“Thank you.”
She nods and stands back up. “Don’t thank me yet, kid… I still need to get you out of here.” She mutters before running off to her car, leaving me alone in the dark with only a single light to give me comfort.
I take in the sound of the water. I hear dripping and something scuttles away upstairs. I try to ignore the smell and scan the room around me. Nothing much is left. Everything has eroded away thanks to the incessant pressure of the water. It would also mean that climbing my way out might be dangerous. Metal and water are not the best friends and the last thing I want to do is break a leg down here.
“Okay… calm down and think for a minute. We were exploring the lowest floor of the residential area. If that’s the case, the area I’m in might happen to be engineering.” I take a deep breath. There is only one way to confirm whether it is engineering or not. I bite my lip and try not to think of the smelly water around me.
Determined I put on the mask in the hope it will work as swimming goggles, take a deep breath and dive back underwater, trying to determine whether this is engineering or some kind of massive dining room. Within seconds of making the plunge, I can make out a large cogs and wheels underneath me.
I now see rows upon rows of inoperable terminals and machines. I do a little victory dance in my head. I love to be right. Floating around some of the terminals are pieces of scrap, electronics like pagers and – was that a Tamagotchi?
I quickly return to the surface, gasping for air once again when I break the tension of the surface. I tear off the ruined gas mask. Vile and pungent air fills my lungs and I cough and gag as I taste the air and the water on my tongue.
“I am in engineering. G-good.” I pause to catch her breath again. “If that’s the case, there must be another way out of here. The architects wouldn’t have made those stairs the only way out of here… I hope.”
Once again, I put on the mask and take a deep breath to dive back under and to explore the dark depths of engineering. I feel like a marine version of Indiana Jones, exploring the pits of this ancient old tomb with only my flashlight to guide me through the darkness. If I wasn’t trying to hold my breath and not let any of the vile water into my mouth, I would have chuckled at that thought.
The ship seemingly goes on forever. The fact that it is dark and that I can hardly see anything through the dark, murky water is not helping either.
I keep swimming, holding my breath for as long as humanly possible as I desperately search for another way out of engineering. Most of the bulkhead doors are closed and locked when I try to open them.
As I pass yet another row of turbines and generators, I catch something in the corner of my eye. I feel my heart pounding in my chest. It moved.
Something moved.
No.
That can’t be true. It is too dark for me to see anything. I am running out air and I am beginning to hallucinate. That’s what it is!
I carry on trying to find a way out or at least a pocket of air. I must have been swimming for close to a minute now and I can feel my arms flailing as the blood running through them runs out of oxygen.
A little light shimmer from across the next room. I bite my tongue to suppress the urge to open my mouth to breathe. My head is pounding. I decide to drop the flashlight and to use both hands to get to the little pool of light in the water as soon as possible. The clouds in my head disappear when I break through the surface of the water and pull off my mask again. The stale air fills my longs. I try to take in as much air as possible, my hands searching for something to grab.
My hand finds the stairwell from which the dim light radiates. The rusty staircase creaks when I hoist myself onto the metal. Shivers run through my spine.
I felt spent.
The light above me grows brighter until I see a shadow towering above me. “G-Gina?” I shiver, hoisting my weakened body higher up onto the staircase.
And that’s when everything went black.
Chapter 6
My head is pounding. My last few braincells are playing death metal drums in my skull. I try to open my eyes, but I feel like all energy has been drained from every fibre of my body.
It is the warmth that hits me first. Is that a blanket covering me? No, it isn’t. It is much shorter. I whimper as I try to open my eyes again. “Mom”? I whisper, trying to make sense of the situation, trying to get to grips with what happened.
My hands try to grab the blanket and touch warm leather. My eyes shoot open as a whiff of an unfamiliar cologne sets me on edge. I can now clearly see a little battery powered heater next to me and I do not recognise the black leather jacket covering my shoulders.
I try to sit up and recognise the ceiling of the ship’s ballroom. I let my eyes focus on the large mermaid lounging between the shells that is painted in a gold leaf frame. But we are high up. I am on one of the balconies overlooking the ballroom. “Gina?” I ask with a rasping voice, trying to find my cousin. She’s a blabbermouth. She would be all over me by now. Where is she?
That’s when my eyes were pulled to the shadow behind the heater. To the thing stirring in the shadows. My survival skills kick in. Fight or flight. I try to grab something to defend myself, my hands and fingers looking for a cold piece of metal or maybe a big shard of glass.
And then it steps out of the shadows. He is tall. I would even call him handsome. He is probably not much older than me but it’s his glowing red eyes that have me scuttle backwards, almost knocking over the heater. My heart is beating in my chest as I see some scrap metal in the corner of my eye.
I throw off the leather jacket and roll onto my side, lunging towards what was to become my only chance of defending myself. My fingers close around the cold and rusty surface when I feel the metal escape my touch.
For a second I stare at the boy pulling it from my grip, fast as lightning. My hands grab his trousers as I try to launch myself up and towards him, hands ready to take him by the throat. But that is when I feel the sharp pain in my ankle, forcing me down onto the makeshift bed again.
The boy looks at me and scoffs. “Another bleeding hunter. Oh joy.” He looks down at me and pulls a little old stool from where he was sitting in the shadows before I woke up. “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so by now. Don’t you think?” He says, staring at me with his jaw clenched. “I have literally not a single shred of interest in fighting you. Especially not as I saved you from drowning not thirty minutes ago.” He rolls his eyes and sighs. “Although I am already pretty sorry, I did that.”
I bite my tongue as I try to ignore the pain in my throbbing ankle and look at the boy opposite me. I have always learned demons are bad and should be killed at first sight, that demons are our mortal enemies and that they would not bat an eye killing us. I swallow hard as I try to chase away the tangy taste of fear. Think Isabelle, think!
“Why?” I say. My mouth is dry, and the taste of the bracken water still lingers on my lips. I try to get up as the boy looks at me with a certain fascination. “Why on earth should I believe you?” I ask him. “You kill, you steal, you…” I bite my lip as I try to move my swollen ankle. “You’re a demon.”
“For the love of god!” he throws his head backwards in anguish. “Seriously?” He looks at me pointing at the little heater. “Do you even know how much effort I went through to get you that stupid little heater?” He shakes his head as he turns it off, leaving me shivering on the little bed.
“Could you maybe…” I try to reach it with my hand. “Leave it on, please?”
He scoffs again as he flicks the switch, sending much needed hot air my way. “Listen, young lady!” He jumps up and points a shaking finger at me. “I might be a demon, but that doesn’t mean I am a killer or a thief or whatever else you want to accuse me of!” he turns around and starts to pace up and down the balcony.
I look at him in surprise. Demons are bad. Everybody knows that. It is like ‘rule number one’ of the Hunters Manual. I take a deep breath and try to figu
re out his plan. Is he holding me hostage? Is he waiting for Gina to come so he can kill two birds with one stone? What is he waiting for? Why hasn’t he killed me yet?
I look at his hands, his shoulders, the way his jaw is set and the strides he takes over the moist red carpet covering the balcony floor. His body language is open although spiked with frustration. Is he telling the truth? Is he doing this to save me?
“I was just trying to save you.” He starts, still pacing the little room. “I thought I was going to get a little thank you or maybe, if you were really nice, we could have grabbed a pint somewhere! But the first thing you do is grab a piece of metal to probably try and slash my throat.” He stops dead in his tracks and looks at me with his intense eyes. “And then you say our kind is bad.” He scoffs.
I look at my hands in my lap, evading his gaze. “Thank you for saving me.” I mumble, my heart still beating in my chest.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “Isabelle Whitelock” I mumble as I extend my hand. I brace myself for his touch. I read about the scorching heat of a demon’s touch.
I hear a soft chuckle as he takes my hand. His touch is soft, almost hesitant. His skin feels warm against mine, but I would not call it scorching hot. It felt more like the comfort of a warm water bottle on cold winter nights. My heart beats faster and I can feel the energy sizzle between us. I hear the demon gasp for breath as his fingertips caresses the palm of my hand.
“I can feel your heartbeat.” He whispers softly. I open my eyes and look op at him. His eyes are wide, and I can see the surprise in them as I smile about his stupid comment. “Duh. Otherwise I would be dead, wouldn’t I?”
He nods and smiles. “My name is Daimon, Daimon Lucius. And you are feisty!”
I just smile as we sit there in the middle of the balcony, my ankle throbbing, the heater blowing at the maximum setting and my hand caught in his warm grip.
“Turns out Demons aren’t that bad after all.” I smile, my yes not letting go of his gaze.
“Hunters are not too sh…” Daimon stopped mid-sentence as a soft thump echoes through the ballroom. He looks down at the point of an arrow sticking out of his shirt. Black blood starts to soil the grey fabric. He looks up and I can see the fear in his eyes, and the question – ‘why’.
I shake my head in response to his gaze and try to get a good look at the perpetrator. I can see Gina load another arrow onto her crossbow. “Don’t worry cous! I’m here!” She screams to the balcony. Her clothes look dirty in the dim light shining through the windows. “Just get away from the demon and find a weapon!”
“Cous?” Daimon mutters, his hand caressing the tip of the arrow piercing his core. “I didn’t…” he swallows as I see the pain in his eyes. “I did not mean any of you harm.”
“Isabelle! Move!” Gina screams. She takes a flash grenade out of her backpack and pulls the pin out of the ignition. The grenade lands on the dirty red carpet. All the air leaves my lungs when Daimon headbutts me into the corner behind a dirty moth ridden curtain. He shields me from the bright white flash illuminating the balcony. I can feel his breath against my hair as he holds me in his arms. He smells like… like…
But then he is gone again. He pushes me away to safety and rolls onto his feet, dodging a flurry of arrows.
After dodging another series of arrows, Gina tosses the crossbow aside and pulls out a knife from her vest, charging towards the young demon boy.
Seeing this, Daimon easily dodges her attack and proceeds to violently throw her across the balcony. Skidding across the rusted pavement of steel and bolts she comes to a stop by to the iron railings on the other side.
The room becomes deathly quiet after the last arrow hits the wooden partition behind Daimon. I hear water dripping in the background, the sea throwing itself lazily against the ship. A sharp pain travels from the palm of my hand up to my elbow when I realise, I had been digging my nails into my fisted palm.
Confusion clouds my head as I try come up with a plan that would mean both of them – my saviour who does not seem to want to fight, and my cousin, come out of here alive.
Gina is visibly shaken and a sharp expression of disgust plays around her lips. She slowly hoists herself onto her feet again and grabs another knife that was hidden inside a sheath strapped to her calf.
“I am not your enemy!” Daimon shouts, throwing his arm out. “There’s a far greater threat looming over the horizon lady, just let me explain, please!”
“Shut up… you demon scum.” She mutters as she stands back up. “As long as your kind continues to crawl out of the deepest pits of hell, people like us will gladly send you back until you get the message.”
Daimon groans as he finally rips the arrow out of his shoulder, causing a splurge of black liquid to drip onto the carpeted floor below him. “Enough of this charade. We’re running out of time, and I’m wasting it here trying to talk some sense into you.” The demon mutters as he stares directly at Gina.
Seconds later, a pair of large black feathered wings sprout out from Daimon’s back. I see his face shift in pain as he looks at me over his shoulder.
Unfolding his wings, he takes off into the sky and darts unsteadily to the end of the balcony, narrowly missing Gina as he runs past her and propels himself off the upper circle. Gina screams as she sees him dive to the ground and launches herself off the platform, aiming to land on top of him.
My legs carry me to the intricate wood and steel railing when I notice Daimon sailing through the air towards Gina. He is trying to save her! A hard thump echoes through the ballroom when she lands on the wooden ballroom floor. I hear a sickening crack and look up at the boy floating above her.
He looks up at me, face in pain and agony. “I’m sorry.” He whispers almost inaudible. He looks at me one last time as he disappears into the night through a large hole in the roof of the ship.
“GINA!” I scream. The fog lifts and I break out of my state of confusion and fall into a pit of terror. I beeline my way down the stairs.
I can hardly see the debris in the dim light as the candlelight from the balcony does not touch the floor of the ballroom. Gina lies there on the ground unconscious. Her left leg is twisted in an odd and almost sickening position.
I check for a pulse and hold my hand in front of her nose to make sure she is actually breathing. I feel the confirmation that she is alive hammering against my fingers. Gina is alive. For now.
“Gi-Gina.” I whimper, mentally going through all the lessons and notes I took over the years about your partner being hurt in action. “Ha-ha-hang on, Gina… I’m going to get help.” I add before pulling out, Gina’s phone. My fingers rapidly look for my dad’s number on the little thumb phone screen.
“Dad!” I almost start crying as a wave of relief washes over me. I have never been so glad to hear my father. I fucked this mission up and I know there will be hell to pay, but as it stands, we need to save Gina.
“Dad… I need you.” My voice almost breaks, and I need to fight to keep the tears back. I don’t know what I would do without Gina. I reach for the necklace around my neck and listen to the sound of my father’s voice, but nothing registers as my fingers find bare skin where the necklace used to be.
The necklace is gone.
Chapter 7
I never liked hospitals. They are too cold. Too white. Too clean. Everybody is buzzing around: doctors, nurses, people visiting family and friends. I look at Gina through the little window. She has been kept sedated ever since we extracted her from that damned ballroom and stupid ship.
A big cast has been set around her leg and I am sure in my heart that Gina will be okay in the end, but icy guilt crushes my heart. What if I had just killed him instead of… what did I even do? I don’t know. The only thing I know is that I did not do enough, and that my cousin is in a bad shape because of me!
I clench my fists as the guilt presses harder on my soul. Flashes from that night flood my memories. I back away and sit down when the solid wood
of the chair hits the back of my knees.
She warned me. Her story… it was a warning. She warned me to just stick to the book and not do anything stupid. And I went out and ruined it all. The handle of the door jolts down and the door opens to reveal a middle-aged Latino doctor with a 50’s haircut.
He is one of us. Has been for a couple of years now. He married one of the Leblanc sisters. It was a bit of a scandal – a hunter marrying a civilian, but Santiago has been a great help and support to the community ever since. It was the first time we let a human into our world – even though he is still kept at the fringe. I know deep down the only reason the Guild accepted him was because he is one of the best trauma surgeons in town. And there’s a lot of blunt force trauma in our line of work.
I bite my lip as he walks through the door. His vivid green eyes catch mine and the confidence flowing through them lifts my spirits.
I jump up from the chair and approach the doctor. “How is she doing? Is she okay?”
The man sighs heavily and rubs the back of his neck. “She’ll be okay, but her leg… it’ll be a long road to recovery. Frankly, the chances of her walking without some form of assistance are low. The fall broke and shattered several bones in her leg, slicing through the tendons which formed clots in her leg. It’s honestly a miracle we were able to save her leg at all.”
I raise my hand as my head starts to spin. I feel hot tears making their way to my eyes and my throat is blocked by a painful lump. “It’s all my fault. I froze and hesitated when I should have acted. Her career as a hunter is over, and it’s all my fault.”
“What could you have reasonably been expected to do, Isabelle? The life of a hunter is fraught with dangers and calamities; we all know the risks when we sign up for it.” Santiago explains as he places his hand on my shaking shoulder. “We also don’t know the full extent of her condition. There’s a chance she’ll require a leg brace of some kind to support herself, but that, like so many other possibilities, will have to be seen when she has had the chance to heal.”
The Aberrant Sword Page 3
