The Hunters
~04~
The Demon's
Eye
 |
| This bow looks great! |
The sun was just
about to set as a pair of teens walked into the city of Blye. The two teenagers,
a girl and a boy, walked close together, one walking a little faster than the
other. The girl had her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. On one of her
ears was a pink string earring. It had three beads strung end to end. Her pink
sleeveless shirt was faded from repeated exposure to heat and dust. She wore
faded jean shorts. On her feet she had knee high brown boots with brown fur
tied to her legs with brown twine. A
brown belt hung on her waist. Four silver double bladed throwing axes hung from
her belt. She walked in strides with a guitar case strapped to her back.
“Hey, Ren?”
she looked over her shoulder. Her light brown eyes sparkled with joy.
The boy
behind her smiled. His black medium length hair was up to his chin. The left
side of his face his was covered completely with the way he styled his hair.
His right eye was dark brown. He had a smooth face and a sweet smile. The boy,
Ren, wore a black sheave less hooded shirt and black fingerless gloves. He wore
tan cargo pants and normal tennis shoes. A bow and arrow were slung over his
shoulder. On his left hand was a silver ring with three green gems imbedded in
it.
“Uh, yeah,
Sanya?” he scratched the back of his head.
“How far do
you think the Pawn Shop is?” the girl, Sanya, asked her partner.
“Um,” Ren
shrugged, “Not sure. I know we won’t make it before dark.”
“Really?”
Sanya stopped, “Then what are we going to do?”
Ren pointed
to one of the abandoned buildings, “We could camp out here for the night.
Besides we wouldn’t want to inconvenience Undertaker by arriving to early.”
“Naaaa!”
Sanya groaned, “Do we have to? It looks like a dump.”
Ren shrugged,
“I guess we don’t have to but where else will we go? There aren’t any hotels
around and staying on the streets seems very dangerous in this type of
neighborhood.”
“Hmm,” Sanya
placed a finger thoughtfully on her lips, “I have an idea! Let’s stay in that
building over there! I mean, we can’t stay out here with all those scary gangs
around! Come one, Ren!”
Ren looked on
as Sanya walked over to the very building that Ren had just pointed out. He
shook his head; his hair shifted slightly but did not reveal his left eye. Even
if he came up with the idea first and all the reasons for it Sanya had managed
to act like it had been her idea all along. He didn’t mind and simply followed
behind his partner.
The building
was run down. The front door practically fell off when Sanya tugged at it. It
was a small three story hotel. Both Sanya and Ren combed the first two floors
of the building for any threats before settling on the third floor. The hallway
carpets were dirtied; the once vibrant colors were now soiled with dirt. Sanya
and Ren found a room and settled there. Ren played with the light switch but
the lights didn’t come on.
“Oh! I really
could use a bath!” Sanya ran to the bathroom and tried to turn the shower on.
No water came out. The pipes made a strange groaning sound. Sanya sighed, “Figures.”
Ren set down
his bow and quiver on one of the beds, “Sounds like the water is turned off.
Must be a valve in the basement somewhere.”
Sanya looked
at him, “Well then what are you waiting for?”
“You want me
to turn the water on now?” Ren asked.
“Uh, yeah,”
Sanya rolled her eyes, “You know how long it’s been since I last bathed? Three
days! I probably stink six ways to Sunday! Half of Blye can probably smell me!”
“You don’t
smell bad to me,” Ren smiled awkwardly.
Sanya waved a
hand, “You don’t count. We’ve been partners for a year. We’re immune to each
other’s stink. Well, are you going to turn on the water or what?”
“The water’s
probably going to be all muddy and cold. Who knows the last time it was turned
on or even if the pipes are all still intact,” Ren sat on the corner of the
bed.
“You’re
point?” Sanya put her hands on her hip and scowled at Ren, “Ren, we both know
how this is going to end. Let’s skip the middle steps and end with you going
down to turn on the water. Oh, and while your down there could you turn on the
lights? Thank you~~”
Ren sighed
and got up again. He grabbed his bow and his quiver and headed out into the
hallway. Something shifted in the shadows and drew Ren’s attention. He stared
down the dark hallway a few moments before making his way to the basement. He
used a flashlight that had been strapped to his belt.
As he walked
around the first floor he found the basement door. He walked down the steps
carefully. It had been several years at least that the hotel had seen any
visitors. The flashlight provided enough light for Ren to find the fuse box. He
held the flashlight between his teeth as he tried throwing a few switches. For
a moment, the lights flickered on and Ren celebrated in a moment of success.
But then the lights shut off again leaving him in the dark once again.
Ren shrugged,
“Well, I tried. The generator must be shot too.”
He turned and
looked around the basement. Ren found the generator. Just his luck it ran on
gas which they didn’t have at the moment.
He shrugged
casually, “At least I can say I tried.”
There was a
sudden noise behind him and Ren looked. The area was clear as far as Ren could
tell in the light of the flashlight. He turned and ventured deeper into the
basement in search for the water valve. A short while later, Ren found a red
wheel attached to a large pipe. He dusted off a sign on the pipe that read
‘Water’. Ren gripped the wheel and attempted to turn it. The wheel wouldn’t
move. After years of being stationary, it was almost impossible to move the
wheel alone.
He heard a
noise behind him and someone gripped his shoulder. Ren jumped and turned to see
Sanya standing there. She rolled her eyes.
Ren gave a
sigh of relief, “Don’t just sneak up on someone like that! What are you doing
here?”
“Good grief!
I got bored of waiting. Help me out with this will you!” Sanya walked passed
him and gripped the wheel.
Together they
pulled at the wheel. The wheel turned slowly despite the team’s best efforts. Suddenly
the wheel gave way causing Sanya to fall back and crash on to the ground. Ren
ran over to her to see if she was alright. He helped her up. Sanya brushed her
hands on her shirt.
“Well, that
should do it, right?” she said.
Ren looked at
the wheel and smiled, “I guess so. Let’s get out of the basement.”
“Don’t have
to tell me twice,” Sanya walked back to the stairs.
Before
following, Ren looked over his shoulder. His normal cheery look seemed much
more serious. His right eye narrowed in concentration. Slowly he headed off to
follow Sanya back up stairs. He was quiet the whole way back to their floor.
His eyed were downcast as he followed behind Sanya. When they reached the third
floor, Sanya stopped suddenly. Ren looked up.
At the other
end of the hallway was a demon. It turned and spotted them. The demon charged
at them. Sanya grabbed an ax from her belt and threw it. The ax struck the
demon in between the eyes. Two other demons crawled out of a room. Ren drew out
his bow and arrow. He pulled back on the string and let an arrow fly. A
fraction of a second after the arrow left the bow; Ren pulled another arrow
from his quiver and fired another arrow. Both arrows struck the demons in the
forehead.
Sanya smiled
and looked at Ren, “That was fun!”
Ren looked at
her with his good eye, “You call that fun? I thought my heart was going to jump
out of my chest.”
“Yeah, but
I’m sure Chaos wouldn’t have minded,” Sanya started walking to their room.
Ren smiled,
“Do I look like Chaos right now?”
“No, but still,”
Sanya stated.
The team of
two settled down in to the room. Ren sat on the edge of the bed as Sanya took a
shower. He took out his bow and polished it. The bow’s grip was a combination
of light and dark brown. After the grip, the bow looked more like two silver
curved blades. He listened as Sanya complained of how cold the water was. The
shower was short, about ten minutes.
“…That was
the coldest water I have ever felt! It’s like no one has been in this building
for years!” Sanya stepped out of the bathroom. She was already fully clothed.
Ren smiled,
“Probably because they haven’t.”
“Now all we
need is a washing machine,” Sanya stated casually.
Ren shook his
head slowly then stopped suddenly. He looked to the door with his good eye.
Sanya noticed and sighed.
“We’re fine.
It’s probably just another one of those weak ones any—”
“Shh!”
shushed Ren.
Sanya placed
her hands on her hips, “What was that?! Hey if you don’t want to talk, fine!
Don’t need to shush me!”
“Quiet down!”
Ren looked at her, “Listen!”
Sanya crossed
her arms and quieted down. She listened for what Ren supposedly was listening
to but heard nothing. Right as she was starting to feel stupid and rather
annoyed she heard something, the sound of chains being dragged through the
hallway. The sound seemed to be getting closer until it stopped just before
their door. Sanya sighed loudly not realizing she had been holding her breath.
“See, nothing
to worry about. It’s an old hotel. It makes noises.” Sanya laughed nervously.
The first and
second bead started to glow on both Sanya’s earring and Ren’s ring. The glow
started off dim but started to grow in its intensity.
“Did you
check the rest of the rooms on this floor?” Ren asked.
Sanya shook
her head, “I thought you did.”
Suddenly,
wood splinters sprayed as the door was nearly sliced in two by a heavy two
handed axe. Ren grabbed his weapons while Sanya reached for her guitar case.
They ran into the bathroom and locked the door. Just as they closed the door,
the door leading to the hallway collapsed with a second blow of the unknown
creatures axe.
“Ren?” Sanya
looked at her partner.
“I know,” Ren
closed his eyes.
When his
right eye closed, the hair covering the left side of his face parted somewhat.
A red eye opened behind the split curtain of hair and a frightening smile
spread across Ren’s face. A red circled encircled the hotel giving off an eerie
red glow. The sound of chains was suddenly distant. Ren’s right eye remained
closed as his left eye looked around the room.
Sanya
strapped the guitar case on her back and looked at her partner, “You ready
Chaos?”
Chaos smiled,
“What sorry demon do I have to kill today?”
“Don’t know,”
Sanya grabbed an axe from her belt, “Haven’t seen his ugly mug yet.”
Chaos gaze
turned lazily toward the door, “Well, shall we? Ladies first as the saying
goes.”
Sanya gripped
the handle of the bathroom door and opened it. She stepped out into the hallway
of dizzying scenery. They were no longer in the hotel room. They were in the
hallway. One side still had rooms with doors pointing every which way. On the
other side, the hallway opened up to a dizzying maze of stairs and rooms.
Everything was where it shouldn’t have been. On top of that, Sanya looked up
and saw the worn out carpet above her and the lighting fixtures on the same
plane as her feet. In other words, she was walking on the ceiling…maybe.
“I never get
use to this,” Sanya muttered, “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Chaos walked
up beside her, “I don’t have a problem with it.”
Sanya glared
at him, “Of course you don’t.”
Chaos smiled
and walked ahead. Sanya tried to breathe deeply and focus on her current plane.
She learned from previous experience that if one focused on the plane one should be on, the human brain would
basically freak out and force one to faint. Sanya started following Chaos, the
only person who knew how this altered stated of reality worked, when there was
a sudden noise somewhere.
She looked
out across the open space to the other side. One of the doors broke and due to
the skewed sense of gravity, the wooden shards hurled toward her. She jumped
and twisted her body as she was caught up in another gravity field and landed
on her feet on the carpeted ceiling. The wood from the door struck the wall
like daggers.
Chaos drew an
arrow and fired it where the door had previously been. There was a deafening
roar as the arrow struck its target. The demon came out into the open. Its
grotesque face was covered in scars and gashes. Its body was monstrous. It held
its double bladed axe with ease as it roared at its enemies. A chain shackle
ran from its right leg to the base of its massive weapon. Chaos’ arrow struck
the demons shoulder but it didn’t seem to faze the thing.
“You know the
saying ‘only a mother could love’?” Chaos looked down at Sanya, “Not even a
mother could love that hideous face.”
The creature
ran along a parallel hallway.
Chaos drew
another arrow and fired, “Open the last door!”
Sanya ran
down the hallway and reached the door. The doorknob was higher as the door was
upside down. She jumped up and landed on her feet. With the door opened she ran
through. They were now in the old dining room. Half of the tables were on the
ceiling. Another half were on the walls. The floor was covered with doors and
windows.
“Okay,” Sanya
looked at Chaos, “Plan?”
“I thought it
was rather straight forward,” Chaos shrugged, “Kill the demon, get out of here.
Unless you still wanted to sleep out here.”
“I didn’t
tell you how Ren and I got here!” Sanya glared at him.
Chaos sighed,
“Just because Ren and I share eyes doesn’t mean we share ears as well. I can
hear what he hears, feel what feels, and smell what he smells. I just can’t see
at the same time he does. It’s one of the downsides of sharing a body. Only one
person can control it at a time.”
One of the
doors barged open. The axe struck the wall just above their heads. The demon
pulled himself through the door and stood before them. The demon pulled on the
chain dragging back its axe.
“Looks like
he’s getting the hang of this,” Chaos smiled.
“Either that
or he’s just too stupid to mid the change of scenery,” Sanya took out two axes
and charged at the demon.
The demon
looked at her and swung his axe. Sanya fell to her knees and bent backwards as
the bloodied axe sailed over her. Chaos drew several arrows and fired them at
the demons head. Angered the demon looked toward him and ran at him. Chaos
turned and ran toward the wall. He ran up the wall as the demon threw the axe
getting it lodged into the wall where Chaos had been moments before. Sanya got
to her feet and climbed onto the demons back. She took her weapons and lodged
them into both sides of the demons neck. The demon screamed in pain. Another
arrow struck the demon in the chest.
With a mighty
tug, the demon yanked on the chain and the heavy axe flew into its hand. He
swung it around. Sanya managed to dive to one side as the deadly weapon neared
her. Chaos fired another arrow to draw the demons attention but all it did was
anger him even more. It charged at Sanya. The girl rolled out of the way just
in time. She took her last ax and held it in her hand as she got to her feet.
The demon
turned slowly and growled. Sanya threw the ax with everything she had. The axe
struck the demon in the face. It staggered backwards but remained on its feet.
Then it reached up an arm and pulled the axe out and dropped it on the ground.
Blood flowed down its face but other than the mark there was no sign that the
demon was injured.
Out of shock
Sanya stepped back and fell. The demon ran at her with axe raised above his
head. Sanya crawled back onto a window. Chaos fired an arrow breaking the glass
beneath her. The glass broke and she fell. As the axe fell she could see the
blade near her as she fell through the window. The weapon got caught inches
from Sanya’s face.
Sanya noticed
that she was outside the building. She was about three stories up. The exterior
maintained its orderly appearance. Gravity grabbed Sanya and pulled her to the
ground. She looked around franticly for a way to slow her fall. For a fraction
of a second Sanya thought she was a shadow cross a window. A door on ground
level opened. Sanya got caught in the gravity pull of whatever room the door
belonged to. She fell through the door. She crashed onto a bed. The door closed
behind her.
She groaned
in pain. Then she unslung the guitar case from her back an opened it. She
pulled out a sniper rifle and assembled it. Sanya grabbed the empty case and
looked around. She needed to get back to her partner. A door opened slightly and Sanya turned.
“Who’s
there!?” she aimed the gun with rifle with a steady hand.
When no response
came, Sanya glanced over at her earing. None of the spheres were glowing. She
felt safe that it wasn’t another demon or a vampire. She walked closer and
opened the door. She walked into another larger room. A door nearby slammed
shut and Sanya chased after the sound. Again she entered the room and a window
was opened. She jumped through into a hallway just in time to see a figure dart
into another room. Sanya chased after the figure.
“Hey!” Sanya
shouted, “I’m a Hunter! I will shoot if you don’t identify yourself!”
She entered
the room and felt gravity take her again.
Shortly after
Sanya fell through the window, Chaos reached for another arrow only to find
that his quiver was empty. He stood on the ceiling of where the demon stood.
Chaos was secretly glad the demon wasn’t smart enough to run up the wall to get
to him. He twisted the grip and the bow came apart. The string snapped and now
he had dual scimitars. He jumped down. The demon roared at him. Chaos pointed
on of his blades down. Upon impact, the blade pierced through the demons mouth
cutting the roar short. He plunged the other blade into the demons stomach. The
demon grabbed him behind the neck and threw Chaos into a wall.
Chaos hit the
wall hard. He lost consciousness, his black hair covering his vision. The
moment Chaos’ red eye close, Ren’s opened. He woke up as the demon charged at
him. Knowing only vaguely what had accrued while he was only semi-conscious he
was quick to action. He looked around. Sanya’s dropped axe was within reach.
Ren jumped out of the way of the charge and grabbed the axe and threw it back
at the demon. It struck him in the shoulder.
Because Chaos
was no longer in control, the hotel started taking on its normal inside
appearance. The red ring outside the hotel disappeared. Ren started to loose
traction as gravity tried to figure out which direction it was supposed to pull
once more. He was pulled to the center of the room as tables and chairs sailed
past him. The demon also started to float and spin. A table struck the demon
throwing the axe from its hand. The blade flew past Ren narrowly missing him.
Ren grabbed on to the chain as a measure of some stability.
Sanya was
swept off her feet similar to Ren in the dining room. She closed her eyes a
moment as an attempt to sooth her stomach. Gravity took hold for a moment and
pulled her though a door that led to another room with warring gravity. She
shot at a window when she realized that that was the direction the pull wanted
her to go at the moment. Sanya fell through the window, only getting a small
scratch on her leg. Again she fell through a sliding door and found herself in
the dining room again. A chair crashed into the wall beside her.
She looked
around for Chaos.
“Look out!”
Ren called.
Sanya looked
to her right and saw the Demon falling toward her. She aimed her rifle and
fired. The bullet hit the demon in the face temporarily blinding him. Sanya
turned her body and fired again as he sailed under her. She prepped another
shot but she was pulled suddenly. Instead of striking the demon, she hit the
chain connecting demon to weapon.
Gravity
figured itself out and pulled all three of them down to the floor. Sanya’s gun
was tossed from her hand. The Demon landed across from her. He got to his feet
quickly and looked at her. Just them his own axe fell on him. Ren crashed not
too far away. The demon dissolved into dust. Only the axe remained.
Ren backed
against a wall and breathed heavily, “You know, at this point I think we should
just head for Undertaker’s place. We can take on a few thugs if we have to.”
Sanya nodded,
“Yeah. Best idea I’ve come up with all night. I bet Undertaker has hot water,
right?”
----
Undertaker
walked casually though the streets. He stopped suddenly, his green eyes looked
amused. Ahead of him was Yin. She stood waiting for him.
“You left
without me, master, may I ask why?” Yin stated.
Undertaker
smiled, “It was just a little chore. I didn’t want to bother you.”
Akaban walked
out of an alley way behind Undertaker, “Really then,” he looked uninterested, “You
wouldn’t have had anything to do with that dimension ring would you and that
Level 4 demon would you?”
“Or the fact
that Ren and Sanya just happened to kill a Level 4 demon inside Chaos’
dimension ring?” Yin gaze was unwavering.
“Ren and
Sanya? You don’t say. I had no idea they were already in Blye!” Undertaker
smiled, “And you said they just killed a demon? I hope they’re okay.”
 |
| Throwing Axe! |
Undertaker
continued walking and walked past Yin, “Come on, now. It’s past both your bed
times.”
Akaban
narrowed his eyes, “My bed time?”
“Oh, of
course,” Undertaker nodded, “I wouldn’t want you to be to sleepy to meet your
partner tomorrow.”
“On second
thought, I might have a few chores to fun myself,” Akaban started to slip away.
“Now where do
you think you’re going?” Undertaker’s voice became clear and stern. His eyes
were clearly visible, “If you don’t get your sleep I’ll make sure you can sleep
for the rest of eternity.”
Undertaker
turned and continued walking. Yin ran up to catch up to him.
Akaban turned
to follow behind them. “I wonder if there’s a way to kill him in his sleep,”
Akaban muttered to himself.
“There
isn’t!” Undertaker called back, “Many have tried and I’m still here! Oh, and
you might want to keep your murderous thoughts to yourself next time! I may be
older than dirt but I can still hear!”
