Private: The Magic in Me

[taysilva19]

Max smiled at the teacher. "Mind if I come with? I'll come get John myself." It took the pair not even a minute to reach the classroom. Max stepped in front of the teacher, zeroing in on the boy he was looking for. John's mouth was agape, not believing the teacher went against his command.


"Why aren't you listening to me?" John's voice strained. He frantically tried to think of a way out of this situation, tempted to push past Max and haul ass out of the school. Whoever this guy was, he was definitely aware of the power the boy had recently discovered.


The teacher openly laughed at John. "Young man, I don't have to listen to you, because I'm the adult. When you're here, my word is law." He turned to Max. "Mister Frasier, I leave John in your care."


"Thanks, sir." Max looked at John in the eyes, unwavering. "Come on, you. Don't make my job any harder. I'm here to help."


John actually stood up and followed Max out of the classroom. Max noticed the boy looking around the hallways as they walked to the exit of the school. Surprisingly, not a word was said until Max touched the door leading outside.


"We can't!" John called out, pulling the door closed.


Max could feel his patience slowly deteriorate dealing with this kid. At least he could drop the act now, though. John was completely aware that this was a rouse. "Dude, really? You think we can talk in private in school?"


"You have no idea what you're dealing with here."


"Yeah I do, a kid whose father stumbled onto something that can easily wipe out your entire town. We need to-"


"I don't have it. Well, I did, but Cal took my backpack, where it was, and-and-and-."


Unbelievable. Max put his hand on John's shoulder. He wasn't entirely surprised though. Twelve year old who has lost almost everything brings a magic murder weapon to school in a backpack. "Who is Cal? If Sam hasn't found him yet, we need to do it now. Do you know where we can find him?"


John shook his head. Although the color was still drained from his face, he was starting to catch his breath again. It seemed like he could trust Max, but he wasn't entirely sure why he was so invested in his life. His father was a murderer, but for whatever reason didn't pull the trigger on him before blowing his own brains out. The boy just assumed he wasn't even worth killing. No one seemed to notice him, after all. Unless it was decided by Cal and his buddies that he would be their moving target to torment during the week. And now, all of a sudden, these two adult stroll into his tiny town, hellbent on making sure he was safe?


"I know where his locker is though. Come on, it's on the other side of school."

 

[Willow Pillow]

The gun spun as it slid across the hall. The janitor was excellent at waxing the floor. Students could belly flop and glide down here. As it moved, there was no misfire and the tightness in her chest died down.


Cal stomped on her bandaged foot. Sam yelped as the little monster of a sixth gradeer barrelled into her. In his mind she was a whore, she stole from him. She was the enemy.


They. All. Were. Against. Him.


Hitting the ground, Sam exhaled an oomph trying to reach for the gun. His knees were in her stitches and the pain rose making it hard for her to just kick the little brat off of her. She managed to use her crutch as an extended arm and wack him off. The brat fell, but grabbed the gun.


Sam's eyes lit bright green as the demonic weapon hit on green fire. The kid screamed, letting out one shot before the his arm caught ablaze and he dropped the gun. The bullet grazed her neck. but she used the left crutch to bring it to her.


Be careful Sam. The gun was powerful. It was demonic. As soon as you grab it, you work on getting rid of it forever. That's the mission.


Closing her eyes, she grabbed the handle, letting out a breath. Ok. This is good. Don't feel different. The six grader's hand was still burning as the fire went up his shoulder. The glow died in Sam's eyes along with the flame.


"You're...you're...you're not human!" He screamed running off.


One crutch in her hand, the other sprawled across the hawl, sam tried picking herself to lean against the lockers, dropping the gun in her military bag.


--


Cal sprinted past them, John noticed a white streak in his tormentors hair but he didn't even seem to notice Matt Frasier or him, he was just screaming.


"He doesn't have the bag. He doesn't have the bag!" The kid took of sprinting towards the direction Cal ran from.

 

[taysilva19]

Max didn't need John to tell him Cal didn't have the bag to make him let go. He had grabbed the kid to make sure he was alright. He didn't look any worse for wear, except for the seared clothes he was now wearing. Max gave the kid a slight push, to keep him running away from where they were. Turning around, he saw John standing in front of Sam. The hunter couldn't shake the smell that came from Cal, even though he wasn't even in sight anymore. Being educated in 'things that go bump in the night', Max knew the difference between something born of this world, and not. This went for everything. Including fire. The burnt smell he had just been treated to was definitely baelfire. It would've made sense if Sam wasn't the only one who interacted with the boy.


Then again... Maybe it did. A little too much.


"Give me my bag." John said, holding his hand out. Sam tossed it to him. He quickly unzipped it and stuck his hands inside. He gasped and looked at Max. "It's not here! It's-"


Max cut him off. "Chill. Sam has it. Right?" He turned to his partner. She nodded, shaking her military bag. "Let's get you the hell out of here, John."


As the trio walked off, Max pulled himself close to Sam. "Baelfire? Really? When were you gonna tell me you knew demon magic?"

 

[Willow Pillow]

This entire situation was going to make him old....like 20...by the end of the day. Cal ran off as if he had seen a ghost, or worse, and the only person that was in the hall that could be responsible for it was a woman out of a Playboy magazine injured and unable to get up, her crutches sprawled. The man that Max seemed ok, but after seeing Cal run off like that...with a streak of white hair...the woman he wasn't sure about.


Max had grabbed her up almost gruffly, she managed to grab the crutch on the ground as he looked at her like she had horns sprouting out of her head. "Did you ever ask me if I knew demon magic?" She already knew the answer. She was being a smart ass. "I didn't hurt the kid, I just wanted him to drop the gun, he was about to blow my brains out." The dripping blood from her neck showed he just barely missed her due to that....firey distraction. "But I think you were trying to say was 'thank you sam for getting the gun and preventing that child from shooting up the school. sorry i left my partner alone to defend herself with her guts held together by thread and stitches.' And my response to that is...'thanks max. i was scared for a few minutes, but I'm glad you have John safe.' Yeah...good talk buddy."


As soon as they left the school, John stopped at the concrete parking lot. Not even a janitor or custodian was outside, it was just the three of them. "How did you know about the gun? Or me....and what did you do to Cal?"


Lots of questions, Sam adjusted herself on her crutches. "John, there are people out there that hunt the things that go bump in the night, and then there are people like you and me who are special-"


"I'm not like you. You did something to Cal. He was mean but you did something to him. I'm not like you at all."


Ok...you can do this. "Your friend was possessed by the gun, like your father. I needed to get him to drop it, that's all I did. But you're special John."


"you're crazy-"


"Have you felt as if people have been watching you the past few days, making you paranoid? That someone wants to take you away."


The kid went silent.


"Yeah, went through that too when I was your age. And they are. It's not a feeling. There are people. I saw one. I thought it was for me, but she was surprised to see me. You're special John and whatever it is wants you. My visitors sent monsters called Rakes to get my attention to take me away...these people sent you a gun. So you can either fight me every step of the way or I can help you."


Max would know a rake was a monster that slaughtered and ate children. Only children could hear and communicate with them, but adults could see them...only when it was too late. They were creatuers created out of great tradegy and mourning. And very few children faced off against one and grew up. Max's father had died to a cult who had summoned rakes in a town called Abbington. The cult seemed to have been wiped out before Union could send back up.

 

[taysilva19]

Max stared at Sam as she finished her outburst. "Leave you alone? Sam, it was your idea to split up like we did."


What's your problem? Max thought. He wiped the blood from her neck, and took a couple seconds to make sure the wound wasn't deep. "But yeah, good job getting the gun back."


When the three of them were outside, Max stuck his hands in his pockets and let Sam read John the riot act. He wasn't surprised that she had experienced something like this in the past, but when she mentioned the Rake, his attention peaked. In his mind, he recalled his father heading out with a small team when he was eight years old. Adam Gardner had never come back that day. He had to wonder if this was the same incident that Sam was talking about. His mind started to wander though. When was she going to tell him this? It seemed odd that the two of them felt so close not even twenty-four hours ago, and now he wasn't really sure what to think of her.


"What Sam is trying to say, John, is that this gun is causing all of these weird things that have been going on with you lately. We're probably the only two people who would treat this situation like this. Just because there are people that want to take care of magic doesn't mean they're gonna do it with a clean conscience. I know a guy who is... less than caring." He looked at Sam. "What do we do now?"

 

[Willow Pillow]

She did tell them to split, didn't she? Then why was she...she was tired. A possessed kid tried almost killing her and then she got a snide comment on how she handled it and she snapped back. That's all it was. The past few days were catching up to her.


Max asked what was next, but she could see he picked up on her past and was beginning to look irritated. She was being honest with him. As honest as she had been with anyone besides Dad in a very long time. It wasn't like she was spilling her guts to him.Maybe she might end up doing that LITERALLy with how her stomach felt after trying to move around with that kid on her. As he wiped some of the blood off her neck she felt guilty for snapping at him. Maybe she did owe him a few more answers.


No, no she didn't. He was still a hunter. And hunters killed monsters. He already was putting her on the defensive since the entire trip here. She owed him NO EXPLANATION. None. At the end of the day he would probably tie her back to Boston kicking and screaming or dead. Alive was useful...but for a young kid trying to prove a father's legacy....dead was a great trophy to boast about.


But Max wouldn't do that...they were friends. She liked to believe they were friends.


John looked between the two of them unsure. He was more inclined to listen to Max. Not the other one. His attention went back to the young man. "So you're like superheroes then?"


"You could say that," Sam answered. "I'm clearly Batman, he's got a brighter superhero backstory than I do. I think we go back to the Inn...just so we can figure out how to destroy the gun, get rid of the demon at the pawn shop."


John laughed. "there's no demon at Collectables." The two adults were not laughing, he slowly stopped. "Right? Because that would be...silly and...that's where Dad went..." It all clicked and the kid just stared at them feeling waves of neasuea take over. He was going to vomit.


Linking her arm with Max's and putting her other hand on Marbles, the crutches fell and the three turned into black smoke.


Appearing back on the bed. John managed to run to the bathroom, puking on the floor as sam flopped on the bed trying to manage her pain level without crying. One hell hound did that. There were two more and the demon who owned three...probably a lot harder to get rid of.

 

[taysilva19]

Max shut the door as John threw up in the bathroom. "Don't worry about cleaning that up." He said through the door. "I'll take care of it." He then turned to Sam, and leaned against the door with his back to it. "Kinda feels like having a little brother. I always wanted one, to tell the truth. Ma had complications with her pregnancy with me, so, yeah." He realized he was rambling, given the lack of a response from Sam.


"You okay?" No response. "Hey, Sam. You awake?" Max felt the door start to open, causing him to move away. John walked out, his face still wet from washing it. The boy looked at Sam on the bed, then back to Max.


"Is she gonna be okay?"


Max nodded, placing his hands on his hips. "Yeah, she's a toughie. I should be asking you that, though. You had quite the morning." Max motioned to John to take a seat at the desk that was set up in the corner of the room. "Take a seat. I think its time you and I got to talk." The boy wasted no time in taking the seat. Max sat on the ground, facing him.


"So how long have you had the gun?"


John shrugged. "Not too long. Maybe a couple weeks now? Everything kinda became a blur since Dad..." The boy started to trail off.


"Don't worry about it. Sam knew about what happened and filled me in before we found you. I'm sorry about what happened. I always feel kind of responsible when normal people like you and your family get roped into this kind of stuff."


"What are you guys, anyway? Are you like her?" John took a cautious glance at Sam.


Max held his hands up, feigning defense. "Nah. I'm a regular ol' human. Like you. I guess the term everyone uses is 'hunter'. She's a-" Max paused. He never liked using this as a description for Sam. He had heard it as a derogatory label all his life, and using it in conversation made him uncomfortable.


"A witch?" John finished for him.


"Yeah." Max answered. "Like me though, she's not how people imagine. She can be rough on occasion, but she's got a big heart. She puts up with my messes all the time." He winced as he finished his sentence. He had been moving his shoulder around to keep it from locking up, but ended up hurting himself.

 

[Willow Pillow]

She said he was like her. John slumped in the seat looking at the girl sleeping face first on the bed. Witches in the movies, when they were that pretty, they used their looks to seduce and kill men. Those sorority movies with the witches kind of creeped him out. Or they were haggard with warts.


"Why did she say I was special too? What does she know about the people I see staring at me. There was a girl with a blue hat...but she was really far away. I thought you two were part of them." He straightened up. "You're not part of them right?"


--


Sam didn't mean to, but she had passed out for a good two hours. She woke up feeling the groggy Forcing herself up she saw John and Max playing cards on the table. Going through her bag she tossed one of her bottles of oxy at Max. "Already know you're not doing shit for your shoulder." She popped two in her mouth and swallowed it without water. "Everything ok kid?"


John put down his losing hand. "So you saw the woman with the blue hat too? You guys are the good guys and everything."


Sam nodded. "Ask Max, when I first met her I freaked out too, got us all banged up because of it. But whatever she is and why she targeted your family, we won't let anything happen to you."


"And a demon killed my dad...or gave him the gun? How do we kill it."


"Yeah...we are going to wait atleast a day or two on that one, buddy. I can't walk and my friend's banged up too. We're going to need a lot of fire power."


John stayed silent but Sam recognized that look. He wasn't going to wait a few days.


 
"Your....friend...has the child."


"I'm aware."


"How do we intercept and take him? We can sense her abilities. They far outway our own."


"Not next to yours of course!"


Kai smiled at the other catching the mistake they put themselves in.


"Sam is special. And if we play our cards right, she will be able to feed all of us for decades to come...just off herself. But she has something I want, so we will leave her and the boy alone....for now.


"What about the hunter?"


"What about him? He is an absolute screw up. Can't do anything correctly. I had to raise his zombie pet by myself when we travelled together." Kai growled under her breath"


"He what?"


"Nevermind. Do whatever you want with the hunter. I don't care. He is an easy mark to kill. But don't engage the witch or the boy. I know her. She will lead me to what I want and then we make our move."


"what is it that you want?"


A toothy grin spread across her face, "A family reunion."

 

[taysilva19]

Max felt his blood freeze when John mentioned the girl in the blue hat. He had completely forgotten about her until the boy reminded him. "A girl in a blue hat?" He fought the urge to panic. "When was the last time you saw her? Did you see her today?"


John shook his head. "No, I didn't see anyone except you guys. I saw her... yesterday."


That makes sense. She was probably after the gun too. "I'm gonna be honest. We've bumped into her already. Sam's been using an alias since I met here, but this girl already knew her real name. She's definitely someone to keep watch of." He noticed the look of confusion on the boy's face. "Don't ask. Like I said, Sam can do some pretty foolish things sometimes. But I promise, you can trust her."


He pushed himself up a couple inches and reached up for his bag laying next to Sam. He rummaged through it and pulled out two decks of cards. "Let's get our minds off demons and evil magic, huh? I've got two decks of Magic the Gathering cards that I carry around just in case I have down time. You ever play?"


John found himself smiling at the so called hunter. He sat on the ground in front of Max, answering him. "I've heard of it. Never played it though. Poor title for a game for you to carry around, isn't it?" Did this guy really kill demons and witches? He seemed like a regular old blue collar guy.


Max laughed, trying to keep his voice down. "First rule of being a hunter, John. If you don't laugh about it, you're gonna cry. Now pick your deck. I've got a merfolk build, and a pre-con Kamegawa deck as well."


--------


Two hours went by before Sam woke up. Max caught the pill container of Oxy, but set it down on the table. John looked at him with a worried look on his face. He was finding it harder and harder to believe what Max said about her truly being nice. The hunter wiped at his eyes before answering her. "I'll take care of my shoulder later. I don't want to do it in front of you guys. It's definitely gonna open sooner than I hoped it would. It's not gonna be pretty, either." He sat and waited as Sam answered John's questions. When she mentioned about having to wait at least a day, he noticed the shocked expression on the boy's face.


"Two days?" John asked, his voice picking up volume. "We can't wait that long. Can't you use some spell to fix whatever is wrong with you guys? He told me you're a witch."

 

[Willow Pillow]

"You're a witch too, can you just cast spells to make it better? No, because it doesn't work that way kid."


Not the greatest way to transition the whole 'you have magical powers kid and a crazy cult is after you. Way to go, champ.





"Healing isn't a spell you can cast, its a gift you can have as an ability. Raising the dead, that can be done with spells. Very dark stuff, you're tapping into voodoo magic. We don't tap into voodoo magic. I have three natural abilities. Hypnosis, baelfire and I can control technology. Can't heal. Would make my life easier. I can make a healing potion. I have some phoenix feathers, but it takes atleast a day for it to be made correctly. YOu drink a healing potion from a phoenix before its ready you drop dead. Just the world out there. I have a phoenix egg. I plan on releasing the baby back to the wild, but if I kept it, his tears could heal us...but he's still an egg not a solution. I could conjure and materialize stuff....so i mean if we need medical equipment I can change pillows and stuff and we're all set."


"You're not a very powerful witch are you." John decided he would ignore her witch comment about him, she was not right in the head.


"Goading, cute. I did that too. No. We got our asses handed to us. We're going to do this smart and right, because I'm going to keep you safe kid, that's the end of that."

 

[taysilva19]

"His name is John." Max found himself blurting out. Sam turned to him, confused. "You keep calling him 'kid'. You of all people know what it's like to want to be called by your name. You might've told me that years ago, but I remember the look on your face the first time I called you Abigail." He started to gather his cards, and motioned to John to do the same.


Easy now. He thought to himself. She might still be pissed about the fiasco at the school earlier. Can't have her freaking out in front of him. He breathed, and pushed himself up from the table. He slowly made his way to the bed and sat next to Sam. "It's been a while since I changed the wrappings on your stomach. Gonna let me check them out?" He looked at John and pointed at the bathroom.


"Think you could grab me the first-aid kit from the bathroom? Should still be on the sink." John nodded. "Thanks bud."

 

[Willow Pillow]

"Being called kid and being spit on by strangers for being a witch are two different things completely." But Sam sighed, wincing as her stomach hurt. "I'm sorry John. Your name is important. And I'm being a jerk...or whatever."


As Max asked John to go to the bathroom the kid nodded too fast. Agreed way to fast. But Max was lifting up her shirt, the wrapping stained with blood as her stitches seemed to have come slightly undone. She groaned. "It's not that bad....I've been torn apart worse."


Five minutes went by and John never came out of the bathroom. "I hope you know he climbed out the window and made a sprint for it to the pawn shop....yup, we're going to have to get up." She winced, saying latin as two pillows turned to crutches. "Dad's journal, there's a passage to exorsize demons, I dogtailed it." She dog tailed many passages. "That's all I got on short notice..."

 

[taysilva19]

Aw, John, no.





Max cursed under his breath as Sam finished her sentence. "Dammit, just when I thought we finally trusted us. Guess I should've kept a closer eye on him. Alright, gimme a sec..." He rolled off the bed and grabbed the rough little book that belonged to Sam's father. Before he tossed it under hand to her, he couldn't help but wonder how it got to be so filled with knowledge. He figured it would be best not to ask her too many questions at the rate they were going. But he was more than a little relieved that she was finally acting like normal.


"So..." Max started, as he made sure his pistol was loaded from yesterday. He only fired the thing once since he got here, but wanted to be sure he was ready for going back to the pawn shop. "We gotta go back to the pawn shop, huh? Fingers crossed the owner doesn't call our bluff again."

 

[Willow Pillow]

"it's not that he doesn't trust us, Max. I was him. His parents were murdered, he's going to go against everything to go after who's responsible." She stopped and remembered seeing Dad in the parking lot at the hospital. She sprinted away from him. And then the gun shots.


If it wasn't for those strangers that itnervened, his head would have been blown off and it would have been her fault not for not trying to listen to him.


"He knows we know...we killed his dog....Max this is going to get ugly." But with one last breath inhale she grabbed max's arm and the two formed into smoke.


--


John had the inkling impression that Max would have helped him face the demon tonight if the witch hadn't been so against it. And there was no reason for her to be against it. The demon sold his father the gun and he lost his family because of it.


If the pawn shop owner was evil, you got rid of it. That's what heroes did. As he went into the bathroom, he shut the door and climbed down the rain gutter. He was so light that it didn't even break or come undone. Jumping to the ground he stuck his tongue out. "I'm not waiting two days."


The pawn shop was still open. John walked in, the bell clattering at his enterance. Two doberman dogs were sleeping as the old man smiled. He fixed his glasses. "Young Mr. Marbles, can I help you?"


"Yeah, you can. You can show me your stupid demon face so I can kill you for killing my family."


"I'm sure your..."The man began coughing, his skin changing color as he looked startled and then his brown eyes turned into black, no pupils or whites in them, his face deforming, the being began to cackle as the flesh began to snap and break the five foot man seemed to be growing like a bean stalk, muscles producing, large horns coming from his head.


"You are not human child....but you've made a grave mistake confronting me!" He opened his mouth and this green acid like substance shot out. John duck and rolled. THe matter hit the bookshelf and began to deteriate.


Shoot...he didn't bring weapons. He had absolutely no idea how to fight them. The red skinned eight foot beast ran at him but black smoke filled the room.


The witch from earlier laid out her crutch as the beast was in mid sprint, catching it in a trip. The demon tripped but grabbed the crutch snatching Sam with him in his fall.


"READ THE LATIN MAX!"


The dogs were nowhere to be seen...but they were heard.

 

[taysilva19]

Even though Max had no idea how to speak Latin, he opened the dog eared page of the journal and read the scrawl that contained whatever it was Sam wanted him to read. Had he been given even a couple seconds, he would've insisted that he be the one to do the physical job of bringing the demon to the ground.


He did so without wasting another second. After the words left his mouth, he looked at John, who was standing near the counter the shop keeper was behind. Nodding, Max knew all he could do was wait for the spell to work its literal magic.


It took no time at all.

 

[Willow Pillow]

This beast was eight feet tall and bulk....probably four hundred pounds of muscle. It pulled Sam in as it began to fall wanting to use her 123 pound body as a soft pillow on the ground. She saw the acid dripping out of its mouth as it opened.


"NOPE. NOPE!" Green fire erupted around Sam as they crashed the aisles and he spewed vomit. She still hit the ground with a heavy impact but the demon burned. She wished she waited. Her insides felt like they were going to pop out of her stitches. God damn it. Sam cried out. But she saw the demon trying to get to his feet. He went to shoot the acid at the kid.


"John!" Sam yelled, the kid turned into smoke appearing on the other side of the room, good. She got him intime as the floor burned through.


As Max was reading the latin, the demon began crying out in pain. Black smoke began to foam outside his mouth, until the latin words were cut out. Two invisible heavy beasts pinned by boy down trying to rip him to shreds.


"No one is going to send me back there," he growled and charged, horns producing forward.


Sam's heart raced. It was like watching slow motion. Max was tackled, he wouldn't be able to dodge, and a large horn was going to ram right through him killing him. There was no hesitation, with quick reflexes , she held one end of her crutch and whipped the other, catching the horn like a horse shoe. she yanked with all the strength she could summon to knock him off course.


It worked, for a moment. The crutch was still stuck around the horn and he tried shaking it off, Sam coming with it. She flipped like a rag doll into the remaining aisles as they crashed down.

 

[taysilva19]

Not even thinking, Max pulled out his pistol and turned the safety off. He saw John, now on the other side of the room. Glancing where the boy was not even a second ago, he assumed the scream from Sam was meant to teleport the boy the short distance. As short as it was, Max knew that she had just saved John's life.


And of course, her failed horse shoe move saved his life as well.


"Stay there!" Max called to John. He stopped, turning back to the boy. "Seriously!" Before he could give the boy more instructions, he heard a noise that could be best described as the result of both a bark and a roar from behind him.


Fuck. Everything.





Just like the day before, Max felt his legs slip out from under him, causing him to crash onto the ground. The hell hound wasted no time in tearing through his jacket in seconds. This time, however, the hulking freak dog didn't have the decency to stay invisible, its peeling crimson flesh crackling as it whipped its head back and forth, doing everything in its power to gnaw through Max like a toy. It didn't seem to concentrate on one part of his body in particular, but Max felt his wound split open. His scream filled the small store as his feet hit the ground in desperation.


In one final, desperate move, Max swung his good arm at the hound. He had never aimed a gun, or any part of his body like this at any living thing. He heard a satisfying crunch, indicating he broke the jaw of the monster. Still on the ground, Max quickly aimed his gun at it, and squeezed.


Bang.





His silent celebration was cut short by the shouts and curses coming from Sam and the demon. Max sank even further down on the ground, but managed to roll over, to look at John. That's when he had the idea. It had worked on Sam and him the day before. If Sam was effected by it, why wouldn't it work now? It was worth a shot, right?


No pressure.


"Hey John! I need you to say something: tell the demon to go back to where he came from! Now!"

 

[Willow Pillow]

How the hell is that going to do anything?!?





The floorboards where John had been standing just moments before no longer existed. The woolf bubbled and steam rose from the ground as the concrete of the foundation could be seen.


The witch had saved him. No, Sam had saved him. Now she was under a rubble of books items and whatever crashed on the shelves.


Max was being ripped apart by dogs.


He was just standing there like a scared child.


The monster got up taking the crutch off his horn and snapped it in half with two fingers. "Come out to play little witch.....I'll snap you like a twig and use your bones aa toothpicks. With your little bag of tricks out of the way I can finish the rest of my meal with your friends."


Green baelfire erupted around the beast. There was an animalistic screech until a deep throated laughter took over, black fire....baelfire taking it's place. Baelfire was a demons gift, he summoned his own as a protective barrier, completely dimishing sam's.


John opened his mouth but no words came out as it pushedoes it's hand down into the pile and pulled out sam, holding her by the throat. The witch attempted to turn into black smoke but black flames erupted around her and sam began screaming.


"Pity, I would have liked to sell something of your deepest desire. Yours would have been an interesting soul in my collection. But I'm just going to enjoy this in-"


Yellow paint had been shot in his face. The fire died around sam. No burn marks, but her clothes were singed. Jerking his head he saw the little boy with a paint ball gun that was on one of his shelves. The paint was burning and he dropped the witch taking a step back.


"You with the ugly face. Go back to hell where you belong!"


Large black smoke poured out of his mouth whipping around the room until it plummeted down the floorboards.


The body, no signs of life, fell forward. Feeling his legs again John rushed over to max. "What do I do now? Uh....my aunt Macey is a nurse...you two need to go to the hospital. "


He hears Sam coughing in pain, that meant she was alive atleast.

 

[taysilva19]

It worked.


Fighting the urge to pass out, Max extended his fist in front of John. The boy was rambling on and on about bringing them to his Aunt, or even to the hospital. He was completely oblivious to Max's tiny celebration.


"John. John. Buddy. C'mon, don't leave me hanging, it'll take two seconds." Max tried calming the boy. John stopped when he heard Max's voice. He looked at his fist, confused. "Pound it?"


"Oh." John returned it.


Max let out a long breath, resulting in a quiet celebration. "Yesssss. As for us, I'd say the hospital is out of the question. Think we can think of a explanation for your aunt why you're hanging out with two severely injured adults?" John nodded quickly. "Great. Now help me up, will ya?" He offered the same hand that was just in a fist to John to hold on to, helping him up. When Max got to his feet, he wasted no time in rushing as fast as he could to where he had last saw Sam. Moving the scattered items off the girl's body, he quickly realized just how lucky they were to survive the encounter, even though they were just as banged up as before, if not more.


Sam's eyes met his. Max smiled at her. "Hey. We won."

 

[Willow Pillow]

The kid exorsized a demon...just by telling him to leave. Jesus...if he was doing this at 12...holy shit they were kind of screwed if he became unhinged or crazy...or a raging kiling psychopath.


Max had come over, looking damaged pinata, knocking off whatever item was on her. A small wooden box fell on his ripped bleeding shoulder. (there will be the pistol, two pistol molds, but there is only the right pistol there) Sam coughed, blood coming out in her spit. She gave him a weak smile. "Someone's beginning to look like a hero."


She tried sitting up, but her stitches were still fresh and reopening. Fuck it. The three of them turned to black smoke out of 'Collectables'. They appeared in John's living room.


A woman in her early thirties was sitting on the couch, watching her DVR recording of General Hospital eating Chobani yogurt, the spoon stayed in her mouth as her doe eyes went large as three people materialized in her room. One being her nephew. The other two grown...bleeding adults. She looked at the three of them, then at John.


"Hi Aunt Macey...my friends really need your help."


Her eyes rolled to the top of her head as she passed out.

 

[taysilva19]

Max smiled with Sam for a couple seconds before they teleported out of the store. "No hero, missy. Just doing my job." Before he knew it, they were standing in the middle of a small living room, in front of a shocked looking lady. John called her Aunt Macey, who proceeded to pass out from the sudden appearance of her bloodied new visitors.


"Yeah. Kinda expected that." John said. As the boy dusted himself off, he noticed a small wooden box on the ground. He assumed it was either same or Max's, and picked it up. He motioned to Max and Sam to follow him up the nearby stairs. "C'mon, we have a spare bedroom upstairs. You can clean up and do whatever... Yeah." The boy trailed off as he thought about what had just happened. He stumbled, pushing himself on the wall. "Feels like I'm gonna throw up again." He realized his wounds weren't nearly as bad as Sam or Max's, and let them into the bedroom. "Are you guys gonna be okay? Anything you need?"


Sam and Max took a seat on the bed in the small room. Sam laid down as Max spoke to John. "We're gonna need a first aid kit. Think you got one of those?" John nodded and left the room. He handed Max a kit that was nearly identical to the one he had back at the hotel room. "As great a help you've been, I think you're gonna want to leave the room. We're kinda messy right now. I'll come get you in a little, okay?"


"''Kay." John replied. "If you need anything, gimme a holler. My room is right down the hall."


Max wore an apologetic look. "You're probably gonna hear some hollering for the next half hour or so. Whatever we say, don't come in. She doesn't take nicely to being sutured without being numbed first." His frown melted into a sideways smile as he playfully pat Sam's good leg.


"Good luck, then." John caught himself forgetting to give them the box. "Oh. This was on the ground when we ended 'ported into the living room. Is it yours, Max?"


Max looked up at the boy as he opened the first aid kit. "Nah, I don't think so. I put my bag down at the door right there." He said, pointing as he did so. "Why do you ask?"


John frowned. "It's got your name on it. See?"

 

[Willow Pillow]

Sam stuck out her tongue as he patted her leg, but her nose soon wrinkled trying to hide her smile that was growing.


Such a goof. Even now through everything. "Actually if your aunt has anything to numb his shoulder or somrthing....we are going to need it. I don't scream. I'm just vocal about how I don't like pain."


But hearing how the box had his name on it she shot up straight. There was a yip of pain escaping her mouth but her focus narrowed in. "Where did it come from John?"


"I don't know. ... you teleported it."


The pawn shop...."we need to burn it. Get rid of it. Whatever it is. Now."


The boy looked at max at what to do.

 

[taysilva19]

Max extended his hand to the boy. "Hold on, hold on. Lemme see that for a sec." He kept his other hand on Sam's leg to assure her it was fine. The box looked as if it was made of oak, and even though it didn't seem to have any coating or finish to it, the surface was smooth to touch. He was about to correct John about his name being on it, when he saw the three letters of his name etched in the bottom left corner.


The hell? This can't be right.





"Max?" John asked, breaking the silence.


The hunter looked up at the boy. "Guess I should open it, huh?" Undoing the latches on the side of the box, Max lifted the cover off. Inside, was a gun. Although he had seen his share of firearms during his life, even Max was shocked at the contents. Calling it a pistol would've been discrediting the thing. It took the young man a couple seconds to identify the weapon as a hand cannon. Every inch of it was polished, looking as if it had never been used. He touched it, the cold metal grazing against his finger tips. He looked at Sam, then to John. "Doesn't seem too special. My name isn't too common nowadays, but there's been plenty of people who share it with me. It's probably a coincidence, nothing to worry about."


He placed it on the ground and sighed. "Okay, John. Now it's really time to go." The boy closed the door, wishing them luck again. Max stared at the door for a couple seconds.


"Max."


He turned to face Sam. "Yeah, yeah, you ready now?"


Even though she was most likely in the worst pain of her life, she managed to arch an eyebrow at her partner. Her expression said it all. She hadn't called his name.


Weird. He thought, opening the kit and grabbing the bottle of alcohol and popping the cap off. Probably not the best idea I've had, doing stitches when I think I'm hearing my name.


He could've sworn it was a girl's voice. No inflection of panic, just the tone someone would use to get your attention.

 

[Willow Pillow]

Black dawn looks like a normal gun, look what that does.


But she kept it to herself. She still had Black Dawn in her bag. There was a quick glance at the thing. Maybe she didn't have to destroy the thing. Keep it hidden. Away from fucking hunters. Give it to her dad for safe keeping.


No...and risk having him blow his brains out? She could watch over it herself. It didn't effect her in the slightest anyways.


--


There was screaming. Swearing. At one specific point in time green electrical sparks of electricity went through everything that was plugged in as Max tried patching Sam up. There were broken ribs and open wounds everywhere. But eventually Max was able to repair her. And he himself she lied down exhausted and hurt, the pain having its own rhythm and heart beat. But she lied next to him, resting her head on his chest.


"So...hero...anything in that pawn shop would make Cooke happy. What's your plan if you head back?"


John poked his head through the door. "Heard the yelling finally stopped. Aunt Macey is pacing downstairs. What do you guys want to do?"

 

[taysilva19]

Max relaxed, feeling Sam place her head on his chest, just as she had the other night. The hunter truly didn't have a problem with it, realizing her doing that was most likely a comfort thing.


He stayed quiet for a couple minutes, until she broke the silence. "You're really adamant on calling me a hero, huh? I couldn't have done it without my lovely assistant. Oh yeah, you did alright too." He laughed as Sam jabbed his side. "I'm kidding, kidding. But seriously, you were great."


He stopped teasing her to think about her question. "It's wishful thinking, but I'm hoping Cooke forgot about me, to tell the truth. I know for a fact Sheamus didn't. Guarantee he'll be getting in touch with me sooner rather than later."


"I'll come up with something. Not gonna lie, I really like meeting other people out here like we've been doing. If it weren't for you, I never would've met John, or-"


Max was interrupted by John opening the door. Although Max would've ordinarily been embarassed by his current appearance and situatiom, he was too tired and banged up to do anything about it. He considered John's question about what to do with his aunt.


"I'd really like to meet her." Max tapped Sam on the shoulder, prompting her to move a little. His shoulder seered with pain, forcing him to lay back down. "But we're kinda sorta half dead now. If she doesn't mind, wanna send her up here? I mean, we're decent enough." Max was telling the truth. He had already disposed of the bloody gauze and wrappings from earlier. They just hadn't showered yet, something Max knew he desperately needed.


John nodded, going back downstairs. Max heard him talk to Macey, asking her to come uptairs, due to the currenr situation. "This'll be fun to explain. You wanna do the talking, or me?"