Exousia - The Patron Saints of the Damned -Book II
Chapter 14 - Chasing Shadows

Brennan tried to wake past spinning, oppressive unconsciousness. It felt … nearly impossible–like swimming against the current of his mind. And after a minute or two of effort to wake, he felt no closer than been before. His mind simply floated in the blackness while meaningless thoughts dripped into his mind. “David said I should ask Jenny Perkins out, but it’s still only the third day of class. I have some time. There was something more important, though. Megan needed something, didn’t she? Boy, that would make her mad. She hates Jenny. Who screamed? Dad’s watching the TV way too loud.”

“Trying to sleep.” Brennan’s words came out slurred and unintelligible.

The noise went away. Dad must have heard him somehow … from all the way downstairs. Jodie groaned from not far away. Then Sam said something, but his words were too soft to hear.

“Sam and Jodie? What are they doing here?” The confusion just made him feel more tired. And some part of his brain seemed so averse to figuring it all out … it softly urged him to just sleep and deal with it in the morning. He tried to reach for a pillow, but his arm didn’t respond … or have any feeling in it. His other arm also refused to move.

Something wasn’t right … something.

Memories of the accident hit so hard that Brennan felt like he was rolling in the truck all over again Was he still out in the field! He opened his eyes and saw that he was upside-down, swaying about a foot off the ground. Straining already-sore abdominal muscles, he pulled his head up to see what was holding him. A rope … tied to his ankles and that had made his feet go numb; he could only guess that it was a second rope that kept his wrists bound as well. He tried to scream but was only able to make a muffled whimper because of a third rope gagging him.

Tears formed in Brennan’s eyes and trickled upward to his forehead. But after a moment of panic, he became angry with himself. He blinked his eyes until they were dry and then thrashed his body to try and pull free. When that didn’t work, he looked at the area around him. This movement caused the rope holding him to twist and sway a bit, allowing him to see more of what was around him; that was how he saw his friends.

Sam was free, on his knees directly behind him. It looked like he had a short piece of rope in his hands, which he had just removed from somebody’s mouth. His already small body now seemed smaller as he hunched over. His brown hair was messy with leaves and dirt, likely having fallen to the ground.

Brennan momentarily tried to will his friend to turn around. “Sam, come on, buddy! I need you.” Of course, this didn’t work. So, he began to scream as loudly as he could into the rope.

Sam turned around to face him. His eyes were glazed, red, and puffy; tears were dried to his face. His expression was so vacant that it didn’t look like he understood what was happening. But he began to crawl forward.

It took Brennan a moment to see that Sam was unable to stand because of a length of rope tied to his ankles– now trailing behind him. Brennan didn’t think that the knot looked tough to undo. But he was still gagged and couldn’t say anything about it.

With trembling fingers, Sam slowly untied the rope around his friend’s mouth. It was an agonizing minute before he was successful.

Brennan winced as his jaw popped from the forced position it had been stuck in. Then he said, “Sam … are you alright?”

Sam paused for a few seconds and then slowly nodded. Without saying anything, he began to try to untie the ropes around Brennan’s wrists. These must have been much tighter because he didn’t have any success at getting them undone.

Brennan panicked for a moment, terrified that getting the knots undone might be impossible. THen he remembered–Jodie almost always had a pocket knife on him outside school grounds. Maybe the kidnappers hadn’t thought to check! He said, “Go get Jodie’s knife from his front pocket.”

Sam looked down at his ankles, apparently indicating that he couldn’t stand to reach. It was like … he couldn’t speak. More than that, he’d been scared into a state of unintelligence. His glazed eyes seemed even less aware than what they had been minutes before. What horrible thing could he have seen? Had someone done something to him? Would they do the same to the rest of them?

No, Brennan couldn’t think about that; he had to stay calm and get everyone out of this mess. Willing his voice to become calm, he said, “It’s okay, buddy. Just pull on the rope right there, between your legs. It should be easy to undo.”

Sam looked at him doubtfully; tears built up in his eyes.

Brennan shook his head as if this were just a minor problem. “You can do it, easy-peasy. Then we can find the truck and get the hell out of here. We’ll get slush or milkshake or something! I’ll personally buy you a milkshake with everything in it, even if they’re not allowed to make that. Hell, I’ll buy you twenty of them.” He forced himself to chuckle in a desperate bid to lighten the situation by any degree possible.

Sam’s breathing steadied just a bit at the talk. He began to tug at the ropes around his ankles until they were loose enough that he could pull his feet through, one at a time.

“Operation illegal milkshake is halfway finished!” Brennan said, giving a big grin. His heartbeat picked up by the encouraging development. “Just get the knife, and we’ll get everybody out of here.”

Sam nodded, stood, and then staggered toward Jodie’s dangling body. He reached into the front pocket with a shaky hand and pulled out a folded knife with a wooden handle. On shaky legs, he brought it back, opened it, and began to cut the ropes tied around Brennan’s wrists.

Once his hands were unbound, Brennan stretched and rubbed his wrists until feeling came back to them and he could brace his body. It was just in time because the rope around his ankles was next. Brennan had to tuck his head and roll just to keep from hurting himself. Even this was a little painful because of the sticks and pine-cones he rolled onto. But he was free!

Brennan finally stood, rubbed the rope burns on his wrists, and looked at his friends as they dangled upside-down in the middle of dark and silent woods. Thinking better of remaining standing, he crouched to minimize the chance of being spotted from afar.

Sam handed him the knife, and it didn’t take long for the two of them to wake and free the rest of their friends. They cut the gags last to muffle each inevitable scream and whispered for them to keep quiet. Soon, the entire group was free and in various states of silent dishevelment.

Jodie looked anxious; he paced as if trying to control the urge to just charge blindly in some random direction. Ted had immediately set himself to work, checking out each of their injuries. Derrick stood still with a distant expression. Billy stayed close to his cousin, trembling whenever he had to stand still. Marshal looked at the ground and then up at different parts of the woods as if he didn’t believe in what was happening.

However, it was David who had taken the worst of the damage from the wreck; he was limping and wincing with every step he took. His left arm and leg were both badly cut and bruised. They were covered in shades of green, purple, red, and blue, barely visible in the dark. Some part of his foot was either broken or sprained for how he favored it.

Brennan felt Sam poke his shoulder before he pointed into the woods. He was pointing at a dark shape on the ground, which seemed out of place. It took Brennan a moment to realize what he was looking at, then he had to suppress the urge to gasp and run. He forced his legs to move closer to the unmoving body of his teacher.

Mrs. Darsan’s eyes were open but unmoving. Her body was a little bloated and swollen; it didn’t look like she had been dead long. Her legs had been mangled to the point that they were black with bruises. The skin on her legs was torn so that blood had oozed from it, making a small patch of grass glisten in the moonlight. Why was she here? She hadn’t come to class because she was sick … or at least that’s what her class had been told.

All of them joined to see what Brennan was looking at. Each stared in silent horror. Finally, Brennan whispered, “Sam, Did you see who did this to her, which way they went?”

Sam only trembled in response.

“Forget that, we need to go,” Billy said, his wide eyes darting frantically at the dark woods for whatever might have been watching them. He began to back away from the body; he looked like he was about to run.

Brennan reached out and grabbed his cousin’s shoulder. “We don’t know which way to go.”

“We have to call for help!” Billy said much too loudly, opening his mouth to scream. However, he only managed a squeak before he was silenced.

With one hand, Jodie grabbed the front of his purple jacket, lifted him off the ground, and pinned him to a tree. He wrapped his other hand around Billy’s mouth and muffled his impending scream. This might have saved them from the attention of whoever had brought them here, but Joide didn’t stop there. He held on …

Brennan grabbed Jodie’s arm and tried to pull him away, but there was no way to make him budge.

There was something dark in Jodie’s eyes, which didn’t seem to see him. And there was a crazy strength that looked birthed in rage and terror.

Not even when all of them together could they get him to release his grip.

Finally, Ted ducked under Jodie’s extended arms and positioned himself squarely in front of his face. In the calmest voice he could manage, he said, “Jodie, man, help us out. We’re in a tight spot here, and we need you to be cool for all of us. If you pop this twerp’s head off, that’s just going to make things worse for us. You’re right; we all need to be quiet so we don’t attract attention. But you got your point across. He’ll be quiet. Won’t you, Billy?”

Billy, whose face was now purple and his eyes bulging, nodded his head vigorously.

Jodie looked at him and nodded as if he understood just a little bit. His eyes shifted back and forth as if seeing the rest of them for the first time. He slowly fought his own muscles to release his grip. He then backed away, looking confused and disoriented.

Billy braced his hands on his knees while he panted; a few tears trailed down his cheeks. But he was alright.

“It’s alright, bud,” Ted said and clapped Jodie on the shoulder.

Brennan helped his cousin to his feet and nodded in agreement. But the incident was only a small part of their current problem. They needed to get out of the woods … which meant that they had to figure out where they were. “Jodie, do you recognize where we are? Is this still your family’s land?”

Jodie looked around for a moment. First, he looked at the sickly trees, then at the dry grass, and last up at the stars that were\ occluded by thick clouds. In scouts, he’d been the one to excel in learning the constellations. It made sense, living out in the country where he could clearly see the night sky. However, he soon shook his head. “I don’t know where we are … but we could walk in one just one direction.

Brennan sighed, thought for a moment, and then nodded. “It’s the only idea we have. Lead the way, man. We’ll follow.”

Jodie nodded and began to walk. The rest of them lined up behind him and began to move eastward, stepping through the brush.

-O-

Exousia continued through the woods. Through the oppressive silence, she sensed a vague thrum of energy ahead. The presence of life had been diminished by a bit since he’d first sensed it. Like … there was one less human than before. Yet, the intensity of their fear was strong enough to taste. As well as her demon senses, the terrain also made tracking them easier. With all possible shrubs and brambles now dead, it wasn’t difficult to move through the woods off-trail. The brittle remains of plantlife crumbled as she passed them.

Still it wasn’t long before Exousia soon reached a trail. It seemed to run straight toward the humans. This was even easier to traverse. It also gave her a sense of direction. If the humans had not already found the trail, they would soon.

Exousia soon reached the location where she’d first sensed the humans’ presence. As she approached the spot, she noticed the metallic smell of blood and the ripe stench of decaying flesh. There were also traces of old perfume. She followed these smells until she reached a point where the trail widened to a grove of trees.

There, Exousia found the source of the smell—a dead human. Her flesh and clothes were torn and ragged, indicating a physical attack. But the wounds weren’t deep enough to have killed her. Perhaps it had been a heart attack. This could have been brought on incidentally or on purpose. Either way, she had essentially died of terror.

Exousia then noted that she was holding something. In her hand, there was an upper portion of dentures, missing some teeth. Bits of cord stuck out from between the remaining ones. But there were no markings or rope burns to indicate that she had been bound. Exousia looked carefully along the dark ground. About a dozen feet away, she found the rest of these ropes–both scattered along the ground and hanging in trees. Most had been cut with a knife, but at least a couple had been severed by the dentures. The old woman seemed to have come across others. Intelligent … even noble. But it might have been an ultimate disservice to these other humans who were now wandering aimlessly in the woods, without protection. Had the old woman been allowed to do this or manipulated to by Ammon?

Exousia left the body and returned to the trail. As she walked, she noted that the trail had a slight curve to it. She would make better time if she walked straight towards the humans instead of following them. So, for another hour, she pushed past the low limbs of trees and walked over dry plants, slowing down to a crawl only when she was close enough that they might be able to hear her.

Exousia then reached for the demon power in her soul and felt the details of her form blend into the dark. Nearly invisible in the night forest, she moved closer to see what he would be dealing with. She needed to study the situation at hand before she made her presence known.

-O-

Billy followed behind his cousin and his friends, on the trail to god only knew where. His body was still sore from being thrown out of a truck, tied up, and slammed against a tree. And he could feel bruises forming on his chest and face. Still, he realized that those bruises weren’t as severe as they could have been.

After all, Jodie’s intent had only been to pin and silence him.

Billy had dealt with enough of his mom’s boyfriends to know the difference between scared and cruel. Scared was … a mother’s slap to satiate her drunk and angry lover. Cruel was her boyfriend’s knuckle pressing into the center of Billy’s chest until it felt like the bone was going to break. Yes, he knew the difference between scared and cruel.

Jodie was scared … and this amplified how stupid he already was. Billy often wondered how his cousin could be friends with Jodie … or with any of the others for that matter. Each was weird and annoying to be around in their own way.

For Ted … maybe it was willful ignorance on Brennan’s part. Everyone knew that Ted was gay. The fact that he was probably checking them out when they weren’t looking was kind of creepy for Billy to think about. And he was always overly nice about everything, like he was flirting or something.

Derrick, Ted’s step-brother, was even weirder, somehow. He dressed like he was an office worker and always just kept to himself. Billy thought he might have been one of those school shooter types, were it not for the rest of them pushing him to be a little more social. It was probably good for him to be around some normal guys, even if he didn’t quite fit in.

Sam was alright, but he was a nervous kid who didn’t do or say much. He was friendly and didn’t seem like the psycho-killer type. But he also wasn’t all that fun to be around. If it weren’t for the rest of them, he’d probably just be a book-worm who stayed off by himself.

Marshal was probably the worst. His parents owned a few businesses around town and were renowned for being high-brow millionaires who looked down on the rest of them. And he was no better than his parents. He had an attitude like he was better than everyone else—sitting around playing his music on his expensive guitar, driving around in a convertible, paying more to wear clothes designed to look dingy.

David was the only one of them that was close to alright. Billy found this surprising, because he had never really liked black people before him. But David admittedly had an overall chill vibe to him.

However, Brennan was really the only good one out of the lot of them. When they’d been young, Brennan and Billy had hung out at family gatherings and dinners. They’d gotten into trouble, stolen desserts, and generally just had the best of times that Billy could remember at that age. With these friends, he’d kind of gotten a bit lame. But still, it was always Brennan’s idea when they did cool shit like the prank. If Billy could ever get him to see this, the two of them would absolutely own their school.

Billy’s thoughts about the group were suddenly wiped from his thoughts when he saw a shadow pass between trees. His heart began to race, and his body froze. “Guys there’s-” He choked on his words for a moment. He had to swallow before he could whisper, “I saw something … in the woods.”

“What did you see?” Brennan asked, looking at the woods and not seeing it.

“A … shadow.” Billy said. But even as the words came out, he realized how stupid it sounded.

Brennan looked at him for a moment with an expression of confusion and then turned around to keep walking. Marshal groaned irritably and joined him. Derrick went so far as to scowl at him. David gave him a pitying look. Jodie and Ted had never even turned around to begin with. Only Sam’s gaze lingered.

Billy shook his head, feeling like a fool for having stopped them with nothing more than a shadow. Even if there was more, it had been stupid to tell them like he had. A shadow! God, no wonder they all looked at him like he was an idiot! No, they were the idiots. Somewhere inside, Billy briefly hoped that the shadow would turn out to be the kidnapper and that he’d shoot each of them.

-O-

Jodie shivered as he walked in the woods, cold even though he was wearing a letterman jacket and jeans. It wasn’t just the temperature that made him shake, though. A large part of it had to do with the sound he’d heard before he’d blacked out. The rest came from what Jodie had seen in his dreams … a mouth full of jagged fangs that were several inches long, tattered robes draped upon pale and sickly skin, and black eyes that seemed to invade his mind and leave burning acid in its wake. And these woods he’d woken up in … they were as frightening a the dream monster. Nothing in them seemed to make any sound. Even the wind was absent, replaced by just a dry cold. There was no movement in them unless he or one of his friends brushed against a tree or plant. And every subsequent leaf, twig, and pine-cone that fell caused a sharp pain in his chest.

Jodie had never been in a position where he felt so weak and vulnerable, where he’d thought that he might die. On the football field, at school, out hunting, and on the farm, he had always felt invincible. Now, his heart was beating so hard he could feel it inside of him, making him worried that he might have a heart attack. He felt like a claw was reaching into his chest and making a fist so tight that it was hard for him to breathe.

Was this a panic attack? He hadn’t had one of these in years. Fortunately, the night hid his face so that his swollen and watery eyes could not betray his fear. Then again … he’d attacked Billy. Was there any way that the others didn’t know how scared he was? Were they now scared of him? Or did they think he was a coward. If so … maybe they were right. The truth was that Jodie felt like an animal, trapped in a corner and fearful of what he might do next. He had never wanted to really hurt Billy, little as he liked him. Would Jodie do the same to his friends if he became scared enough. What would happen if they couldn’t stop him next time?

As Jodie thought about this, his heart-rate began to increase. It took him a moment to realize that he’d gone from walking to jogging through the woods. He forced himself to slow down, then went back to dealing with his thoughts. But soon, he realized that he was running again and had to stop himself.

Then, Ted put an arm on his shoulder and whispered, “It’s all right, man. We’ve got you back.” This gesture was comforting. Ted had been Jodie’s best friend since elementary school. And he had always been there …. through a lot of rough times. So, it helped.

For a moment, Jodie began to think that maybe he could maintain control for his friends. He would at least try to gather his courage as he trudged forward into the ever-thickening woods. But the clearer his thoughts became, the more he realized how lost he was. He nearly said something about it, when he caught sight of a moving shadow ahead of him.

Memories of the nightmare monster flooded Jodie’s mind and overtook all else. Then, even that image was replaced by a red cloud that filled his vision. His muscles stiffened, and he felt blood rush to his head, making him dizzy. With what little presence of mind remained, he tried to warn his friends away from him, “Go back,” he muttered. But the words came out slurred and thick like he was in a dream or like his tongue was swollen.

His friends just looked at him in confusion when he tried to move in the way they’d come.

Jodie realized he was trapped! He had to choose between the woods, the shadow, or trampling his friends. So, he turned left—ignoring the dry briers, bushes and smalls trees that scratched his skin and tore at his letterman jacket. He cut through the woods, making another trail that the others could follow behind.

Then the shadow appeared again, cutting off his escape!

Jodie turned again and pushed the others so that they had to back up to keep from being trampled. He finally got them back to the trail and began to move back toward the place they’d come from.

The shadow quickly doubled back and crossed his path a third time. Now, it was close enough to almost make out. The shape was like a person, though it was impossible to tell how large it was. And the eyes … they glowed as they reflected the moonlight overhead.

Jodie’s head began to swim, and all he could see was the shadow growing … looming over him! He bared his teeth and sprinted forward, his hands balled into fists. He lunged, feeling himself snarl, and as red cloud enshrouded his vision.

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