Lost in Darkness

Chapter 8-The First Meeting

Chapter 8

 

***FLASHBACK***

"Get back here you bastard!" I cried, sprinting after the demon that was trying oh so desperately to escape me. It responded by growling before quickly darting into an alley on the left.

I knew these parts pretty well, so I consequently knew that this particular alley was a dead end.
'No way out,' I thought, satisfaction coursing through me. Add that with all the adrenaline, and I probably looked a sight, what with the goofy grin on my face. The thought of killing another demon, the thought of saving someone else the pain that I went through, always filled me with deadly purpose. I slowed to a walk, my eyes trained on the opening.

My heart beat fast and hard in my chest, a continuous drum beat. Panting, I tried to regain my breath, simultaneously trying to come up with a game plan. 

There weren't many people around. It was starting to get dark now, the moon rising up to control its waiting kingdom. It was quite cold, and my black turtleneck sweater wasn't doing much to protect me from it. My black combats were thin and flexible, made for movement. The curly brown hair that so often got in the way, and yet I couldn't bring myself to cut, was tied into a tight ponytail.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a deep voice from behind me as I drew closer to the alley. Momentarily, I forgot about the demon, spinning around to face the unknown person at my back. Since I felt no more tingling than I did before, I knew that this person was human, but it still worried me. I mean, come on. He was at my back.

The guy was gorgeous, I'd give him that. He had dark black hair that was slightly curly, and came up to just above his shoulders. His black eyes had a mysterious, micheivous glint in them that annoyed the crap out of me. Although he stood taller than I did, maybe 6'2, 6'3, I held my ground. I had faced off against bullies, horrific demons and losing all of my family. One guy, no matter how menacing he looked, was not going to spook me.

"Well, you're not me, are you?" I replied. For God's sake, the demon could be getting away! "Now, I'm very busy, so if you'll excuse me..." I turned, and began to close the distance between me and the alley as fast as I could. Almost there...

"I said," the man said, grabbing my shoulder from behind and holding me in place, "I wouldn't do that."
I rolled my eyes at the authoirty in his tone. Someone really needed to teach this punk a lesson.
"And I said, back the hell off," I yelled angrily, spinning around to face him. I was sure that the demon had gotten away now. The tingling sensation I was feeling was fading, and fading fast. Now I would have to spend all of my spare time tracking it, which was already challenging enough, but now that it knew I was looking for it? Try impossible.
"Actually, you didn't say that, you said-"
"I know what I fucking said!"

I started to walk away from the man, intent on finding that demon before it killed another innocent civilian. The man, whoever the hell he was, easily kept pace with me, walking beside me and whistling cheerfully. When I stopped and glared at him, he stopped as well, an innocent look on his face.
"And what, exactly, do you think you're doing?" I asked slowly.
"I'm coming with you," he replied, as if this much was obvious. Which I suppose it was, but that didn't explain why.
"Why?" I demanded, scowling. I began walking again.
"Well sugar," he replied, walking beside me again. "I don't want to see you get hurt. I don't think you know what you're dealing with here, and-"

 I interupted him by laughing. He frowned at me, and the look he gave me said he was questioning my sanity. I didn't care. He tried again.
"Look, I really think-" 

 I had just stopped laughing, but at his words, I started again. Now he was the one glaring at me.
"Do you always interupt others when they're speaking?" he asked me, a harsh note in his voice that probably would have scared the hell out of a lesser human.
"Yes, actually. If you don't like it, then maybe you should, oh, I don't know, leave!"
The man chuckled. "Nice try. But as I was saying, that...man...is very dangerous."

 I immediately stopped walking. The way he'd stuttered over the word man... Could he... No. Could he know? Know that the monster I was hunting down was just masquerading as a human, but wasn't actually one?

I was staring at him for so long, lost in my own thoughts, that at first, I didn't notice that he was shifting from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable. I laughed and continued walking again.
"So tell me... Wait, what was your name?" I asked, realising that I didn't actually know it.
"Cole," he replied after a pause. I wondered if that was his real name. It didn't escape my notice that he was hesitant to give it.
'Someone's not as good as boy as they make out to be,' I thought darkly.

I didn't trust this man.

"Well Cole, do you always stalk pretty girls, or am I your first?" I asked, glancing sideways at him. He stuttered for a few seconds, clearly not knowing what to say, before regaining his composure. I inwardly laughed at his flapping jaw. 
"I am not stalking you!" he said indignantly. He sighed. "I'm just making sure you're alright."
"Well maybe, like you, I know what that...man...really is. Maybe it's you that should sit on the sidelines. We wouldn't want this pretty face of yours to get scarred now, would we?" I traced a fingertip down his cheek.

Cole totally missed my point. "You think I'm pretty?" he asked, grinning like a school boy that had just got laid. I laughed and patted his cheek before drawing my hand away again.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, honey," I replied, grinning slightly. Cole huffed out a breath, and we walked in silence for a few minutes.

I was on high alert, reaching out with my sixth sense, if you will, to try and locate the demon. When a demon is nearby, I was always encased by a strange tingling sensation. The more powerful the demon, the bigger the tingles. At present, I only felt a very faint tingling, and that was only because I was focusing on it. If I hadn't been so focused, I could easily have missed it. 

'Damn you Cole,' I thought. 'You made me lose him.'  I sighed, rubbing my temples and closing my eyes. 
"Well, as nice as this was, I should get going. I have a demon to catch," I said. Now, if I do say so myself, I am very clever. My plan was to see how he reacted to the word demon. And I wasn't disappointed.

 With the mention of demons, Cole's head snapped around to stare at me in disbelief. 
"Demon?" he asked, his tone deliberately casual, but if you listened closely, there was also surprise in his voice. 
"Well, what else is a girl supposed to do on a Friday night?" I asked, walking away from him. He remained rooted to the spot in shock. "Bye bye now!" I called, walking away and chuckling. 

Coming back to the present, I blinked back the tears that still threatened to spill over. Even through the tears, I was smiling. Cole still stood in front of me, and I wondered how long I had been standing there, staring at his chest. I looked up into his eyes, and realised he was frowning at me. 
"What?" I sniffled, retreating back to the bed and the safety of the blankets. Cole, who had stayed where he was, just shook his head. 
"It doesn't matter." He came and sat beside me on the bed. 

 I could feel the warmth emanating from him. He sat so close that our legs touched, and I felt sparks at the contact. 
"We will figure this out you know," Cole told me, his voice confident. 
"How do you know?" I whispered, for the first time letting my fear show. 
"Because I know us. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to stop until I have some answers." He flashed me a grin then, wolfish and feral. 

 I looked into his dark, dark eyes. They were bright with determination, and I found it impossible to look away. I smiled faintly. 
"If you say so."