Everyone turned to look at him their eyes wide and mouths gaping. “Ah ha, sorry.” Alex said weakly, bowing his head.

The owner blinked, cleared his throat, and continued introducing the two. “This is Master Juan and his disciple Lei Ling.”

Alex tuned out as the owner started talking about how he had met Master Juan. Chris nudged him.

“What the hell was that?” He whispered.

Alex ran his hand through his hair, not sure what to say. He couldn’t tell Chris that he had seen the disciple the night before battling a demon in the park. “Well, I thought…um, I think I’ve seen that old guy on a TV show, so I was surprised.” He finished lamely.

“Oh, that might be true, but you didn’t have to be so shocked,” Chris said.

“Yeah.” Alex blushed.

People laughed and whispered as they stole glances at him.

“Man that was hilarious! I can’t believe you were so surprised to see him that you yelled. That was priceless. I’m glad I chose you to inhabit. You can be surprisingly entertaining.” Zeltis laughed, and Alex rolled his eyes as they moved to start warm ups. Alex continued to glance at Lei Ling from time to time.

The Chinese master and his disciple demonstrated some forms, and the class followed along.

Chris looked over at Alex a few times. “Man, you're stiff and slow today. You're more clumsy and awkward than last time,” he whispered.

It took Alex a minute to notice that Chris had spoken. “Ah, I’m just distracted and can’t concentrate today.” Alex didn’t know what else to say.

Alex was curious about Lei Ling. Did Master Juan also hunt demons? So many other questions about how Lei Ling might have started hunting and what happened to the woman.  It was frustrating.

More than Lei ling, Alex kept worrying if someone saw him when Zeltis was fighting, what could happen? He had seen Lei Ling and sooner or later someone might see him.  He could be arrested, captured for experiments, or who knows what else.  He remembered how worried Summer had been and only now did the danger really sink in.

They moved from forms to paired practice. He moved mechanically finding it hard to concentrate because of his rampaging thoughts.

What they were practicing was like sparring, but you took turns doing the moves. One person striking, the other blocking with little to no force behind it. Master Juan and other teachers went around correcting the class on their form. Alex got corrected the most.

Luckily Lei Ling was mostly on the other side and didn’t often interact with Alex during the class. Even when they moved to sparring, they didn’t come in contact. Lei Ling sparred with a few higher ranked students from class.  It finally made Alex pay attention.  He watched Lei Ling in fascination.  He looked near Alex's age and yet he was so focused and graceful.

Alex was relieved when he was able to leave, and said goodbye to Chris.

***

Alex was so strung out from his worries that he simply threw his bag to the side, and crashed spread eagle on the bed. He doubted that the Master and disciple would come again to the class but he couldn’t be sure.

“Isn’t there some way to disguise ourselves? If someone saw us…” Alex said out loud and trailed off as he stared at the ceiling.

“Well, this is my first time in the mortal world so I hadn’t thought about it. Our appearance does change like the other demons when we fight but most normal people wouldn’t see that. I suppose we could get a mask.” Zeltis answered in his mind. “Would it matter if someone saw us though?”

Alex jumped to a seated position. “Are you kidding?! Of course it would. You may have powers, but I don’t, so if someone saw you I could get arrested.”

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Zeltis made an odd pause before responding. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right. I do hate inconveniences.”

“A bike helmet would just get in the way while fighting. I have a ski mask you can use for tonight.” Alex got up to rummage in a drawer before pulling out a ratty looking, dark blue ski mask. “It doesn’t look great but it should hide our face enough. You’ll have to be careful though, or it might fall apart on you. I used to ski a lot, so I wore it often. That was a long time ago, back when I was in junior high.”

“You don’t ski anymore?”

Alex sighed, “no, when my teacher had to leave it wasn’t fun anymore.” Dan was a great teacher. He was patient, fun-loving, and challenged Alex to do more, and try harder. Alex had started slow but after a few months had gotten a lot better. Skiing had been one of the few physical things he managed to do well. But, Dan had gotten a great job offer up north somewhere and left.

“Hmm. That’s too bad.” Zeltis said sounding uncomfortable because of the serious atmosphere.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. I have a few hours yet before bed so wait til then to take over; first I want to take a shower.” Alex tossed the mask on the bed.

Once he was clean and dressed, he went to the computer. He had to start on that homework and he might as well start now. He typed in his mother’s name. Alex only knew that because he saw his records. He got a lot of results but was able to narrow things down. It wasn’t easy but he found her obituary and it listed a name of a sister as one of the bereaved.

He had an aunt that he hadn’t met or even heard of! He had thought his father was his only relative left.  He couldn't help being excited. He looked her up and found out that she had a “facebook” page. He read what he could about her and noticed that she lived in the next state over; it should be about a five hour drive. He didn’t know her address or phone number yet, and wondered if she might be in the phone book. He found her name listed, but four people had the same name.

Alex hated talking to people on the phone but he needed to know more about his family. He called each of the four people. The first woman yelled at him saying she didn’t have a sister so to f*** off. The second woman was an old lady, who while she sounded like a nice lady, was not his aunt. For the third number a young kid answered and Alex couldn’t get them to get their parent on the phone. He ended up listening to the kid babble on for at least ten minutes before Alex ended the call. He went on to the last number hoping he wouldn’t have to try the third one again. After about five rings, a woman picked up.

“Hello.” She said.

“Um, is this Sara Warren?” He asked feeling nervous.

“Yes, can I ask who is calling?” She asked back.

“I’m Alex Kent and I was hoping to find my mother’s sister. Her maiden name was Angela Warren.”

It was silent for a moment. “Are you still there?” He continued.

“Yes, are you really Angela’s child?” She sounded slightly husky.

“I am. I’m doing a homework project about my genealogy and needed to learn about my family. I’ve always wanted to know more about my mother since my father doesn’t talk about her. I didn’t even know she had a sister until I saw the obituary.”

“I can’t believe you found my number. I don’t know what to say. I want to meet you.  Could you manage to travel all the way here to philadelphia? The sound of sniffling could be heard through the phone.

“Well it’s a long trip. My house is about five hours away from that city. I suppose I could take a train…It’s a little short notice to drop in on you but it is the weekend so I could make it as early as tomorrow”

“I am worried this could be a scam, so if you can bring your id and birth certificate? I am free so it’s good timing for you to come.”

“That should be fine. I wouldn’t mind staying in a hotel near you.”

“I can’t wait to meet you and talk to you more. What time do you think you will be here?”

“Well, if I get up at six and get to the station at seven for the first train, I should be there by noon.”

“Ok, I will meet you at the station here tomorrow at noon.”

“Thanks, and see you tomorrow.”

“Goodbye”

“Bye,” he finished and ended the call, sitting back in his chair with a relieved sigh.

“Man I was so nervous.” He said to nobody in particular.

“Are you trying to start a conversation with me?” Zeltis chimed in with a dry laugh.

“No, just talking out loud. How long do you think you will be out tonight? I don’t want to be too tired and not make the train.”

“Well, I only sensed a weak demon not too far from here.  I was hoping to find another one once I was out to make up for not getting any yoki last night. I suppose I don’t have to though.”

“Ha wow, so enthusiastic,” Alex said with a laugh.

“No need for the sarcasm, but don’t expect me to be so accommodating too often. It should be you who is more compliant to me, not the other way around.” The last bit was so soft in his mind that he barely caught it and wondered what Zeltis meant. But Zeltis wouldn’t say anything else even when Alex tried asking.

Alex gave up trying to get more information.  He packed his luggage and grabbed his birth certificate from a fireproof box in his room.  The only reason he had it was because he had needed a copy when he got his license.  He set his alarm, trying to relax enough to let himself drift to sleep.