Jazz

It all came at us so quickly this time. Benny and I were four hours away by speed limitations and the laws of humanity, when we got the call from Calli, "All I know for sure is a park in Minnesota Lake, I looked up the town, there are only two parks. The one you want has a gazebo, I think it's wooden, or made of something made to look like wood. Uh, guys, am I on speakerphone?"

"Why Calli," I said, out of breath, "Of course you are."

"You guys are gross, look, you have less than 2 hours this time and by my calculations, you won't make it."

Benny let out a groan, and I had to repress a smile. We weren't actually doing anything, well, not this time, but we couldn't but freak her out. We both felt she had it coming for the way she kept reeling Josh in and then throwing him back like he only existed when she wanted him too.

"Seriously you two, no time for the happy endings or the cold showers. Pull out and get there, somehow, don't ask me how, because I don't know. The lives of three kids, not even double digits on this planet, if my second sight is to be trusted, so get your clothes on and get going." There was a click as Calli hung up on her end.

We just looked at each other, kids, fucking kids, I hated it when the bastards went after children. They could corrupt any adult they wanted to for all I cared, but offering a kid the latest and greatest game on the market, or a new bike, and all the kid had to do was hand over their soul, after all, what good is doing it to them anyway? Kids didn't know any better. They saw the new shiny thing and it's a done deal.

"I really hate these assholes," Benny grabbed the keys and started strapping on his guns.

I got to work strapping my daggers and knives in easily accessible places on my body, "Think One will distract the cops? Give us the chance to get there without getting pulled over, hauled off to jail for concealed weapons we can't explain, and probably charged with domestic terrorism, again?"

While I finished the adjustments to get comfortable, Benny was throwing our clothes and scattered things into a duffel bag, we didn't have much, traveled light, rule one during training, if you don't need it to survive, don't take it with you when you go. I hated those lessons but had to admit they came in handy from time to time.

The light caught off the ring on my left hand, I tried not to look but looked anyway. My mind wanted me to take it off, throw it away, It's just metal, no biggie, I don't need it to survive, can live without it, take it off, but my heart was in disagreement, It's so much more than metal and you know it, you need it to live, to thrive, you are wearing his heart around your finger.

"Jazz, kids, three of them, little dudes and dudettes, waiting to be saved, let's go," Benny was standing in the doorway looking at me in The Way, the one telling me he had caught me staring at the little band of silver and gold. To his credit, he didn't say anything, grateful for a few more hours without fighting each other, I headed out to the car, plopped into the passenger seat, "Seat belts."

"Sir, yes Sir," came Benny's response, like it had since day one, when we shared a cab to my place, after sharing the bed of a stranger's truck. Those were the days, two years later, things had gotten slightly more complicated, and it all started with the little band of glittering gold and sparkling silver wrapped around my finger, winking in the early morning sunlight as if to say, "Take me off or leave me on, you'll have to answer sooner or later." With my thoughts in the past, I had plenty of distraction from Benny's speeding and drifting and only God knows what other terms he would use if I wasn't too terrified by his driving to ask.

We took county roads, gravel roads, hunting roads, and roads which were little more than a rutted pathway through the grass and fields, but we made it to the sleepy town of Minnesota Lake. Coming into town, we saw it boasted a population of 604 people, one of the larger towns we had been in for quite some time. Seems the bastards like working in small towns, Small town people have big-city dreams, I can remember my mom saying once, and I somehow managed to stop the first tear from falling.

Benny was still waiting for answers, I knew he wouldn't wait forever, I could only hope he would wait a bit longer. I had come to terms with a lot of it in my head and in my heart, but as two separate units, it was meshing the ideas they had together which was causing all the problems.

Driving through the first park we came through in our rust bucket old VW Bug, we did not see a gazebo of any kind, let alone a wooden one. "Must be the other park," I muttered, not realizing I had spoken out loud until Benny replied.

"Thank you Captain Obvious."

I tried not to smile, we were on a serious mission here, but the thing with Benny, he made everything seem like it was going to turn out exactly the way you hoped and dreamed it would without a single hiccup in the works. Which was weird since he was so quiet when we were joined by other people on missions. He would sometimes speak only to me, even through me, as if I was the only other person in his world, and while some women may have found this intimidating, I found it blissful. No one had ever given me such devoted attention, and I to be honest, I was eating it up.

"There," Benny said, breaking me out of my thoughts, Goddammit Jazz, get your head out of the clouds, and into the game, there are lives at stake and you're sitting here daydreaming.

Benny pulled the car as close to the gazebo as he could, we spotted four kids, "Something's wrong. Didn't Calli say three kids?"

"Yeah, maybe one of them is going to go home in the next," I checked the dash clock, "two minutes?" I doubted it though, my brand was already starting to heat up, and when Benny rolled his shoulders, I knew he could feel it too.

"They're early, this is not good, not good at all, call Calli, now, I've gotta get to those kids, hand me the salt."

Reaching behind his seat I grabbed the large container of salt we kept in the car for emergencies, but not your typical emergencies, like stuck in the snow and ice emergencies, but need a quick circle of protection from demonic entities emergencies. "Where the hell is my phone? Benny?" No good, he was almost to the kids, when I could feel my ass start to vibrate and Toxic began playing in a muffled way. Well found my phone, I reached under myself and pulled my phone out, not bothering to check the Caller ID, I answered it, "Calli, what the hell is going on here, they are pushing through early, an extra kid is here, your visions are never off in this many details."

"Jazz.....out.....late.....go.....RUN!!!" the static on the line was terrible. Realizing what the static, the burning brand and the extra kid all came together to mean, I didn't bother with the guns, with the extra salt, my daggers were strapped on and my man was in danger. Running in the direction of Benny, I didn't even shout out to him, hoping those bastards would think he came alone. I did, however, send up a silent plea to anyone who might be listening, Please, I'm begging you, please, don't let me be too late, not again.