A/N- Sorry about the wait!
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Kal, this is the place, Death informed him.
-wonderful. you can leave now-
Kal knelt down so Allie could get off of his shoulders. In front of them was a large, elegant manor, not quite as large as Alison's castle, but quite big, nonetheless.
Death grumbled something about being underappreciated and flew off.
"Kal?" Allie asked. She looked nervous.
Kal folded his wings into his back, realizing for the first time that his half-healed wounds from his recent fights with the other demons were exposed. When had the bandages torn off? Yesterday? "What?"
"Well…Melanie, my friend, she's kind of…over-protective, you know?"
"No," he said honestly.
"What I'm trying to say is…don't make any threatening moves or anything of the sort. She might get the idea you'll try to hurt me."
I wonder where she'd get an idea like that. Me? Hurt someone? Innocent, gentle moi? "I'll be a good little slave and keep my mouth shut, Princess." Kal realized that he was going with her. To meet her friend. Now when did that happen? Didn't he just want to leave her here and then fly off…? I have nothing else better to do.
"Would you-" Allie started, then cut herself off, looking at her soot-covered dress.
"What?" he asked again.
"Never mind--I was going to ask about your...erm, you" she gestured to his skin and then his eyes, "but I guess it doesn't really matter."
Kal smirked. No, it did not. to tell the truth, he disliked wearing the illusion he often did. It made him look…human. And he hated humans, so why should he masquerade as one? "Shall we?" He waved his arm toward the black wrought-iron gates that enclosed Mel's manor.
Allie nodded and they walked towards the gates. A pair of guards were there, and immediately leveled their muskets when they saw Kal.
"Jeff! Matt! It's alright; he's a friend!" Allie shouted to them. They shot uneasy looks at her, then dropped their weapons. One stepped forward and opened the gates.
Kal fought back laughter. Him? A friend?
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Alison! It's nice to see you again!" one said.
Allie smiled. "Same goes to you, Matt. Merci, Jeff," Allie said as the other closed the gates behind them.
"You trust him, Mademoiselle?" Jeff asked, looking distrustfully at Kal, who met his gaze coldly.
"With my life," she answered shortly, wiping the cold look off of Kal's face, where it was replaced momentarily by disbelief and mild shock. Is she insane? Humans: all of them are mad.
"Very well, Alison," Matt sighed, then led them to the front doors. Kal flashed his fangs at him in a decidedly disturbing smile and closed the door behind him and Allie. That was a sport he would never tire of; frightening their kind.
The front room was decorated in deep, rich colors; dark reds, blue, and blacks. The furnishings were made of dark mahogany; the curtains covered with thick drapes. A crystal chandelier provided warm light, which Kal dropped his eyes to avoid.
"Follow me, Mel's room is just up these stairs." Allie approached then climbed a flight of stairs, also in mahogany wood. There were tow other sets of stairs, each identical; one right in front of Kal, and the other to his right. He followed Allie up the left staircase, bare feet padding almost soundlessly against the wood.
When they reached the top, Allie immediately ran for a room at the end of the hall they had entered, covered in a deep red carpet. The room's door was open, and Allie soon disappeared inside it. Kal took his time walking there, the sounds of a happy screams reaching his ears.
Probably two other girls in that room, other than Alison. What madness drove me to this?
Kal stopped in the doorframe and looked in. Alison was being hugged by a girl with red hair and a grey dress, while another girl with short brown hair and a dark green dress was playfully messing up her hair. Her head snapped up as soon as Kal stood in the doorframe, and his eyes met a burning brown pair.
Without warning, the girl ran across the room and landed a solid punch on his abdomen; quite a good punch for a girl, he thought, though he didn't budge an inch. It took a great deal of strength to move him if he didn't want to be moved; a strength that a good amount of demons lacked.
The girl backed up, startled, when she saw he blow had no affect. No surprise there; what had no affect on me probably would have caused a grown man to collapse on his knees with the wind knocked out of him.
Allie stepped away from the red-head. "Mel, I know him!"
"Oh. My mistake." Mel glared venomously at Kal and then retreated to Allie's side of the room. The red-head was staring at him bluntly, making no attempt to hide her surprise.
"Bonjour, Mademoiselles," he greeted them, as warmly as he could. No need to scare them with threats here; his physical appearance was taking care of that.
Allie introduced them to each other. "Mel, Kelly, I'd like you to meet Kal. Kal, Kelly and Mel."
"A pleasure," Kal said dryly.
Allie, ignoring him, continued. "Kal saved my life during the fire."
"You did?" Kelly, the red-head, inquired. Her green eyes widened.
Kal shrugged. "Mayhap." He entered the room and sat down in a chair against the wall, acting un-interested with the conversation because he really wasn't interested in the conversation.
"Well, I don't know about you being a hero," Mel said skeptically, "but you sure can take a punch. Especially in the state you're in."
Kelly turned her interest back to Allie. "Why didn't you contact us? We were worried sick! We thought you burned up with the rest of them!"
Allie shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. "Sorry…I fell unconscious and didn't wake up for three days."
"But the fire was five days ago," Mel pointed out. "Where were you during…" she trailed off and looked at Kal accusingly.
"I took her to my home," he explained. "For her to rest until she was well enough." The last part was pretty much a blatant lie.
"What?" Allie said as her friends eyes turned on her, with similar accusing looks.
"You stayed at his house," Kelly jerked her head towards Kal "for five days?"
Kal smirked as a brilliant pink flush covered Allie's face. "No! N-nothing like that happened--I was asleep most of the time--he didn't even touch me--" Allie stammered, then threw up her hands in defeat as her friend's looks didn't waver. "I give up! You have dirty minds!"
Mel snickered. "Alight, Allie, we believe you."
"You're extremely picky with men, and somehow I don't think Kal here makes your list," Kelly put in. "See? Facts."
Allie, still blushing, hastily changed the subject. "Mel! Have you decided on a gift for Jordan's birthday yet?"
Mel, looking very amused with this, pointed to Kelly. "It's Keith's birthday, not Jordan's. and that's not for another week."
"Oh! Yes, of course it is!" Allie then turned on Kelly. "So? Have you picked out something for him yet?"
"Actually, I was thinking of going to town to get him something…I've got an idea!" Kelly clapped her hands. "We can all go! And, while we're there, pick out some clothes for your…erm, friend."
Kal kept his face blank, but shot a murderous look at Allie as soon as the other two girls were looking the other way. It was a look that said "I absolutely will not
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try on this!" Allie grabbed a billowy, ruffled white shirt. It had ruffles on the cuffs and the neckline would open up all the way to the stomach, also adorned with ruffles.
Allie looked intently at Kal, who opened his mouth to say something (most likely an extremely violent refusal) when Kelly called over to her from behind a rack of clothing. "Non, non. White doesn't really suit him, especially with that skin tone!" She trotted over to them, holding a black shirt of the same make (minus the ruffles) in one hand, and dark blue dress shirt in the other.
"Good choice, Kelly!" Allie snatched the black on and held it up to Kal's torso, having to balance in the tips of her toes to do so. Kal, whom she had ordered into immobility a few moments ago, had the look of a person who would very much like to hurt somebody.
Allie studied how the shirt looked. "Hmm…the black suits him quite nicely…here, hand me the blue one!"
Kelly obediently gave to blue shirt to Allie, who lowered the black shirt and replaced it with the other. "Not half bad…" she admitted. "Its about his size too, I think…a little too snug at the shoulders, but they can be let out."
Allie walked both shirts over to a chair and lay them down on it, on top of their other picks; two vests that were a red was so dark it was nearly black, a black vest with gold embroidery, a black silk necktie, a black and a navy blue tailcoat, and a pair of black leather gloves. "Now for some pants!"
"Definitely," Kelly agreed, shuddering at the state of Kal's current breeches.
They left Kal, who stood perfectly still in the center of the shop (due to Allie's earlier command), and went to a section where the pants were. The owner of the shop (which contained men's dress clothing) huddled behind the desk, eyes darting nervously to the two confident girls and the motionless demon, whom the girls seemed to be buying a new wardrobe.
"How about these?" Allie grabbed two pairs of black dress pants and held them up for Kelly's approval.
Kelly nodded firmly then held up her choice, which were a plainer pair of dark grey cotton, which Allie approved in turn. Both went back to Kal, and held up their choices next to him to see if they were long enough; both appeared as if they would fit properly.
"We're finished!" Kelly called over to the shop owner, and scooped up the clothing in her arms and carried over to the desk.
Allie turned to Kal and grinned. "See? aren't you happy you're getting some nice new clothes?"
Kal growled menacingly, an act that earned him another nervous glance from the owner.
"Oh, stop that!" Allie chided him. "It's not like you're a wild animal!"
"Then will you release me from your command?" he spat at her, mis-matched eyes flashing.
"Oh, I forgot about that," Allie giggled, then said "Kalendrakk Raee, you can move now." As Kal abruptly turned and went to walk out of the shop, she added "But you have to stay with Kelly and I."
Cursing fluently under his breath, Kal stopped and waited while Kelly joined Allie with their purchases, holding a large paper bag. "We have to go and get him shoes, now!" Kelly announced.
"Of course!" Allie exclaimed. "I almost forgot!"
"A pity you didn't," Kal grumbled as they walked out into the street.
Allie rolled her eyes. Luckily, she had been able to wash up at Mel's, and had also been lent a dress. That wasn't anything new; the three of them borrowed each other's clothing so frequently one hardly knew what belonged to them and what belonged to the other.
They had split up after arriving in town; Mel went off with Jordon to look at some new weapons that had arrived, and Kelly had come with her to but Kal some new clothing. And it was a fortunate thing she did; Allie didn't have a franc on her.
"What size shoe are you, Kal?" Kelly asked, receiving disgruntled shrug in response. Looking down at his feet, she said "I guess the biggest size they have, judging from the fact that you appear to have two sleds stuck to the bottom of you legs." Kelly stopped in front of the appropriate store. "Allie, why don't we let Kal stay outside, and spare the shopkeeper some terror?"
"Good idea." Allie lingered behind as Kelly entered the shop. "Kal, will you stay here out of your own free will? Because I feel kind of bad forcing you to and everything…though this is an appropriate punishment for what you did to my home. And parents."
"Yes, Princess," he sighed. "You have my word."
"Good demon." Allie followed after Kelly, thinking that Kal's word probably wasn't a thing she could count on.
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A few minutes later, Kelly was (again) at the desk, paying for the shoes they had picked out: one pair of dress shoes and a pair of riding boots, both made of black leather.
Allie wandered to the front of the shop and looked out the window to see how Kal was doing. To her surprise, he wasn't alone; he was talking to a woman a few years older than he, with golden-brown hair and cheap cotton and leather clothes.
"Well, what have we here?" the woman was saying. "It seems that the little monster is trying to go respectable! And you're alive, as well!"
"Go kill yourself," he told her shortly. Allie could just barely see his eyes from this angle; they were almost burning with hate.
"A little touchy today, aren't we, Kalendrakk? Well, poison and a near-death experience will do that to you, I suppose." Jessica brushed a strand of hair out of her face casually, eyes glinting.
"A little kiiyen-taa today, aren't we Jessica Kiysen-nae-Durrin?" Kal mocked. Allie frowned; what did he just say? She had never heard words like that before…Some odd language, I guess.
"Did I hurt your feelings by trying to kill you, little Kalendrakk?" Jessica stared coolly at him. "I guess not, seeing as you have none."
"Better not to have feelings than to waste them on a hopeless mortal," Kal retorted. "Isn't that right, Jessica? How's Michael doing in his grave, eh? Probably dust by now, am I right?"
Jessica's face flushed angrily. "How can you mock me, you hypocrite, when you're being ordered around by a human child? The Princess, for that matter! She'll kill you." Jessica sounded much too happy about her last statement.
"I know."
"But you won't die easily, of course. Because I know that your destroyed, mangled-"
"Jessica," Kal said warningly.
Jessica continued, ignoring him. "-distorted, mauled, desecrated-"
"Jessica-"
"-corrupted, befouled, mutilated-"
"Jessica!"
"- pitiful excuse for a soul won't rest until-"
SMACK. Kal's hand lashed out and slapped her across the face, cutting off her sentence. Jessica's head whipped around on her neck. When she looked back at Kal, that side of her face was raw and red.
"Watch your step, Kalendrakk," she hissed at him, and then stalked off, soon out of their sight.
"Ready, Allie?" Kelly asked, and Allie jumped, startled. She hadn't even heard Kelly come up behind her.
"Y-yes. Let's go and get some lunch. I'm starving."
Outside, Kal's eyes met Allie's.
-learn not to eavesdrop, Princess. it's rude-
Allie looked away guiltily, forcing the question about Jessica out of her mind.
Just who was she?
