A/N: Things are beginning to get complicated. I hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 27: Death and Demons

"You have within you, right now,
everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you."
— Unknown

The boys left the next day. It felt awkward between Sam and me, even though he still kissed me goodbye. Kelly was smiling and I couldn't bear to tell her what happened. I knew it would dampen her happiness. This was something that would be between Sam and me. I just...I needed to figure something out.

I threw myself into training. Jane had found machetes in the bag that the boys had given us when we first moved to the house. Apparently, it was good enough in her eyes.

"Wait, shouldn't we start with...like a stick? That's what we did with Giles." Kelly asked, lifting the machete up and down as if testing the weight.

"No."

I looked at Jane. "But what happens if we get hit and get cut?"

She stared back at me. "Then it will be a necessary lesson. Do not get hit."

Kelly looked at me alarmed. I tightened my grip on the blade. It wasn't large, or unwieldy, but it was strange. I was used to holding a staff.

"Now," Jane said, "defend yourselves." She struck fast. Kelly and I had to move quickly to defend ourselves. It felt like the exercise we did with the rocks. It involved a lot of ducking and dodging from her blade and when we couldn't, we tried to block it. Kelly struggled slightly and I could see Jane adjust one of her blows slightly so that it didn't actually hit her.

I pushed forward, trying to draw her attention. Jane leaned back to avoid my swing. She pushed my arm with the movement, as she stepped forward and aimed at my head. I dropped quickly and rolled to the side, avoiding the stomp of her foot. Kelly kicked her forwards as she was focused on me. Jane stumbled before turning. I saw Kelly's eyes widen and I rolled back just enough to give myself momentum to jump up and stand. I swung out at Jane and she kicked back just before the blade got too close. I twisted, trying to avoid it. She hit my stomach. I stumbled back and tried again.

We moved quickly. It was almost too fast to think, we could only react. It was great. I pushed myself harder. Being able to move, to fight Jane, made me feel in control. The demon didn't matter when I did this. Nothing did except the fight.

oOo

Kelly left for work muttering about psycho amazons. We were careful not to hit her in the face during training. She had gone to work with a bruise and someone had asked if she was okay at home. We didn't need an investigation into a household abuse that didn't exist but sometimes, accidents happened. I needed to pay more attention, especially if we were using weapons now. The last thing she needed was an injury that couldn't be explained.

I stayed outside in the sun. The night with Sam had left me reeling. I was trying to feel secure in any way possible. It led me to rereading the notebook Sam had given me the night we had come here. It was filled with exorcisms and symbols. It wasn't much, but rereading the exorcism made me feel better. Something tangible that I could do.

Someone screamed.

I scrambled up, running inside and following the sound. The living room only held Chloe and Klaus. They pointed towards the hall. The basement door was open. I ran down the stairs, shoving my way past Logan, and stopped. The window was open. Sunlight streamed in. I vaguely registered Spike swearing and patting out flames. At the bottom of the stairs, under the window, Maggie lay dead. Eric was feeding on her, his blistered skin healing as the blood drained.

Her dead eyes bore into mine. She opened the window. The smell of blood and burned flesh filled the air. My head pounded and my stomach rolled. I bent over, trying not to throw up.

"Close the bloody blinds!" Spike yelled.

I turned and ran.

I fell onto the grass in the backyard and retched. The last things I ate spilled out in front of me until I was heaving up stomach acid. The sight of her eyes didn't leave my mind. I still smelled the blood. Memories of the diner played over and over, Maggie's face blending with Edgar and Jake's. My stomach rolled again. Nothing came up. It felt like Gainesboro all over again.

I sat back, trying to breathe. My heartbeat was erratic. My chest felt like it was collapsing. I couldn't breathe. My hands were shaking and I wanted to run, as far away from this house as possible. The shaking continued up my arms. I tried to calm down. My throat was closing. I couldn't...I couldn't breathe. Maggie was dead.

I stayed there for what felt like ages. My heart finally slowed and my throat opened but I couldn't move. The house needed to be dealt with. Someone was dead, at the hands of another. It wasn't like when the hunters attacked. This was different.

"Michelle?" I looked over to see Chloe coming towards me with Derek at her side. "Um, Jane asked me to come get you." She looked scared. It was the only thing that made me move.

I forced myself to stand, wincing at the pull of the muscles and the painful tingle as the feeling came back into my legs. I stumbled. Derek caught me. I nodded my thanks and turned. He didn't let go until I was fully able to stand. I walked in slowly and the presence of Derek and Chloe at my back was the only thing that kept me from running.

Jane was standing in the living room, facing the couch. She looked up as I walked in. Logan was sitting on the couch. His face was pale. I ignored it and looked at Jane.

"What...what did you do with the body?" I asked. My voice shook.

"I will dispose of it. The vampires yet live." She looked me over before she turned back to the kid on the couch. "This one helped."

"I didn't know-" he stopped himself. I turned to him.

"You didn't know what?" I snapped. "That they were there? That they were vampires? Because they showed you their fangs. We warned everyone about the basement during the day." I took a deep breath. "We tell you these things for a reason. Maybe it's time you listened." I walked away. I didn't know how to deal with it. Someone was dead. I went upstairs to brush my teeth before I came back and settled on the porch. I was exhausted but Kelly would be home soon. She needed to know.

oOo

The sun set before Kelly came home. I felt Eric run by me but he didn't stop. I could hear Spike inside the house. The car pulled up and Kelly got out. She paused as she saw me.

"What's wrong?"

I ran a hand down my face before I rested my chin on it. My elbow rested on my knee. Her face grew more concerned the longer I didn't answer. She moved quickly towards me.

"Michelle?"

"Maggie's dead." I looked up to see her mouth drop open.

"What? How?"

"She, uh...she opened a window in the basement. On Eric."

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh no."

"Yup," I nodded. I felt oddly detached talking about it now. "He...well, he ate her. I don't know what happened after. I came in, there was blood and her dead and I just...I ran. I threw up, actually, a lot. Smelled a lot like the diner, you know, with the demon, so…" I trailed off.

"Holy shit," Kelly sat down next to me. "Are you okay?"

"Um," my throat tightened and I tried to will myself to ignore it. "Not really." I didn't explain. Kelly hugged me with one arm thrown over my shoulder. I stiffened at the touch. She pulled back quickly.

"Jane said she'd take care of the body," I said. "Logan...I don't know, I think he helped her."

"Jane?" she asked.

"Maggie. Apparently, he didn't know."

"Bullshit," Kelly got up and paused. "Maybe you should call Sam. He can distract you. Here," she dug into a pocket and handed me her phone. "The first number is Dean. Sam's...one of the other ones."

I held onto the phone as she went inside, presumably to deal with the fallout. I stayed outside. I looked down at the phone. I had no idea where mine was. I wasn't sure about calling Sam. Things felt weird the last time he was here. Crying in someone's arms apparently did that. I wanted to try though.

I found his name in the contacts and called it. I held the phone to my ear as I stared out at the driveway.

"Kelly?" Sam's voice answered. "What's wrong? Why are you calling me?"

"Hi Sam," I said softly.

"Michelle?" I heard something move in the background. "Why are you calling me from Kelly's phone?"

"I don't...I don't know where mine is."

"Michelle, what's wrong?" There was something in the tone in his voice that I couldn't place.

"Maggie's dead."

"What?" It sounded like he sat up. "What do you mean Maggie's dead? How?"

I hesitated. The boys didn't like the vampires already. This was not going to improve their opinion.

"Michelle," his voice was hard.

"She opened the window on Eric. He...he woke up and drank her."

"What?"

I leaned down and tried to wrap an arm around my legs. "He burned , Sam. He was just…"

"Are you okay?" He asked. I didn't know how to answer that. It should have been obvious. "Michelle, talk to me."

"I...I don't know," I said quickly, as though if I said it fast enough, I wouldn't stop myself. "Sam, I gotta go."

"Wait! Michelle-"

I hung up. I didn't have an answer. I didn't know what to say to make things better. There didn't seem like there was anything. The phone rang as I stood up. I ignored it and went inside. I caught Kelly's attention from where she was talking to Spike and tossed her the phone. She frowned as it rang again. I fled upstairs before she could answer it and give it back. I grabbed my iPod, which was miraculously still charged, put on headphones and turned up the music. I couldn't face anything else for now.

oOo

The morning didn't bring the relief I was hoping for. I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Maggie and the faces of the dead at the diner. Kelly met me outside for training.

"You ready for this?" Kelly asked quietly. She kept staring at me like she wanted to ask something else. I was grateful she didn't.

"Nope," I said. Jane stared at us as she stood in front. Kelly and I cast looks at each other as we waited for instruction. She rarely waited long to yell at us to do something.

"This day, you will learn something new. Your body is a weapon. I will ensure you use it as such. You can fall, now you will leap."

I frowned, confused. "Leap?" She explained and both Kelly and I stared at her in shock. She wanted us to be able to basically throw ourselves at our opponent and take them down using our bodies. She explained something about using our thighs to wrap around someone's neck and throwing our own weight to bring them down.

"I don't think I can do that," Kelly said. "No, I know I can't do that. How the hell do you expect me to be able to throw myself at someone like that? I'm lucky I can punch them, sometimes," she amended. "But seriously, how do you expect us to do this?"

Jane motioned to the side and I turned to see Remy come forwards. He had been leaning on the wall, but I had assumed he was just waiting for Jane. He put out the cigarette he had been smoking and motioned to Jane.

"I'm ready, chere."

Jane moved forwards. It was almost like she jumped and clung to Remy while at the same time, forcing him to follow her motion. She pulled him down and used her legs to flip him over her head.

"Okay, I definitely can't do that," Kelly said, pointing at the couple as Jane got up.

"You will," Jane said. "We begin."

oOo

I winced as I landed hard on my back. I should have rolled. Jane was not going easy on us anymore. She had started slow, showing us how to use our body fully to take someone down. It was all about momentum, proper placement and being able to throw your weight in the right spot at the right time. It wasn't easy. Jane fought back at the same time as we tried to learn this, leaving herself open for us to take advantage. She also didn't hesitate to throw us if we were too slow.

Suddenly, she stopped. Kelly reached down to help me up and once I was standing, we both looked to see what caught her attention.

A car pulled up the driveway. It wasn't the impala and since none of us had left, it wasn't anyone returning home. Something wasn't right. Jane shifted her stance, as though she was prepping for a fight. I saw Remy move out of the corner of my eye, sliding back out of my vision.

The car stopped and I counted five people climbing out of it. I didn't know them. A glance at Kelly told me she didn't either. There were four men and a woman. They looked around as they walked up to us. I felt myself shift back, settling into a stance that Jane had drilled into me.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" One of the men stepped forward, acting as leader. "Didn't think you'd be this easy to find, but we had a little help from a whore." I saw Kelly stiffen.

"Who are you?" she called out.

"Just some friendly neighbours, coming to say hello." The man lifted his hands, as if trying to prove he wasn't a threat. There was an edge to his smile.

"Prove it," Kelly snapped. "No one comes to be neighbourly anymore."

"How would you know?" One of the other men asked. "Not like you're from around here."

"You are not welcome on our land," Jane called out. "Leave or suffer."

The group laughed. "You know," the leader said, "I kind of like the sound of that. Don't think it'll be us suffering though."

"Christo," Kelly said. All of them flinched and their eyes shone black. It felt like my heart stopped. Demons. There were demons on our land, at our house. They had found us. Goosebumps rose on my arms. Every instinct in me was telling me to run as fast and as far as I could. I needed to get away...but the kids were in the house. I couldn't leave them to this fate.

I cast a glance to the house. The traps were still there. They'd be safe.

"Now that wasn't very nice." The leader said.

I clenched my jaw as I looked over at the group. How the hell were we going to do this? There were more of them than there were of us and the sun was out. That put us at a disadvantage. I looked back at the house. It was our best shot. We needed the advantage. It was just going to put the others in danger. Fuck.

"We need to get inside," I tried to whisper.

"What?" Kelly looked at me. "We can't."

I nodded. "We have to." I stepped sideways. Jane nodded as I moved, signalling that she heard me. We needed a distraction, an opportunity to get in the house. I had to trust that the others were watching, that Derek would know something was wrong and get them upstairs. It was a lot to put on the kid, but I had to hope he heard us talking. I called out. "Exorcizamus te," the demons looked at me in surprise. "Omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas," I tried to say it as fast as I could. My throat suddenly closed, feeling as if someone's hand was wrapped around it. My hands reached up, clutching it as I tried to breathe.

"That's really not nice," the leader said, his hand up and his fist closed. I looked at Kelly who was staring at me in shock. I waved to her to run.

Jane darted forward. It broke the standoff. She aimed at the leader. Remy was following, his staff moving fast as he struck one of them. He was moving back towards the house. Jane hit and the pressure on my throat suddenly released. I could breathe. Anger flooded through me. "Omnis incursio infernalis adversarii," I snarled as I hit the demon that ran towards me. I ducked past and ran for the house. Jane was fighting hard, forcing the demons away from the car and towards the house.

I ran in through the front door, ducking as the demon behind me reached for me. Kelly met me in the hall.

"What the fuck?" Kelly exclaimed. I heard something roar behind me. The demon that followed was caught in the first trap.

"Omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo, draco maledicte. Ecclesiam tuam securi tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos." I said it as fast as I could before any of the others could show up and release it. I stared as the smoke came billowing out. It was a whole different experience seeing it.

"Fuck!" I turned to see Kelly hit a man in the face before she leaned out of his reach. "Why the fuck didn't we record this stupid thing?"

"Living room!" I snapped. She kicked him in the knee before kicking again. He stumbled into the living room. "Leave him. We need to get the others." I looked up at the stairs. "Stay out of the living room!" I yelled. Hopefully one of them heard me.

Jane crashed through the living room window. She got up from a roll and looked around before her gaze settled on us. She nodded.

"Get them into the traps," I said.

Jane jumped back out of the window. In seconds another body came flying in. It looked like it hit an invisible force before it crumpled. The other demon Kelly had kicked was standing, glaring at us.

"Two left," Kelly said. "We should exorcise these ones. Just in case." She turned towards them. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica…"

"Potestas," I continued. "Omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo, draco maledicte. Ecclesiam tuam securi tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos."

"How the hell did you remember that?" she asked as we watched the demons get forced out.

"I just reread it yesterday," I said before turning and running back outside. Jane was fighting one of them, or more accurately, Jane was beating the hell out of one of them. She didn't look like she needed help. I turned to look for Remy. He was being pinned against the side of the house, the demon's hands on his throat. He was trying to break free. One of his hands was on the demon's holding his neck, the other on the man's chest. I moved forward before I noticed his eyes and hands were glowing.

"RUN!" I yelled, grabbing Kelly and dragging her in the opposite direction. There was a large bang and the vibrations on the earth pitched me forward. I caught myself just in time. I turned to look. I expected a hole in the house, some sort of major damage...instead, there was just blood and...pieces everywhere.

Kelly threw up next to me. I swallowed and breathed in through my mouth, trying to ignore the feeling of saliva building. Jane had the demon's arms locked behind them and she dragged it into the house. After a moment, she stepped back on the front porch. Alone.

"It is in the trap. Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. Outside of the last one, the demons were dealt with. To a point. I wasn't sure what happened to a demon if the host body exploded. "Are we safe now? Are the kids okay?" I asked, looking at Jane.

She nodded.

"Oh good." I bent over and threw up.

[tbc]