Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1 (8 page)

“’Cause they both end in trouble and start with a grin…”

– The Head & The Heart, Down in the Valley

When
I had been thinking about Kai getting there soon, I hadn’t actually meant right
that second. But he
would
show up in the middle of the night when I’m
bare ass naked.

Not
thinking much about the state of undress I was in, I stood up. I wanted to be
able to kick Kai in the nuts if the occasion called for it.  Which, knowing
Kai, it might.

“I
know you may not appreciate me being here at this time, but it’s a delight from
my end.” He grinned widely. He finally looked at my face when I covered myself
up with the sheets off the bed and sat down. I needed his help more than I
needed to kick him in the balls. “When you summoned I had to come. I cannot
ignore one of my own.”

“You
can be a real asshole sometimes, Kai.  You’re lucky I need you right now.”

One
of his own? Was he suggesting I was a fucking Fairy?! I wanted to ask if I was one,
did that mean the single question rule still applied to me, or could I ask
more? But, I knew if it did then I had wasted my question and a week. I began
running through the best way to ask the question that burned within me: what am
I? I had done this enough times now where it didn’t take me very long to come
up with the question.

“Can
you list biologically, and magically, what is contained within me, please?” The
please wasn’t a requirement but it never hurt to be nice when you really needed
something, especially from Kai.

“Ah,
you’ve learned well over the years, my dear. Nicely done.”

Kai
stepped forward and took my hands in his. He closed his eyes and began reading
silently behind his eyelids. After about 10 minutes he jumped back as though I
had just shocked him. He looked down at his hands in confusion.

“I
don’t understand.” I wanted to ask Kai what he didn’t understand but he
continued talking. “Delaney-” It was the first time he had ever used my name
when talking to me. That freaked me out more than anything else. “you are everything.
You are: Hunter, Vampire, Drover, Shifter, Fairy, Demon, Angel and human. You are
what everyone has been looking for.”

He
said shifter, which I found odd because the only shifters I knew of were
Werewolves. Fuck not asking questions.

“What?
How?”

“I
don’t have to answer, but I want to know too.” Kai cautiously took my hands
again. He spoke before he opened his eyes or let go. “All I can see is that you
did not gain these attributes naturally. Everything else is blocked from me. Someone
knew you’d be looking and didn’t want you to know it was them.”

“What
do you mean by the
I’m the one everyone’s been looking for
comment?”

“You
are, rightfully, full of questions.” He looked me over. I was standing now,
still clinging to the sheet desperately trying to keep it around me. “As I said
before, the show has been exquisite. Thank you.”

Because
he was turning to leave and I needed to stop him I said the very words that
mere days before I never would have said to Kai. Not for all the gold in the
world.

“Kai,
please. I need your help.”

He
didn’t even pause. It was like he couldn’t help himself. Like he was waiting
for me to ask for his help. Although he was still halfway turned away from me,
he spoke.

“There
has been a prophecy handed down for many years.” And when Kai said many years
that was more than a few considering he didn’t even remember how old he was
anymore. “It says that there will be a girl born from death, conceived in pain
and raised by deceit.” I was with him for the pain and death parts. My mother
had died in childbirth. But the deceit I was a little fuzzy on. “She would be
created and formed to be the most formidable weapon because she will contain us
all. All magic all mystery. She can lead a group to power and balance. She will
not come to power until after her 30
^th
birthday. After then all
powers will show. But only one of them may prevail.”
What group was I
supposed to lead?
Kai answered aloud my silent question.

“That
my sweet child, is a question I cannot answer.” He paused then added, “And I’ve
been asked.”

So
everyone had been looking for me? Kai had heard that question, I assumed. I
felt like if I wanted to, I could speak to Kai without words. Thus, I tried it.
Since he was currently turning away from me and trying to get out of there.

Hold
it right there, Bub. Who asked about what group I would lead?

If I tell you it will be the last for a month.

I
heard his thought after that, which had been something about if I would believe
this then maybe he could escape with his life.

Liar
.

I
will tell you. But after this little visit, I must hide for my life.

That
was the truth.

“Okay.”
I said out loud.

It was the man you know as your Father
.

He
hadn’t said it so others could hear and that was smart. With that simple phrase
the rest of my world which was currently being held together by gasoline and
dry brush went up in an inferno of flames.

Go
into hiding Kai. And if you’re asked, you never saw me. And if you did see me,
you never told me any of this.

He
nodded his head at me and disappeared in a burst of tiny light sparkles. Where
was I going to go from here? And with everything piling up, when was I going to
fit in my procrastination?

*********************************************

I
won’t lie, I laid in bed for the rest of the morning and for far longer than I
should have. But who in their right mind, finding out what I had earlier that
morning, would want to get out of bed? Not me. So, it turns out I could still
find time to procrastinate. All good procrastinators could.

I
was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Or maybe in my case, the other anvil.

I
had discovered some of my Fairy abilities while Kai had been there and that was
good. See? I could find the light in a bad situation.

The
Hunters didn’t know much about Fairies, besides how to summon them. Now, I knew
more. The rest of the supes I had in me, with the exception of Angels, I knew
enough about. I knew a lot about them, in fact. Something I could finally thank
my Father for.

So,
I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper I had found in the night stand and started
listing what I knew about the different groups.

Vamps:

-
Needs blood to survive (hopefully don’t get)

-
Extraordinary strength

-
Can see well in night and day

- Skin’s sensitive
to light, can’t stand in direct sun   light during the daytime.

-
Hates sleeping in coffins

Drovers
:

-
Shifts only on full moon

- Can shift into
anything at that time (that’d be awesome)

- Must stay with
Drove that changed you (this would

 suck)

-
Not easily killed (which I am anyway)

-
Stays together in large groups or in large areas

Weres:

-
Can shift anytime (yes, please)

- Will shift only
into wolf (hope I don’t stink like

dog)

-
Extremely strong

-
Can only be killed by beheading

-
No sensitivity to silver

Demons:

-Heals very, very
quickly. A slice of a blade is

nothing.

- Lacks honesty,
unless pressed for it (with exception

of Az, at least I
THINK)

-
Lustful, easily distracted by tits and ass (I miss Az)

-
Strength is highest of all supes

- Abilities:
clarity bend, teleport, mind reading,

  slime kill (eww,
like Slimer from Ghostbusters but with a much deadlier result.)

Fairy:

-
Can mind read at least with each other

-
Can communicate telepathically

-
Can by summoned by casting the thread

- Glow when
traveling (that’d be a nightmare to

 explain)

-
Deceptive

Angels:

-
Can fly? (I’ve only heard stories)

-
Guards over good? (Again, only stories)

- Can do what Demons
do? (Power of deduction, some Demons are fallen Angels, right?

-
I really don’t know shit about Angels

With
the last of the list I realized that my body would no longer be my own soon if
I didn’t do something to change or control my future. What would be the
dominant magic? I knew there were Werewolves that ended up going crazy because
their human and beast sides fought for dominance, trying to overtake the other.
It ended up looking a lot like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Great musical, scary
reality.

I
guess I wasn’t really a Hunter anymore. I knew the second word got out that I
was some sort of supe hybrid I would end up exiled from the Hunter world with a
boot print on my ass, my little lump sum severance package and looking for a
job elsewhere. Although I think I’d make a good P.I.

I
couldn’t tell anyone about this. And thus, I was utterly alone. More alone now,
than ever. I’d never felt like a magical creature or supe. But, I had when Kai
had been in my room. I could only figure that Kai’s magic had awakened my own Fairy
magic.

I
now had figured out what had blown up my house and had been telling Anie to
kill me: an Angel. It had to be. What other creature would wash peace over me
and be surrounded by blinding light. The Hunters knew nil about Angels. But why
kill me? Why not have her care for me, or awaken my Angel magic? Or maybe
whatever had been in my house had been a high up Demon? One that could trick
how I viewed them. It would have to have been Mastema himself. I had never met
the bastard but I would assume he would be something freaky like that.

I’d
never been so lost before.

And
I’d never wanted answers more.

My
Father. I hoped I could control my features well enough for him not to see the discontent
in my eyes. I didn’t want to be this thing, this created tool, but somehow my Father
was involved. I just didn’t know how. Looks like all paths did lead to home. But
in my case, that wasn’t a good thing.

“Time to tell me the truth, To burden your mouth for what you say, No
pieces of paper in the way…”

–Sara Bareilles, Between the Lines

“Pretty
please with a cherry on top?” Asking Anie to take me to the Hunters HQ was not
easy.

“No.
Your Father would love any excuse to get me ousted from any of the future
Council meetings.”

“Listen,
I
have
to talk to him. It’s non-negotiable. He is the only one I can
talk to about getting back in with the Hunters.” I was lying to Anie, but it
was necessary. She didn’t need to be in anymore danger than she already was. I
was withholding because I needed to get into Headquarters to try and flush out
what my Father was up to.

“No.
No fucking way. How many ways do you need me to say no until you understand?” I
had been pleading with her for a while.

“I’ll
do anything.” Anie seemed to consider this and she seemed to like what she
found in that little head of hers. After a few minutes, she spoke.

“I’ll
escort you on a few conditions.”

Anie
had to take me. If she didn’t then I wouldn’t be allowed in the front door. I
knew my Father well enough to know that when he mandated something, it would be
followed, no questions asked. I was in Anie’s care so she had to be with me. Period.
And of course, Anie was going to have conditions. I didn’t blame her, I
wouldn’t have gone and been like:
Okay, yeah, sure I will take you. No
problem. I’ll just piss off the head of the Hunters by just dropping you on his
doorstep, no questions asked.

“Shoot.”

“Don’t
tempt me.” Man, I must’ve really upset her. “One, you tell me everything about
what is said. I know that your Father will probably not want me in with you for
this little conference. So I want to know
everything
that is said. Capice?”

“Absolutely.”

“Two,
no more secrets, Laney. I want you to share everything with me from here on out.”
Oh, thank fuck she didn’t want retrospective information. I couldn’t share
everything I had learned previously. But I could keep her in the loop. Somewhat.

I
put my fingers up like a good little girl scout, and said, “I promise.”

“Well,
get your shit together so we can get this over with.” There was the Anie I knew
and loved.

After
showing up at HQ and getting asked a thousand questions about why we were there,
we were allowed into the front door. We were then frisked by the guards, quite
thoroughly, and escorted to my Father’s white room, aka his waiting room. It
looked, smelled and felt like a hospital waiting room.

I
had never had to wait before. I used to be the Hunter with free reign. The
daughter of the head Council member. But now I was treated like any other.

Anie
kept making comments about how if it was just me I would have gotten through
with no questions asked. Anie was under the impression that I wasn’t the reason
for all of the security, that it was her. But I knew better. My Father recognized
that I was going to be dangerous soon so he had stepped up security. And for
some sick reason I wanted him to fear me, I wanted him to quake as I had done
when I was younger. Was that justice? Revenge? Or just some Demon magic awakening
in me?

I
shouldn’t have been surprised I was being treated this way, but for some reason
I was. If my Father had done this, it wouldn’t have surprised me, but it hurt
to see people I had known and looked up to treat me like a stranger. But I was
a Hunter’s nightmare, with a dash of Angel, in all my 5’7” brilliance. So, Anie
and I sat in the sterile silence hurrying to wait.

My
Father swept into his waiting room 20 minutes after our arrival. He didn’t say
a word, just walked out and walked back into his office. I grabbed Anie’s hand.

“I’ll
let you know if he wants you to come in, okay?” I told her in a scratchy
whisper.

She
looked at me, frowned, and nodded her ascension.

I
pulled the door closed behind me as I walked into his office. My Father’s desk
chair was turned away from me. I thought maybe he had left his office somehow. But,
no, his dark hair was sticking up over his chair. Without turning to look at
me, he started talking. Apparently, I didn’t warrant a greeting.

“What
do you need, ladies?”

It
was like talking to the principal, and I was a student who had gotten in
trouble. No warmth. All business. Had he ever really been my Father? How had I
ever ended up with the awesome sense of humor I had?

“Just
me, Sir.”

He
spun around in his chair faster than I thought would be possible for someone in
his fifties. When he met my eyes his expression was genuinely alarmed, but only
for a moment. Interesting. He schooled his expression quickly and motioned for me
to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

The
chairs were white, I know, surprise, surprise. They reminded me of the white
room outside his door. I didn’t want to sit down, but I knew better than to
refuse. My Father had always told me,
Treat everything I do and say as an
order. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it.
And I knew better than to refuse
an order – especially right now.

I
sat down and folded my hands in my lap. The less I touched the creepy chairs,
the better. Once I sat down my Father eased slightly back in his. I saw the
stubbornness already starting to claw across his features. Most people wouldn’t
have noticed it, but I had been raised by the man sitting in front of me and I
could tell exactly where his mind was: he wanted to keep whatever secrets he
had from me. He wanted me to keep my nose out of his business, even if it was
my business too. Had this man ever loved me? Yes, when I was a little kid,
before he had started boot camp with me, he used to love me.

My
Father would turn on the side table lamp on my bed when I was, probably about 4
years old, and he would read me a book every night. My favorites were Goodnight
Moon, I Love You Stinky Face and my favorite of all, Where the Wild Things Are.
The world will never be the same without the genius of Maurice B. Sendak. Some
people just naturally spoke to children through words, and he was one of them. Hell,
he still spoke to me.

 I
remembered my Father reading me the books and becoming animated. After he was
done reading the book he would put it down, look me in the eyes and say
I
love you, Angel
. Around the time I turned five, he started the boot camp
training and was the time he stopped reading to me and treating me like a
child. It was so heartbreaking for me now. But it was also something I would
never tell him I felt. Not now.

The
Father he was when I was four, I wouldn’t have hesitated to tell him how I
felt. Now, I couldn’t even sit comfortably in the same room as him. He had
accused me of consorting, which I had been, but I was still his daughter. He
was supposed to love me unconditionally, but that, apparently, didn’t come with
every parent/child relationship.

So
I sat across from the man I had once called Father and tried to beat him at his
own game.

“Well,
what can I do for you?” He asked.

“I
had an interesting visit last night.”

“From
whom?”

There
was no waiver in his voice. No tell in his eyes. Nothing that would tell me
anything. Just like me. I learned from the best.

“Kai.”

Now
my Father’s jaw clenched tight. If he kept it up, it looked like his teeth
would shatter. So, I was utterly surprised when he spoke.

“And
what did the
Fairy
have to say?”

He
spat the word Fairy out like if it spent one more moment on his tongue he was
going to throw it up. I thought there were other words that tasted worse. I
mean productive was one I really thought tasted like crap.

I
was nervous for Kai. I had an overwhelming need to protect Anie, too. If my Father
found out she cast a thread to get a hold of him, he would go off like a volcano.
So I told the simplest lie I could.

“He
was checking on me.”

It
wasn’t a complete lie. There was a grain of truth to it, because Kai and I did
go way back. That was one of the best things my Father had taught me,
If you
are going to lie, use a grain of truth so your face doesn’t give you away. Because,
really, are you lying?

I
kept my features trained and didn’t move a muscle. I was trying to get my Father
to trip up. He had no idea what my history had turned into with Kai. Other than
our first meeting I don’t think he knew anything else. But I could see surprise
in his eyes. He looked down at his hands and back up. It was his tell, one I
was very familiar with.

“Kai
checking on an outsider, that’s a first.”

“Not
for me. He’s kept me on his radar for a while.”

“Really?”
My Father cracked his knuckles. I wondered if he was going to try and beat Kai
to death.

“Yeah,
but I can’t get a hold of him now. I’m worried.” At that, my Father eased back
a little in his chair.

I
wanted my Father to believe that Kai couldn’t be summoned. I could tell by the
look on my Father’s face that he hoped Kai was dead, not just missing. I said a
silent prayer that Kai had hid himself far enough and deep enough that no one
could touch him.

“What’d
you come here for?”

He
wanted me out of his office now. He was going to try and push me out soon. I
needed to start asking questions and quick.

“What
am I to you, exactly?”

“You’re
my daughter, of course.”

Lie.
He would call me a Hunter over his daughter. One of his most valued Hunters. And
although I was his daughter, he would only give me that answer to make me more
complacent. To make me think he cared.

“Is
that it?”

“Of
course not. What do you want me to say? Because you obviously want me to say
something, you wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“I
want you to tell me that I’m your daughter and really mean it. I want you to
say that you love me, even if you don’t. I want to know that I mean something
more to you other than this shell of what we’ve become.”

I
was breathing hard and I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes like
a hive of bees. I took a deep breath so I could quell the tears. It worked.

I
stared at the floor and waited for an answer. I looked up after a few minutes
and my Father was staring at me like he had no idea what to do with me. I
didn’t know what to do with me, but he was my Father and Chief of the Hunters. He
should’ve had some idea as to what to do for me, other than locking me up like
a criminal. My Father stood and moved swiftly next to my chair. He took my hair
and moved it behind my ear, in an affectionate and false gesture.

“This
is bigger than us, Delaney.”

As
I looked in his face, searching for anything I could recognize, I saw a Dark Shadow
pass over my Father’s eyes. I felt my world shift on its axis. If a Shadow was
passing over my Father’s eyes, it meant that something possessed him.

A
Shadow was a strong spirit, Demon or Angel that had gotten lost or had existed
for too long. They were the only three that could become a Shadow. And judging
by the way my Father had treated me over these years, I would guess that the
Shadow was either a Demon or a strong spirit. As far as I knew we had only come
across one Shadow that was an Angel and that was at the beginning of the Hunters’
organization, so, that was before Christ. What? You thought the Hunters were a
new organization? Good and evil have been around for as long as time.

 The
deceit part of Kai’s prophecy made sense now. I had been raised in and by
deceit. I had not been raised by my Father, I was raised by a Shadow. I had
been formed in deceit.
The man you know as your Father
, Kai had said and
now it made sense. He had actually been telling me this. That this man sitting
in front of me was not my Father.

 I
was terrified for my Father, if he was still inside of himself somewhere. I had
no idea how long my Father had been like this. Every experience I had growing
up was now tainted by the fact there had been the Shadow. I didn’t know for
sure what possessed my Father’s body or how to save him. I couldn’t save him
unless I found out what kind of Shadow it was.

As
I panicked I stood up and stepped away from the Shadow. I would call him that
since I knew, now, he was not my Father. Stepping away from his touch was
something I definitely would have done Shadow or not. But I needed to make sure
the Shadow didn’t see my fear. If he suspected I knew, he’d probably just kill
me. Tell the other Hunters that I had attacked him in his office and he had to
kill me.

“I
know that.” I said carefully.

“Do
you?” He asked me with a twinkle in his eye.

If
he was capable of laughing he would be right now. That was when I knew, beyond
a shadow of a doubt (pun intended) that my Father/Shadow/whatever was responsible
for me being what I was turning into.