Demon Town, page 38
Manson started towards Milo, but stopped after a couple of steps. He felt some pain and discomfort in his right knee and when he reached down to see what was wrong, he discovered that his kneecap was positioned on the outside of his leg. He positioned both hands over it and with a quick movement he pushed it back into place, grimacing as he did so. As Milo watched the demon shuffle its way toward him with the damaged arm and leg, he couldn’t help but think of Monty Python’s Holy Grail movie and the one knight who had his arms and legs chopped off, but was still willing to fight. ‘Get back here! It’s only a flesh wound!’ Milo knew that even though the demon was badly hurt, he was still extremely dangerous.
“That’s close enough.” he warned the demon and reached into his jacket and pulled out a pistol and raised it towards Manson.
The demon stopped and shook his head. “Do you really think that bullets are going to stop me, fool?”
Milo grinned. “This isn’t an ordinary gun, asshole.”
The demon furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at the gun that Milo was holding. Upon closer inspection he noticed that it was plastic and started laughing. “Is that a water gun?”
Milo shook his head. “Not just any type of water gun, dipshit. It’s a holy water gun.” Manson stopped laughing and gave Milo a puzzled look. Before he could react, Milo sprayed him twice in the face. Manson’s skin started to smoke and burn where the water hit him. Milo sprayed him a few more times and the demon screamed in agony and tried to wipe the water off of himself with his one good hand. He stumbled about blindly for a moment before falling to the ground. Milo steered clear of the injured demon and ran over to help Uncle Pete get Mac to his feet.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t think that would actually work!”
“What’s in the water gun?” Mac asked.
“Holy water. I grabbed some...I mean I borrowed some from our church when we came out here. I saw it work in the movies, but I didn’t actually think it would really work.”
“You stood face-to-face with a demon holding a plastic water gun that you didn’t even think would work?” Mac looked at Milo like he just lost his mind.
“I was just stalling him, trying to give you more time to recover.”
“Milo, that’s either the bravest or craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say bravest because I’m pretty sure that I crapped my pants again.”
They turned their attention back to Manson who was slowly rising up, but still clutching his face. He pulled his hand away and revealed the damage that the holy water had done. Combined with the scars that Waffles had inflicted, Manson’s face was a mess as his skin was blistered and burnt. Milo aimed the water gun at Manson and prepared to shoot again, but the demon gestured and closed his hand and crushed the water gun. With another gesture Manson proceeded to choke Milo, Uncle Pete and Mac and forced them to their knees.
Mikey started to come to the rescue once more with the axe ready to strike, but with another gesture the demon sent Mikey flying twenty feet in the air before he landed hard on the ground and lay motionless. Now that Manson’s second axe was no longer in its face, the wounded demon dog rejoined the attack on Waffles. Despite the damage to its ribs, the dog still had enough fight in it to turn the tide against the big cat. Instantly, the two demon dogs were on Waffles and attacking anew.
“This ends now.” Manson growled. “First, I let you watch my pets rip your cat apart. Then, I dismember each of your comrades one at a time and then skin them alive. Then, it’s your turn.”
Mac tried desperately to escape the predicament that he was in, but he couldn’t break the invisible stranglehold that held him in place. A tear rolled down his face and it left a trail down his dirt smeared cheek as he realized that he was helpless to stop Manson and that those around him were going to die a slow and agonizing death. As he averted his eyes away from the carnage that the demon dogs were inflicting on Waffles, a bright flash caught Mac’s attention and he watched as Paul finally arrived in the proverbial nick of time.
Moving with incredible speed and agility, the angel split the distance between Manson and his captives in seconds. He launched what appeared to be a dagger made of pure light that struck the demon in the shoulder of his one good arm and sent him reeling backwards. The angel continued forward to where the dogs had the big cat pinned down. Paul jumped and sent himself spinning through the air several feet above the two demon dogs. He fired two more of the light daggers and when they found their marks, the dogs howled in pain and fell away from Waffles.
With their attention diverted from the big cat, the two dogs turned to the latest player in this death match and charged toward the angel. Snarling and snapping, the first dog went directly for Paul’s throat only to be met by another of the light daggers. The angel slammed it into the left shoulder of the beast and threw the creature down to the ground where it landed hard on its side. Holding on to the dagger while he pinned the demon dog down with his knee, Paul appeared to twist the dagger back and forth for a moment and then pulled it out of the creature. The demon dog howled even louder this time as the vile demon creature that possessed the German Shepherd was pulled from its body. The demon tried desperately to free itself from the dagger of light that impaled it, but Paul produced another of the daggers in his other hand and struck the black, twisted creature and it exploded into nothingness.
The second demon dog, still suffering from the effects of the wound inflicted by Mikey was too slow to save its brethren. It limped along and tried to catch the angel by surprise, but Paul turned and thrust another of the daggers upwards at the lunging demon and caught it square in the throat. The angel used its momentum and flipped the dog over top of him and it landed flat on its back. After seeing what happened to its companion, the demon dog twisted and kicked furiously as it tried to escape the angel’s dagger, but Paul held the dog in place on the ground and started to twist the dagger once again. The dog shrieked a horrible cry as Paul expunged the demon from its body and created another dagger and struck the squirming demon causing it to explode into tiny black fragments and disappear. The two German Shepherd dogs lay weakly on their sides and began to change in size and shape back to their original forms.
“Hey, aren’t those Bear and Dawg’s...dogs?” Milo asked as they watched the transformation take place. Mac nodded and surveyed the carnage about him. Milo was shaken, but not stirred as he would sometimes say after a minor crisis. Uncle Pete was unscathed and slowly starting to come to grips with everything that was taking place around him. Mikey was gathering himself up and gingerly dusting himself off. It would take more than a demon pile driver to keep that big bastard down. Waffles had several cuts over various parts of his body, patches of fur that were missing and the remaining fur was matted with blood. After trying to take a few steps, the big cat was unable to put any weight on his left front paw and held it in the air as he stopped and sat on his haunches.
Mac watched Manson as he lay motionless on the ground. The demon looked like a raggedy doll with broken and twisted limbs that had been chewed up by the family dog and then tossed into the trash. Paul’s light dagger had the demon pinned to the ground and immobile. Satisfied that the clown demon was out of commission, the group warily made its way over to where Paul was crouched over one of the German Shepherds. It was the dog that Mikey had struck with Manson’s axe and it now lay motionless on the ground and whimpered softly. Its companion sat beside it and licked several of the wounds that had been inflicted on it, not that it was in much better shape. They definitely weren’t the same dogs that had been so menacing out at the old Sharp place.
“What did you do to them, Paul?” These were the same dogs that just moments ago were trying to kill Waffles, but Mac felt sorry to see them this way. The two dogs seemed totally unaware of anyone else standing there and it seemed pretty certain that the badly wounded one didn’t have much time left to live.
“I extracted the demons from them.” Paul replied and gently stroked the fur of the dying dog.
“It almost looked like you pulled them right out of the dogs.” Milo said as he tried to figure out what the angel was doing trying to soothe a creature that had just attacked him.
“I did. It’s an old angel trick that we use to eliminate the demon without hurting the...host body.”
“So, what are you doing now?” Milo asked.
“Saving its life.”
“After it tried to kill Waffles and you?”
“That was the demon’s actions. These creatures had no control over themselves. This animal should not have to pay for the sins of the demon.”
“But, how-”
“Hush, I need to concentrate, Miles.” Paul spoke almost in a whisper as his hand began to softly glow. He held it over the dog’s side for a moment and then moved his hand to other spots where there were significant wounds. There was a collective gasp as each of the wounds began to close and heal before their eyes. Paul then reached over to the second dog and did the same and within seconds, its wounds began to heal, as well. The group watched in disbelief as the German Shepard that was dying just moments ago sat up and licked Paul’s hand. The second dog did likewise and Paul patted them both gently. “Go now.” he commanded and the pair walked away without ever once looking back.
“Your turn.” He turned to Waffles and the big cat carefully made its way over to the angel. Holding the wounded paw, Paul’s hand began to glow again.
‘This might take a little longer.’ Mac thought to himself and reached down and rubbed behind the big cat’s ear. He glanced over at the trestle towards the cement footing where he had placed Lisa. She was still standing there bound and gagged and he smiled at her. ‘Won’t this be something to tell the grandkids about.’ Mac thought, but then scolded himself for thinking of such a ridiculous thought. After all that Lisa had gone through because of him, it wouldn’t surprise Mac if she never spoke to him again.
Mac turned his attention back to Paul as he tended Waffles’ wounds. Something was different about the angel and upon closer inspection Mac noticed additional cuts and scrapes upon Paul’s face that weren’t there the last time that the 3M’s saw him. Dark circles fell beneath Paul’s eyes and his skin had a greyish tinge to it. The angel had looked to be in rough shape before, but now he looked like death warmed over as Mac’s mom often liked to say to Mac when he was hung over.
“Paul, what happened to you?” Mac asked and noticed a massive scar at the base of the angel’s neck.
Paul smiled softly. “The price of victory, I’m afraid.”
“What does the other guys look like?” Milo asked as he too was just noticing Paul’s fresh set of wounds.
“I won’t have to contend with him or his brethren again.”
“Are you okay? No offense, but you look like hell.”
Paul scowled at Milo. “I’ve been better, but I’ll survive, thank you.”
The angel resumed tending to Waffles, but when he did, the big cat started to growl.
“Does that hurt, fella?” Mac asked thinking that Paul must’ve found a tender spot. Waffles began to growl even louder and Mac realized that it wasn’t Paul that he was growling at, but something over the angel’s left shoulder. Turning to see what Waffles was looking at, Mac watched as Manson approached them with one of his axes in hand. The demon had somehow managed to free himself from Paul’s light dagger. He raised the weapon above his head and was about to strike down the angel when Waffles lunged over Paul and threw itself at the demon. The two of them went down hard and rolled several feet in a tangled mess and when they stopped, the demon was on top of the big cat. Still suffering the effects of its many wounds, Waffles appeared to injure something else and attempted to get up, but couldn’t. Manson rose up on his one good leg and brought the axe up once more and prepared to strike.
Paul spun around and another light dagger appeared in his hand. As he unleashed it, however he stumbled forward and fell to his knees on the ground and the dagger missed the demon completely. A massive bloodstain on Paul’s back was now visible through the coat that the angel was wearing. Mikey started to race towards the demon, but Mac knew that he wouldn’t reach him in time. Still weak and unsteady, Mac reacted. He scanned the ground for Manson’s other axe and upon finding it some thirty feet away, he focused on it and lifted it upward. With a turning gesture of his hand the axe began to spin. Mac threw his arm forward and the axe followed its direction and headed toward the demon. It picked up speed and spun even quicker and struck Manson’s raised arm just above the elbow. The demon’s arm was severed instantly and it fell to the ground still clutching the other axe and Manson screamed out in pain and stared in disbelief at the stump that used to be his arm. Mac managed to maintain focus on the airborne axe and brought it back around like a boomerang. With another gesture directed at the demon, the axe followed suit and struck Manson and embedded itself at the base of his neck. His scream became a garbled, whining noise and his body swayed back and forth for a moment before he stumbled and fell dead to the ground. Manson’s body twitched and shuddered for several seconds and then went still. Nobody moved as they nervously watched the demon’s body; expecting it to spring up again. Only this time, Manson would rise no more.
Everything started spinning around Mac and he would’ve gone down if not for Uncle Pete catching him and holding him up. Mikey and Milo helped Paul back to his feet and the angel slowly made his way over to Waffles to finish tending to his wounds.
“Maybe you should save some of that healing mojo for yourself.” Milo pointed out to the wounded angel, but Paul only gave him a strange look. “Just saying.” Milo muttered. He was in no mood to argue.
“I have to help Lisa.” Mac tried to walk on his own over to where she was, but his legs failed to cooperate and Uncle Pete had to catch him again.
“I’ve got you, Mac.”
With Uncle Pete walking beside him for support, Mac was able to put one foot in front of the other and make his way towards Lisa. He had never experienced anything like this before. His powers had left him depleted of all his strength and energy. Mac wasn’t concerned so much with his own well-being as he was with Lisa’s. She had been through so much because of him. Hopefully, someday she would forgive him for all of this. He was moving as fast as he could, but it seemed to take him forever to reach Lisa where she was situated against the cement footing.
He smiled once more when he stood in front of her and reached out to remove the gag from her mouth. Perhaps it was the fatigue that he was feeling, but Mac couldn’t help but notice the look in Lisa’s eyes as she watched him approach. At first, he thought it was fear that he was seeing, but as he watched her he saw something different, something...unpleasant. Before Mac could grab hold of the gag, one of Lisa’s hands reached around from behind her back and pulled it down first.
“Why won’t you just die already?” she screamed at Mac and before he knew it, Lisa brought her other hand around and in it she held a gun that she promptly aimed at Mac.
“Lisa?”
With no hesitation whatsoever, Lisa Thomas fired three gunshots at Mac before he could react.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Mikey and Milo watched as Mac leaned on his Uncle Pete and shuffled along to where Lisa was situated at the base of the trestle. He was obviously pretty weak right now; something about his powers had done this to Mac. They weren’t sure what exactly, but they figured that Paul could fix whatever was wrong with him. Whatever he was doing to Waffles seemed to be working as the big cat seemed to be regaining his strength. Hopefully, Paul could tend to his own wounds, as well. The angel looked pretty beat up. Mikey didn’t think that angels were susceptible to injuries or wounds. He had always assumed that they were invincible...that is if they even existed in the first place.
At least they were all alive. Every so often Mikey checked in the direction of Manson’s corpse just to be sure that the demon was indeed dead. They almost all paid dearly for it when they assumed that he was down and out for the count before. This time, however the demon had been put out of his misery for good. Mikey turned his attention back to Paul and Waffles just in case they needed help of some kind. He wasn’t sure of what use he could be for an angel or a giant cat, but he would do what he could.
Mikey had just crouched down to scratch behind Waffles’ ears when the shots rang out. The sun was starting to set and darkness was just starting to creep in over the valley. He turned in the direction of where the shots came from and was surprised that they had been from the trestle. He could see Lisa holding a gun, but who was she shooting at? Where did she even get the gun from? Wasn’t she tied up? Mikey scanned behind Mac and Uncle Pete to see if there was somebody further out in the valley. He couldn’t see anybody and his stomach started to tighten when he realized that it must be Manson that she was shooting at. He was still alive! Turning in the direction where the demon’s body was supposed to be, Mikey was further surprised that it was still there. There was another shot and now Mikey could see Uncle Pete trying to wrestle the gun free from Lisa. What the hell was going on?
As soon as Lisa pulled the gun out, Uncle Pete reacted. He grabbed Mac by the collar of his jacket and pulled him backwards while spinning himself in front of his nephew at the same time. He heard the three shots ring out and felt one bullet whistle by his ear, but he knew that he wasn’t so fortunate with the other two when he felt something like bee stings on his upper back. Only worse. Shock and adrenaline took over and instinctively Uncle Pete knew that he had to get the gun away from the girl. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that she was trying to get a better aim at Mac. Lisa seemed to have forgotten all about Uncle Pete and he turned and grabbed the gun and tried to take it away from her. Another shot was fired and he didn’t know if it hit him or not. His body had a strange numb feeling, but at the moment all Uncle Pete could think of was getting the gun and protecting Mac.
