Possessed

She watched as the little boy played in the field. The grass was taller than he was, but she was able to spot him because of the curly mop of hair on his head. His hair was brown and his eyes, just like his father’s, kind with a bit of underlying humor. She leaned back into the waiting embrace and purred as Jake’s arms wrapped around her. She was happy. Her life was finally on track, and everything was going better than a fairy tale book plot. She heard the little boy’s giggle, and she laughed. She felt Jake’s body vibrate from laughter. She turned around and lifted her face to his. And when he kissed her, her day became a hundred times better.

Sloan closed her eyes and let her lips mold against his. She melted in his arms, his embrace holding her together as his lips drove her to the edge of sanity. But then the sweet taste turned into something else—something warm, thick, and coppery. Then Jake’s moans of pleasure turned into gasps.

Her eyes flipped open, and she saw a look of terror and betrayal in his eyes. There was a huge hole where Jake’s heart was meant to be. She felt a slight pump in her hand, and when she looked, it was his heart. It was red and beating thunderously in her bloody palm.

“Why?” she heard him gasp out as he choked on his own blood.

She looked up as she felt the darkness loom over her. The bright sky was consumed by a dark shadow. She called the little boy, but she couldn’t hear what she was calling him. His name was lost to her. It was like her mind couldn’t remember it, but her mouth sounded it out. But when he stood next to her, it wasn’t the little boy she’d seen a few seconds ago. The planes of his face were hard, his hair blond, and his silver eyes were rapidly filling with blood. His tiny hands turned into claws, and he took Jake’s beating heart from her hands.

Before she could ask what he wanted to do with it, the little boy’s tiny mouth opened wide. She was able to see his jaw open and expose the lethal, dagger-like teeth as he bit into Jake’s heart.

A thud of shock punched into Sloan’s chest. She woke up in a pool of sweat and tears. Startled, Sloan launched off the mat and to her feet. Her fingers balled into fists as she crouched into a fighting position. It took a while before she realized she was just dreaming. Her heart beat painfully in her chest as her breaths choked her into a cough. Ali—that was the only way she could explain having the same dream every night. The woman still found ways into her mind, and by the looks of things, she wasn’t willing to let go of Sloan any time soon.

Sloan lay back on the mat. She felt trapped in the night her nightmare had first begun. Her life had begun to unravel when her parents died. Sloan blinked her eyes open when the sunlight slithered its way through the mud-thatched roof, shining directly on her face. It had been three months since she’d last seen Jake. That night was etched in her mind. It was like a movie reel connected directly to her retinas. The rage and the pungent scent of Jake’s blood attached itself to her nose.

Something else had attached itself to her, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get rid of it. Sloan hated that she had that motherly instinct. Her hand loomed over her belly and part of her felt sorry for the little thing. But then the hate took over and her hand pulled away from her belly. She had promised herself never to form any bond with the demon child. She was going to find a way to get it out of her, to kill it before it could do any harm. She had been everywhere, and now she was home in the Mara—looking for a “cure.”

Sloan couldn’t run away from the smell of death. It followed her everywhere. There was a time she was willing to welcome it. When she lay on the pavement, every inch of her screaming in pain, but as her own blood filled her mouth, she remembered it tasting sweet. But now, death had followed her to the nomad lands of the Mara. Drought and disease had hit the land, and their cattle, their only source of livelihood, were dying one by one. And it was because she was carrying death in her womb.

Sloan looked around, and her grandmother was nowhere to be seen. There was only one other place she could be… the stream. She stepped out to follow her, but what she saw chilled her to the bone. Her grandmother had been tied up to a stake, blood dripping from her head. They were calling her a witch.

She looked around. They were outnumbered. The whole village had gathered to burn the supposed witch at the stake. It was her fault. The day she’d arrived, she had told her grandmother of what had happened. And naturally, she’d wanted to help, but here there was only one way of dealing with the supernatural. Her grandmother took her to a witchdoctor who couldn’t help. Instead, he’d warned them, saying that the demon child would only bring misfortune to the community. Of course, he told Sloan to leave, but Sloan had nowhere else to go. She didn’t feel safe anywhere else.

Sloan now regretted her decision to stay. She should have left the second the witchdoctor told her to. Now, her grandmother was paying for her selfish need to stay close to the only home she had left.

She took in the crowd, trying to set apart the threats to the weak link. She needed a way through them to get to her grandmother. But first, she had to take out the man with the torch. Sloan had no doubt that the second she would charge them, the Masais would aim their spears at her. Sloan charged at the man with the torch, but as soon as she took a step, he threw it into the wood.

Every piece of wood in that stack went up in flames. Soon, her grandmother was engulfed in smoke. Sloan could hear her choke. She left the man and headed for her grandmother and the Masai’s attacked her. She could feel the metal tips tear into her flesh. She was going to die here with her grandmother. Although her first attempt at suicide hadn’t worked, she wished that she finally could die.

Now she was here, and someone else was dying in her stead.

Sloan felt herself slipping out of consciousness. She could also feel her flesh expel the spears pierced into her back. Neither the smoke nor the heat from the flames bothered her anymore. But when the darkness consumed her, she welcomed it.

* * * *

Sloan stood outside the hunters’ mansion, trying to make up her mind whether or not she wanted to go in. She didn’t know if she was still welcome in the house. Her black Yamaha was where she’d left it all those months ago. It had collected some dust, and she wasn’t sure it would run anymore. Sloan looked around. She never thought she would be back in New York, not while still carrying this burden. Her eyes gazed at the New Jersey house, and memories of everything that had happened there rushed back to her.

Sloan winced every time she heard the tone of betrayal laced in his voice. She had betrayed all of them. And only three of them had survived that betrayal. The rest of them were dead. That was all she had brought into the family—pain, betrayal, loss, and death. She couldn’t enter the house, not with the stench of death still following her around. All the lives she had destroyed were stopping her from taking a step onto the front porch. This wasn’t her home anymore. And although the little voice inside her was begging her to go in, terrified of being alone, she couldn’t let it win. She turned around. She was ashamed at the thought of re-entering this house and the lives in it. The stakes were higher. Soon, Hell would be coming for its own, and she couldn’t reintroduce them into that pit of uncertainty once again.

But before Sloan could take a step away, the door flew open.

“I think visiting only counts when you come into the house,” Archer barked from behind her.

“I was leaving,” she said, ridding her voice of any and all emotion.

“Where to?” Archer took a step towards her, the concerned, older-brother look scrawled across his face. “You have been around the world, searching for one single answer. You haven’t found the answer out there. What makes you think you won’t be able to find it here?”

“I think I have caused you guys enough problems.” A hot tear rolled down her cheek. At first, the warmth startled her and, at times, even burnt her. But as her pregnancy progressed, her skin became as tough as leather. She had a heightened sense of touch, but she couldn’t hurt.

“This is your home.” He held her arm, but she pulled away.

“No, it’s not.” Sloan shook her head as if she was trying to toss something out of it. “The people who lived here…Snoop, Eric, Ike, Spike, Jake”—she said his name in an almost whisper—“this was their home, and they died because I brought evil here.”

“You aren’t evil,” Archer barked.

“But I am carrying evil,” she shouted back, but she broke into a laugh. She laughed more at herself than anything else. Kellan had told her that this was her fate, to bring into this world the greatest evil to destroy all good. But she was too stubborn and hardheaded to accept it. “I have been everywhere, and no one can give me a straight answer.”

“What happened in Kenya?”

So many things had happened in Kenya. Sloan had thought that she could finally be happy there. Sure, the core of evil was growing inside her, but her grandmother’s love and the villagers’ hospitality gave her hope. But then things went wrong. A terrible drought had hit the village, followed by the unexplained deaths of both people and livestock. The rational side of Sloan could easily say it was some sort of disease attacking the village. But she knew better, and so did the witch doctor.

Kellan wanted her here, in New York. He had a plan for her, and she felt helpless. There were times she wanted to give up, to let him do with her as he wished. She was a spectator in her own life. When she was in the game, she had made so many wrong moves that had gotten her here.

“They killed my grandmother.” She nodded as if she was finally accepting it. “They called her a witch, only because she was trying to help me.” Her hands rose slightly at her sides. “You see, death seems to follow me everywhere I go.”

Archer pulled her in his arms and tried to calm her down. “Don’t worry, somehow we will find a solution.”

He led her into the house, and although Sloan didn’t want to, she followed. A knot formed in her chest. She didn’t know what her cousin and best friend would say, or how they would welcome her. But when they pulled her into bear hugs and covered her face with kisses, she got her answer.

“I thought I would never see you again.”

Sloan frowned at the tears rolling down BB’s cheeks, carrying all her mascara along with it. “When did you start getting emotional?”

“When you left.” BB punched Sloan in the shoulder, and she fell back, reeling in pain.

“What the fudge!” BB screamed as she grabbed her hand and winced in pain.

Sloan looked at her, wondering what had happened. She had felt her touch her, but she hadn’t thought that she had hit her with any force. “Sorry about that. I have only been here a few seconds, and I’m already causing trouble.”

Axel led her to a chair. “Don’t worry about it.” She swallowed hard then asked, “So what exactly are you?”

“An incubator.” She didn’t really have to think about that answer. She was an incubator. “Kellan made sure I was fit enough to carry his evil spawn. I think my body is transitioning to accommodate the… for lack of a more appropriate word… thing in my womb. I’m faster, I heal, I’m strong, and the best part is I can’t die.”

“Why would you try to kill yourself?” BB was back on her feet, her injured hand cradled in her right hand. “When we found you there, a heap of bone and flesh covered in blood, I swear…”

“I think it’s one of Kellan’s cruel jokes.” Sloan chuckled.

“So, what now?” Archer asked. They had been waiting around for Sloan to arrive. They hadn’t had any attacks from the demons at the house, but they hunted for them in the city. Although there had been a few sightings, none of them had the magnitude of power or energy that Kellan had.

“Kellan is dead.” BB was trying to convince herself.

“I don’t think so. If he were dead, I would feel it. At times, I feel like he’s watching me.” Sloan looked around when she got that eerie feeling of someone breathing down her neck. “I want to find a way to take this baby out.”

“Have you thought about cutting yourself open?” It had obviously seemed like a bright idea in her head, but once BB said it out loud, she clearly realized how ridiculous it was. “Scratch that.”

“Why not?” All this time, she had been dealing with spells and ancient rituals. She had never tried to physically cut the baby out of her. “Do we know a doctor—a doctor who knows about all of this?” Sloan didn’t think that there would be anyone out there with experience in exorcising demons physically from someone’s body, but she could hope. An ordinary doctor would do too, but she just didn’t need to explain everything from the beginning.

“We have some new recruits, and one of them happens to be a medical student,” Archer put in.

“If he knows how to use a scalpel, that’s good enough for me. At this point, I would gladly use a butcher.” Sloan hadn’t thought about what would happen to her once the fetus was out. She wouldn’t be able to heal as fast. Although she was worried that she would die on the operating table, part of her welcomed it. It would be a huge relief and better than living this nightmare of a life.

It was settled. Sloan decided to take a look around as Archer met up with the med student. BB and Axel disappeared somewhere. They were either giving her time to herself or avoiding her for fear that she would harm them.

Sloan looked around the aging mansion and knew that each corner of that house would remind her of Jake. This was going to be a true test of her sanity. She looked around the gym. It looked just as it did when the guys had trained there. She remembered when she would always go in there to watch Jake train.

“Imagine my shock when I woke up alone once again.” She smiled.

“You snore.” Jake gave the bag one last punch.

“You know I don’t.”

“I love how you look in that jersey.”

Sloan twirled around the room, modeling his hockey jersey. “I look hot, don’t I?”

She took labored steps up the stairs. Sloan knew the first room she would come across would be the one she’d briefly shared with Jake. She hesitated when she got to the door. She convinced herself that she wouldn’t be able to handle going in there. But everything inside her urged her to. She pushed the door open slowly with her foot. Sloan wasn’t quite sure what she was going to see in there, but part of her hoped that she would see Jake. He would be in his room, in just a pair of shorts, toweling his hair dry. Then he would turn around and flash a smile that would have her will crumbling to the ground.

“You better go to sleep. I have to return you in the morning.”

“Return me? You make it sound like I was a pair of socks you borrowed.”

Chuckling, Jake planted a couple of kisses on her face. “You are the best thing that ever walked into my life.”

“Aren’t you sweet?”

A smile claimed Sloan’s lips. She could see him now, smiling at her, dropping the towel on the bed, and walking towards her. Sloan waited for his arms to pull her into his bare chest, but her desires were met by thin air.

“What did you expect, Sloan? You have lost everything,” she mumbled to herself. “I need to get out of here.”

Sloan went to the garage for her bike and found Archer there, servicing his. She was hoping that she wouldn’t run into him, or anyone. She just wanted to grab her bike and follow the road until her gas tank was empty. She gave him one look, and then when she was convinced that his bike was in no condition to be on the road, and there was no way he would come after her, she mounted her bike.

“Are you coming back?” Archer didn’t lift his head to look at her. With his socket wrench, he continued tightening the bolts on his wheels. “If you are not, I would like to know so that we can stop worrying about you.”

“I don’t know,” she replied honestly.

She got on her bike and rode off. Sloan had promised herself never to go near the cemetery, not while she was still carrying Kellan’s evil spawn, but her bike seemed to have a mind of its own. She parked outside the shrieking cemetery gates and peered in. She felt like an outsider, although she belonged with them more than she did with the living.

“Are you going to come in?” An old man’s voice rattled in her ears like a stone in a tin can.

“No.” She was sure once she took a step inside those gates, the dead would rise just to chase her away.

She wondered how Jake was doing, how her parents were doing. She wondered whether anyone had bothered to lay flowers on their graves or keep their headstones clean. She wondered if anyone had been around to talk to them.

“I can’t believe you come here on your own.” Jake was leaping over graves, scared of stepping on someone. It was dark, and the wind was blowing, and the screeching sound of the swinging gates echoed in the emptiness of the night.

“Chicken, what do you think will happen? For someone who isn’t afraid of going up against demons, you are oddly frightened of the dead,” she teased.

“Demons I can handle, the walking dead not so much.”

“Chicken!”

“So, these are the famous Mr. and Mrs. Sloan.” He stood beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“They are. Even in death, they are my rock and my support. Please take a seat.” She sat down on the grass and pulled Jake down with her.

“I’m not very comfortable here. It’s kind of creepy.”

“I’m about to introduce you to my parents, and you cannot take your mind off the creepy cemetery. You are the first guy I have brought here, so pay attention.”

“Sorry. Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Sloan.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m saying hi to your parents.”

“That is creepy and stupid. They can’t hear you, and besides, they only hear my voice.” She punched his shoulder before she burst out laughing.

“You are the strangest person I have ever met.”

Sloan laughed to herself.

She had sworn never to forget the sound of his voice when he’d said, “I’m Jake, by the way.”

* * * *

Sloan went back to the hunters’ home. She had nowhere else to go. She met Archer at the door, and the look of relief on his face said it all. He was glad she was back, and so was she. When she walked in, she realized the house was fuller than when she had left it. Archer wasn’t joking when he’d said they had new recruits. It looked like he had a small army in the house. The memories hit her one at a time. But the unhappy ones, although they weren’t that many, overpowered the good ones.

“Come with me.” Archer pulled her into a room in the back.

Axel and BB were already waiting there for her, and there was someone else too. Sloan assumed that this was the medical student, in this case her last hope. She noticed the weapons hanging in the room. Archer was expecting something, and he was definitely prepared for it. But Sloan didn’t think anything on those walls could save them.

“I’m Ivan.” He stretched his hand out to her.

“I’m Sloan.” She didn’t take his hand. Instead, she just stared at it and moved away from him. According to Sloan, she was saving him a lot of heartache that would follow making her acquaintance. If she didn’t touch him, she didn’t risk infecting him with her bad luck.

“The butcher?” she added.

“That’s not funny.” BB scowled.

“I think it is. My life is a joke scripted by the devil.” Sloan laughed then sat down.

Her life seemed like an ongoing comedy with only the heavens and hell enjoying it at her expense. She peered through the thin air, wishing that everything was different. She was struggling with who she was now, and she wished that Jake could have been there to hold her hand through it all. She took a deep breath then exhaled slowly through her mouth. Sloan looked around, and everyone’s eyes seemed to be focused on her. She felt like a freak. It wasn’t enough she was carrying around the spawn of evil; they were about to conduct a science experiment on the freak.

She tried to blink away the tears threatening to expose her as a phony. She had worked so hard to keep this tough facade up, but all the emotions boiling inside her were threatening to spill over in tears. Then everything seemed to go dark, but Sloan was sure that she was still conscious. She dug her nails into her palms to make sure, and the pain affirmed it. She brought her palm up to her eyes to wipe away the dark curtain, and once she did, her eyes were clear. She brought her hand up to her eyes to examine the strange black residue when she felt a wetness roll down her cheek. She wiped that off and examined it… also black.

“This is new.” She chuckled.

“Your tears—” Axel exclaimed, as she dabbed a tissue on Sloan’s cheek “They are—”

“Black?” Archer finished off.

Sloan stood up and pulled her—Jake’s—black leather jacket off, then pulled her white T-shirt over her head, leaving her with only her black lace bra. She pushed everything on Archer’s desk on the floor and lay on top of it.

“Cut me open, now,” she said nonchalantly.

“No, we have to wait.” Sloan could see BB’s hand shake, and stranger still, she swore she could see BB’s whole body quiver.

“I don’t have time to wait. This evil inside me is growing stronger by the second. Soon, I won’t be able to control it, then what?” She looked over at Ivan, the man who looked more like a frat boy than a hunter. He looked like someone had pulled him away from the beach where he was enjoying his tan. He was tall with long dark hair, and he honestly looked more brawn than brains.

Sloan tried not to get irritated by the way Ivan kept on staring at her like a specimen in a petri dish. But when he asked the obvious question, she did all she could to contain her annoyance. “Did you try an abortion pill?”

“I took one each day after the accident—”

“You mean attempted suicide,” BB cut in.

“Call it what you want.” Sloan had decided that she wouldn’t take any grief from anyone because of the decision she had made to take her own life. If she had known that she would survive and they would hold it against her every single day, she wouldn’t have done it. But she looked at it this way—she was the one in this messed up situation and not them. Therefore, any opinion they had that was contrary to hers didn’t matter. “Anyway, what I was trying to say is that I still take them, in hopes that the little bastard will give in and just die.”

“I need to get some things…a sterilizer, a scalpel, some gauze, an antiseptic, some warm towels, a needle and a thread.”

This looked like their only option. Most likely the only thing he had cut open was a cadaver, and although he probably knew the ins and outs of the human body, the problem was he had never come close to a live human. He was now looking around as if he was searching for words of encouragement for both himself and the victim.

The nervousness in his expression made it obvious that he didn’t like what he was being asked to do. But as unfair as it seemed, Sloan needed a quick solution. She drew one of BB’s knives from her belt holster and held it up to her hand. She held it right in front of Ivan and cut along the length of her arm. When he tried to stop the bleeding, she pulled her arm away. Sloan wiped off the blood when she felt her skin pull back together. She showed her unscarred arm to Ivan.

“I always heal. Don’t be afraid to mess up.”

“I have never seen anything like that.” He was gazing at her flawless skin when a thought obviously came to his mind. It seemed his quick cognitive skills had arranged a scenario in his mind, but Sloan had figured it out. But he didn’t say anything. He left the room and came back minutes later with everything that he needed.

He arranged his tools by Sloan’s feet. Once he was done sorting out his tools, his mind, and gathering his wits, he asked everyone to leave.

“I have to stay here. She’s my cousin,” Archer growled.

“You will only make me nervous.” The truth was—somehow, Sloan sensed this—he wanted to discuss something with her in private before the procedure. “I know she heals fast, but I don’t want to mess it up just because you are breathing down my neck.”

“That’s true,” Axel said. “The whole time you will be standing over his shoulder. The poor boy is nervous enough. He’s going to be going up against the devil himself with a scalpel and an antiseptic. He doesn’t need you making the situation worse.”

“Thanks,” Ivan mumbled, his face suggesting the comment about the devil still lingered in his mind.

BB gently slipped her hand into Archer’s. And as he looked down at her, the fiery stubbornness in his eyes disappeared and a strange weakness replaced it. For the first time since she had arrived, Sloan noticed the adoring glances the two exchanged. She watched as their bodies moved like magnets pulled towards each other, one moving in tune to the other, like two halves of a heart. She and Jake were once like that. A horrible dread tugged at her, sinking to her gut and lower, dragging her down.

“Take it out.” Her voice shuddered out as she tried her best to draw it in slowly.

“Before I begin, you know what this means.”

“It’s an abortion, not a chemistry test.” Sloan snapped, “You know that the only reason you heal so fast is because of the fetus. What happens after I take it out?” He clearly wanted her to understand, to see that her life was more important than her need to expel her evil and get rid of her guilt. “You could die.”

“I know.” She swung her legs off the table and sat up. “Why does it bother you that much? You don’t know me.”

“But I know my cousin loved you.” Ivan had kept this from her. Perhaps he was afraid that telling her who he was would only make her pull away from him. But now he must have thought that Jake and their relationship would be the only thing to make her see sense.

Sloan gasped in shock. She had been looking for a link to Jake and here he stood. But she wouldn’t let that make her go weak in the knees. Besides, she saw no resemblance between the two men. Furthermore, she didn’t see a similarity in belief. Jake would want her to take it out. She lay back on the desk and closed her eyes. “Just do what I asked you to and keep your opinions to yourself.”

Ivan picked up the scalpel from the sterilizing liquid. He lifted it over her abdomen. He took a deep breath before lowering the silver blade to her ebony skin. With the tip of the blade, he cut into her skin. He paused, waiting for her to flinch or cry out in pain, but she didn’t move an inch or make a whimper. Gaining confidence, he drove the blade deeper and made a longer cut.

He heard Sloan exhale when he began to pull her skin apart. He needed to get deeper, to cut the last barrier between the fetus and the world. Once her womb was exposed to him, he picked up the scalpel one more time and cut. But this time it was different. He didn’t expect the blood-chilling scream from Sloan’s lips.

“Arrrgggghhh!”

Ivan lifted the blade from the incision, and Sloan watched Ivan’s perplexed face as it quickly healed. She wanted to laugh, but she was too weak from the pain. Her body slumped back onto the table. Sloan could feel his warm hands still over her cool skin. Once the pain had faded away, her eyes flew open, and she lifted her head. Ivan was just standing there, staring at her wide eyes in stunned silence.

“Don’t stop,” she groaned.

Her weary body and her weary mind were convinced that she wouldn’t make it through the operation, yet she didn’t mind. Already, the pain had paralyzed any senses she had in her body, but her weary heart was strong and determined. She didn’t care if she died. As long as the fetus didn’t survive, she was fine.

“You are healing too fast. This is useless.” He tossed the scalpel aside in obvious frustration. “Each incision I make heals before I can make another one. Your skin is already pulling itself back together.”

Sloan could feel her skin tighten. The realization that Ivan had failed hit her hard, crushing into her chest. She whimpered as she bit down on her jaw, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. However, her pity party had to be postponed as Sloan felt the air shift and the heavy presence of evil take over. She sat up and gazed at Ivan. His eyes flew open, and the brown was replaced by a flaming red. Sloan jumped off the table as she forced her foot against Ivan chest, sending him crashing into the shelf behind him. Sloan got on her feet and wrapped the gauze around her belly. She pulled her loaded gun out of her hip holster and grabbed one of Archer’s blades from the wall where they hang.

“It’s been a while since I looked into your eyes, Kellan. Call me crazy, but I was under the impression that I had killed you.” She dropped into a shallow crouch, one foot slightly ahead of the other, her weapons tightly held in her hands.

Kellan jumped to his feet. He flexed Ivan’s shoulders as if loosening up then said, “Not bad, but I like blondes better.”

“You know better than to attack the unsuspecting.” She bit down on her lip as an evil grin claimed her lips. “Don’t get too comfortable in that body.”

Kellan paced Ivan’s body round the room. “If you try to kill me again, you will be killing him.”

“I’m sure you already dragged his soul to hell.” Sloan was looking for any sign that Ivan was still in his body, but she saw none.

“Don’t try that again,” he said, pointing at her belly. “This is your destiny, to be the bearer of the balance between good and evil.” The grin on his face dropped, and a dark shadow of death replaced it. “I will be very disappointed, and plus, you won’t find out the surprise I have for you once the baby is born.”

Ivan felt the cold leave his body, and he could once again feel his heart beating again. He felt like he had just been dropped back into his body. He gasped as he tried to get his breath back. But when he opened his eyes, he saw the sole of a boot flying at him.

Crunch!

It was too late to duck. Sloan had leaped forward, pirouetting in the air, boot first, as she flew towards Ivan. The spin brought the force of her right leg to land a kick squarely in Ivan’s chest, sending him flying back into the door. Ivan felt it, and then heard the loud thud. Then his body slid boneless down the door to the floor.

Sloan dropped smoothly onto her feet. She took two long strides and forced her boot on Ivan’s neck. The thought of killing him came to mind. She wanted to keep on pushing until she heard that snap announcing the end of him. But when she looked into his eyes, she saw they were brown and not red anymore. She brought her foot down and grabbed her T-shirt and jacket. She pulled Ivan’s body away from the door then opened it.

* * * *

“What is he doing?” Archer was pacing in front of the door, his fingers curled into fists. He could never get used to being on the outside. He had never once waited for news. He was always the first person to know something. He wanted to get in there and stop the procedure, but he knew it had to be done. His need to honor Sloan’s wishes kept him on the outside.

He looked over at his sister who walked away as soon as the second cry emanated from the operating room, her hands over her ears. His eyes then went to BB, who was seated in a corner, her knees pulled to her chest and her face buried in her hands. He could hear her sobs and see her shoulders tremble from crying. He felt powerless and weak. There was no way he could save her from this. He went and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms.

As Archer rocked her, he couldn’t help but think of the first time he had held her like this. They had just come from the cemetery where they laid Jake to rest next to Sloan’s parents. They went to the apartment, looking for Sloan, after they had missed her at the house. But when they got there, they saw a large crowd gathered around. And when they went to look, they saw Sloan’s mangled body, damaged and broken as she had crashed into the pavement from the fall.

They took her body away just as the police were getting to the scene. They took her back to her parents’ house with no pulse, sure that she was dead, and with every intention of cleaning her up and taking her to the cemetery. He’d held her as she had cried over her best friend’s mangled body. But then Sloan had given them the shock of their lives by waking up.

The sad moment turned into a happy moment. And from then on, they had happy but cautious moments. They loved each other enough to know that they would do anything for each other, enough to make them happy, but were cautious enough so that it wouldn’t destroy them just like it had Sloan and Jake.

He put his hand over her ear as he held her head to her chest when the third scream shook the old bricks of the hunter mansion.

Archer welcomed the silence that came from the room. He wondered if she was dead, but even the thought of death was welcomed over her painful scream. It was odd, the quiet. Archer had learned a long time ago never to trust peace or still waters, and when his scar began to itch he realized what was happening.

Archer and BB had heard the commotion from the other side of the door. They also heard the voices, and it sounded like Ivan and Sloan were talking. So, they didn’t understand the loud banging, as if they were fighting. They watched in shock as Sloan walked out of the room, her T-shirt stained with blood. They then looked behind her and saw Ivan’s body sprawled on the ground.

“We need to come up with a new plan.” Sloan followed his gaze. All this time, he had been worried about the wrong person. Sloan shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly then said, “Oh, and Kellan was here a few minutes ago.”

“What did he want?” The mention of that name had anger coursing through Archer’s veins. He wished he could find out a way to put Kellan down for good. He wished he had done it even before Kellan and Sloan had met. But then his eyes went back to Ivan when he heard him cough. “How bad was it?”

“I kicked his ass. He couldn’t cut me open. Sorry,” she shouted over her shoulder before walking away with BB.

Archer didn’t know if he should admire or worry about how Sloan was taking this whole demon-possessed thing in stride. Archer gave Ivan a couple of slaps on the cheek to wake him. He then pulled him to his feet, trying hard to hide his amusement at the confused look on Ivan’s face.

“Is anything broken? Hey! Does anything hurt?”

Ivan just stared at him as his hands quickly searched his body. “Why?”

Archer couldn’t help but laugh. He looped Ivan’s hand over his shoulder and helped him walk. “Take it easy.”

“She doesn’t have a pulse,” Ivan muttered.

Archer stilled for a second, his heart clenched. Now he knew that admiration wasn’t the way to go. He was worried, deathly afraid. However, he tried to play it cool. It would definitely not help anyone if he showed that he was scared. So, he faked a laugh as he eased Ivan into a chair. “Yep, she’s kind of like the walking dead. But for a zombie, she knocked you out.”

“Huh?” Ivan just nodded. He moaned and doubled over. “For a dead person, she can kick really hard.”

“Jake taught her how to fight.” Archer sighed.

Archer looked around the room. There was blood on the desk, and everything else was tossed about. He picked up his blade and mounted it back on the wall next to the other one. He smoothed his finger over the blade and remembered when Sloan had driven them into Kellan’s chest that day. That had been the happiest day of his life, he’d thought. They had assumed that Kellan had died, but they should have known he had a trick up his sleeve.

Now, more than ever, Kellan was dangerous. He was a roaming spirit, and with him not taking a human form, it would be hard to find him or to identify him. He could have been anyone in the hunter mansion or any New Yorker on the street. They had to be careful now, more than ever, especially with Sloan.

“You should come to the gym. I’ll show you how to avoid getting your ass kicked by little girls in army boots.” Archer laughed when Ivan groaned once more.

Ivan’s face twisted in pain when he tried to stand up. “The accurate description would be, little girl with unimaginable strength, with a supernatural being growing inside her, with immense anger and hatred, in army boots.”

“Yeah, what you said.” He put Ivan’s arm over his shoulder.

Ever since Sloan had come back, she had never once cracked a genuine smile. She wasn’t the sarcastic girl he had met two years back, who always had a joke or a smart, potty-mouthed comeback. The girl who had come back from her search for a solution around the world was nothing more than a vessel that stored great evil inside her and, more than that, anger and hatred.

* * * *

Sloan sat in the study next to the gym. She liked the room, especially since Archer had put in a gigantic fireplace. She could feel BB moving nervously behind her. The sound of her heartbeat echoed in Sloan’s ear. She could hear BB’s blood rush through her veins and could hear the little hiccups of sadness her heart made. BB was feeling sorry and scared for her. But then there was a sudden change, and her heart beat in quick, bumpy jerks when the sound of Archer’s voice echoed in the corridors.

Her mind went back to when they were in the “operation room.” “I’m happy for you.”

“What do you mean?” BB gave her a confused scowl.

“I’m happy for you and Archer.”

“Why? It’s not like there is anything between the two of us.” Nervously, she turned her back to Sloan. She drummed her fingers against the desk and immediately changed the subject. “What are you going to do about Kellan and the baby now?”

“It’s not a baby,” Sloan spat out. “Kellan and the fetus are my problem. You shouldn’t deny the fact that you are in love with my cousin. I can hear your heartbeat from here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is that your favorite question today?” Sloan smiled, but there was no laughter in her eyes. “I can hear everything around me—voices, heartbeats, breathing; I can even hear the blood rush through your veins.” She turned towards her as if she’s examining her. “When we left Archer’s office, you were nervous and scared, but when you heard his voice in the corridor, you got excited. You can’t deny it; you love my cousin.”

“I do.” She swallowed the truth. “But there is nothing either of us will do about it, not while we are still living this life. I can’t risk…” She went silent realizing the implications of her statement.

“You don’t want to love him so much then watch him die. Then try and kill yourself because you know there is no way you can live without the whispers of his voice in your ear while he holds you. You can’t bear existing without feeling the warmth of his body lying next to you when you sleep at night. Realizing that you would have to go a whole day or hour without feeling his lips mold against yours in a passionate kiss.” Sloan laughter was labored with pain. “I understand.”

Sloan had been watching the flames as the embers leapt from one burning log to the other. She thought about how that fire would feel against her skin, how long it would take for her whole body to be engulfed in it, whether it would hurt, and how fast it would take her whole body to heal. She took a step into the gigantic fireplace. In the back of her mind, she could hear BB yelling at her, the sound of her hysterical voice mixed in with the crackle of the burning wood. She felt warm, like the fire was boiling her blood, and it was warming the chill in her bones and her soul. A smile crept onto her lips when she felt the warmth surround her. Suddenly, someone grabbed her and forcefully pulled her back, pinning her against the wall. Sloan opened her eyes to see Archer’s furious eyes staring back at her. Then she heard a whoosh sound as BB pointed the extinguisher at her, covering her in white foam. “What’s going on?”

“I think the only time you are happy is when you are trying to kill yourself,” Archer growled. He released her, and she dropped to her feet. “Get a change of clothes. The ones you have on are burnt.”

“Why would you do that?” BB yelled.

Axel, Ivan, and the other hunters rushed into the room, armed with weapons, their eyes seeking for any unwanted presence in the room. “What’s all the yelling about?” Axel took one look at Sloan’s clothes, an amused and curious smile on her face. “Don’t tell me the baby brought hell’s fire upon you.”

“It’s not that poetic. Sloan decided to step into the fireplace.” Archer filled them in.

“It’s your fault for building such a monstrosity in the house. I’m not surprised she tried to burn to death. In a way, that large chimney could be the fires of hell.” Axel said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I think we both know I’m indestructible.” Sloan didn’t understand why they were so worked up when they knew she was incapable of dying.

“Everybody, get back to work.” Axel cleared the room of all the non-contributing spectators.

“Are you prone to such suicidal idiocy?” Ivan spoke up.

Sloan didn’t appreciate his tone of voice, and she despised the accusation that made it seem like she had never wanted to live for anything before all this happened to her. She took a long stride towards him that had him staggering back. “I don’t know you. I won’t lose a wink of sleep if I kill you.”

“Play nice.” Archer pulled Sloan away and turned her towards the direction of the stairs. “Get a change of clothes. We are going out tonight.”

“He’s not coming.” She lashed out.

“He has to. Remember the rest of us are human and don’t heal as fast as you do.” Archer turned towards Ivan. “Don’t provoke her.”

“I guess the fetus is what’s making her so aggressive,” Ivan said.

“No, she’s always been like that,” BB put in. “She’s mellowed out now. She’s just stronger.”

“Oh?”

Sloan rolled her eyes. Ivan didn’t seem like a person who could save anyone’s life. He seemed more like a meathead from Jersey Shore than a medical student. Sloan left the room before her irritation became something else.

Ivan wasn’t used to the demon hunting business. When he found out that Jake, his only living relative, had died, he’d felt like it was his duty to avenge the death of their family. But what Jake had told him about this world wasn’t accurate. He’d made it seem like all they did was shoot into the shadows. But what Ivan had seen so far chilled him to the bone. He watched as, one by one, Archer had led an army into deserted buildings in the New York area. He’d seen how the hunters killed and were killed. Then, a few days later, he had watched as Axel had led a bunch of new recruits into the gym and trained them.

He saw injuries that weren’t in the medical books or in hospitals. He saw people implode and burn from the inside out. He witnessed as people fought an internal war, and for the first time that day, he knew how it felt to have your body taken over. Then there was Sloan. Immediately when he’d met her, he saw what had appealed to his cousin physically. But when he talked to her, he couldn’t see what Jake could have been attracted to. He imagined Sloan must have been full of life to deal with a loaded gun like Jake. He assumed that the fight between good and evil had consumed her and, ironically, left her empty at the same time.

Ivan wondered why Sloan insisted on taking responsibility for Jake’s death. Archer had told him what he had witnessed the day he died, and what had been between Sloan and Jake. He saw it as unfortunate death. He was a realist. He never believed that a person could be indirectly responsible for someone’s death just because she loved him.

He went to his room to get suited up. It wasn’t anything special, just a T-shirt, a pair of cargo pants, his gun holster and his medical kit. He had to dress in black, blend in with the shadows. Ivan made his way to the garage and saw that everyone was ready to head out. It looked like Archer was only taking a small party—just him, Axel, BB and Sloan. He was relieved, because he knew this would only be a scouting expedition with no chance of combat with the demons.

He walked over to the bike that was covered up. He pulled off the cover and tossed it to the side. A blanket of dust covered the bike. Ivan paced around it, checking whether it was operational or not. His head lifted when he got the eerie sensation that someone was staring at him. His instincts were right, because Sloan was glaring, a stern warning in her eyes.

“You’re not going to take that, are you?” Sloan dismounted her bike and walked toward him.

Ivan took a step back. When he realized he was cowering away, he stepped towards the bike and decided to stand his ground. “And why not? No one else is using it.” Ivan was putting up a good show, one that he hoped Sloan was believing, because the quake in his knees proved that he didn’t.

Archer dismounted his bike and blocked Sloan’s path towards him. Ivan breathed a sigh of relief and was glad Archer’s massive form was blocking Sloan’s view of him. He didn’t want to show that he was terrified of her. And when Archer raised his hands, clearly a sign to show that he wasn’t going to attack her, Ivan did the same. He didn’t need to give her a reason to come at him. “Calm down. Ivan, use one of the other bikes.”

Ivan wanted to say no, but when Archer stepped away, he nodded, his head no doubt resembling that of a bobble head. Who was he kidding? Without Archer, he was a grown man, six-foot, one-hundred-and-eighty pounds of muscled fear. He was terrified of a girl a quarter of his size.

Sloan didn’t move until Ivan had covered the flame-red bike up and taken one of the others. Ivan kicked the bike alive and left Sloan behind. When he looked back, she was staring at the bike, and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

* * * *

“What are we doing here?” Sloan asked once they pulled into Kellan’s old apartment.

Although she had been there the previous night, she hadn’t thought she would have to go back there so soon. A slight wind blew past her, and she knew exactly what it was.

“We better have a good reason for being here. We aren’t alone.” She marched in, not waiting for a reply to her question.

The ring of the elevator announced their arrival at the penthouse. Once the elevator doors opened, Sloan hesitated for a second before stepping in. She could still feel the coldness lurking around her, and she was waiting for Kellan to appear at any moment.

“We are looking for clues, anything that can tell us what his next plan is.” Archer went to the bedroom and started tossing things around.

Ivan stopped in the middle of a black and a coppery color residue. Sloan watched him from the corner of her eye. It was obvious that he already knew what it was. She wondered if he knew just whose blood it was.

“I was standing right here when Kellan had his hand in Jake’s chest, his fingers tightening around his heart, squeezing the life out of Jake as I watched.” She paused for a second. “He should have just let me take the deal, then he would have been alive.”

“As alive as you are right now,” Axel put in, “You were going to sell your soul to the devil in exchange for his life. He would have been walking around here like a zombie, guilty and looking for a way to save you.”

“He would still be alive,” she murmured.

“What happened to Kellan?” Ivan asked.

“He’s right here, watching,” Sloan added. She winked at him and chuckled when he jumped and started looking around him.

“There is nothing in the room.” Archer appeared. But before he could say anything else, his hand flew to the scar on his neck, and he groaned.

Sloan felt what he had felt. She spun around towards the shift in the air, her eyes piercing through the thin air. “Get behind me,” she growled. She reached for her blade but quickly realized it would be useless. Her hand flew to her belly as she doubled over. The pain drove her to her knees. Ivan rushed to her, but she waved him away.

“What do you want?” Sloan shouted at the shadows, trying to focus her gaze as the pain clouded her eyes.

“It’s her,” Archer said when Sloan saw his boots walk towards her. Her feet trembled as she used Archer’s leg as a crutch to get up.

The shadows began to coalesce, and the dark became a woman-like shape. The first thing Sloan saw was her red lips then her long black dress with her long creamy leg exposed. She had always been beautiful; there was no denying that. But her beauty masked the black, cold box where her heart was meant to be.

Ali’s eyes lingered on Archer’s face as she smiled. Sloan knew that Ali would probably go for Archer first, take out the biggest threat. There was nothing she could do about it. Sloan was fighting hard not to pass out from the pain. She grabbed the back of Archer’s shirt. This time, she was going to be his anchor. Sloan knew from experience how seductive they could be. It was hard fighting against the urge to go to one who had marked you. Ali was having fun, toying with Archer, having his instinct to kill her fight with his desire to have her.

“Fight it, Archer,” Sloan said. Once her mind was focused on Archer, she realized that the pain was subsiding. It was probably another one of Ali’s games.

“I see you are growing stronger and more powerful each day.” Ali’s smile was turned towards Sloan. “You won’t find anything here, or anywhere else.”

“What do you mean?” Archer asked.

“Everything you need to draw Kellan out is inside her. That’s why he keeps hanging around her. But soon, he will be out searching for his new vessel while we prepare for the arrival of the baby.” Ali’s job was evidently to try and convince Sloan to accept her fate. Her resistance was allowing the baby to assume its full potential.

“I’ll find a way to get it out.” Sloan’s voice rose. She wasn’t just telling Ali but Kellan too.

As soon as Ali left, Kellan’s energy disappeared. Sloan’s shoulders slumped as her body relaxed. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, releasing all the tension that had gathered up inside her in the last seconds. “We better head home.”

* * * *

Sloan had just climbed into Jake’s bed after a minute of simply staring at it. It was strange, not being able to share it with him anymore. She pulled the covers to her chin and stared into the darkness. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard the doorknob turn, and light shone into the room from the opened door. Sloan closed her eyes, but she didn’t need to see to know Ivan was the one snooping in the room. Everyone else would have announced themselves and no one else was that stupid to sneak in on her. Sloan didn’t know what Ivan was looking for, and by the way he kept on bumping into things in the dark, Ivan didn’t know either. After a few seconds of cursing and mumbling, he left.

Sloan laughed and tried to fall asleep. It wasn’t easy because her subconscious was begging her not to. Her mind was getting tired of Ali’s invasions, and how erratic and frayed her emotions were after each dream. But Sloan needed her rest.

Sloan knew it was a dream when the smell of sulfur wafted in the air. The only chance Ali got to invade her mind was when her guard was down, when Sloan was asleep. Plus, her parents and Jake were there, and they were staring at her in silence. Sloan stood in a dark corner and watched herself walk around the empty room that seemed to be filled with her memories. With one sniff in the air, she knew everything that had happened in that room for the past century. But nothing was as interesting as the last year. Sloan was tied to the room, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

She couldn’t move more than an inch in every direction. It was like she was in a glass cage with nothing but darkness surrounding her. Her eyes narrowed as she looked intently into the abyss, trying to make sense of the darkness moving towards her. She sucked in a breath of cold air that chilled its way down to her heart. The liquid darkness began to take shape. The darkness rippled into a figure then, with long black hair. Her invisible cage turned into walls of ice. Sloan hugged her arms around her as her lip trembled from the cold. She swore through frozen lips. Sloan couldn’t tell if Ali was the darkness or if she wore the darkness. Her black dress seemed to continue into the shadows, like it was the veil and train to her wedding dress.

Ali clapped as she closed the gap between her and Sloan. With each step she took, a chunk of the ice walls melted down, but Sloan was still frozen to the spot. Ali threw her head back and cackled. The sound of her laughter shot daggers into Sloan’s bones. She watched in awe as Ali drew a bump on her belly with a cloud of cold air.

Ali broke into laughter one more time. “I have to tell you that you made a good attempt. You put up a good fight in your search for a cure. I have to admit the exorcist in Peru had us scared.”

Sloan stumbled back when the feeling in her limbs returned. The heat seemed to radiate from Ali, and although she didn’t want to be anywhere near her, she welcomed the warmth. Her eyes followed Ali’s hand as it rose to touch her forehead.

“How did it go again?” Sloan felt Ali’s warm hand as it came into contact with her forehead. Ali shook her and mumbled incomprehensive words. Then, with a shrieking cackle, she sent Sloan flying into the air. But the cloud of light seemed to follow Sloan into the darkness in which she was tossed. “I guess it didn’t work. You still have the evil inside you. Are you still going to try and kill it?”

Sloan wasn’t hurt from the fall, but she felt like every muscle in her body had bunched up and frozen. She groaned as she straightened her legs to stand up. “I will never stop trying to kill it.”

A flash of anger crossed Ali’s face as her saucer eyes turned blood red with hints of flames behind the dangerous look. Sloan gasped as Ali’s long fingers wrapped around her slender neck. “It would be better for you if you stopped trying.”

Sloan didn’t struggle to be released. She didn’t want to give Ali the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. “I will never stop trying,” she gasped.

“You will die as soon as the fetus is expelled from your body. Or are you forgetting that it is the only thing holding you together from your countless acts of suicidal idiocy.”

“I don’t care.”

The red in Ali’s eyes slowly disappeared. “You really don’t care if you die or not.”

Sloan tried to get away from her. She was sure that nothing human could kill her, but she had never put the supernatural world to the test. Part of her didn’t care if Ali killed her right there and then, but her desire to kill Kellan gave her the will to live. But when she tried to take a step away from Ali, she couldn’t. Her body was held in place. She shivered from the brush of cold air that swept past her neck as Ali leaned towards her ear.

“I thought you wanted to hang onto everything that was Jake,” Ali whispered into Sloan’s ear, then took a step back into the shadows.

Even before Sloan could understand or ask her what she meant, Ali had disappeared into the darkness from which she had come. Sloan was confused. At first, she’d thought that it was Ali trying to mess with her head, but what if she was telling the truth?

Sloan woke up in the darkest hour of the night. She sat up and examined the room, her eyes better accustomed to this darkness. She wiped the sweat off her brow and stared out the window. She got off her bed and sat by her window. What now? Sloan was left with this huge question in her mind. She had to stop any other plans she had of expelling the fetus until she knew the truth.

The big ball of silver fire peeked into her window. She thought back to that night in Peru. The moon hadn’t been silver then. When she’d found the village priest known for casting demons out of people, she thought she had finally found an answer. Everyone in that village had stayed away from her, terrified that the evil spirit would leap out of her and into them. A chalk-drawn circle in the middle of the village was where she’d stood for five days and five nights. According to the priest, being immobile and keeping the evil away from other souls it could feed on kept it weak.

Sloan stood there watching as the village people stared and treated her like the plague. They tied animal skins around their bodies. The women gathered to talk, while the men went out hunting. Their little children played, weaving through the mud, thatched houses. They looked normal and happy, and that was what Sloan longed for the most.

She’d thought that the hunger and thirst would have broken her will by then, but she was still standing strong. On the last night, just before dawn, she was dragged to the river. She was stripped down to her birthday suit as the priest used a broken bottle to shave her hair.

They held her under the water, claiming that only the people on the other side could help her. Sloan needed to put a foot into the afterlife so that the dead could rid her of the evil spirit. But not once did Sloan ‘almost die.’ It was like she had developed gills overnight. Sloan felt comfortable under water. At first, she’d thought she would drown, but once she pushed the panic aside, she realized she could breathe under water. But she had still hoped that the priest’s plan would work.

When dawn came, Sloan had the disappointment of watching his face take on many different expressions of bewilderment. The sun rose, and she was driven out of the village. She couldn’t be helped, that was what the priest had said. Since then, her hair had grown out, and she was still carrying the fruit of all evil in her womb.

Sloan snickered when she felt the air around her shift and change. “You have destroyed me.” She wanted to return the favor. But with Kellan still in his liquid form, there was nothing she could do. She turned around and peered into the dark, wondering if she could grab a fist full of Kellan and flush it down the toilet.

* * * *

Sloan was still wide awake when morning rang in. She didn’t move until the late afternoon when there were less people in the house. She had no intention of meeting new faces and especially if she had to explain her situation all over again. She was content with the one new person in her life, Ivan.

There was a huge difference between them. Ivan wasn’t as brave as his cousin had been, and neither was he skilled in hand-to-hand combat. But they shared the same need to take care of everyone, especially her. Sloan closed her eyes and pretended that she was still asleep, but she paid close attention to Ivan as he paced around her room as if he was looking for something. He went through her jacket and her suitcases, but she made no attempt to stop him. She guessed he wanted to know more about her, so she let him snoop. Although she knew he wouldn’t find anything, she was just glad that she didn’t have to have a sit-down conversation with him. She peeked under her eyelids and watched his exasperated expression. Sloan smiled, knowing that he had come up empty. As soon as he left, she sat up.

“You look rested; did you have a good night’s sleep?” Archer looked up at her as she came slowly down the stairs.

His hands were taped, and Sloan knew he was on his way to the gym to give his punching bag a few undefended punching rounds. She tried her best to put a smile on her lips, but when Ivan appeared, it dropped. She rushed down the last few steps and stood toe to toe with Ivan.

“That’s odd, because I didn’t get a wink of sleep.” Her lips curved into a wicked, calculating smile, but there was no laughter in her eyes. Instead, she could feel a silver fire began swirling from the back of her eyes.

Ivan evidently knew he’d been caught, and from the silver lightning he would no doubt see building up in her eyes, he would also know he was in big trouble.

Sloan watched his Adam’s apple as it moved when he swallowed hard. Part of her that she never thought existed, wanted to grab it and pull it out. A curious feeling of wanting to know how Ivan’s spine and skull would look outside his skin took her over. When the need to kill began to consume her, Sloan took a step back and forced in a deep breath. When she exhaled, all the tension left her body, and she could feel the black in her eyes return.

She could tell the wheels were spinning in his mind, so she decided to put him out of his misery, “The answer is yes, Ivan, I was awake when you were snooping around in my room.”

Archer had been watching as the scene unfolded. He had no doubt seen the look in Sloan’s eyes and decided to give her time to control the demon inside her. He knew her well enough to suspect that if he tried to intercede for Ivan, it would only anger her and escalate things. Besides, he was, by now, no doubt terrified at the unbelievable things that Sloan could do, and he didn’t want to be the target. But now that her eyes had gone back to normal, he clearly felt it was safe to step in.

“What were you doing in her room?”

Ivan shrugged his shoulders then said, “I was just checking up on her.”

“Why were you going through her things?”

Ivan said what could only be the first thing that popped into his head. Even though it must have sounded as ridiculous in his head as it did out loud, he evidently felt he needed to save his bacon. “I wanted to do her laundry, but I saw she didn’t have a change of clothes.”

“I can help with that.” BB walked in, dressed for training. She had only caught the last part of the conversation. She grabbed Sloan’s arm and dragged her into the gym with her. BB had been trying to take things back to the way they were before when they used to talk to each other more than anyone else did. “Let’s go beat up some guys.”

“I think Sloan should stick to the dummies for now. Not everyone can heal the way you do, Christy,” Archer teased.

Sloan laughed. No one had called her that for ages. Only Archer would survive her wrath when he called her that. But for the first time since she got there, she felt normal. Sloan sat out She didn’t bother to try and train. It was public knowledge that she was the terminator, and no one came near her. She decided not to use the facilities either, sure that she would only end up destroying them. So, she looked on, and when the memories became too much, she left.

* * * *

Ivan looked confused as he felt his body turn to face her. He studied his body for a moment as if wondering why he’d got this eerie feeling all over him, like he was going numb. His body was going against every command his mind made, and he was helpless. All he could do—though he seemed panicked at the realization—was just watch as his eyes began to follow Sloan. In his mind there were thoughts that weren’t his.

Jake had decided to give this possession thing a try. Every time he would try to be around Sloan, Kellan’s presence would send him away. He needed a vessel, and this time it was his cousin’s unsuspecting body. Kellan had already possessed him, leaving a huge gap for him to fill. But he had yet to master the art of completely taking over.

In the morning, he was able to get Ivan to go through Sloan’s things. He was looking for something that was holding Kellan to Sloan. He was sure it wasn’t her emotions, and from the chatter he had been hearing from the other side, he was sure it wasn’t the baby. It was easy for Jake to assume the baby was his, but his lack of trust in Sloan made it hard for him to accept. She had betrayed him once before, and he didn’t put it past her to do it again.

His possession abilities were limited to motor skills, and he had yet to take over Ivan’s mind. He knew his cousin could feel him taking over his body, but he couldn’t expel him. Jake pulled Ivan along with him as he rushed towards Sloan. He wanted to reach out and grab her. He wanted to hold her against his body and feel her heart beat against his. But…it wasn’t his body; it wasn’t his heart. He settled for watching her through someone else’s eyes and feeling her through someone else’s hands.

He reached out for her and spun her around. Jake couldn’t say anything he wanted to now that he was face-to-face with her. All he could do was look into her eyes and see all her pain, anger, guilt, hatred, and love. He tried to get the words he thought out through Ivan’s lips.

“I…am…here.”

Ivan’s eyes were wide in horror. He found himself staring into Sloan’s eyes and saying words that he was sure his mind hadn’t formed, and clearly didn’t know what to do. Jake realized he was terrified that Kellan was trying to take over his body once again but that he wondered why he kept him conscious, unlike the last time he had done it. Jake and Ivan watched, as the look in Sloan’s face turned to that of curiosity. Ivan forced his eyes closed and Jake could feel his desperation as he tried to expel whatever it was from his body.

Jake felt Ivan trying to take over control of his body once more. He didn’t have a choice but simply to leave. Ivan made one sharp exhalation and Jake was out. But he didn’t leave Sloan’s side. He had to be there to protect her from Kellan. So, this time, when Kellan tried to push his spirit away to the other side, he held on to the love that Sloan had for him.

“What?” Sloan eyebrow rose. “I am here. I know you are here, Ivan. I can see you.”

Who is here? Ivan asked himself. The voice in his head hadn’t been his, but the voice that had spoken the words was his.

“I mean, I am here if you need any help,” Ivan rushed on. “If you need a doctor…of course you don’t. You don’t get hurt.”

Shut up, she hates ramblers.

“Don’t tell me to shut up!” Ivan yelled.

“I didn’t say anything.” Sloan backed away from him, shaking her head, her hands lifted in surrender and an ‘are you crazy?’ look on her face.

Don’t yell at her.

Ivan was slowly losing his mind, or this life was finally getting to him and he was developing multiple personalities. “I didn’t mean you. I don’t know—”

“I’m going to go now.”

Ivan watched as Sloan walked away, occasionally looking back at him with a scowl. Of course, he looked crazy because he was crazy.

Ivan wanted to tell someone what had happened. He was hoping that they had some juju beads that he could hang around his neck to keep the spirits that were trying to possess him away. He went back to the gym and found Archer, but he was too into his punching bag. Axel was training the new recruits and BB was on the mat with another hunter. He decided he would wait for them to finish. Then, maybe, they could all help him speak to Sloan since she had been the one contacted.

He felt like he was in a bad sequel of ‘The Body Snatchers.’ Spirits or souls trying to possess his body, the demons, and Sloan’s predicament, were all out of his comfort zone. But someone had to avenge the murder of his family. He’d had to put the medical books, his scalpel, and scrubs away and come here, to the hunters’ den. He had seen things that he had only heard about from Jake, and sometimes he still thought they were a figment of his imagination.

The gym began to empty out, and soon it was just Archer, Axel and BB. He took a deep breath as he tried to formulate the words in his mind. Once he’d picked what he thought was his best arrangement, he said, “Something is trying to take over my body.”

Judging by the blank stares looking back at him, he knew he had to explain it all. “I was here in the gym, when all of a sudden, my body followed Sloan. Then I think I said, ‘I am here.’”

No one said anything. It was like they didn’t know what was going on or, if they did, they were keeping it to themselves. He looked on as they exchanged loaded stares. Then Archer finally broke the silence.

“Do you think it was Kellan trying to possess you again?”

“I don’t know. It was different this time. I felt everything, with Kellan I blacked out.” His fingers ran through his hair as he tried to sieve through those few seconds for a clue. “Isn’t there anything you can give me to keep them out of my body?”

“I’m afraid not.” Axel answered this time.

“What did Sloan say about all of it?” BB asked, curious but looking like she was sure she had an answer.

* * * *

There was something else she saw and felt, but she pushed it out of her mind. She didn’t want to add insanity to her long list of ‘odd things about Sloan.’ She pulled away from Ivan’s hold and ran up the stairs. She had seen the confused look on Ivan’s face and the way he shook his head as if he was trying to shake something off.

It couldn’t be…it wasn’t…but what if it was? Those were the questions going through her already confused mind. “Could it be you, Jake?” she said out loud, part of her expecting a response. But there was no sound besides the sound of her breath filling the silent air. “If Kellan can do it, then why can’t Jake?”

In a fraction of a second, Sloan had managed to convince herself that her boyfriend and her lover were both sitting on her shoulders, just like the devil and the angel. But did that mean that Jake was an angel now? What she didn’t understand was why he needed a vessel, like Kellan. Why didn’t Jake just come back in his own body? Then she remembered what Kellan had said—she had destroyed Kellan’s vessel. Kellan had destroyed Jake’s body. She winced at the memory of it, the sound Jake’s body had made when Kellan ripped his heart out of its cage.

Sloan had to accept that Jake was dead, that he would never come back in his own body. But she also had to accept that he was beside her, and that the war had gone beyond the physical. Part of her wanted to believe that Jake and Kellan were now matched, and that Jake was kicking Kellan’s ass. She took comfort in the idea that she wasn’t alone.

“What did Sloan say about all of it?”

At the mention of her name, Sloan moved closer to the door. She didn’t need to, but she couldn’t break the eavesdropping habit.

“Sloan said nothing.” Sloan could hear them talking from her room. Heightened hearing was just another one of her new abilities. Sloan rushed down the stairs. She had a weird hunch, but the last thing she wanted was for Archer to catch on and tell Ivan. She didn’t need the kid turning into a hostile host.

“Sloan, did you notice something strange about Ivan when he spoke to you just now?”

Sloan hadn’t blatantly lied in a while. She didn’t have a reason to. But an opportunity to dust out her poker face had now presented itself. She had to make sure they didn’t suspect it was Jake, or else he wouldn’t try to take Ivan’s body again. “You didn’t look stranger than you usually do.”

“Are you sure?” Archer asked.

“I’m going to take a shower. Maybe some cold water will clear my head.” Ivan left the room.

Archer began to speak when, suddenly, Sloan silenced him. She was listening to Ivan’s footsteps and waited until she heard a door shut, a knob turned and the sound of water droplets hitting his body. When she was sure he was out of hearing range, she signaled Archer to speak.

“You know more about this than you are letting on,” Archer said.

“I do.”

“So, are you going to tell us, or do we have to torture it out of you?” Axel put in.

“I would like to see you try. But I will tell you.” She listened a bit more, and when she was sure Ivan was still in the shower, she said, “It was Jake.”

“Jake! But why?” BB had a twisted expression on her face. “Is he trying to make contact?”

“He already did. I think he wants to use Ivan as a vessel.”

“We can’t let him do that.” Axel cut in.

“Yes, we can.” Archer went against his sister. “Maybe he knows something we don’t. He could help us kill Kellan.”

“But that isn’t right. How would you like it if he was trying to take over your body?” BB’s hostility was directed at Archer. “It’s not fair to Ivan.”

“Where is Jake now?”

“Here. He’s always been around. I think it was Kellan trying to keep him away. Maybe that’s why he needs a vessel.” Sloan could feel herself get desperate.

“We have to—” BB started when Sloan cut her off.

“No one tells him. I’ll hear if you do.”

“Something has changed about her,” BB said.

“What—her lightning eyes or her lightning speed?” Axel’s jaws hung loose, as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just seen.

Sloan spun around and breezed out of the room.

* * * *

Sloan had kept Ali’s visit to herself for almost a week. But with each day that passed, she grew more frightened and confused. She remembered the dreams she kept on having, and that she’d not had them before, even since she’d first returned to New York. Sloan had always thought that it was Kellan’s and Ali’s way of messing with her head. But what if it was their way of telling her the truth?

But why would they want her to know?

Sloan was sure that this was their way of keeping their interests safe. That morning, when she walked past her bedroom mirror, all she could see was the little bulge peaking from under her tight T-shirt. She was scared, not only because it was one less week before the baby arrived, but she was scared of telling the others what Ali had told her.

She had made up her mind, no matter what happened, she wasn’t going to let the baby live. At the moment she had run out of ideas of how to end the pregnancy before the baby was born, so she had come up with an alternative plan. As soon as it was born, she would kill it. Telling the others about what Ali had said proved to be a problem. They could end up thinking the baby was Jake’s and go against her when she wanted to end its life.

But then what if it was Jake’s? What role did Kellan play in the baby’s life if it wasn’t his? She didn’t understand why, at the last minute, Kellan was attached to the fetus. Maybe because it was his? But she had to make sure, and no one knew Ali as well as Archer.

Sloan made her way to the garage. She walked past the motorcycles and the vans to the back room. It was Archer’s armory room, but it had a much larger collection than his office armory. She looked up on the walls and swords that Archer had forced himself to hang there. From the noise and the sparks flying around the room, Sloan knew that he was forging a new sword.

Archer was dressed in his leather apron and thick, tinted goggles. He stepped on the lever as the gravel circle spun round as he held the blade against it. It was like he was on a sewing machine, and instead of embroidering a cloth he was sharpening his toys.

“Archer!” Sloan shouted as loud as she could above the noise.

“Archer!” she shouted one more time, but this time she knocked his leg off the lever.

“I’ve been keeping something from you.”

Archer exhaled and sat down on his workbench, his arms crossed over his chest. “Let’s hear it.”

“Ali has visited me in my dreams.” She watched as his hand rubbed over the scar along his neck, as if the mention of Ali’s name brought back an aching memory.

“When was this? What did she want? What did she say?” One by one, he hit her with questions as he paced around the room, his fingers feverishly rubbing over his neck.

Sloan reached for his hand and pulled it away from his neck before he tore off his skin. “All those questions at once…let’s see.” She thought back to the questions and the right answers for them. “One week ago, she wanted to give me a message, and she gave an indication that Jake was the father of”—she pointed at her belly—“this.”

“What did she say?” Archer doubled back, his eyes wide in shock. “Did you just say the baby is Jake’s?”

“I didn’t say it, Ali did.” She rubbed her fingers into her pixie haircut, “But we can’t trust her. She might just be saying that so that we won’t try to kill this…this—”

“Baby?” the tone in Archer’s voice was almost accusatory.

She didn’t want to say the word. It would only make it too real, especially if Jake’s name was in the same sentence. Sloan didn’t believe it. Ali was up to something. “I don’t trust her.”

“I don’t either.” He bit into his lower lip as it all simmered in his mind. Then he said, “What if it is? What if it is Jake’s baby?”

“Don’t call it that!” she snapped “And don’t say…don’t say it’s Jake’s.”

“But what if it is?”

Sloan shrugged. Did it really matter? A human baby wouldn’t turn her into this thing that she was. At this point, even with what Ali had said and the visit from Jake, her decision was still the same. She needed to get rid of it. She struggled with the decision whether or not to tell Archer about the dreams she’d had back at the Mara. But she didn’t want to reinforce his need for this baby to be semi-human. For all Sloan knew, the baby was evil and nothing about it was normal, nothing about what it made her into was normal.

“Then I would be having morning sickness or cravings. But one thing is for sure, my eyes wouldn’t be changing into some zombie colors, and I would be dead by now. I wouldn’t be able to toss a man twice my size across the room, and there is this.” She picked up the hot blade that Archer had been working on and sliced open her arm. She watched as she healed, as her skin folded together, and when she wiped off the blood, there was no scar.

“Normal babies give their mothers back pains, heartburn and cravings. Not superhuman strength and the need to kill.” Sloan could feel herself get dizzy as she listed the things that should and should not be happening to her. Feeling overwhelmed, she turned around and left before Archer could say anything else.

Sloan ran into Ivan at the door. She saw him freeze when he bumped into her. Literally, she watched as every muscle in his body bunched up under the intensity of her gaze. She wasn’t looking to scare him, but she was hoping the supernatural part of her would be able to sense Jake in him.

Nothing.

There wasn’t even a whisper of Jake in him or around her. Kellan seemed to have left too. The hopeful part of her was hoping that Kellan was getting his ass handed to him in the other world. Since they were both spirits, although highly unlikely, they could be evenly matched.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ivan’s timid look of curiosity turned into fright. His eyes darted over his shoulder as he spun a complete three-sixty, looking for whatever could be behind him. Then it apparently dawned on him that even if there were something, there was no way he would be able to see it. But she would, Sloan definitely would.

“What do you mean?” She cleared her throat and walked past him towards the stairs.

“You were staring at me as if you could see something.” He ran after her. He began to shiver though she knew it was more from fright than the cold, as if a cold, unnatural chill had swept through him. “They are here, aren’t they?”

“Who are here?” She didn’t turn around to face him but instead, kept eyes glued to each step she took.

“Tell me!” The hoarseness in his voice was gone. It had been replaced by a loud, shrill tone, the kind expected from a cat and not a grown man. Was it absolutely terrible that Sloan was taking pleasure from seeing the newbie unravel? The sadistic side of her, more prominent now, enjoyed the entertainment.

“What is going on here?” Axel asked from the bottom of the stairs as Archer, BB and the other hunters flooded the foyer.

“What was that?” BB ran up the stairs, expecting the noise to have come from Sloan. “Is it the bab—the fetus?”

Sloan slapped BB’s hand away as it rose to her midsection. “No, it was that big baby.”

“But it sounded like a siren, like the demon siren.” Archer began to laugh, but the pasty-white fear etched in Ivan’s face clearly told him otherwise.

“There is something trying to take over my body, and she knows who it is.” His head bobbed feverishly as he pointed at her.

Sloan could see his eyes flare up, wild with insanity. But she could also hear his heart beating hard and fast. It was as if it was sprinting like a wild horse in the fields or like a man being chased by the unknown. Sadly, Ivan was the latter.

“Calm down or you are going to have a heart attack,” Sloan said to Ivan. “Breathe!”

“What is he talking about?” With three long strides, Archer was on the same step as Sloan. Throwing caution to the wind, he grabbed her elbow and hauled her into her room. “Is Jake around?”

“No.”

“What about Kellan?”

“No.”

“So why does he think that something is after him.”

“He wasn’t made for this life. I think you should let him get back to dissecting frogs.” She tossed the clothes around on her bed, avoiding Archer’s glance that clearly stated that this was all her fault.

“We need him. He’s a doctor—”

“He’s a med student.”

“We still need him.”

“He wasn’t built for this world. The rest of us—you, Axel, BB, Jake, me—we were born in this world. This is who we are, who we were bred to be.” It was a bad attempt to a ‘we are heroes’ speech, and she knew it. But still she had to go for it.

“We still need him.” The tone in his voice held a finality that even Sloan couldn’t argue with. They needed him, and she, for the time being, was indestructible.

“If you want him to stay, that’s fine with me. But keep him away from me.” She held the door open for him, and as soon as he left, she let it swing out of her hand. The door shut with a bang, sending the old brick house to trembling and moaning. She didn’t think she had pushed it that hard, but these days, the slightest movements from her were the biggest.

Sloan dropped to her bed and rolled around in the covers, letting them tangle around her. She hated to see Ivan unraveling. His sanity was ripping off its hinges, but she hoped that Jake was trying to possess him. She hadn’t felt anything supernatural around her or in the house, but she prayed he would come soon.