Maybe I should have told him I knew it was him, that I’d overheard him talking to Muriel about his visions. Maybe he’d try to fight the visions harder, let me help. We could’ve done it together. I could’ve reassured him that I trusted him, that he wouldn’t hurt me.
Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference at all.
***
Friday night, they showed up again. It was the worst night for them to make an appearance. Police response time was notoriously slow on the weekends, which was exactly why they chose it.
They stood in a line on the sidewalk in front of Muriel’s house. Waiting. Watching.
“Oh, for the love of Mike,” my aunt said, looking out the window. “I’ll call the police.”
I’d had about enough of the whole mess. The constant visions. The threat of the relentless and pointless fighting. I was ready for it to be over with, regardless of the outcome.
I was out the door before anyone could stop me. “What?” I yelled, lifting my arms out to my sides before letting them fall against my legs. “What do you want?”
“To play,” Friendly said, sticking his head around the corner of the house. I rolled my eyes. The hobgoblins were another thing I was tired of. Their fat little bodies running through the yard was getting old. I was definitely over it.
“Go away,” I snapped. Friendly’s face turned…well, not so friendly. His wide eyes turned black and he scowled, his fat lips pulling grotesquely over his square, yellow teeth.
I jogged down the porch stairs and stood in the yard. Hands on my hips, I stared back at the group of Evils and demi-demons.
“Milayna, what are you doing?” Xavier walked up behind me. “Do you want to fight?”
I blew out a breath and wiped my forehead with the side of my hand. “No. I want this to be over.”
I wasn’t paying attention. Big mistake. While I was talking with Xavier, Jake rushed us. He picked me up and slammed me on the ground. My teeth clamped together from the impact, and pain sizzled through my back and shoulders.
Jake raised his hand, and I braced myself for the blow. Chay plowed into us before his fist connected with my face. He and Jake rolled on the ground, exchanging punches. That got the party started. The rest of the group advanced on us, and I braced myself for a long, painful battle.
A pretty brunette sauntered up to me, a sweet smile on her face. I was momentarily distracted, thinking maybe she’d be reasonable and see how pointless the fighting was. Then she slapped me hard across the face and brought me back to reality. Demi-demons were not reasonable. And they didn’t see the fighting as pointless. They saw it as a way to wear us down, weaken the group. It was also a distraction—a fact I’d be reminded of.
I was deep into the fight with the brunette, holding my own. Our skills were fairly matched, so neither of us gained the upper hand. She’d jab, and I’d block. I’d kick, and she blocked. It was boring, actually. Then things took a turn for the worse, at least for me.
Another demi-demon rushed over to help her. He punched me hard in the gut. I bent over in pain. The brunette took a swing at my face. I concentrated on my power to feel others’ feelings to anticipate her blows before they connected. Her arm moved in slow motion toward me, and I blocked.
Jen saw I was out numbered and ran to help. She pulled the brunette off me. I concentrated on blocking the blows from the second demi-demon. He was big, but I concentrated on following his thoughts. I was able to block most of his blows while managing to sneak in a few good jabs of my own.
Still fighting off the demi-demon, I felt the earth begin to shake and heard the demons punch through the dirt. The smell of burning flesh and sulfur stung my nose. The heat radiating from the opening in the ground melted the snow around it.
Momentarily distracted, I lost the connection with the demi-demon’s thoughts. He walked toward the hole, jabbing at me, forcing me to back up. He pushed me closer and closer to the pit. I could feel the heat, hear the screams and moans of the damned. The smell made me gag. The guy threw a punch, I ducked under his arm and sidestepped, turning from the pit. He tripped over the mound of dirt surrounding it and fell in. I cringed at his screams as he fell.
I glanced at the house and drew in a sharp breath. Edward was on the porch, trying to force his way into the house. He hit my mother hard across the face, and she fell to the ground, dazed. He darted into the house. I ran after him, but the demi-demon who’d fallen into the hole crawled out and grabbed my ankle, tripping me.
I heard more screaming from the house, and knew I needed to help defend it from Edward. Rolling to my back, I kicked the guy holding my ankle hard on the side of the head. He went down. I heard another scream, and my gaze swung to the house. Benjamin. Edward was pulling him to the pit. His strides were faster and longer. Ben couldn’t keep up. Edward dragged him behind him. Ben tried to pull away, his small hands pushing at Edward’s larger, stronger ones.