Fallen

Chapter 10- Rewritten

He immediately retaliates by punching me in the nose. I stumble back from the force, but immediately move back and swipe his legs from underneath him.

I sit down on his waist to prevent him from moving and just as I'm about to finish it, a car drives up.

I can't kill a demon in front of an innocent. The driver has to go around since we're in the street, but stops the car and rolls the window down.

The woman in the car sticks her head down, "Are you alright? I'm calling the police now."

The demon takes the opportunity to roll us over so now he's on top. The woman drops her phone as she looks at the demon before speeding off.

He's positioned between my thighs as he wraps a hand around my throat and squeezes tightly with one hand.

I don't allow myself to panic, because he made a mistake not pinning my legs down.

I move quickly before he can choke me anymore. One leg quickly moves underneath his armpit across the top of his back while the other crosses in front of his face. I use the new position to flip him over so I'm now on top, with his body trapped between my thighs.

I move slightly so I can plunge the knife into his chest and then his body turns to ash. I take a deep breath before getting up from the ground.

Nothing left to do now but to get to work.

       "Holy shit," Jami says when I get to the bar. "What happened to you?"

        I grab a bottle of tequila and pour myself a shot.

        "Well, someone opened a portal to Hell and now I'm working overtime," I tell her. I down the shot before continuing, "I don't know why it didn't occur to me that demons we already sent back to Hell would be back looking for revenge. Just add another reason to this long list of why we need to close this portal as soon as possible."

        I have no idea how many demons I've sent back to Hell in the last seven months, but it's quite a few. And Lord knows how many Henry has sent back.

"Do you realize there's blood on your face?," Jami asks.

"I did not," I tell her. "Be right back."

I go to the bathroom and see the blood from where the demon punched me in the face. I wet a paper towel and get rid of the blood before washing my hands. I also have road rash from fighting on the street, and while the skin burns, I've dealt with worse.

When I come back out, I realize that Sean and Raven have been sitting at the bar.

      "What are you guys doing here?," I ask.

       "Taylor didn't tell you?," Sean asks. "She invited us down here."

       I share a look with Jami. "Of course she did."

        "North wasn't really up for it tonight," Sean tells me for whatever reason.

           "Oh, you mean the guy who left me with a dislocated knee in a building that was collapsing?," I ask with a tilt of my head. "I am devastated."

         "West is an ass," Raven says and for a second I think he's going to continue and say something nice about him. Guess not.

I look to Sean. "Not that I don't love these surprise meetings, but how many more members of your little group are there?," I ask. "I feel like I need to mentally prepare myself."

"Fourteen," he responds.

Fantastic. I haven't even met half of this group yet.

       I don't have to talk to the two guys much, because the other customers keep me busy. Eventually, Taylor comes in with two paper bags and my new phone. Her face lights up when she sees Sean and Raven sitting at the bar.

She sits next to Sean before setting the bags and the phone on the counter.

         "Thank you so much," I say.

        "No problem," she says. "I got you a little something extra too."

       I raise an eyebrow and look in the bags. In one is the new gun and in the other is two different kind of bullets. One is a box of the silver bullets I normally get and the other is a box of rock salt bullets with a silver casing. These work way better and they are also much more expensive.

        "You shouldn't have," I tell her.

          "I figured with everything going on, we'll need the best stuff," she says. "So don't sweat it."

        She has a point and I know better than to argue with her at this point. "Thank you."

She grins. "You're welcome. Now, tell me, did your car break down or something? I swear I passed it on my way back up here."

"It most certainly did," I tell her.

"North could fix it for you," Sean interjects. I stare blankly at him. "He could do it for free," he continues.

"Can't exactly turn that down," I shrug.

Jami finishes with her customer before walking over. "Hey, Taylor. Can I get you something to drink?"

My usually confident best friend goes quiet for a minute. She shakes her head, "No, I have a job tonight. I just came to bring Sang her things," she glances at me. "Are you going to need a ride home after you get off?" She sneakily glances at Sean.

         I narrow my eyes. "Nope. I'm good."

"Don't worry, Taylor," Sean says. "I'll make sure she makes it home in one piece."

"Perfect," she says before standing up. "Duty calls. See you guys later."

She leaves and I pocket the new phone and set the two bags behind the bar before getting back to the customers.

            A little bit later, North comes into the bar, stoic as the last time I saw him.

"Where's your car?," he asks.

"If you take a right out of the parking lot, it's a few minutes down on the road. It's a 2000 Honda Civic, it's green, and it's just parked on the side of the road."

"Can I get your keys?"

I hand them over and he walks away without another word.

"Nice chat," I call to him before turning to Sean and Raven. "He's warming up to me."