CHAPTER 12

This was supposed to be just another trip to the market stalls just down the road. He was tasked with getting a couple of kilos of meat, carrots, and green peppers. He must have made this trip hundreds of times before, and the fact that his helicopter of a mom allowed him to do it was a testament to the safety of their little town.

We were having dinner with the Himejima’s today, so I was expected to return to their house instead of ours. Little Akeno is probably running around like a possessed demon by now.

I took a familiar shortcut through a dingy alleyway, and suddenly, I was struck by a sharp pain in the back of my head.

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“Wake up, you little shit.”

A somewhat familiar voice arose me from unconsciousness. I opened my eyes, but my vision was swimming. Everything was blurry and somehow double.

“He is out of it.” Another voice sounded.

A splash of freezing water drenched me. I was definitely awake now. I tried to move and realised that my hands and feet were bound and my mouth gagged. I craned my neck to get a better look at where I was. The scent of old wood and cinnamon was my first clue about where I was. The crackle of the nearby fireplace all but confirmed it. This was the living room of the Himejima’s.

Shuri and Akeno were also bound and positioned just a few feet from me. The former had a pained look and was openly bleeding from an injury to the head, while little Akeno was sobbing.

Pierce and his gang were making themselves comfortable on the sofa and chairs. I tried to voice my frustration, but unintelligible sounds came out.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Pierce gleefully declared. Coward.

“Oi Pierce, check out the rack on that human.” One of the goons pointed towards Shuri’s chest with a perverted look. These were children, for fuck’s sake, and Akeno is right there.

As the sick fucks approached Shuri, who looked more terrified by the second, I discreetly cast a spell to cut my bindings.

“Oh no, you don’t.” A voice sounded behind me, and a strike rattled my skull, interrupting my spell.

Pierce got up from his seat and roughly grabbed me by the hair.

“This is what you get for associating with the chickens, little ‘Callie’. Now watch.” He forced me to look at the scene. His two goons' hands were millimetres away from Shuri. She was the sweetest woman around town and always treated me like family. She was my aunt in all but name. This was the first time the fact that I was not in my world was really hammered into place. This is the underworld, and these are Devils.

I noticed a faint glow coming from underneath her dress. Not a second later, the crack of thunder shakes the house to its foundation. The two boys who were closest to Shuri are thrown back violently. A tall, dark, handsome man appears before Shuri and surveys his surroundings. Twelve prominent black wings reflect the orange hue of the fire. When he sees his wife's state, the blood dripping to the floor, and her dress pulled down her shoulders, his expression turns apoplectic.

He knelt beside them, and a magic circle appeared. The bindings were cut loose, and Shuri’s wounds healed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

“Now, Sleep, my love.” With those words, both mother and child went into a blissful slumber.

He looked back at the now frozen and terrified boys, cracks of golden lightning emanating from his very presence. He did not speak. He did not waste time. One moment, a quartet of boys occupied his living room; the next, massive lightning bolts atomised their existence. A strong smell of ozone and ashes wafted around the house, and that was the only proof that either of them was even there.

He turned towards me. And I just realised that my pants were wet.

“You are the Ipos boy, no?” His deep voice was buttery smooth, even clouded by such rage.

I didn’t know who Ipos was, but I almost cracked my neck by how fast I nodded nonetheless.

“I will take you to your mother.” That was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

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I remember being gingerly put in bed. My mother looked sad, and I definitely remember her words as I fell into a slumber.

“Actions have consequences Callen…… Even with the best intentions.”

I woke up on my bed the following day, and I noticed that I had a silver necklace that was not there before. I went to my mom, and she just said that I fell yesterday, and the necklace was a gift from her, and I should always wear it.

I went around town, looking for proof that what I witnessed was real. No one remembers Pierce and his gang, not even their parents. Maybe it was a bad dream, after all?