Demon's Bane

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

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She couldn’t hear the calling anymore and could only hope that they hadn’t already returned to the house.  She moved faster, forcing her throbbing aching limbs to carry her over the rough, jagged terrain, but in the end even speed wasn’t enough.            

She tripped over an unseen root and went sprawling hard to the ground.  It was a good thing that her wrist shot out to break her fall, with a loud snap and a torrent of fiery pain.

Wonderful. 

Just when she was about to give up and call it a night—it wouldn’t have been the first time she slept under the trees, anyway—a beam of sharp light pierced her vision.

“Jana?”

She flinched as someone barreled over, holding a small flashlight aimed directly in her face. 

“Jana!”

She blinked, as her eyes adjusted to the bright light.  Vision blurring, she could just make out the worried gaze of Matt as he finally had the sense to point the flashlight in another direction. 

“Jeeze, kid,” he muttered, glancing her over.  “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Without another word, he scooped her up into his arms, and—with her wrist dangling like limp jelly—he started in the general direction of the house. 

He only paused near the edge of the woods to call back to the others, “I’ve found her.”

Then, he took off, weaving in between the trees as if he had no trouble at all seeing through the dark.

In a matter of minutes, he was carrying her up the rickety porch steps and into Mabel’s house, where they were ambushed almost instantly by the frantic old woman. 

“Thank God, you’ve found her!” 

Jana could sense several people crowding around her on all sides, poking and prodding her from beneath Matt’s arms. 

“She hurt—”

“Where was she—”

“Bring her here.”  That final voice cut over all the others as brisk as a whip.

 Jana didn’t even have to incline her head to the end of the hall and see the woman standing there to know that it belonged to Sharon. 

She could feel Matt’s grip tighten.  He hesitated and Jana saw his eyes dart to Mabel whose blue eyes were narrowed. 

“She’s hurt Sharon,” the old woman snapped.  “If you start bothering her with stupid questions I swear I’ll toss you out of my house right now—”

“Hmph,” Sharon scoffed, but she only help up her hands to reveal the objects held in each one; a bottle of antiseptic and a box of Band-Aids. 

If possible, Mabel’s gaze narrowed even more, into just a razor-sharp slit of icy blue, but she didn’t speak.  As if her silence said it all, Sharon turned and headed down the opposite end of the hall with those brown curls fanning out behind her.

“Bring her here, Matthew,” she called, and this time Matt didn’t hesitate. 

“I’ll keep an eye on her, Mama,” he muttered to Mabel, before slipping past the others to carry Jana down the hall. 

When they reached the small living room, Sharon gestured to the couch with a nod of her head, and without a word Matt set her down on the cushions.