Supernaturals

18. A new nature

DECLAN

“What the hell are you?” The demon asked again, unable to hide how shocked she was.

I turned to Ashley and Rochu and they were both staring at me in utter surprise. I couldn't blame them because I was feeling the exact way.

“You are a demon too, your eyes are fully black now but I. . . .” The demon's voice trembled as she spoke.

I guess it wasn't every day one gets to see someone who's both vampire and demon.

Everything seemed to make more sense now. It was like in this moment I learnt more about my nature than in the twenty-seven years I have lived.

Now I understand why I was faster than every other vampire. Now I understand why I always felt something in me, something I hadn't taken full control of. Like a hidden part of me. Now I understand why my mother was killed and why those demons had called me ‘The One'.

The demon lady shook her emotions aside and was back to business.

“I don't know what you are but I guess it's even more interesting now, I'll get to k*ll someone who'd actually fight back.”

After saying that, she launched herself at me with so much force and a sword that she created out of nothing.

I swiftly evaded the first attack and then stabbed her with a dagger that came to my hands the moment I thought about it.

This demon power was fun. I wasn't finding it difficult using my powers at all. It came naturally to me, I didn't even have to do much.

There were many things on my mind. Firstly, I hadn't understood why I had demon powers but I had some ideas. Also, I didn't know much about demons in general. I didn't know what exactly they could do or what it meant for me as I was a vampire too.

I had heard about hybrids but I was something else.

It was all too much to take in at once. I wanted to sit and try to understand what was happening. But I guess that wasn't possible now that I had a demon who was trying to tear me apart.

“You scumbag,” she said as she pulled the weapon from her stomach and launched it at me.

She missed it widely. Then she charged at me. Again.

This time she didn't use any weapon. She just came with sheer anger and her fists. She kept coming at me, throwing punches and kicks with incredible speed. But I was faster so I kept avoiding every one of them.

I landed my first punch, aiming for her face but she saw it and moved quickly but not fast enough to be safe because the punch still hit her on her chest. And I landed another punch and another. I wanted to hit her again when I felt it go through me.

She had run me through with a sword and it went cleanly through the middle of my chest. I fell, my face meeting the bare ground with the sword still in me.

“Pathetic, isn't it? Gave me a good fight but you would never be seen or respected as a demon.”

Uhm. . .I'm fine with that.

She came over to me where I lay on the ground. She conjured another sword and stabbed me in the stomach. She was about to take my head off when a hand went through from her behind.

It was Ashley. Ashley stood in shock as she saw her attack didn't even affect the demon at all.

After throwing Ashley at least fifty feet away, she went to Rochu and squeezed his neck with her right, constricting his airflow.

Turning back to me, she said, “Watch me k*ll your friends.”

Her words immediately got me boiling. The idea of losing Ashley and Rochu made me go into a mad rage. I don't really know why but I screamed.

It wasn't just a regular scream because it felt as though I was harnessing my powers through my emotions. Very weird to say but that's exactly how it made me feel.

The demon lady began to scream too, as a sort of black ‘stuff' began to consume her. She kept screaming and saying a lot though I couldn't make much sense out of all she said. In less than a minute she was nothing but ashes on the ground.

Did I just k*ll a demon?

“What the hell just happened?” Ashley said as we sat, all wounded and weak.

I began to tell Ashley and Rochu all I knew about this demon side of myself. I told them how my mother had saved me when I was thirteen and how I had watched her get killed.

Honestly, I always knew deep down in me that I had some connections with the demons. I wasn't sure but I kinda had a hunch. It was a feeling I had chosen to ignore for as long as I can remember. I never really gave the thought of this a chance in my mind because I couldn't imagine it happening.

My life was already a mess on its own, adding this demon b*llshit was just too much.

“You looked super cool,” Rochu said, his face beaming with a smile.

Jeez, can this boy ever get sad?

“Well, it didn't feel that super cool, it was just me being controlled by some wild rage.”

Rochu smirked humorously at me. “You are telling me you didn't enjoy those powers you showed.”

I smiled, deciding not to reply to him. He was right anyway. I enjoyed how the power made me feel even though I was incredibly stunned.

“You didn't find it hard to control your powers, it means it's really your nature.”

I shrugged absentmindedly. “But it doesn't make any sense, it's just one big mystery. How can I be a demon when both my parents were born vampires?”

“We don't know anything but this isn't bad news,” Ashley said, a smile coming to her face.

“I don't get it, how isn't it bad news?” Rochu wondered.

Rochu shifted his stare and began to wonder whether I was feeling bad about it all. Rochu was the epitome of an open book. One didn't even need to try, he made it too easy for literally everyone.

“I don't—I mean, it doesn't matter if you are a vampire and a demon, all I see when I look at you is Declan, that's all I ever see.”

For a thirteen-year-old, Rochu was really mature. I guess anyone who had seen what the boy had would be equally mature too.

“Rochu, I know that and I'm not feeling bad or anything like that. I'm not saying it doesn't all suck bad, but not more than usual.”

Ashley added to what she earlier said. “We have an important mission, what matters is that we end the vampire race, you being a demon doesn't change anything.”

It was funny how we had all accepted that I was a demon. It wasn't like I didn't appreciate that I had friends who would always stay by me, but it was all too soon. Just about an hour ago, I didn't know I was a demon and now I know, we are like, ‘Oh, it's fine!'.

Really weird.

“I heard demons could fly, is it true?”

Rochu was one curious kid. Well, in this case, it was justified because I also wanted to know this.

“Yeah, try it out." Ashley supported.

I'm not sure using my demon power was high on my priority list. Especially since I was almost killed a couple of minutes ago.

“Come on, let's see this.” Rochu urged.

I laid back and fixed my stare at the sunny sky. “Nah, not today, I'm not exactly in the mood of trying anything out.”

“Get your as$ up and try it out." Ashley teased.

“What will it achieve? We don't know where we will sleep tonight and being careful is all we can do at this moment.”

“Talk about a bore. Why not try it? At least that will be good as you would be learning to use your powers—which will probably be needed every single day, considering our situation.”

Whatever you say, Ashley. You win, I thought as I stood.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about my demon power was that I didn't need to practise or do any meditating. It was super simple. I think about it and it happens, as long as it's something within my power. It was convenient.

Slowly, I levitated. It was a little more fun than I thought it would be. I was only seven feet in the air and it was already my favourite thing to do.

“How does it feel?” Rochu asked as he and Ashley buried their stares at me.

“Indescribable.”

“Come on, you gotta give us more than that. How does it feel?”

I stretched both of my hands before me. “How about I show you?”

I raised both of them in the air and brought them up in the air, even higher now. We were all, at least, thirty feet off the ground. Hanging like butterflies in the air.

“Okay, this is amazing.” Ashley let out, not able to hide her grin.

It wasn't unusual to see Rochu excited and all bubbly, but it was to see Ashley. Except for today because she was bubbling in happiness.

“This is the best day!" She yelled.

“Let's make it even better!” Rochu said, throwing his shoe at a zombie he saw below. “Let's go even higher.”

Not a bad idea.

With every power in me, I launched into the air with Ashley and Rochu. It was an exhilarating experience. It was as though we were launching ourselves out of the earth.

The wind brushed our faces with so much force as our altitude increased. Higher and higher we went, all three of us screaming in sheer happiness. This was, by miles, the most fun thing we had done since the apocalypse.

I couldn't possibly say but we had to be about ten thousand feet in the air. Or more. Whatever it was, it was pretty high because we could make only very little of all that was below.

“This is legit weird," Ashley said, spiralling in the air.

“Weird isn't what I'd call what I'm feeling right now," I said.

She kept turning around. “No, not this, this is fun as f*ck. I'm talking about us being happy when we were almost k*lled just under an hour ago.”

We spent about three hours in the air before we—reluctantly—went back down.

Leaving Landon wasn't a bad decision. I know this now more than ever.