This time Johnny stepped in to answer. “As far as the girls have told us, a very powerful entity is after them. This base is deep underground and ideal for concealing them for long periods of time. And, upon the need to travel to the surface, they see us as suitable enough for protection and distraction. As far as sustenance goes, you have been well affiliated with how–”
“Hold on! Hold on!” Puck jumped in to interrupt, clasping his hand over Johnny’s mouth, which, because of the size difference between the two, was more like him palming his face. “This will be ten times funnier if he figures it out on his own. Besides, I’m sure that Krystalyn can give a way better explanation than any of us. Now, I’m going to go catch some zees. This fight was one helluva work out.” Puck eyed Karrel. “Before I go, let me tell you something. We may have this little arrangement with the girlies, but that doesn’t mean I trust them. And you shouldn’t either! They’re still demons, and as far as I’m concerned, that makes them the enemy.” With that final statement, Puck began his trek toward the elevators.
Johnny, wiping his face and fixing his hair that was just ruined by Puck, continued, “Don’t listen to him. The girls have proven themselves time and time again. Their information has saved many lives, and in my opinion, they have proven their loyalty ten times over.” Johnny paused for a moment, looking down at what seemed like a vacant wrist. “He is however, correct about one thing: my bed is calling me.” He brought his attention towards Karrel, with a very serious expression on his face. “I think that all of us are tired, so I will make this quick. Karrel, we all believe that you would be a great addition to this team. We’re all here to save lives, and with your help we can probably save even more. The missions will be dangerous, and you will be risking your life on a weekly basis. We have big plans that are about to be put into motion. We’re extending an invitation to join in on those plans.”
These overwhelming revelations had struck Karrel dumb. He didn’t know how to answer. It was all too much.
Johnny finished his monologue with a few final statements, “This base is currently on lockdown, in order to hide ourselves from any additional follow-up attacks. This means that for the next few days we are all going to be trapped inside the base. Use that time to think about your answer… I am going to bed.”
Johnny caught up to Puck, who was already on the elevator. Angel and Karrel followed closely behind. The four of them were silent, Angel closely watching Karrel ponder over his current situation. Puck hit the elevator switch and the group descended back into the underground base.
•—•
Angel had shown Karrel to one of the empty rooms established in the hideout. It was a cozy room, not too big and not too small. A comfortable mattress was laying on the floor, with no bed frame. Hilariously, there was a realistic painting of a window hanging on the wall. Upon further inspection, the painting was that of a window that revealed nothing but solid rock behind it. It was signed by Puck in the bottom right corner. A desk and two chairs could be found, along with a metal closet that was devoid of possessions. Karrel tossed his pack into the container.
It had been an hour since Johnny’s invitation, but Karrel had not stopped thinking about it. This group was definitely capable of taking care of themselves. He usually thought that surviving was easier when alone, but this was an obvious exception. However, the whole “risking your life on a weekly basis” thing sort of canceled out that fact.
Karrel lay down on his bed and thought back to the night of when he and Angel broke out of the bandit’s truck. He had thought about how wasted his life had felt when he was so close to death. Survival had always been his main goal in life. Maybe there was something more…
Suddenly, three large thuds emanated from Karrel’s door. He slowly sat up, his words exhaustingly addressing the noise, “Yeah? What’s up?”
The door slowly creaked open. He had the light off in his room, and the hallway outside was not lit very well either, but Karrel didn’t have to squint to make out the silhouette. There were only four people he knew that possessed a tail, and he could take a guess as to which one of them it was.
The girl slowly entered the room, carefully shutting the door behind her, and approached Karrel. It was, in fact, the tailed-individual who had saved Karrel in the previous fight. For a moment, he wondered if she was here to finish the job from yesterday, but his manners quickly returned to him. “Oh, it’s you,” he groaned.
She titled her head ever so slightly to the side, as a smirk inched across her face. “Yes, it’s me,” she confessed, “Though, if you want to, you can call me by my name. It’s Krystalyn.” The choice of words hinted at irritation, but her attitude was suggesting something different. She stepped even closer to Karrel.
With her closing the distance to him, Karrel decided to err on the side of caution. Luckily, he had not changed his clothing since the fight, and his green book was still residing in one of his pockets. He casually maneuvered a hand into position, allowing for a quick-draw of his book if necessary. “Krystalyn?” he replied, “Doesn’t sound very demon-like to me.”
Krystalyn hadn’t taken her eyes off of Karrel since entering the room. She was inspecting him, up and down, like a shopper checking for bruises when a market was lucky enough to bear fresh fruit. She was now almost standing on Karrel’s feet. “I’ve been told by Johnny that humans lack the muscles needed to vocalize my actual name. He says it sounds like a string of ill-placed consonants, whatever that means… So, my sisters and I renamed ourselves.” She leaned in close to Karrel. “To be honest, I like my new name better. It rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”
Karrel elongated his one-word response, “Sure.” Krystalyn was now close enough that he could feel the unusual amount of heat radiating off from her skin. Though, it didn’t feel hot. It seemed to provide a comfortable warming sensation within him. He needed to be careful. This was exactly the type of thing that lead to unconsciousness the last time. “Krystalyn,” he slowly continued, “may I ask why you’re here?”
She took a seat next to Karrel, on his bed, never taking her eyes off of him. “What?” she innocently remarked, “A girl can’t drop by and introduce herself to the new guy? That’s no way to treat someone who rescued you.”
Remembering Puck’s warning, Karrel moved his hand closer to his book “It is, when that person also attacked you.” He then relaxed, this time remembering what Johnny had said, and realizing that Krystalyn had indeed saved him during the previous fight. “But, you’re right. Had you not jumped in when you did, I would most likely be dealing with a much larger gash on my side. So, thank you.”
Krystalyn let out a fake gasp and smiled. “He’s modest. I would have never guessed.”
It would be a lie to say that Karrel did not enjoy the compliment. However, he was still focused. “You still haven’t answered my question, Krystalyn. Why are you here?”
Krystalyn leaned in close to Karrel, putting a hand on his thigh. She was close enough now, that Karrel could see every detail of her flawless skin. Her voice was soft, just above a whisper, “I figured it would be best to wait until you were in your room, for me to come visit you.”
Karrel felt his face go pink. Her voice was flirtatious, and he could have sworn that she was batting her eyes at him. “What– What do you mean?” he let his thoughts escape him.
Krystalyn moved her other hand to point behind Karrel. “Why don’t you hit that switch behind you? I want to see these pretty red eyes that the boys have been talking about.”
Karrel turned his head to look in the direction that Krystalyn was pointing and found himself staring at a blank, metal wall. He turned back around, confused, “I don’t see a switch on the–”
Before Karrel could finish his sentence, Krystalyn had placed her hand on the back of Karrel’s neck, and he found his lips once again pressed against her own. They were as soft as he remembered, and the warmth of Krystalyn’s body now seemed to envelop him entirely. For the few seconds before log
ic took over, Karrel forgot about all of the stress and troubles he had been through the past couple of years. Something about this just felt right.
His brain eventually kicked in however, and he pushed away from Krystalyn, feeling himself fall backwards to lie down on the bed. A familiar feeling of weakness had washed over him. It felt as though hundred-pound weights were attached to every appendage on his body. He struggled to tilt his head and face his assailant.
Krystalyn, to his surprise, had gotten up off of the bed. She was wiping her mouth in satisfaction and heading towards the door. Using the same seductive voice, she teased Karrel, “I’m impressed. Even after the long fight today, that didn’t knock you out. Still, I think it was quite nice of me to wait until you were in bed.”
Karrel, still feeling as though gravity was pushing against him ten times more than usual, was able to muster back a single comment, “I… don’t understand.”
Krystalyn had almost made her way out of the room when she turned around. “I told you before, during the battle… I was hungry.” She let out what Karrel thought was the most adorable laugh, and she giggled a final remark, “Thanks for the meal, lunchbox! We’ll have to do it again tomorrow!” And with that, she closed the door behind her, leaving Karrel to lay motionless on his bed.
Chapter 9
Breakfast with Friends
Karrel hobbled to the door that, he hoped, lead to the kitchen and living room of the underground hideout. He had gotten lost for several minutes on his way; it was something he did not want to happen only minutes after forcing himself out of bed. With how vast the hideout was, he was going to need to take some time memorizing the layout of the place. Or, at the bare minimum, make a map. Eh, I’ll do it later, he thought to himself.
Opening the door, Karrel was barraged by the fragrance of assorted spices being seared onto several large strips of slender-cut steaks. Hunger instantly overcame him, and he could feel his mouth water even before his eyes could spot the food.
Karrel could see Puck cooking the exquisite meal as he stepped into the room. The cook looked over his shoulder, and brightly exclaimed, “Good Morning! Breakfast will be ready in a bit, so sit down and relax.” There was a dance to his step as he resumed his work. Karrel was always ecstatic whenever he was able to eat anything other than canned food, but Puck seemed to be enjoying the act of cooking more than Karrel could ever enjoy the act of consuming a meal.
Scanning the room, Karrel could see that the only person missing from the group was Johnny. Angel was sitting on the couch, pleasantly engaged in conversation with one of the nameless, tailed girls. It was the short one, who had the blue highlights and wore the large black sweats and hoody. It was sort of funny seeing Angel and her sit together. He hadn’t noticed it until now, but the two individuals were dressed in a remarkably similar manner. The only difference was that of the pants Angel wore, versus the sweats of the girl.
The blonde and red-headed women were sitting by a nearby table, having an incredibly lively conversation, the topic of which Karrel was too far away to overhear because of the sizzling of Puck’s cooking. Krystalyn was sitting close to them, not necessarily participating in the discussion, but listening with a smile.
Angel, seeing Karrel walk in, beckoned him over with a wave of the arm. Karrel obliged.
He stood up, greeting Karrel, “Good to see you’re up. Puck makes a killer breakfast steak, and I’d hate for you to miss it.”
Karrel’s stomach couldn’t lie. “I have never smelled anything so good,” he admitted.
Angel stepped toward the couch. He gestured to the girl he had just been sitting next to. “I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced yet. This is Alice.” As he said her name, Alice turned to face Karrel. Not getting up from the couch, she raised a hand and gave a very weak wave to greet him. Her smile was meager, though in no way did it seem forced. Any emotion that was supposed to be showing did not surface, and her entire demeanor made her seem quite fragile. She immediately went back to ignoring Karrel, reaching for a nearby book on the coffee table before beginning to read.
Angel stepped close to Karrel, whispering into his hear, “Don’t read too much into it. She’s a little shy.” Karrel had learned to accept Angel’s advice as truth, so he nodded his head in understanding.
Pulling him aside, Karrel said in a low voice, “Hey, can I talk to you for a second.”
Angel agreed and the two distanced themselves from the couch. “What do you need?” he said.
“I’m just a little bit confused,” Karrel started, “I originally had been led to believe that demons weren’t intelligent. Yet, here we are with four of them living among us.”
Angel was nodding his head, as though he knew exactly what Karrel’s thoughts were leading into. “Yeah, that’s what we all originally thought. However, it’s not entirely true. The majority of them aren’t too smart, just focusing on getting their next meal like any animal. However, just like our world, theirs contains a small population of individuals capable of using their brain–” he paused for a moment, “or, whatever they have… The smarter ones can even domesticate the lower-level demons.” Karrel’s stomach clenched. Beasts he could deal with, but an organized group of fire spewing monsters was a whole other thing. “Johnny wanted to confirm this,” Angel continued, “so a while back, we tracked down one of the scouting groups, similar to what we fought yesterday. We followed them as they approached a heavily populated town. They didn’t attack though… The sons of bitches reported back to their hotspot before attacking.” Angel locked eyes with Karrel. “The town was too big for them to take… So, they called in the troops.” Angel looked away and shook his head, and Karrel understood that the town didn’t survive the attack. He had seen it all too many times before. Angel put a hand on Karrel’s shoulder. “That’s why we’re here, though. Somebody has to fight back. God knows the UWP won’t.”
There was something else Karrel wanted to talk about. However, he wasn’t sure how to approach the topic. He decided to be straightforward, “So… Krystalyn came to my room last night…”
Angel immediately lit up. All remnants of seriousness evaporated from his face and he began to laugh. “Damn! That fast? You didn’t even have to buy her dinner!”
“That’s the thing,” Karrel said, “I think I actually did.”
The half-joke forced another chuckle out of Angel as he nodded his head. “Yes, yes, welcome to the club. They get to choose the time and place, yet we somehow end up paying for the meal. Who says chivalry is dead?”
Karrel couldn’t help but smile. Misery loved company, and it was nice to see that he wasn’t the first person to be a little overwhelmed by the situation.
“Now,” Angel continued, “let me tell you something really interesting while we’re still on this topic. We’ve been looking back at old history books, and novelizations that we could find, which involved things of a demonic nature. Johnny has been especially interested in biblical depictions. It turns out, there have been quite a few illustrations and descriptions that line up fairly close to the monsters that now walk the Earth.”
“I guess we know where these authors got their inspiration from,” Karrel replied.
“Hey, good authors borrow. The best steal, right? We have been using these old texts to learn more about the things we have to fight out there. There are a lot of useful details explained in some of the more ancient fantasy stories, and a lot of the demons out there follow pretty closely to the lore behind them.”
“So, you read fantasy novels, to research your opponents?”
“You’d be surprised how useful it can be when you find the right book. For example, you know the lovely female company that we keep? Their feeding method, of which I’m sure Krystalyn has at least started to educate you on,” Angel gave the eye-rolling Karrel a few nudges before he continued, “has been depicted in hundreds of books. Books that date back to ancient times. What we thought were old works of fiction have turned out to be humanity’s
first official documentations of demonic encounters.”
“Really?” Karrel vocalized his disbelief.
The door leading to the kitchen had been opened behind Karrel as Angel and he finished their conversation. Johnny had entered, catching the last part of the discussion. He chimed in, “Yes, which is another reason why we need you to stay.”
“I’m not sure I’m following,” Karrel remarked, confused.
Johnny stole a glance at the kitchen, checking to see if the aroma filling the room was that of an unfinished or finished meal. Disappointed, he brought his attention back to Karrel.
“When we first found the girls,” Johnny began, “they were staying in one of the bigger cities. The Survivor’s Guild thought an imminent attack was heading toward the place, so we decided to stay there for a few weeks. We happened to rent a place– and we didn’t know this at the time– that was just above the bar that the ladies would frequent.”
Karrel was getting impatient. “What does any of this have to do with the way those she-devils eat?”
Angel put a single finger up in the air and then pointed it at Johnny. Karrel took the hint that the story was worth listening to and shut up. Johnny continued, “During our time there, we started to notice that some of the regulars were disappearing. We began to look into it and found out that it was only the people around our age that weren’t coming back, and that they all seemed to be leaving with one of the same four women. So, Angel had the brilliant idea of being bait.”
Angel perked in, “That was Puck’s idea, and I still don’t understand why I had to do it.”
Ignoring Angel, Johnny continued, gesturing toward Alice “She brought Angel to a secluded cave just outside the city.”
“There were quite a few bodies lying about,” Angel reminisced. “All of them, regulars at the bar… It was a little scary, to be honest.”
Karrel was surprised. “They were killing them?”.
“We found out on that day,” Johnny responded, “a succubus’ kiss is actually quite deadly. They don’t just borrow a bit of energy from us humans, no. They take it all. And from what the girls eventually came to tell us, it was never enough. They were always hungry, always searching for their next meal. But this time, it was different. This time, Alice’s hunger subsided. You see, when she moved in for the kill on Angel, something she didn’t expect, happened. Or rather, something she expected, didn’t happen.”
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