Demon Hunters (12 page)

“Not likely!” It barked as two large leather
wings sprouted from behind its back. It stretched them up high and
howled into the sky. “I am growing stronger by the second! Your
blood will bring me new life!” I jumped up and tried to run, but it
was on me. It pushed me to the ground and leaned in close to my
face. I smelled its breath. It was like dead flesh. “There’s no
escape, Corba. This was going to happen. Either now, or later. I
was destined to kill you. There was no way you could avoid it. You
came here to release yourself from me, didn’t you?” I nodded
defiantly. Its mouth shifted into a sick smile and it laughed.
“Very foolish. You should have known. This moment was meant to be.
It’s who you are. My eternal victim. This is never going to end for
you. Ivar already told you. You are cursed. Just lay down now like
a good dog and take your punishment.” I felt a heat rise up in me.
The words of the demon stung because I began to see that it was
right. It was never going to end. Whether or not I lived through
this and was truly free of the demon, the curse of my family was
eternal and there was no escaping it.

The demon was right. Ivar was right. The
trap had been set centuries ago and I walked right into it. I
wondered if it happened like this for the others in my family. Were
they fooled by some deceptive force?

As the demon stood over me, I felt the dark
mists of fate swirl around me, clutching me. Then suddenly, the
words of Jonathan rang in my head. It was as though my fractured
mind was finally coming into alignment. I reached up and clutched
the demon’s chest. I felt my fingers dig into its flesh. It burned,
but I dug in deeper. A warm, black liquid began to seep from the
demon’s skin. Suddenly, its confident face broke.

“What are you doing?”

“This isn’t going to happen,” I felt my
strength growing. “I’m not going to be a victim. I know who I am
now, and I am not going to let you win!” I felt my legs come to
life and I pushed back on the demon. I flew up and knocked the
demon on its back. I heard the bones in its wings break and it
shrieked in pain. I pushed my hand back down deeper into its chest,
feeling the fire rush up through my skin. I felt something deep
inside erupt and light began to blast out of the demon’s body. I
heard Sam coming up behind me, but with one arm, I knocked him
away. Power began filling my body.

“Stop! Stop!”

“I have been stupid! Running from you. From
me! You feed off fear, pain and misery and I’ve been a banquet for
you since day one, but no more. You’ve inspired me. It’s not
written that bad things couldn’t do good, and that’s what I’ll do.
I will use your power to protect the innocent. I will use your
force to fight the dark garbage of this universe.”

“NO!” I could feel its cold flesh begin to
seep into mine. It was like a jet of ice racing through my veins,
but I held on as tightly as I could.

“When you hear laughter, your ears will
bleed! When I feel joy, your flesh will burn! For as long as I
live, you will be trapped in my body and with every life I save,
every day that the sun rises and the Earth spins because of me, you
will know that you will never be free because I realize now that
you are as cursed with me as I am with you!” I screamed and
suddenly I felt a huge surge blast through me. I saw only white and
electricity ran through my body and then it went dark.

I woke up in the dirt. James was lying a few
feet away, unconscious. I got up and felt a sharp pain stick at my
back. As I got my balance, I felt a familiar feeling. The demon was
back, but as familiar as it was, there was something different
about it. Something almost comforting about it. I looked up and saw
Jonathan standing across from me.

“I heard something out here. I trust
everything is all right?”

“Everything is fine. Thanks.”

“I can see that now. Good luck to you, Mr.
Corba.” He then returned to the church. I looked down at my Uncle
James. I thought for a moment on what to do with him. The rage I
was feeling was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I saw a
large stake of wood nearby. I picked it up and contemplated
everything I could do with it. Suddenly, James woke up.

“No! Jake! Wait! Don’t do it! Please!” The
fear was real. That was almost enough. Almost.

I dropped the stake and bent down and picked
James up and walked back over to the church. He was babbling. I
kicked the door open and marched up to the altar and dropped him
upon it. He looked up at me with a curious look on his face.

“I’m not going to kill you. You’re a
horrible human being and I wish to god I could kill you, but I’m
not going to give you, or the demon, the satisfaction. I’m better
than that. I’m better than you.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to leave.”

“But why did you bring me back in here?”

“To tell you what’s going to happen. I’m not
going to kill you. You’re going to wait here until I walk out those
doors. When I do, you can leave. Sound fair?”

“I don’t get this.”

“I don’t care,” As I made for the exit, I
could hear the faint sounds of claws scratching against wood planks
and I felt a smile come over me. As I got to the door, I turned
back and saw James still sitting at the altar. I could see the
glowing eyes of those creatures popping out of the darkness and the
slow movements of their limbs as they crept up on him. “So, Uncle
Jimmy. If you can get out of here, you’re free. That’s the
deal.”

“What do you mean ‘if’?” He then noticed the
wall of creatures coming down upon him. I turned away and shut the
door behind me. As I walked away from the church, I heard the faint
shriek of someone being removed from his skin.

I heard the sound of the jeep getting closer
and a pair of headlights coming closer.

“Jake? You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I jumped into the jeep.

We found a smoother road back to Diablo
Luto. The night seemed even quieter as we drove along. My mind was
calm for the first time in a long time. I watched as the dark
scenery blurred past us. I could feel the demon within me, but I
didn’t care. I pushed its curses and rages to the back of my head.
In fact, I found some comfort in it. For the past couple days, I
felt twisted and skewed, but in that jeep, I felt whole at
last.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“How did it go?”

“You saw it.”

“Saw what?”

“You didn’t see me wrestling with the demon
in front of the church?”

“What? No. I saw you go in and the next
thing I remember was driving up to pick you up,” I looked back the
way we came and I was getting that confused feeling again. “What
happened?”

“I talked to The One. He said he could
release me and he did.”

“That’s good.”

“And I took it back.”

“What?”

“I took the demon back.”

“Why?”

“It kind of dawned on me that my family’s
curse seems to only work when we deny it. When we close ourselves
away and shut off from reality. That’s when we lose. When we accept
who we are, we can face our enemies. I guess I’ve decided to stop
being a victim.” I could sense the proud tone in my voice.

“Are you sure about this?”

“No, but it’s just my cross to bear. This
was how my ancestors dealt with this stuff, right?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“Maybe I’ll even find a way to make a buck
with it.”

“Really?”

“Why not? I’m sure there’s some way to cash
in.”

“Your epiphany is very good, Jake, but
you’ve just come to terms with all this. You’ve got a lot to learn
before you can go out and attack the world.”

“Maybe, but I got you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I want to know about my family. All of it.
I want you to teach me.”

“I don’t know all that much about your
family. Just some minor histories.”

“That’s better than what I got. You can
start me off and maybe we can learn more. You can teach me about
all this demon stuff too.” I looked to Ivar and his eyes were
locked on the road ahead, but I could tell he was thinking. His
fingers were wringing the steering wheel and he was chewing his
lower lip. He suddenly looked over to me.

“Are you ready to fully commit yourself to
this?”

“I’m ready.”

We continued on through the night to Diablo
Luto and as we did, I could begin to see the future taking
shape.

10 Years Later

I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was
half past two in the morning. I was sitting at the table in the
briefing room. That’s what the arresting officer called it. I had
been left there nearly a half hour earlier and still I waited. I
looked across the table at the mirror on the wall. I checked my
hair. It was a little messy, but I liked it like that. A few scars
on my face here and there, but I liked having a face with
character. It was hard to stifle a little laugh, though. Did the
cops really think that fooled anyone anymore? Anyone who’s seen Law
& Order knows the deal.

The door suddenly opened and someone came
in. The suit registered as a man, but I looked at the face and saw
it was a woman. She had very short, black hair and she sat down
across from me and slapped down a large folder onto the table.

”Hello.” She said.

“Hi.”

“I’m Detective Samantha Reynolds. I believe
we have things to discuss,” Her demeanor was difficult to read. I
knew she wanted to bust my ass, but she seemed to be holding back.
Her glare kept on me as if I was a small child and she was a
Rottweiler who hadn’t been fed in three weeks. “Well?”

“What?”

“It’s late. I’m tired. I don’t think I have
to tell you exactly how much trouble you’re in right now,” I looked
down at the stained floor and the events that have transpired
recently dashed across my brain.

“You might have to,” I said. “I was already
in some before this,” She leaned back in her chair. Her face became
easier to read. Angry. Definitely angry. “You mind if I smoke?” I
reached into my coat pocket for my last cigarette.

“This is a non-smoking facility. There’s a
hundred dollar fine.” I pulled out my wallet along with my
cigarette.

“Here,” I dropped the money down. “Two
hundred. I had an extra one.” I then proceeded to light up.

“I’m sure you think you’re being very clever
and funny, but that is not the case. We have your accomplices.
We’ll get the information out of them if we have to.” I let out a
breath, unleashing a faint cloud of smoke.

“Your hair is short.”

“I like it short.”

“You a lesbian?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“In other words, yes.”

“No. As a matter of fact, I’m not.” She said
and then wiggled her ring finger at me. “Married two years.”

“Great. Congrats.” I took another drag.

“The only time you’re wasting is yours.”

“I beg to differ. I’m sure you have a lot of
better things to do than sit here with me.”

“I do, but I’m getting paid for this. Are
you going to talk?”

“I really don’t even know what you want to
hear.”

“Fine. I’ll talk,” She opened up the
envelope and pulled out some papers. She held them up in front of
her face and began reading. “Jake Corba. Correct?”

“It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do
it.”

“
Age thirty five. It says here
you run a paranormal investigation firm. Interesting
work?”

“It can be.”

“Now what leads a man such as yourself to
such a unique career path?” I knew the tone. The same pandering
attitude I always got from people when I told them what I did for a
living. Ninety nine percent of the world seems to refuse to believe
in the existence of anything that can’t be found in either the
Bible or an encyclopedia.

“I have a demon in me.”

“Do you drink a lot? Take any drugs?” The
usual follow up.

“No. Just possessed. It’s been swimming
around in my soul since I was born.”

“Could you elaborate on that?” She kept up
her game face, but I could see through it as clear as glass.

“I was only a few months old when it
happened. My parents took me to church to have me baptized. They
brought me up and the pastor said his words and as he dabbed me
with holy water, that’s when it happened.”

“When what happened?”

“The creature entered me. My soul was taken
over by a demon. The church burst into flames, killing my parents
and the rest of the congregation. It was all pretty much downhill
from there.”

“And you believe this?”

“I didn’t at first. I knew I had a demon
inside of me but a lot of that night was something I didn’t care to
remember. I remember the screams. I remember seeing my mother being
pinned under a large beam from above. I remember her face. She was
so beautiful. Her face was so serene and peaceful, despite the
situation. She looked into my eyes and I looked back into hers.
That’s the last thing I can recall clearly.”

“Sounds intense.”

“It was.”

“And because you were possessed?”

“It’s as good an explanation as any. I was
young. I couldn’t control the thing. Are you trying to pin a thirty
five year old arson case on me now?”

“No. I’m just trying to figure out what’s
going on now and you are not helping me. What about your
partner?”

“Ivar? What about him?”

“What do you know about him?”

“Plenty. He’s kind of weird, but he’s a good
guy. Smart. He knows just about everything. He’s also very
spiritual. I think in some parts of the world, he’s a shaman. He
told me that.”

“Does he have an address? A phone
number?”

“I don’t know.”

“He works for you.”

“I know, but I’ve never had to call him or
mail him anything. He just kind of shows up.”