Demon Seer Read online

  Demon Seer

  Kurtis Eckstein

  COPYRIGHT © 2018 – KURTIS M. ECKSTEIN

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the copying, scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support.

  ISBN-13: 978-1983399367

  ISBN-10:

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  Table of Contents

  Preface

  The scientist was already going down the line, the yellow meter making a soft static crackling as he went. The noise was quiet and consistent while he waved it in front of each student. However, when the man passed in front of the girl next to Michael, it made a noise that was slightly different for the first time.

  The scientist waved it in front of her again, before realizing the change in sound only happened when he neared one side of her – the side closest to Michael. The guy then proceeded to waved it in front of him, revealing that the slight change in static would disappear the moment he held it far enough to the other side.

  Michael wasn’t sure how to react, having no idea the significance of the test, but now all eyes were on him.

  Chapter 1: Encounter

  Michael Thorpe sat at the dinner table with his sister and father. It reminded him of a time not too long ago when four of them had been there, but after his parent’s divorce earlier that year this had become the new norm. At least, for the week that they were there. When he and his sister, Amelia, were at their mom’s new house for a week, they were missing the father-figure instead since neither had remarried.

  Dinner time together had remained one of the few stable things in their lives, along with the fact that Michael and Amelia always switched houses together from week to week. That meant that each parent got an entire seven days completely to themselves, which only seemed to cause them to become more distant instead of appreciating their kids more.

  Not that they had bad parents, but it seemed like they were so consumed in their own lives that Michael and Amelia had become afterthoughts. Or maybe they were just acknowledging the fact that they were both teenagers and capable of taking care of themselves.

  For instance, as soon as they were done eating, their father would be leaving for the evening to go on a date. He had promised to never bring a woman home unless he was extremely serious, but that often meant he wouldn’t return home until really late. But, at least they didn’t have to deal with a rotating door of strangers cycling through the house.

  They had both been thankful that their mother had taken it much slower at the dating game, but she tended to bring all her dates home, as few as they were, to meet her kids. She didn’t want to get too involved with anyone who he and Amelia didn’t approve of. Personally, Michael appreciated his dad’s approach more, because it meant they didn’t have to deal with an awkward introduction to someone they would probably never see again.

  The divorce really sucked for everyone. Michael and Amelia hadn’t even known it was coming until one day when their parents sat them down after school and said they were separating. They had hidden it all so well, but apparently both had been contemplating it for years.

  Needless to say, it had affected Amelia a lot more than him. Michael tended to consider himself a fairly emotionally-reserved person, not that his sister wasn’t as mature as him – she was actually very mature for her age – but it just felt like things didn’t bother him as much.

  Granted, that was also now partly true for his sister ever since the divorce was made official, because it had really aged her emotionally. Even though she was only fifteen, two years younger than him, she now acted like she was much older than that.

  Michael sighed, as he glanced at his father and sister working on their dinner. Now that the three of them were almost done eating, Michael was trying to get his dad to pin down a time when he might be home. “When did you say you would be back?” He asked.

  His father scratched his chin, his green eyes – the same as Amelia’s – looking right past Michael as he considered his answer. “I’m not sure honestly. I’ll try to be home before midnight. But no promises.”

  Michael saw Amelia glance at him from the corner of his eye – she was sitting next to him, while their father was across the table. They both knew what that meant – it would be more like 2:00 AM before their father returned. Sighing again, Michael nodded and took his plate to the sink to begin rinsing it off.

  Without having been asked, he and his sister had taken up a lot of the chores in the house to help maintain some kind of order. Otherwise, the dishes and other household cleaning would almost never get done. Their mother was a little better about helping out, but the divorce had put a lot of stress on both their parents.

  Since it had been his sister who had cooked dinner for them, Michael took it upon himself to take care of cleaning up. They had become much more like a team in a relay race, rather than siblings, in the last few months. They both knew that whatever they didn’t help with would place the burden on the other, which neither wanted to do. Everything was easier when they shared the work.

  Once Kai was done, he stuck the plate in the dishwasher and then leaned against the island in the middle of their kitchen. It was the place where mail went until it became cluttered enough for their dad to separate out what he needed to keep and toss the rest. Half of the countertop was currently cluttered with random things.

  Their dad got up from the table to bring his plate and gave Michael a small side-hug around his shoulders. “You’re such a great son. I’ll see you two tomorrow morning.” He then went over to give Amelia a hug too, who was still eating, before grabbing his jacket and keys. “Alright you two, don’t stay up too late. Love you.”

  “Love you too dad,” they both said in sync.

  Their father then headed out the door, and they found themselves alone again.

  Michael heard Amelia sigh at the table. He dried his hands and went to go sit down next to her while she finished eating. “How was school?” He asked. Their father had asked the same question only twenty minutes ago, but Michael knew his sister wasn’t going to take the time to give an elaborate answer when their dad didn’t really seem interested.

  “Lunch was great,” she said with a sarcastic smirk.

  Michael knew what she was implying. That the rest of the day wasn’t great. The two of them were lucky to have lunch together this year, and since his sister didn’t really have any close friends, she sat with him and his two best friends: Riley and Grayson.

  His friend Riley especially enjoyed having Amelia around since it evened out the group: two boys and two girls. Otherwise, Riley complained that she found herself eating with a couple of knuckleheads who were only interested in talking about cars and weight-lifting. She wasn’t wrong. That was what they enjoyed talking about. At least this way, Riley had someone to talk to about clothes and purses, even if that wasn’t something that was especially interesting to his sister.

  Michael never did understand why Amelia had such a difficult time making friends. It wasn’t like no one talked to her. Quite the contrary. Because his sister was good-looking, she had both guys and girls trying to get to know her, but she never seemed interested.

  He had asked her about it once, but her response had been, “They’re all fake.” She wouldn’t elaborate on why she felt that way.

  “And Riley’s not?” He had asked. Riley had blonde hair and blue eyes, and she was the classic definition of a girly-girl. On the surface, if he were judging people on appearances alone, he would think that Amelia would classify Riley as ‘being fake.’ Yet in Amelia’s mind, she wasn’t fake, whereas most of the other
girls in her grade were.

  After that conversation, he had given up on trying to encourage her to make friends. He was just concerned about his sister being alone once the three of them graduated in a year and a half.

  “Did anything bad happen today?” He wondered, just wanting to clarify. He glanced down at their darkly stained mahogany table, before looking back up at her to make eye contact.

  She shook her head, a smile just barely touching her lips, before taking her last bite of food. “No…” She sighed. “It was fine. Just boring.”

  “How’s your homework? Need help with anything?”

  She shook her head again as she began getting up. Michael quickly grabbed her plate from her, to rinse it off before she could do it herself. “I can do it!” She exclaimed.

  “Nope.” Michael retorted. “You cooked dinner.” He then grinned at her. “It was really good by the way.”

  His sister blushed slightly at the complement, sitting back down. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” he replied, as he went to finish the dishes. His sister really did have a talent for cooking. She had quickly gone from cereal and grilled-cheese sandwiches to making homemade enchiladas and lasagna. It gave her something to do and made her feel like she was contributing more to their broken family.

  “What are you doing tonight?” She wondered. She was turned toward him in her chair, her elbow on the table with her cheek resting in her hand. One of her legs was crossed underneath the other.

  “Well, I have some homework, and then I’ll probably hang out in the woods for a little while after dark.” He knew she wouldn’t be surprised by that answer. That had become almost a daily ritual for him when they were at their dad’s house, especially since their parents had divorced. He wasn’t really the outdoorsy type, but something about being alone in the acre of trees behind their father’s place helped him relax. Their mom now lived in a subdivision that barely had a backyard.

  “Oh, okay.” His sister looked down at the table, unsurprised as expected. She tucked some of her light brown hair behind her ear in response to it falling out of place.

  Michael had never said she wasn’t welcome to join him, but she seemed to know he needed some time alone.

  “What about you?” He wondered.

  She looked up at him again. “I’m working on a book right now. So, I’ll probably read after I do my homework.”

  “What’s the book about?” He asked curiously.

  His sister blushed and looked away. “N-Nothing.”

  “A romance novel?” He suspected.

  “Maybe,” she admitted, clearly feeling embarrassed. She sat up in her chair and set her hands on the table, beginning to twirl the gold ring on her right pinky finger that she’d had since she was little. She always seemed to fidget with it subconsciously.

  He had no idea where she had gotten the ring from. He just remembered that she started wearing it one day on her thumb when she was seven. As her hands had grown, she had moved it to her index finger and then eventually her right ring finger. Now, it was a perfect fit for her pinky.

  Michael couldn’t help but chuckle at her non-committal answer, as he dried his hands, finished with the dishes.

  “Hey, don’t make fun of me!” She complained.

  He put his hands up innocently. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You laughed!” She then stuck out her tongue at him.

  He couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. Their occasional playful banter was one of the things he enjoyed about their relationship. It wasn’t uncommon for her to occasionally tease him too.

  Michael grabbed his backpack by the door and pulled out his books to begin working on homework. His sister got up and did likewise, and they both sat down together to work through their tedious assignments.

  He had more stuff to do than her, so Amelia finished her work long before him and began reading her book at the table. The cover gave it away – it was definitely a romance novel, although a clean one. She stayed away from ones that were too erotic.

  He remembered that she had accidentally borrowed one from the school library that had apparently had a scene that was beyond suggestive. They had both been sitting on the couch while she was reading it, with him on his laptop computer. He had been surprised when she suddenly dropped the book on the floor and covered her face, which had turned so red it was almost purple. He of course had asked what was wrong, but once he found out he didn’t ask for the details – the last thing he wanted was to hear his sister talk to him about what the characters in the book had done to make her so embarrassed. She seemed grateful for that, and she was a lot more careful about what she picked out afterwards.

  Once he finished his last assignment, he sat back and sighing heavily, stretching out his arms above his head. It was only Monday night, but he had decided to just get his homework done for the entire week. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about anything school related until this weekend.

  “Finished?” She asked, glancing at him while keeping her head angled towards her book.

  He nodded in response, beginning to gather his things to put his books away.

  “Going outside?” She assumed.

  He looked out the window to confirm what he already knew – it was now dark. Being in the middle of October, the leaves had just begun falling off the trees and it was getting dark just after 7:00 PM. It was already after 8 PM.

  He scratched the back of his head briefly as he realized he had just spent three hours on homework. “Yeah, I guess so. What are you planning to do?”

  Amelia held up her book. “I’ll probably take a shower and then read some more before bed.”

  Michael nodded, giving her a brief farewell, and then headed to his room for a moment before going outside. He had the only bedroom downstairs on the first floor, whereas both his sister and dad slept upstairs. His sister’s room was above the kitchen, which was on the opposite side of the house as his room next to the living room. What used to be their parent’s room – now just their dad’s room – was above the living room.

  Once Michael had headed outside, closing the backdoor to the house behind him, he took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. While he wasn’t a huge fan of the inevitable winter that would soon arrive in a few months, the fall was definitely his favorite season. Taking a deep breath to stretch out his lungs, he began slowly making his way into the backyard to enter the moonlit trees.

  As he walked among the light-gray trunks, he tried to avoid making too much noise. The thinning canopy above allowed for more moonlight than usual to make its way to the forest floor below, not to mention it was also close to a full moon. However, the dried leaves on the ground made it more difficult to walk silently, in addition to the occasional snapping of a twig underfoot. He wasn’t trying to conceal himself from anything in particular, but he knew that if he was too loud then the sounds of the crickets, frogs, and occasional fox would disappear, at least temporarily.

  Michael wanted to mask his presence as much as possible to experience the small forest as if he weren’t there. He recalled that when he was younger he had been afraid to be among these trees after dark. His imagination had always run wild with all sorts of hidden monsters waiting to attack him – it was such a stark contrast to now. He felt completely at peace with the world as he headed to his favorite spot, knowing most animals would flee from people.

  Towards the back end of his father’s property, an old barbwire fence marked where someone else’s land began. It was just before this point that the ground rose into a small hill approximately ten feet above the rest of the terrain. On top of the hill, an old tree had been struck by lightning and fallen, allowing for a complete break in the thinning canopy above. However, the hill was so heavily covered in thorn bushes that the only way to feasibly get to the top was by climbing up the fallen tree trunk. Michael would then sit at the peak, leaning against a large root that had been unearthed, in order stare at the stars and contemplate his life.
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  As the hill came within sight, he shivered slightly as a cool breeze managing to penetrate the branches. Despite the time of year, it had been much warmer earlier in the day. However, now that the sun had disappeared Michael was beginning to reconsider his choice to wear a t-shirt and shorts. A sweatshirt or light jacket would be perfect for this type of weather. Michael took another deep breath, again enjoying the smell of the slightly crisp air.

  As he reached the thorny hill, he began making his way around to the back where he could begin climbing up the makeshift wooden path created by the fallen trunk.

  Michael froze, abruptly realizing he wasn’t alone.

  A thin female figure was hunched over, facing away from him. His first reaction was one of surprise that she appeared to be completely exposed, with no clothes in sight, her skin almost glowing in the moonlight, but then he realized that the motion he saw near the ground was something attached to her lower back – a long tail that looked like it was made of black rock. Its movement reminded him of the twitching of a cat’s tail when it was annoyed or anxious.

  His mind then registered that the black mass hovering in the air on either side of her was also attached, near her shoulder blades – a pair of large black wings. Except, they weren’t exactly what he would call wings. Rather than having membranes like a bat, the wings appeared more like two massive hands with extremely long, bony fingers. He doubted such appendages would be of any use for flying.

  Her head was near the ground, so he couldn’t see beyond her upper back very well – only her pitch-black hair that trailed over her bare shoulders and in between the wings.

  Michael’s heart raced with fear as he tried to remain motionless, startled by the sight, although he noticed another emotion was attempting to surface as well. He briefly wondered what feeling was struggling to compete with his panic, but then had to put that thought on hold as the girl’s back straightened up. She looked up towards the sky, allowing him to have a clear view of the black horns protruding from her dark hair. They almost formed a complete triangle over her head, like a warped halo. The two large protrusions originated from the sides and made a sharp turn upwards towards the front. The points appeared as if they might come within inches of each other approximately half a foot above her forehead.