Hell's Love

Chapter 8

      Declan and Dominic drove to Ava's house and Dominic parked his truck.
    "What are we doing?" Declan asked and stared wide-eyed at Dominic.  
    "We need to get closer to the demon before we start planning," Dominic replied. He handed Declan a bottle of holy water and a cross. 
   "Why?"
   "We need to know more about what we're dealing with. If we plan to go in there like Zorohm is an average demon, we'll all be dead within minutes. We need to get in, find out what we're fighting, and get out before anyone gets hurt." Dominic explained as he got out of the truck. Declan slowly followed. Dominic was all he had, so he had to trust that he knew what he was doing. "Trust me, Declan. If I didn't have Ava's best interest at heart, we would be just winging this. I don't do that, though. People are too important, especially Ava."
  "Let's do this," Declan said with a nod. The two boys slowly approached the door and eased it open. They tiptoed in and up the stairs to Ava's room. Dominic pushed open the door and they crept in, cautiously. Ava was sitting on her bed, hunched over a torn picture.
  "Zorohm." Dominic called out. Ava's head shot up, but Zorohm looked back.
  "What brings you back so soon?" Ava's sweet voice came out of her mouth. The demon was the one in control, though. 
  "I think you know," Dominic responded as he moved towards the demon. He gripped the small bottle of holy water between his fingers. Ava's brown eyes darted to it and she lunged at him. With one arm, he caught her and took out a cross. He pressed it against her skin, causing Zorohm to roar in pain. Ava's body tore out of his arms and leaped towards the door. Declan sprung forward and wrapped his arms around her small frame.
   "What do we do!" Declan shouted.
   "Talk to Ava! Try to reach her." Dominic ordered. Declan spun her around and stared into her brown eyes.
   "Ava, love, can you hear me?"
  "She isn't here." Zorohm replied with a dark laugh and wiggled in Declan's arms.
  "He's lying," Dominic told Declan. "He knows what effect you have on her. You are the only one that can connect with her like that."
  "Ava, I know you can hear me. Focus on me. Pretend I'm the only one here." Declan stated with his eyes locked on Ava.
  "You can't reach her."
  "You know I love you, but do you know when I fell in love with you?" He didn't wait for a response. "We were lying on the grass in the summer. You were smiling at the sky and talking about a book you read that you connected with. Your eyes were lit up and you smiled over at me. Then you stopped talking and stared at me with your beautiful brown eyes. You said the words that changed everything for me. You told me 'The last several months have been the happiest ones of my life. Every day I spend with you, I learn something about you I didn't know, even after all these years. I learn something new about myself.' That surprised me, but what surprised me more was the look you gave me. You stared at me like you could look at me forever. I loved you then and I love you even more now." Ava's eyes changed then and a light went on in them. Her body relaxed as she stared up at Declan with tears in her eyes. 
  "I love you." She whispered, then like a rubber band effect, she was gone. Zorohm threw Declan off with a shreak. As Declan crashed against the wall, he looked up at Ava and frowned. Dominic raced over to him and helped him to his feet.
  "We have what we need. Let's get out of here!" Dominic shouted. They hurried down the steps and out the door.
 "What did we get?" Declan asked when they were outside. The boys leaned on the truck to catch their breath.
 "You reached her. She's strong enough to fight him." He said with a smile. "We can stop him."