The Daemon

Chapter 9


They all look at me with pain and worry but how do I tell them that I am fine? I know that there is something missing in me. Maybe that is why my voice only comes out in squeeks and croaks. I just know that I have a lot to contemplate.

I do miss my family and when I can get away from those who watch me I do grieve but my tears have dried up. They will not be shed easily any longer. Though I am still a child, it is time for me to grow up. I never mentioned to anyone before the bad things happened that there are things that I could start to sense. There is a feeling of change in the air and the flow of energy around me is different.

There is something in the pulse and flow of power in the land that tells me that I need to do something. I have the ability to change it and the time is coming. I can feel the pain that I will still have to face. The road ahead will be really hard.

I am scared. I want my family but now is no longer the time to grieve. It is time for change and I will have to suffer to bring it about. I can no longer be a child and a part of me grieves for opportunities lost.

Today I came to the graves of my family members and I lay a part of me into the ground with them. I can feel their spirits grieve at what I must face but the feel of their love surrounds me and I will go on.


Kairen, with Makhail, Grandmother and Kairen’s cousin Mikan discuss ways to help Ara but they can not agree on what to do.

“With what the poor child has already gone through, is it right of us to shock him out of his grieving? Should we just not be supportive and allow him to work it out?” Makhail argued, trying to make sense of what they were trying to plan out.

“I cannot stand this any longer, can you?” Kairen was at his wits end. “The boy has lost that fire that made up the child we all loved. I am lost as to how to help him otherwise. We have allowed him time to grieve. He needs to live once more.”

Grandmother just watched and waited to input her own opinion.

“Leave him alone.” Mikan’s gruff baritone sounded into the argument.

Everyone turned to him in shock. He had not once said anything during their hour long discussion and argument.

“I can feel him and he is coming to some sort of decision with himself. He is not grieving any longer and hasn’t been for months now. He’s thinking. Leave him be.” Mikan was not one to talk much. He was the dark to Kairen’s light. Long black hair, eyes a mesmerizing red ringed black, and tan skin made him quite the contrast to Kairens silver coloring. He was also not as verbose as Kairen thus he was the vampire lord’s second and not the lord himself. The strength of power between them was definitely in Mikan’s favor but the need to converse with those outside the vampire community was great so Mikan was willing to step aside for the more charismatic Kairen.

“A decision,” Grandmother said in a contemplative tone. “What sort of decision could a child be thinking of so hard?”

“He can feel the currents of change around us Grandmother. He is unsure of what it is but he knows that there is something happening. I can only tell that much but the rest is shrouded in confusion in his mind.”

“How is it that you know?” Makhail was ready to jump to Ara’s defense if the other vampire had invaded Ara’s mind without permission.

“He speaks to me at times.” Those words shocked everyone. “I do not know if he knows it is me but he speaks to me through the mind. His powers are developing.” No other details were offered and no one asked what was spoken between them though they were curious.

“That explains some things.” Grandmother got up. “We will not do anything just yet. If he can talk to Mikan through his mind, he can do so with others. I say we give him the space he seems to need until he is ready to come to us.”

“But he is not really responding to us now. Will he be willing to come to us?” Kairen asked.

“Bah! I understand you are insecure in your standing around the boy but he does not brush you aside or ignore you. He will come when he is ready.” With that Grandmother imperiously walked out of the room they had started their discussion in.


Percy had waited and watched. They all hovered over the boy. It was irritating to say the least. Slowly, over the years, he started to notice a pattern that was developing. He knew it was only a matter of time before his boy was within reach again.


I could feel something nearby. It was dark and unhealthy. It was about time for the wheels to turn again I guess. I could feel that this would bring pain but there was a few things that I need to do and this would bring me to the path I must take.

When hands grabbed me, I was not surprised. Fear did run through me and I fought back instinctually but I was overpowered. My mind and spirit were growing up but I was still physically a child, damn!

Something covered my head and my hands were tied behind me. I felt myself be lifted up in wiry and strong arms. Fear of the unknown made my heart feel like it was going to beat out of my chest.

No, I wasn’t ready for this yet. No matter how much I knew something was coming I just was not ready yet but unfortunately fate always forces your hand.


Years, it had taken years but he had succeeded. The boy was alone at a grave site that he assumed belonged to his family and he was all alone. It was the perfect opportunity and he could not let it pass.

Percy grabbed up the boy and quickly subdued him. Tying the small hands behind his back and throwing a bag over his head, Percy made a run for the nearby woods. It was not really a forest of any sort but for the moment it offered cover from anyone who may have seen.

Racing with his bundle to his temporary camp, Percy quickly packed everything up and threw it on one of the two horses he had stolen. Carefully he placed the boy on the saddle of horse he intended to ride and hopped up behind him. These horses were ones that humans had brought over through the portal and he was glad of it. If the horses were demon raised, a few types would have the sharp teeth of a carnivore or have been raised much wilder than these were.

He knew where he wanted to be; a cave he had found a little over a day’s ride out of town to the north. The cave was deep enough that if he lit a fire it would not be seen unless you were right on top of it. The area looked fairly hidden and there were not even animal tracks too close by. A small stream trickled out of its hidden depths and brush grew heavy around the entrance. He had set up some firewood inside and had used the place over the years as a staging area for preparations to bring his boy home. As he stalked the boy he saw the little things Ara had seemed to like and brought similar items to the cave for his little love. The little one would want for nothing after all his boy was the perfect one. He would be the one that he would spend the rest of his life with after all.

Percy had imagined how the years would go. He already had plans to teach Ara how to con and steal. The boy would be his partner and they would do all the things he loved together. When Ara was old enough, Percy planned to teach him the power he could have over another being through the perversions he himself enjoyed. The first and foremost would be that the little one had to be taught that he was his and his only and then after that they could do all the things he enjoyed together.

Percy daydreamed of all they would do together as he traveled a well memorized path to his hideout.

Panic set in around town and at the small cottage that had been Ara’s home for several years. The boy was usually home by dinner time and he had yet to show.

The townspeople, Makhail, Grandmother, Kairen and Mikan searched the immediate area for the boy. No one they had asked had seen him. It was like when he had disappeared once before and everyone feared that maybe someone had come to get him back.

“That weasel like slaver I interrogated when I went looking for Ara said something about one of them having an unhealthy liking of the boy.” Kairen practically tore his hair out in self hate. “I should have hunted him down to make sure that nothing would harm the boy ever again but in my arrogance I believed that Ara would be safe around us.”

“I should have been watching him closer.” Makhail was hunched over his knees on the couch in the small cottage.

“Shut up all of you!” Grandmother paced as she sent out a wave of energy to see if she could feel her grandson.

“Mikan?” Kairen looked up at his cousin. Whenever the lord felt too overwhelmed, he always turned to Mikan.

“I will go to the graves. Ara usually visited them daily. Maybe I can find a clue and be able to track him. Darkness is falling and soon we won’t be able to go after him.”

“I thought vampires can see in the dark,” Makhail commented.

“This is the night of the new moon. There is no light and we need at least a little to see.” Kairen explained as Mikan walked out ignoring the others.


When Mikan arrived at the gravesite, he gave a close inspection to the ground. In the soft soil, there were some small prints that he assumed were Ara’s and a couple of larger prints. One set came and left without any indications of trouble. The second set came from the wooded area to the north. There looked to be a little bit of shuffle around where Ara’s prints were and then the prints were set in the soil in a heavier tread. Ara’s footprints stopped and did not head back out of the area. Someone had carried the boy off.

Mikan’s eyes narrowed in rage. There was something special about the boy and he needed to be protected. How he knew this he did not quite understand but his instincts screamed that the boy must be protected. He knew others were drawn to the child for unknown reasons as well. His cousin for one had never cared for another being as much as he does for the boy. In fact, the whole family had a draw to them that was hard to resist.

Not one to waste his time, Mikan followed the prints into the wooded area. There were not enough trees to consider this area a forest. It was only about an acre across before road in or out of town were seen and there were trails that ran through the area to out laying homes. It was just dense enough with brush to possibly allow someone to hide from view but not enough for them to camp out with a fire. Tracking being one of Mikan’s specialties, it did not take him long to find the remains of a camp of sorts. The flattened grasses indicated that blankets or a thin pallet had lain in one spot and some churned up ground indicated horses.

He was able to follow the horse trail for a bit until he hit rocky ground and what little evening light dimmed. He made sure to memorize and mark the area before returning to inform the others. They would resume the search again tomorrow.