Back in the Morrisons Supermarket car park, we waited. There were too many people on the street, even for a wet and cold Sunday. Kids kicking a ball against the side of the houses, while women clustered, coats pulled tight around them, smoking and talking.
Men sat on doorsteps, open cans beside their feet as they smoked and laughed with friends. There was nothing to indicate a demon's presence.
At first glance, anyway.
But watching for longer, sitting in silence beside Anna as she nursed a headache, dark smudges around her eyes and pale face an indication of the toll the spell had taken, I had no choice but to really start to notice.
The way the men's gaze would follow the women, lingering on one in particular, or worse, on the kids playing in the quiet street. The shouting match that would erupt between two women, becoming gestures that grew wilder as their voices rose higher until they were separated by the others in the group.
There was a tension to the air, that could be felt. It was in their faces and the way they stood. The defensive hunch, the constant looking back over their shoulders as though paranoid they were being watched.
I shivered. The patch of black was still there in my mind, pulsating with the beat of my heart, and I licked my lips, wondering just how we were going to do this.
A rap of knuckles on the window beside me had me yelping and I spun, fingers curling around a knife hilt that wasn't there before I realised it was Kevin.
My soft sigh of relief didn't last long as he didn't meet my gaze, instead just pulling open the rear door and climbing in when I unlocked it. A whuff of air left him as he settled onto the seat and leaned back, looking as exhausted as Anna.
He rubbed at his eyes and stifled a yawn, his dirty blonde curls sitting limp. "What's the deal?"
"Hello to you too," I muttered, and he grunted.
"Hi."
"Hey." Anna managed a little wave, corners of her mouth twitching as she looked between the two of us. "Thanks for coming."
"Sure."
So, he was in a mood.
Great.
I slumped back in my seat, turning back to staring out the windscreen and quietly sulked.
Seeing that neither of us seemed to be in the mood to talk, Anna took it upon herself to lead the conversation. "There's a demon in the house up the road."
"Demon. Right." Kevin ran a hand through his hair and groaned. "I really wish you'd been making that shit up."
"Sorry, babe." I smiled sweetly, affecting a high-pitched, cheerful tone. "You know I wouldn't lie to you."
Which was, admittedly, a lie.
Anna flashed me a warning glance and my smile faded. Bugger. She knew way too much about me now.
"You okay with this, hon?"
"Not really," Kevin grunted. "Wish I'd had a bit more time to get used to the idea."
"Sorry." Yeah, that was my fault. I was eager to get this over and done with so I could be done with it all. "If it helps, people are suffering."
It didn't. It did make him feel guilty though, which was just me manipulating him again. Like when I'd kissed him to calm him down. It had been a calculated move to stop him falling apart and it had worked, but if not for that need, I wouldn't have done it.
Hell, the only reason I hadn't ripped the band-aid off and dumped him was because I needed him.
Maybe there was a reason I belonged in Hell.
"How do you know it's in there?" Kevin asked, leaning forward between the seats to peer at the row of houses. "Looks normal to me."
"We did a spell." I glanced at the witch and winked. "Well, Anna did."
"A spell." Kevin's tone was flat, his forehead furrowed as if he suspected we were teasing him.
"To locate it," Anna agreed. "Then we decided we needed a big, strong, man to help take it down."
Her tone was teasing, and I found my eyes narrowing. Something she noticed and found funny, though I wasn't sure why. Her giggles were poorly contained behind the hand she used to cover her mouth and even Kevin gave her a funny look.
She waved us away and coughed. Trying to stem the laughter. "Sorry. Sorry!" She wasn't at all. "Something struck me as funny, is all."
I bit back on the comment I was about to make and instead turned my attention back to the houses. "Back-to-back, properties." Two houses facing different streets connected at the rear. "No front garden and only the one door."
"Will make it difficult," Anna agreed, gesturing at the busy street. "Especially with all the people here."
"We need a distraction." Kevin said and sighed softly. "I have an idea of how we can do that, but it won't be fun."
He explained and my face fell a little. It would work, probably really well, but it would leave us one person down. I had to go into the house as I could see the demon beneath the human form. Which meant I had to decide who I wanted with me.
A witch, or a big, hulking, bloke who was stronger than Anna and me combined.
There wasn't really much choice unless Anna could conjure up some battle magic.
"Will your spells be able to stop the demon?"
Anna shook her head. "Magic's not like that. I can't just wave a hand and shoot fireballs. Though that would be cool."
Kevin it was then. I turned to look at him, and he met my eyes. There was something there, in them, as he looked at me. He was confused, likely scared, as well he should be. Demons were real, and so were ghosts.
It was an adjustment. I knew, I'd gone through that myself, though admittedly, I had a little more incentive to get used to it faster.
"You good?" my voice was barely a whisper, but he bobbed his head once, just a quick duck of the chin, and the corner of his mouth pulled upwards. "We're good."
There was more implied in that than I cared to contemplate just then so I clapped my hands and looked at Anna. "Let's do this."
I climbed out of the car and waited, shivering as the cold wind pulled at my clothes. I had to grab the hem of my skirt and pull it down as an errant gust of wind caught it. I had no idea why people put up with this crap instead of wearing jeans.
Kevin's moody ass stood beside me, and we watched as Anna started her car and reversed out of the parking spot. She gave us a wave, before turning and heading for the exit.
"We really good?" I asked, looking up at him. For some reason, the answer really mattered to me.
"Aye, we are."
His smile was a little warmer, so that was an achievement.
He stayed close as we left the car park and crossed the street to the terraces. His hands were stuffed into his jacket pocket and his expression dark as I found myself the focus of attention for the closest group of men.
One, pot bellied and unshaven ogre, elbowed his buddy and lifted his chin towards me. The others didn't even bother with that little attempt at subtlety and instead just turned to stare.
I was suddenly very sure I know how a deer felt as a pack of wolves began to circle it. I moved a little closer to Kevin, my arm slipping through his.
Kevin glared at the men, and they laughed.
That scared me.
Kevin wasn't a small guy. Over six-foot, athletic, broad shoulders and just solid looking. Not the sort of guy you would want to bother testing unless you had to. He wasn't a victim, and I should know, I'd made a habit of picking my fights and I would never have dismissed the guy walking beside me.
But, they did.
Which suggested that those middle-aged, overweight, slovenly pigs were either incredibly confident in their abilities, or the demon's effect was warping their minds to the point where they just didn't care
It was likely the latter, and the didn't bode well for me because I was looking very much like the main course and they were starving.
"Hurry up," I muttered, increasing my pace even more than I needed to just to match his lanky ass.
We passed them and were into the street. One of them took a step towards us but stopped short, his mind not totally corrupted perhaps. I swallowed back my fear and forced myself not to look back.
The house was approaching. Getting closer with every step. We passed another pair of men, their wives' part of a nearby cluster who glared at me as much as them, for grabbing their attention.
I fucking hated this place. Couldn't wait to get out of it.
We were almost at the door when a loud bang echoed along the street. The scrape of metal on metal, and voices raised in anger. All eyes went back that way and we were at the door.
I risked a glance back. Anna was playing dumb, waving her hands at the men shouting at her as she shouted back. The front of her car had caved in the rear door of a beaten-up Honda, and the owner wasn't happy. She had the good sense to stay in the car as the men gathered, and the women watched.
There was no point knocking. I just grabbed the handle and turned.
It opened immediately and I shared a look of doubt with Kevin, then stepped through.
Of all the things I'd expected, severed heads, bodies chained to the walls and arcane symbols drawn on the floor in blood, it had not been a quiet, neat, house.
A bit tired, and not very fashionable. The sort of house that you'd expect to find your grandparents living in.
The soft tick-tock of a clock could be heard as dust motes danced in the light spilling through the door. There was a soft scent of lavender, and every surface had been polished, while the carpeted floor was freshly vacuumed.
It was the sort of house that felt immediately comfortable, bringing with it a wash of memories of better days with loved ones. Sunday lunches and family visits. A place of warmth, and comfort and love.
"In, or out, dears. Just choose and close the door," a woman's voice called.
I looked at Kevin who shrugged, and pushed the door shut.
Moving slowly, cautiously, we headed along the hallway and turned into the living room. The clock that we'd heard sat on the mantlepiece, and an electric fire hummed, heated elements warming the ginger cat that lay sprawled on the soft rug before it.
In an armchair turned towards the fire, was an old woman, knitting.
A wrinkled face above a floral dress and pink fluffy slippers. She wore a white pinny and a teal cardigan, while a gold cross hung on the end of a chain around her neck. Her white hair was tied in a neat bun atop her head, and her eyes, a warm brown, studied me through thick glasses in plastic frames.
"I wondered how long before you showed up." Her fingers never stopped, the knitting needles clicking softly. On the rug, the cat yawned as it rolled over. "I believe you've been looking for me."