Daegelus | Volume One: Subject 0333

Chapter Thirty-Three | Okaminoou

Jake sat across the table from her and took one of the chocolate bars. "At least we can chill out for a few hours," he said, unwrapping it.

The stewardess pulled the door shut and then walked towards them. "Could you all put your seatbelts on, please?" she asked, and as they did so, she went to the back of the plane.

Elijah stared out the window, watching the trees hurry past as the jet raced along the runway, and once the plane took off, the demon unclipped his seatbelt and slouched back, making himself comfortable. But he knew that sitting in silence would only encourage his mind to overwhelm him with what ifs and whys, so in an attempt to distract himself, he opened both his bags and started transferring the money from the one he took from the mechanics into his own. He then started transferring the ammunition, using his claws to pick up the silver bullets to avoid burning his skin. Once he was done, he moved the crossbow bolts and crossbow into his bag too.

"Where'd you get that?" Jake asked, staring at him from across the aisle.

Ignoring him, Elijah folded up the empty bag and tossed it onto one of the seats. He then browsed through his own bag, checking each of his weapons. The things he'd taken from the mechanics might come in handy once they got over The Ice Wall; he wasn't sure what to expect, so he wanted to be ready—and he was.

The demon leaned back in his seat and exhaled deeply, staring out the window. In every direction, the massive redwood forest stretched as far as he could see, even when the jet moved above the clouds. They'd be in the Citadel in just a few hours, and then he needed to find someone who would fly them to The Spear.

And finally...he'd find Haru.

He wondered, though...why would Lyca Corp. send him to a facility hidden behind an ice wall? A facility in a hidden, unknown part of the world. He knew that Lyca Corp. had to hide their labs underground and disguise them as other facilities, but why would they keep all their locations in this part of the world if they could set up beyond The Ice Wall? Wouldn't it be safer for them out there?

Elijah frowned as he pondered. Could whatever they were doing at The Spear require a place much further away from the Nosferatu's prying eyes? Could The Spear be their main base of operations? Or was it something more sinister? He didn't know, and he wanted to find out, but the only way he'd get answers was by getting there, finding Haru, and searching Lyca Corp.'s servers.

"How did you know that...you loved Haru?" Zoe suddenly asked.

The demon scowled as he turned his head to glare at her. "What?"

She shrugged and looked down at her lap. "Well, you're just...so dedicated. I mean you could've just taken your freedom and fled, found somewhere to start a life, but you're still tangled up in all this Lyca Corp. mess looking for him. You're risking your own life and freedom."

"Yeah, dude," Jake chimed in. "It's pretty obvious."

Elijah snarled quietly and glared out the window.

"I just...wondered how you knew," Zoe mumbled. "What it...felt like or whatever."

With a heavy sigh, Elijah lost his scowl and stared down at the treetops. "I don't know," he answered. Thinking about his life in the lab brought him pain and dismay, but his memories of Haru kept him from slipping into the dark. "When we were locked up in the same room, we didn't really talk much—for weeks, he'd just sit there, and I'd catch him staring at me; it annoyed the fuck out of me. It wasn't until I stuck up for some of the weaker kids; after that, he told me his name and his life story. He clung to me, and all the kids who were afraid of Daniel's little gang followed like sheep. I didn't want to get to know anyone because kids were disappearing every day, going with the doctors and never coming back. But something about Haru just...got to me, I guess."