Hide And Go Seek

Thirty three

           Thirty three

   “Mum... where are we going?” I ask quietly, my heart hammering like a jackhammer in my chest. 

   I’m almost surprised that mum can’t hear it – I’m worried that she’ll turn around and snap at me, telling me to knock it out. But she doesn’t, she just stalks stealthily ahead.

   “Be quiet Anastasia,” she breathes.

   It’s dark and cold. Where are we? I don’t know. Mum woke me up in the middle of the night, told me to get dressed and to follow her. The first part of the walk had been filled with sleepy, confused questions.

   Now, I’ve lost track of where we are. I’ve never been so confused and lost before. It drives me crazy but now I remain quiet, trying to ignore the bite in the air.

   My hands rest lightly on the 22. Magnum she’d handed me. She told me that I have to keep a tight hold on it.

   She suddenly pauses behind a large fallen tree and kneels down. I kneel beside her and look forward – but see nothing.

   “You want to know what we’re doing here?” She whispers.

   “Yes,” I reply desperately.

   “You’re going to kill your first Demon,” she turns to give me a wicked smile.

   My eyes widen, my jaw slackening – I stare at her silently for a moment, my fingers tightening around the gun. My first Demon? The only Demon I’ve ever come in contact with before was a Rat Demon – and he was only a little kid, I helped him get away... and man was mum pissed off about that.

   “Where is it?”

   “You need to focus. I can sense him, can you?” She looks back the way she had been before.

   I follow suit, breathing in and out, trying to calm my racing heart and thundering pulse. It takes a few moments to clear my mind and to relax my insides enough to concentrate on pinpointing the Demon.

   Suddenly, it’s like I can see him. Not in the sense of with my eyes, more with the air around me, by using the ground – it all connects.

   “I see him,” I breathe.

   “Lift your gun,” she commands and I do. “Aim and then shoot. The bullets are pure silver. Even if  you miss the head shot, he’ll be badly wounded so that you can go in and finish him off.”

   I nod silently. I level the gun with his head and in my focused state of mine, I can almost see his face, the features – it’s odd because he’s in his human form. The only thing that’s off about him is that he’s using a shadow like form to shroud himself.

   I breathe slow and deep through my nose, swallow once – and then bang. The shot resounds through the air.

   “You hit him!” Mum cheers quietly. “But I think you hit his shoulder. You missed the head.”

   “Crap,” I mutter weakly, my heart once more pounding loudly in my chest as my blood rushes through my skull. 

   “But still, well done. Just next time... make sure you hit the head. Now go over there and end him.”

   “Okay,” I murmur and stand.

   I make my way over there – and suddenly I see him, lying flat on the ground and staring up at me silently.