Demon's Doorway (35 page)

Alex wanted to investigate the ceiling. If it was a drop ceiling he could hide directly above them. He fought the pain as his foot found the first shelf, and he pulled himself up. He tried to make it to the second shelf, but the door swung open behind him.

"Ah. There you are."

The man lunged forward and grabbed Alex by the neck. He rammed his head into the shelf, and then pulled him backwards. Alex saw stars as he was dragged across the floor, staring up into the lights. He tried to pop his wings again, but felt nothing. Whatever potion Anatol put together had completely neutered him.

Alex was surrounded once again. One man pulled out a gun, only to have another dress him down.

"Put that away. The last thing we want is someone hearing gunshots."

Alex was right. There were eight of them. He probably couldn't take one in a fight without his powers, much less eight. He thought of Cindy, and lashed out with his leg. He caught one of them between the legs, dropping him to his knees. The rest of them laughed as they backed a step. Three of them pulled knives.

"Whoa! He's got a little fight left in him."

The closest one swooped down with his knife, catching Alex across the leg. The blade ripped through his jeans and cut his thigh. Alex shouted and tried to scoot away. The men stalked him, drawing closer. They left their ally behind to groan, holding his testicles.

Alex bumped into the wall. He was out of room, and out of time.

"Okay, let's make this quick."

One of them spun his knife in his hand.

There was a violent cracking sound behind them, followed by a voice.

"You mortals disgust me."

Everyone turned, and Alex could see between the group's shoulders the figure standing not far away. They looked at each other in confusion, eying their uninvited guest.

Jack held the man they'd left behind. His neck was twisted at an odd angle, and he looked up at Jack with lifeless eyes. He had his fingers inside the man's mouth, holding him up like he was a six-pack of beer.

"You
know
you're nothing," he said, his face ugly with anger. "It takes all of you to beat down this man here. You can't do anything alone. You're like ants." He flung the dead corpse aside. "I like to step on ants."

One of the men charged forward. He thrust wildly at Jack's face, but he was simply too quick. Jack sidestepped and gripped the man's wrist, easily turning the blade back into his throat.

Jack smirked as the man gurgled blood on the floor. The six remaining men noticeably jumped.

Alex felt something, and could smell it in the air.

Fear.

"I'm going to kill each of you," Jack said. "And then I'll find your families, whoever you care about. But I'm not gonna kill them. No, no. I want your ghosts to watch what I do to them."

More fear. Alex wasn't causing it, but it nourished him just the same. He drank it up. Fear to him was like water to Kevin.

He pulled himself to one knee. His thigh wound was already feeling better.

Two of the men pulled guns, no longer caring about making noise. They fired round after round at Jack, who didn't bother to move, didn't even flinch. Alex had never seen the sight before. He'd heard Jack talk about his curse, his immortality, but didn't know what he really meant.

The bullets all fell at Jack's feet after striking him. He did nothing but shake his head, his face getting angrier by the second. The fear continued to grow in the room, and Alex's strength returned.

They fired until their guns were empty.

"Are you done?" Jack asked.

They tried to reload, but Jack stepped forward.

Alex snarled as his wings popped, his face twisting into that of a demon.

The carnage lasted only a minute. The humans didn't stand a chance. Jack broke bones, turned their weapons against them, attacked with deadly precision. Alex roared, evaded their pathetic attack by slipping into the spirit realm, threw them across the room. The last remaining murderer tried to run through the kitchen to a side door, but Alex pursued. He flipped tables and chairs out of the way with his wings, and launched himself at the man, forcing him into the wall. He hurled him back into the main dining room.

Jack stood in the middle of the bodies and blood. Alex folded his wings behind him, his features still inhuman. He leaned in the doorway, catching his breath, as Jack stared at him.

"Your face," Jack said. "It's still ugly."

"Just give me a second. I'm a little mad right now."

"Join the club."

"What are you doing here?"

"I followed you. Victoria's babysitting Glinda. I figured you'd need a babysitter, too. Looks like I was right."

Alex laughed shortly, and then looked down as the bodies stirred. Not all of them were dead. Some moaned in discomfort. But that wasn't all.

Some of the spirits began to separate from their bodies. They crawled away and pulled themselves to one knee, right over their corpses. Alex couldn't tell at first glance which ones were alive or dead. They stared at each other in confusion.

"Oh my God," someone said behind him.

Alex spun to see Matt Little, standing in the corner.

"Was it all bullshit?" Alex asked. "Your wife, the home invasion. All a lie?"

"Alex, I'm sorry. The vampire…he can do amazing things. He said if I helped him, he'd bring me back to life."

There was whimpering behind him, and he glanced at the men staring down at their former selves. Some of them cried while others simply stared in disbelief. Jack had a look of curiosity, trying to piece together what he couldn't see and hear.

Alex scowled at the ghosts around him, settling his gaze on Matt. He didn't think of himself as a murderer, but he had killed before, when it was necessary.

It was necessary.

"No. No afterlife, for
any
of you."

The lights went out, and the terror was thick in the room as the shadows twisted and grew. The noises came, low, demonic rumbling. The first physical sign was a mangled claw, emerging from the darkness. Matt tried to run through the wall, but another hand reached from the ceiling and grabbed him, holding him in place.

Only Jack wasn't afraid. He watched as the demon realm slowly carved out a small bubble around Alex.

"Now
this
is impressive."

A voice boomed from all around them.

"Master."

Alex winced, but didn't argue. "Have fun. A gift from me."

"Thank you," the demons said, stretching out the last word.

"Let's go," Alex said. "Stay close to me."

They left the soup kitchen, and Alex took one last look as demons tore into both the living and ghosts. He felt guilty, only for a moment, before remembering the beating they gave him. His body was healed, but his clothes were a mess, his face covered in blood.

Jack headed for his car, but Alex stopped him.

"Not yet. I can't go too far, or the demons will disappear."

"What happens to the guys in there?"

"I'll let my pets play, then we'll question one of them."

"They have to be alive for that."

Alex smiled. "Not for me."

"I think I can finally say you're alright," Jack said. "But they don't know anything. Only little Glinda can solve all this, and he's more interested in strip-searching your sister."

He cringed at the thought. "Hey, I don't need to hear that."

"Well, let's go have a talk with him."

"Hold on." Alex leaned against the door. He listened to the screams that only he could hear. "Let them have another minute."

Jack shrugged. "Fine by me."

"It was all that talking you did that gave me my strength back. Thanks."

"Who says it was talk?"

*****

Kevin sat on the couch, quietly laughing at Victoria's indecisiveness as the vampire searched for a movie to watch. Cindy lounged in the chair, while Leese was stretched out with Kevin, resting her head on his lap.

"No," Victoria said. "I've seen that one a hundred times."

Cindy rolled her eyes. "You've probably seen all of them a hundred times."

"Not all of them. I know there's something in here."

The front door opened and closed. Kevin glanced at Leese and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"You're probably gonna have to make some room."

She rubbed his leg before shifting to look up at him. "Screw them. They can find their own seats."

Everyone laughed, except Victoria, who tilted her nose to the air. She dropped the movie she was holding and crossed the living room with purpose. Leese leaned up, using Kevin to support her weight.

"Victoria? Is everything cool?"

She nearly bumped into Alex and Jack at the doorway. Kevin's jaw dropped as Cindy and Leese screamed. Leese jumped from the couch, nearly colliding with Cindy as they raced to reach Alex.

Jack didn't look too bad, just a smear of blood on his face. Alex looked terrible. His face was covered in blood, as were his clothes. His jeans were ripped with caked blood on his leg.

"Alex!" Cindy yelled. She made it to him first, taking his face in her hands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. All better now."

Jack shimmied around the women and raised an eyebrow at Kevin, who stood motionless near the couch.

"Where are all the women to fawn over me?"

"What happened?" Victoria asked.

"It looks like Anatol has taken an interest in our demon friend here."

"Anatol?" Leese said, searching everyone's faces. "Who's Anatol?"

Jack looked at Victoria. "The party's over. We need to get to work."

She took a deep breath, and motioned for Jack to follow. "Okay. Let's go downstairs."

"No." He gestured to Cindy and Leese. "They need to leave. The rest of us need to talk."

The mortal women weren't happy.

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

Cindy put her hands on her hips. "We don't take orders from you. That's my husband. And you're not just kicking us out."

"Yes, I am."

Victoria approached them and put a hand on Cindy's shoulder. "This is serious. You saw before what this guy can do. That night at the hotel? That was nothing."

"Hotel?" Leese said. She huffed in anger. "Does someone want to fill me in on what's going on here?"

Cindy moved past Victoria and stood in front of Alex, taking his hands in her own. She didn't care that he still had blood on him.

"Baby, is this one of those times I have to step aside, and let you do your thing?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Well, looks like this is turning into a girls' night out. Let's go, Leese."

Jack nudged Kevin. "Holy shit, a woman that listens. They do exist."

"No, we're not just leaving," Leese said.

"And…here we go," Jack said. "You're gonna have your hands full with this one."

"What the hell is happening?" she said. "My brother leaves, and comes back with blood all over him?" She pointed at Jack. "And, really, who is this guy? Is he a vampire? A werewolf?"

"Why does everyone think I'm a werewolf?"

Leese ignored him. "Alex, did something happen to you and Cindy at the hotel? Are you in trouble? What does any of this have to do with Kevin?"

"Is anyone taking notes?" Jack asked. "It's hard to keep up with her rambling."

She glared at him. "Would you please just shut up?"

Kevin hugged her around the waist. She resisted at first, but relented, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Kevin, talk to me."

"There's a man out there who can do things like me, maybe even more, and he's not on our side. We have to figure out how to stop him."

"So, what happened? He tried to kill Alex?"

"Some people he hired," Jack said, smiling. "It didn't work."

"We've gotta go downstairs and talk," Victoria said. "Just us."

"And kick Cindy and me to the curb? To the kiddie table?"

"Exactly," Jack said.

"This is who we're with, Leese," Cindy said. "If you're gonna date Kevin, sometimes you might not want to know what he's been doing."

Kevin held up a finger. "Uh, I'm not sure you're helping."

Cindy looked at Alex. "Go plan, talk, do whatever you have to do, and then come home."

"Yes, dear."

She managed a smile. "Good. The marriage is starting off right."

She grabbed Leese's hand and led her toward the front door. Leese pulled free and ran to Kevin, nearly leaping in his arms. He stumbled back a few steps as her lips found his.