Chapter 7

 It had been two weeks since she had run out of Hax’s house and his life, and Eve had traveled quite far. She couldn’t believe anything she saw in the chest in Hax’s study. Every day she feared that one of them would turn up out of the blue and make sure she never spoke of it again. After she stormed out of the study, Hax followed her into her room. He tried to stop her from leaving, that’s when she pulled the knife on him. It was just a box cutter she had from when she ran away from home, but it made her feel safe. She plunged the knife into Hax’s chest, and he feel to the ground. Eve didn’t know if she killed him or not, but she didn’t want to stick around to find out.

Back to living on the streets I guess, she thought to herself.

In the two weeks she had been on the road, she had made her way north to the state border. She hoped she would find a place to stay for the night. She was in luck tonight; there was a bus station on the edge of town. They are usually empty at night, so it was the perfect place to catch some sleep. She walked into the main foyer. It was filled with the traditional plastic seats, bolted the ground. The place seemed deserted, just a small group of five back packers in the corner already snoozing. Eve didn’t care; she just needed to get some shut eye.

As she sat down on the seat, she placed her bag up against the back of the seat to act as a pillow. She had just closed her eyes, when she heard someone in front of her.

‘Hey pretty lady.’ Said the voice. Eve opened her eyes to find one of the backpackers standing above her. ‘What’s a girl like you doing sleeping in a bus station like this?’

‘Trying to get some sleep. Now shove off.’ She said, closing her eyes again.

‘Aww, don’t be that way babe.’ The backpacker grabbed Eve’s wrist and pulled her to her feet. ‘My friends and I would like to enjoy your company for a while.’

Eve snatched her hand away from him. ‘I said piss off you fucking sleaze!’ she grabbed her bag, only for her to be grabbed from behind.

‘Come on. We need some relief, and you’re going to help us like the slut you are.’

Eve broke his hold and slapped him in the face. The backpacker started to laugh.

‘Hey boys, we got a live one over here.’ He called to his friends ‘Bitch has claws. But claws won’t save her now.’

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small silver object. With one press of the button on the side, a small blade shot up from inside. The small group of backpackers had left there area in the back corner and surrounded Eve. They all carried switchblades, and wore sleazy smiles on their faces. Eve became more and more frightened. She knew if she had just followed Hax’s rules, worked her arse off and been an honest member of society, she wouldn’t be in this situation.

‘Now, about that relief you promised.’ He said, sliding the knife along Eve’s jaw line. Inside her mind, she knew she was about to be assaulted by five men in a dirty bathroom. Something inside her mind flashed; whether it was the fear of what was about to happened, the anger for her not being a better person to Hax, or the sheer murderous rage she felt for these dirty backpackers thinking they could get away with this. Her right hand went flying without her knowledge, and landed a massive blow to the ringleaders face.

His nose made a disgustingly sick shattering sound. Blood spurted from his face, and no-one had time to react. Eve had lost focus on the world around her, and what arose in her mind was a pure, reckless fighter.

‘How’s that for relief you fucking prick!’ she said, spitting on him.

‘Don’t just stand there you cunts! GET HER!!’ he cried, spitting out a few teeth.

All at once, the other four backpackers jumped Eve. Too bad they weren’t fast enough for the new Eve. She spun on her heels, and land three quick blows to the next closest member’s throat. This sent him down, and made it hard for him to breathe. Another member tried to stab Eve in the kidney; she punched the wrist holding the knife, essentially making him drop it. Eve grabbed the knife midair and stabbed the backpacker in his left knee. From her crouched position, she punched and broke the next backpacker’s knee backwards. He let out a scream in pain, and fell to the ground, all the while the final backpacker stood in shock. He had just witnessed one girl take down 4 for his friends in no time at all. He lunged downwards with his blade directly towards her spine. Eve ripped the knife out of one backpacker’s knee, and used it to stab the final gang member through the groin and into the intestines. In a short few minutes, Eve had incapacitated all of the rapists, and it made her feel good. Her world went suddenly dark, and Eve blacked out.

She woke a few minutes later, still feeling woozy. She didn’t remember what had happened to her, until she looked around her. The five bodies writhing in pain around her sent memories flooding back into Eve’s mind. She remembered the fight, remembered the feeling of how good it felt; what puzzled her was she never knew she could fight like that. The first thought to come to mind was to run, fast!

She knew if the cops turn up, they would drag her into jail as well. She grabbed her bag and ran out of the bus station. She didn’t stop running for five whole minutes, her breathing heavy, her heart feeling like it was about to give out. She looked around to find herself standing in the middle of a park. She wandered around until she found a secluded area behind some bushes to spend the night. She knew this was the best option for now, until she could find a way out of the town. She lay down on the ground, bag under her head and let herself drift to sleep.

Eve woke to the sound of birds chirping, and the morning sun shining in her eyes. She didn’t have a very good rest, fearing someone was going to find her. Her main priority now was to wake up completely and make her way out of town. She grabbed her bag and headed towards the town centre. She didn't have a lot of money, but she budgeted a coffee in, and she needed it. She found a small cafe near the park, and sat down. Since it was early, the shop was deserted. She began to read the newspaper.

There was another dead body found in the heart of the CBD, she thought, that makes five in three weeks.

Her mind flashed to Hax, she imagined him crouching over a body, ready to take a bite. She was snapped out of her trance by someone pulling up a chair across from her. 'It’s been a long time Deary.'

 'Granny!' Eve screamed. This was the happiest she has been since running away. 'What are you doing up here?'

 'Oh just visiting an old friend. Henry said you were looking after your mother. Does she live nearby?' 'Oh yeah. I saw her yesterday.' Eve lied 'I’m going to see my cousins soon.'

'When will you be back at the shop?' granny asked.

'I don’t really know. Can I talk to you about something?'

 'Let’s do it on the way.'

 'On the way to where?'

 'To see my friend. He would love more guests.'

They walked outside, and Eve saw granny’s old Cadillac. It brought back more memories of Hax, which Eve shook off. As they drove up the main street of the small town, Eve turned to granny.

'Did you see Henry recently?'

 'Oh yes. He fixed up Betsy before my annual trip. He seemed a bit off this week, not even willing to take payment. Did you two have a lovers spat?' Eve looked at her in shock 'Michael is my nephew.' ‘What would you do if the man you loved was a total lie?'

'Like how?'

'Let’s say he said he loves Frank Sinatra and you find out one day he listens to Rebecca Black?'

 'I’d shoot his ass' granny said with a laugh. 'Look, Eve dear. I’m going to tell you about my last husband, George.'

‘George and I were married for 40 years.’ Granny said ‘and every morning, he would wake up and tell me “Millie, my dear. I have never loved you more in my entire life”. It was his words that got me through all of my days. If I didn’t have him, I don’t know if I would be the same person I am today.’

‘How did you meet?’ Eve asked.

‘Well, I was a nurse in New Guinea in 1942, and George came in wounded. He saved his best mate from a fire fight. We became good friends, and when we came back to Australia, we saw each other a lot. I fell in love with him in 1950, and we were married in ‘65. We were never able to have kids, but we found each other’s company more than enough. My sister had children and we enjoyed being around the little guys.’

‘So,’ Eve said ‘What did he lie about?’

Granny started to look depressed ‘It was our 25^th wedding anniversary. We had a lovely dinner on the beach down south of where I’m living now. It was so romantic, but something seemed off with George tonight. He looked disheartened, almost nervous. In all my years of knowing him, I had never seen him so timid. He began to cry, and when I asked him what was wrong, he just stared at me. He looked me in the eye, and told me he was a homosexual…’

Eve was shocked, Granny just kept driving.

‘How long did he know?’ Eve asked, wondering whether it was the best time to talk.

‘All his life.’ Granny sighed ‘I was about to walk out on him there, when he said something that shocked me even more.’ Eve stared at granny, waiting for the big reveal. ‘He said “But the love I felt for you was always real.”. He explained to me that he loved a woman who loved him without even caring who he was; he knew I would have accepted him for whatever he was. And I did. I knew that he loved me, not as a wife, nor a friend, but as something greater. He loved me as a soul mate. That’s why I stayed with him for 15 years more, and that’s why I visit him always.’

‘But, why did you get a divorce?’ Eve said. Granny parked her car in a parking bay, and turned to her.

‘Eve, look around you.’ She did as she was told, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. It was a cemetery. Eve’s eyes started to well up, and she burst into tears. Granny gave Eve a big hug. ‘You don’t get to my age, without losing a few friends.’

As they walked through the field of graves, Eve couldn’t help but to think of Hax. He must have lived longer than ever, and to see friends and family die in front of you, she couldn’t bear to think it.

‘After George died of a stroke, I felt so alone. That’s when Steven stepped in. Every day, he would visit and have tea with me. Then one day, he was gone. I didn’t want to believe it; another old friend had disappeared on me. Then, five years ago, I had a knock on the door. I opened it, and I almost had a heart attack. Standing in front of me was a mini version of Steven. He explained his father travelled west to visit his wife and kids, and was shot in a mugging. I was upset at myself for thinking Steven left me, and overjoyed to have a friend just like him.’

‘I miss Henry too. I want to go see him, but I don’t know really.’ Eve said.

‘Oh god. I can’t believe I forgot. Henry told me if I ever heard from you, I should send this to you.’ Granny reached into her handbag, and pull out a small sketch book. Eve flipped through it, all her drawings were here; but she noticed there were more. Someone added more sketches to her comic series. The same characters were drawn in different situations, having dinner, sitting on a couch, holding hands, but then it changed. The male character changed, he looked more like a demon, and seemed to scare the female away. The final sketch was of the demon looking sad, alone.

This is a message from Hax, Eve thought

On the way back into town, Eve still had questions for Granny.

‘Granny, did George ever…um…did he ever…?’ Eve stammered. She didn’t want to ever over step her bounds.

‘Did he ever go find a nice young man?’ granny added ‘No, he never wanted to be with another person, man or woman. I told him he it would be okay; that I didn’t mind. He told me he loved me too much, and it felt too much like cheating.’

‘Why did he stay with you then?’ Eve asked, realising how bad her question came out.

‘At first, it was because our society wouldn’t accept him. Back then, he could have been shot for being who he was.’ Granny became very upset. ‘But after we were married, he finally saw how I treated him. I embraced everything he did, and accepted that he didn’t want to *ahem* engage in traditional married life moments. But I did those things for him because I loved him, and after 25 years he knew it.’

‘So it’s not who or what loves you,’ Eve said ‘but the fact that the love is true that matters?’

‘Yes, or have a working gay-dar.’ Granny said with a cheeky smile. ‘Do you need me to give you a ride somewhere?’

Eve thought for a moment, and said ‘Yes please.’

It had been almost month since Eve had left, and Hax showed no sign of emotion, apart from his outburst the night she left. Dylan was becoming worried. He was used to having Hax show no emotions, but this was on a whole new level. Hax had become depressed, less responsive to people talking to him. He spent his time moping around the house; he didn’t even spend time in his study. Dylan and Seth were left to pick up the slack while Hax remained like this. While granny was on holidays, Dylan and Seth offered to water her plants and collected her mail, and tonight granny was returning home.

They made their way down to her house to see her car back in the driveway. Dylan and Seth always loved going to Granny’s house. She lived in a small house up the street that suited her. She had a hedge made out of white and pink roses, and an apple tree in the front yard. She had white wooden shutters on her windows, and a welcome mat that said “Everyone Welcome”. Put all this together, and you have one old lady who is so sweet , she could end a world war with cookies.

Dylan knocked on the door, and it was immediately opened by a smiling Granny. She greeted both of them with hugs and kisses.

‘How are you both?’ she asked.

‘Oh we’re fine. How was George?’ Dylan said.

‘Oh he’s good. It was nice to visit him again. Is Henry alright?’

‘Oh…um. He’s good, still a bit quiet.’ Seth said, handing over her mail.

‘ oh well. I hope things get better for you all.’ Granny said with a reassuring smile. ‘I have to go back inside now. I’m still a bit tired from the drive home.’

‘Okay. Good to see you back granny.’ Dylan said, and they both gave granny a hug and left.

‘What are we going to do about Hax?’ Seth said as he walked in the front door. He threw his satchel bag on the couch.

‘urgh...’ Dylan said with a growl, rubbing his temples. ‘I don’t know. He has never been this way, not even after mother and father died.’ He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer.

‘Why do you even drink that?’ Seth said ‘It’s been three hundred years and you still don’t understand we can’t get intoxicated.’

‘It helps, plus I like it.’

Seth looked at the clock. It was almost 7 PM, and they were yet to have dinner. ‘Order in again?’

‘No, I’m not feeling hungry. Let’s just watch some TV.’

They both sat down on the couch, and Dylan turned on the TV. Just as the picture came onto the screen, there was a knock at the door. Seth and Dylan both looked at each other.

‘Rock-Paper-Scissors?’ Seth said. Dylan nodded in reply. They played one round, and Dylan, who lost, left the couch to answer the door. There was a small amount of talking, and Dylan returned with a large envelope.

‘what is it?’ Seth asked.

‘I think it’s an envelope.’ Dylan said sarcastically. ‘It’s for Hax. Wonder what he got.’ Dylan walked over to the stairs. ‘Hax? HAX! Wake up you lazy prick! You have a package.’

In the weeks that Eve was gone, Hax decided not to do a lot. He had given up on life outside the home, and he didn’t care. He saw the fear in Eve’s eyes; it was a look of sheer terror. He never wanted to see that look of terror again. He slept a lot more since he had more time, but he was yet to have a dream. He didn’t know if it was a good thing he didn’t wake up screaming or bad because dreaming made him feel at least a bit human. He woke to the sound of Dylan screaming for him down stairs.

Who would send me a package? Hax thought, as he rolled out of bed and fell on the ground.

He grumbled something in Russian, and made his way down stairs. There was a large brown envelope waiting for him on the kitchen table. He ripped it open and found 3 sheets of paper. Dylan and Seth watched anxiously, wanting to find out what was on them. Hax looked over all the pieces of paper, and he looked over them again. His face scrunched up into a confused look, and he re-arranged the papers order. With one final look at the pieces of paper, Hax’s eyes widened and he ran upstairs, leaving the sheets of paper to float to the ground. Dylan jumped up and grabbed the papers before looking over them himself. They were simple drawings; the first showing a demon looking man standing there with a sad look on his face with something flying towards him from the right side of the page, the next this blur tackling the demon and finally a woman sitting on the demons chest with her face very close to his. One sentence was written on the page “LCDSS-TIH-9”

‘What…?’

Hax burst into his room, turning on his lights. He rushed everywhere, looking for something. He rummaged through old boxes until he found an old CD case. He read the back until he found it.

‘hmm…’ Hax said. He ran into Eve’s old room. It was just as she left it, minus the massive hole that Dylan and Hax made. He looked through the closet, and under the bed. He started to wonder if it was all a trick.

Eve watched Hax from outside her old window. She hung from the roof, upside down, hoping everything would go to plan. She watched Hax close his eyes for a second and then leave the room disheartened. She knew this would happen, but she just wanted to see him before she left for good.

Something grabbed Eve’s left ankle and lifted her off the roof. As she was held over the edge of the house, Eve turned around to see her assailant.

‘What are you doing back here Eve?’ Hax asked. ‘Last I remember, I was just some monster who you never wanted to see again.’

‘I came back to apologise.’ She said, still fearing she was going to die tonight.

‘You cut me deep Eve. Both emotionally,’ lifting his shirt ‘and physically.’

‘You lied to me.’

‘And you broke my rules. Do know how far up we are?’

Eve looked at him, too scared to look down ‘I dunno…’

‘7 metres. If I were to drop you on your neck, you would probably die.’

‘o-o-okay’ Eve became more frightened.

‘Any final words?’

‘Just this. Did you really love me?’ Hax was shocked, he looked away from Eve.

‘Yes.’

‘That’s all I needed to know. Goodbye Hax.’ Eve said with teary eyes. Hax released his grip on her ankle, and she plummeted towards the concrete below.

She didn’t make a sound the whole way down. She just remembered the face of the man she fell in love with. The sickening thud of a spine crunching into the ground from a great height is a very disgusting sound. You can hear all the vertebrae cracking under the force and it makes a very large mess. Usually, the victim is still alive long enough to hear this sound. Eve did not hear this sound. She did not feel the ground hit her spine. All she felt was her body landing in someone’s arms. She opened her eyes to see Hax holding her.

‘Why did you ask me that?’ he asked. He didn’t even seem out of breathe.

‘A final memory to take to the afterlife.’

‘why no fear? You knew you were going to die. Why didn’t you plead with me like last time?’

‘I knew I deserved it this time. I stabbed you, I broke your rules, I let the man I love down. I don’t deserve to live.’

‘How did you know I was going to forgive you?’ Hax put Eve down on the ground.

‘You forgive me?’ Eve said through tear filled eyes.

‘Please don’t cry Eve.’ Hax said, wiping a tear from her cheek. ‘You are too beautiful to cry.’

Eve looked at Hax. He had a smile on his face, an honest to god smile. ‘So, can I come back to stay with you?’

‘It’s not just up to me. I put Dylan and Seth through a lot and I don’t know if they will allow you back.’

‘YES WE WILL!’ came a voice from inside. It was Dylan.

‘Shut up and stop listening in on my conversations!’

‘JUST KISS HER YOU FUCKING FAGGOT!!’ this time, Seth.

Hax shook his head, and pulled Eve in for a passionate kiss.

‘I missed you Haxathor.’ Eve said, holding him.

‘I missed you too Eve.’ He whispered.

Sorry guys....

Hax

Seth

Sorry for the wait guys. Having a bit of trouble with my mind. I'm posting a new chapter next. Just more art work from Nancy. I also linked her DA account on the side wall.

Pictures from the novel

                                                                      Dylan

                                                                                Eve
These are some pictures that were drawn for me by my wonderful artist, Nancy. She does some wonderful work. Chapter to come hopefully later this week.

Chapter 6

Hax woke to the sound of his alarm, but felt something wrapped around him. Eve was closely snuggled against his chest. He wondered if he should risk ruining this moment by kicking her arse out his bed.

‘Don’t you even dare…’ she said, still half asleep.

‘Says the woman who broke into my room.’ He replied, looking down at her. She met his gaze and gave him a kiss.

‘You know you love me.’ She said with a cheeky smile.

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. I said I had feelings for you, never once did I say “love”.’

‘I don’t need you to say it for me to know it. Plus you didn’t kick me out of your bed, so yeah.’

‘Good point.’ Hax pushed Eve out of his bed and on to the floor. She landed with a thud, on top of a leather backed book. She recognised it instantly; it was the same book she tried to steal when they first met.

‘Read it to me.’ She said, handing the book to Hax. He opened it to a dog-eared page about midway through and began reading.

‘I do not like you Sam I am; I do not like green eggs and ham. I will not eat them in a house; I will not eat them with a mouse.’

‘Are you serious? That’s a Dr. Seuss book.’

‘Yeah. It’s a classic from my childhood. It means a lot to me.’ Hax said, sincerity and emotion laced in his voice. In her mind, all her senses told her to jump his bones, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

‘Hax. I can’t seem to find Eve.’ Said Seth ‘I think she might have run away again. I suggest we take inventory of the house, in case she stole something.’

Seth waited at the door for a reply. He expected Hax to be in shock at this moment. He wanted to be there for his brother, just in case. The door unlocked and slowly crept open.

‘Hax, are you alr-’ Seth asked, only to have a pillow launch itself square at into his face. Eve walked past him with a cheeky grin.

‘That’s what you get for calling me a thief.’ Eve said.

‘Thank you for last night, Eve. You were… Buenos.’ Hax said, picking up his pillow. Eve returned to her room to get changed out of her pyjamas. Seth looked at Hax dumbfounded.

‘Please don’t get a bloody nose from that.’

‘But…but…you and her….last night…and you?’ Seth stammered.

Hax sighed and looked Seth in the eyes. ‘Last night’s dream was especially violent. I remember everything from that day. She heard me scream, and made sure I was ok. Nothing sexual, nothing kinky, just her being nice.’

‘Oh…’ Seth said, sighing in relief ‘So she is still available then? Guess Dylan was wrong.’

‘Oh no.’ Hax said with a massive grin ‘I believe it was you who said it best with “I’m going to hit that so hard, the one who pulls me out with be the next king of England.”’ And he walked downstairs to make some coffee.

Tormenting Seth is hard work, he thought.

After half an hour, he was joined by Dylan, Seth and Eve. They all sat down to enjoy the toast Hax had made for them.

‘So how is the happy couple this morning?’ Dylan asked.

‘I’m pissed off with him.’ Eve said. They all looked at Hax to see how he would react.

‘Well, it was bound to happen sometime.’ Hax said, reading the paper. ‘But what have I done to upset you after only 10 hours.’

‘I heard what you said to Seth about me.’ Eve said, giving both of them dirty looks. Hax was flabbergasted, and lost for words. Luckily he had Seth to step in for him.

‘Did you hear what he said when we went down the stairs?’ he asked.

‘No…’ Eve said, interested in what had been said.

‘I asked him if he really meant that, and his exact words were “No. What I really think is I would date the shit out of that woman, and then marry the fuck out of her.”’ Seth said, sipping at his apple juice.

Eve was overcome with emotions. She tackled Hax and smothered him with kisses, but he still had enough time to bro-fist Seth for his help.

‘Eve, would you mind not smothering my brother at the table?’ Dylan asked ‘Are you coming to school with us today?’

‘Oh crap!’ Eve said, sitting back down in her seat. ‘That’s today! Well I don’t know, I was hoping to spend the day with Hax again.’

‘Eve, sweetie?’ Hax said, finally recovering from the full frontal attack. ‘You barely worked yesterday. Today, I doubt you will work at all. Plus I have errands to run today. You have fun at school.’

‘Okay’ she said with a smile. ‘When do we leave?’

Dylan looked at the clock. ‘We leave at 8 so we have about half an hour.’ Then his face erupted in a massive evil grin. He leaned in close and whispered something to Eve. She looked at him and nodded.

‘What did whisper to her?’ Hax said, his face reverting back to his stoic expression.

‘Don’t worry Hax.’ Dylan said. ‘ It’s just a little fun.’

‘Yeah, fun with MY…’ Hax stopped talking. He looked over to Eve, and she slowly nodded with a smile. ‘… Girlfriend.’ He got up from the table and went up stairs.

‘Geez, is Hax always like that?’ Eve asked.

‘Eve, you must realise that you are his first.’ Said Seth, looking concerned.

‘But we never…’ Eve became embarrassed.

‘No.’ Dylan said, holding Eve’s hands. ‘You’re his first GIRLFRIEND.’

‘But how?’ Eve asked ‘I mean with a body and an arse like THAT--’

‘Eve, we don’t want to think about Hax’s arse at this moment.’ Seth said.

‘Well, I do.’ She said, and sat back in her chair.

‘EVE, WOULD YOU FUCKING LISTEN FOR A MINUTE?!?!’ Dylan screamed. This knocked Eve out of her day dream and back into reality. ‘Hax has been looking after us for most of our lives, and the day we lost Nicole and Nikita…’ Dylan went quiet for a moment ‘He swore to us that he would protect us until the end. This is the first time he has opened his heart to anyone other than family.’

‘He spoke about that last night. Is that why he has nightmares?’

Dylan and Seth both went quiet again. It wasn’t until a few minutes later, did Dylan break the silence.

‘Well, I’ve wasted a bit of time here. You should go get dressed and ready. Look professional if possible.’

‘Okay.’ Eve said with a smile. Hax walked back down stairs with his hat and glasses on.

‘Alright. I have to be off. I should be back later.’ On his way to the garage, he was tackled by Eve again.

‘Is this going to be a regular thing?’ he looked her in the eyes, and realized something was wrong.

‘Hax, I love you. And I don’t want you to forget that. There is nothing in this world that will make me stop loving you.’

‘But--’

‘And I don’t need you to say it now. You will say it when you feel it’s right.’

‘Eve?’

‘Yes Hax?’

‘Can you get off me? You’re kind of heavy.’

‘HEY!’ she slapped him across the face and kissed him. They both stood up, and said goodbye. As he drove out of the driveway, he thought to himself if she would think that after finding out about him.

The first bell rang out at the local high school, and the year 11 physics class sat in their classroom waiting for their teacher, Mr. Daemonia, to show up. He was always punctual, so today was quite a shock to them all. One student, Michael, sat in the front row with a worried look on his face.

Is he going to be okay?, he thought.

He replayed the memories from the previous night, how he woke up in a public bathroom with his physics teacher sitting against a wall with a stab wound to his kidney. The door to the class swung open, and Michael prayed it was Mr. Daemonia, but instead walked a beautiful redhead.

She stood about 5’8, and her long flowing hair playfully draped her shoulders and chest. She wore round reading glasses, and her white shirt was half unbuttoned to show off her cleavage. The minute she walked in the room, all the boys started drooling. That is, all but one.

Eve immediately recognised Michael from the description Dylan had given her, and she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

‘Hello class’ she said in a very sultry voice ‘I am Miss Hill, and I will be your substitute teacher for today.’

‘What happened to Mr. Daemonia?’ asked Michael. Eve walked up to him, and looked him in the eyes.

‘ Am I not good enough to be a teacher for you?’ she said, her eyes welling up with tears. ‘Cause…I…I…’ she started to break down in tears completely, hugging Michael as she broke down.

‘No…no miss. I didn’t mean it like that, I was just worried about him is all.’ Eve stopped and looked longingly into his eyes.

‘I have never met a student who has cared about a teacher so deeply. It’s so…erotic.’ She leaned in close, and was about to kiss a scared Michael on the lips, when the door burst open, and a voice rang out through the entire classroom.

‘GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY STUDENT!'

Dylan limped in, a walking cane in one hand and his satchel in the other. Everyone in the room was shocked to see him, and Eve feigned surprise. Dylan threw his bag against the white board, and grabbed Eve by the hair, dragging her out of the classroom. As the door slammed shut, there was horrible yelling and screaming which ended with the sound of a woman crying. Dylan entered the classroom, his shirt stained with blood above his wound, and proceeded to write the lesson plan on the board. As he turned around, every student in the class had their hand up.

‘Alright, Kelly. You first before you pop a shoulder joint.’

‘Umm, what just happened?’ a girl from the third row asked.

‘A substitute teacher just tried to seduce my student, and I have had enough of today.’ He replied.

‘Is she all right?’ asked a boy from the back row.

‘Yes. She will be reported to the school board. Now if there are no more questions--’ Michael shot up his hand.

‘Sir, your wound is bleeding…’

‘Oh thank you Michael. Again you save me.’

There was a soft knock at the door, and Dylan invited them in. Eve had returned, this time wearing a woollen jumper, and had her hair tied into a bun. She was completely unrecognisable.

‘Ahh perfect timing. Class, this is my new teaching assistant, and sister in law…’ Eve’s eyes widened. ‘… Miss Eve.’

‘Hello class.’ She said with a smile. She walked up to Dylan and whispered ‘Did you really need to call me that?’

‘Sooo, you’re not my teaching assistant?’ Dylan asked.

‘Not that’ she said, her face turning as red as her hair ‘The other thing.’

‘Oh…’ Dylan said. ‘Yes!’ and flashed a huge smile.

The rest of the class went along smoothly. Eve enjoyed sitting in the class and learning about physics.

During the lunch break Dylan, Seth and Eve all sat down in Dylan’s office to enjoy the sandwiches that Eve made for them.

‘So, do you think you broke his brain?’ Seth asked.

‘Yeah.’ Eve said with a smile.

‘You want to show me the outfit sometime?’

‘Not in your wildest dreams’ Seth’s phone buzzed. He looked at it, and then bro-fisted Dylan. Eve looked over at Seth’s phone to see a photo of her dressed as Miss Hill.

‘Oh fuck you both.’ She said with a scowl. There was a knock at the office door, and Seth left his seat to open it. When he returned, Michael had followed him in.

‘Michael here wanted to see you Dylan.’

‘Hey Mr. Daemonia, how’s the wound?’ Michael asked.

‘Oh, it’s good. Did a lot of kids ask you out what happened?’ Dylan said, motioning him to take a seat.

‘Yeah. I seem to be really popular after people found out I saved your life.’

‘Well, as I said, you are a good student. I’d hate to see you get hurt. But I assume you didn’t come to see me about my wound, did you?’ Michael looked down at his feet for a second, and then looked at Eve.

‘Hello Miss hill.’ He said with a smile.

‘Umm, pardon?’ she said with half a sandwich in her mouth.

‘I know it was you. It was your eyes that gave it away.’

‘Sorry.’ Eve said ‘I didn’t mean to go overboard with it.’

‘Please don’t apologise. I am more popular with the ladies now; I think they might be a bit jealous of you.’

‘Now Michael, I hope you remember what happened last time--’ Seth said, but Michael was quick to jump in.

‘It’s okay sir. I learnt my mistake. I will treat women with more respect; especially since you somehow landed a girl like Eve.’

At that exact moment, Dylan, Seth and Eve all burst into laughter.

‘Michael, I would be a lucky man if I had Eve, but she isn’t mine.’ Seth said.

‘But you said she was your sister in law. Did you get married without us knowing?’ Michael asked Dylan. He picked up his mobile, and showed him a picture of Hax.

‘So, you ARE gay?’

Seth and Eve giggled, but Dylan shook his head in disbelief.

‘Michael, that’s my oldest brother Hax. He is a mechanic’

‘Oh. Shit, sorry. You never talked about him.’ Michael said. He turned to Eve and asked ‘What’s he like?’

‘Oh, he is a barrel of laughs. He saved me from myself, and I fell for him.’ Eve said with a smile. The school bell rang out. ‘Sorry, looks like our time is up.’

‘Will you be in all our classes from now on?’ Michael asked, getting up from his seat.

‘Yeah, I’d like that.’ Eve replied.

After a long day at school, Dylan, Seth and Eve returned home in quite a good mood. They all enjoyed their day at school, especially messing with the students.

‘Well, that was fun’ Dylan said.

‘Next time, you need to let me borrow Eve. I want to have fun in my class too.’ Seth said

‘Seth, I KNOW the kind of fun you want to have in your class with me. No!’ Eve said, giving him a stern look.

‘So whose shout is it for dinner?’ Seth asked.

‘How about you two?’ Eve said ‘I worked hard looking sexy for your class, so you owe me one.’

‘Chinese it is’ Dylan said ‘We will be back in about an hour. If Hax comes home, tell him about your day.’

Dylan and Seth walked out the front door, and Eve headed upstairs. When she was certain they had left, she ran to the garage. No car…, Eve thought with a smile. This was her chance to see what Hax kept in his private study. She knew it was wrong, but what could one little peek hurt?

She carefully picked the study door lock. It was just as easy as Hax’s door last night, and when she heard the CLICK, she sighed in relief. As she walked in she was shocked at the sight that befell her. All the walls were covered in books, ranging from very new crisp books, to old books that looked like they were about to fall apart. She sat down in one of the massive chairs in the middle of the room, and read all the spines of the pile of books on the coffee table. Lovecraft, Lovecraft, Socrates, Shakespeare, Lovecraft; the reading selection that Hax had shown he like a certain style of books. One book intrigued Eve exponentially.

‘ “Breaking the bubble: Dealing with Aspergers Syndrome.”’ She said aloud. She turned to a bookmarked chapter titled “How to better show your emotions”. This made Eve smile.

He was making an effort

Her gaze shifted to a large silver chest that sat in the corner of the room next to the base of the stairs. Eve’s curiosity had the better of her, she had to know what was inside. She noticed the large combination lock, but it wasn’t a challenge for Eve. A few quick taps in strategic places and the locking mechanism gave in. She opened the lid and was overcome by what she saw inside.

Neatly packed into her chest were old documents and pictures. They looked to be dated from centuries ago. She opened a large book that was covered in weird markings unlike any language she had ever seen. Inside the book were depictions of horrendous creatures, with short descriptions of them below in the same unknown language. As she flipped through, she couldn’t believe the sights she saw, until she came to a page in the centre. She recognised the picture in the centre, but the book seemed to be old and faded, where as the reference material, as she knew, was only created early last century. The picture was of the H.P. Lovecraft paranormal classic, Cthulhu.

She dug deeper and found photographs from the 1800’s. One showed six people all smiling, and she recognised three of them, or she thought she did. The three young gentlemen in the photo shared remarkable resemblance to Seth, Dylan and Hax. The other people in the photo consisted of a young lady, around the age of 30, with dark hair. She looked very beautiful, and was standing next to the Seth look-a-like. The other girls looked about 10 years of age, and were twins. They were hugging on the Dylan and Hax look-a-likes legs. They all looked like one big family.

She flipped to the next photo, and shocked Eve to the core. In the photo stood 3 of the creatures she saw in the book. There was a large, humanoid crocodile, a twin headed hydra and a large mass of black smoke; but what made her fear it the most was that they all stood around the corpse of someone. These monsters were eating human flesh, and kept a photo of it for memories.

‘Why would Hax keep all this information on these monsters?’ Eve said to herself.

‘Because I wanted to remind myself how far I have come in my life.’ Said a voice behind her.

Eve spun to see Hax standing in the middle of the study, just looking at her with sheer disappointment. She slammed the case lid shut, hoping that he didn’t notice her looking through it.

‘Eve, how could you break my rules about coming in here?’ he asked.

‘I…I’m sorry Hax. I didn’t know what happened.’ She said, her face becoming red.

‘You lied, you broke into my room, you barely work, and now you go through my personal items.’

‘Oh and you are the best man in the world! You lied to me about who you are!’

‘IT’S NOT LYING IF I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT YOU--’ Hax screamed.

‘AND WHAT DO I NEED PROTECTING FROM?!? A MONSTER LIKE YOU?!?’ Eve screamed louder.

Hax growled, his lip curling into a snarl. ‘WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, EAT ME?!? You going to kill me like you killed everyone else.’

This snapped Hax out of his anger. He finally understood what it was like to see this from another perspective.

‘Eve, I--’

‘NO! You don’t get to say anything to me! What else did you do to me?’ Eve yelled ‘were you just planning to fatten me up and slaughter me at the end of the month?!? What else did you do to me?!? IS THIS WHY I AGREED TO DO ALL THIS? DID YOU USE SOME SORT OF MIND CONTROL ON ME?!’

Eve pushed past Hax, and stormed out of the study.

Dylan and Seth returned with bags full of Chinese food. Dylan took the bags and told Seth to grab Hax and Eve. Seth went upstairs as Dylan laid out plates.

‘Dylan! You might want to come up here.’ Seth called from upstairs. Dylan ran upstairs to find Seth standing outside Eve’s room. He walked slowly towards the door way to see Hax sitting on Eve’s bed, alone, covered in blood.

‘Hax?’ Dylan walked over to him ‘Hax, where’s Eve?’

‘She’s gone…’ he muttered.

‘Did you…’ Seth said ‘…kill her?’

‘What…’ Hax said, and looked at his shirt. ‘Oh no. She stabbed me and ran out of the house.’

‘What happened, Hax?’

Hax told them everything that had happened after he came home, about her finding out about them, about her freaking out and how she had left.

‘I’m so sorry Hax…’ Dylan said ‘I thought she was the one for you.’

‘Well, she wasn’t. And to think that I went to speak to Him about everything.’

‘What did he say about it?’ Seth said, finally stepping into the room.

‘It doesn’t fucking matter!’ Hax yelled ‘SHE IS GONE! She left me, and she won’t come back.’

‘Hax, mate…’ Dylan said, putting a hand on Hax’s shoulder ‘I know she--’

But before Dylan could finish his sentence, he was punched square in the face by a fist made out of smoke. Dylan flew through the air and smashed through the wall into the backyard, while Hax sat in the same position, his right arm still made of smoke.

Seth stood in Eve’s old room, just staring it Hax. He had just witnessed him punch Dylan so hard that he flew into the backyard. He has never seen Hax so upset that he would hit his own family. But he remembered how much Hax loved Eve, just for her to walk out on him.

‘Whoa....’ was all he could manage. He wondered if Dylan was going to be able to recover from a punch like that, but when he heard a screeching sound, he knew there was going to be trouble. A two headed hydra landed through the whole in the room, its sapphire scales shimmering in the light. It stood 7 foot high, and had fully developed forearms and hind legs to fight on two feet. Its heads looked like a dragons with short snouts and beared its sharp fangs that could rip apart anything.

‘You shouldn’t have done that Hax’ it said, sounding like a serpentine version Dylan.  In a quick flash, Hax’s body turned to smoke and dispersed around the room. ‘Always had to fight dirty, didn’t you brother.’

‘You know you can’t catch the wind.’ Hax’s voice surrounded them like an echo.

‘Yes, but I also know you have to come together to hit me.’ Dylan took a blow to the back of his right head.

‘You don’t have the instinct to fight me, so why don’t you give up?’

‘And let you get away with this crap? You think you can remain unaccountable for all this shit!’ Dylan screamed.

‘I HAD TO PUT UP WITH EVERYONE FOR THREE FUCKING CENTURIES!’ Hax bellowed ‘I DIDN’T HAVE THE CHANCE TO ENJOY MY LIFE LIKE YOU TWO DID! I COOKED AND CLEANED AND MADE SURE EVERYONE STAYED SAFE!!!’

‘AND LOOK AT HOW THAT TURNED OUT!!’ Dylan screamed, but immediately wished he hadn’t.  Hax reformed in front of Dylan and landed 6 quick blows to his soft underbelly. It hurt like a bitch, but Dylan knew this was his opportunity. He landed a punch in between Hax’s purple eyes that hung in the smoke haze. Hax fell backwards and out the hole in the house. When he landed, he was back in his human form. Dylan landed on top of him, one leg on each side of his chest, holding him against the ground.

Hax tried to fight back against his brother’s strength, but he wasn’t able to transform into his smoke form.

‘You have to give up!’ Dylan said.

‘NO!’ Hax screamed

‘LET GO!’ Dylan roared.

‘NO!!’ Hax yelled back.

‘LET IT GO HAXATHOR!!’

Immediately after hearing his name, Hax broke down into tears. It had taken them three centuries and more death than they wanted, but Hax finally gave into his emotions.

‘I couldn’t save them’ Hax said through tears. ‘I couldn’t save Nicole. I couldn’t save Nikita. I couldn’t save Claire for Seth.  And now she is gone.’ He clutched his chest like his heart was exploding ‘OH GOD, WHY DOES IT HURT?!?’

‘That feeling, Hax’ Dylan said, morphing back into human ‘that’s called heartbreak. And it’s normal.’

Chapter 5

London, England- 1888 A.D.

Hax was running as fast as he could. To normal eyes, he was just a blur on the rooftops.

I have to make it, thought Hax.

He looked the same, but different all together. His usual messy hair was neatly trimmed and he wore traditional clothes that, on any other day, would be clean and tidy; but today was soaked in a mixture of sweat, dirt and blood. Whether it was his blood, or that of the inquisitors he just took down, he didn’t care. It was his family at stake here.

He heard the scream from a mile out.

‘NICOLE! NIKITA!’ Hax screamed.

In a small alley way on the outskirts of London, four figures stood at the end against a pair of trash cans. Dylan and Seth tried to hide the two small girls behind them. Seth’s clothes were torn and his body was covered in cuts, while Dylan didn’t even have a shirt on. The twins both wore white dresses, and if it wasn’t for their green hair and their faces covered in tears, most would have sworn they were just dolls. Dylan stood with his back against a wall hoping that he would have enough time to recover. He was wrong.

Two men entered the alley, both wearing large black overcoats and carried curved blades, engraved with different holy symbols.

‘Well, look what we have here Mr. Wilk.’ Said the one on the left, ‘A whole pack of freaks.’

Seth growled.

‘Oh look Mr. Fibb’ said Wilk, ‘we seemed to have offended the freak.’

Dylan looked at the girls. ‘Nicole, Nikita. If I say so, you must run.’

‘but Dylan-’ Nicole started through tears.

‘No buts. You run. You hide. You try to find Haxathor and you stay safe.’

‘WHY DON’T YOU GO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO HARASS, YOU SONS OF WHORES?!’ screamed Seth.

‘Well, if you monsters didn’t kill all those prostitutes, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.’ Said Fibb.

‘We didn’t kill no whore!’ said Dylan, trying to stand up.

‘Oh bullshit!’ said Wilk, ‘You gutted those whores like them monsters you are. Now you’re going to  try to protect them?’

Seth had had enough of them. He ran at the inquisitors, only to find Fibb throw his knife into Seth’s shoulder. He fell to the ground, immobilised by the knife. Nicole and Nikita let out a scream. Dylan could do nothing. He had sworn to protect his younger sisters.

‘Don’t you hate that, freak?’ said Fibb, walking towards the now incapacitated Seth. ‘These sacred blades are the only thing that can stop your kind. Quite ingenious, don’t you think?’

He placed his foot square on Seth’s chest, and ripped out the knife from his shoulder.

‘Looks like your next, boy.’ Said Wilk, advancing upon Dylan.

There was a loud crunch, like bones breaking, that came from behind them. Wilk spun around in an instant. There, standing in a pool of blood, brains, bone and the remains of Fibb’s head, stood Hax.

‘Ah, so nice for you to join us, freak. Come to watch your family die?’ said Wilk.

‘You are going to pay for that Wilk.’ Growled Hax. He took a step towards Wilk, but Wilk was very quick. In one fluid motion, he grabbed Nicole by her hair as well as slashing at Dylan’s chest.

‘Take one more step, and I slice the girl.’

Hax froze. He knew he wasn’t fast enough to stop an inquisitor, and Dylan was incapacitated by his fresh chest wound.

‘What do you want from us?’ Hax asked through gritted teeth.

‘Oh? Isn’t it obvious?’ Wilk asked, ‘I want to see all of your kind, your family of freaks, dead.’

Wilk sliced Nicole’s throat, sending blood gushing in all directions. The walls, the bins, everyone in the alley were covered in a thin layer of black blood.  Hax couldn’t believe his eyes, but didn’t let it stop him. He sprang forth and grabbed Wilk around the neck, and smashed him into the brick wall, nearly missing Nikita who was in shock of seeing her twin die before her eyes.

‘How does it feel? How does it feel not being able to save those you love?’ Wilk asked, straining against the force of Hax’s hold.

‘YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, HUMAN!’ Hax roared.

‘Give a message to your brother for me.’ Wilk said with a bloody smile. He leaned in close to Hax and whispered something in his ear. Hax’s eyes widened. He snapped Wilk’s neck like a twig and dropped him to the ground. He slumped there, lifeless. Hax ran over to Seth and tried to wake him up.

‘Seth wake up.’ He said, smacking him in the face. ‘Seth they have Claire!’

His eyes opened immediately, and he was off.

Hax ran over to Dylan. His wound was not so bad, but it would take a bit longer to heal than normal. Hax looked at Nikita to find her clutching her throat. Tears welled up in Hax’s eyes.

‘Oh god, not you too?’ he said, trying not to cry.

‘I’m sorry Haxathor. I'm sorry we were twins.’ Nikita said, blood dripping down her hands.

Hax held her and whispered ‘No. I’m sorry that I wasn’t fast enough to save you both.’

Nikita kissed Hax on the cheek and said ‘Bye bye big brother. I love you.’

She was gone, died in Hax’s arms. Tears streamed down his face. He knew that he failed his parents, he couldn’t save them. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘We have to go find Seth. Where is he?’ Dylan asked, still trying to heal the large gash on his chest.

‘Under town hall. The inquisitors have kidnapped Claire.’ Hax said, standing up.

‘Oh god…We have to hurry, before Seth destroys the entire town.’ Dylan said. Hax nodded, and they ran as fast as they could towards town hall.

They found the entrance in. it was a door carved with the sign of the inquisitors, A sword stabbing a tentacle. When they entered inside, Hax and Dylan gagged. It was a horror scene. There was blood and bodies everywhere. In the centre of the room knelt Seth, cradling the body of a young brunette woman.

‘Seth, we’re so sorry. This was a tragedy-’ Dylan said.

‘NO! This was utter fucking bullshit!’ Seth screamed. ‘She was innocent. She didn’t have anything to do with this war, but she was dragged into it by those BASTARDS!!!’

Hax stepped in, and lifted Seth to his feet. ‘show us what happened.’

Seth placed a hand on Dylan and Hax’s head. Their minds were suddenly filled with pictures, memories of what had just happened.

After Seth had run off to find Claire, he found his way to the town hall. He broke in the door to find 30 inquisitors all standing around a sacrifice altar. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw it. They had Claire strapped down and were about to plunge the knife into her heart.

‘Ahh if it isn’t the freak who loves the abomination.’ Said the knife wielding inquisitor. ‘Deal with him.’

10 of the cultists rushed Seth, but were thrown off immediately. Seth didn’t even break a sweat doing so.

‘You should have been here faster.’ Said the head cultist, as he stabbed Claire through the heart. She screamed out in pain.

She looked at Seth and mouthed the words ‘I Love You’, before going limp. Seth started to shake all over. He knew what was about to occur, and he was not going to try to stop it. He started to smile, and then laugh.

‘You have done it now you inquisitor fuck!’ he growled.

His entire body darkened to a deep brown, and his arms and legs lengthened. His mouth started to grow outwards, and became a snout. His body mass increased, and he started to grow claws and scales. His mouth erupted with hundreds of razor sharp teeth, and by the end of it looked more like a crocodile than a human.

The head inquisitor could only stand there and watch as his entire cult was massacred by this creature. One by one, they all died in a most horrible and painful way, until it was just Seth and the head inquisitor left. He tried to stab Seth with a sacred blade, but it broke against his scales. Seth grabbed him around the head and brought him to eye level.

‘You kill my family, you stab me in the shoulder, you slice my little sister’s throat open and you kill the one woman in this world who accepted me for who I was. She loved me for who I was, she wasn’t afraid of what I can become. AND YOU CALL ME A MONSTER!’ Seth screamed.

‘You can all die like that whore just did.’ Said the inquisitor. Seth roared and ripped his head off. He let his anger continue until there was nothing left but blood.

Hax and Dylan saw everything, but did not blame Seth for what had happened. Seth had collapsed back on the ground, crying over the ones he had just lost.

‘Hax, I…I lost control. I promised I wouldn’t lose control, but I did.’ Seth said.

‘Seth, neither Dylan nor I blame you for how you acted. We would have done the same if we were put in the same situation.’ Hax said, hugging Seth to him, and replaying the final moments of Nicole and Nikita’s death, wondering if he could have saved them if he lost control too.

Hax woke up in a cold sweat. Never have his dreams been so violent, so hard to witness. Hax rolled over to find someone in his bed with him.

‘Eve…’ Hax said.

There was complete silence, but he eventually heard ‘Yeah?’

‘Why are you in my bed?’

‘I heard you screaming in your sleep. I was worried.’

‘ok…wait how did you get into my room?’

‘You left your door unlocked?’

‘No I didn’t.’

‘Shh…just go back to sleep. We can talk about this in the morning.’

Though she couldn’t see him, Hax smiled for once. He drifted back to sleep, and knew he wouldn’t be burdened with another nightmare while Eve was with him.