by Kim Cormack
Humpty Dumpty’s. That was irony at its best for she was going to make sure every last demon in this town fell down and hard.
The group of Ankh strolled through the doors and there were only a few patrons dining in the restaurant. They were mortal. She wasn’t wrong about this place. She knew she wasn’t wrong. Her instincts had shifted into high gear and her stomach kept tying itself in knots. It was then that her heightened senses put a species to the scent of the meat they were cooking in the kitchen. Mental note… Warn the others about the people meat. There was a time when it wouldn’t have mattered what species she was ingesting as long as the aching desperation of starvation was quenched but she wasn’t desperate or starving anymore. These demons were cannibals. This was only one more reason why she was proud to be a part of their destruction. There was a seriously creepy amount of burgundy in this room. It was everywhere, from the pleather seating to the light fixtures, everything was burgundy. A waitress appeared from the kitchen area, trailing behind her was an aura with misty hues of black and smoky gray. She froze when she saw them at the table. The demon possessed shell of a waitress, gave them a well-acted overly hospitable smile and quickly darted back into the kitchen area.
Kayn and Zach looked panicked. She hadn’t made them. She was probably just checking the freezer to see if there was enough space. Lexy grinned at her own comical inner commentary as she kicked Kayn under the table and whispered, “They can’t tell that we are anything other than normal people unless they see the symbol of Ankh on the palms of our hands. Just play it cool.”
Her attention was brought back to Grey as he nudged her with his elbow and quietly spoke, “Are they all good?”
Lexy was just about to say, yes they’re fine, when Kayn rather abruptly stood up and walked away from the table. Zach grabbed for her arm.
Kayn darted out of the way and chuckled, “I’m just going to go over there to get some menus. They’re sitting in plain sight on the counter. Our waitress appears to be missing in action.”
The fledgling Dragon wandered over to the counter and snagged six menus just as their not so mortal waitress appeared from the back room. The lady with the smoky aura immediately began to apologize as Kayn assured her that everything was fine, she just thought she’d save her the trip and grab the menus for the table.
“I’m sorry about the wait. We’re a bit under staffed at the moment. Would you all like some coffee?” the pleasant voiced lady asked.
Kayn smiled sweetly back at her and answered, “Yes, coffee would be wonderful. How come you guys are open so early?”
The waitress responded, “We get a lot of truck drivers passing through early in the morning. It tends to be our busiest time of the day. This morning is obviously an exception. I’ll be there in a second with your coffee.” She nodded at Kayn and briskly marched back into the kitchen area.
Kayn strolled back to the table with menus in hand and a knowing smile on her face, as she passed the menus out to everyone at the table and slid back into her seat with a sweet self-satisfied grin.
Lexy smiled to herself. Miss Brighton had done well… Extremely well.
Frost started to laugh, “You should have seen the look of sheer terror on Zach’s face when that waitress came out of the back room. It was amazing.”
Kayn glared at Zach and said, “Mello yourself out, my friend. Have a beer or something.”
“It’s six o’clock in the morning. Who drinks at six am?” Zach mumbled as he opened his menu and tried to pretend he was interested in ordering and not the least bit terrified at what Kayn might do next.
Grey started to laugh. Lexy scowled at him and questioned, “Is something funny?”
“Nope, nothing at all,” Grey stated as he opened the menu that was sitting in front of him.
Lily shook her head slowly from side to side and sighed, “You guys are so whipped.”
Zach looked up from his menu and questioned, “How exactly am I whipped? She’s not my girlfriend or anything.”
Lily grinned, hid behind her menu and teased, “That’s not what I heard.”
Damn it, Greydon. Lexy had known he was going to tell someone but Lily…really?
“That was just a distraction to get out of a sticky situation with Trinity and then it went a little further than it was supposed to because our Kayn had some amped pheromones and I am…” Zach stopped speaking because Frost looked stricken.
Frost looked at Zach and questioned, “No headaches or anything when you kissed her?”
Zach raised one eyebrow, and gave him a strange look as he responded, “No, why would I get a headache?”
“Interesting,” Frost replied, and then stared back down at his menu.
Frost was seriously choked.
Lexy glanced up from her menu as the door to the kitchen opened with a squeal and a groan.
“They should grease the hinges on that door,” Grey noted from behind his menu.
The waitress made her way back to the table, coffee pot in hand and one by one they passed her their mugs and when she was finished she courteously added, “I’ll be right back to take your orders.”
Lexy looked directly at Kayn and mouthed the words, “I’d avoid ordering anything that has meat in it.”
Kayn knit her brow and nodded.
Lily gave Frost’s arm a squeeze when the waitress appeared and whispered, “It’s your turn.”
Frost looked up from his menu, ordered some oatmeal and handed the waitress the menu. They all did the same as they ordered. Lexy felt her adrenaline race as the door to the restaurant opened. Calm, she had to be calm. Grey took her hand under the table as half a dozen human shells with ominous smoky gray and black auras strolled into the establishment. Lexy sensed the anxiety from her fellow Dragon, kicked Kayn under the table again and whispered, “Shut it down.”
Kayn nodded at Lexy as her stomach growled loudly. So, loudly that everyone at the table turned and looked at her. Lexy felt a slight jerk as Grey followed her example and kicked Zach under the table.
Zach moved closer to Kayn and whispered, “Just breathe.”
“I need to get out of here for a second,” Kayn asserted as she tried to stand up but couldn’t because Zach had a death grip on her hand.
Frost questioned, “Where do you think you’re going?”
Kayn looked directly into his eyes and explained, “I’m just going to the bathroom. I need a minute. I’ll get it under control.”
Lexy whispered, “Just think about something else.”
At that moment the waitress arrived with Kayn’s breakfast and she placed an omelet in front of her. Kayn politely thanked the waitress, grabbed the hot sauce and dumped a disgustingly impressive amount of it on her omelet. She was putting it on everything now.
The waitress placed Zach’s order in front of him and Lexy grimaced. He ordered the bacon. Oh, crap she’d just assumed Kayn would warn him. She winced as he took a bite and scrunched up her nose. Lexy turned to alert Grey and he was already watching Zach with morbid fascination as he devoured his first strip of human meat. Shit.
Zach made a strange face, as he picked up his next piece of bacon and whispered to Kayn, “I think there’s something wrong with this bacon. It smells off. Should I tell the waitress?”
They both had to bite their tongues to stop themselves from laughing as Kayn’s eyes widened as she realized that she’d forgotten to warn her Handler about the meat. Kayn picked up one of Zach’s pieces of bacon and sniffed it. Lexy smiled and she had to look away for a second as Kayn realized what her Handler was eating. The scent of burnt human flesh always left an imprint on one’s memory.
Lexy slowly moved her head from side to side and mouthed the words, “Don’t tell him.”
Kayn whispered in Zach’s ear, “It’s probably gone bad. Don’t eat any more.”
Zach grimaced and complained, “That was a waste of money.”
The waitress popped back to their table to refill their coffee and Zach addressed her,
“Excuse me, but I think there’s something wrong with my bacon. It’s gone bad or something.”
The waitress gave her token response, “I apologize. We serve thin strips of moose meat as bacon. It’s not pig. I keep telling them they should have that written on the menu somewhere.”
That hadn’t made sense but seemed to pacify Zach’s need for an answer. Zach smelled a piece and took another bite of it, right in front of the waitress. He looked at Kayn and she had to look away from him.
The waitress smiled as Zach chewed up his mouthful and swallowed it. She wandered to the next table to refill their coffee. The restaurant was now completely full to capacity and everyone was surrounded by the black and gray smoke. Lexy was trying really hard to fight the urge to decapitate everyone in the diner. They were all demons hidden beneath a veil of mortal flesh. They needed to leave because she had a reasonable amount of control and Kayn did not.
Lexy squeezed her Handler’s hand as tightly as she could and he in turn gave Frost a good shove.
“Let’s go buy some toiletries and clothes. Then we’ll find somewhere to stay for the night,” Frost announced rather loudly, just as the waitress walked past their table.
She paused and made a suggestion, “There are some really great cabins with a lake view a few blocks away. You’ll see the sign. It says, Eagle Perch. Those are really reasonable.”
Frost nodded, smiled at her and said, “Add an extra ten dollars for the tip.” He handed her his card.
She thanked him and replied, “I’ll be right back with your receipt. After she brought it back to the table, they all rose from their seats and made their way out of the restaurant appearing to be nothing more than tourists. They’d look like easy targets, a group of teenagers planning to spend the night partying in one of the cabins by the lake.
Kayn caught up to Frost and whispered, “So, what’s the plan here? Are we really spending the night in a town full of...?”
Frost lifted one finger and pressed it against his lips, to signal that Kayn shouldn’t say what she was about to say out loud.
Chapter 19
An Echo in the Calm
They got into the truck and started to drive around while scoping out the town.
Frost began to explain the job, “We’re going to go rent a cabin. Then we’re going to stop by every business in this town and make sure we tell them where we’re staying at, and that we’ll only be here for one night. They’ll come for us and when they do, we’ll show them what two Dragons are capable of.”
Lexy grinned as her eyes met with Kayn’s and she knew that the fledgling Dragon was not the slightest bit afraid of the evil that was coming for them.
Zach asked the question, “What are they? How many of them are there?”
Frost replied, “This is a demon infestation. The sign as we arrived said the population was two hundred and seven.”
Kayn couldn’t stop smiling. Lexy understood how she was feeling. This was going to be so much fun.
Zach’s lips were still parted. He was stunned. He stated, “There’s no way we can kill two hundred demons, it’s impossible.”
Frost laughed and sparred, “You just survived the Testing. Nothing is impossible.”
They pulled down the long dirt road that led to the cabins the waitress had told them about. Kayn glanced at Lexy and they grinned at each other. Frost parked the vehicle and everyone got out of the truck. Her new murder buddy appeared to be equally down for the demonic mass murder they had planned for this evening.
Frost wandered over to the office and hollered, “Wait here, you guys. I’ll be right back.” He darted into the inconspicuous looking rustic log cabin office.
There were gift shop items displayed in the window. It made her want to giggle. They probably sold souvenirs to their guests and after they’d murdered them in their sleep they just placed them back in that window for the next sucker that came along. Lexy inhaled the fragrant scent of the forest. This town was the perfect place for a demon infestation, it was completely isolated. There was only one road into town and one way out. Lexy slowly spun around, while surveying the lay of the land. Yes, this was going to be fun.
The branches of the trees fluttered as an icy breeze rippled its way through the branches. Even the breeze was colder than it should be. This place was nothing more than a beautiful trap set for mortals. Goosebumps prickled on the flesh of her arms. She knew it was warning her of the evil that was sure to come as soon as the sun set and the forest became lost in the shadows of the towering trees. There was always an uneasy stillness in the air before a tornado. She felt that now. It was coming and just as the brutality of those volatile winds could savagely rage their way across the land, she was capable of the same destruction. Lexy knew she could weather any storm no matter how volatile or harsh. This was her calling; she was meant to be a weapon, a method of retaliation, leaving nothing but utter devastation in her wake. She was a Dragon, and the fire of vengeance raged within her being for the two hundred and seven mortals that had their souls displaced so these foul demonic entities could use their shells. When the fight was over she would remain standing while those who threatened her clan and defiled the mortal species that she’d vowed to protect were left scattered on the ground as no more than shards of metal in a class five’s wake. The demons that had taken over this town would end up being nothing more in the end than an echo in this moment of calm.
Frost reappeared with a key dangling from two fingers. He grinned and explained, “I told them we needed some privacy. So, they’ve put us in the cabin that’s down by the water. Everyone hop back into the truck. It’s a bit of a drive.”
They all got into the vehicle and pulled out and continued to drive down the long narrow road. There wasn’t room for more than one vehicle. If they met someone coming in the opposite direction, they’d be screwed. They drove for quite a while through the lush greenery of the forest before Frost pulled down one of the numbered driveways. He parked in front of a rustic log cabin. Grey got out first and climbed into the back of the truck, unlocked the plastic storage box and hauled a case out of it. Grey leapt out of the back of the truck and lugged the case towards the door as Frost unlocked it. He glanced down at the welcome mat and lifted it up and of course there was another key under the mat.
Frost grinned, as he held up the key and stated, “So, this is how they planned on getting inside.” He strolled into the cabin and Grey followed him, hauling the obviously heavy case.
Zach was right behind Grey. He whispered, “Tell me this isn’t going to be a blood bath. Our blood bath.”
Grey grinned at Zach and stated, “We probably won’t even have to leave the cabin. Lexy and Kayn are going to enjoy this one. It’ll be a cake walk for them.” He opened the case and it was full of ten pound bags of salt and a smaller black case. He removed the smaller case and placed it on the bed beside the larger one while making a suggestion to the group, “Grab one the bags and start circling the room on the inside.”
Lily grabbed one of the bags and did her part circling the room with salt. She piped in, “Don’t worry about it Zach. This is just a small town where demonic souls have possessed the entire population. There won’t be any of those big scaly ones or any of that sedating mist involved. These are just really strong shells. We’re just going to send them back to where they came from. The Aries group will clean up after us.”
Lexy walked over the threshold and saw the smaller case that Grey had laid on the bed. She opened it, and inside of the case were half a dozen silver daggers with the symbol of Ankh etched into the blades. She noticed Kayn staring at her and stroked one of the blades appreciatively with her finger as she explained, “These daggers will send them to where they are supposed to go without having to mark them with our blood and say anything. We’re only supposed to use them when the job is as big as this one.”
The cabin reeked of bleach. This must be the routine. Somebody comes into the diner and they suggest the cabins. They came out
here and were murdered in their sleep and eaten by the patrons of the diner. She really had to give these demons two thumbs up and a finger snap for creativity.
Frost came out of the bathroom and announced, “Time to go and get to know the town’s residents. We’ll drive in together and then split up. We’ll cover more ground faster that way. I’d like to come back out here and relax for a bit. It’s a beautiful lake. It’s just a shame that the whole damn town is full of cannibals.”
Zach looked at Frost and said, “What did you just say?”
Lexy elbowed Frost and he dodged his question, “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.” He quickly strolled out of the door.
As they drove back towards the small town filled with cannibalistic demons only some of them were feeling anxious, others were excited. Well, mainly the two Dragons that were sitting in the back seat. Neither of them could wipe the smiles off of their faces. They pulled over about a block from the diner where they’d eaten their sketchy breakfast and all got out of the vehicle. The three girls started walking in one direction, and the boys in the other.
Lily took a card out of her pocket and announced, “Let’s go buy some new clothes.”
Both Kayn and Lexy grimaced at the idea. Lily appeared to be seriously stoked. They entered a small trendy looking boutique and for Lexy shopping was about as exciting as having her toe nails removed one by one with pliers. Lily was a girl with a mission and she moved around the store with the skill of someone that worked there. She grabbed some jeans for Lexy and Kayn to try on and sent them to the change rooms. They found them easily while Lily loudly told the ladies that worked there all about the cabin they were staying in for the night at the gorgeous picturesque little lake. They left the store with a bag of clothes and it wasn’t nearly as painful as Lexy had thought it would be. They popped into a florist and chatted with the people in the store about where they were staying, asked directions to the pharmacy and headed out to get some toothpaste, toothbrushes and make up for them to share. Every last person appeared to be a demon with a smoky black and gray cloud, hovering around them. It was almost three o’clock in the afternoon and one by one their stomachs started a lovely chorus of, feed me ladies or I’m going to make this awkward. Lily texted the boys and told them, they were ordering take out. She asked them what they wanted and told them they were ready to go. They would need to rest up and relax before this fight. By quarter after three, their order was done. The guys showed up with no bags explaining that they’d already put them in the truck and that Zach was waiting for them there. They passed off some of their bags to Frost and Grey to lighten their load. With food in hand, they followed them out to the vehicle that was loaded with the supplies the guys had purchased. Zach beamed, and over exuberantly waved at them through the window. What in the hell? He was blitzed. Those Morons.