【Maggots in the Creek】

It was dark and cold, her boots clacked against the sidewalk. Two months ago Ava would be terrified at the thought of strolling along the streets alone, in the middle of the night. She supposed facing imminent death multiple times did things to a girl. Not just that, but being forced into committing brutal murders to survive. I mean, come on, she wasn't some normal helpless girl anymore. Now she had superpowers. Evil, psychic, demon superpowers. She was actually pretty cool - something of an apex predator.

"Hey sweetheart!" The voice made her stop.

Ava turned, scanned the trees and overpass. The streetlights were a bit too few and far between, but soon she saw the shadow emerging from the dark. Ava's walk and posture betrayed no fear. Her heart beat faster, but that was just the adrenaline. The excitement.

"Hey buddy!" she called out.

He slowed a bit as he got closer. The man was curious, he could tell she wasn't afraid. She could make out his stubble, she could smell piss and liquor. He went to step closer and Ava held out her hand.

"That's far enough." Then she pressed her forefingers to her temples and began concentrating.

"What are you doing?"

"Just - hang on a sec." She looked up at him. "You really should be scared of me, you know?"

"Really? And why's that?"

"Because - hold on. Dammit." This was not going how Ava had planned. Her brain was burning and flexing with the effort, and nothing was happening. Unlike the infested Cold Oak, this little suburb was scarce with demon activity. Then she heard other voices.

"Hey Roy! What you got there?"

"Over here, guys!" The man waved his arm into the darkness. "Got a cute little thing here. Think she's trying to squeeze out an egg!"

"Shit…" Ava tried concentrating harder. Her head felt like it was going to burst, hands trembling with the effort.

"What's going on?" Three silhouettes joined Roy and they were all staring at Ava in the near-darkness.

"She's not carrying a purse." The reedy one was a woman and she licked the corner of her lip. "Let's take her earrings." Their sunken features registered, Ava pegged them as drug addicts.

"Look, if you just give me a minute..." Now Ava was scared, straining as hard as she could. Hot blood started dripping from her nose. The group watched on with bemusement.

Then it came. The far-off lights started to flicker and they could hear a swirling vortex of wind. The shadow dropped from the sky and forced itself into the woman's mouth. She went taught, gurgling and shaking as the demon entered her body. Ava lost all her strength and fell to her hands and knees. The guys stumbled back and lost their balance. Roy dropped his bottle, glass smashed and he sprinted several metres up the road before falling forward. The woman looked at Ava with pitch-black eyes.

Ava didn't have the strength to control it psychically. She looked up with blood running off her chin "kill them… please…"

The demon sighed, turned to the closest guy and kicked him so hard his neck snapped. Then she stepped over to the other man who screamed and tried crawling backwards. She grabbed his head and slammed it against the footpath thrice. Then she turned to Roy, ducking down to pick up a glass shard on the street. Ava heard his screams turn into gurgling in the dark. She sat back and started wiping her face. The demon walked back to Ava, stopped and stared with those full black eyes.

"Who are you and why should I not kill you?"

"I'm Ava. A little help, please." She held out her hand and the demon slapped it away. "Ouch! Hey, I'm working for Azazel."

"You're working for my father? ...Huh." It started walking around, examining her. "Dad doesn't even know I'm out of hell yet. You see, I'm here on personal business. A bit of revenge for the guys who exorcized me. ...And then out of nowhere I feel you calling to me, pulling me… then without my control I'm dragged across towns all the way to you." She ended her circling, standing directly in front of Ava who was still too exhausted to get up. The woman gave a chilling smile "you're one of the psychic children, aren't you?"

"Yes. And your Dad sent me on a super important mission, so if you don't mind I could use some help." Ava extended her arm again with an imploring look.

The demon stared before yanking Ava up to her feet. She wobbled and clutched her sore shoulder, almost falling again but the demon steadied her.

"Ouch!"

"The name's Meg."

"I'm Ava."

"You said that. Now let's get out of here and you can tell me all about this mission." She stepped over the bodies and Ava did too, without Meg's hand on her back she was likely to topple over.

"Right. Well, my car broke down..."

"That sucks."

"But I made it this far. Cell phone barred, no wallet. But I got my psychic powers… which really aren't that useful when there's no demons around to control."

"You control demons?"

"Yep. That's what my powers are good for. I get these death visions, I have minor minor telekinesis, and then there's demon control."

"Well won't you make an excellent soldier."

"I'm getting better all the time. But… man, did I strain myself. My head is killing me…"

"Watch where you're walking."

"Sorry. Anyway, this could be good for me. You could give me some pointers. If Mr Yellow Eyes himself wants it done, it's gotta be pretty important right?"

"Most likely…" Meg sighed.

Ava pressed a palm to her throbbing head and tried to focus on walking. The women made their way deeper into Glenville, the first town Ava had arrived in since crossing the Minnesota border.

。

Jo was driving south from Duluth in her rental, a gun-metal Jeep Wrangler. She intended to get her own car soon, a cool car fit for hunting business. But good cars were expensive, especially when they broke down, and her Daddy certainly hadn't been around long enough to show her how they work. The only motor knowledge she had was picked up from her ex-boyfriend Rick. The salesman had promised she'd have no issues over the weekend, which was about as long as she had to scout out the plagued farmlands for anything suspicious. She had enough time to interview some folks and research old obituaries - enough time to see if a newbie like her was in over her head and should hand the case over and back out. Jo faught the stubborn gearstick as she turned off the main road. Again she reminsced Dean's black Chevy Impala, its smooth rumbling and the creak of its doors. She wanted to own a good car.

First stop was a farm. A man named Jerry Whitman was run over by his own tractor. Jo pulled up with a fruit cake she'd bought at the last stop. As she slammed the door shut she looked around at the yellow countryside. Wooden posts separated her from grazing sheep and goats. It was an impressive operation, a hundred achres with cows and pigs too. She trekked mud toward the house and an old woman came out onto the porch.

"Mrs Whitman?" Jo asked.

"I'm her mother. She's inside." Through a big living room window she could see various well-wishing family members sitting around with cups of tea and biscuits. It explained the other cars. "Her family came down to be with her. Suppose you heard about Jerry." The woman said sadly, indicating to the cake.

"I'm Jo Beth. I grew up on the same street as Jerry. Just wanted to give my condolences."

"Why, Jerry grew up all the way down south. Texas."

"Yes, ma'am. I moved too."

"Small world. Well come in, child. Don't mind ol' Puggly." As Jo took the steps and opened the gate she lifted the cake out of reach from the goat that came sniffing. It had a bespangled collar. Jo gave a wry smile and dragged her shoes against the mat, careful to not let Puggly slip out the gate.

Jo wasn't even sure of the cake she'd bought. Turned out to be date pudding. The living room was small, pink, with doilies and painted china on the walls. She endured the family meet-and-greet, told some lies about her childhood and asked strange questions as tactfully as she could. There were a few weird glances and then Jo said farewell and walked herself out. Puggly bleated at her once and she made eye contact. The goat watched from its wood-crafted kennel but didn't get up.

After closing the gate and trudging off she glanced back. Then she pulled the EMF from her handbag and went to the shed. She crouched under the three-foot gap of the garage door, passed the dusty workbench and haystacks, going straight for the tractor. It set the EMF off - traces from the supernatural force that moved it. Jo pulled out a small torch and did a quick once over. No sulfur, no ectoplasm, no suspicious residue that she could see. She flicked off the torch and ducked out before she was spotted.

Jo passed her car, creeping down and slipping through a fence. There were tall reeds but she only needed to take a few steps in the muck before she noticed the ungodly mass of writhing maggots. All through the mud along the water. She pulled a face, tucked her blonde locks behind her ears. This was something alright, but what exactly had enough reach to kill people across miles of countryside? She went back to her car for the next lead.

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