The Devil's Apprentice by Patrick Stewart (polar express read aloud TXT) 📕

just about make out the words. Dave’s Home Furniture Depot. 

“They’re in there,” Karen said.

“What’s the plan?”

“We go in, we kill the demons, we get out,” Karen said.

“Kill?”

“In my experience, in these situations, it’s kill or be killed,” Karen said. She looked up at Alex, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe we can go for a drink after?”

“...okay,” Alex said, a little uncertainly. Karen was excited, and he wasn’t entirely sure if he shared her enthusiasm for apparently killing demons.

Karen leaned in suddenly. Her lips pressed against his. Their tongues met. It was a deep kiss, and despite the unexpectedness of it, Alex felt himself relax as he enjoyed her taste. And then she pulled back and walked towards the warehouse.

Alex watched her go. His eyes automatically dropped to her curvy bottom. Dammit, she was so hot. He let out a deep sigh. His thoughts were consumed by lust. His lips still tasted Karen. Time passed, and his brain suddenly snapped. He was supposed to be following after her, not standing back and admiring her ass while she went headfirst against the demons all alone.

Pulling his sword out, Alex rushed after her. She’d reached the red shutters and now drew two blades of her own.

“You were admiring my ass,” she commented, wearing a wide grin.

“Uh… yeah… sorry about… that,” Alex mumbled. Very smooth, he scolded himself mentally.

“Don’t be. You can play with it later.”

“...cool,” Alex said, before adding, “Are you okay?”

Karen stared ahead at the red shutters, nodding. “Hunting bad demons turns me on,” she said with a soft voice. “See the window?” she pointed up. “That’s going to be our way in.”

Alex could just about make out a small rectangular shape forty feet above.

“How are we supposed to get up there?”

“Jump,” Karen replied.

“Jump?”

Alex had heard right. Karen bent her knees, then launched herself. She shot off the ground and flew up into the air. Coming to the window, she grabbed the ledge with one arm. Dangling from it, she pulled at the window and somehow managed to pull it open without breaking the glass. She disappeared inside and a moment later, her head poked out through the window.

“Are you coming?” she hissed.

Alex cursed silently. There was no way he could make that jump. No way any human could. Not even a fucking Olympic jumping athlete with one of those long poles. But he wasn’t a human, not anymore. He was a Demon Hunter. And apparently Demon Hunters had some sort of Kangaroo gene.

Alex took a few steps back and focused his eyes onto Karen’s pretty little head sticking out of the window. He was stronger, faster and more powerful than he could ever have imagined. He could make the jump. He could do it.

Alex took a deep breath and sprinted forward. As he came close, he bent his knee and leapt up into the air.

It started off really well.

The jump was fantastic.

Maybe a little too fantastic.

Alex felt his body fly off the ground as if powered by jet propulsions. He could see Karen. Her pretty face was definitely getting closer. And then, it was level with his. But he kept climbing. Now he was staring down at her now bemused face. And yet he continued to climb. He reached above the warehouse. He could see its red tiled roof. For a second, he paused in mid-air as his ascent came to a halt.

And then he began to drop.

It was like being on a rollercoaster when they took you to the top, held you there, then dropped you. Except this was much more frightening. There were no safety harnesses. The fingertips of his desperately flailing arms brushed against the roof top as he dropped.

Alex stared up into the dark night as he fell. This was not how people jumped to their deaths. People jumped off buildings and died. He doubted anyone in the history of ever had jumped off the ground, then crashed back onto said ground and died. It had to be the stupidest way ever to die.

What a fucking stupid power. Being able to jump so high, he killed himself on his descent. He wondered if his last thoughts were going to be of how stupid this was, of how stupid he was.

No.

His last thoughts were going to be of how awful his scream sounded.

Because that was what he was doing.

Screaming.

And he could hear it. It sounded god awful.

As the white painted brickwork of the warehouse passed him, he felt a tug on his arm and came to a sudden halt. Alex winced. His arm felt like it had popped out of its socket and now bore his entire weight.

Karen stared down at him from the window, a smirk on her pretty lips as she held him by the hand.

“Fuck, that hurts,” Alex grumbled.

“You want me to let go?”

Alex looked down at the ground. As a Demon Hunter, he wouldn’t die from a fall of this height. It would still probably hurt though. He shook his head and groaned as Karen pulled him through the window. He landed on his bottom on what was soft carpet. His arm hung limply by his side.

On Karen’s instructions, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He felt her hands on his limp arm. Alex’s lips remained sealed but he still managed to elicit a deep sound as she snapped his arm back into its socket.

Once his breathing calmed, Alex opened his eyes. Karen was staring down at him. Bent forward, ample cleavage showed through her low-cut white top.

“That was some jump,” she grinned.

It was indeed some jump, Alex thought. He’d managed to jump above the roof of the warehouse. As his thudding heart calmed, as his breathing eased, he felt strangely warm and excited. He’d managed to