Eevie
Being the one not in the forefront was a weird experience. While Elena dreamt, I could wander her dream and either interact with her or keep in the distance. Dreamland was fun in its own way. She dreamed of dark places, and I was stuck wandering streets and alleyways.
When Elena woke up, I was pulled out of the current street I was walking down to staring at the wall. It' always interesting watching Elena go through the motions of stretching and yawning but for myself not to be doing any of those things. It was like watching TV, only I could talk to the TV and the TV could answer. I just wasn't in control of the remote.
Good morning, I finally spoke.
Elena, startled, gave out a small squeal. Her roommate, Alexa, was already up and changing into jeans and a T-shirt. She turned and gave Elena a look. "Are you okay?" Alexa asked.
Elena nodded, "Uh, ya. Just thought I saw a bug," she laughed halfheartedly, running a hand through knotted and tangled hair. "But it was a weird speck on the wall." Thanks for giving me a heart attack
What was I supposed to do? Clear my throat first? I asked.
Alexa chuckled as she started brushing her hair, "So you got in late last night. How was the meeting thing you went to?"
Elena made a show of shrugging her shoulders as she hopped out of bed. "The chess club was trying to recruit me." Opening up her bottom drawer, Elena took out a pair of short shorts.
"The chess club?" Alexa asked incredulously. She stopped mid brush. "Kind of weird for them, isn't it?"
Elena played along. "It really was. I turned them down of course. I may be smart, but I'm not that big of a nerd." Shimming out of her pajama bottoms, she hurriedly pulled on the shorts and started sorting through her shirts hanging in the closet before finally settling on a yellow halter top.
Alexa shrugged, "Huh, well, I'm sure there are less nerdy activities you can join." She put down her brush and started pulling her hair back into a messy bun.
"What activities are you going to sign up for?" Elena asked as she started brushing her own hair.
"Intramurals for sure. Maybe Spanish Club. I used to be decent in high school. I don't know. I was going to go to the activities fair and see what they all offered here. What about you?" Alexa went to her desk and started grabbing her keys and unplugged her cellphone now that it was fully charged, shoving both in her pockets.
Elena put the brush down and turned to Alexa, "I hadn't quite decided. I was also going to go to the activities fair later. Meet you there?"
Alexa nodded, "Sounds good. I have plans to meet up with a couple friends for breakfast, but we can meet up later. You have my number. Text me." With that, she was out the door, shutting it quietly behind her.
It's so hard staying quiet when you talk to her, I told Elena. I'm not used to having to be quiet.
Well, you better get used to it. I may have signed on to fight bad demons or whatever, but I still want a life, with friends. I want to be able to do things and focus and not have to worry about the voice in my head. Elena was braiding her hair into a long side braid.
I want to go to a human college party. I think that sounds like so much fun.
I am not here at this college to party!
What about meeting boys? I asked with amusement in my voice.
Of course not! I'm here to learn! She insisted.
Oh, that's right, you already have Noel. I could feel her face go hot and red at that. You don't need to play the field for more boys. But if you let me switch, I can go to parties and pick up human jocks. They may not be the smartest apples on the tree, but they certainly are the most defined. Yummy.
You can't just switch with me to go to parties! She was slipping on a pair of ankle boots.
Of course I can. And I'd become more popular in one night than you could ever be your entire college career!
Of that I have no doubt, Elena relented. But I don't want to have to live in your shadow the entire time I'm here!
Ya, ya. So where are we going this morning? I asked as she had grabbed her things and was locking the door behind her.
I was going to go buy the last textbook I need from the bookstore and then do some reading before lunch with Noel. Our orientation group is getting together this afternoon. So I have the morning free.
Good, because we're going to get sidetracked for a little bit. I told her.
What do you mean? she asked, puzzled, but she kept walking down the stairwell and headed out of the dorm towards the commons.
Go down the sidewalk to your left. Now veer off towards that science building over there. Now go behind it. Keep your eyes open. I instructed, having sensed the demon from the dorm room.
Elena did as I instructed, and as soon as she got behind the building and away from prying eyes, she noticed a demon sucking the soul out of a student who happened to be sitting under a tree reading. The student looked to be in pain, but because he couldn't see the demon, I was sure he just thought he had a terrible migraine.
Elena, switch with me. I can save the human. But you have to relinquish control and let me take over.
Doing as I said, I could feel Elena concentrating hard on doing what I said, and I tapped her on the shoulder I was switched into the front and emerged as myself once more.
"Yes," I said aloud, relishing moving my own limbs of my own free will again. While I didn't mind being passive, I didn't like feeling as though I couldn't move when I wanted to. The pros and cons.
With a flick of my wrist, I moved the human away from the demon, plopping the boy down behind me. He had been lost consciousness a couple minutes ago from the pain of one's soul being wretched out of them. The demon was non too happy I had snatched his meal from him. But I was looking to stretch my muscles, so I didn't mind taking my time beating the shit out of him.
This demon was a low level carrier demon, feeding off of the weak. This poor human was sick and vulnerable. The soul couldn't have tasted as good as a fresh, strong soul, but it was better than nothing when you were hungry. The demon looked like a cross between a crow and and a monkey. The face of a bird, the body of a monkey but with wings.
Take notes, Elena. That is a scavenger demon. IT feeds on the weak humans, the vulnerable ones. But they are pretty weak on the demon scale.
I stepped forward and watched as the demon took flight and starting flying at me. Clearly this demon didn't know who I was. I was three times older than it was thus at least that much stronger than it. I narrowed my eyes and conjured water to form around its wings and freeze. Without being able to use its wings, it fell back to the earth and made a horrible, painful cry as it tried to crawl away from me, but I flicked my wrists and watched as I broke its neck.
It lay motionless on the ground, but for good measure, I reached down and thrust my hand into its chest and ripped out its heart, the entire body and heart disintegrated in front of me. Flexing my blood stained fingers, I relished in this. I enjoyed the kill. The hunt. All of it. This was my nature.
Elena
I had just witnessed Evelyn just kill the first demon I had seen outside of the council last night. The demon was a grotesque version of those flying monkeys you see in the Wizard of Oz, except their faces were more bird like. But Eevie had taken care of the creature like it was nothing. Her heart rate only shot up with the adrenaline when she first switched with me. Otherwise, she was completely calm.
That was easy for you, I mused. She almost seemed to enjoy it, but I decided not to comment on it because I wasn't sure I'd like her response.
Yes. I am over 300 years old noble demon. There's a hierarchy of sorts in the demon world. Evelyn explained patiently. Nobles are by far the strongest of the demons. They wouldn't maintain their station if it wasn't the case. The older you are, the longer you have to hone your skills. So because I have been born in a pure blood demon noble's line, I was already going to have a bump in my stats compared to the scavenger demon I just dispatched. But because this one was relatively young, I had him on years as well. He never even stood a chance.
Are you one of the strongest demons? I asked, impressed by what she had just told me. It was good to know I had bonded with a strong demon.
Goodness, no. I am upper average, I'd say. I can handle myself in most fights, but I am not very old in demon years. I suppose for a human, I'd be like in my twenties. There are many older demons than I. But not very many have a higher station than I. Now, if we were to run into evil, noble demon, we might be in trouble.
Good to know. And you can tell what station a demon is just by looking at them?
Not always, but most of the time, yes. Just like you'd be able to tell the higher class from the middle class from the lower class, so too can demons do the same among our own. It will take practice, but eventually, you will be able to, as well.
I turned and looked at the poor boy still laying unconscious on the ground. And what about him? Will he be okay?
In time. He lost little pieces of his soul, but hopefully not enough to alter his personality. He'll wake up and think it was his sickness that led to it. I'll move him back under the tree so he thinks he fell asleep. Eevie moved the boy with her mind, her hand guiding where he went. She propped him back against thetree as though he really had been sleeping.
With that she turned and started heading back to the green. We should probably switch back, people are going to wonder about my horns.
I concentrated about taking control again and when I opened my eyes, I was me again. In time, it'll be easier to do that. And we're going to have to set aside time to practice our switches. And when we get good with that, we can practice switching consciousnesses without switching bodies.
That sounded kind of cool, but I didn't comment as I hurried back towards the green in front of the commons. I took out my phone and glanced at the time. It was nearly lunch time. We had wasted about an hour fighting off the demon. It certainly hadn't felt that way. If I wouldn't have slept in, I wouldn't have felt like my entire morning was wasted away. Darn it.
Hurrying, I went and bought my last textbook and shoved it into my backpack as I hurried down to the mailboxes and waited for Noel to show up. I couldn't wait to tell him about battling my first demon.
