Enemy Among Us

Chapter 10

Eli

I was requested to stay at Anaiya's house to watch over the princesses so Laney drove us back to her place. We cleaned up as much as we could, trying to make it look like nothing ever happened but we couldn’t get the blood to go away. Laney left as soon as it started getting dark The others went up to their own rooms to rest for the night as I took a seat on her couch. I then realized how empty and quiet it was. ‘I now know why you never liked staying here at night.’ I leaned back and stared up at the ceiling wondering who would do this and why. I sighed and took off my jacket with my gun holster, setting it on the arm of the chair. I closed my eyes and tried to relax but the emptiness of the house made it impossible. I now understood why Anaiya never took vacations anymore, who would want to stay in a house all day with nothing but emptiness and painful memories. “I’m so sorry.”

I looked at the time on my watch, it read 6:00 pm. I sighed and my stomach then growled so I decided to cook something. I put on an apron that was hanging on the pantry door and grabbed a pot, strainer and mixing bowl. I went to turn the knob but was stopped in my tracks. I could see the faded fingerprints of faded paint that were left behind from years of being used, I got a vivid picture of Anaiya laughing and smiling alongside Cole. It was the day we all had a 4th of july cookout so we all met up to set up, they made us breakfast as they joked about how awful Cole was at cooking by himself. They were so happy and serious, they could brighten anyone's day just by smiling. Cole and I were childhood friends. Back then everyone was so happy and the agency was brighter but since his death, everything changed. It always seemed dark and gloomy. It was odd, I thought I knew Anaiya but it was like she was an entirely different person. Especially after that phone call she got at his funeral, that is around the same time she got her brand new security system.

Anaiya was put on leave and I expected her to be back to herself but when she did come back to work it was like looking at the face of a familiar stranger. No one smiled, no one laughed or even spoke his name since then. As I brought myself back to reality I noticed an oddly placed strand of hair that was hanging from the dial, I looked at it more closely as I went to pull it off. I quickly realized it wasn't the same color as Anaiya’s or even Cole’s. I pulled it off and examined it, blonde and red. I put it into a small baggy and placed it in the freezer, I’ll have Laney test it later I then heard something ticking. I looked into the oven and there it was, a bomb. My eyes widened. I bolted up the stairs as fast as I could. “Everybody up! Now! We have to get out of here!” Who would do this? Anaiya wouldn’t because this was the house she built with Cole. Why were they doing this to us? “EVERYONE UP NOW!” I screamed as loud as I could before there was a large crash.

Anaiya

Gosh I had forgotten how brutal my mother’s beatings were. I coughed again as the blood dripped and splattered on the floor. It was my blood and the blood my mother basically forced me to ingest. I basically was force fed my own friends organs, gosh it only reminds me of how I found Cole that day. I loved him so much and just to get me to snap my mother decided to kill him, what’s even worse is that she didn’t even do it. She had a demon possess the suspect we were after, she had him brutality mutilate him and then fed on his organs. I puked everything she forced me to eat as the taste and images overcame me. “Gosh you’re so pathetic. You may be half demon but you’re nothing but a weak mortal like everyone else. So dramatic.” My mother rolled her eyes as if my throwing up my friend wasn’t enough proof that I hadn’t snapped yet. She was a fool if she thought these weak tricks would make me change in any way. Father taught me that to simply make a half demon snap you’d have to get them to kill their friends or someone they loved dearly and she already killed that person for me.

I laughed which turned into a cough from how raw my throat was now. “What’s so funny?” She glared down at me with that familiar glint of murder in her eyes. I shook my head and swallowed trying to get moisture or something to help the soreness. “Gosh you must have never listened to dad because these pathetic antics to get me to become a demon aren’t doing anything. Father knew better then to torture his kids to make them snap.” She growled as if to warn me to watch what I say but if she killed me I wouldn’t care. I’d just join my husband and then she couldn’t manipulate anyone anymore, especially if father found out. He’d kill her himself. I was his pride and join because of my strong will to be better than him and her, he was determined to let me be my own person just so he could prove to God that a half demon, half mortal could even be better although it wasn’t common. Most half demons let their hunger take over and became uncontrollable, they had to kill them to stop them. Father was proud that I didn’t become like that but he does worry because after I was born he turned my mother into a demon, his queen. She quickly changed into this ruthless, power hungry with and unfortunately my father was not happy. He banished her from the kingdom. Now I just needed to figure out how to get out of this literal hole she crawled into and trapped me in.