Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1 (11 page)

“I hope you got your things together, I hope you are quite prepared to
die. Looks like we’re in for nasty weather, One eye is taken for an eye…”

– John Fogerty, Bad Moon Rising

It
was cloudy. The sun was completely absent. But it was more than that, it was
dark. Not just a dark sky, but the air, the feeling in the air was malevolent. As
I stood in front of the Hunter’s Headquarters, I felt my palms become clammy
and my pupils constrict. I was sweating like a whore in church. And the sweat
was starting to seep through the, I know the color is a shocker, black t-shirt
I was wearing. I felt the liquid heat dripping down my butt crack - uncomfortable,
to say the least. I really needed to get a grip. If I didn’t, I was going to
melt away like the Wicked Witch of the West. I shook my limbs out and took a
deep breath.

I
needed to convince my Shadow Father to come out into the open and onto the
cemetery grounds with me so I could let Az’s Demon get his grubby, filthy,
useful little hands on him to find out what kind of Shadow we were dealing
with. I felt utterly alone right now, but I knew that was far from the truth.

There
was no one standing with me, but I carried the practiced lies and promises
close to the chest. I could hear Az and I’s words mere hours earlier.

“How
am I supposed to keep the fact I hate this thing off my face?”

“That’s
the beauty of it, you don’t.”

“Huh?”

“You
never really liked this thing you’ve known your whole life. You tolerated his
behavior because you thought he was your Father. Just remember your Father is
in there somewhere. It’s about carrying that same balance in your eyes.”

I
kept playing over that conversation with Az in my head. It was true. Balance
was my friend, much like a ballerina going up on her toes for the first time. It
didn’t look like it would take much to topple me, but I was stronger than I
looked. I had lasted this long, right?

So,
with one final breath, I stepped forward to the guard booth at the front of HQ and
was frisked once again by the guards. Too bad you had to go through the
security at HQ to speak with anyone. Otherwise, I would have picked up the
phone and called that shit that was masquerading as our leader.

The
man who called himself my “Father” had done away with the ability to reach him
by phone about five years ago. He obviously had known something was coming down
the line, while I was a dumb shit…still thinking he was my Father. I couldn’t
stop kicking myself over the fact I hadn’t seen all of this sooner.

Once
I stepped foot past the guard booth, I stood on the tile floor that carried you
to the Hunters’ Leader’s Office, like the yellow brick road. Only the yellow
brick road here was more like a sun-warmed uneven blacktop path, partially
overgrown with weeds that led you to a hot swamp with mosquitoes and lots of
floating green foam. At least, that was how I saw it. Kind of like the road
only traveled by criminals in the Emerald City.

I
only stood there a few seconds before one of the Hunter cronies was all over
me.

“Can
I help you, Ms. Hinders?”

Two
things about this cronie bothered me: 1.) No one, and I mean
no one
called a female Hunter by their last name. Women in the Hunter culture went by their
first names. The lineage of every Hunter was on record. It was old school that
men got to keep everything, and women did not, but it was tradition. So either
this cronie was slighting me, or I was not viewed as a Hunter anymore. If the
latter was true, then I must’ve missed that memo. And 2.) This cronie had a
lazy eye. I mean, was he looking at me or the guard behind me? I didn’t trust
him. He gave me the creeps.

“I
need to speak with my Father.”

“I’m
afraid that’s not possible. He’s –“

“In
a meeting? Out of town? Listen, I’ve heard them all. That boat won’t float. I
know he’s here.”

“Do
you want me to give him a message?”

I
knew how this game went, so I had come prepared. I pulled out a folded white
lineless piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to said cronie. When he
went to take it from my hand I grabbed his wrist, and he flinched. Good, he was
afraid of me. He had some sense after all.

“You
read it, and I’ll snatch out your good eye. Got me?”

The
cronie nodded and walked, quickly, down the hall to the Shadow’s office. I sang
follow the yellow brick road in my head. Although I changed the words to
Follow
the really black road, follow the shitty black road…follow, follow, follow,
follow...
. Before I forgot, I yelled at his retreating form.

“I’ll
be here. He’ll want to see me.”

I
looked up at the clock, remembering what I had written on the small piece of
paper. It wasn’t much, but the weight of it should have torn a hole in the
paper.

Help me.

I
knew he wouldn’t be able to resist my plea for help. He loved to keep control,
so any time I had asked for help, he had given it, but always with conditions. I
knew he also wouldn’t give up the chance to see how I was changing. Of course,
I didn’t know how much he knew.

If
the Shadow did know – I wondered if he was hoping I’d become a Shadow. But I
couldn’t be a Shadow, right? Hell, I didn’t know what was really possible at
this point. I had been considering becoming a Demon for a while, but never a
Shadow. But no one knew that but me.

Most
Shadows only stayed in one place for a short time. They then moved on to
someone else. This one had raised me. This Shadow clearly wanted power if he
had been diverting from the norm for two decades. Whether he wanted power from
me or from being the leader of all Hunters or both, I didn’t know.

I
looked up at the clock as I heard my Shadow Father’s footsteps. It had only
taken him six minutes. I thought it would’ve been closer to ten.

“What’s
the meaning of this, Delaney?”

He
was in a very short mood. Well, at least he wasn’t calling me Ms. Hinders.

“I’ve
been feeling really weird lately. And then these strange things are starting to
happen. Like I am absorbing supe’s pow–“

“Not
here.” He said with quiet menace.

I
swear his eyes were glowing. How had I not seen this before? I think it had to
do with my awakening abilities. They allowed me to see and do things I couldn’t
before. The Shadow grabbed my arm and took me toward the front exit of HQ.

“Meet
me at my house tonight. 7 pm.”

That
wouldn’t do at all. I needed him out in the open, now. The sooner the better.

“I
can’t. I need help now. If you can’t help me now, I’ll find someone else.”

I
looked directly into his eyes, never wavering or blinking.

“Fine.
Let me grab my coat.”

Thank
the higher powers, I had pulled that off. His cronie stood there, unmoving
except for his lazy eye, which was an oxymoron. Just because the eye didn’t do
what you wanted didn’t make it lazy. It should be called an ADD eye. I also
didn’t know why the Shadow wanted a jacket. He was as cold as granite and just
as hard.

I
found myself shifting from foot to foot to see if cronie’s lazy eye would
follow me. I swear it moved with me every time I switched feet. It was like one
of those paintings where the eyes of the person in it followed you no matter
where you went in the room. I was done being under cronie’s scrutiny.

As
I was contemplating how to run away from the cronie who never lost sight of me,
I heard the crisp footsteps that would, hopefully, give me answers and my Father
back.

“I’ll
be back shortly.” The Shadow said to cronie.

“Later
cronie!” I said as I stepped through the exit doors to the safety of the open
air. I walked onto the main street that would take us to the meeting point with
Az, Anie, and Az’s Demon.

“A
little respect, Delaney.” The Shadow said.

I
didn’t know if he was talking about what I had said to cronie, or me walking in
front of him. He had taught me early in life to walk behind him. I thought now
he would want me where he could see me, but maybe I had been wrong.

I
felt the matched steps next to my own. He quickly overtook me and was walking
in front of me. I sped up until we were walking shoulder-to-shoulder,
step-for-step.

I
had every right to hate this thing I had known as my Father. I felt his hand on
the crook of my arm. He always did that to me as a child when I was in trouble
or he thought I was going to run away from him. I had done that many times over
the years, given. But it hadn’t been a big deal, I had always come home. Cade’s
parents wouldn’t let me stay forever and where else would I have gone? His hand
in the crook of my arm used to make me mad. Now, it made me nervous. I pulled
my arm away.

“I’m
not a child.” Trying to keep him from speculating as to why I would start
pulling away from him like that now.

“Ah,
but you’ll always be my little Angel.” Ummm, okay, that was weird. We were
almost to the meeting spot, so I needed him to stay focused on me, and not on
where we were.

“I’m
no fucking Angel.” He tisked, at the swear word, no doubt.

“Oh,
I know. You’re so much more now.” So he did know.

He
was two steps away from where I needed him. Just a little bit closer. He
stopped walking and let me get four steps in front of him. He was mere inches
from where I could take back control of this little part of my life. To exorcise
the Shadow I didn’t want.

“You
think I’m stupid, Delaney?”

“Of
course not, Sir.”

“Then
stop treating me that way. I know you understand what you may become, since
your buddies with Kai now. And I have a feeling you know what I am. At least,
partially what I am.”

“I
know you’re a Shadow, but not what kind.”

I
was really hoping that Az and Anie were, at least, listening. Just in case I
didn’t get away.

As
the words left my lips, the Shadow came flying the last few inches I needed him
to move. He tried to continue forward but fell face first in the dirt. It was
satisfying to see him like that. As he lay there, Anie stood behind him,
dusting her hands off.

“Did
you push him?” I asked.

She
nodded yes with a smile. I loved her style.

Az
stepped forward and summoned a Demon with a few words that I, strangely,
understood. The Demon also just so happened to look like Tom Hanks. Weird. The
Demon had whited out eyes, so I assumed Az had chosen this guy on purpose. He wasn’t
able to see what was around him. He could sense us, no doubt, but not see.

“Manzar,
tell me what kind of Shadow resides in this being.” Azrael said with authority.

I
could see why he was second in command. There was an edge to him that would be
followed by Demons and feared by most.

Manzar
stepped into the circle, placed his hand on the Shadow’s shoulder, and his eyes
moved, reading something that I hoped I’d never see. The Demon struggled to
speak.

“B-black
Shadow.” He then released one of the most disturbing screams I had ever heard
and combusted into smoke. He hadn’t even burst into flames, which was the
normal exit for Demons. The Black Shadow stood with a smirk on his face,
completely unfazed.

“Satisfied
now, Hunter?” The Shadow asked.

I
looked over to find Az looking more pale than usual. He was completely
dumfounded which could only mean one thing: Az didn’t send the Demon back to
hell, it had been the shadow to dispose of him.

“Well,
not quite what I was expecting.” I said stupidly.

I
was in some serious shit. The Hunters didn’t know how to kill a Black Shadow. We
didn’t know where they came from. There were very few of them roaming the earth
so we didn’t have to deal with many.

Mostly
by the time we found out about one of them being around, they had already moved
on and killed everything left behind. This was the first one I had come face to
face with and I had been living with it the majority of my life. If you are
faced with evil everyday of your life and it’s what you know, how do you ever
know what’s evil and what’s not?

Az
was suddenly next to me and pulled me behind him. I forgot how fast he could
move. He was always so protective of me – it made me feel safe and untouchable,
even though I wasn’t even close to safe anymore. He had been one of the only
things that made me feel safe, maybe ever.

The
Black Shadow stood up and tried to move toward me, it’s hateful eyes only for
me. If they had been full of love I may have been flattered. Unfortunately,
they were not. He almost fell again as he tried to move his feet, he was caught
in the foot spell we had placed in our agreed spot. This was only the Black
Shadow now, because there was no hint of my Father anywhere on his face. This
was the thing that had ruled my Father’s body for the majority of my life and
it was pretty damn terrifying. It sneered at me.