The Mythos Unveiled (Demona series) (13 page)

“So,
you’re just going to throw this away? Whatever this is, because you don’t do
relationships?” Demona said, “Wow, Kerrick. You know, for someone as old as you
are, I thought maybe you would be a little more mature!”

“What
do you want me to do?” Kerrick asked. He rose from the bed and went to sit
beside Demona. “Every woman I was ever involved with either died or left me.”

“I
can see why,” Demona said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “So, you won’t
even try?”

“I
haven’t tried since Elisabeth. I don’t know how.”

“Why
won’t you try? It’s not that hard, you know. All you have to do is open up to
me. Trust me, as more than just your partner. Just don’t lie to me or hide
things.”

“Because
of Elisabeth… I don’t want to talk about it.”

“See,
you give up before you even try. The Kerrick I know never backs down.”

“Fine,
but if this doesn’t work we go back to how it was before and forget it ever
happened.”

“Agreed,”
Demona said.
Should I have to agree to
this?

Kerrick
lay back on the bed. He stretched out his arm and Demona lay by his side.

“What
did Elisabeth do to make you stop trying?” Demona asked.

“I
would rather not talk about it.”

“We
just agreed that you would try. You can’t give in that quickly. Try to trust me
for once.”

“Okay…Obviously
Elisabeth had been turned while I was in the militia. What I had found out
after my transformation was that she had an affair. Her lover had been her
master. After he taught her everything he knew, he found no more pleasure in
her and disappeared. When I got home Elisabeth decided to change me in order to
keep me from leaving her.

“We
had fifty years together after my transformation. We spent years trying to make
it work; it takes a toll on you after a while. We finally decided to separate.
A couple of years later I was informed of her
telos
. Since Elisabeth’s betrayal my heart hasn’t committed to
trying to make a relationship work,” Kerrick said.

“You
can’t punish yourself for something your wife did while you were away. You need
to move on and give yourself a chance to be happy again,” Demona said. “Will
you tell me what happened today? What happened before I found you?”

“There
really isn’t much to tell. I knew the demon was ahead of me. I approached
cautiously, as usual. I didn’t realize there was a nephilim towering above me.
I had been looking for something…average sized. He knocked me down before I
knew what was happening. Every time I managed to gain my footing he was
knocking me back to the ground. The last time he hit me I was certain he gave
me a concussion. Every part of my body screamed in pain.

“I
guess he thought I wasn’t going to get back up. A deer bounded by us and he
went chasing after it. It took me forever to will my body to move, because I
was in so much agony. Then, I heard you call my name just after I started to
hear him heading back towards me. I assume he made his kill and was bringing it
back to his home.”

“Lucky
for you I got there in time to stop him from doing any more damage.” Demona
stared at the ceiling.

“Thank
you for that,” Kerrick said. “Those nephilim are not the strongest, but they
are all brute strength.”

“What
exactly are they?”

“According
to myths, nephilim are children of fallen angels and humans. They are an
ancient race. They are very fearful and avoid others.”

“What
do you think he was doing there?”

“That
is the mystery. Nephilim usually stay in seclusion, they forage for wild
animals for sustenance. It’s unlike a them to make a home in a public place.
The national park had enough human activity to make him stay away,” Kerrick
said. “On top of that they are rare, considering their age. He was probably
several millennia old.”

“Well,
the report said that there has been a lot of demonic activity lately. At least
we got one of the big ones out of the way.”

“It’s
strange. I’ve been thinking,” Kerrick said. “Lilith was trying to possess that
kid with a pure soul, which is also not normal.”

The
thought of Felix made her cringe. He was the last person she wanted to think
about while she lay on Kerrick’s bed.

“We
went to that abandoned house where multiple demons fled from us. Then, the
report of increased demon activity. Now, a nephilim in a public place…
Something is going on.”

“What
do you think it is?”

Kerrick
turned to meet her eye. “Something to do with you.”

“Why
does it always have to do with me?”

“Well,
there is the prophecy, which says that you will have to choose a side and
defeat the other. It seems more than coincidental. What do you think?”

“Maybe,
but Darius doesn’t control the demons.”

“That
is my concern. I think this is just the beginning.”

Chapter 14

Relationships

Demona
made her way from her car towards the apartment building. The sun rose in the
sky while watery colored blues and purples stretched across the horizon. The
warm morning rays cast an orange glow on the clouds floating by.

Demona
made her way into the lobby and up the stairwell. She groggily walked down the
hallway to her apartment, her feet shuffled against the carpet as she went.
Most of the building was still sleeping, so Demona made her way without
interruption. She stood in front of her apartment door and placed her key
inside the lock. As she was about to turn the key she heard a muffled voiced
coming from across the hall. Curiosity got the best of her.

Demona
tiptoed across the hall to Hannah’s door and placed her ear against the door.
She knew something was up, especially after she had heard the bits of
conversation she had, when she met them in the hall way a few days before. It
had something to do with Felix. Maybe she would find out what was going on if
she listened close enough.

“I
have to tell her,” Hannah said.

“You
can’t!” Kaleb replied.

“She
will want to know. You have no idea how much she cared about him.”

Demona
was shocked to find that she had caught them in the middle of another argument.
They were definitely talking about her and Felix again.
I don’t understand what’s happening.

“I
know, but we can’t tell her,” Kaleb said.

“Why
not!” Hannah said.

“I
can’t tell you any more than what I already did.”

“This
is ridiculous, Kaleb. She deserves to know.”

“I
know that. I wish I could tell her too.”

“Then
do it!” Hannah said.

“You
don’t understand,” Kaleb said.

“You’re
right. I don’t understand. Just leave!”

“Hannah,
please. I don’t want to leave like this.”

If he knows
something important he should be honest.

“I
don’t care. Just go. You have to pick him up in an hour anyway,” Hannah said.

There
it was. Demona stood frozen in place against the door.
Felix is coming home.
All of those emotions she had been trying to
ignore came rushing back. The intensity grew within her and she almost lost
control. A gust of wind swept past her in the enclosed hallway.

“Fine,
but please just try to understand,” Kaleb said.

“Maybe
I would if you actually explained it to me!” Hannah said.

Demona
heard a door slam. Then, she heard shuffling feet. The shuffling grew closer.
Demona quickly snuck back to her apartment door and quietly opened it. The
moment she let the latch on her door lock behind her she heard Hannah’s
apartment door opening. Demona leaned up against her door
. Nobody was going to tell me! If Felix has any guilt for doing what he
did he will come find me when he is ready.

That
night Demona fell into a restless sleep, one full of unpleasant memories.

****

Demona
heard someone screaming loudly from somewhere in the darkness that surrounded
her. She soon realized that she had been the one screaming. A dark figure that
gripped her had frigidly cold, strong hands. He leaned towards her and suddenly
her screams ended. Things were happening so quickly that Demona had a hard time
making sense of it all.

The
figure leaned even closer to Demona and the grip on her arms tightened. She
felt the cool skin brush against her neck and the fear rose as a lump inside
her. Her heart was pounding so quickly, now. She felt as if it would burst.
What’s going to happen to me?

Pain
shot through her neck; a horrible, piercing, pain. The man had bit her. Demona
was able to move slightly and she struggled to push her attacker away. The more
she struggled the harder he bit down into her flesh. Demona felt her warm blood
spilling down her neck. She struggled and kicked while willing herself to be
free from him. As Demona kicked her attacker she lost her balance and fell to
the damp ground.

Her
attacker fell with her and temporarily released his teeth from her neck. She
continued to try to scream, but no sound came from her mouth. She saw her
attacker’s shadowy face bending towards her neck once more. Demona tried to see
who it was; she could barely make out anything.

She
beat the man with her fists, but the weight of his body pressed her arms down
and her struggles came to a standstill. His face was inches from her own now
and Demona knew he was going to bite her again. She saw his teeth in the dim
light from the distant street lamp. They were sharp teeth. They were longer and
sharper than any man’s teeth she had seen before. She was not entirely certain
that he was a man at all.

Demona
had a single moment of clarity. She thought how eerily similar the moment was
to a horror movie. And then there was pain as he sank the teeth into her neck
once more. Demona made one last attempt to scream, but no sound escaped her
lips. The fear and pain rose as one inside her and she finally lost
consciousness.

****

Demona
woke with a start.
Ugh, not this again
.
The darkness in that moment was terrifying to her and she lay in bed frozen
with fear. She felt as if the man was standing very near her, but she knew it
was just the vivid memory.

A
gust of wind swept through her bedroom and Demona quickly regained her
composure, before a full blown tornado formed inside her room. She reached for
her lamp and twisted the knob so that the light flicked on.

It
had been several months since Demona had had a flashback
. Well, I guess there is no denying that whatever turned me was a
vampire
. It was the first flashback that had confirmed that her attacker
was indeed a vampire, not that she denied it.

She
placed her hand on her neck where the attacker had bitten her. The thought made
her queasy.

Every
time the flashbacks came she learned more about that night. Still, it was not
enough to piece together enough information to learn who her attacker was.
One day I will find out who you are.
It
had been such a strange incident, especially since most fledglings were
instructed by their master. Demona had been alone every step of the way. There
had been nobody to guide her or instruct her as her body began to change.

After
contemplating the flashback Demona attempted to shake off the residual
feelings. Then, she remembered the conversation she had heard when arriving
home from Kerrick’s. Demona’s morning was not shaping up to be a good one.

She
threw the covers over her head and sighed. The sunlight peaked through the
covers and Demona realized she had slept for an entire day. The events of the
previous day had taken a toll on her physically and mentally
. I should just stay in bed today. Today is
a good day to ignore the world
. Then, she felt the hunger.

Demona
returned home after getting her rations to figure out what to do with herself
the remainder of the day. She sat on her sofa and pulled her laptop out and
started looking at random topics. Then, she began searching for, dark versus
light prophecies. Most of the search results were useless pieces of information
based on movies and cartoons.

Then,
something caught her attention. A search result in the middle of the page
mentioned a war between dark and light. She clicked the link and waited for the
page to load. The website gave her a summary of an ancient scroll that had been
roughly translated. It had described a war between light and dark which was
supposed to have brought about the apocalypse. The war had been won by light.
Of course light always prevails.

Demona
searched for more information a while longer, but quickly grew bored. She
placed the laptop on the coffee table and drew her legs up under her
. Or, is it possible that the prophecy was
meant to happen at that moment almost two millennia ago? It seemed too
coincidental that they are so similar.

****

Someone
knocked on the door as Demona pulled a shirt over her head. She ran to the door
and peered through the peep hole. Kerrick was standing there and Demona
promptly opened the door for him.

“Hey,
what are you doing here?” Demona asked.

“I
thought I would give this relationship a chance,” Kerrick said. He smiled and
handed her the rations.

“Thanks.
What a way to win a girl’s heart.”

“I
thought I would pick you up and save you the trouble of going in to TGHC. It
will also give us extra time before work.”

Kerrick
approached Demona as she finished taking a gulp of blood. He grabbed her by the
waist and pulled her closer. He leaned in and gave her a firm, yet passionate,
kiss. The taste of blood somehow made it even more erotic. It was always as if
her mind could not process any thought while their lips were pressed together.
It was nothing, but desire in that moment.

“Uhum-Uhum,”
a noise came from behind Kerrick.

They
had forgotten to close her door. Hannah and Kaleb stood in Hannah’s doorway
staring into Demona’s apartment; they were in shock at the scene before them.

“You
might want to close your door for a little more privacy,” Kaleb said. “And
Demona you have something on your mouth.”

Demona
wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, blood smeared on her pale skin.

“Sorry
about that, guys. We kind of got caught up in the moment,” Demona said.

“We
can see that,” Hannah said. Her eyebrows were raised.

“Oh
yeah, Hannah, Kaleb, this is Kerrick.”

“Hi,”
they both said simultaneously. Hannah raised her hand in a wave. Kaleb leaned
in for a hand shake. Kerrick declined his hand.

“Okay
then,” Kaleb said. He withdrew his hand.

“Hello,”
Kerrick said. He pushed the door closed and reached for Demona once more. He
planted another firm kiss on her lips.

“Hey!”
Demona said. She pulled away. “That was rude.”

“What?”
Kerrick said.

“You
just closed the door on them,” Demona said. She went and reopened the door, but
Hannah and Kaleb were already gone.

“They
wanted us to close the door,” Kerrick said.

“You
are really bad with people aren’t you?” Demona asked. “Yeah, they wanted us to
close the door, before they had to witness us making out. Not while we were
making introductions. Remind me not to take you anywhere that I have to
introduce you to anyone. Did you lose all sense of manners since you were
turned? ”

“Maybe,
and that’s fine with me. I would rather it just be us two,” Kerrick said. He
approached Demona once more.

This
time they stayed locked in an embrace. Kerrick’s hands and lips were all over
Demona. Demona’s brain had gone numb once more. Kerrick had a way of making her
heat up.

Kerrick’s
hands went to rest on Demona’s butt. Normally, she would have stopped him by
this point, but she was lost in the passion. Suddenly, Kerrick had hoisted her
up and held her. Demona wrapped her legs around him. Kerrick carried her
towards her bedroom. He almost stumbled on a pair of Demona’s shoes as he
carried her to the bed, but their lips never parted.

Demona
felt Kerrick lower her onto the mattress. He climbed on the bed and rested
himself between her thighs. His elbow propped him up on one side. The other
hand was placed on the back of her neck. He pushed his lips against hers with
force. Demona had never been so engrossed in a feeling before. Her hands
gripped Kerrick’s hair and she pulled him closer, as if trying to meld their
bodies together.

A
moment of clarity sped through Demona’s mind.
Work
. Demona tried to clear the fog in her head. Her body was
reluctant to stop.

“Wait…
Wait…” Demona said. “We need to go.”

“Let’s
stay here a little longer,” Kerrick said. He attempted to lean down to kiss her
again.

“If
I stay here any longer there will be no work for us today. I won’t be able to
leave.”

“Alright,”
Kerrick said. “I know we need to get to work, but I would rather stay here with
you.”

“The
feeling is mutual, but we have responsibilities.”

****

After
another day of basic field work Demona returned home. It was becoming more
difficult for her to separate from Kerrick, especially since their relationship
had become so intense. It was hard being away from him, and even harder for her
to focus on work.

Demona
was always catching herself admiring him in different ways. She loved the way
he moved and how the muscles were well formed under his t-shirts. She loved the
way he handled himself on field assignments and his rugged masculinity. Kerrick
was the embodiment of everything a man should be.