*****
Ann wept. Here, in the relative safety of the squad car, the events of the last twenty-four hours finally caught up with her. She grieved for all the good people who had died in the hospital, and for Keith and Cynthia. Even if they still were alive as the empty puppets of some ancient evil, it was a far worse fate than death.
She had insisted on sitting in the passenger seat, putting on a strong act for the officer driving her to the station. He seemed relieved to get away from the action. Miller was sprawled across the back seat, muttering to himself. The “immortal” was in bad shape, but the constant jumble of words pouring out of his mouth told Ann he was still breathing. Once Mike was away and the car safely on the road, she had collapsed into a whimpering puddle. She had earned it.
Ann thought the name of the police officer driving the car was Carl. He was just a kid, younger than herself. He tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, which she did not reject or acknowledge. Then, his sudden swearing brought her out of her trance.
“What the hell is that?”
Ann’s head snapped up. Through the back window, she could make out a demon winging its way toward them. She hadn’t thought it possible but this one was even uglier than the last. It had the body of a snake, and looked almost like the dragons in Chinese parades. It slithered as it flew on crimson wings. It was catching up with them fast.
“Lizzie always told me he was a snake.”
“What?” Officer Carl stammered, panic making his voice squeak.
“I think it’s my ex. You’d better floor it.” Carl was already on it, the squad car leaping forward, sirens coming to life to warn the traffic ahead of them.
“Oh my God!” the policeman shouted, but continued to stay focused on getting them out of there as quickly as possible.
“Miller!” Ann pounded on the wall of Plexiglas that separated the front and back of the car. “We need you!” Miller seemed to look at her then, the blue eyes focusing for a second.
“Who is Andres Soliz?” Miller stammered, a look of confusion on his face.
Desperation boiled up in Ann. “Focus, you jackass.” She pounded on the glass. The force of her blow caused a small crack to appear. “What?” she asked, eyeing her handiwork. How had she done that? The car jerked hard to the right, snapping her attention back to the situation, and tossing her into the door. It jumped down a side street, tires screeching.
The demon took the corner as well but misjudged the space a bit, smashing its wings into a hot dog cart on the side of the road. The beast spun up into the air, then arced back down, bouncing on the ground, until it skidded to a stop.
“Yes!” Ann shouted, “Apparently he can’t corner to save his life! Nice driving!”
“Thanks.” Carl did not look at her, but continued to put as much distance between him and the demon as possible. “How did it find us so fast?”
Ann shrugged. “No idea.” She continued scanning the sky. Then she noticed Miller staring at her. His voice was weak when it came.
“Ann? Where are we?”
“You finally back with us Miller?”
“Aye. I woke up bouncing off this clear wall between us. What is this?” He tapped on the wall.
“We’re in a police car, heading to safety.” She hoped that was true. “Someone was following us.” Her eyes lifted to the sky to give Miller the clue as to ‘who’ she meant.
“They could be after me,” Miller said. “Are we inside some sort of carriage?”
“It’s back!” Carl yelled.
Sure enough, the flying snake-demon was diving out of the clouds again. Ann noticed that it had two spindly arms. Its speed was incredible. “Turn!” she shouted.
Carl weaved the car back and forth instead, which didn’t help. The demon smashed into the roof of the car.
Ancient Awakening (The Ancient) Page 30