Hell's Rayne (Book 1)

Chapter 33

I'd insisted that we get out of that place before I told him anything. Jesse was reluctant, he didn't trust me any more and I couldn't really blame him for that, but he was somewhat more receptive to the idea once I pointed out that we were stood in the middle of a crime scene, both covered in blood. The bodies might be gone, but there was still more than enough evidence to land us in some serious hot water.

“Go, go where?” he'd asked.

It felt like a loaded question. Where did we go?

“Back to the B & B,” I said after some thought. “We need to clean up and get our things. Then we can decide where to go from there.”

“Wait, all this 'we' talk. What makes you think I'm going to go anywhere with you? I don't even know who, or what you are. That trick to get rid of the bodies, what was that?”

“I told you, and I promise I will tell you the rest of it. Everything. But not here, we can't let someone find us like this.” I didn't address his other question, I didn't have a good answer for him and I just had to hope that once I'd had a chance to explain things he might be inclined to change his mind.

“Fine, we'll got back to the Travelodge. But I'm still not sure if I want to go anywhere else with you.”

“I can live with that.”

It was a lie. Truth be told I needed Jesse if I was to get anywhere. I needed some information about what was happening to me, and there was only one person on the surface I could think of to get it from. But it would be a long journey to get there and I had to admit that without him I would struggle. If I was lucky I'd be able to convince him we needed to work together, for both our sakes, else we'd both end up being demon food.

Once back at our room we both showered and changed out of our bloody clothes in silence. Then we sat on the beds opposite each other and just stared as an awkward silence filled the room.

“So talk,” he said, his voice sounding over loud in the tiny space, it's surprising volume made me jump. “Tell me what this big 'secret' that's created this whole mess is.”

I chewed my lip, took a moment to gather my thoughts. How exactly did I begin to tell a story like this? A deep breath filled my lungs and a shuddering sigh rattled my throat as I decided to bite the bullet. So I told him everything – well almost everything, there were some things I just couldn't handle trying to explain.

It took me some time to explain it all, skirting around a few of the more complex details as we really didn't have the time to delve right into the whole greater good concept; besides I'm not so sure he'd have accepted the idea anyway. I could tell he was already struggling with the information I did divulge.

“That has got to be the craziest story I've ever heard. What exactly do you take me for, Heather?” he said when I finally got to the end of my story.

“I told you, my name isn't Heather, it's Rayne. And I know it sounds crazy, but you can't deny what you saw with your own eyes, Jesse.”

“So...so this kind of thing goes on all the time. People like you are always around, we just don't know about it.” He'd gotten up off of the bed and started to pace the small stretch of floor, a nervous energy having built up inside of him and he needed an outlet to get rid of it. I was just glad it didn't involve lashing out at me or running in any way.

“Yes...well, what happened here was actually pretty unique, so no 'this kind of thing' doesn't happen all the time. But yes, there are always demons roaming the Earth. We all have our own jobs to do up here, and our own ways of blending in or hiding ourselves so that our purposes remain protected.”