Chapter 1

I’m just your normal, average, teenage girl. Yeah…I wish. Though, I am good at acting like it. See, I have this secret that keeps me from being that ‘normal’ that I’d like to be. It’s one of those family secrets that you can’t tell the world, or if you do something will happen that you don’t want to happen. Yeah, it’s one of those secrets. I guess it’s not all that bad, I mean, I do have friends who care for me and like me for who I am, and a boyfriend who is such a doll and is always there when I need him, and that includes through the good and the bad. I live in a beautiful, Victorian styled home in a wonderful neighborhood in Champaign where you know all of your neighbors and everyone knows you; the peaceful kind of life you dream of. Although, if a normal, regular life is one that includes violence and cross- fire in the middle of the street, leave me out of that please. I’m comfortable with what I have.
Now back to my secret. Well let me explain a little more, now my secret involves me being aware of all of my surroundings, no matter where I am, like if I am hanging out with friends, or by myself, or even at the movies. Do you know how annoying it gets when you can’t do anything without looking distracted? Very. It’s always when you are in the middle of a conversation with a friend that you end up looking very distracted. Though when I am alone, like if I go to the mall by myself; or for a walk by myself, I think that it’s completely legit. Just makes me seem a little odd…er than what I really tend to be.
And don’t get me started on driving. If you value your life do not ride with me. I claim literal term to the name Speed Demon when I am on a mission of sorts or when I see something that looks like it’s not right. Like this one time, I got pulled over by a cop on Route 45 for speeding. It was a cool Friday night; the perfect night for a drive, but little did I know I saw something that didn’t look right so I went chasing after it. Then about half way to Thomasboro, I saw those swirling, blue and red lights in my rearview mirror. That night I just got a warning, and bawled my eyes out. I saw it! Not fair! I thought that night. And when I got home from my drive I got chewed out my Momma. That is, until she found out why. Then I was given “The Driving Lecture” and let me tell you, don’t push your luck and try to out- stubborn a mother, you will never win. Trust me on this one. You. Will. Not. There will be a punishment no matter what it seems. Even if you think she doesn’t know, she will end up knowing. I had to clean the entire house. Cleaning a large Victorian house, people, is hard when you are doing it by yourself! I had to spend a week and a half scrubbing floors and walls, taking out loads garbage, and lots of dusting in high places. But by the time that I was done, I had that house looking pretty much perfect.
And speaking of work, well I don’t have a job yet even though I’m sixteen. Mom does! And I play the role of her assistant, at times, when she has to work and I don’t have school. She works downtown in the office building called Anderstones Inc. It’s a great location, and it’s owned by old man Eric Anderstones, he’s a really nice guy, and has an awesome sense of humor. As a matter of fact, the whole office is very kind and generous, and they let me in all the time, but that is more than likely because Momma has been working there for about 13 years now, and everyone has known me since I was three. Got to love that building and its people.
Now… you’re probably wondering what the heck I do besides cleaning and assistance work with Momma.
I’m a hunter, more along the lines of a catcher.
A hunter? Catcher? What do you hunt or catch, animals? Ha! I’m not that ordinary! What I hunt and catch is typically dangerous. Or can be. It all varies on how it feels, and what it’s doing. Pretty unbelievable huh? What I deal with is everywhere, and you might not even know it. They hide in the darkest corners of the room, hiding and waiting for just the right moment to scare you to your wits end. They are the monsters that hide under a child’s bed or in their closet; the ones that you insist don’t exist because you don’t want them to; and that is just what you’re raised to do. They are those little things that go bump and creak in the night, telling you they are home, and that they are ready to start their fright night till the end.
They are demons.
Yes you heard me, demons.
And I am a demon catcher and proud of it! I come from a long heritage of them. I catch the demons that are doing harm to the world. Or the ones that are just down right annoying. Yes, this is my unpaid job that is not voluntary. But I deal, I mean, all I really catch is level 4 (and under) demons ‘cause mom is all, “You are to young and irresponsible to be learning any higher.” I’m sixteen for crying out loud! I have a car! I clean the house when I am told to! I feed the cat also, and most people my age think that they are too busy to do even that and she calls me irresponsible? Gosh, that’s not fair… but I do manage. All my real chores that I do are to clean my (not always messy) room, feed Islene (my cat, who’s name means vision; or dream in Irish), and clean the jars in the Chamber.
The Chamber… this is the place where my life takes a wicked turn from the reality that I know. This place is the place that we store the demons, you see. This room is located in the basement, which doesn’t even look like a basement; it looks like the study on the second floor. The basement though, is separated into two sections, the sitting room and the Chamber. The sitting room being half the basement that looks like the whole the only room. It’s decorated in stained red wood and antique furniture. The walls are a deep red color with bookshelves all along the walls. To be honest, you can barely even see the walls because of the ceiling high bookshelves, it looks like a miniature library, though you can tell the wall color because we do have paintings on the walls were they are easy to see, and there are pictures of the family everywhere down there. The Chamber is hidden behind a bookshelf that is nearly impossible to open unless you know where the hinge to open it is. No, it’s not one of those books on the second shelf from the top like they show in the movies at times. It’s a small latch that is hidden under the frame of the shelf, on the edge of it. If you can find that, you can open it and find the room that holds all (or most) of the demons that mom and I have caught, and the room is kind of creepy at first until you understand that you are safe, but then you still think it’s creepy.
But see, it’s a Halloween night. And Momma isn’t home; she’s in California as a midwife for my Aunt Allexandera who is giving birth to twins in the next few days or so. And Max, my boyfriend, was coming over later to take me to a Halloween party at midnight, and I also wanted to get this chore over with so I could go as soon as possible because honestly, I have never been to a Halloween party this late at night before. I was very exited about this, and because Max was taking me with mom-consent. This was almost the best night ever.
And as I was thinking about all of this… the clock stroke Midnight.
And a jar broke behind me. This wasn’t just any jar now; this was the jar. I turned around slowly to see what jar broke. It was the one that contained a demon that was the worst to break out. This one was stronger than what I could capture, or put a spell on to put back into a jar. Only my mom could at this moment. And she wasn’t here right now. Holy crap!
I watched as it took form, part human, and part demon. It was one of the scariest things that I had ever seen. He was tall, but not tall enough to touch the ceiling; I watched as black, claw-like nails started growing out of his fingertips; and his face… his eyes where as, black as a midnight sky without the stars, and so soulless with… nothing there. And his teeth, they’re full and sharp as if a predator’s ready to eat.
Oh please some one save me right now. He’s coming closer to me. I can’t move. I can’t scream. I can’t do anything!
“Oh aren’t you a pretty thing?” he said.
His voice sounded inhuman, deep and heavy. It was the demonic side of him, the beast was free.
“Too bad.”
‘Too bad’? What does that mean? I thought to myself since I couldn’t seem to get any words out of my mouth. His hand reached to my face and he raked his claw like fingers across my cheek down to my chest. I couldn’t stand it; I wanted to run away from him or hide. But I couldn’t move. No matter how hard I struggled, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. As he did this I heard him murmuring something that I recognized as Latin, but before I could understand all of what he was saying I fell to the floor, yet I kept on falling. Or at least… that’s what it felt like.