𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐𝘯 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨

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› 〉 🌙 .ೃ welcome ‘„ ↴

⏤ ⏤ ✎  .ೃ     written by ROYAL    ↴

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started : 06.27.23

finished : 06.28.23

genre : Fantasy, Romance

art credit : :camera: — @parisdivory on Pinterest, :camera: — @louedart on Tumblr

warnings : Fighting, light swearing, references to alcohol

word count : 2492

synopsis : An intoxicating story starring two young Devilblood hunters as they learn what it means to love, while navigating a world full of violence and death.

hashtags : #FeCoReview

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  Multiple times I had asked myself, what makes a Devil, a Devil? I knew better than to ask my father about it while he was alive, so I inquired to Doctor Sanchez three years ago.

  “It’s the blood. Their DNA.” He responded, eyes never straying from the crashing waves ahead of us. I leaned my weight over the railing, which overviewed the company’s private beach. I could still feel the sand between my toes from my early morning run. Surrounding our base, palm trees swayed in the warming breeze. I pitied the Devil who would never get to experience what it felt like to giggle when the ocean spray hit your face.

  “What does that mean?” I responded, my voice barely above a whisper. I knew what it meant, and he knew I knew what it meant. Yet the question slipped out before I had the chance to stop and filter. Perhaps I just wanted to hear it from him.

  Sanchez’s gaze softened, and all was quiet for a moment. “They can’t control it. They can’t help being born the way they are, but by definition they are the bane of mankind’s existence. They are the reason our people are dying by the hundreds of thousands...if there was another way to put an end to their terror, I would choose it in a heartbeat. But this is the way things are.” He exhaled deeply and turned to me, cupping the side of my face with his large, rough hand.

  “You have a good heart, Kit. Stay true to who you are. Don’t let them misguide you, and keep your faith.”

———

  Doctor Sanchez stepped into my new office. It was small, but still a serious upgrade from before. Nothing more than an old computer in the basement of Soul Walkers HQ, which had been refurbished from an abandoned hospital. “How’s it coming?”

  “Fine.” I retorted sharply, turning away from the entry way so Sanchez was facing my back. I couldn’t help but think of how much older he’d been looking lately, despite only being in his early sixties. A vast difference from our meeting on the beach just a year prior, back then he’d been so active around the company. Always traveling. Always laughing. Now he hardly left his office, and I was inclined to feel honored that he’d bothered to stop by.

  Sanchez closed the door behind him, and I heard his heavy footsteps as he approached me. I almost jumped when he placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

  “Kit, I know it was hard, but-“

  “Hard…hard?!” I snarled, whirling around to face him and slapping his hand off of me in the process. “He was a child, Sanchez. Devil or not, there was humanity in his eyes. Humanity and fear.”

  When I opened my eyes to meet his gaze, I was surprised to find a deep sadness in Sanchez’s face. He did look older. “I know. I was there.”

  “Then why? Why didn’t you stop them?” I snapped, my voice breaking midway through the sentence.

   “Because what we gained outweighed the loss. The chances of us finding a young Devil again are slim to none, and with this information we can determine how their powers develop as they age.” He took a step forward and tilted my chin up with his thumb and forefinger. “You know I wouldn’t harm a Devil if we didn’t have too, right?”

  I blinked away the tears that stung my eyes and nodded. Sanchez was right, per usual.

———

  “Kit, this is your new coworker and partner. Leon Garcia.” Sanchez smiled, gesturing toward the young man. He couldnt’ve been but twenty-five or twenty-six, a couple years older than me at most. From what I could tell, Leon himself was lithe and toned, with warm brown skin and deep blue eyes. His hair was shaggy and a darker brown. To top it all off, he was tall. A little over 6’0, maybe? Almost a whole foot taller than me.

I most certainly did not trust him.

  But it was a necessity to be cordial and professional, so I extended out my hand for a shake. “Nice to meet you, Leon.” I grinned.

  He gave me a once-over, then showed me the goofiest smile i’d ever seen. I couldn’t help the fleeting thought that screamed, holy shit, he’s cute.

  Leon took my hand just as Sanchez turned to leave. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need anything at all, but I’m sure Kit will be more than happy to help you figure yourself out.” He chuckled.

  After he left, I turned on the balls of my heels and marched down the hallway, glancing at my clipboard briefly to recall my tasks for the rest of the afternoon.

  “So, Kathleen, right?” Suddenly Leon was next to me, easily keeping pace with my stride.

  I shot him an annoyed look. “Kit, but yes. What exactly are you doing?”

  “Following you.” He replied, a sort of boredom in his tone— as though it had been the most obvious question. My eyes rolled dramatically to the back of my head, just to make sure he noticed.

  “Thanks, Sherlock.”

  “No problem.” Leon murmured, without a trace of humor. “So, if we’re going to work together as a team, I think we should get to know each other.” He paused to breathe. “Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?”

  I considered it for a moment. He made a good point, but I wasn’t about to entertain the idea that he would take the initiative in this operation.

  “You’ll learn about me in time, what’s important is that I’m here now, and so are you, which means we both have a reason to want to finish off these monsters. The rest is unimportant if you ask me.”

  He laughed, and by this point we’d reached my office. I closed the door and turned around to see Leon settled in the only other chair in the room, besides my own.

  “What about that?” The man asked, gesturing to my left leg. I’d forgotten I was wearing khaki shorts, which were technically forbidden around the lab, but in the office there was hardly a dress code, as long as one stayed relatively professional.

  Without meeting his gaze, I took a seat on the opposite side of the small room. “My house caught on fire when I was in high school. Some debris fell on it, that’s all.”

  Leon frowned. “It looks painful.”

  “Not anymore. Well, phantom pains.” I shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

  There was silence for a few seconds, which seemed to last for hours. Finally, he spoke. “Do they let you fight? With a prosthetic.”

  I chuckled dryly. “I wish. He’ll never it it, but Sanchez views me as a liability on the battlefield. I’ll never be out there.”

  I spun around on the wheels of the chair, propelling off the edge of the table. Just under his breath, barely above a whisper, I heard Leon mumble.

  “Not with them.”

  “Who drinks soda at a club?” Leon frowned, watching me down an entire can of Coke Zero in one sitting. I silently gave him the finger. Truth was, I wasn’t a fan of alcohol, and the obnoxiously loud, dirty music mixed with the strobe lights and sweaty atmosphere made me dizzy enough. But I felt the need to order something, so I ordered a soda. Simple as that.

  Leon had just finished flirting with a cute guy at the bar, while I stood in the corner, trying to hold down my lunch. “You should loosen up, try not to think so much.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, giving me a soft look that would make a weaker woman melt. “Come with me.”

“No, no no no—“ I started, taking a step back when he extended his hand out towards me. “I don’t dance.”

He blinked. “I wasn’t asking you to dance, genius. I was going to say, we can go outside for a bit if you’re feeling uncomfortable. The Devil isn’t going anywhere.”

I nodded eagerly, forgetting for a moment our mission. Word of a Devil around here had gotten out, and Leon and I had jumped at the opportunity. A friend of his, who also happened to be the bartender, told us she was a regular, so we’d been visiting the past few nights hoping to catch wind.

We weaved through the crowd (I’m pretty sure a man tried to grab my ass somewhere in there), but somehow made it out alive. Leon threw the door open, and the breath of fresh air was more than welcome. I gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

  We settled down on the curb. Night in the city was always gorgeous, and I could tell Leon felt at home here. I wondered to myself if he’d been raised in the city, but decided it wasn’t worth breaking him away from his wide-eyed iration.

  My mind wandered back to the past few months, starting with the day I met Leon. He’d broken down my walls faster than I’d like to it, but I still had my reservations. The way he single-handily convinced me to leave the company that had taken care of me for almost six years. I mean, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it, but in some weird sense, it almost felt like destiny.

  “Hey.” He whispered, breaking me out of my trance. I turned to meet his eyes, deep blue like the ocean or sapphires, completely trained on me. “Don’t you think we should—“

Cutting him off, the door to the club flew open, revealing the most physically attractive woman I’d ever seen. Her dress was barely anything at all, bright red and stuck to her curvaceous frame. Her hair was thick, tight black coils that fell to her shoulders— but if it were to be straightened, I knew it would be much longer. Her eyes were emerald green, and her skin, a dark umber. Her aura was drenched with lust, and I couldn’t tell if I wanted to be her or be with her.

“I heard you two were looking for me.” She approached us, and I couldn’t help but notice the swing in her step. Her voice oozed with confidence and a light southern accent. “So let’s get this over with, yes?”

  Leon and I staggered to our feet, and just in the nick of time, before the woman began to whisper something in an ancient tongue. Instinctively, my hands flew to cover my ears, which I could see Leon had done the same. The woman rubbed her hands together, and sparks flew. Literally.

I turned to my companion, eyes wide. “Leon! She’s going too—“

There was a massive explosion, launching us across the street. I felt my back hit a brick wall, and was abruptly thrown into darkness.

———

“Are you actually insane?” I hissed.

We were in the infirmary. Leon had ed the Soul Walkers, I don’t know, two days ago? He’d apparently been antagonizing Derek, the office hothead, and ended up with a busted nose and black eye. Yet here he sat, with that stupid grin plastered on his face.

He shrugged. “I was joking with him.”

I glared at him from over my shoulder, retrieving the healing salve from the cabinet. “You insulted him.” I carried the small bottle over to where he sat, and took his face in my hands. “Don’t move. This won’t hurt.”

Leon closed his eyes as I ran my fingers along crevices of his swollen face. I heard him let out a small sigh when the salve began to work it’s magic.

“Tingly.” He smiled. “Where do you guys get this stuff?”

I shrugged. “Dunno, you should probably relax though. At least for a bit, let that sink in before you go engaging in more...physical behavior.” I hadn’t witnessed the fight myself, but it’s all anyone was talking about. Sanchez suggested I keep Leon on a leash.

“Maybe..” He smirked. “I just wanted a pretty lady to help fix me up.”

Creator, give me strength.

———

When I awoke, my head was pounding, and it was difficult to breathe. I coughed a little too violently, and blood speckled my lips.

“That can’t be good...” I muttered.

Staggering to my feet, I just managed to witness Leon lunge at the woman with his electric batons. The handles were made of plastic, but the wires that hung down each produced electricity that would give an intense shock to anyone who was dumb enough, or curious enough in my case, to touch them. Never again.

She avoided his advances with grace, dancing around the current every time he lashed them out. It was almost like she was teasing him, tempting him with her presence then pulling just out of reach.

I took a step towards them, grimacing when a sharp pain shot through my body. I was not about to give up on him. Still tasting the metallic in my mouth, I bent down and scooped up a handful of dust and gravel.

When I was young, I often got in trouble, at home and in public, for my tone-deaf remarks and sarcastic comments. To try and bring it down from a ten to a two, my dad taught me to stop and filter, a way of thinking through what I say before I say it. Sometimes things still slipped out, but overall my sociability went up tenfold.

This was an example of a time I did not think before acting. Ignoring the fiery pain in my lower body, I rushed up behind the Devil and threw the contents in my hand into her eyes, rendering her blind for a few minutes. It also got her off her balance, and Leon was able to wrap the wires around her, pinning her arms to her midsection and sending the electric current throughout her body. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, writhing like a worm in the dirt.

I could barely hear her over the loud thumping of my heart and the ringing in my ears. When my gaze flickered over to Leon, I found him staring at the woman with a mix of fury and sadness and...an emotion I couldn’t quite place, but it wasn’t good.

Limping over to him, I placed a hand on his shoulder and found him shaking. “Hey.” I murmured softly. “You can let go. She’s down.”

Leon turned to me, slowly, and blinked, then released his weapons from the Devil’s body. The wires snapped back into the plastic handles, and he placed them in their holders strapped firmly to his back.

“Let’s take her home, your friend said she’s connected to the Ruby Owl Soldiers. Maybe she has intel on the rebellion.” I offered, and he nodded.

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╰──> ˗ˏˋ Thank you all for reading the first couple entries of my story! Any and all is greatly appreciated. Until next time, keep dreaming <3 ˎˊ˗

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