Part 4

“Hello! What can I get for you, a king-sized bed?” The young motel clerk asked smiling brightly.
“No.” “Yes.” Crystal and Jason responded at the same time. The clerk looked at both of them confused.

“My silly wife,” Jason laughed. “She’s upset with me, but I’m pretty sure I can fix that quick.” He finished with a wink.
….

“Jason, are you crazy?”
“Depends on who you ask.”
“Why did you get a room with ONLY a king-sized bed? I don’t know you like that!”
“Aw, don’t worry. I won’t try anything unless you ask.” He was still all smiles. If Crystal had only just met him she never would have guessed that his friend had been murdered.

“Jason, I hate to impose, but aren’t you upset about Maria? She was murdered!”
Slowly the smile on his face vanished. “Everyone grieves differently, Crystal. Just because I’m not crying doesn’t mean I’m not hurting. Maria was a good woman and close friend. I can’t wait to find the bastard that did it, but until then I still have a job to finish! You only have so long to morn someone before your next job pops up. What am I supposed to do? Cry in a corner while someone else dies?”
For the first time, Crystal was seeing Jason acting serious. She never thought about how he might be feeling on the inside. Not everyone carries their emotions on their sleeves.
“I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be Crys.” His smile returned.
“Well, I’m kina hungry. I think I’ll run and grab some food. Want anything?”
“Yeah, a nice big sandwich. I should go with you to make sure you’ll be safe, but I think you may beat me down if I do.”
She smiled back at him, “I would. Don’t worry I’ll be okay and I’ll call if I run into any trouble.”
….

In the shower, Jason was able to think about what happened. Another friend dead. The sight of Maria’s lifeless body sent chills down his spine. He didn’t want Crystal to see him get emotional about it, besides crying wouldn’t bring her back. One thing was certain… someone or thing was going to pay for her death. What Jason had yet to tell Crystal was that Maria had done her own research and found out where Madame Lilly lived. She too was suspicious of the new comer.
Jason figured he had a while before Crystal returned so he decided to walk around the motel room naked after getting out the shower. In his mind he did his best thinking nude.
….

Twenty minutes later the door to the motel room was being opened. “Hey Jason, I hope you like reubens they… “Crystals words died when she saw the naked man walking around. “Don’t look down, don’t look down.” She told herself. “CRAP I looked!”
“Oh uhh…Well hi.” Jason blushed, but didn’t attempt to cover up. “Just consider us even.” He smiled broadly.
“Whatever, you pervert! Just please put some clothes on!”
….
“So Maria, God bless her, found out where Lilly lives. She wrote some notes before...well you know what happened and hid them in a place that only I would know about at her house. Someone was obviously on to her which is why they killed her. She said that after Lilly showed up strange things happened. So we take her out and solve the town’s problem.”

“Sounds good to me.” Crystal yawned. It had been a long day and her body was sore.
“Get some rest beautiful. We can start again in the morning.”
She was already climbing into the bed as he spoke. Jason had to admit it; he liked Crystal a lot. Not only was she beautiful, she was smart, strong and brave. Nothing like the other women he met, well that and the hunter part.
“Women” he snorted and went to sleep in the chair at the dining table.
….

“So how far is the house, Jason?”Crystal asked. They’d been in the car for nearly thirty minutes. It was an ugly gray day and the rain was coming down in heavy sheets.
“Not much longer and we’ll be there. I know you’re eager, I am too.”
“Jason wait” She yelled. He looked over at her as if she was insane.
“What?”
“I just saw someone enter that cemetery.”
“Yeah, so?” He didn’t see that as a reason to randomly scream his name.
She shook her head “I think it was Sara.”
“Huh? What makes you so sure?”
“Women’s intuition, now please can you turn around.”
“Only because you said please.”
….
“Boy this rain ain’t lettin’ up. You should have worn white, Crys.”
Crystal did her best to hide her smile. She liked that Jason shortened her name; it made her feel closer to him. “Remind me to slap you when this is all over.”

The further they walked into the cemetery the colder it felt. It wasn’t uncommon for cemeteries to be colder than other areas due to the frequent paranormal activity.
“Right there, Jason. Do you see her?”
“Yeah.” Cautiously, he drew his gun.
“No, don’t shoot her. Maybe I can talk to her.”
“And maybe Santa will bring me that G.I. Joe toy I’ve always wanted.”
“Please, Jason. Not yet” She pleaded.
It was hard for him to ignore the pleading look in Crystals light green eyes. He could feel himself falling under her spell. “Argh! Don’t give me that puppy dog look. If anything goes wrong I’m shooting.”
“Deal.”

The girl stood motionless in front of what appeared to be a freshly dug grave. She didn’t seem to mind the freezing rain.

Sara? Is that you Sara?” Crystal had to speak louder than she wanted so she could be heard over the heavy rain.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.” The girl said without turning around. “She wasn’t supped to die.”
“What happened? Who died?”
“My mom.” She pointed to the dirt mound. “I killed her. I only wanted to deal with Roderick. He was the only person I wanted! Now my mom is gone and the town’s people are turning evil. It’s my fault!”
“You got that right.” Jason said loud enough for Crystal to hear. She elbowed him hard in the ribs.

Sara appearance frightened Crystal. Her bony face was sickly pale. Her skin was so pale it almost appeared translucent.
“You can fix this Sara, help us take out Lilly.”
“What for, my mom still won’t come back. Just kill me…please. Do it before that demon takes over me again. When it does I won’t be in control ever again and no one will be safe.”
Jason was eager to use his gun, but Crystal had other plans.
“No, we can still save you. The demon can be exorcised.”
“No it can’t! You have to shoot me! Time is running out.” She continued to beg with the two to end her life.
Jason understood the seriousness of the situation. He admired the fact that Crystal wanted to save the girl so badly, but an individual that’s been possessed for so long has little chance of being returned to normal. “Crys, we have to take her out. She said it herself, it's—“

“Too late!” Sara yelled. Her eyes were now jet black pools. “You should have listened to the girl. I’ve never been inside a body filled with so much hate! There’s no way I’m giving this up.” The demon was now in complete control and enjoying every moment of it.
“Now if you’ll excuse me.” It ran past the two roughly throwing them out the way and disappeared.

Crystal felt horrible. She allowed her emotions to get the best of her and alter her judgment. “I’m sorry Jason. I…I let it get away.”
“You did, but I don’t blame you. No one can blame you for wanting to help. Let’s get going, but this time NO stops.”
….
“This house Lilly lives in, Maria believed is some type of portal for demons. This isn’t the first time an incident like this has happened here.” Jason explained as he drove. “Fifty years ago a mysterious woman came to town. She met with a young person with similar issues. Nearly everyone became possessed. Then just like that,” he snapped his finger. “they vanished. Few survived and they booked right away.”
“Vanished? To where? Why this town?”
“That’s something you can ask Lilly, we’re here.”
….

“Keep your guard up, Crys. No shooting at cats.”
“Screw you.”
“When this is over we can do all that.” Like in every other case he had to have the last word which was usually something perverted.

As soon as they entered the house something went wrong. Both were blinded by a bright flash of light.
When her vision came back; Crystal looked around confused and Jason was nowhere to be found.
….
“Crap.” Jason rubbed his head. He and Crystal had been split up. After catching his bearings he started to walk. The house wasn’t very large. Crystal had to be near.

“Jason is that you? “ A young male walked around the corner. “It is you!”
Jason saw it, but he didn’t believe it.

“Oh man, I’ve been looking for you!” The young man walked up to Jason hugging him tightly. Jason had yet to reply or even blink.
“Dude, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you aren’t excited to see your brother.”
....