Chapter 1: Phoebe

When Phoebe opened her eyes her first thought was to look for her sisters, but she saw them nowhere. Just after she had diagnosed this did she study her environment. The result wasn't too funny: she stood in front of a strange building that seemed as if it was carved into the cave-wall. It had a black gate and there was a sign on it but it was written in a language that Phoebe didn't even recognize. All in all this was definetely a place in the Underworld.

Suddenly the gate opened up and Phoebe looked around frantically for cover. But there was no hiding place and soon a lot of figures stormed out of the building. Phoebe practically froze but then something strange happened: the first figure – a quite human-looking demon with small horns on his forehead – simply went through her! What the hell happened? Did she die? Was she ghost now? But if she had died why would she be in the Underworld? It made no sense, so she decided to wait out the situation.

More and more demons came out of the building and they all looked youngsters, so Phoebe came to the conclusion that this was some kind of school.

The students slowly left but Phoebe saw that three 'boys' stopped next to the gate and obviously waited for something or for somebody. They whispered amongst themselfes in a conspritory manner.

They all looked like humans and Phoebe knew that this meant that they were upper-level demons. They all seemed to be about fifteen.

Phoebe just decided to go closer and listen to their conservation when a fourth boy came out. Phoebe gasped: the blue eyes, the dark hair and the way he moved – it was definetely Cole! She recognized him immediately. He was a tall teenager but he was thinner than the others and his outfit more poorish. The other boys were wearing elegant trousers and shirts and robes that definitely were made of silk. Cole on the other hand had ragged jeans on and a shirt made of canvas. He was carrying a raunchy haversack over his shoulder and while walking he was reading a book. That's why he didn't see the ones who were waiting for him.

The tallest demon that was clearly the leader of the small group went after him and pushed him so hard that he dropped the book. Cole turned though quickly and took up a defensive posture.

„Did you finish the cleaning, half-breed?" he asked with a nasty smile.

„Get off, Carnac! I know that you made that mess purposefully!"

„And what if I did? The school has its servants to clean it up, doesn't it?"

Cole didn't answer just gritted his teeth.

„I see you learned your lesson!" Carnac said and pushed Cole again.

This time he almost fell but win back his balance quikcly and without hesitation he launched forward and punched his opponent in the face so hard that he really fell.

„Maybe I didn't learn it well enough!" he said defiantly.

Carnac jumped up and waved at his companions. The fight that followed was fierce but short. After about five minutes Cole was on the ground held down by the two friends of Carnac. He still tried to shake them off but without any result. The leader of the bullies bent down and punched Cole hard in the face. His nose started to bleed quite strongly.

Then they let him go but Carnac said while leaving:

„I'll make sure that my father knows about your lack of respect and I'm sure that it won't make a difference whose little pet you are!"

Pheobe watched as they left and as Cole pulled himself up from the ground, tried to set his clothes in order – but his shirt was torn and bloody – picked up his bag and book and started off.

Phoebe followed him. She didn't know how this could happen but she was clearly in the past and she was more than curious. By now she knew magic well enough to understand that she would be here as long as necessary. 'I wish you could understand me better...' this were Cole last words to her. Could those words cause her visit here? Maybe. Before the events of the last days she often thought about it how Cole's life might have been before they met, but she never asked him. She assumed that he wouldn't want to speak about those times. Maybe she was wrong.

After about fifteen minutes of walking they arrived at another building. This one was much fancier than the school, more like a palace but Cole used a small wooden door to get in instead of the huge gate. They came into a kitchen – it was very big, with a huge oven and three open fires – where a dozen women were working over long tables.

One of the women – the eldest one – looked up and glimpsed the boy.

„What happened to you again?" she asked casually as if this seeing the boy in torn and bloody clothes had been an everyday event.

„Nothing."

„That nothing tore your shirt quite badly. Give it to me and I sew it quickly, because our Lord wants to see you!"

Cole pulled the shirt over his head and gave it to the woman. She sat down on a chair and started to sew.

„Go and get cleaned!" the woman said and Cole obeyed.

He walked out the kitchen and through a courtyard. In the left corner there was another door and he went to that one. Phoebe didn't count on anything superb after he saw Cole's clothing and heard how the other boys talked to him but even her low expectations proved to be too high. The 'room' was rather only an alcove with a straw matress as a bed, a bookshelf and a small table.

Cole dropped down his bag and cleaned himself using the small basin that was on the table. Then he rushed back to the kitchen.

„Are you ready with my shirt, Sara?" he asked when he stepped in.

„Yes, yes! Here it goes!"

He put it quickly on. The bloodstain could still be seen but it was lighter than before. Then they – as Phoebe still followed him - hurried through a long corridor and soon they arrived in front of a door that was guarded by two demons.

Cole stopped so abruptly that Phoebe would have crashed into him, hadn't she been transparent at the moment.

One of the guards turned at the boy who bowed his head respectfully.

„Our Lord already awaits you" the guard said and opened the door.

Behind it there was a huge study with an enormous desk but other than that it was furnished rather simply. At the desk sat a man in his forties who Phoebe saw only once but she rememberred him quite well. He was the demon called Raynor. Cole bowed even deeper this time than for the guard.

„You're late, Belthazor!" Raynor said as a greeting.

„I'm sorry, Master. My work at the school lasted longer today."

„Never mind! I got your evaluation from your teachers" he said and then stopped.

Phoebe saw how Cole held back his breath.

„I was very satisfied with the results, my boy. You ran rings round the sons of the most noble demons. You did very well and I'm proud of you."

Cole smiled genuinenly.

„Thank you, Master."

Phoebe saw how happy he was about winning his mentor's praises.

„Seeing your results, I decided that I would take you to the next Brotherhood-meeting."

„Thank you, Master" he said again.

„You deserve it. And now tell me what happened to your face and clothes!"

And Cole told the truth in details. Phoebe saw that he was afraid of the reaction and when he finished Raynor seemed rather angry, but not at his protegee.

„Don't bother yourself about those bastards, Belthazor. They might have purer blood than you but they have half of your talent and brain."

Cole smiled thankfully at the older man.

„However if Carnac tells his father he will probably ask the school to punish you properly."

„I know, sir."

„All right" the demon stood up and pulled a thick book from the shelf. He gave the book to Cole.

„I want you to read this by the time we go to the meeting."

„Yes, sir."

„Now you can go."

Cole walked back to the kitchen happily where the woman named Sara gave him some food. Later he went back to his room, sat down and started to read the book. Phoebe just sat down as well and watched him. He seemed to be so determined as if he wanted to read the thick book then and there.

As she watched him she thought about the scene she's just seen. She realized that Cole was hungry for appreciation and Raynor gave him just that. Phoebe learned something in the past years: demons didn't have emotions – even Cole himself told her so – but the boy in front of her clearly had. She felt a warmness around her heart that she thought to be vanished after she saw how Cole killed an innocent witch.

But it clearly didn't go away. The teenager Cole was so much like his adult self: the way he sat on the floor casually, how he winked his eyes while he was concentrating on the book... and he awakened the same feelings in Phoebe.

Hours went by until Cole at last put down the book and blew out the candle. Phoebe though wasn't tired – maybe because she wasn't in her body – so she just watched the sleeping form of the boy and realized one thing: whatever he told herself, she was still very much in love with Cole Turner.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning Cole woke up very early, got up and went out into the courtyard where a few small cabins stood. Phoebe realized that those were like showers. So Cole took a quick shower and then went to the school.

The building was empty when they arrived but Cole went in with his own keys and went straight to a room that was full of cleaning stuff. He collected some of them and started off around the school. He went in every room and where he found some mess he cleaned it up.

Most rooms looked like training-rooms and in some of them there were bloodstains on the floor or on the walls.

By the time the students arrived, Cole was ready and he went into one of the training-rooms, probably for his first lesson. The demon-boys from yesterday were also there and the one that Cole called Carnac smiled quite cruelly at him. At least in Phoebe's opinion.

There were only boys in the class and when the teacher arrived they quickly formed a line. Obvioulsy it was a routine and everybody had his place in the row.

„Before we start the practice" the teacher spoke, „the director wants to see you, Belthazor so you're dismissed from the lesson."

Cole nodded and left the line. The director's office was an a lower level and it offered a new surprise for Phoebe. The director was Raynor himself.

„I think you know why you're here" said the powerful demon without preamble.

„Yes, Master."

„Carnac's father is very powerful. He's very near to the Source and he insisted on carrying out the punishment himself. I couldn't say no, but a teacher will be there to assure your safety. He might be powerful but he still fears me, so don't worry: he won't hurt you too badly."

„I understand."

„I know you do. Go to the basement."

Cole nodded and left. The basement was even darker than other parts of the Underworld. Cole went straight to a specific door, so Phoebe assumed that he was here before. In the small room there was no furniture except a strange-looking bench and two demons. One of them was in demon-form: he had dark-green skin and almost red eyes. The other one – who was obviously the teacher – nodded at Cole and the boy took off his shirt, folded it neatly, kneeled on the floor in front of the bench and bent over it. Pheobe saw that there were straps on the side of the bench. The teacher secured them around Cole's wrists and stepped back to the wall. As Raynor had said, he was just an observer here just like Phoebe.

She wathced horrified as the green demon went to a dark corner and took something in his hand. It was a device wattled from leather-straps: it seemed strong and flexible at the same time.

When the demon crushed down for the first time Phoebe shuddered involuntary as she saw that the mighty demon used all his strength. Cole didn't flinch but Phoebe saw how he gritted his teeth and how his hands turned into fists. Every strike left dark, red stains on the boy's back and perspiration soon covered his face but he didn't make a sound. This only angered the demon and his blows became stronger and stronger until they induced blood. Cole bit in his lips so hard that they started to bleed as well and shut his eyes tightly.

„Enough!" the teacher said and Phoebe sighed releived.

The demon growled and pounced down again.

„You don't want to damage Lord Raynor's property, do you?"

The demon growled even louder but put down the ugly device and mumbling somehting he left the room.

The teacher opened the restraints and Cole pushed himself away from the bench and stood up.

„I hate this snobs!" the teacher said loudly. Then he turned to the boy who was putting on his shirt. „Lord Raynor said that you can go home for today."

„Thank you, but I rather stay."

The teacher nodded: „Then I see you in class in ten minutes" and with that he left.

Cole leant against the wall, bent down his head and took a few deep breathes. Phoebe knew of course that demons had a different physical buildup but at the moment she only saw a fifteen year old boy who was suffering. He stayed in that position for about five minutes and then followed the teacher. They went back to a classroom.

The teacher from before was in there already and about a dozen students. They all stared at Cole when he walked in but he didn't care. The boys soon stood into a circle and waited for the teacher to speak.

„Today Lord Raynor decided to honor our class" he began and nodded at the gallery where Phoebe glimpsed the upper-level demon. He was sitting in the shadows but he could see everything from up there.

„We will practice hand to hand fight today" he continued and looked over the boys. „Who wants to be first?"

It wasn't like in human high-schools where everybody wanted to lie as low as possible: every student stepped forward instantly and the teacher smiled.

„It seems its my choice again... well, let's see. Carnac!" the boy from yesterday stepped into the cirlce. The teacher glimpsed upwards and Phoebe caught the slight nod of Raynor's head. „Belthazor!"

Phoebe couldn't beleive that Cole was actually happy that he was chosen. She saw the slight flicker in his eyes that showed that he was satisfied. His face though stayed cold like a mask. Every other student stepped back leaving place for the participants.

They eyed and circled each-other like predators do. Phoebe couldn't see any sign of injury or weakness in Cole's movemments which was for her a miracle afer the beating the boy suffered only minutes ago. He sidestepped Carnac's first attack easily then launched forward and hit his opponent in the chest. The other boy stumbled but stayed standing. He tried to kick out Cole's legs but only opposed a free surface for attack. Cole unblanced him but couldn't tackle him to the ground. Phoebe studying martial arts in the last years knew some of the manoeuvres but most of them were too complicated for her. Sometimes they moved so fast that she could hardly follow them with her eyes.

One thing she could see clearly though: now that the conditions were equal Cole was much better than Carnac. He got in a few hard blows that's for sure but Carnac's face was bleeding from many cuts and he moved so that he was favouring his right side where some of his ribs were obviously badly bruised or even broken. It didn't last much longer until he gave up. After getting in another blow he fell to the ground and stayed there.

„Do you surrender?" the teacher asked.

„Yes..." the demon-boy mumbled quietly, clearly humiliated.

Cole glanced at the gallery to see his mentor's reaction and smiled slightly when he saw the approval on the older man's face. Now that the fight was over the signs of his previous ordeal showed themeselfes: he was pale and a little bit unsteady on his feet but he seemed to be really happy for a moment...

Then the world around Phoebe faded out and she found herself in the blackness again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx