Now before you start I must state some facts. Yes, I am aware of my tedious writing. Trust me, I know. This is a quick write, or so it became, as well as the first thing I've written in years. If you want to leave criticism, please do, I always love hearing my wrongdoings. Finally, please be patient with these first chapters, Enjoy!
Quote of chapter- "Your ears don't make you a demon, your actions do."
~Rysen Shackle
My eyes flickered open as I rose from the warmth of my blankets. The moonlight glistened through my window and lit up my empty room. The moonlight also showed that it was still night. The clock at my side said 11:48 pm, Friday, December 18th,2015.
I rolled out of bed and headed down stairs. After walking down 14 steps I passed my side door and entered the kitchen. The room wasn't lit up by the moon like mine so I had to search for the light switch. After a minute of fumbling along the wall I came into contact with the switch.
A bright void of light filled the room and I started making food for myself. I went into the fridge and took out some milk. Setting it on the counter, I grabbed a bowl and took out the cereal from the cabinet next to me.
As the bits of cereal fell into the bowl I opened the curtains that blocked the only natural light source. Once the bowl was filled I poured the milk in. The milky white liquid splashed as it hit the bits of oats and slid past to meet at the bottom. I threw in a utensil and began to eat.
A few minutes later I threw the bowl into the sink and returned to my room. As I listened to my surroundings I realized the quiet, it was very eerie. No sounds of wind, cars, or anything. I ignored the unsettling feeling and turned my computer on.
The screen burst into colors as it turned on. Along with the boot up screen a high pitched yelp echoed through the air. I quickly threw my head toward the direction, my window.
I ran down the stairs and out the side door. Through the gated fence and into my backyard. I froze as I turned the corner...
The moonlight illuminated the ground in a clear white making this sight easy to spot. A knife, one that was small. The blood, red and leaking from an animal. The animal, a snow like fox that had splatters of blood on its bright fur.
I ran inside as quickly as possible rummaging through supplies. I grabbed some rags, a towel, and a long bandage. I returned back outside after stuffing the rags in my pockets, and carrying the rest in my hands. I slid over to the fox and started to examine the wound created.
A small dagger like knife was stabbed into the fox, the knife wasn't to deep in the fox to hit a vital organ. The only problem right then was blood loss. The puddle of blood wasn't too large, but the fox was still losing more.
As I went to pat its head, it opened its eyes wide and snapped at me. I jumped back just in time, but it still slashed part of my arm. I held my hand out, and slowed my movement. I stared calmly into the fox's golden eyes.
"It's ok... I'm just here to help." My words were dead calm even though I was in quite a panic.
The fox's breathing calmed a little and it turned its head towards my hand. It took a few sniffs and laid it's head back down on the ground. I continued to move slowly and kneeled next to the snowy fox. I patted the body of the fox to see if anything else was damaged. No reaction appeared so I guess it's just the knife.
"This is going to hurt." I said to the fox.
I took a tight grip on the knife. Looking at the fox, I noticed something odd. It was preparing for the pain. Its eyes were tightly closed, and it had its teeth clenched. This fox was very intelligent, it knew how to prepare for pain...
I prepared myself again to take the knife out. My other hand was on the fox's side. With a hard pull the knife slipped out easily. The fox's eyes opened wide with pain and it bite down as hard as it could. I took the bandages from my side and started to wrap it around the bloody opening.
The fox started to breathe rapidly, in small pants. I gently pet its head once I was done bandaging it. As I pet its head the breathing of the fox calmed and returned to an original state.
"Hmmm, that sly vixen should be somewhere around here." A voice called from behind.
I turned to see a man in a lab coat enter the backyard. He had really long straight, grey hair. He looked young. What was he doing in my backyard?
"Umm, who are you?" I said holding the knife behind me, and carefully analyzing his actions.
"Oh there she is." As he saw the white fox, he started to look enraged, "What the hell did you do!?"
He ran at me in a full sprint, I jumped to the right as he swung at me. The fist traveled past my head at a tremendous speed. I backed off and held up the knife, to protect myself. He wasn't afraid of it in the least. He charged at me again, but instead of me trying to dodge the attack a large blast of light blinded myself and him.
I was still blinded but, I held still and listened for any footsteps to approach me. There were none and a minute later a blurry view of a figure stood in front of me. It wasn't the man, but someone else.
I tried to focus in on the figure but, my blurry vision stopped me from doing so. The man in the lab coat was moving his mouth but, no words were to be heard. Suddenly I heard a mumble and my eye sight focused for a second. This recurred several times before I could hear and see again.
"You're telling me he didn't do it." The man said.
A nod from a figure in a dark cloak came in reply.
I struggled to move forward, but eventually I reached the figure. I then tried to tap their shoulder and turn, but before I could I fell to the ground. Facing the dark sea in the sky I started to lose my vision again. The figure came into view and poked my right arm 4 times.
I immediately bolted up from my daze. I could see and hear clearly again. The wind blew by and blew the hood off of the figure. The same intelligent golden eyes stared into mine.
A girl with black, messy hair stood before me. Something about her seemed off though. I stood up face to face with her and something on her head twitched. I looked to see the culprit...
"Ears?" I questioned.
The man walked over beside me. I was still cautious of his actions, but he seemed to have calmed down.
"So, you are one after all. I'm still surprised though, I mean he's your age isn't he." The man said.
The girl nodded.
"And he can see you perfectly. That is interesting."
"Okay, what the hell is happening, first a winter fox is in the middle of the city and wounded, secondly you," I pointed at the man, "you show up and attack me. Finally a girl with fox, wolf, dog ears shows up out of no where with a cloak on. Both of you need to state what the hell you guys are doing in my backyard."
"Very well. I am a scientist that works for the government, and I'm supposed to care for spirits around the world, as well as find seekers," The strange man said. "The fox you helped was a spirit, well the fox is this girl." He pointed to the girl in the cloak.
She took off the cloak she was wearing and revealed the bandage I applied to the fox. It was in the same area and was still bleeding.
I was astonished at what was being said. These two people were insane, or that's what I would have liked. I just stared at the wound on the girl. It was the same size as the knife I was holding. Suddenly the girl fell to the ground holding her head.
"Shit. It's happening, did she consume any blood while you were helping?" The man asked.
"No I don't think s..." I looked down at my arm which was still bleeding, "she might have when she bit me."
"This could be very bad, let me see your arm."
I held out my arm and showed him, blood was still running down my arm. The man took one of the rags I brought out and wiped my bleeding arm. He placed the now bloody rag in his mouth. He pulled it back out quickly and threw it to the side, his eyes full of fear.
He took a glance at me and nervously spoke, "You'll have to form a contract with her. You're a pure seeker."
I took a step back questioning why I had to do this, "Why does it have to be me?"
"Your blood... This girl had a drop of blood, and that's the beginning of her contract with someone. Depending on the way she feels about you, she has different reactions. Tap her on the shoulder and you'll see what I mean. She is incredibly sensitive to blood: it increases her sensitivity to a person as long as she isn't trying to kill them. This effect does not have a long duration thankfully."
I walked over and tapped the girl on the shoulder as he finished his last sentence. One tap on the shoulder. Reaching over I lightly touched her. She let go of her head and looked up. Her eyes were full of tears and her face red. She tilted her head and through her tears she smiled happily.
I blushed at how adorable she looked while smiling. Something behind the girl was moving side to side and making a swishing sound. I turned to the man, who lost the look of nervousness.
Ok I'm confused at what is going on tonight. It was a normal day, then this vixen was in my yard. This lab man walks in like its no problem and acts like we know each other. I thought to myself.
The man put a hand on my shoulder, "You may not believe me now, but this is all very true. Now this will be easier since we don't have to put up with an enraged fox. Also, why are you so accepting of the matter?"
I gulped, "Enraged fox?! You wanted to just see what reaction she would have to me, and one of them could have been enraged. And I'm used to shit being changed every second of my life, I always have to adapt to my surroundings."
"Well to be honest she has never smiled at any person that tried to form or start a contract with her. In fact, she never consumed any blood from anyone that we know of." He said with a small chuckle.
I looked over at the "fox girl". She was sitting there with a serious and emotionless face.
"Is she a vampire of some sort?" I asked.
"Well, yes and no. She's a demon, so she needs blood every so often, but that is only when a contract is made. For now she doesn't need blood." The man answered.
I turned towards the girl again who was still sitting on the ground. "What's your name?" I asked her.
She tilted her head out of confusion. I started to think that she couldn't talk at this point.
The man answered for her, "She doesn't have one. We found her only a week ago. So we decided who ever formed a contract would be able to name her. You're going to have to form a contract with her. It seems that you'll be the one to name her."
Once again I wondered why I was being forced to form a contract with someone I just met. Contracts are usually for life, too. Wait, how do I know that?
Suddenly I lost all feeling in my legs and fell to the ground. My vision began to blur again. I saw nothing but a black void.
I opened my eyes to see sunlight flaring into my eyes. I moved my hand to block the sun. As I raised my hands I realized something. My hands were much smaller. I tried to look down, but I had no control over my body. I stood up and walked towards a swing set in a park.
The world looked much bigger for some reason too. As my body looked around the park I noticed that it looked familiar.
A memory?! I thought.
The park I was looking at was from my childhood. I came here when I was around the age of six. As I was approaching the swings something caught my eye, so I moved toward this new activity. My body stumbled across the park. I was under the slide when I noticed a little girl sitting alone at a bench.
My body moved towards her in curiosity, and I took a seat next her, this hooded girl who was staring off to a far away place. She gave off a lonely aura.
"Why are you here alone?"
The girl turned quickly and looked surprised. Tears began to flow and I felt bad.
"Hey, what's wrong? A.. Are you ok? I didn't mean to make you cry."
She wiped at the tears that fell from her face and gave a warming smile. My body was in shock and like the beginning I had no control over it, but that smile seemed strangely familiar, almost like I've seen it recently.
"What's your name?" My body asked for me.
In a silent whisper she said, "Rain."
"Rain? That a cool name" My body jumped up in excitement, "Rain would you like to play a game with me? I'm all alone for the day, too."
She nodded in a reply.
"How about tag." I said proudly with smile.
We ran all day long chasing each other and exchanging smiles and small laughter. We two lonely kids formed a friendship.
Suddenly, it was night and I was in my old home from when I was a kid. At this point I was 100% positive that I was reliving a memory. My parents were in front of me yelling and screaming, telling me not to stay out so long and how stupid I was.
I ran to my room and locked the door to escape the yells. I covered my ears and fell asleep. When I opened my eyes I was in the park again. The girl was staring into a far away place again. My body moved to her and sat next to her again.
"Hey, how are you?" I said with a smile.
When she looked over to me she looked somewhat pouty, "Don't put on a fake smile for me, if you want to smile let me try to make you laugh. I mean you did the same."
Tears where forming in my eyes. I remembered what happened last night fully. I got home to a empty house and later that night my parents stormed through the door and started to yell at me for staying out too late. Even though they were never home and they never went out of their way to get me.
The girl tilted her head in confusion. "Want to see a trick?"
I looked at her. She started to take off her hood. My eyes widened. It was that fox spirit from earlier. The pointed ears stuck out from her black hair. I reached out with my hands and felt them.
"Pl.. Please don't touch them, it tickles."
"They're real?" My body said for me.
She then nodded and her smile started to fade. Her ears dropped down as well. I patted her head, "What's wrong?"
"A demons' smile casts fear into the ones around them, but their eyes allure them. For I am a demon and the only person to acknowledge my existence without thinking about power or how painful my species is, is you."
My body made a frown, "Your ears don't make you a demon, your actions do. Also I think your smile is cute. So what you're a demon? You play and cry just like anyone else."
As she looked down at me, I was suddenly enveloped by that black void again...
My eyes opened to see my room, I was no longer in that dream. The dream of my past, where I had met the fox spirit, Rain. Looking around my room I saw nothing out of order and saw that it was only 5:00 am, December 19th. I walked down the stairs and out the side door. I then entered the backyard where a small blood stain remained to remind me that the man and the girl were real.
I returned to the door and entered the house. The warm air rushed into my face as I opened the door. I then proceeded into the living room. I was about to sit down when movement on the couch caught my eye and froze me.
There was a blanket that slightly shuffled and moved up and down in a sleeping pattern.
I gripped the edge of the blanket and lifted it up. My expression shifted into anger. The girl in the cloak was silently sleeping.
"Hey, wake up! You can't just sleep here, we just met!" I yelled into her ears, but all she did was shift over. "Rain, wake up!" The word Rain slipped into my mouth instinctively.
Her eyes opened quickly in response and looked up at me. The cold stare of nothingness. Her face was emotionless but her actions and movement seems to resemble,... surprise?
Maybe Rain really is her name. I should ask her just to make sure, so I'm not being rude... WAIT, why am I worrying about being polite? She is in my home uninvited.
"I.. Is that your name?" I asked.
She nodded and then tilted her head to the side. I took a seat next to her and put on a serious face. She stared back at me coldly.
"Can you explain to me the events that have happened to me in the past few hours and why they happened."
Rain shook her head and pulled out a notebook. She swiftly wrote something and held it to my face. It read...
I need some blood to speak until I form a contract, but no one knowns this so don't say anything about it.
I nodded and held out my arm expecting the worst. I turned my head to prepare. My heart beating a thousand miles a second. Waiting for the pain to spread through my nerves...
I felt Rain grab hold of my arm and her warm breath as she moved closer. I turned towards the girl who looked increasingly embarrassed as she moved closer and closer. Her face was red and her cold stare was now a unsure look. Suddenly her breath quickened and she quickly bared her fangs. They slightly poked through my skin.
To my surprise there was no pain at all, it was like something lightly brushed against my arm. She dug a little deeper and blood began to run. She began to take out a rag and suddenly her eyes changed...
They were bloodlust red, Rain quickly licked some of the blood running from my arm. She was about to lick some more, but she seemed to try and stop herself. I patted her on the shoulder.
"Are you ok?" I asked confused and somewhat embarrassed at her actions.
Her eyes returned to their gold. Rain's face was redder than a tomato, and her eyes shown with shame. She took hold of the rag again and patted at the small wound. The bleeding stopped and blood was now on the rag.
She put part of the rag in her mouth and shifted the rag every so often. A few minutes passed and she suddenly sat straight up and held her head. Rain then opened her eyes and faced me.
"W.. What do you want to know." Her voice was quiet and soft.
"What is a contract, I kept hearing that man tell me that I need to form a contract with you."
Her face now back to being cold and emotionless, she replied, "A contract is formed between a seeker and a spirit. The contract lasts a lifetime or until both users of the contract agree to void it. Certain spirits have certain contracts, like mine. I have to use Marchange, my spirit blade to stab my partner and then stab myself. T... The blade doesn't kill you but, it does hurt. For the next three days my part... Well that part isn't as easy. After that the contract is formed. A.. Also if one partner dies, so does the other."
I then proceeded to ask my next question, "what is a spirit and seeker? I heard that man say something about me being a pure seeker."
Rain looked away for a moment and then returned to my gaze. "Seekers are the only humans that can see spirits, and form contracts with them. A spirit is a being that feeds off of emotions, and or other monsters' energy, they tend to appear human, but some characteristics can help you spot one immediately, like my ears. We aren't ghosts like most think. We are living entities. A pure seeker is... Is a seeker that has to fight along side their spirit and consume the same amount of energy and emotion as a spirit. They are incredibly rare, their chance of being born is one in every three billion. They are born with the ability to see spirits, while normal seekers develop the ability to see spirits."
I processed the information I had just gathered and asked a risky question. "Why did you completely change attitudes when you went to drink my blood? Also, why don't you form a contract with one of the government people?"
She hesitated to answer. In a even more whisper like voice she said, "B.. B.. Blood." She lost all compassion and became embarrassed by the mere saying of the word. With a red face and wavering eyes she continued. "Taking someone's blood is like k.. K.. Bla, spa, bla!"
I can't get a hold of this girls personality. She seems so composed and serious most the time, but I've seen her lose that composure to a mere word. I thought to myself.
Rain buried her face in the blankets and something wagged left to right in the air. In the dark I could barely see what it was, and as I grabbed it I heard something like a small moan. Suddenly, Rain bursted up from the covers and seemed to be overheated, a small amount of sweat was sliding down her cheek and her face was rose red. Her golden eyes were so lost.
"I.. I.. I'm still super sensitive from your blood and n.. N.. Now you grab my t.. Tail.." She said softly.
I blinked and squinted to see what she was talking about. I was clinging onto something bushy. My eyes adjusted a little and what I saw was a black tail with a white tip.
Thinking for a moment at what she was saying, I finally realized what she said. My face was now as red as Rain's. I immediately let go of her tail.
I guess her tail is sensitive to another's touch. Note to self do not touch her tail. I thought.
After a few minutes of awkward silence I got up and stood in front of her. I was becoming suspicious of her cold stare that she was wearing at the moment.
Is she forcing herself to hide her emotion, or is that just how she is? I stared into her face for a long minute. She is very good at masking her emotion if she isn't really like this.
I turned away and walked into the kitchen. I plopped two bagels in the toaster and pulled two plates out. As I was doing this a thought popped into my head
I'm starting to get this feeling that I'm going to see new people very quickly. I should warn my parents about it. Wait, won't my parents see Rain when they get up to leave for work today?
The noise from the toaster interrupted my thoughts. I took the bagels out and placed them on the plates. I then went to the fridge to get cream cheese. I searched, but I couldn't find anything. I just returned the living room with the plain bagels and handed one to Rain. She accepted it and began to eat.
As I took a bite I remembered that Rain was stabbed earlier.
"Hey, how come you had a knife in your side when I found you?" My words were filled with a little worry.
Her ears twitched almost as if she was annoyed by the thought of the matter. She continued to eat and dismissed my question. I didn't interrogate any further since she seemed to want to forget the topic.
Small creaks echoed through the house. My dad walked into the living room where myself and the fox spirit were sitting. As he turned on the lights, I began to panic. Not knowing what to say or do.
The words coming out of my mouth were as well said as "bla, bla, bla." He just whacked me on the side of my head and told me to shut up. Rain was sitting quietly next to me and my father didn't see her.
What they were telling me must be true. Spirits only being seen by seekers and such. My eyes widened and my mind went crazy. Everything that was said was true and she truly is invisible to everyone.
I grabbed Rain's hand and lead her upstairs and into my room. I was just playing along with their "joke" at the time, but it was true. As we entered my room, I let go of Rain's hand and closed the door behind me.
"You really can't be seen... This is insane." I said.
"Well, yes that is what I am after all. Did you not belie.." Her voice cut off.
"No, I didn't believe you guys." I said looking over, she was trying to speak but no words came out. She was silenced again. I figured she couldn't speak so I handed her a new notebook and pencil.
She quickly wrote across the page, Why did you take me to your room?
"I'd rather not deal with my drunk of a father, right now." I said quietly with a hint of anger.
Once again words were sprawling across the notebook, If you didn't trust us or didn't believe us, how come you let me stay inside your home for this amount of time?
I thought for a moment... Why did I let her stay here. She reminds me of that little girl in my dream, but even if she was why do I feel so trusting towards her. For God's sake I let her bite me! I opened my mouth to reply, "I don't know, but I feel like I can trust you. I mean... I just don't know." My head was scrambling for words and reasons, but there was no explanation for my trust towards her words and actions.
She moved her hand like lightning again, What is your name? You haven't said it yet.
"Rysen Shackle, and may I ask you one more question?"
She nodded in reply. I asked in a quiet voice, "Why are you hiding things from the government? You said something about not telling anyone about being able to talk."
She twitched her ears again and stared off into the distance. She wrote something down. She then ripped it and set it on my desk. I walked over and picked it up. The paper read...
I won't tell you yet, maybe in the future I'll tell you. Goodnight.
I turned around to see Rain curled up in a ball on my bed, her tail swaying peacefully back and forth as she fell asleep. I let out a sigh and reviewed what happened today.
I helped a fox, the fox ended up being a spirit, living entities that don't exist to most humans. Seekers are humans who can see them and they end up forming contracts. I learned that this girl is named Rain through some dream. I also learned not to purposely grab the tails of spirits. Why the hell am I so calm. This isn't something that happens everyday so why am I feeling like this is only a little unusual.
I looked outside where the sun had already rose. The orange color gave me warmth through all the winter cold. I moved over to Rain and pulled the blankets over her and returned down stairs, hoping my father had left for work.
I turned into the living room where we were sitting earlier. The room was empty so I guess my father left. I picked up the remote and sat down on the blankets Rain slept in. Pain was sent spiraling through my body...
I froze. My entire torso was on fire. It was as if a large sharpened object pierced my torso while on fire. Looking down I saw nothing wrong. Pain was still spreading throughout my body. My vision began to blur and I couldn't see straight.
I heard foot steps rapidly approach me from the side. Through my blurry vision the silhouette seemed to carry a worried face and was shouting something. Hands were set on my shoulder, the warmth... The warmth faded and a black sea filled my sight...
Edited by Jacarriello