“Who are you?” Jason demanded.

The man was tall, easily over six foot six. He had a darker complexion, strong defined jawline, hard eyes, and wide shoulders. The pistol swung in Jason’s direction and stopped once it lined up with his chest. The man didn’t look surprised to see Jason. In fact, Jason thought he saw a flicker of relief pass through the man’s stoic face.

“Close the door.” The man flicked the barrel of his gun twice towards the open door next to Jason.

Jason lifted a careful hand and swung the door slowly shut.

“Thank you.” The man lowered the hand gun slightly so it was still aimed in Jason’s general direction but not directly at him.

Jason continued to eye the needle in the man’s other hand.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Jason reminded the man.

“No, I didn’t.” The man calmly looked down at the syringe he carried.

Jason swallowed hard. The man was almost impossible to read. For a moment, the armed man’s eyes glanced down at the unconscious Jessica while his lips pressed together into a thin line.

“Who’s the deal maker Jason?” The man asked without averting his gaze.

Jason’s heart hammered loudly in his chest and his mouth felt painfully dry.

“A demon.” Jason swallowed hard. “Maybe the original demon. I don’t know. I don’t want to know.”

The man shook his head. “A year ago I would have laughed at the concept. I’ve seen enough of the world to know stories of demons are just humans wearing masks to cover their own actions.”

The man sat down heavily into the chair next to Jessica’s bed.

“Things were much easier to understand back then.” He chuckled darkly.

“Who are you?” Jason asked with less aggression than he had before.

“Marcus.” The man lifted his conflicted brown eyes. “Marcus Steelz. I’ve been watching you for the past six months Jason. My orders were to make sure you weren’t killed while remaining undetected. Direct intervention was to be a last resort.”

Jason’s head spun. “Ordered? By whom? Why?”

“I guess you really don’t have a clue. Why is she always right?” Marcus sighed. “I suppose I should explain from the beginning.”

The armed man’s eyes glazed over slightly before he continued speaking.

“The only thing I’ve ever been good at was being a soldier. Dropped out of high school and signed up when I was still seventeen. Recruiter probably knew, but he didn't care enough to say anything about it.” A small smile spread over Marcus’ face. “I can’t honestly say that every memory of that life was a happy one, but I’d never trade that time for anything. I found family, a brotherhood of kindred spirits that all worked for a singular purpose. It wasn’t long before I found myself in special forces. That’s where I met Jackson. If the rest of our unit were brothers then Jackson and I were siamese twins.”

“Of course, the closer you are to people the harder it is to see them go.” Marcus’ smile faded. “I’ll spare you the details, mostly because I don’t want to think about them more than I have to, but let's just say that the family I had learned to appreciate vanished before my very eyes.”

A thick silence fell over the room as Marcus’ eyes dropped down to the white tiled floor.

“Jackson was the last to go.” Marcus said gravely. “Before he stopped breathing he made me promise to take care of the daughter he was leaving behind. My brother’s dying wish. I had no other family. No net to catch me after everything I loved was taken away from me. I put my everything into taking care of his daughter. I let it turn into doing anything she asked me to do. I was using it to mask my pain and that made me blind to everything else around me.”

Marcus held up the needle in his off hand. With a disgusted look, Marcus set it on the bedside table and turned back to face Jason directly.

“What I’m trying to say Jason, is that everything you’ve been going through the past few weeks has been the direct result of my blindness. I can’t ask you to forgive me for the things you’ve been through, but for what it's worth, I’m sorry.” Marcus spoke with complete sincerity. “No matter how she spun the truth to me, I should have realized things weren’t right so much sooner.”

“Who?” Jason repeated, a cold sweat chilling his entire body.

Marcus flipped the safety on his weapon and slid it into a holster under his trench coat.

“I think you’ve met her at school.” Marcus leaned forward. “Her name is Ashlyn Connel.”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hayden was tired. He couldn’t remember the last time he had actually slept for more than an hour. The worry that plagued his mind over the last few days had aged him far more than he ever thought possible. He noted how white his hand looked as he lifted it shakily to the light blue door in front of him.

It’s over. Hayden tried to assure himself. I did everything she asked. She has no reason to torture me anymore.

Hayden’s self preparation did little to actually curb the frigid apprehension he felt as he opened the door. The house as a whole was dark and quiet. That alone would be enough to set a tense atmosphere, but there was so much more to it. The only way Hayden could think to explain it was a presence of evil in the stale unmoving air. This house was not a home. It hadn’t been for years. There was no warmth to be found here. No shelter. This oppressive environment pressed down on Hayden from all sides as he entered a large dining hall.

Hayden had heard that some of Jason’s pursuers had plastered his picture all over their rooms. He couldn’t help but feel that sort of behavior was painfully normal compared to what covered the walls in this room. There were photos of Jason, trash from his garbage can, writing utensils stolen from his school bag, but most of all there was hair. Human hair. Most of which came from Ashlyn’s own blonde head. Hayden suspected that the deranged lunatic kept some every time she had her hair cut. It was woven, stapled, nailed, and taped everywhere. She even made most of the longer strands into little hearts around the photos of Jason. Hayden tried not to look at the walls. Most of the hair was from Ashlyn, not all of it. Some of the decorations had stemmed from her recent victims and weren’t as… clean as the rest.

The dining hall table was missing. In the large empty space it had once occupied, a series of blood red circles and symbols had taken its place. Hayden had served as a liaison between Ashlyn and the deal maker so he unfortunately knew exactly what the circles were for. That didn’t make the stench any easier to bear.

“You’re late.” A voice called out to him from the back of the room.

Hayden suppressed the urge to shudder and tried his best to remain calm.

“It’s hard to find a bus this late at night.” Hayden shifted nervously in place.

“Oh please.” Ashlyn stood up from the furthest circle and turned her critical blue eyes towards him. “You shouldn’t force yourself to lie to me Hayden. It never works. You should know that by now.”

Hayden noticed a small figure chained to the wall to his right. He felt his eyes twitch, but forced himself to maintain eye contact with Ashlyn.

“Where are my parents and sister?” Hayden demanded.

“On a trip.” Ashlyn cocked her head. “Isn’t that what you’ve been telling people?”

“Don’t play games with me!” Hayden shouted. “I did what you asked!”

“That you did.” Ashlyn nodded. “Though you did more than that, remember?”

Hayden felt the hairs on his arms standing on end.

“Just let them go.” He pleaded weakly. “We won’t say anything, I swear.”

“You made two mistakes Hayden.” Ashlyn turned around and began to walk back to the furthest circle in the long room.

Hayden noticed something metallic pinned on the wall to his left.

“The first was trying to warn Jason about me.” Ashlyn called back as Hayden tried to focus on the metal object.

It was a hair clip that looked all too familiar.

“Months of painstaking work and sacrifice, put at risk because you felt obligated to stick your nose where it didn’t belong.” Ashlyn stooped down to a body that occupied the center of the circle.

Without fully knowing why, Hayden began to walk backwards away from Ashlyn.

Where have I seen that before? He asked himself, eyes still locked onto the hair clip.

“The second, unfortunately, was committed long before we became acquainted.” Ashlyn stood back up and turned around.

Hayden didn’t bother looking her way, nor did his mind register the gun held firmly in her right hand. He finally remembered where he had seen the hair clip before. It was the last one he saw his sister wearing before she disappeared. Hayden spun around and sprinted for the door. An explosion, a flash of light, and a hot stabbing pain in his back all compressed into one moment. Hayden lost his balance and fell face first into the last circle in the room.

“Your second mistake was being someone Jason relies on.” Ashlyn continued speaking evenly, though Hayden did note a hint of pure rage in her tone.

Her footsteps sounded impossibly loud as they approached Hayden from behind. Hayden pushed his hand underneath his body and tried to scramble to his feet. A second bullet slammed into his back and drove him down to the floor. Hayden screamed, fresh blood filling his mouth as his body struggled to breath.

“I didn’t lie to you Hayden.” Ashlyn’s face came into view as she stooped down next to him.

Her smile held no joy yet her eyes were illuminated with a sick glee as they watched his pain.

“You’ll get to see your family again. The payment for Jason’s freedom wasn’t cheap. Take satisfaction knowing your sacrifice will help your best friend find real and lasting happiness.”

“That’s what this is all about after all.” Ashlyn pulled a large knife out from her belt. “It’s always been for Jason.”

JTNestman

Thank you for your patience. Took longer than I'd like but we're here now. Expect another release within 12 hours. Thanks as always for reading.