Why does my eye sting? Where am I? What was I. . . Wasn't I doing something? I can't remember. . . Why can't I remember? Did it have to do with my demon eye?
". . . Ick? Can you he. . .?" I hear someone's voice say, but I can't pinpoint who said that.
"Look what you've. . . could be dead be. . . you!" Another voice shouts.
"He's not dead. . . he's breathing. . ." A third voice points out though he sounded much more clearer than the previous two voices.
"Really? Garrick, can you hear me? Say something to tell us that you're not dead like Luka says!" Damian yells, sounding a lot closer to me which could explain why I could hear him better.
"Stop screaming at my ear. . ." I mumble as I open my eyes and see Damian, Luka, and Kang-Dae looking down at me with worried expressions. Well, Damian's was more concern than worried.
"What the bloody hell happened, Garrick?" Luka asks while I try to stand. However, someone's hand prevents from doing so and gently pushes me back down on my mattress.
I guess they moved me to my room? How long was I unconscious? I ponder while I look around the room. Damian was kneeling to my left, Luka was at the edge of my bed and Kang-Dae was by the window.
"That's what I like to know. Damian? Care to provide us with an explanation?" I respond and turn my attention to Damian.
"Why me?" Damian questions, confusion easily clear in his voice.
"Because you were the one that told him to try that tracking spell in the first place!" Luka hisses venomously.
"Yes, because it was an easy enough spell to cast! A newborn demon could do it!" Damian snarls with the same hostility, if not more than Luka.
"Clearly, it wasn't!" Luka snaps which would have brought on a fight between them if I haven't interfered.
"Calm yourselves, you two. There has to be an explanation for this. Damian, you said that tracking is a simple cast. Why do you think that?" I question.
"You don't need so many things to perform it. As long as you have either a bond with them or have something of theirs, no matter how minuscule, you should be able to locate him in minutes." Damian explains dismissively.
"I don't own any of Alexandru's belongings, but I would like to think that I have a bond with him. I'm in love with him." I answer and turn to look at Kang-Dae for any change in his expression.
I haven't gotten around to telling Kang-Dae of my affections for the future king of the vampires until now. Actually, I was hoping to delay this encounter for when I finished with my contract. I suppose now there's no avoiding it and hope he doesn't judge me. Not because I saved him from his captor, but that the little time we spent together should give him some idea of the type of person I am.
However, there wasn't a shift in Kang-Dae's expression. That prompt me to ask, "This doesn't bother you?"
"No, of course not. I've had masters who gave me to their friends, both genders and what seems like every species there are. If you love this Alexandru, by all means, find him so you tell him how you feel." Kang-Dae responds in a neutral tone. That settles that.
"Then we're all in the same bloody boat. Damian, why did Garrick faint? If the spell is easy to cast, why did he cried blood from his demon eye before losing consciousness?" Luka demands, his eyes glaring at him. He's clearly still peeved, but I'm glad that he's not going to fight him.
"I don't know! I thought having Garrick in love with the vampire would be enough to find him!" Damian protests as Kang-Dae comes to sit next to me.
"I thought so as well, but I had to have done something wrong." I agree and pet Kang-Dae's hair.
When he was caring for Lily as one of his duties for staying by my side, he told me one night how much he enjoyed having someone stroke his hair. That it relaxes him enough to forget all the horrid things his previous masters have done to him. Naturally, I am allowed to pet him if he ever comes to sit by me in either form he takes.
"Let's try and investigate what went wrong. Garrick, did you focus on Alexandru's name?" Luka asks with a calmer tone than he had previously.
"Yes, I even saw him for a minute. He was in his room somewhere muttering to himself about his brother. Before I could see where his location was, I felt my eye hurting and I was brought back to the parlor." I explain as best as I could while Kang-Dae rests his head on my leg.
"That shouldn't have happened. You should've been able to see where he was, not pass out and cry tears of blood from one eye!" Damian exasperates and his hand goes through his black hair.
"Well, he didn't and that's what we're trying to figure out." Luka snaps, growling lowly as his eyes turn crimson. The only indication of our demonic nature coming forth.
"Calm yourselves. . ." I mumble at the same time I close my eyes. A wave of tiredness washes over me all of a sudden and I feel like going back to sleep.
Perhaps I should rest for another hour or two. . . I thought sleepily, sensing myself succumbing into the blissful darkness. However, before I could completely drown myself in the black abyss, my body began to shake which resulted in me opening my eyes.
"Wh-what?" I mumble as I rub my eyes.
"Don't go back to sleep. We don't know what caused you to faint earlier and I don't think it's a good idea for you to sleep again." Luka declares from in front of me. I suppose he was the one that woke me up. Still, what he said actually made sense. I could easily slip into a comatose state if I sleep now.
"I apologize. . . I'm so bloody tired. . . Er, where were we?" I ask while I blink my eyes open a few times.
"Why your demon eye cried blood. I was thinking that you exerted yourself by casting the spell, but I don't think it's that." Luka answers as he stands up from his crouching position.
"Which is where I told him that it's the bond between you and the vampire. I don't think having a one-sided love with him is strong enough for you to track him. At least, not enough to give you an exact location." Damian adds and props himself on my mattress.
"Which one is it, then?" Kang-Dae questions which results in Damian shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know. All I know is that Garrick didn't have a strong enough bond with the prince." Damian responds aloofly.
Luka replies to Damian's comment, but I didn't listen to him as my mind was elsewhere. Mainly on what they have both said about what could have caused my incident. Luka has a point with me exerting myself. I haven't done much magic other than summoning a portal or shifting into a raven. Yet, Damian is also right about my bond with Alexandru isn't enough to locate him. I may be in love with him, but he doesn't bloody know I exist.
This means that all my efforts to search for Alexandru through magic were pointless. Well, not entirely. Only locating him with magic won't be a choice. I'll have to use Galvin's profession as originally planned and hope that he'll be able to find something regarding Alexandru or his family in general. Patience is the key to finding the one I love, even if it takes me another century or two to do so.
"Garrick!" Galvin's voice shouts inside my head at the same time a jolt runs through my body.
Except, instead of the energizing feeling I am accustomed to receiving, I feel a pain similar to shards of ice stabbing every inch of my body. The stinging sensation on my demon eye has returned and worse than before. I immediately place my hand on my left eye, but a sticky substance coats my palm. No later than a second passes before I pull my hand away from my eye and see what the substance was.
Blood. Again, there's blood in my hand. This time, however, my entire palm is covered with blood while drops of it slips through my fingers. If that wasn't enough to scare me, a stream of blood drips down from my left eye and onto my palm which causes a small pool underneath my hand has brought on another wave of panic in me. I couldn't do anything, but stare at the blood pouring onto my hand and making such a mess on my bed covers.
Why is this happening to me? I ask myself in a terrified tone inside my head. I don't understand why so much blood is coming from my demonic eye. I haven't done anything to trigger my demonic powers. Except, that is exactly what happened. I didn't do anything, but Galvin did. He can call me whenever he feels the need to and it so happens to be now.
"Garrick?! What's wrong?!" Luka shouts hysterically as hands begin to shake my shoulders.
Fighting through the pain in my eye and the last few drops dripping down from it, I push down my fear before muttering my response. "Galvin is summoning me. . . I have to g-go to him. . ."
"No, you're staying here. You need to rest, now more than ever." Luka argues while he tries to stop me from getting out of bed.
"I can't. I made a contract with him and part of it includes my immediate presence upon summoning. I have to go." I counter, rising from my bed. However, I almost collapsed if it weren't for Kang-Dae catching me in time.
"Garrick, Luka is right. You need to rest. You won't be able to make a portal like this. Sit back down and sleep." Damian orders from behind me before he appears in front of me and pushes me back onto my bed.
"Then I'll fly to him or run if I have to. But I am going to him, even if I have to crawl all the way there." I claim and got out of bed again.
"Master Garrick? Perhaps Master Damian and Master Luka are right. At the state you're in, you won't get very far. Let alone past the front entrance." Kang-Dae notes while I push past Luka and Damian. Fortunately, they didn't stop me.
"I made a contract with Galvin. I won't fail him." I state when a rush of light-headedness comes over me.
My body sways left then right and almost trip on my own two feet. It was only by sheer luck and Kang-Dae's quick reflex in catching me from having to fall to the floor. I smile in gratitude and lean my body against his steady one. This way I won't have to embarrass myself in front of Damian by falling flat on my face.
"Look at you, Garrick! You can't even walk on your own!" Luka scolds from behind me.
"Then, help me!" I shout, my anger and frustration spilling out.
A heavy silence fills my room, no one uttering a word nor could I hear anyone breathing. Almost as though everyone here was holding their breath. The silence was thick enough to be cut by a knife, but no one seems to want to be the one to do so. If no one is going to speak, then I'll break this silence.
"Please, let me fulfill my end of the contract. . ." I plead quietly and felt my throat hitching as tears begin to form in my eyes.
". . . Wake up Lily and bring a wet towel, Luka. " Damian orders softly after a couple of seconds passed. I bring my head up to face Damian and see he has a defeated expression on him.
"You're going to let him go?! Damian, I thought you of all people would understand how ill Garrick is!" Luka protests while Damian walks up to him.
"You don't think I know that?! I saw Garrick almost die more times than you have! I have seen him act out, I know what he's going to do before you could ever figure it out! If you want your brother to be fine, then help him because Hell knows that he would use up all of his energy in escaping!" Damian retaliates in return.
Oddly enough, it did the trick in convincing Luka to assist me by replying, ". . . Fine, give me a minute."
Luka steps out of my room in silence as Damian walks over to my side. I turn my head to face him and watch him stretch out his right hand for only a second before a black hole appears in front of him. A gasp coming from Kang-Dae fills the room which brought on a sly smile from Damian.
"First time seeing demon magic?" Damian questions, amusement in his tone.
"Don't mock him. . ." I lightly scold him as I straighten myself so as not to place all of my weight on Kang-Dae.
"You're no fun, Garrick." Damian mutters, though it was clear he wanted me to have heard him.
Rolling my eyes at him. I heard Luka's voice outside my door. Within seconds, he walks inside with a white hand towel drenched in water on one hand and a tired Lily in his arms as she rubs her eye. Perhaps to rub away the sleep or remove the crust from her eye. Either way, she's tired and I feel remorse for having Luka wake her.
"What's going on?" Lily mumbles sleepily while Luka strides to me.
"We're going to London with Garrick. I'm sure if we behave, he'll allow us to buy something sweet." Luka informs before I plant a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Is that true, Garrick?" Lily ponders, her bright brown eyes gazing up to mine.
"Only if you behave. Will you do that for me?" I reassure as I take a step back from them.
"Yes, Garrick! I'll behave!" Lily exclaims with a grin which brought on a smile of my own.
I gave my adorable little sister another kiss on her cheek before I walk towards the portal Damian summoned earlier. I stand in front of it then turn my attention to Damian and ask, "Where will this take us?"
"Wherever you want to go. I didn't set an exact location." Damian declares nonchalantly. I take a step towards the portal when Damian places his arm in front of me and adds, "But wash the blood off first. We don't want to scare Galvin. Again."
"Oh, I have forgotten about that. Hand me the towel, Luka." I comment in surprised at the same time Luka throws the towel to me.
Catching the towel in the air, I wipe away the blood on my palm and my left cheek. Once I believe to be blood free and receiving a nod in approval from Kang-Dae, I place the towel on my bed then take the remaining step I needed to step through the portal. The coolness from the portal touches my skin in a pleasant manner as I focus all of my attention to the pull tug emanating from my left eye. I close my eyes and see the familiar street Galvin's house is on, but a little further down the right if memory serves me right.
That must be where Galvin is. . . I thought to myself. From what I can gather, whenever a contractor summons their demon, the demon is able to look through the eyes of their contractor because of the connection they share. The pentagram serving as the medium for that connection between demon and contractor. It explains why humans can never outrun their demons regardless of where they place the pentagram.
So, it comes to no surprise feeling the cold bite of London's early morning weather on my cheeks. Nor does it surprise me to hear Galvin's ecstatic voice calling to me from behind. Turning around, I see Galvin running towards me with a beaming smile and his overall aura radiating exhilaration. Only one thing could make him this happy, but I chose to ask anyway.
"Morning, Galvin. Seems like you're having a great morning already. What could be the source of it?" I greet politely as my ears pick up on three different sets of footsteps hitting the cobblestones.
"I'm glad you asked, Garrick. Er, but who are they?" Galvin replies with his head tilted slightly to the left. Probably in attempt to see who was standing behind me.
I look over to where he was staring and see no sign of the portal, but my two siblings and friends in its place. It dawned on me that aside from Damian, this is the first time they meet Galvin and vice versa. Though, I never brought up my family before either. Best to get the introduction out of the way.
"Galvin, these are my two siblings and my newest friend, Jeong Kang-Dae. The young gentleman there is my younger brother Luka Gastrell and the adorable little tike in his arms is our sister Lily Gastrell." I introduce, gesturing to each person by their name.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Galvin Cassian Rickman." Galvin replies with a friendly smile.
Kang-Dae nods his head while Luka responds with, "Likewise. Garrick has told us little about you, but I'm honored to meet his first human contractor. We promise not to interfere with your investigation."
"Oh! Er, thank you." Galvin states, gaining a short bow from Luka.
"If we're done pretending to be humans with their faux kindness, you summoned Garrick out of bed for something more important than his health. What is it?" Damian demands in a rather harsh manner. His eyes glaring directed at Galvin with his arms crossed in front of him.
Yet, that comment of his about my health has cleared away Galvin's elation immediately. The next thing he says comes out all rushed and worried, "What's wrong with Garrick? Are you ill? No, that's preposterous! Demons don't get ill! Do they?!"
"Full demons, no. Half demons are a different matter. You see, Garrick here is the only one of his kind. Vampire-demon hybrid. His siblings there are unique as well, but with some minor differences. They're more demonic than vampire. If they don't take care of themselves, they can fall deathly sick. Especially Garrick." Damian answers which in effect earned me another parent to worry over me.
"Garrick, why didn't you say anything about this before?! Were you resting when I summoned you?!" Galvin questions while I roll my eyes.
"Never mind that. You summoned me and I came as swiftly as I did just as the contract entails me to do. I would've been here a lot sooner if I wasn't delayed." I answer with a dismal wave of my hand and a glare towards Damian. In turn, Damian shrugs his shoulders and looks away while I return my attention to Galvin. "I'm fine. Let's ignore my health for a couple of minutes and get on with why I'm here."
Galvin's brown eyes bore into mine, occasionally flickering over to Damian and my siblings, as I watch his eyebrows furrow in conflict. I don't have to ask him directly what's going through his head because it's on everyone's mind. He, like the others, is concerned about my well-being. However, the difference between him and the others is that he can order me to rest and I will be obligated to listen to him.
The silence looming around us has me tense and I was just about to break it by asking Galvin what his decision will be when he sighs, "All right fine. But if you get worse, you're going to rest and I'll entrust Damian to make sure you do."
"Oh, I'm liking him. Not to worry, handsome. I'll make sure Garrick rests." Damian comments with a smirk and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
"Done. Now, why did you summoned me?" I quickly agreed, ignoring Damian's newfound euphoria.
At the mention of my summoning, Galvin's eyes lit up in excitement. His earlier signs of worry washed away as he answers in a tone that if someone were to hear him, they would have thought he gone mad. "There's been another body."
*Nickole's Note*
Hey, guys! I finally did it! I finished this 10 page chapter for you guys! You're welcome! I have some Fun Facts for you guys so let's get to those. Sounds good? Coolio! To the Fun Facts!
1. The picture above and the quote of the day was originally for the last chapter, but I changed it to here because it suited more what happened to Garrick after that failed tracking spell. I'm pretty sure most of you know who Albert Einstein is but I'll make a little recap so you can learn something from my stories. Albert Einstein was a German theoretical physicist who came up with the relative theory and has helped create the atomic bomb during World War II after he traveled to America.
2. If you guys haven't already know, everything to do with demons is made up.
That's actually it. I don't have any announcements for you guys today so I'll go with my usual farewell. As always, I hoped you guys liked the chapter and I'll try to write out the next one as soon as I can. If you have any questions regarding this story or why I'm taking so long in updating, please check out my activity page. Until then, I'll see you guys next time! Enjoy~