This chapter was hard-fought and sucks, but it's here.
"Sometimes people surprise us. People we believe we know."
Joyce Carol Oates, The Falls
Adam
Adam couldn't let go of Bree or Chase. Tears ran down his face, the occasional sob escaped him, and he held both off the ground with one arm each. Neither one seemed particularly happy about that – Chase's face was twisted in pain and Bree was tense – but they weren't fighting him. Mr. Davenport was trying to pry Adam off of Chase specifically, but Adam could ignore that. Bree and Chase were back after he failed to protect her. He hadn't lost them both forever.
Trevor was standing several feet away, watching everything with wide eyes. Ysthry and Yahn had scurried far away from Bree the second they saw her, hiding behind Leo now. Mr. Davenport, meanwhile, still tugged at Adam's fingers. "You're hurting him, Adam. Let go!"
Adam was reluctant to release either one of them. They might disappear again, and then where would they all be? No, here, he could keep an eye on them.
Chase hissed after a moment, shoving on Adam's arm. "Okay, stop. I broke a rib earlier."
Adam hesitated, but finally set Chase down. Chase stumbled away a few steps, brushing off his shirt while Mr. Davenport took hold of his arm. Adam held onto Bree, though. "I'm so sorry."
Bree frowned at that. She craned her head around to look up at Adam. "Sorry for what?"
"For not stopping whatever happened to you," Adam explained, sniffling. He hadn't been fast or close enough, and Bree paid for it.
Bree sighed, but nodded anyways. "Don't worry about it. That guy was too fast for me. I don't think you could get there before he did anything."
Adam held tightly to Bree anyways. He didn't want to let go, in case she vanished into thin air.
Mr. Davenport was examining Chase in the remnants of the setting sun, who was turning a slow circle at Mr. Davenport's request. At last, Adam noticed the bruising all over him, the bandages on his wing and thigh, the tearing in his shirt and pants. He sucked in a breath, setting Bree down to look her over. In seconds, he found a bandage covering her arm. He could feel his heat vision revving up in his eyes as fury bubbled up in his chest. "Who did this to you?"
Bree glanced at Chase. Chase flinched, looking down. Even though Bree looked back at Adam and let out a quick, "It's nothing," Adam had connected the dots in that second-long exchange. He looked at Chase, then at Bree, then to Chase again. "What did you do?"
Chase lowered his ears, hunching his shoulders.
Bree shifted around Adam to stand between him and Chase. "It wasn't his fault."
Chase's tail twitched. "Bree - "
"It wasn't you." Bree whipped her head around to fix Chase with a look. Chase sighed, looking away after a second.
Mr. Davenport took a step back from Chase, his inspection finished. He motioned for Bree to come closer to him, Chase's eyes watching his hand. Bree lowered her hands, stepping closer to Mr. Davenport. He took hold of her arm, unwrapping the bandage on it. "What happened to you guys?"
"It's just a burn," Bree muttered as Mr. Davenport got the bandage off fully. Adam had to rub his eyes to stop his heat vision from going off at the sight. Under the bandage was a black patch of skin surrounded by red, blistered flesh. Whatever Chase had done to her, that burn was awful. Adam could remember what happened the last time Chase hurt somebody. Did Spike activate and set Bree's shirt on fire or something? Is that why she didn't blame him?
When Adam looked up again, Mr. Davenport had replaced the bandage. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug for a long moment before letting her go. He reached out to pat Chase's shoulder now, sighing. "And what happened to you? It looks like you went through a washing machine."
Chase flicked his half-tail, sucking on his cheek. "I was caught in a crush. Lots of screaming and panic." He offered Mr. Davenport a tight smile, his ears laying back as he brushed bangs out of his face. God, his hair had grown since he left. Both of theirs had. "Good times."
Adam wasn't clear on what a crush was, but it looked like it was horrifying. Mr. Davenport nodded, though. "Well, we're glad you guys are back. We need all the help we can get." He glanced in the direction of Mission Creek. "How much experience do you guys have with demons now?"
Bree huffed out a sigh, running her fingers through her hair. "Too much."
"Can we make the monsters leave?"
Adam jumped at that, whipping around. Trevor had snuck up on him. He resisted the urge to snap at the kid for popping up in his blind spot. Maybe Adam needed an eyepatch. People should remember not to sneak up on him then. Oh, and he could be a pirate! That would be fun! He sighed, shaking his head. "These demons aren't bad guys, okay?" He brought a hand down on Trevor's shoulder gently, squeezing. "I've known them for a long time. They're not going to hurt anybody."
Well, Spike might, but that wasn't a voluntary thing.
Trevor eyed Yahn and Ysthry more than Chase, both of whom were taking pains to stay away from Bree. That made sense, Adam guessed. Chase looked more human than them, even if he was the strongest demon in the group.
Leo bent over, picking Ysthry up at last. The imp curled up in his arms, her tail stingers tucked away. "Big D? Did you find Mom?"
Mr. Davenport grimaced. "We think they're going back to Mission Creek for some reason, but we didn't catch up. We can't go there without planning for the trip or getting a ride." He looked back at Los Angeles. "I don't think I can convince anybody to drive us there anymore."
Leo rubbed Ysthry's neck, biting his lip. "I think Douglas was right about the desk guy."
Chase and Bree looked as confused as ever, but that statement made some sense to Adam. Bree and Chase weren't there to see Douglas lose sleep over the man, but the rest of them were. Mr. Davenport ran a hand down his face, sighing. "Leo – "
"Chase heard Yosemite Sam at the front desk before we left," Leo interrupted. He looked at Chase. "Right?"
Chase had one ear lowered and the other pointed straight up, but nodded. "Yeah." He hesitated before asking, "Did Douglas not like the desk guy? He usually has reasons for things like that."
Mr. Davenport's eyes were wide now. He pointed at Leo, then Chase, then waved his hand. "Look, Douglas has a history I have to consider with things like that, okay?" When Chase laid his ears back, Mr. Davenport waved his hand again. "It's not what you're thinking. Look, we'll deal with it later. If Hunters have them, there's bigger problems."
There seemed to be a group consensus at that. Even Trevor, who had no idea about Hunters and what they'd been through, nodded. He probably just wanted Douglas back. Bree pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes narrowed, but nodded. Mr. Davenport gestured towards Los Angeles. "Good. Let's get Trevor back – "
"No." Trevor pressed back into Adam. "I'm going with you."
Leo pointed towards Mission Creek, Ysthry shifting to sit on one of Leo's arms. "I'm going to find Mom, so don't tell me to go back."
Mr. Davenport narrowed his eyes. "Guys, we can't bring Trevor into Mission Creek. Even just walking there will be too far."
Trevor narrowed his eyes, taking hold of Adam's hand. "I'm going."
"Look, Mr. Davenport, none of us want to stay," Chase began. His tail started twitching. "So why…." He squinted in the distance, frowning. After a second, his ears laid down. "What's that?"
Adam frowned, turning his head to look. He didn't see much of anything. Just some grass, the highway, and a mass of darkness swallowing the first stars before they could really show up. Adam looked back at Chase, who was staring up with wide eyes. "That's just night coming."
Chase relaxed for a second at that, soothed by Adam's Charming aura. His tail fuzzed up right after, though. "That's not night. That's a demon."
Yahn scrambled forward, brushing against Trevor as he climbed his way up Adam's leg. Trevor let out a shriek, bolting to Mr. Davenport now. Chase had the presence of mind to hop away from the kid, but he was still watching the dark mass. Yahn settled onto Adam's arm, pointing. "That's Soad!"
Adam focused on the mass again. Now that it wasn't nightfall, the way it was moving was alarming. It was hard to tell what kind of shape it had. There was dark, then there was Soad dark. It was like something had punched a hole out of the world, leaving a black void. It was difficult to tell any details, especially this far away. More importantly, it was growing.
Leo stepped back towards Los Angeles, his voice an octave higher than usual. "Why is he coming here?"
Ysthry stretched her long neck out, pointing her nose at Bree. "It's probably because she's here."
Bree jumped, touching her chest. "Me? Why me?"
Chase scratched at the base of one of his ears, frowning even as he watched Soad. "That makes sense, I guess."
Mr. Davenport opened his mouth, but Bree beat him to it. "How does that make sense?" Her eyes widened. "Wait, I'm not a demon now, right?"
Yahn rubbed his claws as Ysthry buried her nose under her wing. Chase furrowed his brow, still scratching an ear. He flicked it a few times, then dropped his hand.
Bree's face paled. "Right?"
"No…I don't think so, anyways." Yahn curled his tail around Adam's arm, his large ears flapping. "We need to hide before Soad gets here. I don't think we want to be found."
"Okay, everybody hold on." Mr. Davenport raised a hand in the air. He gestured at Bree. "Why would Soad be coming for her?"
"Probably because she radiates energy like a sun?" Chase was focused on the horizon still. "Just a guess, really."
Bree stepped towards Chase. "Why would I – "
"Can we focus on him?" Leo gestured wildly at Soad. Ysthry dug her claws into his arm and spread her wings to keep her balance, but he didn't seem to care.
Adam frowned, looking at Soad again. "I could talk to him." It had worked before, back when Soad was trapped inside Krane. The difference was that Adam knew what Soad could do now. Destroying Mission Creek and rallying an army of demons would take something Adam couldn't begin to understand.
"Don't talk to him. There's no telling what he'll do," Yahn protested. "He could be amused for a minute, then decide to squish you. You don't know." He pointed at a couple of trees on the side of the road. Literally, two trees. Nothing else was around to hide them. "That's better than nothing. Just climb up and hold still. Maybe he won't pinpoint Bree."
Mr. Davenport looked at the trees, then at Yahn, then at the trees again. "How is that supposed to hide us? He'll – "
"Half-breed!"
A falcon rammed into Chase's chest from high in the sky. He let out a yelp as he flew backwards, landing on the ground hard. Adam grimaced at the sight. That couldn't feel good. As the falcon perched on his chest, Chase groaned, breathless. "I hate all of you."
The falcon didn't seem to care. Oly's voice came from the creature's beak. "When did you get back?"
Chase growled, shoving Oly until she hopped off of him. "Earlier today." He sat up, coughing.
Oly turned into an oily stain in the air, pulling into a gargoyle almost instantly. "Good, good. So, how did you like Home?"
"Guys, Soad!" Yahn snapped his beak. "You can talk later!"
Oly waved Yahn's concern away. "Soad isn't my problem. He's not going to worry about us when she's right here." Oly jerked her thumb towards Bree, who's face was turning red.
"Can we just hide before he gets here?" Mr. Davenport snapped.
"Oh, it's too late now," Oly snorted. "He can probably see you already."
Chase laid his ears back, gathering his legs up under himself. "Let's just try, anyways. I don't think he'll like us much."
"Look, as long as I get to climb a tree, I'm in." Adam clapped his hands together and started for the trees. If Soad was going to kill them, Adam might as well spend his last moments having fun.
