“Why am I here?”
“Because you’re being investigated.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re dangerous.”
“Why am I dangerous?”
“Because you’re different.”
A brief silence followed.
“Why am I different?”
The conversation still flowed through Cade’s head like a river. He wouldn’t even call it a “conversation”. It was more like a unfulfilling exchange. Just like slot machines. Slot machines only put out the maximum winnings twenty five percent of the time. Twenty five percent of the time, Cade managed splitting migraines. Cade rubbed his eyes and hit his head with the palm of his hand. His train of thought always seemed to wander, especially when he was alone.
Don’t you have a job to do, hunter?
In truth, he wasn’t alone. How could he be so foolish to think that he was?
“Yes, I have a job to do.”
Then do it. I grow bored of your small attention span crises.
“Then you could stop butting into my thoughts.” Cade muttered. Demons never shut up. Cade really wished that he’d been prey to a less talkative creature. Unlike most Possessed humans, he was exposed to his demon at a very early age, before the Maturation, before submitting to the hellish beings became a way of life the weak and stupid. “Eon… can you feel any malice around?”
Yes. A few miles ahead, towards the city.
“Lovely…” he whispered. Cade jumped from tree to tree, keeping to the branches cautiously, as not to touch the ground and alert the police of his presence. The police were not fond of kids like him, who escaped their watch and ran away to the woods. He still remembered what they had said to him four years ago.

“We found this one on the streets, sir.”
“Does he have a name?”
“No, sir. He hasn’t spoken since we picked him up. Perhaps he’s in shock.”
“Perhaps.”
The thirteen year old boy didn’t look up at the officers who had dragged him from the alley. His blonde hair hid his eyes. Dirty bandages covered the stub that used to be his left hand.
“He should be grateful, if anything. We saved him from the gutters.”
They did everything BUT save him. The boy turned away from the police in disgust.
“We can’t help you if you don’t talk, boy. Let’s start with your name.”
The boy looked up at the men who claimed to have helped him. His hair fell back from his blue eyes to reveal them hostile.
“Cade…”
“Cade, what happened to your arm?”
“It was taken.”
“Taken?” the policeman looked at his partner, confused. “Arms just don’t get ‘taken’, kid.”
“Mine did…” Cade whispered. In fact, his arm had been more than just taken. Since his parents were killed by demons, he had been wandering the streets of the city trying to avoid them. All of them, police included. He knew what the law did to people who were Possessed. Avoiding the police decreased his chances of getting him arrested, and avoiding the demons decreased his chances of getting possessed. But it was an unlucky day when Cade had interrupted a high ranking demon in the middle of a meal. Though fighting as hard as he knew how, he was about to be killed when the demon suddenly stopped.
“You have… persistence. Tenacity. Courage. I would like very much to feed upon you.” the giant blonde fox cooed. His two tails swayed hypnotically, and his black paws were stained with blood.
“Do what you want… I’m not scared.”
“Then why do you shake?”
“I hate you…”
“Hate? What a strong word. Whatever you may feel, I’ve decided that you now belong to me. Now… give me an offering.”
“Never.” Cade had sneered.
“I do not appreciate your rudeness… then I will choose.”
Within seconds, the demon had vanished into Cade’s chest, and his left arm had begun to disintegrate, leaving the boy screaming in pain and kneeling in ash.
“Why am I here?” He suddenly felt like talking.
“Because you’re being investigated.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re dangerous.”
“Why am I dangerous?”
“Because you’re different.”
A brief silence followed.
“Why am I different?”

Look alive.
Cade opened his eyes and snapped back into reality, grabbing a tree branch to steady himself.
“Sorry…”
Simple little brute…
Cade snickered. Eon, the bloodthirsty demon, was calling HIM a brute. Cade flexed his wooden artificial hand and continued to jump.
Stop!! The trail ends here…
Cade stopped in his tracks. “I see her.” he whispered. He clutched the tree he was standing in and looked down. “She’ll be a great addition to our revolution. The malice surrounding her is strong.”
He stared down at the girl with the red hair who was holding her bleeding arm. No doubt, the police had shot her when she tried to escape, too.
“Perfect.”