Demons |¤| Lashton

The Divine Zero

Ryan and I had decided to camp out in his car instead of looking for a hotel. It was late and I was tired. Ryan wasn't tired, of course. Vampires are freaky.

So I just laid in the backseat and attempted to prevent my skin from sticking to the leather upholstery.

Ryan stood outside for a while, but I eventually saw his figure disappear from the rear deck. I had folded down the seats in order to make more room, but I was still uncomfortable. I was 6 feet tall, after all.

I had almost drifted to sleep when the passenger door opened and a pillow was gently placed by my head. I gratefully grabbed it and tucked it under my head.

"You won't get cold, so you won't need a blanket," Ryan said quietly before closing the door.

"Yeah, but it'd be nice if I didn't have to wake up sore," I grumbled to myself before passing out.

---

I woke up to the sun shining directly in my eyes. Ryan was driving already, and the road underneath us was rough.

Sitting up, I had to wait a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to see anything darker than the sun.

We were driving through near desert currently. I never knew California could look so desolate.

"Where are we?"

"About 70 miles away from the outskirts of Los Angeles. Your friends are there, yes?"

"Yeah. Where are we going?"

"A small warehouse in a nice secluded area. There won't be too many people."

"Did you contact a priest?"

"It's taken care of. Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Neither am I!" He laughed. I groaned.

"I'm really worried, man," I huffed. The sunlight was burning my skin through my jeans, so I crawled forward and awkwardly made my way into the front seat. The AC was nice up here. I sighed with relief when I adjusted my vents. The air blasted in my face.

"Hey, check this out," Ryan said, turning on the volume.

I grinned widely as some hyper rock song came blasting from the speakers, making the car's entire frame pulse with the beat.

"That's awesome!" I yelled, and Ryan turned the volume down with a snicker.

"Thought you'd like it. I had to pay a little extra to get priority repair."

---

The warehouse was even smaller than I imagined. Maybe because warehouses are usually huge and a small warehouse would still be pretty big. The building was set at a comfortable distance away from the road, the property fenced off by a slightly rusty chain link fence. A tiny white dented sign hung from the top of the fence, reading, "PRIVATE PROPERTY".

"Did the priest say this was okay?" I was concerned that the priest would back off when he saw the place.

"You're funny, Ashton," Ryan snorted, wiping some dust off of his boots. "Usually you can't have a priest come to you, you have to go to them. I explained the situation and he suggested this address. Its totally legal, he's allowed to operate here."

"Amazing. But wait, aren't you like...hurt by religious stuff?"

"The level of discomfort depends on how close and involved I am. I don't think today will be excruciating."

"Can he tell you're a vampire?"

"I don't think there are any mirrors inside, so no."

"That's nice. What's the priest's name?"

"Father Dominic."

We were quiet for a while, just hanging out by the fence. It was almost 11:30am. I was really worried that Ryan's presence would heavily affect the effectiveness of this whole operation.

"Could you like...not be you?"

"Who do you want me to be?"

"Just no celebrity my band-obsessed friends would know."

It was strange, talking to someone who I wasn't physically familiar with. Ryan ended up looking like your everyday guy off the street. Maybe one of those guys that liked to visit the gym a bit too often. There was nothing too disturbing about him, except the fact that he was still 100% Ryan on the inside. I admit I was creeped out a little.

Ryan pulled a gun on me the moment a car came whizzing around the corner. It was 11:57. I could see the frantic look on Calum's face; he was driving.

He saw me, and his jaw kind of fell when he saw that Ryan was holding a gun to my neck. The car immediately came to a stop behind Ryan's.

All of the boys leaped out of the car, and Ryan shoved me, urging me to go through the gate that the priest had left ajar specifically for us.

It became a chase, and I ran like I had no choice. Ryan kept the gun trained on me and kept his eyes on my trailing friends.

I yanked open the main "employees only" door and dove inside, Ryan practically flying on top of me. Luke, Michael, and Calum quickly piled in, unaware of what was actually happening. Ryan slammed the door shut behind them and quickly secured it shut with a padlock.

Looking around, it was clear that the warehouse hadn't been used in a while. There were still palettes and wrapped boxes stacked against the opposite wall. The room was rather musty, and the only light came from the small window at the top of the wall and from the various candles that were carefully arranged around the space.

"What the...?" Calum whispered. All of the guys were thoroughly confused at the setup. Ryan tapped me with his gun and I scrambled up, allowing him to direct me where he wanted. He had me sit in the single row of metal folding chairs that had been set up before the bed.

There was a classic missionary bed, complete with peeling paint and creaky springs. Beside the bed resided a small table with a bible and holy water.

Father Dominic emerged from the shadows and summoned my best friends to come forward with one finger. Ryan waved the gun at them, making them move faster. Luke gripped Michael's arm tightly.

"You," Father Dominic said, looking directly at Luke. I could tell that he knew he was in deep shit.

"You have been possessed, dear boy, by a wretched thing sent by Satan. This presence, a "demon" as we call it, must be expelled from your body and your soul must be cleansed."

It happened faster than it ever had before. A cold wind suddenly gripped Luke, and he lunged at Father Dominic. Shocked, Father Dominic jumped back, but before Luke could reach him, Calum and Michael had grabbed Luke by both arms.

Luke started screaming, trying to twist out of their grips. Ryan ran forward, tucking the gun securely into the waistband of his jeans.

"Take him to the bed, please," Father Dominic instructed. I could only watch. Ryan said I couldn't help. I desperately wanted to, though. Three guys could barely restrain this monstrosity.

Unfortunately, our original plan started to backfire. There was no way someone could escape from the warehouse without the key to the padlocks.

I didn't even have time to consider escaping as an option when Luke ripped himself out of the grasp of three men and charged towards me. His trademark black eyes were easy to see.