In Which there are Demons in the Woods
Ben rubbed his hands as he went out to get some firewood from the stockpile. The fire was dying, and it was damn cold inside. However, he realized that it was pretty empty and sighed. He turned around and went back inside to get his coat and an axe.
Not that Ben had ever chopped down a tree before, but really, how hard could it be? He could just aim for a small one, or get limbs or something. Just enough to get the fire back again. "I'm going to get some firewood," he called into the house as he pulled his coat on.
"Be careful out there, honey," Mama shouted back from the kitchen, not exactly sure what he meant by that statement. "Don't wander too far into the woods."
"I won't!"
Ben started into the wood, the daylight helping him find his way in. Until he got just past the point where he could see the farmhouse. Then it got dark quickly. He fumbled in his pocket for his maglite when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
There was a growl behind his ear and he turned just as he felt himself tackled to the ground. He found himself staring into the black eyes of a snarling demon, drool coming out of his mouth. "Well look what I got," the demon growled. "The boy prince himself. I could smell your stink the moment you left the wards around that house..."
Ben took a deep breath and glared back. "Then you know that it's not a good idea to try me, hellspawn," Ben growled, his voice slipping into a darker tone.
"Oh no, you don't have your little blonde demon pet around to save you. This time, I'm not running."
"Fine. You don't have to move for me to send you back to hell." Ben looked to his left and felt the handle of the axe. He swung it at the demon, bashing the handle against the demon's head. It was able to get him free and back on his feet, and he held out a hand, stopping the demon in it's tracks. He started to focus on what Ruby had taught him, knowing it was going to hurt but he had to do it this time.
And he saw the sulfur started to leak out of the demon's mouth. Almost there, until he was hit from behind and thrown into a tree. He felt his arm dislocate as another demon walked in. "Looks like I didn't miss the party."
Ben took a deep breath. This was not going to be fun...
It wasn't until nightfall that Ben cam staggering back out of the woods, holding his shoulder in pain. He had a few bruises, some scratches, and a line of drying blood down across his lips from his nose. But he was alive. And dragging a thick branch to be cut into firewood. The branch which was tipped with blood as it had been a very useful weapon.
Anna was out on the porch at this point. Mama had said that Ben had gone out for firewood hours ago, and it didn't take this long to chop up some logs. It wasn't like there wasn't an abundance to be found in the woods anyway. When she finally spotted him coming out of the tree line, and saw the condition he was in, her eyes widened, and she shouted back into the house for Luke, before heading in his direction. "Oh, my God, are you okay?"
Ben saw her and just smiled. "Oh, I'm fine. You should see the other guys." Though he would groan in pain the second she touched his hurt shoulder. It was dislocated and just hanging there.
Yeah, she knew a dislocated shoulder when she saw one. But she didn't have the body weight to pop it back in -- which is why Luke was necessary. "What was it? Wendigo?" They got wendigos a lot. It was kind of their thing.
"Two demons." He sat on the porch steps. "I went outside of the wards, I guess, and they sensed me and decided to see if they could get a piece of boy prince." Ben closed his eyes as he winced from the pain. "I may not look tough, but I can still hold my own. Especially now that I don't need to worry about how I hold my gun." He smirked a bit.
She smirked back at him, before pulling up a chair for him to sit down. As she did, the door opened, and Luke stepped out, eyes worried. "Whadaya need -- dude." He looked Ben over with a critical eye. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Demons," Anna sighed. "In the woods, apparently."
"Fuck," Luke sighed, before shouting for his brother and moving over towards Ben. "Sit down, dude, I'll fix you up."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Ben owed the twins. Then again, he had pulled out his soft case with all 200+ movies that he owned, which they were working through slowly. "The shoulder, obviously. Scratches on my back, knife slice upper pec, and my head hurts like a bitch."
Nate appeared a few minutes later, and Anna relayed the situation, and he repeated the sentiment his brother had expressed, before hopping down off the side of the porch and heading towards the storm cellar, getting ready to go out and double check the wards they'd put in place. Luke looked Ben over for a minute, before reaching forward and taking his shoulder in his hands lightly. "Easiest way to do this is pop it back in and then deal with the pain."
"Then just do it." Ben closed his eyes and he relaxed his body. He had popped his shoulder a few times in baseball, so he knew that tensing up only made it harder. He was resisting against the pain to do it.
And Luke did, quickly, popping the shoulder back into place, then closing his eyes, focusing on the torn ligaments and everything else, molding the shoulder so that it was like it had never happened. He then moved over to his back, picturing the scratches he couldn't see, letting the skin mold back together. All that Ben would feel, if anything, was a warm tingle as he worked, with a slight pause as Luke moved from one thing to the next.
Ben screamed as the shoulder was popped back into place, falling a bit into Luke after that as he worked to steady his breathing. The pain, thankfully, started to ebb as Ben just let himself wrap the warm tingling sensation around him.
Anna winced sympathetically, but waited until Luke finished and stepped away, before moving over to sit with him. "You gotta be more careful."
"I was just going to get firewood. It wasn't like I was looking to get hunted."
"I know you weren't," she said with a sigh. "But those woods aren't exactly the friendliest place, even when you're not the boy prince." She ran a hand against the side of his face lightly as Luke disappeared to help his brother with whatever he was doing.
He smiled a bit as he rested his cheek against her hand. "Alright, then I'll avoid them from now on. I don't know how far the wards go... I thought I was safe."
"Wards don't go very far outside the house," she sighed. "Most demons stay off the property because they know there's a werewolf around, but occasionally demons get a little stupid."
"Yeah, these two were not the pick of the litter, that's for sure." The warm feeling was starting to wear off. "Think Mama will give me something warm to drink before or after she yells at me?"
Anna paused for a minute. "Probably not before the yelling. After, most likely, but she tends to scold first -- to make sure she's not awarding bad behavior."
"Then let's get this over with. I'm freezing." He pointed at the stick. "Someone else can chop the firewood." He stood up slowly, leaning on Anna a bit to get to his feet. The pain was gone from his body, but his head was still giving him a dull throb, and he wasn't going to admit that he was a bit dizzy.
She slid an arm around his waist, pulling him closer as they walked inside. Mama was standing in the kitchen with her hands on her hips, giving him a look as they walked inside. "What did I say about bein' careful?"
Licking his lips, he looked down at the ground. "I tried... luckily I brought protection." There was a bloody knife in his boot that he would clean later.
Mama rolled her eyes slightly. "Next time you decide to go out and chop wood, honey? Take someone with you -- just in case."
"I think next time I'll just drive to the store and shell out the money to buy it." he shivered a bit. "But I'm sorry I worried you. Both of you." he looked at Anna.
Mama sighed, before reaching for a mug. "Sit down, I'll pour you some coffee."
"Thank you," he chattered, taking a seat and pulling his arms around himself closer.
Mama poured him a cup of coffee, before going back to the food she was making. Anna sat down at the table next to him, still worried, but keeping to herself mostly.
Ben sipped the coffee a bit before he stole a look up at her. "I'm sorry. I know I told you I wouldn't take risks like that anymore. I didn't think it was dangerous..."
"I know," she sighed. "I know you didn't. We probably should have warned you about the stuff in the woods, but either way -- be careful, okay?"
"Well, at least the twins helped with the damage so Dad won't have to know." He chuckled. "And he told me to be careful out there too. I thought he was just being overprotective, as always."
She nodded with a sigh. "Guess nowhere is safe these days, huh?"
"I can think of a couple of places where I feel pretty damn safe." He smiled at her.
"Yeah, well," she said ducking her head slightly as she smiled back. "Feeling and actually being are two different things."
"I wonder if a house was built in the middle of a salt mine, if it would be safe..."
"I even doubt that," Anna sighed, shaking her head. "Demons would probably find some kind of way around the salt. They're crafty like that."
His hands were wrapped around the cup to keep warm. "Then I guess we'll just have to be craftier." He yawned a bit, which was strange because coffee usually woke him up. "I have a feeling I'm going to be turning in early tonight to sleep off this headache I have."
"Okay," she nodded slightly. "Feel better, alright?"
"I will." He got up, the coffee done and put the cup in the sink. "Tell Mama to just put my plate in the fridge and I'll eat when I wake up." He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Wake me if you need me."
She kissed him back, before nodding. "See you when you wake up."
Ben nodded, then headed upstairs to the room he was staying in. He had to stop once to get up the stairs because of the dizziness, and when he got to his room he found the pill bottle with his headache meds and took a single pill before flopping down in the bed. Then he realized that he was a mess, so he struggled out of his pants and overshirt, then just curled up under the blankets in his boxers and tee-shirt. With the amount of blankets he slept under anyway, he could be naked and still sweat.
Not that Ben had ever chopped down a tree before, but really, how hard could it be? He could just aim for a small one, or get limbs or something. Just enough to get the fire back again. "I'm going to get some firewood," he called into the house as he pulled his coat on.
"Be careful out there, honey," Mama shouted back from the kitchen, not exactly sure what he meant by that statement. "Don't wander too far into the woods."
"I won't!"
Ben started into the wood, the daylight helping him find his way in. Until he got just past the point where he could see the farmhouse. Then it got dark quickly. He fumbled in his pocket for his maglite when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
There was a growl behind his ear and he turned just as he felt himself tackled to the ground. He found himself staring into the black eyes of a snarling demon, drool coming out of his mouth. "Well look what I got," the demon growled. "The boy prince himself. I could smell your stink the moment you left the wards around that house..."
Ben took a deep breath and glared back. "Then you know that it's not a good idea to try me, hellspawn," Ben growled, his voice slipping into a darker tone.
"Oh no, you don't have your little blonde demon pet around to save you. This time, I'm not running."
"Fine. You don't have to move for me to send you back to hell." Ben looked to his left and felt the handle of the axe. He swung it at the demon, bashing the handle against the demon's head. It was able to get him free and back on his feet, and he held out a hand, stopping the demon in it's tracks. He started to focus on what Ruby had taught him, knowing it was going to hurt but he had to do it this time.
And he saw the sulfur started to leak out of the demon's mouth. Almost there, until he was hit from behind and thrown into a tree. He felt his arm dislocate as another demon walked in. "Looks like I didn't miss the party."
Ben took a deep breath. This was not going to be fun...
It wasn't until nightfall that Ben cam staggering back out of the woods, holding his shoulder in pain. He had a few bruises, some scratches, and a line of drying blood down across his lips from his nose. But he was alive. And dragging a thick branch to be cut into firewood. The branch which was tipped with blood as it had been a very useful weapon.
Anna was out on the porch at this point. Mama had said that Ben had gone out for firewood hours ago, and it didn't take this long to chop up some logs. It wasn't like there wasn't an abundance to be found in the woods anyway. When she finally spotted him coming out of the tree line, and saw the condition he was in, her eyes widened, and she shouted back into the house for Luke, before heading in his direction. "Oh, my God, are you okay?"
Ben saw her and just smiled. "Oh, I'm fine. You should see the other guys." Though he would groan in pain the second she touched his hurt shoulder. It was dislocated and just hanging there.
Yeah, she knew a dislocated shoulder when she saw one. But she didn't have the body weight to pop it back in -- which is why Luke was necessary. "What was it? Wendigo?" They got wendigos a lot. It was kind of their thing.
"Two demons." He sat on the porch steps. "I went outside of the wards, I guess, and they sensed me and decided to see if they could get a piece of boy prince." Ben closed his eyes as he winced from the pain. "I may not look tough, but I can still hold my own. Especially now that I don't need to worry about how I hold my gun." He smirked a bit.
She smirked back at him, before pulling up a chair for him to sit down. As she did, the door opened, and Luke stepped out, eyes worried. "Whadaya need -- dude." He looked Ben over with a critical eye. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Demons," Anna sighed. "In the woods, apparently."
"Fuck," Luke sighed, before shouting for his brother and moving over towards Ben. "Sit down, dude, I'll fix you up."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Ben owed the twins. Then again, he had pulled out his soft case with all 200+ movies that he owned, which they were working through slowly. "The shoulder, obviously. Scratches on my back, knife slice upper pec, and my head hurts like a bitch."
Nate appeared a few minutes later, and Anna relayed the situation, and he repeated the sentiment his brother had expressed, before hopping down off the side of the porch and heading towards the storm cellar, getting ready to go out and double check the wards they'd put in place. Luke looked Ben over for a minute, before reaching forward and taking his shoulder in his hands lightly. "Easiest way to do this is pop it back in and then deal with the pain."
"Then just do it." Ben closed his eyes and he relaxed his body. He had popped his shoulder a few times in baseball, so he knew that tensing up only made it harder. He was resisting against the pain to do it.
And Luke did, quickly, popping the shoulder back into place, then closing his eyes, focusing on the torn ligaments and everything else, molding the shoulder so that it was like it had never happened. He then moved over to his back, picturing the scratches he couldn't see, letting the skin mold back together. All that Ben would feel, if anything, was a warm tingle as he worked, with a slight pause as Luke moved from one thing to the next.
Ben screamed as the shoulder was popped back into place, falling a bit into Luke after that as he worked to steady his breathing. The pain, thankfully, started to ebb as Ben just let himself wrap the warm tingling sensation around him.
Anna winced sympathetically, but waited until Luke finished and stepped away, before moving over to sit with him. "You gotta be more careful."
"I was just going to get firewood. It wasn't like I was looking to get hunted."
"I know you weren't," she said with a sigh. "But those woods aren't exactly the friendliest place, even when you're not the boy prince." She ran a hand against the side of his face lightly as Luke disappeared to help his brother with whatever he was doing.
He smiled a bit as he rested his cheek against her hand. "Alright, then I'll avoid them from now on. I don't know how far the wards go... I thought I was safe."
"Wards don't go very far outside the house," she sighed. "Most demons stay off the property because they know there's a werewolf around, but occasionally demons get a little stupid."
"Yeah, these two were not the pick of the litter, that's for sure." The warm feeling was starting to wear off. "Think Mama will give me something warm to drink before or after she yells at me?"
Anna paused for a minute. "Probably not before the yelling. After, most likely, but she tends to scold first -- to make sure she's not awarding bad behavior."
"Then let's get this over with. I'm freezing." He pointed at the stick. "Someone else can chop the firewood." He stood up slowly, leaning on Anna a bit to get to his feet. The pain was gone from his body, but his head was still giving him a dull throb, and he wasn't going to admit that he was a bit dizzy.
She slid an arm around his waist, pulling him closer as they walked inside. Mama was standing in the kitchen with her hands on her hips, giving him a look as they walked inside. "What did I say about bein' careful?"
Licking his lips, he looked down at the ground. "I tried... luckily I brought protection." There was a bloody knife in his boot that he would clean later.
Mama rolled her eyes slightly. "Next time you decide to go out and chop wood, honey? Take someone with you -- just in case."
"I think next time I'll just drive to the store and shell out the money to buy it." he shivered a bit. "But I'm sorry I worried you. Both of you." he looked at Anna.
Mama sighed, before reaching for a mug. "Sit down, I'll pour you some coffee."
"Thank you," he chattered, taking a seat and pulling his arms around himself closer.
Mama poured him a cup of coffee, before going back to the food she was making. Anna sat down at the table next to him, still worried, but keeping to herself mostly.
Ben sipped the coffee a bit before he stole a look up at her. "I'm sorry. I know I told you I wouldn't take risks like that anymore. I didn't think it was dangerous..."
"I know," she sighed. "I know you didn't. We probably should have warned you about the stuff in the woods, but either way -- be careful, okay?"
"Well, at least the twins helped with the damage so Dad won't have to know." He chuckled. "And he told me to be careful out there too. I thought he was just being overprotective, as always."
She nodded with a sigh. "Guess nowhere is safe these days, huh?"
"I can think of a couple of places where I feel pretty damn safe." He smiled at her.
"Yeah, well," she said ducking her head slightly as she smiled back. "Feeling and actually being are two different things."
"I wonder if a house was built in the middle of a salt mine, if it would be safe..."
"I even doubt that," Anna sighed, shaking her head. "Demons would probably find some kind of way around the salt. They're crafty like that."
His hands were wrapped around the cup to keep warm. "Then I guess we'll just have to be craftier." He yawned a bit, which was strange because coffee usually woke him up. "I have a feeling I'm going to be turning in early tonight to sleep off this headache I have."
"Okay," she nodded slightly. "Feel better, alright?"
"I will." He got up, the coffee done and put the cup in the sink. "Tell Mama to just put my plate in the fridge and I'll eat when I wake up." He leaned down and kissed her gently. "Wake me if you need me."
She kissed him back, before nodding. "See you when you wake up."
Ben nodded, then headed upstairs to the room he was staying in. He had to stop once to get up the stairs because of the dizziness, and when he got to his room he found the pill bottle with his headache meds and took a single pill before flopping down in the bed. Then he realized that he was a mess, so he struggled out of his pants and overshirt, then just curled up under the blankets in his boxers and tee-shirt. With the amount of blankets he slept under anyway, he could be naked and still sweat.