For ten years, the last Reaper’s Apprentices hid in the shadows and lived like humans would. They went to school, finished up their degrees, and got some jobs where they could mingle with other people. However, there was an emptiness in their lives. They had to pick up the pieces and didn’t know where to start. They needed help and they were going to find it in the most unusual place of all.
Enter the demon slayers. Specifically, they were a group of demon slayers in DS461. Trip Duncan led the team of himself, Alex Ruteger, Dylan Grier, and Cole Sawyer. The girls found them when they were fighting off a group of demons. Upon seeing them, they saw that they had a chance to fix the world. They could do this together and the four demon slayers were easy to convince. They realized what these demons were telling them and decided to help out. It seemed like the smartest decision. So far, things were moving slowly but surely towards the right direction.
The guys had their own rough back story. They were all young when they had become demon slayers, but were forced to grow up quickly. A few years ago, they were ambushed by demons that had been fighting on the beach. None of them were prepared for anything so they fought the best they could. Unfortunately, they lost their leader, Corwin Weaver, in that battle. They were also tortured and beaten badly because they had been so unprepared. All four of them wanted to die after that moment. Somehow, they had been found and taken to the hospital to recover. The physical pain was bad enough, but losing Corwin hurt even more. Corwin was the experienced one in their group, the one they all looked up to. He had helped train all of them and brought out the best that they could be. He was their older brother to them and now he was gone.
Once Corwin died, Trip became the new leader of DS461. He was the one who was the most depressed. He had admired Corwin from a distance and wished that he could be half the leader that he was. Now that Corwin was gone, he had to be the leader. He had to be strong when everyone else wasn’t. The tragedy also fanned some flames of vengeance. All four of them wanted to find the demon who ended Corwin’s life and take care of them once and for all. They weren’t going to rest until they did. They trained harder and became better demon slayers. They were no longer the excited young men they had been when all this started. Now they were grown up, stronger, and wiser. They knew what they wanted and were certain they were going to avenge Corwin along with all their other fallen friends from that night.
Now the two groups had found each other and they all wanted the same thing; to bridge the giant gap that had been made by humans and demons. They didn’t know how they were going to do it, but they had to do it. To the world, they were four couples. Deep down, they knew what they really were.
At least, that was what they thought they were.
II
It was only two days before Christmas that everyone decided to go out to the movies. There was nothing great out, but they just wanted to be out of the house. Everyone was now on holiday from work and tonight felt like a great night to go on a date. Once in a while, they had to keep this image up for everyone else. Plus, they all wanted to go out and just enjoy each other’s company. The movie was nothing special but dinner and just walking around the neighborhood made up for it. When they came back home, the complaints about the movie began.
“Well, that movie sucked,” Alex said. “I swear there hasn’t been anything good out in ages. I wanted to see something, but I didn’t think it would be that bad. I guess next time if we want to go somewhere, I’ll check out a concert or something.”
“Oh, I was looking for a concert, but there was nothing coming here for the next few months,” Rosemary said. “I guess that it’s because of the holidays. Plus, the weather’s getting colder and it’s hard to go anywhere and places are closing down early.”
“I’m just glad I got all the shopping done now,” Debra said. “It’s strange that this is the first Christmas we’re going to spend with some...people for a change. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to celebrate Christmas in the first place. I’ve never had to buy for anyone besides my parents and a few close friends. Now I’ve got all of you. I also never realized how hard it is to buy something for a man.”
“Well, I’m sure I’ll like whatever you get me,” Dylan said. “Do you guys have any other plans for the holiday?”
“We never do,” Suzanne said. “Christmas isn’t something that demons really celebrate to be honest. We exchange gifts, but that’s probably as far as we go. We tend to keep to ourselves during the holidays and don’t really do much until the crowds and holiday cheer have died down a little. It just doesn’t seem like a time for demons to hang out and do anything.”
“Yeah, I guess that explains why we don’t hunt demons during Christmas,” Cole said. “You guys are pretty much hibernating.”
“In a way, yeah,” Suzanne nodded. “Of course, we still have to mingle with people and go to their Christmas parties and exchange gifts with them. It’s something we’ve been doing for a while, but it always feels so strange.”
“Look on the bright side. You’re done with shopping,” Trip said. “All the parties are done with. You won’t have to worry about anything until after Christmas.”
They had been home for about ten minutes when they heard a knock at the door. They all turned to look at one another wondering if any of them were expecting a friend over.
“Who can that be at this hour?” Tiffany asked. “We weren’t expecting company besides you.”
“Let me go and check,” Debra got up and headed to the door. She peered through the peephole and saw someone that she hadn’t seen in years. “Oh my God! How? When?!”
“What is it?” Suzanne asked.
Before anyone else could react, Debra opened the door and there was an older woman standing behind it. Her thick curly hair went down her back and she had several bags in her hands. “Debra! How has it been?!”
“How has it been? I haven’t seen you in ages!” Debra gave her a hug and let her get inside. “Come in! Oh God, I have no idea where to start with all this! Just...how did you know we were here?””
“Penny?" Tiffany squinted as she saw who showed up. Once she was confirmed, she practically jumped out of her chair. “Oh, hey! What a surprise!”
“Oh my God, what are you doing here?!” Rosemary shook her hand. “I can’t believe it! How did you find us?”
“Ah, you weren’t too hard to track down. It was the holiday time and I was in the area and I thought I would stop by to see my favorite girls!” Penny gave each of them a hug. “Oh, don’t get so formal with me! Just give me hugs here! We’re friends!”
“Yes, we’re friends,” Suzanne agreed. “Still, you should have given us a call. You didn’t need a cab to bring you here.”
“Oh, but I wanted to surprise you!”
“I would have still acted surprised.”
“There’s no fun in that though. Besides, I just wanted to see your reactions. I haven’t seen all of you in so long!” Penny exclaimed. “You’ve all grown up so nicely! It’s hard believe that the last time I saw you, you were just little kids!”
“Well, we were technically teenagers,” Tiffany said. “I was an adult by then. I know we had to say goodbye so suddenly, but it was for the best. We had to stay away and grow up away from everyone. In the end, I think it helped us out.”
“I know it did.” She noticed then that they had company. “Who are you friends over here? You haven’t introduced me to them.”
“Yeah, we are still here,” Alex waved at her. “I hate to interrupt this reunion but…”
“Oh, right!” Rosemary exclaimed, pointing to each of the guys. “These are Trip, Alex, Dylan, and Cole. They’re our friends.”
“Special friends?” Penny winked at them.
Alex held up his hand. “Oh, we haven’t gone that far yet. We’re just friends right now.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to give me details. Anyway, it’s nice to meet all of you. I ho
pe you don’t mind me crashing for a few days over here. Of course, I can always check into a hotel...”
“No hotels,” Suzanne shook her head. “I’m not going to make you spend money when we’ve got enough room in our apartment here. In fact, you can take my room. I’ll just sleep on the couch for the night.”
“Oh, Suz, you don’t have to do that,” Penny said. “I can take the couch for the time being.”
“No, I’m not going to hear that. You are taking my room and that’s final,” Suzanne said. “Now come on. Let’s get you settled in and we’ll have some coffee together. We have a lot to catch up on! I want to hear everything!”
Debra turned to the guys. “Oh, but we also have company.”
Trip held up his hands. “Hey, take your time. It’s been a while since you’ve seen each other. You have a lot to catch up on. We’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, tomorrow,” Rosemary agreed. “You take care of yourselves, okay? Have a good night.”
Once they had seen themselves out of the door, Trip led the others far from the apartment so they could talk in private. He didn’t want anyone else to listen in on their conversation. Now was the time to stop being boyfriends and start acting like the demon slayers they were.
Trip turned to his friends. “Do you feel like something’s wrong here?”
“Well, I’m feeling a little left out, but that’s expected,” Alex said. “They’re meeting up with an old friend that they haven’t seen in a while. Of course, they’re going to forget about us.”
“No, I don’t mean that. I’m getting a weird vibe here.”
“A weird vibe?” Dylan asked. “I don’t know why. I mean, yeah, it’s sudden that she dropped by, but not unusual. I’ve had friends drop by without telling me. That doesn’t mean that they’re odd or anything.”
“I know. It’s just that I keep looking at her and thinking she’s got a bigger reason for being here,” Trip said. “I don’t think it’s just to catch up with old times. I think she wants them for something else. I just can’t figure out what.”
“So you think she has an ulterior motive,” Cole said. “What do you want us to do? Do you have a plan?”
“Not really. I mean, I don’t want to rush into anything if this turns out to be nothing. It’s just a vibe I’m getting. All I want to do is find out more about her. Do me a favor and ask her questions. Don’t try to be too obvious that you’re prying. Just talk to her like normal. Find out her true intentions. Don’t attack or anything like that. I want to figure out who she really is.”
“The girls seem to know who she is. I think if anyone were to notice something wrong, they would. Still, if you suspect something, we’ll keep our eyes peeled.”
“Thanks,” Trip said, staring up at their apartment. The lights were on but he couldn’t see any of their shadows. He didn’t know why he was worrying so much. The girls could take care of themselves. They could sense danger. They had nothing to fear.
Yet that worry still lingered in his mind.
III
Checking up on the new guest was not as easy as they thought. Even when they came back the next day, they didn’t really find out anything new. Penny wasn’t giving away too much information. She admitted that she had been friends with the girls for the last ten years. After the massacre at Tartarus Sanctum, she lost touch with them. She knew they had survived and that they had gone to live with their families. It was for the best that they grew up normally and stayed low while tensions were high. They also found out that Penny could use magic and make weapons out of it. It was all fascinating, but none of it made her a threat.
“What do you guys do?” She asked Trip. “You work in a business together or something?”
“Oh,” Trip turned bright red, knowing that they did work together for something. It was just something that very few people knew about. “Well, we have a business on the side but we also have our day jobs. I’m in grad school, for example, and I teach political science at the university.”
“I give my opinion about things no one cares about,” Alex chimed in. “You’ve probably seen my column in the newspaper. Truth is I don’t give a damn about these things either. I just pretend I do and I make money of it.”
Penny chuckled. “I like you! I like all of you! I don’t know where they found you, but I’m glad they did! I want you to keep them happy for as long as possible. I think you can do that.”
“Yeah, we’re glad to find them too,” Dylan said. “It’s been an interesting time together, but we’re learning more and more about each other.”
Penny raised her eyebrow at that. “Oh, really? What kind of things?”
Tiffany was quick to jump to his defense. “He’s just talking about things like learning our favorite food and the places we like to go and stuff like that. Basically, the kind of stuff that you tell your friends.”
Penny accepted this answer, but Trip was still feeling funny about the way she reacted. If Tiffany had told her more, then he imagined her reaction would be a lot worse. He didn’t want to go into the fact that they were demon slayers. As long as both sides kept to themselves, they were going to be fine. He looked over at Debra for a second and nodded.
“Do you mind if I talk to you in private?” He asked.
“I actually need to talk to you as well,” Debra nodded. “Let’s go to my room. Can you guys excuse us for a second?”
“Go on ahead,” Penny said as they disappeared into Debra’s room. “I’ll be chatting over here.”
“Thanks,” Debra closed the door behind her and looked at Trip. “What is it?”
“I hate to be the person to say this, but something doesn’t feel right,” Trip said. “I know she’s your friend and you trust her but I’m getting a strange feeling.”
To his surprise, Debra didn’t get angry at this. “I’m glad I’m not the only who’s suspicious of Penny.”
“You’re suspicious of her too? Why?”
“She seems different to me, but I can’t pinpoint what it is yet,” Debra admitted. “I hate that I lost touch with her when we were younger. I’m glad she’s going to spend the holidays with us, but I can’t help wondering why she’s really here. I feel like has an ulterior motive.”
“You want me to keep an eye on her?”
“No, I don’t want her to think you’re following her or anything. After all, she doesn’t know that you are all demon slayers. I don’t want to know what her reaction would be fine if she finds out. Just lay low for now. I’ll keep my eye on her. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I think we’ll get to the bottom of this visit soon.”
“So you don’t think she’s just here for the holidays?” He mused. “If you want, I can raid her room for you.”
“Don’t do that. People need their privacy. Still, if she says anything that strikes you as odd, let me know.” She looked around the corner to make sure no one else was there. “I feel bad for thinking like this but her sudden appearance is strange. I’m curious what she got me for Christmas. Why drop by now? Why not last year or the year before or any time in between? I don’t know. Maybe I am paranoid, but I’m not sure I’m ready to trust her.”
“Well, I promise I won’t do anything unless you want me to,” he said. “I wish I could let her stay with us because we’ve got more room. Of course, she’ll also find out what we really do at night. It would be hard to go and come with a demon staying there. Let’s not forget that that is actually my boss’ house. He would never allow it.”
“It’s okay. We’re going to manage,” she said. “I doubt Penny will be hanging out with us for long. She already told us that she’s staying for two days. She’ll give us our presents and then she’s heading off.”
“Where is she going?”
“That, I don’t know. She said that she had to get away for a while but she wanted to make a stop here. I’m not sure what this surprise is, but I hope it’s good.”<
br />
“Just be careful.”
“I will. You just don’t need to worry about a thing, okay?” She told him. “Try to act normal around her. Everything will be fine.”
He wanted to believe her and he had no reason to doubt her words. She seemed fine and was enjoying Penny’s company. Penny hadn’t said or done anything to warrant any suspicion. She was just a good friend visiting her old friends after a long time. She might have been a demon, but she didn’t attack anyone. She was friendly, fun, and had a lot of stories to tell. Everyone else was enchanted by her. So why wasn’t he?
IV
The guys left an hour later so it gave everyone else a chance to talk with Penny alone. They still weren’t sure whether to tell Penny more than she already knew. During coffee, she kept looking at the pictures that were now on the wall. In recent times, they had taken some photographs with each other. It made their place look a little brighter and feel more like home. They looked like couples in them.
“Hanging out with humans, huh? If I were in your position, I would probably be running far from them,” Penny murmured. “I don’t know how you do it. I don’t know how you can look at them and not want to hurt them.”
“Why should I hurt them? They’ve done nothing to me.” Tiffany said.
“I know, but I was just thinking about a demon’s nature. Demons and humans are enemies and I know a lot of demons crave human flesh. They have the hardest time just standing next to a person, let alone talking to them. You are strong to be around them.”
“It’s not really strength. You just have to treat people the way you want them to treat you,” Suzanne said. “I try not to think about the fact that they’re people. I just focus on the good times that we have.”
“Good times, is it? I was just thinking about how fast time flies,” Penny said. “It’s been ten years since the massacre at Tartarus Sanctum. Ten years since our lives changed forever. I kept hoping that you were growing up strong and not letting anything get to you. I’m glad to see that you’ve all stuck together.”
Christmas in the City II Page 31