strawberry daiquiri

seven

"ryan, ryan, calm down, there's nothing there," shane said.

ryan exhaled shakily a few times before speaking. "sorry, i'm really good at scaring myself,"

"i know," shane replied, laughing.

ryan closed the door behind them, locking it and making sure it was actually locked, before sitting on the couch. he still seemed a little stiff.

"look, do you want me to do a thorough inspection? like you said earlier?" shane asked.

"yeah," ryan said. "please?"

"shane madej, demon hunting expert, is on the case," shane said dramatically. he disappeared into ryan's bedroom, jokingly calling out to any entities to 'show themselves or face my wrath'. ryan felt slightly more relaxed.

shane was in the bathroom now. he ripped the shower curtain open, and when nothing was there, he said "oh you're good. you're reaaaaal good," making ryan laugh out loud.

while shane finished his inspection, ryan heard a quiet, almost inaudible noise, coming from right beside him. his hair stood on end. he whipped his head around to see what the source was, wondering if he was just getting paranoid again.

he heard it again. this time, louder.

to ryan's horror, he realized that this was the same noise he had been hearing for days. except, when it sounded this close to him, he realized, the sound wasn't a groan -- it was, in fact, a low, guttural, growl.

he froze. he didn't know whether to run or to stay as still as possible.

he was more than grateful when shane re-emerged into the living room. he took one glance at ryan and knew something was wrong.

as if in reaction to seeing shane, the growl got louder and louder. ryan swore it was growing directly in his ear. he thought he was going to have a heart attack.

"don't move," shane said, as serious as ryan had ever seen him. he followed his directions, shutting his eyes tightly. he felt coldness around him, as if some... thing was wrapping its arms around him. he prayed fervently, to whatever could help him, that he wouldn't die today.

shane's voice spoke again, but it wasn't in a language ryan understood. it was deep, as guttural as the growl, and spoke with intensity. he seemed to be conversing with whatever was holding ryan hostage. he had his eyes fixed on the wall behind ryan, slightly above his head.

he felt the demon's spiritual grasp loosen around his body, before tightening again. he felt as if an imaginary snake was wrapping his body in an icy death grip.

shane noticed the difference, and spoke louder in the mysterious language. his voice raised to the point where he was yelling, demanding. ryan couldn't decide who was more terrifying at this point.

the demon's grasp did not loosen. ryan dared to open his eyes and looked up at shane, pleading with him to do something. shane seemed to meet his eyes for a fraction of a second. he then raised a hand, palm up, very slowly. there was black smoke billowing from it. ryan was transfixed by this. it was as if shane was some sort of demonic superhero.

shane raised a second hand, the same black smoke billowing from it as well. ryan looked from hand to hand, astonished at how this was even possible.