Unlikely Hero: Fall of the Demon Slayer

Part 8

I jumped up off the ground. I was in a shack or something. It was dark and musty in there. I was still woozy and disoriented from earlier. How long had I been out for? My head was killing me. My shirt was off and the area I was shot in was bandaged, a little bit of blood coming out of the white cloth. I looked around the shack. There was fishing gear and an ATV in here. A desk covered in tools sat in the back corner. I walked over to the door and pushed it to see if it would open. It creaked slightly but didn't open. Whoever put me in here must not want me to leave. It doesn't matter, I can bust out pretty easily. I raised my leg up and with a quick thrust I busted open the door. I opened it and walked outside. I was out in the middle of the woods and I didn't have a clue where I was at. There was a house up a little bit from the shack. There was someone sitting outside on the back porch. I walked over towards him, limping my way up the small dirt path. When I got up close enough to the house the man sat forward and leaned a shotgun over the railing of the porch.

"Don't take another step closer now. Not till you explain what it was you was doin out yonder to get yourself hurt like that." He said.

He had a very strong southern redneck slang to the way he spoke.

"I was attacked by the Power Hunters. That group of government people roaming the towns now." I told him.

"Why would the Power Hunters be after a kid? That don't sit right with me." He told me.

"How doesn't it sit right with you? Haven't you seen them, they have been attacking anyone and anything that they think might have super powers." I told him.

"Yeah, but ain't no one been shot by one on purpose."

I was getting starting to get anxious and I could tell that he was too. I had to come clean to him. I'll open my wings and if he shoots I might be able to fly away in time.

"Okay, they were after me because I am one of the people with powers they are after. See look let me show you." I said as I opened up my wings.

He lowered his weapon and set it down next to his chair. He got off the porch and walked over to me. He got up real close to me to the point where I could smell the stench of whiskey and cigarettes on his breath. He cleared his throat and then spit off to the side.

"You must be that demon boy from Lumberton. I heard a lot about you but never thought I'd get to meet you myself. In case you were wondering, no you ain't in Lumberton anymore. You're actually about thirty miles from it. You my friend are in Buna. I saw you crash land in the woods down yonder and I went to help you. Nearly took a bullet tryin to get you to my truck. I patched you up and left you in the shed cause I didn't know if you was gonna do something when you woke up. You've been asleep for about a day."

My heart sank when he told me that. I needed to get back to Lumberton, back to Claire and fast.

"Thank you for helping me but which way is Lumberton? I need to get back as soon as I can, there are people there who may need my help." I asked the stranger.

"Just head south east, you cant miss it." He told me.

"Thank you so much sir."

"Oh and before I forget, your old clothes got a little messed up so I found some old stuff that might fit you." He said grabbing a stack of clothes off the table on the porch.

He walked back and handed them to me. It was a black t-shirt and an old denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off and a big eagle patch on the back. I quickly threw them on and spread my wings out to get used to the feeling.

"Well I'll be damned. Those are some impressive looking wings you got there." He told me.

"I can't thank you enough sir. You really saved a lot of lives by doing this." I said.