Bad to the Bone

Chapter 1

  A storm of dust emerged from underneath the rubber tires. A red car zoomed by, darting through the small town of Elk Grove. The driver couldn't bother to stop or slow down. The reason why would become clearer later, but for now it is unimportant. However, the driver was running out of gas and had to take a quick detour, no matter how much she hated the idea of stopping.

She pulled into a small gas station. There were at least six pumps, two of them already taken, and a small convenience store. Black boots swung out from inside the car as soon as the door opened and crunched onto the gravel.

The outside of the store was not deceiving in size, the inside was just as small and cramped as she had thought it would be. The isles between the shelves were cramped and could barely fit more than two people. The counter was only a few steps to the left from the double glass doors, there was currently no cashier. Behind the counter was an array of cigarettes, and on the counter was gum, lottery tickets, and a silver, shining bell. She took a pack of gum when she was sure the cashier wasn't going to come out of the back room.

Her hand then slipped out of her pocket to tap the bell on the counter and get the cashier's attention. She could see inside the open door where a man with short brown hair was seated, facing away from the doorway on a box. He jumped at the sound and turned around to see the woman standing there in wait. He rushed over almost immediately.

"Hey. How can I help you?" He asked, suppressing the urge to stutter. The woman he was facing was rather intimidating. Her green eyes were piercing and he could tell that she was a woman who had seen some things. A woman who shouldn't be messed with.

"30 bucks on pump four please." She asked in a quiet yet serious voice. The cashier, who went by the name Jared as it was clearly printed on the name tag, had immediately got to work on this. She dug into her jacket pocket and withdrew a worn, brown wallet. From within, she removed a credit card. This credit card was one of many she had, but it wasn't under her name. As a matter of fact, none of them were.

"Will that be all for you today?" The boy asked politely. A cold and uncomfortable feeling crept up Jared's leg. It felt like a snake coiling around a tree branch, but this snake kept going. It spread throughout him, and he felt like he couldn't breathe once it hit his chest.

"Yeah." She answered in that same, distant and cold tone.

Jared took the card from her and completed the transaction, feeling her eyes on her constantly. His shaky hand had given her back her card. A small, black line had made its' way up his wrist followed by others that seemed to be branching out.

"Thanks." She had said before getting ready to leave. He went to say something, but he couldn't find it in him. No, he physically couldn't say anything. The cold feeling took over his head, and everything from Jared's point of view had gone blank. His eyes became white and his face contorted into a grisly, corpse-like look.

"Christine." His rough voice croaked out. The woman was nearly out the door before he spoke, and once she heard this voice she stopped. It was no mystery to her that he would know her name, because this wasn't the cashier boy.

"Arnie waits for you in hell." The creature mocked. Her heart shriveled in her chest and ached. That was a name that had crossed her mind many times, one that she would cry out after having a nightmare, but never did she think that it would hurt this much after having another person say it.

"Would you like to talk to him?" She closed the door, ignoring the demon's taunts. She locked the doors and turned to him. The demon watched her make her way to the isles and hide behind one. Behind this isle, crouching, she dug into her pocket to grab her gun and Devil's Trap bullets.