Hunter Academy - Book 1

DEMON FIGHT

We all gather in the guys' living room. I'm sandwiched in between Sam and Leo, their hulking forms nearly squishing me. I'm not complaining, though. I'm relishing in their body heat. I snuggle a little deeper into the couch. Dane is sitting in the armchair, the scythe in his lap. We are all holding our very own glass of demon tea. There's an apprehension weighing heavily in the room as we all look at each other as if to say Are we really going to do this? Dane must come to a decision, because he raises his glass.

"If we're ever going to do this, it might as well be now. Bottoms up." He tilts his glass back and downs it in one gulp. The rest of us follow suit, and in no time at all we're "waking up" somewhere I have never seen.

At once I'm thrown back from a powerful blow to my chin. I fly several feet, landing hard on my side. I grunt as I look around, my eyes landing on her. Her face is full of evil glee, the delight making her red eyes shine. The guys move to attack her, but I stop them.

"Guys. She's been feeding, and a lot from the force of that hit. She didn't have that kind of strength earlier."

"Smart one, you are." She sneers as she stalks me. I quickly scramble to my feet, my body moving into a defensive position. I glance around and the guys are doing that silent eye conversation. I pay them no mind. We came in here with a plan, and i have to trust that they will stick to it. My eyes land back on her, and she's only a few feet away from me.

I run at her full force, my arms out in front of me. I hit her and bounce off her like she's made of rubber. I hit the ground hard, right on my tailbone, which explodes in pain. She grabs the back of my shirt and starts dragging me across the ground. I'm scrambling my feet to get purchase, and manage to stand. I rip my shirt out of her hand and hit her hard in the back. She lurches forward, but catches herself before she falls.

She turns quickly, grabs me and throws me. Luckily, I land on my feet, keeping me from hurting myself again. With her attention on me, Leo comes up behind her and puts her in a bear lock. She throws her head back, attempting to smash his nose, but he anticipates the move, and holds his head back out of her reach. She grabs his hands that are clasped in front of her and digs her freakishly long fingernails into his flesh; flesh that starts sizzling. He cries out and breaks his hold, cradling his hands against his chest, breath heaving.

It's clear she has some tricks up her non-existent sleeves, but I can't figure it out. I wrack my brain trying to remember everything about the ADR. Then it hits me. I can manipulate in this dream, too. The guys have her occupied at the moment, so I close my eyes and picture the guys and myself bigger, and stronger. As strong as her. I open my eyes just in time to see her shoot a ball of blinding light out of her hands. It hits all three of them and they fly back and hit the ground. None of them move after. I close my eyes again and will their strength into me. Now, I can feel the power welling up inside of me, and I smile.

"What could you possibly be happy about? Your protectors are out cold?"

"Because I just figured something out. I'm going to beat you." I tell her with confidence. And I'm going to. I can feel it. I have this power flowing through me like nothing I've ever felt. I puff my chest out a little bit, the flow of the power surging through me. She cocks her head to the side as she looks at me, trying to figure out what I know.

I run at her, but she's expecting the move. and easily deflects my hit. She puts her hands out like before, in an attempt to blow a light ball at me, but I quickly do it first, the light surging from my outstretched hands. It hits her in the middle of her chest, flinging her back. The first time I've actually hurt her. I continue to assault her with the light balls as I advance on her. She's thrown up an energy shield, so she's no longer getting hit, but the force of the blows keep her glued to the ground.

When I'm standing directly above her, I stop the flow of energy and drop to my knees, straddling her body. I start to pummel her face with my fists, using the energy to strengthen the force of my hits. Blood sprouts from her nose, the hue the exact same color as the red that marks her body. Her eye is swelling shut, as I take all of my aggression out on her. This only last a few more moments until she manages to buck me off her. She immediately to her feet, as am I, and we start trading blows. I land a hit to her midsection, and she doubles over, winded. I grab her head, and slam my knee into her face, twice. She falls back on her ass. I just stand over her, panting, trying to catch my breath.

After a few minutes, I start looking around. The guys are beginning to stir, small groans coming from them as they move into sitting positions. I look at her and she actually looks scared. I spot what I'm really looking for. I run to the discarded scythe, dropping to my knees to get it. I quickly stand and whirl to face her, but she isn't there. I look around.

"Where the fuck did she goes?" I ask the guy, anger dripping from every word.

"I don't know, Snow." Dane says, looking around puzzled. The same expression is on all their faces. They're bewildered.

She's just gone. Probably ran to lick her wounds. I punch the air in frustration.

"I almost had her!" I yell to nobody in particular, just lashing out. Dane comes over to me, and gathers me in his arms, trying to soothe me, but I'm not having it. I'm pissed off. I break out of his hold an close my eyes. I will myself to wake up. No sense staying here if she ran.

I wake up on the couch with a gasp, still lodged between Sam and Leo. i throw myself out from between them. When they finally wake up, I'm pacing the length of the living room, muttering to myself. I'm pretty sure with the amount of stomping I'm doing, I'm actually wearing a path through the carpet.

Dane quickly stands and rushes over to me. He stands directly in front of me, and puts his hands on my shoulders, effectively stopping my marching. I deflate a little bit. I shouldn't take out my anger on them. It isn't their fault. I move my head forward and lean my forehead against Dane's chest. He gathers me closer until he's hugging me. I wrap my arms around him and hug him back.

"I know it's frustrating, Snow, but we'll get her. I promise. It just isn't happening today. You hurt her. A lot. Enough to force her to flee. We're not going to be able to get her until she's ready to fight again." He takes a deep breath. "How in the hell were you able to hurt her?"

I start explaining, but it's muffled against his shirt, so he pulls back a little bit and looks down at me.

"I remembered that I could manipulate the dream, so I conjured power. Enough to fight her off. I tried before she blasted you all, but apparently I didn't concentrate hard enough. I was pissed after she hit you with that ball of light, so maybe that helped fuel the manipulation?" I end the sentence as a question.

"Maybe." He replies simply. I lean back in for another hug. After a moment, I pull away. I take my spot back between the hulks, and snuggle in. I'm exhausted. I close my eyes and allow myself to drift away. I don't bother taking my mixture. I have a feeling she's hurt too badly to try anything tonight. Besides, I'd like to dream again. Maybe about three handsome men.