Ignition (Escaping Demons Saga Book 2)

by Stacy McWilliams

  One night as Nathan and Joe discussed moving into a caravan on an island to protect it; Lisa confided in me that her period was late.

  “Jas, have you ever, you know, been late?” her low voice asked as we watched the boys sitting at the table discussing the caravan idea. “No honey, I haven’t, we haven’t… I mean we can’t…” I opened my mouth to say more when she interrupted me, “wait you and Nate have never?” Her eyes were opened in surprise and she spoke again softy, whispering in my ear, “but you’re so intense?”

  I nodded at her, watching Nate as he shifted and caught my gaze. He smiled at me, running his fingers through his hair and looked away after a moment. “I love him more than my own life, but we haven’t ever you know.”

  She smiled at me and watched Joe as he bent down, speaking to Nate in a voice so low I wondered what he was saying as Nate’s face tensed and he glanced over at me, shaking his head at his friend.

  I shook my head, trying to dispel the worrying thoughts and looked back at my friend, “so, you’re late huh?” She nodded at me with tears in her eyes and looked down at the carpet.

  I touched her arm gently, and she swallowed before speaking again, “I know it’s not great timing, but I really love him, Jas.” I nodded at her and smiled at the thought of her having a baby at eighteen, but she’d be a great mum if we could just find a way to keep her and Joe safe.

  “You’ll be fine. We’ll get a test tomorrow and then you can know for sure.” She nodded at me and the boys walked over to the sofa’s, sitting down beside us.

  “So, what are you talking about?” Nate asked us, glancing between the two of us with a smile on his face. Lisa shook her head gently, and I answered, “Not much, what’s happening with the caravan idea?”

  Nate’s face lit up and even Joe smiled, something he didn’t do very much. He seemed not to like me, or at least to distrust me.

  “We’ve decided to try and find a cheap caravan, move it to a secure location and protect it with spells and enchantments.” Nate sounded so excited as he spoke and Joe continued, “It should be safer and more protected than this place which means we can relax a little.”

  I smiled at Nate, Lisa at Joe as we contemplated being able to relax a little. Nate pulled me by the hand up to bed and as we lay down he kissed me hard. Our kisses were getting a little firmer and our hands were beginning to wander, but after a few minutes of kissing me, he pulled away panting, “Jas, we can’t. Not until we’re safe.”

  He rolled over on his back and faced the wall away from me and disappointment welled up inside me, at the rejection. I knew he wanted me, but I also knew why we couldn’t, but it didn’t make it any easier. I lay down facing away from him, trying to swallow the pain that threatened to overwhelm me, when his hand snaked around my waist. “I’m sorry,” he breathed into my ear, “I want you so much and it’s so frustrating that we can’t, but I can’t risk your safety just to have some with you. I love you so much.” He pressed a kiss to the back of my neck and pulled me towards him, holding me there until I fell asleep.

  . Within a few days of these discussions, they went out and bought a second-hand caravan for a little over two thousand euro and a car for seven hundred euro from Charlie. The car was an old Volvo but Charlie was a mechanic and had just done a load of work to it.

  The caravan was in a shed out back and they worked on it every day, buying things for it and putting them into the shed. Lisa and I were kept away from it; the boys said we couldn’t leave the house just in case the demons sensed us. Nathan and Joe had scouted locations and had found an old deserted island not too far away. They went there for a few days to find somewhere large enough.

  After another few weeks, on Lisa’s birthday, the thirteenth of March, the boys came back exceptionally happy. One of the islands had a hidden cave. Owey Island was the place they had found and we were all praying that it would be our salvation. Every day, either Nathan or Joe would drive up to Cruit Island and get a boat across to Owey Island where they prepared the cave, putting all manner of protection onto it so when we moved there, it would become a safe haven. I could finally try to find my brother and sister.

  Since we had escaped, I had begged Nathan to let me try to find them. I needed to know what had happened to them, but he told me that the minute I began searching, all manner of demons would be onto us and would come after us. I had to wait until we were safe.

  After the first two months, I would often stand at the door looking out, thinking. The sea, grey and choppy, blew hither and tither in the freezing cold wind. I felt so worried that I was surprised I could feel the wind at all. We had another close call yesterday. Nathan went to the store and a demon almost spotted him. We could only hope they didn’t see him or there would be more of them around before we could blink. The house was too open and our protection was minimal, but the island and the caravan simply weren’t ready yet.

  Nathan came to see me and I realised I’d been standing in the doorway, in the pounding rain for over half an hour. He pulled me up into his arm and guided me into the house to get warmed up. “Babe, come inside. You’re soaked.” His voice was gentle and his touch warmed me, “try to stop worrying, please?” He kissed me gently and led me by the hand into the bathroom where he turned on the shower.

  “Nate, do you think we are safe here?” I asked him in a small voice as I waited for the shower to heat. He turned towards me slowly, his eyes running up and down my body as he stepped closer to me. His fingers reached out and he ran a finger over my cheek, caressing me, “I don’t know, Jas, but I can’t think about it just now. I’ve redoubled the protection around the house and it should hold up for most demons, but if my dad or Jack find us then, I don’t know.”

  His lips turned down and he looked down when he finished speaking. I knew just by watching him, it was weighing on him. My powers we’re so unpredictable and were a magnet for demons which that meant that we couldn’t use them, so everyone was relying on him and now that Lisa was pregnant, he felt it more. I stepped into his arms, feeling his warmth through the soaked vest I was wearing as his arms circled my back. He rubbed my back and kissed my head, avoiding my eyes as we stood embracing.

  “Nate?” I whispered with a question in my voice. He shuddered and kissed me once on the lips, gently before answering me. “What Jas?” He was still avoiding my eyes, so I touched my finger under his chin and brought his eyes up to meet mine, kissing him once more before speaking.

  “We know you are doing everything you can. You need to try and calm down, we trust you and if the worst happens, it won’t be your fault.” His eyes filled with tears as he looked at me and he bent down kissing my fiercely, dragging his hand down my back and cupping my ass.

  Suddenly, the door banged overhead and footsteps sounded above us. He stiffened and stepped back, while I groaned inside. The moment was gone again, every time we’d even come close to cementing our relationship, something happened to put a dampener on the moment. I knew we couldn’t and why we shouldn’t, but I wanted him so damn much it hurt.

  He leaned his head on mine, breathing hard, kissed my forehead once, before he turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him as he went. I stood there for a moment thinking that I knew I loved him and that he loved me, and all I wanted was for us to be together fully, but it seemed as though some higher power was enjoying messing around with us.

  As I stood in the warm water, I knew we had to get away from this little village, into somewhere we could be protected from everyone. Being on the run was harder than I ever would have dreamed. We had to conserve every penny. Barbs, the lady we stayed with, was lovely, always buying us things and trying to give us some money back.

  “He charged you too much. I don’t want all that money. You kids should take it back and spend it.”

  It was the end of March and the house was freezing cold. When we started living here, the gas pipe was frozen and it occasionally happened then. It took us a week of pouring hot water on it f
rom the kettle to use the cooker. Only two of the rings worked, but it was much better than the shack. It was warmer even though it was freezing; the shack would have been much colder.

  We could use a little magic in the shack though, but in the cottage, it felt too risky to even conjure heat. We were so worried about being caught. It had also been confirmed that Lisa was pregnant, which meant we had to be so much more careful. She was four months gone. Joe wandered around during the night, checking and re-checking the doors and windows, making sure they were secure.

  Joe and Lisa had just gotten up and I went to start breakfast for them. Sausages were the only food not turning Lisa’s stomach, but they look a long time to cook. The kitchen was so cold I could see my breath. I wished they’d cooked faster, without really thinking, when I looked back at them, they were cooked.

  Looking at them, I thought it was odd, though it wasn’t the first time that had happened. I needed to speak to Nate about it while keeping an eye on it. A scream from the lounge made me run in. A demon was looking in the window, but he couldn’t see us. He must have sensed the magic I inadvertently used. I closed my eyes and thought him away to the empty house in Ballyshannon, the one we thought about moving into, but decided we wouldn’t have had enough protection.

  We did lay a fake trail there though, and I hoped that would be strong enough to keep us safe for the moment. When I opened my eyes, he was gone and everyone looked terrified. I didn’t know what to say. I had no idea I had this kind of power. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t realise I’d voiced this aloud until Nate walked over to me, hugging me. I turned out of the hug, walked into the kitchen, and heard his voice asking, “What have I done? Talk to me, Jas. Please don’t shut me out. We are in this together.”

  I couldn’t answer so I just concentrated on getting the food out before it got cold. I walked out and found them all sitting around the table, talking about me. I heard only snippets of the conversation.

  “We need to do something about her. She’s getting too powerful!”

  “What do you suggest we do? We don’t know how to bind her powers, and even if we did, could we afford to? Though they are growing so fast, it’s really beginning to scare me.”

  Joe just looked at him and said without feeling, “The only way to stop her is to kill her.”

  I couldn’t believe I heard that they were considering killing me. I had no idea if I sent that thought to Nate. I turned around and walked out the back door, placing the food down on the counter on my way out.

  Marching into the fields, the rain poured down so fast it bounced up from the grass. I kept walking through the field even though I felt wetter than I ever had in my life. I could feel Nate trying to get through to me, but I decided to block him out and hid myself in the stump of an old tree in the middle of the field behind the house.

  I just needed some time to think, or so I kept telling myself. I didn’t admit to myself that Joe’s words or my own powers scared me. I never realised that the powers were growing stronger and I thought back to a time when I never believed in any other magical or mythical creatures. While I sat here with the rain dripping and the mud slopping around, I realised suppressing my powers could be a mistake.

  I fell asleep thinking about it all and when I awoke, I realised I was no longer in the tree stump, but in a dark cave and I was dry but stiff. I couldn’t understand what had happened, I could feel Nate worrying and I couldn’t help wishing he was beside me.

  As a light flashed in the cavern I was being held in, I saw Nathan arrive but he was unconscious. I looked at him to check that he was breathing when a voice behind me made me jump around, hiding Nathan with my body.

  “Don’t need to be afraid, we had to get you out of that house. We have brought your clothes and the caravan you were planning to live in has been finished. We also brought your friends as well, but they protested. We have sent them into the dream realm for a while.”

  I was dumfounded. I couldn’t even think of a question to ask, but within seconds, the presence and the voice disappeared. When Nathan awoke, he hugged me, kissing my forehead. As my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, I could see a cut on his cheek with a black eye above it. “Nathan, what happened?” I asked, worry evident in my voice. He just shook his head.

  “Not yet! I am so glad you’re okay, baby. Why did you run away?”

  I ran my finger over the cut, watching it heal as my finger touched it. I touched his eye, which healed as well.

  I had no idea what was happening when all of a sudden, a gong sounded from deep beneath the ground, making me jump up.

  Knowing we needed to follow it meant the explanation would have to wait. We saw a lantern hanging to our right, which I picked up. Almost as soon as I picked it up, the light flickered and went out, making it so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.

  With Nathan right beside me, I felt that somehow I knew the way. I allowed my senses to lead me. Nathan shivered beside me. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. We were together and that was all that mattered.

  Hearing that thought calmed me and as we walked down a dark, musty corridor, fear threatened to overwhelm me. His presence kept me calm. I heard him curse under his breath and I went back a few paces to help him as he had stumbled.

  The stones beneath our feet were small, but occasionally we walked over boulders and although I managed to stay upright, sometimes using the walls, Nathan wasn’t so lucky, and he stumbled falling over a few times. His grunts as he fell made me go back to him to make sure he was okay. We walked on for a long while, holding hands again for the final part of it. Eventually, we walked through a hole in a wall, covered in a sheet so dark that it looked like part of the wall.

  The moment we went through the curtains, we walked into a room so bright that we couldn’t see anything. I looked around, trying to figure out whether to be scared.

  “Where are we?” I turned around, but I didn’t see Nathan. I could only see my own shadow. I dropped my hand to my side.

  Turning around slowly, I would never forget the sight in front of me. There were creatures so small you could step on them without realising it, and creatures so big that they could squash a human being between the thumb and forefinger. I felt far from being reassured and when an old majestic voice asked us to step forwards, I just looked in awe at the most beautiful face I had ever seen. Her skin was translucent, with flowing locks of golden hair, eyes blue as the sky, and rosy cheeks.

  Looking down at her feet, I could see Joe and Lisa, who was visibly pregnant now, lying there. I could feel my face change and I looked at her in defiance, feeling the power building in me like never before. I wanted my friends safe, even though they thought I should die. Nate placed a hand on my arm, pulling me back to him as the beautiful lady spoke.

  “Calm down, little one. Your two friends are in an enchanted sleep and will awaken soon. We are leaving here because of the influx of demons, but we want to give you some protection before we leave.” Looking at Nate, I finally breathed out, but I was still worried and Nathan could see it. He ran his fingers over my cheeks, calming me with his touch.

  Turning back, I asked, “What kind of protection do you mean? What’s happening? I don’t understand! Who are you? What are you?”

  At this, she looked mad and her face changed from a face of beauty to the face of a witch, with a long pointy nose, green eyes, ebony hair, and a wart at the end of her nose. She didn’t realise that I could see that and when she spoke again, it was with care, and as if what she said was of vital importance. I felt her trying to get to Nate again, but I shadowed him again, intentionally this time. Even though I was unsure of these new powers, my instinct was to protect him. I looked at her and she answered me, “We are a mixture of mythical creatures who have gathered here to protect you, impart some wisdom and teachings to you. You must live. You are our only hope for survival, superstes.”

  “I’m sorry ma-am, but I don’t understand what that is?” />
  Her eyes appraised me coldly and she tried to get to Nathan again, but I was standing in front of him. Her answer scared me a little, and her eyes drank in my expression greedily as she stared at me.

  “You are the survivor, the warrior and the witness. You will free us from the eternal night we have been subjected to since the fall of Lucifer.”

  Nathan stiffened at the mention of Lucifer and I glanced round at him, but he shook his head at me. I pulled his arms around my waist and relaxed onto his chest. His lips pressed against my neck and I smiled round at him, as she spoke again.

  “Haven’t you told her, young demon?” Her sharp tone stabbed at me in the strangest way and Nathan groaned, “No, I haven’t.” I stood up with my back straight, and spoke with as much authority as I could muster, “STOP IT!”

  As soon as the words left my mouth Nathan relaxed against my back and his breathing slowed from a pant to normal. She smiled over at me, and I could see her teeth crawling with insects which made me shudder, “you have more power than you know young superstes, but can you use your powers to protect those you love?”

  I nodded and looked around the cave, taking in details. Lights hung to the ceiling, way too high up for a person to reach. Five or six smaller caves led from the huge cavern with about fifty or sixty different creatures, besides our friends, Nate, and me. I saw seats carved from stone and a waterfall behind the creature. Looking back at her, I felt Nathan right behind, touching my shoulder as he asked, “Can we trust them?”

  “What choice do we have? Either we trust them or they kill us.”

  I turned around to ask the lady a question, but the cave went dark as I turned. All the lights flickered out and the creatures disappeared. I didn’t understand what was happening until I felt a sinister breath on my neck.