Twenty-three

I stared at Selene, waiting for her to continue, but she couldn't take her eyes off whatever was in the syringe. She seemed almost frightened by what she was holding. Reaching out, I grabbed her arm and asked, "What is it? What's going on?" Selene angrily shook her arm from my grasp and snapped, "You don't understand. This shouldn't be here!" Taking a deep breath, I tried to remain calm and waited for her to continue.

Selene calmed down a little and stated, "It's not that this shouldn't be here. It's that this shouldn't even exist." Selene got lost staring at whatever the item was, so I cleared my throat loudly and said, "Look around you. None of this was supposed to happen, but it is here, and that was injected into me for years. Now, will you tell me what that is and why it hurt so damn much?"

Selene tore her attention from the syringe long enough to say, "Take me back to that big room. Then we can talk." I was annoyed with her demanding, but I knew that I had to comply for now. So, I bit my tongue and did as she asked. The two of us walked back to the atrium in silence. Selene stared intently at the syringe the whole time. I doubt that she knew I was still next to her.

The hallway opened up, and the two of us entered into the atrium, where I instinctively walked to Rebecca's and my corner and sat down. Selene sat next to me, and after a moment of silence, she said without looking up, "When you attacked those men, I could instantly tell that something was wrong. I had seen you angry before, but this time it was different. Usually, your anger pushes you, but this time it was obvious that it was controlling you."

"When I got in your way, I was confused because your eyes looked like mine in my demon form. While I can change my appearance, it has to be all human or all demon, but you were both. Then when you reached out and started to choke me, not only was your voice different, but your arm was also. It was hard to the touch. It almost felt like scales. When I asked to be alone, I was trying to figure out what had just happened."

"I knew what the answer was, but I refused to believe it. It didn't make sense. That was until I found this syringe, that is. Then I knew no matter how much I refused to believe it, it wouldn't change. The truth is: you are a demon."

I was glad that I no longer had to drink, because if I had been, I would have spit it all over myself. I looked at Selene and asked, laughing, "You hear yourself, right? I am obviously human."

Selene stayed serious while I was laughing and eventually replied, "I told you I also refused to believe it. But what I am holding in my hand is demon blood. To be specific, the blood of a very special demon."

This caught my attention, and I instantly shut up.

Turning the syringe over in her hand, she stated, "As far as demons go, the more powerful you are, the more important you are. There are weak demons who are at the bottom of everything. Then you have someone like me who is above the weak. Above myself were the nobles, like the demon who found and trained me. Then we have the demon lords who rule the underworld. What you have in you is blood from a demon who is fabled to be above the lords."

I sat in silence. I heard her words, but I refused to believe them. Looking at her, I asked, "How do you know about this if it was only fabled to exist? It sounds like nothing more than a myth." Selene finally looked at me and responded, "As I said before, you were able to partially change your body. Only demon lords can do that. Also, this blood is black. I can tell what demon blood looks like, and no living demon now has black blood. It fits the myth perfectly."

I wasn't sure if I believed what Selene was telling me. With skepticism heavy in my voice, I asked, "So not only am I a demon, but I am being turned into a fabled demon who is stronger than all the others? I apologize if I find that a little hard to believe."

Selene only shrugged at my words and responded, "You have been looking for answers since I met you. I can't force you to believe anything." Her words did have truth behind them. With a sigh, I asked, "So what are you going to do with the last of that blood? If what you are saying is true, it isn't something that should be left to be found."

Selene shook her head and said, "I've been thinking about that, but I can't think of anything. It is way too dangerous to just leave it, but I don't feel comfortable holding onto it either. If I were to inject this in me, I am certain that I would die."

With a sigh, I responded, "I've had thousands of these injected into me. One more won't kill me." Before Selene could react, I took the syringe and haphazardly shoved it into my arm.

This had been extremely painful in the past, but I recently lost the ability to feel, so I wasn't sure what would happen. My question was quickly answered by the familiar feeling of my blood turning into fire. My body began to shake uncontrollably, and I could hear Selene saying something, but I couldn't focus on her words.

As soon as the pain started, it disappeared, and I was left exhausted. I noticed Selene staring at me with a worried expression on her face. Giving her a tired smile, I said, "See, just one more," and slowly closed my eyes as the last of my strength left me.