Raise Hell

Chapter 1: Homecoming

Authors Note: This book will contain coarse language and darker themes. Please proceed with caution.

ACT 1

           Alex Donovan hasn't had the best week.

          First, there was the wraith case that she had happened to stumble across that had put her plans of returning home on hold. Not wanting to leave the occupants of a nursing home entirely defenceless against the brain-sucking monster, she had promptly checked herself in as an aid to deal with the problem from the inside. Three days of trying to discretely figure out who exactly this beast was impersonating had been hard enough without the nurses and security team breathing down her neck, and being interrogated by the head nurse about her more than questionable 'qualification papers' wasn't exactly what you would call a nice bonus.

          She had managed to discover which other nurse had been the wraith and she had dealt with it promptly, but the bastard hadn't gone down without a fight. It had tried to use its spike to drain her brain fluids out, but she had jerked out of its grasp at the last second and got a long, nasty cut on the side of her neck instead. She would be lying if she said that she didn't feel even an inkling of satisfaction when she drove her silver blade through its heart in the end.

          Then there was the problem of getting out of the said nursing ward. It wouldn't have been a problem if someone hadn't seen her standing over the body of the wraith. Granted, it was one of the elderly patients that suffer from dementia, but Alex hadn't wanted to risk it. Getting rid of the body and hightailing it out of there before the patient could raise the alarm had seemed like a good idea at the time and had paid off rather well. She had managed to swiftly grab her belongings that she had left in the motel room days prior, and had taken off into the night. Knowing that there was a chance that the nursing home could send the authorities after her if they believed the words of the elderly man that had seen her commit the crime, she had stopped for nothing.

          She hadn't even had the chance to have a shower. The blood that had oozed from the cut caused by the wraith's blood had quickly dried and stained both her skin and the top of her shirt, and every time she inhales, she can taste copper in the back of the throat from the rusty smell. Wanting nothing more than to grab a drink once she was five towns clear from the one where she had dealt with the wraith, she had simply thrown on her large hoodie to conceal the sight and smell of the dark liquid before finding the nearest bar.

          And now here she is, getting caught right in the middle of a heated bar brawl that hadn't even been her fault in the first place.

          She had simply been enjoying a drink in a booth in the furthest corner of the bar when an argument had broken out between a group of men. Though it hadn't started physical, Alex could tell by their slurred words and threatening demeanours that it wouldn't take long for the argument to head down that road. Not wanting any part of it and hoping to spend the rest of her night in peace, she had begrudgingly finished her drink and moved across the room towards the exit.

          Just as she was passing the now yelling group, however, one of the men had stumbled into her. Her patience having already worn thin and the cut on her neck still practically thrumming with pain, she had tried to shove the man off her harsher than necessary. When he still didn't budge, it hadn't taken long for her fist to connect with the side of his jaw. He went crashing to the ground, and the heavy thump had been the fuse to cause the fire. In a matter of seconds, curses were exchanged, punches thrown and the whole bar had erupted into chaos.

          OK, so maybe it had been her fault.

          Having already taken care of two of his friends, one of the inebriated men clumsily lifts his leg to kick at the twenty-one-year-old, but Alex manages to catch it between one of her hands. She uses her other to push at the space between his shoulder blades while using her leg to kick his out from underneath him at the same time, causing him to crash to a heap on the ground.