The man from before opened the driver’s door and climbed inside. With everyone aboard, he dropped the vehicle down into gear and slowly eased the large SUV away from the sidewalk and out into traffic. Dozens of cars, trucks, and buses zipped past the merging lane inside of the airport. As John surveyed the area outside of his window another comical scene played out before him. Meredith was instructing the driver on how to do his job, telling him which lanes to merge into and when to speed up or slow down; the best part was that the man obeyed her every whim. Each time she ordered him to move he nodded his head and proceeded to do so, always following her orders with a “Yes ma’am.” or a “Yes, Miss Meredith.”. The whole thing was still odd, but John had a feeling that this was business as usual for the two.
“So how was your flight?” Meredith suddenly spun around in her seat to face John and Aerin behind her. John could see that she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt.
“Well…” Aerin used a placeholder to gather her words. She suddenly looked over to John. “It was… eventful. Don’t you think?” She asked.
“That’s, uh, one way to put it.” John remarked with a slight shrug.
“Did something happen?” Meredith asked with a little tilt of her head. She seemed both genuinely curious and slightly confused at their words. “There was a Demon.” Aerin got straight to the point. “Class Three Possession.” She followed up with a terminology that John was unfamiliar with.
“And you dealt with it?” Meredith’s tone shifted once again, similar to when she had been examining John in the terminal shortly before.
“Yeah, we did.” John answered her question, though it seemed to have been directed more toward Aerin.
“That’s when we found the bomb.” Aerin added to the story, once again garnering an interesting look from Meredith.
“A… A bomb?” The small girl echoed. “Why would…” She brought her hand up to her chin in thought.
“Souls.” Aerin answered abruptly.
“I see.” Meredith’s gaze became even more serious, if that could be possible. She glanced up and directed her next statement toward the both of them. “We saw something on the scope, but we didn’t know what it was. That explains it. But it couldn’t have smuggled a bomb that big onto a plane like that on its own…” She closed her eyes in thought.
“Well.” John spoke up, gaining both Aerin and Meredith’s attention. “The Demon was alone. That much we could tell at least. But when we tossed the bomb out, I noticed something that shouldn’t have been there.”
“Something that shouldn’t have been there?” Meredith repeated his words. He had drawn out a great interest within her; he could see it in her eyes.
“Yeah. There was another plane, just right behind us. I’m no expert, but I don’t think two planes should be that close together. And when it saw us it turned tail and ran.” John explained.
“I see.” Meredith closed her eyes again as she rubbed her chin in thought. “Vincent.” She suddenly turned toward the driver beside her. “Yes ma’am?” He answered. “I don’t like this; remind me to look into it when I have the time.” She said.
“Will do, ma’am.” Vincent answered without once taking his concentration off of the road.
Shortly thereafter, the conversation took on a more mellow tone. The thick, stiff air of seriousness that had filled the SUV before had been replaced by the laughter of two girls. John didn’t pay their conversation much mind, as it mostly pertained to idle gossip between the two as they caught up with each other’s lives. Though, John did note that Meredith’s life seemed to be more compelling than that of Aerin’s day to day business. Instead of listening to them, John opted to turn his focus outward. He watched as the small suburbs of Los Angeles’ outskirts slowly grew larger in size as they got closer toward the city itself.
The outskirts greatly resembled that of Station’s own outer bands that John lived in. There were many apartment complexes and smaller buildings all about. There were even train tracks running to and fro between the larger sections just as they were in Station. The road that Vincent drove down suddenly began to climb high uphill. John watched as a spaghetti bowl of intermingling highways appeared below. The road they were on arched high up above the rest of the lot, allowing for a quick view of the entire area around them. Off in the distance, John could see dozens upon dozens of train tracks leading off toward the East. It was the massive Bullet Line that spanned the entire nation’s length, the same line that ran directly through the center of Station. Seeing this filled him with a feeling he couldn’t explain. As the roadway curved downward he lost sight of the tracks, and so he chalked the feeling up to momentary homesickness. The ramp arched down toward a roadway that was filled to the brim with hundreds of cars. It was the 110, a massive highway that ran directly into the heart of Los Angeles.
So far, Los Angeles hadn’t felt much different from Station. Sure, the suburbs were larger and the train lines were definitely bigger. The real difference was made apparent once LA’s skyscrapers came into view. At first they didn’t seem that big at a distance, only small silhouettes against a foggy horizon; but as the highway wound around closer, the city really came into scope. The buildings were literally huge and there were many of them to boot, much more than Station had. They towered high into the sky, casting dark shadows on the small suburbs and lower areas that were beneath them. Having lived inside of Station most all of his life, the sight was very familiar, but there were still differences to be felt. Los Angeles was huge.
After a short while they came to their destination. The SUV pulled off of the main street and onto a driveway that looped around in front of a large fountain. John looked out of his window and attempted to get a better view at the building they were pulling up to, but could only manage to see the front entrance. There was a large awning over what appeared to be a drop off. To his left, John could see the elaborate fountain that was adorned with various flowers around it.
“We’re here!” Meredith exclaimed as the SUV pulled to the curb. Before Vincent could manage to properly stop the car, Meredith had already jumped out and beckoned John and Aerin to follow. “Come on! Come see inside!” She shouted gleefully. “Don’t worry about your stuff; Vincent will bring it in!”
John glanced over to Aerin briefly and she nodded for them to go on, and so they both opened their doors and stepped out of the vehicle. John raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight; they had grown accustomed to the dimness brought about by the tinted windows inside the SUV. As his eyes adjusted, he walked around the side of the vehicle and got a good look at the building before him. It was tall, maybe around ten or so stories, and almost as equally wide. The building’s base color was white and there were occasional red sections around the windows on each floor.
Meredith happily bounded toward the front doors, which were glass with silver trim around them. She pulled on the left door with all of her might until it finally opened and then held it for John and Aerin to enter. As John did, he caught a glance of something written on the door. HUNTER was painted in a large white font that was almost translucent. When he stepped through the threshold he felt something warm. It was an odd, tingly sensation that filled his whole body. He had felt this before, and had to think for a moment where before it hit him. There was a heavy barrier in place around the entire building.
“You really fixed up the place.” Aerin marveled as she gazed about the large room.
John had never seen the original building, but what he saw was impressive. There was a long foyer that opened up into a central lobby with many off shooting doors. Up ahead, there was an oversized semi-circular wooden desk where a receptionist sat. Just behind her were two elevators flanked on either side by staircases that circled around and behind to the second story. High above the room was a round atrium that looked to go about the third floor.
“Welcome back, Miss Meredith.” The receptionist said as they approached the front desk. “I see you brought Miss Aerin back with yo
u.”
“Mhm!” Meredith nodded with a large smile on her face. “I knew it was her!”
“I see there’s another as well.” The receptionist spoke without taking her eyes off of the computer before her. Her fingers danced across a keyboard as she typed up something that John couldn’t see from his position. “Should I set them up with two rooms, or just the one?” She asked.
“I…” Aerin’s face seemed to turn a slight shade of pink. Be it from embarrassment or something else, John didn’t know. “It doesn’t bother me.” She answered.
“Whatever is easier.” John gave a more straight answer.
“They’re so adorable.” Meredith giggled. “Give them the conjoined room.”
“Of course.” The receptionist went to typing on her keyboard once more. “Alright, it’s all set up.” She looked up at both John and Aerin. “I’ll have Vincent bring up your bags.” Her gaze then shifted to Meredith. “By the way, the Senator called again while you were out. He really wants to speak with you.”
“Gosh! Why is he so stubborn?” Meredith protested like a child, which was fitting due to her appearance. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll call him later.”
“I’ll make you a memo then.” The woman ran her fingers over the keyboard once more. “Oh, one more thing.” She spoke without looking up from her work. “There was a call earlier from-“
“Would you like me to show you around?!”
Meredith suddenly interrupted the woman behind the desk with a loud suggestion. Despite the woman’s best efforts to regain Meredith’s attention, the small girl didn’t seem the slightest bit interested. Slowly Meredith edged them away from the desk little by little. John had a feeling that this was business as usual here as well.
“I’d love to take a look around, what about you John?” Aerin turned to John and asked. He shrugged his shoulders with a smile at the whole display. “How could I say no?”
“Yay!” Meredith shouted with a small jump into the air. “Follow me!”
The girl skipped around the backside of the desk to one of the elevator doors. She reached up and pressed the button to summon the lift, and the doors promptly opened for her. Once everyone was inside, she slapped the button for the fifth floor. The complex mechanisms below the lift churned to life and they slowly rose into the air. Once the elevator had picked up some momentum, it immediately booked it to the fifth floor; suddenly coming to an abrupt stop that left a ticklish sensation in one’s stomach.
The elevator doors opened up to a large room that was quite impressive. It was filled with desks that were neatly arranged into rows of four and each desk was equipped with a fancy computer. Dozens of people moved about between each desk, conversing with each other about matters that seemed to be important. In the center of the room was a large transparent board that was lit by LED lights that ran the inside of its length. There was a map attached to the board and certain areas were circled in multicolored marker. It appeared to be a situation room of sorts that one would see inside a police department or some government building.
“Wow, you really did fix it up.” Aerin marveled as her gaze drifted from one thing to another.
“This is our main base of operations.” Meredith stated. “Welcome to the new HUNTER!” She said with a smile, holding her arms out wide before she directed them to follow her around.
“So what is it that you do here?” John asked as he followed behind the small girl.
“We’re Demon Hunters, just like you.” Meredith answered. “Only, a little more organized.” She giggled.
“Yeah, I can see that.” John remarked.
John thought over Meredith’s words as he followed behind her and Aerin. It made sense now that he thought on it. An acquaintance of Aerin’s would likely be in the same or similar field of work. He glanced around him at all the people that were busy working over what he assumed were cases, due to the circled areas on the large board, they were certainly more organized than he and Aerin were. Besides, two weeks ago he hadn’t even known that Demons were an issue, but seeing this assured him otherwise. There was a whole world out there that he was unaware of. Realizing this filled him with both a sense of humility and slight embarrassment.
Meredith showed them around to a few more rooms as she lead them on her tour. The map room was exactly as one would expect, filled with maps. Though there were also detailed schematics and layouts of every building in LA. The next room on the tour was a spell room. There were a few men and women that sat about tables as various Cyphers of all shapes, sizes, and colors floated about them. They experimented on new types of spells and added stability and enhancements to existing ones. They passed by another door just before Meredith concluded their tour and John glanced over to read the name on the wall: Insurance. He smiled thinking back to earlier on the plane. This must’ve been what Aerin had mentioned. He shook his head and followed behind the two girls as they made their way back to the elevators.
“So… what did you think?” Meredith turned around and asked with a wide eyed expression.
“I like it.” Aerin answered. “Looks like things run a lot smoother than the last time I was here.”
“They do!” Meredith assured. “Better equipment makes everyone’s job easier!”
“I just have one question.” John said. Both Aerin and Meredith turned toward him and waited for him to speak. “How do you keep something this big hidden?” He asked. “I’m sure a Demon Hunting company isn’t exactly a normal business.”
“That’s a good question.” Meredith smiled. “We have friends in high places.” She explained. “And also to everyone outside we look like a normal office building.”
“Because of the barrier?” John asked.
“You catch on quick, don’t you?” Meredith said with a wink.
One short elevator ride later and they were on the tenth floor. The doors slowly opened to a long hallway with a few doors that lead to smaller rooms. The real eye catcher was at the end of the hallway. Two dark brown oak doors sat at the end of the hall’s length. They were large in their structure and had delicate engravings all over them. Beside the door was a tall man that was dressed in a similar fashion to Vincent, only this man had short black hair instead of a smooth head.
“Welcome back, Miss Meredith.” He said as he reached over and opened the large door for the small girl.
“Thank you.” Meredith bowed her head slightly as she stepped inside.
“Of course, ma’am.” The man held the door open for John and Aerin as well. “Good afternoon.” He greeted before closing the door behind them.
The room was an office, Meredith’s office to be precise. She walked around a large wooden desk that sat at the end of the room, across from the large oak doors. She climbed up into a fluffy office chair and propped her feet up on the desk in a very unprofessional manner before she motioned for John and Aerin to take a seat across from her. There were two smaller chairs that looked slightly comfortable, but much less so than Meredith’s own oversized seat, in front of her desk. As John sat down, he got a good look at the Los Angeles skyline from the large windows that made up the wall behind Meredith. The window ran the full length of the wall from one side of the room to the other and was partially covered by large red curtains that were fitted onto a slider that could be pulled by a string.
“Alright now.” Meredith spoke as she situated her dress in the chair. “I can tell something’s up, so what did you want to see me about?” She asked, getting straight to the point.
“Well.” Aerin began. “We have a little problem…” She suddenly stopped. “Well, it’s not really we… it’s more like-“ John could see that Aerin was beating around the bush again.
“I can’t use magic.” He suddenly interrupted.
“Oh is that all?” Meredith said with a laugh. “I didn’t even need to sit down!” She lifted her legs up off of the table and then brought them down onto the ground as she hopped out of her chair. “Alright then
.” She said as she walked around and stood behind John. “Let’s just take a little look. Stand up please.”
John stood from his chair and took a step to the right. Meredith repositioned herself behind him and brought her hands together into a loud clap in a similar manner that Aerin would do. Suddenly a large Cypher appeared above John, just as the one the monks had used. It lowered itself slowly down over him, rotating as it moved. This time, however, the magic circle did not explode as it had before. As it passed through his body, John was filled with strange warmth not unlike the barrier he had felt earlier. Along with the warmth that he felt, there was something else. It was a presence within him, something that hadn’t been there before. It was warm as well, and felt small. The presence moved around within him and peered into every fabric of his being. Suddenly he realized what it was; he could feel Meredith inside him. She traveled within his entire existence as she examined everything that could potentially be problematic. After a while John felt her gaze abruptly come to a stop. The warmth slowly left his body as she retracted herself from within him. He looked over his shoulder to find a look of slight confusion on her face.
“What is it?” He asked.
“You…” Meredith narrowed her eyes as she thought. “You’re not alive.” She assessed.
“Yeah.” John agreed with her. “Funny story actually.” He said as he glanced over to Aerin. Seeing this, Meredith also turned her gaze over to her. She tilted her head to the side and waited for an explanation.
“Well, I…” Aerin twiddled her fingers back and forth, clearly not wanting to explain what had happened. She took a deep breath before sighing heavily. “I killed him. Accidentally.”
Aerin’s gaze fell to the floor as her face became slightly flushed. Meredith took a moment to process the scenario, before she burst into her childish laughter. Aerin’s face grew ever redder as Meredith laughed wholeheartedly. The Cyphers all around John collapsed before she eventually contained herself. As she wiped another tear from her eye John could tell that, like a child, Meredith was easily amused.
Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale Page 10