A/N:
Any reviews???


Star Hunter

Four

.

// The halls are littered with bodies. It's a blood bath! I see some kind of half bird, half cat type monster feasting on the remains of a student and hastily change my direction.

I'm shaking so much. Tears slide down my face. I'm a mess, covered in blood, limping, but that's not important. What's important is that I'm still alive – although how, I'm not sure.

Everything has happened so quickly. It must have only been about fifteen minutes ago that Mr Moore was killed. Whatever these monsters are, they move quickly and are lethal. I haven't seen any survivors yet, but then, anyone with sense would have fled the building by now. I should too. I'm sure I'll stand a better chance out there than in here.

I head towards the nearest exit, moving stealthily, afraid every time I turn a corner that there will be some monster waiting to jump out at me.


// Voices. I'm pretty sure they're human – I haven't heard the monsters speak, I don't think they can.

As I get closer I realize I recognize the voices. Its mum and Meera! What are they doing here? They must know about the danger; there's bodies and blood everywhere!
I limp round the corner and there they are, both looking really worried, staring at the bloodied floors around them.

"I'm sure she's fine," Meera reassures mum. I realize that they're not worried about what's happened (well, not hugely), they're more worried about me. I limp up to them, and they spin around, looking ready to attack.

Both their faces split into relieved smiles as they see it's me.

"Aster!" mum cries, running up to me and pulling me into a hug. "Thank god!" She's crying, clinging onto me as if I could vanish at any second.

"What are you doing here?" I mumble, surprised that I can find my voice.

"Were here to help," Meera says. "It's a shame we didn't hear about the portal being opened sooner, we could have been here before all this happened!" I don't have a clue what she's on about, but she doesn't seem shocked by the state of the school, nor about the fact that monsters are roaming it.

Monsters!

"We need to get out!" I announce. "There's these… things! Monsters! Death, blood and, and..." I've gone into shock, I know that but I can't stop rambling. I think I may even faint. The worlds growing darker around me and I can hardly draw breath. Mum smoothes my hair, trying to calm me.

"Aster. Aster honey, it's okay, you're safe with us," she tells me.

"Mel, we need – " Meera starts but mum doesn't listen. I'm her top priority, she doesn't care what Meera wants. I try to slow my breathing but it's hard. I want to calm down enough to ask questions, to demand to know what the bloody hell is going on.

Meera says something to mum and hurries off. I don't know what she said or where she's going – I can't calm down enough to focus. All I can see is the monsters and the deaths.

"Aster!" mum's voice is sharp now – she needs me to calm down. Through my panic, my eyes spin around wildly until I spot the monster.

Mum's hand slaps hard against my cheek. It stings, but it's what I need. My breathing begins to steady; I draw haggard, deep breaths for a moment until air rushes freely down my lungs.

Mum has stood up, staring down the creature. It hisses at her, but she doesn't even seem frightened. In fact, she laughs, as if this creature is nothing.

"Come here, ugly," she coos it. The creature scuttles towards her, looking ready to kill. Mum mutters something under her breath and the monsters flies backwards, into the wall. The creature hisses angrily and angrily makes its way back to her. It opens its mouth and spits something at her. With a wave of her hand she reflects the liquid back at the creature. It cries out in agony as its face begins to bubble away – it was acid.

I stare at mum in shock. Wow, she's like… super mum!


// The monsters are actually demons. They came through a sort of window type thing from the Demonata universe. Mum and Meera are part of this organisation called the Disciples – people with magic abilities that fight demons and kick their arses!

Mum explains all of this as we search for Meera. She apologized for me finding out like this, but said she wanted to keep me safe. I don't blame her, nor am I angry. If she had of told me anyway, I'd have thought she was nuts. Demons are definitely something you have to see to believe.

"I think I did magic earlier," I confess, remembering my startling jump across the class room. I explain to her and she nods gravely.

"I thought you'd probably be a mage," she answers. A mage is someone with magical ability but not a true magician. At least, that's what I think from the brief description mum's given me.

She doesn't sound all that pleased about it.


// We find Meera kicking some dude's butt. The window is easy to spot – it's not huge but it's very unnatural. Mum tells me it will shut in a minute – they can't remain open very long; just enough time to give the Demonata an all you can eat feast.

I don't want to watch Meera fight – I know she's going to kill the man – but I'm transfixed. They fight with magic, and I have to admit, it's pretty incredible.

Apparently it's surprising that the guy's still alive anyway. Usually the Demonata kill the person who opened the portal as they pile out. Apparently he must have used a cloaking spell to hide himself from them.

I don't understand how anyone could want to cause this kind of chaos. Letting demons free in a high school is just insane. Hundred of people have probably died because of this man – that thought alone makes me want to kill him!

"You're injured," mum says, noticing my still bleeding leg. I think she was too distracted to notice me limping earlier, or else she though I had just twisted my ankle.

"Yeah, some demons spiky tail pierced my leg," I tell her. "Then it bit my ankle."

"You can heal that easily enough. There's plenty of magic in the air at the moment, especially so close to the portal. Just call upon your powers to heal yourself."

"How?" I ask dumbly. I don't know the first thing about magic; how can she expect me to heal myself?

"Let the magic guide you," is her only answer. She turns back to watch Meera finish of the guy. Once he is dead Meera come and joins us. I don't know why they are not scouting the school, killing demons and saving children, but I guess it's too late now. There's no point trying to save a corpse when the demons will be forced back through the window in a minute – that or die without magic to aid them.

Feeling stupid, I put my hand over my wounded leg. It hurts like hell, but I try ignoring the pain. I can feel the magic around me – it's odd. I do as mum said and let it guide me, drawing from the magic and feeding it into my wounds, healing them right up – cool! Aster Hunter, super mage!