All the commotion around us fades into the background, and I become hyperaware of her. The soft features of her face, the strength hidden within her body, and her breath, coming and going. It’s so magnetic, but also familiar. Maybe it’s the berry perfume she’s wearing, which reminds me of Felicia, my horrible babysitter who I had a crush on. Or maybe I’ve met her before.
Someone bumps into me, and everyone around us comes back into focus. Valene and I are much closer to one another now. She continues forward, seemingly ready to kiss me. It’s thrilling, but I just met this girl. I start to pull away from her.
Valene looks at me in confusion. It reminds me of Airca’s expression when I put a stop to our conversation this morning. “What’s wrong? Do you have someone?” she asks.
My feelings for Airca are a mess right now, and I know hers for me are too, but I made my decision. “No, I don’t. It’s just—”
“Neither do I,” she says with a smirk. She cups the back of my head and draws me back in. “So, don’t fight it. I’m not.”
I close my eyes as I lean into her. When our lips meet, a wave of heat spreads through my body like wildfire. All my worries and fears seem to melt away, and I lose sense of everything but the heat enveloping me, her perfume, and her presence.
She pulls away. The connection breaks, and I come back to reality. My body trembles and aches, like it did at the mall, wild with energy.
“That was amazing,” she says, a little out of breath.
“Yeah, I’ve…” I take a step back as I catch her gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
“Umm, your eyes…they’re stark black now.”
She laughs a little, which is still cute—even with those eyes. “Yeah, and so are yours.”
“My eyes aren’t black,” I insist. She pulls a compact from her pocket. She opens it and puts it in my face. Like she said, my eyes are black too. “What the heck?” I take the compact from her and examine them closely.
“Are you okay?” she asks, her tone more serious now.
I’m nowhere near okay. How are my eyes black? How are hers?
Wait…she said New Birth and not Earth. I’ve heard that before, but where? I look at Valene, and she looks at me, one eyebrow raised. The black of her eyes melts away, revealing the gold hidden beneath. I look back into the mirror; mine are already back to normal.
“Don’t be afraid. Just relax and breathe. You’re safe with me.” Her fingers grip the mirror, and she takes it from me.
Relaxing is the last thing I can do right now. I just kissed a girl that may not be human. I may not be human anymore. Is this what Shadow meant? Valene puts her hands on either side of my face and pulls me close to her.
“Hey, did you hear me?” she asks.
She presses her forehead to mine, and I feel a lesser version of the heat again. It calms me right down. With a deep breath, I take in her berry fragrance, then look her in the eyes. What is this feeling, this heat? What is it about this girl?
“Yeah, I heard you. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’m happy to help someone so cute.”
I clear my throat, trying to hide my embarrassment and fear. “You’re pretty cute yourself.”
She smiles, and her face glows. “You know, it’s not often I run into a demon around my own age. We should go out sometime. What do you say?” She runs her finger along my face.
This girl is straight to the point. I’m not used to this. Furthermore, a girl like her wants to date a guy like me? I’m speechless. “That would be—” Wait a second… “A demon?”
“Yeah, I said I don’t often meet demons my own age.”
I’m taken aback by how serious she is. “Are you a demon?”
She smiles, looking a bit confused. “Obviously.”
A demon? She’s a demon, like Kross? Like the things that killed my parents? I scan the room. Does that mean everyone around me is one as well? Everyone here seems fairly normal. With one more scan, I catch something odd from the corner of my eye. One of the guys next to us has horns. Next to him is a woman with patches of scales on her face. Others around us have claws, multiple eyes, and even oozing faces. How had I not noticed this before?
My body tenses as I look at the others. Hands grab my shoulders from behind, startling me. I jump and try to defend myself, but I slip on some mold. The hands grip my arms, catching me before I hit the ground.
“Dude, are you okay?” Valene asks, lifting me to my feet.
Hesitantly, I lean in. “So, everyone here is a demon?” I ask, whispering in her ear.
“Yeah.”
“Am I a demon?”
Valene bursts out laughing. After a second, she catches her breath and then looks at me. Her smile vanishes when she notices how serious I am. “Oh, you’re not kidding. Believe me, big boy; you’re a demon, like me. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, astral form or not.” I try to move away again, but her grip on my shoulders tightens. “Now, calm down.” She says, a bit annoyed. “Like I said before, you’re safe with me.” Valene steps to the side and wraps her arm around me. “So, tell me, mister human, wanna go out on a date with me?”
If this girl really is a demon, and I say no. She could tear me apart right here and now. “Uh, sure,” I say, trying to appear as calm as possible.
She looks me and smiles. “Cool.”
“Yeah, cool.”
Man, this is nuts. What are the girls going to think? The girls. I completely forgot. I wonder if they’re okay. I reach for my phone. I can feel it in my front pocket, but I can’t get into my pocket because it’s not actually here.
Valene starts to rub my arm, then moves to my chest. She looks so amazed. “Um, I don’t really have a problem with it, but why do you keep rubbing on me?”
She continues stroking my chest. “Sorry, I just can’t get over how powerful you are. To make an astral form tangible is not an easy feat.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that.”
Her face turns pink. “I’m sorry, it’s just the truth. To do this takes a lot power and control.” I look at her, and she smiles, moving her hair out of her face. “Anyway, where do you live? How old are you? Do you attend school?”
“I live just outside the city. I go to Roc High. And I’m seventeen. Today’s my birthday, actually.”
“Really?” She bites her lip before kissing me on the cheek. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.”
“You said Roc High, right? I went to that school too.”
“You did? How old are you?”
“I’m sixteen, but I graduated already.”
“From Roc High?” She nods. “What year?”
“Let me see; the school opened in 1917…hmm, the class of 1921.”
“What?” I must have heard her wrong. Before she has a chance to answer, the crowd erupts in a wave of roars, squeals, and screams. “What’s going on?” I yell.
“The Messenger! He’s here!”
Above us, a man wearing baggy jeans and a gray jacket walks out onto the scaffolding hanging from the ceiling. He raises his hand, and the rally of demons goes silent.
He speaks from underneath the hood of his jacket. “Welcome, my brethren, and thank you for heeding my call. I am here to inform you that within four weeks’ time, they shall be among us once again.” The crowd screams even louder.
They? The Messenger raises his hand, and the crowd falls silent once again. He looks so familiar…
“Why must we wait four weeks? We’ve gathered the thousand-plus souls necessary to perform the summoning, have we not?” asks a person from the other side of the massive crowd.
“That may be so, but we must dissolve the seals, start the summoning, and adjust the pathway to their powers—all of which will take four weeks maximum.”
“What of the Betrayer?” a random voice asks.
“Yes, what of Kross?” seconds a demon a couple feet away from Valene and me.
The Messenger vanishes. He appears in a p
uff of darkness in front of the muscle-bound demon that asked the question. The big guy tries not to, but I can clearly see him trembling. As a matter of fact, everyone in the vicinity of the Messenger is shaking, besides Valene and, surprisingly, me.
“Don’t ever say that name in my presence, am I clear?” the Messenger demands. The air grows so stale and stagnant that I gag a little.
“C-cr-crystal,” the big guy stammers, standing stiff as a board.
“Anyway, do not fret. Shadow died the day he betrayed us more than thirty dytics ago, and he’s not coming back.”
Someone rushes past me, bumping into me. I stumble, and Valene catches me. “Kyle, are you okay?” Everyone turns their attention to us—and I mean everyone. By the time she gets me back on my feet, the Messenger is already in front of us.
I get a good look under his hood and see his face. I know this guy; he’s the drug dealer I saw in my dream, the one taken over by the robed man. Man, he got old-looking fast. He draws back his hood and looks us up and down.
“A solid astral form. How could you, a child, do something not even I can? What is your name, boy?” he asks with a sneer.
“My name is Kyle, sir,” I answer, looking him right in his dull, green eyes.
The world around me begins to blur, and I feel as though I’m falling. I splash into a swirling mass of darkness and what smells like rotting flesh—except that I don’t; I’m still standing, still looking directly into the Messenger’s eyes, until I’m forced to look away to regain my composure.
“You dare look me in the eye?” When I look back up, the Messenger backhands me, sending me flying into the crowd.
Someone pushes up from under me, and I roll right in front of Valene. She looks at me, astonished.
“You’re still here? You’re still alive? Even in astral form, that power should have reverberated back to your body and killed you,” she says in a half-whisper.
“Really? Well, lucky me.” She takes my hand and helps me to my feet. Even though it sent me flying three feet, his strike barely hurt. People in the crowd around us whisper and move away.
“You still live,” the Messenger says. He starts to laugh, but it isn’t real. Purple light bursts into existence, rushing into his hand and forming a sphere the size of a softball. He thrusts his hand forward, and the ball hurtles in my direction. I throw up my arms and brace myself.
Valene steps in front of me. Her right arm is covered by the same shifting darkness that covered mine back at the mall. She grabs the ball from underneath and, using its momentum, picks it up over her head and slams it down to the ground, shattering the floor. Pieces of it pop up in the air and disintegrate. Now that would have killed me.
The Messenger looks at her with disdain. “You dare interfere, child?”
She kneels before him as the sleeve of darkness quickly disperses into black smoke. “Please forgive him, honorable Messenger. From what I’ve gathered, this is his first time among demons, and he doesn’t know not to look upon the face of an elder,” Valene explains.
He looks at me, skeptical of the information. “Is this truly your first time among demons?”
Valene yanks on my pants, and I fall to one knee. I start to look up but stop, keeping my eyes trained on his shoes, which are covered in dried brown sludge. “Yes.”
He starts laughing, then quickly stops. He points at Valene and me.
“This is the boy’s first time in the presence of his own kind!” Whispers arise from the crowd. “But he has shown no fear of me or of you.” If only he knew how scared I really was. “Even at the chance of death, he didn’t flinch; instead, he prepared for battle. And unlike most of you, he didn’t cower in the presence of a being stronger than himself. Even his girlfriend here has done the same and much more. So young, but do you know what these two are? Can any of you tell me?”
“Stupid?” someone says.
“Yes, that may be true, but they are more than that. They are warriors!” The crowd bursts in an uproar of cheers, and the Messenger turns toward us again. “Rise and look upon me.” We stand, doing as he orders, but I make sure to avoid his eyes. “Tell me your full names.”
“Valene Kir.”
“Kyle Ross, sir.”
“Well, you two have my recognition,” he says, bowing his head. “But if you ever dishonor me like that again, I will rip you apart.” We bow our heads, and he vanishes. Appearing back on the scaffolding, he looks out over the whole congregation.
“In four weeks’ time, the war will begin once again, and this time we won’t be stopped!” The crowd raises their hands and cheers. “Meeting adjourned!” Everyone then vanishes in a cloud of shadow, leaving just Valene and me.
“Well, that was something,” I say, shakily. I take a deep breath and try to calm down. Looking to Valene, I see her body is tense. Her fingers dig deep into the stone. “Valene?”
She turns toward me, her face full of rage. “Are you crazy?! You could have gotten us killed,” she screams, storming toward me. I jump up to my feet as she backs me up against a slime-covered wall.
“Hey, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to look demon elders in the eyes. It’s respectful in the human world.” I cover my face as she steps up to me. “Please, don’t kill me.”
Her hand touches mine, and I jump. “Look at me.” I look at her from behind my arms, and she’s smiling. “Like I said, you are safe with me. So, relax.” She takes my arms and lowers them. “And you have a point about the respect thing. So, this really was your first time among demons. I have to admit, this has been pretty exciting.” She moves in closer to me, placing her arms on either side of me, locking me against the wall. We just stare at one another for a moment. She blinks, and her expression becomes somewhat troubled. “You said your name was Kyle Ross, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know a Serena Ross?”
“That’s my aunt. Do you know her?”
She smiles again. “Yeah I do. You tell her that I throw in the towel. Now how about that date? When are you free?”
She’s so close, I can’t think straight. “I’m free…yeah.”
She chuckles. Taking a step closer, she presses her body to mine and whispers into my ear, “I’m having a party Saturday, two days from now, at my place. I live at 1020 Moon Drive. Be there around six.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek and walks away. “See you there.”
In a flash of darkness, she’s gone, leaving me swimming in my own happiness. A hot girl—a hot demon—just invited me to a party. Wow. When I feel slime on my hand, I remember myself. Now, I remember my original dilemma. The room is empty and silent now that everyone is gone.
“Where am I, and how do I get out of here?”
Intense light envelopes me, and I disperse into nothingness.
I WAKE up coughing, the taste of dirt fresh in my mouth. This time, I’m lying on something soft. A bed, I think. A hand caresses my forehead. “Nurse, he’s awake.”
A door opens, and then light flashes in my eyes. I bat it away and squeeze my eyes closed. “Mr. Ross. How are you feeling?”
“Besides this huge headache? I think I’m fine.”
“Well, Miss Ross, it looks like he’s just fine. He overexerted himself, that’s all. He will be discharged in a bit.”
“Thank you so much,” my aunt says.
The door opens and closes.
“See, I told you he was fine,” says another woman’s voice. It’s vaguely familiar.
“What did you do?” Serena asks.
“Nothing…I just talked him through some things. He’s the one that destroyed a third of the mall’s ceiling. I must say, for his powers to have just manifested today, little brother has some talent.”
Little brother?
The cat. It’s the cat’s voice.
“Cat? Who are you? What are you?” I ask, opening my eyes and looking around.
The cat jumps onto the side of the hospital bed. I stare into its glowing greenish-gold eyes. Its jowls tur
n up into a cat smile. “A demon,” she says with a chuckle.
It’s hard to keep my eyes open, but I look over at my aunt. She looks worried. There are so many questions I want to ask, but what I really want to know is—
“Aunty…” She looks at me. “Are you a demon too?”
There’s a moment of silence. My eyes begin to burn as I fight to keep them open. The light of the room turns gray. The features of Aunt Serena’s face fade in the dimness, but glowing green marks appear around her eyes and follow the contours of her brow, connecting in the center of her forehead, forming into the shape of an eye. Her head shoots up, and I feel her looking at me. “You can use the dark sight?” she asks.
“Like I said—talented,” says the cat. I turn back to the her and see that her whole form is glowing orange; yellow markings shift across her fur.
I lift my hand. In the sight, it looks like a mass of inky darkness, radiating smoke. “I really am a demon.”
The cat puts her paw over my mouth. “Hush now. We will talk more at home.” The door handle turns, and the door swings open. A guy sticks his head in, saying that he’s here to take me downstairs to the exit. This is the first human I’ve seen with the sight. He’s weird-looking, just a dark-gray, featureless being with a huge hole in the middle of his chest.
I close my eyes and roll out of the bed, attempting to stand up. Pain erupts on the side of my face like I’ve been slapped with a brick, and I nearly collapse. Aunt Serena grips my arms tightly. So, this is the reverberation Valene was talking about. I’ll keep that in mind if I astral-surf again.
Serena helps me to the wheelchair, and the cat leaps into my lap. We roll through the maze of hallways and to the main entrance. Serena’s little red car is waiting in the lane with a valet. We pile into the car. The cat leaps back into my lap, curling up with a little lick of my hand. This week has been beyond bizarre. There’s a talking demon cat purring in my lap and I’m going on a date with a beautiful, demon girl. What’s going on with my life?
After a silent, twenty-minute drive, we pull into the driveway. The car jerks to a stop, waking the cat. She looks up at me, and I look right back to her.
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