The demon inside, p.11
The Demon Inside, page 11
“I need to pee,” Callie announced, raising her brows expectantly, looking between Alec and Mac, who had his gun bent casually over his arm.
“You want to go inside?” Alec asked incredulously, glancing behind him at the gas station; all of the multiple windows had been shattered, the shelves ransacked and knocked over. Behind the counter a door stood with the word ‘TOILET’ stencilled across it in bold white letters.
“I need the toilet, too.” Darcy looked at him apologetically; she’d been so relieved when Callie said it first. Coming up beside her, Hope fidgeted uncomfortably. Mac let out a bark of laughter and Alec’s gaze flickered between the three of them.
Sighing, an exasperated chuckle escaped as he shook his head. “Women.”
“Hey,” Callie pointed an accusing finger at him, “who was it who needed to go ten minutes after we left the house yesterday?”
Alec shrugged. “I don’t mind peeing at the side of the road.”
“Of course you don’t, you’re a guy,” she rolled her eyes at him, “however, us ladies need a bathroom and a mirror to powder our noses.”
Inside the gas station, they side stepped over the bottled drinks that had been thrown from the refrigerator shelves, spilling their sticky contents on the floor. Stooping down Alec grabbed something and offered it to her.
“Here, a present for you,” he flashed her a charming smile. Closing her fingers around the Milky Way he’d placed in her palm, she looked down to see the floor covered in chocolate bars and other gas station foods which were bad for you but that everyone loved to eat.
“Jackpot!” Callie whooped, kneeling down to fill her pockets, before shoving handfuls at Hope so that she could do the same. Laughing, Darcy caught the chocolate bars thrown her way, cramming them into her trouser and jacket pockets. She was just doing the same to Alec’s pockets when something rustled behind the counter. They all froze. Alec’s gaze darted up to the small, circular mirror above the counter and he swore under his breath. Following his gaze, Darcy’s eyes widened and she instantly backed away, grabbing the back of Callie’s shirt to yank her to her feet.
Stirring, the creature shook its head, sending long dirty blonde hair flying, like an animal awakening from hibernation. Straightening, the creature rolled its shoulders and neck, its head swinging towards them, white eyes brightening instantly, seeming to glow in the shadows behind the counter. Leaping up onto the counter, it angled its head in a predatory gesture as it crouched, ready to pounce.
“Don’t make any sudden moves,” Alec’s voice was slow and quiet as he eased in front of them, backing them towards the door.
“I don’t think I need the toilet anymore,” Callie whispered.
“Me neither,” Hope gripped the back of Darcy’s shirt, pulling her further back. Gaze fixed on the creature casually watching them, she took another step back, but her foot landed on something and she slipped. Her arms wind-milled as she tried to steady herself. Hope grabbed her arm. The creature lunged. With a cry they all scrambled backwards. An agonised, ungodly scream split the air.
It took a moment for any of them to realize what was going on as they threw themselves out of the door and into the sun. Staring in stunned disbelief, Darcy watched the creature writhe on the floor, its hands clamped over its eyes.
“It’s the sun,” Alec whispered in awe, “it’s hurting its’ eyes. That must be why they don’t come out during the day.”
For a moment, she thought he was going to move closer, but then Hope said in a quivering voice, “Let’s go. Come on, guys, let’s go.” She tugged on Darcy’s sleeve, reaching out to grab Alec’s arm as well.
“Okay,” Alec nodded, stepping back, but his eyes remained fixed on the scene before them as if entranced.
“Alec,” Hope’s voice was almost a sob, “please, I want to go.” Glancing up at her tone, his gaze softened and he pulled her sister into a quick, comforting hug, before resting his hand on her back and urging them both away, leaving Callie to follow. The creature’s cries continued to echoes around them and Darcy glanced back over her shoulder to see it weakly dragging itself back into the shadows.
Back in the van, they continued on their way in deathly silence. It was hot in the back and the chocolate bars melted forgotten in their pockets.
“You should have shot it,” Mac said to no one in particular, “one less monster in the world.”
“In cold blood?” Callie asked archly, “While it was writhing on the floor in agony?”
Snorting, she shook her head, “That would make us no better than monsters ourselves.”
“Sometimes you have to become a monster to survive.”
“Is that what they teach you in the army?”
“They teach you to defend yourself and your country. In my opinion, if that means shooting your enemy in the back so be it. It’s us or them.” Strangely, Darcy agreed with him and the thought made her shiver despite the sweltering heat.
That evening they decided to bunk down earlier than usual, as they passed through a neighbourhood with huge houses at the ends of long winding drives behind tall iron gates.
Whistling between his teeth, Mac pointed to a house at the end of the road, “That’s living.”
Pulling up alongside the front gates, they glanced around. Leaning forward to cross her arms over the front seat, Darcy’s brows drew together as she took in the closed metal gates and the tall brick wall encircling the extensive property.
“We could set up here,” Alec murmured speculatively, an idea sparking in his eyes, “it’s secure and we could just go out in the day and get food if we run out.”
“With a security system like this there might still be people in these houses,” she glanced over at him.
“It would be nice to have some intelligent conversation for a change,” Callie butted in, kneeling up beside her to peer out of the windshield.
“Well lets go have a look,” Mac said impatiently, “instead of sittin’ here yabbering ‘bout it.” Hefting his gun he swung open the door and jumped out. Glancing back at them, Alec shrugged before following his dad, holding the door open for her and Callie to climb out after him.
“You alright to stay here?” He poked his head back into the vehicle to talk to Hope. When she nodded he continued, “Keys are in the ignition, remember what I taught you, okay?” A few days ago he had taken the time to teach both Hope and Darcy the basics of driving, just in case the group was ever separated – not having to know the Highway Code made it a hell of a lot easier.
Cupping his hands, Alec gave Darcy a boost up over the tall gate, lifting her until she could grip the spikes decorating the top of the gate and haul herself over, dangling for a moment before she dropped down on the other side, the gravel crunched beneath her feet. After helping Callie over, he passed the rifle through the bars before taking a few steps back and taking a run and jump, swinging himself easily up and over. Mac did the same a moment later, though with a little more huffing and puffing. Cautiously they made their way up the winding drive and paused outside the red front door.
Optimistically, Callie went forward to try the door handle. When it didn’t open she stepped back with a shrug. “It was worth a try.”
“There might be an open window,” Darcy suggested, though she wasn’t very hopeful.
Nodding, Alec said, “You two check that side, me and Darcy’ll check this one.” Minutes later they met back up outside the front door once more.
“No luck.”
“Plan B?” Mac raised a brow. Quirking his lips, Alec waved his dad on. Stepping up onto the front porch, he slammed the butt of the rifle through the glass panel in the middle of the door in a swift, practiced move. Pulling his shirt sleeve down over his fingers he knocked the remaining shards out of the frame and hooked his arm inside, as she glanced over at Callie in shock, pressing flush against the door to reach the handle on the inside. With an audible click the door swung open.
Immediately an alarm began to blare. Darcy’s heart leapt into her throat for a moment before her brain caught up with her instincts and reassured her that the police defiantly wouldn’t be responding to this break in. But still, anxiety continued to twist her stomach as she entered the house alongside Alec and Callie, stepping over the broken glass. On the wall next to the front door a code pad glowed an eerie green as it waited for them to enter the sequence of number which would stop the high pitched screech.
“Mr Colewell,” a detached, electronic female voice addressed them, “please enter the security code.” There was a long drawn out pause, in which they all watched the devise, wondering what would happen next. Would a pack of Rottweiler’s be released on them? Of course, that was a ridiculous idea; any Rottweiler’s would be starved to death by now. “The police are now being notified.”
Snorting derisively, Mac shook his head, “Fat lot o’ good they’d do, even before the zombies.” Gesturing for them to move back, the devise was subjected to the same treatment as the doors glass window. Shooting out sparks, the pad gave a crackling hiss and fizzled out, the wailing alarm cutting out instantly, leaving them stood in heavy silence.
“Wow,” Callie said after a moment, “in a matter of seconds you have managed to destroy thousands of pounds worth of electronics.”
“It’s not like we could ring the security company and explain the situation,” he threw over his shoulder, already making his way up the stairs, with a sardonic sneer.
“Thug,” Callie muttered under her breath, breaking from the group to head into one of the rooms coming off the foyer.
“At least we know no one’s here,” Alec winced subtly at the sight of the mangled pad, “that noise would have made even a deaf guy come running.”
From down the hall, Callie’s voice drifted towards them, but neither of them heard what she said until she poked her head around the door at the back of the house and repeated, “They’re on holiday in the Bahamas, or at least they were. They left a few days before the world went to the dogs, according to this.” Holding up a calendar with pictures of idyllic spots around the world, she waved it at them. “Looks like we got the place to ourselves!”
Shaking his head at her obvious glee, though his lips twitched in unwilling amusement, Alec said, “Lets scout out the place, then I’ll go get Hope.”
The four storey house was locked up tight and none of the expensive furnishings had so much as a speck of blood on them, in fact, it was so unnaturally spotless that a chill raced down her spine.
“I bagsy this room,” Hope yelled from the floor above them.
A moment later, Callie’s voice could be heard arguing loudly, “No way are you getting the king sized bed, kid.” Lips twisting in amusement at the squabbling that ensued, Darcy glanced over at Alec, who sat on the kitchen counter, both hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea. His body posture was relaxed, but his gaze remained sharply wary as he gazed out of the window at the sprawling lawn.
“Hey,” leaning forward she tentatively touched his knee, drawing him out of his morose wonderings as his gaze jerked to hers, “we should get up there, or else all the double beds will be taken.”
Smiling, he set aside his cup and reached out to hook a finger into one of her belt loops, pulling her closer until she stood between his legs, her hands resting on his knees. “We can’t let that happen, I’ve grown used to sleeping beside you,” he teased, but quickly his smile faded, lips turning down in a frown, “Darcy...” he stroked a hand over her hair, before tucking a strand behind her ear, “you’re still having nightmares.”
“Yes,” she admitted unnecessarily; they both knew that every night she woke sweating, crying, fighting back invisible attackers. Usually he awoke before her, alerted by her restless tossing and turning, and his arms were always right there for her to crawl into.
“Will you tell me about them?”
“There’s not much to tell,” she answered honestly, leaning into the calloused palm which cupped her cheek, even as she dropped the intense green of his gaze, “they’re pretty much what you would expect.”
Disappointment flared briefly in his eyes and his lips pressed together, before he shrugged and jumped off the counter, taking her hand to lead her upstairs, saying over his shoulder, “Let’s go grab a room.”
Much to their dismay they later found that the house was completely devoid of food.
“This is insane,” Callie shook her head in utter disbelief, opening a cupboard and staring at the empty shelves as if half expecting them to have magically restocked in the five minutes since she last looked. “Nobody leaves absolutely no food in their house when they go on holiday. Getting rid of your milk, fair enough, and your bread, but there isn’t even anything in the freezer, or that great big pantry.”
“What are you moaning about now?” Alec walked into the kitchen and came to stand next to her, “We’ve got enough food to keep us going for another few days,” he indicated the pile of food they’d just brought in from the van, feeling secure in the knowledge that they wouldn’t have to make a quick escape.
“I’m not moaning,” Callie scowled over at him. “I’m just curious; no one cleans out there whole house,” she reiterated, voice rising in genuine distress as she added, “and there are no toiletries either.” A second later her lips pursed before settling into a fierce scowl as she glared at Alec, having caught the amused twitch of his own mouth.
“What, you can’t handle roughing it for one night?”
“If we decide to stay here we can go out in the morning to get some supplies,” Darcy intervened, before things could escalate. Squeezing Alec’s arm to shut him up and gain his attention, she pulled her gaze away from the angry flush colouring Callie’s face, “I need to grab some things too.”
Frowning down at her, he said, totally unembarrassed, “You’re not due until the week after next.”
“I hate that you know that,” she muttered, giving him a swift jab with her elbow, even as she remembered the first time that the awkward subject had come up a few weeks into their travels – with three girls it had been a miracle they’d lasted that long.
Pulling into a convenience store parking lot, Callie cut the engine.
“What you doin’, girl?” Mac demanded, jostled by the sudden stop. Having been driving most of the night, Alec had been asleep in the back with his head resting in her lap, but rolling into the side of the van with a resounding, metallic clang, he woke immediately, jerking up.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, eyes darting around, “Why’ve we stopped?”
“We need to get some things,” Callie declared, twisting around in the driver’s seat.
“What?” Both men snapped incredulously.
“Girly things.”
“Oh.” The look of dawning realization on Alec’s face made Darcy blush.
“Bloody women...” Mac muttered under his breath, even as he shoved open the passenger side door and jumped out, gun in hand, “Come on, boy, let’s go do some huntin’ and gatherin’.”
Once they had slammed the door and headed off, Callie held up a hand, counting off on her fingers, “Asshole, alcoholic, sexist pig...”
“What are you doing?” Darcy interrupted, brows drawn.
“Counting the reasons we should leave him.” Several minutes later, during which time Darcy numerously contemplated following them, the Hunters returned with Alec carrying a red plastic basket teeming with products. Opening the back of the van as his dad climbed in the front, Alec got in and once more closed the square of light.
“I didn’t know what sort you wanted,” he said, handing her the basket, “so I got one of each.”
Shaking her head softly at the memory, Darcy reached up to pinch his arm in retaliation for embarrassing her. “There are other things a girl requires besides tampons, you know?” She quirked a brow sardonically, “Shampoo, conditioner... toilet roll is always a winner.”
Grinning, Alec raised both hands in surrender, “Alright, alright, though I don’t see what the obsession is with toilet roll!”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Callie sniffed from across the kitchen, even as Darcy laughed at his teasing.
That evening they made a meal out of chocolate bars, salted peanuts and a single can of tomato soup which they shared between the five of them. Lucy had a bowl full of out-of-date pepperoni sticks. A few weeks ago, they had scavenged several tins of dog food from one of their overnight houses, but they were long gone, not that Lucy seemed to mind the change of menu as she wolfed her food down with apparent relish. Later that night, Darcy curled up beside Alec in their double bed; Mac had opted to take the only single bed in the house, in a room plastered with posters of famous footballers. With her head on his shoulder and his arms wrapped around her, she felt a brief moment of contentment settle over her as Alec snuggled her closer, hooking a leg over her hips and pressing soft, adoring kisses into the curve of her neck, before she drifted in a troubled sleep. She awoke smothered in blood. A scream tore from her throat as she shoved the crimson covers from her. Alec’s arm was heavy around her waist as she tried to scramble away. Twisting to face him, the breath stuck in her throat. Her mouth worked uselessly.
“Alec?” She finally managed to whisper his name. In answer his dead eyes gazed unseeingly back up at her, a serene smile on lips smeared with blood. “Alec,” sobbing his name, she reached out to grasp his shoulders and give him a shake. His body was stiff, his arm like an iron band around her as she struggled away. Kneeling over him, she yanked back the covers but saw no wounds. There was no pulse beneath her trembling fingertips, no sign of life. Alec, his spirit, his life force, the very thing which made him him, was gone, leaving only an empty husk. Silent tears oozed from the corners of her eyes, falling onto his bare chest and running down the sunken ravines between his ribs – the result of rapid weight loss. A drop of blood landed on his stomach. Looking down at the splash of colour in confusion, Darcy slowly lifted her hand to her face. Thick, scarlet blood dribbled from the corner of her mouth and ran down her chin. Drawing back her hand to see the glistening red stain on her fingertips, she glanced down. Her shirt was torn to shreds. Beneath the bloody material her flesh was mangled beyond recognition. Suddenly, crippling pain assailed her. Doubling over, she wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to hold the flaps of skin together even as her strength bled out. Hands gripped her hunched shoulders, shaking her.
