Max took a deep breath, and went on, his voice sounding steadier. “John showed up and was preaching about how we must al make sacrifices to the greater good. That everyone else had paid the price and Norah could not be an exception. Then he puled out a long knife and quickly sliced her forearm. They let her blood pour into a bucket and gave it to the demon.”

  My jaw dropped and I looked back at Norah, but her face remained expressionless. “They gave it her blood? But why?”

  “John believed that sating the demon’s hunger and feeding it our blood, while keeping it alive would somehow give us leverage as a form of bribery for the demon,” Judy said woodenly.

  “That’s flipping nuts.” Taya added a little too loudly and Carter stirred in her arms. She quickly shushed him and glared back at Judy.

  I looked at Taya warningly and encouraged Judy to go on. “When our son died, something changed in John. After that night, he had this crazy idea in his head that we had to sacrifice ourselves to them. He thought that by doing so, it would appease them and they would leave us alone. We were al required to give the demon a taste of our blood, to see who it most desired as its sacrifice.”

  Chapter 11

  I was completely dumbfounded and at a loss for words. What to say to something like that, I wasn’t entirely sure.

  “What gave him the idea that sacrificing yourselves would work? How is that even part of a normal thought process?” Max asked, clearly not holding back any inflection of disdain.

  “Before the demons came, my husband was a professor. He used to study a
ncient cultures and customs. I believe that he lost al sense of humanity when he saw our son die, and was wiling to do anything… he used to be a briliant man.”

  “Yeah… realy damn briliant,” Taya snapped. Judy looked away obviously ashamed. I probably should have said something to Taya, but she was right. She had the bals to say what I couldn’t. It was not Judy’s fault that her husband completely snapped and turned into a total nutcase. I remembered then the bandage I had seen on her arm at dinner and realized that she too must have made the sacrifice her husband demanded.

  I did not know what it could possibly feel like to lose a child, and the sense of loss that must accompany it, but I did know what I felt when I thought I was going to lose Carter and Max. I would have done anything to save them, and I suppose I did. As much as I tried to fight it, I again relived the moment that I puled the trigger and shot Jerry in the head. The sound of the bulet hitting his flesh made the hair on my arms stand on end. I had never kiled anyone before, we had always focused solely on defending ourselves from the demons, that it had never occurred to me that we would have to defend ourselves from anyone else, but then I remember the sick feeling in my gut when I saw Carter fal to the floor and the crazed look I saw in John’s eyes. I realized I would have kiled them al if I had to, and that realization made me want to vomit. Was I as bad as they were? If I lost Carter or Max would I turn into John?

  “Abby what’s wrong? You’re shaking.” Max asked with a concerned look in his eyes.

  I immediately felt deeply sorry for him. He had gone through more that I had and he was more concerned about me, just like he always was. “I am just freaked out Max. That was a realy close cal. What are we going to do now?”

  “We are going to keep going,” Carter said startling al of us, his voice sounding hoarse. Taya told him not to speak and when he seemed to fal back to sleep she looked out the window. Her brow wrinkled as she scowled at the landscape, making her look a lot older.