Chapter 3: Loss of Kin

Jason

The day was filled with tension and anger. Adan had tried to find me at The Underground and had killed a bunch of my men I was at school with Jane. He left the dead bodies as a warning; trying to deter me from going any closer with Jane. I knew that there was going to be conflict the moment she was coming of age, but what Adan had did was too sneaky and underhanded, he was begging for a war between our two forces.

Furthermore, he should have known that I wouldn't back down; the loss of Jane would be the loss of all my power and all my territories. It would be my complete downfall. Jane needed to be mine, and I needed her. I simply couldn't let her slip by. Though, the same thing applied to Adan; perhaps that was why he turned desperate when I got to close to her.

It was my short visit with Jane that had calmed me. My heart ached when I saw her cry in the car. She was such a sweet being. She thought that she was a monster, a creature of darkness. No, she was the complete opposite. Now she was like a flower, untouched and unmarred, like an angel, nothing like us monsters. 

The true monster was me. I was still raging at the deaths of my men. I treated all of them like brothers; they were my closest kin. I required something to vent my rage on and to distract me even further.

A kill seemed like the best options of the moment. The adrenaline that it gave me always made me feel better. My muscles tightened in anticipation for the hunt. It was the best part of being a demon. The cries of the innocent victims would sound sickening to humans, but I was a true monster and embraced it. I had an eternity to accept my being, so I did, with great pride that I was one of the most superior beings on earth.

I spotted a young woman passing by the local convenience store; she looked like she could have been a student at the local university – a perfect target. I followed close behind her, waiting for her to go to somewhere inconspicuous. She was heading towards a nearby park; as soon as she reached I muted her with my hands before she could scream and pulled her into a secluded spot.

"Well hello there darling," I said to her as I let out an evil grin. Her eyes were widened with fear and I could hear her heart thumping. The lady was terrified – good.

"What do you want?" her voice was more of a squeak; she could barely muster the courage to speak. I smiled sinisterly; this was thoroughly enjoyable.

"Not much, just a bit of food. A bit of blood and maybe some of your soul," I winked at her. She looked at me as if I was a psychopath. The woman must have thought that I was some delusional teenager that read too many vampire novels.

"You don't seem to get what I mean," right then, I morphed into my true form. My canines lengthened and the whites of my eyes turned into a bloody red while my pupils darkened. My veins pulsed at a faster rate, causing the arteries to start showing through my skin. I loved it whenever I transformed like that. Suppressing my true form was like suppressing my powers, and releasing them was an invigorating experience. It was like I was turning into a completely different, more powerful me.

"Oh god," the woman squeaked. She tried to scream, but all she could do was break down in tears, "help, somebody please help."

"Shut up will you?" I bellowed. My heightened senses allowed me to listen to the flow of her blood. I was craving for it. The hunger made my muscles clench. The nape of her neck seemed so tempting right then; I knew that I was glaring at it. It made her even more frightened.

I lowered myself down to her jugular in one fell swoop. The cravings were too intense and I did not want to resist them anymore. I wanted blood in my system right then and there. The woman finally let out one short scream which seemed to raise my adrenaline. It heightened by monstrous need for her blood.

My teeth only grazed her skin to release a small trickle of blood when I felt a sudden release of power. It was weak but nonetheless noticeable. What caught my attention more was that it was coming in the direction of Jane's house. Something had happened to her, bad enough to trigger her fight response. I needed to be there by her side. Feeding was only my second priority.

I released a frustrated growl as I looked into the eyes of my prey. "You're lucky today woman, you're free to go." She still stared at me with fear. "Forget everything that just happened here, you came here for a stroll and got that cut from your nail got it?" Her body relaxed at once as she nodded slowly. The deed was done; I needed to go to Jane.

I took a few steps towards an open area before summoning my powers to teleport me. It was less of a teleport but more of a travelling to a place at supernatural speeds. I was definitely slower than the speed of light, but many times faster than a jet plane. I travelled towards the perch of her room's window and peeked in. What I found enraged me and grieved me at the same time.

The room was in a mess. There was a large burn mark on the wall; I assumed that it was caused by the energy that Jane released earlier. Books and shattered glass was scattered all over the floor and there was a small pool of blood next to the bed.

What sickened me to the core was the view of my arch enemy being comfortably crouched against Jane's bed while indulging in his meal—Jane.

Her face looked drained and her eyes closed. She looked like a lifeless corpse though I could still hear the faint beating of her heart. I felt my chest and muscles tighten. He was harming her, killing her slowly, and encroaching on and stealing what was mine.

Yet, despite the heart-wrenching image, I felt a strong pull towards the puddle of blood. I wanted to bend down to just drink it up. I thought I had more self control than that; I spent thousands of years learning to restrain myself from fulfilling my cravings. Still, the smell of this blood was intoxicating, and made my throat burn. I steered my thoughts towards Adan, I needed to focus on the situation at hand. As I lingered, he was slowly stealing her life force away. Pretty soon, her blood would be drained to the point where he is able to tap on her soul as well, completely changing that endearing personality of hers forever. I shifted my view towards him and immediately my anger surged forwards again.

"Adan you demonic bastard!" I plunged towards him in a fury and grabbed him by his throat, slamming him against the wall that was next to me. There was the sound of a loud impact and the wall cracked.

"What did you do to her?" I asked venomously, spitting the words in his face. I wanted to tear him from limb to limb. He was harming too many persons that I treasured that day. He dared plunge his vile fangs into Jane's neck. Adan was completely ignoring me. His eyes were fixated on the still figure that was lying next to the bed, the blood pooling around her neck.

"We have to help her Jay," he sounded frantic. What was he talking about? Wasn't he the one that caused this mess? "I can't believe I did that."

"You're so going to pay," I needed to punish him. Violently, I swung my fist towards the bridge of his nose, sending his face bending sideways.

"Not now, let me help her!" In one swift motion he pushed me towards the cabinet, breaking it. That motion hurt more and did more than it should have. I had sparred with Adan multiple times but never once was he this strong. Was it the effect of Jane's blood? Or was it because I was weak from not feeding?

As I got up, Adan lifted Jane in his arms and was ready to carry her off into the night. I let out a deep and loud growl, trying to send Adan a warning but he simply turned away.

"Where do you think you're taking her?" I sped towards him and elbowed him on his neck, but all I could do was make him take a step back. He was unusually strong that day which made me even angrier. He was about to jump out of the window when I pulled him back by his shoulders.

"You're not getting away that easily," I growled as I punched his ribs continuously. It triggered a hiss from him.

"Stop being a nuisance," he moved his back against me, flattening me against the broken cabinet. The broken wood pierced against my arms, causing me to shout in pain and pant heavily. I pulled the wood out as quickly as I could, making me wince. But I wasn't fast enough. Adan was had used my recovery time as an opportunity to escape out of the room.

I made my way towards the exit, ready to chase after Adan. His presence was still strong, I was quite sure that I could catch up to him.

However, an annoying obstacle appeared right in front of me – Hollie. Hollie was my sister; we were born of the same evil essence although she only received a small portion of it. Despite being my relative, she decided to follow Adan because she was attracted to him. She was well aware of the prophecy, but she just wanted to have some fun before it came true. It never bothered me that she left. It was more of a good riddance considering how I was never close to her and she never failed to irritate me every time we exchanged sentences.

"Wow, you created quite a mess right here," she said mockingly as she advanced her way into the room. She looked around casually, looking slightly bored. "Adan asked me to stop you."

"Well, you can't, I'm sorry but I have to go little sister," I addressed her with contempt. Her casual attitude in this dire circumstance was starting to get onto my nerves. I really wanted to kill her right there and then. I wanted to but I could not, she was still quite close to some of my men and her death at my hands would spread contempt against me in my coven. Plus, her thousand associates would start coming at me for revenge, igniting a large explosion of trouble.

I started towards Adan's location but Hollie blocked my path. "Move," I ordered before pushing her away roughly. She swiftly got up and as she did so she summoned a strong barrier barricading the window. Barriers were her talent and they were almost as strong as mine – how convenient. I snarled at her and banged against the barrier. My strength was still too weak because I had yet to feed. Adan's aura was getting weaker by the seconds.

"You whore!" I swore at her and pinned her to the ground, landing her straight into the pool of blood. It splattered the substance across a greater area, increasing the strength of its scent. I cursed at how much it intoxicated me.

Hollie took advantage of my apparent distracted and flipped me over, changing positions. This time, I was the one smothered with blood. It made my mind whirl; its aroma became the only thing I could think about. The strong smell of Jane's blood pulled against me and heightened my thirst. I just could not resist anymore. I turned my head to words it and smothered myself against it, absorbing its taste.

The moment it hit my taste buds, there was an incredible surge of power throughout my body. Every cell seemed to be energized and my muscles felt stronger. The strength was something easy to get lost into. Jane's blood was like a magic elixir that could renew me. I couldn't get enough of it.

"Well well, big brother, I didn't know that you were willing to eat like that, you really are a dog aren't you?" It was then did I realize my savage and lowly behavior. I was bent over on the pool of blood, swallowing whatever I could of it. My face was completely stained by her blood.

"You're getting too much on my bad side," I sped towards her and broke her neck in one swift motion, causing her to fall unconscious. My speed seemed to have multiplied.

I wanted to rush off to find Jane and her captor but by then, Adan's presence had already faded. He was already too far away, causing me to swear under my breath and clench my hands into a fist. The day couldn't get any worse. If Adan did anything to harm Jane even more, I was sure that I would kill the demon. A whole war would be declared, and all my minions would join me in an invasion into wherever he was hiding. I would break every bone in his body, and make sure he begged for mercy.

I turned my attention back onto Hollie; she had spoiled my plans far too much today. I had something coming for her. I tore pieces of wood from the broken cupboard and piled them next to her. I casted my rage upon her, brutally piercing each one into different parts of her body: her legs, her chest, her stomach and even one in each eye. I knew she would wake soon, but I wanted to make sure that she would wake up very uncomfortably. Getting out those pieces of wood would be torture.

When I was about to leave, I heard a small sniffle in a corner. I realized that the door had been opened just slightly. Looking out, I saw Mrs. Gessner cowering behind the door with fear, trying to keep quiet. She must have entered the room to check what was all the commotion about and saw the monstrous forms of us demons. Before she had a chance to run, I looked into her eyes and commanded, "Forget everything you just saw. Jane had gone on a school trip. There is something wrong with her door lock, it cannot be opened."

"Yes," she said while in a zombie like trance. She stood up and walked towards her own room to sleep.

I sighed, tonight had been a long night, its circumstances leading to Jane being missing. I put a barrier on her door to make sure that nobody stumbled onto the mess before taking off. If she were to come back, I didn't want her to get into trouble having to explain to the police and her parents.

A search party of my strongest men was to be sent out the minute I returned to The Underground. Jane was to be found at all cost.