Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

"From the deepest desires often comes the deadliest hate." Socrates

Ronnie

My family reacted pretty well to Ace coming over.  I’ll have to admit, even Trick responded alright.  Sure, he could have been a little nicer towards him, but he didn’t do horrible…other than mentioning my arranged marriage thing.  My mom was polite, as usual, but her approval of the two of us hanging out did surprise me a little bit.  Sometimes she’s stricter on that than my dad.  Then there’s Andie.  She kept her mouth shut for the majority of the conversation, but when she did say something, it just had to be about how he and I were positioned on the couch.  Sure, it didn’t make anything horribly awkward or anything but it did make me, and probably him, more aware of how it was extremely noticeable.  Most people would hardly notice that someone is leaning on someone else.  But at least everyone was polite about it, Trick to a very…limited extent.  Not much else I could’ve expected from him if he has an issue with Ace, I guess.

Then, there was just Ace himself.  I wondered if he was just putting on a show and being polite in order to impress my parents, or if part of him is really like that.  From what I’ve seen of him, he doesn’t really seem like the type that would be saying things like ‘with your permission’ or ‘no disrespect’ to people.  I do know for sure, however, that he was very interested in my scar, based on how he was looking at it so closely.  Telling him how I got it was something I never even thought I’d end up doing, no matter how close we wind up getting.  That goes for telling him about me and my family and that we’re slayers that kill demons, but look at how that turned out.  I had to tell him.  I guess telling him about how I got my scar was a choice for me, but I felt like I might as well tell him since he saw it and already knew about everything.  But that still doesn’t make me feel any better about having it.  But he was right, I’m lucky I still have my foot.

Now that he was gone, I could focus on a thought that’s been bugging me since we left the alley earlier.  Accursius said my aunt’s name when he saw my tattoo: Katerina.  It wasn’t that he said it that confused me.  It’s that he said it with, what sounded like, brokenness in his voice.  With the other emotions playing on his face, it didn’t make much sense.  Why would a demon say someone’s name, especially a slayer’s with those kinds of feelings in its eyes?  That makes absolutely no sense.  That’s why I needed to find that book.  It might have the answers in it for me.  Unless…

Other slayers might have the same book.  It’s tradition to keep historical books of any kind in each slayer household.  Not necessarily the same books, but maybe I could get lucky with it.  It doesn’t’ even need to be the same exact book either.  Just a similar book with similar information would even help.  I mean, it’s not like my family was the only one with someone with my tattoo, or that became a disgrace.  It’s had to have happened to someone in the other slayer families.  The only problem is that no one, especially the adults, are gonna wanna help me look for information on this topic.  My parents made it very clear to the others that they don’t want me digging around.  Why?  I don’t have the slightest idea.  But there is one person that’d help me if I asked.

Not wasting another minute, I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the contacts until I found the name I was looking for.  It rang once.  Twice.  Three times.  On the fourth ring, the quiet, rough voice I was waiting for came on the other end.

“What is it Veronica?” Faust didn’t sound concerned for me, but more for what I wanted from him.  He was one of the oldest slayers still alive, which is actually very fortunate.  He’s been around for over a hundred years and he’s known my aunt since she was a kid, even though he himself wasn’t even done aging at the time.  If you ask me, I think he’s always had it in for her once she got older based on how I saw him talk to her and how, even now, he still talks so highly of her, but he denies it every time I bring it up to him.  He does know, however, that I can be quite the troublemaker or knowledge seeker, and that’s why he sounds concerned for when I call him; he knows I’m going to ask him for a favor.

“Would you mind if I come over for a while?  I need some help with something.” I sat on the couch and slipped my shoes on, knowing he’d say yes to me.

“What do you need help with?” Knew it.  He always tried to get me to tell him what I needed every time I called him.  I don’t think it was out of curiosity so much as it being more of a preparation thing.  Plus, if he knew ahead of time, he could always have time to get ‘reinforcements’, such as my parents, if it was something he knew I shouldn’t be looking into.  And that’s just what I was doing, only he wasn’t going to find out until I get to his house.

“I’ll tell you when I get there.  I’m leaving right now.” Before he could say anything else to me, I hung up and ran outside.  The first vehicle I saw was Trick’s truck and I went straight to it.  What the hell, he’s already pissed off, so it’s not like I can make it much worse.

Faust lived a few miles north of my house, his land engulfed by trees.  His house was small, but from past experiences, I knew he could fit a ridiculous amount of stuff inside.  He had a salt circle around his house, driveway included, that he monitored and fixed several times a day.  I personally thought it was stupid to have a salt circle around the house…especially the entire yard.  I say just let the demon try to get in.  We’d get to fight more, meaning we’d get stronger.  Apparently it was a bad idea.

“Come on in Ronnie.” Faust had the door open before I was even within arms length of it, stepping aside to allow me inside.  I took a quick look around the familiar house, noticing that there were books scattered all over the floor, tables, and furniture.  Like usual.  He had almost all the possible books to own in slayer history.  I guess you could say he was kind of a junkie, and because of that, he was one of the few slayers that don’t actually fight.  Faust was the one we went to for information on how to kill a demon if we haven’t faced it before, if we wanted to know if anyone in any of the families had anything that may have been useful to us, etcetera. “What can I help you with this time?”

“What do you have on slayers with this tattoo?” I lifted up my shirt, exposing a small portion of my tattoo.  By the thoughtful look on his face, he knew something, and was thinking about it.  Then he became visibly cautious and unsure, knowing what I was going to ask him.

“I don’t think I have any books that explain anything.  Why?  What about it are you looking for?” Wow.  The one book we own, he doesn’t.  I don’t doubt that he read it, but I’m surprised he doesn’t own it, or anything like it.

“Well, we have a book with the slayers that had this tattoo, only those slayers, and it says that each one has become a disgrace and then regained honor.  I was about to get to the part where it explained but I sorta lost it…”

“You lost it?  Veronica, you need to find it.  If a demon gets its hands on it and learns the significance of your tattoo, it’ll be able to track down which slayer has it and may be able to get to it.  They’ll be able to get inside information.”

Oh. “That’ll be my next project.  Right now, I want to know what the tattoo means.  It’s clearly not anything to do with weapons or abilities.  And I know you know something so don’t tell me you have no idea.”

“Veronica-”

“I’m not leaving here until you tell me.” I walked into the living room and made myself comfortable on the couch, moving books aside in order to have room.  Faust followed me and stood by the window, uncertainty shadowing his features as he stared outside. “I won’t tell anyone you told me.  Please?  I’m pretty confused here…especially since I was with the demon that killed my aunt today and when he saw my tattoo, he said her name and it sounded like he was hurt…or upset with something and then he just left.  And I know demons can’t feel like that emotionally so it doesn’t make any sense.”

Faust’s stance changed entirely.  His eyes shot to me, brown mixing into his green eyes: worried.  He quickly walked towards me and then knelt in front of me, gripping my shoulders urgently. “He didn’t kill you…which means that he must know what the tattoo means.” His eyes were searching mine, as if he was going to find answers in them.  Hell, I didn’t even know what the tattoo means.  He’s not going to find out s**t from me.

“And that is…?”

“Every slayer that has had your tattoo has fallen in love with a demon and that demon has also fallen in love with them.  That is why they’ve all become a disgrace and in order to regain their honor, they must kill their demon, which is the one they’ve fallen in love with.  We don’t know yet how it works, but I’ve been trying to figure it out for years.”

“Then that must mean that the demon the slayer falls in love with isn’t…evil, right?” Yes, I was in complete shock that every slayer with my tattoo has been in that situation but no, I was not showing it.  I still needed more answers. “Because if it’s able to feel love, then doesn’t it have to be good or something?”

“From what I’ve learned, the demon has to be out of Hell and up here for a long enough time to start gaining humanity.  Once that happens, then they can feel anything, although they still remain heartless.  The only thing about them that changes is their ability to feel.  It doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t evil in the beginning, but once things change to them, then…well…that’s still debatable.” Faust stood up and walked back to the window, looking outside once again.

“Are they able to have kids?  I mean, since demons don’t change or anything with age and their bodies don’t change…”

“If the demon is female, then no, they cannot conceive a child.  They would need to adopt.  Now, if the demon is a male, then yes, because the slayer is able to go through the change.  The child will be half slayer half demon.  It will grow until it hits the nineteen year old mark, and then it will continue to live like us.  That child will not be born with a tattoo or eyes like ours, they’ll typically remain one color; grey being the most common.  Depending on how it’s brought up, it can be as good as us or as bad as a demon.  They will still have the small fangs demons have but will only show themselves when absolutely pissed off and they do not have a demon form.  They look utterly normal, just like us, even though they may or may not have the demon’s senses and reflexes.  However, they probably will get the overprotective trait along with the short fuse if provoked.”

No slayer tattoo.  Grey eyes.  Easily pissed off.  Protective.  That sounds like… “Faust, does a half demon, half slayer need anything special to fall in love with someone else?  You say that a slayer has to have my tattoo…what about a demon-slayer offspring?”

“From what I know?  No, the half-breed child does not need anything special.  They can just fall in love normally.  But the slayer-demon relationship can be very…heartbreaking to that slayer’s match.  The bond that’d form between them just vanishes and become non-existent to the slayer that’s fallen in love with the demon.” The way he said that made it sound like he went through it and was still upset about it.

“Is…that what happened to you and my aunt?” I just threw that out randomly.  I didn’t even know if they were matched.  I was just going off the hunch I had about him having feelings for her. “Did she fall in love with a demon and just drop you?”

“She didn’t just fall in love with one,” he growled, his fist clenching at his side. “It got her pregnant.  I was the only one who knew about their relationship until she told her family about it.  I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t hear of it.  She thought that if they found out she was already pregnant, they wouldn’t do anything.  It didn’t change anything; she still had to set out to kill him but wound up getting herself killed.  I was her match.  And I didn’t even try to fight for her.  She looked happy when she talked about him and even happier when she was with him.  I didn’t want to ruin that.”

Now, I was smart enough to know that I was crossing into territory I shouldn’t be in, so I didn’t push any further.  I got the answers I was looking for, plus more.  I just needed a conformation on one thing. “Faust, is there one -”

“Yes.  I’ve known the whole time; you and I are the only two to know about this and your tattoo’s meaning.  Let’s keep it that way.”

“Can do.  Oh, by the way, did she happen to ever tell you what the name of the demon was?”

“She never told us his actual name in attempt to protect him, but she said that he went by the name of Caius while he was not in Hell.  I tried everything in my power to get his actual name, but she wouldn’t crack.”

“Just one more question.” By that time, he and I made it to the door and I was just standing outside, looking up at him. “When you’d touch my aunt’s tattoo, did she say it felt…uncomfortable at first?”

“She didn’t have to.  I could see it in her eyes and it only got worse.  Eventually she asked me to stop because it was becoming painful.”

“Oh…”

“You should get going.  I’m sure someone will know you’re here…if she doesn’t already.” His reference to Andie made sense.  She could easily see me at his house, although she may not know what we were talking about.  I don’t know if she got sound in her premonitions or not.  And I didn’t want to risk it either.

“Thank you so much.” I gave him a warm smile and gave his arm a squeeze before going to the truck.  As soon as I get home, I have someone to confront privately.  However, that wasn’t the main thing that was bothering me.  It was that I’m prone to falling for a f*****g demon.  Just like my aunt and several other slayers.

Trick was right outside waiting for me, and as I got out of the truck, he stormed up to me.  He looked pissed beyond belief, but it wouldn’t last for long.  Once he found out what I learned, he’ll change attitude very quickly. “Where the Hell have you been with my truck?” He stopped me at the front tire and glared at me, his grey eyes like ice.  I looked behind him and sighed with relief when I didn’t see Andie by the door. “And don’t you dare lie to me.”

“You are in no position to tell me not to lie.” My gaze shifted to him and I actually got him to flinch a little.  I squared my shoulders and dropped my arms.  Confusion flitted across his features, and before opening my mouth, I took a quick glance behind him. “I know you’re a halfer,” I said, dropping my voice.  Trick’s body tensed immediately and he quickly checked to make sure no one was around before turning back to me.

“How the Hell did you find out?” He sounded…scared for once.  His grey eyes were wide and urgent as he gripped my shoulders.  Then realization started to creep into his expression. “You went to see Faust, didn’t you?”

“Yes.  He didn’t tell me, though.  I put the pieces together on my own.  Does Andie know?”

“She does.  She’s met my birth parents and she’s kept my secret, knowing I’d be killed if anyone else finds out.”

“How did she react?”

“Um…she was pissed at first, but I gave her space for a couple weeks and she came around.  She said that all that matters is that I chose to stay among slayers to kill demons instead of the other way around.”

“You were given a choice?”

“Kind of…yeah.  Hell tried to get me on their side for several years, but they got fed up with me declining.  Now I’m a pain in the a*s to them because I can ruin any plan, seeing as I remember the majority of the demons used.”

“Oh…well that’s useful for us.  Just keep being a pain in the a*s.  But my main question is where exactly are your birth parents?  I’d really like to meet them.  I could learn a lot.  Besides, we’d have some interesting stuff to talk about.”

“Let me think about that for a while.  They’re band from seeing any of us but I’ll think about it.  Now, if you’d excuse me, I need to run an errand.” He stepped around me and got in his truck.  Maybe I should have been more upset about Trick, but for some reason, I wasn’t.  I guess Andie had a point: it doesn’t really matter what he is; he chose to be on our side willingly.  I’ve always trusted Andie’s judgment and it’s never failed me before.

 

Ace

As it turned out, if I search through Accursius’s mind while he searched mine, it kept him from seeing a few things, but it also kept me from seeing some things in his.  I did get what I was looking for, however, and found out Katerina was Ronnie’s aunt and that the two of them had fallen for each other, but he wound up killing her in the end.  I don’t think he even noticed I searched him for anything, because he just let me go, and I took the chance to go look for something to eat.  She was a pretty little blonde, her pale blue eyes difficult to see in the dark alley.  Her clothes left a trail she made earlier while we ventured deeper back.  Now, I was staring into her lifeless eyes, wiping my mouth with the back of my sleeve.  I managed to keep her screaming to a minimum through a little compulsion that also kept her from struggling.  All I told her to do was stand still and be quiet.  Most demons like the chase and the screams of fear during a hunt, but honestly, I think it’s all a bother.  A waste of time; I’d rather have my meal quickly and uninterrupted.  She didn’t have the most meat on her but it’d be enough to hold me off for a while.  I turned back to my human form and was just about to shimmer out of the area, but a movement in the shadows caught my eye.  Turning to face where I saw it, I kept my guard up, waiting for it to move again.  It never did.  Instead, it came towards me and I was ready to attack until I saw that it was Trick.  His hands were in his pockets and his head held high, his eyes glaring at me.  He wished he could kill me right now.  That was a no brainer.

“Oh, it’s just you.” I relaxed and leaned against the brick building, grinning when Trick looked at the body I tore apart in disgust.  I actually did a pretty impressive job at it…the only things connected were her head and torso.  Usually I keep things together as much as possible…oh well. “Look, it’s been a really long day for me.  I’m not really in the mood to argue bout your problems.”

“What are you up to this time?” He looked away from little blondie and back at me, his disgust turning to hatred.  Each step he took towards me made him more and more tense, which made me more and more relaxed.  I can take him.  Last time we had a fight I won…barely but it still counted.  The b*****d is strong for being a halfer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and frankly, I don’t have time to find out.  Maybe next time.” I turned around and got ready to walk away, but Trick grabbed my shoulder, turned me back around and slammed me against the brick building.  I didn’t do anything to defend myself because I found it kind of funny.  No, I wasn’t serious when I said that I didn’t have time for this, because I did.  I just really didn’t want to stay there and listen to him babble on about stuff.

“Oh shut up.  Tell me what your plan is.”

“Whoever said anything about a plan?  Maybe I just ran into Ronnie and just now found out she’s a slayer.  You know I don’t pay that much attention to women.”

“Yes but I also know that you’re not stupid.  You catch every little detail about someone without even meaning to.  And don’t play that game with me; you know there’s a plan.  Accursius never gets you involved in things unless he’s reaching for something to give him a big edge.  Now talk.” He slammed me against the building again, my head smacking against the brick.  It didn’t necessarily hurt, but it didn’t feel very good either.  Still, I didn’t do anything to try and defend myself or to get space from him.

“You lost the right to know anything when you declined our offer to join us.” I gave him a sly smirk, knowing that he is now a target of ours.  Accursius wants him out of the picture so he won’t interfere with the plan.  Yes, I should maybe kill him now while I have the chance, but that’s no way for me to get on the good side of the family.  Especially since they have a premonition girl.  For all I know, she doesn’t have any limitations on what she can and can’t see.

“You’re not going to have the right for long yourself, Eurynomous.  Hiding things from the Boss isn’t a good way to keep your high ranking.  You better hope he doesn’t find out.”

That stopped my fun.  Anger boiled up inside of me and I grabbed him by the shirt, glaring at him.  I forgot that he’s been to my place and snooping through my things before he found out what I was.  He and I used to be ‘pals’, which was my way of getting him to join us, and we used to hang out quite a bit.  There are a couple things, now hiding, at my apartment that Accursius would find both interesting and threatening.  If he found out I had those, it’d probably result in either instant death or immediate imprisonment for a few centuries or so.  Maybe the rest of eternity.

“What makes you so sure any of us would listen to you?” I was not in any position to challenge him �" not with that being held over my head �" and I know it was stupid of me, but it’s part of my nature.  Sometimes I just have to.

“Who wouldn’t take the overthrowing of their King serious?”

“I’m not planning on doing anything like that and you know it,” I growled.  I could feel the muscles in my chest getting tighter as I struggled to maintain my temper.

“But they don’t.  Having something like that at your place would spark suspicion and then you’d be out of the job and away from Ronnie.”

“Oh…so that’s what this is all about.  Ronnie.  You know, she’s a big girl.  She can make her own decisions and talk with whoever she wants to without running it past you for an approval.”

“She’s arranged to be married to another slayer.  He’s good for her, both emotionally and physically.  I don’t need her…crushing on some guy.  Especially an a*****e of a demon who has the audacity to come to a house full of slayers and be all sweet on the youngest girl.”

“You know, I’m thinkin’ I might keep her around for a while…maybe even once I’m done doin’ what I need to.  She’s interesting.” I pushed Trick away from me, but as soon as I did, he pulled out a gun and shot me twice in the chest.  Thankfully there was a silencer on it, otherwise my demon level of hearing would’ve been screaming at me.  The bullets sent a burning sensation throughout my body, followed by unbelievable pain.  I slid to the ground with a grunt and leaned against the building.  “You can’t kill me with that damn thing.”

“No but I sure as Hell can hurt you with it.  I mean, I did soak the bullets in Holy water.” S**t.  No wonder why it hurt so badly.  Trick stepped closer and towered over me, pointing the gun to my chest just below my collar bone. “Stay away from Ronnie.” He pulled the trigger once more, sending searing pain through me before leaving.  I didn’t try to stand up at the moment; I was letting the pain settle.  Instead, I looked down at my chest and examined the three bullet holes.  They were fairly close together on the right side of my chest, just below my collar bone.  I pulled the side of my shirt down and took a deep breath as I watched my body forcing the bullets out.  It wasn’t the most comfortable feeling, especially since they were covered with Holy water, but it felt a lot better than having them just sitting inside me.

“S**t,” I grunted as I got to my feet.  There’d be scars from them, the only ones I’ll have on my body.  Oh well.  I gripped the three bullets in my hand and stared in the direction Trick went.  I’m not as bad as Rye when it comes to taking restrictions as challenges, but at the moment, I felt worse than him.  The little halfer doesn’t know what he’s gotten Ronnie into.  She’ll be seeing a lot more of me.

 

Ronnie

Based on what I saw and heard from Accursius earlier, and based on everything Faust told me, I could assume that Caius was the name that Accursius went by when he was with my aunt.  However, that also had to mean that he fell in love with her, which goes against everything I was taught about demons.  They don’t feel love.  They can’t.  They literally have no heart.  No compassion or concern for anyone.  Sometimes not even themselves, and especially not for a slayer.  But at the same time, Faust has never lied to me and I honestly don’t think he’d start with a topic about my aunt, so I believe him and I will take everything he told me into consideration.  The one thing I tried not to focus on was that he said that everyone that’s had my tattoo has gotten into that situation, meaning that chances are it’ll happen to me.

Trick just got back from whatever he was doing, and the first thing he did was walk up to Andie, who was reading a book on the couch, and gave her a kiss.  The change in her posture basically told me that she was going to pull him down onto the couch, but he chuckled and pulled back before walking to their room.  We were the only ones at the house.  Mom and dad went on a small ambush with the others, Chett joining them.  Normally Andie and I would be talking about things nonstop and just have a girl’s night, but up until Trick came back, we hardly said anything to each other.

“Andie, how long have you known about Trick?” My question got her to freeze in the middle of turning a page and turn to look at me.  At first, she looked utterly surprised by my question, but then her expression softened.

“You went to Faust today…” She shook her head with a smile and put her buck down on the coffee table. “He told me about what he was after about…a year of us dating.  About four years now.”

“What did you think when he told you?”

“Um…I was furious with him.  I was more mad at the fact that he hid it from me for as long as he did.  Don’t get me wrong, I was pissed at him for pursuing me even though he has demon in his blood, but then I realized that it didn’t matter.  He chose the right side immediately, and that’s all that mattered to me.  That and the fact that he makes me feel like the most special person out there.  Always has.”

“I see.” I was leaning against the counter, just now feeling the drain the day’s events had on me.  My body physically didn’t want to support itself anymore, and my mental performance was starting to get a little lazy.

“Why all these questions?  Is there something going on between you and Corin that I need to know about?  Or even you and Ace?” Her tone took on more interest on the last suggestion, which made my relaxed body try to tense up.  Nope.  Still too exhausted.  I just looked down at the counter and let out a loud sigh. “I thought I noticed some sort of…attraction between you two.  C’mon, let’s talk about it.”

“Not tonight…I’m too tired.” I straightened up and stumbled to my room, dropping into my bed and almost fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillows.  It wasn’t until then that I realized that I didn’t deny her comment about me and Ace.  Damn it.  Now she’s gonna wanna talk about things even if it kills her.  I knew I was too tired to think straight or anything.  I just stared up at the ceiling, mentally kicking myself for that when a thought occurred to me: the day after tomorrow is the day Ace and I are going to the fair.  Just the thought of that sent excitement through me and I was no longer tired.  Mentally.  Physically I was still…dead.  So I did the only thing I could do, I closed my eyes, and forced myself to keep my head clear until I fell asleep.