Demon Seer 2

by Kurtis Eckstein

  When she said his name, the memory slipped – just the image of me smashing my fists into his face.

  Her red eyes flew open even wider. “Michael!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

  “I thought you were dead! I was confused and I was convinced he had killed you!”

  I could see her mind whirling a thousand miles per hour now, trying to consider the implications, trying to reason if it would be viewed as justified. And from her thoughts, I realized he wouldn’t have been able to touch me had I not communicated my own murderous intentions to everyone.

  Essentially, if I had just kept my mouth shut, then nothing would have happened, even if he discovered me. But announcing that I would kill him, with my sincere intentions laid bare for everyone to see, gave him the authority to take action and punish the would-be murderer.

  Miriam also saw the other Rulers’ reactions in my memory, seeing how her father, brother, along with Enkidu and Lilith didn’t try to attack me once I stopped.

  “They might believe it was justified,” she considered out loud, her tone hopeful. “Either that, or they’re afraid of your power.”

  Her brow then furrowed as I began thinking of the fight – how I wasn’t actually more powerful, but rather I just found a way to be faster.

  “How did you do that?” she finally asked, her red eyes focusing intently on me. “And how did you get to me so quickly?” she added. “That trip should take at least an hour minimum, not barely a second.”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted, allowing her to see what I had done, instead of trying to explain it.

  Her eyes widened again as she processed the memory. “I remember this,” she whispered. “When I was researching about energy on your computer, I came across something called an Alcubierre drive. It’s a theoretical machine that would allow faster-than-light travel by bending spacetime.”

  “Theoretical?” I repeated.

  She nodded. “Yes, it’s impractical because of the energy requirement. But the more I consider what you did, the more that seems like the only logical conclusion. You contracted the space in the direction you wanted to go, and expanded what was behind you, thereby moving the undisturbed space you were in. That’s basically what gravity is – contracted spacetime. So, it’s sort of like creating immense gravity in order to cause you to fall really fast, while creating almost like the opposite of gravity to push you away.”

  “So…” I paused, not liking the implications. “Does that mean the others could learn to do it too? I mean, if it’s just based on having enough energy, then…” Then, Ragnarok and others should be more than capable.

  Her brow furrowed. “I’ll try to learn to travel like that, and if I can do it, then we’ll have to keep it a secret for now, and hope Ragnarok doesn’t figure it out. At least, until we know for sure there aren’t going to be any repercussions for what you did. Right now, it’s your only advantage.”

  I nodded. “I should probably try to learn how to do that attack he did as well. Really, that’s the only way to block what he did in the event he becomes just as fast as me.”

  Miriam shook her head slightly. “No, I don’t think so. At that speed, such an attack is rendered useless. You would never be able to hit him, nor would he be able to hit you, turning it into a battle of attrition – whoever fatigued first would be the loser.”

  “We can fatigue?” I asked seriously, my mind automatically thinking about all the dancing I did with Jericho – the first time I had thought of her since leaving the demon world – and reflecting on the fact that I felt like I had unlimited energy, without a need to sleep or eat, coupled with infinite endurance.

  Miriam didn’t answer my question though, her thoughts instantly focusing on the angelic woman in my mind. “Who is that?” she unexpectedly snapped. However, before I could even answer, she had already dropped it, seeing that I wasn’t interested in Jericho – seeing that I only had eyes for her. Thus, instead, her focus instantly shifted to something else entirely.

  Something related.

  “Michael…” she gasped in disbelief.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked seriously, trying to grasp where her mind was going.

  “Before you fought Ragnarok, you had been in my world for only about seven hours.”

  My brow furrowed.

  When she saw that I didn’t immediately understand the problem, her eyes unfocused as she began recounting the events as she remembered them.

  “When he attacked us, it was in the middle of the night.” She took a deep breath, a gesture that was still habitual from when she was human long ago. “I tried to fight them off, but he pinned me down, leaving you defenseless. And then, to torment me, he tried toying with you by messing with your head, and showing you a hallucination where my father and brother arrived in time to save us. But you saw through it, so he decided to kill you before your mind grew any stronger.”

  Her eyes focused on mine again. “You began erupting with electricity like what happened when you died and came back to life. However, that didn’t stop the others from trying to attack you. I thought for sure I was about to watch you die, but then it was like you just exploded into a ball of blinding light and disappeared. Just like that, you were gone.” Her expression became pained. “And just like that, you were severed from my mind.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling the torment and confusion it caused her.

  She shook her head, tightening her embrace around my back, below my wings. “I’m just glad you’re alive.” She took a deep breath, pushing the pain aside. “But shortly later, my father and the rest did show up. He and Enkidu then argued with Ragnarok for hours while my brother and Lilith tried to comfort me.” She grimaced. “At first, I was too traumatized to even move. I just couldn’t believe you had disappeared, as if you had blinked out of existence. Too stunned to comprehend what happened. Too shocked to admit you were really gone.”

  I slowly closed the gap between our lips, and rested mine against hers, prompting her to reach up to grab the back of my head for a moment, before allowing me to pull away.

  The kiss was another silent apology for what she had experienced, even though I hadn’t disappeared willingly. I still had no idea how it happened, but I also knew that wasn’t the most important thing in this moment.

  Right now, I was more concerned about what the three Originals had discussed.

  Miriam answered my unspoken question quickly, before returning to her first point. “My father argued that killing you might as well be considered killing me, given my attachment, thereby making him a lawbreaker deserving of punishment. However, Ragnarok argued that you were still partially human and that you were showing signs of being too powerful – that allowing you to complete your transformation might usurp their authority.”

  She scoffed. “He was just lying through his teeth, of course, we all knew you wouldn’t be that powerful. Sure, your mind might be stronger than the rest of us, but our bodies have limitations – and the three Originals are already at the pinnacle of what’s possible.”

  Her crimson gaze focused on me intently as she continued. “But they only talked for a few hours, leaving before the sun rose. I had already left too, having heard your sister’s voice, thinking it was real instead of a hallucination. It was only morning when I felt your mind again.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” I asked seriously, not seeing the obvious.

  Her red eyes softened. “Michael, you were only partially transformed when you disappeared. You still had at least twelve hours, if not longer, to go before you’d grow wings and a tail.”

  “You mean…we were only separated for a few hours?” I said in disbelief. “And it’s only been roughly a day and a half since he attacked?” I shook my head. “But you said I was in your world for about seven hours,” I countered.

  She nodded. “When we reunited, you should have still been in the process of transforming, but instead your memories reveal that when you disappeared, in that exact same mome
nt, you reappeared in my home world fully transitioned.”

  “But how is that possible?” I whispered, recalling the midnight dome I woke up in.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I mean, there’s only one explanation really, though it sounds impossible – somehow you escaped time, like entering a separate dimension or something, experiencing that half day of your transformation in the blink of an eye.”

  My brow furrowed. “How do you even know all this?” I wondered.

  She smiled weakly. “When I learned that I was radioactive and killing you, I also learned about all this. I didn’t know what information I was searching for, so I just investigated everything associated with radiation – and energy, in general – resulting in me coming across concepts associated with spacetime as well. I’m sure it’s still all in your browsing history,” she mused.

  I scoffed at the idea, feeling like my old life was already a thousand years behind me, like school, and homework, and human friends were all a thing of the past – a former life. However, unexpectedly, a voice appeared in my head, as if someone was whispering to me.

  ‘I’m tearing apart time itself, brother. For you. Now live, for me.’

  Miriam and I both froze solid, eyes wide, completely silent for a long few seconds.

  “That was your sister,” she finally said after a moment, almost inaudibly.

  I inclined my chin in agreement, unable to deny that it was. Even if it weren’t for recognizing her voice, I only had one sister – only one person who would call me brother. “You said Amelia didn’t know what you were talking about,” I recalled.

  She nodded as well, her eyes still wide. “Which means…” Her voice trailed off.

  “It’s not possible,” I retorted immediately, disturbed by the idea popping up in her head.

  “What other explanation is there?” Miriam urged, before raising her voice. “Michael, you disappeared and reappeared in a completely different world, with hours having passed for you, while no time passed for me at all. Not to mention, that was your sister’s voice, claiming to be tearing time apart.”

  “No.” I shook my head, completely rejecting the idea. There was no way my sister was involved in this.

  “Yes,” Miriam agreed. “I have no doubt that the present Amelia has any idea of what’s going on.”

  I stared at her, not wanting to accept it.

  “Miriam, but that would mean…”

  “The future Amelia is changing time.”

  “But that would mean…” I repeated.

  Miriam’s expression pained. “There’s only one reason why I could imagine someone would try to mess with time – to prevent something irreversible from happening. Like your death – the death I was certain I was about to witness.”

  Instantly, that voice chimed in my head again, causing us both to lock up.

  ‘I am Amelia, dear brother, but I’m not your Amelia. I’m the Amelia who lost you.’

  No. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be real. And yet, I couldn’t deny that it was.

  It was possible I was just crazy, just hallucinating…or it was possible that the voice I was hearing, like a ghost haunting me, was truly associated with the facts staring me plainly in the face. The undeniable facts of my impossible disappearance from the universe – of my transcendence of time in this world, experiencing hours in the blink of an eye.

  “But if she’s changing time,” I whispered. “Then what will happen to her? To the Amelia in the future? Wouldn’t me surviving change everything? Wouldn’t that even make this future Amelia stop existing? The one who lost me?”

  “I don’t know,” Miriam replied, trying to comfort me by rubbing her hand along my exposed back. “Michael,” she said gently, “I know how much this bothers you, but I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it.” Her brow then furrowed. “And we probably shouldn’t tell your sister, because that might mess things up even more. Whatever happens from now on, we need to keep it to ourselves.”

  My eyes widened as I considered that. “Whatever happens from now on?” I repeated, realizing she was implying that saving me might not have been the end of it.

  “We don’t know,” Miriam reminded me. “The humans don’t understand exactly how time works, or how alternative dimensions might work. It’s all just theories, with lots of contradictions. But no matter how we look at it, everything gets complicated when dealing with a time traveler. It’s possible she’s tried to change her past multiple times, and that something might happen in the future for us, that was something she tried first, prior to what she did only a day or so ago. Meaning, what is past for her might be future for us, and vice versa.”

  I shook my head in disbelief, absolutely hating the implications for my sister. What would happen to her in a few years from now? Would the Amelia I knew in the present be alright? And what about the other Amelia? The one who claimed to have lost me? What would happen to her?

  Even if my human sister was perfectly fine at the moment, I still felt a strong attachment to the other one. Or rather, I felt a strong attachment to all versions of my sister, with that particular fact – that there might be other versions – causing me a deep anguish.

  Because what would that do to a person?

  The idea of even just one of her dying was unthinkable.

  Miriam held me tightly as I dealt with this new revelation, trying to wrap my mind around this impossible reality. However, as the pain in my arms only continued to increase, she finally broke me out of my reprieve.

  “I’m sorry, love. I know how much this pains you. But there’s nothing we can do about it, and we need to focus on the present. Your sister obviously saved your life, so we can’t throw it away by not dealing with the challenges still ahead of us. We need to prepare for the possibility that this feud with Ragnarok isn’t over, along with the possibility that the entire demon race will be coming for us. And right now, neither of us are in any position to fight. You especially.”

  “What are you saying?” I whispered, seeing where her mind was headed.

  “Michael, right now you need to feed. You need human blood.”

  Chapter 7: Values

  I didn’t like the idea of taking someone’s life, but I also wasn’t sure I really had a choice – at least, not if I myself wanted to live.

  I had been lying on Miriam’s warm body for over a day now, with her arms, legs, and wings all wrapped around me. So, I was a little surprised when I stood up, only to have her rise to her feet and reveal that the top of her head barely reached my nose, her horns level with the top of my forehead.

  We had been the same height when I was a human, but now I was nearly a half-foot taller.

  She grinned up at me, though the smile was short lived, since she knew what was weighing on my mind.

  “Can’t I just, like, take a little blood and leave them alive?” I wondered hesitantly.

  Rather than appear sympathetic, she instead gave me a bizarre look, as if I had three heads. “You care?” she exclaimed in surprise.

  “About what?” I asked seriously.

  “You care about killing humans,” she clarified, her expression still dumbfounded. “Most of our kind don’t care anymore after they’ve transitioned. They become hardened to the idea that humans are anything other than food. Cattle to be preyed on.”

  I frowned as I considered that, absentmindedly wrapping my arm around her neck and pulling her head against mine, the curve of her horn resting against my temple. Much to my surprise, her thoughts scattered briefly from the casual affection, prompting her to wrap her own arms around my waist again.

  It was strange to see her react like that – for my body and overall presence to cause her to almost go weak in the knees like a cheerleader crushing on the hot, star, football player.

  She refocused though, after a long moment.

  “I think it is like animals,” I realized. “I’ve never really had a problem with eating them, but I’m not crazy about the ide
a about butchering a cow myself.” I paused. “So, couldn’t I just drink a little and leave them be? Or I guess maybe that would result in them becoming like us…”

  Miriam unexpectedly shook her head. “No. It wouldn’t. If you bite a human, they will almost always die. Painfully so.”

  I pulled away a little to look down at her in shock. “Is the survival rate really that low?” I exclaimed in disbelief. Had she really taken such a big risk when biting me?

  She shook her head again, her crimson gaze unexpectedly endearing. “No, love. It’s not about chance. Some humans can become like us, whereas most cannot. We know which ones can, because we develop the urge to bite them, rather than feed. That’s how most demons chose their partners. They came across a human who could be turned.”

  “Well, that’s good to know!” I exclaimed sarcastically. “What if I bit my sister to try to keep her around forever! I’d kill her instead!” The idea almost made me hysterical, especially considering the recent revelations about her.

  “Shh, calm down, love. I wouldn’t have let that happen. But you are correct that she probably can’t be turned. After all, she’s already been exposed to many more of us than would be normal for most humans, and yet no one has had the urge to bite – at least, not in that sense.”

  I took a deep breath, realizing it must not be entirely genetic then – or if it was, then it was a rare trait. I was confident Amelia was truly my sister, or at least half-sister I supposed, with us both definitely having the same mother…I assumed…

  I mean, we both had psychic-like abilities, so we had to be related, right? What were the chances of that happening otherwise?

  But then, if we were definitely related, then it just made me wonder why I could become like Miriam, while my younger sister couldn’t.

  It also made me wonder what would happen if I bit a person while already connected to Miriam.

  “So, what happens if someone already has a partner?” I echoed from my thoughts.

  “Then they become one of your children,” she replied simply.

  I grimaced. I was only seventeen, and the idea of having kids at my age just seemed wrong. Not to mention, what would happen if I bit someone who was old? They would forever be chronologically older than me, assuming it happened in the next eighty years, or so, and yet technically they would be my child?