I could remember a time when I wanted to be here with others like me. Even when I had been acting out against my Father, I still wanted to be here. I wanted to be with people who understood what I worked for. What we all gave our lives over for.
That all changed once I met Az. Azrael. He put a spin into my world that pushed things I had always known and believed my entire existence to the edges of my life. I now stood amongst these people not quite understanding or belonging to them. I simply was tolerating being here for information, not wanting to be here anymore.
For the first time in months I was getting a look at the family I had left and I hated it. The only blood tie I had left on this earthly plane and he was ignoring me. I noticed the harsh lines of his face had gotten deeper. While my looks stood out, my Fathers were understated. Where he was darkness and hard edges – I was light and softness.
I studied him intently until he finally looked me dead in the eyes. That was when I figured the shit was about to hit the fan. Whatever my Father was about to say was going to be about me, and I wasn’t going to like it.
“Good of you to join us finally, Delaney.”
I stood because, intrinsically, I can’t not stand. As I said, some things he hammered into me stuck. If someone on the Council speaks to you, you stand out of respect.
“Yes, Janesh.”
Even though everyone sitting there, with the exception of the newbies, knows I’m his daughter, if I call him Dad or Father, it would be a slight to his position. I stopped calling him by Dad in my tweens when I was old enough to know the difference between my Father and the head of the Hunter Council. Problem was, the reason I had stopped calling him Dad was because he was never not the head of the Hunter Council.
“Do you deny consorting with our enemies?” Fuck. He had said something about consorting with the enemy and I had missed most of it.
Oh well, I got the gist: he was calling me out in front of the Council. I looked to Cade because he was the only one who knew about my past “indiscretion,” which was the only thing he could really be talking about. Cade’s eyes held mine for a moment, darted to Janesh, then looked away. So he knew he had brought me here for a reason, but not to what extent my Father would pull down the world around me.
My Father had done everything in his power to keep me on his side growing up. To keep me in line. To keep me from doing what I did. But I did it anyway. It seemed my Father was going to do the one thing I never thought he would: he was going to bounce me from the institution I had given everything to and everything up for.
If I didn’t deny I had been consorting with Az it would divide us permanently. If I said no, the Hunter Council would just torture me until I said yes. And yes is what I wanted to say. My Father obviously knew something. He was just trying to find out how far off the grid I had gone.
“I do not deny.”
There was a collective gasp from the peanut gallery around us. I was looking directly into my Father’s eyes to see his intense shame before the room erupted into outrageous noise. If I wasn’t mistaken, I noticed a flicker of pleasure in his eyes. But that couldn’t be. He was still my Father, right? His blood still ran through my veins. Maybe he had gas. But I noticed Anie moving in my peripheral vision. She stood up and raised her hand like we were back in school and she was waiting to be called on. Surprisingly, it worked. My Father saw her and roared.
“Silence!”
It was instantaneously quiet.
“Speak, Aniese.”
My Father had more respect for Anie than me – rightfully so, since less than five hours before this I had been fucking the second in command of all Demons. C’est la vie.
“Janesh, Sir, she’s been consorting with some of my people – along with some others I consort with. She’s been assisting me with a…problem.”
My Father studied her face closely. Anie never flinched. She was damn good, even in her new skin. I was extremely well trained at lying so it was no great feat to train my features. I was surprised but I never moved, not even a blink. As if me being accused of one of the most serious offenses to Hunters was as common as the sun rising. I didn’t know why Anie was standing up for me, but I loved her for it.
“So you’re saying all these creatures that have been around her are because she’s helping you?”
“Yes, sir.” So, my Father didn’t know why I had all the tails I had. Now I was a little more scared than I had been before coming to the meeting.
“Anything you want to say, Delaney?” My Father asked.
You mean, other than take a sharp stick and shove it up your ass, you dickhead?! Oh, and I hate you – don’t bother calling me anymore. Oh, wait, you didn’t before anyway.
“No, Sir.”
“Very well. Aniese, she is given to your custody until this little…problem you referred to is concluded.”
I could tell Anie was caught completely off guard. As was I. A babysitter. Really?!
“I – ”
“You will do as told if you want to remain in this loop. Because clearly I’m out of yours.”
Oh, so it was her punishment to watch me. I’ll give it to him, it was a pretty good one. I was a difficult one to control and contain.
“Yes, Janesh.”
I could tell she was struggling with the burden of me. I had to fight off the laugh. I was nervous and it was my natural response to uncomfortable situations. That and word vomit.
“You may take her to get the belongings she needs, then back to your place.” Great. Grand. Wonderful!
This was just a dream come true. I came here to have a few questions answered and I get t-boned by a big fucking Mac Truck – because side swiped just doesn’t cut it.
Anie continued to sit in stunned silence as guards surrounded us.
“You will go now.” My Father barked. Anie stood seeming out of her depths now. Join the club sister, we have jackets, with large holes in them.
“Sir, what do I do with her when the problem is solved?” Anie said, waking from her shock-induced trance.
“You bring her here and check her back in.” I looked to Cade with this news from my Father. He was distressed but trying to hold it together, since he was part of my judge and jury – whether he knew it or not.
What my Father had just said rolled over my nerves. This was just a short break before I would inevitably be locked up by the Hunters. Or worse, put to death.
Anie had just saved my life. For now.
~VIII~
“Don’t give me up, How unfair, It’s just out our luck. Find something great, That’s just out of touch.”
– Birdy, Not About Angels
After being escorted out by guards in the middle of the Council meeting, Anie and I strolled amicably down the street.
“I hate you right now.” Anie said. Maybe amicable was too strong a word.
“I’m not the one who stood up and lied to the Council. Why’d you do it? You knew what you were risking!”
“I did it because, apparently, I’m a raving lunatic with a death wish. And maybe because a guy showed up at my house and paid me a shit ton of money to keep you out of trouble.”
It had to be Azrael. If it wasn’t him, I had no idea who it could be. No one cared enough anymore to keep me out of trouble like that. The only one I could think of, besides Anie, was Az.
“Who was this mysterious man?” I asked her sounding as alarmed and interested as I should when news like that reached me.
“That’s just it. I have no idea. I think he was a Demon, but that’s all I got. I don’t know what he looked like or what level, exactly anyway, he is. But he’s gotta be high up. I’ve never blanked out on someone like that before.”
It was definitely Az then. There was no other possibility. Right?
“How much did he pay you?”
“Enough.”
“We’ll see about that.” I hated he had paid her. She was risking her life. There was not enough money in the world for that.
�
��Listen, Laney. The money didn’t hurt but I owe you a lot for the way you’ve treated me since my descent,” that’s what the Hunters called kicking people out on their asses: descent.
Once a Hunter had violated the rules or was bitten and changed, like Anie, they were kicked out with a nice monetary severance for their services and a boot to the ass. If the Hunters were intelligent, they would keep the ones that had been changed. It would be an invaluable asset to have Hunters from different supe groups.
“You’ve never treated me any differently, still the same pain in the ass as always. But you’ve been a good friend. ”
“Nothing to treat differently. You’re still you just with a little extra kick.”
“That’s debatable.”
I hated a lot about Hunters. But our self-loathing was unmatched, especially if we were bitten and turned.
“Well, let’s hustle up before the assholes following us get too close!”
The last part of the statement I said loud enough for anything within a 100 yard radius to hear.
I could feel the energy from the supes ratchet up a few notches. Whatever was near us was upset. Life was all about the little victories.
**********************************************
We arrived at my place shortly after my verbal poke to the supes following us. Mostly, because Anie was hustling me through the streets mumbling something about a crazy bitch with a death wish. I loved getting her riled up. She didn’t smile or get angry enough anymore.
When she had been a Hunter we had gotten on each other’s nerves, in a sisterly way, on a daily basis. I enjoyed having that anger around again. Most of the time, I tried to get under her skin because, for me, it was an easier task than making her laugh. I thought I was hilarious, but apparently, I was not everyone’s cup of tea. It was difficult making her laugh when she was a Hunter, I imagined making her laugh now was near impossible.
“Can you just hurry up so we can get to my place safely?”
Anie was jittery, and justly so. I had to remove some of my etched wards to allow her into my home. Therefore, we were surrounded with very little protection. It didn’t feel right, but what else could I do?
“What, you don’t feel safe here?” I indicated our surroundings. She laughed humorlessly, not what I was going for.
“Of course. Surrounded by nothing but – ”Anie closed her eyes.
She was sensing something, and by the look of it, not something good. It was the same face she used to make as a Hunter – only more intense and focused. She looked pained. This couldn’t be good.
Since I wasn’t feeling anything, I had no idea what was going on in her little head. So I started grabbing my things like a bride at a Macy’s basement sale. My bed was now made and there was a box on it. It was a white box with a black bow on it. It was from Azrael.
It was how he had always given gifts to me. He said I was the perfect white to his darkest black and how we made a perfect pair because of it. How wonderful it had felt to be wrapped up in each other. There was no card, but I didn’t expect one. He had only left one with the first box, after that he didn’t see the point in it. I grabbed the box and every weapon I had, shoving them unceremoniously into whatever duffel bag my hand touched. I also spared a few seconds to grab underwear and t-shirts. I planned on being comfortable. I mean, if my world was falling apart, why not be comfortable?
I stepped out of my bedroom to where Anie was still standing, unmoving, in my living room. Only now, there was a figure I couldn’t quite make out positioned next to her. He stood over Anie with a hand on her shoulder. I squinted to try and see him more clearly and found I couldn’t.
It was like having your eyes dilated and you couldn’t quite see the thing in front of you because there was too much light around it. What was this thing, and more importantly, why was its hands on Anie?
I pulled my blade from its holster on my back and stood ready to chop its head off. I was a good Hunter, when I put forth the effort. I still couldn’t see it clearly, but I got the general idea of where he stood. I would’ve stepped forward and chopped his head off but I wasn’t really sure where he began and Anie ended. It was too risky to try with me not being able to see him clearly. Had I been drugged? Why couldn’t I get a grasp on this thing?
I closed my eyes to take a deep breath and get my bearings. I realized while my eyes were closed I could see this thing better. Yes, it was a he and he was all light and energy. The strangest feeling of peace washed over me and I had to fight back the influence I knew the light-thingy dude was throwing towards me. So, I kept my eyes closed and could see his mouth moving next to Anie’s ear.
“Back. Up.” I said. Hoping someone, just this one time, could listen to me the first time. Just once.
He lifted his head at me and I won’t lie – I was caught off guard. It had no eyes that I could see, but the rest of him was still outlined in that white color. Then I started having the strangest sensation. It felt like I was floating. I opened my blurry eyes and it turns out, I was floating.
I didn’t know what this thing was but I know I didn’t trust it. Hell, maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe none of it was happening and I was on the craziest high of my life. But, on the off chance that this crazy bastard really was touching Anie, I had to do something. I closed my eyes, so I could see the son of a bitch, and hurled my sword at him. The next series of events I couldn’t have guessed if I had been an honest to God fortune teller.
My blade bounced off his skin like it was made of Nerf. I was dropped to the floor once it hit him though, so I guess it had some sort of an effect, just not the slicing and dicing one it normally had. I picked up my blade from the floor making sure that I hadn’t grabbed a fake one or a practice one by mistake in my haste to pack my things up. Once I felt the bite of the blade on the skin of my hand, when I touched the edge of it, there was undeniably a problem. If I couldn’t kill it with my blade, then I didn’t know how to solve the problem. Since we were leaving my place anyway I put my blade back in its holster on my back, put my overnight bag on my shoulder and put my hands up in a kind of surrender.
I grabbed Anie by the back of her jacket and pulled. She immediately started moving when I pulled hard enough for his hand to come off her shoulder. She grabbed my hand and we busted out of the living room window of my house. I didn’t look back but I heard a high pitched screeching and popping, followed by a wave of heat. My home was burning. There was no reason to turn back and see there was nothing left.
I don’t think Bob, my plant, made it.
~IX~
“From my haunted past, comes the daunting task of living through memory…”
– City and Colour, Little Hell
Anie searched frantically through the numerous pockets in her black cargo pants trying to find the keys to her place as we stood on her doorstep. She still gripped my hand tightly. I tried to get her attention with an “Anie” here and there on our way to her house, but had failed. I decided now would be a good time to step up the volume since we were almost inside anyway.
“Anie! Wouldn’t two hands be better than one!?” She looked down at our clasped hands.
“You would think that wouldn’t you!? But you’re a disaster. If I let you go I’m afraid you’re going to end up flagging down a horde of Vamps or a pack of Weres, and then your Father would kill me for allowing you to be turned.”
“Nah, he’d probably be relieved.”
“Even if that’s true, it’s the principle that he put you in my custody. I can’t let anything happen to you, or else it’s my head. So, just shut up and keep holding my hand. Act like I’m Brad Pitt if you have to. Just let me find my keys and get you inside. Then, you can climb the walls in there until this is all sorted out.”
“I’d rather picture you as Joe Manganiello.”
Anie was on the verge of a complete melt down. I knew my best option was going to be to let her simmer until she could get herself together. But it took everything I had not to
mess with her a little. For instance, act like something invisible was attacking me while I tried to get away from it. But I knew she might just kill me herself if I did something like that in our current situation.
We hadn’t talked about what had happened back at my place, either. I had no idea. I had never seen anything or heard of anything like it. I was hoping that she had a better idea than I did.
She finally found her keys and shook them out finding the one to her front door. She opened the door and pushed me inside in front of her. She shut the door and locked all fourteen bolts she had on the inside. I had once asked her why she had one key for the outside but fourteen locks for the inside of the door. She said “Well, if I’m not here, who cares who comes in? If I am I want the security.” It actually made a weird kind of sense.
Anie just stood with her back on the locked door.
“You gonna be okay?” I asked her.
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?! Wonderful!” Okay, she had still not simmered down. “What the fuck was that Laney?!”
“I thought you’d know! He had his hands on you, not me!”
“How’d you know it was a he?!”
We really needed to stop yelling at each other. I took a breath and calmed my next words.
“I could see him more clearly with my eyes closed, and he had a penis. I could barely see him or his Johnson when my eyes were open. It was weird.”
“Well, my eyes were closed and all I saw was darkness, but he was speaking to me. He had a very Barry Williams voice. Sexy. But he was telling me to do not so nice things to you. Which wasn’t really a surprise considering the amount of Hunters and supes you piss off.”
“I never. How rude. I’ve been a saint over the past six months.”
“How can we know that? To be a Saint, you’d have to be around, doing something! Absence does not equal sainthood.” Touché.
“I was around…in spirit anyway.”
“I can’t believe I have to keep an eye on you. This is going to be impossible!”
“Speaking of, where can I put my stuff? Then we’ll talk more in depth about what the hell just happened. Since so far all we know is he’s got a sexy deep voice, I can see him with my eyes closed, but you can’t, he’s a he, and he burned my house down in less than a second.”
Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1 Page 5
