Midnight Playground

Chapter 16

The demons had all seen it before. The carnage, chaos and death. Still, no matter how many times Kayne's eyes had been set upon it, it always felt too fresh to overlook. It was impossible to ignore the thick spill of blood in the air and screams that called out to them. He patted his client next to him, his fingers momentarily trapped in her web of hair that had become tangled by the ridiculous amount of hairspray making it sticky to the touch. Tears washed down her cheeks, dripping from her chin, the droplets falling against his shoulder. This is all he could do - to comfort her. Compared to Jace and Luther, he was an amateur. He briefly disregarded the blubbering woman snuggling in to him and clenched his jaw shut. From ten clients, down to a mere four, maybe. For now, only four had been rescued from the horrors of the house and he didn't even know if there was any more of them alive. It was unimaginable. It couldn't be thought about but he took his peace from knowing one thing, and only one - he had played by the rules.

The unwritten rules that entirely dictated the mind-set of a demon and overruled its own line of thought. There was no need for opinion or guilt, none of it existed anymore. Now, there were only the rules. And this time, the rules were very simple indeed - save your own client. It was completely logical to do so, no need for reasoning against it. It was easy enough to succumb to the instinct and turn the humane switch back off. And Kayne was no different. In recent years it had become harder not to fall prey to the darkness of his heart, to turn the switch of reality back on again. What was worse was that he didn't mind it anymore. He didn't care if he simply disappeared into the demon he had grown in to, his hands were too stained with blood to return back to who he once was. And so, in the midst of the attack, Kayne had found his only surviving client, Yuki and had fled from the house in a panic.

The screams had stopped, the house had gone quiet. Finally it appeared the blood bath had come to an end.

"What were they?" Bridget asked Jace who like Luther was staring at the house in the distance. The look on his face made her heart thud. Why had he saved her if he was going to make such a pained face? Something had chosen her, and it certainly hadn't been his heart. His eyes flickered from left to right, occasionally darting red in colour. His expression of confusion tightened, his brows furrowed and his forehead creased. He was in anguish. She watched the hope die slowly in his eyes, a rare human look passing over him. She couldn't speak. Her heart told her not to. She knew that if she did so much as tap his shoulder, it was likely that he would go for the kill. It was only natural since he was an nervous vampire with the temperament of a caged animal. A little like a cat.

"Where is she?" The outburst caused her to jump high on the spot and her eyes flickered over to find Cole trudging towards them. Holding the deep gash on his upper-arm, the blood seeped through the gap in his fingers and splurging across his ripped shirt. Sweat lined his forehead, his hot breath condensing against the air.

"Where is she!" His voice was louder this time, more aggressive. He stopped, raking his stare over the spiritless group of survivors before lashing back around towards the house.

"Why not leave her?" Kayne muttered coldly, his voice chilling. He stepped towards Cole slowly, who in turn had made a move to confront him.

"You should just leave her. Cut the loss already!" He bared his fangs, his gravelling tone bringing bouts of gasps from Bridget's throat. "She doesn't deserve to be saved."

Cole's hands were on him in seconds, making the other clients scream out in alarm.

"That is not for you to decide." Cole snarled back at him, eyeing him threateningly. Kayne stood his ground, unmoving. The air was tense, and prickled the hair on Bridget's arms. She had already considered Cassie and Emmery to be somewhere inside but had thought little about whether or not they were actually still alive. Her stare slipped over to Jace, his fists balled tightly, letting out deep grunts that only she seemed to hear. Figures that he would be thinking about her again. She had been so concerned with Jace's thoughts that she barely noticed when a shadowed figure slid between the arguing demons.