The Apocalypse Knocking

Chapter 3 ~Dakota's POV~

I am conscious but not awake. I can survey my surroundings but I can also see myself, asleep, in my bed. I can't touch anything, I can't even really move. I can just turn my head and take it all in. My alarm clock is as usual reading the correct time as the night drags on. My journal is safely tucked away in my satchel which is next to me in bed. I don't entirely understand what's going on, I just know it's happening.
The moment the clock strikes 2:15a.m. I am awoken by a bright flash outside my windows but I am observing all this from outside my body. I stir in my bed until the light dims. I sit up. The flash gets brighter and brighter till all I can see is white. My arm goes up in defense against the light but it grows in intensity till it goes black.
I begin to panic and reach for the dagger and holy water sitting next to my bed. I look around intently, as if expecting something to pop out and strike me down to the pits of hell where I otta be.
I relax slightly after about 15 minutes of sitting stiff in my bed. The moment I relax though, I see it.
The same basterd that kidnapped my family and killed Jasmine's. It just hovers at the foot of my bed. It can't touch me since I am smart as hell and leave a ring of salt around my bed. At least that part is smart. He starts laughing when he notices my smug face.
"Why are you laughing now? You haven't stolen anything from me, there's nothing left to steal." I say obviously angered by his presence. He looks at the me that's odserving it all and smirks. Suddenly I am thrown at my body on the bed causing me to jolt back slighty.
"What did you just fucking do?" I ask worried as if he just cursed me.
"Oh, I just put your subconscious back where it belongs. You'll need it." He says with laughter filling his voice.
"What do you mean?" I ask completely puzzled but I'll never let him know that.
"What do you think happened to your little distinctional family of yours?" He says. I may not be able to see his face but I know he has a devious smile across it.
"You took them from me." I feel tears well in my eyes remembering their screams. "I don't even know why. Why did you leave me? Why not take me too?" I ask as the tears slide down my cheeks.
"Oh poor child," he responds with a sarcastic tone in his voice, "here," he says flipping on my fan aimed at the salt ring on my floor.
Before I can realize what he was doing he throws me against the wall behind my bed. 'That's it, he's got me. He's gonna take me to hell.' I struggle to get free but it proves fruitless. I am stuck against my wall, awaiting whatever he came here to do to me.
"Your family is dead, I killed them myself. A messy job if I do say, I cut them to peices then threw them away like the trash they were. As for why I saved you. Let's just say, the one that summoned me to do this job wanted you and Jasmine, alive." He says moving forward toward me. I stop all movement, I pause as if I too had just been killed, but no. That would be too luxurious right now.
My family is dead. He killed them and I can't do shit. He gets so close that if I was free I could throw the water and stab him in the chest. He leans in and whispers in my ear. "And don't worry, you two won't die by my doing anytime soon." I look at him confused.
"I have plans for the two of you." He say while backing away and then let's me fall face first onto my bed. I pour the holy-water onto the blade I have had since he first showed up, and throw it at him. I am trying to hurt this demon, at least alittle. He dodges it easily.
"Your amateur weapons won't kill me, stupid little girl." He says moving back to the position he was in moments before, in front of my research wall.
My anger begins to grow in my chest and a warm sensation is at my finger tips. He throws a vase off the window seal at me and as a defense mechanism I pull my arms up over my face. The warmth grows until I feel as if my hands are on fire. I drop my hands and stare at the evil in my presence. I hop of my bed and step toward him. He said it himself, he won't strike me down, yet. He can hurt me though, which at this moment I don't care about.
I stop walking toward him when a brust of dark purple flames appears between us. At first I think it's from the bastard that killed my family, but it travels toward him. He seems too awestruck to react in time to dodge it because it stricks him.
"Impressive but is that the best you can do?" He says and with a flick of a finger I am thrown across my apartment. Hitting the wall behind my bed and falling onto it. He won this battle. I am knocked unconscious.

~~~^~~~^~~~

I wake up face up on my bed with my head at the foot of it. My head is throbbing. Why does my head hurt so much? I get up to grab ice for my head and see the vase from my window seal shattered on the floor. I start to look at the pieces closer and notice that the salt ring around my bed is broken. What the holy hell happened last night? I am so confused. I clean up the mess and repair the circle. My ice maker is broken so I decide to grab an ice pack out of the freezer.
What the fuck happened to my wrists? My thoughts are scattered. Everything is out of place this morning. Just as I start to put two and two together, I remember last night's nightmare. At least, it has to be a nightmare. My family couldn't have been killed, I couldn't have been visited by the demon last night. I definitely couldn't have somehow thrown flames at a demon. I am a normal human being not a supernatural being. I am not a freak!
This all just has to be a coincidence. My wrists were probably just bruised during a fit of self aggregation, that caused me to smash the vase and break the salt circle. I used to do stuff like that in my sleep when I was younger. So maybe it's coming back.
Yeah, that's what happened. I try to convince myself that I am fine. I am alright. I can't go into work with my arms like this. The uniform has short sleeves so I have to call in sick.
I dial Shelby's number.
"Hey Shelby, " I say with a cough, "I think I'm sick." Cough, I hear a quiet gasp from the other end. "Do you, " cough, "think I should still come in? " I ask adding a violent fit of coughs toward the end of my question. I have always been good at acting. I mean when you fake a smile, a laugh, and practically an entire life, you get good at it. I just have never used it to get out of work before, I hope she buys it.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Dakota, truely. You shouldn't come in, wouldn't want you to get our customers sick. I'll just see if Laura can cover your shift. Get plenty of rest and sleep." Shelby says with sympathy and slight irritation in her voice.
"Thanks," cough, "I owe you one." I say and hang up. With that I decide to go to the library. I need to see if I can find anything tying these men together. I'll investigate Shelby later.