Up ahead, the Diablos blocked the road. Most of them appeared corpse-like, but a few still looked human. They had hair, patchy as it was, and a touch of bronze to their skin. For the first time, they all stood eerily still with backs hunched over, hands clenched tight.
Boaz pressed on the accelerator, attempting to push through their blockade. The first few we hit bounced off the car with a sickening thud, but then we crashed into one that didn’t budge. The back end of the car reared off the ground, throwing my head forward. Before I could react, Boaz was out the door, fighting the nearest Diablos. I fumbled with the door, my fingers searching for the lock. My only thought was to keep them out, and me safely inside.
To my left, Boaz attempted to lure the monsters into the shade, but they seemed to deliberately keep him in the open, beneath the glare of the sun.
I should help him. After all, he had helped save me.
Dark magic was still inside me, humming just beneath the surface of my skin, and I was pretty sure it was powerful enough to make a significant dent in the Diablo’s numbers, at least enough for us to get away. But I was afraid if I used my magic, I wouldn’t be able to stop. I’d seen firsthand how addictive it could be, my parents a perfect example.
Metal grinded behind me. I swiveled in my seat in time to see an emaciated Diablo tearing the metal frame off the back of the vehicle. The moment the back end was gone, he climbed inside, the joints of his elbows bending unnaturally.
This time, I desperately tried to unlock the door, but my hands were slippery with perspiration. I was breathing fast and hard—at least I think it was me. Just before the long, jagged-nailed fingers of the Diablo clamped down on the back of my head, I burst free from the car, gasping for air. I barely managed to get upright before I was surrounded by several of the gray demons, their long and thin arms stretched toward me.
“Kill them!” Boaz shouted.
I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes, and backed against the car. This couldn’t be happening!
One of the Diablos lunged for me, and I raised my arm in defense. My fear, laced with anger, was so great that the power inside me broke free and struck the Diablo. It flew back several feet as if shocked with electricity. I stared at my hands, surprised and frightened by my own strength.
Just then, my head was jerked back and smashed into the top of the door. The Diablo who had crawled inside the car had taken hold of my hair through the broken window. Off balance, I fell to the ground.
“Eve,” Boaz yelled. “Get up!”
Before I could, a child-sized Diablo scurried toward me and crawled up my legs. I struggled hard and tried to kick it off, but it was as if the demon had suction cups. Screaming, I swatted at it, but it continued upward until it reached my chest, where it decided to sit and watch me with wide eyes almost as if it didn’t know what to do next.
“Kill it,” Boaz shouted. He was at the front of the car, trying to make his way toward me, but there were too many Diablos blocking his path. He took hold of a tall one’s arm and tossed him into several others, knocking them down.
From behind me, a heavy-set Diablo with scraggly black hair crept toward my head. I tried to dodge him, but the child-monster was still sitting on my chest and was immoveable. I hit at it and screamed until a cold finger belonging to scraggly-head was shoved down my throat, making me gag. It was more than I could take.
Power, dark and cruel, surged to my eyes, and the moment I met the gaze of the Diablo, whose finger I currently held between my teeth, it’s body withered into itself until all that remained was a pile of snake-like skin. I turned my attention to the demon on my chest. With the same venomous look, I shocked it off me.
I scrambled to my feet, greeted by a new, darker world, only to be surrounded again. I glanced at Boaz in time to witness him snapping the necks of two of them. His momentum spurred me on. With a flick of my wrist, I removed the head of the fattest one in the group. It dropped to the ground like a fallen coconut. I quickly did the same to many of the others. Whatever way I imagined their death, my magic made it happen.
The remaining Diablos hesitated before coming near me again. Their bodies twitched and jerked, and they looked to one another as if waiting for a command.
But I didn’t wait.
Anger and fear, mixed with adrenaline, forced me onward until I could no longer control myself. One after another, I crushed their bodies, turning them to ash and smoke and filling the air with smells of ammonia and mold. Or maybe it was my dark magic that was causing the horrid smell.
I would’ve killed more, but I froze when a chill raced up my spine. I had felt this sensation many times before under the accusing eyes of Erik and Sable. I spun around, searching for them in the woods. Boaz, who had managed to destroy the Diablos around him, stood erect, watching me keenly. I wanted to cast him an angry look but wanted to find Erik and Sable more.