Hunted

Chapter 11

I looked to my left and saw Penelope, her face was hard and determined, but her eyes told me she was scared shitless at the site of the demon. I turned my head to Trevor. He stood still but his muscles belayed the fact that he was ready to fight this monster. I turned back to the demon in front of me. He stood a good twenty feet away from us, still wearing that smile.

“It's rude to burn people Kingsley.” he said in a mocking tone that made me want to punch him in the face

“How did you survive that!?” Penelope asked him, trying to make her voice as cold as possible, but her fear tinged it. The demon turned is smile to her and my blood boiled.

“Why, my dear sweet Penelope, I can control fire. Shape it to my will.” he said in a sickeningly sweet voice. I heard Trevor before I saw him take a flying leap at the demon. Trevor crashed into him and they both tolled on the ground. I lifted my gun and tried to aim but I couldn't get a clear shot of the demon. I growled in frustration and handed the gun to Penelope while pulling out the knife Maribel had given me. I looked at Penelope, the fear in her eyes broke my heart. I cupped her face with both my hands.

“Penelope, I love you. And I want you to be happy.” I said trying to keep my voice steady. Penelope's eyes filled with understanding and tears.

“You say that as if I'm never going to see you again.” she whispered. I gave her a weak smile and kissed her on the lips. It was the most deep and passionate kiss we probably had ever shared. It will most likely be our last.

I pulled away from the kiss and raced over to where Trevor and the demon stood firing energy ball after energy ball. I thanked the fact that the chain of the handcuff extended itself on its own when it needed to be. I didn't want Penelope to get hurt. That was the last thing on my mind.

“Kingsley?” Trevor grunted as he dodged a fireball. “You need to stab him quick. I can't keep doing this.” I nodded and ran straight at the demon. He saw me coming and focused his aim on me. I dodged his fireballs as best I could, but one ended up hitting my arm. I tried not to cry out as the pain consumed me. I kept running at the demon determined not to let the pain stop me. I was inched away and I thrust out the knife. The demon laughed and knocked the knife out of my hand. It landed nearby, but I didn't have time to look around for it because the demon was throwing punches at me. His fist connected with my left eye and I fell. I tried to stand but the demon kept punching me down with his leather booted foot. All I could do at that point was cover my head and wait for Trevor to do something. I was beginning to wonder if Trevor was still there or not when I heard the loud crack of a gun. The demons painfully hard fist stopped and I dared a glance up. The demon was lying on the ground in front of me. I looked over my shoulder to see Penelope holding the smoking gun. I quickly stood up and raced to find the knife. Where was it?

“Here Kingsley.” I turned to see Trevor had the knife and was standing over the demon.

“Time to end this once and for all.” he said as he lifted the knife down in a fast movement. The knife was just above the demons heart when Trevor’s hand froze, as if an invisible hand held it aloft. The Trevor was thrown against the brick wall, cracking it as he fell. He didn't get back up. Penelope cried out and ran over to him. I turned back around to the demon in time to see him get up off the ground. I felt Penelope come stand beside me.

“He's out cold.” she said as she slipped the knife into my hand.

“You know, that shot tickled a bit.” The demon said smiling again. “Lets see if you can actually make it hurt.” The demon lept at us and Penelope fired her gun again, this time the bullet landed in his head. The fatal shot did not slow the monster down any. He kept coming. I moved to dodge him. Penelope kept firing the gun and I kept trying to get close enough to stab the bastard in the heart. I moved to the right to stand in front of the demon. I thrust the knife and this time the demon grabbed my shoulders and rammed his knee into my gut. I dropped to my knees and doubled over in pain. The demon grabbed a fist full of my hair and pulled me up. His face was only inches from my own.

“You think you can kill me boy?” he laughed. “I'm a part of you. I know what every move is.” he twisted the knife painfully out of my grasp. “You think this toy will destroy me?” he barked as he through the knife behind him.

“I know you boy. I was a part of you for so long. I was there when we set your parents house in flames. When you killed all those innocent people. I know your movements like the words of a song. You can't kill me.” he whispered. His hand moved to my throat and began to tighten. I felt my lungs begin to scream for air. My hands clawed at his in a useless attempt to bring air back to them. The demon just laughed harder at the site of my struggling. He was certainly a sadistic little shit wasn't he? The world started to go fuzzy and get dimmer and dimmer. Finally, I was floating in that place that is somewhere between life and death. Neither here nor there really. It was so warm and peaceful here that I didn't want to go back to the cold chaos that was my life. But a tiny part of me said that there was someone important there that I couldn’t leave. I needed her, but I couldn’t will my body to move until a scream tore thought my peaceful half sleep. With that scream, my soul was slammed back into my body. I saw, as if from someone elseses eyes, Penelope jumping onto the demon as he stood over me smiling. She held the knife in her hand. She then jammed it into her heart all the way up to the hilt. The demon cried out and tried to remove the knife but he couldn’t. Penelope was flung from his back and landed somewhere behind him. The demon continued to scream as his body began to crack and crumble away. Finally, his whole body imploded with a deafening bang. I felt something cut inside me and a huge weight lifter off my body. All was silent. Only the crackling of the fire that still burned in the house was heard. I pulled myself onto my hands and knees and crawled to where Penelope lay on the ground.

“Penelope, you okay?” I asked, praying she would answer me. She groaned an put her hands on her head.

“Damn, that thing was loud.” she said. I couldn’t control myself and busted out laughing as I grabbed her hand and helped her up. We heard the creaking of the risty gate and saw Maribel run through. She looked at us as relief washed over her face. “You two are pretty beat up.” she smiled. We looked at each other and we all started laughing. Maribel smiled and looked at us.

“I have a spell that can fix you two up before you leave.” She recited another Latin spell and all the wounds on out bodies disappeared and out ripped and dirty clothes were replaced with new ones. That's when I noticed the handcuffs. They slowly dissolved and soon were gone. I looked up at Penelope and she giggled. I smiled back at her and pulled her into my chest. “Alright you two. Break it up.” Maribel laughed. I opened my arm and pulled her into the hug and we all laughed warmly as we pulled away. I looked over and saw Penelope was crying. “What's wrong?” I asked concerned. She smiled and wiped her eyes. “Nothing. I just, I don't want to leave Maribel.” she smiled. Maribel turned to her and grabbed her hand. “You can always visit darling.” she turned and looked at us both. “You two are always welcome in my home.” We all hugged each other one last time before departing. I grabbed Penelope's hand as we walked down the dirt road leading away from the battle field. “Let's go home.” I smiled. She nodded and chuckled. “Lets.”

We arrived back at the apartment to a explosion of festive from Camden and Felix. I was happier then I probably had ever been. Felix and Camden finally admitted to us that they were in a relationship. Penelope was shocked while I on the other hand wasn't, since I knew all along. After the fun came to an end, we all said out good nights and headed to our rooms. As Penelope and I walked into my room, I closed the door, wrapped my arms around her and planted a kiss on her full lips. I was finally getting to do what I had been waiting to do with her tonight. And nothing was going to ruin this. Nothing all.

I woke up as the heat from the sun hit my bare back. I stretched my arms out and smiled as the memory of what happened last night played in my head. I started blushing and chuckled to myself.

“Good morning Kingsl-” I turned my head, expecting to see Kingsely sleeping next to me, but he wasn't. I sat up and looked around the room. “Kingsley?” I called out. No answer. I climbed out of bed and pulled on some pants and a shirt and walked out into the living room. “Kingsley?” I called out again. Still no answer. Now I was freaking out. I ran over to the bathroom and saw no one in there. Where the hell was he? I ran to Camden's room and opened the door. I was still a little shocked to see my step-brother sleeping in bed with Camden but, that wasn't first on my mind.

“Penelope, what's wrong?” Felix said sitting up concerned. The panic hit my voice as the tears rolled into my eyes. “It's Kingsley. He's missing.”