Maleficent

~~~ Jones Household Minot, North Dakota ~~~

"Mom, I told you I don't want to talk about this!" screamed Cassidy at her mother, Caroline, before storming upstairs and slamming her door.

A middle-aged man stepped up behind Caroline and placed a hand on her shoulder, saying, "Honey, let her be. She'll be fine after a while, and then we can talk to her."

"But Mike, this is the ninth job she's quit from! She's already 25 and still can't get her life under control," said the upset mother.

"I know... but you heard what she said," said Mike with a concerned look.

"The future stuff? Come on, do you believe her? She only made that up to avoid going to work! She's just like my grandmother... who claimed she could see my gruesome death just by holding my hand. Who says something like that to a ten-year-old?"

"Don't compare our daughter to that crazy witch," said Mike, still trying to calm his wife down.

"I know she is not like that... but we need to do something before it gets worse," said Caroline.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to her when she calms do---."

*Ding-dong*

"Someone is at the door. I'll go and open it, and you just sit down and relax. Everything will be fine," said Mike as he walked towards the door.

When he opened the door, he found a good-looking young man standing in front of him, dressed in expensive clothes and wearing a seemingly shining necklace.

"Hello, I'm looking for Cassidy Jones," said the brown-haired young man.

"She's my daughter. How can I help you?" asked Mike skeptically.

"You already have," said the still-smiling man, while extending his hand towards Mike.

"What do you..."

*Pop!*

Mike couldn't finish his sentence because he suddenly fell to the ground.

"Mike? What was that sound? Did a balloon explode? It sounded kind of gross," called Caroline as she walked towards the door.

But when she stepped out of the living room, everything around the door was strangely red and wet. The only one who wasn't covered in red was the young man standing there.

She took a few steps forward and nearly tripped over something. When she looked down, she saw her husband lying there, still shaking. The problem was that his head was no longer attached.

"Aaaah!!! Mike, no!!!"

*Pop!*

The young man raised his hand again, walked inside, and proceeded straight upstairs, opening the door to Cassidy's room.

"Mom... I told you I don't wan— wait, who are you, and what are you doing in my room?!" said Cassidy, standing up from her bed. But the man simply walked towards her.

Afterwards, only screams could be heard in the room before everything fell silent.

~~~ Highway 52 outside of Minot, North Dakota ~~~

We arrived near Minot after driving through the entire night, listening to classic rock and jazz music cassettes sponsored by Bobby. Now, the 1967 Mustang experience was complete, and I felt happy.

We could have arrived here earlier, but it took Bobby nearly an hour to gather his stuff. He emerged from the house with a heavy travel bag, and I helped him place it in the trunk afterwards.

When he opened it to check if he had everything, it became clear why it was so heavy. It was filled with weapons and other items, probably for hunting supernatural beings. I could swear I even saw a grenade inside…

When he nodded and confirmed that everything was there, I asked him, "Did you get the salt?"

This made him look at me, as if I had asked the dumbest question in the world and said, "Of course I have salt, Idjit."

But when Bobby reached into the bag to show it to me, he found nothing…

"Be right back," he said, going back inside. He returned with four packs of salt and placed them in his bag too.

"A hunter who forgets salt... Isn't that like rule number 4 in your notebook, always to have salt?" I asked, showing him the first page while looking shocked.

"Shut up already and get inside," said the young man, at least young compared to me, while rolling his eyes.

I grinned at him, and we finally started our journey, while the good boy Rumsfeld held the ground at Bobby's house.

Bobby slept then the whole time, only waking up to drink some Scotch before returning to sleep, but not offering me any…

So we arrived in Minot early in the morning and first drove to a diner to get something to eat before continuing to the Jones' house.

"How should I even address you? And if you say Aiden, I will shoot you," asked Bobby as he bit into his bacon.

Would he feel better if he shot me once? Perhaps as revenge for knocking him out?

"You're asking me that after we've already become best buddies and driven through half the country?"

Bobby stopped eating and looked at me annoyed. "You're too young and inexperienced to be my best buddy, and it was only about 700 miles. So?"

"So what?" I asked, pretending to be clueless, and continued eating my egg.

"Your name, dumbass," said Bobby, pointing his fork at me as if he could stab me at any second.

I sighed and replied, "I actually prefer the endearing 'Idjit,' but if you really want to call me something, you can call me Ras."

That's how Cthylla used to call me because she didn't want to say 'Rasiel' all the time... I mean, her name was much more difficult to pronounce, and I didn't complain…

Well, over the centuries, we also got used to using the names of other people we impersonated at the time, as it made things easier in public.

"Ras? What kind of name is that?" asked Bobby, giving me a look as if I were a complete idiot.

"It's a nickname my lost girlfriend used, and since we're so close now, I'll allow you to use it too. Or you can call me Aiden, it's fine too..." I said, grinning at him.

"... I'll simply ignore what you said and call you Aiden."

With that, my name was settled for Bobby, and we finished eating before heading to the Jones' place.

---

Arriving at Westfield Avenue, which appeared to be a nice neighborhood, we began searching for the Jones household. It didn't take long to find it since it was the only house that was locked up with police tape.

"This seems to be it. Let's enter quietly and look around," Bobby said as he got out of the car and I followed him.

He retrieved a sawed-off shotgun from the trunk, hiding it in his jacket, and also took a silver knife. Meanwhile, I grabbed Aiden's pistol and its holster, a spare magazine, and one of the new bushcraft knives.

I also changed my shirt to a white T-shirt and wore a black zip-up hoodie to conceal the weapons.

Bobby glanced at my weapon choice and remarked, "You should take the silver knife. Most monsters can be hurt by it."

"I know, but after my last adventure, it's already half broken. So today, I'll leave the silver-allergic beasts to you while I deal with the salty ones," I told him, grabbing the salt.

Then I closed the trunk, while Bobby shook only his head.

We approached the house and circled around to the yard, where we noticed glass doors. However, they were also covered with police tape, so we refrained from entering to avoid getting chased by the police, especially since Bobby's colleague had already been caught.

Instead, we headed to a side window. It was a bit too high for Bobby, and he struggled to open it with his pocket knife.

After observing his frustration, I took out my knife and wedged the blade between the window frame and the sill. With a firm hit on the back of the knife handle, I managed to open the window.

I grinned triumphantly, but Bobby only rolled his eyes and said, "Don't be so proud of yourself just because you're tall, Idjit. Now help me up there."

People nowadays can't give a simple compliment…

I put on a pair of work gloves that I had obtained from a clothing store and handed a second pair to Bobby since he seemed to have none.

"Why?" Bobby asked, looking confused.

"This is a crime scene, isn't it? I don't want my fingerprints all over it. And you?" I explained, kneeling down to give him a boost.

"No, but do you think they'll take fingerprints a second time here or what?" Bobby replied skeptically, while I shrugged at him.

Nonetheless, he put on the gloves before stepping on my hands. Afterwards I pushed him up, but I underestimated my newfound strength and accidentally threw him inside…

Yeah, he's definitely going to be mad.

"Bobby, I'm sorry. Are you alright?" I asked him quietly.

"... Just get inside already," Bobby replied, sounding annoyed and I heard him stand up from the ground.

So I climbed inside too and landed in the living room.