They called us monsters part 14

Chapter 14: Suggestions

Yaju did his best to keep his focus on his first ever gathering of the band of the blood, but his mind kept drifting to the female demon. The hunter kept wondering why she was in the capital and whether he would be able to track her down or not. As soon as he got some free time, he was planning to use his demon side to try and sniff her out. His grey eyes were glued on the face of the leader of the group and Krista’s father, Fern Reglis, who had been handing out varied missions across the capital on his thirty- something members. The organization seemed tremendously small for all their claims, but Yaju had to remind himself that these people where the active spies and representatives of the group. The actual organization cooperated with nearly a hundred more people in the city, all of them doctors, merchants, even people of the royal and church guard.

‘’Finally… the new guy…’’, Fern suddenly spoke up and took a few steps near the male, emerald eyes focusing on him. ‘’I have your first assignment under the band of blood. Prove yourself capable and we will trust you further more.’’

Yaju took the piece of yellow parchment from his hand with a light frown. It was expected that a group like the band of blood was going to be secretive. Yaju knew that they fought against demon royalty, but no details had been provided yet. He only wished to exterminate the monsters, but he had to cooperate with the group that had similar goals to him, by proving himself useful.

‘’Let me assist him in his first one, father.’’, Krista was heard as she walked up, a gentle smile on her face when she looked at Fern. The gray-haired male lifted a brow and went to reply, but Yaju straightened up from his spot where he had been leaning against the wall of the large hall and placed the parchment inside his pocket.

‘’I will be going.’’, the black haired hunter ignored her words completely, but did give her a glare of discontent. He had no need of any assistance and he was eager to fight, to act. Leaving Krista’s shocked expression behind him, he headed for the small private room he had been provided with. As soon as he shut the door behind him, he opened the parchment, reading the scribbled words inside. As expected, his first mission was an assassination. More and more demons had been welcomed in the capital, favored by the royals in exchange of cooperation and control over the humans inside the walls. The organization of the band of blood had been trying to exterminate them one after the other as discreetly as possible. The main mission was to kill the demons in the high ranks, but Yaju was way too new to be given such a mission. His kills were probably going to be similar for some time and he forced himself to put up with it. The challenge in front of him was crystal clear and he would have to muster what stealthy skills he had developed, whilst tracking down his bounties. A knock on his door made him purse his lips, already guessing who was behind it.

‘’My father wishes to see you, now that the meeting is over.’’, Krista’s voice was heard behind that door and the hunter straightened up, the name of his first bounty in the capital etched in his mind as he left the room and followed the redheaded female to the third floor, where her close relatives slept and her father’s office was. He had only caught a glimpse of it, when Krista meticulously showed him around the entire building.

‘’Ah, Yaju, please be seated.’’, Fern exclaimed behind a heavy wooden desk, his leather armor placed neatly over a trunk beside him. The room was packed with binders and parchments. A single window behind the elder male brought the night air of the capital in, along with some of the noise. The hunter followed his order and sat across him, glancing back, only to see Krista leave the room.

‘’I must thank you for saving my daughter’s life.’’, the gray-haired male suddenly said and Yaju turned to him, seemingly taken aback. ‘’She has described in great detail what she saw…’’, he added and the hunter felt his heart beat accelerate, preparing him for a fight if needed. There was no emotion held in those two pieces of jade.

‘’I want to know, before our doctor gets her hands on you under my command… What did the demon flesh do to you exactly.’’ Yaju tightened his fists at the promise in his words and the way he carried himself, as if the hunter had no choice in the matter. He could get up and leave at once, he could fight to the death. The leader of the band leaned back on his seat and gave him a creepy smile. ‘’Start talking hunter!’’

The black haired man couldn’t help but chuckle, all that was in his mind was how it even got to this point, before he managed to kill a single demon.

‘’Your damn doctor will only lay a hand on me if I need patching up.’’, he spoke up and grinned menacingly to Fern, causing him to lift his brows. ‘’Should I bring that useless daughter of yours in to confirm that I have no need of you? I simply want someone to point the beasts to me and I’ll kill them, that’s what I do.’’ Yaju forced himself further, needing to make a point. He had no demon flesh or blood in his system, apart from the one running through his own veins, the part of him he always detested. It took him all his strength at that point, but he could feel his demon senses activating. By the looks of Fern’s widened eyes, what he had faced was crimson.

‘’Fascinating…’’, he uttered and a smile of excitement crept up on his face, forcing Yaju to frown. ‘’Yet, you do not faze me hunter. I have killed worse than a half man. And have fought many like you before, some of them are close allies of mine.’’

‘’You will explain yourself. This power could be useful for the band.’’, he pressed on and the hunter released the hold of his demonic side, feeling exhausted of having to hold back from devouring the male, or the female who had been behind that door, eavesdropping on the conversation. The elder one sighed, when Yaju simply stared back at him, unmoving. ‘’Our doctor will do nothing against your will. We will cooperate with you to destroy those monsters. You will become one of us after all and in the band of blood we are all brothers and sisters.’’, he added with a genuine smile.

Yaju never trusted others. It was the way he had lived up to that point and it was embedded deep into his character. He was going to go along with this group in order to achieve his own personal goal, seeing how it matched the group’s goal as well.

‘’I went into a frenzy. Before I knew it, I was eating the demons in front of me.’’, the hunter began and faced the ground beneath his feet while vivid memories crashed into his mind. ‘’I ate and ate and ate, till I was healed and stronger than ever.’’, he added and faced the gray-haired man again. ‘’The effects have lasted up till this day. Yet I have no idea if it can happen with everyone, if everyone can handle themselves after consuming demons or if a human being can get something out of it.’’

‘’Yaju… this is the time to act. To put an end to those monsters we must use monsters of our own.’’ Fern’s voice came to a whisper as he lowered his head near the table, approaching Yaju so that he could hear him clearly. The half man leaned near him as well, considering how the man probably knew his daughter well and was aware of her existence behind the door.

‘’Right now there are nine half demons in our ranks and a few human soldiers agreeing to partake in this experiment. With you and the doctor, that makes us fifteen people willing to make this bet.’’, he kept on, still with a lowered voice.

‘’Bet?’’

‘’Yes. The bet to cleanse the citadel. We must make use of the demon flesh to strengthen our ranks and take the demons out. Krista told me those beings were no match against you and you were a single person.’’

Yaju felt the color drain from his face. This man was suggesting feeding demons to the ones willing to cooperate and test the results.

‘’Therefore, when you return from your mission…Bring some of her organs with you.’’

Bile built up in his mouth, but he somehow felt excited to devour demon flesh. It proved the point that the monstrous side of his was still growing strong.

‘’What if I don’t agree?’’

Fern wore a mask of rage in a split second, causing the black-haired male in front of him to lose a heartbeat at the sight.

‘’Do you have a better plan hunter? You will cooperate. You will help me save this town from the plague.’’, he pressed on, infuriated, a few veins popping on his forehead. The hunter thought hard about his decision, yet he saw no viable solutions. He cared little of this group of wannabe revolutionists. If they helped him get closer to his goal, he was going to put up with them.

‘’Deal.’’

Yaju acted the very next morning, visiting his first target, a merchant living in the richer part of town, near the palaces and most luxurious churches of the capital. A greater number of guards roamed about this part, but Yaju doubted they were instructed to pay attention to concealed demon activity. After all, pure demons were very proud of their abilities, even if they rarely honed them. Yaju may be a half man, but he had been fighting to the death his entire life. The soft demons of the capital seemed like child’s play to him. He kept his hood down, until the moment he turned to the back streets of the area, paths used by very few people. He concealed his identity and the moment he walked into the larger street, he entered the shop immediately.

‘’Welcome, welcome!’’, the shopkeeper behind the bench uttered, a customer already finishing his transaction. Thankfully, there were no more people in there, since it was too early in the morning for book and relic shopping, the only merchandise this place offered. The shop was clearly targeting rich folks and tourists. As soon as the previous customer left the room, the female merchant faced Yaju with a kind smile. She had a long braid of blonde hair hanging to the right side of her voluptuous body. Her blue eyes were scanning him discreetly, but the hunter could still sense her hesitation, upon witnessing a lifted hood, which partially concealed his characteristics.

‘’Did you eat well last night?’’, the hunter muttered and the female’s eyes narrowed in confusion. The male’s hands fumbled with the embedded lock on the beautifully crafted door behind him and with a click, placed a barrier between them and the outside world. As his eyes focused on her with a hardened expression, his right hand travelled to the sword by his side, his most trusted partner. When the demon realized it, her eyes caved in and her mouth opened wide in shock.

‘’Guards! Guards!’’, she exclaimed and took a step back from the counter, looking around her own space, searching for the opportunity to open the windows. Luckily, it was winter and no one in the right mind would keep the windows open.

‘’No one will help you now, monster…’’

The hunter dashed to her, avoiding her nails with much ease. The creature had truly gone soft and her accumulated weight from a luxurious life and lack of fighting, were her own downfall. Yaju pierced her skull with his blade, her hands falling to her sides instantly, her mouth gaping, dead. He proceeded to slice her body and retrieve some of her organs, doing his best to restrain his own primitive side, his desire for a meal. After the incident his hunger had greatly increased and where it once was a minor nuisance, it now proved a task to suppress. With the organs hidden in his back pack, the hunter escaped the scene, successful, but hungry.