Demon Seer (Demon Demigods Book 1)

by Kurtis Eckstein

  This was it…it was over.

  “NO!” Amelia screamed. From the corner of his eye, he saw his little sister rip off the gold ring on her pinkie finger…

  Instantly, a hurricane erupted with from her, catching everyone’s attention. Her hair immediately rose into the air and her green eyes began to glow as she reached out her right palm towards the monster in front of him, shrieking, as she slammed her opened hand into a fist.

  Suddenly, the monster found himself trying to resist being crushed to death by an invisible force. He quickly broke free, attempting to close the gap between him and his unexpected assailant, only to be stopped by an invisible wall in response to her suddenly open hand. His sister then screamed again, slamming her hand shut a second time, causing the demon to cry out in pain.

  The monster broke free again, except this time he tried to escape. Amelia instantly grabbed him, seemingly with her mind, and began dragging him back towards her. Unexpectedly, a fourth monster appeared behind her – a female with gray skin and black hair.

  It attempted to attack her, hitting an invisible barrier. But it was just enough to distract his sister, causing her lose hold on the shadow.

  Immediately, they both disappeared, as if they had never been there.

  Michael held up his hand to his face, trying to shield his eyes from the powerful wind coming from his sister. She was breathing heavily, her expression filled with an emotion he’d never seen on her face before – pure hatred.

  Realizing it was over, his sister dropped to her knees, sitting down on her heals, and slipped her gold ring back on her pinkie finger.

  The powerful hurricane stopped.

  She bent over, still panting heavily, and curling her body while clutching her chest.

  Michael just stared at her, unable to believe what he had just seen. Remembering Miriam, he turned his head to see that she was sitting up on the ground, alone, staring at his sister just as shocked as he was.

  After hesitating, he slowly got to his feet and went to sit by Amelia. As soon as he was next to her, she immediately sat up and wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her head against him. She was crying.

  “Are you okay?” He asked, suddenly concerned.

  Through heavy sobs, she answered him. “Y-Yes…I was just…really angry…it makes me cry…”

  “Oh.” He said simply. He already knew her tear ducts were connected to her emotions in this way. She always cried when she was upset. Yet, after what he had just seen, he was surprised that she was crying for such a normal reason.

  Seeing movement in the corner of his eye, he turned to see that Miriam had slowly walked up to them. Her brother wasn’t far behind either, although he seemed to be keeping his distance. Amelia felt Michael move and looked up at the demon goddess standing before them.

  “Oh…Miriam.” His sister said casually, wiping her eyes. “So that’s what you really look like.”

  Chapter 12: Ability

  Miriam didn’t respond verbally to Amelia’s comment. She only silently nodded in acknowledgment. Michael had never seen her so cautious. He decided to try to dispel the awkward tension. “Miriam…are you hurt at all?”

  She shook her head. “No…they weren’t here to hurt me. Only to restrain me.” She was still eyeing his sister hesitantly. Finally, after a long pause she questioned Amelia. “Are you really a human?”

  Amelia looked at her surprised. “Umm, well yeah. Although, I’m not exactly…normal.”

  Michael suddenly wondered how it was possible that he had never known this about his sister. “Amelia…how long have you been able to…do that?”

  She immediately looked down embarrassed. “Well, I don’t remember when it started…but it’s gotten a lot stronger the older I get.”

  “What exactly? What’s gotten stronger?”

  “My…psychic abilities?” She sounded more like she was asking a question.

  “Psychic abilities?!” He stared at her in disbelief.

  She looked at him apologetically. “I wanted to tell you! But I was afraid you would think differently of me. I mean it is kind of scary…what I can do.”

  “What all can you do?” He wondered, suddenly worried.

  “You know…” She began twirling her hair with her finger, seeming embarrassed. “Just the usual stuff…move objects…read minds.”

  “You can read my mind?!” He was shocked.

  “No!” She looked at him startled. “Actually, you’re the only person whose mind I can’t read! I thought it was maybe because you were like me, but you never gave me any sign that was the case.” She then looked away, seemingly troubled by that fact.

  Michael shook his head. He wasn’t like her. He couldn’t do any of those things.

  But, now it was Miriam’s turn to be shocked. “You can read my mind?”

  Amelia glanced at her briefly, before looked down again, her cheeks flushed. “Well, no not exactly.” She then paused, as her face began turning even more red. “More like, when you speak verbally, even in a whisper, I can hear it in your mind too. But other than that, it’s complete silence.”

  “So, you’ve been eavesdropping.” She accused.

  Michael wasn’t sure what Miriam was talking about, but then he remembered his sister camping out by the stairs the last few nights. “Amelia…how close exactly do you have to be from someone to read their mind?”

  “Umm…normally I can’t hear anything if I’m more than a few feet away…although…” Her face was becoming flushed again. “With her…I can hear a bit further away. I’m not sure why.”

  “So, you have been eavesdropping!” Michael exclaimed, realizing that she could in fact hear Miriam’s part of their conversations from her vantage point by the stairs.

  “I’m sorry!” She exclaimed. “I was just worried about you! And can you really blame me?! I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop! I just went to go wake you up a few days ago and heard Miriam in your room!”

  Michael covered his face with his hand, remembering that they had spoken about some pretty intimate stuff. Granted, he knew that if his sister was used to hearing everyone’s unfiltered thoughts, then she was probably accustomed to much worse by now.

  However, it certainly explained why she had a difficult time making friends. He also realized now that he knew why she had been so upset at Grayson. He hadn’t done anything after all – he had thought something that made her so angry.

  “Amelia, do our parents know?” He asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t think anyone knows…well, knew…at least not until today.”

  Michael was still baffled. “And how does a ring keep it…bottled up?” He wondered.

  Amelia immediately touched her ring out of habit, causing both Miriam and Gabriel to take a step back. The movement caught his sister’s eye, and Amelia’s face almost turned purple when she looked at the seven-foot-tall demon. “Why do none of you wear clothes?!” She exclaimed, referring to the fact that they both were exposed except what their tails covered. His tail was larger and much longer than Miriam’s, so it actually covered a lot more, but there was nothing to hide his muscular torso and legs.

  “If we wore clothes,” Miriam began explaining seriously, “they would just burst into flames when we went home.”

  “Oh.” Amelia stated, as she twisted the ring on her pinkie finger. “Anyway, the ring…it’s just a normal piece of jewelry. It’s more like…a psychological thing for me. I’m not sure why it works, but I feel like when I was really young I was losing control, and then I started wearing this ring…and somehow, I was able to control myself again. I know that doesn’t make sense, but whenever I try to remember it I get a headache.”

  Miriam crossed her arms in response to her explanation. “Still, I’ve never heard of a human having the ability to do something like this. However…” She sighed heavily, dropping her arms. “Thank you Amelia. Without you, they would have killed Michael.”

  His sister held Miriam’s gaze for a few sec
onds before responding. “You really do love him, don’t you?”

  Miriam looked away immediately, pausing for a few seconds. “Yes, I really do.” She then paused again, this time meeting Michael’s gaze while continuing to answer Amelia’s question. “You have no idea the extent of it.”

  Michael couldn’t help but blush at the intensity of her eyes as she finished her statement.

  It was obvious his sister suddenly felt awkward, because she quickly changed the subject. “B-But why are they trying to kill Michael anyway? What did he ever do to them?”

  Miriam just shook her head, unable to answer the question.

  Michael offered a response in her place. “She can’t tell us why. Really, we aren’t even supposed to know about them.”

  Amelia nodded slowly in response. She then addressed Miriam. “What do you think is going to happen now? Will they try again?”

  Miriam looked back at her brother momentarily, as if something had been said between them, before turning back to answer. “We aren’t sure exactly. But it would be a good idea to assume so. It wouldn’t be wise to let our guard down.” She then looked towards the ground, her expression suddenly somber.

  “You’re leaving now, aren’t you?” Michael wondered, suspecting that’s what was on her mind.

  She looked up at him, her gaze longing, before nodding. “It’s best if we keep our distance for now. Otherwise you’ll get worse…I couldn’t live with myself if you died.”

  Michael hated the fact that this had to be so difficult. Why did she have to be radioactive? Why couldn’t the difference in strength be their only problem? At least then they could be near each other.

  Knowing there was nothing he could do to make her stay, he asked, “But you’ll still come back in the morning, right?”

  Her eyes saddened slightly, but she nodded again. “Promise.” And then, after a brief pause, she vanished along with Gabriel.

  Michael sighed heavily and looked at his sister. She was examining his expression. “So…” she asked, “you don’t think I’m weird?”

  He pondered her question for a few seconds before answering. “No, although I think I might have had a more difficult time wrapping my head around this if I hadn’t already met Miriam. But now, instead, I think I’m just learning to accept the fact that the world isn’t what I thought it was.”

  “I’ll say,” she agreed. “After hearing Miriam use the word ‘human’ in your conversations, I knew something weird was going on with her, but I never imagined this.” She then looked at him with a worried expression. “So, you really don’t know why they are trying to kill you?”

  “No,” he then lowered his voice to a whisper. “Although, I think she would have told me if I knew the right questions to ask. She kind of gave me non-verbal cues when I would ask yes or no questions. But the problem is, I have no idea what to even ask. I know that the fact we know about them is part of it, as well as the fact that she loves me – a human…but it seems that there is a bigger reason behind it all.”

  Amelia thought for a few minutes, attempting to consider reasons as well, before giving up. “Well, let’s get back to the house. Dad will be home soon.” She then looked around at the destruction surrounding them. The hurricane she had created had removed every leaf and twig on the ground, so that the entire area was now bare dirt. Not to mention most of the trees had been destroyed in the immediate vicinity. “It almost looks like a bomb went off here. I wonder how we’re going to explain this one.”

  Michael looked at her surprised. “Explain it? Easy. We don’t. As far as we’re concerned we know nothing of it.” He then paused tentatively. “Well, maybe we can say we heard a loud boom, and maybe came to check it out.”

  “Right,” she agreed. “Of course – I should have realized that. Why would we know anything about this?”

  Michael grunted as he began to stand, still feeling sore all over. “Exactly.”

  Amelia quickly jumped up, placing his arm around her shoulders and helped him maintain his balance as they walked back to the house. He was getting annoyed at feeling dizzy every time he stood from a sitting position.

  As they exited the woods into the backyard, Michael commented on her abilities. “I just realized I haven’t thanked you yet…for saving my life.” He then stopped to look her in the eyes. “Thanks Amelia. Seriously, that would have been it for me if you hadn’t of stopped them. You were like a one-man army.”

  She looked down, seeming embarrassed. “You’re welcome. I did say I would tear the whole world apart to protect you.”

  “And now I believe you. I never imagined you could have meant that literally. Although…” He looked away briefly suddenly feeling ashamed.

  “What is it?” She wondered.

  “Well…I just feel…so weak. Like, everyone’s protecting me, including my little sister. It’s embarrassing. No offense.”

  She shook her head. “It’s alright. I’m not offended. Although, that is kind of why I didn’t want to tell you.”

  Michael sighed as they continued walking up the house. “Yeah…I just wonder how I missed out on this. I mean, I assume it must be genetic, right?”

  Amelia shrugged in response. “I really don’t know, although you are the only person whose mind I can’t read. Like, literally nothing. Complete silence all the time.”

  He considered that for a minute, as they reached the front door. “Hmm, you know what…It’s the same for Miriam too. Apparently, she can read minds as well, although more on a temporary basis. She tried to see into my mind but couldn’t.”

  Amelia was thoughtful. “I wonder if that means something. Have you tried?”

  “Tried what?” He wondered as he closed the front door behind them. Even though he knew it wasn’t actually safer inside, he immediately felt relieved to be in the house.

  “The stuff I can do.” She answered simply.

  “Oh…” Of course he had never tried. Why would he try to do something that was supposed to be impossible? “Well, no, I haven’t.”

  Determined to see if he was like her, Amelia tried to show him how she made objects move, but he wasn’t able to do it. They sat at the dining room table, but after spending almost thirty minutes attempting to move a coin, followed by a piece of fuzz, he found he was no more capable than anyone else.

  She then tried to see if he could read her mind, as they practiced trying to guess the number she was thinking of, but that also didn’t work. After about ten minutes, she had him put his forehead on hers only for him to still fail to be able to read her thoughts.

  Granted, it was hard for him to concentrate with her face so close to his. It felt awkward, even though their eyes were closed. He knew that if their dad barged in through the front door, he would think he had caught them kissing – there would be no other logical way to interpret the situation as they quickly pulled away – a very disturbing thought, that made him glad his sister couldn’t read his mind after all.

  Sighing, he pulled away, unable to tolerate being this close to her face anymore. “Ugh, I give up. I don’t know why you can’t read my mind, but clearly I can’t do the things you can.”

  Amelia sighed too, trying not to seem too disappointed. “I’m sorry. I was really hoping that would work. I wish I could explain how I do it better, but I can’t. It just happens automatically. And with moving objects with my mind – trying to tell you how to do it is almost like trying to explain to someone who is paralyzed how to pick up a cup.”

  Michael nodded in agreement, trying not to feel too defeated. No matter how good the explanation, if someone wasn’t capable of doing it, then it wouldn’t matter. “Well, at least I have the whole mind-privacy thing going for me. Does that mean you can read mom and dad’s minds too?”

  “Ugh!” Amelia exclaimed. “Yes! And I wish I couldn’t! That’s why I don’t like getting too close to most people. It’s easier to hear it when they’re strangers. But when you know them…” She trailed off.

  “I wonder
if you’d still like me if you could hear my thoughts. Not that they are bad or anything, but everyone has thoughts they would never share with the world.” Or thoughts that were fleeting, yet disturbing.

  “True…” Amelia was pensive for a few seconds before answering honestly. “But I think I would still like you. If anything, I can sort of read your mind in a way.” She then elaborated when he looked at her confused. “Like, growing up with you has shown me how to figure out what people are thinking based on body language as well. I probably would have never paid attention were it not for me trying to figure out what you were thinking, strictly by body language. But because I can hear people’s thoughts, I can actually read you pretty well since I know what types of thoughts and emotions are connected to specific mannerisms.”

  “Oh.” Michael hadn’t realized he had helped her in this way, but he could understand how she might have easily grown up socially ignorant otherwise. “Well, you’re welcome, I guess.”

  She grinned at him. “I…”

  Abruptly, there was a loud knock at the front door, causing them both to jump in their seats. They glanced at each other, wondering who it might be. Their dad should be home soon, but he would have just let himself in. Had he forgotten his house key?

  Amelia quickly held up her hand, indicating for him to wait, and then snuck up to the door. She had to be careful how she approached due to potentially being seen from the window. Once she was about three feet away, she paused for a few seconds before rushing back.

  “Michael!” She whispered urgently. “It’s the police! They’re here for us!”

  “What?!” He was shocked. Had someone heard what had happened in the woods and reported it? Frantically, he tried to think. “I need to hide this medicine!” he whispered urgently, remembering the bottles in his pocket.

  Amelia quickly held out her hand. “I know where to put it. You answer the door. It’ll seem weird if we answer together.”

  He nodded as she ran upstairs, before taking a deep breath and walking up to the pounding at the front door. Unlocking the door, he opened it to find himself faced with two police officers. Behind them he could see that there were six more police in the driveway, along with four squad cars and a large white van. None of them had their lights on, or sirens running, but he was still surprised he hadn’t heard them pull up to the house.