by A Muse
When the car was stopped, I opened my eyes again. Everyone got out so they could go into the house. Shoving my fingers down into my pocket I turned my back to the house starting to move down the street.
“Where are you going?” Aya called after me.
“Clear my head,” I answered.
“You shouldn’t go off alone,” Dante said and I paused looking back at them all. They all worried too much. They didn’t have to worry after me.
“He’s fine. Zero can take care of himself.” Shu told them and I nodded before turning and walking away.
TWO
Shu was overreacting. I could go at least eight months without food, the same way that I could go twelve months without sleeping. Of course after a while my demon traits would start to show. First they would be small unnoticeable things to anyone but me.
Then I would start to display the outward traits. Shifting into my demon form when I was around Aya and Dante wasn’t something that I wanted to do. What would the two of them think when the boy they both worried over looked like the monsters they hunt? It was a question I didn’t want the answer to.
Blood, in the end blood, was the most important thing. Blood was life, in its simplest form. Humans and demons alike needed it. It was the one thing that linked us all together. I needed blood to bite back the hunger that would nag at me in a few more months.
Once upon a time any human that came close was good enough for a meal. After finding Shu’s grandfather, I learned a different way of hunting. There are people in this world that deserve to die. The outlaws that Bounty Hunters chased down were some of those people. Men who killed without regard to life. Why shouldn’t I hunt them the way they hunt other humans?
Bounty Hunters had the same setup as Demon Hunters. You needed a license and then you could hunt the scum of the earth. There were bars in every city, every town. All of them had a board inside. Pinned to the board was wanted posters and the reward.
Walking into the Bounty Hunter bar the owner looked up at me. I’ve been coming in here for a few years now. We lived close to this bar so it was easy to come in here and pick my next target. The ones that could be turned in dead or alive was always my favorite kind of pray.
I could feel the eyes of men in the bar on me. These were men that all thought they were big and strong. I wanted to laugh at the noisy bunch. If they wanted to see the strongest men in town, they should find a Demon Hunter’s bar. Catching humans were child’s play. Hunting a demon and coming home to your family, that was true strength.
“You haven’t been in here for a while,” the owner called. He was still drying out the glass he had in his hand. My eyes shifted over to the old man with the happy smile on his face.
“Been chasing demons.” Most Demon Hunters had the license to be a Bounty Hunter as well. Demon jobs were hard to come by. Even when you took one, you had to find the demon, plan out a way to kill it. There could be months between earning credits. It was always smart to find an outlaw just to keep your funds up.
“You should focus on outlaws. A kid like you shouldn’t be chasing demons.” He sounded shocked and outraged at the thought that I was chasing demons. Was it wrong that I wanted to laugh at this man? Chasing demons. Why not? I was one.
“I don’t see the difference.” I was chasing scum one way or another. Demons paid more. Humans offered me the blood that I needed.
“Outlaws won’t eat you.” His voice was sobering. I smiled at the statement. It depended on the outlaw. I’m sure some humans had the same taste for flesh as a demon. “What happened to bringing your father with you?” Had I told him I would? Probably, he was always asking for my parent.
My father? My father was dust by now. I couldn’t bring him anywhere. His soul was in heaven or maybe it was burning in hell. I didn’t know where the man was. I just knew he was no use to me anymore.
“He’s away.” I lied. I could have brought Shu here but why? It didn’t matter who my father was. Sixteen was old enough to be a hunter. I didn’t need a father to collect my credits and pick bounties.
“Demon hunting?” He mocked me. My eyes shifted to the man. I only nodded my head. My father demon hunting. My father only encountered one demon. The same demon that killed us all. I couldn’t picture the lawyer with a weapon in his hand getting bloody as he hunted anything.
Pulling a page off the board the outlaw on it would fetch me a good price. He would fill my empty stomach as well. If Shu kept chasing his white whale, we all would have empty stomachs. After I had eaten, I would tell him it was time to move on. We needed a real job. The Blood Demon wasn’t going to show himself again anytime soon. Shu would have to let it go for now. We could use the credits I made from this bounty to catch our next demon.
“What’s a brat doing trying to catch a big fish?” A rough voice had spoken before the page was plucked from my fingers. I sighed. There was always this type in the Bounty Hunter bars. In a Demon Hunter bar, everyone respected everyones skill set. Humans could be so . . . annoying.
“You can give it back or . . .” I let my voice trail off. The bigger man laughed. Turning around to his buddies so they could join in.
“Or what?” The mocking was getting annoying as well. I didn’t speak. I thrusted my hand out chopping him in the throat. He reached up grabbing at his neck. The page fluttered to the floor. Bringing my knee up, I rammed it into the man’s groin. When he dropped to his knees, I elbowed him the back of the head. He hit the floor hard. All of his friends looking down at him and then up at me.
Leaning down I picked up the page that he took from me. He would be out for a while. If his buddies were real friends, they would move him somewhere he could lay down. If not they would step over his body.
Walking out of the bar I was happy none of his friends wanted to test their luck against me. I walked down the street and around the corner. Stopping inside of an alley before looking down at the page in my hand. Balling up the paper tossing it into the air.
“Lead me to your body,” I whispered to the page infusing it with my magic. It turned into a paper bird as it started to fly away. My eyes shifted around the dark space making sure I was alone.
The shift was like slipping into another skin. My body rippled for a moment. It had held the human form for only a second before I stood in all of my demonic glory.
Long silver hair flowed down my back. A pair of sharp fangs pushed down from my gums. Huge black wings spread across my back cramping in the narrow space the alley offered. Pointed ears heighten my sense of hearing as red eyes improved my sight. Even though the paper bird was blocks away, I could still see it.
Flapping my wings it took me into the sky. It was easy to catch up with the paper bird. It led me over the city as the humans below pointed and gasped that a demon was in the sky. Humans failed to realize that most demons walked beside them and went unnoticed every day.
Chasing the paper bird it dropped low and I followed behind it. We had crossed half the city going to the slums as it flew down a few alleys keeping low to the ground. I paused as the paper bird stopped in front of the door of a rundown apartment building.
Looking around I dropped to the ground. I reverted back to my human form. My fingers pushed through the black hair. My tongue explored my mouth for a moment still feeling the fangs that were less noticeable in this form.
Walking to the door I turned the knob. It came open under my fingers and I stepped into the building. The stink of waste assaulted my nose right away. Even in the lobby there were junkies sitting and laying about getting high. I followed the paper bird up the stairs as it stopped on the third floor in front of another door.
When this one came open under my fingers, my stomach let out a low growl. The scent of blood was overwhelming in the room. It wasn’t anything like the house we had been in this morning. This blood was fresh. It made me lick my lips as I anticipated my meal.
I followed the sweet scent down the hall and to a bedroom. My head tilted to the side as I heard
the soft sobs of someone within. He was with someone. This was his next victim on his long list of victims. It had to be the blood of whoever he was with that filled the hall.
I opened the door looking at the pair. There was only a raggy mattress in the center of the room. A girl laid on it and overtop of her was the man of the hour. I could see bloody clothes that were torn and tossed to the side.
She made soft sobs as her eyes found me. I could see it; she was begging me to help her. To save her from the man stabbing her. He was so focused on the knife and the blood he didn’t notice the demon that his . . . activities lured.
Silent tears slipped from the woman’s eyes as she mouthed the words, ‘Help Me.’
There was nothing I could do for her. From the scent alone I could tell she had already lost too much blood. The only thing I could so for her at this point was avenged her death.
I stepped forward and the sound of my boots crushing glass made the man snap his head to the side. He sat in only his boxers. Blood covered the front of him as if he was bathing in the red liquid. It . . . appealed to me. It made me hungry.
“Who the fuck are you?” His voice reminded me of a snake. All hissing and low. My head tilted to the side as I studied this man. Who am I? Once upon a time I asked myself that question as well.
“A Bounty Hunter.” At the moment that was all I was. It was all I needed to be. The man laughed at me. Just like all the others he only saw a teenage punk when he looked at me. Oh, the poor fool. I was so much more.
“They’re sending children after me.” He laughed some more as he pressed his blade into the girl again. Did he think killing her was suppose to affect me? I suppose in a way it did. It made me hungry.
That idiot was wasting good blood. I could smell the quality in her blood. She was a good person. She had a clean soul. Her blood probably tasted divine. Much better than the low life scum who I was about to drink.
There was no need to prolong this. I would have much rather been home in my bed. Even if I didn’t sleep, everyone liked to lay around and laze about. I crossed the room in an instant. The speed of a demon was far greater than anything comprehensible.
Grabbing the outlaw’s shoulder, I turned him around pinning him to the bed. He had this fear in his eyes when he found my hold on him was unbreakable. My golden eyes turned its demon red color. I could smell the tang of piss and I looked down to see the boxers turning a darker shade. I was happy that I sat on his chest. I would have been pissed if he wet me.
“You’re . . . you’re the human.” I raised an eyebrow. Me, human? What about this moment made him think I was human? “You’re the one the Great Demon Ban turned.” My eyes widen at the name. Ban, The Great Demon Ban. My white whale. This man must have been hanging out with demons. How else would he know about me, about Ban?
My fingers tighten on his shoulders. So what? Who cares if he knew? Ban didn’t turn me into anything. It was my will to live that made me come back from the dead. I’m sure Ban would like to take credit for it all, but that wasn’t the case.
Leaning down I bit into the outlaw’s neck. Warm thick blood poured into my mouth. It tasted sour, like milk that was a few days past its expiration date. The outlaw reached out grabbing my hair. He tried to pull me away from his neck but failed.
I could hear the air panting out of his lungs. The more I drank I could hear his heart starting to slow. His fingers slipped down from my hair as he lost the will to live. That was the difference between him and I. I never lost that will. Until the last moment, I fought for my life.
When every last drop of the sour liquid was settled into my belly I pulled away from him. Looking down at the two dead bodies I reached out to the woman. Running my fingers over her face I shut her eyes.
Pulling my dagger from the holster on my leg I stabbed the man in the neck where my fang marks were. No one would look close enough at the body to see the true cause of his death. No one in this world cared enough.
Wiping my mouth off I could feel the energy the blood gives me rushing through my body. Closing my eyes, I took pleasure in the power that flowed. Shaking my head, I wasted enough time in this place.
Standing up again I muttered a transportation spell. Anyone with magic could use one. They were a lot easier than carrying two hundred pounds of dead weight back to the bar with me. A green light engulfed me and the outlaw. My eyes shifted back to the woman on the blood stained mattress. Squeezing my eyes shut as I left her there.
The spell took me outside of the Bounty Hunter bar I had been in only an hour or two before. Pulling the outlaw by the hair when I came back inside the man I had attacked was sitting at a table. He had an ice pack on the back of his head looking like a child that just been punished. Good.
The owner shook his head, it was the same reaction he always gave me. Every time I took a page from his board I always returned within a few hours. Passing him my card he swiped it through the system adding the credits I earned by killing this man. The price was cut by one-third for killing him. I knew that when I took the job.
The owner passed me back my card. He muttered something about bringing my father the next time I came in here to take a mission. I only nodded my head waving at him. The body would be turned over to the person who put the bounty on the outlaw’s head. My job was done.
The walk home was easy. The house was dark when I entered it. I didn’t need to turn on the lights and disturbed the darkness. At the top of the stairs and to my left was my room. Coming inside I flopped down on my bed. Reaching under my pillow I found the wireless earplugs.
Two hundred years ago you needed an iPod to enjoy music. Now all of your music was stored inside of two earplugs. You gave voice commands when you wanted to change the song or turn the volume up. These cost more than iPods, but I found them worth the three thousand credits I spent. When everyone else slept, I got to lose myself in music.
Ban turned me, he said. That wasn’t actually true. Ban only killed me. My will to live was what brought me back. Maybe the demon blood that fell into my mouth helped. I wasn’t willing to give Ban credit for anything though. He wanted me dead; I just couldn’t die. Not back then, not now either.
I laid dead in my home for three days. The scent of human blood woke me. The men that came into our home were slaughtered by my hands, by my hunger. Then I fell to sleep again. When I woke the next time, it was in darkness. I had been buried alive.
I was so lost, confused. I dug myself from my grave. I only remembered the day I died. Stumbling my way home, I found my brother. He paled like a ghost at the sight of me. He ran from me. Cursing me, calling me a demon. I was a demon. I lost my mortal soul and became a demon. For what? For the life that I clung to.
“Are you home, Zero?” A voice called into the room. I looked towards my door as it was being pushed open. Aya came into my room. She had a robe around her frame, but I could see she was only in her underwear beneath the robe. She had a tray in her hand as she continued to walk towards me. How many times did you have to reject someone before they understood?
“What?” I asked. She sat the tray down on my nightstand. I could see the sandwich she made on a plate. The scent of human food made my stomach turn. I was too full to eat.
“I figured you would have forgotten to eat.” Funny, being that eating was the reason I didn’t join them when they came in the house today. I only nodded my head. I made no move to touch the food she offered me.
“Thank you, Aya,” I told her.
“Someone has to look out for you. Shu seems to forget that you’re still growing.” Shu, was she trying to say he didn’t care about me? She would be wrong. Shu worried over me more than any of the others. Shu just knew my true nature. He knew that human food gave me nothing that I needed. He knew my only real meal was the blood he sent me to get tonight.
“I’m fine,” she didn’t need to come into my room half naked with food. It wasn’t going to get her in my bed any faster.
“Will we be going after the
Blood Demon again.” I blinked as I looked at her. The Blood Demon. No, we needed to go after someone we could actually make some credits off of.
“I’ll talk to Shu.” I turned around on my side giving Aya my back. She sat on the side of my bed for a moment before she left my room.
THREE
Once Aya returned to her room, I moved from my bed. Going down the hall towards Shu’s room. I needed to talk to him. We needed to move on from the Blood Demon. Even Shu had to realize that by now. His grandfather never put off paying work this long. It was time for Shu to wake up from his dream and get back to the real world.
Today seemed to go on forever. First finding the Blood Demon latest work this morning. Then we had to make the drive back to the city. It was around two when I got back in the house and yet there was still no rest for the wicked.
Standing outside of his door my hand rose to knock but I paused. I could hear voices from within. One of the voices were Shu, the other was his wife, Amy. Shu and Amy had been together since they were teenagers. I never saw love as strong as the one they had for each other. They were nothing like the fighting parents I remember.
“Why wasn’t Zero with you?” Amy’s voice was the one that I heard. Amy was like a mother to me. It was weird since I watched her grow as well. We had all been teenagers together. Now these two acted as if they were my parents. Maybe they forgot that I was the same boy who was there with them.
“I sent him to eat,” Shu’s voice replied to her. He had demanded that I went to eat. He was always like that even when he was a child. Orders and demands. Shu just had that kind of personality. It was one of the reasons that I liked Shu. He was a take-charge kind of man. He was a leader, just like his grandfather.
“What about the Blood Demon?” I licked my lips. My mind casting back to this morning. We were late again. I wasn’t so sure that it was a bad thing. The Blood Demon was one of the most powerful demons walking the earth. I didn’t know how well equipped we were in dealing with him.
