The Demon Hunters, as they've decided to dub themselves, were on the public bus driving to Eyra. They had all huddled in the furthest corner of the vehicle and sat hunched together whispering the beginnings of a plan.

"Ok, so we sneak through the back door and we run around until we find the book, that's the plan?" Daxelle asked.

"Technically, Adahlia should know her way around so we're not completely hopeless," Avanth added.

"Wow, what a wonderful point. It's not as if we don't know where the hecking book is," Daxelle said sourly, sarcasm dripping off every word. Avanth rolled his eyes and slumped back into the back row of the bus. 

He blew the stray hairs off his forehead, "We'll figure it out."

"Yeah, after we're dead. I've heard the underworld gives a lot of time for self-pondering," Daxelle followed suit and leaned backward, tilting her face up at the ceiling of the bus to release a deep breath. 

Everyone else's mind was elsewhere, Zadyn preferring to think in peace, Iaelie murmuring nonsense, and Adahlia just straight up not feeling like participating.

After the librarian had whispered the sacred name of the book that holds the information they need, Avanth immediately asked her about the book she stole from the museum before she could shush him. Of course, Zadyn knew she was part of the Night Slayers cult so everything was pieced together and now she was heading back to the people she despised.

She had no idea why Crescent had asked her to steal the Demon Spell, but she knew the general area where the book would be stored. Crescent wouldn't dare let anyone else near it before the meeting with the Night Slayer heads in a month so it would be in her quarters.

The problem was that she owned four different rooms for four different purposes. One room for sleeping, one room that worked as an office, one room for personal entertainment, and the other room's purpose was never specified but it was rumored that the final room was where Crescent met with her lovers.

That was probably just gossip, Crescent had never seemed like the type.

Zadyn glanced over at her, his eyes unreadable. "Do you know who has the book?"

Adahlia itched under the attention of everyone around her. "Um, probably Crescent."

Daxelle cocked her head, "Who?" 

Fidgeting, Adahlia explained the hierarchy of the Night Slayers, how they worked, what their purpose was, where their main hideout was—everything needed to know for this heist to succeed.

It was ironic, wasn't it? Adahlia was going back to steal something she had stolen before.

"How are you even associated with the Night Slayers?" Daxelle asked in a hushed voice. With a swift glance around the bus, she made sure no one heard before continuing, possibly knowing the consequences of using the infamous cults' name. "Even from where I'm from, I've heard faint whispers of their name."

In the barest of details, Adahlia explained. "When I was ten, I was recruited by Crescent herself because of some . . . issues I had with my family. From there, I just trained with the others and learned how to fight and ki—basic fighting skills, I mean. Crescent sent me and Zadyn to Gwydion because of our views on the attacks."

"Wait, Zadyn was in the Night Slayers too?" Daxelle asked, confusion plain on her face.

"No, he was just there that day because of an attack. He was brought in and yeah. I met him only a few days before you guys did," Adahlia explained.

Avanth's eyes shot up, "Really? I thought you guys were like childhood best friends or something."

Adahlia shook her head, "No, we met that day because of . . ." She glanced at Zadyn midsentence, making sure whatever she was about to say was alright with him.

"I survived one of the attacks and when Crescent found out, she brought me in to ask me questions and stuff," Zadyn finished for her.

"You survived an attack?" Daxelle asked. There was a mixture of shock, awe, and fear on her face. Zadyn just nodded his answer, no more words for him to share as he stared out the window. His eyes were trained on the flashing scenery outside, but they were unfocused.

"Wait, if Crescent sent you to Gwydion, wouldn't you still be in the cult?" Daxelle asked, a tad too loudly because a few heads turned their way. She quickly amended, "Wouldn't you still be in the cow, I mean. Because Gwydion is a cow—not that you were—ohmygods."

Iaelie, who had tuned in on the conversation at the word cow looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or not. In the end, she decided that a little chuckle would break the awkward silence. "Oh, Dax, you're too funny. Crescent sent Lia to Gwymshire, the city by the coast."

Daxelle threw Iaelie a thankful glance before nervously laughing, "Oh, silly me."

Adahlia waited a few seconds before responding, "Yeah, I'm still in the cult." She had lowered her voice as the sentence left her mouth so the word cult was barely a whisper. Only anyone with fae hearing would be able to understand her words.

"Shit, I don't know if this is a good thing or not," Iaelie muttered.

"I mean, Adahlia would be able to get inside the headquarters," Daxelle offered.

"True, but she's not supposed to be back," Iaelie contradicted.

"Oh, you're right." Daxelle looked torn and she eventually sighed, the few strands of hair in front of her face blowing up. "We'll have to hide her then, and if we're caught we can like, I don't know, say we kidnapped her or something."

Iaelie's eyes widened, "We could just say she came home early."

"That works too," Daxelle said sheepishly.

"What if they don't believe us?" Avanth asked.

"Run," Iaelie said simply. Avanth nodded and they spent the rest of the bus ride going over their plan over and over again, adding in details and finalizing certain things. And going over what-if scenarios as well, of course.

Because any what-ifs can happen and they would have to be prepared as this book single-handedly probably is the most important thing that would pass into their lives.

. . .

Adahlia stood crouched behind an old maple tree in front of the Weary Theatre, also known as the Night Slayers' headquarters. The small theatre was the result of the mayor of Eyra deciding that his town should have more entertainment places. But after a fall into debt, the construction project for the Weary Theatre was halted and never continued, even after their charges were paid.

The Night Slayers had just moved in and called the theatre their home and that was that.

Outside, the Weary Theatre seemed average, below average even. The wall skeleton was showing through in some places where the plaster wasn't applied and gave the building a dingy look. The untiled roof was in rather good shape despite the half-completed wooden beams and the slits where the panels of metal met letting the natural elements through.

The interior, however, had been remodeled to look high-tech and cool.

From the hallways Adahlia had explored, she knew every wall was painted a blinding pearlescent and every room decorated with random knick-knacks from around the world.

It was a rather chaotic hideout, but that's what made Adahlia love it so much.

She ducked behind the large trunk of the tree as she caught the security cameras swiveling her way. Her hands clenched the bark as she shook from the fact of being back here again, where so many good yet very bad things had happened.

"Ok, there's an underground entrance, but everything besides the main door is heavily guarded," Adahlia whispered.

"Why is only the main door left unguarded? Shouldn't that be their top priority?" Iaelie asked.

"Have you ever heard of a robber who enters through the front door? They all sneak in from the back or the chimney like Santa," Adahlia countered.

"Ok, fine, Crescent has a point," Iaelie muttered.

"So, we just walk in there?" Daxelle asked. Adahlia nodded and pointed at the security camera, "When it rotates, we run." Everyone nodded and waited for the whir of machinery from the camera to sound. 

When the camera mounted on the wall started turning towards the corner of the street, they all sprinted towards the door, their fae speed aiding them along and within three seconds, they were out of the shadow of the giant tree, across the street, and into the building hiding behind the pile of wood.

Adahlia slowly crawled to the edge of the wood and peeked out, making sure any security devices weren't pointed at them before instructing them how to move to keep out of the camera's range.

"Just waddle towards the doorwa—" she started.

"Waddle?" Daxelle hissed. "No way."

"Just fricking waddle," Adahlia shot back and started for the hallway leading into the entrance of the actual hideout.

She heard the soft thuds of the others following behind her and hoped that the sound security didn't pick up on the faint sounds. When they were all up and before the metal door leading to the Night Slayers, Adahlia gave them a final warning.

"If you look as if you belong, they'll buy it. Mostly everyone here has no brains and only knows how to fight and be intimidating. They don't know every member, so just strut or something."

"Now strutting, that I can do," Daxelle whispered under her breath before straightening her back and tilting her chin upward. She held her dignified posture as Adahlia punched in the code to unlock the heavy double doors.

When the familiar beeping noise of the lock being undone sounded, she shoved against the metal and the door swung open.

They all walked with a stiff back, strutting towards the far end of the hallway where they would take the stairs up to the fourth floor—Crescent's floor. There was a lesser chance of bumping into anybody if they took the unused stairs.

After eight flights of steps, they found themselves at the beginning of a dark hallway. They all immediately slumped into their normal posture, a slight breath escaping as well. 

Adahlia had never been on Crescent's floor. It was strictly off-limits. She kind of sees why. 

The dark hallway was adorned with faintly flickering candles, the golden sconce illuminated and dripping hot wax onto the dark wood floor. A deep ruby-colored carpet was rolled out along the length of the hallway, leading them all directly to a door left ajar. 

They crept towards the dark room, an eerie presence seeming to peek over their shoulders.

But besides the fact of the dark smoke swirling up from the candles lining the hallway, there was another type of chill in the air. It was like a haunting song, its melody winding around the group of five, singing a chilling tune for them all to hear—luring them away or towards something.

None of them dared to speak a word or make a single noise. Instead, Iaelie shivered and pointed into the room at the end of the hallway. That way, then.

As they neared the room, the song grew louder in volume, the shell of the music windswept.

The lyrics were still indecipherable. 

Adahlia jumped when the echoes of a laughing bunch from the floor below floated to them in front of the door now. Next to the door, a tall candle burned proudly and didn't flicker once as Adahlia lifted the sconce by the handle and brought it into the room with them.

The dim light of the candle illuminated the small room. A four-poster bed sat tucked into the corner of the space—the only actual piece of furniture in the room. 

They didn't give it much heed, however, because at the opposite end of the room, the Demon Spell sat atop a raised podium.

They inched closer to the book, a new type of silence blanketing them as the haunting song faded away.

Adahlia nearly had a heart attack finding the book opened as if someone had been peeking through its pages. She drew closer and found the pages black. She released a breath but stiffened when the sound was echoed from the bed.

Adahlia lifted her shaking hand and let the candle softly light up the lump covered in blankets in the middle of the large bed.

She felt a warm hand reach for hers and squeeze. She held the hand tightly and quietly shut the book.

The song came back and tripled in volume, the sound piercing. The individual syllables made were clear now, and it was not in any language she knew, and yet somehow, she understood every word.

Fly back to your safe home,

For you will not survive the demon roam.

Cry and mourn for those you haven't lost

As a monster from nightmares takes and grieves—

Adahlia tucked the book into her shirt, the song suddenly muffled. She held the book close to her stomach and ducked out of the room, the rest of them following behind.

When they all made it to the second platform above the first floor of the hideout, it was like the mental grip that their anxiety had on all of them slipped.

"Oh my fricking gods," Daxelle muttered, breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide and her breaths uneven.

"Can we like run out of here please," Avanth said, shuddering and taking a step away from Adahlia, eyeing the bulge of the book.

"How do we hide this?" Adahlia asked, out-of-breath as well. It had nothing to do with physical exertion, however, but it was the result of her anxiety spiking. They had gotten the book—which was strangely easy—but now they had to get it out, without detection from anyone.

The outline of the book was clear through her black t-shirt and none of them had thought to wear a jacket to hide the book in.

"Maybe we could . . . ok does anyone have a piece of clothing they can take off?" Daxelle asked. Avanth eyed her suspiciously, but none of them had anything on besides a pair of pants and a plain top. "Not in a weird way or anything, I have an idea."

Zadyn shakily raised his hand, "I could . . . take off my shirt?" His offer was whispered, clearly uncomfortable with this prospect.

Daxelle paused, "You don't have to if you don't want to. It was a stupid idea. Plus a top-less person would also attract attention. Never mind, ignore me."

"No, it's fine. If you have an idea, I'll do it," Zadyn offered.

"Are you sure?" Daxelle asked. He nodded his confirmation.

In a matter of minutes, the Demon Spell was wrapped in Zadyn's shirt and placed under Daxelle's shirt to act as stomach fat. The soft material of the shirt was folded in a way to conceal the hard edges of the book and passable for skin.

"I look pregnant," Daxelle said flatly. Something dark hovered in her eyes, but it was quickly shaken away. "Ok, this is good. Good, good, good. Thanks for your shirt, Zadyn."

He nodded and crossed his arms, though that did little to cover the scars peppering his torso. No one made a remark on it, however.

They continued down the last flight of stairs and composed themselves to look somewhat relaxed and cocky. 

No one dared breathe too loudly as they skirted around groups of people who suddenly appeared in the lobby. Some stared at them, especially Zadyn, but it had nothing to do with his shirtless state.

He looked regal, like the leader of this impromptu group, and like a natural leader, people were just drawn to them.

They continued down the room and when they shoved the doors wide open, their dramatic exit covered the slight shaking of all their bodies. They tried their best to saunter away as the doors closed behind them. When the rattling thud of the doors shutting shocked them from their stiff pose, they all breathed a huff of relief.

"I can't believe it! The book was literally right there. No maneuvering, no scamming, no killing, just stealing," Adahlia remarked, incredulous.

"Killing?" Iaelie asked.

Adahlia froze and nodded stiffly.

"You're right, Lia! Like, we just went in and took it, no trouble at all," Daxelle intervened, trying to soften Adahlia's posture. It kind of worked, her shoulder dropped by a fraction, her steps less brisk.

At that point, they were already on the sidewalk having run past the watching cameras in a brief flash.

They were just turning the corner when Adahlia stiffened all over again. Avanth opened his mouth to ask about it when he saw the girl walking toward them. She was around the same age as them, her steps unhurried, hips swishing with each move closer.

Dressed in light clothes and a light tone of hair in the midday sun, nothing was imposing about her, except for the furious expression carved into her face.

And it was fixed directly on Adahlia.

"Hello, Asteria," the girl snarled.

"Hello, Eclipse," she returned.

[ if you would like me to remove the part about zadyn's shirtlessness, you can just comment it and will be gone—disappeared—poof ]

[ I would also just like to add that I never edit my chapters because at the point, I just don't feel like it, so if you find a spelling error or a grammatical mistake, you can just comment and I'll fix it :) ]

april 21 2022
𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖍𝖊𝖊, 𝐁𝐚𝐢
© azalyme ₂₀₂₂