Spokane Washington

Jamie Brewer — 

I was hiding behind the body of a burned-out car, my heart was beating so loudly in my chest that it was all I could hear in the silence of the night. The city I had grown up in, went to school in, made friends in, and gotten married in, had been turned into a living hell over just a few hours. 

The demons were relentless, their golden armor gleaming in the night as they hunted us down. The group I had fallen into had started off with so many, but now we were down to just three. 

“Jamie, we can’t stay here, they’ll find us!” Kyle whispered urgently, his voice tight with fear.  He was bleeding badly from a wound above his eye, his hand constantly wiping away the blood to keep it out of his eye.

Nodding in acknowledgment, I scanned the street for any sign of movement and held my breath trying to calm my panicked nerves. After several moments I asked,“What happened to Sara?” my voice was as quiet as I could make it while still being heard. 

He looked behind us towards the alley we had just left, “She is checking behind us, she should be back soon.”  I could see his legs starting to shake as he crouched down beside me, he was tired, we both were. 

“Then let’s wait for her,” I responded. I didn’t want to leave her behind and our chances for survival would go down if we lost anyone else.

We laid down in the street, letting the burned out vehicle be our cover while we waited for her to return. The silence tense, the sounds of battle had long since died out, replaced by the occasional scream of agony in the dark night.  

Sara had been the reason we had lived until now, when our main group was attacked she had led us away to safety. Her keen eyes, and good instincts had been the reason we had made it until now and without her I honestly didn’t know if we would be okay or not. 

Suddenly Kyle shouted, “Jamie!” his voice was filled with panic, causing me to jump and spin around. I turned just in time to see one of those golden demons charging right at us.  I screamed in panic and rolled out of the way just as it swung its spear right for my heart, barely dodging the blow. I stumbled to my feet, my heart racing in my chest as I scrambled to get away. 

Kyle jumped at it, tackling it from the side, trying desperately to hold onto it as it tried to pursue me. He started to bite into the flesh of its arm in a desperate attempt to fight it off of us. The creature turned, and moved with a speed and grace that was almost impossible to follow. With its spear, it struck Kyle, driving it through the base of his skull and up through his head piercing right through it. I watched in horror as his body went limp, falling limply to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut. 

At that moment, Sara ran out from behind the car and grabbed me, pulling me out of my shock, “Move!” she yelled. I looked back as we ran, the invader had stopped to look down at Kyle, its spear still inside of him. 

My mind racing, I could only run into the darkness, hoping that it wouldn’t give chase again. 

We ran through the night, exhaustion evident in both of us as we finally collapsed in front of a burning apartment complex. We were both breathing so heavily, as our bodies shook with the effort.  Sara turned to me, her eyes watering as she fought back tears.  “I don’t know if anywhere is safe,” she said in a half sob. 

I could only nod in agreement, too tired to do or say anything else. The pulse of my heart physically hurt behind my eyes and in my ears.  My lungs felt like they were on fire, and it took everything in me to get up and point ahead. “I think I recognize this place, my coworker lived here. He was always strong; he might be able to help us.” I said between gasps of air, still trying to get my breathing under control. 

“Okay, but do you really think he is still here? The place is on fire,” Sara said, also breathing heavily, pointing out the obvious as the smoke rose from the buildings. 

She was right, what chance would there be that he was still inside. “I don’t know, but where else can we go? I think I can still remember which one is his.” I said trying to keep my voice steady despite the fear and uncertainty that gripped me. I started to walk towards the direction I remembered it being in when I had dropped off a check for him several months ago. 

We moved through the complex, several bodies littering the sidewalk as we kept to the shadows. Their eyes lifeless and wide, staring into the sky, remembering whatever terror they had seen in their last moments. 

My thoughts turned to Joel, he had always been so kind to me at work, and when we first met he had helped get that creep out of the bar who had been harassing me and Maria. I hoped that maybe, he might be able to help me again. 

We reached his building, the door though was broken, hanging off of its hinges, and that faint glint of hope I had inside faded in that moment. I stepped inside, the smoke and heat hitting me like a wall. The inside of his apartment was a mess of broken furniture and debris, it was difficult to see anything and I called out for him but he didn’t answer. 

Sara tugged at my arm and I turned to her, she looked at the ground and in a quiet voice she said, “I don’t think he is alive if he is in there.” 

Turning back to the apartment, I knew she was probably right, the state his place was in he wouldn’t be here anymore.  If he was he was probably dead— but I couldn’t leave without knowing for sure. I steadied my nerves, and covered my mouth by pulling my torn shirt over my head into a makeshift head wrap, and then headed inside. 

I squeezed through the opening and climbed over the rubble that had once been the roof of the apartment. Feeling around I crawled on the floor trying to stay below the smoke that filled the structure. I couldn’t see anything in the haze and it took me several minutes until I finally found a body— or was it two?  

There were two pairs of arms, legs— and to my horror six wings. I stumbled back, trying to put as much distance between myself and the demon that lay there. I was terrified that it would wake up, grab me and run me through with its spear just like it had done to poor Kyle. 

Sitting there in the darkness, it took me several long moments to bring my heart back under my control, and for my mind to realize what was in front of me. There shouldn’t be two sets of arms, I thought to myself. Every demon we had faced only had one pair of arms and why was it laying on the ground like that? 

Taking another few moments to gather my courage I slowly crawled back towards it, and very carefully I felt around again. My hand brushed against its spear laying on the ground next to it, the cold metal and obsidian a frightening feeling against my skin. I picked it up and held it. I poked at the demon laying there ready to run away if it even twitched. 

After what felt like an eternity in my mind, nothing happened, and I gingerly poked at it again with the spear. Nothing happened again. It was motionless, completely still, laying dead on the floor. Reaching out my hand I felt around its body until I touched what felt like another arm laying on top of it. Following the touch of skin against mine I slowly traced it up until I felt a torso, and a head. 

“Joel!” I immediately said, hoping to God above that it was him and not someone else that had also sought shelter here. His body was covered in a thick dried crust of blood that was still sticky in places to the touch. I felt for his face and placed the back of my hand against his mouth, I could feel a slight breathing coming in and out, he was alive! It was weak, but he was definitely alive. 

I called for Sara, “Sara! Quick, get in here and help me, I found him!” I could hear her starting to make her way inside as I continued checking his body to see what had happened to him. He was absolutely covered in blood but I couldn’t find a wound. I couldn’t tell if it was his or the demon he was laying on top of but whatever had happened here left him in this state. Had he fought this thing and won? “God please let him be okay,” I said in a quiet prayer. 

Sara finally made it over to me with my help and together we started to pull him outside. It took all of our effort to drag his heavy body over the rubble in the room and after several agonizing minutes we finally made it outside. 

Gasping for breath as we got out of that hellish apartment, we collapsed in the walkway and let the cool night air wash over us.  I leaned over and checked on him in the light of the moon, his eyes were closed and he had a pained look on his face. I couldn’t see any obvious wounds but in his shirt was a large gash that was covered in dried blood on both sides of his body. It looked like he had been stabbed but there was no injury where it should have been. Confused, I looked over to Sara, “I think he will be okay, I don’t know what happened but there is a dead demon in there.” I said as I pointed back into the apartment.  

She lay on her back, huffing in and out air as she tried to catch her breath from the heat and exertion we had just been through. “I think— you— are— crazy.” she coughed out between gaps for air. I smiled, and we let out a relieved laugh.