Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #19 October 2015 | Page 51

A hooded figure ran across the graveyard,
jumping over headstones, then vanishing in grey mist
and reappearing a few steps away. Margo ran after it,
red leather coat billowing behind her. She followed
the figure with ease in her demonic form, as if she
wasn’t even trying to catch up. She was two steps
away from the mark, when a foot extended from
behind a tree, and the mark slammed face first into the
ground. The figure flipped around onto its back, and
its hood slid back, revealing a white-eyed, demonic
half-human half-reptilian face. Green scales fused
with skin in what looked a painful manner.

Patrick was tying his shoe with his foot resting on the
bumper, and Jake was busy talking to the demon in a
black victorian dress. Its veil was lifted up, revealing a
fully reptilian face. As soon as Margo and Lucas came
into view, the demon emitted a high-pitched squeal at
them and got in the car. One didn’t need to know the
language to recognise a pissed-off parent.
Jake opened the back door, and Lucas muscled their catch inside. When the car door was shut
and the car sped off, they could finally breathe easy.
Jake wiped his forehead. “I hate demonic overbearing
teenagers.”

“Told you he’d bolt this way.” Margo smirked
proudly as Lucas emerged from behind the tree.

“Come on,” Patrick put his hand over Jake’s
shoulder. “Well, that was our last job for today, how
about a break?”

“I bow down to your incredible wisdom.”
Lucas grinned and walked over to the demon on the
ground. They had been looking for the ‘Portal demon’
for over a week.

“I ran past a demonic bar on my way here.”
Margo’s short spiky blonde hair grew and curled rapidly, black spreading from its roots to its tips. By the
time they exited the graveyard, she had long curly hair
reaching to her waist.

“You’ve been spending way too much time
with Jake, his sarcasm is rubbing off on you.”

Lucas was about to counter Margo’s quip,
***
when the demon sprang on its feet, hitting Lucas in
the stomach as it bolted. Margo sighed, pulling out the
The bar was in an otherwise quiet part of town.
gun from the holster on her lower back, then fired. The Like most bars designed with demons in mind, the
demon fell down. “You shot me!” it screamed with a
front was the dingiest piece of trash imaginable. The
rumbly high-pitched voice.
walls hadn’t seen paint in over a decade, and the sidewalk was swimming in trash. It seemed like the whole
Lucas got up from the ground. “I thought it
building was going to fall apart at any moment. But
was a ‘capture alive at any cost’ mark.”
inside it was an entirely different story.
“So, that doesn’t mean I can’t shoot at them.”
Margo tossed Lucas a pair of handcuffs. They had
runes magically lasered in them, making them almost
unbreakable. Lucas walked over and picked up the
demon by its hoody. He noticed the demon wasn’t
bleeding. It seemed that a bullet for this type of demon
worked as a close-range paintball blast.
“Come on, time to go home.” Lucas carried
the pissed demon at an arm’s length in front of him.
***
A blue car was parked at the graveyard gate.

The place was a lot bigger than anyone would
have guessed, spanning two storeys. It was currently too early for a crowd so there were plenty of free
tables. The bar itself seemed a normal lowbrow bar,
everything smelled like liquor, cigarette smoke, sweat
and blood. A few minutes after the gang were seated,
a band started to set up on the stage. There were three
punk-looking guys setting up their instruments, and
a redheaded girl in a black skirt and very high heels
doing sound check.
Lucas went to the bar and ordered drinks.
While waiting, he turned around and saw Margo

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