What Hurts the Most

Chapter Nine

By KellyQ

A red fox demon put his snout to the ground, picking up a familiar scent. This fox went by the name of Amon, a brutal demon who had ruthless tactics of getting what he wanted. He followed the scent to a cave, and he peered in to see Johan and - Judai? I thought he died! Amon stared closer. He sniffed again and his eyes narrowed. Could that be Judai's brother? A smirk made it's way to the fox's lips. This is my chance to get even with, Johan, Amon thought, seeing that the cat demon had lost some of his strength. Amon looked over at Jaden and noticed he didn't look like much.

"Jaden, Johan," came a voice. Amon turned to see a greenish fox kit dragging an oversize leaf that contained berries and fish. "I got some food!"

Amon crouched and continued to watch. Jaden got up and walked out of the cave to help Atticus with the food. Johan closed his eyes for a moment until a familiar scent caught his nose. His eyes snapped open and sniffed the air, but it was gone. Jaden turned when he heard Johan snarl lightly.

"Uh .... Johan .... what's wrong?" Jaden asked, seeing that the cat demon's eyes went back to their orange possessed color.

Johan blinked, and shook his head. "I thought we were being watched."

Atticus and Jaden sniffed the air. "I don't smell anything," they both said at the same time.

"It's gone now, but I am hungry," Johan said, eyeing the food on the leaf.

Atticus beamed. "Good! I'm hungry too! Now let's chow down!"

Johan went into his demon form and plucked out a fish from the small pile. Atticus pulled out a couple of fish and a handfull of berries. Jaden took a handfull of berries and started to eat. Johan eyed the dog demon for a moment. He bit the bottom his lip, wondering if there was something wrong with Jaden.

Then it hit Johan. "Jaden ... are ... are you half human?"

The dog demon's ears drooped as Jaden nodded his head. "Yeah. I'm half human. My mom was human and my father a demon," Jaden started to explain. "I don't remember much, because I was to young." Jaden's eyes became distant. "My dad died after he tried to protect me and mom, so she fell in love with another demon and that's the reason why I'm a dog demon and my brother was a cat demon." Johan nodded his head, putting all the pieces together. "My mom died after giving birth to Judai. Our dad also died trying to protect us from humans. Judai managed to get away and I was taken as a lab specimen ..."

Heavy tension hung in the air. Johan stared wide-eyed at Jaden. Now he felt even worse then he did before.

"It all makes sense," Johan whispered to himself, feeling guilt wash over him. "I always wondered why Judai would actnice to the humans when he didn't really like them at all."

Jaden bit his lip when a scent caught his attention. He got to his feet and walked out of the cave. Jaden sniffed the air again. He walked over to a bush. Johan and Atticus watched Jaden for a moment.

"Hey!" Jaden yelled, startling the two. "Get back here!" The dog demon turned and started running. Johan went into his demon form, but he stopped when Jaden spoke up. "No! Stay here, let me handle this!"

Johan sniffed the air and his eyes changed to their orange-possessed color. He jumped into the air, transformed into his human form and landed right in front of Jaden. The dog demon stepped back.

"Wha? What's gotten into all you of a sudden? A fox demon was spying on us -"

"I know," Johan muttered darkly. "That's why I stopped you. I don't want you to go near him, okay? He's nothing but bad news!"

Jaden blinked. He was going to ask about the fox demon, but Atticus spoke. "I need to get going. I'll see you guys later."

"Be careful!" Johan spoke up, after watching the fox kit bound off.

"Now, are you going to tell me what's up with fox demon you don't want me to come near?" Jaden asked looking back at Johan.

"He's not to be trusted, Jaden," Johan spoke firmly. The cat demon sighed when he saw Jaden's expression change to confusion. "He almost destroyed my family," Johan explained as his eyes changed back to their emerald-green. "And I don't want you to get hurt."

Jaden looked a little offended, but he understood. He side-stepped Johan and walked back into the cave.

To Be Continued ...