Devil hunting chronicles of the impossible city.

Interlude III The forgotten bride file 04

Abram was sitting down in the middle of the hunter's camp, he was at the very edge of a corner merely looking at the workers going on with their day, sitting down in an old wooden box as he looked at his dagger he kept making the same motion merely cutting a piece of wood over and over, once in a while people took glances at him and then kept going, they were used to it, if there was no job to completed tended to simply sit down with his knife sharpening it or merely cutting for the sake of cutting, he spoke to no one and no one ever talked to him. But this day someone actually closed the distance.

"Hey, Abram Im finally back." Aisha stood in front of him, still wearing the black suit of a hunter, he glance up at her still hiding most of his face under his cap. For a moment he stopped playing with his dagger, trying to force himself out of his constant routine.

"You are back, I heard you guys didn't kill the target."

"Captain Aurora, let him go, she might not be as merciless as I thought."

"Is not a surprise I'm only breathing now because she did the same with me." Abram finally looked up to her. seeing her face clearly, she kept herself a lot better these days, she was still missing teeth but other than that both her hair and skin were so better kept, she looked more like a normal girl, one couldn't stare at her and immediately think about her poverty anymore.

"The outfit doesn't fit you, but I guess it doesn't fit me either, I don't like suits they make it hard to move it,"Abram spoke with the same calm tone of voice he always uses.

"Yeah, I'm not a fan of it either. So, I guess I survived my first hunt aren't you going to congratulate me?" Abram looked up at her, during these last few days he had been under extreme anxiety, at least much worse than usual. He cleared his throat thinking carefully about his words, he couldn't show her that. She would find it creepy that a simple stranger was too overprotective. They no longer share a past and he had to make sure to remember it.

"I was concerned, but Aurora has never lost anyone on a hunt so I was sure I would see you back, are you sure you don't want to go back to the kitchen? Is still not too late for you." Aisha showed a sad expression, she wasn't expecting much of a welcome but he barely looked at her.

"I don't get it, ever since I figure out who you really are you have been evading me, I heard you specifically requested for me not to join your squad, and I'm sorry I know you are my superior but I can't lie Im really pissed at you right now. I told you I don't want to be a burden to you or Rush." Abram kept sharpening his knife, but he finally looked back at her.

"You don't need to, I became a hunter so you could live your days safely, as long as I kept killing for them, you would have everything Nicholas and I never could give you, that was all that we wanted, I hate that you are risking all that, but I have no right to deny you anything." Aisha put her hand to her forehead, her head always hurt whenever she tried to think about the past, but all that pain was in vain even now, she could not remember.

"I hate it, I know we grew up together, Aurora, the commander, and Rush all know it, it makes me feel like I'm insane, even if I know is true I still feel that we met them for the first time when you saved me from Nicholas...No matter how hard I try I still can't ever remember you, Im sorry I can't blame you if you hate me for it."

"I could never hate you. Besides you don't have to blame yourself, you were just cursed by the two of us, is my fault, Im the one who is to blame for everything." Abram finally stopped cutting the wood and looked at his reflection on the tip of his knife. He hated his own expression it was one of bitter hate and anger, he didn't want her to see it, but he couldn't hold back.

"It is better if you forget about me, both Nicholas and I failed you, we both did nothing but hurt you, which is to be expected really, we are both demons." He looked straight at her and she stepped back, she had never heard him raise his voice not even once.

"I... will try to remember, even if I can't there is nothing stopping us from trying to be family again."

"We can never go back. Even the life we had back there was a lie, I was never truly your brother, we don't share blood at all, we merely came from the same terrible place and I always lied to you, even when we were children I was never once honest to you, so I think is best we don't."

"What do you mean? Lied about what."

"I never showed you that I was a demon, I'm sure that when Nicholas realized it, was the day he got twisted too...that was my fault too, if you come close to me I will curse again, Im sure of it. But there is no point in lying anymore right?" A mist grew from behind him, a white veil slowly expanding towards her, Aisha instinctively began to step away from him slowly without even noticing.

He looked straight at her with a tired dead expression in his eyes, as the white mist began to take the form of a human figure, a massive white figure towering above him, two long arms of nothing but bone, with long sharp claws, began to embrace him almost as if protecting him, a face appearing from he mist, it was a human skeleton with a mist dancing behind it as a veil, the mist almost taking in the shape of a dress, it looked the corpse of a woman slowly embracing him.

"I gave my life to a demon, I did so we could survive, so we could be more than sacrifices, but I did all the same, Im a demon I have always been one, so forget me or else I will steal more from you, it is not your fault that you forgot you were cursed, I ripped away all those years of your life and I can do so much worse." Aisha ran, without even thinking without being able to say a word she ran away turning her back on him, everyone was looking at them now. Abram could see the look of terror in every single person surrounding him, they remained quiet as they saw her run away. He hid his eyes under his cap again and looked back at his knife.

"Rush is gonna punch me for this...but is fine, if she is a hunter she has to remember to be afraid of all demons, none of them is anything more than monsters in the end." the mist envelops him more and more the skeletal face now looming over his shoulder.

"You have to give up on everything." The voice of the demon whispered in his ear.

"No, I simply did what I needed to, I have to protect her from myself who knows what else I can take from her next time, for her to truly be happy she must be free of all demons." The ghostly arms embraced him tightly and he closed his eyes letting the mist wash over him.

"Even if everyone forgets you, I will still be here. We need only each other, we swore to each other, I will give you all the power you need as long as you remember always who you belong to..." The mist was slowly banished as he slowly reached for another piece of wood and began to peel it with his knife, over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

***

"What happened now, you have been dismissed already." Aurora stepped outside of her tent looking at Aisha her expression suddenly changed once she noticed her face, utter fear marked with bitter tears.

"I want you to train me...I will do anything, as much as I can." Her fist was shaking, she looked absolutely terrible, Aurora crossed her arms slowly judging her from toe to head.

"Being honest miss I think you are a poor fit for this job, you have no skills you are still very out of shape, these may be fixed with time, but your personality, you are both anxious and always in doubt, even if you keep trying compared to anyone else you are still a very poor option for a hunter. So I will ask you again why are you trying to be one. And this time at least give me a real answer I don't have the time to waste on a confused kid, you get me?" She showed no concern if anything her words were as strict as she was in the middle of training, Aisha was still shaking but she slowly prepared to speak.

"I need to become someone who is not afraid of demons, otherwise everyone will leave behind. No matter what it takes I need to become that someone." Aurora sighed as she walked close to her.

"Fine, but you have a lot of catching up to and you may break on the way, but if you are sure I will turn you into a demon hunter, a real one, just like I was turned into one, but if you agree there is no coming back, it is the last thing your brothers who would have wanted."

"I have nothing to go back to...so do what you have to." Aurora closed her eyes.

"Well then, I will rip that fear out of you."