Inner Demons (15 page)

I turned to see who was behind me, but the woman grabbed me by the back of my hair and pushed me through the double doors leading to the old operating room.

“Look what I found snooping outside,” she said.

Jackson's face twisted into a look of horror when he saw me. He yanked against his chains and kicked the wall behind him.

“Was she alone?” One of the men walked toward me. He was tall and completely bald. He had a military presence about him. He got in my face and I could smell the onions he'd had for dinner. “Who knows you're here little girl?”

“Wait,” the other man said. He lifted his flashlight and shone it right in my face. I grimaced and tried to look away, but the woman still had hold of my hair. “I recognize this girl. She's one of the new cheerleaders. I can't think of her name, though.”

“Are you sure?” the bald guy asked.

“I'm positive. She's new this year.”

“What's your name?”

I cleared my throat nervously. “Harper,” I said.

“Well, Harper, what brings you to our little party?”

I glanced toward Jackson. He was alive, which was a good sign, but for how long? I wanted to run to him and tell him I was sorry for screwing everything up. Our eyes met across the room. I realized that I had never cared for anyone more in my entire life.

“Let him go,” I said. “What use is he to you? He's just a normal guy, but I'm a recruit. I'm more valuable than he is. Let him go.”

The bald man tossed his head back and laughed. “That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time,” he said. “What do you think Mary? Top five dumbest things ever said?”

Behind me, Mary laughed along. She still had her fingers in my hair and something sharp pressed into my back. I could feel the demon tattoo on my back open its eyes.

“This kid has no idea, does she?” Mary said.

“A normal guy, huh?” the bald guy asked. “He's an abomination. He's pure evil. Go ahead, tell her what you are.”

Jackson struggled against his chains. “She has no idea what she's walked into,” he said. “Let her go. She's innocent.”

“She's a recruit,” the younger guy said. “She's half-way to becoming one of them.”

“Arnold's right. We can't just let her go,” the bald guy said. “She's seen too much anyway.”

“Check and see if she's got one of those tattoo's,” the young guy said. “They can track her with those.”

“Everyone in town will be looking for Jackson Hunt, the escaped murderer. No one is going to be looking for the recruits. By the time they come looking for Harper here, she'll be dead.”

I tried to break free of Mary's hold on me, but she stuck the sharp point of her knife deeper into my skin. I cried out in pain.

“Leave her alone!” Jackson yelled.

“Or what, demon? You'll kill us all?”

“Demon?” I looked to Jackson questioningly. “What is she talking about?”

Mary laughed. “Your little boyfriend here isn't human. He's a shadow demon.”

I shook my head. “That's not possible. Shadow demons don't look like that. I've seen one before.”

The bald guy laughed again and I clenched my jaw tight. He was seriously starting to get on my nerves.

“Do you want to tell her the story, Jackson? Or should I?”

Jackson glared at the guy, his body tense with anger. “Isaac, you don't want to do this. I'm telling you to let her go.”

Isaac. So that was baldy's name. A religious name.

Isaac clucked his tongue in disapproval. “Jackson came to this world more than fifty years ago, didn't you Jackson? Only when he first got here, he was a big smokey black shadow. He was supposed to be joined with a recruit in one of their horrible ceremonies, but Jackson was too powerful for the girl. She died and he was set free. He killed, what, five members of the Order before the witches finally trapped him in human form? Or was it only four?”

“Stop it,” Jackson said. He pulled and twisted at his chains, but they wouldn't give.

I wanted to put my hands to my ears and block out Isaac's words. Jackson couldn't be a demon! He certainly wasn't a killer.

But a part of my mind reminded me of the pictures from the yearbook. Those pictures were taken over fifteen years ago, yet he looked exactly the same. How was that possible? He could also see the future. That wasn't exactly a normal, everyday ability for a teenage boy.

I shook my head, not wanting to believe it.

To my right, a rolling cart full of medical instruments began to rattle and shake. I tried to get control of myself, but I was too upset. The cart sprinted forward and Arnold, the younger guy, had to jump out of the way.

“Well, well, we've got a feisty one,” Isaac said. “Powerful, too. Maybe we can use you somehow to bargain with the Order. But I can't have you messing up this ritual tonight. It took us years to figure out a way to kill this demon. We tried a hundred different ways before we found the one object that was capable of piercing his flesh. We almost killed him the night of the dance, but Morgyn Baker got in the way.”

Isaac shook his head. “She was a traitor. She came into our group and we accepted her as one of our own. We shared all of our secrets with her, and how did she repay us? By falling in love with a demon and sacrificing her life for his.”

Morgyn's mission.

Her service to the Order must have been as a spy. But she wasn't the target that night, and neither was I. The Others had been targeting Jackson all along. Morgyn didn't die to save me. She died to save Jackson.

I twisted my head to the side and Mary lost her grip on my hair. I stumbled forward. She jabbed forward with her knife and I felt it slice through my arm. I crashed against a bookcase, then fell to the ground, cradling my arm. Blood trickled down my hand and onto the floor.

“Isaac,” Mary said. Her voice was low and serious. “You need to see this.”

Isaac stepped forward, then drew in a sharp breath. When he turned around, I saw that he was holding the silver ritual dagger. That must have been what Mary was holding to my back the entire time.

Along the blade, I could see a streak of bright blue blood.

The Prima's blood.

My blood.

“No!” Jackson shouted. He pulled against his chains so hard, I could see the veins in his arms begin to strain. “Leave her alone.”

I scrambled backwards toward the wall, but Arnold made a quick move to intercept me.

Isaac stood there, staring at the dagger. He had this wild gleam in his eye.

“We've found the Prima.”

“But how can we know if she's Peachville's Prima or not?” Mary asked. “Morgyn's blood turned blue for a moment when I stabbed her too, but she didn't belong here. She belonged to another demon gate.”

“Killing any Prima is a victory,” Isaac said. “Because of Morgyn, an entire line of witches might someday die out, taking all of their demons with them.”

I listened to them talk, but my heart pounded so loud in my ears I could barely process what they were saying. They knew who I was. They were going to kill me.

I looked to Jackson. He was staring at me. Tears welled up in his eyes.

“I'm sorry,” I mouthed to him.

He shook his head, then looked away.

I'd really managed to make a mess of this whole evening.

“Pick her up,” Isaac said. “Put her on the operating table.”

Mary and Arnold each grabbed one of my arms and lifted me up into the air. I kicked and tried to pull away, but I was no match for the two of them. They placed me on top of the cold metal operating table in the middle of the room. Isaac held the silver dagger in front of my face.

“This dagger is made of a special silver that is only found in the shadow world,” he said. “It's the only thing that can kill a demon, but it works just fine on witches too.”

He lifted the dagger high into the air.

I moaned and tried to pull away, but Mary and Arnold held me down. No matter how hard I kicked, I couldn't get any leverage against them.

My eyes darted around the room, searching desperately for a weapon. The rolling cart I'd moved earlier was positioned just behind where Isaac stood. On top of it were several different kinds of sharp medical instruments.

I calmed myself and closed my eyes. I needed to create a connection to the earth. Despite the panic rising up inside of me, I had to find a way to connect to my inner power.

A sliver of energy began to hum through my body. It started deep in my belly, then spread across my arms and down toward my toes. I opened my eyes and concentrated on a pair of shiny scissors that lay on top of the cart. With my mind, I lifted them into the air, even with the back of Isaac's neck. Just as he made a motion to bring the dagger down toward my heart, I sent the scissors flying toward his flesh.

He screamed in pain, then dropped the knife. It fell and pierced my shoulder. I screamed. I could feel the warmth of my blood as it trickled down onto the operating table, soaking my t-shirt and jacket. Isaac stumbled backward, then yanked the scissors from his neck. From what I could see, he was bleeding even worse than I was. He sank to his knees, then collapsed on the floor.

Mary and Arnold both rushed to Isaac's side. As soon as they released me, I pulled the dagger from my shoulder and sat up. Dizziness threatened to overcome me, but I willed myself to stay awake.

Arnold stood and lunged forward, reaching for the dagger in my hand. I plunged it deep into his gut. He fell to the floor next to Isaac, clutching his stomach.

I stood and ran toward Jackson, but Mary sent a ball of fire streaking across the room towardme. It barely missed me and struck the wall of cabinets on the far side of the room.

I felt my sapphire pendant grow warm against my skin. I remembered the shadow demon who had come to my aid the night Agnes tried to kill me. I ducked behind a gurney and clutched the pendant in my hand.

Please help me again.

The fire from Mary's blast spread slowly. The walls were cinder-block, but most of the cabinetry was made of wood.

I stood, ready to fight.

On the other side of the room, Mary pulled the silver dagger from Arnold's dead body. Her eyes were fixed on Jackson. Panic rose up within me like a tidal wave. She was closer to him.

“Harper, run,” Jackson called.

I couldn't leave him there. Through the growing smoke, I searched for a weapon. The medical cart was blocked by the operating table, and nothing within arm's reach seemed to be sufficient.

Except the fire itself.

I didn't know how to create a fireball, but I did know how to move things with my mind. I focused on the wall of fire. I'd moved water before, so I thought of the fire in the same way. The flames danced and writhed as one, moving toward the center cabinet to create one giant wall of flame. I held out my hand to direct its movement. Just as I prepared to send it in Mary's direction, a blast of cool air pushed the doors of the operating room wide open.

A swirl of darkened shadow moved into the room. I recognized the demon from before and instantly felt my own power surge to new heights.

Mary screamed. She looked from Jackson to the new demon, fear and hatred in her eyes. She lifted the dagger as if trying to decide which demon to go for first.

The shadow demon moved forward. I could feel its energy pulsing through me, and I soaked it in, unsure whether to help or stand back and watch. Then, suddenly, the demon stopped. The smokey darkness of it took shape, and I could see its eyes. He was staring straight at Jackson with an expression I couldn't quite read.

Jackson shook his head, his eyes thick with tears. “Aerden.”

The demon's name sent a shiver through my body. The earth seemed to turn in slow motion. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Mary lunged toward Jackson, the silver dagger raised high.

With my hand, I pushed the flames across the room like a giant orange wave. The swelling fire arched high over my head, then crashed down on top of Mary, pushing her to her knees. I shielded my face from the heat as her body slowly turned to ash.

The ritual dagger fell to the ground with a loud clang.

Along with the flame, the shadow demon faded away and turned to nothing more than lingering smoke.

I rushed to Jackson's side and placed my hand on the shackle that held his left wrist. The lock inside obeyed me and flipped open. My arm throbbed. I had lost a lot of blood.

I used the last of my energy to free his other hand, then collapsed into Jackson's arms.

I woke to find Jackson at my side.

“Where are we?”

He smiled and grabbed my hand. “We're at a real hospital,” he said. “No more of those abandoned hospitals for you, okay?”

I tried to laugh, but every inch of my body ached.

“Mrs. King is on her way,” he said.

“You called her?”

He nodded.

“Was she mad?” I had no idea what the Order would do to me once they found out what I'd done.

“She was worried,” he said. “I think she blames herself for not watching out for you more.”

The moon shone through the gauzy white curtains at the window. “Will they send you back to jail?”

“No, now that Morgyn's real killers are dead, the police said I'm a free man again.”

A hot tear rolled down my cheek. “I thought we were going to die,” I said. “I was pretty stupid, huh? Going in there all by myself, thinking I could save your life.”

Jackson ran his thumb along the side of my face, wiping away the stray tear. “You did save my life,” he said.

I closed my eyes and let the events of the past twenty-four hours rush over me. I ran my fingertips along the smooth surface of my pendant.

“Are you really a demon?” I whispered.

Jackson sighed and gently kissed my hand. “It's a long story.”

I opened my eyes and motioned to the hospital room around us.

“I've got nothing but time.”