Young Writers Society

Hey guys~, I took a break from my studying for finals (I keep getting headaches from it e___e ) and wrote two more chapters. (Yay me! ). For the first two chapters and the prologue click -->here<--

Another note: TITLE CHANGE. From Crimson Moon to Immortal Moon. It sounded better and went better with the story...

Chapter Three –

For the first time in my life, I was in the air at the end of my transportation. I opened my eyes only to see my surroundings leap up, and suddenly I smacked into the ground. Dizzy, but trying not to show it, I quickly sat up and turned my gaze to Ky’s outline. He was blurred, but I could still see him smirk.

He knew something I didn’t.

I tried to stand up, but the world spun around me as I did so. Just as I was about to collapse back to the ground, Ky reached out and grabbed my elbow to keep me steady. This confused me; usually he watched me struggle on my own and didn’t even attempt to help. But I was glad for the support.

“Naera, I have an important mission for you.” He said as my mind slowly stopped rocking. I was able to focus on him, on his bright yellow eyes. I swallowed and nodded, not feeling anything except numb. “I need you to kill a neutral for me.” I gasped even before he finished the sentence. My breathe caught in my throat. Kill a neutral? They might have only had one master, but their clan was bigger than both the dark and good clans put together. I groped for words to say, but I found none. How can I oppose Ky?

“Don’t worry, I have a partner for you.” At this, my gaze fell upon the demon in the corner. He was standing quietly, arms crossed, watching us with a blank expression. Why hadn’t I noticed him before? I quickly tried to straighten myself up, jerking my arm away from Ky.

“If you try to fight a neutral, they’ll kill all of the family!” I hissed. Demons under a master’s rule was often called a “family”. Though some “families”, such as mine, were as distant as strangers.

“Trust me, Naera.” Ky smirked and gestured towards the man in the corner. “This is Asselin. He’s strong, and cunning. He’ll be useful against the neutrals.”

I couldn’t help but find myself disgusted at the way Ky spoke of Asselin. He made the demon sound like…like…a weapon of some sort. I scowled at Ky, but quickly turned to look at Asselin before Ky could see. He was obviously strong; his muscles bulging out slightly under copper colored skin. He stepped forward and held out his hand to me. It was large, and when I clasped my hand around his, it was warm as well. We held our hands tightly for a minute before pulling away. No shake, not even one. It was the demon handshake, and it was a kind of pledge to loyalty for each other.

I didn’t doubt his loyalty, but I doubted my own.

Quickly pushing away all thoughts, I looked back at my master. He was watching me with approving eyes. I averted my gaze to a wall, not wanting to think what would happen if I failed.

“The scent, My Lord.” Asselin said, his voice like the soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof.

“Oh, right, right!” Ky laughed and handed him a…mixing spoon? Asselin looked just as confused as me, but he took it in his emmensed hands, lifting it to his nose. His nostrils flared, and he quickly pulled it away from his face, holding it out to me like it was a venomous snake. I took it and raised it to my own nose, breathing in the scent. It smelled sweet; a sort of warm, kind smell. Nothing wrong or foul about it as far as I could tell.

I lowered it and handed it back to Ky.

“Ready?” I asked Asselin, and I could see him tense as if I had offended him. I supposed he was used to asking that and not somebody asking him. I quickly closed my eyes before I could see him scowl.

“Ready?” His voice came only seconds later, and I could hear the smugness in his voice.

“Yep.” I said loosely, not opening my eyes. But by then I was already letting the strange, warm scent wrap around me.

This time I was standing on the ground, thankfully. As soon as I felt different floor under my feet I opened my eyes. Asselin was a meter or two away, already looking around. Quickly pulling my gaze from him, I also looked around.

I wasn’t too surprised about where we were, not after the mixing spoon. We were standing in a large kitchen, but if you took away the giant table in the middle, you could possibly use it for a gym. There were three stoves, which I raised my eyebrow at, and cabinets all around the room. Two refrigerators were tucked into a corner, one pressed against the other. Despite how large it was, everything was perfectly clean.

There was a noise from next to me, a sort of choked snort. My head snapped to the side to look as I jumped away, but it was only Asselin. He was covering his nose and mouth with his massive hands. I must’ve looked confused, because he explained.

“Neutral scent.” He spat, as if it should be obvious. Technically, I suppose it should have. But I didn’t smell anything. I swallowed, and nodded.

“I’m used to it.” I lied, to cover myself up for my lack of disgustion. After several more moments I turned my attention back to my surrounding.

As I stepped toward the stoves to look at them, someone hurried through a door towards the end of the room. I reeled back, eyes widening, as I watched her. For a second I thought she didn’t notice us, from the way she just scurried over the pale blue tiles and towards the stoves.

“Hold on, hun, if you want something to eat you’ll have to wait for dinner.” She said pleasantly as she passed me. I blinked in confusion, and then her scent reached me.

She’s the demon we’re after? My mouth dropped slightly, but I glanced at Asselin and flicked my wrist towards her. He nodded, before gesturing for me to step back. Reluctantly, I did so, inching away from the girl.

She looked no older than me. I studied her as she turned knobs on the stove and it slowly turned on. Then she started flitting around the cabinets, pulling out pots and pans. That was the only way I could describe the way she moved- flitting. Like a humming bird.

She had short black hair, but the hair that framed her face was blue. I couldn’t catch a good glimpse of her eyes, but her skin seemed quite fair, somewhat in between Blade and Jamia’s skin tone.

Without warning, Asselin darted forward and grabbed her shoulders. She yelped slightly as he jerked her back, but by then he had a strong grip on her neck. For a minute she clawed at his hand, then just as suddenly as he jerked forward, she kicked him right between the legs.

My “partner” immediately crumpled slightly, letting go of her and pulling away. He glanced towards me.

Oh no. It was my turn.

I hesitated, and during that time she turned and starting running towards the door. At least, I thought it was the door. Foolishly, I ran after her.

I was quite taken aback when she pulled open a drawer and grabbed a knife. Then she spun around the face me again. I skidded to a stop, but she was already pouncing on me. She knocked both of us to the ground, and then she had me pinned. I mentally cursed myself for being so careless.

I stared into her eyes, which I now knew the color of. Green, with a sort of yellow circle around the pupil. She seemed perfectly calm as she held the knife to my throat.

“What do you want?” She asked icily. I almost swallowed, but then conscious of the knife pressed against my throat, I quickly stopped myself.

“Kayen!” A familiar voice said, and I pulled my gaze from her face. I tried to look past her, but she was blocking my entire view. Keeping her knife to me, she turned her head to look.

“Sabl, I’m handling it.” She growled, and my eyes widened. Sabl?! I thought frantically, trying to squirm out of her grasp. It didn’t work, and her knife dug slightly into my neck. I froze and tried to recoil from it.

I could hear running against the tile, and black sneakers crashed down uncomfortably close to my head. They were quickly gone, however, and I knew he was heading towards Asselin.

Oh, he can take care of himself. I thought impatiently, staring at Kayen again. Her attention was fixed on Sabl and Asselin, I assumed.

Perfect. I smiled and slowly lifted one hand. Carefully I moved it over to the knife she was holding.

Just about then was when things came all too quickly. She looked down, but I had already grabbed her knife-holding hand and threw her off me, pulling the knife out of her hand as she fell back. I was immediately on my feet, and this time I tackled her to the ground. Well, I tried anyway. She rolled away from me and also jumped up

As we circled each other, waiting for a sign of weakness, or a place to move in, I spotted Asselin and Sabl fighting out of the corner of my eye. Sabl, unfortunately, seemed to be winning. I scowled and quickly turned my attention back to Kayen. Luckily, she hadn’t noticed my lack of focus and was now eying my feet.

You shouldn’t plan so obviously. I thought with a smirk. Suddenly, though I expected it, she darted forwards, lowering like she was going to knock me off my feet. I quickly jumped up, but realized too late what she was actually doing. As I jumped up she pushed herself up off the ground like a frog would, and body slammed me in the air. The wind was knocked clear out of my lungs, and it didn’t help that I slammed into a wall. I think I heard something crack as well.

My neck snapped back and my head slammed against something hard and pointy- a corner, I figured. But by then I was sinking to the ground, and my sight had gone black.

~~~

My eyes flew open, and I jerked myself into sitting position. Immediately pain sprang up my side, and I fell back. I waited for several minutes as all my senses slowly came back. I was lying in a bed- this surprised me very much- and someone was standing over me. I blinked and squinted, trying to make them out.

I was actually expecting Sabl, but it wasn’t. It was someone I had never seen before. His skin was just slightly tan- very similar to mine, just a bit lighter. His eyes were a light blue, and he had black hair. As my mind slowly came back, I also realized he looked only a few years older than me.

And he was gorgeous.

I quickly shoved all my thoughts back at this one. Ew, no! I thought.

“Ah, you are awake.” He said, and he put a hand on my shoulder. I pulled back, and managed to suppress a yelp of pain as my side burned. “Oh, sorry.” He said, instantly jerking his hand back. I realized, as he did so, that his hand was scarred badly. It was almost hard to tell if it was a hand or not.

“Jozokas?” An unfamiliar, yet familiar, voice chimed as another figure stepped into my view. I hissed and sat up again at the sight of her. Asselin should have killed her while I was knocked out!

She reached out and pushed me back down.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked stiffly. “If you hurt me, my master will have all of you-“

“Hurt you?” Kayen laughed. “No, hun, we want to heal you. If you stay here for a while, your ribs should be good as new. Though, of course, some of my family did want to kill you, but Sabl told them not to.”

“Sabl?” My eyes widened. “Why would he…?” I trailed off and sighed.

“He’s quite fond of you. He talks about you a lot.” Kayen laughed again. “Get some sleep. You don’t have to worry about anyone hurting you, you’ll be fine.” She smiled warmly at me. She kissed ‘Jozokas’ and walked away as he turned his attention back to me.

I closed my eyes, but was consciously aware of him staring at me.

I’ll never get to…sleep with him….staring at….me… Or so I thought.

~~~

When I woke up no one was around, and I was more aware of my surroundings. For instance, the first thing I noticed, was that I was in a room with no windows or electric lights. Slowly, painfully, I sat up and got a better look. Candles were placed around the room randomly, making it a lot brighter than necessary. There was a small bureau tucked against a wall, with two candles on top of it.

Since no one was around I decided I might as well try to get back to Ky, or the mansion, or somewhere other than here. I closed my eyes and thought of my room. Lavender scent, soft carpet, electric lights…

But all I felt was pain. And it wasn't just in my side; it seemed to spread over my entire body, a distinctive ache. And not only that, but it also felt like someone had put a noose around my heart and squeezed it tight. With a gasp my eyes flew open, and I rubbed my chest as the pain slowly subsided.

I jumped out of my skin as something slammed into the door.

"Goddammit, Sabl, no!" Someone's harsh voice reached my ears, and just the sound made me cringe. Slowly I slipped out of the bed and walked towards the door. My shoes had been taken off, and all I had on were my socks. I almost slipped several times.

There was more shouting as I reached the door, and I hesitated. What was I doing? Helping Sabl? But eventually curiosity got the better of me and I cracked the door open just enough for me to look out. Sabl had his back pressed against the wall, but he looked at the other man defiantly.

"She is my friend." He hissed. "I will not allow her to be killed!"

"What makes her your 'friend'?" The other man spat, shoving Sabl back against the wall with such force that it crumbled slightly, the dust dropping and falling into Sabl's long hair. I flinched the same time Sabl did. "She is under Ky's rule!"

"But I'm working on getting her to join-"

"Join us? Sabl, she can't join us! Ky will start sending his children over to kill her, and in the meantime we'll be protecting her and our family will get killed! We already have Kayen!" My eyes widened. Kayen used to be under Ky's rule? Is that why he wanted me and Asselin to kill her? That seemed a bit too harsh, even for him. Once a demon joined another clan, it was considered their honored decision, and nothing else was done about it.

But I couldn't imagine Ky sending over demons to kill me…he wouldn't, would he?

"Look, Kayen is Jozokas's duty, not mine! I can watch over Sarah! Even if she hates me, I will!" Sabl’s desperate voice quickly changed to threatening, and he stepped forward. The wall crumbled slightly again. "We're the only ones who know what Ky has planned for her. I have to save her, Radak! You just don't understand!"

"Understand what?" Radak hissed. "Understand that you're in love with her? Guess what, Sabl, she hates you! It's fools gold! Who honestly cares if she dies, besides you? Maybe a few of her human friends will wonder why she has disappeared. Oh, boo hoo. Just let Ky do what he wants with her. She is his child, whatever he does with her is his decision!"

Sabl shoved Radak back angrily, slamming him against the wall. Immediately, the man grabbed his arm and punched him square in the stomach, before pulling his hand up and smacking him right in the face. Sabl stumbled back, hit the wall, then slid down it and crumpled onto the ground.

"We'll see what the master has to say." Radak scowled, pushing Sabl's limp body out of his way, then strode down the hall. I pulled back slightly as he passed the door, but he didn't notice me. He just kept on walking. I waited several minutes after he turned a corner, then pushed the door open and stepped out. Sabl was on all fours, using one hand to wipe some blood off his lip.

As I knelt down in front of him he looked up, his eyes widening.

"Sarah, you should be in bed." He said quickly, looking away from me. I flinched as he used my human name.

"Why did you stand up for me?" I asked sternly.

"You…heard?" Sabl swallowed and sat back on his heels.

“Of course I heard! You were fighting outside the room’s door!” I scoffed. I swallowed and sighed. “Answer my question.”

Sabl just stared at me. His expression slowly changed from bewilderment to sadness.

“Why do you want to know?” He suddenly said stiffly.

“Sabl!” Someone shouted. Both of us jumped, and he narrowed his eyes.

“Inez.” Sabl growled under his breath. I was about to ask who, but a lanky, tan demon had halted behind Sabl.

“Did you ruin the wall?” Inez demanded, then spoke again before Sabl could reply. “We just fixed the ceiling from last time! You and Radak need to learn how to control your temperaments.” He grabbed Sabl’s shirt and jerked him to his feet. Then he looked down at me. I kept my mouth shut and slowly stood up, clearing my throat.

“This is-“ Sabl began.

“The girl.” Inez cut him off with a growl. He narrowed his eyes at me, and I swallowed. I fidgeted with my shirt nervously. He reached over and lifted my chin gently, but Sabl pulled his hand back, scowling at him. I also stepped back, feeling anger bubbling up. “Your name is Sarah, isn’t it?” He asked.

“Naera.” I said, my shoulder muscles tensing.

“Naera, then.” Inez smirked and let go of Sabl. Inez stepped towards me, and I stepped back again. “I’ll see you around.” He winked and brushed past me. I turned and watched him go, my mouth open. Was a neutral demon just hitting on me?

“I’m sorry. Go back and rest.” Sabl said, before also hurrying past me. But he made sure to keep a good space between us as he did so. I quickly closed my mouth and watched as he turned a corner.

What now? I thought miserably. Slowly I turned in a full circle, looking around. I was in a hallway, with doors only on the left side. I raised an eyebrow and touched the right wall gently. Nothing seemed wrong with it. Why weren’t there any doors?

I shook away my curiosity. What did it matter? I shouldn’t even be here. And since I couldn’t seem to transport, I would have to walk home.

I picked my left, since that was where both Inez and Sabl had gone, and walked through the hall. I followed Sabl’s route, taking the corner and then continuing down. The hallway seemed to go on forever, and it was the same as the hallway I’d stepped out into. Doors were only on the left side. I almost thought I was completely lost when I came to a small, narrow stairway descending to a door.

I glanced around, then slowly started down the stairs, one hand on the wall to steady myself.

~~~

I actually got pretty far, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that this house was even bigger than mine, I probably would have gotten out of here. But, of course, I got lost, and now I was staring down into two pairs of blue eyes.

“What should we do with her?” One of them said.

“I wonder what she tastes like roasted…”

“Naw, I’d rather see what she tastes like fried.”

As the two young demons continued their conversation of how they were going to cook me, I glanced around slowly, trying to find a way out. The hall I was in now- or maybe it was one I had been in before- was deserted besides me and the two cannibals. If they weren’t joking, that was. I really hoped they were.

Finding no way to escape, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes drowsily. Running around a maze-like house tired me out enough without bruised ribs. The two neutrals continued bickering until I heard a familiar voice.

“Naera?” I opened my eyes eagerly, only to find that Jozokas was moving towards us. The two demons both looked at each other with wide eyes and stumbled back.

“We w-weren’t doing anything, w-we swear!” One of them said, and the other nodded his head quickly in agreement.

“Alright, twins, stop fooling around and leave our guest be.” Jozokas said, and though I detected no hint of anger in his voice, the two boys turned and darted away like there was a coyote on their heels. Jozokas watched them leave then turned to me, smiling warmly. “I hope you don’t mind them. They like causing mischief.” He paused, but continued before I could get anything in. “I don’t believe we were introduced correctly. I’m Jozokas, but you can call me Kas. I believe you are Naera, am I correct?” His light blues eyes twinkled.

“Nare-rah.” I corrected the way he said my name. “But yes, that’s correct.” I itched with impatience, but I tried not to show it.

“Oops, sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head, before turning to look down the hall. I turned as well, and jumped back in surprise as Kayen seemed to appear out of no where.

“Someone wants to see you, Sarah!” She chirped happily. I cringed, wondering how she could be so optimistic.

“Who?” I asked, as I studied her carefully. No wonder she left Ky, she definitely didn’t belong under his rule. Or maybe she had been different back then. I knew I’d probably never find out.

“Follow me.” She turned and started walking away. Jozokas followed her immediately, like a trained puppy, and I hesitated before reluctantly padding after them. I was still in my socks, and it was starting to get chilly in the house.

Jozokas eyed Kayen’s feet unhappily. She was only wearing socks as well, but they were completely mismatched. One was red with black stripes, and the other was purple with yellow polka dots. I had to keep back my giggles as we turned a corner.

Kayen led us through the hallways, turning and twisting randomly- or so it seemed to me. After a while I got dizzy and decided to stop paying attention and just stare at the back of Jozokas’s head.

Finally we entered a very large dining room. A long table was placed in the middle of the room, and a smaller one was tucked into the corner. There were, again, no electrical lights but blown out candles were scattered randomly around the room. I figured they would be on if it wasn’t for the fact that the giant window on the west wall was flooding the room with a light.

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I noticed the most familiar face standing in the shadows of the room. At first I was comforted- a strange calm settled around me. But it immediately turned to panic.

“Jamia!” I choked on her name and stuttered slightly.

“H-how…why…you’re…here?” I stammered. “How’d you get here? How’d you know I was here?”

Jamia smiled smugly and lifted up her hands, palm forward, to stop my jumble of words. Blue ink covered the middle of her hand as her bracelets jangled. I had no choice but to calm down at such a familiar sight. I closed my eyes briefly, sucking in the warmth that radiated from her.

I seemed to be the only one who thought that. Jozokas and even the optimistic Kayen seemed to recoil from her. Glancing at them, I stepped forward.

“How I got here is not important.” Jamia said coolly, flicking a strand of crimson hair behind her shoulder. Her bracelets jangled again as she did so, and I saw Kayen flinch out of the corner of my eye. My forehead creased in confusion, but I quickly decided to ignore them. “Why are you here?”

Her sudden question caught me by surprise, and I only stood there with my mouth hanging half open. She waited patiently, eyebrows raised.

“I…I…” I glanced around as if searching for an excuse.

“She came to kill me.” Kayen spoke up, her voice stiff as she eyed Jamia. My friend didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh.” She said with dismission. “Look, Sar, I did some research-“ She was cut off as a herd of demons trampled into the room. My eyes widened as I turned to look. The empty room filled up instantaneously, almost too fast to comprehend. Some demons just appeared, while others filed through the door. Both me and Jamia back up and pressed ourselves closer to the wall, hiding in the shadows. Their loud chatter filled the room, and even if Jamia continued speaking I would not be able to hear her.

“Oh, come on Jared, you’ve got to help me.” Kayen shouted to Jozokas over the roar. I stared at them. Jozokas’s human name was Jared? That was awfully similar. I watched as the two disappeared into another door.

Several minutes later Kayen came back in carrying a large plate of pizza, and Jozokas followed. Jamia put a hand over her mouth and took on a green hue. I always forgot that she hated pizza even more than I did.

“Yes! Pizza tonight!” I heard several demons exclaim, and suddenly everyone was rushing for the chairs.

There was a lot of shoving, pushing, and shouting to claim chairs, but eventually everyone had found a seat and was reaching eagerly for slices.

“I’ll bring the the rest of the plates to the other rooms; you can eat.” Jozokas said to Kayen, and I thought my eyes were about to pop out because they widened so much. Even Jamia looked surprised. There were more rooms? How many freaking neutrals were in this one house? I knew neutrals had more demons than the “good” and “bad” clans put together, but I wasn’t expecting so many to live together.

I looked around the table from where I stood. I only recognized three faces. Kayen, and the twins that had been taunting me in the hallway. I was happy to see they were both eating pizza, a hopeful sign.

After several silent minutes only broken by the sound of people eating, several of them started talking, and soon they were all talking and the room filled with the sound of babble and laughter. It reminded me exactly of school lunch.

No one seemed to notice me and Jamia standing off in the shady corner, watching them. Even Kayen seemed to forget we were here as she talked excitedly with someone sitting besides her. I noticed that she wasn’t eating pizza, but instead was gnawing on what looked like (though I wasn’t sure) a chicken bone.

I glanced at Jamia, but she already seemed bored. She was staring out the window, watching the sun sink slowly behind the tree tops. I knew she was waiting for dusk- she hated the bright sunlight that came with every day.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” I whispered to Jamia, but she quickly shook her head.

“No, we have to stay. I’ll explain later.” She whispered back urgently. I opened my mouth to protest then quickly shut it. I knew there was no point in arguing with Jamia- once she made up her mind, she stuck to her decision no matter what you said or did to her.

I sighed and waited for something to happen. Several minutes ticked by, and my impatience grew. Finally Jamia, who I was positive had sensed my emotions, spoke.

“You left off saying that you could switch clans.” Jamia said calmly. I stared at her, bewildered, before remembering our conversation in the woods. Of course she wouldn’t have forgotten. I let an exasperated sigh escape my lips before puckering them and thinking. Jamia saved me. “Tell me about the thirteen masters.” She suggested.

I paused several moments as I dusted off my thoughts, then began. It didn’t feel awkward, though I knew it should have. But there was nothing else to do at the moment, any way.

“There are thirteen masters. Six of them are in the “bad” clan, and six are in the “good” clan. The one left is the neutral master. Although the clans- well, two of them- have several different masters, they are all pretty much working together. The only difference is that all the demons belonging to a master are considered a ‘family’.”

“How are…how are you made?” Jamia asked sheepishly. I smiled.

“Well…the same way humans are. No need to get into details.” I laughed, and Jamia’s bell-like laugh joined mine. “Our parents take care of us, but they are never really considered our parents. Our master is our only parent, and all the demons below him are considered his ‘children’. He is allowed to do whatever he wants with them. We’re raised as demons until we’re about six, and then they put us in a human kindergarten. Anything we say is just dismissed as our imaginations running wild. After a while we learn that we aren’t allowed to tell.” I looked at Jamia to make sure she was still with me, and was happy to see that she was eagerly sucking in all the information.

“Each clan has their own sign. Bad clan has an upside down cross, neutral clan has a neutral symbol, and the good clan has a peace sign.” I smiled. “We were actually the first to make those signs, so don’t think we stole them. Humans are the ones who took the symbols from us.”

“That makes sense.” Jamia nodded, then gestured for me to continue.

“Each master has their own symbol as well, which they all put on their children some how. Whether it’s a scar, tattoo, or jewelry of some sort.” I pulled out my two necklaces, which were usually hidden beneath my clothes.

“So this is your clan one.” Jamia said, fingering the upside down cross before looking at the other one. It was a sun, plain and simple, but Jamia studied it carefully as if it was telling her all the secrets it kept from me. “This is your family’s symbol.” She finally said with a nod to show she understood the whole “two symbols” thing. I smiled, always comforted at how easily she took the most foreign things. I opened my mouth to keep talking, but a loud snapping noise made everyone in the room look toward a door on one of the eastern walls.

And right there, in the middle of the now-broken doorway, stood Ky.