demons | lrh

-02-

"We're running from the lesser of two evils, maybe—"

"Evil is still evil, Nathan." Her mother's voice held finality, and no room for opposition, but her father's mouth parted anyway, as though he still thought his case was worth arguing. Nora leant forwards, desperate to have some light shed on just what they were discussing, however, before the man got the chance to speak again, a bolt of lightning struck the centre of the road, barely twenty metres away from the car.

Nora heard nothing over the sound of her own piercing shriek as the car swerved on approach. Through the gloom of the weather outside, she saw the patch of road that had been hit, and the mini crater left behind. Her blue eyes widened in a blurry mix of fear, confusion and panic. Not a good combination.

What on Earth was going—

Another flash of lightning had a tree collapsing on the road, and Nora was flung forwards in her seat, belt almost cutting straight through her, as her mum slammed on the breaks and the car came skidding to a halt mere centimetres away from the fallen trunk.

Nathan spew out a long string of the most colourful swear words Nora had ever heard, and then he swung around his seat to face her. Concern riddled in the deep-set wrinkles of his aged, tan face.

"Are you okay?" He sounded almost out of breath.

"What....what just happened?" Nora fumbled, eyes fixed on the debris blocking their entire side of the road. She looked around and couldn't believe that nobody was to be seen. They had gotten off the motorway almost an hour ago, but the road shouldn't have been this empty—

"Nora!" Her dad raised his voice, finally capturing her attention. "I said are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" The girl reassured, "but what's going on?"

Nobody answered. And it was her first real warning bell.

"Hello?"

"Nothing," her mum hissed, and Nora caught sight of her in the mirror, glancing around nervously, body rigid with apprehension and...paranoia? "It's just a storm, Nora."

It certainly didn't feel like just a storm. Not as the wind howled around them like a pack of hunting wolves, not as the car shook in time to the murderous beat of thunder, and not as all three of their faces lit up every single second with the flare of the lightning.

A click of a seatbelt had Nora's eyes snapping onto her dad, who was taking it off of his body and unlocking the passenger door. "Where are you going?" She asked, voice wobbling and bottom lip quivering.

"To investigate," came his short response. No sooner than he spoke, had a chilling, eery darkness blanketed the world around them, making visibility almost non-existent. Nora had to squint to still be able to see the tree on the road ahead.

It was then that her heartbeat hammered like the hooves of one hundred horses against firm ground, and all Nora could think about was how inviting Aunt Helen's place sounded now...and that, maybe, she'd gotten her way after all. But Nora didn't want it like this.

I want to go home, the girl whimpered to herself, and then a blood-curdling scream erupted from her when something fell...no...landed on the roof of the car. It caved downwards; a dent so big, Nora thought it might've been another tree, yet there had been no lightning whatsoever for the past minute.