Shudders: Reclamation Day

Chapter 10 - The Station

I'm back from finals 😩
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    How could demons so cruel know a woman this kind?

    Dog laid atop the rafters of the church and watched the humans below him move around, especially the woman those two seem to have an interest in.

    From what he can tell, she was really different from other humans he's seen.

    Wild humans chose to avoid demons at all costs. He knew of only a few places wild humans live in or used to but never tried approaching them after seeing what happened to other demons who weren't aware of them. Even if a demon stumbled into their homes on accident, it wouldn't turn out great. They aren't too welcoming of demons...

     The underground humans were the opposite. They would willingly find demons and tranquilize them before taking them underground with them. Dog has only ran into them maybe twice in his entire life and barely escaped both encounters. He lost a leg during the last one but thankfully it grew back over time.

    All humans were just something Dog made sure to avoid. He's only ever seen bad outcomes for demons who go near them.

    But that lady was really different.

    She seemed like she had some sort of fondness for demons. She was currently telling two Keepers about a demon she had to watch over before assigning it to another person. She spoke about it like it was another human to her. Even addressing it by 'shes' and 'hers'. When one of the Keepers made a mean comment about the demon, (Y/N) was quick to correct them. Thinking back to how she treated that child demon too back at the university, almost like a mother to a child. He's never seen a human be empathetic towards a demon ever! It all just really confused Dog.

    Even though humans are bad, other demons are worse! He can use Ki and Akai as prime examples of how brutal demons can be. They treat him like their slave and make him do all their dirty work while beating him to a pulp if he ever does something wrong. The only other demon he knows who slightly treats him better is Akai's brother, Yama. The doctor has had to patch him up a few times after the blond would take his anger out on him or the dark demon attacking him while he's feral. Even though Yama chose to ignore Dog's presence most of the time, he didn't degrade him or lay his hands on him like the others.

    If Dog could escape and leave the area for good, he would. But those two aren't the ones keeping him tied down her. There's someone way worse than them...

    He sadly looked down at (Y/N) who was beginning to head out to the trucks outside for the night.

    She seemed nice and would probably do the thing she did to that child if he decides to approach her. He didn't have any bad intentions towards any of the humans below.

     But would she be nice to him? After scaring her back at the university? Would his appearance make her decide to have him killed? Would him being associated with those two cruel demons make her be cruel to him? It wouldn't be a surprise, everyone was cruel to him...

     Maybe he shouldn't approach her. Just do his job and keep his distance like he always does.

     The next morning came and the humans were beginning to pack up everything to get back on the road. Dog fell asleep on the rafters but woke up from the Chief yelling at the few sleeping Capturers to rise up. Dog reached his legs up towards the ceiling sprinted across it to get to a hole that led to outside. Once he was out of sight, he stretched his stiff limbs and climbed to where he can see the trucks on the street below. He felt eyes on him for a second from a house nearby and assumed it was the two other demons again.

     He can't do anything wrong if they're watching him.

     The vehicles began to head out with the spider demon following once again. This time he chose to stay within alleys and use the houses as cover. By time the highways were coming up, the sun was appearing through the sky, shining against the snow covered ground that made Dog have to squint. He began to slow down once the vehicles came to a stop near a refill station just before the highway.

     He ran to hide behind a flipped over car and watched some of the humans come out of the vehicles. They seemed to be going over something together while (Y/N) stared at the old refill station with nostalgia.

    She stood next to Jules who was discussing other possible routes than the highway with his team. While it was a straight shot towards Pachester, it was a little too open but confined for his comfort.

    (Y/N) asked Axel if he could accompany her and they both began approaching the refill station.

    When she reached the door, she remembered Tuca in his true form leaning against the glass doors boredly. She looked over her shoulder at where she remembers the other two working to get a cop car started with no success. Everything was just how she remembered it besides the missing cop car.

    She entered the shop with Axel who looked at the donut stand with interest but cringed at the hard molded donuts in its case. "Eugh. How come you wanted to come in here? It's all gross."

    She looked around before seeing a familiar aisle that should be resting a demon corpse. "I've... been here before."

"Wait come again?" Axel raised an eyebrow.

    (Y/N) slowly approached the aisle and took a peek inside it before pulling back, getting spooked by the same corpse that is now a skeleton all over again. "I told you I've been north. This was just... one of the places we stopped at."

    Axel made an 'ohhh' face as he understood. He hoped being back here wasn't bothering her but she seemed composed.

"It was me, those two, and the other demon I told you about, Tuca. Me and him were talking about his family while the other two were trying to start a car." She pointed out the busted window to an empty spot near the pumps. "There used to be a cop car there that they used to get us over the highway faster."

     Axel felt unsettled by that. He's heard everything about her time above ground but it was different actually being at the places she was taken to. "Is any of this getting to you?"

     (Y/N) shook her head. "Not really. I'm just thinking about the possibility of seeing Tuca again. He was the first demon who tried to help me after all."

     The two exited the refill station and saw everyone begin climbing back into the vehicles which they proceeded to do as well. It was determined that they'll have to travel across the highway if they wanted to keep up with time, to Jules' disappointment.

     (Y/N) just hoped that the trip to Pachester was still home to the demon family she once met. She was willing to confirm Tuca's family if they were still peaceful like he once told her. That would be her thanks for their offer to protect her.

     But it has been six years... maybe things were different? Hopefully not in a bad way.