by Tarisa Marie
Now that the hand is off of my mouth, I begin screaming wickedly. I lunge for the right hand door handle at the same moment that someone jumps into that door, knocking me out of the way. My head pain rears from all of the quick movement.
“Quit screaming, please, girl,” the man urges roughly, staring deeply into my eyes. “You don’t want to scream.”
My screams cut off nearly immediately, and the urge to scream disappears. Confused, I stare at the man. Did he just hypnotize me somehow? I’ve never been hypnotized before, but I can imagine it’d feel something like this.
“Drive,” the man beside me instructs the guy in the driver’s seat, then he looks to me as we enter a street with more lighting, and I expect to see Blayk or even Landon, but this man is not either one of them. “My name is Darius. I’m a servant of your father’s. He requests your presence. I hope I haven’t harmed you, but we are in a hurry. We can’t have those hunters following us.”
Every cell in my body begins shaking. My father? My demon father? Great. I’m too shocked and groggy to say anything. I gawk at the man, and as I do, I realize that I recognize him. It takes me a minute to remember why. A photo in a newspaper clipping I once read comes to mind. This man is Darius Ranchiller. A hunter. The man that my father supposedly killed. I am sure of it. I wore this man’s ring for years. My father turned him into a demon, now he’s apparently a servant of my father’s. Who has servants these days? It’s the twenty-first century for god’s sake!
The vehicle speeds down the street, turning too quickly.
“You haven’t attacked me yet,” the man observes.
Well, duh. I don’t really stand a chance against a demon, now do I? It’s not like I have a death wish.
“Why?” he asks, looking confused. He turns his gaze to the driver. “Make a left up here and then take the highway to the backroad.”
The driver nods hastily and speeds up.
“What am I going to do? Scratch you?” I admit, my voice shaking as I realize just how helpless I really am. I pray that Crispen, Aria, or Mason come for me and soon.
“True. Though I doubt you could even scratch me.”
The man runs a hand along his thigh and pulls dagger from somewhere. It’s dark in the car and the most I can see is the glint of the knife. A chill runs up my spine. What is he going to do with that?
As the vehicle turns from the highway onto a gravel road, Darius moves forward. “Stop here.” He instructs the driver. The driver stops, Darius gets out, and pulls me out not nearly as roughly as he threw me in thankfully.
“If you cooperate, then you won’t get hurt.”
I decide instantaneously that I’m going to cooperate, because that knife doesn’t look fun.
“Do you have anything to do with Blayk and Landon?” I ask him while following him through a field. The immense feeling that this is all linked, surfaces again. Crispen’s family thought that my father might be linked to Landon and Blayk. Is pushing for information the wrong thing to do? I talk a lot when I’m nervous, and I’m definitely nervous.
To my surprise, the demon laughs. “Blayk and Landon are your half-brothers, Megan.”
My legs stop working, and I stop wide-eyed. What?! What did he just say? Can bombs stop dropping like it’s world war three or something? Jesus crapping lobsters.
“Come on, it’s not much further,” he instructs, a bit of impatience becoming clear in his expression. I follow along closely. Is he fricken joking? He better be. I can’t be related to such ass holes.
“I should warn you that your father isn’t the kindest of souls,” Darius mutters. One side of his mouth rises in a half-smile. “Well, at least one of us found that funny.”
“Found what funny?”
“I made a joke about your demonic father not being a kind soul, demons don’t have souls,” he explains quickly as if he’s now over his joke that wasn’t even funny to begin with.
“From what I hear and have experienced, demons aren’t ever really that kind.”
He shrugs. “The pure bloods are not quite a cup of sunshine, but we aren’t the evil creatures your hunter friends have made us out to be. Many of us are evil, yes, but many of us are not. The more time we spend in hell, the blacker our hearts become.”
I gape. Hell is real too? Well, of course it is, Megan, if demons are real doesn’t hell have to be? Does that mean god is real too? Angels?
“Your father happens to spend most of his life there. Most of us changelings are the pure blood’s servants, guards, or warriors. We all work for them unless we’re for some reason granted freedom which is rare.”
That sounds lovely.
“What are changelings?” I wonder, confused.
“Demon that are turned not born.”
So the turned demons are all slaves?
“Your brother’s have informed your father that you’ve been spending time with hunters. He is not happy and wishes to enlighten you. You are part demon, Megan, you mustn’t hang out with the hunters.”
“Why does my father care? He never cared when he left me when I was a baby. He never cared the last twenty-two years of my life, Darius,” I say smoothly, trying my hardest not to raise my temper.
Darius ignored me, stops, and lifts a metal door up from the ground. It looks like we’re about to descend into a cellar. Great. I hate the dark, and I’m claustrophobic. I look for a ladder, but I don’t see one. I begin to panic more so than I already am.
“Hold on,” Darius advises and wraps his arms around me. At first, I don’t know what he’s doing, and I freak out impossibly more, then when we begin falling, I realize that he’s jumped down the hole with me in his arms. Knowing this, doesn’t make me feel any better unfortunately. My stomach drops as we plummet. After no more than a couple seconds of falling, we stop, and he lets me out of his arms. I notice that he smells slightly of cinnamon, and I can’t help but wonder why. A cinnamon smelling demon? How strange.
We are surrounded by complete darkness which makes me impossibly more uneasy. He grips my forearm and drags me forward. Eventually he stops and opens a door. He locks it behind us, we climb some stairs, and then he opens another door. Light hits my eyes causing them to burn. He closes the door and removes his shoes and jacket.
“You’re back!” A tiny voice calls and the sound of footsteps causes me to turn my head. A young girl no older than four comes sprinting into the room.
“I’m back, sweetheart. I told you I wouldn’t be long,” Darius greets her, lifting her up into his arms and spinning her around. He lands a kiss on her cheek softly and puts her back down. “Have you seen Blayne around?”
The small, blonde girl nods. “He came home and went upstairs.” She points to another set of stairs down the hall.
“Okay, go to bed it’s almost sunrise,” he tells her. “I won’t be long.”
The girl’s face falls, then she seems to notice my presence. “Who are you?” She wonders, her nose wrinkling.
“This is Megan. Blayne’s daughter. Landon and Blayk’s sister,” Darius murmurs softly and fixes a tangle in the girl’s hair. I can hear the love in Darius’s voice, and I can’t help but second guess everything that Crispen and his family told me about demons. Surely this man is not evil. Surely, this little girl is not evil. “Now go to bed, please.”
I know I should be freaking out, but again, I feel nothing. Am I some sort of psycho?
“Okaaay,” the little girl whines and runs off.
“Is that your daughter?” I wonder, following Darius to the stairs. From what I can tell, we just travelled through a secret entrance into a house. There are windows in the building, so I can tell that we are no longer underground. The house is well-kept, modern, and fancy, not something I’d expect inside of a demon’s home.
When we reach the top of the stairs, two men stand in front of a large door. When they see Darius, they move aside, so he can open it. We enter an impossibly fancier upper level complete with hardwood flooring and a wall made compl
etely of glass.
“Wow,” I mouth, taking it all in.
A man sits cross-legged in a red armchair chair reading a book. I immediately study him for similarities between the two of us. Yes, this must be my father. The fact that he looks no older than me, rubs me the wrong way. He looks more like a sibling than a father to me, but I can see in his features some of myself.
After a moment, he places his book down and looks up at us.
“Excuse me, sir, I have brought you what you asked for,” Darius says formally and motions to me.
“Thank you, Darius, you may now return to your daughter downstairs. I’ll take it from here.” Blayne smiles, but I’m almost positive that it’s fake. His accented voice reminds me of Blayk and Landon, causing me to shiver. Proof that maybe Darius was telling the truth, and they are my siblings. I always wanted siblings growing up but not demonic ones.
Darius nods, turns, and then leaves the room.
Blayne stares at me a moment then motions for me to take a seat in a large red chair similar to his own a few feet across from him. I follow his instruction, not willing to tick him off.
“Megan, you’ve grown into such a beautiful young woman, you look much like your mother,” he chides, crossing his legs. His eyes are dark, nearly black, they remind me of Blayk’s the last time I saw him. If all demon’s eyes are black, then why have I seen Blayk with brown eyes? Colour contacts?
My father’s hair is short and black. He’s tall, probably over six feet and his build is similar to Landon’s. I see both his sons, my brothers, in him easily, and yet I didn’t see myself in Landon or Blayk, maybe because I wasn’t looking but rather praying for my life while around them. “You must be wondering why you’re here.”
I simply nod.
“Well, daughter, I have brought you here, because my boys told me that they found a girl wearing my servant Darius’s hunter ring. I knew it had to be you. I knew the compulsion I planted in your mind at birth would one day lead you here to Toronto, and I don’t blame you for getting far away from your mother, she was insane.” He clears his throat. “I sent my eldest son Blayk to keep an eye on you. He told me you were being watched by a hunter. I went and had a look for myself, learning that you’d somehow become buddies with the original hunters, and they were guarding you like some treasure. I had my sons test the waters and find their weaknesses. I knew I had to get you away from them before they brainwashed you, so here you are. Those hunters are terrible influences, Megan. Terrible company at all really.”
What is compulsion?
I don’t say anything so he continues. “You need to be protected from hunters because of what you are and not befriending them.”
I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. I can’t believe that I’m really sitting down across the room from my long lost father and having a conversation with him. Well, a one-sided conversation that is.
“Now I know Blayk has already asked you this against my orders, but I know how rough he is, it’s a wonder you never told him. You’ve spent enough time with the hunters, how do you kill them? You see, we’ve been turning them into demons to keep them under control, but we have no idea how to actually kill one.” My father stands and walks over to a table full of glass bottles and pours some clear liquid into a glass. “Would you like a drink?”
“No thanks,” I speak finally. “I-I don’t know how to kill a hunter. I didn’t even know about hunters until recently. I don’t know much. I’m sorry.”
He smiles and swallows down a gulp of what I assume is alcohol.
“Father,” a gruff voice says from the door I just entered through. “I-Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting, I didn’t know you had a guest.” I turn and see Landon standing in the doorway.
“It’s fine, what do you need, Landon?” Blayne asks, sounding bored.
“I came to fetch Blayk’s phone. He left it here and sent me to get it,” Landon answers and grabs something off of a small grey table. “I’ll get out of your way. Nice to see you again, Megan,” he says pleasantly with a kind, maybe even apologetic smile. I thought Crispen, Aria, and Mason had Blayk. Did he escape or was he broke out by Darius or someone?
“Don’t you have servants for these things? I’m sure I’ve given you at least six this year, Landon, what have you done, gotten them killed?” Blayne asks, his temper clearly rising.
“No, father, I was just in the area.” Before Blayne can say anything further to Landon, he slips out the door again. “Kids. That one is old enough you’d think he would have his head on straight by now. Anyways, where were we?”
I don’t answer.
“Well, whatever, I do not live here permanently. I move around a lot for business reasons. Your brother’s have a permanent residence here, but I wish you wouldn’t stay with them, they’re both…unstable. I also don’t wish they know they have another sibling yet. I need them focused on other things.” Ha! You think? “So you’ll be staying here in Toronto with a…family friend Mr. Castile. I trust that he will take good care of you for the coming months while I am busy with business.” He sets his drink down. “I will supply you with two of my best guards. Aiden will have many of his own as well. You will be safe. Especially from those vile hunters.”
As he finishes speaking, the two guards outside of the door enter the room.
“We will take you to Mr. Castile, ma’am,” the guard on the left promises.
“I’m fine to stay at my own house,” I try, knowing that it won’t work.
“Megan, you are basically royalty, you belong with others of your kind,” my father says. “You are better than the humans. Don’t you see that? You mustn’t continue to live as if you are one of them.”
My father waves his hand and the guards lurch for me, tugging me out of the room as if they’re in some sort of rush. I’m led back through the maze I came in through with Darius. This time I’m not thrown into a vehicle, the door is opened for me. I’m thankful for this as my head is still pounding in pain. I think about running, but I assume that demons are pretty darn fast, and I have no chance in making a run for it once I can get out of this vehicle.
Chapter 10
We drive a few miles down a gravel road, then onto a highway and down another gravel road. Nearly an hour passes before we stop. My eyes spring open now that the sun is up. Keeping my eyes open too long hurts badly, so I’ve managed to keep them closed the majority of the way here. At first, I tried to keep track of where we were going so that if I manage to escape, I might be able to find my way back to the city, but then I lost track of the turns and bends and signs and gave up.
I look through the windshield to see that we are parked in front of a big cast iron gate like on a movie. I squint, wondering if I’m seeing things. A man dressed in all navy blue comes up to the driver side of the car and says something to the driver. I can’t hear what he says because of the thick plastic between me and the front seats. Apparently I’m not trusted not to attack my driver, even though I have nothing on him.
A moment later, we are waved through the front gates. A tall, white house, or should I say mansion, appears in front of the car, causing me to gape. I’ve never seen a house so huge before. I imagine it’s bigger than the Whitehouse. It could nearly be called a modern day castle it’s so large.
A man dressed in black opens my door and offers me his gloved hand. I take it hesitantly, and he helps me from the vehicle.
“Ms. Resch,” the man smiles and bows. Bows. He fricken bows before me as if I’m Queen Elizabeth. Good lord. One second I’m being taken in the middle of the night and the next second people are bowing before me.
“I’m Megan,” I correct. “Megan Caplan.”
“Ah, you took your mother’s last name,” the man says and smiles kindly. “I am Terry.” This man is not dressed in the navy blue colour that all the other servants I’ve seen between my father’s place and here have worn, yet I can’t help but assume he’s a servant.
Another man, this one in a
black button-up dress shirt and jeans, descends the front stairs of the house and grins at me welcomingly. He is clearly not a servant. His hair is jet black, spiked in the front, short in the back, his skin is tanned. He is clearly very fit like all demons and hunters seem to be. I catch myself staring too long and look away before he catches me if he hasn’t already.
“Your father didn’t even allow you to change out of your pajamas?” the man asks, grinning. His teeth are so incredibly white that I can’t help but stare at him once again. “I’m Aiden, Megan, it’s nice to meet you.”
I look down, remembering that yes, I am still in my pajamas, and my hair is also tousled. I can’t help but feel embarrassed. All fright in me disappears in the moment he makes eye contact with me. Although he stares back at me with black irises, they seem warm. I can’t explain what it is that I feel, it’s not relaxation because that would be crazy in this situation, but it’s some sort of acceptance. I cannot run. I am stuck here. The only chance I have is if Crispen and his siblings come for me.
My father has come for me, a little late in the game, but he’s taken me and decided that he doesn’t want me to live a normal, human life. I recall what I was told about halflings. We have to choose between becoming a pure demon and death if our demon parent chooses this life for us. Those are my only choices now, losing my soul and death, and I can’t change a thing about it unless Crispen comes for me, but if he does, how in the hell will he get passed all of the demons running around here? Just by looking around now, I see at least a dozen demons, and there are only three hunters, four if you count Jayden.