Demon's Bane

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A pinch on the wrist snapped Jana from the blackness.  Groaning she flicked her eyes open, surprised to find a water-stained ceiling above her head instead of the sky.

At least I’m alive, was her first thought.  However, considering that the last thing she remembered was being cornered by a werewolf, she wasn’t too sure whether that fact was a good thing…

Confused, she rolled over disturbing the heavy blanket that covered her like a cocoon.  She blinked, eyes taking in her surroundings in blurry snatches like pictures from a broken camera.

Her body rested on a small bed, she realized, in the middle of a room with painted blue walls.  Pictures of heavy-metal bands had been tapped onto the wall near her head, and the musicians stared down on her with silent eyes.

Faded black curtains with soccer ball print shielded the only window.

She was comforted by the fact that it wasn’t the average decor of a murderous werewolf. 

But, ya never knew...

“Hey, how you feeling?”

Her eyes flicked to the bed’s other side where Stark stood watching her anxiously.  “You scared the hell out of me, kid.” 

She could tell from the way his voice hitched that he was telling the truth.  Which just confused her more.

She groaned.  Her vision blurred in and out like a camera trying to automatically focus.  One moment she could see Stark clearly—down to the pink pimple swelling over the ridge of his nose.  The next, everything was a shapeless blob.

“Say something,” she heard him demand. 

Gingerly, she reached up, cradling her aching head with one hand.  “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” she managed to choke out.

          “Thank God.”  His sigh of relief surged through Jana’s body making her wondered what had happened to make him so worried.

          Then she looked down and saw the fresh stain of blood that had seeped through the fabric of her pants beneath the dark blue comforter.

          Shit, she thought dryly. 

Somewhere within the chaos of before she must have reopened the wound.  It hurt like hell and the skin around it felt sore and tight. 

It would be just her luck if the thing had gotten infected.

          “Look Gemma, or whatever your name is.”  The seriousness of his tone made Jana’s eyes flicked to him.  Unease curled in his spine as she guessed what he would say next.

          “I thought you’d died or something—you fell and I couldn’t get you to wake up.  Then you started bleeding all over me—shit.”  He shook his head.  “You gotta go to the hospital.”

          “No!”  Jana pulled herself upright, wincing as her hip flared with agony. “I’m fine.”

          “Really?”  His eyes narrowed as they flicked over her bruised, swollen face down to the blood painting her clothing. 

“Well, we must have two very different definitions of the word ‘fine,’ then.”

          “Alright, alright—”  Jana thought fast, terrified that he would pull out that stupid cell phone and start dialing.   “I’ll answer whatever questions you want—I swear.  Just don’t call the cops.”