Slaying demons, p.23
Slaying Demons, page 23
part #2 of Damsel Series
There hadn’t been a lot of them and Hannah felt her mouth tighten, even though it was close to what she’d figured would be happening. Before anyone could say anything, she huffed a bit. Feeling honestly disgruntled. They hadn’t had a lot of real comforts after all, which meant that they were going to have to use a hole in the woods and bathe in the ice-cold creek. Things like that.
Hannah was living her life differently, and refused to whine about it, for her own part. Putting the rest of them through that wasn’t fair at all. Technically, putting her through that kind of thing was also a bit out there. Still, she’d made an effort to learn how to do that kind of thing, as if she were in real classes. The others hadn’t. Kate had done a little that way, so she made up her mind and cleared her throat.
“Bull. I’m not letting them do that to Terry or Lara. They have to be out here, but no one said they had to risk their lives for this thing. I’ll do it and they can watch me having a breakdown for a week. Kate...” She was about to say that they needed to work together to not let the team hurt their friends when Katie sighed.
Then cleared her throat.
“Right. We’ll do that part and... We can have you two do color commentary and get a trailer. This is ramping up a bit too much. This is a show about spoiled socialites, after all. Not soldiers or survivalists.”
Hannah, not totally devoid of humor, spoke then.
“Agreed. So now, we need a night watch. Cover for the people doing the work on the attack team. Two shifts. Terry and I will take the first one. I’ll be the ghost and not do much, for the first hour. Then I’ll be on watch after that, and get you, Kate, to play that role at about three. Lara...”
Her rather spoiled friend growled then.
“The last two hours before light? We’re keeping the attacks low level, though?”
Hannah got the idea. They really just needed enough to make the people in their trailers aware that it was going on.
“Exactly. Don’t hit Max or Burt. They’re in with us on this. Or, really, we need to get them to fake having been hit, so they aren’t suspected. I’ll handle that.”
It started to rain, as Terry Lamond, party girl and heiress, wrapped up in a garbage bag, a big black one, that had a hole for the head and another wrapped around her as a hood, moved out with a small flashlight. She didn’t whine about the fact that she was cold and the wind was starting to pick up enough to be a bit intimidating.
Hannah, for her part, was in dull clothing, that was getting wet, but that wouldn’t crinkle or shine if it was hit by a stray beam of light. She hunched over and slowly, moved to Max’s trailer. The lights were off, except for a single, flickering glow. A candle’s light, probably.
There was a sound of muttering from inside. Hannah couldn’t make out what was being said, so tapped on the door, hunched down near the steps. Hoping not to seem like herself, if anyone saw her. It took nearly three minutes of tapping, off and on, before the door opened.
“Hello?” The voice was gruff, and the candle had been put out, if it had been one of those at all.
“Max? Heads up, we’re pranking again tonight. You were hit a few times with tapping and pounding on the side of the trailer here. It could have been the wind, so you weren’t that worried. Not until the others mention it in the morning.”
There was a soft, almost sinister laugh then.
“Ah? All right then. Are you getting any sleep at all, tonight?”
She shook her head, since that wasn’t happening, if the wind kept picking up.
“No. We leave in the morning, so I doubt anyone is getting much of that. Try, if you can? Remember, when they start to whine about being afraid in the morning, that you might, possibly, have heard something. It will make it seem like you’re trying to get in on the fame here, but no one will suspect you as being in on the plan.”
The words seemed to work for the fellow, who grunted, ever so softly.
“Understood. Be careful. Getting caught isn’t going to help with your plan. Whatever that is.”
She didn’t really know at all, but it was something to do, so she nodded, which was going to be invisible to the man. She had a camera, which was on and pointed up at him. He didn’t seem to know that, since it was really dark out. On the good side, she could use it as a sort of night vision, if she was careful. At the moment she wasn’t bothering with that. There was no need to, until she headed over toward Connie and Lewis’s shared trailer, with a hand full of small stones.
She started throwing things, but the wind had picked up enough that it was breathtaking. Also, not enough to get even a light turned on. Not until she ran up to the side, and literally pounded on the metal, using both fists, for about twenty seconds. Then she had to dart back into the woods, and lay on the wet ground, the night vision cam pointed up at the thing.
She had to do that several times, and hit Eric and Doug as well, which had them out, with cameras of their own. She didn’t know if they had night vision as well, so she had to hide really well. Vanishing into the night.
Terry finally came up with her little light, at the commotion the boys were causing.
“What’s going on?”
“Why are you out here?” Doug was being accusing, but Terry snorted.
“That bitch Hannah is making us do a watch again tonight. I mean, I love her, but she’s being kind of a cunt right now. I’m wearing a fucking garbage sack. For real. It isn’t even for the show. I think she might be taking this survival shit a bit too seriously. This... Really sucks. Still, what’s going on?”
Eric, holding a cam, standing in the door of the trailer, sounded out of breath.
“It’s... Something is out there. We saw it. A big, shadowy thing. I think I caught it on camera.”
For a second, Hannah was a bit miffed, since they might have seen her. Then she shrugged. Even if they had, she was covered well enough that she might just not be identifiable. Even her face was covered. Just with a scarf, but it was warmer that way. Even if she was cool, due to the damp.
Terry, for her part, sounded scared then.
“What? I’ve been walking around for over an hour... I haven’t seen or heard anything... Are you sure?”
The men both sounded a bit afraid.
Eric nodded, visibly, since there was a light behind him.
“Yeah. There was all that pounding. The wind, but we aren’t being hit with a branch or anything.”
There was a shuddering breath, from Terry, a loud one.
“Can you... Walk me back to the hut? I need to get Hannah up, for the second watch. Maybe... Should she be out here alone like that? What if... Well, I don’t know.”
Doug grunted.
“This is fucked. We’ll get you back. I need a weapon. A stick or something.” That ended up being the leg of a tripod, collapsed down. It wasn’t an inspired choice, but it was something, which Hannah had to think was better than their bare hands.
She had to run, quietly, through the woods, which didn’t work too well. She covered her head with her hands, so that her face didn’t get scratched up, but her arms took a beating, and she was caught, a half dozen times on branches and other things. Bushes, mainly. She got back about three minutes before they worked their way over to the pine hut, which was holding together in the breeze pretty well, so far.
Trying to be quiet, she scrambled, stripping her wet, muddy clothing off, since it was a dead giveaway, and getting into drier, if not fresh, clothing. Then she, slightly damp around the edges, even though her short hair was mainly dry, climbed into her sleeping bag, and rolled over, using her arm as a pillow. She didn’t fake snoring or anything that obvious. She didn’t really do that, or so she’d heard. It would seem phony.
Terry whispered her name, not touching her at all. Then, she might not have been there at all.
“Hannah? It’s time to get up.”
A light flashed over her.
“What? Oh, yeah. Let me... One sec.” She rubbed at her face, which wasn’t puffy at all. Her eyes were half closed though, as she got her boots, which were totally wet, back on. That was a tell, she realized, but she just growled.
“Crud. I have a leak in here. It hit my shoes. Gah. I hate this. Now...” She moved out, and got her own flashlight out, a small metallic blue thing. It wasn’t that bright, but it was enough, compared to the nothing that was the other option.
Then she took in that Doug and Eric were standing right there, out in the rain.
“Two guys? That’s... Not a bad idea, actually. I should have thought of it. We need to get that on cam. Not the whole thing, just that you’re getting busy, Terry. Blur out the good bits, for the show.” She yawned, which was real, but then looked at her friend’s garbage bag coat.
“I have a rain poncho. Let me...” That was in the hut, since she’d gotten it out with the rest of her clothing, the food strung up in the tree.
Doug shook his head.
“We saw something, earlier. Maybe we shouldn’t... You, all of you, can come and sleep in our trailer?”
It was a nice offer, and really would make them all seem freaked out. Plus, even being on the dry floor really would be better than on a bunch of branches. It would also seem weird if she said no, and things kept happening.
Rather than being weak, she nodded.
“Get the others. I’m armed, so I’ll keep watch. That’s... Going to make for a long night.”
That, getting everyone out into the raining night, and then moved, took about twenty minutes. Then, even if he still only had a tripod leg, Doug went out into the night, along with her.
She hadn’t been planning to do anything at all, anyway, but Connie and Lewis ran out of their trailer, about twenty minutes later, screaming.
“There... We saw it. Lewis got video!”
They all headed back to the boys’ trailer, with Tiffany and Darnel showing up, about five minutes later, both wide eyed. Darnel, his short hair showing, was in a pair of pink and powder blue pajamas, which showed that he had a nice set of hips and cute breasts, when they weren’t bound down. Hannah tried not to notice, since she supported his life choice that way. Even if the man was just being trendy and was playing a game, trying on being a boy for a while, she was going to back him up.
Still, he sounded freaked, in the moment.
“There was a... Giant shadow... Thing.” He seemed to think he wasn’t going to be believed, but Lewis turned his camera, one of the larger ones, around and pulled out the playback screen.
It showed a scene out of the window of the trailer. It wasn’t incredibly clear, but there, standing at least eight feet tall, was a large, man-like, shadow. It moved clearly, even if it wasn’t anything that she’d seen, herself. She nearly grinned, wondering if Alistair had set it up, or if one of the others had. If so, their timing was impeccable.
Kate could have done it as well, but using Wisp’s powers to float some clothing around or to shape a tarp or something was too big of a risk. They needed to be able to show it was them, in the end, after all. It wasn’t a prank if they didn’t fess up to things. That was just a hoax. Hannah nodded then.
“Okay. You all stay here. I’ll go out and see if I can find anything? We should have a camera ready to go, in case anything is really there?” She didn’t think it was going to be needed, but Lewis, seeming a bit scared around the edges, nodded.
The black man shook, slightly, even.
“I’ll do that. Eric, Darnel... Can you two stay ready for that? I don’t... Is going out the best idea?”
Hannah had to think for a moment, since she felt the meaning of what was being said. Being inside was, generally more comfortable, and that meant safer, to the minds of most people.
“No one on watch has seen anything, even. Only the people inside. If we go out, we might be able to use these others as bait. This is... Getting weird. Still, I might be afraid, but I’m not giving into it. Not anymore. Let’s go.”
That got her looked at, as if she’d well and truly lost it. Not that they noticed anything at all, until nearly daylight, hours later. She pointed and whispered at Lewis.
“Get the cam on the wood line, to your left.” There was, just standing there, a giant shadow man.
Even getting it was probably a trick being played on them, she felt a nice chill of fear down her spine. It was enough that she nearly wet herself, for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and tried to relax her eyes and mind. Seeing what it was.
That, interestingly, was a lot like a ghost. Only with more energy and with a shape that seemed familiar to her. It looked like a shadow, on the outside, but the internal energy was different. There were horns on the head. Like those of a deer. There seemed to be a hint of tusks, as it roared at them. A thing which was audible. At least she heard it. Lewis seemed to be ready to run, but she held her hand up.
“Wait. Let’s see what it does. Get it in frame. No one will believe us, otherwise.”
What it did, was, in the end, not much. It moved toward them, taking several steps, which Hannah answered, trying not to show how freaked out she was by the thing. If it got inside of fifty feet, she was planning on running. Showing fear too early might well get it to attack. Possibly not, so she was relieved when the energy simply vanished, the shadow creature doing that as well, at the same time. Showing it was actually a thing and not her imagination.
She let out a long, slow, shaking breath.
“Okay. We need to start a fire, if we can, and to feed everyone. I also want the cameras going, in case that thing comes back. Then, we need to get out of here. Stay calm, though. It hasn’t hurt anyone, yet, so we need to not freak out. Even if that feels like the best plan, in the moment, doesn’t it?”
Lewis nodded.
“No shit. This is... That thing wasn’t normal. I thought... Well, Connie is worried that this was a mistake. It’s pretty much been a survival show, so far. Sure, you and Kate are charming, and Lara and Terry are good about flashing the camera enough to keep things spicy, but it isn’t exactly showing the life of the rich and famous, is it? So, I’ve been wondering if she hired a guy to come and freak us out? Except that... No one would hire someone to do that kind of thing. Would they? Do you know anyone who could do that?”
She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“No? It could be that, though. I’ll poke around. You do the same? Don’t give it away, if it is, but do let me know? We... Might need to do something else, next week.” She didn’t really mean it, even if she’d been honestly afraid, a moment before. Even if it was some kind of nature spirit, drawn in by their presences and antics, she could handle it.
She told herself that, a few times. It didn’t really work, but she nodded, to herself.
“Fire. I... Need to go into the woods, and dig for wood. Everything we have is wet now. That’s going to be fun.” Her voice shook, and it wasn’t acting, but Max came out about then, dressed for the rain. Lewis waved to him.
“There was a thing. We have video of it. Some kind of shadow monster. The... Hannah is going to go into the woods to get some wood?”
The older man nodded, then rubbed at his gray beard. It was a bit rough, but seemed like he’d washed up already, for the day. They were still being rained on.
“Getting something going out here, in this, will be a challenge for you. Now, what did you see?”
Lewis showed the actual footage, which had Max seeming worried, if not fearful.
“Well, that’s not a bear, is it? What’s the plan? A fire?”
Not moving fast or fearlessly, they moved into the woods, and even in the rain, found dry tinder and branches, sticks and so forth, near the base of trees and under certain, rather thick, bushes. It was dirty work and they had to wrap the wood up in plastic, so it wouldn’t be rained on as they carried it. When they got back to the camp, she had to make a little half roof of pine boughs and sticks, to keep the fire dry.
It took a lot of time to build, and then she was handed some matches, to use to get the blaze going. There were no coals left. She had to use two of them, but did get a fire started, blowing on it for a long time. Then, carefully, she started making food. A lot of it, even if no one was going to want to eat, after the night they’d had.
As she made the last of the fresh eggs, a lot of them, and Max made toast, or really fried bread, and vegie sausages, which he sniffed at, but didn’t complain about, even if they did lack meat.
He spoke, softly.
“We need to check for tracks. The ground is soft in places, so we might find something. This is... A bit more than you mentioned, last night.”
She whispered back, smiling, tightly.
“Yep. This wasn’t me. It could be Connie, or even one of the others? I mean, I know we don’t look like it right now, dressed in second hand clothing, covered in mud and pine sap, but a lot of us could hire something like this being done. It might even be those people from the other day. The ones, um, The Defiant? They have other friends, I think. A full team. If they heard that we had some pranks going on, they might be jumping in, right?”
The older man seemed skeptical of that, for some reason.
“Maybe? That sounds over the top. If they wanted revenge, well, they’d probably just sneak in and beat us up. This is... The kind of thing that would be good for the show, right?”
She nodded.
“It really would. It is, regardless of what’s going on, actually. Food first, then we’ll go and see if there are tracks or footprints.”
They all had enough to eat, and Hannah made herself put food in her mouth, even if she wasn’t hungry. Lack of sleep made her want to drift off, but not consume her weight in eggs or fake sausage. Terry ate pretty well though, seeming to be nervous and out of sorts. Really, to do that properly, they needed to get her some ice cream.
Everyone was a bit subdued, except for Kate, who was almost feisty about the whole thing.
“This is amazing! We caught that, whatever it is, on video! Um, I have to come clean though... I was behind the whole thing, originally. The tapping on the trailers and all that?” She ducked her head, as if feeling she was about to be abused over the idea.
