Chapter 2 - Fear and Anger

Chizu is left alone with her boyfriend, while her familiar, Yume, goes off to find out what happened to Knight and Arrow with Kain.

Chizu waved as she watched her familiar leave the store.  It was odd for Yume to offer to leave her alone with Jonghyun.  She always thought they would go and do something…Inappropriate, which for Chizu, was sitting on Jong's lap, covering his face, neck, and chest with kisses.  Glancing at him, she felt her cheek heat up at the very thought of being able to do just that.  
    Glancing at him, she felt her cheek heat up.  So sexy.  Even while he was thinking, hand cupping his chin, he looked like a sinful treat.  She wanted to touch him.  Kiss him.  Shaking her head she continued looking at the little trinkets.  She was being creepy…Again.
    Hearing a quiet laugh next to her, she looked to see Jonghyun smiling at her.  Had he said something?
    The warm color of his caramel eyes always managed to send delightful tingles down her spine.  Finding her voice, she smiled back at him. 
    She saw his eyes brighten as he reached for her hand.  It was larger than hers, and so very soft.  Looking back up at him, he asked her, "Are you getting hungry?"
    Slowly nodding her head, she swallowed and curled a stray piece of her golden hair behind her ear. "Sure, I could go for a milkshake."  Could he see how red her cheeks were?  Probably.  He knew all too well just how much he affected her.  
    A laugh rumbled from him as he brought her hand to his lips, kissing her palm. Looking her dead in the eye as he kissed it, he smiled. "You and your ice cream." Twinning his fingers with hers, he pulled her to his side, and led her out of the store.  
    As they walked down the street, her hand warmly held in his, she kept stealing glances at him.  She absolutely loved everything about him.  From his beautiful features to his charming and amazing personality.  
    Having high cheekbones, gave his face a slight feminine appearance, but with his strong jaw and sinner smile, they mixed together perfectly to make him unbelievably handsome.  Dark hair blended into sandy tips, curling slightly around his face, making his vivid brown eyes even more beautiful.  In her opinion, he was far more handsome than Knight, and most defiantly sexier.  He was perfect in every way.  
    Sighing, she realized he was looking at her with that gorgeous grin of his.  Immediately feeling her face heat up, she averted her eyes, hiding her face in her coat.
    She could hear the heat in his voice as his warm, smooth voice asked, "Enjoying the view are we?"
    She hated it when he caught her staring at him. "I was just admiring you.  That's all…"
    She heard him laugh again, and released a delighted sigh as she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders. "I know you were.  So intently too." He gave her shoulders a light squeeze. "I'm just happy you pay so much attention to me."
    Looking up at him, she felt her heart squeeze.  By the Moon Goddess he was gorgeous. "So you don't mind my starring?" 
    He smiled brightly again, melting her heart ever more, and said, "Believe me when I say that I love the attention you give."
    She had to smile at that. "Good." She slipped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him, resting her chin on his chest.  
    This day couldn't get any better could it?  Thinking of Yume, she smiled even more.  
Smiling, this time with dark gray eyes, she said, "Let's get out of the cold and have some fun.  We can shop for a gift later."
    Smiling down at her, he slipped his arms around her, ignoring the people walking by, and said, "I was thinking the same thing." He cupped a hand to her face and leaned down, looking at her lips. "You look a little cold…"
    Lazily smiling, she tilted her head slightly ran her hands up his chest. "You could say that." Stood on her tippy-toes and touched her lips to his.

                                                     ***

    Yume sat in the passenger seat as Kain drove them to Arrow and Knight's last known position.  Looking out the window, she saw plenty signs of wendigo activity.  With all the destroyed trees, landscape, and dead animals, it didn't take a creature's expert to see the signs. 
    "You said Arrow and Knight were in the mountains." She turned her attention to Kain. "Why?"
    The immortal didn't even take his eyes off the road, just simply rolled his shoulder, and said, "Lady Bishop sent them to patrol the borders of Velvet Moon."
    Not satisfied with that answer, she shifted in her seat, and flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. "Why though?  Doesn't Lady Bishop have a spell around the borders to keep her students and residents safe?"
    She saw his lip lift slightly in irritation. "From humans, yes.  But not from wendigos."
    Her eyebrows shot up.  So there were wendigos in Velvet Moon?  Interesting. "What do you mean?"
    She watched his body tense up, a sign that poked at her curiosity even more.  Knuckles turning white on the steering wheel, he said, "We've noticed them hunting in packs larger than usual, close to village."
    She sat back in her seat, and crossed her arms under her breast. "You keep saying 'we'," She looked at his tense features and tilted her head. "Who is 'we' exactly?" 
Without missing a beat, he said, "Knight, Arrow, and myself."
    "You've been having a teenager hunting wendigos?  Are you serious?" That tidbit of information sent chills up her spine, and left her stomach uneasy.  What the hell?
    "Knight doesn't protest, and he keeps Arrow on a tight leash." He glanced at her briefly. "We always make sure they have deadlines to be back before I go and get them as well."
    She shook her head in disbelief.  Pushing her dark hair back, she let it tumble through her fingers. "So, if you do this normally, why am I just now hearing about it?  And why are you having me come along?"
    The red head released a long sigh and glanced at her again. "We didn't tell you because we all knew how you would respond." Eye twitching, he continued by saying, "As for the reason I asked you to come, I need assistance."
    She felt the blood leave her face and her heart sink. "You, the Red Lion, need backup?  What the hell have you gotten me into Kain?  I'm not some super familiar like you.  I can only-"
    He cut her off before she could finish by saying, "I only need you to help me get Arrow and Knight out of there.  Nothing more."  A smug smile spread across his face. "Don't worry Yume.  I'll make sure a wendigo doesn't get you."
    Punching his arm, she sat back in her seat. "You're an a*****e Kain.  I'm not scared of wendigos, and you know that."
    He still had that smug look on his face, which irritated the hell out of her, as he said, "I know you're not, but I also know how you and Arrow get when you are around them.  You bare your fangs, snarl, and attack with full force." He gave her one of those knowing looks, and said, "I need you to behave yourself Yume.  There would be little point to me bringing you along if you were to simply add to my luggage."
    That was an insult.  She knew better than to let her instincts and emotions get the better of her.  She knew how to control herself; at least better than Arrow.  "I don't need a babysitter Kain."
    A low laugh rumbled in his chest. "I'll be the judge of that."
She curled her lips in a silent snarl, and then mocked his words.  Kain knew how to push her buttons.  
    Looking out her window again, she sighed.  The damn cat was a user, and would use anyone, and anything, to make his master happy.  Even if the cost was dire.  In other words, he was the ideal familiar.  
    Glancing back at Kain, she rolled her eyes at the sight of his grin.  "I truly hate you Kain.  Possibly more than Arrow."
    He laughed again. "This is quite the development then.  My Lady was worried the two of you would never put the past behind you."  
    He made a right turn leading to a gravel road, which looked like a war zone with all the scorch marks, and craters. "What happened here?" The deeper they drove into the mountains, the more damaged the terrain got.  
    He shrugged, saying, "Wendigos and possibly Knight."
    She had expected the first answer, but not the second.  Knight was capable of causing this much damage?  She could understand Arrow making the marks . . . But Knight?  
    Looking at the different scorch marks, and blood trials, she swallowed hard and made her hands into fists.  If Knight and Arrow could easily take down wendigos, creating a scene like the one before her, why the hell did she and Kain have to drive all the way out here?  It looked as though the two could handle themselves.  
    "Never knew he had fire power like this… Arrow I can understand, but Knight?" She curled a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. "By the gods . . ."
    Kain slightly smiled at her remark. "The kid has more power than he lets on."  Making a few turns, he slowed the car as a cabin came into view. "Which could be a big problem in the future."
    As they got out of the car and made their way to the cabin's door, Yume was overwhelmed by a stench of death and decay.  Taking a step back, she covered her mouth with a gloved hand.  "Disgusting." 
    Kain walked up beside her and stopped as he looked at the cabin's door.
    She followed his gaze and chewed on her bottom lip. "The door is open."
    "So I can see."
    "The smell is horrid."
    "Yes, I know Yume."
    "Do you think we are-"
    Without answering her question, he strode ahead and disappeared inside, leaving her outside in the cold.  Minutes ticked by…
    "Kain?"
    Moments later, he appeared from the home, face grim, and features tense.  Pulling her hands to her lips, she feared the worse.

                                                 ***

    Kain looked at the paleness of Yume's face and placed his hands on his hips.  "Yume calm down.  It's not them, so there is little need for the theatrics."
Her face paled even more as she looked at him. "It's not them?" He watched her take a few steps toward the cabin. "So there are bodies?"
    Kain looked over his shoulder at the gory scene. "I wouldn't call them 'bodies' but they're diffidently not Arrow or Knight.  It's human blood, not demon."  
He heard the snow crunching as she walked toward the house. "What do you mean?  Why wouldn't you call them bodies?"
    He watched her walk up the steps and look into the cabin.  Following her gaze, he took in the gory scene once again.  
    Crimson blood coated the walls, while pieces of skin and what looked like organs, covered the floor and stairs.  Pieces of flesh hung from torn wall paper and shattered wood boards.  The remains of what were once men, were so badly torn into, that it was going to be impossible to identify the corpses.  Claw marks marked the floor and walls, while the awful stench of death and decay overwhelmed his senses, making his stomach turn.  Revolting and ungodly.  The after math of wendigo feeding.
    Glancing down at Yume, he took note of her paling skin and quivering lip.  He noticed her trembling, and felt like a total a*s for letting a female see a gory sight like this.  Gently taking her elbow in his hand, he said, "Yume, we should go look for Knight and Arrow.  They probably headed to the other cabin a few miles up the trial."  He had to all but drag her out of the house and off the porch.
    In a quiet voice, she said, "I've never seen anything so torn up like that…"
He shrugged and said, "I shouldn't have let you see that." A female should never see scenes like the one she had just witnessed. "As a male, I apologize for allowing you to see such destruction."
    She looked at him with somber eyes and rolled her shoulders.  Walking toward the SUV, she said, "Why apologize?  Just because I'm a female, doesn't mean I've never seen a dead body.  Remember Kain, I traveled with Arrow for about sixty years.  I've seen my fair share of death and carnage."  He watched her open the back door to the SUV, and pull out her arsenal. 
    Yume Volkov was one familiar Kain would hate to have as an opponent.  Though he would never tell her so, she was a force to be reckoned with.
    The definition of sinful desire, she had curves most women would kill for, and the face of an angel.  She was the definition of temptation.  The perfect lust demon: sexy and deadly as hell.    
    People always thought, for centuries, that lust demons were the weakest of the six SinS species.  Looking at Yume, no one would ever think she was capable of pulling a trigger, or that she was a great shot, able to take out a target more than 600 yards away.
He watched her sling her M4 sniper riffle over her shoulder, and put two Glock 9mm into holsters under each arm.  She pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail, and hanging around her neck, were specialized heat seeking goggles.  Looking at him, she shut the back door to the car and started toward him.  
    Yeah, lust demons were foes to be feared.  Every single one he had met was gorgeous and unbelievably deadly.  
    Shaking his head with a slight smile, he glanced at Yume again.  Beauty was a deadly adversary.
    "Don't let Elara know you were looking at another female." She walked past him to head up the hill leading to the trail. "She'll get jealous."
    Was that irritation he heard in her voice?  Smiling, he once again shook his head. "No need for her to get jealous." He zipped up his parka and pulled his own goggles over his eyes. "I'm not into younger women," Might as well tease her. "I like a female who knows what she's doing."
    He saw her smile. "I'm not all that into cats so it wouldn't have worked.  Not to mention I have Kimmy."
    Kain had to laugh at that. "Kimmy? You mean Jonghyun's familiar?" He pulled out his Beretta 92S, and placed it securely in its holster at his side. "He's hardly a man.  The guy hardly has a backbone"
    She slapped his arm, which made him laugh again.  It was too easy to push her buttons.
    "I think he's more of a man than anyone else I've dated.  He treats me nice, and tells me how special I am.  He even opens the door for me." She smiled. "It's so nice to actually sit down and have a conversation that's not about sex."  She gave him a smug smile. "He's perfect, sweet, and is the best boyfriend I've ever had." Shooting a glare at him, she said, "As for his backbone.  He's brave when he needs to be."
    Shrugging, Kain followed after her, walking up the trail that lead to the other cabin. "So he's a good guy.  Does that make him a man?"
    She tilted her head, and thought about it.  Then smiled, saying, "I think that's what a man is.  Someone who treats you right, and makes you feel like you're the only person they see."
    That surprised him.  Sometimes, he would forget Yume was only around five hundred years old.  She could be wise at times, sounding older than she actually was.  Dismissing their conversation, he took the lead, and led her toward the other cabin.  Hopefully the two would be there, and not in pieces.  He didn't know if he could tell a mother of three that her husband was brutally murdered, or tell Jinx that her boyfriend was torn to pieces.  He wouldn't be able to withstand the tears of agony that would fall from Elara's eyes.  
    Being a male of honor and compassion, he hated seeing or scenting a female's pain and sorrow.  It was one weakness he never wanted to be able to ignore. 
    "Kain?"
    Pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind, he returned his attention to his surroundings and Yume. "What?"
    She was ahead of him, looking over the top of the trail, her expression grim and worried. "There's blood over here… And there is a lot of it."
    Walking up beside her, Kain felt his chest ease with relief. "Its wendigo blood."
    She was silent for a moment, and then said, "It's a few hours old." As she ran her gloved hand over the iced surface, he saw her face go pale once more.  
    "Yume?"
    She looked at him from her crouched position and swallowed. "I can smell two other scents too."
    He looked at her with narrow eyes. "Two other scents?"
    She slowly nodded and ran her hand over the iced surface again. "Knight and Arrow are hurt," He heard her swallow before continuing, "Because their blood scent is present too."

Author's Note

Chapter 2