Among Demons : A Siren's Voice

*Loralyn Nex* Run, I need to run… I have to keep moving. My lungs burned as I huffed and panted through the unknown street, my throat dry from a lack of water. My feet ached as I stomped onto the sidewalk, glancing blindly at the moving figures around me and the bright lights that blurred past me. My ears rang as I kept moving, muffling every sound that reached out to me. My eyes, fogged by the sting of sweat and tears, made it impossible to see the faces of all the Humans that I was passing. The panic and urgency pumping through my veins made me stumble as I pushed through the crowds, ramming into people who either shoved me away, or cursed at me as I moved on. I rounded the corner of a building and slammed my back against the rough exterior wall, my head bouncing off it as I tried to take a moment to catch my breath. I winced at how much it stung to suck in a full gulp of air, worry creeping into my head when I realized that my body was trembling. Looking down at myself, I noticed the dirty state of my pale gray t-shirt and sweatpants, my eyes going wide when the large bloody stain came into view. It lay over the right side of my torso, over my rib-cage and curving around towards my stomach and back. Gingerly, I lifted the fabric away from my body as I recalled the face of the asshole that cut me… the Hunter that nearly killed me. The bastard had gotten lucky just this morning, finding me wandering through the woods near the highway. We fought for so long after spotting each other, with him trying to drag me back to that underground prison I had been locked in and me desperate to get away. Sadly, I couldn't use my powers as a Siren to MAKE him let me go, thanks to the mystery potion that had been forced down my throat when I first ran out of that terrifying place. So I used every ounce of strength I had left to fight him off and managed to shake free. But not before he swiped his large hunting knife across my side. I stared at that wound now, seeing how it continued to bleed thanks to my constant movement. But that couldn’t be helped. I needed to keep moving, to get as far away from the man who was still hot on my heels, determined to capture me again. So I brushed aside every concern for the bloody opening in my body, letting the fabric of my shirt fall back into place as I leaned out from around the corner. I blinked hard a few times as I stared down the path I had come from, scanning through the sea of Human faces looking for him. I knew he was there, somewhere in the crowd. He had kept pace with me once we entered a populated area, maintaining a certain distance from me so he wouldn’t call attention to himself. Yet as I looked and looked at the Humans going in and out of the many restaurants and stores around me… I couldn’t see him. My heart then hammered in my chest, threatening to burst, as I frantically searched the many faces going about their night. “Fuck.” I mouthed out, hating that no sound left my lips before choosing to reenter the crowd and keep going. My skin prickled with the feeling of someone watching me once I resumed my painful run through the mass of people. But every time I looked over my shoulder, I couldn’t see him. I kept pushing myself to move faster and faster while I held my side, my fingers slick with my blood as more poured out of me with my sharp, painful movements. But I refused to stop. I needed to get to a place far enough away that I could finally rest and tend to my wounds. Somewhere that I could find food for myself and get more than two hours of sleep like I had been since I first escaped five days ago. That feeling along my skin and the sense that I was being followed increased and panic spilled down my spine. I forced my aching legs to move faster as I neared the corner of an intersection, my mind racing with the fear of being caught. My blurred eyes found an opening along the crowd waiting to cross the road and I planned to push right through it, racing across the road and hoping I didn’t get hit by a passing car. But as I neared the opening, bracing myself to go just a little faster across the street, a large body stepped into the gap, blocking me. The fear and urgency that was fueling my body made it impossible to stop in time and I soon found myself on the hard concrete ground, half of my body draped over the person that had blocked me. Panting and groaning against the impact, I slowly flipped over to get off the man that turned out to be a Human. I could vaguely hear him saying something to me, his body moving as though he was trying to help me to my feet. But I couldn’t focus on him, my eyes locked onto the still approaching figure of the man I had been running from. His dark eyes gleaming with excitement as he started to reach the crowd that stood around me, still waiting for the streetlights to change. “No.” I mouthed out, shaking my head in a panic as I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the hand that had been extended out to me. I then turned and took off, running away from that corner and away from the Hunter. My head thumped hard as I kept moving, slowing down when I finally realized that I had entered a much darker area. An area with much fewer people and where the busy lights from the many shops weren't illuminating the path ahead of me. I moved forward just a little more before stopping completely, looking around in a panic as I tried to find a different path to take. One that would take me to a much safer and populated place. But as I looked around hoping to see something, the distant sound of crunching footsteps echoed from behind me. “I think you’ve had enough fun.” I whirled around to face him, his voice, cold and sharp, hiding a hint of rage that glowed in his eyes. “Running around without your leash, daring to walk away from your Master.” I backed away from his approaching form, my eyes still desperately looking for a new route. “That’s over now… let's get you back to your cage…” He narrowed his eyes at me, a sickeningly twisted smile curling his lips. “You wouldn’t want little Alder to worry about you… right?” My heart stopped and my body froze against the icy fear that filled me, picking up on his subtle threat. My lips parted over and over again, unable to frame a single word yet knowing that it was useless to try to talk at all. So instead I backed up some more, my eyes locked on the man in front of me as he moved his hand towards his back. A second later a gun appeared in his grip and I froze once again, my eyes widening. We both stood there, staring at each other, his gaze overflowing with hatred and rage while mine glowed with fear and uncertainty. I wanted to escape, I wanted to bolt away from him and find my way back into the thickness of the crowd that had shielded me. But I was afraid to look away from him now that he held a gun in his hands. I was terrified of the future torture that I was going to endure once he caught me and dragged my back into that underground cell. And I was also filled with unbearable panic over the safety of the little boy that I had looked after and raised since he was just a teeny baby. As I stood there as stiff as a statue, my mind racing with everything that could go wrong, movement appeared in my periphery. Then, not even a moment later, a pair of rushing footsteps echoed out from the darkness. A man soon came into view and I watched, still frozen, as that man tackled the Hunter that stood right in front of me. Both of them rolled around on the hard asphalt, grunting and cursing as they quickly broke into a fist fight. The gun the Hunter had held skidding to a stop somewhere underneath a car parked in the distance, away from either man's reach. Then, several sets of running feet rang out from the same direction as the first man and I turned to find a small group of people stepping out of the shadows. My mind whirled with confusion when I realized that there were Humans mixed in with a few Demons, all of whom rushed out to the two fighting men. They peeled the strange Human man away from the Hunter and gathered together, turning themselves into a wall that blocked me from my predator. Still stunned by everything going on in front of me, I watched as the Hunter shifted his gaze over the others standing in between us and glowered. My body flinched as the deep promise to find me later on glinted in his eyes before he turned on his heel and rushed back towards the crowd. A few tense and quiet minutes passed before the group in front of me turned, their eyes focusing on me. “Are you alright?” One of the Human men asked, my mind vaguely realizing that this was the Human I had crashed into at the corner as well as the first one to appear out of nowhere and tackle the Hunter. He moved towards me slowly, confusing me further as my vision started to fog slightly. That confusion grew even more when his hazel-green eyes darkened with concern, his hands reaching out as if he were approaching a wild and panicked animal. I shook my head in an attempt to get him to back away from me, but the motion made me even dizzier, and a few black dots appeared across my field of vision. Someone asked another question somewhere nearby, though that voice sounded so very faint for some reason. And when I tried to blink through the swaying of the ground, I stumbled, feeling as though someone had embraced me, their arms cradling me as I lost all strength in my body. I felt like I was floating occasionally as I slept, some part of my mind questioning when I even fell asleep before the darkness pulled me in again. Then I would feel myself waking up again only to slip into another heavy bout of sleep, my mind faintly picking up on the aching tiredness of my body. When I finally managed to cling to consciousness, I struggled to open my eyes, flinching against the sting of light that hit me once I peeled them open. Groaning weakly as I moved my head, I took in the soft gray walls and pale blue curtains that hung from the window to my left. A cushy looking wicker chair with poofy yellow cushions sat right in front of that window and a bookshelf sat to the right of it. There were all sorts of potion bottles, books and medical supplies on the four shelves of that bookcase that made me question if any had been used on me. I even noticed a metal water basin with a few rags hanging off the side of it, coated in blood. I then managed to prop myself up onto my elbows and found a pale brown wooden door right across from the bed I was on and an open door that led to a darkened bathroom right beside it. On the right wall was a long desk with several articles of clothing neatly folded across the surface. I also noticed a large bag sitting underneath said desk next to multiple shoes in different styles. And on the bedside table to my immediate right was a small stack of notepads, a clear gray pencil holder with three purple pens inside it and a pitcher of ice cold water with a glass cup next to it. 'Where the hell am I?' I thought to myself, groaning some more as I pulled myself into a full sitting position. It all pointed to some kind of clinic or recovery room, but there were no medical machines or other advanced equipment anywhere around me. And from what little I could see out the window from my spot on the bed, it looked like I was somewhere in the middle of the woods. So a hospital of any kind was definitely out of the question. Of course, the mystery of how I even got here in the first place was also taking up space in my mind, my senses on high alert as I plotted my next move. I also started to wonder who had cleaned my body and dressed me in this light peach-colored button-up and matching shorts. A bit of panic filled me and I somehow managed to calm down once I noted that the darkest possibility hadn’t happened, feeling no new injuries or pain in places that shouldn’t have been touched while I was out cold. The next thing I took in was the stiff ache in my body, as though I had been lying still for too long. I flexed each muscle slowly and found that it took some effort to move around, my body still too heavy with exhaustion to be of any help. A few places on my body stung and burned more than the others and there was a strange tugging feeling of something foreign against my rib-cage, around my left ankle and along the curve of my shoulder blades. Confusion filled me as I wondered what it was and what I should do next. It was then that the distant sound of shoes walking on a hard floor reached me, their muffled sound pointing to the light brown door right in front of me. I could hear whoever it was getting closer with each passing second and my heart picked up speed as it grew louder. Then, with the footsteps stopping right outside that door, I locked up and glared at the doorknob, wondering if I was strong enough to fight my way through whoever was standing there and make it out alive. Slowly, the door opened, swinging in to reveal a Demon woman with purple and emerald ringed eyes that widened once they saw me. "Oh, hi!" She greeted me, smiling at my confused face. "I'm glad you're awake now." She stepped in and gently closed the door, moving towards the window and pulling the curtains aside, letting in more sunlight. "You gave us quite a scare when you blacked out that night… though I'm more surprised with your resilience to get away from that Hunter in your state." She turned back to face me, still smiling while she stood next to the wicker seat. "My name's Devin, by the way." She raised her hand and lightly pressed it on her chest before motioning with both arms to the room and building I was in. "And this is the Secondary office of the Matron of the NorthWest."