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  Something in me broke, or maybe I should say shattered and I stood up, with Izzy’s guns in my hands and started to walk towards the demon as Sai screamed to Izzy and it raised it claws, ready to destroy him as it had her and then I felt it, the searing pain of the symbols of a hunter, deep in my skin as it rose on both arms, glowing and becoming brighter as it left me and wound its way up both of my wrists, curling around the guns and Izzy’s name faded as my new name appeared. I held them steady and could see everything, hear everything. I shot once and hit the demon in the forehead as it swayed and then in the heart. It dropped and I looked to Sai as he ran to Izzy’s side and held her body lifeless and finally free, not unlike Elizabeth as Izzy must have known she had done all that she could in this world and that to let Sai live she must accept her fate and that she did.

  I turned the guns and looked at them both…I sighed and then lowered them to my sides as Sai sobbed on the floor and held her close and this is when I was born anew as LONDON, the demon hunter…as I am to this day.

  Book Five

  “IZZY”

  I reached a hand towards my mom and knew as I felt her cold skin that something was terribly wrong. Was I dreaming? Was this Hell that they spoke of in church each Sunday? I mean we had done our best to avoid the accusations of witches, as it runs rampant in this new land, with the new colonists who for a lack of a better word, live on ignorance and we are already seen as rebels since we left the Motherland of England, so the ideas are strong and the faith borderlines insanity. My parents believed that we should come here and partake in the excitement of a new world and with it they brought me and my younger brother.

  The trip here had claimed my youngest sister, who was sick before we left and I still believe she was the whole reason my parents decided to come to begin with. They had turned to faith, radicals really, and prayed very hard each and every day that she would get better, but she lost weight and stopped eating and maybe they felt coming here and leaving a plague ridden lower London would save her…they were wrong. So much so and this is how my life changed forever.

  I looked up and then closed my eyes as black wings embraced me and I felt a bite to my shoulder, its venom burned in my veins and made me dizzy. The demon screamed out as our preacher stabbed it in the back with a pitchfork and it swung back and knocked him across the courtyard and into the church doors. Then it turned back and stared at me and then a few of my fellow colonists, the heads of the council, came screaming out of their church of God and grace and chased it off as I twitched and yearned for death on the ground before them. I reached up and no one would touch me, they simply raised their pointed farming weapons at me and I lost my vision and perhaps my mind, wish I could tell you everything of that day, and maybe someday I will, if memory returns to me…

  ****

  I woke in a cold sweat clutching my chest as I caught my breath. I had been drowned, or they attempted to anyway, them being my fellow colonists in my village, and that damn dream of burning pond water in my lungs had haunted me forever. If I could get a new dream it would be great, I mean I would pay good money for one.

  I slipped my feet from my bed and heard the hustle and bustle outside the hotel I was staying in, it is 1801 and I am still alive long after every one from my colony had perished. Why? How could I possibly know except for the bite to my shoulder from a demon that seemed to have given me something more than exile? Am I immortal? I hope not. I seriously do. I don’t think anyone understands how much it sucks to never have anyone and grow old. You see I grew up, hopping from here to there and stealing food, staying with strangers and finally the world expanded here in America and I was able to move on as each new territory formed. I cannot stay long with anyone anyway. I had my 22nd birthday and stopped aging. That is not normal and I am sure would not be accepted by anyone. I have a hard time accepting it myself. I do have dreams though, besides the one with the drowning I endured, of which I had to bite my ropes and swim to the surface long after everyone had left me for dead… I see people, but specific people, their faces so clear and when I see them in my dreams I feel like they are supposed to be my family. So, the truth is I not only came to this dust bowl for the new sights and sounds but with a feeling of purpose, like after all of this time of being alone, I possibly have a reason for living.

  ****

  “Well good morning little lady.” The hotel clerk called out to me as I stepped down from the last step and onto the floor. The boards creaked under me and I looked down to see a bit of a blood stain left over. The clerk ran from behind the counter and took my hand, as he was completely enamored with me and had been since I arrived. I stepped over the blood stain and out into the room as he led me to a table by the window. I sat down as he pulled my chair out and then waited. I looked up and grinned at him.

  “Fresh eggs today?” I asked him and he winked at me.

  “I saved two just for you.”

  I looked out the window and saw people starting to walk the main road. Many live here, it is one of the biggest settlements in the west as gold was the prize and many came to try to get a piece of it. I then looked closely as another family stepped from a black coach and I waited. I saw the man, with his back to me and then the woman and lastly a small child, that of a girl with dark curls, was lifted out and down, she tried to run but the mother stopped her and held her close as the little girl laughed. The man turned and nothing. It was not a face I recognized. I am searching for those in my dreams and I have been here for a month now and cannot leave, so I know something is coming, whether it is a storm or a reckoning. I would accept anything to not be alone.

  The doorbell went off over the door and the family stepped in as the clerk came running out in a white apron as he doubled as the cook…and I do believe as the barber too. In these times it was necessary to pick up many skills, mine is kind of strange for being a girl but most accept it when they see me do it. You see I can shoot anything, from any distance and never miss. I just close my eyes, take a slow breath of which sounds so loud in my ears it is ridiculous and then I shoot, as the bullet literally feels like a piece of me racing towards its mark. I had picked up a few jobs here so far. I kill any predator that tries to attack livestock. Too bad they don’t have me kill poachers; they are the true beasts and a plight on those who are trying their best to make it here without digging for gold. So they come and find me as my status grows as a true ace. I would expect someone would come to challenge me at some point, but so far so good.

  The man took his hat off and looked around the room. It looks calm now, but as of this evening it will be loud and filled with men who had found a gold nugget and women ready to take it off of their hands. This is also a bar, a wild one, and it may not be appropriate for a child. I stood up and walked to them before the clerk could open his book and prepare to sign them. I stopped in front of the man and smiled as I looked up.

  “There is a hotel down the street a bit quieter than this one,” I said and he tilted his head at me as a woman giving her opinion was an oddity to him and I know it probably is. Most men have no respect for women at this time and it infuriates me but the whores do not help. I hate whores; they soil my reputation as a female.

  “Well, hello,” he said as she held his hand out and I placed mine in his as he tried to pull it up to his mouth, I pulled it back and shook his hand proper like a man would to a man. He smiled and looked me over.

  “So this is a bit of a rowdy place then?” he asked as he looked around. The clerk ran closer to us, laughing nervously, as he watched me costing him money. You see the “clerk/cook/barber” was also the owner. This place was inherited to him as his father met his doom upstairs in a bed while a whore rode his cock to orgasm. At least he died happy but she finished and I still think that was devilish. Whores, I swear.

  “Oh I assure you we have security in place,” he said as he stepped past me and shook the man’s hand. I smiled and looked to the women and the child; both of them looked similar in feature to the ma
n, I stepped up to her and smiled as I glanced at the young girl.

  “Is this your first trip to the west?” I asked and she glanced at the man and did not answer. He turned to us and grinned.

  “Pardon my manners, this is Hilary and Emma, my sister and her daughter. Unfortunately Hilary lost her husband to sickness this past spring and now they are in my care.”

  “Oh,” I said as I glanced at him and then back to them.

  “You really should consider another place,” I said and the man turned to me.

  “I feel that you may be right. Hilary, how about we settle you in down the street with Emma and then I will come here?”

  Hilary shook her head ‘No’ and the man laughed.

  “She is mute…I am sorry, what is your name, I am so rude, I gave no introduction of myself. I am Devon, and you are?” he asked me and I watched his lips for a moment and heard whispering like someone else was speaking. I then felt a bit dizzy and swayed on my feet and he touched my arm and I saw a flash of memory as if I was there. Devon was screaming and running towards Hilary and Emma and I was taking aim at him? I blinked a few times and collected myself the best I could as he checked me over. He felt my head and then my cheeks and I brushed him off. I am not used to attention, not of that sort anyway. I have my fill of men who think a grab to the ass is appropriate but I quickly let them know I am not to be fucked with. I looked to Hilary and Emma and then suddenly changed my mind about everything.

  “I think you should all stay here, I mean the noise is not so bad at night…I have slept right through it before.”

  The owner nodded as he waited to hopefully take on three new customers and I glanced down at Emma who watched me closely, hanging onto her mother’s leg and peeking at me from behind it. I smiled and kneeled down to face her and she stepped out as I held my hand out to her.

  “You have very pretty hair,” I said as she giggled and Hilary smiled down at me. I looked up and smiled at her.

  “You know, I have two beds, why don’t you bunk with me?” I asked as I stood up and the owner shook his head and I stepped up to him.

  “You will get twice the fee, one room,” I said in a low tone and he nodded to me and tapped his pencil to his large book.

  “Very well then, so Mr.…” he said and Devon looked to me a bit puzzled as to my offer but stepped up to the counter as the owner stepped behind it and dropped the book, kicking up a tad bit of dust around it.

  “Murdock,” he said and I smiled and held my hand out to Emma who left her mother’s side and took my hand. Hilary watched us climb the stairs and then joined us as Devon signed in and told the stage coach assistant where to put the bags.

  I stepped into my room pulling Emma behind me and she immediately ran to the bed and tried to climb up on it. Hilary stepped up and lifted her and she rolled on it like a bed was a luxury. I have no idea how long they had travelled and perhaps it was at this point. She stepped up to me and started to make gestures with her hands and I raised an eyebrow and then held my hand up, walked to my small desk and picked up paper and a pencil, handing them to her and she grinned and walked to the desk, laid it down and scribbled something and then walked back and handed the paper to me.

  “Your kindness is appreciated,” it read and I smiled at her and nodded.

  “No problem,” I replied as I looked her over and realized she was intelligent and had been schooled properly. This probably meant they came from money which could be a good or bad thing depending on who comes sniffing around, her being a young attractive woman with a small healthy child and a brother who was handsome. People are treacherous beasts sometimes and especially in a town built on greed and a serious want to be rich. I don’t trust anyone here but for some reason, Emma makes me feel calm, a calmness I had not felt in forever and maybe it was her childlike nature, or a sudden need to protect that waking me up from a long sleep, who knows. I turned as Devon tapped on the half open door, which I had forgotten to close and she grinned at me as I looked him over.

  “I appreciate your kindness,” he said and I walked to him and pulled the door behind me as I stepped into the hallway and looked up at him. I had to pause. He is truly a sight for sore eyes. I am used to men with wretched breath and missing teeth, dirty from mining and stinking of body odor, but here Devon stood looking like a cool glass of tall water in the dessert sun. I took a breath and then recomposed myself.

  “So are you just passing through then?” I asked him and he glanced at the door and then back to me.

  “Actually, I have a job here,” he said to me and I narrowed my eyes.

  “Do not tell me you are a miner for gold.”

  He laughed at me.

  “Oh no, no not at all. I am a doctor,” he said and I relaxed.

  “Oh, that is much needed. The last doctor died in cross fire.”

  “Well, that is hopeful.”

  I laughed and shook my head.

  “Oh he was a whore, for a lack of a better word and his wife and one of the local ladies of the night had at it and he got in between them and they accidentally shot him in the head. There was no fixing that, pretty sure the wife got him but because they both were shooting no one could be fully blamed,” I said as I looked down the hallway at the closed doors and knew she was still here, the whore who had battled for a lover that was a mirage.

  “So I guess I should just avoid sex then,” he said and I looked at him and grinned. Him saying it was provocative for the times and I liked it.

  “Well, all depends on who you go after,” I said and he paused as we both had a bit of fluster in us. Fluster of a good kind of course. He cleared his throat and picked up his bag and smiled at me.

  “I am right next door, so if you need anything…I, um, I am right here.”

  “Okay, good to know,” I said as I backed into my door and fumbled for the handle and let myself in awkwardly. I closed it and rested my forehead on the door as very naughty thoughts popped into my mind. It all dissipated when I felt a tug on my pants and looked down to see Emma smiling up at me.

  “And you,” I said as I picked her up and walked to the window. I looked out as people walked here and there and the sun continued to rise, taking with it the coolness of the morning and the calm of town.

  ****

  Hilary and Emma both looked exhausted and after a fun game of patty cake and a penciled and very interesting conversation with Hilary I watched them both lay down for a nap midday and they looked like angels as they slept there. I changed my clothing to that of something a bit more lady like and walked to my door, taking my skeleton key and making sure to the lock the door behind me. They could get out but no one could get in. Like I said, something in me keeps growing, like a tree in my belly, branching out and making me want to save them more and more by the minute. Strange to have a mission and not know why but as I have drifted through the decades I have learned to just accept it as normality and not get all caught up in the drama of over analyzing anything when it comes to me and what I am. I am not quite sure but if this is the beginning of it then please let it be. I am so ready to not be alone anymore. I need a touch, a real one to my heart and soul that makes it worth it to get up and take another breath. Funny how new life such as Emma can do that, her vitality and innocence had set me on fire to a certain degree and I am willing to take whatever steps lay out before me.

  I stepped into the hallway and immediately ran into Devon who had flowers in his hands. I smashed them all with my face and picked pedals from my lips as I smiled and shook my head. He immediately looked flustered again as if the world had tilted sideways and he was slipping off the edge of it.

  “Oh dear,” he said as he dropped the remaining bunch of them all broken and torn to the floor and I immediately saw them hit in slow motion as his voice slowed and everything else did too. I heard a low voice behind me and turned to see a shadow of a figure dart to the right into a room and immediately started to follow it at a regular speed while Devon stood there moving so slowly
and speaking but to me I could not hear him, not a word, it was too slow and almost as if it was in another dimension, one I had stepped from.

  I walked to the doorway and the room was dark as night. Curtains drawn and it was immediately colder, which was so odd considering we are in the heart of the dust bowl and the heat index breaks 90 most days if not more. I took a breath and the white puff of it floated up in front of me as a face suddenly appeared through it. I backed up in a panic as its eyes were black as night with no color to be seen and its teeth looked filed to points as it parted it chapped lips and smiled at me. It had a human’s face but so cracked and faded it looked as if it had been peeled from someone and just laid on. I felt the wall of the hallway behind me as the thing started to walk from the darkness and approached me, sniffing the air and tilting its head unnaturally, almost to the point of cracking bones. Then it opened its mouth and started to screech and I fell to the floor, holding my ears and trying to concentrate as the pain of the volume ripped through my brain like razor blades. I blinked and it was close to me, it’s body contorting as it tried to get used to its new shell. I noticed tears on the flesh of its arms and black cracks on its neck leading up to its jawline and then it stopped screaming as I stood up, trying to steady myself and felt my nose, rubbing the crimson blood from it in between my fingertips. I looked to Devon who was still moving slowly as if he was talking to me and then as I turned back to the beast it was suddenly upon me and breathing a wretched stink into my face. I turned my head and closed my eyes, hoping like hell it would disappear and I as I wished it, so it happened and everything returned to normal but Devon stopped talking as he suddenly saw me down the hallway a bit, up against the wall…pale and bleeding from my nose and he ran to me and touched my face.