Fox Among the Demons

by Trudie Collins

  “Goodnight Lucy,” Natasha said before heading to her own room. It did not take her long to fall asleep and, despite her fears that she would, she did not dream about Komi.

  Invisibility

  “Where are you going?” Bolene asked when she saw her brother doing up his jacket. It was early in the morning and she was still in her dressing gown.

  “I’m going to spy on Natasha,” Komi said. “I want to know more about her; where she goes, what she does. It’s Monday, so she’s probably going to work.” Lukine had been working in his study when Komi arrived home after his ‘date’ with Natasha the previous Saturday night, so he had been able to tell his family and Fox everything he had found out about her.

  Bolene rolled her eyes. “That’s called stalking, not spying.” Komi ignored her. “She’s not going to want to see you again if she sees you following her.”

  Komi smiled at her. “That’s why I am not going to let her see me.” He pulled back one sleeve of his jacket, revealing the bracelet on his arm. He had the matching one of the pair on his other arm. These were not ordinary pieces of jewellery. They were invisibility bracelets, enchanted by wizards to make their wearer invisible to all except those who wore a chain around their neck which contained the counter-spell.

  Bolene frowned at him. “Those are only meant to be worn for hunting,” she said. “And only if we are worried about humans seeing us.”

  “I am hunting. I’m hunting information.” Before she could say more, Komi turned around and walked out of the room.

  He rode his motorbike to Natasha’s house, but there was no sign of her car in the driveway. That posed him a bit of a problem. It either meant she had already left or it was still in the garage. He parked a little way down the road, where he hoped she would not recognise his bike if she saw it, then activated his bracelets.

  Confident that nobody would be able to see him, he walked back to Natasha’s house and peered in through the garage window. Her car was there; she had not left yet. Then he realised that might not be true. She could have walked to a bus stop or been picked up by a friend.

  He was still debating what to do when he heard the garage door opening. He had stopped looking inside as soon as he had spotted her car so hadn’t seen her enter the garage from the internal door. The sound of the automatic door rising made him jump in surprise.

  As Natasha backed out of her driveway, Komi ran to his motorbike. He waited until she had driven past him before deactivating his bracelets. He couldn’t ride his bike while he was invisible; it would attract too much attention. He could imagine the reaction if humans saw what they thought was a riderless bike driving down the street. The image made him chuckle as he started the engine and pulled away from the kerb.

  Keeping well back so that Natasha would not spot him, he followed her to the train station. He parked up, checked nobody was watching him, then reactivated his bracelets. Invisible to the human eye, he jumped the barrier and followed her onto the platform.

  Catching a train while nobody could see him would be risky, especially if it became crowded, so he ducked into the bathroom and turned himself visible once more. He couldn’t do it in public as suddenly materialising on a crowded platform would attract attention.

  Making sure he kept other people between himself and Natasha’s line of sight, Komi caught the same train as her and disembarked at her station. He had to make himself invisible once more before jumping the barrier and almost lost her when he went into the bathroom to activate his bracelets, but caught sight of her just before she rounded a corner.

  He walked into a large, grey, stone building behind her and breathed a silent sigh of relief when she was the only person to get into the elevator. He moved into the corner and watched her press the button labelled 10.

  As the lift ascended, he looked her up and down, taking in her smart skirt and blouse as he travelled his way down to her bare legs. Her flat shoes looked comfortable, but boring. He couldn’t help thinking that high heels would have given great shape to her calf muscles.

  Something seemed to be bothering her. She was frowning and kept looking around her. The elevator pinged and the door opened, but before stepping out, she turned around and looked directly at him. There was no way she could know he was there; it was not possible that she had a necklace with the counter-invisibility spell. Besides, if she could see him she would have spoken to him, wouldn’t she? It was almost as if she could sense his presence. One more thing that would need explaining. Komi would have to bring it up with his siblings and Fox.

  He managed to exit the elevator before the doors closed and followed Natasha to her desk, where she took her laptop out of her bag. While it was booting up, she slipped off her shoes and replaced them with ones which had been under her desk. Komi could not help smiling when he noticed the size of the heels. They must have been four, maybe five inches, making her a little taller than him when she stood up straight.

  He spent the day watching her work, following her as she walked around the office. It was not crowded so he had no problem avoiding people and preventing them walking into him, but he was not able to go into any of the meeting rooms with her, having to impatiently wait outside instead.

  At the end of the day, he followed her home, once again making himself visible for the train ride.

  It was late by the time he made it home, having stayed outside Natasha’s house until late into the evening, just in case she went out again. Everyone was in the lounge when he walked in.

  “Where have you been?” Lukine asked him.

  Komi glanced at Bolene, who nodded her head. If Komi was going to insist on going out regularly to follow this young woman, they would not be able to keep things from her husband for long so they might as well tell him everything.

  “I’ve been checking out a young woman we met the other night.” Lukine rolled his eyes. He was used to his brother-in-law chasing women. “She understands our language.”

  That got Lukine’s attention. “How?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat.

  Komi shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea, and neither does she. So far, she seems like a normal human.”

  A pained look crossed Lukine’s face. “How do you know this, may I ask?”

  Komi grinned. “I’ve met with her a couple of times.”

  “And told her what, exactly?” Lukine had a feeling he was not going to like the answer.

  “Pretty much everything.”

  Lukine put his head in his hands. “Bless the Creator. What did I do wrong to end up related to you? We are going to be in so much trouble when we report this.”

  Bolene walked behind her husband’s chair and began rubbing his shoulders. “Then let’s not report it.”

  Lukine lifted his head and turned to look at her. “Are you insane? We have to report it.”

  “Why?” Fox asked. “What is there to report? We can tell the council everything when we know more. Why waste their time now? All they will say is ‘investigate’.”

  “What if they find out?”

  “They won’t. How can they?”

  Lukine considered Fox’s words carefully. While he had always obeyed the council’s rules and knew he should report the matter immediately, what Fox was saying made sense. He didn’t want to bring his family to the attention of the council unnecessarily and if they managed to find out anything useful, they might be recalled home. He hated living on Earth and was constantly trying to persuade his wife to leave her family and return to their homeland.

  “Alright,” he finally said. “I will agree to keep quiet. For now.”

  Bolene kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

  Komi regarded his brother-in-law. Even sitting down, he looked tall. When standing, he towered over his short wife. They made an odd couple; her slim frame offset his more bulky body. Her red hair clashed with the hint of blue in his blonde hair and her brown eyes looked dull next to his bright blue ones. When seen together, his good looks m
ade Bolene seem plain.

  Komi liked Lukine and thought his sister had done well for herself. Though he could sometimes be a little stern, the two men usually got on well and Lukine could occasionally be good company.

  “Tell us everything you know,” Trey said, interrupting his brother’s thoughts.

  Komi smiled once more, sat down and told them all about his day.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  As the days passed, Komi continued to spy on Natasha. The only thing she appeared to do, other than go to work and run most evenings, was a line dancing class, which he found amusing. He made himself invisible before entering the building and spent the following two hours watching her and the rest of the class dance to a mixture of tunes; country, sixties and modern day pop music, among others. By the end of the class he was no clearer as to why anyone would find repeating the same steps over and over again until the next song came on enjoyable.

  The day of their next ‘date’ arrived and he felt a little nervous as he rang the doorbell.

  “Come round the back,” he heard her voice call out and he made his way to the back garden, where he found her sitting at her table, typing on her computer once more.

  He knew he was pushing things when he walked over to her and tried to give her a kiss on the cheek, but he had not been expecting her to pull away and forcefully tell him to take a seat.

  “Why have you been following me?” she asked. She did not sound happy.

  Komi squirmed in his seat. How had she spotted him? He had been invisible most of the time. He felt a little embarrassed at being caught out. “You intrigue me.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at her as he spoke so he kept his head down and his eyes on the table. “You are a mystery that I am determined to solve. In order to do that, I have to know everything about you.”

  “You could have just asked me. Following me around and spying on me is kind of creepy.”

  Bolene had said almost the same thing to him. He couldn’t understand their attitude. He assumed it was a female thing and put it from his mind. “Would you have answered all of my questions?” He looked up as he spoke, wanting to see her reaction when she answered.

  She didn’t avert her gaze from him when she said, “Maybe.”

  Komi relaxed back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “Let’s find out. What’s with the dance class?”

  Natasha shrugged. “It’s good exercise and it’s fun.”

  “I’d like to see your definition of fun. It looks boring.”

  “Try it.”

  “No thanks.”

  Something in the conversation bothered her and she suddenly realised what. “Hang on. How do you know about my dance class?” It would be impossible for him to be in the room, watching, without her being able to see him.

  Komi squirmed in his chair once more and looked unsure of himself. It was in stark contrast to his usual egotistical, self-assured manner. “I’m not sure I can tell you that.”

  Natasha smiled at him. “Tit for tat. I answered your question now you have to answer mine if you expect me to tell you anything else.”

  Komi nervously fiddled with the communicator in his pocket, unsure whether he should call Fox or Bolene to ask permission to tell Natasha about the invisibility bracelets. Lukine had not been happy about what she had been told so far so he definitely would not want Komi to mention this. Then again, Lukine wasn’t in charge.

  “I can make myself invisible,” he said. The look on Natasha’s face told him she did not believe him. He held out his arms, revealing his two bracelets. “These are invisibility bracelets. When I activate them, nobody can see me, unless they are wearing a necklace with the counter-spell.”

  He didn’t need to look at Natasha to know she was staring at him incredulously. He would have to demonstrate. He activated the bracelets and disappeared.

  He could not help smiling as he watched Natasha jump back in fright, knocking over her chair. “Jesus Christ.”

  Komi had no idea what the term meant, but he had heard humans use it a lot. He could tell her to calm down and not be scared, but she would not be able to hear him. As well as hiding his image, the bracelets also suppressed any noise he made, including speech.

  He deactivated the bracelets, letting himself become visible once more. “Don’t be afraid,” he said when he saw how pale Natasha had gone. He removed a chain from around his neck and placed it on the table in front of her. “I’m going to disappear again. When I do, put this on.”

  She made no move to return to her seat as she watched him vanish once more. Tentatively she reached out and took the necklace, placing it around her neck. Almost instantly Komi appeared again. He was grinning at her.

  “How?” she asked as she sat down.

  Komi winked at her. “Magic.”

  She took the chain off and held it out to him, or at least to where his hand had been before he vanished once more. He deactivated his bracelets before taking it and returning it to its proper place.

  He couldn’t work out if she was scared or excited, but her voice shook as she said, “It’s all true, isn’t it? Everything you have told me is real.”

  “Yes, it is,” he said as calmly as he could. If she believed him, he was making progress. “How do you feel?”

  “Like life will never be the same again.”

  Communicator

  On Bolene’s orders, outwardly Komi stopped spying on Natasha, though he did still sneak out some evenings to do so without his sister knowing. Komi and Natasha continued to see each other once or twice a week, but she still wouldn’t let him in the house, even on the evenings when it was raining. Their friendship grew, though she never gave him any indication that she was interested in anything more. Not that he told his family that. As far as they were concerned, he and Natasha were dating.

  Natasha’s thirst for information was insatiable. She wanted to know everything about Komi’s life, where he came from and his friends and family. He told her everything she wanted to know but, while she answered all of his questions, he felt he still didn’t know much about her.

  One evening he took a device out of his pocket and held it out to her. It was about the same size as a mobile phone, but there were only four buttons and no visible screen. There were no keyboard letters or numbers on it anywhere.

  “This is a communicator,” Komi explained. “Kind of like your mobile phone. With it I can speak to anyone who has one, either on Earth or Yong. This one is for you. I have programmed it with details of my communicator and that of everyone I live with.”

  He held out the small black object and Natasha tentatively took it. “How does it work?”

  Komi pointed to the top button. “That switches it on and off. It will faintly glow red when it is on. The one below you press to make or answer calls, the bottom one is to hang up or ignore an incoming call. The one on its own on the left is a mute button; it allows the person you are talking to to hear you but block out any sounds coming from them.”

  That wasn’t the way mute buttons usually worked, but Natasha didn’t comment. “Sounds simple. How do I select who to call?”

  “It’s voice activated. You just say the name of the person you want to speak to and, as long as they have been programmed in, it will call them. Try it. Switch it on and call me.”

  She did as instructed, but hesitated before saying his name. “Do I have to use your full name?”

  Komi smiled at her. “No. If there are a number of people with the same name stored in it, it will ask you which one you want.”

  “And my accent won’t matter?”

  Now it was Komi’s turn to pause. The fact that she spoke English instead of his own native language should not matter, as she was only saying names, but he could not be certain. “It shouldn’t do.”

  Natasha pressed the call button, said his name, then waited for something to happen. She heard a noise and Komi took his own communicator out of his pocket and pl
aced it on the table. It was vibrating as well as beeping.

  He pressed the ‘ignore’ button and the beeping stopped. Natasha put her device to her ear, but couldn’t hear anything; the connection had been cut off. She looked at the communicator carefully, turning it over as though she was searching for something.

  “How do I know if I have had a missed call?”

  “You don’t.”

  “How do I leave or retrieve a voicemail?”

  “You don’t.”

  “How do I know who is calling me?”

  “You don’t.”

  “Pretty useless compared to my mobile then. I can’t even send a text message.”

  “Maybe, but this will allow you to contact me if I ever go back to Yong. Your mobile won’t.”

  “And why would I want to contact you?” Natasha was smiling as she spoke so Komi knew she was just teasing him.

  “Let me show you how to program in a contact. I haven’t programmed yours into mine yet.” He pressed and held down his ‘dial’ button and said her name. He could see her look of surprise when the machine spoke. Its voice was so human-like it was eerie. It told him that there was no such contact and asked if he would like to add one. He took Natasha’s box from her hand and placed it near his own, so close it was almost touching. Then he hit the ‘dial’ button again and the machine told him that the contact had been added.

  “Simple,” he said and held her communicator out to her once more.

  “Why have you given me this?” she asked. “And why have you programmed in all of your family?”

  Komi didn’t immediately respond. He knew what he wanted to say, but was unsure if he was doing it too soon. Natasha opened her mouth to repeat the question but he responded before she could verbalise the first word.

  “I want you to meet them. You now know what sort of creatures are out there. I want you to learn all about the things we kill and how to defend yourself against them. I want Fox to teach you.”