couch on the edge of the room. “I’ll bring one of them up.”
Robert leaves the room only to have a woman enter.
“I’m Tessa,” she says with a smile on her slightly wrinkled face. Her hair is long and blond, heavily matted though which tells me she hasn’t showered in some time though you couldn’t tell by smelling her.
“Mitch,” I say.
“Did you escape the fires too?”
I shake my head. “Nah, I’m looking for the one who caused them.”
She stares at me intently, piercing my soul with her dark brown eyes. “Why would you want to follow a demon.”
I sigh, sitting back in the comfortable couch before telling my story. I don’t tell the woman everything, however, but make sure she knows that she was possessed without her consent.
“That makes a little more sense,” she says. “But you won’t have much luck here unless you plan to kill them all.”
I nod. “I heard about the demon problem up here.”
Robert enters the room with an older woman in tow. The woman has her head down to the floor allowing the light to glisten off of the streaks of gray in her hair. He leads her to the opposite end of the couch, helping her sit before he takes a seat on a nearby recliner.
“Julie here was one of the ten survivors that came in this morning. According to her, there weren’t many more that made it out with their lives.” He takes a drink from a glass next to his chair. “She lost her husband and two sons to the attack.”
“I’m sorry,” I say as sincerely as possible.
She looks over at me and cries the moment her gaze meets mine. I hand her the box of Kleenex on my side of the counter that she takes with a nod.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
She nods before blowing her nose.
“The woman that attacked you. Did she have red hair?”
Nod.
“Was she wearing a pair of red glasses?”
Nod.
“Was she alone?”
She shakes her head.
“Can you tell me who was with her?”
She sits up in the chair, looking at Robert who nods her on.
“She was with a man. He looked about my age with a thick black beard. They came into the neighborhood early in the morning before most of us were awake.” She blows her nose again. “I’ve always been an early bird.”
I smile and urge her to continue.
“When they passed by the window, I looked out in time to see her hair flying everywhere. Then out of nowhere the house across the street caught on fire. Then the one next to it.”
“Anything odd about the fire?”
She nods. “They looked like letters at first. Across the street was the letter M. Next door was an I. I couldn’t see the rest.”
Michael. She didn’t have to see the rest for me to know what was going on. I got here too late. If I had to guess, that was Israfil’s way of issuing the challenge.
I’m about to ask another question when she cries even harder.
“Then the man did something with his hands and a big gust of wind carried the fire to the other houses. After that the fires spread quickly.” She places her face in her hands and just lets go. Tessa gets out of her recliner to console the woman.
“And I ran,” she says. “I ran as fast as I could. Never even thought of my kids or husband until I was close to the highway.”
I want to say something. Anything. To make her feel better, but the words just won’t come. What do you say to someone when they tell you a story like that anyways? I can’t say I blame her for taking off, but it surprises me her motherly instinct didn’t kick in until she was long gone.
Suddenly a flash of lighting strikes just outside of the house. In a normal situation I wouldn’t have considered it out of place, except that it was completely clear when we walked into the house.
“Expecting a storm?” I say, walking to the door.
Robert shakes his head.
“You may want to be ready to run then,” I say. “Just in case.”
- 11 -
Up at the end of the street I see a group of
Robert leaves the room only to have a woman enter.
“I’m Tessa,” she says with a smile on her slightly wrinkled face. Her hair is long and blond, heavily matted though which tells me she hasn’t showered in some time though you couldn’t tell by smelling her.
“Mitch,” I say.
“Did you escape the fires too?”
I shake my head. “Nah, I’m looking for the one who caused them.”
She stares at me intently, piercing my soul with her dark brown eyes. “Why would you want to follow a demon.”
I sigh, sitting back in the comfortable couch before telling my story. I don’t tell the woman everything, however, but make sure she knows that she was possessed without her consent.
“That makes a little more sense,” she says. “But you won’t have much luck here unless you plan to kill them all.”
I nod. “I heard about the demon problem up here.”
Robert enters the room with an older woman in tow. The woman has her head down to the floor allowing the light to glisten off of the streaks of gray in her hair. He leads her to the opposite end of the couch, helping her sit before he takes a seat on a nearby recliner.
“Julie here was one of the ten survivors that came in this morning. According to her, there weren’t many more that made it out with their lives.” He takes a drink from a glass next to his chair. “She lost her husband and two sons to the attack.”
“I’m sorry,” I say as sincerely as possible.
She looks over at me and cries the moment her gaze meets mine. I hand her the box of Kleenex on my side of the counter that she takes with a nod.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
She nods before blowing her nose.
“The woman that attacked you. Did she have red hair?”
Nod.
“Was she wearing a pair of red glasses?”
Nod.
“Was she alone?”
She shakes her head.
“Can you tell me who was with her?”
She sits up in the chair, looking at Robert who nods her on.
“She was with a man. He looked about my age with a thick black beard. They came into the neighborhood early in the morning before most of us were awake.” She blows her nose again. “I’ve always been an early bird.”
I smile and urge her to continue.
“When they passed by the window, I looked out in time to see her hair flying everywhere. Then out of nowhere the house across the street caught on fire. Then the one next to it.”
“Anything odd about the fire?”
She nods. “They looked like letters at first. Across the street was the letter M. Next door was an I. I couldn’t see the rest.”
Michael. She didn’t have to see the rest for me to know what was going on. I got here too late. If I had to guess, that was Israfil’s way of issuing the challenge.
I’m about to ask another question when she cries even harder.
“Then the man did something with his hands and a big gust of wind carried the fire to the other houses. After that the fires spread quickly.” She places her face in her hands and just lets go. Tessa gets out of her recliner to console the woman.
“And I ran,” she says. “I ran as fast as I could. Never even thought of my kids or husband until I was close to the highway.”
I want to say something. Anything. To make her feel better, but the words just won’t come. What do you say to someone when they tell you a story like that anyways? I can’t say I blame her for taking off, but it surprises me her motherly instinct didn’t kick in until she was long gone.
Suddenly a flash of lighting strikes just outside of the house. In a normal situation I wouldn’t have considered it out of place, except that it was completely clear when we walked into the house.
“Expecting a storm?” I say, walking to the door.
Robert shakes his head.
“You may want to be ready to run then,” I say. “Just in case.”
- 11 -
Up at the end of the street I see a group of
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