The Bet

The distance between us and the demon began closing as we jumped from tree to tree. I looked at my partner and nodded. It was a nonverbal signal but she realized the meaning immediately. She went left while I went right. We increased our speed and finally, we were in front of the demon. Hannah yelled, "Go!" and we both crossed path and stopped the monster. As it turned around to see if it could escape (it was a very weak monster but could run fast) the other members of our group arrived.

"Not so fast." Said Justin, leaning a foot against the tree. "Your time has come."

I scoffed. Only he could run so much and still be so calm and collected. "And cool."A voice in my head whispered. "Oh shut up." I replied.

The demon roared, the three red feathers on its head vibrated as it tried to scare us off. But, we were a courageous group of people and we advanced. Hannah fished out the seprah blade from her pocket- she was the best at drawing ruins. With her right hand, she drew a small dagger, small but deadly.

Justin and his partner, Nick both drew slightly larger daggers. One of them had a golden handle and the other had a silver one, the silver one belonged to Nick while Justin was the owner of the golden one. I, myself, had retrieved my dagger. The blade was a light blue and the handle was a shining silver. Using a special rune, I always enlarged a pocket so that I could keep my sword and its sheath in there. Also, I had a pouch tied underneath my pant leg. It contained knives that I easily chuck at an enemy. I had learned to keep these when I had taken a "trip". But, that's a story for another time.

I charged at the demon with my dagger held at my side. When it seemed like I was about to crash into the monster, I leaped up, and jumped behind it. On the way day, I dug my blade into its back, making a three foot long gash in its back. It screamed. A howl of pure agony that made me feel sorry for it. But then, I remembered what it had done. When we found this thing, it was surrounded by dead human bodies. I shivered as I remembered the face of the little boy who was located on the right of the demon.

I bared my teeth as I charged again, but I was too late. Hannah drove her dagger thought its stomach, a deadly blow. Everyone knew that lower level demons stored their energy in their stomach, hit that and the demon dissolves. I heard a sickening scream followed by a small "puff". It was gone. I went and, with Hannah by my side, observed its body to see if it was really dead. Some monsters and produce an illusion of death. I smiled, we had done it.

"Justin, Nick, it's dead. Justin come here and help me hide the powder, the humans camp here all the time. Nick go help Hannah cover up the fight."

We had gotten better at hiding our tracks. I remember our first battle. One day after, Charlotte (our teacher) had started yelling at us while showing us a newspaper article. Basically, a couple of hunters had discovered the remains of our fight and had contacted the police. The police had assumed that a pair of large animals had a battle and now they were looking for them. Needless to say, they never found them.

My friends and I are Nephilim. We have angel blood coursing to our veins and we chose to be Shadowhunters. We protect humans from demons, downworlders, ect. The way you identify a Nephilim is by looking at their palm. They all have a purple color between their index and middle finger. If one partner has it on the left hand, the other has it on the right. To find your partner, the two Nephilim have to shake hands. Shadowhunters usually travel in groups of four, or two pairs put together. For longer missions, they travel in groups of eight, or four pairs put together.

After the group of eight has been determined. The people are put through the "element test." When the eight are lined up in a circle, a older Shadowhunter and their partner will go around giving small slips of paper to each person. The paper is tan and had a special property. Each Shadowhunter can control one element such as wind, water, fire, air, lightning, or the Earth.

In addition to these elements, Nephilim are able to draw runes, which can give the user super strength, speed, ect. Some runes are adapted to only certain kinds of people and these traits are unique, such as the power to control time or read minds.

As the towering church building came into view, I looked around. Mundanes couldn't see the building, but they would notice us suddenly disappearing. When I saw that the street was clear we went in. Audrey came bounding toward us, she quickly passed us the message that Charlotte had given her, "We have figured out where your other group members are! They apparently go to your school, and you know them. Charlotte said that as soon as you find them, you will be given a special mission. Alexandra, do you remember that "special trip" you took when you had first found out that you were a Shadowhunter? Well, you will be returning. That is all."

"What trip?" Nick questioned.

"Ahh, I remember. Tell you later. I have to go home, I told my parents I'd be back by 6:30pm and its 6:25pm. Just remember, our partners will be two girls and two boys. You try finding the boys, Hannah and I will search for the girls. Until tomorrow, my friends."

The next day, I got out of my car and walked toward my middle school. It was last year and it was sad that I had to leave next year. I saw Hannah and walked over to her. As I reached her, I glanced to my left. It noticed Justin, he was giving high five to a group of people. "Smart kid." I whispered to Hannah. "Hey, let's have a competition, whoever finds the person first has to put the other's violin away in Orchestra."

Hannah smiled wickedly. She loved competition. "Hell yes. Deal!"

The school bell rang and Hannah and I parted ways. I could already see her eyeing possible Shadowhunters.

Hey guys! I'm hoping for three reviews. I'm really interested in writing this story and but I need to know if I am doing something wrong. Thanks!