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The Demons Inside.

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Four.

It had been long enough since Jazmin had woken up in that hospital bed that the memories had been push to the back of her mind, forgotten like bad dreams. She still felt uneasy, like she was being watched. She felt the need to leave the lights on and her baseball bat was within reaching distance by the nightstand. She had yet to find any reason for her agitation, but she didn't ignore it. She still absently wondered about the man with those icy-blues eyes and red jacket.

Jazmin sat up in bed, leaning against the wall. She was now absently speculating about that odd private detective. He had made he so irritated, but she wondered what had happened to him. Had he made any progress on those murders? Why had he been at her front door in the middle of the night? How had he gotten his hair to stunningly white? She sighed, finding the entire train of thought ridiculous.

The door to her room opened and Nathen walked in holding a tray. Jazmin smiled and shifted on the bed as he set the food down between them.

"Mmm, looks delicious." She said and ate one of the strawberries.

"I do my best." He said with a smile and also started eating. "You know, you're cat tried to attack me again."

"You know, I have no idea why he's been acting so strange. Silly animal has started even being skittish around me. He usually loves everyone." They continued eating, listening and talking about the talk show on the radio. Jazmin absently asked Nathen about the sports game she knew he watched. He was more than excited to talk about it. She listened, nodding in the right places even though she wasn't all the interested in sports. After another moment she sighed heavily. Nathen stopped and looked at her waiting for an explanation.

"Why do you have to leave again?"

"You know, work. I have to meet with my father to help with some foreign deals."

"Yeah, but why do you have to leave?" She poked at the food, no longer having an appetite. "Why doesn't he come to you instead of dragging your ass to another country?"

"Cause that's where the deal is." He said with a little smile and leaned closer, kissing her on the side of the head. He stood, grabbing the food and took it back downstairs.

Jazmin sighed again. But you don't understand. When you're not here… I don't miss you… She didn't know how to explain the feelings she was experiencing. She enjoyed Nathen's company, when he was with her it made her so happy, but when he wasn't around, she didn't crave to back with him, she just felt like she needed to wait for him. No longing, not missing, just and urge to wait for the monotony again. She didn't like feeling like that. She knew it wasn't how she was supposed to feel about something she loved. It made her feel like she was being disloyal.

"Hey!" She called, "You wanna go to the Jazz Club?"

"Is Beth going to be there?" He yelled back.

"I don't know. Why?" Jazmin stood, walking into her closet.

"She's always hitting on me…" He came back into the room. "And I don't like it."

Jazmin snorted, getting dressing into some real clothes. She poked her head back into the room, pulling on her jeans. "That's just Beth. Careful, I might love her more than you."

"Don't remind me…" He muttered finding his shirt and pulling it on.

The Jazz Club was more than walking distance from Jazmin's house, so Nathen insisted on driving them. Jazmin thought parking was over priced but didn't argue. She wasn't keen on taking the bus anyways. Shadows starched from the buildings as the sun hung low in the sky. Jazmin watched them closely. Even with Nathen's arm around her shoulder she felt cold, he comfort slowly draining away as the shadows grew. She just couldn't shake her uneasy feeling.

"You alright?" Nathen asked.

"Yeah." She lied and forced herself to look away from the dark alley she had been watching. "I guess I'm still not completely over that accident."

He smiled and rubbed her arm.

A light drizzle started to fall as then walked down the steps to the Jazz Club entrance. Most of the booths were empty but it was relatively early so Jazmin made her way to the bar, sitting down in one of the open seats, Nathen taking the one next to her.

"Should have brought an umbrella."

"We'll be fine."

"Jazmin!" Jenkins walked around the end of the bar to give her a suffocating bear hug. "Good to see you're doing better! We were worried when you called, but glad you did." He gave her another hug and Jazmin laughed.

"Thanks Jenkins, have you been holding the fort down without me?" She ask, returning to her seat.

"Just barely." He chuckled then noticed Nathen.

"You remember Nathen, right?"

"Irish Coffee with hazelnut syrup?" Jenkins said slowly. Nathen surprised expression was proof enough he had remembered the correct drink. "And the usual for the lady." He gave Jazmin a wink and walked away to make their drinks. Slowly the club started to fill. Nathen and Jazmin sat, drinking and chatting, listening to the live music. Surprisingly, she noticed she didn't recognize any of the musicians playing. She took a moment to scan the faces of the people in the club. She didn't recognize any of the either. Her apprehension returned.

As Jenkins past, she grabbed his arm. "Hey, where are all the regulars?"

Jenkins shrugged, grabbing her empty glass. "Just don't come in as much. But busy is doing fine, so I'm not complaining."

Jazmin frowned. Her uneasy feeling was growing. Maybe they should just go. She glanced toward the front doors as they opened. Her stomach lurched with a wave of anxiety. That guy had just walked in; Mr. Sexy. She decided she needed a new name for him and quickly looked away, leaning forward to hide behind Nathen. She didn't want to deal with him, he was rude and charming and that was a very dangerous combination.

A little spark started to burn in her chest.

Nathen glanced down at her. "What's wrong?"

She leaned back and saw the man sit at the other end of the bar, between them and the door. She gestured towards him with a sigh. "Just some guy I don't want to deal with."

Nathen frowned and for a moment she thought she saw jealousy in his expression. "Then lets leave." He smiled and pulled a few bills from his wallet. Jazmin nodded then waved at Jenkins. He waved back and she didn't notice the ice cream he had just set in front of Mr. Sexy. Instead of digging in, as he done the first time, he slowly turned from the bar and glared at the people in the club.

Jazmin grabbed her jacket and started to follow Nathen to the door when a man suddenly stepped in front of him. Dread sat heavy in her stomach.

"Excuse me." Nathen said, and tried to move past the man. He looked sick, his skin pallid and eyes blood shot but he grabbed Nathen's shoulder, fingers digging into his shirt.

"Relinquish the female." He voice was distorted and his mouth didn't move quite right. "Give her to me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nathen barked and tried to shove the man off his shoulder. Instead, the man pulled Nathen to the side with such force Nathen fell to the floor when released. The man stepped forward and grabbed Jazmin's wrist.

"What the hell!" People in the club were now paying attention as she tried to yank her hand from the man's but his grip was like iron. She pulled harder but he wrenched her closer and in an inhuman growl, "Give it to me."

Give what?

The spark in her chest burned brighter.

Suddenly, a pairs of hands pried the man's hand off her wrist. Jazmin moved back, expecting Nathen but it was another stranger.

"Do not think you can claim to it! You can't have it all to yourself!" The second man's voice changed as he spoke, turning into a roar. He then spoke words in a language Jazmin couldn't understand but recognized. There was suddenly a growl and a few people screamed, jumping up from their table. From the shadows beneath it, a pair of red eyes appeared and a black hound peeled itself from the darkness. With that the club erupted into screams and running people.

Jazmin was frozen as she stared at the hound as it growled at the people running past it. It snapped suddenly and she flinched, pain spiking through her ankle. The first man suddenly grabbed her again and this time she felt something in his touch, a sickening lust for power; darkness had consumed the man. She snapped out of her trance reaching over the bar with her free hand, grabbing the neck of a wine bottle.

In high school, Jazmin's may have not been the best player on the team, but they gave her the nickname slugger because, when she did hit the ball, it was gone. She swung with all the prowess of the baseball player she was in school. There was a resounded crack and the man instantly released her and fell to the floor. She lifted the bottle, turning toward the second man, intending to strike him as well, but she froze again.

The man's face was translucent, or at least his skin was. It stretched and ripped at the dark flesh beneath pushed out. The figure's body contorted violently before it broke free of its human skin with a wet ripping sound. She could feel the malice radiating from the monster. It lunged at her and she instinctually swung her haphazard weapon. The wine bottle cracked under the monster's jaw and exploded in a spray of grape juice and green glass.

Now weaponless she moved back, away from the writhing figure and the first, not so human, man as he stood, relieving himself of the broken jaw with a pop. Jazmin gagged. Then Nathen was beside her, pulling her away from the monsters. He went straight for the exit and Jazmin hear another wet ripping noise over the yelling and growling filling the club. She jumped over a broken table, sighing away from other person as they crouched, thrashing on the ground, their skin also translucent.

Suddenly, one of those red-eyed hounds jumped past her and tackled another civilian. She felt the urge to pull away from Nathen, to try and help, but someone bet her too it. Mr. Sexy was there, grabbing the huge animal and pulling off of the person. He threw the dog into another then glanced over his shoulder. Their eyes meet for just an instant.

Nathen suddenly stopped and Jazmin bumped into his back.

"Jazmin, look out!" He shoved her back as one of the monsters tackled him.

"Nathen!" She screamed. The monster leaned toward his face, ragged teeth dripping saliva. In a desperate attempt, she grabbed an overturned chair and hurling it at the monster.

The monster didn't move as the chair stuck its shoulder, the legs splintering and clattering to the floor. Jazmin felt the blood freeze in her veins as two burning coals focused on her. She shuffled back as the creature stood, dropping the unconscious Nathen back to the ground. She didn't look at him. Her eyes were locked with the monster's. There was nothing beyond those burning holes in its face. Her foot hit the edge of an overturned table. It didn't move and she stumbled, falling to the ground. The chunks of cubed glass bit into her palm and dug into her skin through her pants. She didn't have time to react before the creature lunged forward, griping her ankle.

Its clawed fingers bit into her already scarred skin. It hauled her forward and she slipped off her hands, head cracking against the floor. She yelled, closing her eyes against the pain and immediately started flailing her legs, kicking at the demons hand with her free foot. There was a ripping sound as the monster took the end of her jeans with it as she forced its hand off her leg. She flipped over, crawling away, trying to get to her feet as glass slipped under her shoes.

She screamed as her hair was pulled, jerking her back. She grabbed the claw, trying to take the strain off her scalp as she dug her nails into its thick skin.

She heard someone yell and she fell back to the ground. She ground her teeth, rolling off the glass. Her hair felt heavy and wet. Her eyes widened as she stared at the twitching hand, still holding onto her hair but now leaking blood onto the floor from where the rest of the arm should be. Jazmin swatted it away fighting her gag reflex.

The monster clutching the stump where it's hand had been moments before shrieked. Her back pressed against a booth she watched the monster turn away from her and its shoulder exploded. Jazmin flinched, covering her ringing ears as the monster lurched to the side, remaining on its feet before the back of its head burst. She flinched again as the body fell to the ground.

She could feel her heart hammering against her chest, threatening to break her ribs. What was happening? Why did this keep happening to her? She dug her fingers into her skin, trying to distract herself from the pain of her bleeding leg. She sucked in shallow breath from between her teeth.

Jazmin cringed as something rushed around the booth. She felt someone grab her arm and roughly lifted her up. She tried to pull away before she recognized Mr. Sexy in his red leather coat. His white hair was spattered with dark liquids and he had an enormous, smoking pistol in his hand. He didn't look at her but his eye darting back and forth across the room. She didn't fight him when he dragged her away from the pitiful hiding spot. She stumbled and tripped over the derby covering the floor, but his firm grip on her arm kept her falling.

The club was all but destroyed; tables and chair flipped and broken, glass everywhere. And the monsters? Those who weren't ripping into some poor human were tuning on each other in the frenzy of the attack. Jazmin felt like she was going to throw up.

Suddenly, her unexpected protector jerked her toward him. She couldn't resist as he pushed her against his chest, pressing her face into his shirt. His hand holding her head covered her ear, muffling the world for a moment. She could hear his heart beating fast and his deep breaths dampening any other sounds. She felt his body jolt a few times in rapid succession and she could smell gunpowder. He shifted and it happened again, faster this time. She closed her eyes tight and focused on his breathing, trying to match her own with his. She couldn't hear or see anything and for a moment, she felt safe.

Then his hand relaxed on her ear and she could hear demonic screams again. He kept a hand on her but moved away, kicking the still standing monster not a yard from them, its body smoking from numerous holes. The kick knocked the monster back and it flew into a black hound as it tried to pull itself from the shadows.

The calm feeling fled.

This time she clung to his arm as he moved, flinching as the gunshots were deafening in such close proximity. He turned and backed her into a corner, standing between her and the rest of club. He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back, suddenly leaning down to her face.

"Stay put." He ordered in an unexpectedly calm voice, giving her a look from his icy-blue eyes that made a chill run down her spine. She nodded and he stepped away from her, coat a sweeping wave of red following after him. As he turned, he fired a volley of bullets into a group of brawling monsters. They turned on him and she saw him grin. Of all things to do in this situations, run, cry, cringe, fear, he was grinning.

The closest of the hounds jumped at him and he ducked, rolling to the side. As he stood, one of the creatures reached for him and her spun, narrowly dodging its claws. The gunshots stopped and her lifted a hand into the air. Something by the bar jumped into the air, flying toward his hand; his guitar case. It suddenly dropped to the ground and he snatched the hilt of an enormous sword from the air. He spun again gripping the claymore with both hands as he sliced through, one, two monsters and the third was stuck with such force it flew backwards, crashing into a table.

"Now that's more like it." He spun the sword playfully then jerked his head at the monsters. "Come on." The first few hesitated then snarled something and the hounds dove towards him. He danced around their flying bodies, relieving them of heads and limbs. One missed and fly past him, its crawls scratched on the floor as it tried to change directions despite its forward momentum. Jazmin scrambled back as it slid towards her, coming dangerously close before gaining traction and racing back towards the mass of shadow dogs and splashes of red with the madman with the sword at the middle.

This was insane. What was she doing just sitting here? She needed to get out before she was a red stain on the walls. And Nathen. She suddenly had a sinking feeling and frantically tried to look past the overturned tables and fighting monsters for her boyfriend. No luck. She moved farther away from the fight until she bumped into something still upright. She reached up, grabbing the edge and pulling herself to her feet, knees aching from little cuts and scraps. She felt her fingers press buttons and the jukebox whirred to life. She cursed and jumped away from it as the lights flickered on and fast paced music started playing.

"Oh yeah! Now it's a party!" She heard the man yell enthusiastically. "Too bad you. Guys. Scared. Away. All. The. Babes!"

Jazmin ignored him and went for the emergency exit. If she got out, maybe she could find some kind of help. The lights were out, and only the green light shone through the inky blackness of the hallway. She threw a chair out of the way then halted. A low growl crawled from the back of the hall. She took a little step back. Red eyes, eight of them… then sixteen, Jazmin grabbed the table next to the hall and flipped it over, and blocked the hall.

One of the hounds barked and jumped, but got caught in the legs of the table. Jazmin yelled and grabbed for the chair shoving it at the dog, trying to push it back. Its yellow teeth dug into the chair legs and yanked it out of her hands.

Jazmin cursed then turn and ran back towards the fighting, she didn't have anywhere else to go. She rounded the booths and saw the man backing away from the hordes. He was keeping them at bay, but he didn't seem to be making any progress either. She glanced back and saw the hounds struggling over the table. She needed to get out; she was running out of time. Then she saw a pair of monsters rip apart a table, pulling the metal base off at a jagged edge. She saw what they were doing too late to do anything about it.

"Look out!" She yelled at they threw it at the man. Her shout got his attention and he turned, the jagged missile missing him and tearing through his jacket. She hear a loud ripping noise then a heavy clunk as something hit the floor. A misplaced step kicked it and sent the gun clattering across the floor. His holsters had ripped and he was too busy fighting with his sword to do anything about it.

Jazmin ran for the gun and picked it up. It was so heavy. She heard growling behind her. The spark in her chest suddenly burned bright, roaring into a fire. The gun suddenly felt light in her hands as she turned and squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked back, making her flinch but the bullet tore through the hound sending it yelping back into the darkness. She steadied herself and shot at the second one until it hit the ground. She turned and fired at the monsters that had throw the table at the man. They went scrabbling over the booths toward her. She backed up quickly, not realizing she was moving back towards the fighting.

She suddenly bumped into something and jerked back, finding her back was to his. He glanced over his shoulder at her for an instant and made an irritated noise. Jazmin ignored him and shot at a monster then started to circle around towards her. More hounds were coming around the corner from the hallway. Her hands stung from gripping the gun as it fired, and her arms were shaking from fighting the recoil.

"What do you think you're doing?" He said behind her. She could feel him moving and hear the forced behind his swings. How long could he go like that before he couldn't move that sword fast enough?

"Not dying!" She barked, not able to keep her irritation and agitation out of her voice and shot another hound. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my work out in."

She would have stared at him speechless had she not been fighting for her life. "What the hell." The gun suddenly clicked empty. She moved closer to him, as she had nowhere else to run, the hounds closing in.

"We need to get out of here."

He suddenly grabbed the gun still in the holster and fired it like a machine gun. He then swept the sword wide and the monsters jumped back, making an opening.

"Go!" He ordered, following her and she ran for the doors. Jazmin glanced to the side, eyes going to the spot she had seen that monster tackle Nathen. He wasn't lying on the floor anymore. She hesitated, where was he? Did he get out? The hesitation was long enough for a hound to catch up. It dove for her, and she screamed as it tackled her to the ground. She felt hot breath on her face, and saw the flash of teeth before her head cracked on the ground and everything went black.

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An annoying poking woke him up. He could see red and blue flashing behind his eyelids. He opened them and saw the police cruiser through the open doors of the ambulance. The poking was a nurse cleaning the cut in his forehead, from the demon that had attacked him. Nathan sat up suddenly, ignoring the nurse's protests. He got out of the ambulance and quickly realized they were a good four blocks from the Jazz Club. Serious looking police officers and their cars blocked the street. He didn't see Jazmin anywhere. Was she still in the club? Horror struck him and no he rushed towards the barricade. Someone caught him by the arm. He was about to turn and fight who ever had stopped him when he recognized Jenkins.

"Where's Jazmin?" He asked the man.

Jenkins shook his head. There was a bandage around his hand and upper arm. He was holding a shotgun by the barrel in his other hand.

"Damn, I was hoping she was with you."

Nathen started to turn but Jenkins didn't let him go.

"Cops won't let you through, I already tried. They said there was a dangerous gas leak." They exchanged a look. That was no gas leak. No one would believe the truth though.

"I have to find Jazmin." The panic was setting it. What if she was hurt? What would he do if he lost her? He didn't want to think about that.

There was a commotion behind the barricades as a few men in protective gear approached. One shouted it was all clear but didn't seem like they were going to let anyone through. Nathen walked over anyways.

"Did you see a woman in there? Pretty, white shirt, auburn hair?"

"Please step back, sir." One of the cops said, but it sounded more like 'get back now.' A tired looking man in a brown long coat walked over. He had a good amount of stubble and a bent, unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Hello, I'm the detective in charge. Anyone we find is being driven home after they give a statement. Those who are injured are being taken to a hospital. If you are missing a loved one please try calling them. There is nothing you can do right now but wait till tomorrow for a list of the people being taken care of."

Nathen took a few steps forward, intending to shake the man for telling him there was nothing he could do. Two cops reached for the guns at their belts and there was a heavy hand on his shoulder. Jenkins spoke up.

"Sorry, to trouble you officers. He's just flustered."

"See that your friend gets home, then." The tired looking detective said, hands in his pockets.

The bartender nodded and pulled Nathen back. He quickly shoved off the older man's hand and pulled out his cell phone. He called Jazmin but there was no answer. He called again.

"I'm sure she's fine. She was with you when the fighting broke out, if someone grabbed you, they must have grabbed her too." This didn't calm him. "Listen, there was someone there who deals with this kind of stuff. If she was there, he would have protected her."

This stopped Nathen. He looked thoughtful for a moment, remembering, then returned the phone to his pocket.

"You're right. She's probably fine… did they say which hospital?"

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