A hand emerged from the depths of Hell, grabbing onto the enigma’s face. Two fingers actually slipped into its razor-sharp maw.
The enigma, snapping down, broke its teeth rather than slicing through the fingers.
Juliana slid back just a little more before everything stopped.
Violet blood painted the walls. Teeth exploded outwards and burrowed into the drywall. The tentacles, save for a little end around Juliana’s ankle, were gone.
Standing with a frown on his face was a golden eyed demon.
“You,” he said in his silver voice, deep and familiar, “are looking far worse than the last time I saw you.”
Juliana didn’t have a proper response. She tried, but all that came out was a pained squeak. Trying again was impossible. Her eyes fluttered shut as her blood-covered face hit the concrete.
— — —
Irene pressed her back against an earthen wall, ducking her head as a fireball flew overhead.
But Saija was completely oblivious to her thoughts. In fact, she was completely oblivious to everything, including the battle going on around them. A stone the size of Irene’s fist slammed into her shoulder, but Saija barely noticed.
She was just… staring.
Behind her, just to the side of another barrier, Sebastian had stood up and was staring as well. An icicle whizzed past his face and he didn’t even blink.
Both were staring in the same direction.
Something knotted in Irene’s stomach. Something wrong. Two demons, both completely ignoring the battle around them?
“Saija?” Irene said, reaching to grab the succubus’ hand.
Saija didn’t even react until Irene pulled her back down behind the wall. And then, it was just to stare at Irene.
“Are you alright?”
“Perfect!” Her voice came bright and cheery. Almost forced. “Come on, let’s show these humans how real demons fight.”
Saija didn’t wait for a response from Irene. She vaulted over the wall, spreading her wings. She was gone in an instant.
Blinking, Irene realized that Sebastian was back to fighting as well. Fighting with, of all things, cutlery. A dinner fork flew from his hands over the wall. A short moment later, someone cried out.
With a short sigh, Irene felt the tension leave her shoulders. If they were both back to normal, it couldn’t have been anything too bad. She stood with her wand in hand.
Only to dive to the side as a fireball crashed against the wall, knocking shards of hardened earth into the air.
“I’m not a demon, Saija,” she mumbled. “I don’t even want to fight as a human.”
— — —
Zoe’s heart lurched.
Something happened.
Both demons at the Brakket post had frozen. That on its own might not be worth noting; however, the scout demon had frozen as well. A second camera showed him over by Isomer’s post. All three of them froze at the
Eva. Because what else would it have been.
She considered making an excuse to step off stage for a moment. To at least grab her cellphone and tell Wayne to be on the lookout for anything odd.
“Glad you asked, Hank,” she said, hoping there was no strain in her voice.
— — —
Catherine jolted. A full cup of coffee spilled all down her front.
And all over the front of her cellphone.
Letting off a stream of curses at the audacity of some demons, she ran to the bathroom to grab a towel. Though she did pause at the window for one moment, looking out over her ritual circle.
Perhaps it was for the best that she had been delayed in committing to the next version.
— — —
Eva and Arachne spun around in sync with each other, turning to face the exact opposite direction from where they had been running.
“We’re going the wrong way,” Eva said.
“How can you be sure?”
“I sense something. A presence I’ve not felt since…”
Eva didn’t bother finishing her sentence. She took off at a sprint with Arachne following close behind.
Only Way Out
Footstep after heavy footstep jolted Juliana awake.
She immediately wished that she had stayed in blissful unconsciousness. Everything hurt. If she had thought she was in pain before, that had been nothing compared to what she now felt. Her leg had been dislocated, fingernails broken, ankle crushed, arms broken, back battered and bruised, and her head throbbed. And that was just the big things.
But she was alive. A painful existence, but she existed nonetheless. If she were the more optimistic sort, she might consider the pain a good reminder that she was alive and be a little more thankful for it.
The stomping around above slowed to a stop. The unintelligible shouting hadn’t, however. From what little Juliana could understand, the hunter couldn’t find the stairs. Juliana wasn’t sure if that meant that the stairs were gone or if the hunter simply couldn’t see them.
