Paranormal Academy

by Limited Edition Box Set

  Daniel approaches, and briefly our eyes meet. He looks away, and a heaviness sinks in my stomach. He’s returned to unfathomable.

  “Why is this our last training day?” Sarah asks him in a small voice.

  “We don’t have time to lose. The demons are stealing souls at a faster rate than we can collect them,” he says brusquely. “The high angels need as many soulhunters in the field as we can spare.”

  “So you send out larger numbers of semi-trained soulhunters and hope some survive?” I ask.

  I’m echoing our conversation last night and wait for his reaction. “We are careful who we select to train.” He pauses and looks at me expressionlessly. “Usually.”

  Close by, Layla sniggers. “And I thought you were his favourite. What happened?”

  I grit my teeth “Favourite? Haven’t you seen him using me as an example what not to do?” I snap. “If that’s how he treats someone who’s his favourite, I’d hate to be someone he doesn’t like.”

  Daniel moves from pair to pair, checking they have their daggers and soul crystals. Despite everything, I’m suspicious, especially as he blanked me again today. I understand more why Daniel fights this. Underneath he’s as raw as I am, forcing down the vulnerability this causes. Last night I caught a glimpse of someone he once was—or maybe wants to be.

  The Daniel I saw last night may be different to the tough-talking trainer, but he has a hidden agenda. Maybe part of that agenda involves seducing naive recruits he’ll never see again.

  The two soulhunters standing with Daniel disappear in a flash of light. He nods at us to approach. “Come.”

  As I wait for the light to engulf and transport me, I attempt to read Daniel’s thoughts but his blank, unreadable game face remains.

  “See you soon, Ava.”

  Ava. Not ‘girls’—Ava.

  Does he think Sarah will die?

  The ground lurches, light searing my mind, as my body is flung into chaos. I open my eyes to the same alleyway as before but with Sarah this time. The sun hangs low in the sky, not long until the day darkens into evening and cover.

  “Oh. I expected it to be dark already,” says Sarah.

  Her gaunt face worries me—as does her wide-eyed confusion. I hope to hell she won’t freeze on me.

  “Isn’t daylight better? We can spend time acclimatising. Hunting instead of reacting when a demon jumps us.”

  Sarah looks at me doubtfully. “I thought we needed to find a demon, kill the thing, then take the soul and return.”

  “We’re hunters. Not collectors. There’s a difference.” I try to be gentle but I’m a bundle of frightened nerves.

  Smoothing her hair with shaking fingers, Sarah scans the alleyway. “Okay.”

  I see now what Daniel means—why so many fail. Sarah doesn’t have the tenacity needed to fulfil this role. Mingled with the frustration I’m paired with her is a sadness at the weakness she’s showing.

  I hope Sarah doesn’t die when I’m with her.

  *

  “No. Not a good idea,” I tell Sarah as she indicates the two, tall men walking by. I scrutinise them. One is blond, the other dark, both with unkempt hair and scruffy clothes.

  “They’re demons. There’re two of them, so we both collect a soul. Easy,” she says.

  The “two of them”’ part is what bothers me. Once darkness descended, Sarah shifted from fear to a false bravado I recognise. Wandering the streets looking for demons proved fruitless, so we walked to a local park. This was my idea. The part of the high angels’ world I’m desperate to see is the countryside. I long to be surrounded by colour and tranquility.

  After a couple of hours of waiting for demon passers-by, I become restless. Plenty of humans walk towards the nearby streets, taking a shortcut through the green area back to the urban sprawl. Only when we’re close enough can we sense whether the passers-by are demonic. My skin crawls when the guys Sarah pointed out approach and the aura reaches me.

  They don’t register us. I know we’re stronger than a lot of demons, but the reality of attempting to kill two worries me. How experienced are they? Because if they a veteran demons, I don’t think the fight would be fair.

  “Come on, before we lose them.” Sarah stands, glancing between their retreating figures and me.

  “I said, I don’t think taking on two is a good idea. Let’s wait.”

  “No! We’ve waited here long enough. Do you want Daniel to haul you back, as a failure with no souls? What happens to us if we fail?”

  I scrunch my nose. There’s no option to stay past a few hours. This is supposed to be a quick “kill and retrieve.”

  “Ava! Come on!” She pauses. “Or I’ll follow them alone.”

  Spilt second decisions never end well. But despite my instinct screaming at me not to walk into a dodgy situation, I stand and follow Sarah.

  14

  Keeping up with the demon guys is tricky, but luckily we don’t need to follow for long.

  Walking through the human world, I need to fight distractions every step of the way. The people, the buildings—even the way the streets are littered with rubbish. The odours mingle and confuse my senses.

  We reach another side street with a doorway. The two men push past a queue of people, their numbers winding around the corner. An illuminated sign above the brick building reads The Snake Pit, and I hope the name isn’t literal. Light and noise flood from the entrance. Two men the same size and build as the demons stand as security outside. We slip past distracted humans and follow the demons into the building.

  The darkness and noise immediately dulls my hunter senses. “What the hell is this place?” I yell over the music.

  Strobe lights pick out faces and bodies gyrating to the music, but this is nothing like any music I’ve heard before. Thumping beats and screeching guitars—shouting voices. The confusion of the sights and sounds deadens the ability to sense a demon. There’s no way we’ll find them now.

  “What do we do?” shouts Sarah in my ear.

  I hold my hands out palm upwards and shrug at her. All I want to do is get the hell out. My head aches from the noise, and the proximity of humans grosses me out. They’re not demons, but there’s something weird repulsing me—besides resentment for their freedom. A human back brushes against me, and I’m relieved I have my jacket on, so our skin doesn’t touch.

  We need to stay until we’re sure the demons have left, then at least try to slay them. Who knows how long it’ll take to find any other targets? Until we have souls to return to the angels, we’re stuck, and there’s no way I want to stay around here a minute more than I need.

  Sarah stands with the earlier terrified look on her face, and it strikes me the demons could’ve deliberately led us here as easy pickings. If they belong to this world, the cacophony around won’t bother them. This is their own hunting ground, and we’ve planted ourselves bang in the centre.

  I grab Sarah’s hand, perspiring as the awareness of danger grows. We need to leave. Now. Someone else crashes into us, and the sheer number of suffocating bodies grow by the minute. A new group push through, knocking us towards a dark corner.

  “Go!” I yell in Sarah’s ear, shoving her towards a door at the venue’s rear.

  She stumbles into the crowd, and in the time between my glancing at the door and looking back to her, she’s disappeared into the sea of humans.

  Fuck.

  Fear bolts through my veins. Where is she? I push my way through the crowds, hand on the dagger sheathed against my hip. Every moment I spend in this hell of a place, the dizzier and more confused I become. A strobing light picks out a blond head. One of the demons? I shove an unimpressed girl with a pierced face out of the way and move to the spot the blond man occupies.

  Gone.

  There’s a doorway nearby, and I yank at the handle. The door opens, and I slip through. A concrete-floored narrow corridor runs towards some steps, leading up to another door where a single bulb hangs above, and the walls are pain
ted stark black. The space is cool after the stifling atmosphere of the other room, and I heave in a breath. My senses return to normal, and I strain to hear or feel any other presence around. Nothing.

  Shit.

  I pad along the floor and up the small set of concrete stairs. Another door—a fire escape with a metal bar I push down on. The heavy door swings open into a narrow space between this building and the one opposite. I edge out, back against the wall and peer into the shadows. If Sarah’s lost, I need to leave. ASAP. And do what? Where do I go? The stars above mock me—stupid Fated girl who thought she could escape is paralysed in an unfamiliar world. Again.

  Movement in the dark catches my eye, and I hold my breath. Someone lurks nearby. Has he seen me? I’m well-blended into my own shadows and the figure remains still. A nearby door crashes open, and two figures stagger out.

  Sarah and one of the demons we followed. My anxiety morphs into panic as I watch the tall guy drag her across the alleyway. Sarah shouts out, and he hits her around the face. She trips to the floor, and the demon picks her up, slamming her against the wall. I cringe at the crack of her body, feet frozen in place. I need to help. But the other demon is close. I could suffer the same fate.

  “Where’s the other one?” he yells.

  “Inside somewhere, I think.” Sarah’s voice is broken, and I’m sickened the rest of her will be too as he throws her across the ground.

  “You soulhunters hardly ever survive. Why do they bother sending you?”

  Sarah doesn’t reply. Or move.

  What is it holding me to the shadows? This girl I went to school with, recently became friends with because we’re trapped in the same situation, is a victim. This world isn’t the same as our childhood anymore. We’re not kids.

  Will self-preservation stop me helping her? The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach is a reminder that who I am is who I’ll always be, however hard I try to bury her. Soulhunter Ava may have a “fuck you” attitude to match the one I’ve always had, but I could never run and save myself as someone dies in front of me.

  I creep up behind the demon, jump onto his back, and lock my legs around his waist.

  “Get the fuck off her!” I shout, holding the dagger against his throat. I hang on and hope to hell no other demons are around.

  “The other one! Fantastic—this saves me a job,” he says with glee and grabs my legs, easily disentangling them, and bucks me off. I manage to slash at him with the dagger, and he catches the blade as he knocks me to the floor.

  The demon touches his neck, then stares at the blood on his hands. “You soulhunter bitch!”

  Grabbing my hair, he drags me to my feet. In his eyes, I see death. Cool hands grip my throat as he squeezes, and I grapple with his fingers but have no strength. I stare back at him, willing the tears forming not to fall. His face fades, and lights dance in front of my eyes as I blacken towards a humiliating death in a back alley of the human world.

  15

  Someone drags me over their shoulder, and in my semi-conscious and upside-down state, I watch the tarmac pavement pass my face. The surrounding air still smells of the human world—I didn’t die and go to hell. Yet.

  Strong arms grip my legs, but I don’t have the strength to retaliate. The jolting of my assailant’s movements rattles my aching head, and I close my eyes, drifting back into the black. As I do, I’m struck that the person carrying me doesn’t smell of demon.

  He has a scent I recognise.

  I don’t know how long I black out for a second time, but I’m roused back to consciousness by a furious male voice I don’t recognise.

  “What the fuck are you doing bringing her here?”

  I open an eye. The ‘someone’ carrying me has dropped me in the corner of a room. The floor is uneven, and dirt smudges my hands as I push to sit. Metal beams crisscross the ceiling of the vast room, and the streetlight from the dirty window is the only light. Two men stand at the opposite end of the room. Men or demons? Their figures are half-hidden by the shadows. I remain quiet.

  “What else could I do? Leave her to die?”

  Hope surges at the sound of Daniel’s voice.

  “But you happily left the other?”

  “She was already dead.”

  The words push bile upwards, a shocking reality of how death follows me now.

  “The demon? Did it escape?” continues the angry man.

  “No.”

  “At least that’s one thing.” He pauses. “What happened to the soul?”

  Daniel replies in a low voice.

  “Why is the soul in the fucking crystal and not free? Break the crystal and let it go!”

  “No. I’m giving this one to Ava. She needs a soul to take back.”

  Am I dreaming? In my injured mess, everything is distant, as if reality is out of reach now.

  But my reality just changed again.

  “What for? She can’t go back now. And she’s not staying here—she’s a fucking liability. You know that.”

  “Ava hasn’t seen anything. Knows nothing.”

  “Apart from you bringing her here.”

  “She has no idea where she is.”

  The cough from my injured chest I’ve attempted to hold in bursts out, and Daniel spins around. He strides over, but the other man remains in the shadows. Daniel crouches down and pushes the crystal into my shaking hand. I look blankly at the orb.

  “What’s happening?” I ask.

  He touches my face. “You have what you came for now.”

  Through the dim, a softness in Daniel’s eyes forces the tears back into mine. “What happened to the demon?” My voice breaks. “To Sarah.”

  I drag myself to my feet and back away from Daniel, crystal in my hand. I look warily as the other man steps from the shadows. His close-cropped dark hair and sour face mix with a bulky frame to create a warning: this guy isn’t someone to mess with. He rubs his head with a large palm, eyebrows pulled tightly together.

  “Who’s he? A demon?” I ask Daniel

  The man snorts. “Do you think you’d be alive if I was a fucking demon, sweetheart?”

  Judging by the conversation he just had with Daniel, he’d prefer if I weren’t alive. I take in more of my surroundings. Old machinery and a strong smell of urine add to the feeling this derelict building isn’t a great place to hang out. I’m drawn to the large picture painted on the wall behind: a white circle with lines crossed through and like no symbol I’ve seen before. Where the hell am I?

  I want to curl up in a ball and close my eyes, so the nightmare will be gone when I wake up. My body aches, my head hurts, and someone died. Who am I fooling? I was never more than the scared Fated girl.

  “I can’t do this,” I whisper to Daniel, “I can’t do this….” My voice breaks, and I slump to the ground.

  Daniel squats back down and turns my head to face him. “Yes. Yes you can. You’re good.”

  “I nearly died. Again.”

  “I believe in you.”

  Blood streaks his cheek, clothes dishevelled, but his eyes hold a look of earnestness and determination I wish I shared. Why would he believe in me? I’m no different to Sarah. I only survived because Daniel helped. Again.

  “You should’ve left me to die. I’ll never survive once my training finishes.”

  “Listen to me, Ava. You can. Integrate with the humans when Darius sends you for souls. Watch carefully. Plan. And never recklessly pursue them. You know these things. Follow your instincts—you were almost there tonight before Sarah dragged you off the path you chose.” He pauses. “Work alone. It’s safer.”

  The man behind laughs. “Why give her false hope?”

  Daniel twists around to look at the man. “Are you saying our hope is false?”

  “Who knows? Maybe it is.”

  Daniel keeps looking at him, and something unspoken passes between the two men.

  “Oh no, no way. Not going to happen,” says the man in a low voice.

  “Tough shit
, Reuben. You’re not the boss of me.”

  The quiet standoff continues joined by my ragged breath.

  Ruben makes an exasperated noise. “Fuck, Daniel!”

  “I won’t be responsible for any more deaths. I’m done.”

  “Fine! Help her return to the academy, but you stay here.”

  When Daniel reaches out a hand to touch my hair, I know this is the end. In his eyes, the sadness I glimpsed last night is amplified. My breath hitches, and he leans his forehead against mine.

  Reuben huffs with displeasure. “And hurry up with your tender goodbyes, we have to leave. Now.”

  Daniel sits back on his heels, sliding his hand along my arm. “Wait here, and someone will come for you.”

  “Where are you going?” I ask in panic.

  “Nephilim,” remarks the other man, “Daniel’s coming with me to kill one. If he doesn’t return by tomorrow, he’s dead. Tell them—tell Darius.”

  What the hell is happening here? I sense I won’t see Daniel again because this man, whoever he is, is about to drag Daniel to attack something that will kill him.

  “What’s happening?” I whisper.

  “One day I hope you find out.” Daniel rubs my face with the back of his hand, and I wince as his gentle touch stings a wound on my cheek.

  No. “You’re leaving me here?”

  “They’ll come for you soon. You have the soul.”

  “What about you?”

  Instead of responding, Daniel leans towards me and places his mouth on mine. This time the kiss is soft. A goodbye kiss. I want more… for him to kiss me harder and hold me. I need Daniel to tell me this nightmare will end. But the nightmare is my life now.

  I want Daniel, and he’s leaving me. I pull away, tears streaking my face.

  “Hurry the fuck up!” growls Reuben.

  A figure charges through the door behind, throwing himself towards Reuben. Daniel stands in alarm, and I shrink back as two other tall figures barrel into the room. Yellow eyes gleam through the darkness. I saw yellow-eyed demons in Daniel’s pictures on the first day, but the ones I met in the field had human eyes. The demons’ eyes shining through the dark, an animal-like pupil in the centre, belong to a stronger breed.