"Beth where the hell did you go?"
Brisa surprises me by chuckling, this whole situation is probably weighing down on her and it is really one of those laughs or you will cry situations. I understand, but I’m not going to indulge. I do not have her magic, I cannot hurry my feet along, and laughing will slow me down. So I keep my straight face, cuss under my breath, and keep calling out for Beth as often as I can without falling over or slowing down.
Brisa probably thinks it would be hilarious to see me go head over feet and roll down the mountain, her opinion of me right now seems very small. I’m not giving her the satisfaction, not only will I never hear the end of it from Beth when she finds out, but my male ego and pride would be bruised beyond all repair.
It is afternoon by the time we get to the bottom and there stands Beth, bag of weapons placed next to her while she stands there back straight, hands linked behind her staring up the mountain waiting. It is unnerving. Unnerving and kind of an asshole move. She could've helped Brisa with a piggyback. I know the demon has the strength… but no it doesn't even take any of the many bags I ended up carrying back. Not only is mine on my back, but I have Beth's in one hand and Brisa's in the other.
"Thanks for waiting and, I don't know, letting us know where you were so we didn't worry."
The demon blinks and stares straight at me. I can't tell if it is anger or arrogance, but it makes me shiver. I hate having such an obvious reaction, especially since I have my own demon, but I know…I know that the two inside of Beth are much stronger than mine. I also know that the demon will abandon me in a heartbeat if it comes down to fighting with his siblings for me. That isn't a chance I want to take.
"My apologies we are in a hurry are we not?"
"Well yes we are but still…"
"Then we should hurry let us go."
Her body picks up the bag and I know it definitely isn't Beth. As pushy as my sister is she still isn't heartless. She would know that my being a shifter and Brisa having a concussion would limit our ability to keep up; she would hurry us, but she wouldn't push us to the point of breaking. The demons have no such compunctions. They are okay wearing us down until our feet fall off and nothing but bloody stumps are left behind while they make it back to the Fae world. They wouldn't care what happened to us, the mission and getting back, is all that matters. I hate demons.
It is like being in a cage. Trapped inside a well that is deep inside myself. It is dark and almost cold. Like being frozen in place. I press against the glass and get nowhere. The demons are too strong. They are all powerful. I have always thought I am strong, powerful, and able to take on the world and this is proof I am not as invincible as I like to believe. I slam my fists on the enclosure and try to scream. The scream is lost in the void, the void inside my own mind.
The demon stumbles and stands still for a minute before continuing on as if nothing happened.
"What was that?"
"This body is still not fully healed."
"We shouldn’t be rushing if it is so bad that even you cannot heal it."
"The body is fine. We should continue. Where are we heading to next? Who has the spell to get us back to where we need to go?"
"We are not taking a spell we are taking a plane."
"Our demonic brother in you says the planes are fast but not as fast as our travel ability. Do you not have the magic to pull together and get us there faster?"
Because we are so powerful we can snap our fingers and make shit happen. If that were the truth we would have already defeated Kyle.
"Jason we should make camp for the night. I am aching so badly. I have never had to do this much in a day."
"No. We must move on."
I glare at the demon. I am starting to wish I hadn't turned Beth into a host.
"She has a concussion and needs to rest. I am barely standing as well. Beth needs rest as well."
"We are keeping her alive."
"Forget alive! What happens when you are gone from the body?"
"We do not care."
"Well I do! I want my sister to live! You will sit, eat, and sleep! We can even take shifts if it makes you feel better, but we all need rest!"
The scowl I receive for my outburst has me quivering. The sheer force of will behind that stare makes goose bumps jump along my body. He doesn’t look anywhere but at my eyes. I can almost feel my skin peeling off my body. I no longer have to wonder what being skinned alive feels like.
"Jason what do we have to eat?"
I break contact first and dig into my bag. I pull out some food. "Reconstituted whatever this is."
"I wish we had real food."
"We would have to stay in town at an inn."
Brisa gives me the most hope filled look I have ever seen on someone. It wouldn’t hurt to rest up. Beth needs to be in top form to defeat Kyle's plasma and she just isn't. I don’t trust the demon's to heal her beyond needing them so I have to do what I can.
"We will camp here tonight, eat whatever this is, and go into town tomorrow to rest up for a couple of days at an inn. We all need to be in top form for the fight and none of us are. Also, I need to get a hold of Brian and make sure everything is going to go smoothly once we get back. If Kyle is out of the Fae world it's not even a given we are going back there ASAP."
Poor Brisa must not have thought of that because she pales so much she looks like an undead vampire rather than an air Fae.
"I'm sure its fine Brisa…"
"Make food Jason, I will try to contact the Fae."
She stands and walks a ways away from us. I can still make out her silhouette but I can’t make out features. I have been around Beth enough to know when a girl wants to cry without anyone knowing it. I can’t help but whap my head onto whatever I am holding at the time. Beth is always the one that speaks without thinking. Does leadership do this to you? Does it make you talk before thinking or act stupid?
"Damn."
"The girl is sad. Why? She is a half breed. She must be little more than a servant. Why would she care if they all died?"
"She is a servant but it’s the only home she has ever known. The only place she can use her powers without censure or fear. The family that keeps her is kind to her….well kinder than most. It's true it's unfair, but she is more Fae than human and it’s the world she knows. No one likes their world to be ripped away from them. And the unknown means she does not even know what to prepare for. She cannot accept her fate and prepare for the future she is just hanging in limbo unsure."
"She needs more power. Then she could destroy the ones that enslave her."
I grunt. "If it were that easy almost everyone would be a power hungry asshole. Also I doubt the world would still exist."
"Humans are destructive creatures. They should be wiped out so nature can take its course and try again. Hopefully next time it ends better for those that came first."
Does he mean the demons? Or the Fae? "And you would be thrilled because you would be in charge now?"
"If it were not for humans we would never have left the demon realm. If you think we like it here you are very wrong. Agreas is young and bored. He made a pact with you because he cannot explore our world. We have been enslaved. With Solomon gone we were forced into a type of aware slumber. We cannot move, we cannot leave, and we cannot do anything but wait. If we could return to the demon realm we wouldn’t care about your world collapsing. However, humans brought us here and only one of them can return us. So we cannot let your world fall. Horrible irony this."
I have never thought about that. I never wondered how they got here or asked Agreas about his life back home, or even if he had a home before being brought to the human world. I make a deal with him that he can talk to me more about it later when the world is no longer in danger of falling.
It sounds horrible of me, but I have never thought of Agreas as a person, as someone with thoughts and feelings of their own. I guess I always thought of him more like the way Kyle is now. Now that I know
I feel the guilt pouring in.
"I am sorry. That you are here, that you have to deal with this mess. Beth, your host, she was pushed into this role as well. Not that she's selfish, but if she didn’t take the hunter job tracking blood thirsty vampires and moonstruck werewolves the shifters and Fae were going to kill her. She was given no choice. I guess she took to it so well I ignored the fact that, just because she doesn’t complain, doesn’t mean she enjoys it. We are treating you the same way and I am sorry…but Beth did not choose to do this to you, I did. She did not want to enslave you, in fact, if anyone in the world was to understand how you feel it's her. So please do not take out your hatred and anger on her. I want her to live after. Talk to her, she will try to help you if she can. She wouldn’t want others to suffer the way she does. So please take care of her."
"I will eat. We are not the healers of the demon world, but we will do what we can."
I can’t help but smile and exhale loudly. Relief doesn’t even begin to cover what I feel. Ironically we are going to rest up for a few days and then go to an unknown battle. It makes me nervous, but for the first time I also feel hopeful.
"Thank you."
The demons nod my sister's head and put food in her mouth. With that settled I look to the horizon where Brisa is kneeling. The wind whips around her and howls. I fixed one problem only to gain another. I’m not sure if I want to ask. I’m not sure if she would want me to.
"She received news her family is dead. Many died in the attack and many she knew. The air Fae were most of the ones keeping our enemy trapped. She is one of the few left."
How does he know that? I don’t bother asking. Most ancients know things we don’t…that’s just the way of the world. Age brings wisdom.
"Will she be able to fulfill her duty?"
"I hope so. Or many more will die."
The demon seems to accept that as an answer, quickly finishing the food and lying down to rest. Deep slow exhales fill the quiet air. I want to let Brisa grieve, but she has to eat and rest. She needs to heal. I rise slowly inching my way to her; the closer I get the more I feel like I am heading for the eye of a storm.
"Brisa you must eat. If we are not at all fully healed Kyle will kill us."
"I don’t care!"
"Your family would! The people who have lost someone and survived must live on for those that are gone! Dying instead of stopping it from happening again is dishonorable!"
She shoves a breeze at me, but she is losing power after holding the small storm around her for so long and it barely makes me stumble. I lean down and hug her while she cries.
"I'm sorry. I know; I know what it's like. My mother died when I was very young and my sister taken from me to be tortured for an accident of birth. I grew up mostly alone. You are old enough to remember their names, faces, scents. You have their powers. You can live on and honor them. Stop Kyle so others won't feel this pain as well."
She nods and bawls until she is half asleep and it is dark. I lead her back to the fire, help her eat her share of food, and put her in a sleeping bag. She is instantly asleep. I finish up my food and use the last of our water to clean the pans. We will be in town tomorrow and we can refill our canteens then. It will be nice to sleep in a bed, have a shower, and eat some unrecognizable food.
I can’t wait to have some delicious masgouf. When Beth asks me about the places I go I always talk of the food. Fish is a favorite of mine, but Beth has always said she wants to go to northern Africa to have méchoui. I personally can not eat an animal off a spit, but Beth is a carnivore through and through. Vampire, go figure. Too bad I will be stuffing us with stew when we get into town. We all need something hearty and filling. Beth has never had lamb stew. I can’t wait to see it.
Then as I look over at her sleeping form I remember. I won’t see her reaction. I will see the reaction of the demons haunting her. I toss a couple of stones trying to relieve my frustration. I wonder if I have cost her, her soul making this deal. I know I have squandered mine, but hers…I hadn't thought of what would happen to her soul. I am terrible at this job. No wonder I am an archeologist. Nothing living, only ancient stuff buried in the ground. Shocking that of the two of us I am the one that has issues with people.
"I have to get some sleep I am starting to think crazy thoughts."
I clear my mind, turn into a bear, and fall asleep no less worried than I had been before.
When I wake it is to screaming. I look up and the demon is digging through a bag, probably looking for food, while Brisa rubs her teary eyes wind blowing her hair around despite there being no breeze right now. I sit up and open my mouth to ask why there are hikers screaming at them when a growl comes out. Oh that’s right I am a bear right now. Ahhh shit. I can’t turn back so I look to the others trying to look small and unassuming. I am going to fail, but either Brisa or the demon will have to calm the onlookers and get them out of here.
"Bear! Run! Bear…it’s a….where did it come from? Why are you two fine with a bear in your camp!"
They are verging on hysterics. Brisa stands and walks over patting the hysterical woman on the shoulder. The guy with her is just staring. I am guessing his fight or flight instinct is broken because he is just frozen. He could have been a statue.
"Stop that excess screaming. The bear is hurting no one. Now leave."
Both Brisa and I give a shocked look to demonic Beth. Is it freaking serious? You can't just tell people to get over hysterics...I can tell you from experience it does NOT work that way.
"But…bear…."
A sigh later and magic shoots at the humans. They are lifted into the air and they grasp at their necks. It looks like they are being strangled, but the skin on their neck is free of marks. Brisa tries to summon the air the demon is using to put oxygen in the lungs of the tourists, but she is not nearly powerful enough. I charge him as a bear, but my sister is a fighter, even injured her muscles remember how to defend. I am sure the demons have picked some things up as well.
She evades me without losing control of the magic being used nefariously. I growl and the hair covering my neck rises.
"We told them to leave and they did not. We cannot have anyone interrupting our mission. We are on a time crunch."
It is so horrible hearing my sister's voice, seeing her indifference. I know it’s not her but my heart shudders. Is it truly possible to be this cruel? The answer is obvious when I try to charge again and get a knife in the side for my trouble. It’s not deep enough to kill me, I am sporting some thick fur right now, but it does make me bleed and lose my balance. Invisible ropes hold me down as I thrash. Brisa tries to free me with her magic, but neither of us are any match for the demons. Soon the humans stop thrashing and so do we. They are dead and we have failed.
Tears drop onto the ground below my head while Brisa buries her head in my fur and cries. Demonic Beth snapped their necks and tossed them up into the mountains. It will look like they have fallen and broken their bodies. No one will look for strangling since no marks will be found. Their families will never know what happened. If their bodies are even found. No one will know but Brisa and I. We will know and we will know we tried to save them and failed.
I want to change and yell but I know it will do no good and it might bring others attention to us. What am I going to say? A demon possessing my sister killed them when they saw me as a bear instead of a human and the Fae bastard here wasn’t strong enough to stop it? Yeah that would land us all in a nut house and Beth would be punished for something she had no control over. I hate it but we can’t punish the demon, they are not in their own bodies. It would be unfair to my poor little sister. What a freaking mess. It just gets worse and worse.
So I stay a bear. I let Brisa use me as a teddy bear and I let my tears fall to the sandy ground making no sounds as I mourn the casualties of our little war.
"I hate the demons. I hate them both. I hate Kyle. I hate the Fae. I hate this situation. I hate everything."
I can’t re
spond to Brisa and that is probably a good thing. What can I say to make her feel better? She just witnessed a murder after finding out that most of her clan, including her actual family, has been murdered. She will need more therapy than a human can provide, assuming they know enough of this situation to give therapy, which none do.
After about a half an hour of snuggling into my fur Brisa has cried herself to sleep. I hoped that the demon would pull her off me and let her lay by the fire. He doesn’t even look at us so I do what I can to shift quickly and catch her before her head can hit the ground. Shifting is painful and often you can feel the bones snap and realign if you are touching the person while the process is going on. She must've exhausted herself because she doesn't move or make a sound. She really needs her sleep. She was overloaded and when the brain is that overloaded it makes everything shut down.
"Why did you kill them? How could you do that? They were innocent!"
"We have a job to do; we will do it and nothing can get in our way if we are to succeed."
If I had a stake it would probably get jammed right through Beth's heart, which wouldn't be fair because though it is her body, it is not her mind or powers. It’s not her emotions. I am fairly certain the demons inside don't even have emotions. How…how can something care so little for life?"
"Just because you're stuck here against your will doesn't mean you have to take it out on people who have no bearing on it!"
The demons look at me; each eye a different color; blazing green and purple shining with power from anger and hostility. One of them isn't in control anymore, both of them are, both of them are ready to fillet me. I am bringing up the source of their unhappiness. I thought we were in a good place finally…and then the deaths.
We could have handled the situation with the tourists. I have done it before, he hadn't given me any chance, and the demons hadn't even tried to handle it normally. Or just make some excuse or make the humans lose their memory. Hit them in the head and knock them unconscious so they think they hallucinated from a concussion.
Shifting Truth Page 10
