Legions (15 page)

We decided to go to some of
the areas where the attacks were taking place to scope out the
surroundings and see if we could find anything. I doubted we would
find all that much. They were very good at being noticed when they
wanted to be and hiding when they didn’t want to be. Cyril and Arie
had gone to the library to grab some topographic information we
couldn’t get online and promised to be back by noon. I had about 30
more minutes before they would be home so I decided to go for a
walk.

I had started seeing Athen
in my dreams again, and I was pretty sure it was the real thing. I
think he was getting closer to finding his way home to us, and all
I could do was wait. I had scared him off enough already, first at
the library and again at the hospital where the poor guy was
supposed to be recuperating. I’m lucky he was on the same continent
let alone in the same area, or at least I hoped he was in the same
area. It was still pretty hard to track him down. Cyril and Arie
led me to believe that he was around, but for all I knew, that was
to keep me from going hysterical. I already felt on the verge more
often than not. I wanted to be held by him or have his familiar
laugh bounce off the walls. I now understood what he meant about it
being harder on him than me because he knew what he was missing,
and I had no recollection. I never thought I’d be the one with the
memories and he wouldn’t. It was pretty hard to fathom in such a
short time that so many things had reversed. Not only that, I
missed my little Matilda too. I worried about her a lot as well
since we couldn’t completely sense her, I didn’t know what that
meant either. I was trying my best to trust, but it was
hard.

I had wandered down into
town and was walking towards the sandwich shop when I felt the same
presence as on the beach. I stopped in my tracks and scanned the
sidewalk. I did my best to look as normal as possible, even though
my excitement level was building tenfold. My hands began to get
clammy, and I felt like my vision was going in and out. It was like
I was having a massive head rush, but I hadn’t moved. There was an
empty bench that was covered in leftover rain droplets, and I
didn’t care. I sat down immediately feeling the wetness penetrate
through my jeans doing nothing to bring me out of my fog. I
continued to scan the streets and sidewalk looking for someone who
I knew was impossible to find. The electricity began zipping
through my veins. I knew he was close. I didn’t know where. There
were city workers placing hanging baskets on the light posts and
street signs, a supposed welcoming sign of spring. All that did for
me was remind me that Athen still wasn’t with me, and the winter
season has almost already exited.

My cell phone began to
vibrate. It was Arie. I couldn’t answer it. I didn’t want to lose
this trace to Athen. As distant as it might be, I didn’t want to
lose it. A couple minutes passed by, and I received a text from
Arie. She was wondering where I went. Apparently my idea of only
being gone 15 minutes turned into 45, and they had made it home
already.

I didn’t want them to worry
needlessly so I texted back where I was. I knew they were going to
come get me. I wasn’t ready to leave. I had no choice though. I had
to also stay focused on figuring out the Legion’s modus operandi.
Their master plan was to have us all distracted, and it certainly
had worked better than I’d like to admit.

It was off to the first
beach where the latest attack had occurred. I’d be on my best
behavior and give my full attention to the task at hand. And on
that, Cyril and Arie pulled up to the sidewalk waiting for our
day’s adventures. I climbed into the back of the Jeep and shut the
door as I head Matilda’s bark chasing after us. I was sure of it.
Turning my head to peer out the back window, I saw nothing of
familiarity. There was no dog in sight.

“Let’s get going. I want to
show you the place where I was practicing. I think there is a
definite connection.” I said, trying my best to get back into the
reality of my life rather than the wishful imagery I kept tricking
myself into believing as a possibility.

We were about to our
destination, and I felt my nerves come to the surface a little. I
wasn’t exactly sure why since I was arriving this time with Cyril
and Arie, and before, I managed to fight and win against the demons
I ran into last by myself.

The day was fabulous for a
drive. We had finally had some sun for a few hours so lots of
things had started to dry out, which was kind of nice, especially
for our little hike. I’ve done it in the rain but not slipping and
sliding along the trails will certainly make a quicker trip for us
all, and I really liked the idea of getting in and out of the area.
The events were far too creepy.

The parking lot was far
more filled than when I had been there by myself. Good weather
brings out the people in droves, especially in the Northwest. It
was such a treat to get sunshine in the Northwest, particularly in
the spring.

The very beginnings of the
wildflower season was starting to make its introduction, and it was
a beautiful sight to be able to see the delicate, white flowers
peaking out from under the logs, and the pink florets guiding us
along the trails.

We began making our way
down to the beach, and I truly did feel safer in the company of my
family. The sea air was full of the salty dampness that I had come
to expect being so near the ocean. Feeling the moist air coat my
lungs made me appreciate the moment that much more. Laughter from
the families, who were already searching out the greatest finds in
the tide pools, brought me such happiness. Not having Athen by my
side as we made this trek, made my heart quiver but knowing that we
might be able to figure out the demons’ next move or prevent an
attack on any innocent victim made my day feel a lot more
important.

The scene was beautiful
with the rays of the sun dancing off the ocean, creating a clarity
in the tide pools as the sea life did its best to make the tourists
happy. I did my best to stay away from the slippery rocks, and I
think Cyril and Arie were appreciative since they didn’t feel like
doing any rescues on their inept in-law.

We climbed up the trail
that was now a lot less rough than when I was there last time after
a rain. The long sea grass bowed, leading the way as we climbed
further and further up the hill, leaving the families to play down
by the ocean. As I began scanning our destination as a predator, I
realized this would be an ideal spot for the next so-called cougar
attack. When we reached the top near the forest that I last
practiced at, I studied the landscape understanding completely now
why the demons would have chosen this for their possible next
stomping grounds, slash attack grounds.

“Wow, guys. I don’t know
why I didn’t think about it sooner. This place gets just enough
foot traffic to ensure a victim, but it’s far enough from the beach
and main groups to get away with it.”

“I think we may have found
the next attack site. What about you, Arie? Think we stumbled upon
it?” Cyril asked squeezing her neck muscles.

“Yeah, I’d say so. I’m
getting a really horrible feeling to match the
geography.”

“I agree. It’s like the
longer we stand here the worse it gets. I don’t know how I didn’t
pick up on it before.” I said, shaking my head.

“They may not have decided
on this place yet. It may have been a recent development.” Cyril
said, walking over to where I jumped from tree limb to tree limb
during my private practice session.

“Is this where you took
those guys out?” He asked, kneeling down touching his fingers to
the dirt.

“Yep, that’s the spot.
Why?” I wondered how he could find the exact spot out of the entire
field we were standing in.

“One of my special talents,
I guess we could say.”

“Really? You can scope out
battle places?” I asked laughing.

“Kinda,” Cyril said, unable
to resist, “I can figure out when battles have occurred, when
recent enough, and I can see how they ended.”

“That’s an odd skill.” I
said genuinely perplexed, unable to see how useful that could
be.

“You’re one to talk.” He
shook his head, throwing a pebble at my feet.

“I’m sure I’ll figure out
the significance of that at some point.”

A noise grabbed our
attention coming from the direction of the woods, and Cyril slowly
backed up towards where Arie and I were standing.

“Guess we aren’t alone.”
Arie whispered.

Feeling the same sensation
wash over me like many times before, I realized we were in the
presence of the dark demons. We very well may have stumbled upon
something yet again.

The figures began to emerge
from the dark wooded area and sure enough they were demons. Two of
them were the same from my last encounter. The two I took care of
were obviously easily replaced. They had been up to something
suspicious for sure. Their eyes meeting ours, I looked them over
realizing they didn’t actually seem to have any intent to try to
attack us, which seemed odd.

Before I knew it, I had
walked past Cyril to confront the strangers.

“What’s your intent here?”
I asked staring at the male, whose eyes were just as dead as the
others, but his teeth looked less threatening.

“I’m sure you read the
newspaper.” He replied wryly.

“Why don’t you tell Azazel,
that this is child’s play. If it is us he wants, why not come after
us. Why target such easy human prey?” I was searching them for
answers. Foolish in my thinking that they would actually be able to
reveal some sort of nuance that I’d catch as if they were close to
us or a mortal in their gestures.

“In fact, I’d love the
chance to tell him that myself.” I was beginning to wish that I had
kept my mouth shut, fear beginning to invade my
thoughts.

Cyril took a step forward,
standing next to me.

“Do you honestly think that
we’ll continue to allow this?” He asked, nudging himself closer to
the group of demons. Arie stood next to me as well, her body
stiffening in place as Cyril provoked the demons.

“You haven’t done anything
yet.” Replied one of the demons.

“That time has changed.”
Cyril’s body now slightly hovering over the ground.

I started laughing from
deep within.

“My suggestion is that one
of you run off to Azazel and invite him to a discussion with me.
I’d love to be able to hash some things out.” I said, grinning
widely, excited by my confidence. “In the meantime, whoever wants
to stay around for a match that I can assure you’ll not win, feel
free.”

My body shot towards the
demon closest to Cyril. A young minion like that was my best shot
for victory. My leg was stuck straight out as I stretched my entire
body in an attempt to knock the minion to the ground. Cyril began
to take out the one that appeared to be the leader, the one who
escaped last time. The ball of my foot landed directly in the chest
of my target.

“Make sure you leave one
capable of telling Azazel of our message.” Arie said
giggling.

We were obviously making
our threat viable enough as two of the demons fled back into the
woods. My only hope was that my message really would reach Azazel.
He was the key. It was time to escalate the situation, get the ball
rolling. Looking over at Cyril and Arie, I wasn’t sure they
agreed.

Chapter 19

It was dead silent. I
wasn’t really sure where I had wandered off to in this city. The
sun had set, leaving only the shadows of trees and lamp posts to
frighten me enough to think about turning around and going back
home. Doing my best to hop over the puddles that the latest
rainfall had brought, my mind wandered to Athen. Things felt so
pointless without him. My mind, body, and soul ached for him. I
wanted to be touched by him, or glance at his smirk, or stare into
his eyes - anything to remind myself that he truly existed. That
the last few months were not a dream turned nightmare. It was
foolish to think that my wandering would lead me to him somehow,
but it was the closest thing I had to hope. Doing every move wrong
in the book, from running into him at the library, to going out of
my way to see him at the hospital, put me in this
position.

When he was first taken
away from us, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t fall into the traps
that Athen fell into. I was going to follow the rules. I was going
to get him back quickly and without issue. That was the plan, and I
truly believed it. The pull I felt to him, however, was
indescribable. It was like a drug. A little was good at first, but
then I needed a little more…and after that, a little more. My first
little Athen fix at the library satisfied me for a little while but
not long enough. It was if the thought of losing him forever
couldn’t override the immediate need to be in his presence. It was
uncontrollable. I now fully understood how he messed up enough to
keep me away for 50 some years because at this rate, it seemed like
I was on track to do the same.

The one emotion that has
taken me completely by surprise, however, was the anger - the
madness that crept in when I least expected it. Anger at Athen for
not being able to fight the demons off, anger at myself for not
warning Athen, anger at Cyril and Arie for not controlling me
better. For instance, why am I trekking the streets of Victoria
hoping to run into him? Maybe they gave up on me playing by the
rules.