Among Demons : A Siren's Voice

Ch. 12 : Retracing Steps

Later that night, after everyone had eaten, we all sat around in the lounge room, talking things out. They all had different questions about what I had gone through and clear details that they were all focused on.

Devin, her fiancé Marcus and Nick wanted to know more about my family situation, bringing up questions about my parents, sister and nephew. They asked about who my family was close to, questioned if anyone had any clear enemies, and if there was ever any Humans that hung around too closely that could somehow be involved.

Nyla and Danny asked about the incident itself. They were more detail oriented when it came to the Hunters and tried to coach me through my own memories to see if any unique markings, tattoos or even an accent could be recalled in order to try and identify them. They also looked through some digital files they had that listed the few unique identifiers for certain Hunters that they had already come across once or twice before.

And Sammy and Izaak were more focused on the identifying markers that I would’ve seen during my escape from the underground prison. They asked me how long I walked, when I first ran into a road, what mile markers I noticed and when I first stepped foot into the city. These questions helped me recall a few more bits and pieces that I hadn’t been able to remember before when it came to locating the path I had taken through the woods.

After all the questions were asked, and the information I gave was noted, we all moved on to look through several maps of the city that helped me pinpoint when I first set foot out of the woods. And by the time dinner was served, a plan was built for the following morning, where I would tag along with Devin, Nick and Marcus to the place they had first found me. From there, I would retrace my steps and, hopefully, lead them all back to the woods where I had been imprisoned.

It was nerve wracking to think that I was willingly going back to that place, let alone leading others to it. But Devin and Nick reassured me that it was very unlikely that the Hunters and their remaining prisoners had stayed in the same location after my escape. Given that I could very well expose them and their location, the Hunters would have packed up and left with as much as they could carry in the quickest way possible. This made me even more nervous because I had been hoping to find SOME sort of trail to lead me to where my nephew was held. But again, Devin and Nick soothed my worries, explaining that people, especially Humans, tend to make a lot of mistakes when they rush things. In fact, they both were very confident that they would find at least one clue as to where Alder was being kept.

Their words helped me sleep a little that night, though my anxiety hadn’t fully gone away.

Devin stepped into my room very early the next morning, dressed in a body hugging pair of black jeans, a dark green halter top and slim black shin-high boots. Her long sand brown hair was pulled up in a high ponytail with a long green ribbon and a pretty silver necklace swung just beneath her chest, depicting a set of clouds with a sun rising from behind them. She smiled when she looked at me, already up and dressed in a dark brown t-shirt dress with a thick black belt around my waist and sleek black tennis shoes.

“Anxious?” She asked softly, stepping close to give me a quick hug before leading me out of my room.

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded, fiddling with the buckle of the belt around my waist as we walked.

“Lora.” I stopped and turned to her, finding her warm smile and understanding gaze looking back at me. “Everything is going to be ok.”

Another deep breath left me then, though this one trembled a little. But I nodded back to her, wanting to believe her words as we resumed our walk to the elevator.

Once the doors opened to the lobby, I stepped out and was stunned for a second when I locked eyes with the men that had been waiting for us.

Marcus stood the furthest from us, one hand in his jeans pocket and the other holding his phone to his ear. He looked a little scary with the serious expression that was on his face. He did appear to be relaxed in his outfit, having rolled up the sleeves to his gray button up shirt. And a second later, Devin softened his rough edges when she skipped over and tugged on his free arm, smiling brightly up at him.

Nick, on the other hand, was giving my body an actual physical reaction that I wasn’t expecting at all.

Dressed in low riding jeans, dirt covered hiking boots, and a smooth looking t-shirt that showed off his lean, toned body in ways I hadn’t noticed before. His dark blond hair was messy, as if he had just rolled out of bed, yet still looked somehow styled in a way that made him seem… playful? Cute? Sexy? My mind couldn’t decide which one fit best. But those eyes of his, those swirls of green and hazel that were so unique even among Humans, looked at me with a heat that had me clenching my thighs. And I struggled to swallow the lump that had appeared out of nowhere when he smiled at me, his rugged, devil-may-care attitude making me nervous and excited all at once.

“Morning.” He called out to me, helping me shake free of my dirty thoughts… if only a little.

But when Devin giggled, I froze, remembering that she was a Succubus and could very well SEE what it was that my body was feeling right this second. It only made the heat rise even more and I felt as though my face would melt with the blush that coated my cheeks.

Thankfully, Marcus announced that everything was ready and we all followed him out to the parking lot.

The drive was quiet as we returned to the shopping center that they had found me in. Though Devin and Marcus muttered to each other about something involving scouts, informants and recent Hunter sightings. Nick was paying close attention to all the people that were out and about once we entered the few blocks that were full of shops, restaurants and retail stores of all kinds. I tried to help and even tapped his shoulder as Marcus slowed down to park the car, wanting to know just what it was that Nick was looking for.

“Physical behavior.” He started, smiling after reading the question I’d written on my notepad. “It takes time and a lot of practice, but learning how to read a person's physical reactions, changes and twitches helps in pinpointing who is a threat and who isn’t.” I nodded along as I followed him out of the car, joining him beside the car while the other two continued their quiet conversation. “After dealing with so many Hunters, picking up on certain behaviors or the type of training they typically go through makes it a little easier to pick them out in the middle of a crowd.”

I stared at him, a little wide eyed, before looking over at a small cluster of people across the street from where we parked.

Glancing at all the different Humans, I wondered if I’d ever gain such a useful skill. I started trying to look closer at everyone I could see, trying to pick up on something as small as a twitch. Tried to guess, by their physical behavior alone, what could be lying within each Human's mind. But I also questioned, with a large amount of worry and sadness, just how many Hunters they had dealt with to gain such a skill.

Just how many times had they all been face to face with an enemy, poised to kill them?

We soon started back down the path I had taken when I was running away from the Hunter that night, with Marcus trailing behind us in the car. So when we reached the road I burst out of, just outside the shopping center, we climbed in and I pointed the way out. It was a bit of a struggle, finding the landmarks and signs that I had raced past. With everything looking different now, in the daylight, compared to the quick glimpses I had in near total darkness. But after a bit of second-guessing, and some frustrated nail biting, I was able to lead them to the dirt path that I had found when I finally escaped the woods.

“Are you sure, Lora?” Marcus asked as he parked the car, scanning the trees ahead of us.

I nodded and jumped out of the car, rushing towards the small break between trees that I clearly remembered falling through. Stepping closer, I smiled, feeling the growing anticipation increase inside me as I found a fuzzy bit of gray threading that had been snagged against the bark of the tree. I lifted it to show the others and they smiled back at me, obviously remembering the gray outfit that I had worn on the night they found me.

With me leading the group and Nick close behind, I hiked back into the woods at a slow pace.

I didn’t want to miss anything that would lead me back to that place, no matter how small. I was determined to return there and find anything and everything that could help me find my nephew. And I wasn’t going to allow even my own panicked memories to hinder me in getting to that prison.

Strangely enough, I not only found the small area where the Hunter and I had fought before I entered the city, finding the small jacket I had used as a pillow with blood stains on the ground close to one of the Hunter's many small knives. But I also found the tiny trail I had taken when I first ran from the prison. It left me feeling both stupid and a little bitter, since I had completely believed that I had run far enough away from the trail so that they wouldn’t be able to find me again. But it didn’t even take me five minutes to locate the trail from where I had been found and wounded again.

I was lost in my own thoughts as we continued walking, thinking back to those first days and finally realizing that I had been walking in circles like a madwoman. My hands moved to my head a few times as I recalled a few head injuries I had suffered when I first escaped that I completely missed the large tree root that was in my path, hooking my foot on it.

Nick, following so close behind me, managed to wrap an arm around my waist and hold me upright, allowing me to regain my footing. I turned to thank him, blushing like a moron for doing something so stupid, when Devin’s voice stopped me.

“Is this it?”

Following her pointing finger, I gasped and backed into Nick, feeling his hands as they held my shoulders gently.

The clearing we were facing was clear of all types of plants and trees, with a large fallen tree cutting through it. I remembered how the Hunters had parked their bikes and off-road vehicles in line with this tree, with all of them facing towards us. And in the slightly larger space a few feet from their make-shift parking space, hidden under the leaves at our feet, was a large wooden door that led into the prison.

My hands shook violently as I searched for the rope handle, flinching when I found it and struggling to grip it tight enough to open it.

The memories of everything that happened to bring me to this place returned in full force and I fought to breathe. For all the bravery and determination I felt mere minutes ago, I was now reduced to a whimpering, trembling child in desperate need of her parents. But I was alone now… so very alone and scared.