Predator

30.

What about Banshees and their mates? What about Banshees and their mates? That was the only question that Ryan had relayed in his head for the hours that Neela and Caleb were in school. There was absolutely no information on mating with Banshees. Did they have a peak period? Do they stop aging like most other supernatural creatures? No one knew.

~~

Caleb and Neela were in their demonology class, it was their 5th period, then they would have lunch. Neela was still so exhausted from the vision she had. When she woke up that day, she was right back to being lethargic, just like how she was when it first occurred. "You can go to sleep. I'll actually take notes for the first time," Caleb laughed, trying to make his sister feel better.

The class was set up in tables. Two people assigned at each table. Neela and Caleb were at a table, this was because Damien gave a little contribution to the school and teachers to never let his children be separated if they can help it. "I need to stay up," Neela complained while looking into Caleb's green eyes. His eyes were so different than his brothers and father, Caleb would always brag that he had his mothers eyes while the rest of his family had "brown, boring eyes." Brown eyes were quickly becoming her favorite color eyes.

Caleb brought his hand up with pursed lips and began raking his fingers through Neela's long hair, stopping at some points to maneuver around tangles. "Just sleep, the staff knows what happened," he was referring to the trial, which they really know about. "You really do need it," she just looked so pathetic to Caleb. Her eyes showed desperation, it seemed like she was yawning every minute, it was even hard for her to look up at their teachers.

If any of the boys, especially Ryan, saw how sickly Neela looked, he would have not let her leave the house. The two youngest always left for school just two hours before the 'grown ups' woke up. Neela mentally rolled her eyes with a small smile at the thought of Ethan and Evan bragging to her about how they get to sleep in, solely because they're 'adults', it had happened before.

"Just until lunch, please," Caleb suggested while Neela rubbed her tear-filled eye that filled from her yawning. He was basically pushing her head into the table at this point, he just needed Neela to sleep. Perhaps it would make her feel a bit better. So, she laid down. She fell asleep feeling the cold table on parts of her forehead, she fell asleep with her brother gently brushing through her hair with his finger, she fell asleep to the sound of a pencil which was possessed by Caleb as he wrote notes for Neela to look over later.

~~

"Someone's in trouble," Neela could hear Austin's small voice. "Who?" Neela couldn't see anything, she was in a total black void. "I see a man, come look!" She could hear the urgent jumping of Austin, she quickly got up to follow the sounds of his small feet.

He was found at what looked like to be a door of some kind. The only way Neela was able to indicate that is by the small window that looked like the ones that were on the doors in the hospital. Neela quickly ran over to Austin and relieved him of his jumping by picking him up and placing him on her hip so he could see as well.

"I knew it was a man!" Austin yelled out in excitement. "Shh," Neela snapped, she wanted to hear what Carmine was talking about.

"If you want me to be completely honest, Officer, I think that she rejected the treatment; she wasn't letting it help her. All day, she would talk about demons who kidnapped her and hurt her. She probably left to go and try to find them again. She'll turn up dead in a week, trust me." By the way Carmine kept taking pauses, it sounded like he was talking to another person. One she couldn't hear nor see. "She's not dead yet," Austin spoke in a sing-song voice and wiggled his hips in a mocking manner which made Neela chuckle.

"Doctor is the word for god on the lips and hearts of all who are not well," a new voice spoke, but it wasn't able to be seen by Neela. It seemed like the person wasn't able to be seen by Carmine as well. "You never helped the people you took in, you filled them with drugs and made them lose sense of their own reality. You wouldn't even listen." The voice slowly became an echo as the lights in the hospital began to dim. "God is not real, the devil is not real. We're all monsters in our own accord!" Carmine yelled at different areas of the room. "I never claimed to be anything good!"

"I'm nothing good either. However, I do good by my citizens and I will until my reign is over." Carmine scoffed at the unknown man's words, "sounds like you're insane like the rest of them."

The disembodied voice cackled like an actual crazy person. "Says the therapist whom is talking to the void. The more you speak to me, the more you fill the void. That's what you told Neela, right? Right before you put a needle in her arm, right?" Carmine stayed silent and bit his lip. "You're talking to your imaginary friends again. You're talking about things that don't exist."

The voice just kept ridiculing Carmine just how he did Neela. He groaned and held onto his arm, "the hell is in here, huh?" Carmine slowly pulled the needle out of his arm with a hiss. "Morphine is bad for people with mental instability, especially depression. However, you filled that girl up with it until you were able to control her. Lucky for you, I brought her back home before you were able to make her submit herself to you even more."

Another needle he pulled from his arm, "morphine can lead people into actual hallucinations, causing schizophrenia and worsening depression due to withdrawal from the world they want to be," it sounded like the voice was reading from documents, documents that every therapist should have known.

Carmine began to look wobbly after that third syringe that was filled with what Neela guessed was morphine.

Screams began to fill Austin's and Neela's ears. Neela shut her eyes slid her herself and Austin down the door, hoping it would become lower.

Panic overpowered Neela and she couldn't move anymore, she wanted to put her hands over Austin's to block his ears from the defending screams that now sounded like they were all around. It felt like her ear drums could have busted any minute as the screams began to close in. They were strained and filled to them brim with fear.

Neela wasn't able to hear the crackling of fire that was happening in the room just behind her. "Make it stop, please stop it." Neela was pretty sure she was talking but she couldn't really tell, everything was too loud.

That's when the convulsions began, Neela couldn't hold Austin any longer as her limbs would flex and release involuntary. "Neela!" Austin began shaking her after he composed himself after falling, but she couldn't hear him.

The screams were too much.