Demon Hunters: Book 1 Faith [editing]

Chapter 11

Disappointing. If only finding the scion would be that easy. One simple kill and then Zoe could bring this mission to a close. But no angel watcher or recruiter had ever confronted a situation like this. This scion possessed the greatest power ever known on the Earth. Surely one doesn't just stop time all of a sudden. Had this scion been practicing with slowing time before this? How had everyone—angel and demon—not noticed?

The classroom reeked of formaldehyde, and the students looked all too eager to slice into their specimens. Mr. Glenwood, a short thin man with aging white hair, stood at the front of the class holding a packet of paper. "Just follow the lab instructions. Please be careful with the scalpels. Don't get too crazy." A soft chuckle floated about the room. "Oh, and don't forget to get everything into your lab notebooks. Any questions?"

When Zoe stepped into the room, Mr. Glenwood greeted her immediately. "You must be Zoe. Diego told me you were coming. He has everything you need back there." He took her schedule, wrote down the necessary information, and handed her a lab packet.

Zoe thanked him. She hadn't expected Diego's intervention here and wasn't sure what to think about it.

Diego beckoned her to join him at the back table. "You're late," he said when she sat down on the metal stool. "Get lost?"

"I met a teacher that I know." Met and almost killed.

"That's cool. See, I told Riley not to worry. For some reason, she wanted me to look after you." He shrugged. "That's just how she is."

Why had Riley worried about her? Did she think Zoe needed help? Either way, Riley had expressed some concern for her. "I like Riley. She's nice," Zoe concluded aloud more to herself than anyone else.

Diego's eyes gleamed. "Yeah. I like her too. A lot." He smiled. His heart beat increased, and he blushed. He seemed to glow. The boy was clearly smitten.

Zoe listened to the still beat of his heart. Diego shook himself as if recovering from a trance. She counted the seconds now, ignoring the confused look on his face. "Zoe?" His heart rate was slow, very slow, nearly inhuman. No wonder she ran into him at the hospital.

"Do you play sports?"

"Sports? Uh, I used to play soccer with Dominic, but that was a while ago."

She inspected his slender body, assessing his physical composition.

"Whoa—What are you doing?" He flinched and then covered himself protectively with his hands. "Are you checking me out?"

Even in his excited state, his heart rate never reached more than fifty-eight beats per minute.

Zoe laughed. "No." The boy was attractive, but still human. "Don't worry. I'm not interested."

Diego sighed in relief. "Thanks. I think."

"You know. You are a very calm person."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are." Diego had an athletic build, but nothing that explained his relaxed biochemistry. Must be genetics.

"Uh, I guess I am." He shrugged.

Then a boy in the table next to them exclaimed, "Miss Piggy? You can't name it that?"

"Why not?" The girl protested. "It looks so cute!"

"It's not cute. It's dead." The class erupted in laughter.

"Okay, enough. Let's all get back to work," Mr. Glenwood said, walking down the aisle between the lab tables. "And try not to get too emotionally attached to the specimens."

Adolescent humans can be so strange.

"Anyway," Diego began. "We're supposed to measure the pig's length to determine its age." He held up the lab worksheet.

Zoe glimpsed the lifeless pig, its limbs tied off with twine to small pins stuck into the rubber surface of the pan. "Why do humans do this?"

"Dissect fetal pigs? It's part of the lab." He paused, turning his eyes to back to the pig. "Humans? I think it's because humans feel like they have dominion over all the creatures on the Earth and stuff. You know, like in the Bible. So, people do this because they can."

Zoe hadn't expected an answer, not one like this. Who is this kid? She felt drawn to him, wanting to know more about him. "Good point."

He set the packet down and reached for the ruler.

"It's 37.345 millimeter and fifty-two days, eight hours, and twenty-seven minutes old before being extracted from the womb."

Diego's mouth dropped. He leaned over the specimen with the ruler. "Wow. Are you some kind of savant or something?"

Zoe picked up the lab instructions. "Let's just say that I know a lot about biology."

"Obviously."

They worked through the lab. Zoe forced herself to hold back, to not give it all away. This was Diego's educational experience after all.

"So, tell me about Riley?"

"I'm a little busy with this first incision here." The scalpel in Diego's hand shook erratically.

"Mind if I do it?"

Diego leaned back quickly. "I just don't like cutting into it. I'm not good with killing things."

"Don't worry. I'm very skilled at killing things." She took the scalpel and within a second had performed a perfect incision. "Want me to pull back the skin also?"

Diego held his hand over his mouth. "Please."

"So, tell me about you and Riley. How long have you two been dating?"

"Riley?" He looked away from carcass of the pig, from its now exposed innards. "We started just before the summer."

Zoe pointed to the packet. "First, write these down in order from number one to thirteen. Then I'll show you where they are. Esophagus, liver, gall bladder, bile duct..."

"How do you know so much? You hardly even looked at it."

"I'm good at anatomy." She waited for him to finish writing these answers to the lab worksheet. "So, you love Riley, don't you?"

Diego blushed again, his mouth twitching into a faint smile. "Why are you asking me these questions?"

"I'm just curious. Trying to learn about you and Riley."

"Sounds more like an inquisition."

Zoe sighed. "I'm not the best at human conversations."

"Human conversations?" His eyebrows rose.

Zoe could have hit herself at that time. She was acting like a total idiot now, far too pushy. She forced herself to smile. "Sorry. I'm being too intrusive."

A silence fell over them as he read the next part of the laboratory. "Can you please?" He handed her the scalpel. "Throat."

"Sure." Zoe sliced open the skin and pulled it back, exposing the larynx.

"And, yes," Diego whispered. "I love her." The intensity of his words washed over her.

"I can tell."

She had never really thought about the passions that humans chased in their lives. These desires often led to trouble and exposed the dark pathways of chaos, but what about human love? Could human beings truly love each other outside of the heavens? What do teenagers know about love anyway?

"Okay, everyone, class will be over in five minutes. Please make sure to label your specimens. We have places to store them over here." Mr. Glenwood stopped by Zoe. "How did you do?"

"I did okay."

"Okay? She's a freaking genius," Diego said. He lifted up his lab worksheet.

Mr. Glenwood read the first answer. "Fifty-two days, eight hours, and twenty-seven minutes?" He chuckled. "I like a student with a clever sense of humor."