Suddenly he was wet and freezing cold. His eyes snapped open and he gasped in surprise. It took a moment for the world to come into focus, but when it did he saw a man standing there with an empty glass in front of him. He looked around, realising how sluggish he felt as he did so. It felt like his vision was a second delay behind. As he did so he realised he was tied to a chair. He could only move his head.

The room looked like some run-down building. The plain white paint on the walls was falling away to reveal the brick underneath. The only door in the room had a rusty handle and the window on it was so stained that you couldn’t see through it. The floor was also covered in stains.

The man who’d thrown water at him had long hair and was wearing glasses. Other than that, he seemed ordinary enough, and couldn’t have been much older than Edward. There were two men behind him, one on each side of the door. They were dressed in black, but without masks this time. They, also, looked ordinary enough, although one held a deadly looking black knife, and the other what looked like a gun.

“Can you hear me?” asked the man with the glasses.

“Where am I?” Edward asked. “What the hell is going on?”

“Sorry for all the theatrics.” The man answered. “But we had to be careful. We’ve heard something about you that means you might be…. Dangerous.”

Me? Dangerous? He was confused. I’m not the one with a knife or a gun.

“Where’s…. Beatrix?” he asked.

“She’s nearby. Listen, I’m going to ask you some questions, and I’ll answer your questions in return. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of them.” He sounded like he was a teacher explaining a topic to a child. It wasn’t reassuring. “Firstly, my name is Seymour. What’s your name?”

“I’m Edward.” He answered flatly. He was sure they already knew his name. “Where am I?”

“You’re somewhere safe. We own this building. Edward… what’s your last name?”

“Attar” he answered, drawing a shocked look from Seymour.

“Attar?” he echoed.

“I get that a lot. My Dad is Persian. It’s a Persian family name.” Edward explained. He tried to struggle against the ropes holding him, but they didn’t budge at all. He could feel himself starting to panic, but he tried to keep calm. Meanwhile, Seymour looked over to one of the guards and gave a nod. The guard left the room, immediately replaced by another.

“Alright, so, have you been seeing anything out of the ordinary recently?” he continued.

The situation felt surreal. I’ve been kidnapped, right? And he’s asking me if I’ve seen anything out of the ordinary….

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Edward answered, finding himself becoming more and more angry. Seymour winced, and Edward thought he might’ve seen fear in his eyes.

“Alright, perhaps I should explain our situation to you.” He said.

“Please do.” Edward answered sarcastically, smiling bitterly.

“Demons” Seymour answered, looking at Edward carefully. Seeing no shock on his face, he continued. “They prowl the night, hunting humans to feast on their flesh. We find them and stop them, to protect the public, and to keep them a secret. And because of that, you are a cause of concern for us.”

“And why is that?” Edward asked, although as he thought back to his actions he felt like he might already know the answer.

“Beatrix tells me that you grabbed an appendage of the demon and managed to hold it back. Something that a normal human can’t do.” Seymour answered.

“Yeah but I did it to protect her! It attacked her and I stopped it.” Edward protested.

“Even so, it means that you’re not a normal human. You might even be a demon.” he explained.

“I am not a demon.” Edward said through gritted teeth.

“Are you sure? Beatrix also said that you tried to rip that demon’s appendage apart with your own teeth.” Seymour continued.

Edward lowered his gaze, thinking back. It was true. He’d lost any semblance of rational thought when it had happened, and some kind of bestial instinct had taken over. Was he a demon?

“I’ll leave you alone with your thoughts for a bit, but I’ll be back with more questions soon enough.” Seymour said, before leaving the room. The two guards, however, stayed.

*

Beatrix was apologising for Edward’s situation and trying to assure him that everything would be alright. It was difficult to feel assured when he was tied to a chair.

“If you’re sorry then untie me and let me go.” He’d said in response. The guards had exchanged worried looks, but Beatrix had sadly shook her head.

“I can’t.” she said. “We need to know what you are.” Her expression turned serious. Edward could see the conviction there, on her face. Even though she seemed sorry, she also had no doubts.

Seymour reappeared, making his way through the door. Beatrix looked to him with expectation.

“We’ve decided to move you. To somewhere more comfortable.” Seymour said.

Beatrix looked surprised.

“I mean… Good. But… why?” she asked.

“Yeah, why now? You’ve already kidnapped me and tied me up. The chance to politely invite me round for a cup of tea has passed.” Edward said, smiling. He did like the sound of being somewhere more comfortable though.

“Well, after making a few phone calls, we’ve decided that if he’s not a demon, he could be a valuable ally. A person who can naturally fight against demons, if taught well could really help us out.” Seymour answered.

Edward’s stomach sank. Would they force him to fight those things again? As he thought about it, he wasn’t as repulsed or as scared as before, and that worried him more.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“We will, however, have to tranquilise you again. But this time when you wake up you won’t be tied up.” Seymour said.

Edward’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Although… I can’t do anything about it… He struggled once more against the rope that bound him, but it was of no use.

“I look forward to it.” He said, looking at Seymour.

One of the guards stepped forwards, holding a gun to Seymour. Edward guessed it must’ve been one that shot tranquiliser darts. Seymour put up his hand.

“Not this time. I’ve got my own instrument for this, a slightly less threatening one.” Seymour said, holding a syringe, seemingly out of nowhere.

Edward looked over to Beatrix and noticed she had gone pale. Edward surmised that she wasn’t one for needles.

“You can all leave, don’t worry. I had a couple more questions for him anyway. I’ll call you in when it’s done.” Seymour said, waving them away. Amazingly Beatrix and both the guards left. Disturbingly, however, Seymour locked the door behind them.

“Before we move you, I have an important test” Seymour said. The tone of his voice had changed completely. He seemed… excited. Edward felt dread wash over him. He struggled desperately in his chair. “I want to see your ability for myself.” Seymour continued. He pulled back the sleeve of his top to reveal what looked like tattoos at first glance. However, they moved across his skin as Edward watched. Then they seemed to lift from the skin, turning into what looked like black smoke that swirled in front of Edward. Beneath the smoke something moved. Then the smoke dissipated to reveal one of the pale-skinned featureless monsters Edwin had seen before, with its mouth that seemed to extend down it’s neck, and its hands that ended in claws.

“What the hell are you doing?” Edward exclaimed, but Seymour remained silent, backing away and smiling.

The demon opened its horrific mouth lined with sharp teeth and its tongue extended to taste the air. It seemed to notice Edward, and if it had eyes it would be looking right at him. Its arms rose, and it extended its claws towards him.

Edward struggled madly, eyes wide open with panic as the claws reached towards him. It felt like all the fear he could possibly feel was in his throat. He couldn’t move. He’d seen what these creatures could do. Its claw grabbed his shoulder, and it could tell he was there. Its mouth opened wide, a hungry hiss coming from its throat.

Then rage gripped him, filled his every being, and a growl escaped his own mouth. Suddenly the ropes stretched and snapped as he pulled against them. He grabbed the demon’s wrist and stood up, the chair falling over behind him.

The demon lunged at him mouth-first, and he had to grab it by the forehead, trying to keep it back. He saw its other claw come towards him and managed to instinctively slam it head-first into the ground, then pulled away from it, but its claw on his shoulder ripped his flesh as he desperately pulled away from it. It immediately jumped up to its feet, and started to lick its claws for a taste of his blood. Repulsed and angered, Edward immediately rushed towards it and grabbed its neck with both hands, pinning it against the wall. It wasn’t suffocating, though. In fact, strangling it didn’t seem to affect it. Its tongue whipped around wildly and it grabbed Edwards torso, cutting into him with its claws. Instinctively Edward grabbed tightly and ripped one hand away from its throat, pulling flesh away. He looked in confusion at his own hand for a second, noticing he had claws of his own. Then as he realised the demon was still moving, gripping him tighter and tearing into his flesh he pushed its head against the wall and ripped what remained of its throat away with his other clawed hand. The demon went limp. He let it fall and pulled its claws free of his torso, wincing in pain as he did so. Then he looked over to Seymour. His eyes were wide, but not in fear. He seemed excited. Edward took a step towards him.

Seymour raised a hand and pointed it towards Edward, quietly saying something. Suddenly Edward couldn’t move again. He struggled but to no avail. He looked down to see translucent glowing chains wrapped around him, with strange looking symbols running across their surface.

“So it’s true.” Seymour said, seeming happy with himself. “I am going to move you. I just wanted to see it for myself.” He said, as if that explained his actions.

Edward felt the adrenaline fading, and somehow he was calming down. Now that the demon was dead, his bestial instincts faded as well.

“What… the hell… is wrong with you?” he managed to say between heavy breaths.

Loud knocks came from the door. Seymour walked towards him.

“Like I said, I just wanted to see for myself.” He said, a satisfied smile on his face. Then he stuck the syringe into Edward’s neck, and his consciousness faded.

*

The next time Edward woke up, it was in a bed, and he could move. He opened his eyes to the abusive light and looked around. The room he was in was much better quality than the previous one, and it had a bright light shining down, illuminating everything. The walls were white, hurting his eyes even more. There was, surprisingly, a desk and a television. Next to the door was what looked like a light switch. He had no idea what time it was, or if it was even still the same day. He checked his pockets to find them empty. He futilely checked the desk draws just in case, but they were also empty. He angrily knocked on the door, but no answer came. He only succeeded in hurting his own hand. Eventually he calmed down and turned the light off, laying down in the bed again, and went over recent events in his mind.

Finally a knock came at the door, rousing him. He found it amusing that whoever was on the other side hadn’t just walked in. He heard the door unlock, but no one came in. Then another knock came. He sighed, going over to the door and opening it. Seymour was on the other side. He wasn’t sure if he should hit him or ask to be freed, or both.

“Sorry about setting that demon on you. I’ve been suitably told off. How are your ribs?” he asked.

My ribs? Edward wondered. Then he remembered, the demon he’d killed had grabbed him with its claws, on the shoulder and abdomen, and had definitely pierced flesh. He checked both to find that he didn’t have any wounds. Did they somehow heal me?

“You heal fast.” Seymour said.

“Can I leave?” Edward asked impatiently.

Seymour took a deep breath, seeming sheepish. He sighed. “Yes” he said dejectedly. Edward narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Shocking as it is, mistake as it might be, unwise as it certainly is…. I’ve been ordered to let you go…. No conditions, no strings. I’m to escort you out and let you go.”

Even though it seemed impossible that they would let him go so easily, Edward just wanted to get out of there. A wave of relief washed over him. Then annoyance washed over him. He realised he couldn’t just leave.

“What are they?” he asked.

“I already told you, right? Demons. They kill people.” Seymour said, a wry grin on his face.

“What more than that?” Edward asked, needing more answers. “And if what you said is true, if people can’t normally fight them, then what am I? Will they come after me? Will I be safe? And how do you all fight them?”

“A lot of questions for a man just given his freedom.” Seymour quipped. “Unfortunately I can’t just tell you all that. Organisation secrets. You’ll be given a phone number to call for emergencies. They’re almost certain to come after you. They seem to prioritise people who can see them.”

Edward couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t over. Would it ever be over? They were going to keep coming for him. He looked at Seymour. Seymour could see them, as could Beatrix, yet they seemed fine.

“How do you all survive if they come after you?” Edward asked.

“The Organisation.” Seymour answered, still smiling.

“So I have to just live my life knowing about them and knowing they’re after me, unable to do anything about it, unless…” Edward said, realisation dawning on him.

“Unless what?” Seymour asked innocently. Edward was starting to hate him.

“Unless I join you.” He ended.

“Well, that would certainly make things simpler wouldn’t it? If we’re willing to have you, of course.” Seymour said.

Edward smiled bitterly. “Of course you would. Like you said, people can’t normally fight demons, but I can. You’d definitely have me.” He said.

“Maybe” Seymour said, shrugging. “It wouldn’t be my call to make.”

Edward felt… angry. He had to join them. It was his only real option. Maybe he could survive on his own. Maybe… But he doubted it. He had to join them. He had to….

“Damnit.” He said. “I’ll… join you.” He said sadly.

“Great!” Seymour answered immediately. He took a step back and motioned for Edward to come with him. “I’ll take you to someone who will formally decide whether to take you on or not, but they’ll definitely let you in, then you can learn all about us, and all about them, the demons.”

Edward looked at the ground, shaking his head in frustration, then, as much as he didn’t want to, took a step through the doorway to follow him.