GAME ON - GoM 2

12

Claire decided to vent out walking up and down Main Street, leaving Father Jason's flyers at every store. They called people to "welcome the Holy Spirit to Bold Peak." Since everybody knew and liked Father Jason, nobody refused to take one home, no matter their religious ideas.

The girl was still out on her errand when Tom parked the Yukon behind the Hilux outside the bookstore. Ollie was already there, and Bass joined them a moment later, bringing Jack along.

Alex didn't want to turn it into a field trip, but she had to admit that Bass was right: Jack was the best shot among them, Tom being the only exception—maybe. Once they were all there, Alex explained the situation to them. She noticed the look that the brothers traded when she mentioned the chance of finding demons in their way.

"Guys, I don't want you in unless you're positive you're ready to handle whatever comes our way. This ain't nothing like deer hunting."

"Do they walk, those demons?" Bass replied. "Then we can shoot them down."

"They're frigging strong, Bass. And maybe they can harm us from a distance."

"So can we," Jack said, patting his rifle.

"D'we need special weapons to fight them?" asked Ollie.

"I still have a dozen shells with salt and holy water."

"And the demons are two tops, right?" said Bass. "Then we're good."

Alex sighed at their stubborn determination. She hoped it wouldn't waver when they faced the real thing.

Claire was back to the bookstore in time to go with them to Father Jason's place. Thames welcomed them with consecrated medals for them.

"What's this? It looks Pagan, not Christian," said Bass, inspecting the symbol on his medal.

"Christian churches have deep roots in pagan religions," Thames replied. "We adopted many things to appeal audiences."

"Well, they too were considered pagans back in the day," said Ollie.

"Exactly." Thames nodded to Tom's bow. "I remember that bow," he said. He noticed their surprise and smiled. "Bootter designed it himself. It's crafted specially to hunt demons." He pointed at the symbols carved at each end of the bow. "See these, Tom? They turn every arrow you shoot into a consecrated weapon."

A pragmatic man, Tom didn't look overly impressed. "Does it mean I can kill them?"

"No, but you can weaken them more than their shotgun shells."

"Good you have it, Tom," said Jack. "And good we have you."

They headed out and Thames stopped Alex. He showed her the jagged edges of the medal he'd given her.

"Do you remember the sigil?" he asked in a whisper.

Alex nodded, frowning.

"If you need to channel, and you have no knife at hand, this will draw the blood you need for the sigil."

"You think I'm gonna need to do it."

"No. But if push comes to shove, don't hesitate."

At the front door, Claire held Ollie tight and made him promise yet again that he'd be careful. The girl cut her aunt's way off when Alex walked out.

"Let me go with you, Al. I've got a bad feeling about this."

Alex set her jaw. "One more reason to not take you with me, kiddo."

Claire spun around and walked back into the house. The others turned to Alex, surprised. She sighed and shook her head.

"Let's go already," she growled.

They got in the Hilux and Ollie's truck and drove away. Bass called Alex on speaker when they turned onto the road by the lake. She picked up on speaker too.

"Hey, Al, we were wondering. What do they look like, those demons?"

Alex ignored Tom's glance and kept her eyes on the road. "Like ordinary men."

"You mean we're shooting down regular dudes?" asked Jack, taken aback.

"No, Jack. Those 'regular dudes' died when they were possessed. Now the demons wear them like meat suits."

"You sure?"

"Bass..." That was Ollie, scolding their friend.

"Okay, okay, just asking."

They disconnected and Alex met Tom's eyes for a heartbeat, inviting him to speak up. He waited for her to look ahead again.

"How dangerous are they?" he asked.

She sighed. "As far as I know, deadly. They're tough, vicious, murderous sons of bitches. They have sort of superpowers, but I have no idea what they may be."

"Superpowers."

"Yeah. The best thing to do is shoot them down on sight."

"And how are we gonna tell them from their followers—the real regular guys?"

"Red eyes. Maybe not full shiny red the whole time, but at least a constant spark of red in their eyes. And their behavior, of course. That's why we're coming after they're supposed to leave."

Tom only nodded. She moved her hand from the wheel and reached out for his. He took it and pressed it.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"I'm not Claire, Alex. You cannot leave me behind when you're about to risk your life."

She didn't answer, but flashed a tight smile.