There I was. Panting, looking around wildly for something, anything that would help. "Zander! Zander please wake up!" I cried pushing on the chest of the boy lying unconscious next to me.
"Not going to happen kitten." A voice said, slithering closer as a hand reached out and grabbed my chin.
"Let. Me. Go. Now." I hissed through my teeth.
"Or what, you'll hit me with your little swords? HAH!" the hell spawn laughed, tightening his grip on my chin.
"No. Your punishment will be worse, much worse." I whispered as shadows emerged from the fire.
Vampires, Werewolves, and Hell Spawn, Oh My!
Chapter one
It all started with strawberry-banana cake. I was standing in my kitchen, people all around me. Some of these people I didn't even like. Yet here they were. I baked the strawberry-banana cake in my oven, while discussing things with Sebastian and Carmen.
"Seriously, Adelaide we need to get this show on the road. Trent is gonna blow a vein if you don't finish this soon!" Sebastian whispered gesturing over to the goth/emo or whatever-he-is guy standing in the corner, cracking his knuckles.
"I'm not worried about a guy who gets you all hyped up because he has weird hair and seems unnatural to you. Half these people aren't supposed to be here, but Zander decided it would be fun to bring friends." I muttered to Sebastian and Carmen. Zander was a friend of mine. He was tall, had hair that could rival Justin Bieber's, and had the most gorgeous blue-green eyes. It was almost as if his eyes were a part of the Aegean Sea. He was a talented artist, and a great lacrosse player. And I am hopelessly and utterly in love with him. (Well, the love part was more of a 'like', he isn't my boyfriend or anything, so it's more of 'I am hopelessly and utterly in 'like' with him)
"Yeah, and those people brought friends, who brought their friends." Carmen muttered. He was slightly uncomfortable with crowds, and always made it a point to tell me so. And then the oven let out a chorus of small 'ding' noises signaling that the cake was done. I pulled it out.
"EW, do you know how many CARBS are in that?" Camilla shrieked. Oh, great. The queen of carb counting is here. Whoopee! I thought to myself.
"OHMYGOD! Like I totally didn't realize that were carbs in here, what are they gonna do to you? Damage you twig-like figure?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from my voice like honey from Pooh Bears paw. Zander snorted into his drink, trying to hide his laughter. Camilla narrowed her eyes into slits, glaring at me with all the fury she could muster, which wasn't much. Followed by her little show, Zander walked over to me, and licked a little frosting I had been mixing while all this Camilla crap was going on off his finger that he had dipped in the bowl. "HEY! I need that!" I cried, causing Carmen, Camilla, Sebastian, and Trent to turn their heads in our direction.
"Finally!" Trent sighed walking over to the counter. This was the first time he talked all afternoon. He grabbed a small knife, and started towards the cake. I swatted away his eager hand.
"Not yet." I said firmly "We need to wait for it to cool so I can frost it. THEN we can eat it." I said looking around at my friends, then Trent, and Camilla. They (except Camilla) looked forlorn, and sad like little puppies who just got scolded. After popping the cake in the fridge and attempting to make polite conversation with Trent (getting rudely shut down, might I add), we (except Camilla) could eat. Eager hands dove into my parent's silverware drawer, pulling out knives and forks. The same hands pulled down paper plates from the cabinet over the stove, and eagerly awaited the now frosted cake to be distributed. The little monsters (except Camilla) were in a line, and stepped forward when it was their turn. "God, I feel like one of those cafeteria ladies at school." I muttered to Sebastian when it was his turn. Sebastian was much like Zander in the way that he was tall, had dark hair, and had blue-green eyes. But Sebastian was smart, like smarter-than-the-Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader-smart. He could do math like no tomorrow, and could speak fluent French. He wasn't very athletic, seeing as his arms were gangly and had almost no muscle, but just enough to make a small bump when he flexed. (Must be from carrying all of those text books). And he was pale, oh so pale. It was like his skin never saw the sun, EVER. But all of the above endeared him to me. He was like a zit you just couldn't pop. Always there, but annoying enough to make you scream. He was my best friend, EVER.
"I can't relate, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm the last one, besides yourself of course." He said winking, and laughing as he walked away. I giggled to myself, as I cut a slice of the pink cake. As I walked over, Zander patted the spot between himself and Carmen. I took it, smiling as I saw the look of utter disgust cross Camilla's face. Who's laughing now? I thought to myself, laughing as I did. She was one of the firm believers that popular kids could not associate with dorks and dorks should be teased. She didn't like it that I was more liked, and had more of a personality than her. I had my friends and didn't give a crap about popularity or not. We all, (except Camilla) took a bite of the cake, all of a sudden, a bright light appeared.
"Hello," a disembodied voice said "I believe you are the people I am looking for." And then, POOF! A woman appeared in front of us. Trent shielded his eyes, I looked away, Sebastian and Carmen cowered in a corner, and Zander held me against his chest. I couldn't see Camilla, but I suppose she did the same.
"Who the frig are you?" I asked, coming face to face with a woman who looked like she belonged in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. She was pale, had platinum blond hair (the kind that only came from a bottle), and wore a flowing black dress, with you guessed it, wings coming out of the back. Big pureply wings, the kind you found on a queen of the fairies. Camilla opened her mouth. Oh god, she's gonna ask about the hair! I thought quickly. Don't do it Camilla, don't do it! I thought, trying to send waves to her so she'd get the message.
"Did that hair color come from a bottle?" Annnnnd she did it! I thought; almost face palming at the while the women looked at her offended. "I mean, seriously, it looks so white, you might as well be Lady Gaga or something." She continued. I got up and ran over to Camilla, covering her mouth with my hand.
"I'm sorry about her, Miss, uhm, Mrs. uhm….what's your name?" I asked her, giving her a quick once-over.
"Aithne." She said quickly.
"Oh, that's nice, I'm Adelaide, that's Zander, Carmen, Sebastian, Trent, and this one here's Camilla." I said giving her a large smile. Camilla glared at me over my hand, which was still over her mouth. Aithne smiled brightly, looking at me properly, and I noticed her eyes were the lightest green, and had small flecks of gold in them.
"Adelaide, I must take you to my land, for your services are required." She stated primly, holding her head high. I looked at her, prodding her to go on. Why were my services needed? In fact, what WERE my services anyway? "Hunting." Was all she said.
"Hunting? Hunting what?" I asked, sincerely doubting her.
"Demons, you hunt demons, hell spawn, whatever you want to call them." She said, confusion hinting in her voice. My head whipped around, my blue eyes meeting her green ones. I narrowed my eyes in my signature I-don't know- what the frig- you're talking about-look. Suddenly a different voice piped up from the crowd.
"I hate to interrupt, but what about us?" Sebastian asked, disbelief in his voice and written all over his face. My attention was ripped off Aithne, and given back to the crowd of people in my living room. Camilla had backed up, and was standing watching Aithne's every move, her ice-blue eyes narrowed in disgust. Trent was sitting there, his cake all-but- forgotten. And Zander sat with a look of utter shock on his face, and Carmen mirrored a child caught sneaking cookies.
"Why you are hunters also, just not of demons per say," Aithne answered him in a tone that leaked of disbelief, "Do you not understand your destiny?"
"No, quite honestly I don't, could you PLEASE explain who the heck you are, and what you want with my friend." Sebastian quipped, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"You," she said pointing to Zander.
"Me?" he asked in a meek voice, one I had never heard him use before.
"Yes, you. You, my dear boy, hunt vampires. She," Aithne said, turning her gaze to Camilla, "hunts werewolves with these boys." She said pointing to Trent and Carmen. They pointed to themselves, and she nodded, smiling pleasantly. "And you ," she whispered rounding on Sebastian and I, "Hunt the children of Hell." She shook her head gravely. "So young, yet so powerful." She muttered.
"Excuse me?" I asked her quietly.
"Oh nothing!" She said quickly. "Grab, my arm now." She commanded, and we all did just so. A flash of golden light erupted around us. Oh my god, somebody tell me this isn't real! I cried in my head as we spun around.
"Oh it's real alright," Aithne's voice whispered in my head. Honestly, if it meant leaving this world, I was happy. My parents were dead, and I had been taking care of myself. There was never any need for parent-teacher conferences because I was a straight-A student. I had an ongoing job as a babysitter, and I worked at the Stop and Shop on the weekends and every Friday night. I wasn't sure how everyone else felt about this though. Sebastian had a good life, a family, and great grades. Trent, though he wouldn't admit it, had good grades and he had a family, a girlfriend everything. Camilla and Zander probably would miss everything, because in our world they had everything. Hot dates, popularity, and fame, everything, they had it all. And with that, I fell into the fuzzy grayness that was surrounding my vision, and felt like I was floating in a pool of sleep. When I woke up, I guessed we had landed. I stood up, and looked around. The ground was firm, and covered in green grass and flowers. On the other side of the field were houses, farmers and their children playing and harvesting crops. It was like we had been transported back in time to medieval Europe, but that looked out of place compared to the large towering city that stood behind it. Just beyond the horizon was a stone castle, complete with towers and moat. I looked around, my gaze landing on the people coming closer to us. "Demons, but benevolent ones." Aithne whispered to us, gripping my hand.
"Hello my queen." The male demon said to Aithne, bowing deeply, "And hello to you Chosen One." He said addressing me. I looked at him with utter bewilderment and then my eyes flitted back to Aithne. The man looked between the two of us, before beginning to speak to Aithne. I took that chance to take in his appearance. He had skin like a normal human, and eyes that were a shade of green that could not exist anywhere else but here. The main difference between him and a normal human was that he had small horns hidden beneath his hair, and had small bat wings that folded out from behind his back. I kneeled down at the sight of two small demon children. The elder, a girl, came out from behind her mother's skirts first. She looked similar to her father, but instead of green eyes, her eyes were a shade of purple that would have put any amethyst to shame. She came up to me, and looked at me with big, curious eyes. She turned around and motioned for her brother to join her. The little boy came forward. He held the elder girl's hand, when he walked up to me. I held out my hand to him.
"Hello there, my name is Adelaide, and what are your names?" I asked them, smiling kindly, as the little boy hid behind his sister again.
"My name is Jalena, and this is my little brother Damek!" the little girl said excitedly. "Would you like to play with us?" she asked "Daddy," she said questioningly turning to her father, "Can the pretty lady play with us?" she asked him, Damek nodding his head vigorously.
"Well, ah…" the demon man began.
"Oh Bohdan, let them play. Only if you want to though." The woman said, looking at me. "My name is Evonnia, and this is my husband Bohdan." She added with a sweet smile.
"My name is Adelaide, and these are my friends Sebastian, Carmen, and Zander. These two are Camilla, and Trent." I said, in turn gesturing to each person as their name was called. Sebastian and Carmen waved. Zander smiled, as Damek came up to him.
"Mister," Damek said quietly, tugging on Zander's pants. Zander leaned down to the little boy's level.
"What little guy?" he asked
"Mister, your girlfriend is really pretty." Damek said, giggling as I looked over at the two of them, curiously. Zander laughed, and ruffled the little boy's hair. Damek made grabby-hands at Zander, who proceeded to pick him up and throw him over his shoulders. Damek shrieked with laughter, and held on tight to Zander as he ran around. Jalena looked at them and then to Sebastian with her large eyes. But it was Trent who caved.
"Alright, c'mere." He said, grunting with effort, and proceeded to pick her up and give her a piggy back ride. I had never seen this side of him before. He seemed cute, and vulnerable. I snuck up behind him and started to tickle Jalena. She cried out with laughter and Trent put her down, and looked to me in confusion. I leaned in close and whispered to her. She understood immediately. She scampered over to Trent.
"Tag you're it!" she cried, screaming as he got the idea and ran after her laughing all the way. Carmen joined in, running after Jalena. Damek scrambled off of Zander's back, and ran in the direction of the game. The demon parents Bohdan and Evonnia joined in too. When I wasn't looking, Trent snuck up on me.
"Tag, you're it. Adelaide's it everybody!" He cried, dancing away as I lunged at him. I ran through the grass, and chased down Damek. When I picked the demon boy up, he cried out, bursting into a fit of giggles. I swung him around. I noticed even Camilla joined in, she was running and laughing. I've never seen that before. Huh, I guess things do change. I thought to myself.
This world often changes those who visit it. Take a moment and enjoy while the opportunity provides itself. Aithne's voice rang clear in my head. I looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. Bohdan called out to the children.
"Children! Time to come inside." He looked at the two children, and then he looked to his wife. Jalena came up to me and grabbed my hand quickly. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Her eyes were starting to droop, and I gave her tiny hand a quick squeeze. Zander came over holding Damek in his arms. The little boy was gripping onto Zander's shirt. I took him from Zander, and smiled. He was precious, and his sleepy little eyes opened when he switched hands.
"Will you come and play with us again tomorrow?" he asked, his voice muffled, seeing as his little head was buried in the folds of my chest. I put him down and kneeled in front of him.
"I promise." I said linking my pinky with his. The boy grabbed onto my jeans. I picked him back up and walked him over to his parents. Evonnia took him from me. I planted a kiss on his forehead, and he smiled in his sleep. Zander came over to us and smiled at me as I watched my new friends' wave over their parents shoulders before falling asleep in the arms of their parents.
"They are just like regular children aren't they?" he said leaning in and whispering in my ear.
"Yeah, they are." I said, sighing as I watched the lights in the little house dim. Aithne walked over to us. Sebastian, yawned loudly, and Camilla sent a glare his way. Trent was winded from the game of extreme tag, and Carmen was still out of breath from laughing so much. I looked into each of their faces. They all bared a similar expression, the ever-so-classic-I.-need.-sleep. - look. I turned my head in the direction on Aithne. She smiled and suggested we head to the castle where she lived. She said it wasn't that far from here. So, we started walking. And walking, and walking, and walking. I couldn't help but wonder if we would reach the castle before daybreak. Aithne seemingly reading my again, whispered that we were almost there. I turned behind me and looked at my friends, Trent, and Camilla. What I saw shocked me. Camilla apparently must have fallen asleep because I could see her form draped over Zander's shoulder. I sighed, after all this was to be expected of the two most popular kids at our old school. Sebastian looked my way and gave me a weak, half-hearted smile. Trent looked over and gave me a weak smile and a quick wink. I laughed as he snuck up behind Zander and Camilla, giving her bunny ears with two of his fingers. At that moment Aithne stated that we had arrived. What I saw made my jaw drop to the ground. Well, more like to the middle (give or take a few inches) of my neck. The castle was HUGE. The stone walls were a mixture of gray and white, and the pillars were sculpted of the finest limestone. Two statues stood beside the front door, seeming to guard the castle entrance. Their armor was rough around the edges, and the axes they held were sharpened to a point, ridiculously sharp for stone. But it was the inside of the castle that held my attention. There were electric, modern day lights, and a crystal chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling. A woman walked up to us, smiling and showing off pearly whites that shined in the soft white glow of the lights. She introduced herself as Charissa, the main housekeeper.
She took us all up the twisted marble staircase and showed us each to our own room. I caught a peek into each room. It seemed to be suited for its inhabitant for the night. Sebastian's had a full bookcase in each corner with a bed right underneath the window. A shiny laptop sat on a polished cherry desk with a printer hooked up to it. Camilla's room was next. The walls were saturated pink color, with posters of One Direction hanging on them. A day bed sat in the corner against the wall. A shiny, sleek i-Pad sat on an even sleeker balsa end table. After they both entered their rooms, it was on to Trent and Zander. Trent's room had gray shag carpeting, and posters of rock bands all over the walls. A small desk sat in the corner, underneath the window with a MacBook Pro sitting atop it. A bed was opposite to the desk. I caught a glimpse of an i-pod lying against the blue pillows. Trent closed his door quickly, shutting us out. That left just me, Zander, and Charissa. Zander's room was next. It was a deep blue with gold carpeting. A day bed sat against one wall, with a couple of bookshelves and an entertainment center. He smiled like kid on Christmas when he saw the laptop sitting on his bed. I watched his door close in my face, and turned to face Charissa. She bowed her head and opened her mouth to speak.
"The queen wishes to show you your quarters herself." Charissa smiled, backing away as Aithne appeared behind her smiling brightly. She grabbed ahold of my hand and gently pulled me towards the grand hall way we had been in earlier. I looked at her questioningly.
"But my friends are back there, what?" I asked confused as she just smiled and tugged me towards wooden double doors. I was pulled into another part of the castle as the doors opened. She showed me more doors, this time painted white with a gold handle. As she pushed the doors opened my jaw dropped again. Soft violin music drifted around the room enveloping my like a hug. A white day bed with a plush mattress and blankets was pushed against one wall. An entertainment center was across the room. Dvds were stocked up, and a Wii game system sat beneath a high-definition television. A desk sat beneath a large bay window, and a balcony was right next to it. On the desk was a sleek laptop, with all the latest technology installed. Another door led to a master bathroom with a walk-in shower and a whirlpool bathtub. Fluffy white towels lined the racks, and a bathrobe hung on the back wall. My name was embroidered with gold thread. I smiled in awe, as Aithne tugged me back to the main room. She motioned me to look at yet another door. I walked over, and looked back at her before pulling at the handle. It was closet, lined with not only clothes but shoes, and weapons.
"A demon hunter is only as good as her equipment." Aithne smiled as I was nearly brought to tears. "Now, off to bed with you. We have to hold court tomorrow." She whispered pushing me towards the bed. I didn't bother to change, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.