The Demon's Daughter

Rat in a Cage

Joshua watched from a distance as Madison Beck pulled weeds from the school garden. She was an odd human. He had met many humans on his travels to the cities, and he preferred young ones. They were easier to corrupt, and corrupted souls were the most delicious. Madison, however, seemed positively boring. When Leo Beck had shown up with the wolf, Joshua felt sure he would be discovered, but Leo only stayed a few moments before leaving.

A bodyguard, Joshua mused. It was only one wolf, so it wouldn’t make the task impossible, just a bit more difficult. He would have to let Theo and the others know that the girl was being guarded now. Reluctantly, Joshua pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Is this good news?” Theo answered.

“Not exactly,” Joshua replied. “Leo might be onto us. He’s hired a werewolf as a bodyguard for his daughter.”

Theo swore under his breath. “Do you recognize him? Is he from The Commission?”

“I don’t think so,” Joshua answered. “I’ve never seen him before. I can take care of it, but you should be aware that Leo might be onto us.”

“Leo Beck knows nothing,” Abbie said smoothly. “He’s a careful person is all and Belinda loves her daughter despite the girl’s defects. Take care of the wolf and then kill the girl.”

Joshua hung up and put his phone away silently cursing the stupid witch. Of course she thought it’d be easy to deal with this wolf, and maybe it would, but Joshua had no idea who he was or what he was capable of. He needed to study this new opponent first.

 ******

“Do you have a pack?” Madison asked as she walked back to the dormitory with Cillian.

“Yes,” Cillian answered, offering no elaboration and hoping his tone conveyed that he didn’t wish to speak of it.

Madison nodded. She knew werewolves were pack creatures. Usually the packs would consist of family members, so perhaps Cillian didn’t want to talk about his family. “I think that’s why demons and witches and the others don’t understand werewolves,” she remarked. “They’re loners at the core. They come together, sure, and form systems of government and gangs and the likes, but they can’t function like packs can. That type of bond doesn’t make sense to them.”

Cillian didn’t respond. It was odd to hear a human talking about supernatural creatures with such a detached tone as if they were science fair projects. What did she know about werewolf pack bonds? She was a human and the daughter of a demon at that.

“Then again, I don’t know much about them,” Madison added as if sensing his thoughts. “My family does have a pack that keeps guard of the grounds, which is how I know anything at all, but my knowledge on the subject is minimal, at best.”

Again, Cillian didn’t respond.

“Are you always this quiet?” Madison asked.

“No,” Cillian answered. “I’m your bodyguard. We’re not meant to speak to one another. In fact, most people prefer their bodyguards not speak to them unless necessary.”

“That seems awkward,” Madison remarked. “If it bothers you, I guess I’ll go back to talking to myself again.”

Madison became silent and it struck Cillian that she didn’t have a connection to the supernatural world out here. She was alone. Of course she’d want to talk about werewolves and pack bonds and demons and any other supernatural being with him. She couldn’t go around talking about it with humans or they’d think she was insane. That’s why her tone was so analytical. Madison had to detach herself from what she knew to be real in order to fit in with the other humans around her.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Cillian finally said. “You can talk to me about whatever you want, and if you really want to know something about wolves, I can tell you. Don’t ask about my pack though.”

Madison looked over and smiled slightly. “Really?” she asked.

Cillian shrugged. “I’ve known who I am since I was born. It doesn’t bother me to answer questions about it,” he said.

“I’ve always wondered if you feel a need to shift if you’ve stayed in one form for a while,” Madison said. “It might be hard to be a wolf around here. Is that going to be an issue?”

“No,” Cillian replied, shaking his head. “Around the full moon we feel an urge to shift, and young wolves might because it feels better, but it won’t be an issue.”

“Do you know what you look like in your wolf form?” Madison asked curiously. It had nothing to do with furthering her knowledge of werewolves as a whole, but it was something she had always wondered. Humans, and even supernatural beings that could pass as humans, used mirrors to fix their appearances, and everyone caught glimpses of themselves in mirrors and windows at some point in time. Did that happen to wolves? Did they recognize themselves?

Cillian thought for a moment. He had never been asked that before, and honestly, he had never thought about it. He knew he had dark fur, black. He could see his paws and legs often when he ran or engaged in battle. His consciousness, while still intact in wolf form, was different when he shifted though.

“In a way,” Cillian replied. “I think what your question gets at is how our consciousness works when we’re in animal form.”

“I assume it’s not the same,” Madison commented.

“Certain senses are very much heightened while others are dulled. I know who I am and what I’m doing, and I can control my actions just as I can when I’m in this form, but my instincts are different. I shift to fight and survive, so my thought process differs than it would right now when I’m only surveying my surroundings and listening.”

“And what do you hear?” Madison asked.

“There’s a soccer game nearby, and the buzzer just sounded. There’s a city not five miles away. An angry instructor is shouting at a class to pay attention to him and not the weather outside, which he admits is nice for this time of year. The three girls we passed a few moments ago called you something very unkind,” Cillian listed off.

Madison laughed softly. “I like you, Cillian,” she said. “I don’t like that you work for my father, but I like you as a person, which says a lot since I normally hate everyone.”

Must run in the family, Cillian thought as they entered the dormitory and mounted the stairs.

“There’s a room across the hall from mine and my roommate’s that I assume was vacated for your use. It’s not much, but it’s a bed and some privacy,” Madison said as they reached the second-floor landing. “We share the common area here with the entire floor. I’m rarely in it, so don’t worry there. Each room has it’s own bathroom, so really once I’m in my room I only leave for class or to go to the garden.”

Cillian nodded. Thus far, Madison seemed like a fairly easy person to guard.

“There’s really only one person I come in contact with constantly, but she’s already been vetted, and while she’s odd, she’s harmless,” Madison added as she opened the door to her room.

“Maddy, thank god! Quick, get in!” another girl yelled, grabbing Madison and Cillian by the arms and pulling them inside before shutting the door quickly.

“What?” Madison asked.

“Geraldo escaped,” the girl said sadly. “The expo is tomorrow, and he’s run off.”

“Okay, we’ll find him. Don’t worry,” Madison replied. “This is Cillian, by the way. Cillian, this is Jane.”

“You’re from her world, aren’t you?” Jane replied, glancing over at Cillian.

Cillian raised an eyebrow.

“Oh right, she knows about everything. She’s human though and comes from a human family. She just believes what I tell her,” Madison said as she looked under the bed.

“Right,” Cillian stated.

“Are you a demon or a wizard?” Jane asked.

“No,” Cillian answered.

“Do you know how to catch a rat?” Jan questioned.

Cillian looked at her quizzically.

“Geraldo is Jane’s lab rat,” Madison explained. “He can be quite cute at times, but he escapes and ends up chewing through everything he can find.”

Cillian said nothing. Madison was an odd person, and her choice in friends and roommates was even odder. Cillian reminded himself that this job could be worse. Madison could be some spoiled party girl that constantly put herself in danger. Instead, she was a boring seventeen-year-old who spent time in the garden and searched her dorm room for a missing lab rat.

As if on cue, Cillian heard his brother’s voice echoing in his head. What’s she like? It was Liam. It always was. He was the beta, after all.

Normal, Cillian responded. He knew the others were curious, and his sisters would want more information. She’s an odd human. It’s only been an hour, he added.

And her father? This time it was Ash asking.

A typical bureaucrat and demon, Cillian answered. They don’t get along.

Immediately after saying it, Cillian felt bad. He shouldn’t be sharing Madison’s personal relationships with his family even if they wouldn’t care or tell anyone. He’d have to be careful what he shared with his family from now on. He was being paid for security and discretion.  As he was thinking, Cillian spotted a fat, white rat on the windowsill. It paused for a moment and looked at him, its red eyes darting from him to the girls. Rats were intelligent creatures. This one seemed exceptionally bright. He wasn’t very quick though, so Cillian was easily able to close the gap and grab him. Sorry, he thought as he grasped the rat.

“Here,” he said, depositing the rat back into the cage.

“Thank you!” Jane exclaimed. “Are there animal whisperers in your world?”

“No,” Madison replied, rolling her eyes.

“Are you some kind of assassin, warrior type?” Jane asked.

“Jane, he was hired as a bodyguard. Clearly, he’s not an assassin,” Madison said. “I’d classify your kind as warriors though.”

Cillian nodded.

“Are you going to keep me in the dark here?” Jane huffed.

“It is fun when you try to guess,” Madison said with a shrug. “Do you mind?” She glanced at Cillian.

Cillian didn’t respond. Humans were odd creatures. He had never met any that knew of the existence of supernatural beings, so Madison and Jane were oddities without their personalities to begin with. He didn’t mind if Jane guessed what he was, although he wasn’t sure how she’d know. Madison only guessed on conjecture.

“All right, you’re not a demon or a wizard, and I doubt you’re a Valkyrie,” Jane mused. “You look like a human though, so you’re a shapeshifter of some sort. I can’t remember all the shapeshifters Maddy’s told me about though.”

“For good reason,” Madison remarked. “There are a lot of shapeshifters, but the most common is,” she paused dramatically.

“Werewolf?” Jane asked.

Madison and Cillian nodded.

“Cool,” Jane said, staring at Cillian.

Cillian could sense the apprehension in Jane’s gaze now. Madison didn’t seem to care, but she had grown up around all types of creatures. Jane was being introduced just now.

“Anyway, you’ve met Jane. I’ll be in here the rest of today. Classes start tomorrow at eight in the morning for me. You’re across the hall. Do you need anything?”

Cillian was struck by the manner in which Madison conveyed the information. It wasn’t rude or clipped in tone as her father had been in his address. In fact, her final question seemed sincere in nature. “No, thank you,” Cillian responded before leaving the room.

The room across the hall was sparsely furnished, but more than adequate for Cillian’s needs. It had a bed, a chest of drawers, a table with two chairs, and a small nightstand with a lamp. Cillian imagined it was a standard dorm room that had been left empty by design so the Becks could have someone keep an eye on Madison while she was away. Cillian set his bag down on the table and took a seat in one of the chairs. He’d have to find a hobby or something to do if he were going to have this much free time. He concentrated on the conversation across the hall, curious as to what Madison Beck was like with people she called friends.

“What happened to the last guard?” Jane asked.

”Father didn’t say,” Madison answered. “He didn’t come back after the summer, so I thought maybe I’d be free from a guard this year. Guess my father found a reason to keep me around for another year.”

“He wasn’t a werewolf though,” Jane pointed out. “He was something else, right?”

“Demon,” Madison stated. “Some son of a low level worker that my dad liked. To his credit, he wasn’t bad. I just wonder if it got tiring riding my dad’s d**k all the time.” Both girls laughed.

“So what about Cillian then? What do you think about him?

“I can’t tell yet,” Madison admitted. “He’s not one of my father’s normal choices. He’s from the countryside somewhere, and he doesn’t seem to have much of a connection in my world, so it was an odd choice on my father’s part. I prefer werewolves to demons though.”

“Why?” Jane asked curiously.

“Werewolves have human sides to them. Demons don’t,” Madison explained. “Cillian’s not human, but he can understand humans more than most other supernatural beings. Werewolves are thought to be weak in our world because of that, but it’s interesting.”

“What about the whole full moon issue?”

Madison laughed and even Cillian smiled to himself in his bedroom. “It’s been ages since a werewolf’s transformation was tied to the lunar cycle. They can shift at will now. The guards at my family home told me stories about growing up and learning how to transform, and I guess it’s both instinct and emotion that trigger the first few, but it usually coincides with puberty.”

“Imagine if people were able to study your world as science instead of myth,” Jane mused.

“I’d imagine a lot of people would be dissected or treated like Geraldo there,” Madison replied. “Humans are curious by nature, but our methods for studying things are primitive still.”

“And how do people in your world study the effects of new medicines on…you don’t need to, do you?”

Madison laughed quietly. “Magic,” she stated.

“It’s almost not fair,” Jane said with a sigh.

“Tell me about it,” Madison replied sarcastically. “My entire family can get what they want at the snap of a finger, and I’m a f*****g human. Talk about unfair.”

There was a long pause.

“Are you going back once you graduate?” Jane finally asked.

Madison sighed heavily. “I don’t know. It’d be better if I didn’t have to choose, but in the end I think I’ll always be torn between a normal human existence and a world I don’t belong in.”

For the first time since her death, Cillian thought about his mother. She would have liked Madison and sympathized with the girl. Cillian was reminded of the stories his mother used to tell while they sat around the fire. She used to say it was a terrible burden to feel as if you don’t belong somewhere, and that was why no one should take the pack for granted. Their father had been alpha then, and Fintan was beta. Cillian was only an omega, and he couldn’t imagine taking his brothers and sisters for granted. They were more than family. He had grown to pity the creatures that didn’t have pack bonds, and now he pitied Madison. She had no one, not even a family really.

 Cillian tried to ignore his feelings. All he had to do was keep Madison Beck alive. Her emotional well-being was none of his concern. Surely a girl like that had a psychiatrist, and even if she didn’t, he wasn’t qualified to help her in any way. The shocking thing was, however, he wanted to.