AN: Sorry I'm updating later than usual, I caught a cold and was passed out asleep by about 7 last night. More importantly, to address a question in the comments; there's a somewhat intentional parallel to the first story. The name of the game here, I feel, is that everything is similar but different. Also, please enjoy the chapter:

***Blake's POV***

I shouldn't have told Morris anything. I had only made a bigger mess.

"You're not an idiot. No one thinks you are." the detective was in between me and Miles. He was diplomatic when he spoke. I had already told him what was going on here, but I didn't know if he believed me. He had seen the lead and other things that made up the Walriders body, he saw Miles's eyes, he just wouldn't make the leap to the supernatural.

It was daylight outside, but dim blue and red lights flashed against my curtains. A swirly gray line of floating metal slid them closed.

"Miles, maybe we should just go outside." that was the best answer here, "I mean, it should be safe at the police station." I didn't believe that exactly, but I could pretend.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to go with no on that one." He was still standing in front of the door.

The sirens outside stopped. There was a second of unsteady silence before the detectives cell phone started ringing.

"I'm going to pick that up. Is that ok?" He was asking Miles before making a move. I'm sure that he was following whatever policy there was for hostage negotiations to the letter but it didn't make me feel any better.

"What would you do if I said no?" Miles looked distracted, almost bored, when he spoke.

There was a little pause that was wondering if he was serious or not.

"Go ahead and pick it up, I was just trying to lighten the mood a little."

It wasn't working. Morris answered and immediately put the phone on speaker.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" it was a woman who spoke over the little device.

"You're on speaker right now" Morris was the one who answered.

"Good, can everybody hear me?"

"You can cut the nice act. This isn't my first rodeo. Here's the deal, I'm not going to prison today." Miles was tapping his foot against the ground, the twitching made me think that he was about to jump at whoever came near him.

"Ok mister. This sounds like one big misunderstanding. You can just come outside and we can talk about it face to face."

"Nice try lady, but I just said this wasn't my first hostage negotiation. You're going ot have to try harder than that."

Wasn't his first..? Who exactly had I let into my house?

"That's not what she meant, it's just-" Morris tried to back up what the woman on the phone said.

"Save it. You're playing good cop, better cop. It's a nice change of pace, but really, I don't have the time or the patience to be locked in a cell."

"You're not going to get locked up mister... What is your name? I'm Jennifer Sorenson. You can call me Jennifer if you like."

They let agent Sorenson on the phone? How was I going to explain this, she's already met Miles before. Wait, she was only in town because of the Rainmaker case, did the department think that this was related somehow? No, don't be ridiculous, there was a new murder this morning, she probably just tagged along because she was already there. But still, Miles said that he had found where the Rainmakers were staying. I had thought about it before, but what if they got to him?

No, what if he was with them from the beginning.

Oh my god, how did I not notice from the start?

He shows up the day the killings start. I watched a video of the Walrider ripping a man to shreds and leaving a bloody explosion behind. He knew exactly where each of the killings happened. He 'found' the cult with no resources. He seemed way too eager to drag me out to Temple Gate again and as soon as he did everything got worse. The rainmakers have been leaving weird symbols behind, he said they were summoning something; my living room was coated in samey shapes. I saw him talking to a demon in the garage. My backyard looked like every other crime scene.

I'm stupid. He even told me that he murdered his way through the Murkoff corporation.

"Sorry Jennifer. I think I'll call you Agent. You probably worked hard for that title, after all the FBI doesn't just hand it out to everybody. It would be rude not to use it, don't you think?" Miles's voice barely registered on me.

There was a thinking silence from the phone that echoed the own numbness I felt in my limbs.

"Hello, Agent Sorenson? Are you still there?"

"Who is this?" the nice act was starting to fade a little. There was a threateningly professional tone bleedin through the words.

"That's what I was expecting. My name is Miles Upshur, you can look it up but there's not much to find."

I should have done some digging on my own time. Was Miles even his real name? He had used a fake name before, who was to say that that wasn't a fake too.

"Ok. Miles. There's no reason for me to go digging into your past. We can just talk face to face. How does that sound."

"I'd rather not. I'm looking kind of rough these days." did he just roll his eyes? The words and tone said sarcasm, but the look on his face said he was planning something.

What was he planning, why was he so calm. What did he know that I didn't?

"Miles," detective Morris spoke from my side, "it doesn't matter what you did, it matters what you will do. Nobody has been hurt so far, we can keep it that way."

Could we? There were god knows how many police cruisers out there, I don't think I trust Miles any further than I can throw him.

"Well, Mister Upshur, can you send out the other two men that are in the house?"

"I don't think that's that's such a great idea either."

I shuffled closer to Morris. Maybe I could find a way to tell him that Miles had something to do with the Rainmakers. Would that be hurting or helping in this situation? It doesn't matter, I just need to get out of here. But how bad were things out there? Even without thinking about the rainmakers there were still demons and otherworldly monsters. It wasn't safe out there, but it wasn't safe in here either. My house was being watched, how long would it me until something attacked the crowd outside? It didn't matter that they were police; it didn't matter that they didn't know what was really going on.

"What makes you think that?" they were just talking like there wasn't anything wrong in the world.

"For starters, it looks like there's an angry mob outside" Miles hadn't looked to know if what he said was true.

He didn't need to check. Half of the things watching the house probably answered to him. How had I gotten into this mess? One night in the desert, no, one freak accident in a helicopter. That's all it took.

Demons were watching from the outside, Lynn hung on the wall to watch from the inside.

I'm sorry.

I should have told here we would go out in the morning. There was no reason to be recording that night. She would still be alive, Miles never would have had a reason to show up at my door step.

"Blake, hey. Did you say something?" Morris muttered from next to me.

Huh? Was I talking out loud? I hadn't noticed.

"No" I whispered back.

Miles talked to the phone but still seemed distracted by something not even I could see.

I wasn't going to make a stand now, I never did. Not with Lynn, not with Jessica. Not now.

"You've always been so nervous. You don't have to be." Someone else spoke. I knew that voice. It didn't come from anyone in the room. I knew that voice.

I buried my face in my hands. No, that wasn't real. There were too many real monsters, I don't need that one to be here again.

It kept talking "You're so full of regret. You know, shame is a gift from God, it's to let you know right from wrong."

No, no. He wasn't here. That was twenty years ago. There were too many real monsters to worry about. I leaned heavily against the wall, it didn't help much. My knees buckled and I crumbled to the ground. No, he was not in my house.

"Blake, get up. Are you ok?" someone shook my shoulder.

"You're just confused." he was in the room, getting closer. I had to get out of here. Run!

I did what I could to push myself to standing. I saw him standin in my kitchen, watching me from behind the counter. The light was covered in fleshy purple and black roots. An awful gurgling noise bubbled up the things throat and slithered past a whip like tongue. The skin of its face was gone, the chin and jaw were missing, bloodied and rotten teeth had no lips to cover them from view. More sickeningly familiar words came from the creature, how they weren't as twisted and broken as the limbs that had been ripped from the demon's body and shove through its torso, I don't know.

"You're not evil Blake. You don't have to hide, let me help you."

There was nothing for me to say. I ran for the hall. I needed to leave. What ever was outside wasn't as bad at that creature.

I only made it a step before I ran into the detective.

"Blake, calm down. Stop moving!","What's going on in there?","Nothing, don't worry about it.", "everything's okay".

They were all talking. I don't know who said what. Morris wouldn't move.

I tried to push forward. A quick glance over my shoulder showed the demon that was Father Lautermilch lazily strolling from my kitchen into the living room.

"No, stay back!" I looked at the thing while I spoke.

It didn't speak any words, there was a heavy thud in the roof. Something ran over the tiles outside, small flecks of dust rained down from the ceiling with every step. Miles moved just a little bit to look around. It was real. Some of it, most of it. I don't know.

***Miles's POV***

"What are you doing?" Agent Sorenson had dropped the nice act completely. Blakes whining and panicked yelling wasn't helping my image.

Figure out what's he's seeing.

There were flecks of paint coming down from the ceiling. That wasn't the cops.

Shit.

The taste of fear in the air somehow grew thicker.

"Go away!" Blake was looking into the living room when he spoke that time, "get off of me!"

I stayed firmly against the door. He wasn't thinking straight and it would be too easy to-

"I will send men in there right now if anyone's about to get hurt!"

Not now, there were witnesses.

That's not what I meant, "everything is fine in here. No one is in danger." I spoke through gritted teeth.

Nevermind whoever's on the roof.

One problem at a time. What's going on with Blake?

There's no one in the house, but he is in the middle of a waking nightmare. It's of that demon from his school days.

Good, I guess. What's on the roof.

I didn't go out and check.

Of course not. Another heavy thud shook the room

"Jennifer, is there anyone on the roof?" the cop asked his question from under a flailing Blake.

"No. Mister Upshur, who's you're friend on the roof?"

"I don't have any friends on the roof, I thought that one was yours."

"It's another demon and you know it!" Blake was still trying to squirm past the detective.

"Was that Mister Langermann?" Sorensen asked from over the phone.

"Uh… he's a bit busy right now"

Panic flowed off of him and rang like a dinner bell. It mingled with the fear in the air and became something savory and nearly too tempting to be ignored.

I crossed my arms and did what I could to focus on standing still. They were moving around outside, no one had tried to climb to the roof to figure out what was up there. There was group of people going around back to find a way into the house. They were all nervous and ready for this to end badly. It's been awhile since I've had a human fight back it would be fun, something like a walk down memory lane.

Snap out of it. Focus on what you're here for.

There was a distant ripple of disgust in the air, they must have found the jellied remains that coated part of the house.

"Busy with what?" she was just stalling for time.

"Oh, nothing special. Not to change the topic or anything, but could you call your guys back to the front of the house? I don't want to deal with swat crawling in through the windows."

There was a moment of silence from the phone. It was too late to score any points in my favor. Being threatening wasn't the best choice, but if somebody came in here and started making trouble they weren't walking out alive.

"How did you know that." Sorenson was matter the fact.

"Magic." technically the truth, not that she would believe that.

I couldn't keep this up much longer.

I say we just kill everyone and walk away.

That was the fastest way to get out of here. It was probably the safest in the long run too. A few dozen cops, an FBI agent, and Blake caught in the crossfire, what did it matter in the long run if it meant I was still free to stop the hunt?

Snap out of it.

A cell isn't the kind of thing that can slow us down.

Nice try. But not today.

It was worth a shot.

Ok, think this through. I can't just make a run for it without dragging Blake along with me or we're all doomed. That would start a manhunt, that's no good. I could just walk out and get taken in by the police. I'd get locked up in a cell, they would probably charge me with something to keep me there. I'd have to invent a reason for them to keep Blake there too or we're still doomed.

"Mister Upshur this is not a game. Is everyone inside ok?"

Blake was still desperately trying to shove his way past the detective. I put effort into ignoring what he was saying, it was something whispered in a panic.

"Everyone's just peachy" I spoke back to the agent.

The only winning move was not to play, but it was far too late for that.

"Is the phone still on speaker? Can you let someone else talk?"

"Don't tell me you're getting tired of little old me that quickly." This conversation was the only thing I had to really distract myself from doing something stupid, I'd rather not end it.

"Not at all. But I would like to know that everyone else is safe."

That and she wanted to stall for time. There was still a group of people in the backyard, missing them was impossible with how high strung they were.

"Hey detective, are you safe?" I asked the man from across the room.

There was a moment's pause, Blake was still trying to disappear into the back of the house and the cop was doing all he could to calm him down. He was about to speak when another thud came from the ceiling. The noise drove Blake a little further into his panic, the detective had to double his effort to keep Blake from hurting himself.

"...Never mind the silence, he's fine."

"Mister Upshur, put detective Morris on the phone."

This was not helping my case.

"I'm fine!" the detective yelled a little more forcefully that he needed to before speaking to Blake "calm down, there's nothing there."

"Detective? Whats going on in there?"

"Nothings going on, I told you they're fine." For now at least.

Another thud came from the roof, I couldn't forget about that either. I should be better than this. I had just ripped some lesser monster to shreds, I should not be ready to hunt down someone else so soon.

I told you it was only a matter of time until you lost it. You're stubborn, but not even you can keep the cravings at bay.

I made it this far.

Yes, but you won't make it much further.

I wasn't about to admit it out loud, but the longer I sat in here waiting for something to happen the less prepared I was going to be. Fighting wasn't a choice without turning the street into a bloodbath. Running wasn't a choice without dragging Blake with me. Turning myself in wasn't a choice.

"Why don't you let the detective speak for himself?"

There was another thud from the roof. I needed to handle that, it was probably better if I snapped at what ever was on the roof rather than the people outside. There was no fire place in the house, no chimney to crawl up. I picked up the phone and turned it off speaker.

The detective was still wrestling with Blake.

"Here's the deal," I spoke to the both of them, "Don't go outside and there won't be any problems"

There was a flicker of hope from the detective, he was obviously planning on just walking out of the house the second I was out of sight. I bit my tongue, it would be so sweet to let him dream up a plan and then rip into at the last second.

"Please? It's really better for everybody if you don't try anything, you already made everyone's life harder by calling in your buddies out there."

He was going to make a break for it, the both of them were. I couldn't let the creature on the roof stay there though, it was watching, waiting for the right moment to come crashing into the house, or for an opening in the police outside. That's what I would do, wait until someone turned their back and then rush in. The confusion in the crowd would give me plenty of time to-

First things first. Get rid of the monster on the roof, deal with the problems one at a time.

I hadn't gotten either of the two men to agree that they weren't going to run away, but I couldn't wait for an answer. It was do something now, or nothing at all.

I picked up the phone and held it to my ear, Agent Sorenson didn't need to know that I wasn't in the living room too.

"Hello! Hello, is anyone still listening?" the moment of silence must have been a bigger red flag than I had meant for it to be. The words carried a spicy current of anger and aggravation, it was getting to be too much to ignore.

"I'm still here"

I made my way through the kitchen and into the garage, maybe I could get into the attic and make my way outside from there.

I didn't bother flicking on the lights. I didn't need them and the last thing I needed was for anyone on the outside to figure out that I had left the living room.

Who am I kidding, Morris was probable dragging Blake out the front door now.

"Put the detective on the phone mister Upshur"

There was a cord hanging from the ceiling; a fold out later came creaking down when I pulled it. I hope no one outside heard that.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't like me." I made quick progress up the latter.

The attic was cramped, there were a couple of dusty boxes labeled halloween and christmas, but other than that it was just crumbling insulation and wooden beams as far as the eye could see.

"I'm only worried about everyone's safety." the angry edge to her words was dulled somewhat under a regrown layer of professionalism, but I could still hear it and I still wanted to rip through the house, the people inside of it, and the crowed on the outside.

"So kind of you"

The thin layer of wood that made the roof shook with a heavy thrud. A strip of insulation dropped from its place. Whatever was up there wasn't making much noise, physically or otherwise. I barely noticed it's dull dark presence underneath the tension in the air and the nervous energy that coated the living room walls. I crawled to the exposed wood, a solid kick would shake it loose and give me access to the roof.

"Can I ask you why you're doing this?" I still held the phone to my ear.

"Would you take the greater good as an answer?" I hear the thing on the roof, it scraped against the shingles before another heavy thud shook the wooden supports.

"Why do you think that?" she was stalling, I was stalling. I wanted to go down stairs and have my fill of the worried and high strung officers, not chase away yet another lesser demon.

I didn't talk back, there wasn't much time to spare before Blake and the detective made a run for it. I hung up the detective's phone and tucked it into a jacket pocket. The wooden panels gave way from a quick kick. The harsh daylight took a moment to adjust too, but when the scenery finally came into view I found the back yard below me.

No one saw me crawl onto the warm shingles. There was going to be hell to pay for hanging up like that. There was going to be hell to pay no matter what I did. Keeping low and out of sight I searched for the monster on the roof.

I had to find it before I became something even worse.