Cats N' Bats 14

I spent the few next days training with Dil- I mean, Albert. It wasn't that he needed much training, but it was to adjust our abilities to each other. He was fast, skilled, and his magic abilities were something to admire. Most of us in Hantaa relied in physical strength, speed or agility, but he not only was great at those; while most of us only used magic to do simple spells or to enhance out attack, Albert managed great spells; creation spells, elemental spells, emotional spells, and not to mention illusion spells, the list going and going. Yet he was humble about it, never humiliating anyone, but making others admire him instead. I had to admit, I was nervous about being his partner, but things were better than I could have imagined and he was just such a gentleman I could not complain about it any more.

Right after getting our first work dad informed me I would be attending Hantaa academy starting the next semester of school. It was clear he wanted me to get stronger and attending a "normal" school would never help me in the way he wanted. It was also obvious that dad approved of Albert as my new partner, it seemed that Albert's rank and abilities made him calm about me being out in the wild. Dad knew what it meant to be a hunter, but he was also a father. 

With a hug and kiss I waved dad good-bye as I followed Albert into the woods. It wasn't really a job that we had, but it was still important to send out patrol groups. Lately there had been reports of strange people going around causing trouble to campists and other natives of the woods. The spirits were becoming uneasy and many claimed dark spirits were the cause of all the hustle. Other groups had already gone, some came back reporting strange things but nothing solid, others were patroling with us as well, but we all covered different areas. I ran behind Albert as we searched, but soon I started to fall behind. He stopped and looked at me.

"Tired?" He asked with a gentle smile.

"I'm okay, just give me a minute." I said almost gasping for air. Guess I didn't had enough training.

"Come on." He laughed and kneeled offering me his back. "I'll take you."

"No way!" I stepped back. 

"You're tired and we need to get moving. If we don't find anything before sunset we'll have to find a place to camp, so if we don't want that to happen let's hurry." That was the rudest thing he had said to me until just now. Not too sure of it I got on his back and he stood once he had me secured. I blushed as his hands touched the bare skin of my legs.

"Well sorry for slowing you down." I said upset. He only laughed.

"Open your eyes. There's a strange scent about these woods." I didn't have a great sense of smell but I couldn't help but to agree with him. It wasn't just the smell, the atmosphere was so heavy, no sound other than the rustling of leaves in the wind was heard, no spirits were seen, no animals, no nymphs, no fairies, no nothing. Something was wrong.

It was getting late, sunset would soon come over us, nothing yet. We stopped to have a snack. Even Albert was showing signs of fatigue as he sat down on the humid dirt. We were quiet for a while, not really sure of what we could talk about. I opened my mouth a couple of times to start a conversation but I ended up closing it every time. Just when I was about to give up on a conversation he spoke up.

"So, do you have anyone you like?" ... Yeah, that wasn't really something I wanted to talk... But I guess that it was better than staying quiet.

"No. Not really." I said drily. 

"What about Roberto?" I laughed.

"No way, he's just a friend. I could even say we're siblings."

"I could have sworn you guys liked each other." Albert said very seriously.

"Oh no, we're just very affective with each other, but that's just the way we are. He likes Katy." Albert looked at me with serious eyes after I said that.

"That girl isn't normal, is she?" He was dead serious.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Power overflows from her." He said. "She tries to hide it but I can tell, I bet the instructors at Hantaa can too, at least some of them if they're good with spells." It made some sense. I made to answer but as soon as I took a breath he stood up quickly, listening.

I stood up and listened too. The stillness took over us, I concentrated, hearing more and more. Not far from there I was able to hear something, crying? Two different breathings, heart broken sobs. At once Albert and I looked at each other and then headed in the direction of the cries. We were silent, invisible to untrained eyes and ears. In less than two minutes we were at the sight. Hidden in the nature we saw a girl kneeling, hugging a boy. The boy was small, his clothes old, dirty, his hair black and long, no shoes on his dirty feet. The girl... She was a reflection of Katy; her haid was short, of a brown-reddish color, her skin creamy and smooth. She wore a black top and short skirt, much skin would had been shown had not been for her long stockings, heeled boots on her small feet. On her wrists hanged what seemed to be chains. They held on to each other, crying quietly, as if afraid of being heard. She held him close, dearly, like a mother. 

It had to be Katy right? This girl was just like her. I looked up at Albert, he knew just what I was thinking and moved his head from side to side to tell me I was wrong. I kept looking. Maybe he was right, as much as this girl looked like Katy there was something different about her. Such a sad scene was too much to bare, tears made their way in my eyes and before I knew it I sniffed.

The girl turned at my sniff, holding the child to her, protecting him, tears in their eyes. This girl really wasn't Katy. Though her face was that of Katy's, her eyes were a deep bloody red, her fangs long and threating. The boy, like her, had long fangs, but his eyes were a dull amethyst, lifeless. Albert stepped out and showed himself before them.

"It's alright, don't be afraid." He said gently, but it was clear she didn't trust him. The girl held the boy closer and moved away from Albert. I stepped out as well and only looked at them, worried. "We won't hurt you." He offered them a hand.

The girl hissed and held the boy even closer. Made me wonder if she understood what Albert was saying. She looked terrified, the boy only looked at us, but not really minding us. Tears just flowed from his eyes.

"Mama, ich bin hungrig." German? Maybe she really didn't understand what Albert was saying. She didn't reply to the child, she only comforted him letting out a deep sob. This time Albert tried another approach, speaking in german-didn't know he could do that-, but still no response. It was getting cold and Albert placed his jacket over the bare shoulders of the shaking girl. She didn't oppose.

We only watched over them for a while, half an hour maybe, suddenly the girl looked up, turning in all directions, her eyes filled with terror. Just at the same time Albert had become alert of something, preparing himself to fight. When I felt what they had noticed I was too scared to move. The air was heavy, it made it hard to breathe. I prepared myself, just then the same people that had attacked Roberto and Katy a while back were before us now. The girl gasped sharply, holding the child for dear life. 

"Mama, ich bin hungrig." The boy said, unaware of what was happening.

Albert and I placed ourselves before her, ready to protect her. I looked at the girl only to see her confused expression, mixed with guitly in her eyes. The first of them attacked, I shot a bullet straight in his heart, it fell down, but this time it didn't turn to dust, the others followed his example and ran towards us with horrid shouts. I took NekoLainu in my hands and started stabing, slashing. Albert used spells instead, not wanting to leave the girl and the boy behind. I would look at them from time to time. In a split second the girl reached and pulled at Albert's pants to call his attention. Her expression was a desperate one.

"Please!" She shouted. "Please take the child with you!" At this point it didn't matter if she could speak english. "Please take him!" Albert looked at her, not sure of what to do. 

He then looked at me. "Reicheru! Take the kid!" And I ran to them, taking the boy in my arms. "Go, I'll try to keep them back. We'll follow you as soon as we can."

"Alright, don't take long." And I jumped over the bodies of those demons.

"Mama..." Said the boy, suddenly, as if he came to life, he started kicking and shouting. "Mama! Mama! Mama!" He cried, reaching for his mother who stayed behind. As I looked back too, I saw Albert holding back the masses with spells, the girl looked our way, a small, weak smile on her lips, her cry a broken one, tears streaming down her eyes. I kept running until I bumped with another patrol team who escorted me back to Hantaa. The boy had collapsed by then and they quickly took him to the infirmary, he was in really bad health.

"I'm surprised he's alive." Said the doctor.

I looked at the poor kid, then at the door waiting for Albert and his mother. About an hour later Albert walked through the door, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Al? Where is she?" I stood up from the chair I was sitting on. He looked down, silent. "Albert, where is his mother?" I pulled his sleeve, fearing his answer. Albert looked at the boy and groaned in frustration.

"They took her... I.. I was overpowered... They..." Albert covered his face with a big hand, ashamed of himself. "They took her Reicheru... They took her..." I felt my heart break. The kid... what would happen to him now? And Albert, he was so hurt by this, so broken, so upset, he cried bitterly.

The next morning, the boy didn't open his eyes any more...