I apologize for last time. Douglas got hold of my keyboard…and was drunk….

So it obviously did not end well.

Anywho, this chapter is a tad short, but it's important, so here it is.

So thanks to all my readers and reviewers. You know, for being patient enough to deal with Douglas when he's a bit tipsy.

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "I, Chase, now present a haiku about Hellia.

"No no no no no

Never going to happen

No no no no no"

Gg180000: "I'm pretty sure Chase could get into the alcohol if he wanted to. I mean he's a demon super genius. I just realized how much I want to see a drunk demon chase. XD"

Everybody, stick a pin in this, because I am coming back to it. You just won't know when. xD

j. liz. 8: "Why are you yelling at me?! Douglas' drunk ass said that!"

DisneyXDGirl: "Did you seriously just imply that a world-class hacker can't track your computer ip to your home address in less than an hour? Because I can. :3 Wanna play that game?"

Douglas, stop threatening people. I promise that I won't let him hack you.

RissA15: "Zara has banned me from having this debate on the grounds that she doesn't want to listen to me bitch if I just so happen to lose. However, she did approve of me asking this question. Kind of an IQ test, if you will. If a tree falls in the forest – and no one is around to hear it – does your home owners' insurance cover your neighbor's medical bills?"

I have looked up "keljord" and can't find what it means. O_o

DarkestKing:"…And no Douglas, there aren't no nukes for you…"

"Buzzkill."

Thanks for letting us hide here. :3

Anywho, let's get this chapter under way! Summoner Hall?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?"

Chuck Palahniuk

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet."

Aristotle

Chapter Fifteen - Patience and Loathing

Leo

Arthur Hall was an intimidating man.

He carried himself in a way that communicated that one should respect him at all times. Even demons seemed reluctant to engage in back talk or mischief with him.

So imagine how Leo felt during his first few training sessions with Hall. Don't misunderstand: Leo learned more about summoning, magic and demons in a few days than he had in the group classes led by Miss Donna. However, he learned nothing about possible ulterior motives or shady alliances, and he was a bit afraid to pry.

This lack of progress didn't seem to bother anybody at home. Chase even went so far as to point out that Hall wasn't going to divulge any evil schemes right off the bat.

However, with Krane being untraceable, Leo was growing increasingly worried with each passing day. Ysthry had suggested a bit of snooping. Maybe Hall had some information kept in drawers or desks? However, even when Hall wasn't in the room, at least one of his demons was. And all of them were endlessly loyal to the guy for some reason.

Rumor had it that Hall tended to feed misbehaving demons to larger ones. And - if the demons' behavior around Hall was anything to go by - Leo was inclined to believe it.

"You see, demons seem to have a loose pack mentality," Hall was explaining, bringing Leo's attention back to the present. Hall was telling Leo why demons tended to cower around different demons while trying to intimidate others. "They tend to operate alone. However, in a group, they defer to the strongest one. The chain of command goes from the strongest down to the weakest. Somehow, without having to test each other, they know who is stronger or weaker than themselves."

That would explain why Oly, Yahn and Ysthry occasionally mentioned getting eaten by Chase. Even if Oly would stand up to him, Chase was still stronger. Which, of course, brought Leo to his next question. "I've seen some imps challenge djiinis, though. If they submit, why would they do that?"

"Just because they submit doesn't mean that they are happy about it," Hall answered. "For example, think of your least-favorite person in the world. Then, imagine that you were working together, and they were in charge. You might resent them a bit and squabble, but you would have to listen to them in the end to get anything done, no?"

That made a lot of sense. He would have to ask later, of course – Chase would probably have a more sarcastic answer, which was always entertaining – but Leo wrote it down anyways. It would be nice to have a basic understanding of why a pack of demons seemed to exist in his house.

On his shoulder, Ysthry yawned before nipping at an itch under her wing. Leo didn't blame her. As useful as this information was, it was a bit boring. Maybe he could get Hall to change the subject for a while? "So, I remember you saying something about a new Circle at a meeting," Leo began. Learning a new Circle might be fun, right?

However, Hall just leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I'd much rather show you, but not for a few more lessons. Maybe next week? But it's top secret. You can't tell anyone about it. Promise?"

Leo nodded vigorously. Why he would want to discuss the finer points of a new Circle with anyone was beyond him. It would be about as bad as when Chase decided to talk about quantum mechanics or whatever. Or when Douglas decided to do "drunk science" a few nights ago.

How he ended up on the roof with a blow torch and a bowl of Spaghetti-o's was never quite discovered, but Douglas almost tore a hole in the space-time continuum.

Or so he continued to yell as Mr. Davenport dragged his drunk ass back through the window.

According to Chase, Douglas could actually handle his alcohol well…until he had one too many. Everybody had a limit.

On second thought, drunk science was actually pretty funny.

"Anyways," Hall continued, breaking Leo from his thoughts, "let's move on to some history about Summoning."

As Hall droned on about a few Summoners who had helped pave the way for everybody in this day and age, Leo found himself bored again.

Why couldn't Hall just randomly blurt out an evil plot? Or let him out early so that he could watch as the new fence was put up? That had to be more entertaining than this.

At least he was on a mission, right? He just wished it wasn't so dull.

"You, sir, are annoying as fuck!"

Unknown

"I don't hate you.. I just don't like that you exist"

Gena Showalter, Seduce the Darkness

Chase

Watching guys run a wire was boring.

They themselves were probably bored, too.

Therefore, Oly and I decided to make their lives more interesting.

How, you ask?

By being as in-the-way as we possibly could.

Oly was accomplishing this by flapping around as a sparrow, perching on the wire and making it sag before they could pull it tight. I, on the other hand, took a more sophisticated approach by watching them in a full-human guise.

And asking a shit-ton of questions.

"What kind of tool is this?"

"It's a pair of pliers?"

"Oh…what does it 'ply?' And why does it take two?"

"It doesn't ply. And you only need one."

"Then why is it called 'a pair of pliers?' Also, why do you build fences for a living?"

It was about here that he gave a heavy sigh of frustration. "Because I like working with my hands."

Cue my sympathetic head shake. "So you flunked out of college?"

Yeah, that guy didn't talk to me again.

Anyways, Oly and I managed to take a boring hours-long job and turn it into a frustrating hours-long job. It was fun for us – if we ignored the pain from being in an alternate form for so long - and I bet it was fun for them.

Because I was such a nice person. See? Always giving back.

I thought it was a bit excessive when Tasha grounded me for a week, but whatever.

Anyways, it was after they left – one actually flipping me off while I grinned and waved – that we were standing near the gate, waiting for Adam to get his magic on. He was glaring at the thin wire that now graced the fence, mouthing words that he would be using. Tasha, Mr. Davenport and Bree were watching him intently, wanting to see how magic worked. Douglas was standing behind his brother with his arms crossed, obviously still sore that Mr. Davenport hadn't trusted him enough to do the spell. Oly was perched on Douglas' shoulder as a parrot, looking bored with the entire situation while Yahn was sitting on Adam's feet as a golden lab puppy, ready to drum up some energy for him to use. I know that some of you are wondering why I wasn't going to throw my energy into this. Well, it was easy: Adam was used to Yahn's. If I started adding mine, it might become overwhelming.

Because I generated a lot more. Because I was awesome like that.

I myself was fidgeting from one foot to the other, wishing that Adam would hurry up. The burning itch in my side was killing me, and I wanted to go inside and change back to my regular form so that it went away. I knew that it was my fault – I didn't have to spend so much time out here with the men that built the fence – but that didn't stop me from being pissed about it.

After several moments, Adam finally started talking. As I shielded my eyes from the rapidly setting sun that glared at us from across the street, I only caught bits and pieces of whatever gibberish Summoners used to do magic, but at least he was doing it! I doubted that he even noticed the guy that passed by on the sidewalk, looking at us as if we were crazy. Seriously, he was -

I was suddenly hit with overwhelming hatred for that guy.

You don't understand: I fucking hated him.

I wanted to twist his head off and dance on his grave.

And I had no idea why. He was just a random stranger, right? I ran through the planes to check that he was human. Why?

Because I had only felt that way around Ferran in Italy.

Yet – though the guy was human through-and-through – I still hated him.

He is someone worth killing in the most brutal, slowest, most painful way possible.

For some reason, I agreed this time. Thank you for summing up my thoughts, little voice.

I let out a low growl as I watched the guy pass us. Who in the hell was that guy, and why did he bother me so much?

A couple of hands came down on my shoulders. Suddenly realizing how tense I was, I snapped back to the present and glanced around to see that Mr. Davenport had his hand on one of my shoulders while Douglas had his hand on my other, both wearing expressions that they had sensed that something was wrong. "You all right?" Mr. Davenport whispered so that he didn't interrupt Adam.

Shooting the guy one last look as he walked further and further away, I forced myself to nod. He was leaving, so it wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Would've been nice to know why I hated him so much, though.

What the hell was that about? Who in the flying fuck was that guy? And why is Hall so secretive about his stupid new Circle?

Who thinks they know the answer?

Well, I suppose that, should you keep reading, you would find out anyways.

So feel free to review. Or don't. I don't care. :3

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*