A Fight to the Bitter End: Chapter 8

Chapter  8
We were served cold green teas.

The tea tasted awful and the sofa was too small for the three of us to sit comfortably. Our entertainers weren’t really all that accommodating. They were walking around the room and eating comfortably. The way they acted made the three of us feel like we were invisible.

“So, what were you three doing at that cemetery?”  The question came out of the blue, the taller one wasn’t even looking at our direction when she asked us. The three of us looked at each other and came to an understanding, to let Demi speak for our behalf.

Daniel and I both knew that it wasn’t really the best decision; after all she wasn’t all that impressed with what the two did back in the cemetery. “We were investigating.” Her answer was simple and didn’t reveal the truth about our quest and who we really were. We were afraid that the two of them would pry us with our intention, but to our surprised the two of them started laughing. “That’s the best excuse we have ever heard!” The other one said in between laugher. The three of us were puzzled with what she meant, but we decided to keep quiet about it and not ask any further.

“The three of you certainly got our interest. My name is Katherina Tan, the other girl with the katana is Adeline Vega. The two us are demon hunters. We usually earn about a hundred to a thousand dollars for every single monster we defeat. You three are demigods from Camp half-blood, I presume?” We introduced ourselves one by one. When it was my turn, I sensed a reaction from Adeline. I wonder if she has heard of my name before. When it was Demi’s turn, Katherina laughed it off. “ So that’s why you act all high and mighty. There’s really no helping it huh? It flows in your blood.”

By that time, Demi couldn’t really take it anymore. She stood up and started leaving. Naturally the two of us followed after her. What we did was totally irrational. We have barely enough money to book a hotel room and we have no other place to stay in for the night, but nevertheless anything is better than being insulted all night long.

With no place to stay, Demi told us that it will be better to stay inside a Half-blood safe heaven inside the city. According to old rumors, a rich half-nymph, half-human created a bar named Angels. At first it was meant to piss of the gods by only making the bar limited to half-bloods but after a while it became a safe-haven for those who cannot protect themselves and for those who doesn’t wish to stay at Camp.

“The only catch is, you must never tell them that we’re from Camp. They mostly hate Campers.” I nodded and made a mental note on my head to forget about camp.

When we reach Angels, the bouncer didn’t even glance at us. He immediately let us inside. Once inside, we were greeted with a variety of people with odd circumstances. There were some teenagers with leaves growing out of their skin, and there are also those with horns on the head. It was like a hidden freak show.

A person approached us and asked for our names and how long will we be planning to stay. “I’m Kari Kamiya, this is Demetra Collins and Daniel Mclenia, we’re travelers..umm.. We’re actually planning to stay for the night, if it’s alright with the management.”

A girl from behind, wrapped her arms on my shoulders and laughed at my words, “This girl sure is polite. “The management?” that’s the first time I heard that being spoken around here. So what strange thing brought you this place? I won’t let you stay if you don’t tell me the whole story.”

“We’re seeking revenge.”

The whole turned quiet as Demi’s words left her mouth. “ Woah, girl that’s a big word. What did the three of you sheltered brats encounter to want seeking this thing called revenge, huh?”

This time, I allowed myself to speak for the three of us. I told them fake stories about how our parents were killed by the humans that could turn into monsters. I told them how we barely managed to escape by killing those monsters. As my story got more detailed,  I could not stop the words coming out of my mouth and the more I fabricated lies, the more I felt that they were real.

''“Kari, please don’t forget me. I love you.”''

''“Kari! You have to run!”''

''“I can’t possibly leave you alone! I’ll stay with you!”''

''“Nolan! Take her away! Hurry!”''

By the point that all I could hear were my own cries and tears. The room was spinning out of control and was turning into a different shade. The brightly lit room, was slowly filled with trees from the forest. The loud music from the corner of the room turned to war cries and the next thing I knew was I was standing on top of the hill, yelling like a mad man.

“We should take her to a room. “ I was hearing a bunch of whispers, and a few sentences here and there, but despite how strong the reality tries to tie me down, the past wouldn’t stop resurfacing. The past that I cannot even remember fully was back haunting me.

“Do you wish to remember?”

“I don’t know.”  I repeated those words again and again as I try to drown the different voices that kept on telling me to decide. Using all my energy, I yelled for the nth time, “ I don’t know!”, but the next thing I knew, I was no longer standing on top of a hill, instead I was sitting on a bed.

When I came back to my senses and realize that I was no longer remembering the past, Demi gave a rundown of what happened while I was going mental. Apparently  despite the bar being called a safe heaven, it has a golden rule that in order to stay for the night, one must fight the master of the bar, Zakulin. Since Zakulin wasn’t really happy with the rukus that I caused a while ago, he challenged Daniel to a fist fight, no powers allowed.

“What did you say? Daniel in a fist fight? We got to go and help him!”  I was about to stand up and leave the room, when the door flew open to reveal a scratch less Daniel.”How..did.. what..the..why..”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. Anyhow, we’re allowed to stay here for as long as we want. Zakulin is also willing to gather information about the human-monsters. “  The three of us smiled to ourselves. We were right about leaving those two mad woman and staying here at Angels. Aside from the fact that we actually have a nice decent room, we’re also a step closer to our goal. But as fate would have decide, not everything would go as plan.

The next morning we were all woken up with the sound of a loud thud from the floor below. The three of us quickly dressed and went down to check what happened and we were surprised to see everyone lying on the floor. The scene was gruesome. Some of the bodies were ripped apart and there were a bunch of heads lying on top of the chairs. The headless bodies weren’t given any form of mercy, as they were ripped apart and thrown on another pile of arms and limbs.

The whole scene felt so surreal, that I thought I was having a nightmare. I could taste acid on my mouth as I continue gazing at the pile of headless corpse.

The door flew open and two strangers went inside. From the staircase, I couldn’t see who they were, but from a far, I have already noticed what they were doing, stealing the wallets of the dead. Those people were heartless. Couldn’t they see the condition that the corpse was in? How dare they do something as low as stealing from poor people who weren’t even granted a painless death?

Out of anger, I willed my shadows to form different weapons that would instantly kill those two thieves. But just when they were going to hit them, the shadows were swallowed into the floor and vanish.

“Rule 1, know who your enemies are, My dear sister.” The taller one removed the hood that she was wearing and we were all shocked to see that it was no other than, Adeline Vega.

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