Kasadya (Hellhound Awakened) (11 page)

We stood there for an hour or so looking at the guy and girl. He was whispering stuff in her ear, and she would laugh and duck her head away in shyness. Then they stopped dancing and the guy took her arm and pulled her out of the crowd, leading her into the bathroom hallway.

“Let’s go,” Chax said, and started moving with speed. I had a hard time keeping up with him through the crowd. People were bumping into me and stuff, but for Chax they simply stepped aside letting him pass. Maybe it’s that face he always has, the one that said, “I’m pissed”. We finally made it into the hallway to see people still standing in line, some hopping with need.

Chax turned the corner and doubled up on his pace; I had to start a light jog to keep up. He reached the door and stopped dead, turned around and looked at me. Screeching to a halt I stopped in time before crashing into him; just before I was going to say something he lifted his hand to stop me.

“I want you to stay away as far as possible, do not try something. I know it’s not always possible for you, but don’t, understand?”

“Oh come on,” I replied, throwing my hands in the air and looking at him. What, like I go out of my way to butt in? He looked at me like he was trying to say “yeah right”
.
“Yeah, okay,” I finished. Satisfied he turned around and opened the door slowly. I could hear a girl’s giggle as he stepped out silently. I followed the silent approach he was doing, and closed the door slowly. Turning around, I could see the couple in the corner of the alley; the girl was between the wall and the guy.

Chax moved along the wall, keeping his eyes on them, one slow step at a time. I looked at him and decided that this is as far as I go. I don’t want to be in the middle of whatever he has in mind. The girl suddenly screamed, and I looked away from Chax to them. The ally was dark, so I couldn’t make out what’s going on. She was hitting him on the back but he wasn’t backing off. The next thing I knew, Chax punched the guy in his side, a growl like a beast escaping into the alley. Holy crap, it’s not a guy, it’s a freaking demon! I took a few steps back. So not ready for this yet.

The demon turned around and faced Chax, who already had his swords drawn; he stood there ready and waiting. The guy’s face changed then, into what can only be described as a cross between a cat and a dragon. He had two large fangs sticking out of his mouth and from his chin downwards, I could see what looked like dark liquid running down, crap it was blood! I stopped dead, not wanting to attract attention to me. The demon stormed forward attacking Chax, who only stepped aside, made two swipes with his sword and then walked over to the girl. I looked at the demon to see why the hell Chax is just leaving it and not killing it, only to see its head missing, and the body slumping to the ground.

Something hit my boot so I looked down straight into a pair of eyes, I jumped away from it
.
“Oh that’s so gross,” I complained and slammed into the opposite wall, keeping my eyes on the head. Yeah, that was quick, just two swipes and the thing was dead. Doesn’t look that hard, but then I haven’t been doing this for ten thousand years, maybe even more.

I looked back at Chax, who was kneeling at the girl. So I walked over slowly to see if she was okay. A step away I stopped, her eyes were looking up at me - lifeless. Oh my soul, she’s dead! I looked at Chax who was holding her, he then looked up at me his face this time was not pissed off, it was super pissed off. I backed away slowly; I so don’t want a training lesson now when he looked like that.

“Do you see now why we do this?” he asked, letting go of her and standing up his eyes on me. I couldn’t say anything; he was scaring the hell out of me. I just stood there looking at him.

“Even if I ripped him away the moment he bit her, she would still have died. Each demon have a unique ability in their bites, this one is poison. So Kasadya, do you want to leave females like her to their mercy?” he questioned, taking his eyes off me and walking over to the demon’s body before he then crouched down next to it.

“No, I never said I wanted anyone dead,” I replied, not knowing where this was coming from.

“I see. What did you think would happen when they get their hands on humans?” he asked, moving his hand over the demons body, dropping something on it and saying a Latin prayer. Watching him, I saw the demon’s body slowly starting to melt. Okay, so this is how they get rid of the evidence then.

“Why did you bring me here, and to this?” I gestured to the scene in front of me.

“To answer your question about why we do what we do. We not only serve to redeem ourselves, but we also protect innocent humans, like her,” he said pointing to the girl. I didn’t look, I couldn’t.

“Many humans do not deserve our protection, but many do. Will you allow such a vile creature to get his hand on a little girl?”

“No, of course not!”

“Then settle the war going on in your head, and get in back in line. This, as you can see, is no joke. This is the life you will face for an eternity, or until you die,” he said, as he slowly walked back to me. I was already pressed up against the wall and couldn’t back away so I had to face him. He stopped and looked at me for a few seconds; I just kept my mouth shut, so not debating this any further.

“Come, it's already late in our world, you will miss your supper,” he murmured, offering me his hand. I had a hard time convincing myself to take it because his face hadn’t returned to normal yet; or let’s just say to the usual. But I took his hand and found myself in the lobby of the house.

“Tomorrow you will meet me at my house; I have other training in mind,” he instructed and shifted out.

Yeah freaking good night to you too! Man he needs to lighten up. Maybe I should ask Kali to work on it for me; nope I think she might just convince him to do even worse. I walked to the grub spot to find everyone already gone. On one of the tables a plate with food was waiting for me, so I walked over and started to eat.

The girl and demon were running through my head, and at the third bite I totally lost my appetite; so I just got up and left. I walked to our room to find Nanini and Lada already asleep. Were we gone that long? Does time in the human world move so slow, compared to this one?

Hell I don’t know, but tomorrow I’m asking Vulcan. Getting more details and facts might just be a good thing in the long run. I took a long shower and put on my pj’s, then walked over to my bed. I reached down to pull away the covers, when I saw a beautiful red rose lying on my pillow. Picking it up, I smelled it and knew that it must be from Seth. I missed out on another day with him, bummer. But tomorrow I’ll make sure to get some free time with him, I hope.

Chapter 8

I woke up in the middle of the night, frightened to death. I had another nightmare but this time I was back in that alley, and the girl was Lada. I tried by best to save her, but in the end it was Lada’s dead eyes looking up at me. I woke up with Chax telling me that I was a failure, that her death was my fault.

Rattled about the dream, I decided to take a stroll in the house and try to clear my mind. Silently I got out of bed, grabbed a jacket and pulled it on; the temperature was almost at freezing point, then turned around and looked at Lada’s bed. She was sleeping peacefully, a small smile on her face; probably dreaming about Lotan.

I walked out of the room and made my way to the zone, where I planted myself on the couch. In total darkness I sat there thinking about the whole alley incident again. Man, Chax has a way of messing someone up. I get the part where he wanted me to see the importance of the service, but he could have picked another way.

After a while of thinking, I decided to get up and see if I could find something to clear my mind on the TV. I just reached the remote when I heard two voices in the hall. Curious, I walked slowly to the door and pressed up against the wall. Yip, I was spying.

“How many were in the pack?” a guy asked.

“About ten, their numbers have grown in the past week. Everyone has reported the same,” another guy replied. I could hear that they were walking towards me, so I slid back a few steps into complete darkness, just in case they decide to come in here.

“And there is still no more activity on the streets?” the first one asked again.

“No, it’s like they disappeared. Tonight I picked up one and followed it for a while to see where it was going; it went into a nightclub, so I followed. This club was filled with them and humans,” the other guy replied, and this time they were standing just outside the door.

“Humans, are you sure?”

“Yes, the worst part is the demons were fully transformed and the humans were interacting with them in that form. The moment one of them spotted me, the attack began.”

“So they started using some of their brain cells. Knowing that it is easier to be picking off one at a time, but interacting with humans openly is new. Were the humans in a trance?”

“No, and they were enjoying their time with them very much. Seth and Arianna reported the same from Paris. No activity on the street, but a club filled with them. They barely escaped the attack.”

Oh my soul, Seth was attacked! I just hope he was okay. No matter who or what I’m checking in on him the first chance I get. My heart was pounding with fear of what condition he could be in. Wow, this love thing really hurts.

“We need to counter this Chax, any ideas?” the first guy asked. So it was Chax he was speaking to, interesting.

“Yes, we need to ask the
Caponito’s
to assist us in this. They’re the only ones with experience in team hunting. I know you disagree with them on their methods, but this time, old friend, they might be right.”

“It would seem so. I will go visit Astin and ask them to aid us on this. But it would mean that everyone would need to take part in this.” I could finally make out the other voice, it was Vulcan.

“Yes, the best thing will be for all to gather here at the arena and start the training. The
Apprendo’s
will also benefit from it,” Chax replied, and I could hear that they were almost at the corner drifting away from me. Damn, their conversation was just getting interesting and now I’m going to lose the best part.

“So be it, notify everyone and ensure they are all here as early as possible. Training will start today even if I have to force Astin, but I doubt it. The fact that they were right will be enough to give his ego a boost and take charge.”

“Yes, I believe that this will be their greatest moment. I only hope that they will be able to train fast, we need to get back out there and stop this before it escalates into chaos.” I could hear Chax say. The last words were almost gone as they drifted further down the hall.

Okay so the demons are clearly up to something, and by the sound of it, we’re going to get some new training to counter it. I wondered who this Astin guy was, I’d never heard of him before. When I was sure the two of them were well on their way, I started walking back to the rooms, my mind spinning over the new details I just got by eavesdropping.

I was just about to take the turn to the stairs, when my eyes caught Kali passing from the lobbies’ side to the stairs. What on earth is she doing up at this time of night? I followed her in silence, taking one step after the other on the stairs; I was stalking her like a cat. She went into the hallway leading to the rooms; I stopped at the top keeping my eyes on her. She went to their door and then stepped in, closing it behind her.

Okay maybe she met Chax for some alone time. Shrugging it off I went to our room and went inside, Lada and Nanini were still fast asleep. I looked at the clock and saw it was three thirty in the morning. Might as well get dressed for the day, by the sound of it we’re in for one hell of a day. So I got my clothes and went to the bathroom thinking over all that I’d heard. The part about humans mixing with demons freely was spooking me. I mean that is just so gross. Two hours later the room was buzzing with activity, Nanini the main source. I told them about what happened and what Chax and Vulcan said and that made Nanini spark to life.

“The
Caponito’s
are a fallen bloodline; they also live here in
Exsilium
. But according to my father they don’t believe in our way of training and service, so they keep to themselves. Apparently they have their own hunting grounds and the others stay out of their way,” Nanini said, jumping with joy.

“Okay, so they don’t like this way of training, and keep to themselves, got that; but why on earth would they come and train us?” I asked her, trying to keep my eyes on her while she jumped up and down.

“Oh that’s easy; Astin and the majority of the bloodline are werewolves. My dad says that they hunt in packs, like real wolves do in the human world. So if what you told me is true, they’re coming here to train us how to work in packs to beat demon butt.”

Okay, so we’re going to be trained by a bunch of Nina’s, just freaking great. I have a really bad feeling about this, somehow I don’t think the level of testosterone here and new ones are going to mix very well. I can just imagine the look on Chax face if someone tells him what to do. Damn, wait this is going to be fabulous, I can sit back and watch someone else get beaten up by him, or maybe vice versa
,
he gets a butt kicking session. Oh yeah, can’t wait to see what today brings. We ate breakfast and went to Vulcan’s class, but there was no Vulcan to give us a class, as we stood there looking at one another wondering what the hell do we do now?

“Let’s go crash in the zone,” Nanini said, and turned around to start in the direction. But she only made it three steps, and the moment she turned her head away from us to look into the direction she was heading into, she bumped into one hell of a big guy. Behind him six more guys stood looking at us. Vulcan stepped around them to stand in front to face us.

“Morning
Apprendo’s
today we start something new. Come, we go to the arena,” Vulcan instructed and turned around to start the long walk to the arena. The new guys just stood there, arms crossed and looking at us. Okay, so instead of one Chax we now have seven, just freaking great. Slowly Nanini was the first to walk by them to follow Vulcan. They just stepped aside and let her walk through them, their eyes watching her every step.