No Rest for the Wicked

[Aiden]

Outside the sun was halfway sunken into the horizon, with the city bustling with rush hour traffic. Jobs were letting out, parents were reuniting with their children who attended the monotonous high schools of the area. Portland, Oregan was a pretty normal place, at least for the normal human. But for those that knew something else existed, and for those that battled that evil, it was only just beginning. It always felt like the bad things came out at night, nocturnal or not, but at the moment the very small faction of hunters wasn't hunting. In fact, it was doing something quite unorthodox. For in the basement level of an old, unused building in the middle of the city, Aiden was calling a demon to them.

With a large devil's trap spray-painted above them, Aiden was busy making sure the conjuring sign was ready. Yuki and Teagan were sitting off to the side, as instructed. This was going to be their live demonstration, this would serve to show Teagan that demons were, in fact, real, and it would also show them the way to safely remove a demon from a human's body. With the candle in place, Aiden stood up, dusting his hands off, and turned to the girls. "I don't know if you recognize this sign from any of the books you've been reading, but this is a way to call forth a demon. The devil's trap above is for safety, so we don't get killed. Now, for the sake of being sane...just shut up during this process, got it?" He said, eyeing Teagan in particular.

Turning, he began reciting the incantation, and no sooner had the words started forming did the flame on the candle flicker and wave in some imaginary breeze. Aiden read out of a book, small and worn leather bound covers held between his hands, full of his incantations. A minute later, he finished, took a step back, and waited. Then, out of nowhere, a man appeared; thin, gangly, balding, beady eyes that gave off a creepy look. His eyes bounced between the three of them before looking up, where the devil's trap held him.

"What d'you want, hunter? I've got people to kill," the demon growled, watching Aiden carefully. He turned back to take a look at the girls, and then turned the page in his book, and began reciting the incantation for an exorcism, the Latin flowing off of his tongue. "Oh no, meatbag, not today," the demon hissed, and then closed its eyes. There was a loud howling, more like wind, and then a loud crack. A decent foot-long crack ran through the ceiling, breaking the seal. Before Aiden even realized it, the demon had its hands around his throat, pressing in and trying to suffocate him. "Those girls should serve as a good meal, if nothing else."

[Yuki]

Although the two new hunters were inexperienced, it didn't take long before Aiden decided to show them a real demon. He led them to the basement of an abandoned building within Portland. Yuki had followed silently, observing her surroundings carefully. If Aiden was successful in summoning a demon, she knew how dangerous it could be. Aiden had dealt with these beings before, so she wasn't concerned with him getting into trouble. Teagan, on the other hand, would probably get in the way should anything go wrong.

With a can of spray paint, Aiden began drawing a symbol on the ceiling as Yuki and Tegan observed from a distance. It was the "Devil's Trap" she had read about. It had the ability to immobolize demons, trapping them within the barrier of the symbol. Commonly, hunters would contain a demon within the trap and then continue to exorcise it. If one repeated the incantation for exorcisms, the demon would be sent back to Hell. Yuki had nearly memorized that ritual. It wasn't difficult, seeing as she had memorized other Latin texts at school, but she hadn't had enough time to practice it to the point where she could say it without flaw.

After Aiden was done, he began to paint another symbol on the floor, which Yuki recognized as the conjuring sign. When he was finished, he stood up and turned to explain the significance of what he had painted. Even though Yuki already knew, she was sure that Teagan would need the discourse. After rudely telling them to "shut up during the process", though not without reason, for he needed to speak in that tone for Teagan to listen, Aiden turned to the spot where he had drawn the devil's trap. Yuki wondered if he had already memorized the summoning incantation. No sooner had this thought crossed her mind that he opened his book to recite it. So he hadn't. At first, she felt as if he was an amateur for not memorizing such a thing with his so-called skill level, but she quickly realized that even she had not given the spell much thought. Who in their right mind would want to summon a demon?

However, given the context of the situation they were in, perhaps none of them were in a healthy state of mind. Dismissing her musing, Yuki focused her attention to the trap. The flame on the candle reacted violently and she began to feel as if a presence--a dark presence--was watching her, sending chills down her spine. Speaking the last words of the incantation, Aiden took a step back, and with a cloud of smoke, a man appeared, foul in appearance. Yuki looked into his eyes and saw that they were pure black, no sign of any normal parts of an eye--no pupil, iris or sclera. Otherwise, the demon had the form of a human, but she knew that was because the body he was inhabiting was in fact human. Arms folded and muscles tense, Yuki observed the demon as he feverishly glared at the three hunters. Acknowledging Aiden with a nod when he turned to make sure she and Teagan were following, he began to read the words to the exorcism.

Keeping her sight on the demon and listening intently to Aiden's voice, Yuki noticed as the demon formed a sinister smile. Something wasn't right. Discreetly, she reached into her purse and felt around for the holy water she now carried inside a container of perfume. Finally feeling the heart shaped bottle, she clutched the container, ready to use it if the demon tried anything. Suddenly, the demon spoke and with a piercing howl, debris from the ceiling began to fall as a split formed in the concrete above. Yuki watched with alarm as the crack headed towards the symbol. He was going to break free. With nimble fingers, she quickly pulled out the bottle of holy water and removed the cap. Within seconds, the demon had its grasp around Aiden's throat. "Kuso," she hissed in Japanese under her breath. Unsure of what do next, she took the bottle and with a horizontal movement of her arm, aimed the water at his face. Smoke began to radiate from his skin and she heard a sizzling noise as he recoiled, letting go of Aiden in the process.

[Aiden]

If there was one thing that Aiden wasn't familiar with, it was definitely summoning demons. As Yuki's thought process hit home, there weren't many sane people that summoned these things. Aiden had done it all of twice--once when he was learning, and again when he was trying to find the whereabouts of Ariel after Malcolm was killed. The exorcism incantation he knew a little better, but towards the end he always blanked out, thus he had it written in the book. His Latin was almost flawless, as if he'd grown up speaking it as another language. In a way he had, learning what he needed to for the world of hunting. And now he would make use of it again as he summoned a demon to show both Teagan and Yuki, but mostly Teagan, and these things actually existed.

The summoning went off without a hitch, the demon arriving and staring them down. However, they were protected by the Devil's Trap, and he hoped that both girls realized that you didn't just summon a demon and let it roam free, especially if you were summoning it for a purpose. The Devil's Trap was necessary, and in this case it was working. The demon didn't seem too content in his faux cell though, from the moment that he entered the human world. Aiden wasted no time explaining that demons took human bodies as vessels for their doing, or how important the markings were. Instead he jumped straight into the exorcism, he could explain after. Again the Latin rolled off of his tongue, almost gracefully if it wasn't for the force behind them. The demon groaned, twitched, jerked as the exorcism went on, but the demon wasn't expelled before it used its own power.

Glancing up at the ceiling, Aiden cursed loudly right before the hands were around his throat. His book dropped to the ground, his arms flailing and trying to hit the demon, but unfortunately, and as Teagan and Yuki would see now, demons were known for their strength, and Aiden was being held up and away from the demon's body. Gasping and sputtering, he brought his hands up to the demon's arms, trying to break the hold. He wouldn't last much longer, and the girls...they were next, they should be running, doing something...His eyes glancing over at them, Yuki was stepping forward, throwing something. The demon's grip was gone, Aiden fell to the floor, instantly kicking out the legs of the demon while it clutched its face. He was really hoping that things wouldn't get worse, but within moments, the demon was up and as pissed as ever.

And so began the combat. The demon came flying at him, attacking him, while Aiden attempted to block the blows that carried more strength behind them than they should have. "Yuki! Teagan! Someone grab the book!" He grunted as he dodged a swing from the enemy. If they could exocise it, all would be good. If not, well, the demon just may turn on one of them if it got bored with Aiden.

[Teagan]

The day had finally arrived: Aiden would, without a doubt, prove himself and all the other hunters they'd run into, insane.

Clinically, since they were about to run an experiment.

Teagan skeptically leaned against the wall non-chalantly as Aiden used spray paint to draw a huge star on the ground with some markings in it. A...demon's trap, he called it. She called it "defacing private property" and knew the cops would too if they caught them down here. Seriously, drawing it was one thing, but on the ceiling? What was the point in that?

As if hearing her mental question, Aiden took a moment to explain to both of them why a trap was necessary for summoning a demon. Oh- protection. Of course, why didn't she know? Everyone needed protection from imaginary creatures. Silly her.

And, yes, even if it came as a surprise to both Aiden and Yuki, she had flipped through the books he had given her. Very throughly, on top of that. None of it existed, but that didn't make it any less interesting as a book on it's own. The folklore, tales, and multitudes of creatures were fascinating...kinda like a Disney movie: interesting plot line, but all in the head. Now what amused Teagan the most were the different lists of what hunters used to stop the monsters.

Iron could stop demons from crossing and dissolve ghosts in thin air. Guns could be counted as useless for anything not physical (though using a silver bullet on a shape shifter stopped the con artist), and vampires got their heads chopped off. Ouch. Teagan preferred the garlic concept. Much less...bloody. But salt, ah...good old salt. Apparently it won the "super-weapon" award. Line it on all of the windows and entrances and no ghosts or demons could pass. It also poof-ed ghosts away. Peachy. She slightly understood now why it draped around their place light a poorly decorated Christmas tree.

"...just shut up during this process, got it?" Aiden pointedly looked in her direction. Like she would interrupt his precious devil worship. Giving the obligatory eye-roll, she slouched to the ground, prepared for the show. Aiden began chanting out of the book he had brought along. Latin, if she remembered right.

A few moments into it, the lights flickered and Teagan raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Really? Messing with the lights? Aiden thought he could pull one over her by rigging the electrical? She couldn't see any fan in the room creating the drift, but there could've been an air duct behind the discarded equipment in dusty corner. Aiden finished his rant and paused. Ooh. The big reveal.

Really, Teagan expected much bigger things for a demon than the tiny man that appeared before them. If she had been the one in charge of the stunt, the audience would've been crying for mercy on their knees. A couple black lights, hidden stereo and fog machine could sell out a show any night, so when the man opened his mouth to speak, she wasn't impressed.

Aiden's dark eyes caught hers, saying, watch and learn. Then he turned back to the "demon", and began the second part of the ritual.

Oh god. He seriously wanted Teagan to believe this crud. A sideways glance at Yuki revealed she believed it too...in fact, her gaze intently studied the "demon" as if she seriously saw the poor old man as a threat.

For a moment though, the poor old man didn't look very poor. Or old. In fact, he looked downright nasty. Within moments, the ceiling started shaking and the devil's trap above the guy's head collapsed. Before Teagan could blink, the man was attacking Aiden and Yuki had flown to his defense with the....holy water. Ah, another thing to add to her list of supposedly "dangerous" items.

Teagan almost reminded Yuki about "shutting up" and how it probably meant don't move either when the demon-thing dropped Aiden, steaming as the water fell across his skin. Hm, could dry ice do that? Turning away from her thoughts, she watched in slight awe as the teen and the "demon" started throwing punches. Now that was the most impressive thing she'd seen all summer. Although the physical contact ruled out the use of a projector, there were still multiple way anyone could pull this off.

"Yuki! Teagan! Someone grab the book!"

Oh- teacher wouldn't care if she got up now? Ah, maybe she was too bitter about the reaction to her pranks. Fine. She'd play their game...for now.

Completely ignoring the rampaging battle to her right, Teagan scurried quickly over to the leather-bound journal laying just past the edge of the devil's trap. Ha. Victory. She snatched it up and quickly turned to the page Aiden had pointed out earlier in the day.

"Alright...not sure if I can read Latin, but here we go." Taking a deep breath, Teagan let the words stumble from her mouth.

[Aiden]

Yes, now Aiden wanted help. This wasn't fake, this wasn't some game--wouldn't it be a little elaborate to bring her across the country just to play make believe? This demon was as real as anything else, and the pain that Aiden felt from the demon's blows was legitimate. If they didn't hurry and get rid of this thing, Teagan or Yuki might be feeling the pain as well. Not only that, but Aiden didn't know if that power it showed eariler was also a calling sign for other demons. If it was, well, things were about to get much more complicated. He grabbed the demon's arm, spinning it around and lacing his arms through, up, and interlocking his fingers behind its neck. Teagan had the book, all they needed now was time, and hope that Teagan could do this.

The demon began to jerk violently, groaning loudly as the Latin was said aloud. Aiden tried to keep his grip on it, but it was getting tough--even Aiden had his limits, he was only human. He also needed to keep the demon's hands away from the gun that was tucked away on Aiden, if it got ahold of that, they would surely all be dead. Impressed with her ability to read Latin, he was almost amazed that she hadn't messed...wait, never mind. A simple mispronunciation, and the demon was lose. "Teagan, move!" Aiden called, before he was flung back against a wall.

The demon, eyes solid black, strength flowing, and anger brewing, advanced towards Teagan, intent on destroying that little cheat sheet of hers so that it could live another day. The other woman, the one with the Holy water, would also be exterminated before this fight was done. Closing the distance quickly, it reached out to grab her, ready to rip her to shreds--literally.

[Teagan]

Teagan had never uttered a word of Latin in her life, so to flip through the worn pages of the journal and attempt to read language fluently failed miserably. Sure, she lucked out that a newborn could pronounce the first few words, but as she read farther and farther, the words became more and more obscure (not that she recognized any to begin with). So it shouldn't have surprised anyone when she completely butchered one of the words. The old man threw Aiden across the room and then turned her direction.

Dang. The old guy had strength. What does he do, she thought, live at the gym?

In a flash, he appeared before her, arm outstretched. To grab her, she presumed. Right, like that was going to happen. Teagan might agree to play along with the games, but that didn't mean she would let some hired hand toss her around like a rag doll.

With one hand, she grabbed a fistful of the salt in her pocket and threw it in the attacker's eyes. Demon or not, that would burn like crazy. Taking advantage of the spare moment, she ducked down and slid the journal rapidly across the floor. "Yuki! You read it!"

A large hand gripped her shoulder, and Teagan froze.

[Yuki]

When Teagan had started reading from the journal, Yuki considered grabbing the can of spray paint and quickly drawing a devil's trap midst the battle. However, she assessed quickly that there would be no time to do so. The demon would surely injure, possibly kill, her or one of her companions during that time. What needed to be done was for someone to recite the exorcism, while the other two fought off the demon.

However, she had hardly considered this strategy before Aiden was flung against the wall. Teagan had failed to pronounce the Latin correctly, as expected. Now, the demon could go after any of the three hunters. Yuki was at the ready with the little holy water that was left if it charged towards her. Unfortunately, the demon picked the less prepared of the three targets and headed after the girl. Yuki ran towards Teagan, but before she had the chance to use her holy water, the girl had thrust her fists into her pocket and flung salt at the demon's eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, Yuki began to chant the incantation from memory. She had not practiced enough to assure the safe execution of the words, but saw no other option. If she didn't at least try, it wouldn't matter. She could probably read up to the fourth stanza without mistake, but afterward, she knew it would be difficult to recite perfectly.

Luckily, seconds after the demon's recoil from the salt, Teagan slid the journal in her direction. Still reciting, Yuki ran to pick it up and quickly flipped through the pages, careful to not mispronounce any words in doing so. When she finally found the page, she scanned for her location in the exorcism. Glancing up, she saw that the demon was violently convulsing with a tight grip on Teagan's shoulder. Though she was reluctant to admit, the situation would have been a lot safer if Aiden was keeping a watch on the demon. It was difficult to make sure that Teagan was safe while trying to perform the exorcism. Yuki knew that if she slipped up even once, Teagan would most likely be the demon's first victim.

[Teagan]

Holy crap. How many hours had the geezer clocked in at the gym? The death grip he held on Teagan seemed...unnatural. Not supernatural, just uncomfortable. The weight pressuring on her shoulder forced her to one knee and threatened to knock her over if she didn't resist. Teagan stifled a grunt as beads of sweat formed around her brow. How much did Aiden plan on paying this guy?

From behind, Yuki took up the chanting and caused the pain to momentarily pause. Good, she caught the journal. Teagan half expected the so called demon to chase after it. After all, if she was a demon (allowing that they existed, that is), the resources of her enemies would be severely depleted before anything went into motion. Why wasn't he chasing after the book in Yuki's hands then?

Could Aiden be doing something? Making himself the hero so when he defeated the "demon", he could justify an 'I told you so'? Teagan caught a glimpse of their mentor crumpled in the corner, unmoving. Well, some help he ended up being. Maybe he would pull the sympathy card: pretending to be wounded to teach a lesson. Lame.

Bad acting, she called it. Whatever the reason, it wasn't Aiden holding the old man's attention. A shower of spit rained down upon her. What the-She chanced a turn upward and to her surprise, the guy jerked back and forth, as if in convulsions. Drastic ones.

Yeah, whatever Aiden payed this guy, it was totally worth it.

Until he regained the grip on her shoulder and managed to wrap his arm around her neck. The continuous convulsions jerked her up and down along with every breath. When she got out of this, anything was fair game to her wrath. Even Aiden's precious car.

Especially Aiden's precious car.

"Stop," the man rasped, choking some sort of black smoke down his throat. "Or this one earns a one-way ticket down with me."

[Teagan]

Aiden, now regaining the breath to stand, slid up the wall, watching the ensuing fight. The demon was holding Teagan, and Yuki was exorcising it. Another look at Teagan made his stomach drop; she was being choked, and there wasn't much Aiden could do about it from where he was. Yuki couldn't continue the incantation without having Teagan in danger, so this put them all in quite the predicament.


Yuki stopped the incantation. It was true that the girl was annoying and that the world would probably be better off without her unnecessary pranks, but even so, the predicament she found herself in was not entirely her fault. Yuki would rather have her own life taken before innocent blood was spilled. She paused, making eye contact with the demon as she cautiously set the book down. All she had to do was make sure Teagan got away from the being's grasp--the demon probably had no idea Yuki could possibly recite the exorcism without reading it. But before she had any time to think of a strategic maneuver, the demon bolted out of the room, girl in hand. It was taking a hostage.
Cursing loudly, Aiden practically leaped over to Yuki, scooping the book of the ground, and pushing Yuki towards the door. "Let's go, we can't lose it," he said rather forcefully. Teagan was a bit of a pain, yes, but he wouldn't let her be killed, he'd gotten her into this mess. On the run, he pulled the gun out of the back of his pants, and held it out to Yuki. "It's simple; aim and squeeze the trigger. If things get out of hand, shoot it. It's rock salt, not real bullets, if anything the demon will disappear and reappear in a few seconds to kill us. I'll read the incantation," he sputtered out, rounding a corner as the demon came into sight.

----

Teagan's hands flew to her neck in a futile attempt to stop the man's choke hold, but the only thing it managed to do was prevent him from dragging her like a rag doll up the basement stairs. His other arm had wrapped around her waist, carrying her speedily away from the hunters. What was in his coffee this morning? Teagan wondered briefly as her vision began to dim. Black fuzz crept in along the edge of her vision and she struggled to catch a breath. God, if she got out of this....no more itching powder, I swear.

-----

"Understood," Yuki nodded, as Aiden handed her the gun. After the training she had received, she was positive she wouldn't miss the demon. However, what was to assure that the demon wouldn't harm Teagan in the process? If she didn't shoot, however, it wouldn't matter--they would all be dead within seconds. Prepared for the demon's apparition, Yuki clutched the gun as Aiden read the exorcism. As an after thought, she began to recite it with him. In the even that the demon managed to stop the incantation, Yuki would be able to finish it.

The tile floor beneath their feet was slick with years of built up dust and other debris, and as they rounded the corner Aiden's feet slid from underneath him for a moment causing him to flail his arm for balance before getting the momentum to catch up again. Yuki kept proving to be more and more useful every day, for which he was grateful; if one of them could learn, and become strong, then they would be all the more safer. With Yuki holding the gun, Aiden came close enough for him to affect the demon with the exorcism, so he began calling it out loudly. Ahead of him, the demon jerked once, and as Aiden closed in, he heard Yuki's voice reciting next to him, and he couldn't help but smile. Smart girl.

The demon took off up the stairs, human in hand. This girl was going to be his leverage, and it seemed to be working. After all, that pesky girl had stopped talking, right? Shame, she had a few more years on her, right around the age this demon liked best, but she'd have to wait. He could kill this girl first, get the hunters off his back, and then backtrack and kill them. His speed was at a slight advantage, and he directed his way through the building, intended site of exit in the alleyway that ran behind the building. As he ran, he released his grip slightly on the girl's neck: choking her to death would take all the fun out of killing her, he couldn't make her beg. Just when he thought he was in the clear, he heard the incantation, the words, that damn Latin, causing him to slow, and to jerk. Nearly letting the girl fall out of his hands, he spun, holding her by the neck once more. "Filthy hunters never learn," he hissed, visibly showing his arm tightening around Teagan's neck. "Move, and she dies this time."

Gerald. That's what she would call the old-guy-that-was-not-a-demon. It was an evil enough sounding name, and at the moment, no matter what Aiden paid the old man, Gerald would wind up begging for her mercy after this show was over. They darted around a dark corner, and Teagan felt him relax momentarily on his death grip. She gasped for air, welcoming the reviving flow of oxygen back into her system. Her relief was short lasted as Gerald gave a sudden jerk. In his spasm, his arms instinctively pulled closer to him and she heard a sickening crunch in her spine. From her parent's extensive history in the chiropractor's office, she recognized the sound bones made when the popped back into place...but that didn't mean Gerald would. After all, men in general seemed to shy away from any doctor, so theoretically speaking, he wouldn't have a clue what that had done to her. Against all her common sense, Teagan allowed her body to slacken and her eyes unfocused and drifted close. She did her best to control her breathing, shortening it to light, shallow breaths.

Hopefully it would be enough to convince Gerald.

She had heard the loud crunching noise from Teagan's bones, and saw as the girl's eyes seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. For a moment, Yuki froze in place. She couldn't die. This wasn't supposed to happen. Glaring at the demon, Yuki felt an uncontrollable fury swarming within her. She fought with difficulty to suppress it, knowing that anger in this situation would not defeat the demon, only intelligence would. Just then, Yuki caught sight of the slow rising of Teagan's chest. She was breathing. It was small, but Yuki's perceptive eyes had not deceived her. She hoped that Aiden had caught on to Teagan's feign. Whether he knew or not, she knew, and therefore she had to finish the exorcism. "Deus Israhel ipse truderit virtutem," Yuki began, forcefully and quickly speaking each word, "et fortitudinem plebi Suae. Benedictus Deus. Gloria Patri!"

Not pausing when he heard the crunch, Aiden now knew that this thing wasn't bluffing, it would easily kill Teagan, and it wasn't just trying to keep them at bay. He kicked himself mentally for not having paid full attention down in the basement, because now he and Yuki were chasing after a demon--Gerald, though he didn't know--that held Teagan hostage and was slowly killing her. The incantation flowed out of his mouth in unison with Yuki, and as Gerald jerked and spasmed, he too caught the faint, very very faint breathing of Teagan in the demon's arms. She was okay, she was faking. He had to hand it to her, that was probably a smart move, but now he needed to get her out of the demon's grasp. Charging forward, he glanced back at Yuki, and said "Finish the incantation, don't stop for anything, you hear me?"

He pushed his feet across the slick floor, and when he was close enough, he launched himself into the demon's back as he gave yet another involuntary jerk. Teagan went sprawling out of his grasp, while Aiden tumbled down on top of Gerald. For a moment, there was a brief tussle as Gerald fought the incantation, and Aiden was on the ground, receiving blows to the face, before Aiden was on top, pinning down the demon as it groaned loudly. "Yuki! Finish it!" He yelled, doing his best to hold the demon down.

Finally, the black smoke poured up out of the man's mouth, and then out a nearby doorway. Aiden sighed with relief, and rolled off, sitting on the ground next to the man, and bringing a hand to his face. "And that is how you exorcise a demon," he said, a little defeated. "Teagan, you alright?" Please say yes, he thought, and then looked to Yuki. "Thank you."

Although closing her eyes had seemed like a great idea, it meant that she was completely unprepared when Aiden crashed into Gerald and sent all three of them to the ground. She assumed the other two were on the ground, anyways. Next to her the sounds of someone losing a struggle nearly deafened her ear. Due to her intense focus on barely breathing while struggling to breathe again, she couldn't distinguish who it was. It had better not be Aiden or Yuki, she internally muttered. Then again, since none of this was real, she supposed it didn't matter which person it was because all of them were getting a piece of her mind about this supernatural crap later. Silence suddenly filled the room and she froze. After a moment, she heard Aiden's reassuring voice. Slightly strained, but there. Good. Teagan rolled over and began to cough as the air clawed a way back into her lungs. "I'll be alright." Teagan let out another hack. "In a moment.”

"Don't mention it," was all Yuki could muster when Aiden thanked her. A part of her wanted to yell at him for not taking enough precautions against the demon in the first place. Another part wanted to yell at Teagan for screwing up the exorcism. But after thinking about it, she knew it wasn't the right thing to do. Pinning the blame on the other two would not ameliorate the situation. After all, she had been equally responsible in keeping an eye on the demon, and had she stopped it sooner, the injuries could've been much less than what they were now. But despite the wounds, at that very moment, they were alive, thank God. Or whatever the higher power was. Yuki closed her eyes and sighed with relief.

"Nankurunaisa."

Leaning back against the wall, Aiden let his head fall back, letting his breathing fall back into its normal pattern. They were all okay, the demon was gone, and his live demonstration had gone dangerously awry. "My bad, guys, I take full responsibility for that. Teagan, you hurt at all? That crunch didn't sound pleasant," he asked, standing up, and walking over and offering Teagan a hand. "That's also why you should memorize the incantation, the book becomes an obligation. Anyway, what do you say we bust out of here, and go get some shakes or something?" With Teagan on her feet, he looked at both of them. "And you both did an excellent job. I'm proud of you."

Teagan accepted Aiden's help standing, trying not to reveal how much she actually needed it. Why wouldn't her vision stop swimming? She placed a hand on her forehead and rubbed her temples as Aiden said something or another. Her vision cleared, revealing the lifeless form of Gerald on the floor. He's just faking it, Teagan reminded herself. There was no way Aiden would offer them shakes in front of a corpse. That would be unnerving. "Shakes, sure." Her eyes drifted tiredly to Yuki as Aiden expressed his pride. The girl looked relieved the situation was over, mirroring her own feelings. Teagan offered Yuki a soft smile.

The entire situation had exhausted Yuki. She didn't even had the strength to argue against Aiden when he suggested that they go buy shakes. All she wanted to do was sit quietly somewhere and rest. It was taking her a bit of time to process that they were really alive. They had actually survived a demon attack. And the girl had proved to be more intelligent than she let on. Aiden had also taken control of the situation swiftly, once he had gotten back up on his feet. It was a close call, however. Next time, they would have to take more precaution. The girl had taken quite the toll on her back. As her eyes met Teagan's, she saw the girl give her a small smile. Not knowing how to respond, after a moment of silence, Yuki simply nodded. Perhaps her teammates were not as incompetent as she had once assumed.

Gathering his senses, making sure the book and gun were in tow, and seeing that both girls were clearly ready to get rest, Aiden lead them out of the building, and to the car. That was quite enough for one day.