Demons in the Morning
Erica yawned as she descended the stairs, having heard voices from Kaeli and Draco's room but deciding not to interupt them. After yesterday's terrible ending, she had pretty much expected the elf to stay with the dragon, leaving her alone for the night but far from worried. If anyone could protect and help Kaeli through emotional matters, it was Draco, and Erica smiled a little when she thought about the relationship the two had. She wondered if Kaeli was ever going to admit to Draco that she loved him and vice versa. It had been so apparant to her when the two had shown up on her doorstep that she had to fight from asking her friend outright, not wanting to embarrass the elf by telling her that her emotions were wide open to the world, and yet somehow completely overlooked by the one she cared for.
But then again, a part of her rationalised, Draco was male. And as much as she liked the dragon, males as a whole were usually a little thick in the area of emotions. Erica herself had been debating making a huge sign her for own boyfriend, Alex, in order to help him realise that she thought of him as much more than just a boyfriend. She had been sending out the signs for months now, with no noticable sign that any of them had been picked up by the dark haired man. It was so infuriating.
Shaking her head, she calmly padded into the kitchen, effortlessly sidestepping Draggin' as the cat wove around her ankles. A quick flip of a switch and the coffee maker began brewing, the scent of fresh coffee wafting through the house as she picked up the cat bowl on the floor and went to upend a can of food into it, chuckling when the black cat purred at her as if in thanks when she set the bowl down once again.
Thinking that it was just her imagination going off without her again, she went and washed her hands before popping two toast into the toaster and going to rummage through the fridge for some milk for her coffee, coming up with only some flavored cream. Shrugging, she figured it was better than nothing and set the small bottle on the counter before going to the livingroom and plucking a cd from the rack, humming as she popped the Josh Groban compact disc into the player and pressed 'play', a content smile spreading over her lips when the rich tone of the singers voice floated from the six speaker stereo system.
The sound of interested parties from upstairs drifted to her as she went to get the morning paper, eyeing the front yard warily as she stooped to grab the newspaper, then quickly closed the door again, trying to hide a shiver as she locked the door once again. The smooth voice from the speakers soothed her nerves as she walked back to the kitchen, idly flipping through the first few pages to see what the main headlines were, a single red eyebrow arching when she saw that there was a small article about teenagers and religion.
Hoping that it wasn't another 'battle of the religions' article, she threw the paper onto the dining room table then caught the toast as they popped out of the toaster, buttering them quickly before she poured herself a mug of coffee and went to sit down, Draggin' coming over to rub his arched back against her legs as she spread out the paper and began reading.
It was almost ten minutes later when she heard the stairs creak, and she smiled when she saw Kaeli walk into the kitchen, raising her mug in a sort of greeting. "Morning. How are you feeling?"
"Better," the elf smiled as she went about making herself some tea. "Who's the singer? He sounds entirely incredible." There was a snort from the stairs, and she muffled a giggle as she quickly added, "for a human, of course."
"That's better," Draco rumbled, playfully nudging a wing against her as she exchanged amused glances with Erica.
"His name's Josh Groban," Erica smiled. "He's kinda new. Only twenty-four or something like that."
"A voice like that and he's our age? Damn, he's set for life!" Kaeli said, eyes wide as she stepped around Draco and went to grab an orange out of the fridge, tossing an apple to Draco as she did so.
"I know. I love his songs," Erica sighed, chuckling when she saw Draco mutter something under his breath. "Sorry, but you already have your own little fan club. I'm stickin' with him."
Draco glanced at a blushing Kaeli, then looked to Erica, who had a mischivous look to her. "You knew?"
"Knew what?"
Kaeli poured the heated water into a mug, then went to join her friend at the table. "I, uh.... I told him."
"Told him?" She let silence hang for a moment before her mind supplied the click that made the clue. "Oh. Oh! Well that's great! Uh, it is great, right?"
"Yes," Draco chuckled as he moved to sit on his haunches by Kaeli's side, gently leaning his shoulder against hers. "Everything's perfect."
A wide smile spread over Erica's lips as she watched a slight blush cover her best friend's cheeks. "Well good! It's about damned time! I was beginning to think you two were completely blind to each other for a moment there!"
"We had a few.... mis-communications," Draco smiled, casting a warm look at the woman beside him. "But everything's sorted out now." He slid a wing around his Rider's shoulders as he spoke, tucking it across her back in a clearly possessive gesture that made a smirk appear on Erica's face.
"Anyway," Kaeli said quickly, wanting to shift the conversation away from herself. "You need help at the store again, 'Rica?"
"Nah. We took care of the weekly shipment yesterday, so there's nothing I'd have for you to do. I need you to take care of a few things around the house today instead. Y'know, put the candy into those small bags for the kids, hang up the lights outside along the roof's edge, carve the pumpkin, that kinda stuff."
"Ugh. I think I'd rather go into work with you."
"Don't be mean," Erica chided her with a snicker. "Besides, I need someone here for when the younger kids start doing the rounds of the neighbourhood."
Draco tilted his head to the side as he looked from one woman to the other. "What do children have to do with All Hallows Eve?"
"It's called Halloween now," Kaeli explained. "The whole magickal aspect is pretty much gone. Nowadays, it's a holiday for kids. They dress up as monsters and stuff like that and go door to door to receive candies and treats. It's all comercialised."
"But it's fun." Erica added with a grin. "Which reminds me, are you coming with Alex an I tonight? I know this great dance club over on Eleventh and Independence that's going to hold one hell of a party."
"Um.... I don't know," Kaeli answered hesitantly, glancing at Draco, who frowned when she did so. "I'll see."
"If you want to go, then go," he rumbled. "Don't deny yourself a chance to enjoy yourself. I can stay here on my own, you know."
"I know," she said quickly. "It just doesn't seem fair. Going out and leaving you stuck here on your own."
"He's a big dragon, he can take care of himself," Erica smiled. "Come dancing with us."
"She'll go," Draco answered for her, meeting the elf's wide eyed gaze afterwards. "This is a chance for you to spend some time with Erica. Don't pass it up on my account, little dreamer."
She held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I'll go."
"Excellent! And you don't even have to dress up, just put on the outfit you showed up in," Erica grinned, finishing off her toast and coffee before standing and going to put her dishes in the sink. "I've gotta get going. So, the pumpkin's out in the back yard, I'm guessing you already know where I hid the candy, and the lights are in the basement next to the washer. Use the good metal ladder so you don't knock yourself senseless, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Kaeli sighed, turning in her chair to watch Erica as she grabbed her purse off the counter and fished out her keys. "You call me if anything goes wrong, hmm?"
"No prob," Erica grinned, waving to the two before heading for the door. "See ya."
Kaeli was about to reply when the hairs on the nape of her neck bristled, the sensation sending a chill through her as she lunged from the chair, ignoring Draco's cry as she bolted for Erica, who had just unlocked the front door while she pulled on her coat, Draggin' hissing loudly in warning.
Snarling, the demon sent the door slamming against the wall hard enough that the handle became stuck into the plaster, and Kaeli barely managed to yank Erica out of the way of a vicious claw swipe, the black talons skimming her own ribs as she intersposed herself between it and her friend. Even without thinking about it, she summoned a shield, the glowing barrier a sparkling blue wall before her, and she instinctively rose a hand to channel more energy into it as the demon threw itself at it, trying to overpower it with sheer physical force.
Her own small fangs bared, she sent a wave of power through the barrier, seeing the demon's pupiless red eyes widen when the magick literally fried it's nerves and flesh, leaving it hanging in mid-air, spread eagled against the shield as it continued to burn. A sharp gesture from her vaporised it, and she quickly moved forward to close the door, a cry leaving her when a second demon tackled her, it's claws ripping into her arms and shoulders as it sent them to the floor in a tangle of limbs, Draco's roar of pain and anger loud in her ears as her head smacked against the floor.
She somehow managed to recover first, ignoring the wounds on her arms by a great show of willpower as she flipped the demon onto it's back and violently snapped it's neck, leaving it to dissipate into a thick oily smoke while she lashed out with a foot and kicked the front door closed right in a third demons face, her breath coming in rapid pants as she immediately staggered to her feet and planted her back against the door, bracing it against the heavy blows that rattled it.
Reeling in shock, Erica looked up from the demon that had just vanished to the elf, gasping in horror as she ran forward and pressed her hands against the great gashes in her friend's shoulders, her fingers slipping in the blood that welled up from the terrible wounds. "Kaeli! Oh Gods!"
"I'll be alright," she snapped, pushing Erica's hands away as a particularly powerful hit made the door creak loudly. Even as she fought to block out the pain, the gashes in her flesh began to Heal, drawing her best-friend's wide-eyed gaze as the skin reknitted itself, the wounds vanishing without a scar within seconds. Draco was by her side moments later, the glow from the shared pain just beginning to fade from his own forelegs and shoulders as he braced himself against the door, nudging her aside. Knowing that his physical strength outclassed her by at least fifty times, she turned her attention to Erica, who was watching them palely. "'Rica? 'Rica, you okay?"
Erica blinked as Kaeli ran her hands over her arms and shoulders, looking for wounds, then gently pushed her away, eyeing the blood on her friend's clothing. "I'm alright. Are you? Your arms...."
"I heal quickly," Kaeli said softly. "It's a gift that comes with sharing a dragon's heart. Only he shares my pain whenever I get seriously hurt."
"A small price to pay for your wellbeing," Draco panted, still recovering from the pain that had spread across his flesh like wildfire. "I think the demon's gone. I can't smell it anymore."
Kaeli carefully moved over to him and cracked the door open, peering outside for a split second before shutting it again. "We're in the clear."
Draco sighed and turned to look at her, raising a claw to her cheek as he met her gaze. "Are you alright?" When she nodded, he nuzzled her cheek in relief, then looked at Erica, who was clutching her jacket so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Erica?"
Frowning, Kaeli looked over at her friend, then moved to take her hands, squeezing them reassuringly. "I'm going to put some major shields around you. Whoever's after you just got more powerful."
"I know," Erica whispered with a shiver. "I-I.... I can't...."
Worried, Kaeli guided her friend over to the couch, setting her down on it while Draco looked on in concern. "Erica, Erica look at me. I can protect you, alright? Will you let me put some shields on you?"
Still shaking, Erica nodded, shivering when Kaeli cupped her face in her hands and turned her to meet her emerald gaze, the sheer warmth and love and protectiveness in her gaze making her impulsively throw her arms around her friend in a hug, clinging to her as another shudder went through her.
"Shh, it's okay," Kaeli whispered, rocking the other woman back and forth in order to calm her. "It's okay. We're gonna help you any way we can, okay? You'll be alright, I promise you that. Okay?"
Slowly, Erica regained control of herself, raising a hand to wipe the hot tears from her eyes as Kaeli gave her a comforting squeeze, then held her at arms length, one hand raising to smooth her tousled red bangs out of her eyes. "Thanks. Both of you."
"Anytime, young wiccan," Draco rumbled with a smile. "Now, let Kaeli work her magicks on you."
Erica nodded again and looked at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "How do you want to do this?"
"Sit on the floor in front of me with your back to me," Kaeli said softly, waiting until Erica had done so before moving her hands over the redheads shoulders, just barely touching her. "Okay, now this might look a little odd to you, since you can see magick like I can. But it's perfectly safe, alright?" She pulled away then and took a moment to bundle her hair up into a knotted ponytail, keeping the long wisps out of her eyes. "Okay, now, I'm going to shrink it down to your skin, so attacks will just slide off of you, instead of stopping or absorbing it. It'll probably look purple to you, since that's the main colour in your aura. Ready?"
Draco watched raptly as Kaeli held her hands out again, one over each shoulder, fingertips just barely touching. He hadn't really been expecting to see anything, so he was surprised when he noticed a slight glow growing around Erica's form, the area around her blurring a bit, a faint purplish light outlining the blurred area. Things were obviously more elaborate from her point of view since her eyes were getting wider by the second, and he cocked his head at her, fascinated.
Kaeli flexed her fingers then, and the blur seemed to seep into Erica's skin, melding with her as she rose a hand and blinked at her own fingers, wiggling them as if she was seeing them for the first time.
"....wow," she said finally, turning her gaze up to Kaeli's. "It's.... incredible. When did you get this much power?"
"I've always had it," Kaeli told her nervously. "I just.... didn't use it. I was afraid you'd be jealous...."
"Jealous? Kaeli, that's stupid!"
"I know that, now. It's just, at the time, magicks were so easy for me, and you were struggling with things.... I didn't want you to think I was rubbing your face in it."
Erica frowned, then glanced at Draco. "I take it that I have you to thank for setting her straight?"
He grinned and nodded, seeing Kaeli's cheeks turn pink as she rose a hand to scratch at her head. "She couldn't hide it from me as easily as she hid it from you. I could sense it in her, so she didn't have any reason or room to lie."
"I didn't lie to Erica. She never asked, and I never told her, but I never lied!"
"She's got a point," Erica agreed hesitantly as she rose to her feet and looked down at her hands again. "Damn. I feel like I'm invincible or something."
"Don't get drugged on it," Kaeli warned her. "It's a powerful shield, and it'll alert me if you get attacked again, but you're not invincible. You get hit by a car and it'll still smear you on the pavement."
"Ugh, there's that harsh reality again."
"Look, give me a few minutes to get changed and I'll go into work with you...."
"No! No...." Erica frowned and hugged herself. "Kaeli, I won't hide, and I won't have you acting all protective. The shop's shielded, I'll be as safe there as I am inside this house."
"Yeah, it's just the trip there that could kill you," her friend grumbled. "At least let me ride along. I'll walk back here after...."
"Are you nuts? It's three miles away!"
"So it'll be a long walk. I don't care!"
"I do!"
"You shouldn't go out there by yourself!"
"I don't need you mother-henning me!"
"I am not mother-henning you!" Kaeli yelled, shooting to her feet to glare at Erica angrily. "I'm trying to keep you alive!"
Draco sighed and tried to diffuse the fight before it escaladed. "Kaeli--"
"I don't need a bodyguard!"
"What, you'd prefer a mortician?!"
A loud growl escaped the dragons throat as Erica's hand lashed out to deliver a solid slap across Kaeli's face, and even before he realised what he was doing he had intersposed himself between them, glaring at Erica angrily. "That's enough! Both of you! Erica, sit down! This is ridiculous! You're putting yourself at risk, can't you see that Kaelianna is trying to help you?! Can't you see what will happen to her if you die?! You wear her ring because the bond between the two of you is eternal, because you are sisters! Why do you fight it?"
Feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her, Erica dropped down onto the couch and stared up at him in bewilderment before looking over at Kaeli, who had her arms wrapped around herself and was staring out the livingroom bay windows, her jaw clenched. "I.... I didn't mean.... Kaeli, I'm--"
"Don't," Kaeli whispered, not looking at her. "Just.... just don't. You meant what you said. If you want to go, then go. I've done what I can to keep you safe. It's your life.... your decisions."
Erica winced as her friend turned and walked out of the room, then hung her head, sighing. "I fucked up, didn't I?"
Draco echoed her sigh and rose his left claw, palm up, letting her see the glowing half-moon shaped marks, knowing that she knew that the wounds were an echo of what Kaeli was doing to her own palm. "All she wants is for you to be safe," he told her. "She crossed time itself to get here. She loves you like a sister, don't push her away because you don't like how she's trying to protect you. She doesn't know any other way."
"She won't listen to me right now," Erica whispered. "She's too angry."
"I know. Go, and call her in a few hours," he sighed, meeting her tear-filled gaze. "I'll talk to her for you."
She smiled a little, then leaned forward and hugged him, hearing his soft rumble as she did so. "Thank you. Tell her I'm sorry. Please?"
"Of course."
"Thank you." Wiping at her eyes, she grabbed her purse and headed for the door, pausing to look in the direction the elf had gone before sighing and leaving, the door closing softly behind her.
Kaeli's sharp hearing picked up the sound of the trucks motor starting up, and she closed her eyes in defeat, her anger leaving her as fast as it had come until only a sense of helplessness remained, the emotion welling up within her until she rose her right hand to her mouth to stifle a sob, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back a bought of tears.
Wings wrapped around her from behind, envelloping her in warmth, and she shuddered, thinking about pulling away for a moment before the sensation of Draco gently resting his chin on her shoulder registered. "I don't want to lose her."
"You won't," he whispered. "But she's like you. A free spirit. You can't ask her to give up her freedom, even if it is to protect her. You'd fight against it too."
"I know.... I know."
"She wanted me to tell you that she's sorry. And that she'll call in a few hours."
"I heard."
He sighed softly and brushed his cheek against hers, purring softly. "Kaeli, please relax your left hand. Hurting yourself isn't going to help matters."
"You can feel it? Oh, Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean...."
"Shh. It's alright," he murmured to her, nuzzling her hair and inhaling a breath of her scent. "I'm not the one you should apologise to."
She sighed heavily and leaned her cheek against his. "I know. I screwed up."
"Yes. But you can fix it. Talk to her when she calls."
"....alright."
Seeking to calm her, he loosened his wings around her and turned so that he was standing sideways behind her, purring as he rested his tail against her legs and let her lean back against him, easily taking her weight as she twisted to curl her arms around his neck. "It'll be alright, my Kaeli," he reassured her as he rose a claw to her back. "For now, you should go get changed. Your clothing is still bloody from the demon attack."
She glanced down at herself and winced at the sight. "Yeah, okay. I'll, um... be right back." When he folded his wings against his back, she pulled away and headed upstairs, waiting until she had reached the privacy of their shared room before she looked down at her left hand, watching the gashes from her own nails heal cleanly. Sighing again, she toed the door shut and went to the dresser, taking out a pair of jeans and a black tank top that Erica had given her, quickly changing into the outfit and then looking down at the blood covered clothing she held, tightening her hands around the material as she turned and went to throw them into Erica's hamper.
Somehow, she knew it was going to be
a long day.
TBC