Aaron's dark eyes widened suddenly, face changing as he looked down at his hand, at the steam rising from the contact. He jerked his fingers back, gasping at the sight of red and black blisters forming on his skin. "She burned me!"
He spun towards the other men, who saw nothing, but moved back anyway, and Angela headed for the glass doors, heart racing. She kept herself from running only because of the voice in her head whispering that if she showed fear to a dog, it would bite. It was simply in its nature.
"Stop her!" Aaron screamed it at the others.
When the two men moved her way, Angela froze. It wouldn't take much kick to do her in, but if she let the Witch out, really used her power, someone might die.
"Trust me," the Witch whispered from inside her mental cage. "I only help you."
Scared and unsure, Angela let the Demon come forward for the first time in over a decade. She kept a tight hand on the cell door as the Sorceress locked eyes with Warren. "Defend what you believe to be yours, man of a silent God!"
The command was one the widower couldn't refuse, and he stepped between her and the two men reaching out to take her arms. "She's mine!"
The two teachers only hesitated for a second, but it was enough time to give Warren the edge. The religious man had survived the jungles of Laos, and he planned his moves, steeling himself to fight for her, as Aaron stumbled from the room, slinging his arm around wildly.
The two men went for her again, and Warren swung hard, fist knocking the dirty rival on the right off his feet. He kneed the moaning man in the face as he swung again, ducking a clumsily thrown punch. The second hit landed on the other teacher's temple, knocking him to the dirty floor - where he stayed. "Mine!"
Breathing rapidly, the Preacher turned to Angela, but she cut him off. "Your reward is information. Those two," she waved a hand at the unconscious men, "and Aaron, plot against you. Be careful. Between them and the cold in here, you'll be dead inside the month."
Shoving the Witch back, Angela slipped past him and out the door. Raised voices came from the dim lobby behind her, and she moved steadily, but didn't run down the sloping, cracked sidewalk to her car. The pain in her gut, she ignored. There would be time to cry later.