Edward found himself waiting outside of an unfamiliar building. It was almost 6 p.m. College had ended an hour before, and the sun was slowly setting. With him was Beatrix, who had forcefully become friends with him, then dragged him here. She’d also brought someone named Tom, who was in their Social Studies class. Edward had also convinced Arthur from his English Literature class to join. There were several strangers waiting with them, waiting for the doors to open. They were all there for a boxing class. Beatrix had wanted to try it out, but hadn’t wanted to go alone. She had a passion for boxing.

The door opened, and a tall well-built man came out to welcome them all in. In they went to a large open hall, with some upbeat music playing from a set of speaker. He gave the order for people to remove their shoes and socks and starts jogging around the hall for the warmup. While people were jogging he spoke to a few of the members, and Beatrix went over to him to introduce herself and tell him that she and her group were new.

As they jogged round the room they noticed doors to other rooms in the building. One was full of gym equipment, and the other seemed to be another fairly large hall lined with punching bags. Beatrix joined them and informed them that they had to pay at the end of the session, and that the class would be suited towards beginners.

The first half hour was an intense warm up that had Edward exhausted by the end. Looking round he found that Arthur and Tom were in similar shape. Beatrix, however, seemed perfectly fine. The next half hour was going through basic movements and a “how-to” of throwing a jab and a straight.

For the last hour they were asked to get into pairs and practice different combinations on each other, while being careful not to hit each other and to keep up guard, and eventually they did some light sparring before stretching at the end.

Beatrix was obviously the better of them all, perhaps even better than the strangers there who seemed like they turned up there a lot. She went through it all with a practiced ease. She had obviously done it before. Arthur seemed to pick it up fast, following instructions on technique perfectly, although he didn’t seem to be enjoying it much, and looked worn out by the end. Tom looked to be getting into it, a look of grim determination on his face, even though he didn’t pick it up very fast. He was sloppy, slow, and definitely tired, but he acted like he was set to keep learning.

Edward felt worn out by the end, although it was a good worn out. The two hours had finished, which meant that he could definitely get through it, and he knew it would get easier the more he practiced. He even found during the lesson that his body couldn’t move as fast as he wanted it to, with a lot of the movements being new to him and him running out of stamina fast. A part of him wanted to find out what it would be like to be able to be in good enough shape to move how he wanted to. Considering Beatrix’s passion he thought it likely that he would return.

As he emerged from the building it he was met with a shocking darkness.

It has been two hours. He realised. The sun had completely set and it looked like night-time should. The sight of the dark night brought back memories of monsters.

I wonder if they only come out at night… He couldn’t help a sick feeling gathering in his stomach. Luckily he was interrupted from his thoughts.

“I don’t think this is for me” said Arthur, a polite smile on his face, as they gathered together by the entrance.

“Fair enough” Edward replied. “I might come back.”

“Me too…” Tom said, still short of breath. “I’ll definitely… come back”

“Great!” Beatrix replied enthusiastically. “We could make it a weekly thing! I’m gonna try out the more advanced classes too. There’s one on the weekend… They wouldn’t be a good idea until you’re used to this class though.”

“I’ll still come!” Tom responded, looking keen.

“See how you feel tomorrow” she said with a knowing smile. “Anyway, I’m gonna head home now.”

After exchanging goodbyes, Arthur and Tom went their separate ways. Beatrix, however, lived in the same direction as Edward, so they headed back together. Edward felt overly conscious, but luckily Beatrix seemed able to carry a conversation pretty much by herself.

“You seemed to pick it up pretty fast” she said, sounding surprised. “Tom was pretty slow, but he seems pretty enthusiastic.”

I wonder why…. Edward sarcastically quipped in his head.

“Arthur seems like he’s done it before though, but he didn’t seem to enjoy it, and didn’t seem to want to come back. I wonder why…”

“Did he?” Edward asked, interest piqued. “I didn’t think he seemed particularly good.” He added.

“Well...” she started thoughtfully. “He didn’t put in much effort, and during the sparring he went pretty slow, but he didn’t make any mistakes, and he didn’t struggle with the warm-up. Maybe he knows a martial art or some other combat sport? He definitely seemed experienced, even if it was that noticeable” she concluded.

“Strange…” Edward answered. “So have you done boxing before?” he asked.

“Yep! Been doing it most of my life! My dad used to be a boxer, and I guess he passed on his passion to me. The first thing I did when I moved here was look up nearby boxing classes.”

She talked about boxing for quite a while, bringing up famous boxers that Edward didn’t know, and talking about matches that he hadn’t seen. Eventually he had to interrupt her, though, as he had to split off from her to head his way home.

“I might see you tomorrow around lunch time” Edward said as they parted ways.

“I finish around then, so yeah!” she replied cheerfully, and went on her way.

Edward started walking the rest of his path home, thinking about how satisfying the day had been. Beatrix and Arthur seemed friendly enough. He wasn’t too sure about Tom though. Something about him seemed difficult to get along with, but if Beatrix was friends with him then he couldn’t be all bad.

He stopped after about thirty seconds of walking, however, and swung round, shocked by a familiar feeling. That same feeling, as if some invisible force was puling at him, the feeling that had led him to monsters. The last time he’d felt it he had stayed at home and ignored it. This time, however, he realised it was in the direction Beatrix had gone.

His mind was split. These monsters could be a figment of his imagination, in which case she would be fine. However, if they were real, they they’d surely kill her. But even if I go, will I be able to help? I might die as well. His mind raced back to that first encounter. He still didn’t know if it was just a dream or not, but he’d actually killed one with his own hands. He wanted to go and find out, but he couldn’t move. It was like invisible ropes bound him, but it was his fear. He needed to go, to run, towards what could be death, and what was definitely the unknown. Unreal monsters that shouldn’t exist, that could kill him, that he shouldn’t have any part of. He forcefully took a step forward. He concentrated on breathing calmly, and took another step. He closed his eyes and stopped his thoughts. He opened them again, feeling surprisingly normal again, and ran towards whatever it was that was pulling him towards it.

*

The monster he saw this time was unlike the ones before. It was bigger. A lot bigger.

It was just as unnatural as ones he’d seen before. It made his stomach churn. The cold air hit him like a bucket of water being splashed over him as his sense intensified, as if to make sure he didn’t think he was seeing things. He felt like he was going to pass out, but he stayed on his feet.

It stepped forward. Its toes, if they could be called toes, spread out around its feet, if they could be called feet. They looked like a fleshy base of a tree. Beatrix was nowhere in sight, but there weren’t any bodies on the ground, not that Edward could see. It looked as tall as an adult, but it was hunched over, and it was as wide as the front of a car. It reminded Edward of a gorilla. It used the stumps of its arms to help itself walk forward like a gorilla would with its knuckles. A part of it moved, from where its head should be, and as it came closer Edward realised that it had no head. Instead, the top part of its chest opened and closed where the collarbone should be, and down the centre of its chest, as a mouth. It was far more intimidating than the previous monsters, and this time there was no sign of people fighting it. Even the memory of killing one of the more human-like ones from before didn’t help. This was much larger, and he didn’t know how he even could go about fighting it. He turned around to consider running away, only to be shocked even more.

Standing there, in her signature leather jacket, was Beatrix. She had a very serious expression on her face.

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“Can you see that?” she asked, pointing to the creature making its way up the street.

She can see it. He didn’t know what to say, though. He was in shock. The sound of the creature’s footsteps could be heard, as its heavy feet hit the ground, and Edward turned around as the sound sped up, to see the creature break into a charge towards them. He took a step back. To his surprise and horror, Beatrix stepped forwards, in front of him.

“Stay behind me” she said. She outstretched her arm towards the creature, and Edward could see what looked like wisps of black smoke suddenly pour forth from beneath her sleeve. It rushed forth and took shape into a creature that then ran towards the one running at them. This one looked to be in the shape of a large wolf-like creature. It took on solid form, revealing that it was definitely not a wolf, even if it was shaped similarly to one. It was dark, possibly completely black, it was hard to tell without much light. Edward had never encountered an actual wolf in his life but the creature was also larger than he imagined a wolf to be. It ran towards the other creature.

Big as it was, however, it wasn’t as big as the almost car-sized monster. As it closed in, it slowed down warily. The other creature stopped in its track too, then lifted itself to a full standing position, revealing its true height. It looked to be somewhere between eight and ten feet tall.

As its arms raised it could be seen that the stumps weren’t really stumps at all. Its arms split into long tendrils that ended in talons the size of a sword that looked like they could pierce an adult’s chest. As Edward looked on in horror he couldn’t help thinking that it looked like some kind of man-eating plant.

Its tendrils rose into the air and struck like a snake at the wolf-like creature. However, the wolf was prepared, jumping back and then circling around it, clearly the more agile of the two. The monster with tendrils made it apparent that it didn’t need to be able to move around fast though, as its deadly tendrils were flexible and fast enough to attack in any direction, and it didn’t seem to have any eyes, like the pale human-like creatures Edward had encountered, so it wasn’t as if the wolf had managed to get out of view by going behind it. Does it even have a front and a back? Edward wondered.

“It’s rare to find people who can see them” Came Beatrix’s voice, interrupting his thoughts. Her eyes were on the battle, her arms crossed, seemingly deep in concentration.

“Them?” he asked, wanting to know exactly what they were.

“Demons” she answered matter-of-factly.

He didn’t know what to think. Was that really an answer? That single word didn’t explain anything.

Suddenly her arms weren’t crossed anymore, and her knees were bent, as if she was ready to move. Edward followed her stare back to the fight, which alarmingly was getting closer to them. He took a step back once again.

She nodded approvingly, seeming to notice.

“Stay behind me. Normal people can’t even touch a demon. If it hits you, you’ll be dead.” She glanced at him. “Don’t worry-“

Then it happened. In that brief instant she’d looked toward him one of the tendrils flung their way. It didn’t look close enough yet, but seemingly its range was deceptive. A talon came arcing towards her.

All thought left Edward’s mind in that instant. Fear disappeared too. Strange memories came flooding back, and instinct took over. An urge, like a hunger, to fight.

*

She’d wanted to reassure him, and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Also she didn’t want him to run away. If he could see demons too, then she needed to talk to him. Perhaps take him to the organisation. If he could become another able body to fight against demons then that would be perfect.

“Don’t worry-“

Her sentence was cut off as she looked to him, and suddenly he had rushed past her, doing the stupid thing that she had hoped he wouldn’t. She tried to grab him but somehow he was too fast for her. Before she knew what had even happened he had a talon grabbed in his bare hands, attached to a tendril from the demon that her wolf was fighting.

“What the…” she couldn’t help exclaiming.

People shouldn’t be able to touch demons. It was a one-way deal, which made them so frightening. Even if you could see a demon, if you tried to touch it your hands would just go through it. It could, however, harm you. Yet here he was, somehow holding it back in front of her. A hostile growl came from his mouth, confusing her more. She watched as he stepped forward, and freeing one hand he swiftly grabbed the tendril that the talon was attached to, and then he started trying to pull the two apart.

Even if a person could fight a demon, he shouldn’t have the strength to do that. Yet he his hands gripped it firmly. Amazingly he then opened his mouth and bit at its flesh. Beatrix thought she might have seen abnormally sharp teeth for a moment, but it was hard to tell. He bit down hard on the flesh and tried to rip its talon from its tendril. As he tried, her own wolf took the chance and jumped at the tendril between him and the demon and bit it apart, separating Edward from the demon. As the half a tendril went limp in his hands he seemed to lose interest in it and threw it to the ground. He then took a step forward.

“Stop!” she shouted, reaching out and grabbing him. His head whipped around, glaring at her. She saw no reason within his eyes, they looked like the eyes of a wild beast. However, as he looked at her he seemed to calm down, and he seemed to almost go limp as he came to, as if being freed from a dream… or a nightmare. He looked confused.

“Stay here… and watch.” She said, hoping he wasn’t going to run. She wanted answers. First though, she had to kill the demon. While people can’t normally interact with demons physically, there were ways around that limitation. She ran into the battle.

Something existed to battle demons, something akin to magic. It was what allowed her to keep her wolf demon under her control.

As she closed in on the demon, with her wolf knowing what to do and backing away, the demon’s tendrils came flying at her, aiming to pierce her and likely feed her to its oversized mouth. She displayed one of the ways humans can even the odds and threw a fist as if trying to punch the talons flying towards her. As she did she shouted out words of a long forgotten language, and a glowing circle appeared before her fist. The tendrils rebounded off. Symbols floated along the surface of the circle, the barrier that could defend against demons. She held it in place as the talons violently deflected off it, then the barrier disappeared and she closed the distance more, managing to close in on the massive, intimidating figure. Its mouth opened invitingly as it leaned towards her and took a step towards her. She created another barrier however, causing it to crash into it. The barrier caught it off-balance, and she circled around it, allowing the barrier to disappear and creating another one behind it at an awkward angle so it couldn’t move its feet to regain its balance, and the demon fell to the ground. She then immediately jumped on top of it, creating another barrier beneath her, landing on it and stopping the demon from getting back up. Her wolf closed in, immediately aiming for vital spots. The demon had what looked like oversized veins protruding from its body, and her wolf went to work tearing away at them. Blood gushed forth.

The creature’s frighteningly flexible tendrils came to attack Beatrix from above, but she created another barrier with her other hand above her, effectively pancaked between them and protected from the attack.

With the demon trapped, it was easy work for the wolf to tear it apart with its sharp teeth, and the demon eventually stopped moving, a massive puddle of blood forming beneath it. Beatrix blew a sigh of relief and jumped off the barrier she’d used as a platform. She was relieved to see that Edward was still there, watching the scene unfold.

She took out her phone and dialled a number. She’d requested backup but they hadn’t arrived yet. The phone was answered on the other end and she turned away from Edward as she spoke.

“I’ve killed the demon, but we have another problem. There is someone here who can see them.”

She patiently waited as the voice on the other end spoke about the usual procedure that she already knew.

“I know.” She answered impatiently. “This person isn’t just any victim. He actually hurt the demon with his bare hands.”

As she expected she was barraged with questions.

“You’re on your way here anyway right? Since we don’t know what we’re dealing with we need to take him in.”

The person agreed with her, and she hung up, then walked over to Edward.

“Who were you talking to?” he asked, seeming suspicious, which was to be expected.

She smiled her usual friendly smile, putting him at ease. Her heart stung a little as she manipulated him in that way, but it had to be done.

“I’m not the only person who fights these demons” she explained. “You must have a lot of questions about what’s going on. You might have thought you were crazy. Trust me, I know. I’ve been there. But you’re not. I contacted the group I belong to so I can take you to them and we can answer your questions.” She explained. She did know how he must have felt. When she’d first been able to see them she’d thought she’d been hallucinating. He seemed relieved to hear her words. He tensed again, looking beyond her, and she turned to see her wolf returning.

“Don’t worry” she said. “He’s under my control.” She put out her hand and petted it, to show Edward that it wasn’t dangerous. It was a weird sensation trying to pet a demon in the shape of a wolf. It didn’t have fur, but it’s oddly textured skin and the slight black mist emanating from it almost gave the illusion of it. Instead, it was quite rough and solid, and it didn’t give any reaction.

Then it turned away and made its way back to the body of the demon.

“You might not want to watch this” Beatrix warned, as it started to eat parts of the body. Edward didn’t look as disgusted as she’d thought he would be. He looked confused for a moment then looked as if he’d worked something out and nodded knowingly.

“You can control demons and create barrier, huh? Yeah I think I would like to meet your group” he said.

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “But first we’ve got to wait for….”

Then it happened. A tranquilizer dart appeared, sticking out the side of Edward’s throat, aimed perfectly. It stunned her for a second, but she’d been expecting something like this. Edward looked confused as he raised his hand towards his neck but found himself unable to lift it all the way. Then his legs buckled, but Beatrix grabbed him and guided him to the ground. “Don’t worry, you’ll be alright. This is the way is has to be.” She said reassuringly, or as reassuringly as she could sound in that situation as he looked at her with confused eyes, and he fell into unconsciousness.

A man clad fully in black walked towards her, a gun in his hand.

“You’re not wearing your uniform” he commented disapprovingly.

“Well duh” she replied. “It’s not like I planned to go out and kill a demon. It just came out of nowhere.”

“Did anyone see you?” he asked.

She motioned to Edward.

“Anyone looking out of their window would’ve just seen a crazy girl and guy looking like they’re re-enacting a scene from a movie or something.”

“Good point” he said. He looked over his shoulder as more people fully dressed up came in their direction. “Let’s get this…. Strange case…. somewhere private.”

“He’s not a demon” she said. “He can’t be. He’s my classmate at college. But… obviously…. There’s something strange about him.”

“Obviously” came the reply. “Let’s find out what it is.” And he motioned for the other people to pick up the motionless Edward.