The Child

9

I walk slowly into Ace's hospital room.

He was swollen, and pink, having to use a tube to breathe because his throat was so swollen.

"Oh, poor thing."I huff, touching his hand.

He tries to hold it and I jump, now noticing he was awake.

"Ace oh my gosh! I told you not to quarrel with insects anymore, you rarely win."I say, sitting down besides him.

He moves as if he were trying to tell me something, but I couldn't grasp what it was.

He moves his hand frantically and I begin to look around the room for something he could write with. I go into my bag and locate a pen and s pad of sticky notes.

I place the pen in his hand to where he could write.

He immediately starts writing, even before I had the paper in place.

He immediately spells out in sloppy panicked handwriting.

D..A..N..GE..R

"Danger? Who's in danger?"I ask.

He begins to write again and I look down.

C AIN I N D A N G E R

"Cain!? Why?!"I ask.

He motions for me to rip away the first post it and I do and he begins writing again.

B E L L I N I

I S

D E M O N!

"Ace, we saw his eyes. He's not a demon."I say.

F AKE FAKE EYES FAKE FAKE FAKE

He writes.

"How can they be fake? You told me demons didn't have the ability to mask their eyes."I say.

BELIEVE ME

I huff.

"Fine. I'll go home and check on Cain."I smile softly.

He nods as I stand up.

....
I slowly peak my head into the room, seeing Cain fast asleep. I smile and huff as I pull the door closed again.

"Thank you so much."I chuckle, turning to Johnathan.

"It's the least I could do for my favorite student."Johnathan smiles

"Johnathan, if you don't mind me all, asking.."I say nervously.

"You want to know how I went blind?"he asks.

"Uhuh."I say.

He chuckles as he takes off his glasses and I see his scared eyes and slight green part.

"I always tell my students it's because of a degenerative disease but, to you see these scars, here?"he asks, pointing to the corners of his eyes.

"I do, yes."I say.

"Guess what it is."he says.

"Surgery?"I question.

He shakes his head.

"Snake bite."

His words make my throat go dry.

"W-wow, right on the eyes? How does that happen?"I ask.

"Zoology has it's pros, and it's cons."he says, putting his glasses back on.

He then clears his throat.

"Why is it that Mr. Ace can't seem to trust me?"he asks.

"He's just very skeptical with men around me and Cain."I explain.

"As, I see. Well, I assume it's time for me to go, I've got a bunch of animals to feed."He smiles, offering me a handshake.

I chuckle as I hug him and he smiles.

"Lovely. Have a nice evening."he smiles as he walks away.

He leaves the house and I smile.

...

Ace lays dormant in his hospital bed, feeling less swollen than he did.

The lights beging to flicker, and his eyes open. He looks around the room and sees nothing, so he huffs, closing his eyes again.

The lights flicker again and it makes him jump, he opens his eyes again.

This time, he sees Johnathan standing at the foot of his bed.

Unable to scream, he reaches for the call button. It slides away before he could reach it.

"We got off on the wrong foot, Ace."Johnathan says, slowly taking off his glasses.

"At least you were right, hm."Johnathan says, winking a yellow eye at him.

He chuckles as he begins digging around in his satchel.

"I've heard a lot about you, from master. I'm a big fan of your work."he says, pulling out a carefully packaged syringe.

"Midland tiger snake. Right?"he asks.

The fear in Ace ignites as he shakes his head. Johnathan chuckles as he simply steps over Ace, straddling him.

"Do you miss it? Of course you miss it, what human doesn't miss the ecstasy of being a demon. "He says, uncapping the needle of the syringe.

"Constantly having venom in your blood, don't you miss that pleasure?"he asks, softly dragging the needle about Ace's chest.

Ace's breathing hitches as Johnathan smiles, moving the needle up to his neck.

"Do you think you'll be his right hand again? He says you're a good solider."he says, picking the needle up off Ace's chest.

He then sticks the needle into his own neck and injects the venom into himself.

Instantly his body jerks in reaction to the substance and he chuckles, bearing his teeth as they begin to change into sharp fangs.

His voice distorts as he speaks and Ace watches with fear as Johnathan simply picks up his resting hand.

"Snake demon to snake demon, your venom feels the best."he then bites into Ace's hand and Ace winces, tears running down his face as he sees the venom begin to travel up his arm through his veins.

Johnathan drops Ace's hand, wiping the dripping blood from lips and then winking at Ace.

"You enjoy that, kid."he says, getting up walking back over to his bag.

He takes out another syringe and tosses it towards ace as he begins convulsing, his eyes slowly fading to a green color.

"Another hit for you, when your finished."he says before leaving the room, leaving Ace seizing on the bed, setting off all sorts of alarms and bringing attention to his room.

....