[SScherr]

Chapter 1-3: Demon Night

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“Don’t you fucking move, asshole!” Janet yelled from behind him.

Didn’t see that coming, did you, boss?

No. He hadn’t. The gun was a new and unexpected development. Not the first one tonight, so it seemed. Fortunately, those things on the other side of the door were unaware as well. One shrieked in pain as a bullet ripped through the door and found a target.

Without turning around, Russell attempted to regain control. “Wait! Don’t shoot!” he shouted over his shoulder. “I’ve a reasonable explanation for being in your house.”

The creatures had tremendous strength. The gunshots only infuriated them. It was just a matter of time before they broke the flimsy lock. Russell leaned his shoulder into the door and slowly turned to look at her, holding his hands above his head.

“What… what did you say?” Janet asked.

“Look, I’m a private investigator,” he lied. “I work for your husband’s law firm.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you and Mr. Schuler—accumulating evidence against him. He’s in a lot of trouble. I was outside watching the house from the street when I saw several intruders enter your home. I thought you were in danger so I rushed in to find you. Then I ran into a bit of trouble.”

Janet hesitated.

Give her a name, any name. Names always ease an itchy trigger finger, boss.

“My name’s John.” And then another lie, “I’m not going to hurt you, so please don’t shoot me.”

But we are gonna cut your fucking tits off for the cheek tattoo, piggy.

If not for the beasts trying to break in, Russell would have charged her and snapped Janet’s neck. When moments got intense, he had little to no control over the other one. He had to regain himself quickly.

There was another hard crash against the door as Russell repositioned himself.

Janet couldn’t think straight. Everything was happening so fast. She had awakened from one nightmare to find herself engaged in another. He’s come home to kill me, she had thought, believing the intruder was Gerald.

In her dream, there had been a man’s shadow hovering above the bed holding a knife. She remembered opening her eyes to see him, but was unable to cry out or move at all. When the shadow moved into the moonlight, it was Gerald’s face she saw.

Disoriented and driven by the fear from her vivid dream, Janet had reached desperately for the bed lamp as the noises drew near, turned the light on, and then reached into the night stand for the gun.

She only saw her husband when the stranger barged in, causing her to pull frantically on the trigger.

There was another heavy slam against the door.

“What’s out there?” Janet was shaking fiercely. The adrenaline mixed with the shock of almost killing a man kept her frozen in place, finger still resting on the trigger. She stood beside the bed with her knees locked, arms raised, and her long, blond hair thrown back over her shoulders as the bed lamp illuminated her naked form beneath the thin, silk nightgown.

To Russell, she looked like some vengeful vixen right off a comically bizarre B-rated movie poster where the crazed housewife wakes up to find her spouse screwing another woman in the next room.

He saw it in her eyes. Janet clearly intended to kill something. He had to diffuse her quickly.

Again, he was thrown off balance as the creatures made another attempt to breach the door. This time, they howled their frustration from the other side.

This was enough to get her attention.

“If you could please lower that gun, I would like to get us out of here before what’s on the other side of this door gets in. After that, I’ll explain everything. But right now, we have to run.”

Janet was fixed on the stranger’s dark eyes. They were so much like Gerald’s that she almost fired again. They were predator’s eyes. Then the door caught her attention and when she drifted back to those dark eyes, they had softened considerably.

If only you were him, she thought. Regrettably, Janet lowered the gun.

Russell backed away from the door and quickly got around the other side of a large dresser. He pushed it in front of the door. Next, he went toward the window on the opposite side of the bed. “If you don’t mind,” he began, wanting her attention off of him as much as possible, “could you please keep that gun aimed toward the door and shoot the first thing you see, okay?”

Janet raised the gun toward the door as the creatures challenged it again, causing the door to shake violently in the frame. “What the hell is out there… John?”

Russell ignored her. He opened the window and pushed out the screen, letting it fall into the darkness. He could already tell there was no way down without risking an injury.

You could make that jump, boss. It’s that bitch you’re worried about. Leave her here for the animals. Maybe they’ll let you watch.

“Shut up,” he said without thinking.

“What?” Janet asked.

“Not you.”

“What!?” She turned the gun back toward him, and then back toward the door as the creatures slammed it again.

The other one was laughing hysterically in his head.

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