At some point, I’d finally given into exhaustion again and when I woke up, my body ached. When I went to adjust, something cold hit my face. A shiver racked through me as I opened my eyes to see the open sky above me and rain drenching my clothes.
“What the hell?” I gasped, looking around. How the hell did I end up on a roof? Yet I recognized it by the stone gargoyles that overlooked what I knew was the courtyard below. “Monty?” It was more instinct than anything that had me calling out. But he didn’t come, and I was forced to face the fact that he was likely furious with me. What happened was real, and he was a demon that watched me fuck another man.Or another demon, I suppose.
How did my life get so fucking complicated?
A crack of lightning had me scrambling from the open middle of the roof, hiding beside a stone gargoyle as I tried to remember how the fuck I got up here.
“Monty? Please!” I begged again. For a brief moment, I felt him, then he was gone again just as swiftly. “No.” At this point the tears tracked down my cheeks along with the raindrops.
The stone wings gave enough cover that I was no longer getting drenched, though some of the raindrops still reached me. I’d have to wait for it to slow down before I could even begin to make my way back inside.
A full moon was shining above, illuminating the puddles of rainwater on the roof and casting my stone protector in a strange light.
“Thanks for keeping me somewhat dry,” I remarked to it, feeling a bit silly for talking to a fucking statue. But for some reason, I felt it was warranted.
That same stirring feeling in my chest resurfaced, mimicking my day in the courtyard when I had first glanced up at them. As if something was tethering me to this spot and the gargoyle next to me.
A flash of lightning illuminated the roof even more, and I spotted the door on the other side. Glancing up at the sky, I decided it was now or never, the rain unrelenting so far.
“Don’t get struck by lightning,” I warned both my gargoyle and me before I crawled out from underneath him and bolted across the roof. My bare feet slid on the wet stone, and a loud roar of thunder had me letting out a completely undignified scream.
In the next flash of light, I thought I saw a figure looming behind me, wings outstretched and as big as my demon friend. As I threw open the door, I turned, expecting to see the gargoyle come to life but he stood as still as ever, watching over the courtyard in his perpetual stare. I shivered again, though this time not from the cold rain but from the thought of statues coming to life.
My hands clung to the banister as I wound my way down the long staircase to the floors below so I didn’t slip and fall to my death. The wails of terrified patients were at full blast as I walked past the door to the sixth floor, and I tried to think if anyone ever said who was up here. A particular mournful wail had me stopping in my tracks, and before I knew it, my fingers were wrapping around the knob and I was entering the floor.Curiosity won again.No nurses were in sight, and the hall light was completely off, no backup lights glowing softly in the absence of the usual light. Even on the third floor we had backup lights so the night nurse could keep watch. Why was this floor different?
My ragged breathing and rapid heartbeat were almost deafening, drowning out the cries for a moment. Shadows moved in as I crouched down and tried to use breathing techniques I’d learned long ago. The same figure from the cafeteria appeared at the end of the hall. Its footsteps were slow as it moved forward, and I scrambled backward, clamping a hand over my mouth so I didn’t scream. The last thing I needed was to find myself in more trouble than I was likely already in for being out of bed. Nurse Drew was going to murder me herself when I reached the third floor, of that I had no doubt.
The creature blinked out of existence before appearing again a few feet closer. I whimpered against my hand and closed my eyes, opening them after a few deep breaths and letting my guard down since he was gone. My tried-and-true method of getting my hallucinations under control worked again.
I started to stand on shaky legs before the creature reappeared in a full run, racing toward me, so I slammed my hand over my mouth again as I bit back a scream. Despite bracing for impact, nothing came.
When I opened my eyes, there was nothing, and I refused to look behind me as I stood. He didn’t appear again so I stepped forward. Now that I was firmly back in my version of reality, the noise from the floor intensified. Screams, sobs, and a few unhinged peals of laughter filled the air. My hands clutched at my ears as panic surged in me, but I couldn’t let my guard down or I’d be joining them. Drake had warned me there were demons here, and I had no doubt they were lurking on this floor at this very moment.
Just like that night on the third floor, the demons moved beyond the windows. It was as if they were pacing inside, taunting the patients. But it wasn’t my fight. Not tonight. I forged ahead until I heardher. The woman whose wail had tugged me into this hellhole, there was just something about her voice that beckoned me forward. A shattered voice begging for help that wasn’t coming. The first door on the right was open enough I could see inside, a form huddled in the corner as a demon taunted it.
“You’re not good enough. You were nothing more than a useless fuck toy. Now he’s stuck here, forced to walk the halls he hates and there’s nothing you can do. You’re too weak to change this hell.” A cold cackle had her calling out again, and my heart shattered at the torment she was experiencing.
“Get away from her!” I yelled. The demon turned on crooked legs, and his smile widened at the sight of me.
“Have you come to join her?” As he turned his attention on me, a strange pressure filled my head, as if fingers were digging through my brain, searching for something. “Or would you rather have another visit from your dear old dad? I hear he could use some money and you’ll get the highest bid.” A fracture cracked through my chest as the room faded and he conjured an image of that night. My room was shadowed in darkness, the doorknob creaking as the door pushed open. My father’s whispered apology had me curling in on myself. Never did I want to be here again, and I was aware enough to know it wasn’t real, but that didn’t change every feeling it dredged up.
Hands tugged at my nightgown, my small body retreating into the corner as my limbs convulsed.
“Fuck you! Stop this!” I growled as I fought against the unseen vise holding me in its clutches. “Monty!”
The memory was ripped away so violently that my head pounded. The demon shrank away from me and the patient. I didn’t think, instinct sending me forward until I had the poor woman wrapped in my arms. She clung to my shirt and sobbed hard, the unruly black hair curtaining her face away from me.
The icy feeling filled the air, and it was like I was being tucked under a security blanket. My protector was here.
“She. Is. Mine.” Monty’s voice had my head whipping around, but his focus wasn’t on me but our demon attacker.
“Commander, p-please. I d-d-didn’t know!” he pleaded but Monty pounced, both of them flickering out of existence with one last pained screech coming from the smaller demon.
“They’re gone,” I promised softly as I rocked the woman. She didn’t seem to mind that I was soaked, pulling me close when I tried to back away. “Does he come for you often?”
“Every night,” she whispered in an exhausted tone. “My boy. I failed him.” That was all she got out before sleep overtook her. I settled her on her bed, covering her up and hoping I didn’t make her sick from the wet and cold. I started to leave but the demons were raging outside, and I was afraid they’d come for her again. I had no reason to care about her, but the way she’d wanted to protect her son spoke to the broken child in me. I couldn’t leave her now.
Closing the door, I dropped to the floor next to it, keeping silent vigil over the woman who didn’t deserve the hand she’d been dealt. Now that my eyes were opened and I knew this wasn’t in my head, I couldn’t just leave her. The demons were real, I’d just witnessed their powers in action. It wasn’t an easy reality to accept, but how could I refute it now?