Chapter 7
RESULTS OF BOREDOM
Raven was bored. There was no other way to describe it. It was raining, Caryn was out with some friends of hers from college, and Tertia was expecting Dominique over for dinner. Raven briefly toyed with the idea of rigging the front door with a booby trap for his least favorite aunt, but, upon further inspection of the door, it would be difficult to make any substantial trap that Tertia wouldn't be able to notice instantly.
Bored. He thought to himself. Bored, bored, bored. I feel like a plank of wood I'm so bored. I feel like a hole I'm so bored. I feel like a piece of old cheese that has been left in the refrigerator for too long and has managed to evolve into a sentient life form and is currently running for presidential office.
He turned on the TV, but the only thing that was even vaguely interesting was Cartoon Network, at it was showing a three-hour Scooby Do marathon. All his halfway decent DVDs were at his dad's house, (including Escaflowne, which he was still hitting himself for forgetting) and he had read his Akira manga's too many times.
There was only one option left.
Ty.
He would have asked if Ty could come over first thing, but the idea of Dominique coming over was pressing down on him like a weight. Plus, he wasn't sure if Tertia would like it.
Well, it can't hurt to ask.
"Aunt Tertia?" he called, "Can I invite a friend over?"
Tertia walked into the living room and scowled at her nephew until he took his leg off of the arm of the couch. "Who do you want to come over?"
"Just a friend. His name's Grey: Tyler Grey. Lives about five or six or seven blocks from here."
His aunt frowned but agreed when Raven promised that they'd stay out of her room.
Joyful at having something to do to alleviate his boredom, he raced up to his room to call Ty.
Meanwhile, the Deamon boy was running as fast as he possibly could towards New Mayhem. Every so often, he would glance behind him, his eyes would widen, and he would put on another burst of speed.
Because there was a Sprite chasing him.
Her name was Panthera Tigris, and she was currently infuriated at Ty for something that he hadn't done. Although a Deamon was infinitely more powerful than a Sprite, relations were good between the species, and the Sprites were testy about their people being attacked. If Ty tried to fight Tigris away from him, the Sprites would be perfectly justified, in their way of thinking, in withdrawing their support from Wyrna's Clan.
And Wyrna, in turn, would beat the crap out of Ty.
He hurtled into Las Noches at speeds a Ferrari would be unable to attain, and, with his award winning grace, slammed into a table at which four vampires were sitting.
"Uh...sorry?" He stammered as he lay on the floor among bits of broken wood and glass. "Erm, I really didn't mean to do that...ur... High ho, Silver!"
Silver rolled his eyes at the Deamon. "One of these days, Ty, I am going to hurt you."
Ty winced as he stood up, even though he didn't feel any pain. "Well, Sil, I've just done all the hurting I'm gonna do for now, okay?"
"That's where you're wrong, Deamon!" Panthera Tigris stood in the doorway, her white and black striped hair making her look fiercer than she really was. "I think you're going to be hurting a lot when I get through with you!"
If Ty had been just a bit younger than he was at that time, and just a very small bit less trained, he would have attacked the Sprite for that comment. "Look, Tigris. I didn't do it. You know damn well that I'm stronger than your whole species put together when I get pissed. Get out of my face, Sprite. Get off my back."
The nightclub went silent. Even the heavy music blaring from the speakers overhead seemed to dim slightly. Everyone in Las Noches knew that tangling with a vampire means instant death, and tangling with a Deamon means something infinitely worse.
Especially this Deamon.
Tigris paled slightly, but didn't back down. "Ty, I know you did it! Face up!"
"Take. A. Running. Jump." Ty took a step forwards with every word. "Look at me, Sprite. I don't lie. I don't make idle promises or idle threats. I never touched your damn scrolls. I never went near your dwelling. Leave me alone, semi-mortal, or do I have to persuade you?"
The Sprite's face paled further and her jaw dropped. "I...I'm sorry...I...ah..." She disappeared, not wanting to fight and knowing she'd lose if she did.
Slowly, conversations returned to normal.
"You handled that well." A vampire Ty had never seen before commented. He nodded towards the place Panthera Tigris was standing. "She didn't look strong enough to be worth the effort of destroying her."
"It was more than that." Ty explained the alliance between the Deamons and the Sprites. "If I hurt her, I'd be deader than I am now."
The vampire nodded again. "My name is Renn. I assume you already know the others?"
"Sure." Ty nodded to the other three vampires. "Silver, Risika, (hi, baby!) and Siete."
Risika glowered at Ty. "Call me baby one more time, Ty, and I'll..."
Ty couldn't resist, it was too good to pass up. "Hit me baby one more time!"
Siete laughed. "What brings you here, Ty?"
"I was bored, so I felt like irritating some vampires."
The new vampire, Renn, laughed. "And what would be the purpose of that? To get yourself killed?"
"In case you didn't notice, I'm already dead." Ty's eyes narrowed. "I also get really pissed off when people assume I'm weak. Ask Silver; ask Siete." Both vampires shivered at the memories of getting their tails whipped by the young Deamon. "Better yet, ask Aubery!"
It was now Risika's turn to laugh. "He lost to you?"
"He lost to you, didn't he? And you know damn well I can kick your pretty ass."
"Getting into language are we?" Silver stretched and his spine popped softly. "Ahh. Hey, Ty. Your cell phone's ringing."
Normally, Ty would have said that he'd call the person back, so he could keep talking, but something in the way his old friend Silver was looking at him told Ty that it would be a good thing for him to scram.
So he walked outside and answered the call.
"Hi, Raven!"
"Hey, Ty! You wanna come over to spend the night?"
"Sure, why not? I don't have any plans." Actually, he was supposed to help Sarri fix her broken window, but that could wait. "When do I come?"
"Any time, man! Try to get here before my dear auntie gets here. She's a real bee with an itch."
Ty laughed. "Sure. I'll be there in fifteen minuets!"
"Uh, isn't a minuet some kind of song or something?"
"Yeah, I think so...not quite sure... anyway, I'll be there soon!"
"'bye!"
"'Bye!" Ty clicked the phone off, and attached it to his belt. Then he transformed himself into a deep blue panther, and took off through the forest.
He'd make it to Raven's in no time flat.
Hmm. He thought as he ran on his way, I wonder what those four were talking about. That Renn guy gave me the creeps! UFF! He grunted as he stumbled against a rock. Ouchy! Hmm. And what's up with Panthera Tigris getting all upset over some old scrolls? I didn't even know Sprites wrote anything worth putting down on scrolls! I'll ask Wyrna when she gets back from wherever she is...
Not that that was likely. Wyrna rarely left the caverns, but when she did, she often stayed away for months at a stretch. Once she was gone for over three decades.
A scratching sound made Ty pause. He tested the air around him for auras of other creatures. Yep. He thought at last. Something's definitely up. The Werewolves are all out of place tonight, La's pack isn't even close to his territory. And what's up with all the Riverside-gnomes?
Although the Riverside-Gnomes were at first nothing more than a joke between Ty and another Deamon, Nacht, it had gradually became the name for an obscure group of Shadow-Folk that seemed to live exclusively by water.
And there were thousands of them out tonight.
Odd, very odd. I'll have to ask La and Kats if they know what's going on, especially if Silver is unwilling to help me out.
When Ty reached the place where Raven was staying, he gave an inward groan. No, no, no, no, no, no. Not Aruns, PLEASE not the Aruns!!!! But then, being Ty, he thought Screw them. Rave's my friend, I don't give a rap who his aunts are.
He knocked on the door three times, and the upstairs window flew open. A boy with black hair and sun-bronzed skin poked his head out and yelled, "Where is my pet monkey?"
Raven.
Ty laughed, and put on an 'Ed' voice. "I am not a fish! I like gravy!"
"Pace be with you!"
The window slammed shut, and within mere seconds, the door flew open.
Raven glowered threateningly at his friend, then gave an evil smile. His eyes flickered from Ty to someone behind him, and he said in a low voice: "Hello, Clarisse..."
Ty lifted an eyebrow and was about to make some kind of nonsensical remark when he heard from behind him a girls voice. "Raven, just shut up."
Caryn.
Aw, she-ite. Thought Ty even as he talked and laughed with Raven. Aruns AND Smokes! And where there's Smoke... the Deamon tested the air and picked up the faint scent of brimstone that usually accompanied a small Shadow-Dragon ...There's Fire? What the hell?
"I hope you don't mind," Raven was saying, "My Aunt Dominique is coming over, so you'll have to be polite."
Ty stopped dead in his tracks.
"Dominique." He said, with a hint of incredulousness in his voice. "By any chance, would this be Dominique Vida?"
"Yeah." Raven shrugged. "You know her?"
"Our... paths have crossed."
"That's not good. She's bad luck, you know. Like a black cat, but worse."
As the Deamon followed the Human upstairs, he wondered what the heck was going on around this place.
