Awakening

“Is everyone okay?” Ruth asked. She hung upside down, undid the seatbelt clasp, and landed in a crouch.

They nodded weakly.

Sophie wanted to shout no, they weren’t okay and most likely never would be. Hundreds of hungry, man-eating demons surrounded them. Instead, she bit her lip and tried not to cry.

Demetri undid his belt. He crawled to the back and stood. Ruth pulled a sliver of glass out of his shoulder, and the wound immediately started to gush. She grabbed an old rag from the ceiling and wrapped it around the injury before cinching it tight.

“I’m going to need my bow.” Rory nodded to Ruth. “It’s under your seat.”

Ruth retrieved a metal box and tossed it to Rory.

He placed the box over his knees and undid the locks, his eyes gleaming. Sophie peeked over his shoulder. The bow was made out of polished oak. He pulled it out with reverence and unfolded it to its full size, which was the length of his head, neck, and torso.

Aidan whistled. “That’s awesome, man.”

“Yes, it is.” Rory’s gaze trailed the symbols along the long bow. “This is an original from the First Island. It’s been fighting demons for a long, long time.”

Sophie was breathless. It gave her some comfort that this piece of weaponry had survived that long. Maybe they could, too.

Demetri pulled out two guns and a few machetes. He passed the guns to Jackson and Aidan and the machetes to the rest.

“We have to make it to the tree line. The demons after us are wraith demons. They have to become incorporeal to follow us through the forest. They can only solidify in open spaces,” Demetri explained. “Ruth and I will go first. Rory, you follow the others and head up the back.”

Rory nodded and didn’t give them any time to think about what they were about to rush into. He reached over and unlocked the back doors.

“Now!” Demetri shouted.

Rory kicked open the doors and then fired off a few arrows so rapidly Sophie had a hard time following his motions.

Demetri and Ruth leaped out of the van in a blaze of gunfire, keeping the demons in their ghostly forms.

Jackson went next. He formed a mental shield around the group, and Sophie felt all his power pouring into it.

The demons seemed to sense it was there. They hovered just above it, never wavering in their intensity.

Sophie had never been this terrified. She looked up at the many demonic forms above, leathery and cruel. All they wanted was to taste the humans. There was no soul, no conscious to hold them back.

The shield rippled as a demon slid down the outer wall. The red eyes in its rat-like face narrowed. The body undulated in the dark, and then it was shadow, thin and misty.

Sophie clutched the handle of the machete she carried, her hands sweating.

The demon wormed its way inside the shield, the black mass wriggling.

“Aidan!” Demetri bellowed.

When the demon solidified, just a few feet in front of Sophie and Morgan, Aidan let the flames loose. His jaw locked, amber eyes fierce, while he kept it hot. The demon screamed, eerily sounding like a wounded baby.

Sophie clamped her hands over her ears and tried to block it out.

It gave one last squeal of rage before it turned transparent and wiggled back out of the shield.

“Oh, my God,” Morgan whimpered. “We’re never going to make it out of here.”

“We are.” Sophie put a hand on her arm. “We have to.”

“Go!” Demetri shouted.

Several of the demons hit the wall at once, and Jackson grunted. The shield flickered.

If the shield failed now… Sophie didn’t want to contemplate how that would end. Horror was a permanent ache in her chest.

“Faster!” Rory called from the back.

The demons battered at the wall with no thought to the damage they did themselves. Sophie heard wings snap and bones crunch, but it didn’t slow them down. She felt the shield weaken the more they hit it. Jackson could only keep it up for so long.

Pain swept over Sophie. It took her a minute to realize it was Jackson’s. The shield wavered and then evaporated when they reached the forest.

The trees blocked out most of the moonlight, and darkness enveloped them. The tree branches hung low, like gnarled fingers trying to catch them.

“Keep running. Don’t stop for anything!” Ruth led the way over fallen trees and twisted paths.

Tristan shifted back into the panther to use the cat’s senses while running. Sophie tried to block out the whispers of the demons while she stayed on Morgan’s and Aidan’s heels. Her ribcage throbbed; she breathed harshly to keep up.

Tasty. Treat. The demons swerved closer to her, and the whispers continued to flit in and out. The pressure strengthened in her mind.

Morgan shimmered in and out of visibility in front of her. Aidan looked over every few moments to make sure she was still next to him.

Behind her, she could hear Rory’s and Jackson’s rapid footsteps. Rory cursed at the demons when they came too close. She wasn’t sure how long they ran, but knew if they had to keep it up much longer, someone was going to have to carry her. Each breath she took stabbed through her chest.

Ahead of her, Demetri skidded to a halt as they entered a clearing. Thin blades of grass separated them from the rest of the woods. It was beautiful, with moonlight casting a silver glow to the flowers. A fairy oasis in the middle of hell’s forest.

Except several demons would have enough room to form and attack.

“Why is she toying with us?” Morgan asked.

“I don’t know.” Sophie shook her head. “She could kill us instantly. Maybe she likes to watch us run. Like it’s a game to her.”

“I don’t like this game.” Aidan had a warm glow on his arms that reminded Sophie of a stove burner.

Tristan rubbed his head on Sophie’s leg to reassure her. He chuffed twice. She won’t get to you again.

While she was confident in her friends’ abilities, she knew Akeldama wasn’t going to let them go that easily. The only question was why was she letting them get this far?

The whispers from the demons spiked. Space. Become solid. Flesh to eat. Huuungry. They tickled her skin like spider webs. A chill sank into her body and mind, making her numb. All she could sense was hunger and darkness. The thoughts whirled around and around in her head, and she sank to her knees. Her head felt like it was about to explode.

Tristan roared, making Morgan jump, when a demon solidified and dove at them. He leaped up and collided with the demon in midair. It carried him several feet into the clearing before dropping him into the grass. The panther twisted and landed on its paws, snarling.

The demon pinned him to the ground with its claws and locked its jaws around his throat.

The panther stilled, barely breathing.

Several more demons solidified in the air. Sophie felt each and every one become flesh and bone. The dull spark of their minds melded with hers more firmly with each transformation.

“What do we do?” Aidan watched the demon clench its jaw tighter around the panther’s throat. “It’s going to kill him!”

Demetri eyed the situation, his face grim. “Sneak around to the demon’s tail.”

Aidan nodded once, edging around the clearing. The other demons dove at him.

Rory lifted his bow and aimed. The arrows sliced through the air with a scream and hit their targets, allowing Aidan to get behind the one holding Tristan.

The whispers grew louder in a wave of despair and craving. Sophie gagged. Cobwebs of misery swept over her skin.

Now, Aidan. Morgan pushed.

Aidan caught the demon’s tail in his hands and held on to the scales.

The flames swept over, and the demon screeched. It swiveled its head, releasing Tristan. Aidan took a step back when it screeched again. Aidan! Morgan flickered in and out of sight. Get out of there, you idiot!

What do you think I’m trying— Aidan jumped out of the way as the demon ran at him. The panther cut it off, paying it back by locking his strong jaws around its throat. Tristan didn’t hesitate. The teeth tore through the sensitive skin and straight to the main artery in the neck.

“Look out!” Jackson yelled when more demons appeared.

What are we going to do? Morgan closed her eyes. There are so many of them.

Another wave of despair rolled over Sophie, and she gasped, grabbing Morgan’s attention. Morgan pulled Sophie up by her arms and looked her in the eyes.

The violet had disappeared behind the black of Sophie’s pupils. Morgan shook Sophie. “Snap out of it!”

The demand in Morgan’s voice buffered the despair, and Sophie focused. She blinked.

Aidan sent a wall of fire careening at two of the demons that hovered near the girls.

“There’s too many!” Ruth fired three more shots. She dropped to one knee and reloaded. “We have to get them out of here!”

A demon eyed her hungrily and swung down at her. It pinned her to the ground before she had a chance to raise her gun.

Sound exploded, like a cannon being shot. The demon exploded into leathery pieces and scales. Half a wing landed on Ruth as she covered her head. With jerky movements, she fought her way out from under it. She smiled. “Casey.”

Casey stood at six-feet-four. His shaved head and mocha skin was covered in tattoos. When he smiled back at her, the moonlight glinted off of a silver tooth. He shouldered his gun and offered her a hand. When she accepted, he pulled her to her feet.

“It’s about time you showed up!” Rory fired three more arrows, nailing a demon to a tree. Its lips twisted in a grimace and snapped at him. From the scabbard on his belt, Rory pulled a machete and cut the head off. The rest of the body wilted.

“Where is the rest of the team?” Demetri asked.

“On their way.” Casey aimed and pulled the trigger. The gun thundered to life and knocked two more demons out of the sky.

Sophie hugged herself when the demons’ anger spiked at being hunted. The machete slipped from her fingers and stuck in the dirt.

Morgan looked down at her.

Sophie’s skin glowed softly.

Guys, something’s going on with Sophie.

Tristan responded first. He leaped off a demon carcass and landed next to Sophie. His yellow eyes watched her as he nudged her with his leopard’s nose. Sophie.

She jerked. The sound of his voice shifted through the darkness in her mind. Her eyes lightened a little.

He repeated her name after he shifted back to his human form. His hand came up to caress her face.

“There are more!” Aidan shouted. He pushed more flames to keep up a constant wall of fire.

A petite, strawberry-blonde entered the clearing from Casey’s left, carrying a black backpack.

“Allison, get them out of here!” Demetri shouted at her.

The demons multiplied, and the sound on the other side of the wall of fire amplified.

Allison nodded and gestured for them to follow her.

“If I go now, the wall of fire goes, too. I can’t keep it up,” Aidan said.

“Jackson, keep us shielded for as long as you can. We’ll hold them long enough for you to gain a head start.” Demetri nodded toward Allison. “Go!”

Allison took off into the woods, Tristan and Sophie hot on her heels.

The demons fought against Jackson’s shield as the wall of fire dissipated.

A minute later, the shield crashed as Jackson slipped into the woods behind the others.

Sophie felt the shadows race through the trees. She concentrated on the feel of Tristan’s hand rather than the darkness hunting them.

“Allison. This way!” someone called from the right.

They ran past a tall woman with flaming red hair. She aimed a crossbow above their heads but didn’t fire. Her cold eyes scanned the forest.

Crashing sounds permeated behind them. She jerked her crossbow at the rustling. Ruth, Demetri, Rory, and Casey burst through the foliage. Each one looked like they’d been dragged through the mud and splattered in blood. How much of it was their own, Sophie didn’t know.

“Seline, head the rear!” Demetri barked to the redhead as he took the lead from Allison. He didn’t spare a glance at Sophie or the others when he asked, “Nolan?”

“He’s keeping watch at the road,” Seline answered.

A shiver moved through Sophie. The demons surrounded them, impatient for the moment they could solidify.

They moved toward the road again, quicker than before.

“I’ll be so happy when we’re not in these woods anymore.” Morgan stumbled over a root, but righted herself before she fell. “It’s just creepy that they’re waiting in the shadows, like stalkers.”

“Do you know that because you’ve been stalked or because you’ve been stalking me?” Aidan winked at her and darted around a tree.

“You wish.” She shoved him to the side. He bounced right back to run next to her.

It was hard to concentrate on the normalcy of Morgan and Aidan’s bickering with the wraith demons’ emotions flickering through Sophie. The lightheartedness of their comments was overshadowed by the misery of blackness sweeping over it.

A man stood from a crouch when the group approached the road that cut through the forest. He was as tall as Seline, standing a few inches shorter than Casey. His ice-blue gaze traveled instantly to Seline and then passed to Demetri.

“I’ve seen a few shadows hovering around the road. They know we have to pass.” The man turned his head, and a stripe of white stood out in his midnight hair.

“There’s no other way, Nolan. This road goes for miles,” Ruth told him. The team made a huddle.

The Guardians stood off to the side while the adults discussed strategy. Jackson faced the way they’d come, his gaze following the shadows that slid through the trees. Aidan and Morgan argued fiercely in whispers.

Tristan stood beside Sophie, watching the team confer. She felt him next to her, but all she could focus on was the sudden stillness of the forest. Even the wind had died down. Opposite that the wraith demons’ emotions spiraled in a frenzy, their movements agitated.

The cobweb feeling thickened until it cocooned her. Her breath hitched, and her heart thundered in her ears.

An arctic blast of cold shot through on a sudden burst of wind. Sophie’s heart stopped its rapid beat when she figured out what it meant.

“Demetri!” She jumped and ran to the huddle.

They looked up as she skidded to a halt. Tristan and the others weren’t far behind her.

“S-she’s here!” Sophie bit out over the shaking in her body. “Akeldama i-is here.”

Allison’s eyes widened in alarm, and Demetri, Rory, and Casey cursed.

Again the forest went silent. This time the others noticed before Sophie could say anything. Everyone tensed, peering harder into the shadows.

The sound of high heels cracking on the pavement echoed through the trees, each step louder than the one before it.

Demetri’s fingers tightened on the machete he held loose by his side. He nodded to the team. They fanned out in front of the Guardians.

Sophie heard the pulling of tendons and repositioning of bones that signaled Tristan shifting. Orange, black, and white fur sprouted over his body while he crouched closer to the ground. When he was done, he chuffed once and brushed Sophie’s upper arm with his head.

Aidan smoldered, his fire just beneath his skin. He looked ready to release it at a moment’s notice. Morgan stood calmly to his left, but Sophie felt the anxiety underneath.

Sophie was anything but calm. Her hands shook at her sides. Akeldama had found them. She knew they were going to die, that this was the end. There was no way Akeldama was going to let them get away when they were this close to freedom. Not when she’d get so much satisfaction from ending them for good.