“To think she was so concerned about you.”
Alric stared into the rock stained with a strange brown—the very rock Nieves had hit her head upon while trying to escape him the last time. The blood had dried up on her clothes, forcing him to find her a kimono. He had to admit it: he enjoyed picking out the perfect outfit for her.
He enjoyed the look of awe when he showed her the strange plant in the center of kontatsu table. She asked him, “Alric, tell me why you won’t let me go.” In all honesty he enjoyed her presence yet he hated her because she was so happy and so alive. He hated her because he was jealous. He hated her because he loved her. He loved her because she made his heart leap at the idea of a companion who wasn’t afraid of him.
“Tell me what I should do,” Alric said lowly.
Zeit gave a soft laugh too demonic to belong to any mortal person with a soul. His amusement was sickly and tainted that no one could understand him. “Go and find her, what else?”
“How do you know this? How do you know she cares?”
Zeit smirked. “I know everything that goes on around me.” He gave a laugh, throwing his head back. “Also, I eavesdrop on people’s conversations—sometimes on accident. I was sitting on the roof when Rusuto was talking to the girl.”
Alric took down a breath of air—he couldn’t believe what he was considering.
“She cried,” Zeit said, letting his lips widen into a smirk. “Cried for hours.” He remembered the sound and how it had excited him. He wished to hear the sound again if Alric would allow it.
Alric walked out onto the porch. “Enough. Your words are giving me a headache.” With elegant grace Alric made his way down the steps and into the rock garden. “I’ll find her.” He closed his eyes tight. The air around him froze in its place. The droplets of rain wavered upon the air stuck and unable to fall any further. A wind slithered around Alric’s neck, lifting his black as coal hair.
His eyes flew open to pitch black darkness. Arms, a thousand of them, reached out between the rods of bamboo among the forest. They flew faster, searching and expanding their search until they found it—bodies of unmoved bones that lay beneath the moistened earth. Their fingers wrapped around those buried bones just enough to move them from their awkward place.
Alric took down a breath letting the air fill not only his lungs but the lungs of those things beneath the ground. The bones creaked at the touch of oxygen, the touch of a heartbeat in their chest.
The ground moaned under the pressure—the movement within its womb.
The thousands of arms pulled and pried bone after bone free. Pointed and jagged hands clawed their way out to find the bleak darkness of night. Few stars could be seen through the mass entanglement of bamboo leaves above. Not even the moon’s light could reach the beings where they were forming.
Their bodies were composed of nothing but bone and few pieces of flesh that hung like vines to a tree. The creatures moved with impatience, snarling and howling lowly at the feel of life yet again swimming in their bodies. They were restless like horses ready to race the fields and test out their strength.
He simply blinked and Alric could view the forest. He looked out through their eyes and examined from one creature to the next the widespread area. Nothing—not a single sign of Nieves.
One of the creatures raised its head and sniffed heavily of the air around him.
Alric took in the information and recognized the scent. It was the same scent he had woken up to the day she’d been sleeping next to him. It was the scent of something indescribably beautiful.
“Nieves,” Alric told the beings. “Find her.”
The being that sniffed the air howled out the command to its companions—staking itself the leader of the bunch. It leapt forward, its bones bending like liquid and twisting in ways no humans could do. It was an acrobat while racing, leaping and jumping against the poles of bamboo.
†
Nieves fell against the trunk of the tree and slid down onto the moist, wet ground. Her body shivered from the cold, her clothes wet with rain. She was sure to catch a fever if she stayed out there any longer.
Her hands covered her face as the shock began to leak through. Erika hadn’t called out to her. No it had been Alric who called for her to return. She couldn’t imagine the coldness of her older sister to lead to such extremes. Had Erika really lost her heart? Had she really forgotten about Nieves?
“I’m so tired,” Nieves muttered to her hands. “So tired. I just want to d…” She shook her head telling herself everything would be alright in the end. There was no reason to whine about things.
She was just about to remember the soothing words of her grandmother when a twig snapped. It echoed up into the branches of the trees, shaking the few leaves that remained. Another twig snapped, this time closer.
Nieves gasped, dropping her hands to her mouth to shove back the scream into her throat. “Shush,” she told herself. “Just keep quiet.”
Across from her, past ten trees stood a black shadowy figure upon four legs. Nieves sighed, smiling weakly. “Sneeuwbal,” she said, almost trying to see if it were really him. The creature took a step forward allowing Nieves to see its bone-thin legs. The small amount of moonlight dappled its clean white ribs.
Nieves narrowed her eyes—believing surly her mind was tired and only playing tricks on her.
A low growl came from beside her; she turned her head jaggedly to find Sneeuwbal at her side. “If…” Her eyes moved to the creature in the forest. “Then… what’s that?”
Sneeuwbal lowered his head, snarling and snapping his jaws. His teeth clashed together to threaten whatever it was to back away. But it didn’t. The creature advanced forward, body as elegant and fluent as water moving over rocks. Its shoulders rocked back and forth, slowly to let Nieves know she didn’t have a chance to escape. No matter how hard she ran, it would catch her in the end.
Nieves pulled her feet under her body and stood up, pressing her back against the tree. Sneeuwbal stepped in front of her like a shield with growls rolling from his chest.
The being released a hissing breath that sent a puff of dark gray smoke into the air. A long tail, thin and flexible as a whip, lashed through air. When the distance between it and the girl became less and less, it nearly managed to wrap itself around her neck.
Sneeuwbal leapt without hesitation, clamping his jaws onto the tail. His teeth slid right through it like knife through butter. The black lab crashed to the ground, got to his feet again and lashed out at the shadowy Demon.
“Sneeuwbal!” called out Nieves.
The Demon lifted an arm at the oncoming dog and threw it the ground with a large heavy thump. Its long snout opened to rows of sharp disarrayed teeth—thin needle teeth that pointed in every which way. Nieves screamed jumping forward to save the Labrador as something of silver light flickered in the distance.
The Demon’s mouth closed, teeth somehow fitting in with each other. A low rumbling purr rolled in its throat. “Get her,” a voice seemed to echo inside of its thoughts. “Hurry.” The Demon quickly lost its hunger, turning its long narrow head to Nieves.
She clamped her mouth closed, even as a scream press against her lips. Nieves backed away from it, her foot backed into something catching her off-balance. She went tumbling back until her body hit something hard and lumpy. As she looked up at the creature, it looked down at her.
Strings of saliva hung down from the Skeleton-Demon’s lips. Its eyes were running with electricity; glowing veins of white. Nieves looked about the forest to find an entire circle of the creatures surrounding her.
Their leader stepped forward with a snarl that almost sounded like a language.
Nieves flinched away, wishing with all her heart to escape. “What do you want with me?” She wished Alric was there.
Its attention turned to the silver light that grew closer by the second. The ferocious beast lowered itself to the ground and laid there, eyes staring into Nieves’s eyes. Its black
body inched itself closer, loose flesh hardly holding onto its body.
The silver light came, brushing past the inner ring of trees, its light blue eyes taking in the environment. As soon as it set sight of Nieves those beautiful sapphires twisted into rubies. Its roar shook the trees and branches sending a storm of leaves down upon them.
The skeletal Demon lunged for Nieves, wrapping its tail around her neck. Nieves tried to claw her throat free, gagging and gasping for breath as she was lifted into the air and placed neatly upon the creature’s back.
The tail let her go and Nieves sucked down a gulp of air while clutching to the ragged mane on the skeleton’s elongated neck. Her lungs burned only for a moment—it was her throat that ached, keeping her screams to hoarsen screeches.
Sneeuwbal slowly got to his feet. He took in the sight of Nieves on the Demon’s back, and then took in the sight of the silver being. He knew what he had to do and finally knew now that the shadowy Demon’s were Alric’s creatures sent to protect her.
CHAPTER 17
Alric tightened his fists with agitation. “Get her,” he hissed. “Hurry! If she dies, then you will be agonized for eternity!”
The silver being was a threat to Nieves’s life. In that form Wilhelm would only see her as prey and nothing more. He would toss her in the air and snap her down like a gingerbread cookie. Then he wouldn’t recall a thing once returning to human form.
He watched as the Demon lifted Nieves onto its back, not truly concerned that it nearly snapped her neck. “Run,” he told the creature. “Run. Bring her to me.” Alric watched it dash off, feet pounding into the earth with full dedication. Alric breathed life into its lungs, giving it more strength.
Nieves screamed; her throat was still dry and raspy.
“Into the trees!” Alric screamed, feeling Wilhelm’s breath upon them.
The Demon gave one leap, reaching up past the domes of the trees and arching branches. The thin conifer trees bent in the winds of the Demon’s speed. It leapt from treetop to treetop never looking back.
Nieves clutched the rotting mane of the creature, glancing over her shoulder. Alric could feel her clamping down onto its body for safety.
A moan from below rocked the next tree the Demon landed upon. Nieves let out a scream and clutched tighter as the glowing silver spirit of a fox creature leapt up ready to snack on her leg.
The Demon veered left, away from the attack and down through a hole in the trees to meet the leaf covered ground.
Alric clenched his teeth—the energy to put life into the Demon was becoming too much for his already ill body. He nearly dropped to his knees but the Demon’s head turned giving him sight of Nieves’s tear covered face. Her tears were heavy like rain drops against the Demon’s flesh.
“Hurry,” Alric hissed, wrapping his arms around his chest.
Wilhelm let out a gargling roar as he leapt down from the trees. He nearly landed on top of Nieves but the Demon jolted forward with a burst of speed. The edge of the forest was close—the Demon could see that. The light of the moon bathed the grassy field just outside of the main house with silver.
Alric couldn’t hold on. His knees became water beneath him, dropping him into the sand of the rock garden. A firm hand wrapped around his upper arm, lifting Alric back onto his feet.
“Hang in there, kid,” Zeit said in his deep low voice. “They’re almost here.” Their eyes were directed to the forest’s edge.
The black shadowy figure raced forward in a fatal ballet, its rhyme perfectly in sync. Its breath was heavy—panting—loud enough for Alric to hear even at the distance they were.
The silvery fox spirit flew through the trees, brown and black leaves swirling just behind it.
Nieves looked over her shoulder at it. She was still confused at what kind of creature this was. Why would it want to kill her? What were any of these strange beasts?
Alric pulled away from Zeit and stumbled a step forward.
“Alric!” Nieves called out as the Demon leapt over the thorn bushes and tall grasses to land like a gazelle in the Zen garden. Sand spewed in every direction as it released a gruff breath, shaking its mane free of the twigs, dead leaves and other things that got trapped through the escape.
The Head Macter didn’t turn to look at her relieved face. He lifted his hand and threw it across the air. A whimper of agony howled from the silver spirit as it writhed in the air and dropped into the grassy fields. Its large body shook the earth. Its porcelain rib cage expanded with every gulp of air.
“Hm. Not bad for a doctor,” Zeit said with a smirk.
Nieves’s eyes widened. “Wilhelm? That was Wilhelm?” asked Nieves.
Alric didn’t reply.
“Why did he try to kill me?” Nieves turned her eyes upon the silvery fox spirit. “Is he angry? Did I do something to upset him?”
Alric growled. “What? You would forgive him if he had been?”
Nieves went to speak but Alric waved his hand for her to be quiet.
“Wilhelm is in his fox form,” Alric muttered. “Cursed-Ones, when they are like that, do not know the difference between friends and enemy. They kill all those who are not Macter.”
“Didn’t think he’d be so strong.” The Demon eyed Zeit who was turned away from them with laughter in his throat. “I would enjoy hunting him.”
Alric’s eyes widened. “Are… are you the one who killed Danzig?”
“Me?” Zeit looked over his shoulder at Alric. “Nah. That man was too old for my tastes in hunting. I prefer my targets stronger than some rotting corpse.” He turned away, his red hair caught in the wind. “Call me if you need anything.”
In a breath’s moment Zeit was glowing and shrinking into a small white object. Nieves leaned closer to look upon whatever Zeit’s new form was. As the glowing light dimmed a small white bird opened its wings and lifted into the darkness of the night sky.
Alric’s head ached and pounded. He could feel his nerves rattle over the slick bone beneath his flesh. He used up so much energy bringing the Demons to life and giving it new flesh that his own body was too weak for staying awake.
“Alric. You’re soaked with rain.” Nieves slid off of the Demon’s back. “You’ll be sick if…”
“Why did you run?” barked Alric with aggravation.
“I…” Nieves looked away, to stare into the Demon’s exposed chest cavity. She remembered hearing Alric scream out for her but did not hear a sound from her sister. It pained her to know such a thing. “I am sorry for upsetting you.”
“Go inside.” Alric felt too tired to argue or yell. He needed sleep.
The creature gave a low grumble turning its head to Alric.
“Back into the earth. I have no other use for you.”
It gave a raspy noise that nearly sounded like a words to Nieves. She wondered what connection the Demon had with Alric.
“Fine,” Alric replied. “Don’t eat anyone. Stay in the forest. I hear any complaints, and you’re dead.”
The Demon turned, lunging forward into the tall grasses, and then leaping over Wilhelm’s shuttering fox form. It melted into the shadows of the forest; howls from the Demon’s pack greeted their leader’s return.
Nieves stepped into the warmth of the room. Her clothes were just as soaked as Alric’s but she hadn’t noticed until then. The adrenaline was still rushing through her veins and she was still trying to wrap her mind around the Demon and the transformations. All of it seemed too much like a fairytale.
She caught site of the dismantled door to the hallway but she didn’t say a word.
“You need to change clothes,” commanded Alric as he closed the garden door. He walked over to the couch, it’s back facing him. He rounded it to get to the chest of drawers then sat down onto the couch’s arm. “What happened to the kimono I gave you?”
“I left it at Boris’s house,” Nieves slowly replied with strange guilt.
She tried clamping her teeth together so they wouldn’t clatter during h
er shivers. Alric had his back to her as she wrapped her arms around herself. Her clothes were icy cold and it gave her chicken skin.
Alric huffed. He pulled off the heavy black coat with some trouble because it clung to his body for dear life. The rain made it stick to Alric’s skin. “You shouldn’t have run,” Alric barked while getting one arm out of the sleeve with difficulty. “The forest’s dangerous and it was raining.”
Nieves nodded her head forgetting he wouldn’t see it. She couldn’t think of any words to apologize with.
The black jacket was thrown to the floor. “You could have gotten sick.” Alric began to lift the white button-down shirt then paused. He looked over his shoulder at Nieves. He looked away from her and said, “Turn around.”
Nieves put her back to him and stared into the shoji doors. “I already know about them,” she said softly.
Alric was in the middle of getting his shirt off when he froze—the breath in his lungs was being knocked out of him. She knew, his mind exclaimed. She knew about the scars on his back.
“How?” Alric nearly yelled—roared—with fury. “How do you know?”
Her mouth opened, she went to speak but the words wouldn’t come to her lips. If Nieves told Alric who told her then he’d surely beat the person lifeless. Her mind twisted and spun like it was cast into a blender.
Alric threw the white shirt to the ground with anger. “Who told you Nieves?”
“No one,” she replied calmly. “No one told me. I found them when you passed out. It was an accident. My fingers ran across them and—”
Alric screamed, his hands grasping his cranium. She knew about the scars. The mere idea made him sick with disgust. Those lashings that had thundered his back were nothing but an ill reminder. He couldn’t stand the sight of them and now this girl, this girl who bewildered him, knew about those scars.
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