The Hunter

[musicankane]

Fear

Shiver and shake,
Run and hide,
Out in the darkness,
The eyes come alive.

They follow when you run.
They're behind you when you hide.

Yellow and green,
Silver and red.
Colors of the nightwatchers,
Eyes of the dead.

Monsters and ghosts,
Goblins and ghouls.
Creatures of the dark,
Rise up and scare the fools.


Celia yawned as she got out of her car. She hated coming to school so early but she knew if she missed much more of first period she would be in big trouble, so she had gotten up early for once.

She walked toward class, stopping long enough to swing her rose colored backpack from her locker. She wore sunglasses over her hazel eyes, which were slightly bloodshot from the early hours. She had pale skin, a slim build, she was somewhat tall. She had crayola red hair that reached almost to her waist, and at that time she was wearing black jeans and a white baby-t.
She took her seat in Mr. Miles English class, one of the first to arrive, and pulled out a notebook.

She was doodling silently when a memory hit her, making her eyes go wide and her face blank completely. Her hand moved on it's own, copying down the poem she remembered writing years ago in a similar fashion as she was now. She shivered as she wrote the last words; the feeling that she was being watched coming on her almost as strong as the poem had.

* * * *

Another era, another town, another school, and another first day. Sometimes Kent hated being immortally a teenager. It was aggravating and frankly he simply wished he could have a job and a family on his own. Without the cover story. Then again hunting monsters and demons was kind of like a job....except the pay sucked.

In either case here he was about to sit through another English class. Another lecture on a subject he knew countless times over again. There was only one other student in class when he arrived, a pretty redhead who was clearly tall for not only her age but her sex as well. He shrugged and figured she was cute enough. Perhaps she would be willing to sustain him while he cleared out her town.

He took a careful seat behind her and noticed her scribbling rapidly on a piece of paper. She seemed almost in a trace as she wrote out perfect stanzas. He leaned forward in his seat and glanced at her words. Haunting.

"Do you always write without looking at the page?" He asked in a joking manner.

 

[Kayato]

Celia gave a start, hand nearly knocking the notebook off her desk as she spun in her seat to see who had spoken. The notebook balanced on the edge as she eyed the male through her sunglasses. New boy was something of a looker, he would have the girls all over him by the end of the day. She rolled her eyes and reached a hand up, using the tip of a black painted nail to push her glasses up onto her head. Made it easier to see as it pushed back the locks of red that tended to fall into her face.

She tilted her head to the side just slightly as the words that had been spoken finally penetrated her mind, still foggy from writing out the poem. She wasn't even aware she had written anything. She pursed her lips as she thought, trying to figure out what exactly he had meant before she seemed to notice the mechanical pencil still clutched in her hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said softly as she turned back to face forward in her desk, pulling the notebook back into the center to look over the words herself. "Doesn't everyone learn to write without looking when taking notes in class? Sure makes things more convenient not having to look down at the page every couple words doesn't it?"

 

[musicankane]

Kent leaned back in his seat and smiled, "I suppose that's true. But that looked like a poem, which requires focus....usually." He glanced around as students began to file into the room. It was all so cliche, he had seen this play out over and over countless times. He instantly was able to pick out the jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, drama geeks, and whatever other catagory people liked to label themselves in. None of it mattered to Kent Mathews though.

The only remotely interesting person in the room was the girl sitting directly in front of him with a trace-written poem in her notebook. He played it off to her face, but he knew what she was doing. Even if she didn't know it herself.

It was called Foretelling, a ability some people had in which they would enter a trance-like state and draw or write out a prophetic piece of art. The ability was unusual but usually the predictions these people made were spot on, if they could be figured out before whatever event occured.

Kent normally ignored people he met with Foretelling. None of their prophecies were relevant enough to warrent him paying attention to it. The worse Foretelling he ever heard of involved a Sarlac Demon trying to open a hell rift in the middle of London Square back in 1755. Beheading solves everything though.

The class was boring as expected and Kent spent the hour trying to think of something to tell the red head. Despite being uninterested in her ability, he did find her rather unique and he would need a willing blood donor if he was going to keep his strength up and track down Karthas.

Karthas was a Mantis demon Kent had been tracking across the United Midwest for months. The last thing middle America needed was an underground hive of preying mantis demons. He didn't think there was enough pesticide, even in the farmlands of America.

The bell rang and Kent stood up, moving beside the redhead. "Hey sorry if I came off like a jerk before. Sometimes I speak without thinking. My name is Kent, and I'm the new kid on the block." He told her with a smile.

 

[Kayato]

Celia had gotten to her feet as soon as the bell rang, beginning to stuff her notebook and things into her backpack. She kept her head down, sunglasses back in place over her eyes as she avoided looking at any of the other students. She was a loner, with very few friends in or out of school. Explained why she had colored her hair so offensively.

She looked up in surprise as Kent stopped beside her and began speaking. A quick look around showed that everyone else had left the room, including the teacher, so he had to be speaking to her. He was new, that explained why he was so easily approaching her. She'd give it a day before the other guys in the school told him all the most juicy rumors.

"My name is Celia." She said softly, looking back down to zip her backpack up. "Don't worry about it. You didn't say anything bad."

She turned away after speaking, swinging her bag over her shoulder as she started to walk off without another word. She had little desire to speak to him and even less to play nice with the new kid.

 

[musicankane]

Kent knew he was good looking. He had an exotic look that most people didn't see these days. That was because he was born during an age where mankind was still evolving, so his forehead was a little broader than most men, giving him a smooth full face, his chin rugged and strong. He built powerfully, though a little underdeveloped due to the age he was when he became immortal. His body had still been growing when it was suddenly halted.

Still he was confident in his looks and using them to gain people's trust. Which is why Celia suprized him by shrugging him off and darting away. Frowning he pulled out the paper with his schedule and hurried off after her.

"Hey Celia wait up!" He called, waving his schedule in her direction. He caught up to her in a hurry and gestured to his paper. "Hey sorry, look they don't tell me shit about where to go around here. Where is Art room 104?" He asked her, smiling into her eyes. He could see the distrust in her gaze and wondered why such a cute girl was so distrusting?

 

[Kayato]

Celia tried her best to ignore Kent as he first called out. That became impossible when he caught up to her. It was already starting, the dirty looks from other girls who noticed, and liked, how good looking the new kid was. She glared at him behind her sunglasses before giving a sigh.

"Of course you would have to have Art next period wouldn't you?" She muttered mostly to herself before motioning for him to follow without another word.

A quick stop at her locker to put up her English book and grab her drawing pad then they were off. Art was on the other side of the building so Celia was walking swiftly to make it on time. It would be clear she didn't care if Kent kept up with her or not.

 

[musicankane]

Kent followed Celia without a word. The girl didn't like to talk or maybe she just wasn't a social person. The teace thing she did might happen to her often enough that she got a weird reo in school, which in high school w as a social death sentence. Either way Kent qasnt going to push her, she woild open up to him in time. Time.. something he had plenty of.

The other studenta in the hall gave the pair looks. Clearly wondering what Kent was doing walking with Celia. Although the way she ignored him he was more walking kind of along with her not actually with her. He knew some girls wanted to come up to him. There were a couple of cheerleaders that spoke with him that morning that were more than willing to make him feel welcome.

Those people were shallow though. Their blood was thin with the artificialness of their personas. Celia was true to who she was. At least as much as she was willing to admit to herself and it gave her blood strength. That was what he needed

They reached the class and Celia darted to her single seat and left Kent standing there.he waved and said, "Thanks. Nice talking to you I guess." He found an empty seat and waited foe class to begin.

 

[Kayato]

Celia busied herself by flipping through her drawing pad for a blank page as the rest of the class took their seats. It was free activity that day so some of the others were setting up easels to paint at the back of the class while others stayed at their desk to sketch or do clay projects.

As she picked up her charcoal and started to sketch she kept glancing toward Kent with a curious look. He had caught her attention, not because of his looks, but because he seemed interested in her. That would change in a day or two once the cheerleaders or jocks got their claws into him. Everyone on the school insisted on calling her horrible names just because she was a little different than them.

Class went on, with a group of cheerleaders in the back being noisy and giggling as they painted. When the teacher stepped out of class for a few moments they got particularly loud, causing several heads to turn toward them. Celia ignored the noise and continued to sketch carefully, visibly unaware that one of the girls had gotten up with her glass of dirty water to head to the sink in the front of the room, walking right by Celia.

Her plan to dump the water onto Celia's offense hair was foiled when the girl, by coincidence, stood up at exactly the right moment, causing her shoulder to hit the tipping glass. The glass was knocked out of the cheerleader's hands, tipping the opposite way to soak her pink blouse. Celia looked back as the girl screamed, her eyes calm and unsurprised.

The two young women stared at each other for a few moments before Celia took the other by the arm, leading the now dumbfounded cheerleader out of class. She took her to her locker and gave her an extra shirt of her own to borrow, even following her to the bathroom to help mop up the water soaking her hair and bra.

Celia's backpack and drawing pad had been left behind, the piece of charcoal she had been using setting on the edge of a half finished drawing. The drawing appeared to be a man with wings, half demonic, half angelic. Long slung pants and a chiseled chest were half finished, the lines barely drawn in.

 

[musicankane]

Kent liked art class, it was the only class in which the teachers never bother him. He was usually left to draw or paint whatever he wanted. Several thousands of years of practice left him with a flawless hand in the doodle department. He casually doodled on the page, drawing a picture of the demons he was after. He like drawing demons as in a way it felt like his conquest over them turned them into pawns for him to do with as he wished.

By the end of class he had put together an image of a Krull demon.

It was toward the end of the class time that he heard the girl squeal. He glanced up and smirked as the cheerleader's evil plan to pour water on Celia was foiled by sheer dumb luck. Poor girl. Then something interesting happened, Celia took the girl by the arm and rushed her out of class.

Kent stood up casually and wandering by Celia's desk. His eyes widened at the picture she had been working on. It was near perfect drawing of a Ranthal, a portal demon that ripped portals open into hell. He wondered if she got the image of the demon through her trances.

He moved out the door and went out into the hall, returning to the hall where Celia's locker was. The cheerleader was just running past him back toward the class, her face completely flustered and her top different.

"You helpped a girl who tried to ruin your hair and your day. You don't seem to want to have anything to do with the average person, yet you'd go out of your well to help someone who by all means is your enemy. What an interesting person you are Celia." He said leaning against the lockers.

 

[Kayato]

Celia looked over at Kent as she closed her locker, frowning at his choice of words. She then shrugged, looking off in the direction the cheerleader had gone as if still seeing the girl.

"She's not my enemy, she's just a shallow teenager who thinks she's better than everyone else because she's a little bit prettier." she muttered, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she spoke. "Helping her shows I am the bigger person. I am above their stupid, childish pranks. And it makes them think twice about messing with me again, at least for a little while until they can wrap their brain around the idea that I helped one of them."

She shrugged again, moving around him to head back to class for her bag and things. "It also puts her in my debt, should I need anything from them." She called back as she walked off back down the hall.

 

[musicankane]

Kent shook hiw head and shrugged, "You've got an old soul Celia. I knew there was something special about you. Though I think you are kidding yourself if you think that girl is going to be indebted to you. I find most girls her age very petty and she might wanna get you back in a negative manner. Do be careful."

Kent turned and started back toward class but paused dramatically. It was time to get her interest and he said, "By the way you drew a perfect Ranthal demon in class today. I'm impressed, those are some nasty things to draw as they can invade your dreams through pictures of themselves." He told her over his shoulder.

"Be careful you don't bring the sandman home Celia." And he turned around the corner, leaving her alone in the hallway.

 

[Kayato]

Celia watched him go silently a few moments before following after him. She went straight to her desk once inside and began to collect her things, not paying attention to the fact that most of the class had stopped to watch her.

She left the classroom and returned to her locker, throwing her backpack and drawing pad back in before slamming the door. She was not panicking because of Kent's words, instead she was intrigued by them. She finally had a name for one of the demons she had been drawing for more years than she could remember.

With excitement she quickly made her way out of school, not caring that she was skipping all keg afternoon classes. A quick jog to her car, a silver Porsche, and she was off to the public library down the street. When she had first started having the dreams, the drawings appearing, she had tried researching it in school but all the books she needed were banned. And the Internet was full of useless hoaxes and superstition mixed on with the truth. Took far too long to wade through.

Instead she used the public library, the mythological sections. She had learned to compare the children's fantasy section with the adult's one to get the best results, but had never found a solid lead. Now she had one, a name to start with. She went to the sections and pulled the books that looked most helpful before moving to the back of the library to find a quiet corner to read.

 

[musicankane]

Kent wondered what he had sparked in Celia by his revelation. She rushed quickly from class, so quickly that he couldn't follow her without using his vampiric speed. He wasn't ready to start leaving demonic energy around to be traced. So he ket her go and figured he could find her later maybe accidently stumble into out in lublic somewhere or something. Celia was nothing special amoungst the student body, her disappearance but the end of the school day was either normal or nobody cared to bring it up.

There was an energy about her though. Kent could see the dark forces of fate spunning around the girl and he feared it would be that girl that was the reason the demonic attention was building on this otherwise useless town. He just hoped he would be there to save her life when the demons attacked.

That afternoon he found a mound of the Manis demon dug into the side of a hill. There was a few young mantis demons around the entrance but Kent tore them apart with ease and then sealed the mound before any villager could fall prey to it. On the way back he pasted the library and jerked to a halt as an overwhelming energy captivated him.

Celia was inside. He knew it as if he could see her through the walls. But more importantly so was a demon. The same demon she had drawn in class today. Maybe the girl's mind was so strong she could pull a demon's attention by simply thinking about it. Even if she clearly wasn't doing it on purpose.

Kent burst through the library door hoping he would make it in time.

 

[Kayato]

Celia flipped through the books quickly, scribbling notes and pages onto a piece of paper as she read. Her eyes moved over the pages faster than was normal. Several books were tossed aside until she got a good pile going to one side of herself.

She sighed and got to her feet, picking up the pile to return them to the shelves and get some more books. She left her paper on the table but she didn't need it, the little bit of information she had found already flitting through her mind. She didn't know what was true or what was false, but she had a start.

Later that night when she got home she would check a couple information sources to try to figure out just how close to the truth she was. But it would be a long time before she got any solid leads it seemed. She was debating just asking Kent what he knew, but she figured he wouldn't tell her anything.

 

[musicankane]

Kent charged into the library, startling the lady at the front desk. He moved into the stacks of the books before she could protest about his appearance. If she was going to tell him to be quiet she was going to be really be upset when the demon barreled through the silence. Kent opened up his senses trying to pinpoint where Celia and the demon was.

The demonic energy was everywhere and he couldn't get a bead on where the thing was. Celia he found though and moved to the back where she was. But as he passed the men's restroom, the door burst open and a large scaled demon leapt on top of him.

Together they slammed into a book rack knocking it over with a crash that started a chain reaction and the collapse of three more shelves. The demon shrieked and snapped its jaws at his face, but Kent held it at bay. He grunted with the strain and cursed himself for being caught off guard like that.

Kent brought his leg up and rolled himself back, using his leg and his momentum to fling the demon off of him. He flipped onto his feet, drawing a blade from his arm. The sword was made from the sharpest metal ever created on Earth and he kept it safely buried in his own flesh to prevent anyone from ever getting to it. It was a part of him after all these years now.

He spun and charged the demon, which swiped at him with it's long whip-like tail. Kent ducked the first swipe and leapt over the second, coming down to land on top of the demon blade first which he sunk straight into the creature's skull. The demon squealed in pain and the exploded into black dust that then burned up like gunpowder, leaving only a charred spot on the floor.

With a sigh Kent put his blade back into his arm, and pulled a vial of holy sand from his pocket. He sprinkled a bit of sand on the char left behind by the demon and it sucked away the spot and the energy, leaving no trace and no possibility of another demon to be attracted to the spot.

Kent looked up and saw the collapsed bookcases with a groan. The cases where made of solid wood and probably weighed hundreds of pounds. Feeling bad of the poor little woman that worked there, and figuring that Celia was safe for the moment now that the demon had been handled, he lifted the cases with ease and put them back into position. Though he didn't bother to put the books that scattered everywhere back. There was a limit to how much he cared after all.

 

[Kayato]

Celia busied herself placing books back on the shelves, taking down a couple more as she did. She made her way back to her table when she heard a loud thump from the area the bathrooms were in. She set the books down and went to see what had happened.

She stopped short as she saw the fight, eyes widening in fear as she backed behind a nearby shelf. She watched silently from her hiding spot as she recognized Kent. The fight ended, the demon she had drawn dying under Kent's skill with his blade. A blade he seemed to have drawn from his own arm.

Her eyes widened once more as he set the bookshelf back up that had been knocked down. He was strong, stronger than a human. She was starting to believe he was a demon as well, and was scared to come out from behind the bookcase.

She backed away and circled wide to return to her table, grabbing her purse and things. She made her way to the door and to her car, planning to disappear before he found she was even there.

 

[musicankane]

Kent heard Celia fleeing as he placed the last of the bookcases back upright. The girl was trying to run from him, which was cute. Sadly she probably didn't realize that he was the good guy and she was in danger. That demon had come because of her. HE still didn't understand what she was doing to attract demons in such a way to provoke an attack, she surely wasn't performing rituals of anykind so the attention didn't make sense.

It also meant that he couldn't leave her alone.

So he beat her outside. He beat her to her car. So much so, that by the time she was darting up to her car in a panic he was already sitting on the roof of her car, watching her.

She gasped when she saw him on top of the car and he smiled, "So I have to wonder what it is about you that demon's want to eat your soul." He said calmly, getting off the car only to lean against the driver's side door. "Oh and you can thank me for saving you from that Ranthal demon back there. No big deal, Ranthal's are minor evils and aren't much of a threat unless you provoke them."

He eyed her up and down and shook his head, "I sense nothing demonic about you Celia. You're not doing demonic rituals, there's no demonic blood in your system, so I have no idea why they want to eat your heart out."

He opened her door for her, even though she hadn't unlocked the car. "Get in, I think we need to sit down and have a little chat about these visions you have."

 

[Kayato]

Celia froze just short of the car, not moving as she stared at him. His words sunk in, she wasn't sure what he meant but he was speaking a lot about demonic which seemed to be what the thing he killed had been.

"Demonic?" she asked softly then her eyes widened further as he mentioned the demons wanting to eat her heart. And he knew about her dreams. She put a hand to her head, covering her eyes a brief moment as if praying it would all be a dream when she looked again.

He was still there when she looked back up, holding her car door open for her. She knew it probably wasn't the smartest idea to get into the vehicle with him, but it was perfectly clear to her that he could have picked her up and thrown her into the car without asking. Or just carried her off somewhere.

He seemed to be trying his best not to spook her, so she decided to trust him for now. She moved forward, legs still shaking slightly from what she had seen as she sat down behind the wheel. "Alright." she said softly. "But if you're going to kill me just make it fast and painless okay?"

 

[musicankane]

Kent smiled and took the keys from her fingers as she slid into the car. "I don't kill people. Only creatures....although I'm still thinking of ended the world's torture of the Kardashians." He gestured for her to slide further into the passenger seat so he could drive. She was nervous and he didn't want her to run the car into a pole.

He slipped behind the wheel and started the engine. As he drove off down the road, "So tell me Celia, how long have you had these visions?" He asked her. "It's a rare talent, or as some would call it, a curse. I've never heard of the vision directly causing a demon attack. There is the potential for incredible danger to you and to this entire town."

 

[Kayato]

Celia made herself busy buckling her seat belt for a few moments to give herself time to think. He didn't want her dead, instead he seemed to want to keep her alive. She didn't understand why, they had only just met. He had no reason to keep her alive.

But then he mentioned her visions again. Of course, that was his purpose in all this, her visions.

She turned her head over, looking at him before shaking her head. "I have not had any visions that I can remember. But the pictures, the poem you saw today, those have been floating around in my mind for as long as I can remember. I don't understand why the drawings put me in danger. I've got a whole room full of them and yet I've never been attacked once. Or in any danger at all. Not until you came to town at least."

She tilted her head as she eyed him. "Maybe it isn't my fault the demons are suddenly trying to attack me. Maybe they followed you here and because you seem so interested in me, they figure I am important. Did you ever think that?"

 

[musicankane]

Kent smiled and looked at her, "Now that is an interesting theory. I've spent thousands of years hunting demons, and I've never thought that maybe they might be a little pissed at me." He told her and pulled the car over. "Let's try something. Get out of the car."

He opened his door and climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind him. He glanced over and made sure she did as he told her. He pointed and said, "You stand over there, and I'll stand across the street. Let's see which of us the demon is after."

He pointed toward the bat-like creature hanging upside-down from a streetlight forty feet away. Kent looked over at her and shrugged, then walked away from her across the street. He crossed his arms and leaned against a tree on the side of the road and watched the bat slowly opened its wings and drool acidic spit on the sidewalk.

"You got this right?" He called over to her. "After all it has to be after me right?"

The demon flipped over and dropped to the ground glaring right at Celia.

 

[Kayato]

Celia stared at the demon as it glared at her. She refused to back down though, refused to show the fear that was boiling up inside her. Instead she did as she always had. She took the fear and with force of will turned it into anger.

A few moments later she was returning the glare, taking a step toward the creature. "Look I don't know what you want." she hissed at it. "But you've got the wrong girl. I haven't done anything to you or your kind."

She stopped and put her hands on her hips. "What exactly do you want with me? Why do I interest your kind so much?"

 

[musicankane]

Kent draw the blade from his arm and raised his eyes as the teenage girl tried to....fucking punk a demon. She was going to get herself eaten or some shit. He heard her defy the demon, demanding to know something about what was going on.

Kent braced to charge and rip the bat creature open, but he never expected it to reply to her.

"Angelic...........Sion.......Must kill...." It said rearing up and opening its wings.

"A sion?" He whispered, "Ahhhhh fucking hell!"

He was suddenly moving. As the bat struck at Celia, Kent was there his blade whirling like a glint in the night. The bat burst into dust before it could harm Celia, though the black dust did rain over her.

Kent whirled toward her and grabbed her arm. "A Sion. A fucking Sion really! Christ is suppose to inform me when one of your kind is born. That son of a bitch. Get in the fucking car!"

 

[Kayato]

"What the hell is a Sion?" Celia muttered, not really expecting a reply right then. She moved for the car quickly, spurred on by his actions. A quick shake of her head dislodged some of the black dust from her hair before she slid back into the car. She buckled herself in and locked her door as she waited for him to join her.

Something big was going on, something that seemed to have Kent panicking. She needed to know but it seemed she needed to get somewhere safe first. And her only choice at the moment was to trust the man who had saved her life twice now. She was afraid, very afraid, but she had never been one to let fear stop her from doing anything.

 

[musicankane]

Kent couodnt believe his luck. This was the worst possible thing that could happen to him. A motherfucking Sion. Why? Why here? Why now? And a Sion that clearly had no clue what she was yet. Which didn't make any sense. The amount of demonic energy she attract d made no sense for an unawakened Sion. Which could only mean she was Abigail reincarnate. Abigail was the commander for all angelic forces against Lucifer's fallen. She was said to be reborn into the world of man as a Sion only when the forces of hell were going to try and take over the living realms.

Kent roared and punched the steering wheel. It was too soon for this shit. Too soon. "A fucking Sion. Dannit." He floored the gas pedal and got on the highway out of town. "You don't know what it is. Well let me tell you something. Sion's are angels that are reborn into mortal flesh and they are a demons favorite snack. Which makes you a big fucking target."