Demon's Bane

Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

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A musical barrage of car alarms going off had her awake even before dawn could creep across the sky. 

Blinking back another nightmare, Jana tried to tell herself that it was for the best—after all, the sooner she could get on her feet and keep moving, the harder it would be for anyone to track her down.

Still, it didn’t make it any easier to try and force her tired brain to function; she had to pinch herself just to clear away some of the blurriness of exhaustion. 

Though, in the end, she realized that moving anywhere seemed out of the question the moment she peeled her eyes open and glanced down at her aching, sore body in the pale twilight.

God, I look like some extra in some B horror movie, she thought with disgust. 

Dried blood dotted her tee shirt like brown tie-dye. Her sweatpants looked like the clothes of a murder victim.  Bruises and scratches crisscrossed her arms like graffiti, and beneath it all, her hip ached like nobody’s business.  Even her head throbbed—the icing on the cake. 

The day had barely begun and already she felt like curling up into a ball and calling it quits.   She might have done just that, had her fingers not unconsciously clenched around the hilt of the knife in her hand—as though some part of her were trying to remind her just what it was she was fighting for.

Her whole reason for being in the city in the first place.

There was only one reason why she held onto a knife like this besides the obvious ones.  One reason why she’d spent six long months bouncing from state to state, town to town, and crawling through sewers before finally reaching this city.

One reason that had kept her fighting after Data’s death.

Revenge.

He’s here, she thought determinedly.  Years old hatred roared through her veins like adrenaline, giving her enough strength to pull herself to her feet using the railing of the fire escape.  This time he’d not going to get away.  

She forced her legs to move, taking the remaining steps one by one.  She moved slowly, like an old man.  Her legs were sore and stiff, but they held, even as she made the short jump to the pavement below. 

All around, the city was just coming to life.  Only a postman and a few bundled pedestrians were there to see her stumble out of the alley like the survivor of a massacre and limp down the street with her head held high. 

No one called out, or tried to stop her.  Not even the police officer she spotted ducking into a donut shop a block and a half later. 

People didn't seem to care so early in the morning—it was a Monday after all.  Homeless kids were a dime a dozen in a city like this; wherever you turned there were always more of them.  Lounging on street corners, lurking in alleys, trying to stay unnoticed.

Jana spotted one just as she turned the corner onto a street slightly busier than the last.  He was crouched on the sidewalk, hunched like a shadow beneath a dark leather jacket.  With one hand he casually flicked a lighter while brown eyes coolly scanned the sea of faces; as though he were remembering each one.  Or looking for someone.

When his gaze fell over Jana, she saw them perk up, irises widening into pools of midnight. 

Interesting, she could almost hear him musing from beneath that cloud of dark hair.