by K T Kaye
“Is that a sword!? How did I not notice that you had a sword!? Wait do I have a sword on my back too!?” I exclaimed as I searched my back for a sword.
“Not now Jason!”
“Ah Jason! What…? Did you sedate the Master of Darkness?” the man, called Mr Jet, asked.
“Yeah. I’m starting to regret it,” Angel muttered sheepishly as I pranced across the rooftop in search of a sword. I was having a wonderful time. I was blissfully unaware of how serious the situation was, and the fact that the vampire who’d murdered my mum was stood in front of me didn’t bother me in the slightest. I was quite happy searching for the sword that I was certain was strapped to my back.
“Jason!” Mr Jet shouted, I turned towards him, “I did tell you to pass on my message. If you had…”
“You would have killed his mum anyway,” Angel interrupted, “That’s what you do.”
“Still bitter I see. You know you should really learn to let things…” Before he could finish, a sword was pushed through his chest. The man’s body steamed. He pulled the sword from his body and swung it at his attacker. But his attacker had vanished. Suddenly the other man from the alley appeared by my side.
“How did you get here!?” I asked, “Are you also magic!? You have a sword! I have a sword too, but I can’t remember where I put it.”
“Angel what have you done to the Master of Darkness?” the man asked.
Mr Jet laughed. “Did you think your little sword would kill me? I’m disappointed in you Alex. I thought you were cleverer than this. What a shame. Jason take care. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
The man suddenly disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of black mist.
The mist pushed itself into my chest and out of my back before fading completely. I grabbed my chest. It burned, like there was a fire raging inside my body. I could hear people talking but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I fell to the floor. The pain was unbearable. It was as if a volcano was going off under my skin.
Then the world went black.
2
‘Where are the grapes?’
JASON
Is it weird that the first thing I thought of when I woke up was mint ice-cream? I suddenly got an intense craving for it. Is that weird?
“Hello? Can you hear me?” asked a voice.
“Yes. What happened…?” I groaned. My head hurt. It felt like someone had hit my head with a frying pan multiple times. I blinked continuously until my blurred vision finally settled. I was in a hospital room. Slowly sitting myself up, I looked around and saw Angel Night sat in the corner.
“Do you remember me?” she asked, “How are you feeling? You’re not still in search of a sword, are you?”
“You’re Angel Night. You’re a shapeshifter. And you did something to me!”
“Shhh! Don’t say that so loudly. Look I admit I did sedate you without your permission. I was trying to calm you down. I didn’t realise it’d make you go crazy and act like a drunk!”
“I…” I paused as the memories returned to me. My mum was dead. She had been killed by a vampire. A vampire. And the woman in front of me was a shapeshifter. Panic gripped my stomach once more.
“This is a lot to process,” Angel muttered, “Look I don’t really know the best way of explaining this to you but vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters, they’re all real. Very real. Jason are you okay?”
I nodded unable to speak.
“Your mum was killed by a very evil vampire. I’m really sorry. He killed my mum too. I don’t really know how to help you. I’ve never lived in the human world, so I don’t really know what your level of understanding is. I’m sure everything will become clearer once you’ve spoken to Willow.”
Angel reached forward and picked up a clipboard, “No poison. No internal damage. A clean bill of health, how fascinating.”
“What happened to my mum…?” I stuttered.
“We cleaned it up. Josie Dragonheart and her son both died in a robbery gone wrong.”
“Her son? I’m dead?”
“Yes but obviously you’re not actually dead. Danny created a brilliant illusion. He found an unnamed human corpse and made it look like you.”
“He what?”
“He created an illusion, so that if any human looks upon the corpse, they’ll see you.”
“That’s really creepy.”
“Maybe but it needed to be done. We had them bury you quickly. It was a simple service. It had a good turnout, admittedly most people who came were your mum’s friends, but your classmates turned up too,” Angel said awkwardly.
“I’m dead. My mum. Why did…why did he kill her? Who was he?”
“He goes by the alias Mr Jet. No one knows his actual name. He is, I suppose you could call him a terrorist, a paranormal version. He killed your mum most likely for fun.”
“Fun?”
“Yeah, that’s why he killed mine. He was also trying to get to you.”
“To me? Why?”
“That I think would be best left to another time. I have to go. I’m sure Willow will be able to explain things better than I can.”
“Willow?”
“You’ll meet her soon enough. She’s a member of my squad…as are you.”
“Pardon?
“You have been placed as a member of my squad.”
“Squad?”
“Demon Disposal Squad.”
“But why? I don’t want…I’m not…I’m human!”
“No, you’re not.”
“Excuse me…what are you…this is crazy! I’m dreaming! This is a nightmare! I’m human!”
“You aren’t human, you’re paranormal. Oh I’ll leave that for Willow. Just listen to this and remember, you are a part of my squad now, meaning you do as I say. I am not a fan of rules, so I have only one. If I say run, you run. If I say jump, you jump. If I say fight until you drop dead, you do just that, understood?”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t,” Angel sighed, “But you will soon, so remember what I just said if you want to stay alive.”
“You know normally when you get a visitor in hospital you get a ‘get well soon’ card or some grapes, not a warning,” I stared at her coldly.
“It’s not a warning, it’s a fact. This world you’ve entered is a hundred times more dangerous than the human world. And you’ve been thrown right into the deep end. I’m not trying to scare you; I’m trying to save you. I’m your Captain now so do as I say and maybe you’ll live a little longer. As for grapes, prove you’re worthy enough to be in my squad then I’ll bring grapes,” Angel stood up and headed down the ward.
I lay back as it hit me. My mum was dead. The woman who had given birth to me, fed me, and cared for me was gone, and she was never coming back. I tried to imagine her happy but all I could think of was her cold dead body lying in our living room. I hid my face in my pillow and cried.
* * * * *
A visitor appeared two hours later, in the shape of a tall black woman with curly hair decorated with a purple ribbon. She wore a big smile on her face and spoke with an Australian accent.
“Hi. I’m Willow Donovan. How are you feeling?” she asked.
I shrugged.
“Do you know what hit you? It was a death cloud, yet somehow you lived through it! You’re…it’s incredible!”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did I live through it? That old lady,” I shuddered at the memory.
“Because you’re the Master of Darkness!”
“The what?”
“Did you not know that you’re the Master of Darkness!?”
“I don’t even know what a Master of Darkness is.”
“How can you not know who the Master of Darkness is!? Oh wait, human world of course! How could you know, you’ve been living with humans this whole time! The Master of Darkness is the most powerful paranormal in existence, and he also happens to be you!”
&nb
sp; I stared at her. This girl was clearly mad.
“I’m not mad. I’m a telepath!”
“Another one?” Were none of my thoughts safe!?
“Angel isn’t a telepath, she’s a shapeshifter. Don’t worry your thoughts are safe. I try not to read people’s minds all the time,” Willow smiled, “I was being deadly serious about the whole Master of Darkness thing, I assure you. You really are, or will be with some training, the most powerful guy on the planet!”
“That’s a lot to take in,” I mumbled. I couldn’t be powerful! Powerful was not a word that had ever been used to describe me. Idiot on the other hand was a word that had been used frequently over the past eighteen years of my existence.
“Aww you’re not an idiot,” Willow smiled.
“Stop doing that!” I exclaimed grabbing my head.
“Sorry can’t help it. It’s because you’re new. My powers always go a bit out of control with new people.”
“Are you sure you’ve got the right guy? I’m no one!”
“You were treated unfairly in the human world, weren’t you? You were an outsider. Sorry I didn’t mean to read your mind. Humans tend to be cruel to people who are different. It’s not like that here. Jason, you’re the most important person in this world, and we need you.”
“That seems like a lot of pressure.”
“You did it before, you can do it again.”
“What…?”
“Oh damn it! I forgot to mention, you’re a reincarnation.”
“I’m a what!?”
“Reincarnation, it means…”
“I know what it means!” I snapped. This was quite a lot to take in. My mum had just been killed by a vampire, I had been saved by a shapeshifter and now I was a reincarnation! I felt like my head was about to explode. It was too much. Too much to take in. Too much to process. Panic quickly attacked my chest. I was human. I had to be human. I wasn’t a Master of Darkness, whatever that was. To me it sounded like I was the guy in charge of switching off lights.
Willow laughed, “The guy in charge of switching off lights! Ha that’s funny!”
“Stop reading my mind!”
“Sorry, but you seem to be having a bit of a mental breakdown. I swear it’s not as bad as it seems. We fight demons that are trying to escape from hell and want to destroy the world, ah I guess it’s quite bad actually, I probably shouldn’t have started with that!”
“Demons!? Hell!?”
“Yeah, but I promise it isn’t as bad as I’ve made it sound,” she laughed, “Come on, Skyjack said you have a clean bill of health. So get up, I’ll show you around.”
* * * * *
It turned out that I was on the main base of the Demon Disposal Squads. Demon Disposal Squads, like their name suggests, were in charge of disposing of and destroying demons. The idea that demons were real was something that I had a tough time dealing with, so I quickly blocked this notion from my mind and followed Willow like a lost puppy.
Willow briskly showed me round the base. She pointed out several buildings and told me what they were. I, however, was in such a nervous and overwhelmed state that I forgot everything she said the moment the words left her lips. There were only two buildings whose purposes stayed in my memory. The first was the tall dark manor house, which I was told belonged to the man in charge of the base, the Colonel. The second building was a large barn, in which multiple “mythical” creatures were training. I won’t lie to you, I almost fainted when a centaur waved in my direction. It wasn’t that I had anything against him, I’m sure he was a lovely horse man, but I hadn’t expected him to exist so the sight of him gave me a bit of a shock.
Willow led me away from the numerous training buildings and towards eight houses. The houses, I was told, belonged to the eight squads (Thunder, Wildfire, Tsunami, Avalanche, Tornado, Volcano, Lightning, and Alpha) that lived and worked at the base. Willow led me to an old white house that was sat close to the forest and opened the door.
“Welcome to Lightning House,” she smiled, “Home to Lightning Squad and your home from now on.”
Inside the house was warm and bright. The hallway I had entered had a shining wooden floor and clean white walls. In front of me was a large staircase that split off into two different directions. On the wall to my right were several hooks covered by coats, while to my left a large photograph filled the wall. The photograph was of a group of people smiling happily in front of the house.
“I wasn’t in the original version of that photograph. They had to magic an image of me into it,” said a voice from behind me. I jumped in surprise. A tanned woman with brown hair and large brown eyes had appeared by my side and was staring at me intensely.
“Jason, this is Araminta Bennett,” Willow said with a grin.
“You must be the Master of Darkness,” Araminta held out her hand for me to shake.
“Apparently,” I answered taking her hand.
“You are. I can smell it.”
“That’s a little bit creepy.”
“I’m a vampire, we’re supposed to be creepy,” Araminta smiled, “Come on I’ll show you to your room.”
I followed Araminta and Willow up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a hallway of doors. Araminta led me to the door at the far end of the hall. The door was black with a golden knocker. Pulling out a black key from her pocket, Araminta unlocked it. Behind the door was another stairway and at the top of this was another black door. Araminta, using the key from earlier, unlocked the door, revealing my room. It was the same as my old one back home; a small desk in the corner, a bed with a blue duvet, a battered grey carpet, a white wardrobe with its paint crumbling off and a pile of well-read comic books stacked on the floor. Two things, however, made this room noticeably different from my old one. The first thing was the massive log fireplace (seriously it was huge and, you know, on fire!) and the other was the scary portraits on the wall. I did my best to avoid the portraits sharp stares as I went over to the open wardrobe.
“I hope you like it, Clover and Fern worked really hard on it,” Araminta explained.
“I bet Fern moaned the entire time,” Willow laughed.
“Continuously. She never stopped!”
“What are these for?” I asked gesturing to the military uniforms in the wardrobe.
“Ah, right well this base is a unit in the Emperor’s army,” Araminta began before I interrupted her.
“So am I supposed to be a soldier?”
“No, not exactly. Dinners at six but I’ll come get you. Until then,” she gave the key to me, before she left with Willow. I sat on my bed dazed.
All I did was walk out of Maths and now vampires, shapeshifters, telepaths, and demons were all real! Not only that but I was meant to be the Master of Darkness, what even was that!? No one had actually explained what a Master of Darkness was. Willow had said I was the most powerful paranormal on the planet, but what did that mean!?
* * * * *
The next few hours consisted of me panicking, having a nap, crying, panicking a bit more, taking another nap before I finally pulled myself together enough to stare at the paintings that covered my bedroom walls. The paintings were all portraits of different men dressed in smart black robes. Each looked as serious and as terrifying as the next. I was so busy staring at one of the paintings that I didn’t notice Araminta enter, not until she tapped me on the shoulder.
“Ah don’t eat me!” I cried as I ducked to the floor.
“Huh I’ve not had that reaction before,” Araminta laughed.
“Sorry,” I muttered as I pulled myself up.
“It’s time for dinner.”
“Oh. Coming.”
“Do you like your room?” asked Araminta, as I followed her down the stairs. I nodded so she continued, “Oh, that’s good. If you ever want to change anything just think about it and it should happen. All the rooms are magic, they work on brain patterns, so it knows when you don’t like something.”
“That’s cool,” I sai
d although creepy was the word I would have preferred to use. We walked along the hallway, down more stairs and left into a huge room which had a rectangle table in the middle of it. On one side of the room was a door (which I later found out led to the kitchen) and bright white shelves covered in cutlery, whilst on the other side there were two large glass doors that led into the forest. The room was very light and very white…it also gave me flashbacks to my old dentist’s surgery, but I quickly shook the terrifying memories of dentistry from my mind and focused my attention to the eight members of Lightning Squad that were sat (stuffing their faces with food) around the table.
“Guys!” Araminta said getting their attention, “This is Jason Dragonheart, the Master of Darkness.”
I sat next to Araminta, at the end of the table, as the others stared at me.
“Alexander Laurentius Octavius,” said one of the men, breaking the awkward silence. I recognised this man; he had been the person who had ran over to me in the alleyway.
“Ah, yes I remember you,” I muttered awkwardly.
“It’s nice to see you not sedated. I’m your vice-captain so any problems come to me,” he said, “Oh and I’m a vampire in case you’re wondering.”
“He’s one of the oldest vampires left,” Willow explained, “He was born and died in the Roman era!”
“Clover Bramble,” a short, pale, blonde-haired lady introduced herself, “Oh and that’s my twin sister Fern.”
Clover was pointing to a small woman with long brown hair, who wore big glasses and had her nose in a book. Fern looked up at the sound of her name. She looked at me, gave a laugh, then continued reading.
“I know, we look nothing a like,” Clover muttered.
“You’re not a telepath, are you?” I asked, as I had been thinking the same thing.
“No, but everyone points out that we don’t look alike. We’re witches. Roxy, however, is a telepath.”
“Hey,” called a tall black woman from the other end of the table, “I’m actually more than just a telepath! I’m a Mind Witch.”
“Which is basically the same thing,” Willow muttered to me.