Chapter 17

Adam took a step back as Angela, Tommy, and Sauli stood up from the ground. Angela looked around the room, looking for something to protect herself with, then spied the crucifix Mika had laying on the ground. With cat-like speed and precision, she swiped the crucifix off the ground and stood in front of Sauli and Tommy.

"St-Stay back!" She said. "Don't come any closer!" Adam hissed in pain and anger as Angela moved the cross in Adam's direction. He moved back quickly and winced, keeping his eyes on Sauli's petrified face.

"A-Ang," said Tommy, "you seem to know what's going on, what is that?"

"That's Adam," replied Angela, still holding the cross up, "He's a demon called a Siren. He killed all those people that were on the news." Sauli examined Adam's facial expressions more closely as Angela stepped closer to him with the crucifix. He looked scared and hurt. Just as Angela was about to hit Adam with the crucifix, Sauli stopped Angela with a touch of his hand on her shoulder.

"Wait," he said, "just wait a moment." Carefully, Sauli walked closer to Adam, stopping just a few inches away from him.

"Sauli," said Adam, his voice multi-pitched and doubled, making Sauli wince a little at the sound of it, "are you okay?" Adam ran his claws across Sauli's bruised face as delicately as he could, making sure not to cut or injure Sauli any further. Sauli was still shaking lightly in fear, but he nodded in response.

"I-I think so...Thanks to you."

"I don't care what anyone does to me," said Adam, looking down at the floor, "but you," his yellow red eyes looking up at Sauli's crystal blue eyes, "I couldn't just lay there and watch him hurt you...not again..." Sauli gently put his hand on Adam's cheek and caressed it soothingly. Adam purred at Sauli's touch and his long forked tongue licked Sauli's fingers, like a kitten kissing its mother's nose. Sauli, a little grossed out, moved his hand away, but managed a small smile.

"No one has ever stuck up for me like that..." He said, wrapping his arms around Adam. "Thank you." Adam gasped as Sauli nuzzled his chest with his nose. Adam smiled as he wrapped his arms and wings around Sauli, holding him close and sheltering him from the outside world. Then, an intoxicating smell hit Adam's nose. He could hear Sauli's slow and relaxed pulse in his ears and he began to salivate. He gasped in fear and flew up to the corner of the room, away from Sauli.

"Don't come near me!" Cried Adam. "I-I...I don't want to hurt you..."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Sauli as he walked in Adam's direction. "I'm not afraid of you, Adam. Well...at least not completely afraid." Adam's pupils widened as Sauli's scent hit his nostrils once more. He could smell Sauli's fear and concern and oh, how delectable it was. It smelled like a vanilla cake that was just taken out of the oven, moist and warm. He licked his fangs and a bit of saliva dripped down on Sauli's shoulder. Sauli gulped as he saw Adam's eyes go completely black and a wicked smirk appear on his face. Adam dropped to the ground with a slam and crawled on his hands and feet toward Sauli, his tail whipping back and forth.

"A-Adam?" Sauli stuttered in fear. "A-Are you okay?" Spike's emerged from Adam's tail and his claws and fangs grew longer and sharper.

"Hold still, darling," growled Adam as he prepared himself to pounce, "This will hurt me a lot more than it'll hurt you." Angela grabbed the petrified Sauli's arm and yanked him away before Adam could attack him. Adam slammed into the cabinet behind them, hissing in rage.

"Run!" Shouted Angela to Tommy as she pulled the still frozen Sauli out the door. Tommy sprinted after them, Adam hot on their tail.

"He's still coming!" Yelled Tommy as he ran.

"Don't look back!" Replied Angela. "Just keep running!" Angela shoved past any nurses or doctors that were in her path, too scared and focused to apologize. Her main goal was to survive, not to be polite. As he ran, Sauli kept looking back at Adam. He knew that Adam was trying to kill them, but somewhere deep inside, Sauli felt that it wasn't Adam's fault.

"Run all you like," snarled Adam as he grew closer and closer, "but you will never escape!" Doctors and nurses screamed and shouted at the sight of Adam, and soon enough an alarm was ringing throughout the hospital. Red lights flashed as they sprinted through the hospital, searching for somewhere to escape. At last, Angela spied a door that seemed to glow in the distance.

"This way!" She called to Tommy. The three friends ran out the hospital door and Angela pulled her boyfriend and best friend into a nearby dumpster.

"Ang, what are you-" Angela put her hand over Tommy's mouth and breathed as slow as she possibly could. No sound could be heard at first, but then the sound of dragging against the pavement tapped against Angela's eardrum. She could picture it in her mind, the spikes on Adam's tail making a light gray line on the tarred pavement as he moved closer and closer, or maybe his claws running against the ground as he crawled, searching for his prey. She could hear Adam panting heavily, his saliva hitting the ground with slow and steady drip drip drips. Each drop sent a shiver down her spine. Out of bravery or stupidity, Angela placed her fingertips on the rim of the dumpster's lid and, at a slow pace, began to lift it for a clear view of the outside. Adam's blood red hair hit her vision immediately and she had to contain herself as to not let out a gasp. She saw him raise his head up and close his eyes, taking in a deep breath through the nose. He growled in frustration and looked around cautiously.

"Where are you?" Snarled Adam. "I know you're close. I can hear your hearts beating. They're calling to me." Angela gulped, then regretted it immediately. Adam's head snapped toward the direction of the dumpster and Angela jolted down, holding both Sauli and Tommy close to her in fear. She could hear Adam's sharp claws tap against the dumpster's lid as he wrapped his fingers around it, ready to lift. She saw the light from the outside slowly filling the dumpster, her hands trembling in absolute fright as the thought of these being her last few moments of life finally hit her. Adam's vile hand reached into the dumpster and just as he was about to pierce his blood-stained claws into Tommy's neck...

"This way! I think it went over here!" Adam gasped and Angela could hear multiple footsteps quickly approaching them. She heard Adam's wings spread open and a gust of wind slammed the lid to the dumpster closed. Angela carefully lifted the lid up and scanned the area around the dumpster. No one in sight. She let out a huge sigh of relief and threw the lid of the dumpster open.

"We're safe," she said panting, "for now, at least. He must've fled." Tommy and Sauli hopped out of the dumpster and Angela did the same shortly after them.

"What the hell was that?!" Shouted Tommy. "How do we even handle this?! We just got chased by some kind of beast or some shit! Not to mention we left Mika in there to, like, die!"

"He'll be fine," said Angela, wrapping a piece of her sleeve around a cut on her leg, "We left him in a hospital, they'll take care of him. Besides, after the way he treated Sauli, I could care less if he got eaten by a demon or not."

"A fucking demon, Ang! A DEMON! That's what after us!" Tommy began to pace around the dumpster frantically. "I mean, normally I would think something like this is kinda cool, but not when it's after ME!"

"It's not after you!" Shouted Angela, rising to her feet and silencing Tommy. "Or me!" She glanced at Sauli, who was sitting with his back against the brick wall behind them, hugging his knees to his chest.

"He wants me," said Sauli sadly, "I am the reason you are all in danger..." Angela sighed and put her hand on Sauli's shoulder.

"We'll help you as much we can, you know that." Sauli moved Angela's hand off his shoulder and shook his head.

"No, that will only put you in a worse position. I need to handle this on my own."

"Sauli," joined in Tommy, "are you crazy? Did you not see the teeth on that thing?"

"I don't care," replied Sauli, "I think I can reason with him. I...I think I know why he does what he does."

"Sauli," said Angela, "he's not human. He's a demon. There is no reasoning with him!"

"Yeah!" Agreed Tommy. "Besides, what makes you think you're so special?" Angela looked at Tommy, annoyance written all over her expression. Tommy blushed lightly and crossed his arms. "I'm just asking! I didn't mean anything by it." Angela rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I know it sounds crazy and really stupid," continued Sauli, "but I need to do this and I think I can come out of it alive. You just have to trust me, okay?" Angela's eyebrows lowered and she reached back into the dumpster, pulling out the crucifix she carried with her through their escape.

"I trust you," she said, handing Sauli the crucifix, "but I don't trust that thing. If you need to be the one to face it, fine, but you also need to be the one to kill it."

"Kill him?" Gasped Sauli.

"Kill it." Replied Angela. "Adam is a monster, you saw what he's capable of with your own eyes. If you don't kill him, more people are sure to die."

"M-Maybe...I could cha-"

"Don't even try that, Sauli," interrupted Angela, "You can't change something that was born to kill. That's like saying you could teach a shark to be a vegetarian. It can't be done." Angela held Sauli's hand tight around the crucifix. "Do you understand, Sauli? It needs to be done." Sauli looked down, hesitant on what to say or do, but finally he nodded.

"I understand...I-I'll do it."

"Good," said Angela. "In the meantime, Tommy and I will talk to the police and do our best to keep Mika, the other beast in your life, away from you. If you need either of us, just call. Come on, Tommy, let's go." Angela walked off and headed for the police car parked in the front of the hospital. Tommy walked over to Sauli and knelt down beside him.

"So..." said Tommy, "A-Are you...really going to kill him?" Sauli put his face in his hands and sighed.

"I don't know," he replied, his response muffled by his hands, "I guess I have to, but I am not comfortable with it at all." Tommy winced and his eyes looked down at the ground.

"I-If you can find another way," he said, "please try it. I don't want Adam to die..."

"You heard what Ang said, Tommy...There's no other way..." Tommy turned away and rose to his feet.

"I...I gotta go...Good luck, Sauli." Sauli nodded and stood up.

"Thank you," he replied, "I'm going to need it." Tommy walked off, his hands in his jean pockets and his head down, his hair covering his eyes. Sauli looked down at the crucifix in his hand and held it tight. He looked up at the sky. The sun was going down and the sky had changed to a delightful orange-purple sort of color. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Here goes everything," he thought, then he walked out of the alley and into the street, hoping that his loneliness and bleeding wounds would attract the beast he was destined to confront.