Welsh Road (The Depravity Chronicles) (17 page)

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2

Up until Anish
revealed his wonderland of weapons, Trevor had begun to feel out of the loop.
Aside from being a glorified chauffer at the hospital, he had contributed squat
to the team. Simon and Jena were the heroes thus far, especially Jena. He
couldn’t help but be a little jealous, even though he knew that was petty and
stupid. But hey – you can’t help how you feel. Right?

Last year he had
kicked some serious ass.
He
had stolen the guns and flares from the
station.
He
had gotten Simon onboard and led the hunt in the woods. But
now, as everyone was getting over the initial shock of Anish’s secret room, he
was only a minor character in a cast of shamans, psychics, and whatever. That
was about to change. If there was one thing Trevor knew, and knew well, it was
weapons. Thanks to Anish, in the time it took the wall in the pantry to
disappear, Trevor went from a supporting role to front and center. Hell yeah.

The weapons
seemed to be organized according to a system of creature classification. Trevor
recognized several of them. In the section obviously dedicated to vampires,
there were a variety of stakes, several vials of what Trevor assumed was holy
water, necklaces made from garlic, and incredibly intricate crucifixes of all
shapes and sizes.

“Dude, does this
mean what I think it means?” Trevor asked excitedly as he traced one of the
silver stakes with his fingers.

“Holy crap,”
Simon whistled as he joined Trevor in mutual admiration.

“And what do you
think it means?” Anish asked.

“Vampires are
real,” Trevor and Simon said simultaneously. They exchanged spirited glances.

“You’ve got to
be kidding me,” Anna moaned.

“Seriously?”
Jena asked, her face turning white. “Is that what Nurse Poppins is? A vampire?”

“No, she is
not,” Anish said matter-of-factly, as if everyone should have known that.
“Vampires are creatures of the night. They are not daywalkers.”

“Oh, of course,”
Anna said. “How silly of me to overlook the daywalker trait.”

“I told you this
shit was real,” Trevor said to his mom, feeling vindicated and proud. Satisfied
with this turn of events, he and Simon moved through the next few sections of
the arsenal. One in particular was familiar: a silver axe, its dual blades
glistening under the track lighting.

“Wendigo,” Simon
said, giving voice to Trevor’s thoughts.

“I don’t mean to
be a party pooper…” Jena began. “But could we please bypass Show and Tell, grab
the shit we need, and get going?”

“Agreed,” Anish
said quickly. He walked to the corner of the room and grabbed four duffle bags,
tossing one to each person.

Trevor had
flashbacks to the previous year when he raided the police department’s firearms
unit. Believing it would bring him good luck, he and Simon both grabbed
Winchesters and Berettas, along with a few flare guns. They loaded silver and wooden
bullets in the various chambers.

“Why use silver
if she’s not a vampire?” Jena asked.

“Silver seems to
be a common enemy to many types of beasts,” Trevor responded.

“Then don’t
bogart the goods,” Jena said. “Pass it down.”

“Sure thing,”
Simon said, grinning.

Trevor shook his
head, whispering in Simon’s ear. “You must be pretty into her, dude, if you’re
giving up a precious commodity.”

“There’s enough
to go around,” he replied.

“That’s what she
said,” Trevor said with a hearty laugh.

“What’s so funny?”
Anna asked

“Nothing,” the
boys said in unison.

Once everyone
had left the secret room, each with a bag filled with munitions, Trevor led the
party onto the porch and into the driveway. Trevor tried to ignore the anxiety
building in his stomach, determined to overcome every ounce of fear his body
produced.

“Fear is a
necessary ingredient for courage and bravery,” Anish said, sensing Trevor’s
inner struggles.

“Fear gets
people killed,” Trevor answered, shaking his head.

“It is the
absence
of fear that leads to an untimely – and ultimately preventable – demise,”
Anish argued. “Fear breeds caution and restraint, rather than just shooting
first and asking questions later.”

“Listen up,
son,” Anna said in her authoritative, mother bear voice.

“Jesus, people,
I get it,” Trevor groaned, submissively waving them off. The truth was that he
did actually hear them, and agreed. But controlling one’s level of fear is a
whole lot easier said than done.

“I’m sure this
isn’t going to be very helpful, but I have a really bad feeling about this,”
Jena said in a soft voice.

“You’re right,”
Trevor said. “It’s not helpful.” Truth be told, he sorta felt the same way. The
longer he stared at the tree line that surrounded Anish’s house, the stronger
that feeling of dread became. Even last year, when he and Simon had been hunting
what they believed was a werewolf, Trevor’s sense of danger wasn’t as foreboding
as it was right now.

“It’s time,”
Anish said as he put his hand on Trevor’s shoulder. He then took a moment to
look each person in the eye, making sure they would be able to emotionally and
physically handle the upcoming crusade. When he seemed confident that they were
as prepared as they were going to be, Anish directed them into the woods and
toward the Demon Master.

Trevor felt like
the trees were already conspiring against them. They swayed slightly back and
forth with the breeze, as if shaking their heads at the stupid humans who were marching
blindly toward their deaths. Though it wasn’t evening yet, the sun was losing
the battle in its attempt to illuminate the forest. Between the density of the
treetops and the position of the sun in the sky, Trevor realized it was only a
matter of minutes before they would need some assistance to light their path.
Mother Nature was not going to be cooperative. Sure, it would have been ideal
if they had left several hours earlier. But given the sequence of events, they
had moved as quickly as possible.

After only a few
minutes into their hike along the trail, they had separated into two groups.
Anna, Anish, and Matthew were in the lead. The teenagers were bringing up the
rear, a few yards behind. They strained to listen to any unnatural sounds, but
that can be difficult to discern with countless woodland species flying,
buzzing, walking, crawling, and slithering around.

It didn’t take
long for Simon to recognize that Trevor seemed troubled.

“What’s up,
bro?” Simon asked as he fell in line beside Trevor. “Remember, distraction is
our enemy.”

“Do you realize
that I’m the only person in this group who hasn’t seen any action yet?” Trevor
pointed out.

Simon just
shrugged. “I haven’t seen any action yet, either.”

“Yes you have!”

Simon thought
for a moment, but came up with nothing. “How have I seen any action?”

“You came face
to face with Nina.”

“That hardly
counts, dude. We thought she was a nurse.”

Trevor
disagreed. “She cast some sort of spell on you or whatever to send you out of
sight so she could smuggle Nicholas out without anyone knowing.”

“True enough,”
Simon admitted. “But you shouldn’t envy having a spell cast upon you, right?”

Trevor ignored
Simon’s question. “Mom and Matthew were at the crime scenes, so they’ve seen
some shit up close.  As for Anish and Jena, well, shit.”

Simon shook his
head and chuckled.

“What’s so funny,
asshole?” Trevor asked.

“I’ve known you
pretty much my whole life,” Simon said. “We’re closer than most blood
brothers.”

“Yeah, so what’s
your point?”

“I don’t think
I’ve ever heard you whine,” Simon said. “Until today.”

Trevor abruptly
stopped walking and turned to Simon, hands on his hips. “I’m not whining,” he
barked.

“If I could take
a picture of you right now,” Simon said, trying to stifle a laugh. It didn’t
work.

“What’s
her
problem?” Jena asked Simon, a smirk on her face.

“Jesus!” Trevor
exclaimed.

“You want a
little cheese with that whine?” Simon teased.

“I am
not
whining,”
Trevor repeated.

“For what it’s
worth, this job has only just begun,” Simon said. “There’s still plenty of time
for you to kick some butt. And back there in Anish’s armory, you were freaking
awesome.”

“That’s true,”
Trevor agreed.

Jena looked
dumbfounded by their conversation. “You guys are whack,” she said. “You
actually seem happy that this shit is going down. You do realize that someone
could die, right?”

Trevor wasn’t
sure what to say. He turned to Simon, hoping he could work his magic with
words. All he did was stare at his shoes. Trevor glared at Simon, as if to say,
Nice. Thanks for nothing, bro.

“That’s not what
I meant, Jena,” Trevor huffed, offended by her insinuation that he didn’t care
about the wellbeing of the group. “Simon and I believe we are called to do
this. It’s our destiny. And for the record, I’m interested in
saving
lives, not putting them at risk.”

“I hear you,”
Jena said. “I’m sorry. It’s just, you know…

“Yeah, I get it,”
Trevor answered.

“Is everything
okay?” Anna asked.

“Where did you
come from?” Trevor asked, surprised by Anna’s quiet approach.

“From way up
there,” Anna said, gesturing about thirty yards ahead of them. She looked
around, scanning the underbrush and then the treetops. “Why did you stop? Did
you see something?”

“We thought we
heard a baby crying,” Jena said, grinning at Trevor.

“Oh, that’s
rich,” Trevor retorted.

“A baby?” Anna repeated,
a look of concern and confusion on her face. When she realized they were
joking, she exhaled dramatically. “You guys need to pick up the pace. We’re
running out of daylight, and out of time.”

Trevor nodded,
all too aware that the clock was ticking. It wouldn’t be long before darkness
would cast its shadows across the forest. There were already enough shadows. He
needed to find a way to shake the feelings of anxiety and frustration so he
could focus on their excursion. After all, hunting creatures of the night was
exhilarating. When he looked to Simon for a little guidance, he saw that same
brightness mirrored in his brother’s eyes. Sure, Trevor was scared shitless.
But that was part of what made this line of work so fantastic.

Anish was right.
A good dose of fear can save your ass.

“So, Jena, what
do you think Nina’s deal is?” Trevor asked.

Instead, Simon
answered. “She totally seemed like a nurse.”

“Is your name
Jena?” Jena asked, punching Simon’s arm.

“Maybe,” Simon
said. “If you want it to be.”

“Oh, Christ,”
Trevor groaned, rolling his eyes. “Could you be any more obvious?”

Jena ignored
him. “Nina’s a psycho bitch, that’s what she was like,” Jena hissed. “She had
this permanent grin plastered on her face. It reminded me of a Stepford wife.”

“That’s not what
I meant,” Trevor interrupted. “Like, do you think she’s human?”

That question
stumped her. She started to speak a few times, but stopped herself. “Geesh, I
don’t know.”

By this time the
adults in the group were keenly listening to the conversation.

“What makes you
think that Nina isn’t human?” Anish asked Trevor.

“Think about
it,” Trevor said. “She sent the Mantis Demon to kidnap Jena and Nicholas. So
she’s obviously advanced enough in the dark arts to control non-human
entities.”

“True, but Alan
Brickton communicated with demons as well,” Anna pointed out.

“Yeah, and how
did that work out for him?” Trevor retorted. “Plus, how did she hang those
bodies without any help? I mean, I guess it’s possible for one person to do it.
But a woman?”

“Excuse me?”
Jena demanded.

“Well, you
didn’t say anything about her looking all buff or whatever,” Trevor said
clumsily.

“She wasn’t
buff,” Simon interjected. “When we saw her at the hospital, she actually seemed
small and dainty.”

Anna nodded.
“When I arrived at the crime scene and saw the bodies, the first thing I thought
was that the killer was either a man, a group of two or more people, or
something else altogether,” Anna said. “When you told me that it was a woman, I
was pretty surprised.”

“I’m with Anna,”
Matthew added. “I’m thinking that Nina might be a demon. They can make
themselves look completely human while maintaining superhuman strength. Shapeshifters.”

“Yeah, we
learned that the hard way,” Trevor said, thinking about how the demon had
assumed the appearance of his father last year. Anna put her hand on his shoulder.
He quietly shrugged her off, though he appreciated her support.