Prey (23 page)

“Oh, no!” she cried out. “What do we do now?!”

Alex weeds through the onset of panicking thoughts that are flourishing inside his head, searching for the best course of action for them to utilize.

“Is there a shelter or bunker anywhere around here?” Alex asked. “You know the kind of place where the farmers would hide when a tornado’s touching down?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s in the back of the barn. It’s underground. It’s lined with concrete…I think. It has dual doors that can be locked from the inside.”

“Come on,” Alex told her, taking her by the hand. He sets Jade over one his shoulder and uses his other shoulder as a battering-ram to knock the farmhouse’s front door off of its hinges. Alex rips through the first floor of the house and keeps going until he blows through the back door.

In seconds, Jade and Alex are behind the barn, and at the underground shelter Jade spoke of. Blocking the entrance to the shelter was a wheelbarrow full of cinder blocks that Alex easily flips out of the way. He snatches one of the bunker’s doors open and ushers Jade inside.

Jade carefully descends down the concrete steps. She a couple steps in when she turns back to Alex, who is still standing outside, holding the shelter door open.

“What are you waiting for? Come on,” she said.

Alex doesn’t respond. Instead, he simply stares at Jade, shaking his head with a regrettable air.

“No, Alex! No way are you leaving me now!” Jade shouted, grasping the Alex is thinking.

“There’s no time to argue, Jade. You’ll be okay in here for now. Give me a minute or two to draw them away. When the coast sounds clear I want you to take off running through the fields. Make sure you do it as quietly as possible. Get back to town and then find a way back to Terre Haute. I’ll find you there.”

“No, Alex! It’s too many of them! You can hide in here with me! There’s plenty of room!”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” Jade pleaded as tears formed.

Hating to leave her like this, Alex forces himself to do what he feels is the only option.

“I’m sorry, Jade…I can’t.” Alex lowers the door. “Lock it!” he shouted to her through the closed bunker doors. “And remember what I told you, Jade…In two minutes, take off running.”

Jade continues screaming for Alex through the shut doors. “PLEASE, DON’T DO THIS! THEY’LL KILL YOU, ALEX! PLEASE, DON’T DO THIS TO ME!”

“Quiet, Jade, or they’ll hear you! Now lock the door!”

Although the sobs of Jade don’t end on Alex’s command, her screaming and shouting does. Shortly after giving the order, he hears the door’s sliding lock snap into place. With the door now secure, Alex runs back towards the farmhouse. He takes off at such an incredible speed he turns into a blur. Just as he passes the front of the barn, another blur collides into him, carrying him quite a distance away from where the impact occurred.

Alex, and the unknown force that blitzed him, come to a harsh landing approximately fifty yards away from the farmhouse. Alex and his attacker tumble apart as they both slide across a large area of dirt-covered landscape.

Since the brutal hit knocks the wind out of Alex, he finds himself getting up a tad-bit slower than his assaulter. By the time Alex rises up he sees not only the being that assaulted him, but another man standing right beside him—both men staring back at him with bloodlust in their blackened eyes.

Alex steps back, trying to put distance between him and the two demons, and in doing so, he notices the sudden arrival of four more—two standing to his left and another two to his right.

Alex prepares to retreat before the six entities have a chance to corner him, but just as he’s about to take off, two more beings appear behind him, cutting off his only route for escape, boxing him in completely.

CHAPTER 29

Surrounded by eight of the nine forces he saw in front of the farmhouse minutes ago, Alex can’t help but grow suspicious about the whereabouts of the ninth. Alex sizes up the situation. He’s careful not to make any sudden movements and even more careful in watching for any movements made by the surrounding demons. Alex nonchalantly looks back to the barn to ensure the ninth demon hasn’t found Jade. Alex doesn’t have a clear view of the shelter’s doors, but he’s fairly sure she hasn’t been found. He would’ve heard her screams by now if she had.

“What’s the matter, angel?” one of the demons asked. “You don’t look happy to see us.”

Alex redirects his focus back to the eight encircling demons. Slowly spinning in place, Alex takes time to stare at each of their hideous faces.

“I think you’re right, William. To be honest, he looks a little worried,” a demon standing behind him added.

“Can you blame him, Eric?” another voice asked. “He must know by now that he’s not leaving this farm alive.”

The entities begin to laugh eerily, somewhat frightening. Keeping his guard on high, Alex continues to spin around, maintaining a visual on the demons, while simultaneously preparing to engage whichever demon attacks first. He’s doing a good job hiding his anxieties from the demons, but he can’t hide them from himself. Alex is more scared now than he’s ever been. The odds were heavily stacked against him back at the Harris’ house when it was just four against one. With the odds more than doubled against him now, there’s no way he can envision a positive outcome.

Sensing something over his head, Alex looks up. Out of nowhere, he spots the ninth demon, who has hurdled over the other demons just to get to him. It all happens so fast, Alex doesn’t have enough time to react and he’s taken to the ground once again.

Postured on top of Alex is Zavior. Zavior grabs Alex by his sweatshirt, pulling his head closer to his own. Zavior’s face expresses pure hatred. He stares into Alex’s dazed eyes with a chilling intensity. Drool oozes from Zavior’s mouth and on to Alex’s sweater.

“I told you I’d find you!” Zavior taunted, which is followed by a violent punch to Alex’s face. “That was for my brother!” Zavior punches Alex again. “And that’s for whacking me with a bench, you son-of-a-bitch!”

Zavior dismounts Alex. “And this one is just because I hate you!” Zavior kicks Alex in his side, forcing him to slide several yards away.

“Take him,” Zavior told the other demons.

Alex is lifted up by two demons, one holding each of his arms. He can barely keep his head up, let along stand, but the demons show him no sympathy. His current condition only serves to entice the demons.

Zavior goes on to tell Alex, “Do you realize that because of you, my brother is being tortured in the most sadistic manner possible?”

Alex brings himself together enough to respond, “Good. I hope he feels the same kind of pain he forced all those innocent people to go through.”

Zavior grows infuriated and whishes over to Alex. “Do you want to repeat that, angel?” Zavior asked in an intimidating tone, his eyes glowing red.

Still dazed, Alex looks at Zavior and smiles. “Yeah. I said I hope your punk ass brother burns for the rest of eternity.” Alex proceeds to laugh in Zavior’s face.

Zavior erupts into another violent streak. He lands a combination of ferocious punches on Alex’s chin. After landing three rapid punches to Alex’s face, Zavior lands five more in Alex’s stomach. Signs of abuse are developing on Alex’s face.

Zavior pulls Alex’s limp head up by grabbing a handful of his hair. “What’s the matter, angel? No more trash talking?” Zavior throws another punch to the side of Alex’s head. “Let him fall,” Zavior told the two demons holding him up.

The instant they release Alex’s arms he drops to the ground. The two demons that just released Alex begin to brutally stomp on him, forcing him to curl into a fetal position. The aggressive attack goes on for nearly a minute before ending. Alex tries to crawl away.

The demons line up alongside one another, creating a narrow passage way that Alex is about to inadvertently crawl through. As soon as Alex crawls into the path he finds himself being violently kicked and stomped.

Alex takes so much punishment he falls out flat just as he reaches the halfway point of the sadistic line. And even though Alex is lying helpless on the ground, the eight violent beings carry on with their unrelenting assault.

Zavior shows his dominance over the other eight demons by pushing them away from Alex. The demons growl and take defensive stances to show their disapproval of Zavior’s interference. Zavior refuses to back down and releases a growl of his own that intimidates the other demons, making them think twice about challenging his authority.

“He’s mine!” Zavior told them.

Once all of the other demons are at bay, Zavior snatches Alex off of the ground and holds him in the air by the collars of his blood-stained sweatshirt. Holding Alex in a position where both of his shoes are off the ground, Zavior says, “Before I kill you, you’re going to tell me where the girl is! Now where is she?!”

When Alex doesn’t answer Zavior, Zavior removes one of his hands from Alex’s sweater and uses it to punch him in the chest. Alex is launched across the dirt-covered terrain. Upon another hard landing, Alex coughs up blood as a result of the fierce chest shot.

Zavior rushes over to Alex, picking him up once again in the same manner. “Where is she?!” he asked angrily, his face growing more grotesque. The veins in his face and neck are pulsating.

Alex’s refusal to answer sends Zavior into an even bigger fit of rage. His eyes bulge and burn so bright that the heat emitted from them singes both his eyelashes and eyebrows. He delivers another thunderous punch to Alex’s chest, this time sending him through one of the barn’s walls. The damage Alex is taking is reaching critical levels and this is made obvious by the way he’s clutching his ribcage, struggling to breathe.

Despite him barely being able to stay conscious, Alex manages to catch a glimpse of Zavior heading toward the large hole in the barn. Alex soon remembers that the direction Zavior is heading in is the same direction that the tornado shelter is located. With all of the commotion, Alex is all but sure that Jade hasn’t left yet. If Zavior catches wind of her scent there won’t be anything Alex could do to stop the demons from taking her away.

The loud boom from an incoming storm triggers Alex’s adrenaline. A ring of fire flares in his eyes and without a second’s hesitation, he gets up and charges toward Zavior. Alex tackles Zavior, purposely carrying him far away from the shelter.

Alex carries Zavior into the area of grass across from the barn, slamming him down. Alex mounts Zavior and begins hammering away at him with a number of heavy right-hand punches. Zavior is stunned each time Alex’s fist connects. This repeated attack goes on for a short while before Alex hears the other eight demons rushing up behind him.

In one quick motion, Alex stands, picks Zavior up by his leg and arm, and flings him into the incoming group of demons. Zavior plows right through the eight demons, knocking them all to the ground like bowling pins and sending him back towards the farmhouse, where he violently crashes into a tractor.

Alex, who is already beginning to heal from his injuries, keeps the offensive pressure up. He hurriedly goes from one demon to the next—using this window of opportunity to snap as many of their necks as possible to better even the odds.

Alex gets rid of four demons before two others get to their feet. Not wanting to lose control of the situation, Alex instantly engages them. He attacks the two demons by rushing one of them from behind and throwing him further out into the field.

The second demon recoups and goes after Alex. The demon lands the first punch that staggers Alex, but doesn’t do enough damage to have a lasting effect. The demon throws another rapid punch that Alex has anticipated. Alex leans clear of the punch, allowing it to swing pass his eyes. Alex takes advantage of the demon’s vulnerability by delivering a quick kick to the demon’s knee, which causes the demon to fall. Alex gets behind the demon, grips the top of its head and chin and proceeds to twist, breaking the demon’s neck.

Alex lets go and the dead demon and stands up straight. In spite of his vigorous efforts, he finds himself surrounded yet again. The demon he threw in the field has returned. Zavior has regained his composure. And the other two demons he couldn’t get to before have risen.

Alex takes a couple of steps back, putting space between him and the demons as he contemplates his next move. The four remaining evils close in on him.

The demons prepare to pounce on Alex concurrently, but are thwarted from doing so when an imposing voice yells out to them.

“LEAVE HIM!”

The four demons set their red eyes in motion, looking around the farmland in search of the mysterious voice. Alex is also curious as to where the voice originated.

“Who said that?!” Zavior authoritatively asked.

When no one responds, Zavior orders the other demons to move in for the kill.