Demon Hunter

by Linda Kay Silva

“You need to get out more. You know…girl talk…where you tell me what it’s like having a ghost for a girlfriend?”

  Denny cut into her meat before looking up. “You know, when it’s all you’ve known, you don’t really know how it compares.”

  “Oh come on. You’ve had a real...wait, that’s not the word I want.” Brianna looked up at the sky. “I don’t want to minimize your virginity or anything, but—”

  “It’s okay. I know what you mean, and no. Rush became my best friend in high school. On my eighteenth birthday, we got together and have been together ever since.”

  “When you say got together, how, exactly does that happen, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  Denny smiled. “Only two other people have ever had the balls to ask me that.”

  “Was it rude of me?”

  “Curiosity isn’t necessarily rude, no.” Denny waited for the waitress to bring their drinks before continuing. “Everything happens in my mind. It feels real, my physical body experiences the pleasure—” Denny’s voice trailed off.

  “But?” Brianna asked.

  The waitress arrived to take their dessert orders and Denny took advantage of her presence and didn’t answer Brianna’s question. “We’ll take one chocolate cake and two forks, please.”

  “Denny, I know this must be hard to talk about, but I’m asking because I want to get to know you better. I don’t mean to pry.”

  “You’re not prying,” she said. “It’s amazing sex and I love our intimate time, but there are times when I long for a warm body, when I wish she had arms I could feel to hold me when I need comfort.”

  “Like now?”

  Denny looked away, feeling slightly vulnerable. “Yeah. Like now. All of this is just so over my head. My family might be in danger and I’m just a rookie trying to work it all out. The word inadequate springs to mind.”

  Dessert came and Denny handed Brianna a fork. Picking at the chocolate cake, Denny sighed. “I know Life is supposed to throw us curves, but this one is a doozy.

  “I imagine you’re also scared.” Brianna dug into the cake.

  “More than I care to admit. I feel like I’ve just entered a race that’s been going for quite some time and I’m not even warmed up.”

  “I know it might feel like it, but you’re not alone, Denny. You have friends and family. How’s your mother doing, by the way?”

  “Same. There’s so much I miss about her. She used to caress our hair every night before bed. I cherished that time with her. All four of us still play with our hair if we’re feeling scared or vulnerable or little.”

  “You must really miss her.”

  “Every single day. I’m not sure her being catatonic is better or worse than death. To have her there but not there...” Denny shook her head. “It’s rough.”

  “But that’s just it.”

  “What?”

  “You want my pseudo-psychobabble analysis?”

  Denny chuckled. “Sure. Go for it.”

  “Your mom, like Rush, is there but not there. You were what, fifteen when your parents got in that accident?”

  “Good memory.”

  Brianna grinned. “I listen. Anyway, your relationship with Rush is patterned after your relationship with your mother. It’s what you know. It’s comfortable and familiar. She’s there but not really.”

  Denny stared at her.

  “I’m sorry if I misspoke—”

  “No, no, not at all. I just...I never looked at it that way, but it makes perfect sense. Kinda creepy, but it does make sense.” Denny pointed to a spot on Brianna’s face where errant chocolate frosting sat.

  Brianna wiped her upper lip. “So how’s the demon hunting gig going? It seems like an awful lot of danger.”

  “I have a lot to learn. A lot. Mountains. The more questions I have, the...”

  “You couldn’t have a better teacher than Ames Walker, though. It’ll get easier, don’t you think?”

  “No doubt. His Tae Kwon Do moves probably saved my life today.”

  “Thank the goddess. So why are they after you all of a sudden? Why now?”

  “Let’s just say I pose a pretty big threat to them once I know what I’m doing. Me and my Hanta have a lot of work to do before we can act a team.”

  “So, you’ve decided to do it? To don the cape of Golden Silver, Demon Hunter?”

  Denny thought for a moment before smiling. “You know, that doesn’t sound half bad.”

  ****

  Denny was flipping through the Black Book when her phone rang. Looking at her watch, she realized she’d been studying for over two hours.

  “I’m just calling to check up on you. Haven’t heard much from either of you. Are you okay?” Sterling asked.

  “We’re fine. We’re working a few things out with her new boyfriend, but other than that, we’re just trying to adjust.”

  “Her new—” Sterling sighed. “You know, I had it so much easier with you.”

  “You got that right. Gay is looking pretty sweet next to a demon, huh?”

  The line was silent for a moment.

  “It’s started then,” Sterling whispered.

  “Pretty much. Let’s just say, the doorbell’s ringing and it ain’t Avon calling.”

  “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?”

  The question made Denny realize that Sterling probably knew much more than she let on.

  “Let’s see. I’ve been attacked twice, had a demon implode in my face, almost decapitated myself with a weapon that actually has a given name, attempted a failed séance, and have yet to figure out how to get Rush back. All in all, I’d say I’m very far from okay.”

  “Oh Golden, I’m so sorry. I wish…I wish I could be more help.”

  Denny leaned forward. “You’ve known all about the legacy haven’t you? I mean you knew what it really entailed. All of it.”

  More silence.

  When Sterling finally spoke, her voice was soft. “That’s a story for another time but, yes, yes I did know. I knew something resides in the hunter…that it was in Mom…that it would be looking for a host once she passed away.”

  “Resides is a nice way of putting it. You chose to reside in the one place you thought they couldn’t get you, huh? That’s why you wore the triquetra. You thought it kept the demons away.” Denny shook her head.

  “I’m so sorry.” Her voice was soft and Denny could barely hear her. “So, so sorry.”

  “Sterling, it is what it is. No sorrys necessary, no apologies required, but something is after our family and there’s only one of us capable of stopping it.”

  “There’s so much more to it, Golden. I just...I know I wasn’t strong enough to be a demon hunter. It wasn’t the life for me. When mom survived the accident, I had no idea what would happen. I guess I expected it to move down the line to Quick. Gosh, that sounds horrible of me, but he seemed to be the best choice.”

  “Not horrible. Realistic. He’s the only one of us who lacked direction, focus, responsibility. He might have been good at it but he lacks the substance the demon needs.”

  “Can it...you know—”

  “Move from me to him? I don’t think so. Its had plenty on time to decide. I’ve had the Hanta since I was fifteen.”

  “Are you kidding? The Hanta has been in you all this time?”

  “Yeah. Who knew? I sure as hell didn’t. Its full name is Hanta Raya. That’s what it’s called, and let me tell you, that demon can open up a serious can of whoop ass.”

  “So…you have it. It jumped to you when you were fifteen and stayed dormant?”

  “It’s not like I have a cold, Sterling. I am possessed by the same demon that possessed our mother and our grandmother. It just hangs out until it gets hungry and then I see all sorts of weird shit I never thought I’d see outside a movie theater. So, no, I don’t have it. It has me.”

  “I…I don’t know what to say.”

  “There’s nothing to say. It’s been sitting there…w
aiting. And its wait is over. Time to feed the pigeons.”

  Sterling sighed. “And Pure? What does she know?”

  “She doesn’t know anything, and I’d like to keep it that was for as long as I can. She needs to be a teenager free of worrying about her possessed sister.”

  “And you’re sure her boyfriend is a demon? How can you possibly know that?”

  “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

  “Really?”

  Denny laughed. “No. Not really. It’s just...a knowing. The Hanta knows, and by extension, I know. There’s a whole lotta knowing going on in me right now.”

  “Are you—”

  “Gonna kill him? Yeah, I am, but I can’t just whirl around killing every demon in sight. There are a lot of them, you know? Ames wants me to wait until I am better trained, but mark my words, that boy’ll get his once I know what I’m doing. I can’t stand him.”

  “Poor Pure. Her first boyfriend and he’s a demon. Not a very auspicious start to love.”

  “Yeah, and you thought there could be nothing weirder than my relationship with a ghost.” Denny turned the page of the Black Book and stared at the picture of a demon. “As soon as I have a better handle on this, I’m taking him down.”

  There was another silence.

  “Sterling?”

  “I’m here. I just...I wish I hadn’t failed her.”

  “You didn’t. We’re a legacy family, Ster. There was a twenty-five percent chance it was gonna be me. I’m the one with it now. I mean it’s not like I have a choice. If any of us has a chance to live a normal life, it’s Pure, and I’m going to do everything in my power to give that to her.”

  “I wish you didn’t have to.”

  “Yeah, well one thing my older sister taught me was you play the cards you were dealt, and that is exactly what I plan on doing.”

  ****

  Denny’s Journal

  It was four o’clock in the morning when I finally tucked my notes away and closed the Black Book. I was tired, my brain ached, and I needed food. I’d been in the lair since around nine o’clock. I had a seven o’clock appointment with Ames. I needed a shower, food, and to figure out what I was going to do about Pure’s boyfriend.

  That was a sticky one, to be sure. While Rush was definitely in danger, she was already dead. Pure, on the other hand, had her whole life ahead of her and she was dating a demon that, I was pretty certain, was biding his time until he could either hurt Pure or come after me.

  I wasn’t down with either of those options.

  Instead, it was time to take Mike Cockerton out of play and see what the rest of the rats would do. It wasn’t going to be easy, especially since he had dug his claws into Pure, but I wasn’t going to lose another member of my family. So far, the score was Demons 3, Silvers 0, but I was going to change that.

  I had been reading the kills from a hunter named Peyton in New Orleans. He was incredibly skilled and quite a proficient hunter, always adding kills to the book. That was something I would have to get better at doing because I was learning so much by reading Peyton’s entries.

  After closing the book, I threw on some sweats and grabbed my weapons before tossing back some cold coffee and checking on Pure. It was too early to swing by the coffee shop, so I figured I’d go to Winnie’s for some breakfast and coffee.

  When I started my car, I felt it.

  I can’t explain the feeling except that it was a physical sensation that traveled like warm honey down my spine and through the marrow of my bones, warning me of imminent danger.

  Hanta Raya.

  It seemed to come to life at the exact moment I needed it, and right now, I had the sensation that I was being watched.

  And I was.

  Checking the rear view mirror, I saw a pickup truck with three stooges in it tailing me.

  I wasn’t going to be able to out run them in a Prius, so I decided to pull into a parking lot and let the chips fall where they may.

  I wasn’t about to go all the way to Winnie’s and deal with these yahoos there, so I pulled into a well lit parking lot, picked up my weapons, and stepped out of the car to face them. I expected to be afraid—a perfectly normal emotion given the circumstances.

  I was not.

  Instead, I stood, feet apart, cylinders in my hands and watched as the truck stopped and the thugs hopped out. The Hanta filled me with a courage I could not have mustered on my own. I kept hearing Ames’s favorite word of symbiosis. That’s precisely what it was. We were in this together, and suddenly, I did not feel alone.

  “I take it your broken little buddy dragged his sorry ass back to the mothership and you’re here to put me in my place.”

  The three men stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Their glowing eyes proved what I already knew—demons.

  “You got a big mouth for a rookie.”

  “You shoulda kilt him. Leaving him alive was such a noob mistake.”

  I held the cylinders in my hands and had yet to unleash them. They seemed to get warmer as the threat grew.

  And there was a threat.

  They had come to kill me.

  The feeling of the Hanta’s reaction to this menace was hard to describe. It’s as if my physical being expanded a little, blood flowed more rapidly to my muscles, my senses heightened, and a feeling of warm confidence washed over me. All of this combined to make me completely and utterly unafraid.

  “Well, this rookie must be a considerable threat for someone to send three of you yahoos after me.” My head tingled and a strange throbbing beat behind my eyes.

  The Hanta was fully awake.

  “Sending a warning was a stupid, stupid move, showing just how lame you really are.” This came from the tallest demon, a big, beefy redhead missing a neck. The other two looked like the brothers of Alvin the Chipmunk. One wore black-rimmed glasses, the other wore a ball cap. They were clearly from the university. I made a mental note to run through campus and rid it of any others. That was a good plan.

  A plan.

  That was what I needed.

  Yes, I needed to learn everything Ames Walker could teach me, but I also needed a plan for my future as a demon hunter.

  I was going to get one as soon as I killed these three yahoos.

  “Nope, No Neck, you confuse strategy for inexperience. You came to me, didn’t you?” I felt my voice change. It was one of the more significant and obvious transformations of the Hanta—one I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to. It lent an eerie, “is she possessed or isn’t she?” vibe to the moment.

  “Yeah. You didn’t think about that, did you?” Whipping my wrists, Fouet and Epee came to life with a thwap followed by that weird electrical buzz. “Why don’t I start with you, you no-neck motherfucker?”

  What I’d learned very quickly about my Hanta was that it had a potty mouth that would make a sailor blush.

  I kinda liked it.

  “You’re crazy. We’re not low level pond scum demons like those other two, bitch. We’re the A team. The top dogs.”

  “Does that A stand for Asshole? Who starts a ballgame playing their second string, anyway?”

  As they spread out, I cracked Fouet, which popped and crackled like a live wire. Truth to tell, Fouet scared the shutout of me with all those tiny blade and that eerie electrical buzz. “Come on, big boy,” I said to No Neck. “Make your move.”

  To my surprise, No Neck pulled out a silver cylinder of his own. “You think you’re the only one with special weapons?”

  “I think I don’t give a shit, asshole. Unless you’re packing a fucking rocket launcher, I’m gonna send you back to whatever Hell you came from.”

  This was when I felt the Hanta’s presence the strongest. It was not the least bit intimidated. I, on the other hand, was beginning to wonder if I hadn’t bitten off more than I could chew.

  As the three surrounded me, I kept the sword pointed at No Neck and the chain blade at the chipmunk. The third guy was directly behind me and out of my peripheral vi
sion and therefore, the most dangerous to me.

  He would have to go first.

  Whirling around and snapping Fouet like a whip, I sliced off the chipmunk’s arm above the elbow. He screamed and grabbed his bleeding appendage, but he did not implode.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, I followed up the Fouet with Epee, cleanly slicing through his neck. Then he blew up, splattering blood and guts all over the place. I was stunned at the amount of flesh bits that landed on me.

  “One down, two to go, motherfuckers.” Planting my legs shoulder-width apart, I held my weapons at the ready. “Next? Step right up, fellas. Who wants to die next?”

  “You can’t possibly think you can take us both out,” No Neck said.

  “Umm...did you miss the opening show, dumb shit? I’m wearing pieces of it.”

  The demons looked at each other. Clearly, they had not expected potty mouth backtalk from such a young demon hunter, but there it was.

  And that was a huge miscalculation.

  I was young. My Hanta, not so. They had completely underestimated its power. “What are you waiting for, dickweed? Make your move. But be warned, that little weapon of yours I’ll eat for breakfast.”

  No Neck snapped his wrist to reveal a blade much like my own only thinner and longer. “Then it’ll be the last thing you eat.”

  His blade crackled like mine and as it whooshed by me, I lifted Epee up to meet it. The clash sent sparks of energy flying in all directions. Mine was nearly knocked out of my hand.

  Aware of movement from the periphery, I pivoted and plunged my heel into Simon the Chipmunk’s abdomen, sending him crashing against a lamppost.

  When I righted myself, I barely got my sword up in time to deflect the next blow. He missed his chance to strike. I quickly realized these demons were not accustomed to using their weapons. They weren’t hunters. They were merely armed demons.

  Advantage Hanta.

  As his sword bounced off mine, I snapped Fouet forward and severed his wrist. His weapon collapsed back into its cylinder as he cursed and howled like a wounded animal, his hand laying on the dirty pavement.

  I kicked the cylinder into the gutter and returned my attention to Simon just as he was getting to his feet.