D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2019: Chapter 2019 A Corner of Darkness

— Kat —

Kat was starting to worry her earlier guess was correct. Many other training rooms were occupied. Sometimes with those actually training, but quite a few had rows and rows of beds and sleeping bags spread throughout. Some people were using them to sleep, and many were empty but there was at least a few people in each room. Even if the corridors were mostly empty, the occasionally person moving through them made planning around them quite a pain. There was no obvious place to stop and hide should they hear someone approaching.

Kat was starting to wonder if this was even possible. They had two targets they could look into, but the whole place was so packed that Kat was unsure if they would even be around. Neither Davis nor Appoline seemed like the type of people to enjoy crowds, even if Davis would probably pretend he did. So, thoughts? I don’t like how busy this place is.

[I think it’s more doable then you’re thinking. The… are they still doorframes if there’s no door?]

*I think they’re meant to be fire breaks or spots you can barricade to slow down intruders. So… I’m going to say YES. Plus I am connected to your mind so I can tell what you mean.*

[Of course. Anyway, I think they’re large enough that I could hide up above them in one of the corners. They’re not particularly dark so if someone turned around and spotted me we’d be in trouble… but I don’t see that as something they’re likely to do without some kind of detection spell, and if they’re already using those we’re probably going to get caught anyway.]

*Fair enough. Should I head to the main room then? See if you have a straight shot?*

[Hmm… yeah best check for a good hiding spot in that room. We don’t really have a good idea of what it’s going to look like with so many people running through the area. Jen said there’s usually a bunch of chairs, and the message boards all over the place listing the jobs. Hiding under the chairs SHOULD be possible… but if the place is full up we’ll have issues.]

Kat floated her way into the main hall and spread herself around to get a proper picture of the area. It was a huge semi-sphere with a high roof and plenty of space. There was a second floor to the room with a big hole running right through the centre. Perhaps so people could jump up and down if they were strong enough? Or to allow for announcements to travel across floors.

The bottom floor was more about getting jobs and checking them out. There were a few chairs, but it was a mostly open floorplan. Luckily, the place wasn’t as well lit as the corridors and there were plenty of different spots to rest. Still… Kat double checked the bottom of a few different couches and found that unlike more modern constructions they didn’t have a layer of cotton over the bottom to avoid things making their home in the underneath. Perfect.

Kat made her way back to Lily and waited for the person in the corridor to pass by into the training room. Once it was done, Kat made the call. She appeared in the corridor, leaving a shadow for barely a few seconds. In that same time, Lily managed to swap places with herself and they pair booked it afterwards. Kat transformed back into water and quickly dispersed herself while Lily sprinted down the corridor.

Lily was able to move exceptionally quickly. Not as fast as her Rank 3 muscles would allow for, but much faster then Kat could manage. Having paw pads helped massively dampen the amount of sound you made when sprinting and Lily was able to keep herself nearly silent while having her ears open for anyone else.

Annoyingly enough, someone clicked open a door nearby. Lily immediately leapt for the ceiling and let herself glide into the corner. She quickly wrapped her shadow around her, both to hide her form and to hold her in place. The door swung open and the clear footsteps from someone rang down the hall. Kat moved her mist to the edges just in case. It limited her vision but made it less likely someone would notice all of the water droplets.

The foot falls continued to ring out as they approached the doorframe Lily was hiding in. The steps got louder, closer. The pair thought it should’ve been over already but the sound just seemed to get louder and louder. Tension was building and Kat was just about to move her water droplets to get a view of what was going on, when… another door clicked open and the footsteps stopped.

“Hey Paul, how are you feeling after the other night?” asked the new guy in the hall. Annoyingly close to their hiding spot. They had to be coming out of the door JUST past the spot they were hiding in.

“You know how I’m feeling, I nearly lost my damned leg!” hissed the other guy. Paul presumably, but considering where they were it might just be a code name. “Your lucky my sister likes you Jared.”

“Hey, you say that but she healed YOUR leg not mine. Then again… I suppose I’m just good enough not to need the extra healing,” said Jared.

“Fuck off Jared,” growled Paul.

“Hey, no need to be hostile, I was just asking,” sneered Jared.

“Yeah, and it’s HOW you do the asking. What my sister sees in you I’ll never know. If she wasn’t looking into seriously courting you, you do realise I’d have knocked you out right? Maybe broken YOUR leg a few times?” grumbled Paul.

“I’m sensing a bit of hostility…” Jared offered.

“You dumped a whole bucket of mashed potatoes on my head as a ’present’ for my fifteenth birthday. Then, you apologised with a cake… that exploded in my face!” hissed Paul. Kat and Lily started to pay far more attention after the cake comment. Before it was simply a conversation nearby. Now… it was potentially evidence.

“Hey, hey. It wasn’t meant to explode quite that much. Maybe scare you a bit, but I designed it to sort of… pop upward. I really didn’t mean for that to happen,” explained Jared.

“Alright Jared, what did you THINK a cake rigged to explode would do? Because I’m pretty sure anyone would tell you the answer is ’cake will end up everywhere’,” stated Paul.

“Look, there was this bubble on the top and that was the only part meant to ’explode’ and even then it was just meant to release a puff of smoke! I even made the smoke smell like cotton candy so that it was the most minor of pranks…” insisted Jared. Kat also get the sense he was telling the truth here. Which was interesting. Based on the rest of the conversation the pair didn’t seem to get along. Though maybe that was more Paul’s fault then anything else.

“Look just… what do you want?” grumbled Paul.

“What? I can’t politely greet a friend?” asked Jared.

“We are not friends. You are a work colleague I don’t like who happens to be seriously dating my sister. At best we’re future in laws, but I’d rather not speak such horror into existence,” stated Paul.

“You just did Paul,” countered Jared.

Kat heard the sound of flesh on flesh as Paul punched Jared somewhere. That was fine. What was not fine was that Jared was when Jared stumbled back from the impact into a spot directly below them. His head flung back somewhat, likely from the blow. Lily held her breath as Jared gathered himself, while looking around. His eyes passed over the spot Lily had been hiding… and he didn’t seem to notice. Perhaps he thought the dark corner was normal. Perhaps he thought it was the blow making him see things.

“Really Paul? Violence?” asked Jared.

“Really Jared? Sarcasm? You piss me off. I’ve never hidden that fact. I put up with you because of my sister. Don’t act like we’re friends. Don’t act like I enjoy doing you favours, and don’t act like you weren’t a sense of immense trauma from my teenage years!” cursed Paul.

“Your on the good drugs aren’t you?” sighed Jared.

“I am as sober as can be!” insisted Paul. Kat didn’t even need to see him to know that was a lie. Nor her truesight.

“Alright. Tell me how many pills you’ve taken. Today,” insisted Jared.

“Um. Well, hmm… haven’t really been counting. I mean, I know I was meant to make a delivery at some point. But errr… hmm… were did that stock go?” mumbled Paul.

“Oh for god’s sake. Why do I put up with this shit?” sighed Jared. “Oh right. Your sister’s smoking hot and I love her. Shithead.”

“Don’t talk about my sister like that!” growled Paul.

Just as Paul made that demand, another meaty thud rang out, followed by the sound of something hitting the floor. “Yeah well… it’s true and clearly this is for your own good. Better you be knocked out and not getting into any more drugs. So much easier to just prank you when you do stuff like this… now I need to file a damned report…”