Man, this is such a pain.
I stood at the entrance to the service hallway, facing an entire lobby full of possessed civilians. They were all armed with whatever they'd grabbed from the immediate surroundings and spaced out just enough to make passing impossible without a fight.
I walked a few steps away, then stopped, rubbing the bridge of my nose in frustration. Why did I even agree to come here?
I checked my pockets, my fingers brushing against a crumpled tissue paper and nothing else. Then I remembered that I left my cigarettes home and my irritation turned into a furious boil.
I stomped my foot on the floor once rapidly, trying to stomp away the fury that the demon had ignited.
When I stopped, I stared at the crowd again. And sighed deeply.
I can't fight them all. My body still hasn't recovered it's full stamina after the explosion and if start fighting them, I'll only be depleting myself before I even reached the demon. I need an opening.
I worked the scenario in my head, creeping slightly closer and testing their reaction radius. As I moved, the front line – a cook with a skillet and a security guard with a folded chair began to move, their bodies shuffling forward.
I glanced past them, near the central pillar, two large fire extinguishers stood out against the gray background.
I shot forward toward the pillar, moving low and fast through the front line. Then I grabbed both extinguishers, yanked the pins and aimed the nozzles above the center of the lobby. And I pressed the levers down hard.
The white cloud of chemical powder erupted, filling the entire lobby in a matter of seconds. And creating a blinding white cloud that turned the figures into hazy silhouettes.
Dammit, the idea felt great at that time but now the smell was horrible and burning my throat.
The civilians immediately became confused. They couldn't see me and they certainly couldn't see each other. Their movements broke down as they blindly swung their weapons, searching for me but often hitting one another.
That was my cue.
I shot forward, a blur of motion through the white cloud, aiming directly for the narrow passage I knew led to the surveillance room. I hit the first line of defense like a cannonball.
I grabbed first man on my parth by the face with my right hand and shoved him hard. And sent him flying backward, bowling over three other figures behind him.
The second lunged out of the smoke. I instantly dropped low, swiping his feet out from under him with a vicious leg sweep, sending him crashing.
The third saw me emerge from the swirling white cloud and swung a long broom handle. I ducked under the swing, getting close enough to land a punch on his guts and he doubled over instantly, incapacitated.
The fourth was met with a spinning kick to the chest that sent him crashing into the reception desk.
With the path cleared, I sprinted for the passage. And as soon as I burst through the narrow entrance, I immediately stopped.
The passage was a nightmare. The walls, ceiling and even the ground were covered in eyes. They were integrated into the ground and interspersed with dozens of black spikes jutting out at random angles.
You've got to be kidding. This is exactly the kind of nonsense I didn't sign up for. I dragged a hand down my face. Is the demon trying watch a 360° movie?
I took one step into the passage and the world went blank. I was falling into the dream again. I can't go through that again.
My eyes snapped right before I hit the ground and my body jerked upright on instinct, stopping the fall entirely.
But the moment I got upright, those eyes hit me again, and the world cut to black a second time.
Knowing what would happen, I slammed my hands over my eyes the moment they snapped again.
I stood there, covering my eyes completely. Damn, what should I do? I can't walk with my eyes closed, I'd inevitably step on one of those black spikes or walk into a wall.
I closed my eyes even tighter beneath my palms, blocking out every last speck of light. I saw nothing – only pitch blackness and within that blackness, the conscious awareness of myself, just standing there.
"Anything that carries energy can be seen without actually using eyes. Energy has weight and movement, flowing through the entire body and you can map that flow in your mind and picture the shape it forms." – the pastor once said to me.
I took a long breath in and then let it out.
As I exhaled, I felt a tingling sensation that started in my chest and flowed outward. Like my spiritual energy just breathed out of my body.
I could feel everything in the passage, the demonic energy pouring from the eyes, the spikes.
And suddenly, the blackness shifted, the whole hallway instantly mapped out in my consciousness, every detail clear without needing to open my eyes.
I dropped my hands, keeping my eyes closed and started walking. My steps were slow, crossing the deadly corridor and avoiding every spike.
I got to the surveillance room, feeling surprisingly cool. Walking blind through a demonic minefield without a scratch was a minor win I desperately needed.
As soon as I walked in, I felt demonic energy shift and threw a kick. Even with my spiritual sight, I was too slow to react fully. I managed to block the worst of it but the force sent me crashing into a wall, maybe.
The demon was already on me. I looked up and its foot was already swinging for my head. I ducked under the second kick on pure instinct… but my head violently bumped into something hard and low. I felt the sharp pain and before I could even cuss, another kick slammed into my chest, and my whole body launched backward.
I landed heavily in the next room and struggled to regain my composure, but the demon was on me again. It threw a punch that connected with my chest, making me stagger backward.
Then a series of fists followed, each one landing. Before I could start blocking, it threw a kick that made me fly again and I crashed violently into something that pierced right through my back and exited through my front.
I touched the object impaling me and forced myself off of it with a guttural grunt, tearing the spike free. And fell heavily onto my knee, blood gushing instantly.
I focused all my spiritual energy on the wound, compressing the blood flow and slowing the bleeding. I felt the demon's footsteps approaching.
I stood up slowly, swaying. There's no other way. I have to open my eyes!
My eyes snapped open. The demon was exactly as my spiritual sight had mapped – humanoid female , with long hair and a face where the eyes and mouth were stitched closed.
It raised its hand immediately and in its palm, there was an eye focused on me. The eyeball pulsed once and the world went blank. I was falling into the dream.
And my mind was racing. I focused all my strength into my legs. My eyes snapped open and I blurred to the side, right as the demon aimed the hand where I was standing. I couldn't really tell much because of its stitched face but I sure saw frustration on it.
I shot toward the demon, aiming a fist at it's guts. But spikes erupted from the ground, forcing me to stop my advance instantly. I had to begin dodging, moving backward in an acrobatic retreat as the spikes materialized directly in my path, forcing me to cover a massive amount of ground.
As soon as I stopped, the demon raised its palm again. I had to rely more on speed. I went to the side, the demon aimed the hand again. It started using both hands, trying to pin me.
I had to move and never stopping. But the room was small and cluttered, making continuous movement incredibly difficult.
Right when I was about to duck again, the demon shot forward. Its physical speed was surprisingly unimpressive compared to it's casting speed. I leaped down, avoiding the kick and landed a fist, that had everything left in me into it's guts.
I felt bones shattering within its body and it was sent the demon flying, crashing through the drywall and into the lobby.
I followed immediately.
The demon was on its feet and it launched all those civilians at me again. This demon really knows how to piss me off.
I walked slowly, unleashing all my spiritual energy. And I blurred upward, twisted and used the ceiling to launch myself directly at the demon.
I reached it before it could lift its arm and punched it right on the face, smashing it hard onto the ground.
But my vision started blurring badly, I staggered backwards, hitting the central pillar behind me and fell to one knee. Goddammit, I forgot that I was been using my spiritual energy to stop the bleeding.
Blood flooded the ground around my feet and I couldn't concentrate on stopping the hemorrhage anymore.
The demon was already up, its head slowly regenerating. It walked toward me but my body couldn't move.
I let out a shaky laugh. "I really hate Exorcist duties."
Just as the demon was close enough to deliver the final blow, a wolf-like demonic blur jumped toward it, biting off the arm it was about to raise.
The demon staggered back, surprised.
I didn't know what was happening but I knew I had to get in. So, I flash-stepped forward and slammed my fist into the demon's chest.
It hit the wall and as it was about to fall, I was already on it again, landing a barrage of fists with a deafening roar. And each strike tore through its flesh.
Suddenly, I felt myself being pushed away from my own consciousness, like something foreign was trying to seize control of my body. I heard myself let out a different laugh – a dark sound and my fists began to spark with black flames.
When the last fist landed, the demon's body collapsed inward and exploded into gore, painting the lobby in black blood.
And the force of the fist continued its destructive path, tearing a massive line of demolition across the lobby floor and out the hotel entrance.
I stumbled back, landing on my knees and my own consciousness returned fully but the sight was devastating.
I looked around, struggling to focus. Yoshiro and Miss Suzuki were behind me, staring at me with confusion or terror? I couldn't tell. Everything was fading into darkness...