Marked

by Jasmine Derriman

  “Is it just me, or does Isaac have serious anger issues?” I asked Hadley.

  Hadley laughed at me as she walked back into the kitchen. “It’s not just you, it’s Isaac.”

  “I don’t understand,” I told her, walking into the kitchen. “He was fine in the council…well not fine, but he wasn’t a total dickhead.”

  “Well, I hate to break it to you, but he’s always a dickhead,” Hadley said, pouring the hot water into a mug. “But he’s just worried.”

  “Worried?” I asked surprised. “About what?”

  “You of course,” Hadley shrugged.

  “Me?” I asked her surprised. “He definitely isn’t acting like that right now.”

  “He is,” Hadley said calmly. “He left last night, I don’t know when, but I know he didn’t come back until four in the morning.”

  “Four?” I asked surprised.

  She shrugged at me slightly. “He is worried…he just…doesn’t have the best way of showing it.”

  Hadley offered me tea and I felt too sick to the stomach this morning to even think about drinking tea. I decided to just eat an apple instead while we sat in the kitchen together.

  “So Felix tells me that you want some training?” Hadley said softly.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I know that we have this…instinct that helps us fight…I mean of course I know that…I’ve killed two demons, but I’m still missing…”

  “That strength,” Hadley finished nodding. “It’s harder for us, you know?”

  “What is?” I frowned slightly.

  “Being an Insigne,” she answered, “a female anyway. I mean, I know it’s so completely stupid, but by nature, men are stronger, and sadly for us that tends to be true, trust me, I learnt that one the hard way.”

  I gave her a look, one a little of confusion and interest.

  “I ranked top out of my group of Insigne initiates,” Hadley said when she understood my expression, “and I think the only reason I did is because I trained nearly every day. I became stronger than all of the guys, but I was just as smart too.”

  “You guys get ranked?” I asked surprised.

  Hadley nodded. “The rank is more so they can determine where they want to station you in the world. The higher you rank, the higher demon ridden place you will be stationed in.”

  “Brooklyn has a high demon count?”

  “Not…exactly,” Hadley admitted. “It’s up there, but I wasn’t recommend to be stationed here.”

  “Then why are you?” I frowned.

  She took a moment to answer, but when she did she spoke softly. “Because of Isaac.”

  For a moment I didn’t know if I should say anything, since Felix had made it clear on Hadley’s feelings for Isaac. I guess it shouldn’t be surprised, but I was.

  “I meet him whilst I was training. He’s a year older, so we weren’t in the same year of initiates. He was just hanging around the council, I don’t know why, he was just always there. He…noticed that unlike any of the others in my year I would train…every day and eventually we talked and turns out we had a lot in common,” Hadley shrugged a little. “We both had no parents and we only had this… killing demons. It’s stupid I know, but it’s true. Isaac should’ve been first in his class, but he wasn’t, which is why he got put here.”

  “He didn’t get ranked first because of his mark, right?” I guessed

  “When you are ranked, your mark helps determine you rank,” Hadley nodded

  “And Isaac’s mark doesn’t do anything,” I said slowly.

  Hadley nodded back at me. “I didn’t have anyone, and Isaac understood that and he let me into his place, let me have somewhere to live. So yes before while I said Isaac can be a dick…he always cares though, he just doesn’t know how to show it.”

  Suddenly I understood why Hadley’s affections towards Isaac might be so strong. Although I understood Hadley’s position, I was never in it. I had my uncle, and I had Rhys. The way Hadley talked she didn’t have anyone until Isaac. I felt myself swallow as I crossed my arms over my chest and straightened up. I felt slightly awkward at the thought of Hadley and Isaac together, and maybe that’s because I couldn’t picture it.

  Hadley said that we could start training today, and since I didn’t exactly have anything better to do, I agreed to it. She told me to get dressed into something more fitting and then to meet her downstairs in the parking garage, although I had no idea why.

  My bag was in Isaac’s room with all my clothes, and all the paper I had left on the bed. I felt myself sigh as I started to pick them all up and put in them in a pile. Today my head didn’t hurt. Today I didn’t feel a strain. Today I felt…normal. Normal, as if that was even possible for me. I wasn’t normal before, and I definitely wasn’t normal now. Normal didn’t exist anymore, not for me.

  As I walked down to the parking garage I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at what I saw from what I now knew about Hadley, but I was a little. Strung to the top of the roof of the undercover parking garage was a punching bag, and Hadley told next to it with boxing gloves in her hands.

  “A punching bag?” I questioned when I stood near her.

  “Boxing is an extremely good source of exercise and strength building,” Hadley informed, “and it’s also really good to punch something when you’re angry.”

  I felt myself laugh but I could easily imagine Hadley letting out her frustration on a punching bag after Isaac found a way to annoy her.

  “Well, I’m not angry,” as soon as I said it I wasn’t sure if that was the truth, “but I do need strength.”

  “It’s not as easy as just punching this bag,” Hadley said. “We’ll have to do some running too, I think, your legs are just as small as your arms. Plus learning to punch will also give you combat skills.”

  “Don’t I naturally have combat skills already?” I frowned as she handed me the boxing gloves.

  “You do,” Hadley nodded, “but they don’t always magically kick in. You do need your own set of skills to truly be a good Insigne.”

  “Okay,” I nodded at her.

  I definitely wasn’t cut out of this boxing thing, but it didn’t stop Hadley from trying anyway. We spent what felt like two hours on hook punches and blocking, moves I had only ever seen in video games, not anything I had ever tried myself. Hadley was pretty tough too if I was honest. She would talk the whole time, sometimes words of encouragement; other times critics and ways of improving my form.

  While I appreciated her help, I was just as grateful for today’s work out to be over. Now I had to look forward to getting up at seven in the morning to go for a run with Hadley. Right now I had to remind myself it was all worth it. Well it would be anyway.

  My mind was slowly coming around to the right way of thinking. I was told that I couldn’t run from this, and I couldn’t, so I had to do the only thing that I could do, and that was truly be a part of it. My nature was to fight and kill demons, and I had to be sure I knew how to do that. My job was to protect everyone else. I would be protecting Rhys and my uncle just the same as everyone else. The thought of them spurred me more than anything else now.

  I spent the rest of my day reading, this time I decided to glance at Annabeth’s diary. I guess I was scared to look at it because I was scared to know her fate and she had dealt with everything. Maybe I would never be as good as the legend of Annabeth. Opening the book I realised some of the words were faded, that the ink was fading away, just like her story might, as soon, mine might be the one everyone was talking about.

  I didn’t read much, there wasn’t a whole lot to read into. The diary entry started with her travelling to New York by boat. I was surprised to see her mention she had a husband, William was his name. She didn’t mention if he was an insigne or not, but I figured that didn’t really matter. She wrote about the first time she laid her eyes on the city, and the first time she didn’t see a city of demons staring back at her. She didn’t want to see demons anymore, and one line confir
med that for me. I longed for a place where I could never see the cold eyes of a demon’s staring into mine.

  I was so focused on my reading that I almost didn’t notice the sudden volume change in the voices around me. It was definitely coming from the lounge room and I was too curious and I found myself opening the bedroom door to eavesdrop.

  “I can’t believe you, Isaac.” Hadley’s voice echoed down the hall and I could hear her clear tone of frustration.

  “Can’t believe what, Hadley?” Isaac was clearly just as angry as Hadley but his voice seemed more controlled. “That I spent the day killing demons as that’s my job?”

  I heard a groan, quite loudly too, in clear frustration. “Alone. You went alone.”

  “I didn’t go alone,” Isaac corrected her. “Why do you think Oliver is here?”

  “Oliver wasn’t fighting the demons with you!” Hadley snapped. “You used him to get information, after you dealt with the demons, so don’t lie to me, Isaac, I’m not stupid, as for you…”

  “This isn’t stupid, Hadley,” Isaac cut in. “Three of us have died this week, in just one week, Hadley. This war is getting bigger.”

  I felt myself swallow. Three of us, three Insignes, three in one week. It’s been one week since I’ve known. Three have already died.

  “And you can’t end it by yourself,” Hadley protested, “you are going to get yourself killed.”

  “I never die, Hadley,” Isaac answered softer than before.

  “So far! You can’t rely on Felix to heal you everyone time you decide to go on a suicide mission,” Hadley told me.

  “I don’t mind-,” Felix started to speak, but Hadley were in much of a heated argument to even hear Felix.

  “It’s not a suicide mission,” Isaac said quickly. “I am protecting all of us!”

  “But you’re not!” Hadley said, almost laughing. She was beyond frustrated. “Going out there and…not knowing if you are going to come back, isn’t protecting anyone.”

  “That’s not true,” Isaac said calmly.

  “If this…if this is about Lily again, about this dagger-,” Hadley started.

  “Of course it is!” Isaac snapped for a second, but I could tell he had regained himself when he spoke again. “This war is only getting bigger because she is here. You know it’s her, we all it’s her. We need to stop pretending that she isn’t. That’s not helping anymore. They know. Heck, the demons knew before us. She will die if I don’t do something.”

  It was silent for a moment and all I could hear was myself breathe. I realised now what seeing that dagger drawn on that piece of paper had done to Isaac, it had pushed him over the edge. The council had almost done the same, but he had dealt with him before, he knew how to not really let them get to him, but this was different. The dagger was something Isaac feared. Everyone else wanted to find it, but Isaac was afraid of it…for me.

  “What happened at the council, Isaac?” Hadley asked suddenly.

  “Nothing happened,” he answered her far too quickly.

  “Don’t lie,” Hadley snapped at me. “What did they say to you? What changed? I thought you were going to get rid of her, and now…”

  “Nothing, Hadley,” Isaac repeated harshly.

  I felt my heart beat faster in my chest and I had no idea why it did so. I thought I knew everything that happened in the council. I saw Isaac’s meeting, and I attended another, so why did it feel like I had missed something? Isaac was so worked up the last day we left, maybe I had. I sat alone in that bedroom for a long time after the meeting, anything could’ve happened.

  “Felix heal him before I make those injuries worse,” Hadley instructed.

  I heard footsteps approaching and I knew Hadley was coming down the hallway but I wasn’t going to hide back in the room like I hadn’t been listening. Hadley looked at me as she entered the hallway. She paused in front of me and just shook her head before she walked on and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

  I stood there for a moment before I took a deep breath and walked out into the lounge room. Isaac down on the lounge with Felix in the arm chair. Isaac had his arm held out while Felix’s hand hovered slightly over his forearm. I felt myself swallow as Isaac titled his head to look at me. He had dry blood covering his forehead and right cheek, but now no cuts.

  Isaac didn’t react to finally seeing me, and instead I just walked to him but he pulled his arm away from Felix and stood up and walked out of the room before I could even open up my mouth to say something to him. I looked back at Felix who was shaking his head slightly. I sighed and sat down on the couch where Isaac had been sitting.

  “If…if I had managed to say no to Rhys…if I didn’t go that stupid party, none of this would be happening,” I stated in a soft voice, putting my head down.

  In the corner of my eye I see Felix continue to shake his head, but this time he’s looking at me while he shakes his head.

  “No,” he told me, “no. They would’ve made sure you found out some way. It wouldn’t have been too hard. The mark triggered that part of inside of you.”

  “That part of me that is an Insigne?” I asked him.

  Felix nodded at me. “It’s always been there, Lily, and if they wanted you to know… you would know.”

  I nodded at him in agreement. “I like it…knowing, I mean. So much suddenly makes sense…but the rest of it…”

  “Don’t worry about Isaac,” Felix told him.

  “But Hadley’s right, he’s sending himself on a suicide mission,” I stressed, “all because of me.”

  “What you’ve got to understand about Isaac is that he’s not so…selfless,” Felix explained. “He’s doing it for another reason. I know him…better than Hadley. Whatever they said to him…at the council, it’s more than me or you.”

  I nod a little, but not quite enough for Felix to notice. I rack my brain with thoughts on what they would’ve said to drive Isaac to be so crazy. I guess it wouldn’t have been so hard. It’s in Isaac’s nature to be violent, to fight. Whatever they said to Isaac broke something inside of him, something I couldn’t understand about the boy I thought I was finally starting to know. I look at Felix who seems to be waiting for me to speak, so I swallow I say the only thing I can say, because like Felix, I am lost.

  “I know.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I didn’t recognise the room I was in. I didn’t recognise the colour of the steel walls that surrounded me, in what felt like, a metal box. I didn’t recognise the damp musky smell that filled my lungs, and I didn’t recognise anything expect the fear I started to feel growing inside me.

  I took a step as I tried to work out the room I was in, but it was so dark I could only see what was in front of me; the rest of the room disappeared into the darkness. I took another step and I felt something cold press against my leg. It was only now I realised that I was gripping something in my hand as I slowly pulled it into view I realised I was holding a blade; a telum.

  Why on earth would I need a telum right now? There were no demons here. Right? Where is here though? Why am I here? I felt a cold chill sweep over me as I heard the sound of something squeak and the sound of something slide across the cold metal steel the room was made out of it. I jumped to the sound and found myself facing something I had never seen before.

  It’s in the shape of a man, but it’s not a man. The figure was black, completely black, and completely faceless. I felt myself shiver. The sight of this thing was terrifying and I knew exactly what it is. It’s a demon, and I was born to kill demons and that’s exactly what I have to.

  I swung my telum at the demon without much thought. The demon caught the telum in its hand like the crystal could not harm it, and to my surprise it didn’t. It’s only now I realised the telum isn’t made out of the crystal that demon’s fear, I realised it’s just plain old steel. That wouldn’t kill a demon.

  My hand realised the blade as suddenly realised I was terrified. I had no way of fighting this demon with
out a weapon. I was just a useless and helpless teenager who wold be killed. If the demon could smile I knew it would be right now. It filled me with the rage, the thought that demon thought it had won, and I couldn’t let it think that way. I couldn’t think the way I was right now. I was strong and I had to fight this thing no matter what situation I was in.

  I used a hook shot to punch the demon in the ribs and it reacted immediately slinking back. It took only a second to recover and moved back toward me before I could blink and tried to grab me. I ducked and weaved away from its attack and used my foot to kick into its knees. It buckled slightly but held its ground. We both go to make a move at the same time, but something about the demon is faster and it didn’t matter what I did, it would’ve got me, and it did.

  Its dark hand gripped around my throat and I felt my feet lift from the air. I put my hands to my throat and I thrashed around and tried to break free from the demon’s grip. I realised though that I was not gasping for air. Its hand isn’t stopping me from breathing, only holding me in place. Why?

  My eyes scanned the demon frantically and that’s when I noticed something I couldn’t believe I missed before. The demon was holding it tight in its free hand and it shined slightly towards me. It shined brighter than anything I had ever seen before and I knew why. It was because it was mine, because it was meant for me, because it was the dagger.

  All I knew is I had to get the dagger somehow but I couldn’t with the demon’s hand around my throat. I thrashed again, trying to kick the demon in the stomach, but my legs were just too short. I saw no way out of this; no way could I fight it physical. What about my mark? I tried to focus for a second; if I could heat up my hands I could force the demon off me with the heat. Nothing was happening though, nothing at all. I knew I wasn’t so great with controlling my mark, but usually it worked. I was able to tilt my head at this point to look at my left arm and that’s when I realised…I had no mark.