The Amalgamation Of Two Worlds

** Damon’s POV **

Okay, this was just stupid. Tedious. How dumb could they get? How spineless could they get? They were idiots. And I wasn’t going to stand there while they “discussed” this new problem. New? Heck, we just left. We just started to go after them, and we were already stopping. If they were going to stop for every little thing, we weren’t going to get anywhere.

My patience, what little there is, snapped. Enough was enough. I walked towards the direction they kept sending their glances to. It’s not like it was a doubling over feeling, so it wasn’t that bad. I could put two and two together, but I was beginning to think they couldn’t. How hard was it to walk over to the sense of danger, and eliminate it?

They were too preoccupied to notice, which I suppose was for the best. It’s not like I would have stopped if they asked me to, for I didn’t take orders from anyone. But it would just add another notch to my on-growing anger. It wasn’t at the dangerous boiling point yet, but it was getting close.

I pushed some branches aside, heading into the thicker section of the forest. I could feel it now. I could feel the darkness it emitted, the coldness, and I could feel the knot in my gut. I may not be part Clave, but my gut is usually right. I edged on, only now with more caution. I was a fighter, a warrior... but I wasn’t stupid. It was dangerous. It was lethal, and damn, it was going to be fun.

Obviously it was a spy from The Demonio. I mean, what else would be stalking and watching us? What else would send Hayden a sense of dread? Once again, it didn’t take much to put two and two together.

The instinct to duck came immediately, and I followed the compulsion. A dark figure hurled itself over my head, almost slamming into a tree. It quickly righted itself before releasing a low snarl. Great. There goes my fun. It may still be tough to kill, but I was hoping for more of a challenge. Maybe more than one... maybe more than an amateur. I didn’t know much of The Demonio, but I figured the markings on their faces stood for their positions, and the thing that was in front of me was definitely a newb. If his thoughtless actions hadn’t given it away, the thinner scar, and the lack of black around the eyes would have. This thing was a mere pup. Still, it was a demon, a well trained demon, so it would be fun.

I took position and smiled. The thing hissed again and leaped. I shoulder rolled to the side, catching it off guard. It slammed into the tree that was once behind me, before spinning around, angry growls now radiating off him. And here I thought I had a temper. I smiled wider; tauntingly. It launched again, and this time, I met it head on. There was a loud clash as our bodies slammed into one another, both falling to the ground. I jammed my elbow downward, catching its throat. A hiss escaped and it kicked up. I slammed my other arm down, ignoring the now clawing hands. My hand went straight through its throat, and ignoring its screams of agony, I pulled up. Easy Peasy.

Well, that sucked. It wasn’t even a bit challenging. Its body still twitched underneath me as I stood, the head still on my hand. Huh. Maybe they weren’t so tough. Or maybe this one was younger than I originally thought. Who knew?

I kept a hold on the head and walked away. I could still hear Hayden’s and Mackenzie’s voices, arguing. I was beginning to think maybe I would be better off on my own.

I pushed the trees aside and stepped out. They were still too condensed in their conversation to notice me. That was fine and dandy. Once I was close enough, I tossed the head.

“Hayden.” He turned, catching the head instinctively. His eyes snapped downward, and in that moment, I learned something; Hayden had a foul mouth at times. Curses left him as he dropped the head, jumping back. “That the cause of your feeling?” He looked back at me, shock and disbelief on his face. He didn’t say anything, but Mackenzie broke the silence by throwing his head back and full out laughing.

I found it rather amusing. No one else did.

Mackenzie was pacing, Hayden was pinching the bridge of his nose, his head dipped, and his other hand clenched. The others were either whispering quietly amongst themselves or sharpening their weapons. All, however, had faces of fear. Zenon was even looking paler than usual, and the kid, Brale, had went as white as a ghost. So basically, I was the only brave one. Or the only stupid one... depended on how you looked at it.

“Hayden, what do you feel?” At this Hayden looked up, and I only then noticed the strain on his face. Ahh. So it wasn’t fear that had him hiding his face, but a feeling.

“Lots.” Well that sure narrowed it down.

“I don’t see why this matters,” I said, earning both of their attention. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they’re going to do up there.”

“I know that.” Murmured Hayden. Never angry, never short. The perfect little angel. “But this is... different. I thought the severity of the other feelings were bad, but this... this is somehow worse. It doesn’t go away. It’s constant... always lingering, always there.”

“And what’re we going to do about it? Sit around and discuss our feelings?” My voice was laced with scorn. I expected some sort of angry reaction, but instead, I got a calm one from Mackenzie.

“We, the Zaccur, don’t like having casualties. Everyone here is family. We help and do what we can, and we’re going to try our hardest to stop this, but we’re not going to rush in and lose our own men. This has to be planned.” Stupid. Utterly stupid.

“One problem with that; they’re ahead of you. If they’re already one step ahead of you, you’re not going to catch up unless you take a shortcut. Do you think I don’t know this? I went against the king. The trick to that was doing the unexpected, and always being one step ahead. If they’re up on Earth, we go. If they’re revealing themselves, we reveal ourselves. You don’t get it. To beat them, you have to be on the same playing field. You have to sink to their thoughts, their patterns, to stop them. Playing nice, taking your time, saving everyone who gets in the way, will only put you leagues behind them. What’s worse? A couple hundred, or thousand, deaths due to The Demonio, or them having complete control of Earth?” No one answered, and I’m sure they were all thinking the same thing. It was there fault, our fault. We didn’t beat them, or even catch them, to the end. The Demonio were now, unfortunately, loose out of The Dark Lands.

** Audrey’s POV **

I shoved a sweater in the bag. I tore it back out. A blanket went in next. And it was pulled out just as quick.

Why was this so hard?! Food, clothes, and warmth. Those should be my top priority, but why couldn’t I bring myself to actually do it? Was I having a sudden conscious attack about leaving my therapist? Or maybe I thought the man was actually nice. Or maybe it was the fact that when I looked out my window, I could see them down there; not even bothering to hide. He wanted me to know, to know they were everywhere, waiting for me to try something. And that was exactly what I was doing. I couldn’t give them what they wanted, but that didn’t mean I was staying. It just meant I had to re-think it all. I had two days, and I would use them both.

Now, the award winning question was what to do. Run away like a coward, or figure what the hell was going on. That man was not into abiding by the law, so obviously he wasn’t sent from my doctor or therapist. So if that was the case, why would he want to know about my dreams? I hardly saw him as a renegade doctor or scientist bent out on helping people with problems. That description just didn’t suit him. So, for whatever reason he wanted to know, it wasn’t good. But why? Why?!

I let out a breath, falling back on my bed. My mind was racing too fast. I had to stop, to clear it out, to just think.

Darkness originally met my eyes, but it soon swirled. The image had plucked out of my thoughts. This was what I was most confused about. What I desperately wanted to know. If I could know just this, I would be much happier. If I could figure it out... maybe everything would click. Maybe, just maybe, figuring this out would be the key to unlocking everything.

His dark face stared out at me in my mind. Dark hair framing his chiselled face, with high cheek bones holding an air of masculinity. His eyes were dark depths, seeming to hold an abundance of anger. His face itself held the expression of amused annoyance.

Only one thought was now racing through my mind; who are you?