by Aly Westman
I frowned. “Okay. Still though I can sleep next to one of you, it doesn’t bother me.”
“Dibs!!” Damion shouted as he jumped onto my bed.
“Hell no, I will lay next to her.” Seth spoke sternly.
Damion smiled, jumping up to his feet and then saluted Seth. “Yes sir!”
“Smart ass,” Seth whispered as he moved to the other side of my bed.
“Better than a dumb one!” Damion kicked his shoes off and pulled his pants down, keeping his eyes on me as he did. He smiled and gave me a wink, standing there in his boxers and shirt. He crawled into the other bed as Quinn did the same, shedding his shoes and pants. Just before Quinn got into bed Damion held his hand up, stopping him. “I don’t know Quinn, should we get married before you come in here?”
Quinn smiled. “Sorry Dame, I just don’t think we have the chemistry.”
Damion dropped his hand with a laugh. “Damn, Corey my love, when shall we be getting married?”
“Fuck off Dame, you’re still hitched.”
“Am not! I signed the papers!” They all laughed.
I slid under the covers as someone turned the lights out. Only the glow of the laptop sending a soft light through the room.
I laid there quietly on my side. I think this was the first time I wasn’t pressed up against Damion or Quinn. It felt odd. Seth was in the bed but he kept to his side. I wiggled closer to him, seeking out a comfort I didn’t realise I needed, however he wiggled further away from me. Okay… So he didn’t want to be touched. I resumed my spot on the other side.
Why was this an issue? Why was it bothering me? Every now and then Corey would type something on his laptop, or I would hear the click of a mouse. Soon the sound of Seth’s gentle snores filled the silence. Yet here I laid, wide eyed and alert.
Eventually I sat up and watched Corey. The blue hue of the computer screen washing over his face. His eyes looked tired as he stared at the screen but he was in deep concentration. He looked over at me and gave me a soft smile before resuming back to the screen. “Can’t sleep?” he whispered.
I got up and sat at the bottom of the bed, close to him. “I don’t know. It’s like I can’t turn my brain off.”
“It happens to me a lot.” I peered over at the screen, it was split into five different surveillance feeds.
“Anything interesting playing?” I asked jokingly.
He smiled. “Just a few late night booty calls. Rich, married men cheating on their stepford wives.”
“Really?” I moved to stand over him and look at the screen.
“A couple of them went into rooms, I’m sure they will be out in a few minutes.”
“I can’t believe people actually do that.” I was shocked.
Corey reached over and grabbed one of the throw blankets from the end of the bed. “Come here.” He opened his arms and I moved to sit on his lap. He pulled the blanket around us. “Get comfy, lay your head back.” I did as he told me too and instantly felt more relaxed. My head was resting just under his chin. Now and then he would switch screens and the weird radar would come up. It didn’t look like much activity was happening so he would switch back to the surveillance. “Oh, here comes Mr. Stepford number one. What, like 10 minutes? What a prick.”
I watched an older guy walk out of a room, throwing an expensive looking coat over his arm, fix his tie and then walk away. I could track him going down the walkway of the motel and to his expensive looking car. I thought about it for a while. “I kissed Damion, twice… sort of, if memories count. And now I am sitting on your lap.”
“That’s different,” Corey said, his arm holding me around the waist and ensuring I wouldn’t slip off his lap.
“How… I mean, I know I’m not dating anyone or anything, but what would Damion think… I don’t want to cause a fight.”
“Well, I don’t know how you feel, but I can tell you exactly what Damion thinks. He is pretty happy that I am here, holding you. He is content knowing I have you and can calm you. He thinks that if you need something and he isn’t there to give it, then he would prefer one of his brothers be here for you. We don’t fight over women or what we want. If he didn’t want this he would have told us straight up right away. But he didn’t.”
I frowned as I thought about it. “How do you know he thinks that?”
“Because it’s exactly how I feel.” He pressed his lips to the top of my head. “And if ever you don’t want anything just say so. These guys, picking up one night flings in a dingy motel, they promised themselves to one woman. That is what makes it wrong. If I wanted multiple women in my life I would make sure they all knew about it and were okay with it. I wouldn’t marry one woman and then continue having flings. If Mr. Stepford wanted multiple partners then he can be a man and make sure all partners are consenting and okay with it.”
“You talk about it as if you’ve had multiple partners before,” I said.
“It’s not uncommon for hunters to be in polyamorous relationships. Most of us travel in groups anyways.”
“Do you date other hunters?” I asked, curious.
“Yes, though sometimes that’s trouble in its own. But it’s also difficult dating someone who doesn’t know about this side of the world… it can put them in trouble. Sometimes they end up being a target.”
“Seems like a lonely life. Not being able to date or have a meaningful relationship.” I pointed out. I relaxed into his body, snuggling into the crook of his neck and pulling the blanket up tighter.
"Ava..." He spoke quietly. "Can I ask you something?"
I shrugged. "Sure."
"Why did you run? Earlier… in the storm." It was how he said it that made me feel okay with the question. He didn't say it because he felt sorry for me. He didn't say it in a way that made me feel like he wanted to fix me or suddenly become my therapist. He said it out of curiosity. And to be honest… I was curious as to why it happened as well.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not exactly sure why I did it. It was almost as if I had no control."
"I get that," he said, eyes trained on the screen in front of us. "I had a little brother… Danny. People said he was like a little carbon copy of me. We grew up hunters, my mother, my father, even my grandparents. We all were hunters.” He took a deep breath. “One thing about growing up as a hunter, or a hunter’s child, is you're never safe. We moved often, from one town or school to the next, but it was okay...you know?" I looked up at him and his green eyes met mine, soft for once, almost vulnerable. "We had each other... so it was okay." He looked back to the screen. "Danny was eight. We were walking to school and he started crying, he cried because he wanted to be a normal kid. He wanted to play after school with his friends. He wanted to have friends, something that was hard to do when you move around so much. I remember wiping his tears away, with my fingers, and telling him it would be alright. That we have each other. So we skipped school.” His breathing slowed and I felt like he was trying to focus on the computer screen to give him a bit of a distraction. As if he was trying not to relive what happened as he retold the events. “I took him down to the local arcade and we blasted money away on ping pong machines and candy. We forgot about hunting, about being hunters, about everything. It was a mistake I will never forget.”
His breath caught and he cleared his throat to try and cover it. “My parents, they had exorcised some demons the day before, they were doing a sweep that day before we moved on, you know, just to make sure they had gotten them all. Only... they hadn't. I remember being at the bus stop and Danny was so happy, like friggin, ear to ear grinning. He had a cup of candies in his hand and he was talking about the dinosaur shooting game we had annihilated." Corey's smile was huge as he remembered his little brother, it warmed my heart. But then it slowly disappeared. "I didn't see them coming. They came for me first, pinning me to the ground and smashing my head against the cement, trying to knock me out. I remember Danny's scream before I passed out. It's like burned into my head, you know? Someti
mes, even now, before I fall asleep I will hear it."
I could see where this was going and my once happy heart, imagining a small Corey look alike holding a cup of candies, now sank. "They killed him... didn't they?"
Corey nodded. "They used us as bait so they could lure my parents in, except they didn't get there fast enough. For three days Danny and I were chained up to metal chairs, back to back." He took a deep breath as a tear slowly rolled from the corner of his eye. "They took us, one at a time, and tortured the hell out of us. It was worse when they took him, because all I could do was listen to him scream and call for me. He was a damn child! I tried hard to break out of the chains." He took another breath. "He couldn't... he didn't make it. When my parents got there the demons had abandoned us for whatever reason... Danny had died later in hospital, from shock. To this day I can't stand the sound of metal on metal... I swear I can hear his scream within it."
I didn't know what to say, I didn't know if I could say anything. I reached across my stomach, finding his hand and threaded my fingers through his. “I guess the sound of thunder reminded me of the demons walking above me. The feeling of not knowing whether they were coming for me, what they would do to me.” I cleared my throat. "What do you do... when it happens."
Corey lifted my hand, that was nestled within his, and brought it to his lips, softly pressing a kiss to the back. Goosebumps spread across my body. "I hold on to someone. Usually Damion, if he is closest, he can sense the distress and he throws an arm over me. Sometimes Seth forces me to look at him and take deep breaths. Quinn will remind me where I am. They all do their own thing, but they are here for me."
Corey turned slightly so he faced me, bringing his free hand up and running his thumb across my cheek. "Ava, can you try to promise me something?"
My heart was pounding with his proximity. "Yes." I breathed out.
His thumb traced down my cheek and over my bottom lip. "When that happens... When you know a storm is coming or you see the clouds or you feel that panic again... Promise you will seek one of us out? I don't care who it is, just find one of us. I can't stand to lose one of them like I lost Danny. They are my brothers and I trust them. I trust them to take care of you, to protect you. And I need them to do that just as I do, because I can't stand to lose you too."
Slowly he moved forward and gently pressed his lips to mine. This kiss was so soft and heart breaking. It was almost pleading with me not to run away. It was pulling me in and making the world around us drift away. I wanted to reassure him, show him I wouldn't leave him. That I wouldn't let the demons take me. That I wouldn't disappear from him like Danny had.
Slowly, my hand moved to his chest, feeling his strength ripple beneath my fingers as I ran them up to the back of his neck. I pulled him in closer and deepened the kiss, running my tongue over his honey sweet soft lips.
The most awful, screeching, howl echoed through the forest and had me pulling away from Corey quickly. In unison, Seth, Quinn, and Damion jumped from the beds quickly. They were wide eyed and part of me had wondered if they were ever even sleeping in the first place.
"Yep, time to go." Damion was the first to his feet, the others following suit and grabbing all of our things.
“What do we have?” Seth demanded as he pulled a gun from his bag.
Corey was searching the computers frantically. “I can’t see anything. Sounds like hellhounds but we have a clear shot to the truck.”
"Damion drives," Seth ordered, no one protested this time.
Damion threw his fist into the air. "Hell yeah! They finally release me."
"Take it easy," Quinn said to him. I had a queasy feeling as Corey stood up, pushing me to my feet and then collecting the computer and gear.
I didn’t have time to think as Seth grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me directly behind him. Damion and Corey both had guns in their hands, Quinn pulled his out from his bag before slinging the bag onto his shoulder. They surrounded me and ushered me towards the SUV.
Now and then I heard a screech cut through the night but I couldn’t see anything.
Corey took the front with Damion, as Seth pushed me into the back seat. Quinn slid in the other side and grabbed my seat belt and pulled it across, snapping it in place. "Hold on." He smiled.
My eyes nearly bulged out. "To what?"
The howling and yipping drew closer as Damion quickly threw the truck into reverse and peeled out of the small town motel and onto the road. I held onto Seth as the truck spun around, the headlights shining bright on the objects ahead of us.
"What...what the hell are those?" I wasn't sure when my voice got so high pitched but no one paid any notice. In front of us were what looked like mangy wolves on steroids. They had black tufts of hair sticking out every which way as if they had a bad case of mange, a massive body the size of a lion, sharp canine teeth, and the most petrifying red glowing eyes I had ever seen. "Demonic dogs?"
"Hellhounds," Quinn whispered.
"I need my hat Core." Damion held out his hand as Corey shuffled through the glove box and dropped a ball cap into it. He pushed his hair back and placed the hat on his head backwards.
"How are we going to get through them?" I asked.
Beside me the sound of bullets being loaded was loud, both Quinn and Seth had shotguns ready as they rolled down their windows. "Through? Oh hell no, not when this thing has four wheel drive!" Damion threw the truck into reverse and winked at me as he sped backwards down the main road. There was a thud that caused me to jump. “Clipped him,” Damion stated matter of factly.
“Dame we can’t exactly go around shooting off the guns in town so…” Quinn said.
The vehicle took a sharp turn,. While he was in reverse! Down a friggin’ alleyway that was as wide as the damn truck. “Holy shit we are going to crash.”
“No… we won't. But you may need to change your panties when we’re done.” Damion smiled. “Oh… here we go.” The truck swung sharp again and I flipped my lid.
“Someone please give me a flippin gun, give me some damn control here because I’m about to lose it.”
“Deep breath Aves,” Corey said. “Trust us.”
Damion slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the truck lurched forward. I could still hear the yipping and screeching behind us. “How fast do those things run?”
“Haven’t really clocked it,” Damion stated. “We are going 140… and they are doing a decent job of catching up.” He was so damn calm! The town blew by us like nothing, we were driving out onto a damn empty road.
“Wouldn’t it be safer to stay closer to civilization… where they can’t hurt us?”
Seth laughed. “This isn’t the movies, there the monsters disappear in the sunlight and are too afraid to attack in front of a crowd. We are safer where we can use our weapons without drawing attention.”
“Seth, give me a damn job,” I demanded.
Seth reached behind him and pulled out a another shot gun, he handed it to me and then handed me a box of bullets. “I shoot, you reload.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
Seth opened the window at the same time Quinn did. The cold wind roared inside the cab and my hair went flying. Damion said something but I couldn’t hear over the wind in my face. Seth’s gun went off. There was a loud yip and I moved quickly to load the gun I was given, ensuring the safety remained on as Seth shot his gun another time. He yelled something in Russian and Quinn screamed back to him. Quinn’s gun went off a few times. I switched Seth’s shot gun out and began reloading the empty one.
Damion screamed “Fuck!!!” Everyone grabbed onto something, everyone but me! Damion made another sharp turn, veering off the fucking road and directly into a damn farmer field, blasting the fence all to hell. I was flung around until Seth grabbed me and held me down against him. The field was worse than a roller coaster, the truck jumping as it smacked against rocks and dipped into pits.
There was another loud bang as Seth resumed shooting out the window. Then a massi
ve smack sounded against the top of the truck, denting it, and massive talons pierced through the roof.
I reacted instantly, flipping the safety, cocking the shotgun and pulling the trigger.
“Shit!” Everyone ducked, including Damion. The blast loud enough to damage ears. Blood rained down from the roof but with another loud thud the beast rolled off the truck.
Damion was in control of the truck again, driving it down a ditch at an angle and then popping it up the ditch, into the damn air, and then onto another road. He sped down the road for a while, I couldn’t hear any more screeching or yipping but I was fairly sure I busted my ears with the gun.
Slowly Damion began reducing the speed. “Clear!” he yelled.
“Clear,” Seth called back, rolling up his window.
“Clear,” Quinn yelled, also putting his window up.
My eyes were wide, and I was gripping the gun for dear life. “Yeah… hows about we take that gun from her for now,” Damion said, even though the noise of the wind had stopped he was stilled raising his voice.
Seth reached over and took the gun. “We have some damage. Do we have a spot to stop for repairs?” He looked up at the gaping holes in the roof. Oops.
“Actually we have a warded safe house. About two hours from here. It’s slightly out of the way,” Corey stated, staring at a map on his laptop.
“Can we make it Dame?” Seth asked.
“It may be pushing it but we will see.”
Everyone was still yelling. I felt terrible. I fired a damn gun in a moving vehicle! I didn’t think, I just fired. Damn.
I couldn’t process anything, I think I may have been slightly in shock by what I had seen. I laid my head down onto Quinn’s shoulder. He moved so his arm was around me and I was on his chest. I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to overcome me.
My ears were still ringing as the truck pulled into a quiet little town. The houses were neatly spaced out, lawns nicely manicured. Double driveways with minivans parked in them.