The Demon Realm

by Annette Morris

  "Really?" I thought about what she said. Because Janey was Alex's sister, it meant she already knew about vampires… which was a huge plus in her favour. "It sounds like Janey might be ideal for what we're looking for."

  Alex nodded, then groaned at the movement. Her hands went back to either side of her head. The pain from her headache was hitting her hard. "Yeah, Janey taught at the local college for a few years. But then she became more interested in the books rather than teaching."Alex looked up again. I saw pain and agony on her face. "We can ask her. See what she says. I know she was looking for something more challenging than the library. Worse case scenario is she says no."

  "She sounds perfect, Alex. Could you ring her? We must get all this training sorted out fast."

  "I will. Just let me get something for this headache first. I can't think right now with this throbbing pain. If this is like the headaches you always get, I don't know how you keep going."

  Diego raced into the room and handed over a small box of ibuprofen tablets. Along with an orange juice.

  "Thanks." Alex ripped out three tablets and took them with the orange juice. She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

  I got to my feet and filled Diego in with what Alex told me about her sister.

  "She sounds ideal," Diego said. "If she'll do it, it will solve the initial problem with the training."

  "Do you even know what subjects need to be taught?" Alex opened her eyes, lifted her head, and watched us as she took another sip of orange juice.

  I glanced over at Diego.

  He looked back at me, then down at Alex. "Hey, don't look at me," he raised his hands in protest. "I have no idea."

  I sighed and rubbed my head. I think I needed to take tablets too. My headache was getting worse. "Do you have anymore Ibuprofen tablets?"

  "No. But I can go and get some more."

  I nodded. "Please."

  Diego raced away and was back some more tablets and another cold orange juice. I quickly took the tablets. "I guess we'll have to wait until Keogh comes back and tells us exactly what we need." I leaned on the table and thought about the training needed. "We've also got to consider what physical training will be necessary for the guards."

  "Yeah and don't forget your training as well," Diego added.

  I nodded. "Yeah, we'll need knives, swords and guns. In fact, weapons of every description and type. It will be imperative that the guards are proficient on as many weapons as possible. We'll also need trainers for all the different weapons. Trainers who do not just know the weapons but who have also known battle."

  Diego groaned. "Where are we going to find people to do that?"

  "Oh come on!" Alex blurted. "How can you two be so dense?"

  Diego and I both looked over at her puzzlement clear on our faces.

  "You have hundreds of vampires outside. There's got to be some of them that have been in battle? You must have someone who can train?"

  I thought about what Alex said. "Alex. There would probably be quite a few vampires who've seen battle and who could train. The question though, is would they?"

  Alex frowned. "I don't understand."

  "Vampires are self-serving creatures. If they agreed to train, then they'd want something in return. That would be the difficult part. Finding people who wanted to train, and who didn't ask for too much to do it." I sighed as I realised the enormous task in front of us. There was so much to do. I had no idea where to even start.

  I hoped Janey could help us out. We needed all the help we could get at this point.

  There were hundreds of vampires and little time to get them trained. We had no idea how much they already knew, so we'd have to start from scratch.

  Not for the first time I wondered if this was all too much? Should I have refused the role of Keeper?

  I shook my head. It was too late to think like that now. I was already the Keeper of The Flames and Veils. I couldn't pass this job off to anyone. Somehow, I just had to learn to deal with everything that was hitting me.

  Janey

  My eyes opened wide as I took in the tall, hulking, good-looking guy in front of me. In my whole life, I'd never seen anyone looking like that before.

  "Janey," Alex began. "This is Diego. He's Serentis's second-in-command."

  "Wow!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. My eyes were glued in his direction.

  Diego laughed. "Oh, you'll be good for my ego," he drawled as he held out his hand for me to shake.

  I took his hand and shook it.

  Diego gripped my hand and pulled me closer to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Janey." He kissed the back of my hand.

  His words seemed to be floating around my ears. My body was reacting to him in ways I'd forgotten what they even felt like.

  Diego laughed as he released my hand.

  "Diego," Alex was looking straight at him. "Stop it."

  I tore my glance from Diego to stare confusedly at Alex. "What?"

  Diego laughed again as he looked from Alex to me. "I will try to reign in my natural charm. Just for you, Janey." His eyes stared into mine.

  I shuddered as his voice slithered inside me. This is the guy they want me to work with? I couldn't even remember what I was here for! Oh, boy. This job just might be okay. I'd been in two minds when Alex first approached me about the training. My family had only recently found out that vampires existed. And now to be working with them! I had my doubts. But if I got to work with this guy… it might be okay.

  Alex slapped her hands together, shocking me out of my thoughts, and causing me to jump. "Okay. Well, I'll leave you both to get better acquainted. And to get this course started. Have fun, kids." Alex waved as she turned and hurried away.

  I stared after her in disbelief. She was leaving me here! Alone with this guy! Huh! I'd thought Alex would've helped ease me into all this? I wasn't sure if I wanted to be left alone with vampires. I watched her walk further away. Maybe I should run and catch up with her? How on earth was this going to work? I risked another glance at the vampire in front of me. He was way too smooth, too good looking by far, and too damn hulky. In fact, now I thought about it, he was 'too' everything.

  "We've set up a room for you to work in," Diego broke the silence.

  He was standing in front of me, sporting a huge grin on his face, as if he knew what I was thinking. And maybe he did. I'd forgotten to ask Alex if vampires could read minds. "This way." He stood to one side and waved his arm for me to go first.

  I stepped forward, but then realised if I went in front, he'd be staring at my behind as I walked in front of him. I sped up to get to the room faster. A soft laugh sounded from behind me. I ignored him and keep walking. It wasn't too long before he was walking beside me. I figured he was just playing with me.

  We didn't travel too far before Diego stopped, opened a door and ushered me inside.

  My steps faltered as I walked through the doorway. "Woah!"

  Diego stopped alongside of me. "Nice, isn't it?"

  I put my hand over my mouth in awe. Nice wouldn't even begin to describe this room. This room was way beyond just 'nice'. It looked like something out of one of those glossy magazines. More appropriate words might be… outstanding, unique, empowering, spectacular. But even those words didn't do it justice. I couldn't think of an adjective that would cover it.

  For starters, the room was huge! It was as large as a ballroom. The floor was white marble. I glanced down in horror as I realised I was supposed to walk on it. It seemed almost sacrilege.

  Diego however, didn't hesitate. He stepped onto it and walked across. His big boots stomped down hard with each step he took.

  I followed behind. My footsteps tapped on each tile as I walked. I gulped. Wow! This was too much. Couldn't they find me a simple bedroom or something I could convert into an office? I couldn't work here, in this room. It was too grand! I opened my mouth to express my concerns when Diego's next words ripped all the thoughts out of my head.

 
; "This is the largest table we could find. Do you think it's big enough?"

  I turned my head towards the table. My eyes widened at the sight of the table. I wavered and staggered. I had to grab the top of the table to prevent myself from falling.

  Diego leant over towards me, grabbing me and holding me upright. He stayed there until I'd regained my balance.

  I know my mouth was open as I turned and stared at him. Then I looked back towards the table. My mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. "It's… It's… It's…"

  "It's what?" Diego sounded worried. "Not big enough? Would you prefer us to find you a larger one? We knew you would need a lot of space, but I thought this one would be adequate. We can get you a second table and put it beside this one."

  "No," I finally burst out, as I got my mouth working again.

  He jumped and stared at me. "What?"

  "This is…" My throat was dry. I gulped, coughed and started again. "This table is fine. I don't need anything this large though. Really, I don't." I glanced back at the table in disbelief. I'd never seen such a magnificent table! And the size of it! It was huge! It would easily seat twenty people, probably more. It was made from some kind of exotic black wood. The top of the table was so highly polished that I could see my reflection in it for pete's sake!

  "Janey, trust me. You'll need all the room you can get. Do you have any idea what we want you to do?"

  I tore my eyes away from the table to look at him. "Um… no actually. Alex wasn't that forthcoming with information about what you needed. She said you needed someone to plan adult courses."

  The seriousness left Diego's face as he laughed at what I'd just said.

  I shivered. It echoed right through me, causing goose bumps to rise all over my skin.

  Diego stopped laughing and gazed at me. He smiled. Then he turned that smile into a smirk. "Shall we?"

  Frowning, I stared at him in confusion. "What?"

  "Shall we get started?"

  "Started with what?" My mind was not on work any more. It was still on that laugh and the impact it had on my body.

  Janey

  Diego leaned forward and pulled out a chair. "Care to sit?"

  Frowning in confusion, I stared at the chair and then back at him. I took in his smirk, and the knowledgeable look in his eyes. Great! He'd known exactly what he'd done to me. Then, I took a deep breath. "Fine." Sitting down, I reached into my bag and fumbled for a pen and some notepaper.

  A thump made me look up to see Diego placing a huge blank pad of yellow foolscap paper and multiple coloured pens on the table in front of me. "Um… thanks."

  "You're welcome."

  I risked a glance at him. He was still smirking.

  I sighed and forced myself to concentrate on work. That was why I was here after all.

  When Alex had phoned me and asked if I wanted to be involved in creating adult classes for the vampires, I'd jumped at the opportunity. I'd been so bored at my library job. I wanted to get back to creating course plans and study plans. That was what I longed to do. Teaching was okay. But it was the creating I loved doing. Researching and then putting that information in to knowledge that would help others. Yep. That's what I wanted to do.

  Work had to come first though. Those other thoughts would have to go on hold, for like permanently. "Okay, so what can you tell me?"

  His expression didn't change.

  "What can you tell me about the training you need?" I stopped to think about what I'd asked. "Not that I'm implying you need…"

  Diego burst into laughter. My face blushed red. I could feel heat gathering inside of me.

  "Sorry," he apologised. "Okay, let's begin. You'll need to take notes." He looked down at the paper in front of me.

  I gathered up a pen, flicked the top and waited for him to start.

  "The course we need to create has to be delivered over three years. Each year needs to get harder. This will only be the basic course. Over time, there will be other smaller classes that will need to be created. Like when we specifically target one area of study for example. Also, once the course has been delivered, unless we get new members, we won't need the course anymore."

  "Okay. So one course for three years, then specific smaller courses after that. I can handle that. No problem. So this course is for the vampires here?"

  Diego nodded. "Yes. All the vampires will be required to attend… including Jeffe and myself."

  I stopped writing and looked up at him. "How are you going to attend the course if you're helping prepare it?"

  He shrugged. "I haven't worked that out yet."

  I stared blankly at him. "Okay. So…" I shook my head. Not important, I told myself. Focus on the course. "What's the title of the course?"

  "Um."

  I looked up at him and waited. I noticed that even with us both sitting; he was taller than me. "The title?"

  He stared at me.

  I frowned. My head tilted to one side as I took in his expression. "What is the purpose of the course?"

  "Oh, right!" he nodded as if he understood what I was asking.

  I put the pen back on the paper and waited for him to explain.

  "The purpose of the course is to create super-soldiers."

  My hand froze and my pen skidded to a sharp and sudden halt. "Excuse me?" I shook my head in disbelief and looked up at him. Did I hear him say…

  "Super-soldiers," he confirmed my thoughts. "You know, soldiers who are good at what they do." He smiled at me as if I understood.

  I stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to construct a course on super-soldiers?"

  His smile wavered a little, "Yes."

  "No." I threw down the pen and rose to my feet. Grabbing my bag, I sprung for the door. "Bye."

  As I walked, I wondered if I would make it to the door before he caught up and tried to stop me? How fast were vampires anyway? And what would he do once he caught me? Would they force me to stay here and create this course for them, anyway?

  Oh, why did Alex have to convince me to come here? Just what exactly had she got me in the middle of here. Supersoldiers! I cringed. He wanted me to help him created Supersoldiers! Were they made? I wasn't going to help them create Supersoldiers. Who were they going to go up against? Us. That's who. Just us humans.

  I shook my head. No. Not me. I'm not helping to bring about the downfall of the human race. They could go find another pansy. It wasn't going to be me. That was for certain. I had to get out of here.

  --------------

  Janey

  I almost made it to the door, when I heard Diego bellow, "No, wait!" His hand grabbed my shoulder and swung me around. "Wait! I think you've misinterpreted what I said."

  "Have I?" I stepped back, further away from him, as he continued to talk.

  He nodded back at me. "Yes."

  "So… you don't want my help to create super-soldiers then?" I asked.

  "Well, yes. But you see…"

  I stopped listening, turned and raced for the door again. I had to get out of here. There was no way, no way at all, I would create a course to create super-soldiers. No way in this world, or even this universe. Of all the nerve! And, my sister knew about this! And, she didn't tell me?

  "Wait!" Diego's voice boomed behind me. I heard a shuffle and then he was in front of me, with his hand up, stopping my progress.

  I skidded to a halt and glared at him. "Get out of my way!"

  "No, just listen for one minute. You've misunderstood what I was trying to say. I can explain."

  "I am not interested in your explanation. I'm not going to…"

  He interrupted and began talking. "The course is for guarding. We don't want to train vampires to assault anyone, or to start a war. The sole purpose of this training is to equip vampires to protect and defend Serentis and your sister."

  "What?" I asked in confusion. I had so many questions after that comment I didn't know what to ask first. I started with the most important. "Why do Serentis and Alex ne
ed protecting? And I can't create a course for guards. I don't know anything about fighting or weapons or anything like that."

  He shook his head. "There is a lot you need to hear and understand. If you will come and sit down I will explain it to you. I apologise. I thought Alex had already told you about this."

  Apparently Alex had forgotten to tell me quite a few things since she'd asked for my help.

  He led me back to that massive table and pulled out a chair for me.

  I sat, with my arms folded. I would listen to him, then leave.

  He sat alongside me and explained about Serentis and how he was now the Keeper of the Flames and Veils. He explained what he knew about the different Realms, as well as the Guardians and how their lack of training was an ongoing concern. Especially with Serentis and Alex. For, how could they protect the Keeper and his mate if they had no idea what or how to do it?

  I listened to every word he said. I soon realised he was speaking the truth. His words held strong emotion. The lack of training for the guards was a big issue. He was concerned about the lack of protection for Serentis and Alex.

  "Okay." I put my hand up to stop him talking. "I agree with you that it sounds like the guards need training. But I can't do physical training. So if that's why you've got me here for…"

  Diego interrupted me. "No, you are not here for the physical training. We're organising others to do the physical training. We want you to teach the theory behind it as well as other topics."

  "Okay, do you at least know what subjects you're thinking about offering in this course?"

  He nodded. "Yes. We got a list from Keogh." He fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Which he spent some time on straightening it out before placing it on the table in front of me.

  I took the paper from him and stared at the unintelligible scribble written on it. Did he get a doctor to fill this in? I laughed as I studied the page and then handed it back to him. "Okay, maybe you should read it. I can write it down."