Demons: A Hunter's Novel, Book 1

by Felicite Lilly

  The man who called himself my “Father” had done away with the ability to reach him by phone about five years ago. He obviously had known something was coming down the line, while I was a dumb shit…still thinking he was my Father. I couldn’t stop kicking myself over the fact I hadn’t seen all of this sooner.

  Once I stepped foot past the guard booth, I stood on the tile floor that carried you to the Hunters’ Leader’s Office, like the yellow brick road. Only the yellow brick road here was more like a sun-warmed uneven blacktop path, partially overgrown with weeds that led you to a hot swamp with mosquitoes and lots of floating green foam. At least, that was how I saw it. Kind of like the road only traveled by criminals in the Emerald City.

  I only stood there a few seconds before one of the Hunter cronies was all over me.

  “Can I help you, Ms. Hinders?”

  Two things about this cronie bothered me: 1.) No one, and I mean no one called a female Hunter by their last name. Women in the Hunter culture went by their first names. The lineage of every Hunter was on record. It was old school that men got to keep everything, and women did not, but it was tradition. So either this cronie was slighting me, or I was not viewed as a Hunter anymore. If the latter was true, then I must’ve missed that memo. And 2.) This cronie had a lazy eye. I mean, was he looking at me or the guard behind me? I didn’t trust him. He gave me the creeps.

  “I need to speak with my Father.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible. He’s –“

  “In a meeting? Out of town? Listen, I’ve heard them all. That boat won’t float. I know he’s here.”

  “Do you want me to give him a message?”

  I knew how this game went, so I had come prepared. I pulled out a folded white lineless piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to said cronie. When he went to take it from my hand I grabbed his wrist, and he flinched. Good, he was afraid of me. He had some sense after all.

  “You read it, and I’ll snatch out your good eye. Got me?”

  The cronie nodded and walked, quickly, down the hall to the Shadow’s office. I sang follow the yellow brick road in my head. Although I changed the words to Follow the really black road, follow the shitty black road…follow, follow, follow, follow.... Before I forgot, I yelled at his retreating form.

  “I’ll be here. He’ll want to see me.”

  I looked up at the clock, remembering what I had written on the small piece of paper. It wasn’t much, but the weight of it should have torn a hole in the paper.

  Help me.

  I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist my plea for help. He loved to keep control, so any time I had asked for help, he had given it, but always with conditions. I knew he also wouldn’t give up the chance to see how I was changing. Of course, I didn’t know how much he knew.

  If the Shadow did know – I wondered if he was hoping I’d become a Shadow. But I couldn’t be a Shadow, right? Hell, I didn’t know what was really possible at this point. I had been considering becoming a Demon for a while, but never a Shadow. But no one knew that but me.

  Most Shadows only stayed in one place for a short time. They then moved on to someone else. This one had raised me. This Shadow clearly wanted power if he had been diverting from the norm for two decades. Whether he wanted power from me or from being the leader of all Hunters or both, I didn’t know.

  I looked up at the clock as I heard my Shadow Father’s footsteps. It had only taken him six minutes. I thought it would’ve been closer to ten.

  “What’s the meaning of this, Delaney?”

  He was in a very short mood. Well, at least he wasn’t calling me Ms. Hinders.

  “I’ve been feeling really weird lately. And then these strange things are starting to happen. Like I am absorbing supe’s pow–“

  “Not here.” He said with quiet menace.

  I swear his eyes were glowing. How had I not seen this before? I think it had to do with my awakening abilities. They allowed me to see and do things I couldn’t before. The Shadow grabbed my arm and took me toward the front exit of HQ.

  “Meet me at my house tonight. 7 pm.”

  That wouldn’t do at all. I needed him out in the open, now. The sooner the better.

  “I can’t. I need help now. If you can’t help me now, I’ll find someone else.”

  I looked directly into his eyes, never wavering or blinking.

  “Fine. Let me grab my coat.”

  Thank the higher powers, I had pulled that off. His cronie stood there, unmoving except for his lazy eye, which was an oxymoron. Just because the eye didn’t do what you wanted didn’t make it lazy. It should be called an ADD eye. I also didn’t know why the Shadow wanted a jacket. He was as cold as granite and just as hard.

  I found myself shifting from foot to foot to see if cronie’s lazy eye would follow me. I swear it moved with me every time I switched feet. It was like one of those paintings where the eyes of the person in it followed you no matter where you went in the room. I was done being under cronie’s scrutiny.

  As I was contemplating how to run away from the cronie who never lost sight of me, I heard the crisp footsteps that would, hopefully, give me answers and my Father back.

  “I’ll be back shortly.” The Shadow said to cronie.

  “Later cronie!” I said as I stepped through the exit doors to the safety of the open air. I walked onto the main street that would take us to the meeting point with Az, Anie, and Az’s Demon.

  “A little respect, Delaney.” The Shadow said.

  I didn’t know if he was talking about what I had said to cronie, or me walking in front of him. He had taught me early in life to walk behind him. I thought now he would want me where he could see me, but maybe I had been wrong.

  I felt the matched steps next to my own. He quickly overtook me and was walking in front of me. I sped up until we were walking shoulder-to-shoulder, step-for-step.

  I had every right to hate this thing I had known as my Father. I felt his hand on the crook of my arm. He always did that to me as a child when I was in trouble or he thought I was going to run away from him. I had done that many times over the years, given. But it hadn’t been a big deal, I had always come home. Cade’s parents wouldn’t let me stay forever and where else would I have gone? His hand in the crook of my arm used to make me mad. Now, it made me nervous. I pulled my arm away.

  “I’m not a child.” Trying to keep him from speculating as to why I would start pulling away from him like that now.

  “Ah, but you’ll always be my little Angel.” Ummm, okay, that was weird. We were almost to the meeting spot, so I needed him to stay focused on me, and not on where we were.

  “I’m no fucking Angel.” He tisked, at the swear word, no doubt.

  “Oh, I know. You’re so much more now.” So he did know.

  He was two steps away from where I needed him. Just a little bit closer. He stopped walking and let me get four steps in front of him. He was mere inches from where I could take back control of this little part of my life. To exorcise the Shadow I didn’t want.

  “You think I’m stupid, Delaney?”

  “Of course not, Sir.”

  “Then stop treating me that way. I know you understand what you may become, since your buddies with Kai now. And I have a feeling you know what I am. At least, partially what I am.”

  “I know you’re a Shadow, but not what kind.”

  I was really hoping that Az and Anie were, at least, listening. Just in case I didn’t get away.

  As the words left my lips, the Shadow came flying the last few inches I needed him to move. He tried to continue forward but fell face first in the dirt. It was satisfying to see him like that. As he lay there, Anie stood behind him, dusting her hands off.

  “Did you push him?” I asked.

  She nodded yes with a smile. I loved her style.

  Az stepped forward and summoned a Demon with a few words that I, strangely, understood. The Demon also just so happened to look like Tom Hanks. We
ird. The Demon had whited out eyes, so I assumed Az had chosen this guy on purpose. He wasn’t able to see what was around him. He could sense us, no doubt, but not see.

  “Manzar, tell me what kind of Shadow resides in this being.” Azrael said with authority.

  I could see why he was second in command. There was an edge to him that would be followed by Demons and feared by most.

  Manzar stepped into the circle, placed his hand on the Shadow’s shoulder, and his eyes moved, reading something that I hoped I’d never see. The Demon struggled to speak.

  “B-black Shadow.” He then released one of the most disturbing screams I had ever heard and combusted into smoke. He hadn’t even burst into flames, which was the normal exit for Demons. The Black Shadow stood with a smirk on his face, completely unfazed.

  “Satisfied now, Hunter?” The Shadow asked.

  I looked over to find Az looking more pale than usual. He was completely dumfounded which could only mean one thing: Az didn’t send the Demon back to hell, it had been the shadow to dispose of him.

  “Well, not quite what I was expecting.” I said stupidly.

  I was in some serious shit. The Hunters didn’t know how to kill a Black Shadow. We didn’t know where they came from. There were very few of them roaming the earth so we didn’t have to deal with many.

  Mostly by the time we found out about one of them being around, they had already moved on and killed everything left behind. This was the first one I had come face to face with and I had been living with it the majority of my life. If you are faced with evil everyday of your life and it’s what you know, how do you ever know what’s evil and what’s not?

  Az was suddenly next to me and pulled me behind him. I forgot how fast he could move. He was always so protective of me – it made me feel safe and untouchable, even though I wasn’t even close to safe anymore. He had been one of the only things that made me feel safe, maybe ever.

  The Black Shadow stood up and tried to move toward me, it’s hateful eyes only for me. If they had been full of love I may have been flattered. Unfortunately, they were not. He almost fell again as he tried to move his feet, he was caught in the foot spell we had placed in our agreed spot. This was only the Black Shadow now, because there was no hint of my Father anywhere on his face. This was the thing that had ruled my Father’s body for the majority of my life and it was pretty damn terrifying. It sneered at me.

  “How long do you think this will hold me, little Angel?”

  I shrugged, trying for nonchalance but probably looking like I had a twitch. None of us really knew what he was capable of, but to hold on to a human life for so long would mean that he was very strong. He turned his vilelicious gaze on Az.

  “Give her to me, Azrael.”

  BS, (because lord knows I wanted to stop thinking of him as “Black Shadow”. This fucker was strong and deserved his very own name in my opinion. BS was as good as any), took a deep breath and then stood a little taller instead of crouching. Like he was fighting an internal battle, and maybe he was. Maybe my Father was trying to break free of BS. I didn’t know but I wanted to believe.

  “No.” Az said simply, as if it was obvious.

  “Because you love her?” BS scoffed, as if his answer was the most ludicrous thing on the planet.

  Az looked down at me, over his shoulder. I looked into Az’s eyes and realized a second too late what he was going to do. Azrael’s look changed into one of sorrow and apology and he shoved me back while propelling himself into the foot spell with BS. Once Az’s feet hit, they were stuck to the ground in front of the Black Shadow.

  “No!!!!” I screamed and started toward the circle. I knew that whatever happened I could not lose him.

  Out of everything, he was the one thing that I was absolutely certain of. I knew I could trust him. I knew I loved him. I should’ve known he would do something stupid to help me anyway he could. I swear I was not convinced the dumbass was a Demon, it would seem he was my Guardian Angel.

  I was almost to the circle when I felt arms wrap firmly around me. I looked back to find Anie not looking at me, but looking into the circle with a pained expression across her face. Holding me in place but watching Az. The pain was similar to mine but it was not as deep. I fought against her futilely. She didn’t look at me or let go of me. I glued my eyes to Az.

  He placed his hands on either side of the Shadow’s face. I didn’t know how Az was going to win, I just knew he had to. As I watched, I saw purple smoke rise up from Az’s body locked in a tight fusion with the pitch black smoke rising up from my Father’s body. I could feel the electricity in the air. The charge between the two of them was oppressive, feeling restrictive – like a straight jacket.

  While I watched helplessly, I felt my heart lurch, like I was on a roller coaster ride. I then felt the strangest tingling sensation, like I had hit my funny bone, but it was all over my body. I closed my eyes and took a breath. And just like that, I knew what I was capable of doing in this moment. I was capable of stopping the Black Shadow. I could save my Father and Az.

  I pulled the energy from around me with just a thought. I wondered if I was part genie too. Like if I wanted a crunch wrap supreme from Taco Bell it would suddenly appear. I let that thought go but promised to bring it up later, since there were more urgent things at hand.

  As I continued to pull the energy I also felt Anie’s arms drop off my waist. I felt energy flow into and over me in waves. It was new and felt amazing. I stood straighter and breathed in deeply. I knew I was taking in the Shadow and Az’s essences, what I had seen earlier as the fighting smokes. I also knew I was not afraid. I knew with absolution this would work. I didn’t know how, exactly, but I knew I would accomplish what I set my mind to.

  I felt Az and the Black Shadow settle within me and pictured a room in my mind to contain all things. I pictured a mental institution with white padded walls but no door. How did I know what a mental institution looked like? Let’s just say BS wasn’t the greatest Dad. When he wanted something and I wasn’t willing to give it, he didn’t hesitate in locking me away somewhere. Even if it meant lying about me to get what he wanted, so be it.

  I pulled everyone into the padded cell around me. I only opened my eyes after I felt everyone there. To my utter shock it was me, Az, BS, Anie and my Father. Well shit. I’d gone a bit overboard with my new found power, apparently.

  Everyone looked human except for BS. He was still all black smoke but in a somewhat human shape. But the eyes were blacker than the rest of him and his mouth had razor sharp shark teeth, rows of them, sticking out of his mouth. Anie was breathing hard. BS moved for Az. What an idiot. Wasn’t he there for me anyway?

  “Don’t.” I put up my hand in a stopping motion toward him and he stopped. I looked down at my other hand. I could get used to this.

  “What the hell, Delaney?! Stop this, now, hurry – break this all down.” Az was looking at me in disbelief.

  “Can I kill BS?” I asked. Az looked utterly confused. The man couldn’t keep up with me and my nicknames. “The Black Shadow.” I clarified.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happening.”

  “And why am I here? Where am I?” Anie asked.

  I knew what the answer was, like it had been there all along – although I didn’t know how the information was reaching me anymore. Maybe it had always been there but just had finally surfaced because of the change that was happening now.

  “I’m drawing off your power, and since you were touching me, I pulled you with me. As to where you are, you don’t really want to know.”

  Because that would have scared the shit out of her. To be inside my head would scare any sane person.

  Anie was trying not to look upset or frightened but she was failing miserably. She looked scared to the point I wanted to hug her. It was that look that brought me back to myself. Well, the self that I used to be as a semi-normal Hunter. I needed to get everyone out of here. BS must have seen my resolve.

&nb
sp; “Don’t forget Delaney, I’m still the architect of the only world you know.” Growled the Shadow.

  “My nightmares, maybe. But my world? No fucking way.” And from my lips fell words, which I had never heard, read or spoken before. “Ut suboles of Challenger , EGO expello vos ut vestri regnum , nunquam ut revert.” As Offspring of the Challenger, I banish you to the realm, never to return.

  Did I know what “the realm” was? Nope. Why was I referring to myself as “offspring of the challenger”? I had no clue. (I knew it was the definition of my name, but not why I would start using a definition and not my name…) Did I know why or how I was speaking Latin when I had never spoken it? Nope. All things I could figure out later.

  And with those words and all of the power I held behind them, BS was no more. Disappearing into nothingness and screaming about coming back. I hoped he would never find his way back. And with that disappearance, Az dropped to the floor as well as Anie. With the iron grip I was holding onto the power with, I pried myself free of it and broke the walls down so I could see what was going on outside in the world I did not create, the human one.

  Funny how quickly I had separated myself from the human domain now. It had been the closest thing to the Hunters, but now I was removed from everyone.

  As the world came into focus, I was caught off guard with what I saw. Az and Anie were lying prone on the ground, Az in front of me, Anie behind. Anie immediately started stirring, while Az still lay motionless. I ran to him, turned him on his back and placed my hands on either side of his face, straddling his torso.

  “Az?! Please be okay – I can’t do this without you.” I could hear him breathing and heard a small whisper push past his lips. I had a sudden flash of the Princess Bride where Wesley is mostly dead and he says true love.

  I only had a moment to ponder if that is what Az was saying. I bent my head next to his mouth so I could hear what he was saying.

  “You won’t have to – you have all those voices in your head.”