A Race Against Demons

Maddie was frozen to the spot in fear for a while, and then she turned back to her father.

"Dad!" She yelled and shook him frantically, but he didn't move. "Dad! Wake the fuck up!"

Then Maddie stopped the shaking as an idea came alive in her head. An idea that she should have thought about first before anything.

She was a Hunter, was she not? She could easily fend off these demons with her weapon. She dug her hand into the pocket of her Jeans—

And came up empty. Nothing was in there except a bundle of bills.

Realization slowly dawned on her. She hadn't taken her Celestial Blade along: it was still stuck in the wall of her kitchen.

Maddie let out a gasping breath as the thought of how much danger she was in sank in. These demons could plant their tentacles on herself and her father and suck out their souls before she could even raise a hand to fend them off. They were that much more powerful: the sting on Maddie's cheek where the previous Octopid had merely scratched her was a good-en