Demons Ascension - Back to the Station

[Posted by Ted H]

Man, when your vacation ends...it fucking ENDS. Good thing this is already written...

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[Demons Ascension - Back to the Station]

            James felt numb, and it wasn't just the cold. Everything hurt and whatever part of him wasn't in pain was instead cold from the bitter ice air. His eyes squeezed shut and he slowly drew breath because his neck and chest hurt so much. All he wanted to do was fall asleep and not wake up until the pain stopped and it got warm out. That wasn't going to happen though. Someone was shaking him and calling his name out and he knew he had a job to do.
            "James!" Lyle yelled as he shook him by the shoulders. James finally opened his eyes and sat up. He heard a fire truck blaring in the distance joining in a chorus of sirens. The noises were growing louder, not because of their approach, but because he had gone temporarily deaf and was just now beginning to hear again. All the emergency vehicles were actually just arriving.
            There was a definite and constant ringing in his ears as firefighters ran up to battle the blaze that was consuming the remainder of the Praque sisters home. James let the whole of the situation sink in for a moment; They had failed to stop Croatoan. Lyle was trying to say something, but between the sirens, the ringing in his ears and the fact that his hearing was still somewhat distorted, James couldn't make out what the man was saying to him.
            "Where's John!" he yelled, his own voice sounding distant in his own mind. Lyle helped him up and led him towards an ambulance. Nearby, some EMTs were securing John to a stretcher and preparing to transport him. Getting a little bit away from most of the sirens was helping and James could make out some of what an EMT was saying to Lyle. John was hurt bad, but alive for now. He had a punctured lung and needed to be rushed to the hospital.
            Lyle tried to make a phone call while James watched the blaze consume the house. Inside was what remained of Brittany, but he didn't need to see her to know what happened. He hoped John wasn't conscious because he wasn't sure how anyone could break to him that he lost both of his sisters the same way so quickly. Lyle swearing broke James away from this thought as he turned and saw the man jog to his car.
            "What's wrong?" James called as he caught up. "I'm trying to call the station but no one's answering," Lyle said with a worried look on his face "I'm gonna try dispatch and see if they can raise anyone on radio." James didn't like what he was hearing, and practically sprinted to the other side of the car, the trench coat still wrapped around his arm, and climbed in. "Drive," he said as Lyle climbed in "Fast."

            The police station looked like a battle had been waged. Desks were overturned, walls were cracked and damaged and bodies lied everywhere. Lyle had previously talked to dispatch and had them warn everyone at the apartments that Crow would be making a move to that location, but James was more worried about the move Croatoan would make on the police station. Despite the numerous dead, he knew Amanda wouldn't be among them. "Croatoan must have come for her," he said as he eyed the damaged board by Bradford's desk.
            "Will!" Lyle yelled as he rushed over to where they had left Amanda before. The young cop designated to watch her was lying on the ground covered in broken glass and holding a massive wound in his abdomen. "What happened?" Lyle asked as he attempted to prop the dying man up.
            "That...That John Doe you guys brought in from the park," Will managed to spit out before a coughing fit started.
            "The dead guy?" Lyle asked as Will calmed down and lowered his bloody hands from his mouth.
            "Yeah," he said as he tried to draw breath "He got up and came up here. But he was different. Bigger. Hands like a wolf. Claws. Eyes...Eyes like fiery coals...We kept shooting him...it...it didn't care...It never stopped...Never..."
            Will's gaze was getting more distant and he didn't have much time left. "Will, listen to me!" James said as he grabbed the man by the shoulders and shook. "Where's Amanda? What happened to her?"
            Will's breathing became more labored as he attempted to talk. "It saw her...Killing at random while searching, then it saw...It saw her," Will coughed and a stream of blood poured from his mouth "It saw her and came right after...I tried to stop it...To do something...But it went right through me like...Like..." Will's head slumped over and he wasn't able to talk. He coughed and wheezed for a moment longer before he finally went quiet.
            Both men remained silent a moment with Will before Lyle finally looked up and bellowed "God damn it!" The room grew silent again, the only sound coming from a ringing phone that no one was answering. A moment later, someone unseen meekly asked "Hello? Is someone still alive out there?" Lyle and James looked at each other before jumping up and heading for the source of the voice.
            They ran to holding where Pete Young sat behind bars, sitting on a bed with a worried look on his face. "Is it gone?" he asked as James looked over and walked to the dead officer near the door. "What is...How is it you're still alive when everyone else in here died?" Lyle demanded as James pulled the keys from the body. "Why would he be killed?" James asked as he unlocked the cell door and opened it "That thing was looking for Amanda. Not only was Pete not what it was looking for, but he was the only person who didn't get in the way of that search."
            "What are you doing? Don't let him out!" Lyle said as Pete hesitated at the doorway on his way out. "He's not going anywhere," James said as he looked to Pete "Pete, remember what Amy told you? That you'd be able to go see your family once you're done helping me?"
            "But his family-" Lyle started as James put his hand up.
            "Yeah," Pete said "I have to help you first."
            "Then what if I said you weren't done helping me? That there's still one thing I need to do and I need your help for it?"
            "What do you need me to do?" Pete asked. Lyle sighed as his cell phone rang.
            "Oh boy," Lyle said as he raised the phone to his ear "Mangan here...Sir, if I may ask, where are you?...I don't know what happened, but everyone's dead...I wasn't...Praque and I went after a lead, sir, but-...Yes sir, he's still with me, but Praque's hurt bad...Sir, I don't think that's the best course of action...Well with all due respect, you're asking a lot of men to pointlessly risk their lives...Well I emptied a magazines worth of ammo into Crow, and it didn't do a god damn thing to stop him from stabbing my partner and erupting a house unto flames."
            Lyle's conversation continued for a moment while James and Pete surveyed the damage of what was once a police station. "Christ," Lyle said as he put his phone away. "Was that my favorite police chief ever?" James asked "Where the hell was he for this?"
            "Monroe is with the mayor, briefing him and the commissioner," Lyle said "But he caught wind of what's been happening. He wants every cop in the city to converge of the apartments if needed. The commissioner agrees."
            "I can't stress over how bad of an idea that is," James said.
            "You don't think I tried to convince him that?" Lyle yelled.
            "How long until midnight?"
            "Four and a half hours. Why?"
            "That's how long we have to stop Croatoan."
            "He has the girl, why wait?"
            "The ritual. He can't rush it, but this time we know exactly who he's after and where he's doing this. For once we have time to do something."
            "So, what now? How do we stop something that's pretty much invincible?"
            James didn't say anything but instead went right for a phone and started dialing. "You do have a plan, right?" Pete asked as James impatiently waited as the phone rang. "No," he finally said "My last plan was a complete joke, but I know someone who could help."
            "Hello?" Matthew finally said on the other end.
            "I got some great news," James said into the phone "I know who the final sacrifice is!"
            "I trust you're on the other side of the country by now then?
            "Um...Still in Chicago. Croatoan has the girl. I was just wondering if-hello? Did he hang up on me?"
            Lyle and Pete exchanged worried looks as James hung up and dialed Matthew again.