“Please…”

“I just want everything to go back to normal!”

“Daddy…”

“Shut up!!”

SMACK!

A heavy hand from a bear some man smacked the frail blonde hair girl against the face!

“You want to dress like a slut I’ll treat you like one. Just like your useless mother!” The boarish man yelled as he soon raised a bottle of booze to his lips, swishing his saliva-drenched tongue around as he lapped up the liquid. For him, this was his way of surviving.

“You know I-” She nearly choked on her words. “I have to d-”

“SHUT UP!” The man yelled, his voice deepening as if he was becoming a monster. “You’re just like her always blaming me because I’m never good enough!”

“No… that’s not-”

“Do you know how embarrassing it is for me to have my daughter whoring herself out just for us to afford rent!? It’s sick! A blow to my fucking pride as a man!”

The girl got quiet… not knowing what to say and she didn’t want to suffer another beating at the hands of her abusive father. So instead she did what she was conditioned to do; stay silent.

“No, you could never understand.” The man’s bare foot pressed against the wooden floorboard as he took a step near his daughter. He soon raised his burly hand to grab the girl by her shirt.

“Dad!?”

“No… I’m not your father. I failed you as a father.” He mentioned as he balled up a fist. “I failed us.”

“Please!”

SMACK! SMACK!! SMACK!!!

“I didn’t want things to be this way!!” The man said as he mentally snapped. His fist was stained with red as he busted his own daughter’s lip. Her frail body soon fell onto the ground.

But, he didn’t stop there. He got on top of the girl and continued to wail at her. He didn’t ease up… his anger consumed him. His disgust and hatred for the pathetic life that he had conjured up.

“Your mom is to blame for all of this!! Because of her, we’re poor and live in this shitty apartment!! It’d just be better if we both died here!!”

Soon silence filled the man as he stared up at the ceiling as if he was in a trance. That’s when he realized he wanted to die. He wanted this life to die. He also wanted to take his daughter with him because he didn't want to die alone.

The girl in question was sobbing and crying uncontrollably as she begged her father to stop. But, she had no idea what the man was planning. That’s when she felt something strong and firm.

It constricted her breathing and soon her teary, swollen, black eyes opened with shock. Her father was choking the life out of her. She came to the conclusion that her father wanted to kill her.

She grasped at his arms, her fingers clawing into his skin as she did everything in her power to try and break free from his hold. Her father was crying at what he had to do. She was crying at what her father had become.

She didn’t want to die. Not yet, not at this point in her life. College was supposed to be the period in time when she would be able to decide who she wanted to be. She didn’t just want to be some whore.

She wanted to be someone who could be loved. Cherished and loved. Respected and admired. She didn’t want to lose those things. No matter how bad her life got, she wanted to live.

Due to her quick thinking, she was able to break free by kneeing her father in the groin. The strike even at close range was enough for her to wiggle free from his grasp. But, her father was also determined to do his suicide mission.

When she got up and attempted to run, he grabbed her hair and pulled her back into his clutches. They struggled for a bit before she ended up biting his finger. She was like a rabid dog as she bit onto his finger so hard she managed to bite it off.

Blood oozed from the wound and the man screamed as he clutched the injury. He couldn’t believe his daughter had bitten him and was left in shock. This moment of hesitation was his undoing.

In a panic, she pushed her father with as much strength as her skinny body could muster and ended up forcing the man onto the ground. After that, she quickly ran out of the apartment and into midnight.

As she ran many thoughts were running through her head. Where would she go? What would she do? How could she provide for herself? How could she go to class when she didn’t have a home?

1 AM

Where exactly could she go? Who could she ask for help? To her, the world was a very big and lonely place. Even as she was running to the Metro Station, the few people she saw didn’t want to get involved with her.

To them, she looked as if she was trouble. Nobody wanted any more trouble in their life.

Eventually, she found herself at a crosswalk… waiting for the red light to change when all of a sudden it hit her: she was nothing and she wouldn’t be able to amount to anything. She had already been dealt a bad hand in life.

It was too hard for her to go on. She couldn't bear it anymore. All of that suffering for something that wasn’t certain. After her mom… left them behind things went to complete shit. This was the end.

She didn’t care anymore. The color in her eyes faded. They lost all life within them. Soon she found herself taking a step forward out into oncoming traffic. Her eyes closed as she saw an oncoming car.

She smiled.

CRASSSSSSSSHHHHHH!!!!! CRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSH!!!

As the girl opened her eyes… she looked up at the pale boy who was holding her. She was so confused and filled with so many emotions.

“Why?”

Timothy Kain, no Terios. He had saved her at the last minute. Engulfing the oncoming traffic in his aura to force them to stop. What he was using wasn’t magic and so… it created a slight traffic accident involving four other cars.

Why did I save her?

Does it even matter?

I didn’t save her.

I killed her and all of these people.

Terios held her in his arms, looking down at her with an empty gaze. She looked at him with widened pupils and slowly leaned closer to him. Her eyes closed as she attempted to kiss the boy.

He slowly turned his head away. His empty gaze stared at the manifestation of a blue aura next to him. Staring at the witch who was feeding him lies.

You saved her.

You saved all of these people.

Terios froze… as the manifestation of aura formed into Abigail. His body shook slightly from fear. He was foolish… he had acted so foolishly. He had no idea about any of this shit.

He didn’t know someone like her could exist.

Now finish your task with the others. Bring them all in. Be a good boy and you will be rewarded.

He couldn’t even trust his thoughts anymore. A slight tear started to swoop down his cheek. The girl within his grasp looked confused.

“Why are you crying?”

“Because I…” Kain started before…

“Good work Terios. I am very proud of you. You’ve provided Lady Abigail with so much livestock.” A voice in the distant background was soon heard.

Terios knew who this was and he wasn’t surprised. He just seemed disappointed about what was about to go down now that they arrived.

The man coming up behind him to witness the mess simply went by Lonzo. He was a tall man around the six feet range with an athletic build. His hair was clean cut just like the hair around his face. He was wearing black basketball shorts with orange and white accents towards the end, an Adidas shirt that was red in color, and a pair of black and red nikes.

His mocha skin tone with the eyes to match made him a bit hard to see at night, but that was something he enjoyed. He looked human enough, but he was a monster. He was one of the Witch’s loyal subjects. He also had an unhealthy obsession with her.

“Look, let's just clean this shit up, I want to go home. I’m tired of fooling around.” A feminine voice was soon heard.

This was Anna. She was an ivory-skinned woman with long silver hair that she had draped across her left side and reddish eyes. She was affected longer by the curse and had completely forgotten what her human form had looked like.

She had on white jordans with skin-tight black jeans and a white tank top to match. She was certainly who had her fill of blood if her chest size was anything to go by.

Sadly these two were who Terios worked with most of the time. He didn’t consider them friends or allies, but more like co-workers.

“When are you two going to grow up and accept the blessing Lady Abigail has bestowed upon us!? I love hearing her whisper sweet nothings in my ear.” Lonzo said with a chuckle.

“You’re fucked up. If only you could think with the damn head attached to your shoulders!” Anna yelled.

“It’s fine… let’s just capture our prey and annoy the extras. Terios always knows how to draw a crowd.” Lonzo snickered as he looked at the people gathered around.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Even this late at night there are still a few eye-witnesses. I hate to admit it, but his ability comes in handy with stuff like this.” Anna complimented.

“All in service to my Lady!!” Lonzo cheered as his aura started to protrude from his body. It was orange in color and soon it quickly spread covering about a two-mile radius. The strange thing was that everyone was starting to fade from existence.

One by one they faded away. How?

Black Space.

That was the name Lonzo called his ability. By manipulating the Either around him anyone within his grasp he could erase from existence completely. Along with that any memories, thoughts, and attachments to that person would utterly disappear for the moment.

As for where they disappeared to well it was literally black space. One could akin it to purgatory as the victims often report being asleep during the time they were erased from reality. Of course, once they were brought back into existence everything returned as if they had never disappeared at all.

“Remember when I hit you with this Anna? Back when you didn’t know how to protect yourself?”

“Yeah. it’s a neat trick… but it’s entirely useless in a fight. Anyone who has the basics of Either control can easily negate it. Even if you caught them off guard it takes a minute for it to work. It’s as lame as you are, really.”

“You wound me, girl… I think I’ll have Abigail heal it later.”

“Hurry up and bring them to the van. I want to get some sleep.” Terios saint in an irritated tone.

“What’s going on…?” The girl in Terios’ arms spoke out as she could feel a strange energy and the dark presence that was around her. “Who are those monsters…?”

She’s special… she can sense their Either. That’s not good. It’s worse enough being livestock.

“You can sense it…? Oh… it’s your lucky day. You’re kinda cute too! You might be able to make it onto Lady Abigail’s staff!! Terios you will certainly earn praise from our fair Lady!” Lonzo cheered!

“I’ll bring the injured prey into the van. Terios put the bitch to sleep for now. I’m not in the mood to explain what will happen to her.” Anna ordered.

“Ok.”

“Wait… what a-”

…

This was routine. Every night once the sun went down they would hunt. They’d drive around the city in this big white van and abduct anyone who Abigail was hungry for. Women, men, children, it didn’t matter.

She wanted to have livestock ready to feed herself and her minions. For the most part, she was a cautious woman.

“What a great hunt! How about tomorrow we see what Maryland has to offer and go hiking. Heard there are some good parks around here.” Lonzo suggested.

“I would rather not sightsee with you. You annoy the hell out of me.”

“Just focus on the road woman, damn. You never want to do anything fun. You down Terios?”

“. . .”

“Why does she like you so much? Nothing about you screams husband material. You’re not even that special. You just now learned how to really use your ability. You haven’t even named it yet!”

“Why should I name it? It’s childish.”

“It’s cool! When you’re in a fight and you reveal your ability name to your enemy… It means you mean business. Didn’t they teach you that during your combat training?”

“I broke free before I got into the advanced parts of it. But that’s none of your business.” Terios sighed.

Traffic was light on the way back to their hideout. Nobody was really out this late when they had work the next morning. However, something didn’t feel right. There was tension in the air…

“Hana… you see them?”

“I do. I’m not going to let the bastards get away.”

The voluptuous woman said as she was leaping from building to building. One hand was on her phone and the other was at her beck and call.

“I’m not going to let these demons do as they please. I’m going to kill them because that is the role of a hunter.”

“Put on some tunes! I’m gonna fall asleep! It’s too q-”

“Shut up, Lonzo!!” Anna yelled as she slammed on the brakes!!

Everyone within the van would have come flying forward if it wasn’t for their seatbelts. However, there was a lot of movement in the back!

“What the fuck GIRL!! You nearly killed us! I knew your ass cou-”

“Lonzo!! Do you feel that!?”

Terios and Lonzo soon looked out of their windows and saw fog covering their field of vision… but something was strange about it… it was purple.

“Terios, you have the same kind of Either as Abigail. Can you pinpoint where the bastard is and how many?” Lonzo instructed.

“Yeah.”

“You remember how?”

Terios took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

Silence the voices in my head.

Focus on manipulating my energy and extending it.

It’s easier for me to extend it in lines, but I can’t see anything. I have to cover a radius.

He slowly began to stretch his dark blue aura about… slowly covering the buildings and area within a one-mile radius with his energy.

“Not good…”

“What Terios!?”

“I sensed one person, but I lost track of them. I can’t feel their presence no more.”

“It’s good. They must be more adept at Either control than you. Or… it’s their ability.” Lonzo soon kicked his door open and soon headed outside.

“What are you doing!?” Anna questioned.

“Come out. You two are being pussies by sitting inside. Remember we are VILLAINS! And we have the upper hand.”

“...”

“We have hostages. Any sane person wouldn’t want to spill innocent blood.”

“What if this person is a loon, Lonzo? Then what?”

“Then you two can help me kill them! You shouldn’t feel gui-”

Bang, bang!

!?

“Huh??” Lonzo was bleeding.

“FUCK!?” Anna clenched her teeth.

“Not fair… I wasn’t ready.” Lonzo cringed. He was shot in the side and in the leg on his left. “How can anyone- Thermal equipment? We’re dealing with hunters…”

BANG, BANG!!

Two more bullets hit Lonzo this time from behind… but he guarded against it by strengthening himself with his Either. The orange hue grew around him.

“This person means business.”

Anna and Kain soon stepped out of the vehicle by Lonzo’s side and they looked around. But they couldn’t see anything in this damn smoke.

Even though I hate the bastards. For my own safety, I have to help.

“What’s the plan?” Terios asked.

“Keep yourself guarded. The enemy wants to weaken us by using covert operations. They must be a shitty fighter.” Lonzo proclaimed.

The hunters were the hunted. Hana… a woman nearing her 40s was after the trio. She was about five foot four, with luscious orchid-colored hair and green eyes. Her features were soft and didn’t belong in this line of work.

It was safe to say she was an unwilling hunter. She was driven by something these three couldn’t understand. Feeling merciful she wanted to reveal herself. That was one of her biggest weaknesses. Being too kind even to enemies.

“Who the fu- damn she’s a total babe.” Lonzo couldn’t help but smirk once she came into view.

She was dressed in a black and gray military uniform. She held what appeared to be a desert eagle in her left hand.

“Disgusting demons. This is your one and only warning. Give up. You’ve lost the moment my fog covered this area.” The woman spoke in a stern voice.

“Tough words for a fucking, weak ass HUMAN! You lost the moment you revealed yourself, bitch!” Lonzo increased his speed with basic Either, dashing ahead as he attempted to strike the woman known as Hana down.

He moved quicker than the human eye and yet… he missed.

“What the fuck!? Where did she g-”

STAAAAB!!

“AAAGGGGHHH!”

Lonzo was just stabbed in the eye by this unknown hunter… the combat knife lodged deep into his socket and soon it was violently pulled out which caused a stream of warm blood to ooze out.

The demon covered his wound and was now blinded in one eye as he swore and wondered what the fuck was going on!

“T-that FUCKING BITCH! I’m going to kill her!!”

“Terios try to sense her again!” Anna ordered.

“I’ve been trying. I could sense her when she appeared, but not anymore.”

“Damn it Let’s split up. You and me are mobile, we can get out of this smoke.”

“That’s probably what she wants. She could easily kill Lonzo. Not that it matters to me.”

“Watch your fucking mouth!! You two do what you need to, I’ll be fine.”

In that instance the two of them darted off in opposite directions, trying their hardest to get out of the smoke. But… the interesting thing was it took them both back to where Lonzo was.

“What the FUCK!?” Anna yelled as her body started shaking with anger and a bit of fear.

SLICE!!

Anna’s eyes widened as she let her guard down when she swore and the woman struck. The sharp knife was seen slicing behind the demon’s calf, deep enough for the blood to continuously run.

Anna tried to counterattack, but her foe was gone the moment she swung her fist. Angered she swore before clutching her wound and lowering herself to her knee.

Niflheim’s Kingdom

Hana’s trusted and only ability was Niflheim’s kingdom. Humans were severely weaker than demons and in order to counter this she decided to be as resourceful as she possibly could.

This ability allows her to create a never-ending mist that captures its prey keeping them stuck within it. No matter how hard they try to leave they are bound by this space. And while in this space Hana can move freely as she pleases.

Her presence is completely hidden and even Terios cannot sense her unless she materializes herself. Because of this, she is free to attack and disappear as she pleases without any consequences.

STAB, STAB.

SLICE, SLICE.

She continued to attack ruthlessly at Anna and Lonzo. Stabbing the male’s knee, front, and side, and slicing at the woman’s ankle and neck. Thankfully the neck wound wasn’t deep enough to be entirely fatal.

“Hey! Is anyone gonna say something!?” Anna yelled.

Terios and Lonzo were quiet.

“If this keeps up… we’re going to fucking die!!”

Once again silence.

“I… I’m not going to die like this! Fuck that!!”

“Stop your BITCHING!

“What did you say asshole!?”

“Hunters often fight using cheap tricks. What did you notice when she attacked?”

“That she was fucking us up!”

“Terios, did you notice?”

“Yeah. Most of her attacks are planned very carefully. She only strikes when we weaken our Either.”

“Nice. Everyone has a limit to manipulating Either. The energy that surrounds us. We can use it to protect from almost anything, but that takes energy. It takes energy to summon it and it takes more energy to guard against something.”

“Right.” Terios added.

“Since she waits for us to drop our guards it means she’s not confident in her weapons. I purposely let my guard down the first few times she shot me. My hunch is she only has a few rounds left.”

“Ok, so what!?” Anna sighed. “We can’t do shit back to her!”

“So, it means this wasn’t planned. She wasn’t watching our movements from the beginning. She only got lucky and was able to shield herself from my attack. Terios has a nasty habit of making a scene, so it can’t be helped.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we can’t hurt her!”

“Are you that scared, Anna? Boo-hoo. Always analyze your surroundings. She only attacks when we want her to. She’s taking advantage of how dysfunctional we are. Also, did you notice?”

“Notice what!?”

“She doesn’t want to attack Terios. Why is that?”

“She knows he’s the weakest out of us.”

“Wrong! It’s because she knows he’s not a demon and because she knows he can sense her. That’s what I believe and I’m rolling with it.”

“I get it.” Terios chimed in.

I’m the only one who can attack. So I’m the only one who can kill her instantly.

“Took you long enough.”

“Get what!?” Anna growled.

“At least you aren’t entirely hopeless like some people.”

“I never wanted to do all of this fighting shit.”

“We need to finish her off quickly. Hunters always hunt in pairs of even numbers. Highest I’ve seen was six. Let’s assume the worst-case scenario. She has five other people on their way to kill us.” Lonzo was usually cheerful and excited, but his voice reflected the gravity of the situation. He was dead serious.

Terios who wasn’t showing any expression at the time remained expressionless. Anna on the other hand narrowed her face as she swore under her breath.

“We will kill her right here. In one move and then we will get the fuck out of dodge. It’s not worth staying around to fight.”

“What’s the plan?” Kain asked bluntly.

“Anna. Lower your guard when you hear me get her riled up.”

“Why do I have to do it?”

“Trust me, ok? Terios will stop her before anything happens to you and I’ll rush to kill her if he can’t get the job done. You hate killing unless you absolutely have to, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Ok then, stop complaining. Terios! I’m counting on you.”

Terios nods.

“Here goes…” Lonzo soon took a deep breath before he yelled at the top of his lungs! “YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU’RE GOING TO PAY! We have hostages and I’ll kill them all if you don’t show your face! You have until the count of three!”

“One!”

Extending my aura.

“Two!”

In a straight line… if she spawns by Anna, I’ll enter her mind!

“Three!”

Anna dropped her guard completely… leaving herself open to any kind of attack. Kain was prepared for Hana to appear somewhere near Anna’s location. He was hoping, but instead.

She spawned by me!?

She appeared behind him… from the fog. The moment she appeared he could sense her presence even with his aura being extended toward Anna. He was very intuitive this way.

She thinks I can’t see her, but that’s her mistake!

He quickly turned around and held out his hand! He was going to fire off his aura at her and enter her mind… but she was aiming for the kill shot!

She held her handgun directly at his forehead. Surprising the Genome as she pulled the trigger.

BANG!!

“That was my last bullet… I didn’t want to kill you, but anything to move the odds in our favor. Sorry.”

“Lonzo!! What did you do!?” Anna cried out!

Lonzo gasped as he stared at Hana and then Terios. She played him… he didn’t know she could be this ruthless.

Link established.

“Wait…” Hana gasped.

He wasn’t a demon. But his reaction time was just as fast. Stopping the bullet before it penetrated his skull was no problem. Normally he had an easier time entering someone’s mind with direct contact, but he had to settle for this.

However, it was weak and he knew she’d be able to break it with ease.

As he poured through her consciousness he could see memories… images… of her and her husband. They were happy. They loved each other… but then he saw that they had a daughter. She was cute… but she died.

That day we lost our daughter.

She was killed by Belial’s army.

After that day we vowed to kill every single demon no matt-

This isn’t me. These are not my THOUGHTS!

The sound of glass breaking could be heard as the two came back into reality. Hana did what anyone should do in this situation. Increase the output of aura to overcome Kain’s. That is what it takes to break his mind control.

My Either output is still weak. Fuck!

It looked like they missed their chance… but… before anything else happened, Lonzo dashed over toward Hana and delivered a gut-wrenching punch!

It sent her flying through the smog, cracked a few of her bones, and caused blood mixed with spit to fly out of her mouth. She winced in pain as her face contorted in agony as she disappeared.

“That felt so good. She lowered her guard after she broke your technique. She must be running on E. Humans don’t have a large amount of stamina for Either, Terios. She’s finished.”

Soon the fog lifted, revealing the streets and area that was once blocked. Hana could be seen in front of them, holding her wound as she panted and gasped.

She soon fell to her knees as she cried out in pain. “Fuck!! That punch did more damage than I expected…! I… can’t breathe…!” She struggled to catch her breath and soon she realized… she was back where she started.

Lonzo’s Either was insidious. It was vile and it was evil.

“Nothing pleases me more than killing hunters like you. I despise you a lot.”

“You shouldn’t exist!”

“I can say the same for you. Now prepare to DIE!!!” His Either intensified and he lunged at the woman, moving like a speeding dart.