Lucius Wright's Story

Lucius felt a gentle breeze ripple past, causing the small hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end momentarily.
He tugged his collar a little further up his neck, to save himself from the chill.
With a smile, he looked over at a young couple who were walking down the cobbled sidewalk. Happily in love. Not a care in the world... Clearly two humans. Oh how Lucius wished he could be like them. Normal. Fully human.
He glanced down at his arm, and tugged at the sleeve a little.He had deep scars that twisted their way all the way up to his shoulder. The result of the first time he ever let his inner-demon show... 18 years ago. He was only a baby at the time.

Lucius sighed warily. And felt that familiar breeze once again. He had the day off from school today, and that could mean only one thing. Today, he was going to let out his inner-demon, and go hunting in the thick forest.
He grinned, his slit-like pupils contracting fiercely, as he disappeared in a puff of jet black smoke.

As the sun shinned through the trees in the forest, one beam was shinning right into Luciana's eyes, which woke her up. In her wolf form she stretched her back, much like what a cat would do when it first waked up. It was early morning, before shifting into her human form, she needed to hunt for today's breakfast. But she needed to do it fast. It was Saturday, that means some of the humans would go into the forest since they have no school. As a wolf, she has no sense of human will, all wolf instincts. She could attack and harm someone, only causing a group of hunters to invade her territory looking for her.

Shaking her coat, a few leaves that were stuck to her belly fell. Luciana listened for any sound of movement, her ears perked up, moving around. Then, she caught something, in the distance, about 50 feet a way. It was slightly to large to be a deer, but to small to be a bear. She darted towards it. The more the better right? If she eats all of whatever it was, then she wouldn't have to hunt later, risking the chance of being caught.

Luciana stopped, listening again. She sniffed the air, is smelt strangely human, but not a human. She looked around, seeing if anything was there. The thickness of the forest grew as she went deeper into it. It was a bit harder to find things this way.

The icy cold water of the river lake felt sharp and refreshing against Lucius' flesh as he plunged his face into it. He had been hunting the wildlife in the forest for a good hours now, and was taking a short break to cool off.
His chest heaved as he panted, before once again submerging his face into the cool liquid in the stream. He slumped back on a large rock, and glanced upwards at the Autumn sky.
It was a perfect day for a hunt. A perfect day to let the demon within surface.
He slid his hand down his back, until it rested on his shoulder-bone. Gently, he applied a little pressure. And winced.
A normal human would be able to feel both of their shoulder-blades here, and also their spine in between. But Lucius couldn't. All he could feel were the two large, aching lumps beneath the surface of his skin. He knew exactly what the two lumps were. They were his wings. His demonic black wings. But it had been so long since he had truly let his demon show, that the skin had long since healed over them. It certainly would be painful to ever let them out again...

He sighed heavily, and stood up. Turning away from the great lake to face the darkness of the towering trees.
In the distance, he could hear a faint rustling, and his senses immediately sharpened. He sniffed the air for a split second, and detected the sweet scent of pure blood. His pupils contracted tightly, forming two paper thin slits on a yellow backdrop. He felt his face contort into a sick smile as he teleported closer to the sound.

Noise.
Movement.

Something was going on, not too far away. Lucius felt his nostrils flare. He could here people moving around nearby.
A sickly sweet smell was irritating the inner lining of his nose, and he growled slightly under his breath.

In one swift movement, He bent down and scooped his small dagger out of the neck of a slaughtered deer, one he had just killed in his hunting game.
It was darker here, in the thick growth of the forest, and he had no concept of what time it was. Perhaps it was time for him to head back to Linbooru. Home.

With a sigh, He sheathed the dagger at his waist, and tossed his thick dark hair out of his eyes. He heard that noise again. That rustling.
There was definitely movement close by. Extremely close by. He heard voices too. Hushed voices.

With a small flick of his wrists, Lucius melted into the shadows. Completely invisible to the naked eye, and began to move closer toward the noise.

Red. There was red everywhere. There was red on her mother's chest, and on her father's back. There was red on the knife of the man who was standing above her. Arcana screamed, and the knife came down. Now there was red dripping down her arm. She was in pain, but she still heard her mother telling her to run, and run she did. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, and still she heard the man behind her. He was yelling: "Get back here!" There was a wall up ahead. It was coming closer and closer until...

*GASP*

Arcana awoke with a start and looked around frantically. She was lying on her bed, in her room, not running down a hallway with a crazy killer after her. This was the third time this week that this scene had appeared in her dreams, and every time she awoke at the same part. Puzzled but relieved, Arcana got up and went over to the window, it was late morning. Her hand automatically went to the scar on her shoulder and she sighed. Something strange was beginning...she could feel it.

Luciana stopped in her tracks, hearing voices in the distance, though it didn't bother her much. She was in her human form, much more comforting than being in her wolf when voiced were ever heard. She could tell that one of them was a human, the other, it was harder to tell. It didn't smell like a human, but she didn't know what else it could be. She has never met a demon or an angel to know what they smelt like. Then another scent came, but just as quickly as it came, did leave. Though she caught what the scent was, it was the one who smelt like a human, yet something else lingering in it. Strange, why is it today that all these need things are coming into the forest? Or maybe they have been here before, but she just didn't know.

She really wanted to know what each of these new scents were, but the smell of blood irritating her human nose, it made her feel sick. She continued her way to the lake, thoughts running through her mind about which scent she should track first when she shifts again. The one that most interested her was the strangely human, but not a human scent.

Upon reaching the lake, Luciana sat the clothes that were in her hands on a flat rock by the water. Then, after everything was out of her hand, she leaped into the water. The cold water was nice and refreshing. When her skin contacted the water, a chill was sent up her spine, giving her goose-bumps. Usually coldness was like a trigger to shift, but she knew how to mostly control when to and when not to shift. Being in water was definitely a time she did not want to shift. Since after all, a wolf needs to keep there muzzle up out of water and they can only swim for so long. If she did shift, she would drown.

A red haze shrouded Lucius' vision. He staggered forward, biting hard on his bottom lip as the world melted in his peripherals.
He took a sideways glance at the deep gash in his arm, it was spilling thick crimson blood at an alarming rate. He grunted in agony, as his head swam, and he slumped his whole weight on a large oak tree.

What had he seen back there? That girl? Talking to a boy? Why did she seem so different? He had felt a primitive hatred toward her, but at the same time, he had felt alarmed by her, maybe even scared. But who was she...?

In his haste to get away, he had teleported without focusing, and left behind a huge chunk of his right arm. And now he had no idea where abouts in the forest he was, or what day it was, or how much energy he had left. Definitely not enough to teleport or heal the wound.

A small sigh escaped his lips, as he glanced upward at the thick foliage.
'This is it.' he thought, his heavy eyelids falling shut, 'I'm not going to make it.'

As he lay on the filthy floor of the forest, lost and alone, with more and more blood spurting out of his arm every second, Lucius felt a strange sense of emptiness. He had not accomplished anything yet, he had not made a mark on this earth.
He shook his head firmly, and grit his teeth.
'I'm not going to die like this,' He thought, starting to stand, wincing in pain as he did so.

And with every last ounce of energy in his body, he melted into the shadows once more.

Lucius felt his temples throb painfully, and clenched his fist tightly. He had thick, dark bags beneath his eyes, and was feeling extremely weak and vulnerable.
He had lost a lot of blood in the teleportation incident, and despite his best efforts to seal the wound, he still had a deep burgungy gash on his arm, where a large chunk of flesh was missing.
Lucius had worn a long sleeved jacket to cover the gash, but could feel it grazing painfully against the fabric. He clenched his fists again, trying his best to overcome to agony.

The school was buzzing today, everyone happy to see their friends again, sharing their exciting weekend stories. But of course, Lucius couldn't share his story with anyone. Nobody knew his secret. No-one here knew he was half-demon. As he descended the steep, stone steps to English class, He was certain he caught a glimpse of that dark haired girl from the forest, surrounded by a crowd of students. But he shook his head and squinted firmly. He must have been deluded. perhaps he was seeing things due to the blood loss. Hell, maybe she wasn't real at all.

He sighed heavily, as he approached the door to his English class, before sliding into the room, to begin.

---

Tex shoved a slice of toast into her mouth as she quickly attempted to throw her things together for school. What time was it? She glanced at her watch while she tried to stuff her feet into her boots and almost chocked on the dry bread. It was the beginning of fourth period already! She brushed her hands through her thick hair and threw it into a messy bun as she stood and slung her bag over her shoulder before walking outside.
She'd obviously missed the bus and Linbooru wasn't exactly swarming with public transportation. Terraxa glared at the empty parking lot. Not only did her mother make a point of not waking her up in the morning, but she also had the nerve to take the car even though she usually walked to work.
Tex wasn't a top mark student, but she had never been tardy, however her streak had obviously just been broken. She scrunched her nose up sourly and began the sprint for the school.

The secretary was kind enough to let Tex off with a warning after seeing her tired and messy state. She had to take a few minutes to catch up on her breathing, leaning over with her hands on her thighs heaving and wheezing as her lungs protested against the effort that she had put into her run to school. For a while the secretary allowed it, but she finally had enough, shifting her fat rump in her seat and scratching at her frizzy brown bun before telling Tex to get to class. She nodded and attempted to straighten herself up, though her stomach felt like it was on fire. Cardiovascular endurance wasn't really her thing.
She dragged her bag behind her and made for her first class, stopping in the bathroom to make sure she didn't look like she was mauled by a bear on her way to school. After she was satisfied with her hair and her face wasn't bright red anymore, she made her way to English, trying her best to look dignified as she walked into the classroom and presented her tardy slip to the teacher. Barely giving the teacher time to look at it, Tex quickly went to her seat and slumped into it before crumpling onto the desk out of exhaustion. "That's enough running for one lifetime." She whispered to the boy next to her. She propped herself up with her elbow and looked at him, "did I miss anything, Lucius? I mean, other than the first three periods."

"That's enough running for one lifetime." Lucius heard the faint whisper from just over his shoulder, he turned his head slightly to see Terraxa. She sat next to him in English class every time, and was never, ever late. Hehad been wondering where she was.
"did I miss anything, Lucius? I mean, other than the first three periods." She said to him, a hint of humor on her tongue. Lucius smiled slightly as he looked at her, propped up on her elbows, looking out of breath.

Without making it too obvious to the teacher, Lucius tore a small scrap of paper from his notebook, and began to scrawl across it in fine, neat scripture:
"You didn't miss much, Tex.
Why so late?"
He studied his note for a second, before adding a couple of X's to the bottom of it. He folded the note neatly in two, taking pleasure in the perfectly formed crease.
He dropped the note down on the table in front of him, where it made a small clack-ing noise, and slid it swiftly towards Tex with his pencil. His arm groaned in pain as it moved, most probably due to the gaping hole he had foolishly made in it. He just hoped that his novice attempt at sealing the wound with dark magic had worked. He was no healer, that was for sure.

Tex was an extremely cute girl, and she was very sweet. There had been times that Lucius had considered talking to her more, but what would the point have been? If she knew what he really was, inside, she wouldn't hesitate to leave. It was a ridiculous idea, she was a human, and he had demon in him. He couldn't even risk trying to form a bond with another demon, but a human?! Ridiculous...

A human and a demon.
An impossible mix.

Human. Demon.
Never the twain shall meet.

A smile played at Tex's lips as she watched Lucius pull out a piece of paper and begin scribbling on it. He wasn't one to talk during class, a very quiet boy as far as she knew, and she liked that about him. It wasn't often that you found a teenage boy who's favorite sound is that of his own voice. Her periwinkle eyes traced the lines made by his pencil and she slowly zoned out, brought out of her trance only when the note hit her elbow.
She snatched the folded piece of paper and quickly tore it open.

"You didn't miss much, Tex.
Why so late?"

She rolled her eyes and leaned over to grab her pencil out of her bag.

"Thanks.
Another fight with mom, she thought not waking me up and taking the car this morning would be an adequate punishment." Anger swelled inside of Tex as she wrote, but she sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, the result was relatively calming. "What's wrong with your arm?" She added quickly before sliding the note back to Lucius.

The rest of the period went relatively quickly and when the lunch bell rang, Tex was more than happy to stow away her English things and walk out with Lucius to the cafe. However, the thought of eating cafeteria food with her stomach that still wasn't settled after her run made her cringe and she turned to the dark haired boy. "I don't think I'm eating today. I'll wait for you to get your food and then maybe we can go up to the roof? It's way to crowded in there." She sent a sour look to the cafeteria then looked back to Lucius, giving him a quaint smile.

Lucius smiled grimly at the note as it was slid back across the table to him. Tex's curvy handwriting divulged that she had argued with her mother again, and inquired about his arms condition.
Lucius inhaled sharply as he read those words, had his pain really been that obvious? If it had, then he couldn't simply ignore it, he would have to make up some sort of plausible lie.
He thought of the deep chunk of missing flesh, crudely sealed by his dark magic, to the extent that the flesh looked practically necrotic. He winced, thinking about it made his arm hurt. He shot Tex a look that said "Tell you later!" and sat silently through the rest of the class. When the bell rang to signal the beginning of lunch, he still had no idea what he was going to say.

After the class, Lucius found himself radiating toward Tex, and although he had little to say, he took comfort in the way they walked in unison toward the Cafe. As they approached, the thick smell of grilled sandwiches and cheese hit Lucius' nostrils, making him feel a little queasy. The gaping hole twinged with pain once more.
As he pushed open the doors, the sound of dozens of excited students hit his ears. The Cafe was bustling and hectic today.
"I don't think I'm eating today. I'll wait for you to get your food and then maybe we can go up to the roof? It's way to crowded in there." Lucius felt himself relax at the sound of Tex's melodic voice, which was clear above the noise.
Lucius looked at the busy room, and smiled back at Tex, trying not to display the pain that was rippling through the chasm in his arm.
"Yeah." He started, "I'm not too hungry either. Rooftop it is!"
He closed the door to the Cafe, shutting the noise behind them, and caught Tex's eye for a brief moment.
What was he going to tell her?

---

Tex watched Lucius recoil slightly when the odor of the day's lunch touched his nostrils, and she held her hand over her mouth to hide her chuckle at the face he made. "Yeah. I'm not too hungry either. Rooftop it is!" He quickly agreed, giving her a smile that looked more like a grimace, revealing to her that the pain in his arm was awful. She looked at it curiously, wondering what he was hiding under his sleeve. She touched his wrist softly with her index finger to see how he'd react to it, and then opened her mouth.

"I'm pretty good with wounds and stuff and I've got a first aid kit in my bag." She shrugged and began to walk toward the stairs that she knew led up to the roof. "I mean, my mom was a nurse." She lied, nonchalantly; it was the only explanation she could think of that would hopefully explain how quickly his wound would heal once she touched it. "Maybe if you'd let me look at it..."

She walked in step with the older boy, keeping a close eye on his face and body as he walked up the stairs. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, she could see it in his eyes and how his movements were slightly stiff as he tried to not disturb his arm. It must be bad, Tex decided as she took her eyes off of him so that she could reach up and open the door for both of them.

They stepped off onto the roof and she rolled up her sleeves, "okay I'm going to need to to pull up your sleeve firs-". She stopped shortly, realizing that there was someone else up there with them. She recognized the girl as Rosebel Frye, the girl notorious for being unnaturally beautiful, smart, and nice. Terraxa herself had never had any confrontations with the girl to confirm the rumors, but she'd heard more than she needed to about the girl. So much so that she wasn't sure Rosebel was a real person, she always seemed so unreal, so perfect. Even then, standing right behind her on the roof of the school she wasn't convinced.

Even if it was the real Rosebel, she wasn't as Tex imagined her. She was beautiful, but she didn't look as nice as she'd heard. Rather, the black haired girl looked tense and anxious as if she was waiting for someone to scale up the side of the school and attack her as she ate.

"Sorry for interrupting your lunch," Tex found herself apologizing without knowing quite why. On one hand, she was just another human being as far as she knew, despite her inhuman looks. On the other, Rosebel was in a place so high on the social tower that if she were to spit down at Tex's level, she'd put a hole right through Tex's head. And while social stature was the last thing the blue haired girl ever cared about, she did respect it's power. She turned back to Lucius and smiled awkwardly.

"So, do you want me to help you?" She asked, walking a good distance from the other girl and settling herself on the ground next to her bad, digging inside for the first aid kit.

A small ripple spread its way along Lucius' arm as Tex laid a gentle finger on his wrist. His arm twitched instinctively, causing the wound to pang in a sharp pain. But it quickly faded as he clenched his teeth.
"I'm pretty good with wounds and stuff and I've got a first aid kit in my bag." He heard Tex say in her usual melody, "I mean, my mom was a nurse."
He thought about the wound, black, decaying flesh. He had made it so much worse with his inept healing skills. If she really could help, she might even save his arm. But he couldn't just tell her. He didn't know her well enough for that.
"I.. It should be okay.." He muttered, His voice cracking slightly, as Tex swung open the doors to the roof. He flashed her a smile that came naturally as he thanked her, and stepped out on to the rooftop.

He saw her the same moment that Tex did. The girl. And instinctively, he knew it was her, the girl he had seen in the forest, the girl who he had seen in the courtyard earlier. His heart lurched in a sickening fashion. There was something about her that made him feel ill. Something repulsive.
The pain in his arm worsened rapidly, He could feel the Demon within his soul begin to stir. A twitching ache began on his shoulderblades, and he was suddenly reminded of the heavily folded black wings that were concealed beneath his flesh. He grit his teeth, and fought his primal desires to unleash the beast.

Lucius hated being half-demon. He called his inner demon "It." And right now, "It." was threatening to ruin his life, blow his cover. He wished he was ordinary.
A small sound brought him back down to earth, out of his day dream, "So do you want me to help you?" Tex asked him, as she sat on the ground, rifling through her bag.
Her voice carried itself through the air, and fluttered at his ears for a second. The sensation calmed the beast within, and Lucius felt a smile stretch out across his face.
If she could calm "It" down... what else could she do? Could she help?

"Tex.. Can I trust you?" He whispered to Tex, wary of the other girl. "I need your help. But not here. Not right now." His voice was hushed and hoarse. He was laying a lot on the line. So much rested on Tex's next word.

'Yes or No, Tex.' He thought to himself, the pain in his arm reaching an almost unbearable peak as his blood pressure began to rise, 'Can I trust you...?'

---

Terraxa finally found it and pulled out a small first aid kit with a quiet "aha!". She set it down on her lap and unlatched the clasps, not even noticing Lucius' complete change in demeanor until she looked up, his posture tense and almost animal-like. She was shocked, a bit scared, but quickly looked down at the kit with sudden interest so he wouldn't notice that she saw, busying herself with fingering through the bandages as if wondering which would be appropriate for the job. She stole another glance and saw that he'd changed once more. He was more or less back to normal apart from the somewhat creepy grin that had spread itself across his face.

"Tex.. Can I trust you?" Tex was taken off guard by his random question. She stood up, looking from Lucius to Rosebel. Something told her that it was the popular girl that had set off Lucius and she was suddenly feeling conflicted. Did she trust Lucius after seeing him in that strange way? He always seemed normal and kind in English and the other classes she had with him, but wasn't that how serial killers were, too? Rosebel seemed harmless, too, but something about her un-nerved Tex, too. She was almost too perfect. "I need your help. But not here. Not right now." She pressed her lips together tightly, to tell the truth Lucius' mysterious new vibe both frustrated her and made her curious. She wanted to know what had caused the change in him.

He looked so anxious and he looked like his arm was beyond pain, pity and curiosity led her to take a step towards him. "I need to look at your arm. Now." She instructed, trusting that her words and actions would answer his question as she grabbed the wrist of his un-injured arm and tugged him back towards the stairs. "My mom and sister aren't home, I can tend to your arm there and you can explain everything to me on the way." She shut the kit and stuffed it into her bag before shrugging it up onto her shoulder. "I've missed most of the day anyway, I don't think they'd miss me much." She gave him a reassuring smile and led him down the stairs and out of the school.

Rosebel was shocked beyond belief. The demon she was searching for came right to her. She didn't know who he was but he was with girl, probably a senior. As she noticed Rosebel, she apologized for interrupting her lunch. After few whispers between pair, girl lead him away. Rosebel had been so shocked that she didn't react at right time. Now demon was already out of school with girl leading him. Rosebel knew that girl was no ordinary human either. Her aura was bit stronger then normal humans, so it was possible that she could do magic. From one point of view it was good, because then Rosebel had no fear in revealing herself as witches and healers wouldn't reveal other creatures just so they wouldn't be revealed themselves. That's why Rosebel though humans were weird. They would kill one of their own kind if they found out he or she was bit different.
"As if I'm going to let you heal a demon!" Rosebel said out loud as if warning girl. Then she checked if her bracelet was in its place under the uniform and folded up the sleeve of uniform so bracelet could be seen. Rosebel took deep breath and then started concentrating on bracelet and dark magic within it. For about a minute Rosebel stood still trying to gather as much energy as possible, then she chanted some words in demon language and disappeared.
It was invisibility spell. Some would think that invisibility would come from light magic, but no, it was used to spy on enemies and even murder them when they don't see you. Obviously those who use light magic don't do that. With one swift movement Rosebel opened her wings took flight over the school and innocent students who were peacefully eating their lunch. Nobody could even imagine that right now above their heads Rosebel was flying with her angelic wings.
Luckily girl and demon had not gone far so Rosebel easily caught up with them. She didn't intend to make any unnecessary ruckus. Rosebel chanted same invisibility spell on demon and then snatched him up, away from human girl. Demon must have been injured really badly because his aura was very weak. But that means less trouble for Rosebel. She could now peacefully bring him to her house and deal with demon there.
After 5 minutes of flight Rosebel finally reached her house and dropped demon in backyard where even the most curious of neighbors wouldn't see them. And Rosebel was just in time because invisibility magic had almost wore off. When both her and demon became visible without any ceremonies Rosebel took out her staff and pointed it towards the demon.
"I'm going to say only one thing. Tell me your lasts words, demon!" Rosebel coldly stated.

Allen Isaacson

---

Sixth lesson started and Allen took attendance once again. He shifted his gaze back and forth from the list to each student with robotic efficiency. However, his rhythm was stopped as he noticed that Terraxa Mase and Lucius Wright were both absent, yet had been here earlier. Skipping so early in the week?
He wasn't well acquianted with either of the missing pair. He'd spoken to Lucius a few times--the black-haired young man had always been friendly enough--but they were by no means good friends. Terraxa, on the other hand, he'd only shared a few words with and she looked bored with him the whole time.

Allen raised his voice to ask the class, "Anyone seen Lucius or Terraxa?"
The students looked around the room, shaking their heads and shrugging. A few whispered and gossiped that they had snuck away together on a date. Allen sighed and marked them as absent.

Sixth and seventh lesson passed uneventfully and Allen pulled on his satchel, ready to head for work at the cafe. He still wanted to talk with Arcana, but he didn't want to be late. The blonde stopped in front of Arcana's desk like before.

"Mind if we walk and talk?" He glanced out the window casually, avoiding the silver-haired girl's eyes. "I've got work in twenty minutes."