A Drop Of Haunted Blood [REMOVING FOR PUBLICATION DEC 1] [WATTYS WINNTER 2023]

Chapter Eleven: The Demon-Killing Demon

Felix wasn't sure how much faith to put in Arisa. She carried herself with a lot of confidence. All he could do was hope it wasn't misplaced. He still didn't buy that Sebastian actually wanted them to be here, but maybe this was his chance to prove he was worthy of training with the Guardians.

"This is the place," Arisa said, stopping in front of a small office building. "Since the Guardians are pretty sure the demon is in this building, they put up wards around it. It traps the demon inside and prevents ordinary people from going in." She held up a hand. As she moved it forward, the air shimmered. "If we can lure the demon out, we could kill it here at the edge without putting ourselves in danger."

"What about the people who work here?" Felix asked.

"The Guardians in charge of the case probably came up with a story to keep them out. Black mold or a bug infestation or something."

"And wards are sort of like sigils?"

"Not exactly," Arisa said. "You can make wards with spells, but like everything else Guardians do, we make them from sigils. If you searched the property carefully, you'd be able to find the sigils used to form the wards." She knelt down and opened her bag. "Now, let's do this."

Her hands moved into the backpack and pulled out a few pieces of paper covered in sigils, along with a small dagger. After setting them on the sidewalk, she picked up Clementine and set her inside the bag. "Hang out in here for a little bit, okay?" She zipped it up.

"Were you planning to do this the whole time?" Felix asked as Arisa arranged the pieces of paper in a circle.

"I thought there might be an opportunity." Arisa slid one of the papers a few inches to the left, grabbed the dagger, and rose to her feet. "Okay, they won't work until we activate them. I brought a lighter, but it would work even better if you used your mom's fire—"

One of the building's doors swung open. A boy stepped out.

Felix frowned. "Is that a demon? I thought they'd be scarier."

"Well, some of them can take on human forms to trick people, but this might just be some kid." Arisa squinted. She hid her dagger behind her back. "Unless..."

The boy jogged toward them. He looked about their age, but he was several inches taller than Felix. His clothes were surprisingly warm, given the weather. He wore a backpack, ripped black jeans, a dark red sweatshirt, and hid his hair under a lighter red beanie. Most of it, anyway. A few black pieces of hair stuck out on his left side, while the pieces on his right were pale lavender in color.

"What are you guys?" the boy asked when he reached them. "Witches? Sorcerers? Magicians?"

"Bright Guardians," Arisa told him.

"Magicians, then."

"Yeah, sure."

"Wait, I thought the Bright Guardians were a secret organization," Felix said.

"Only to the public," Arisa replied. "The local magic community knows about us."

"If by local you mean the entire Pacific Northwest, then sure," the boy said. He tipped his head back, letting the sun fall across his tan skin. "So, can you take these wards down? I'm trapped in here with a bunch of demons. Not exactly fun."

"Wait, a bunch of demons?" Felix asked.

His question was ignored. Arisa put her free hand on her hip. "If you're not a demon, you should be able to leave."

The boy hesitated a moment before reaching his hand out. His fingers grazed the invisible barrier. He yelped in pain and jumped back.

"I knew it!" Arisa pointed her dagger at him. "He's a demon. Let's kill him and—"