Monsters and Deamons | Book One | ✔

XIII. Friends and Enemies

Remi began to panic, not wanting to harm any of her friends, "Leave me alone," she growled under her breath.

"We are only trying to help, Rem. No need to be pissy at us," Winter rolled her eyes.

The voice grew stronger and louder in her mind and she could feel her body wanting to change, revealing her Somber form. Remi and Braylen made eye contact and she could tell he knew something was wrong. He let go of Shiloh and walked over to her, concerned, "It will be okay. You are stronger than it," he told her. It's like he knew exactly what she was.

"I--I'm not strong enough, Braylen. I fled the last two times and someone still got hurt..." Remi had tears falling. She glanced around and noticed everyone staring at them. She looked Shiloh in his pretty eyes and bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry..." Remi choked and fled.

She grunted and fell to her knees, skin receding down to skull. Fur and the branch of bone erupted from her monster interior as the hellish feathered appendages announced their arrival with a flap. As she struggled to contain her demon, Remi heard the calls and quick footsteps of her allies. Before she could think, she bolted in search of hiding. She watched as the others emerged from the entrance and searched for her. "Where could she have gone?" Shiloh asked himself and Remi whimpered as she stayed hidden.

"She probably went home," Winter answered, her arms folded as if she didn't really care what happened to one of her best friends.

Remi caught the eye of Braylen and she accidentally moved, making a soft rustling sound nearby, "What was that?" Arlo panicked.

"Just a bunny in the bushes," Braylen commented as he walked over to the bush, Remi hid in, "It's okay, I won't tell them," he whispered so only she could hear. Her ears fell flat and she licked his small hand.

"Braylen, come on," Shiloh groaned and went to the bush to take him back in the hideout. Remi tried to hide even more, but she knew it wasn't worth the risk. Shiloh didn't know it was her, but he did know what his Somber looked like. As soon as Shiloh saw her, he froze and released Braylen, "It's you. You're back," he breathed.

"I don't think they want to haunt you though big brother," Braylen stated as he pet Remi gently behind the ear.

"Why are you here?" Shiloh asked. Remi came out of hiding, revealing herself to Arlo and Winter. She let out the breath she had been holding in before linking all of them.

'I am here to protect you four. It may be wrong of me, but I don't care. Cove and Eden should be here soon too. I had linked them before to meet you all here. Something is coming and it's not good to be out here alone. Braylen, stay with me. Shiloh, Winter and Arlo, please go back inside. Braylen and I will meet you inside in a moment,' she instructed.

Winter groaned and Arlo smacked her over the head, "Winter, it is trying to help us. Be nice and care about Remi," he scolded. Winter pouted and rolled her eyes again, "I care about Rem, but I don't like that thing," she replied truthfully.

'I apologize you don't like me, but I am not here to harm you, I am here to help and protect you. I'm sure you all have had a Somber in your life that has haunted you prior. I have slowly realized that haunting is not something I want to do anymore. I would rather protect you humans, instead of haunt you,' Remi explained. She could tell Winter was about to cry when she explained it to her. As if being summoned, a small creature appeared out of nowhere. The creature had a fox stature, three tails, small moose antlers that were proportioned to the fox body, and a pair of angel wings, just like Remi had whenever she shifted. The creature was lavender and it seemed to be worried about Winter. 'You must be a dreamer, are you not?'

"I am. I am Winter's dreamer. Once her Somber and Lucent left, I showed up to calm her down and make her night terrors be less of a terror. You can call me Lavi. It's lovely to finally meet you, Princess," the lavender creature, Lavi, answered. Remi lowered her head and glanced up to Winter, who was still very emotional. "I will take care of her." she reassured. Lavi went over to Winter and curled up on her left shoulder, nuzzling her gently with the side of her head. An image showed up in the sky, as if a movie was playing. It explained what Winter went through when she was younger and why she didn't trust Remi the Somber so well. The others watched in interest and horror, Arlo wrapping Winter in a giant hug as Cove and Eden showed up.

Eden had Cove's baseball cap on backwards and she quickly flipped it the other way so she could hide her eyes better from the scene, "I think that's enough, Lavi," Arlo commented sternly. The picture went away and the group went silent.

'Please go back into the hideout. Braylen, you stay with me, I want to have a word with you,' Remi's black wings flapped as she linked the boy. Braylen gave a sharp nod and the others filed back inside the hideout. Shiloh gave Remi a hug around her neck and they exchanged a long glance before he got up and headed back in the hideout. She could tell Shiloh was hurting inside, but was happy his Somber had shown up again.

"Shiloh, Remi will be back soon. I'm sure of it. She probably just needed some air," Braylen reassured. Shiloh sighed with a nod as tears subtly fell down his cheeks. Remi immediately shifted to her human form and embraced Shiloh into a hug. She didn't want him to find out that way, but she didn't like seeing Shiloh hurting from her disappearing. When he hugged her in her Somber form, she could feel him trembling and could see him trembling as he stood there, worried. As this touching moment went on, the ground trembled underneath them, "Um...we may want to get back the hideout now...and Remi, I knew it was you all along, because that is my best friend," Remi and Shiloh looked to their right at what Braylen was pointing at and saw his Somber, the one that was searching for him. The ginormous Somber roared and charged at the three of them. "Please stop this, Sage!"

The others that were in the hideout came running out, yet again, to see what was going on, "What the hell is that?" Eden shouted.

"A really big Somber," Remi replied, clenching her fists as she released Shiloh from her embrace. "All of you, get in the woods and stay there. Do not leave until I tell you it's all clear," she instructed and she felt her strength growing. She let her power take over and she fell to her knees. Her body formed into a wolf as her antlers sprouted from the top of her head. One was pointed and the other was like a normal deer antler. As that was happening, nine tails emerged from her tailbone and it was quite painful. She howled in pain as black wings sprouted from her back and on each feather, there were golden swirls. Instead of her fur being all golden or all black, it was a blend of both and around her neck was a beautiful lions mane the same blend as her fur.

"You aren't going to defeat that thing on your own!" Winter shouted.

'I am the only thing that can defeat it. Or at least try to defeat it. If more come, I will attend to those. Braylen, I know Sage doesn't mean any of this, but others that show up do,' Remi explained turning to face her friends. She could see and sense the fear just dripping from them. 'Don't worry, I will be safe. I have some friends that should be here any moment.' she smiled softly as her tails swayed. She turned back to the Somber and got down as if she was going to pounce, ready for anything to happen.