"I don't know who you little brats think you are, but you aren't going to stop me," Dan hissed, his hand still wrapped around Rebecca's neck.
"You're really going to want to put her down," Anne said, doing what she could to inject calm into her voice, even as she mentally kicked herself for not being aware of Dan right behind her. How could she have been so stupid?
"I've spent twenty years being a damn camp counselor to make sure I had enough souls to feed Kalesh. Do you honestly think I'm going to let two little girls make all of that be for nothing?"
Anne's eyes flickered to Rebecca's, and she bit back a smile as she saw a white light cover the orbs. "I don't think you're going to let us do anything there, Counselor Dan—but I do think we're still going to kick your slimy demon arse."
"You're just children!" Dan bellowed. "You can't…"
Before Dan could finish his sentence, he was thrown backwards, the force of the energy wave Rebecca had called forth sending him to the ground.
"We're not just children," Rebecca snarled, anger in her eyes. "And you're gonna fry."
Rebecca stepped to the side, revealing Anne now once again armed with her bow, arrow ready. She flicked open the Zippo and lit the tip, smirking at the look of surprise on Dan's face before she let it fly.
Just children indeed…
With their leaders gone, the remaining demons scrambled out of the burning cabin, only to have Rebecca and Anne waiting for them outside.
It wasn't long until they were all no more.
Anne watched the counselor's cabin burn, her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face.
"Now that's one campfire I can admire," she said, nudging Rebecca with her elbow.
Rebecca chuckled in response. "Too bad we don't have any marshmallows."
Anne replied with a laugh before she sighed. "I suppose we should put it out before it spreads to the woods. Responsible thing to do and all that. Can you…?"
"Might as well," Rebecca said. "I've already gone over my magical quota tonight anyway." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then shouted a Latin command at the blaze, making it quickly smolder down to embers, then nothing.
"I think your father will understand the heavy use of magicks tonight," Anne said as she regarded the remains of the cabin. "Special circumstances on account of the impending apocalypse."
"Bloody hell, I hope so. I think I've already been in enough trouble for one summer."
"For once, I think I'm going to have to agree with that sentiment." Anne brushed her hands together. "Well, I think we've done as much damage as we can here. I'd say it's time to make that transatlantic phone call and try to convince our parents we're not just making all of this up to get out of here."
"They better not make us stay here anyway," Rebecca grumbled. "I think I've had more than my fill of the Great Outdoors."
"God, I hope so, too," Anne replied, shivering at the mere thought of spending any more time there. "I am definitely over this place."
Rebecca and Anne turned in the direction of the camp's only telephone when a scream ripped through the night, stopping them both in their tracks.
Anne whipped her head over towards Rebecca. "That's coming from the cabins," she said before breaking out into a superpowered run.
Deciding there really was no reason to hold herself back now, Rebecca magically enhanced her own speed and took off after Anne.
Anne and Rebecca crouched down outside the window, assessing the situation inside the cabin. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that's Kalesh," Anne remarked.
"I'd be inclined to agree," Rebecca replied. "What are we going to do?"
Her mouth a grim line of determination, Anne declared, "I'm going to fight him."
"Have you gone completely mad?" Rebecca asked in a harsh whisper. "Anne, that bloke is huge, and he looks a little less flammable than the others, what with the hard scales covering him and all."
"I can take him," Anne insisted, her shoulders squared.
"Anne, I know you're one hell of a fighter, especially considering you're only fourteen years old, but that guy looks like he could take your da out. You can't take him on yourself, and I don't think I can be much help…"
Anne turned to Rebecca sharply. "You're not going to be any help where this fight is concerned. I want you to turn around right now, run to the phone, and call our parents. Then, I want you to get the hell off this campground."
"What?! Anne, I can't just leave you…"
"Rebecca, you have to. If I don't make it, I want someone to know what's going on in time to stop Kalesh from getting very far."
As much as she didn't like it, Rebecca saw Anne's point. Still, leaving her friend to face what could be certain death was not something she felt prepared to do. "Annie, I can't…"
Another scream pierced the night, and Anne turned quickly to see Kalesh advancing towards one of the campers, his hands raised to strike. "Go. Now!"
Without waiting for further discussion from Rebecca, Anne leapt to her feet and ran to the cabin door, kicking it open with her sturdy boot. "Oi, ugly!" she yelled. "You want a soul? Come and get mine!"
Rebecca ventured one last glance at Anne, whispering a quick, "Protect her," before she ran back in the direction of the telephone.
Kalesh turned to Anne, roaring. "You dare to challenge me?"
"Yeah. I dare to do a lot of things, wanker. Now come and get your scaly arse handed to you."
Kalesh roared again and charged at Anne, only to have her move at the last moment, avoiding his blow. When Kalesh came back after her, Anne struck, hitting him with all her strength in the chest.
His scales her smooth and black, yet as she hit them, it was as if she was attempting to punch through solid rock. Her eyes widened as she realized she hadn't even managed to hurt him, and Kalesh responded by backhanding her hard enough to send her flying across the room and into one of the bunks, the wood splintering against her.
"I believe I shall enjoy breaking you, insolent child," Kalesh said as he stalked back towards Anne, a sneer on his cold, demonic features.
Anne noticed the campers running from the cabin while Kalesh was distracted with her, and she hoped, if nothing else, they'd make it out of there alive.
She pulled herself up, wiping the blood off her face from where Kalesh had struck her. "I'm gonna make you work for it, you know."
Kalesh cocked his head to one side, regarding Anne for a moment. "You are not broken at all. You are not human."
"Nope, 'fraid not," Anne replied. She rotated her neck, working out a kink, then met Kalesh's eyes. "As a matter of fact, I think we should finish this the proper way—demon to demon." She snarled as her features changed, her eyes shifting to yellow as slight ridges marred her brow.
Kalesh sneered. "Part demon as you may be, I shall still crush you."
Anne responded by running for the back wall of the cabin, then launching herself off of it to come around and kick Kalesh in the head. His neck craned backwards, the demon stumbling as Anne came back down to her feet, crouched in a defensive position.
Kalesh roared loud enough to shake the rafters before he struck out at Anne again, his fist connecting with her cheek. Anne reeled from the blow, then snarled and leapt up again, using her full weight to push Kalesh backwards, sending him flailing through a window.
He bellowed again as he rose back up, shaking shards of broken glass away from him. "I am done fooling around, child!" the demon announced before delivering a swift kick that sent Anne flying again.
Anne didn't realize she'd landed on something until Kalesh began to howl, his massive hands moving to cover his ears. She cocked her head, listening to the music now coming through the headphones she'd earlier discarded.
Can't stay at home, can't stay at school
Old folks say, ya poor little fool
Down the street, I'm the girl next door
I'm the fox you've been waiting for
An idea forming in her head, Anne grabbed the music player and ran towards Kalesh again, kicking him to make him stumble backwards and drop his hands from his ears. She leapt up then, slapping the headphones over his head before he had a chance to figure out what she was doing.
Hello Daddy, hello Mom
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Hello world, I'm your wild girl
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb
Kalesh let out one more cry, clawing desperately at the headphones. However, before he had a chance to get them off, his head exploded, the force of the blast throwing Anne once again across the room.
Anne sat for a moment, stunned, before she pulled up to her feet and shook herself off. She walked over to what was left of Kalesh, frowning as she picked up her ruined music player.
"Well, bollocks," she muttered before dropping it back to the ground and leaving the cabin.
Rebecca had told herself over and over again that Anne had to make it out alive, but she couldn't really believe it until she saw Anne walk into the room just as she was hanging up the phone.
"Are they coming?" Anne asked, wiping blood away from her eye as it dripped from a cut on her forehead.
"They were running for a Council jet as I hung up," Rebecca replied. "Is Kalesh…?"
"Dead. Apparently, he's not a fan of punk music."
"What?" Rebecca asked with a confused frown.
"Joan Jett made his head go boom."
Rebecca's eyes widened. "Whoa. Are you serious?"
"Yup. Maybe that's why they had to go with such asinine songs. Anything else would've exploded the head of their lord," Anne replied as she scratched the back of her neck. "Anyway, you think while we wait for our ride home we could raid the nurse's station for some aspirin? I just got my arse royally handed to me by a gianormous demon, and I'm in a rather great deal of pain at the moment."
As soon as she spoke, Anne started to collapse, yet Rebecca rushed over and caught her, offering herself for support. "All right then. Aspirin it is."
Anne nodded, letting Rebecca help her towards the nurse's station. "You know," she said as they began to walk. "It could be the head trauma talking, but I'm starting to think this whole thing wasn't so bad after all. I mean, we did manage to save the world."
Rebecca came to a halt and looked Anne up and down, observing her myriad of cuts and bruises. "Yeah, that would be the head trauma. Come on, let's get you doped up and less bleedy."
Without protest, Anne let Rebecca lead her away.
The song used is "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways.