Whispers Of The Shadow

Zayde stood staring at himself in the mirror with a frown pasted on his face like glue since it refused to move, He traced his fingers along the phangs at the corner of his mouth.

Sharp edged and pointed bits of bone strong enough to tear the skin of any thick skinned beast. The horns extended out of his skull, from his forehead and then extending upwards.

His eyes traced the engraving on the horns and he could see hand printings, oddly massive hands on both horns. At the the base, the dark colour faded into a grey then white before disappearing into his skull.

"Rave," He called, as he rubbed the base of his horn gently, the pleasure and slight pain he got from that action made him close one of his eyes a bit. "Do you have any memory of me being held by the horns by massive hands?" He asked his eyes still focused on the mirror.

Ravena mumbled a 'give me a second,' and turned the steering wheel, taking a swerve into a different path, a lonely and dark path that was moments away from Ash's store.

A air was cool and wet, the path was silent and the sound of rustling of trees filled the path. Ravena turned again and took a bend behind what looked like a house. She parked inches before a trash can and turned off the engines.

She then left her seat, let her hair down because ponytails were very uncomfortable for her. And considering the length it was difficult to sit with it. She walked over to Zayde, "You called, master."

"Do you recognize this marks?" He asked crouching down to her height, Her eyes widened upon landing on his horns, she looked stunned but at the same time a hint of guilt in her eyes.

She sighed, "Yes I do, They are the hand prints of the Hyperion Leader," She muttered, her tone low, barely audible.

Zayde's eyes dilated as anger surged through his body, he took his gaze back to his reflection and saw that the handprints were also at the base of his horns, he clenched his fists in anger till he cut himself and blood began dripping slowly from his palms.

"Is he still staring at his horns?" Ash asked from the corner behind the fridge, with blankets over his head and face. "What's with the silence?" He asked again scrambling to his feets, he sauntered over to their side, his expression filled with worry

He scanned Ravena from head to toe and then Zayde, his eyes widened when he spotted the small pool of blood under his hands and slapped Zayde hard on the back. "Idiot, You are wasting your blood and you know you can't have more unless you want her to get anemic, you stupid piss," Ash slapped him again on the back without thinking twice.

"Touch me again and be prepared to die," He threatened, evident fury in his eyes, his back burned in pain from the hit and it aggravated his anger. He was close to getting blind with rage but knowing the disadvantages, he remained clam.

Ash scoffed and slapped Zayde again across his back, watching his body jerk forward slightly with a challenging smirk. "You can't do anything to me, You would not dare hurt Rave's brother, would you?" He smirked as Zayde's eyes softened. "So much Love," he mouthed and winked at Zayde before hurrying out of the van.

"I hate your brother," Zayde uttered as he turned to Ravena who had a nervous smile on her face.

"I hate him too ,Master. It wouldn't be long before he tries to kill me again," She mumbled, trailing off at the last statements. "We should start unpacking, I doubt if Ash kept my bedroom the way I left it," She stated and bent down to pick up the bags beside the mirror.

"What would you like to eat master?" She asked not sparing him a glance as her eyes were focused on the items she shoved into the bags.

Zayde stared at her with a blank expression and then smiled when a thought hit him, "How about you settle in and I cook for us, That way you could get to taste Human food made by a hum–a former human."

Ravena gazed up at him with confusion all over her face, she wanted to believe it was sarcasm but the seriousness in his eyes scared her. "Master, I would rather give myself to the Hyperion Leader than let you prepare food that I would not help with, That is absurd."

As she spoke Zayde only watched her with bored eyes, he sighed and picked her up, flung her over his shoulders and picked up the bags that dropped when he carried her. He took the keys from her hands and alighted the van, after ordering her to stay still and not make a sound till he put her down.

He locked the doors and windows of the van then made his way into the house that looked like a palace, at the same time, like an old duplex that rich folks he knew, built im the middle if no where.

The fact it was near a forest made his stomach hurt with anxiety but then, the curiosity to know what unearthly event would happen in such an area rose. He gave a final glance at the Forest far ahead, on the opposite side from where they came, he smiled and made his way into the house.

________

Ravena stood at the center of the wide living room, massive soft couches forming a U behind her, then a massive wide screen television in front of her, held against the wall with metal bolts.

Below it was a book shelf that looked like it had not been touched for years–the cobwebs and dust gave it a haunting feel. The couches looked clean and the house was in great shape except the table at the center of the room that was littered with empty food packs and bottles.

She frowned deeply her first tightening as she thought of how much work she had to do to clean up.

"The idiot still doesn't know how to clean up after himself," She mumbled out, heavily a tired sigh. She held her hair up in a bun and turned around only to meet Zayde's questioning gaze. "Master!" She almost yelled out of fright, "Is there a problem?"

"Who messed up the house this way? It looks terrible," Zayde asked moving his gaze from her to the filthy cupboard.

"Ash did, I will clean it up, you don't have–"

"Shut up!" Zayde commanded and grabbed her hands, he pulled her close and raised her chin up with his fingers, his eyes staring deep into her soul that it made her tremble under his dark gaze. "You are not a maid and I never complained about doing things my self, I am capable of doing chores and you need to rest and eat well, I can't feed off a pale girl."

He paused and rubbed his thumb on her lips, "Clean up, set out clothes for me and take a nap, If I find you reading, moving around or by any chance doing anything that would be considered stressful, You wouldn't like what I will do to you. Understood?"

She gave a frantic nod and bowed as he let go of her, she hurried up the stairs, thick mass of hair bouncing behind her with each step she took. Zayde turned around and made his way to the kitchen where he found Ash cleaning the counter with rags–rag gloves that Zayde found in the spice drawer.

"You have demon Abilities and i bet you know magic, Why not use it to clean up?" Zayde mocked as he placed himself on a stool across from Ash.

"Thank you for reminding me," Ash suddenly uttered after a moment of silence, he smirked and left the kitchen closing the door and Zayde's view of the sitting room.

He simply scoffed and opened the water bottle he took out of Ravena's bag, he stared at the clear liquid, a thousand thoughts slowly that he drifted off into. Memories he never thought he would want to see or even like to see. His curiosities would never let him wander off to such.

"Given the results we got from the experiment, He seems fit to be the host."

"Are you sure a Tenebrix demon could be a host and then follow our rules? These species hate all races and eat anything as long as it moves. I would not want to risk the existence of the world for an experiment."

"Leader, believe me, Hyperion already has three cities in its control, We only need to take control of the other cities and we have their leader in our palms. We only need him to obey us and we have control over him."

"He has the Bloodlust of a vampire and Rage of a hell hound, What makes you think if he gains full consciousness he won't kill us?"

"Do you trust me leader? Trust me and watch power fall into your hands like an avalanche."

"Fine," The voice paused and heaved a heavy sigh, "Take out his other pair of horns and wake him up."

Zayde's jaw dropped immediately he heard that, his eyes were wide, but when he forced himself to blink, he saw Terror, A world filled with chaos and it was all his doing.

At his feets was a white haired lady from earlier who had silver eyes and a lab coat around her. He saw himself grab her throat with his black clawed hands and pullout every tube there, he felt himself jump on her head countless times till her skull shattered.

But suddenly, His vision turned blank, all he could see was darkness and translucent figures dancing around. All he heard from them was odd and it made the hairs on his skin rise.

"Alone, You came and you will leave alone Lord Shadow."

"Your enemies will take everything you have, Including the ones you would set your life to save."

"Those you would trust or help, will turn out to be your enemy."

"Be cautious about your Activities lord Shadow, We await your victory!"