An Inner Darkness Book 5 Bay City paranormal

Janine scoop Sean into her arms and leap past the creature. She shouted something, but he couldn’t hear her past the static in his head, and couldn’t have answered anyway. His lungs were on fire, his heart laboring to pump his blood. He wasn’t going to last long before he passed out. Why wasn’t Janine running like he’d told her to? Why wasn’t she getting her sons out of there?
    With startling abruptness, the pressure squeezing Sam’s chest eased, and he could breathe again. He raised his head and was shocked to see Adrian standing at the top of the stairs, his face screwed up in concentration, brown eyes fixed on the monster not five feet from him. The thing began to fade, its form losing solidity.
    Adrian was trying to send it back and close the portal. And it was working.

    A surge of hope sent Sam stumbling to his feet. Standing beside Adrian, he focused his mind once more on the open portal. He pushed, felt Adrian’s energy pushing as well.

    The creature hissed and scuttled toward them, claws clicking on the wood. Sam stepped in front of Adrian, redoubling his efforts. Somewhere behind him, Sean screamed over and over and over again.

    Sam opened his mouth to tell Adrian to run, he felt the thing’s resistance give way, and in an instant it was gone. Sam sent psychic feelers through the house, searching for any signs of the portals he’d felt before, or of the things that inhabited the other side.
    There was nothing. Just the flat metallic taste of permanently closed gateways.
Sam’s knees gave out, and he slumped to the floor. Adrian plopped down beside him, his face blank.
“Adrian?” Sam reached out to touch the boy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” www.samhainpublishing.com 165
Ally Blue
“Are they gone?” Adrian whispered, the quaver in his voice the only indication of his fear. “Is it over?”
“Yes, it’s over. We did it. The portals are closed, and those things are gone.” Adrian turned to look at him, dark eyes haunted. “Where’s Dad?” “Right here.”
    Sam twisted around, and nearly fainted with relief at seeing Bo alive and unhurt, running up the stairs. Bo fell to his knees and gathered Adrian into his arms. “Adrian.
    God. I couldn’t get to you. I heard you, but I couldn’t…couldn’t find the stairs. Shit.” Adrian’s arms went around Bo’s neck, slowly, as if he couldn’t believe Bo was really there. “Dad?”
“Yes.” Bo let out a sobbing laugh. “It’s okay, son. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Adrian blinked a couple of times, then his face crumpled. He clung to Bo and sobbed, his small body shaking in Bo’s arms. Bo sat on the floor and rocked him, whispering soothing words into his hair.
    Sam crawled closer and sat beside Bo, one arm around Bo’s shoulders. Looking around, he noticed Lee for the first time, sitting with his back against the far wall of the hallway. Janine leaned into the curve of his arm, with Sean huddled on her lap.

    “Y’all okay?” Sam asked. His voice sounded hoarse and rough.

    Lee nodded. “I think so. Physically, anyway.” He laid a hand on the back of Sean’s head, his expression solemn. Sean whimpered and pressed tighter against his mother.
    Janine rested her cheek on the boy’s head and rubbed soothing circles on his back.
Her gaze caught Sam’s and held it. “Thank you.” Sam smiled. “Any time.”
Janine smiled back, and Sam thought maybe there was hope for them after all.
    ***
Tearing off a strip of silk tape, Dean secured the gauze wrap to Sam’s hand. “There.
    That should protect it well enough. Make sure you keep it clean, keep the antibiotic ointment on it, and change the bandage twice a day.” He shook his head, lips pursing.
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An Inner Darkness
“You’ll have to keep an eye on all these glass cuts too. They’re mostly little, they should heal fine, but still. Keep ’em clean.”
    “Got it.” Sam flexed his hand, wincing. Now that the excitement was over and the adrenaline rush had drained away, his hand throbbed with pain where the piece of skin had been torn from his palm on the frozen doorknob. “Ow.”
    “Let me get your neck fixed up, then I’ll be done. You can take some Ibuprofen for the pain when you get home.” Dean dug through the first-aid kit on the dining room table, emerging with a large Band-Aid. He set it on the table beside the gauze squares, peroxide and antibiotic ointment. “You really should’ve called EMS instead of calling me,