Among Demons : A Siren's Voice

Ch. 27 : Planning & Plotting

*Lora Nex*

I pushed aside the waves of sleep and tiredness that clung to me as we stepped into the lounge, finding Devin, Marcus, Izaak and Sammy. They were all dressed in loose, lazy clothes, all clearly still a bit tired after the night's festivities. I, for one, had to keep fighting against the urge to curl up next to Nick and fall asleep. The mild ache and soreness in my body as I moved didn’t help either, though my tight hold on Nick's hand kept me focused on everything he had told me. Reeling with all that I knew was going to happen next and my own anxious worry over everyone's safety, as well as the desperation to see my nephew again.

Nick sat beside me while Nyla and Danny went to join the others at the dining table. They were all looking at a few large sheets of paper with something darkly drawn on them. Devin approached us with a slightly crumpled envelope in her hand. She smiled a little tiredly, her hair twisted up in a messy ponytail as she pushed aside a few stray strands touching her face. She nodded to her brother as she sat on the coffee table right in front of us, her gaze moving down to her hands.

“I don’t want to get your hopes up.” She started, “But this is all that our scouts were able to see.”

I nodded, staring at the envelope that she slowly extended out to me. Nick squeezed my hand before letting go, preferring to drape an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. My hands shook as I reached out, taking what Devin offered. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, doing my best to keep myself calm, though my heart continued to hammer away in my chest.

Pulling the small stack of photos from inside, I released another shaky breath and looked at the first picture. My chest ached as I looked into the image of a young girl, no older than maybe 13 or 14 being forcefully guided by a Hunter. Her ringed eyes were clear to see, a grimace of pain etched into her frozen face and the man, whose hand gripped the back of her neck, was completely kitted out in typical Hunter attire.

Moving on to the next picture, my sadness increased as I saw another young Demon, this one older. He looked to be about 16 or 17 and was clearly fighting against the Hunter that dragged him along. The next three showed more children of varying ages, though most were girls, all of them clearly had ringed eyes. I was also able to recognize the faces of a few Hunters that had been a part of the ambush that resulted in my dads death and the k********g of Alder and I.

But when I moved on to the next photo, a gasp tore from me, tears instantly springing to my eyes.

Frozen on the small rectangle image, a little boy stood with an angry expression on his sweet face. His mess of wavy dark blond hair, lightly streaked with a touch of soft brown, looked a tiny bit longer than I remembered. And his eyes, ringed like the others, matched the same shade of gray I had, though the second ring was a pale green. His lips were curled back, away from his teeth, as he glared at the Hunter that was holding him like a sack of flour under his arm. Though he was years away from having his Fangs descend, still bared his teeth in anger at the Hunter that lugged him about, using his size and youth against him.

“Lora?” Nick’s soft voice pulled me from the image, his free hand reaching out to wipe at the tears that escaped me.

I lifted the photo up to him, a whimper escaping my throat as I showed him my little nephew. He looked at the image, taking it from me and moving it closer to get a better look. His eyes bounced between my face and the photo, his eyes widening before he spoke.

“Alder?”

I nodded, touching the corner of the picture for a moment before taking it back, looking at his little face again.

“How old is he?” He asked softly, smiling as he leaned on my shoulder and looked at the photo with me.

I sat the picture down on my lap, raising my hands up and curling a few fingers down so only 8 were left. Devin and Nick smiled at me, taking turns looking at the picture. They both alternated asking me questions about him and I slowly calmed down as I answered them, soon smiling at them.

“What’s his favorite subject at school?”

“What was he like as a baby?”

“Is he an indoor or outdoor boy?”

“Is he very picky with his food?”

On and on the questions went until I was taking over the conversation completely, getting my phone from Nick and typing out all sorts of fun and silly memories. My smile remained etched onto my face as I continued to reminisce about Alder, his childhood taking over my mind in short little clips. Everything from his first word, and his first steps, and the cute little quirks he had as a toddler, to his more recent antics that would sometimes leave both my dad and I struggling to hide our smiles and laughter.

Alder had grown to be such a happy and confident little boy that liked to act like he was a grown up most of the time. He would sometimes go so far with this that he refused any help when doing anything at home. He’d wanted to bathe alone, get dressed and walk to school alone and even sometimes requested that I let him serve his own plate of food for dinner too. It always made me proud to see him like that, so sure of himself and prepared to learn anything and everything that would help him become more independent. Alder had also learned to maintain that confidence whenever he asked for help too. Never once getting upset over anything that turned out to be too much for him.

His soft voice, always calling out to me whenever he had a question or request. ‘Lo-Lo’, his own little nickname for me, was among those first words he’d said at 9 months old. I smiled at the many times that Alder would get upset with my dad, his grandad, when he would call me Lo-Lo. It was his special nickname for me and not even my dad could use it, which would then bring about a funny playful argument between them that ended in a tickle fight. Alder, though so much like my dad, had always said that I was his favorite person and insisted on joining me every time I went out to run an errand. And everytime he would say this my dad would play at being upset or grumpy, causing Alder to roll his little eyes at him and plop himself down right next to his grandpa, patting his arm as if to soothe him.

Not long after I had taken over the conversation, my mind drowning in those happy memories, Sammy and Izaak came over to us, saying that the map they were looking over was a bit too difficult for them to plan an ambush.

That got my attention real quick and I shot to my feet before they finished talking.

Nick followed me while Devin continued to talk to them, my eyes instantly finding the large paper that had been placed on the dining table. It had a large hand-drawn map with the outline of it all covering a large portion of the center, with little notes and guides scribbling into the corners that explained what exactly they were looking at.

The piece of land the weather-worn building sat in looked pretty complicated, since it sat on a slope that overlooks a decent amount of space, including the dirt road out. A few small shed looking things blocked off a direct view of the doors to this building as well, with the Hunters all parking around it, creating a bit of an obstacle course. A boulder was also drawn onto the map that blocked off any possible patrol from simply walking a full circle around the territory. It was basically a small piece of a mountain with how large the rock was and blocked off any sort of shortcut in case there was a need to withdraw or retreat. I could very well imagine that boulder being used by the Hunters as a tool to separate us too, cornering us against it without any hope for help to arrive in time.

Everyone gathered around the table after a while and, each with a different colored pen or marker, tried to plot out a good route to take to surprise and ambush the Hunters without risking their own safety, or the safety of all those children. I listened to everyone as they discussed it, watching as their ideas were drawn onto the all black and white map. It was interesting to see how each other's minds came up with a plan, showing their difference in personality.

Devin and Nyla shared the same sort of scheme, wanting to use themselves as bait or a distraction to lure most of the Hunters to them. Though, both Marcus and Danny completely shut them down everytime they tried to bring it up, repeatedly stating that they weren’t going to sit back and risk them getting hurt. Izaak was the most calculating of them all, taking his time to plot things out on the map and pointing out minor flaws or risks in everyone else’s ideas. Sammy was just focused on medical care, worried about everyone and asking aloud if there were enough potions vials, gauze, and medical tape just in case someone gets hurt. She’d even brought up making food and drink for the kids once they were rescued. Danny and Marcus were more brute force than the others, wanting to just gather their men, fully armed up with bullet-proof vests, and just rush them. They focused on the more tactical options available for them and continued to point out the few routes they could take; they still provided plenty of cover before they would need to, in their words, ‘break the door down’.

Nick, on the other hand, seemed to prefer taking a back seat as they all spoke up, becoming everyone's sounding board. He would agree with the parts of a plan that he liked and calmly oppose the parts that he claimed were too risky.

Hours were spent over this map, with Sammy stepping away a few times to order loads of food for everyone and head downstairs to pick it up. I’d tagged along with her, needing a bit of a break since I was beginning to see that damned map when I closed my eyes. Though I did still want to see and help in any way I could, now that they had proof of the captives those bastards held. I lacked knowledge and experience in this sort of situation. So I was more than happy to sit back and listen to them all as they planned and talked, learning things here and there.

“They must all seem very indecisive, huh?” Sammy told me, smiling as we rode the elevator back up to the third floor, arms full of delicious food. “All those different opinions, skills and personalities shooting out ideas that don’t link up to the others.” I smiled a bit and nodded, shrugging after a moment since I understood that there was a method to their madness. “I do want to thank you, Lora.” Her words confused me as I followed her out of the large metal box.

She chuckled as she used her thumb print on the door handle, pulling the door open after it beeped. “For trusting us… I can’t begin to imagine how hard everything has been for you… going through all of that alone.” She frowned deeply and shook her head, pausing in the hallway. “I admire your strength, truly. I honestly don’t think I would’ve been as brave as you.”

I blinked as I watched her, my mind struggling to understand her words.

Strength? Me? And brave?

I had never once thought of myself that way. Not when I had failed to protect my nephew or even myself. I had barely even managed to escape with my life, losing the very power that made me a Siren. If I was being completely honest with myself, though, I believed that it had just been desperation and a deep seeded fear that had fueled me to fight my way out of the prison. Any strength or bravery that Sammy and the others might believe I had was nothing more than a momentary rush of panic and adrenaline. It wasn’t truly ME, since I held nothing so incredible within me. Not when I had chosen to keep myself within the shadows of others, never wanting attention so I could live in peace.

Sadly, that peace was still shattered and taken from me….

I shook my head clear of her words, following after her as I refocused on my nephew and the map that we needed to figure out carefully.