Convoke

Chapter 1

A pint glass smashed over the man's head; the shards spiralled in every direction. Those closest to the fight shielded their eyes. The provoked demon jammed the glass under the man's chin, and he shrieked in pain. Red dots now spiralled in every direction.

Tom clambered over the bar and threw himself into the eye of the storm. He shoved the demon through the entrance with such force, the wooden door splintered as it smashed against the wall. She tripped on the shallow step and cracked her head against the pathing slab. Tom grimaced at the noise and yelled, "Call an ambulance, now!" to the nearest bystander with a cigarette in one hand, and a beer in the other.

The demon was on her feet in seconds, unscathed. Tom towered over her but held arms up in defence. "Enough!" he roared. Her face was splattered with blood, and her menacing eyes twisted with violence. Her hands turned to fists, and Tom was ready to shield the pub entrance with his body.

She lunged forwards and he blocked her punch, hitting her back with a swift uppercut to the chin, once again knocking her to the pavement. "Hurry up!" Tom grumbled, desperately searching the sky. The full moon watched them, but he could see nothing else beyond the light pollution.

The demon was on her feet quicker than before. Tom looked down in time for a fist to slam against his right cheek. Pain rippled through his face as he fell towards the pub, gripping at the entrance to stop himself falling onto his back. The demon would have followed, but Tom's mother arrived in time to return the punch.

He shook the pain off and stepped towards his mother, until another demon landed between them.

Tom panicked through the seconds. How could they fight off two demons? He didn't want to die. He especially didn't want to die this way- protecting himself in a fight that could've easily been prevented.

The new demon had his back to Tom. He lifted his leg and booted the other demon hard in the chest, leaving a big footprint on the front of her white cropped vest. She flew backwards down the path, and the other demon followed. He twisted her arm uncomfortably behind her back as an angel now landed in front of Tom.

Her wings whooshed so hard from her landing that Tom stumbled backwards. He inhaled deeply when the angel's aura of tranquillity circled him, despite his heart thrashing around his chest. He stormed back into the pub. The injured man was on the floor. Everyone hovered round him, drunkenly murmuring the event to their friends, or anxiously screaming that he was going to die.

Nobody had tried to stop the bleeding.

Tom knelt and yelled for paper towels. He held them under the man's chin. When they turned red, he held more underneath the soaked one, until the paramedics arrived and took over. The man was taken away, and as Tom dragged out the mop bucket to clean the floor, his mother returned with brown hair now scraped back into a ponytail.

Tom sighed, slopping the mop onto the floor. "Is there even any point in asking what happened?"

His mother settled the guests and drew their attention back to the football match. The regulars soon swarmed the bar for another round. "Sorry Tom, I was out the back having a chat with Shanice. Who started it?" Tom's mother, Moira, asked while opening two fruity ciders.

"The man who ended up with the glass in his throat," Tom grumbled, rubbing his bruising cheek. "The demon never even made it to the bar before he started on her."

"Twat. Demons have as much right to a drink as the rest of us."

"Well, I'm getting a bit sick of mopping up blood. Maybe we should make the demon's welcome sign bigger."

"I'll talk to your dad about it later. This fight will be in the papers, and our pub will once again be crowned as the worst pub in in the county."