The Last Guardian

Chapter_54: The Demon Inside me

Johnathan woke up and immediately started talking-

"The Church, the church- look underneath!" he said and fell unconscious again.

He was carried away in the truck afterwards to the closest hospital.

"So I brought an army for nothing?" asked Raven to Billy as they drove away.

"Even tanks wouldn't have been enough! You didn't see what she did back there- Oh! I'm lucky to be alive!" replied Billy.

"And what happened to Johnny? You didn't give him the demon blood now did you?" she asked.

Billy was quiet.

"You did? God! What did you do? He could have been killed or worse, he could have never turned back to normal and we'd have to deal with him-"she said in frustration.

"But he survived- he's strong, I knew he'd handle it- now hand me your phone- I think I know where the kids are- I got to call Lisa-"he said.

Raven handed him her phone and he called Lisa and explained everything to her-

"Yeah- so there's another Church-just like the one we have but it's not abandoned- it's a public place and is always open so I want you to check underneath it- yeah- the sewers- the kids must be there - probably in some kind of a jail cell- yeah- the rest is up to you- bye!" he said over the phone.

Raven looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"What? I did what I had to do-" he said shrugging.

Johnathan was unconscious and his previous wounds were still bleeding, the poison from the spikes was paralysing him- the nearest hospital was an hour away. Raven looked at him sadly, she knew that he had faced great pain all because Billy was too scared and chose a shortcut to defeat the witch. She hoped that he'd recover soon...

As soon as Lisa got the information, she informed the Captain and had a search and rescue team ready. She hurried to the Church, it was in the middle of the city besides a busy street. The rescue team went down the sewers that led them straight underneath the Church. The ten kids were rescued from a hidden cell in the sewers. The mayor was more than happy to see his daughter and thanked Lisa and the captain. The other kids were returned to their families. The captain appreciated her work and she told him about the two dead cops that sacrificed their lives in search of the kids. She said that the kidnappers were a group of satanic cult and one if them was an old lady.

It was big news that day in the city. Lisa was praised and admired by everyone. The news channel reporters surrounded her and grilled her with questions. She calmly answered them. In her mind, she kept thinking of Johnathan-who was the real reason that the kids were found- who was now fighting for his life in a hospital. But she couldn't tell anybody about that.

She excused herself from the crowd and immediately drove away to the hospital to see Johnathan- she was starting to admire him more now.

It was 10 a.m. now,  Johnathan was immediately put into surgery at the hospital. The doctors operated on him for half an hour and declared him out of danger. They said that it was a miracle that he had survived this long- generally a person would die within minutes after such an injury. Billy was treated too- his shoulder injury wasn't fatal but he too had lost some blood- he was put in another cabin and his arm was bandaged. Raven sat outside Johnathan's cabin when suddenly Brother Farid arrived.

"Is he okay?" he asked Raven.

She told him what the doctors said.

"Where's the fool - Billy?" he asked.

Raven took him to his cabin.

"You realize what you've done?" said Farid entering his room.

"He's still alive ain't he?" replied Billy.

"What were you thinking - giving him demon blood?" asked Farid.

"I had no choice man- he was barely breathing, I was badly injured and the witch was too strong for us-"replied Billy.

"Then you should have happily sacrificed your life - I was communicating with him telepathically- I advised him to use his subconscious powers- he could have gained unlimited powers- "said Farid.

"Listen- I was there- he wasn't moving a muscle- he was injured and the back up hadn't arrive yet! I did what was best to save our lives- you should thank me that I've brought him back alive!" replied Billy.

"Oh! I'll thank you the day he turns into a full blood demon and kills us all- you might have won the battle but you've lost the war-this is Azazel we're talking about- he's literally the prince of hell- he's the strongest knight if the darkness and you put him inside Johnny? Oh! You've doomed us all!" said Farid sitting down.

"Don't be so dramatic now- he's strong, he can handle it-"replied Billy.

Suddenly Raven came in-

"He's awake!!" she announced.

The three of them went to his room to look at him.

Johnathan had full bandages across his chest.

"God! That was the worst nightmare ever!" he said looking at them.

"How do you feel now my friend?" asked Farid.

"Ah! Like somebody had ripped out my lungs and stitched them back together and I've this weird taste in my mouth-"he replied.

"No- I meant how do you feel inside-"

"Now Brother, let him rest, we'll talk later- he's okay now-"interrupted Billy.

Farid took a deep breath and went outside.

"What's wrong?" asked Johnathan.

"Oh! Nothing to worry about- you did good out there today- I've heard that the kids have been found- we'll talk later-get some rest!" said Billy and slowly walked out.

Raven sat outside his cabin observing him closely. She was ready for anything- anytime.

Johnathan groaned in pain and relaxed. He felt good inside but he couldn't recall the details of the earlier events. Something was blocking his memory. All he knew was that he had defeated the witch and saved the kids.

"Hello Johnny boy! Feels good to be the hero, right?" a voice echoed from somewhere.

He looked everywhere but there was nobody.

"Oh I'm inside your mind- I bet we will have lots of fun together- you wanna know what actually happened earlier?" said the voice again.

Johnathan started to sweat- his heartbeat was rising fast- the monitors were beeping loudly- he was collapsing.

Raven rushed in and saw his condition. She immediately called for the nurse...