3x3 Eyes: Shadow Under the Moon
Chapter III: Chance Meeting
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The "watcher" had found the nearest portal to the human world, and ended up in a place he vaguely remembered. It was dark at the moment, and he was in a skinny, paved street he thought was called an alley. There were trashcans on either side of him, some toppled on their sides. There were rotting boxes, and he could see a stray cat or two digging around in the remains. He was aware of the faint rustling of the rats that were common to back ways like this. What he wasn't aware of was that two demons had sensed his power and uniqueness, and were out for his immortality. But they wouldn't attack yet; they were content to bide their time until it was right to strike.
He walked out of the alley and onto one of the busy main streets of New York City. Here he could barely get through the thick crowd of people hurrying to and from one place or another. He smiled wryly.
How ironic, he thought, that our world should be empty and theirs seemingly too full. But he kept such thoughts to himself. No use in broadcasting that he wasn't human. Then they'd just lock him up in one of those zoo-things the human race so adored as a creature to be stared at but not touched. Humans were so afraid of things they couldn't understand, and demons were surely unexplainable.
Next on his itinerary was to find a suitable Wu. A thug won't do, I need someone who can think for themselves. And I don't need a weakling who can't fight either. Most humans seem to fall under one of the two categories.
He found it extremely pathetic that the academic or smart ones were unfit for any sort of exercise–usually. He sighed and walked into the never-ending flow of bodies and began to scrutinize the people. A couple hours later, even though he was not physically or mentally tired, he decided that hiding out in someone's extra room for a wink wouldn't do any harm.
* * *
Jessie found it hard to go to sleep that night, for some odd reason or other. She just couldn't get comfortable, or her thoughts refused to rest. An important project was due the day after tomorrow and–again–she had held it off for so long she only had the next day to do the whole project. She hated procrastination, and yet she was a procrastinator herself! She sighed again and went downstairs to get a drink of water. After descending the stairs she navigated through her family room and came to the kitchen. She poured a glass of water and took a sip. With a refreshed sigh she began to walk back to the stairs. But something–an instinct, maybe–made her continue beyond the stairs to the second story and down the short hall that led to the guestroom. She opened the door and turned on the lights. What met her eyes made her drop her glass in astonishment.
There was a boy!
He had strange amber eyes and navy hair that fell over the golden-yellow orbs. His clothes were weird, to say the least. They consisted of loose, black slacks, a white, no-sleeved baggy shirt, and a piece of cloth wrapped around his neck. There was a navy sash around his waist, in which a sheathed sword was tucked. The hilt of the sword had runes of strange design, and there was a shimmering piece of amber (crystallized tree sap) set into the end. All in all, Jessie had to admit he was rather cute.
But her scrutiny had taken less than a second, and the sound of breaking glass brought her back to herself. Her first reaction was to scream--loudly. Her second was to wonder why she was screaming if all the guy was doing was sitting on the bed with a surprised expression on his face.
She quickly shut up, but the sounds of breaking glass and her screams had woken her parents and little brother. They came running down the stairs to see what was wrong. The strange boy quickly got up and pushed her out of the way. By now her parents and brother were down, but they stopped short when they saw the 13 or 14-year-old boy cursing the locked door. He glanced back at them.
"Sorry for intruding, I'll be leaving now," he said, and drew his sword. Then he cut a triangular hole in the door and threw himself through it. The family watched the door even after he was gone. Then Jessie's mother came over and hugged Jessie.
"Are you alright, Jes?" she asked, close to tears.
"I-I'm fine" Jessie stuttered, still in shock from the event.
"Was he doing anything wrong?" she asked.
"No," Jessie stated. "He was just sitting there."
"Don't scare us like that," Jessie's father said.
"I'm going to bed," Jessie's brother said with a yawn, and left up the stairs.
"Yes, we should all go back to sleep," Jessie's mother declared in a stage whisper. She separated from her daughter and disappeared up the stairs, in the embrace of Jessie's father. Jessie trailed up behind.
She lay down on her bed and wondered: Who was he?
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END