Avoiding the demon hunters was getting more difficult by the minute, and by the time the portal had opened the second time since Rome, Aaron was ready for the next six hours to be up so he could send his friends along their merry way—hopefully joining them--though he wasn’t holding his breath on that one. He had a feeling he’d be in there a little bit longer.
There had been no signal the second time the portal opened, which was what Ward had predicted. It was a huge disappointment, but at least it had opened so that they could get a signal the time before that, and they knew Brandon, Dax, and Heather had gotten out all right. Cadence had warned them that there had been Vampires waiting for the trio when the portal opened, so the three left behind knew to be ready for a fight as soon as they got back to terra firma. Aaron welcomed a fight out in the real world where he knew the chances of him actually getting killed were slim, at least compared to inside the portal where there seemed to be thousands of demons, and now at least a dozen demon hunters, who wouldn’t mind sending him into oblivion. Granted, he’d been shot several times over the last century or so, most recently by his own wife, but he was willing to take his chances out there with Holland and her tricks, as well as the crossfire, as opposed to staying in the portal where they were constantly running from creatures they didn’t fully understand.
“What are we gonna do if the big white fellas are blocking our access to the portal?” Elliott asked as if reading his mind. “We probably need to be moseying on over to the center circle if we’re going to be ready since we have no idea when this sucker’s gonna blow.”
“Are you trying to sound like Heather?” Jamie asked, his expression showing he wasn’t amused. “Cause... you don’t.”
“Nah, just got her damn accent stuck in my head,” Elliot admitted.
“I do think we need to go that way, but I think there’s a good chance we’re going to run into them. If Ward’s information is correct, it should be tunnel eight that opens next, and we’re currently in tunnel number five, so we are close. But getting up one tunnel and down another in a little over thirty seconds isn’t going to be easy.”
“I really wish we had some way of knowing how much time has passed,” Jamie whispered.
“I know. It’s really annoying.” Aaron gazed down to the end of the tunnel, about a hundred yards away, thinking they should head that direction, but even while he was looking, a large white form passed across the opening. It kept going, and he exhaled, thinking it hadn’t noticed them.
Then, it took a step backward and turned its head.
“Whatta we do?” Elliott asked. “Run?”
Some of the tunnels connected on both ends or in the middle while others didn’t. This one had an exit on both sides, but if he wasn’t careful, it would be easy to lose track of which tunnel they were in.
“Do you think it’s really hostile?” Jamie asked optimistically.
Even before Aaron could answer the question, the demon hunter bore down on them, sprinting at full pace. “Run!” he insisted, and the three friends took off toward the other end of the tunnel.
The wispy white nightmare was no match for their speed, but as they reached the end of the tunnel, two more came into focus, one on either side of them. “This way!” Jamie shouted, and they proceeded up the next tunnel, only to see another demon hunter off in the distance.
“I think we may have worn out our welcome,” Elliott muttered.
Trapped between two demon hunters, with several more headed that direction, Aaron decided it was time to fight. He had been under the impression that bullets would do no good against the translucent creatures, and since he had a feeling these beings answered to a higher power, he was reluctant to try to end any of them. But under the circumstances, he didn’t know what else to do. So he pulled his Glock and fired low at the closest demon hunter, aiming for what should’ve been a leg.
“What are you doing?” Elliott asked as the bullet made contact. The creature shrieked, as they’d been doing when attacking the demons. The bullet seemed to pass right through it as the head dipped down to study its own limb.
“I think you just pissed it off,” Jamie stated.
“Did you have a better idea?” Aaron watched as the monster turned its head back to look at him, and with an ethereal scream even louder and higher pitched than the one before, it charged.
“What now?” Elliott asked as the creatures on the other end of the tunnel also ran toward them.
“Run—try to knock it off balance, or go underneath it’s legs?” Aaron had no idea if that would work or not, but he was out of ideas.
“This is never going to work!” Elliott shouted as the three of them headed for the lone creature flying at them from the front of the tunnel, the same one Aaron had tried to shoot.
The closer it got, the more solid it appeared until Aaron was sure he was going to careen right into a mass of bone, but when he finally made contact with the left side of the creature, it was soft and damp but not hard. He was able to shove it slightly out of the way and slip through just as Elliott slid between its legs and Jamie flew past on the other side.
The demon hunter couldn’t change directions that quickly. It slipped down the tunnel, running into the other two charging toward it, and all three of them shrieked. Aaron didn’t pause long enough to watch what happened next. They needed to get to the center circle so they could find the right tunnel for the portal opening. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until they’d need to put their escape plan into place.
“Now that sucker was what you call moist,” Elliott noted, wiping his face on his sleeve. “Why didn’t it snatch us up and break our bones or whatever demon hunters do?”
“I don’t know,” Aaron admitted as the three of them exited the tunnel. “Maybe Heather was mistaken, and they really can’t hurt us.”
“I don’t want to find out.” Jamie spoke for all of them, but as they entered the wide open center of the portal, it looked as if they would know soon enough. There were demon hunters everywhere, and all of them turned their heads simultaneously toward the Guardians, stepping in unison toward their prey.
“That portal can open any time now,” Elliott breathed. They’d gotten lucky the last time, but what were the chances all of the demon hunters could be given the slip? Aaron didn’t like their chances—not even a little bit.
