Chapter 2

I realized in a moment of sheer panic that my eyes were open, yet I couldn't see anything. The world around me had gone pitch black. There was something wrong with my eyes and with that realization panic set in.

Something touched me and I cried out and began to roll. Strong fingers gripped into my shoulder. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here to help," a masculine voice whispered. "You've been badly burned. Here, sit up and take a sip of this." An arm lifted my upper body and cradled my head as cool liquid spilt onto my lips. I drank deeply.

"Where am I?" I demanded between gulps of water.

"The basement of my apartment building on 42nd and Winston."

I struggled to get up. "Basement! Where the hell is Harry!"

The gently fingers suddenly dug into my flesh. "Keep your voice down," he hissed.

"Where's Harry?" I whimpered, suddenly afraid to hear the answer.

His voice was void of emotion when he answered, "Your friend is dead."

I was lowered back onto the ground and something warm, but slightly scratchy, was pulled over my body. Gentle hands tucked the material around my feet and up under my chin.

The shock of Harry transitioning from a live pain in the ass to a dead brother in arms was almost too much for me. I cleared my throat trying unsuccessfully to swallow the fear rising inside threatening to consume me. It took me three tries to get the question finally out, "Is the demon still out there?"

"Is that what that thing is? A demon?"

If he didn't know that thing on sight was a demon, then he wasn't one of the DK trainees or instructors. "What did you think it was?" I demanded.

"No idea. Just knew I didn't want to be around when that massive creature started moving around again."

He had seen the demon its true form which was surprising. Most folks just saw a dark shadow or if they were gifted maybe they saw a large man. It was extremely rare to find someone who could see a demon without training, and unheard of to see it as more than an evil looking human.

"But I missed..." My words petered out.

"With the knife? Yeah, but when all its attention was focused on you, I picked up your knife and stabbed that thing in the back. It didn't kill it, but it seemed to daze it. It stopped moving long enough I got you out of there."

Suddenly something was in my hand. My fingers slid down the cool, smooth surface of the hilt of the blade and then gently down to the surface and across the slightly raised protection symbols that had been carefully forged into the metal. It was comforting to have it back in my hands. For a moment I felt less vulnerable. But what good was a dagger when you couldn't see?

"Who are you?"

"A good Samaritan."

A sudden noise set him in motion. His steps echoed as he moved across the room.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you want the good news or bad news?"

"Good news."

His body was beside mine again. Warm fingers brushed hair from my forehead. "You don't look like death warmed over anymore. There's some color in your cheeks and those burns around your eyes don't look as bad as they did at first."

"And the bad news?" I asked trying to ignore the little shocks of tingling pain where his skin touched mine.

"I think your demon friend's reinforcements just showed up."

"How many?"

"I count three, maybe four. Two heading in the direction of this building. It's time we made a graceful exit."

I forced my body up and every muscle screamed in protest.
"How are your legs?" he asked.

"Better than my eyes."

Hands steadied me as I got to my feet.

"Where are we heading?"

He began guiding me forward. "There are two ways out of the building, the front and back door. The back has been chained shut."

"Isn't that a fire code violation?"

"You can send the landlord a letter of complaint later."

"So where to?"

"The roof."

"You're joking!"

His hand placed mine against a smooth wood surface. "Afraid not. Use the banister. Come on, get a move on. It's seven stories straight up."

We walked in silence until a hand on my shoulder motioned me to stop. A body pushed past and the sound of male grunting and swearing filled the space around me. Metal screeched against metal. A cool breeze suddenly caressed my skin. Strong fingers wrapped around my arm pulling me slowly forward. I stumbled along using my other hand to balance against his.

He suddenly stopped. "Wow! A couple of blocks away there is a huge building on fire, it's really going, the flames must be a hundred feet in the air."

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. "Which direction?"

"South. It looks like some kind of a warehouse."

I knew what building was on fire. A training night was one of the few times you could find the entire cell for my part of the city in one place. If the demons torched the warehouse and setup a perimeter to catch anyone who escaped, they would in one stroke cripple our defenses. I had never heard of any demon attacks with that level of planning or organization. Something was dreadfully wrong, and there wasn't much one currently blinded and inexperienced DK could do about it. For now, I had to get out of the snare, keep my ass alive, and see if there was anyone left to report to.

"Now what?" I demanded.

"Across to the other building."

I couldn't keep the amusement from my voice. "How? Fly?"

"I don't know. Can you? I saw you slam that thing into a lamp post."

"No, I can't fly."

"But you did something to it?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"With my mind."

"Are there many like you walking around?"

"A few."

"And how many are there of those creatures?"

"You don't want to know."

His hands left my body. I tried not to panic at the sudden loss of human contact. Blinded, standing on the roof of an unknown building, I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. It didn't help. My heart was pounding frantically inside my chest.

I almost cried out with joy when he spoke again. "Okay, I found some boards. I can stretch a couple across to the roof of the next building."

"If you hadn't noticed, I can't see."

"I'm open to other suggestions. Have any?"

"No."

This guy was insane. There was no way I was going to try a balancing act across rooftops. Not even with my sight fully restored and a net.

Two hands came to rest on either side of my shoulders. "One foot in front of the other. Take it slow. I'll guide you from behind. And whatever you do don't look down."

"Very funny."

It wasn't like he was giving me much choice. His body was forcing me forward. I took one step and then another. I tried to relax, but every part of my body was screaming to retreat, to go back.

I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. Another step and then another. I slowly made my way across the makeshift bridge. With each step I could feel the boards flex and bounce.

And then it happened. I stepped down and felt nothing.
Missed the board. The words screamed in my head as my arms reached out desperate for something to steady myself. He might have been able to keep me from falling if I hadn't panicked. My body lurched forward. I was suddenly completely off the board and free falling to my death.

Fingers dug into my wrist. The weight of my body coming to a sudden halt forced my shoulder out of its socket. The immense pain stilled the scream on my lips. My mind was filled with nothing but pain. A hot, white pain that shot up my arm and through my head, forcing the air from my lungs.

"Shit... Stop struggling..." his voice came out in gasps.

"Don't let go," someone begged. I realized it was me.

"Come on, help me out! Reach up with your other hand."

"I can't."

"Try. I don't know how much longer I can hold you."

I was going to die. Die, the word echoed in my mind.

His voice sliced through my fogged thoughts, "Damn it! Try!"

Try. I focused my whole being on the word and attempted to function again. I strained, reaching up, grasping for something, anything. And then my fingers brushed against material. I grabbed a handful and started to hoist myself up.

"You're pulling me over!" he yelled.

"I'm slipping."

"I can't pull you up without losing my balance!"

"Don't drop me!" The pain in my arm had turned into a dull ache. My arm was going numb, and my brain wasn't too far behind.

"I'm going to swing you."

"What!" I screamed loudly and my voice bounced and echoed between the buildings. So much for keeping our whereabouts secret. It didn't really matter if they found us now, any minute my body would be splattered all over the pavement below.

"Swing your body. I think I can get you to the fire escape," he said as he started moving his arm slowly back and forth.

My body began to sway. "Stop it!"

"Look, I can't hold on much longer. The fire escape. I can swing you over towards it. When I let go, you'll fall onto that landing."

"What landing? I can't see."

"There's no other choice. Hopefully, you'll land dead center. If not, you're going to have to make a wild grab and hope you catch hold of something."

"I can't see!"

"We're out of choices! You're going have to help me. Start swinging your legs."

This had to be a bad dream, a nightmare I needed desperately to wake myself from.

Seconds ticked by. I hung far above the earth, suspended by a guy I didn't know, swinging ever so slightly in the night wind. My head pounded. It took me a moment to realize the thunder in my temples matched the pounding of my heart. Sheer terror. It was the first time in my life I had felt this kind of fear.

True standing against the demons I felt panicked and scared, but now I was on the edge of hysteria. I could feel an insane laughter bubbling in my throat.

Harry was dead. The image of his body lying on the ground, surrounded by evil, flashed across my mind. I hesitated, and because of it, Harry was dead. If I had been brave, utterly fearless, he might still be alive.

Harry was dead, but I was still breathing. I had a chance to live. One in a million chance, a little voice whispered in my ear, but I forced the voice and the fear back. I concentrated on pumping my knees and legs back and forth. A chance to live. I wasn't about to waste it. I refused to be held immobile by my fear again.

The momentum started to build—causing my arm, with each twitch of motion, to throb with renewed pain. But the pain didn't register this time. Nothing did. I was an autumn leaf on a tree preparing to fall gently to the ground. I held the image of the leaf in my mind and tried to relax.

When he yelled the word "Go" my body was propelled forward. I had no idea how far I was from the fire escape. I had one shot at catching hold of something. My good arm reached out, hand flapping back and forth in the air prepared to connect any moment with metal.

I hit the landing and rolled forward in an ungraceful jumble of limbs. My head slammed against something hard, and the breath was knocked from my lungs. Gasping for air I realized someone was shouting at me from above.

"Move. Get moving!"

I rolled onto my knees and reached out. My knuckles knocked against metal. I ignored the pain in my shoulder and wrapped my fingers around the railing, slowly pulling myself upright.

"They're coming!"

I could hear loud noises below me. Using the railing as a guide I started climbing the stairs, pulling myself up one step at a time. I was in agony. The landing had jarred my right knee.

"Faster! There are two of them heading up. They are only..." his voice was suddenly cut off.

I picked up my pace, trying to ignore the shooting pain running down my arm and the new pain radiating from my knee. How many stairs were there? How long until I reached the top? And an even worse thought crept into my head, how far behind were the demons?

I stopped and listened, trying to hear over the pounding of my heart.

Just barely I could make out footsteps. But I wasn't used to judging distances with only my ears. I had no idea how far behind me they were. All I could do was keep going. I forced myself upwards. And then, when I thought I could go no further, I fell forward coming down hard on my hands and knees against a gravelly surface. I had made it onto the roof.

Where was my companion? If he had abandoned me, I was a goner. Blinded there was no way I could get off the roof on my own.

It took me a moment to realize the gurgling noises drifting towards me were not being made by a machine.

"Run..." I recognized the voice, although the words were now strangled. My companion hadn't left after all.

I unconsciously reached for the dagger tucked into my waist and gripped it tightly in my good hand. It would be useless unless a Demon stumbled directly into me. I couldn't stand by and let another person die, especially when I was, in theory, trained to do something about it.
The world was silent again. I strained to hear which direction the noise had come. Crawling slowly forward, I realized by the time I stumbled over my companion's body he would be dead.

"Where are you?" I shouted.

A grunt of pain followed by the sharp command, "Look out!"

I began to roll, but it was too late. Flames scorched my body. I kept rolling, once, twice, three times. Enough I hoped to extinguish any demon fire clinging to my clothing.

I was hoisted suddenly into the air. Large hands squeezed my shoulders as I was lifted higher. A demon had me and every place his skin touched mine I burned in agony.

Demon Fire. When it hit you risked more than just physical damage. The shit could fuck with your very soul. How much fire did it take to mess with a person and damn them for eternity? No one knew. The Academic branch in our organization had been debating the question since the groups' inception. Some DK's had been on the hunt for years and never seemed affected. Others had been hit a few times only to see their personalities and souls altered forever. After every mission, a DK was tested, probed, and prodded to make sure they came back intact, body and soul.

What happened to the ones that didn't pass the test? According to the rumor mill they were transferred to less sensitive areas of the organization. There were certain things about the group you were not encouraged to discuss. It wasn't an official off-limits command, more a lack of answers, a dozen frowns, and general shrugs until you got tired of asking the questions.

I had heard once or twice from comrades far into their drinks rumors about an elite fighting force made up entirely of altered or shadowed DK. But I had a hard time believing it.

At the rate I had been pelted today who knew the current state of my soul. Damned was not something I aspired towards, so my only option was to keep fighting. My arms were pinned, but my legs were free.

I kicked, hard and wild and had the satisfaction of hearing a loud grunt. I twisted back and forth until finally one arm was free. I wasn't unarmed; I still had the blade in a death grip between my fingers. I swung and heard the beast scream as it cut deep inside its body. But this was no lowly demon bursting into ash at the touch of blessed silver, this thing was far more powerful.

The blade was causing it pain, but it didn't die. I pushed the blade deeper. My hand burned as it made contact with its body, but I ignored the pain and kept driving the blade down. It was like trying to kill an elephant with a butter knife.

The fire now raged down my arm and radiated through my whole body. I couldn't keep contact much longer, soon my mind would shut down against the pain, and I would lose consciousness. If I was lucky the bloody bastard would just kill me outright. But the way my luck had been running it would probably drag my body back to its nest and use my sorry ass for some demonic ritual.

It was then I realized I was a fucken idiot. True any mental power I had was restricted to things I could see, but I was now in physical contact with this bad boy which meant I had more power over it than either of us realized.

My entire body was now in agony, but I forced the pain away and began to pray. Over and over, I said the words, trying to focus my thoughts on not the darkness in front of me, but instead on a wall of white light. The words floated out of my mouth until finally I felt the demon's body tremble ever so slightly. It was working. Now it would come down to a battle of wills. Could I kill it before the demon fire killed me? And if I made it out in one piece, would it be too late? Would my soul be altered forever?

I kept praying and eventually I felt the balance slowly shift in my favor, the burning pain began to recede, and I could feel the demon weakening, but still, it would not die.

Hard hands grabbed me from behind and for an instant despair overcame me, my mysterious rescuer was dead and now all hope was gone. With a jerk my new assailant pulled me from the demon's hands, and I tumbled across the roof with no vision to tell me where I fell.

There were brief sounds of struggle followed by silence. I had no idea what the silent roof still held to threaten me, but my body was no longer following my commands to get up, keep fighting, or get away. Instead, it rebelliously decided that it needed to take a much need break, and consciousness slipped away from me yet again.

*****