Tip of the Spear

[Harley]

Feminine hands reached forward and turned the GPS off as the car turned onto the road on the outskirts of town. The river running parallel to the car set the scene, and with the sun setting the sky and water was turning a familiar red. It didn’t change the fact that she thought Tennessee was nicer this time of year, at least that was how she remembered it. It was almost a year now since she’d been home, what with her running around on the western side of the States chasing leads and dealing with her head. Still, if this could help Brodey, then this was going to happen. She already knew what the outcome would be, because this was one of those things that was set in stone. Finally she stopped at a very noticeable crossroads. Why someone in the field this man was in chose a place to live near such temptation escaped her, so for now she put it out of her mind. She grabbed her knife, held it between her teeth while she pulled her hair up into a sloppy pony tail, and then strapped the knife around her waist.

The interior of the building was decently lit, with rock music playing softly through the overhead speakers. She knew she was drawing attention to herself as she caught the stares of others; her green tee shirt contrasted with her bright red hair. She was used to it, though, so she held herself high and approached the woman at the bar.

“I’m looking for Aiden Wood,” she said calmly, watching the brunette turn around.

“He’s not here right now, sorry. He went home with another one of the bartenders last night, and hasn’t come back yet. You can talk to—“

“No, I need to talk to him. Do you know when he’ll be back?” she asked, a hint of irritation in her voice.

“I don’t know, he doesn’t really—oh, there he is now.” She pointed to the door where a young man accompanied by a blonde entered. Young was a bit of an understatement; she had to be only a few years older than him, and she was still young herself. He was supposed to help her? Her hair turning with her as she moved, she approached him.

“Alright, I’m going to go talk to Yuki and Teagan. If a guy shows up looking for me, let me know as soon as possible,” he said to the blonde, directing himself towards a set of stairs.

“Aiden Wood?”

“I’m a little busy right now, I’m meeting someone in a few minutes. If you’re here about the Winchesters, just give me a second.”

“I think you’re misunders—“

“Look, let me talk to Harley, and then we can talk. In the meantime, Tara can hook you up with a drink,” he said, paused at the bottom of the stairs.

“You realize that Harley is predominantly a girl’s name nowadays, right?” she snapped, crossing her arms. “I’m Harley. Joshua Oak sent me,” she said, watching him respond to the second name given.

“Oh, sorry…I…you’re…I don’t know why I…” he stopped himself. “Uh, anyway, yeah, come over to the end of the bar,” he said, motioning to a set of empty stools. She pushed past a few men that would surely be inebriated by the end of the night, and took her seat.

“I’m looking for my brother. He’s been missing for about a year, and I hear you’re good at this sort of thing,” she said, looking over her new ‘help.’ He was young, but there was a hint of wisdom in his eye. Joshua told her that the man who trained Aiden was one of the best. Only time would tell.

“Wait, you realize that I’m not an investing—“

“Yeah, I know. It’s a bunch of shifters,” she said simply, watching his expression change. She pulled out a set of photos from the bag that was slung across her frame, and placed them on the bar. “Tacoma, Washington. I’ve been chasing these bastards for a year. They’ve had my brother the whole time, why they kept him alive I’m not entirely sure. I do know they use his shape in order to get back at people like us,” she said, and immediately began answering the question that was forming on his lips.

“We’re hunters. They trick hunters into going on fake jobs and the shifter kills the hunter. I have a good lead that they’re staying here,” she said, showing a picture of a house. “There are at least 3, but might be up to 7. I got a text from an unknown number a few weeks back saying something about men of many faces and feeding the Beast. All my resources can’t find anything about it. But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I need help getting my brother back. In the past few weeks, there have been tons of demonic omens in the area too, so something is up. I want this to be quick, so I need a two man team, and Oak said you were the best.”

He was silent for a few moments, thinking about everything she just said. He shuffled through the pictures, looking at the house. “I haven’t been to Tacoma in ten years. I don’t remember the area too well, but I’ll help you. Seven shifters would be easy to take out,” he said with a smirk.

“Look, I’m in this for my brother, not for some blood fest. You might get off on ridding the world of evil, if that’s how you put it, but right now I’m in this for family, alright buddy?”

“Yeah, no problem. Why don’t you stay the night in one of the spare rooms, and we can head out in the morning. I need to let my team know I’m leaving and I’m sure you could use some preparation time and rest,” he said, pulling out his phone. From the combination of the keys he punched in, she knew that her name was just sent in a text message.

“Fine, but I mean it when I say I’m leaving first thing in the morning.” He walked behind the bar, gave her the keys for a room, and then disappeared upstairs. She sighed, and looked at the bartender, Tara. “Give me some whiskey,” she said, sighing.

That night, she walked out of the bathroom towards her room. For an inn, that was a stupid idea; scattered bathrooms for multiple guests? Shouldn’t each room have their own? Thank God she was only staying for one night, the place was kind of dumpy. Dressed in a white tee shirt and some short shorts that she usually wore to bed, and a towel around her neck to dry her hair. The hot water felt good on her skin after driving for so long, and now her hair was manageable again. She turned the corner and bumped into someone, causing her to stumble back. Her hand shot out to the wall to steady herself, and the towel slumped to the ground.

“Sorry ‘bout that Harley,” said Aiden, who was dressed in baggy pajama pants and a tee shirt slung across his shoulder. He stood there for a moment holding the towel before awkwardly thrusting it towards her. “See you in the morning.” She rolled her eyes, and figured that cold water might be in the kids future.

She returned to her room and laid back on her bed with a relaxed sigh. “Please, please let me sleep tonight,” she said to herself quietly, reaching over and turning out the light.

Unfortunately for Harley, a peaceful sleep didn’t come to her. Instead visions of Aiden and Harley filled her head, the same dream she’d been having for weeks. First it was her talking to him down in the bar, which she did earlier that night. Then it was them fighting the shifters and saving each other, and it ended with a flash of muffled voices, and him asking her something she was agreeing to. But for the first time in a long time, her head yielded and flashed an image of her brother, yelling at her and bloody. Bare chested and scabbed up.

Her eyes fluttered open when she felt the heat of the sun coming through the window and splashing the bed. She sat there for a moment, ticked at her mind, and trying to make sense of it all. Just what did this Wood kid have to do with anything?

She dressed herself, and pulled her hair up again to keep it out of the way. She packed anything that was out, and then made her way downstairs. She past an Asian woman at the bar on the way to drop her stuff at her car, and when she came back inside the woman was watching her again. “Do you know where Aiden is?” Harley asked, walking up to her.

“I’m right here,” he said, walking through a door with a small traveling back. “Don’t mind Yuki, she has no soul,” he said in a joking manner, flashing a grin. “Yuki is one of the hunters I work with. She just…one theory is that she’s an alien.”

“That makes so much more sense now,” Harley said, letting a small smile show on her face. “I mean, looking at her all I got was the vibe there is only a cold, empty shell. Then again, being soulless is probably a plus when it comes to hunting. Are you ready to go?” she said, changing topics.

“Yeah, ready when you are.”

“Nice meeting you Yuki,” Harley said sincerely, turning towards the door. “We’re going to take my car,” Harley said with a small grin, walking outside and waiting for Aiden who turned towards Yuki and someone else that walked into the room. In another minute he walked outside, and looked at her truck.
“This rust bucket? Why not take my car, we can get there in half the time,” Aiden said, sweeping his arm out and motioning towards the black Camaro parked a few spots over.

“This rust bucket has crashed through a house and left without a scratch. Plus, it’s outfitted with iron and silver parts, so it’s nearly invincible.”

“Fine, fine, for the sake of getting moving, we can take your car just to get moving.” He lifted his bag, and put it in the bed of the truck, a metallic clunk sounding at something heavy fell on the metal. Harley walked to the driver’s side and unlocked the doors, letting Aiden slide in as she put the key in the ignition.

“Shouldn’t take any more than a few hours, depending on traffic,” she said simply.

“Please just don’t subject me to Lady Gaga or something,”

“While she does help empower women throughout the world, I prefer a harder style of music,” she responded, reaching for the dial and turning up the volume. Classic rock music came flowing from the speakers, once more evoking a look of surprise from Aiden. “What, didn’t think a girl could appreciate a little AC/DC? I listen to pretty much everything, just so you know, so don’t tag me as a little pop music queen. Pop just gets too…happy sometimes,” she explained, looking for the correct word for her description.

“Hey, hey, didn’t say anything like that. Just expected Gaga or country music or something.”

“So what’s with your little crusade, anyway? Oak told me you live with a group of hunters. Shouldn’t one be enough for the state?”

“I take it you haven’t heard of Casey?”

“Casey?”

“Correctamundo. He’s some guy that’s been contacting hunters. I do assume that you know the Winchesters are missing?”

“The who?”

“Winchesters? How are you a hunter if you don’t know who they are?”

“You know, not all hunters know one another. Did you know me? No. It’s possible.”

“Alright, fair enough. The Winchesters are brothers, Sam and Dean, and they’re pretty damn good at what they do. Raised in the life, all that jazz. But about a year ago, hunters started getting a message that they disappeared, no one knows what took them, no one can find them using any sort of spell. That, and apparently some of the people connected to them left too. So Casey started this…initiative, I guess. He wants to form factions of hunters around the country, recruit new hunters so we can fight back, you know?”

“So this Casey guy thinks something is going down, and he wants to make groups of hunters? I guess it’s not completely revolutionary, but at the same time, I don’t see why you have to stay in a group, much less stay in one spot.”

“The way I see it, the more factions we have, the less ground one person has to cover. We can split it up.”

“And in a year, how many factions have been made?”

“That I know of? Three,” Aiden said, a little meekly.

“So what is that, a new twenty hunters? And on my count, at least five have died because of my brother and the shifters, you said that two disappeared, and that they’re friends have disappeared as well. So you’re even. Great going, super boy,” she teased. “Look, if you want to fight back, you’ve got to get more.”

“Yeah, I realize that, and I’m trying, but it’s a little hard when people see a ghost and freak the hell out, or when girls think that vampires are going to watch them while they sleep because they love them. No, the vampires just kill them,” he complained, looking out the window. “I swear, one of these days I’m going to kill that author. She has no idea what she’s done.”

“What, those stupid trashy vampire books? I hate those. You can’t take it seriously when he’s abusive the whole time, telling her what to do.”

“You read them?”

“No, one. Just one, that was enough.”

“I can’t believe you. To think I thought you were somewhat cool,” Aiden said, shaking his head.

“Hey, lover boy, at least I know Harley is a girl’s name and don’t blow her off when you’re waiting for her,” she teased back.

“Fine, Harley. I’ll remember it now, obviously. But you want me to pay attention? Okay, what’s your story?”

Harley gave Aiden a side glance, not really used to explaining herself to anyone. Would it even be worth it? After this job, she was gone, back to hunting with her brother, and never asking anything of Aiden unless she was in need of some research. She saw that extensive collection of texts, she wouldn’t forget it either.

“My story is your story. Raised in the life. It goes back generations in my family, we were some of the first hunters in America. So ever since I was a kid, my dad trained my brother and I. My mom helped, but she wasn’t entirely into it. They both moved out of country about 4 years ago, so my brother and I teamed up together. He took a job to help someone out, and never came back. Something went wrong, but he was kept alive. These shifters have been blackmailing me, telling me that if me or any other hunter comes close to them, they’ll kill another hunter in addition to him.”

“Listen; your brother isn’t going to be killed. I’ll make sure of it. That’s a field I’ve become a professional in,” he said.

“I’m not looking for sympathy, just help in getting the job done.”

“Fair enough.”

“For the sake of conversation, Oak told me that you’re having issues of your own and that you might not be able to help. Since you seemed to jump at the chance, mind telling me what these issues are and why they were so easy to drop?”

“Issues? Oh man, was he talking psychological or the actual jobs I’m running?”

“Could be both, but sounds like he was referring to these jobs.”

“Well, I told you part of it. Looking for the Winchesters. Looking for another hunter in our faction system that disappeared. We’ve got one hunter, a kid, down from some supernatural deal. We’ve got Casey the mystery man giving orders, so I’m always looking for information on him. I’ve got a demon that’s been stalking me for life, and I can’t quite figure out how to get rid of her without the Colt or a demon killing knife that supposedly exists. The list goes on and on.”

“A demon? You don’t know how to kill a demon?” She sounded incredulous. She thought it was common knowledge, right up there with christo and salt. “You know you can kill her without those things. There is a way, and it can be hard depending on the demon, but it’s there.”

Aiden looked genuinely confused. “What are you talking about? The only other ways are exorcism which won’t kill her, or supernatural means.”

“Or bones.”

“What? I said demon, not ghost.”

“Are demons not glorified ghosts? Trust me, I’ve been around the block. You have to find the bones of the demon’s original human form, and burn them. That usually means you have to learn her name, first, though. Her real name.”

There was a silence setting in the car now, and she could tell his mind was going a million miles a minute. She rolled her eyes, and adjusted her hands on the wheel. “I thought you were an experienced hunter?”

“Yeah, but I learned that what you just said was reserved for ghosts, so…”

“Well now you know.”

“Well now I know.”

The rest of the car ride was filled with conversations about hunting and their methods of living. Harley’s opinion of Aiden was that he was a little whiney, a pushover, and not nearly experienced as her. He was working in a team, and she worked alone—what did that say about their skills? And did he really think that dropping a gun in frying oil and setting it on fire would get rid of a ghost? That was definitely a failed job, right there.

Still, he was likeable. Rock music, guns, hunting, he knew quite a bit. Her choice in aid was probably good, and Aiden didn’t seem to lack any experience with shifters. She did notice, though, that he seemed to constantly check her speed and pantomime his own driving. It was subtle, but enough to notice. Then again, she’d always been the observant type. Just how she knew that there was a hidden compartment on Aiden’s bar near where they sat, that Yuki just dyed her hair two nights ago, and that Aiden’s reaction to Tacoma held another story.

The two and a half hour drive felt shorter than it really was, and Harley pulled into town and found a decent hotel with two open rooms. Each was paid for, and she hauled her bag out of the bed of the truck. The weight was nothing to her, although her slender body looked like she only had half the strength.

“We should have stayed at a Super 8, I could have gotten us a discount,” Aiden said, slinging his own bag over his shoulder.

“Does it matter? It’s not like we’re exactly the honest payin’ type,” Harley said from the other side of the truck, looking across the bed at him. “Just drop your stuff off and come to my room so we can plan this thing,” she said, walking to the door to the right of the front of the truck. She turned the key and dropped her bag next to her bed, unzipping it and pulling out a fresh shirt. Tacoma was cooler than Portland, so she tugged the shirt over her head just as she heard a knock at the door.

“Yeah, come in,” she said, flashing a small smile as she pulled her hair out of the collar of the shirt while Aiden surveyed the room. “There isn’t anything but me in here. Jeez, is that how your team gets by? Paranoia?”

“Tacoma isn’t exactly friendly to me,” Aiden said with a shrug. “Now, what’s the plan, then? You said that these things will kill your brother if you get near, so I’m assuming we’re doing stealth?”

“Wrong. I’m doing stealth, you’re walking right in,” she said, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

“I’m walking into the nest of shifters? And how to you suppose we’re going to do that?”

“Because we’re going to exchange hostages.”

“What?” he asked, turning his head to the side as if to hear her better. “Hostages?”

“Yep. We’re going to kidnap one of those bastards, and then you’re going to get ‘napped by them. We trade, and during the trade, we bust my brother out. Seems solid enough.”

“What if they kill me? You’re forgetting that they said they’d kill a hunter if you showed up, and that’d be two right in the palms of their hands.”

“You’re capable enough. I know you can fight,” she said, this time it was her shrugging. “…Oak told me that,” she said after a moment.

“So what, I go in, wait for you to show up, let them go to the door, and then shoot their hearts out? You’re not thinking this through, they’re going to take my gun!”

“Which is why you keep a silver knife in your shoe. God, how stupid are you?”

“You’re insane,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air. “That will never work! Even if I can stab one, I’ll be dead before I can get to another.”

“I’ll be there before then, plus Brodey is pretty capable himself.”
“Unless he’s dead.”

“He’s not dead.”

“Harley, you have to take into consider—“

“I’m considering leaving your ass there to rot if you don’t shut your mouth,” she snapped, crossing her arms. “Are you going to help me out or not, because if all your going to do is stand there and spew pessimism, then you’re free to call your little girlfriend back at the bar and have her come get you.”
“Yuki isn’t my girlfriend,” Aiden shot back.

“By the looks of things you had two or three. Blondie and Shorty, too.”

“Look,” Aiden said, taking a step closer to her, “you said yourself there are at least three, up to seven. As capable as I am, I know that I can’t stab three when they’re all on me, and I’m likely bound up somehow. It’s your drive for revenge that’s going to get me killed.”

“What a friggin’ pansy,” she shot, turning her back on him.

“Besides, how are we even going to catch one of those things?”

She grabbed her phone, and held it out to him. “When I got that text, I called the number, thinking I’d get my brother. They’d already caught him with the phone. They have it. I call them, they’ll come after me, to kill me. So we lure it here. They’re expecting one, not two.”

Aiden rubbed his forehead. “You get me killed, Harley, I am so going to haunt your ass.”

“Calm down lover boy.”

“Ginger.”

An hour later the shifter, a female, was already tied up to a chair in the middle of Aiden’s room. She was unconscious, which was better because before Harley finally knocked her out, she was shouting the whole time about how they were going to die. Harley made sure the ties were tight, and then looked at Aiden. “Well, this is your cue Aids,” Harley said, standing behind the shifter.

“Don’t call me that,” he growled. All of her nicknames for him seemed to irritate him, so she was just coming up with more now that she noticed it. “You’d better be there. I’m going to need help getting out of there.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it. You’ve got the dagger?”

“Yeah, it feels like it wants to slice my toes off.”

“Wuss. Just go get ‘em, I’ll be right behind you…by half an hour.” Aiden grumbled some sort of comeback, and left. She could hear the sound of a car alarm go off, Aiden curse loudly, and then the alarm shut off a second later. An engine roared to life, and then slowly the sound died.

When she was sure Aiden was gone, she walked past the shifter into the bathroom, and filled up the ice bucket with cold water. Content when it was filled just over three-fourths of the way, she walked back into the room, and dumped the water over the shifter’s head. She sputtered back to reality, looking wildly about the room. When she realized where she was and who she was with, her face straightened out, aside from the mass of wet hair the clung to it.

“Why were you keeping my brother alive?”

“Go to hell.”

Harley produced a silver dagger from the table next to her, and ran it across the shifter’s arm. The skin sizzled and steamed, and the shifter bit her lips to prevent herself from screaming.

“Try again skinwalker.”

“Haven’t heard that one for a while. What are you, a pilgrim?”

“Tell me why you’re keeping him alive,” she reinforced, more authority in her voice.

“Why should I?”

Harley plunged the dagger into the woman’s leg, which instantly heated as if it were burning. The shifter moaned in pain, trying to contain her screams. Harley let the dagger stay in place, the sound of sizzling flesh continuing to waft through the air. Finally, the shifter managed to produce a clear sound. “Insurance.”

Harley pulled the dagger out. “Insurance?”

“Yes, insurance. Security. Protection.”

“From what?”

“From her. She’s missing and she’s still hunting us.”

“Another hunter?”

“Are you joking? How stupid are you humans?”

The hum of the power in the room suddenly began coming in and out, and the one lamp that was on flickered. The demons that were in town. “You’ve got to be friggin’ kidding me,” she whispered to herself. The shifter didn’t seem anymore happy about it than Harley. The hunter went to move for her back to grab salt, but as she bent down she could see a set of legs in front of her.

“I believe you’re holding something that belongs to us,” a voice said. She looked up into the face of a blonde, female demon, who raised her knee and slammed it into Harley’s chin. She tumbled backwards, and watched the demon walk over to the shifter while sprawled on the ground. What the hell? She scrambled up to her feet, and raced over to the demon. She grabbed her shirt in a fistful, and pulled back. “Spiritus et mundi,” Harley started, but felt an elbow collide with the side of her face. Still she held on, and spun the demon around to face her. A well-aimed blow to the face caused the demon to grunt in pain.

“You hunters are going to fail,” she hissed, her eyes flaring black.

“What the hell do you want with a shifter?” Harley grunted, holding the demon in place.

“Wouldn’t you like to know. No matter, turns out we’re good.” Her head tilted back and a black plume of smoke erupted out, floating through the vent and out of the room. Harley watched, confused and glaring, trying to make sense of what just happened. She let the body drop to the floor and turned to the shifter, but the chair was empty and the door was wide open.

“God damn it,” she hissed, grabbing her gun and running to her car after closing the door behind her. She jammed the key in the ignition and started the truck, pulling out of the parking lot of the hotel and hightailing it down the street. She now had no bargaining chip, so she was going to have to pull Aiden and Brodey out herself.

She pulled up to the house, and slammed the door. She cocked her gun, and walked up the path with no hesitation. She kicked the door in, and fired at the first body blocking her path. Right through the chest, and the man fell. She stepped over his body, and held the gun out. “Brodey?!” She heard silence, so she proceeded deeper into the house. It was quiet, and then she heard muffled voices down below her. A basement? She found the door, and walked down into the basement. There was another door at the bottom of the stairs, it looked newer than other parts of the house. She reached for the handle, but the door swung back before she touched it. Standing in front of her was Aiden.

“About damn time! What happened to walking in and out?!”

“We have demon problems,” she said calmly.

“Yeah, no shit.” Behind him a man fell over, a small silver knife sticking out from his chest.

“So Brodey is alright?” she asked, hope in her tone.

“He’s fine. Look, there are still six shifters out there—Harley, behind you!”

She spun around and found a man too close for comfort, reaching for her gun. On instinct she fired, obliterating his hand. He stumbled back, howling in pain, and fell when another shot burst through his chest. She felt a set of hands pushing her from behind. “Let’s go,” said a deeper voice, and she knew that her brother was urging her out. Suddenly the situation didn’t seem as grave.

They made it to the kitchen before they ran into anyone. And in the kitchen were three bodies on the floor, and four more shuffling around. “Damn it, we’re almost out of time,” Brodey growled, grabbing Harley’s shoulder. “They’re a seal. ‘When the blood of five men with many faces is spilt to feed the Beast on the 13th of the Unholy month, so a seal shall break. They’re trying to start the apocalypse!”

Harley looked into her brother’s face, and from the stress and seriousness on his face, she suddenly understood what he meant. By killing the shifters within the sigil that was painted on the ground, they got one step closer to Hell breaking loose on Earth. Aiden seemed to have a look of new understanding as well, and so she turned around and leveled her gun at one of the demons. It wouldn’t harm the demon, but it would sure distract him. She let off a round.

“Hey, Brimstone and Hellfire, why don’t you pick on the ones you should be worried about,” she called. The two demons glared at the three hunters, they’re eyes jet black. They threw one of the shifter’s into a refrigerator, and turned around to give the hunters their full attention. One started to laugh randomly, and hit the other on the arm. “Look who it is!”

Aiden shifted uncomfortably; somehow he knew what was coming. “It’s that kid, the one that stupid ghost bitch was complaining about.” The air of uncomfortableness that radiated about Aiden changed, and became one of rage. “He has to know where he is,” said the other. They laughed again, and then snapped back towards Aiden. “I bet you had no idea that you’re pathetic mother was bound here, after what you caused her.”

“You think you’re so clever,” Aiden growled, his fists balled up tight.

“Hey, we aren’t the ones that brought demons here so long ago. It was all you, blood sucker.”

Both Harley and Brodey were staring at him. “What are they talking abou—“

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, you should demon boy. Your dear old mom scared the last family out of here after almost killing their kid. That’s her niche, little defenseless boys.”

“What’s even better is that we demons have her last remains. A bit of hair that good ol’ gramps left hidden from the clean-up crew. Still caked with blood if I remember correctly.”

“Did you know you can torture a ghost?”

Something in the air changed. The power surged and went out, and suddenly Aiden looked…more muscular. Bigger. More intense. And when she looked into his eyes, she was taken aback, so much so that she readjusted her grip on her gun. His eyes were red, but not a crossroad’s red. Crimson. Something else.

And in the blink of an eye he was on a demon, his hand plunged inside of it. The demon screamed in pain, before it fell to the floor. The smoke glowed bright orange before disintegrating. Aiden was on the second demon when more appeared. One chanted something in Latin and Aiden slumped to the ground, returned to his normal state.

“If you’ll excuse us, we have some shifters to kill,” a demon said. It raised a gun of its own, and pointed it at Harley. What happened next was all a blur, and it took her mind a little while to understand what happened. Aiden stood up and slammed the demon out of the way, sending the gun towards Brodey. The shot fired missed and shattered a picture behind her. Brodey grabbed the gun on the floor and shot the demon wrestling with Aiden in the head, causing the smoke to pour out. Then she felt more vibrations behind her. More demons appeared. More with guns. They weren’t messing around. One raised the gun and fired. A body jumped in front of her, and the sounds drifted into her head. No, no, no, no, no. This never happened in her vision.

“HARLEY NO!” The body fell to the floor, blood pooling around the chest.

“BRODERICK!” Harley swooped down and grabbed the gun, firing at the demons in front of her. The demons continued to move forward, unphased. Aiden yelled out in pain, and she turned and shot the demon in the head. But more kept coming. There were just too many. They were going to die here.

A knife flew through the air and into the chest of the closest demon. The demon’s face lit up, and the body slumped to the floor. A figure ran it, grabbed the knife, and stabbed the nearest demon. Within seconds, the forces were obliterated, but before all were taken down, several gunshots rang out, and Harley felt her leg give out. She fell to the floor, feeling the pain in her leg. Soon, all of the demons were disposed of, and the figure stood in the middle of the room.

“Art?” It was Aiden’s voice, directed at the figure.

“Aiden, are you okay? Casey said you needed help. Guess he was right.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Harley, what’s the damage to your leg?” he asked, kneeling down next to her.

“It’ll be fine, just get me the hell out of here.”

“Art, can you help me get her to the truck?”

“Sure.”

Once they were back at the hotel, a lot began happening. Art, the new guy, and Aiden began pulling the bullet out of her leg. At the same time, they began talking.

“Art, where the hell have you been?! Deacon is about to kill himself looking for you.”

“I know, and I’m headed back to South Dakota as soon as you can get your stuff together.”

“You said Casey sent you?”

“Yeah, he said that you were in Tacoma, and you were in trouble. So I came.”

“How did Casey know you were there?” Harley interjected, looking at Aiden. She winced at the bullet hole seared with pain.

“Good question.” He paused, a look of anger forming on his face. “Actually, you know what a better question is? Why the hell did you bring me to my old house?”

“What?”

“It might’ve been remodeled, but the address didn’t change. Did you think I was stupid? You wanted me to get killed, or something, because I—“

“I didn’t know!” Harley yelled, trying to cut him off. “I was really in it for my brother, I swear to God. Whatever other drama with your mom, your house, or whatever, that’s all you. I had no fucking clue. But thanks to those demons Brodey is dead.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that the shifters were able to get out. I didn’t even consider that monsters would go after their own to break the seals. That sounds like one they’d trick hunters into breaking. But demons practically killing their own?”

“Yeah, well, to me it feels like my brother just died for nothing.”

“He died saving you,” Aiden replied, looking straight at her. “He could have let you get shot, but he took the bullet.” They pulled the bullet out, and Art stitched the wound up. Once it was bandaged up, Art stood and grabbed his bag.

“Aiden, I’ve really got to head out. Give everyone my regards.”

“What, I don’t even get to share the knife, or know where you’ve been, or what?”

“I told you I have to get going.”

“Fine, fine, but you’d better get to Deacon as fast as possible. He’s already nearly killing himself over Miles.”

“Yeah, I read ya.” He turned around and walked through the door, and on the way out Harley caught sight of black ink on the back of Art’s next before he closed the door.

“So you’re friends with thugs now, too, huh?”

“Look, I don’t really pick ‘em, they sort of come to me.” He paused. “I’m sorry about your brother. I tried.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, too. Sorry I’m not a good enough hunter.”

“You were good enough to stop that seal.”

“What the hell is a seal, anyway?”

“I’m not sure, I’m going to call Yuki and have her look while we drive back.”

“Aiden, I can’t—“

“Harley, you just lost your brother. You’re either going to stop hunting to recover, or you’re going to want revenge. Nonetheless, you can’t do anything until you can move on your leg again. You need rest. And during that time, you might as well prepare. Casey thinks something big is coming. And I just spent a whole bunch of time around you. I could really use your help.”

“I already know my answer to this.”

“Look, can you just hear me out?”

“Aiden, I—“

“The factions have proved to be use—“

“No, Aiden, you don’t—“

“Harley, please, just let me—“

“LOVER BOY!” she yelled, glaring at him a little. “Will you just listen to me? You have some power that I don’t even want to get into—you’re a nice guy, and I wouldn’t want you to give me any reason to hunt you. But I have something too. I guess the most popular term for it is a visionary. I’ve seen this scene right here. I’m going to lead a faction in Tennessee, my home state. I’m doing it because we need to fight back against the demons.”

“Well…that was…easy.”

“Don’t strain yourself.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see if anyone in the other factions wants to move, otherwise it’s up to you to recruit and snag hunters.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to that when we get there.” She was used to working solo, but if she’d been solo on that job, she would have been dead. Plus a network of hunters was a good thing, and she could get used to having Aiden as a resource. “We’ll drive back to Portland, and from there I’ll head to Tennessee. I still have a place there, a ranch, so there is plenty of room. You can tell Casey I’m on board.” They hobbled out to the truck, and Aiden started the engine.

“Let’s just hope this bucket of bolts can hold together on the drive back.”

“You’d be surprised at how much this thing can take.”

“Let’s test that theory,” he said with a smirk, as he whipped out of the parking lot and onto the street.

“Slow down lover boy!”