SEBASTIAN
It's strange seeing him here; he has been here before, but once, none of the other council members come here, except Vanessa. But his being here seems weird, out of place. Like a King leaving his secure castle and his food to come to a peasant's restaurant.
He's dressed in a grey suit, a tie, his long white hair is tied in a low ponytail, and he has his legs crossed, showing off his well-pressed pants and his well-polished shoes. There's a cup of coffee right in front of him, and I'm pretty sure he has ordered more than three.
He has the chilling smile of a phantom, and his head is always raised high.
"Victor, to what do I owe this visit?"
"Sebastian, you should listen to your employees. You do look good today, well, you always look good. I'm surprised that you're still single."
"With all due respect, Victor, did you come here to talk about my dating life, or did you come here to talk about something more important than my dating life?" I say.
"Hmmm," he says, and he looks me up and down. I don't know if he's offended or if he's intrigued by my lack of fear of him.
But Victor knows me; he knows that I'm not going to be scared of him. I used to be, but the older I got and the more demons I killed, I became more fearless. A lot of nytheris are scared of him, but not me, nuh uhh.
"I have always admired your confidence, Sebastian. You are your father's son," he says, then sips from his coffee. I know that I'm my father's son. Hello, we are both good-looking men.
"No, I didn't come here to talk about your dating life." He says. "I came here because I know what happened last night. How do I know? Well, I did say I was going to keep an eye on the human you brought back to life. It's nice that he's tapping into his true instincts, and I find it weird that that dybbuk was killed instantly while he was taking his soul."
Oh fuck, I think I know where this is going.
"And I also find it strange that he doesn't hold any hatred toward those rabid dogs." He says. "From my sources, he was seen hanging out, dancing with and running in the woods with those creatures. I thought it was a joke, but how dare they make jokes when I sent them to do something serious? Imagine my shock when I also found out that the veyraths that he was hanging out with helped him when that monster attacked."
"Honestly, I am just as shocked as you are that he's tolerating those creatures," I say, but I'm mad at myself for snapping at Daniel.
"Could it be he's also tolerant to demons?" he asks me that straight to my face, and I look at him like he's crazy. What is he trying to do? Have him killed? I will not endorse that.
"What? No, he's not… he doesn't tolerate demons. When he saw that dybbuk, he wanted to kill him without hesitation; he wanted to help that woman."
Victor starts laughing because what I just said is funny to him. I hate it, like, what's funny?
"Relax, Sebastian. It's just a theory, I'm not accusing the love of your life of anything."
He better not be.
"So far, your boyfriend is safe, but there's still something strange about him. Veyraths and Nytheris have hated each other for years. There's no tolerating each other, only pure hatred. Felines and canines do not mix."
So I've been told. And he's right, but I can't help but think about how those canines saved Jezzy from that monster. And instead of being grateful, I lashed out at them.
Oh God, grateful to Veyraths, grateful to Daniel. I could just throw up.
Literally, I feel like throwing up right now, but I try not to because at the same time, I have to acknowledge that those creatures did save Jezzy.
"Nytheris are graceful, calm protectors, veyraths are just chaotic and destructive, death follows them everywhere they go. Why do you think they're cursed?"
So basically, Nytheris are cursed because of how destructive they were. They were always causing commotions, and they were bullies, causing the death of humans. That's until a pack of veyraths accidentally killed a powerful witch's husband, and instead of cursing that pack alone, she cursed every veyrath from around the world.
That curse was so powerful that it ended up taking her life.
The veyraths became slaves to the moon. Every full moon, they transform into beasts, and I hear it's painful as fuck.
"You should have told me that your boyfriend has no ill will against these veyraths."
I shrug. "Now you do," I say.
He smiles and then releases a sigh.
"Now, speaking of that monster. That is the monster who killed Jessie in the first place, correct?"
"Yes, that's how Jessie described him."
"That means that monster is still after him," he says more to himself than to me. And fear has gotten to me. I'm scared for every Nytheri, but I'm more scared for Jezzy. I don't want him dead. I would literally die if he died.
"Twenty of us have been killed so far," he says, looking fearful, which is strange because Victor isn't the type to be scared of anything or anyone. But he is also scared for his people.
"What do you think this thing is?" I ask him, and he shakes his head.
"I don't know," he says. "We've never seen or heard of anything like this before. But we do believe this thing is tied to our history somehow, but we don't know why it's hard for us to know what connects this beast to us," he says, and I stop to look around me because Victor looks strange; he's always been dramatic, but in this case, his drama is justified.
I catch Marceline looking at us while she holds coffee in one hand. She goes to give the coffee to the person who ordered it.
Victor snaps out of it, and then he rises to his feet.
"Do not fret, Sebastian. We will make sure this monster is caught, we will find its weakness and where it came from, and we're going to put an end to these killings once and for all."
I nod my head because that is all I do. Then he walks away from me.
"Oh, and advice." I spin my head to look at him. "Be patient with him. He's already overwhelmed as it is."
I don't say anything, I just stare at him because I know he's right. Victor then leaves the bar.
Oh God, I have been patient for five years, and I finally get him back, but he's still with his boyfriend, who lives in New York.
Jeremy. What kind of a name is that?
But honestly, I do have to stop pressuring him. He will come back to me, I know he will.
But at the same time, if he doesn't, then I'm going to have to let him go.
Which is going to be really painful.
JESSIE
My first demon-killing mission. I sit in the back of Michael's car, I sit next to Pilar, and Serena sits in the passenger's seat.
I'm kinda nervous but excited to see how Nytheris really kill these demons. I was at home when I got a visit from them, asking if they wanted me to follow them to learn how to kill demons. I did not hesitate; I immediately said yes.
Now we're on our way to a woman's house who claims that her son is possessed by a demon, and he's acting out right now. That poor woman is probably scared and traumatised. We have to go save that little boy. No child deserves that.
While we go straight to that woman's house, music blasts from the speakers and Michael and Serena sing along to it while Pilar just bobs her head.
They don't even look worried or nervous. That's because they've been doing this for years. They've been training for this since they were children, and they killed their first demons when they were kids.
Pilar at the age of thirteen, Michael, sixteen, Serena, sixteen and Sebby, fifteen.
And speaking of him, it's been two days since that incident, and I haven't talked to him since. And I don't want to hear from him right now, and I'm glad he got the message because he hasn't been coming to my training. Good, he should stay away. His arrogance is staggering. I am not going to be focused on him because I have something else to focus on.
We arrive at the house, Michael stops his car, and we all head out immediately. We walk confidently toward the house, and Sebby is right there, and he has been waiting for us.
I hear a lot of yelling and screaming.
"Wow, that's insane," Michael says.
"There's a demon that wants us to burst their brains out in there." Says Sebby.
"So let's show them who's boss," Serena says, her fists meeting her palm. She looks ready to hurt this demon.
"Let's do this then. That child needs us." Pilar says, and they all nod in agreement. So they walk over to the house. Sebby slows for a bit to be close to me.
"Are you good?" he asks, and I nod my head, and I follow the rest into the building, leaving Sebby outside.
I chose pride over my little fear of hearing people scream. I get into the living room, and I almost faint because there's a little boy in the air being mishandled by a creature with dark eyes, a long jaw, an oval head, a grey face, a wide mouth that is formed in a smile and a jester's outfit. He's laughing while he throws the child back and forth on the ceiling.
Thud
Thud
Thud
According to Pilar, this is a Nurath, a demon who goes after children, tormenting them physically and psychologically. They're either dressed like a clown or a jester.
"Please help me! I don't know what's going on?" The mother cries. She can't see the demon, but we can, and my fear is exchanged with anger because that is a child, for God's sake.
Something in me snaps.
"HEY!" I yell, and the demon stops what he's doing, and he faces me with immediate effect.
"Jessie, what are you doing?" Pilar asks me, but I ignore her.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I yell, and the boy's mother is looking for what I'm yelling at.
"Nytheri," the demon laughs, then he leaves the ceiling, making the boy fall to the ground and then charges toward me.
I hear someone shout my name.
That someone is Sebby. But I don't register anything else because I'm being knocked over to the ground, and the demon is standing on top of me.
Everywhere goes pitch black afterwards.