Chapter 8: Outrunning a Demon (or 2, or 4)

The roads were mostly quiet that night as Mikael and I patrolled around the area, eerily enough copying almost the exact same situation as the one we'd seen in the security footage, only there were no Yukons and no trucks, obviously. "We have been out here since 7:45, and it is now 12:15. Nothing so far, which I guess is a good thing in this situation," I sighed. "We've run the patrol route at least 10 different times."

Mikael was scanning the area intently, and I had to admit it, I was glad that he was part of the patrol; he had the keenest eyes of anyone I've ever known, and slowly but surely I was beginning to trust in his thought process. Must be an Original vampire perk or something along those lines. But in this case, it could save both our butts now that the flame had been turned up. "Perhaps they're hiding. Then again, I do not know much about their nature," he suggested.

Chuckling slightly, I replied,"They can be good at hiding, but I have a good feeling that these demons somehow want to make themselves known, especially to the supernatural community. But none of that shocks me- pride did make the Devil fall from grace, after all."

"I guess that's true." He thought for a moment. "Abira, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh...sure," I responded hesitantly. This sudden formality of asking a question when I was used to him demanding shocked me a good bit. That, and I was bracing for him to ask if I were a vampire.

"Why am I still around? If my purpose has been fulfilled, why keep me? Especially since Balthazar and I do not exactly have a...symbiotic relationship, if you will."

His question made me pause; the answer was ambiguous, even to me. He was free to leave if he wanted to, but for some reason, he never spoke of it, nor did Haniel or Balthazar. "To be honest, I don't know. Perhaps the angels need to give clearance for you to leave." I glanced curiously at him. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Curiosity, I guess."

We were traveling along the road outside of Lafayette Cemetery for what had to have been the 11th time, and not a soul was in sight. I assumed that until I heard what sounded like an engine rumbling behind us; it sounded alarmingly close, too. "Mikael, you hear that?"

"Yes- Abira, we've got company," he reciprocated, nodding to the rearview mirror. And you will never guess what was travelling along behind us.

A black GMC Yukon. The exact same make and model as the ones in the footage, and travelling at the exact same pace.

"Is it a demon driving that thing?" Mikael hissed.

"Let me see," I responded, taking a left turn back to our starting point. Sure enough, the Yukon followed us; time to throw 'em off. "Hang on to what you've got, Mikael. We're gonna have to throw them off our trail- hold up, is that a police Yukon they're driving?!"

The Yukon was flashing red, white, and blue lights, but there was no siren nor were there any markings for any police department. With that, I pressed down on the gas and sped back around the route we had come, ramping the speed up to about 35.

Mikael looked behind us. "Shouldn't we leave our patrol route to leave them in the dirt?"

"Yes. Did you see any offroads or any roads branching off this one?" In the dark, it was not at all easy to see any roads branching off (even with vampire vision), but then as I passed Rousseau's, I noted a road opening up to the left. Without hesitation, I made a sharp turn onto that road, bumping the speed of the vehicle up now to 49 mph. The Yukon was right on our heels, and I greatly feared that the demons would run up on the car and try to shove us off of the road. Then I paused; couldn't we do the same to them?

"Okay Mikael, here's my plan," I started, swerving around a trash can left on the road, "I'm gonna throw this thing in reverse. Perhaps we can disorient the vehicle enough to shove them off the road, 'cause that is what they are trying to attempt with us."

"You must be insane!" Mikael exclaimed. His icy blue eyes flashed wildly, and I was genuinely shocked at the sight of the fearsome vampire-vampire hunter displaying an appalled appearance.

"What, do you want to engage on a chase that could take us an amount of time only God knows?" I snapped back, adrenaline now coursing through my veins. "Hang on, here we go!"

With that, I threw the gear shift into reverse, and immediately the brakes squealed and I heard the distinct crunch of metal hitting metal. I could smell burning rubber coming from both cars. The Yukon, being a much heavier vehicle, had a harder push against the back of the Trans-Am, but once I got my bearings, so to speak, I began to push back with a little more force, and began to turn the car left. It apparently succeeded, as the Yukon swerved left as well. But the driver of the Yukon recovered enough to shove us forward to the right a small bit. Gritting my teeth, I shoved back, harder this time, and almost at once I felt the Yukon now go right, and with that came a loud screeeeeeech before I heard a loud bang; turning for a split second, I saw that the Yukon had smashed headfirst into a tree. I almost let out a Ha! when I saw a deer up ahead of us. Panicked, I slammed on the brakes, just missing the buck by about an inch, to which he skittered off into the woods just outside the city limits.

Both Mikael and I were breathless by that point and in a small bit of shock. I leaned heavily against the steering wheel, trembling and trying to catch my breath. "You okay?" I asked Mikael.

"I'm fine-other than being with a maniac driver," he panted, recovering from shock. "Where did you ever learn to do that?"

I grinned. "Tactical driving- learned it a long t-" I froze immediately when I heard what sounded like dozens of sirens coming up our way. 3 more black Yukons, still with no markings, raced up the hill yards behind us. With no warning, I threw the car into drive and wheeled out. "Okay- now we have more on our tail. Mikael, can you operate a cell phone?"

"I can try. Where is it?"

"In the cupholder. When you get it, the opening code is 1334. Text Balthazar and tell him we need backup ASAP. The car is already getting low on gas, and if they overtake us, they will take us both." I glanced up at the rearview, and a pit dropped in my stomach. They were coming up on us quickly, and I knew that the car was already close to empty.

"He said he's sending backup now. What is our location?"

Crap. I had no clue where we were. "I have no clue. Just tell him we are way outside the city limits, in the more forested part, likely northward."

Mikael gave me a questioning look, then shrugged and typed the message. Within seconds, Mikael replied, "He and a few under his command are on their way."

I felt a little relief, but then shock overtook me as I felt the car slow to a crawl, then it cut out completely. NO NO NO NO NO!

"Well, we are out of gas, and we have weapons in the back. Get out quickly and select a weapon," Mikael commanded, before throwing open the door. I followed suit and opened the trunk, retrieving a Mossberg 500 Cruiser pump-action shotgun and loading it with ammo. Mikael grabbed an AR-15 assault rifle, and once he loaded up we faced our opponents. They were closing in with incredible speed, but just as the first rounded the corner, I fired a shot into the front right tire, throwing the Yukon off greatly before it fell down the slight incline and smashed into a tree with its right side. Mikael fired off some shots from the rifle, but seeing as he had no proper training with a weapon like this and had missed his target of the windshield, I directed, "Try aiming it up and left a little bit. You're close." He gave me a glance before doing as I directed, and the Yukon screeched to a halt, as its driver was now gone. But the third Yukon came up so fast that we had no time to fire, causing us to jump aside. It turned and started racing back toward us, and this time Mikael hit dead on the money.

"Good shot!" I panted, relaxing against the back of the car. He was also breathless, but a grin stretched across his face.

A few minutes later, a helicopter (manned by none other than Balthazar) landed in a clearing not too far from where we were, and Balthazar stepped out and raced toward us. "Are you two alright?"

"Other than stunned, we're good," I chuckled.

"Well done at defending yourselves," Balthazar remarked. "Haniel will be here in a moment; she is bringing a few power angels and a tow truck."

"So those were demons driving those things?" Mikael asked.

"Yes. No other officer would have pursued you so relentlessly, especially since you were not breaking the law."

A large tow truck pulled up a few minutes more, and Haniel stepped out of the car and raced over to us as well. "Oh praise the Maker that you are alright. Well done at evading them, you two."

Mikael and I both nodded, wordless and breathless. We watched as the power angels took the demons out of the Yukons and disappear with them.

"Get in the tow truck- I'll drive you both home. You've earned a break, and it's only your first night!"