The Human Side (The Demon Side Series) by Heaven Liegh Eldeen Page A

rolled Etta onto her side as another lifted her lids and shined a small pen light in them.
    “You’re hurting her!” Hearing a small moan of pain, I instinctually grabbed one his suspenders, yanking him from her.
    “Ramen! Stop! Let them do their job.” Amy slapped my arm and led me to the road where the police vehicles had pulled up.
    Two officers pulled us in opposite directions. As they asked question after question, I kept glancing over at Tristan, who was speaking to another officer as a paramedic patched up his neck. I struggled to hear his side of what happened tonight. Though it proved difficult to make out anything he said, he seemed unshaken. I scanned everyone else around me until a loud puttering sound came from above.

 
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    A Medi-Flight helicopter landed in the field, swirling the cold night air. The four firemen lifted Etta onto a gurney, and then rushed her to the helicopter. As if a movie had been stuck on slow motion, I watched as they lifted her into the helicopter. It took off into the night sky until its flashing lights disappeared among the stars.
    We answered questions for what seemed to be hours. A tow truck pulled the car from ditch and lifted it onto its trailer. The whole top of the car and sides had been crushed inward. Based on the damage, I wondered how either of them survived.
    As the tow truck began pulling away, I noticed the windshield. If either of them had been thrown through the windshield, it would have broken from the inside out. The glass had been broken from the outside in. It became obvious where the glass in Etta’s back had come from. It seemed as if someone had thrown a large, round object at the car.
    That didn’t explain how it got in her back. If the glass exploded inward during the crash, the glass should have hit the front of her body, unless she saw it coming and tried to dodge it by clamoring to the backseats. If they saw it though, why not maneuver to avoid whatever it may have been coming at them? None of this seemed to be adding up.
    After being cleared to leave, I waited around in hopes of getting Tristan’s story when he finished talking to the officers. As I leaned against my car waiting, another jet-black vehicle pulled up with Logan inside the passenger seat. Logan stepped out of the car, only to hop into the back seat. Tristan spoke to Gabriel and Amy for a moment before taking off. I approached the duo. I had planned on asking all of the questions, but Amy had beaten me to the punch.
    “You two better start talking, and I mean right now!” Amy shrugged off Gabriel’s arm as he tried placing it around her shoulders.
    Uncertain as to what she might be asking, Gabriel appeared as dumbfounded as me. I knew it would be best to keep my mouth shut before asking her to clarify. Picking up on my queue to keep quiet, Gabriel bit his bottom lip.
    “C’mon, Gabriel! Start spilling it. What the hell is going on?”
    “Gabriel?”
    “Oh don’t play stupid. I heard Ramen boy call you Gabriel. So who are you guys, really?”
    “That’s my middle name.”
    “Bull. I’ve seen your I.D. card. Benjamin Theodore Harper.” Hearing the name John had chosen for the first time, I burst into laughter. I struggled not to, but the name Theodore always seemed campy to me. His last name, Harper, didn’t help either. The dude had a knack for harping on the rest of us about our personal lives. The timing may have been inappropriate, but after the evening’s events, it became difficult to hold my sanity together.
    “And just what is so funny?” Amy turned her anger on me. I attempted to hold a straight face, but the more I tried, the harder I laughed.
    “Fine. I guess you don’t want to hear what she had to say before she passed out,” Amy said as she walked toward the van. Her comment knocked the wind and laughter right out of me.
    “Wait. What did she say?”
    “Oh, now you want to talk? I don’t think so. I’m going to Culpepper