Kae shoved her eye mask off with an air of impatience, squinting as she got used to the glare of the fluorescent lights from her table. Other than the constant whirring of the three-bladed ceiling fan and the occasional clack of PVC roller blinds on the cheap aluminium window sill, the night was still. So still Kae could hear her own breathing. The still, however, was not peaceful, not to Kae at least. It was unsettling; the type prey experienced before the sudden strike of razor-sharp teeth and vicious cruel claws. Kae had no idea why she felt like a hunted animal, vulnerable and paranoid. This had been so for the better part of two months, since the beginning of her nine-month Senior Officer in-camp training at the Police Academy, and had wrecked major havoc on her sleep cycle.

Kae gingerly shifted her gaze across the rest of the room, careful not to look directly at her white towel dangling off the clothes hanger; her wild imagination did not need more encouragement. She eyed her buddy, Vic, sleeping in the bed next to hers, dead to the world, with much envy. What she wouldn't give to be immune to the aberrations of this room! Frustration and fear tightened like a python around Kae's sleep-deprived mind; only three hours more to reveille.This sodding cursed place, she thought acidly, as she tossed and turned upon the lumpy blue mattress, unable to shake off the feeling she was being watched.

How right she was.

*

You're gonna kill her at this rate, rookie, came a raspy voice laced with amusement from the top of the cupboard.

Doce, to whom the comment had been directed, did not bother to glance at Paimon in his scaly serpent form, but simply stood up from the foot of Kae's bed and went through the main door of the bunk smoothly, as though it were made of thin air and not solid mahogany. Paimon watched her go, his overlarge black eyes glittering with mirth as he recalled the Door Slamming Incident. It had been the first time Doce tried to walk through the bathroom door of the bunk. She mispronounced the spell that would have allowed her to successfully pass through solid objects and instead bumped very hard against the wooden door, which slammed. Kae, almost asleep by that point, practically jolted out of bed and rushed to the bathroom armed with slipper in hand. As a Mere Mortal with no Third Eye, Kae looked right through Doce and saw an empty bathroom setting, which sent her logical mind into overdrive. Vic, who was also awoken, merely told Kae it was the wind and refused to acknowledge the spookiness of what had happened. Even though Kae and Vic never spoke of the Door Slamming Incident again, they unanimously brought in articles of faith the next book-in - for Kae, a 600-page-thick study Bible and for Victoria, a plain wooden cross which she hung at her table.

Pfft, pathetic, Paimon had thought smugly. As if these articles could do any real damage to him or Doce. Why, he probably could rip up the Bible page by page and fling the cross out the window. Demons through the centuries had always thwarted human endeavours to keep them at bay. Still, Paimon subconsciously avoided getting too close to the Bible and the cross, which emanated a low humming he picked up from time to time.

Paimon slithered out the window, and Kae promptly fell asleep.

*

"Slept alright, bud?" Vic chirped amidst the blaring of Kae's 5.40AM alarm.

"Like shit," Kae hauled herself into a sitting position with immense effort and placed a palm on her throbbing head, wondering if this was how it felt to be hung over. With a sharp intake of breath, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and started her condensed daily routine of brushing her teeth while on the loo, washing her face and changing into physical training attire that took approximately five minutes.

"Bud, you done?" Kae asked and grabbed both bottles, as Vic fought a curly lock with the hair straightener.

"Nope, nope..."

"It's 5.47AM, Vic. We have three minutes to make it to the first floor, fill our bottles and assemble for water parade," Kae said testily.

"Alright, alright Ms Grouchy. One moment...done! Let's go!"

They briskly made their way to the first floor and Kae joined the long line for the water cooler.

"Don't be silly, Kae," Vic said, with a small tinkling laugh, "we'll be late." Plucking the bottles out of Kae's grasp, Vic strode confidently to the front of the line and smiled at the male trainee awaiting his turn.

"Morning Jon," she said with pleading eyes and in her most apologetic tone, "do you mind if I go first? My water parade's in one minute."

"Sure, no problem at all, Ma'am," the trainee called Jon stepped back graciously and allowed Vic to fill both bottles to the brim. None of the guys in the queue groaned or complained. Everyone was a gentleman in Vic's presence.

"Thank you," Vic breathed and flashed Jon a grateful thousand-watt smile, which must have stunned him, for he remained there in a dazed state even after Vic and Kae scurried off to assemble in the coy line.

"Wow, that's some high-level queue cutting," someone whispered in Kae's ear.

In spite of her fatigue, Kae chuckled in recognition of the deep voice and the sweet gentle scent of its owner, and was instantly put in good mood. "Well, Vic's charms know no bounds," she turned and met the smiling eyes of squad chairman Tim, "you'd probably have let her cut your queue too."

"Nah, she isn't my type," Tim wrinkled his nose playfully, but kept his eyes boring into Kae's. For a few moments, Kae forgot to breathe. The intensity of his gaze made her stomach do a couple of backflips. Mustering all her will, she broke the eye contact.

"True, she's quite different from Min," Kae finally managed, after a pregnant pause, "anyway, it's almost time to form up."

"Agreed," Tim said. They promptly took their respective positions in the squad's 3 x 7 formation and awaited the command that would begin the water parade.