Midnight Rider

by D V Wolfe

  I cleared my throat and nodded, before looking around, willing the wall to steady inside me. “Where’s Stacks, Vince and Mick?” Rosetta and Tags shrugged but my worry was mirrored on their faces. The four of us headed for the front doors, following the blood trail and looking around the corners of intersecting hallways.

  The salt tape that was stretched across the front doors’ threshold, was smeared black where the blood had curdled. Definitely demon blood. I leaned on the wall and looked out the front doors. No bodies in sight, just more blood down the front steps and across the sidewalk.

  We heard footsteps behind us and we all turned, guns drawn.

  “Whoa! Whoa!” It was Stacks. “You all throw one hell of a welcoming party.” I had never been so happy to see that asshole.

  “Well you’re still kicking,” I said. “Now if we can just find Vince and Mick...”

  “Oh,” Stacks said. “They’re downstairs in the tunnel. I just came from there.”

  “Are they...” I started, but couldn’t finish.

  Stacks was staring at the blood on the floor so it took him a minute to realize what I was asking. “They’re fine, they’re looting the corpses of the demons that tried to get away.”

  We’d all made it out alive. Somehow. Miraculously. The fact that it was all down to Sister Smile’s crew and our ability to hide when they were in a feeding frenzy, put a damper on the joy of our survival. Not to mention the realization of what was now running loose out there.

  “So, I assume you ganked big daddy demon?” Stacks asked, his eyes wide.

  I shook my head. “Just his Personal Assistant and some pissant demons. The Personal Assistant didn’t get a chance to finish the ritual to raise his boss before we bumped him off.”

  “Shit,” Stacks said. “That kind of taints the ‘hooray’.” He had no idea. “It’s too bad the bastard didn’t rise and you didn’t get to run him through with a state fair corn dog,” Stacks said, grinning at Tags.

  “They’re not corndogs,” Tags spat.

  “Yeah,” I said, feeling cold realization wrap itself around me. “Too bad.”

  We started for the elevator. “Hang on,” Rosetta said, and she disappeared around the corner and came back with the cleaning cart. She pushed it into the elevator first and we all squeezed in behind her. We reached the basement and looked out to see Vince and Mick going through the pockets of two demons in business suits, sprawled on the floor.

  “Good to see you two are still kicking,” I said. They both looked up and grinned.

  “Right back at cha,” Mick said. “Though I gotta tell you, you look like hell.”

  Mick had a cut above his right eye and his nose was bleeding. When he saw us, he relaxed and his dog face came back into view. Vince followed suit. The black and white fur of Mick’s husky head was blood-smeared and one of Vince’s bulldog eyes was swollen shut.

  “Well you two aren’t exactly the cover of GQ at the moment. In either form,” I said. We all looked at each other.

  “Live to fight another day?” Tags asked. None of us felt like hurrah-ing. We pushed the cart down the tunnel and we all climbed back into the van, too tired to talk. We got back to Big Al’s and piled out. As we unloaded, Noah and I filled everyone else in on what had happened in the office upstairs with Scratch, the demons, and Sister Smile’s crew. I could feel the panic and the horror coming off of everyone in waves. But we acted the way all normal humans do in a moment like this. We compartmentalized, strategized, and embraced denial. Once Vince and Mick had finished moving their guns and ammo back to their Jeep, they turned and looked around at all of us.

  “What’s next for you?” I asked them.

  “We have to follow up on the angelic living here. Make sure they’re safe, see what they know, keep them hidden as much as possible.” Vince said. “I don’t know what’s coming now. You did good. You stopped the ritual before that big asshole got topside, but from what I know, there are a lot of Dukes downstairs. How many more are going to send their cronies up to plan a banquet in honor of their rising?” Vince looked up at me and smiled. “We’ll be seeing you around, Bane.” He slapped me on the shoulder. “That’s a promise.”

  I sighed. “I don’t doubt it.” I held out a hand. “Give me your notebook.” Vince pulled it from the seat of the car and handed it to me. I pulled the pencil out of the spiral binding and scratched my cell number on the first page.

  “Next time,” I said. “Just call. I usually don’t check the caller ID thing, so I’ll probably answer.” I gave them a hug and Vince glanced down at the spreading bloodstain at my side and tried to be gentle.

  Rosetta grabbed my shirt and jerked it up to look at the wound. “It’s deep but it’s not very long,” she said. She looked at me. “Still, better take you to the hospital.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I said. “I just need a shot.”

  “Yeah,” Rosetta muttered. “To the head, to finish you off.” I cut my eyes to her. Mick and Vince said their goodbyes to everyone else and backed out of the warehouse. I looked around and noticed Stacks wasn’t standing in the bay doors with us. I turned and saw he was back at the workbench on his computer, making notes. I started towards him and he closed his computer and stood, starting to shove power cords and books, and his laptop into his bag.

  “Let’s go get Lucy,” Stacks said. Stacks and I took the van and motored back across town to Corporate Cleaners and eased back into the lot. There weren’t any cop cars waiting for us and everything looked just as it had, hours ago, when we were last here. We backed into the same slot with the lights off and then did a double check to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind, before we locked the van doors. Stacks made sure the panel cover was back over the keypad on the driver’s door and we slipped through the gate and down the sidewalk. When we were a block down the street, Stacks turned to me.

  “Something is going on,” he said.

  I nodded. “This is a revelation to you?”

  “No,” Stacks said. “Tonight, I got that same feeling that I had when we were running down the street in Messina, back to the Ferguson’s house. It’s the same feeling I’ve had for the last couple of weeks. There’s a connection. I know it.”

  I looked at him. “Do you think it’s demons?”

  Stacks shrugged. “Maybe. Fuck. And now Sister Smile and her insane tribe are hopped up on demon meat. I mean, we’re not terrible hunters, but how in the absolute hell did we all manage to make it out alive tonight?”

  I’d been wondering the same thing of course, but I didn’t want to fan the wild conspiracy-scenario flame that I recognized in Stacks’ voice as we hiked back to Lucy. I had enough panic, causing heart palpitations, as it was.

  We got in Lucy and drove back to Big Al’s. I parked outside the bay doors and Stacks looked over at me as we walked inside. “I’ve got to get back to Messina,” Stacks said. “And I need to call Walter, the Harbinger, do you have his number?” I nodded and he pulled out his phone. I handed him mine. He clicked some buttons and copied the number.

  “Just in case you need to rat on someone,” I said. “You’ve got my number too.”

  “Where are you headed next?” Stacks asked me.

  I picked at a clump of blood that was drying on my cheek. “To hunt down Sister Smile and her tribe. See if she has Festus somewhere turning on a spit along with other victims.” I shook my head. This was going to be bloody, no matter the outcome. I also needed to talk to Nya and tell her what happened. I wished she had been with us on the hunt. Damn her and her aversion to cell phones.

  Stacks nodded. “Well, you have my number in your phone now if you need, well, anything.” He paused. “I already regret that offer.”

  I grinned and then I hugged Stacks. “Thanks,” I said. “For everything.”

  “I’m just glad those stakes worked,” Stacks said. He paused. “I guess this is a day in history for all hunters. We can ice demons.”

  “Wow,” Rosetta said. “I never thought I’d
live to see the day.”

  “Me either,” Tags said. “You’ll be famous, Stacks. In all the Hunter’s lore. Hunters will be calling you day and night for your help and we’ll have to put your address on the radio.”

  Stacks was turning white now. “None of you better tell anyone it was me. Pass on what worked, but don’t tell anyone where you got the information. I don’t need hunters tracking me down. I’ve already got twelve government agencies doing that and now, probably a tribe of cannibals and some demons.”

  I nodded. “Short-lived fame, but we’ll know it was your discovery, Stacks.”

  He sighed and looked around at all of us. “Well, can any of you give me a ride back to Messina?”

  “We blew up your trailer,” I said to Stacks.

  Stacks shrugged. “We got all the important things out. And, I’ve been letting the landlord off the hook about how run down it has gotten. He said if one more thing went, he’d get me a new one.”

  “Well I’d say this definitely qualifies,” I said.

  Rosetta spoke up. “I need to take Taggert back to his Scout anyway. I can get you back to Messina.” Rosetta turned to me. “Bane, you look after yourself. And swing by sometime for Sunday dinner. If you call ahead, I’ll see if I can wrangle some Huckleberry Buckle.” I gave her a hug.

  “Will do.”

  I turned to hug Tags’ goodbye. He held me for a second and whispered, “Gary would be proud of you.” I felt my heart twist in my chest.

  “Thanks Tags,” I said. We broke apart and I looked at him. “Do you need my number too?”

  Tags shook his head. “Rosetta already programmed it into my phone. You’ll be hearing from me.”

  I nodded. Rosetta turned to Noah. “You want us to take you to the nearest Greyhound station so you can finally head back home?”

  Noah shook his head. “Nah, I’ll have Bane drop me off.” He hugged Rosetta, Tags, and Stacks goodbye. I helped move all of Stacks’ belongings from Lucy to Rosetta’s Cadillac and then refereed two fights that Rosetta called “discussions” about where Stacks’ plastic flamingo was going to ride. By the time I got back inside the warehouse, Noah had cleaned everything up and had Lucy packed and ready to go. He was leaning against Lucy’s grille, gingerly stretching his right leg. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon and paint the sky red. I stood next to him and looked out at the river.

  “I honestly can’t believe we survived,” Noah said.

  “Yeah, surprised the hell out of me,” I said. I looked at him. “Well, shall we? The buses will probably start running soon.” He nodded. We closed up Big Al’s and motored down the road. We were quiet for a while.

  “Noah,” I said. He looked up at me. “I want to...to thank you, for all your help,” I started.

  “Well,” Noah said, “I kind of owed you. That’s twice that you’ve saved me from Sister Smile and her crew.”

  We pulled up to the bus stop and watched a bored bus station attendant push a broom across the concrete. He was the only person there. I pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. Noah looked down at my side.

  “How about I try to fix you up?” Noah asked. “You know, for old time’s sake?”

  “Nah, I’m fine,” I said.

  “C’mon Bane, parting gift?” He asked.

  I relented. This was the last time I’d see the kid. I lifted the side of my shirt and he pinched the skin together. I bit down on Lucy’s steering wheel and smelled burning flesh and then he let go.

  “There ya go,” He said with a grin. “Now, how do we find Sister Smile?”

  I stared at him. “We don’t. I’m going after her. You could have been killed. After the shit that just happened...You’re getting on a bus and going back to your mom.”

  “And the state authorities, Amy’s angry dad, and a whole town that wants me dead. I don’t even know how my mom feels about me now,” Noah said.

  I just stared at him. This poor kid who couldn’t catch a break, who had an ability that made him an outcast and was starting to shape his future, narrowing it down to this one path, at least for the time being, was sitting next to me in this dirty old ‘49 Ford pick up, grinning from ear to ear and asking me to take him hunting for the things that go bump in the night.

  “Noah,” I snapped. “I’m going after a tribe of demon-fueled cannibals, outnumbered and out-crazed, where they have the home-court advantage and the winners literally eat the losers. Why the hell would you even conceive of a reality where you would want to come with me?”

  Noah looked down at his hands in his lap. I felt a small wave of relief or sadness, maybe both. He was conceding. He was quiet for a moment and then he turned and looked at me, a hard glare in his eye. “This reality, right here, because I know you’ll die otherwise.” He shook his head. “I can’t go back to sleep, Bane. Not when I know what’s out there,” he closed his eyes as if he was trying to banish an image from his mind. “Not when I know what it’s capable of.” He opened his eyes and glared at me. “And not when I know that I can fucking do something about it.” We glared at each other in the truck cab for a minute. From the determination on his face, I knew I wasn’t going to win this one.

  I sighed and turned the key. Lucy rumbled to life and I looked at him. “You realize this is how this whole thing started, right? You in the car with me, running down the road, only this time we’re chasing Sister Smile instead of running from her.”

  “Ain’t life funny,” Noah said.

  I backed out of the parking spot and reached for the radio knob.

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  The Midnight Rider Series

  Midnight Rider (Book 1)

  Release Date: May 22nd, 2020

  Dirty Deeds (Book 2)

  Release Date: June 5th, 2020

  Bad Company (Book 3)

  Release Date: June 21st, 2020

  Hot Blooded (Book 4)

  Release Date: July 5th, 2020

  Shoot to Thrill (Book 5)

  Release Date: July 13th, 2020

  War Pigs (Book 6)

  Release Date: July 20th, 2020

  Gimme Shelter (Book 7)

  Release Date: August 3rd, 2020

  Like the Wolf (Book 8)

  Release Date: August 19th, 2020

  Working Man (Book 9)

  Release Date: September 2nd, 2020

  Whipping Post (Book 10)

  Release Date: September 17th, 2020

  Bad Moon Rising (Book 11)

  Release Date: October 1st, 2020

  Under Pressure (Book 12)

  Release Date: October 16th, 2020

  Minutes 2 Midnight (Book 13)

  Release Date: October 31st, 2020

  About The Author

  D. V. Wolfe

  D.V. Wolfe is a transplanted Kansas farm kid now living in Oregon. When she's not writing, reading, or walking her furball, she's traveling back to Kansas to spend time on the old farm or in her favorite dive bar in Manhattan with her partner in life and crime.

  Acknowledgment

  This story started with a hellion in a dirty a-shirt, jeans, and a sports bra, behind the wheel of Lucy, my '49 Ford pickup, telling me that shit was about to go down and I needed to find a pencil.

  Through all the chaos of blurting out this story, I can't emphasize enough how important Glenn, my mentor and guide, and Jimbo, my entire support system and partner in everything, have been. Thank you also to Nikki, Laura, and Lydia, my kickass betas.