Chapter Ten (Daimonas)

We ran hard and fast across the sand, trying to get away from the three guys coming after us. Of course, the humans hardly paid any attention. The skies had become an odd mixture of sunny and stormy, but it was still enough to send the humans packing up and heading home.

While we ran for our lives.

"Why did you kill that guy?!" Kiki shouted as we ran, pumping our arms by our sides and heading for the rocky part of the shoreline.

"He shot Daimonas, you idiot!" Starling called over his shoulder, shaking his head. Ana gave Kiki a droll stare, to which she snorted, then looked at me now.

"Yeah, about that! Are you fucking Superman?!" She demanded incredulously. I scowled.

"I don't know who Superman is, but we're not fucking." I responded. Kiki stifled laughter as she struggled to keep up with us. I hung back to make sure she was safe, though, because the guys were gaining on us. One of the men reached out to grab her, but I slammed into him hard, sending us both rolling through the sand and into the wetter sand that stuck to our bodies. The man heaved himself up on top of me to hit me, but Starling was behind him in a matter of seconds, heaving him up and throwing him into the water. Starling pulled me up to my feet just as a man was coming up to hit him, but, much to our surprise, Ana landed a solid punch in his jaw and sent him sprawling into the sand.

"Wow." Starling commented, impressed. Ana cracked her knuckles and shook out her hand, shrugging.

"I've become a ninja in a matter of seconds. Who knew?" She asked with a shrug, making Kiki squeal and throw her arms around Ana's neck from behind.

"My heroes!" She exclaimed, making Ana wince at her tugging and loud shouting.

"We don't have time to celebrate," Starling scolded, making Kiki pout and Ana shrug again, "We need to get to the rocks. If we can get there, we should be able to find Xed."

"What makes you say that?" I asked. Starling surprised me as he took me by the hand, our fingers lacing together tightly. I looked up to meet his gaze.

"Because I know Xed." He stated, then pulled me along. Kiki and Ana caught up with us and we moved quickly. It looked like there wasn't anymore guys out there, and the ones we took down were taking their time to recover. I still had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, though. It was hard to pinpoint. I hoped Newell was okay. I knew he'd be even better if Xed were around, though, so I wasn't going back until I had Xed with us.

We came to the rocky shoreline, grimacing as Starling led us over the rocks that poked at my hands and feet as we climbed over top of them. There was a dip in the rocks, a sort of pool, with the rocks surrounding it like a wall. Starling slid down to the edge of one of the rocks, pausing to make sure he had good balance so he wouldn't fall into the dark water. I hesitated, watching the waves lap at the rocks, then roll back out, then come back in. Kiki and Ana stayed on top of the rock, probably too afraid to get near the water.

"He's not here." I said to Starling as we stood on the edge of the rock, trying to keep our balance. Starling frowned, scanning the water.

"He is. This is the perfect habitat for a merman."

"Wouldn't he go back to his family?"

"He can't," Starling replied, making me look at him in confusion, "Xed's family won't take him back after he ditched them to join life on land. Even though merpeople can go on land, it's kind of frowned upon. Not to mention, they're a talkative bunch, so they wouldn't like the idea of being silent all the time." I nodded in understanding. I don't think I'd be able to live without saying anything. I wanted to know more about the world and that meant asking lots of questions. I wondered if Xed hated not being able to talk to Newell and I, or just in general.

I leaned over to peer into the water when my foot slipped on the rock. I yelped and went to grab Starling, who reached out to me, but I missed and fell back into the water. It swallowed me completely, pulling me under and wrapping around me. It was salty and warm, but when I tried to open my eyes, the saltiness of it stung, so I shut my eyes again. I tried to open my mouth and move my hands to pull me up, but I only got a mouthful of water and I stupidly sucked it into my lungs. I choked and coughed, flailing in the water until I felt something catch me around the waist and heave me up to the surface.

My head broke the surface and I coughed and choked, gasping for air. Starling was looking at me in surprise, his shirt and jacket off like he was about ready to jump in after me. Ana and Kiki were closer to the edge now, staring at me in relief. I felt a familiar pair of strong muscular arms around me and gasped, turning my head to see Xed there.

"Xed!" I exclaimed in relief. He gave me a stern look.

"What are you doing here? You should be at school." He stated, wadding over to the rock. He held me up so Starling could take me in his arms. I blinked a little surprised that Starling would hang onto me like this. I shivered and he picked up his jacket, draping it over my shoulders before looking at Xed.

"We came to look for you." He stated. Xed blinked, then looked up at Starling for the longest time, like he'd seen a ghost.

"Starling?" He asked for confirmation. Starling hesitated, averting his eyes, then looking back and giving a firm nod. Xed sighed, looking relieved as he swam over to lean on the rocks. I saw his tail fin flip and splash water, his dorsal fin poking out of the water as he moved.

"Holy crap," Kiki stammered, running her hand over her lips in awe, "He's an actual... Like, he has a tail and..."

"He's a merman." Ana deadpanned. Kiki stuttered a little longer, then fell silent to stare at Xed in awe. Xed cocked his head  to look at her curiously before his eyes flickered and he glared at Starling and I.

"You brought humans?" He demanded. I winced, but Starling took the scold in stride. He was probably used to this, and I should be too, but I still felt terrible when I did something wrong and Xed and Newell got after me for it.

"They insisted," Starling responded swiftly, "But that doesn't matter. What the heck is going on between you and Newell? You've never left him before." Xed blinked, staring at each of us for a long time before a frown worked itself onto his face. He pushed off the rocks and I almost expected him to just swim away, but he remained, floating in the water, his tail fin swaying back and forth under the water to keep him afloat.

"It does not matter," He said at last, looking back up at us, "It is done and over with. You need to go back to school, right now, before you get in trouble." I nibbled my lower lip, looking at Starling, who ground his teeth together and tightened his grip on me, making me wince.

"What're you talking about? You can't just brush us off like that, not after what we did to get here. There's something wrong. These guys started chasing us on the beach, but they weren't police, Xed, they were something else." He informed. Xed frowned, concern flitting across his face now, his mismatched eyes flickering between us.

"What do you mean? What did they look like? Were they human?" He asked.

"Had to be," Starling responded, "Ana knocked one out with a right hook. They were human. They dressed in black, entirely. Like, jumpsuit black. I'm not sure who they were, though. They looked like they were after Daimonas, because one of them shot him." Xed looked at me, alarmed.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded, reaching up to rub at my chest where the hole had been, but was now completely closed up. Xed sighed in relief, running a hand through his wet blue hair. He swam to the rocks again, frowning at us.

"If they are humans, my guess is they are hunters," He paused, then narrowed his eyes in sudden realization, "And I can bet money on who is calling the shots. It is dangerous for you to be wondering around on your own right out in the open where they can see you. These hunters will stop and nothing to get you."

"Then we need your help," Starling insisted, "We can't fight them off on our own. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can handle a couple, but more than that? I'm not trained to take on more than a few people at a time. Xed, you have to come with us back to Daimonas' apartment." Xed stiffened at that before averting his eyes. He ground his teeth together tightly, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He really didn't want to come back to the apartment.

"Xed," I said, making him look up at me as I knelt down carefully so I was closer to him, "I know you're mad at Newell, but he's really sorry for what he did." Xed frowned.

"I highly doubt that." He responded coldly. I flinched at his tone. What had happened to them to make Xed talk about Newell so bitterly? I had only caught onto the fact that it was probably Newell's fault, because he kept apologizing in his drunken state last night. He kept saying it was his fault.

"He is sorry," I insisted, making Xed raise an eyebrow skeptically, "He drank that stuff last night--"

"He drank with you alone in the apartment?" Xed demanded. Whoops, was that not the right thing to say? Apparently not, because Xed was angry now. I could feel the heat of it and I was surprised the water wasn't boiling.

"I let him." I tried.

"Daimonas, nobody lets Newell do anything. He does it on his own," Xed scolded, making me look down at the water, "Look, I understand that you still care about Newell. I do as well, but I am tired of being treated like... like a pet. I am not a pet. I am a person too, but Newell does not see that. Until he does, I am not going back."

"But he does," I tried, making Xed sigh wearily, "It's true! Xed, please, you can't leave Newell alone." Xed frowned at that. Starling nodded in agreement.

"Even though Newell's kind of a douche sometimes, there's a reason, right? I don't know that much about him, or what made him like that, but something did. No one is born like that." He agreed, making Xed avert his eyes and push away from the rocks.

"That is true," Xed admitted, then shook his head, "But I... There is more to this than you think and I cannot be around Newell right now. I apologize."

"But, Xed--"

"Enough," Xed ordered, making me shrink back, "You need to go back to school. I can walk you there, but that is it. You should be safe in school, and stick together." I wanted to say more, but Xed wasn't having any of it. Why was he being so stubborn? What did he mean by more to this than you think? Was their fight more than just Newell being mean to Xed? I couldn't ask, though, because Xed would just get mad and I didn't want to make him mad.

We climbed back up the rocks and hopped into the sand as we waited for Xed to change into a human. Kiki was frowning, folding her arms over her chest.

"Something's suspicious." She stated. Starling frowned, still keeping his arm around me, which felt much better than it should have. I knew Newell would kill me if he thought Starling and I had a relationship more than friends, but I couldn't help it.

"What are you talking about?" Starling asked her dryly. Kiki put her hands on her hips now, peeking over the rocks to make sure Xed wasn't around before she looked at us with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty sure your merman is in love with the midget vampire." She stated. Starling stared at her before a smirk worked onto his face and he laughed.

"Are you kidding me? There's no way. I mean, no offense, but Newell is like... Well, it's just not possible." he said as he sobered. I frowned at that. I wasn't sure what Kiki meant by in love. I'd heard people use that to describe Vladimir and Alexander, and Julian and Adam. But for some reason, the word felt odd using it with Xed and Newell. They didn't cuddle or kiss or do anything that other people who were in love did. What made Kiki say that?

"I don't understand." I admitted. Kiki beamed, looking excited as she gestured with her hands wildly.

"In love! You know, like, Xed just worships the ground Newell walks on, right? So, maybe they just got in this lover's spat. And get this! Just when Xed decides to leave Newell, something happens to bring them together again and boom," She slapped her hands together, making me jump, "They do it."

"You've been reading those weird gay books again, haven't you?" Ana asked flatly, to which Kiki shrugged innocently. Starling shook his head, smirking.

"I highly doubt that, Kiki. You don't know these guys like we do. Newell just cries to lure humans in, then drinks their blood and tosses the corpse to Xed to devour." He pointed out. I expected Kiki to freak out about that, but instead, she shrugged.

"Well, I pair up lots of interesting people. Remember the Joker and Batman? They're totally doing it."

"How is that even?" Ana asked incredulously.

"You don't understand their love." Kiki replied dismissively. Ana scowled, folding her arms over her chest. Starling leaned over to me, his lips awfully close to my ear and giving me chills.

"You have some weird friends." He whispered. I smiled at that. Ana and Kiki were a little strange, especially for humans, but I enjoyed their company and their humor was refreshing. It was different from living at home all day with Newell and Xed. Speaking of Xed, he was finally making it over the rocks, wearing only a pair of cargo pants that looked weird on him because he always wore leather pants at home. Xed gestured for us to follow and we obeyed, quite reluctantly, though. We followed behind him as he walked and Kiki shivered, leaning over to me.

"Is it just me or does that merman have a nice butt?" She whispered. I blinked, then looked over at Xed's butt. It looked like a butt. What made it special?

"I don't get it." I replied. Kiki grinned at me, then at Starling.

"You're gonna have to teach him a lot." She told him. Starling surprised me by blushing and hugging me tighter. I didn't get what Kiki meant, or why Starling reacted that way, but I figured I'd find out later anyway. Right now, I still got a bad feeling in my stomach, especially as we made our way to the parking lot where the black van still sat.

"That's the van," I said suddenly, pointing to it and making Xed stop, his eyes following my finger, "The one with the humans that got out to attack us." Xed frowned, cocking his head before motioning for us to stay behind before he approached the van, but stayed on our side because it looked like a couple of guys were talking to each other on the other side. Starling made the same motion Xed did to Kiki and Ana, who both scoffed and followed Starling and I anyway, so we all ended up creeping up to the van.

"Ugh," One of the men grunted, "This is unbelievable. Did they say if Aaron was all right?"

"Not sure," The other man admitted grimly, "That little shit bit him pretty hard. He severed an artery. Right now we just need to wait to see what the doctors have to say."

"What about the brat?"

"Hunter has him heavily drugged. He doesn't even know left from right anymore."

"I don't understand why he wants to keep that monster safe. He's not one of us. He's one of them. You heard what he did to Aaron."

"I think Hunter just has a hard-on for the brat. He is kind of pretty, in a weird little kid kind of way."

"Now you're starting to sound like a pedophile." The first man snorted in disgust, making the other scowl. I looked up at Xed, getting a bad feeling in my stomach. The look on Xed's face kind of scared me. He looked murderous and didn't hesitate for a second as he stepped out from behind the van, causing both men to shout in horror.

"Hunter said he got rid of you!" The first man shrieked, fumbling for his gun. The second one didn't hesitate and fired off a couple rounds into Xed's chest, but they didn't do anything. Xed ignored them easily and reached out, grabbing the one who'd shot him and snapped his neck like it was nothing. He snatched the gun away from the first one, then grabbed him by the throat and held him up against the van as he choked and gagged.

"Who were you just talking about?" Starling demanded, stepping out and making Xed scowl at him. Starling shrugged it off and looked the human dead in the eyes as he struggled for air.

"P-Please," He choked, "I have a wife and three kids." Starling glared at him.

"I don't care what you have. Tell me what's going on." He ordered. Xed gave a squeeze on the man's throat for emphasis and he gagged. I frowned, a little uneasy about threatening the man if he had a family that he cared about. I didn't want to scare or hurt a family I'd never met. I still said nothing, though, because I was kind of scared of the killer gleam in Xed's eyes and the glower on Starling's face. They acted like they did this a lot and that worried me.

"Okay," The man choked, "The kid. The little man with black hair and blue eyes. The Drakon kid. Vampire. Hunter told us to capture him and lock him up somewhere in Tenderloin. He wanted him out of the way when we went after the demon. That's all I know, I swear." Xed frowned and glanced at Starling, who studied him. I nibbled my lower lip.

"He's not lying." I offered. Starling nodded.

"I don't smell anything," He told Xed, "He's telling the truth." Xed nodded, then opened up the driver's door and shoved the man in quite roughly. Starling looked in at him.

"You're gonna drive us there." He stated. The man struggled for air, just nodding rapidly as he started the van while Kiki and Ana hopped in on the other side. Xed and Starling went in on the other side and I followed, taking a seat between Starling and Xed.

"Did you have to be so rough?" I asked quietly, noticing the bruises beginning to form on the human's neck as he pulled out of the parking lot. Starling frowned, folding his arms over his chest.

"Daimonas, you can't get what you want with these kind of people if you ask them politely." He responded firmly. I looked at Xed for confirmation and he half shrugged, half nodded, which wasn't too reassuring. The human grunted.

"You could've tried." He mumbled under his breath.

"You would've shot us like your friend back there." Starling responded flatly. The human didn't deny it, just kept driving with a scowl on his face, one hand on the wheel and the other rubbing his tender throat. I frowned.

It was difficult to understand why people always fought like this. I understood that they were hunters and they didn't understand us, so that scared them. They wanted to kill things they were afraid of. I killed spiders when they scared me. So it made sense. At the same time, I still felt bad about it. Didn't anyone else feel bad when they killed someone?

I had seen two people die today, right in front of me, and people just left their corpses behind like they didn't matter. Like the time Vladimir had killed those two men. A shudder coursed through me as I remembered the incident in the staircase. The way the men had just attacked me and I didn't understand what was going on. I wasn't sure what was happening to me, why they were doing it to me. My skin, even after all this time, felt dirty and gross. It's why I didn't want too many people touching me. They'd feel dirty too.

But Starling didn't feel dirty, I reminded myself. At least, I don't think he did. He didn't act like it. Even now, he sat right next to me, his arm over my shoulders. He'd turn his head to look at me, just to make sure I was okay, then he'd smile and look away again. Xed kept glancing at both of us suspiciously. Didn't he like Starling? Or was it me? I wasn't sure.

Although, even with Starling cuddling on me, I was still scared and nervous. Thinking about what happened back then still made me even more scared. I didn't like the way it had felt. And worse was that I was supposed to be the most powerful thing on earth, wasn't I? Everyone kept saying that, everyone kept coming after me because of that. But at that time, I didn't feel powerful. I felt tiny and weak and vulnerable. I couldn't do anything to stop them and worse still was having Vladimir come in and kill them.

I could still feel the warm blood splatter everywhere on my face, sticking in my hair, caking the floors and walls. The reeking stench of it had stung my senses and I hated the fact that their deaths bothered me. They had done horrible things to me. I couldn't tell if I was happy they were dead or scared. And the way Vladimir had looked when he done it. His expression was vacant, as if it didn't bother him at all.

How could people do that? How could they take someone's life away so easily?

So much for the most powerful thing on earth, I thought miserably. I couldn't even kill someone. They made it all look so easy...

"Right around here," The human's voice cut into my thoughts and I looked up as we drove into an awful looking neighborhood with apartments and buildings covered in filthy, sketchy drawings, people dressed in baggy, ratty clothes wandering around, "It's this apartment building up here, twelfth floor." He pulled up alongside the street, halting the van. Xed and Starling and I climbed out and stood on the street. I frowned, looking around uncomfortably. The air reeked heavily of smoke, rotting food, and sewage. It burned my nostrils and made me grimace. A man walked by, pushing a metal cart filled with cans and bottles. He passed a suspicious stare over at us, but everyone else ignored him. I felt bad about the way he looked. I remembered Newell calling people like that homeless, but why didn't he just get a home? Couldn't he move in with friends? I didn't understand it, and decided to wait until later to ask about it.

"Kiki, Ana," Starling said to them as they stepped out of the van to stand on the sidewalk beside me, where the man pushing the cart scanned them up and down suggestively, making me wince, "You two need to stay in the van and wait for us to come out with Newell." Kiki scrunched up her nose and folded her arms over her chest and Ana put her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me? What is this? We came along because we want to help." Kiki protested.

"I agree with nutcase here," Ana agreed, gesturing a thumb at Kiki, who nodded, then scowled at her friend, "Just because we're women doesn't mean we're useless." Starling paused, then raised an eyebrow.

"How about you be our getaway drivers? I get you're tough and shit, but we're going in there to fight hunters, who are specially trained individuals meant to fight the supernatural. It's not a matter of weather you're male or female, but human or non-human. And that's a difference that, no offense, you can't beat." He informed flatly. I almost mentioned Adam, back when he was human, but I figured that would ruin Starling's attempt to keep them behind, so I said nothing and watched Kiki fume, but Ana let it slide as she shrugged, opening up the driver's door and gesturing for the human man to get out.

The man glared at us, dropping the keys in Ana's awaiting palm.

"Don't ruin it." He ordered. Ana scoffed.

"I street race on Saturdays, loser, I can keep your hunk of junk safe." She replied, making the man grimace as Ana got behind the wheel and Kiki reluctantly went in to get beside her. Xed grabbed the human man by the back of his neck and shoved him toward the apartment to lead us inside. Starling and I followed close behind as we were led inside the crummy looking building. It was falling apart inside and there was a trembling man standing at the mailboxes, chewing on the end of a cigarette.

A woman was coming out of her apartment, wearing hardly any clothing and swinging her purse around. She winked at Xed, licking her lips. Xed ignored her and kept pushing the human man forward. She didn't seem too suspicious as to why he was half-strangling the human. We went up a couple flights of stairs and the man took out a key, his hand trembling as he did so. He shoved it in the lock and opened the door. The living room was empty inside, except a small lump lying on the sofa.

Xed immediately pushed the other man away, letting him stumble and fall into a wall. Starling shut the door as quietly as possible behind him. I watched Xed go to the sofa and lift up a ratty old blanket.

Sure enough, Newell was lying underneath, his eyes closed as if he were sleeping. One of his arms dangled off the edge of the sofa, his other tucked up underneath of him, his legs drawn up. He looked really tiny and super pale, dark circles forming under his eyes. His hair was tousled and hiding a bit of his face. And from the sounds of it, his heart rate was incredibly slow.

I swallowed hard, watching Xed kneel beside Newell carefully. It was difficult to tell what kind of emotions were on Xed's face right now. But the one that stuck out the most... was guilt. I winced as he reached out carefully, brushing his fingers over Newell's cheek. Newell didn't stir. Xed clenched his fist and looked up at the human man, who gasped and scrambled into a corner. Xed went to grab him, but a gunshot rang out and he hissed past clenched teeth, whirling around. Starling and I looked over at the opening of the hallway to see Hunter and two other hunters, all of whom were holding guns all aimed at us.

"Hunter." Starling managed. Hunter frowned, his eyes fixating on Starling before they widened.

"You're still alive?" He asked. Starling scowled.

"I'd say it was good to see you, but you're acting kind of like a dick." He stated. Hunter shrugged and one of the men gave Hunter a dirty look.

"You're friends with a dragon too?" He demanded testily. Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Urial. We're not friends. I just happen to know him."

"You said that about the vampire as well."

"I distinctly recall telling you Newell was a friend."

"So you drug your friends? Glad we're not friends." Starling snapped, making Hunter pause to think over his words. Of course, he didn't have time to think too hard before Xed was heading right for him. Hunter stiffened, looking surprisingly freaked out. I'd met Hunter before and seen him from inside Julian.

He was a tall, good-looking man with at thick accent. And he was dressed in black from head to toe, holding a gun at Xed and firing it, but it didn't do anything. Xed went to grab him, but the other man in black moved faster and slammed his fist into Xed's jaw. Xed stumbled, much to our surprise, and his own. He reached up to touch his jaw, his lip bleeding. His eyes flared with sudden rage and he lunged for the man, who ducked and whirled around, barely dodging Xed's attack.

Hunter looked at them as they went at it, then his eyes landed on me. I stiffened and took a step back, but he went after me anyway, aiming his gun at my face. Starling didn't give him the chance, though, and grabbed his wrist, trying to wrestle the gun away. Hunter snarled, a vicious sound that sent chills through me. He flung Starling to the floor easily and leveled his gun at Starling's head. Starling winced and tried to scoot back, but Hunter was already pulling the trigger.

I moved quickly, throwing myself on top of Starling, hissing in pain as the bullet tore into my back, along with several others. I panted hard, feeling my body flare in pain at the bullets that ripped through me. I started to get up and help Starling, but something was wrong.

My body wouldn't move and I felt sick. My body tingled and trembled suddenly. Something came up my throat and I was horrified as foam gushing past my lips and down onto Starling's chest. Starling gasped, sitting up quickly and catching me under the arms. I choked on the foam, gasping for air as my body convulsed. It reminded me of the time Julian had trembled like this without the ability to stop, back when he'd released a sharp bolt of power that had given me the ability to form a solid body.

They'd called it something. A seizure? I think that's what it was, and it was so scary. I couldn't move. All I did was tremble violently as Starling cradled me in his arms, his lips moving, but I couldn't hear his voice for a second. It slowly faded in and it scared me.

"Daimonas?! Daimonas! What did you do to him, you bastard?!" Starling shouted, his eyes welled with angry tears. I couldn't hear anything after that. Things were getting muffled and I was choking on the foam in my mouth that tasted bitter and sour. My heart felt like it was being crushed in my chest and my body still stung and burned where I had been shot.

And then suddenly everything went black.