Creating Jealousy

[CJ]

Three weeks had passed since CJ had moved to Portland, and those three weeks had been hell. His new parents were polar opposites of him. While he was a complete loner, always wanting to stay home locked away in his room, his new mommy and daddy were constantly forcing him to go out with them. He didn't mind some of the trips, but most were just him stuck in the back seat while one of his parents drove him around. What was the point of going outside if you weren't going to go anywhere? CJ just couldn't comprehend this odd behavior, which is why one day he decided to do something about it.

CJ had gone up to his parents, and through clenched teeth, asked "Jennifer? Richard? Can I please go over to a friend's house today? He invited me over today, and I was wondering if I could go?" With these words, both Jennifer and Richard turned to each other with raised eyebrows. Smiling they turned back and nodded. With this CJ turned around and left through the front door. He walked around the block, in order to kill time, then headed back to the house. In order to sneak in, CJ headed through the back yard, and made certain that his parents weren't anywhere near the door. Heading inside was easy, the hard part was what came next.

His parents weren't anywhere to be seen, so CJ could only assume that they had left somewhere. That was better for him seeing as he had the whole house to himself. Walking around the house, CJ lead himself to his parents room. They had a bigger television and bed, so why shouldn't he make use of it. Walking inside their room, the first thing CJ went for was the remote control for the television. Seeing as it wasn't in plain view, CJ went on a search for it. He did find something, but it wasn't the remote control.

In his parents bedroom, under the mattress, were a bunch of empty little brown sacs and a book. Inside the book were a list of names crossed out with two digit numbers next to them. At the bottom of the list was CJ's name with his age. Looking at the list of crossed out names, CJ realized that some of them looked familiar. He tried to remember, and then all of a sudden it came to him. Some of these were names of children that they announced on the news as missing or dead. What were his parents doing with these names? Flipping through the pages, CJ noticed notes and weird symbols surrounding the pages. The farther he looked through the book, the weirder it got. There were weird notes about needing more of some animal part or a different chant in Latin or something else. Satanic symbols were hand drawn, and one could tell where some were erased. The more he saw, the more CJ was freaked out, which is why he freaked out when he heard a small cough.

Turning around he saw his foster mother there with a look of intense anger. The usually happy look on her face was gone, and this new look was much more fitting. Jennifer went over to the restroom and pulled out a pair of scissors. Jennifer then stared at CJ with intense hatred, and held the scissors in a way for her to stab someone with them. Fearing for his life, CJ bolted for the door and ran out. Looking behind him, he saw his mother chasing him.

Out on the street, the light of the streetlamps were beginning to turn on. The night sky brought gloom with it as CJ ran for his life, not once looking back to see if that crazy woman was following him. All of a sudden he saw a group of people and went up to them. Breathing heavily, CJ said to the best of his ability, "Help Me."

[Aiden]

This hunt had been courtesy of Yuki, in the end. Aiden had always expressed his belief that there was at least one group of witches in the community, but he had never been able to pin them down, and thus never able to find them. And with all their antics with Casey and demons, he had honestly given that fight up, figuring that if anything came up in a more obvious fashion, he'd take it.

It also hadn't slipped by Aiden that children were missing. Well, some were missing, and some were dead, which ruled out a changeling. It also ruled out a shtriga, because usually the kids just fell into a coma of sorts. He wasn't sure what it could be, and the patterns were a little irregular, but Aiden pointed it out to Yuki and Teagan, so they could have fresh eyes on the case.

Well finally they had figured it out. Yuki had been investigating the cases of some of the kids as an insurance agent, and subsequently connected them to a pair of foster parents, as well as uncovering a ritual in a spell book that used children for sacrifices in order to raise a somewhat powerful demon. Needless to say, Portland was in the car and ready to go within minutes, partly because this demon would be irritating to take care, and partly because of Aiden's drive for kids not to be hurt.

In the car, Aiden sighed as he drove along. "I don't think there will be that much of an issue with Yuki, but Teagan, these are humans. I just want you to remember that. If you think you'll freeze up or anything, let us know. I did the first couple of times I dealt with witches," Aiden said, unsure if Teagan was still at that point. Most of their hunting base had largely been monsters, and humans were far and in between as it was.

Eventually they stopped down and across the street from the house. Aiden sat for a moment, trying to determine if they should just break in and deal with them, or enter under some false identity. The problem with breaking was it might be traced and it could always--

Screaming interrupted that thought process. Aiden's head snapped to the sound, as he saw a teenage boy running out from the house, with a woman not far behind. "Dammit, go guys go!" he yelled, opening the door and flinging himself out. He ran to the kid, who stopped in front of him and begged for help.

"Go get in the car over there, and I swear to God if you steal it, I'm the one you'll be afraid of," he instructed as he inched closer to the house, gun drawn. He glanced up at the second story, and saw a man disappear behind a set of curtains. Did they know who the group was? It was possible. "Guys, be extremely careful. They know some dark stuff, and there might be hex bags in the house they can use against us. Just try not to leave hair anywhere," Aiden instructed once more.

With his gun drawn, he entered the front door which stood ajar. When the living room was cleared, he motioned the others in, and split them between the kitchen and the family room, while Aiden made his way upstairs. When Yuki and Teagan finished the other rooms downstairs, they were to join him.

[Yuki]

Playing the role of an insurance agent was no problem. Afterall, she had been taught to act formally and business-like. Had she not been dragged into the realm of the supernatural, perhaps she would've landed at a dull desk job at some point in her life. She would've been good at it too. True, she was more suited to the tactics of intimidation, but in situations involving customers or clients, she could be persuasive as well so long as the job called for it.

After hearing several stories linked to the disappearance of the children they had identified as missing back to two foster care parents, she knew that this link was more than just a coincidence. Being involved in this hunting business for quite a while now, she knew more than to take anything as coincidental. It was a bit tricky to pin down exactly what was behind the cause of it all. Some children dead, some children missing. For what purpose? And a couple was behind it. While looking through a ritual spell book, she noticed one in particular that required the sacrifice of children in order to raise a somewhat powerful demon. She couldn't say for sure if that was what the foster parents were intending, but merely considering the possibility was enough to get them going.

On the drive to the home of the foster parents, Aiden pointed out to Teagan that she may have to shoot at humans, if the couple turned out to be performing witchcraft since witches weren't biologically monsters. They had all the components of a human being. Aiden wasn't completely wrong when he stated that Yuki wouldn't have too much of an issue with that fact, but she didn't like the idea of shooting at a human either. But the idea of a powerful demon walking amongst Portland? Much worse.

Yuki peered through the car window at the house that was to be their destination as it stood illuminated by the streetlight in front. It looked quaint enough, not anything too dangerous. Even though by now she had been on more hunts than she could count, she never took one hunt less seriously than the other just because they had become a routine. She knew that lives were at stake, and in a situation where children's lives had been taken away, she wouldn't shoulder any slacking off on anyone's part, much less in their own city.

It happened suddenly and the faction had to act fast. A teenage boy burst through the front door, a crazed woman following suit. Kuso! she hissed, bolting out of the car. She had no time to address the child. It was always shoot first, ask questions later with her, so while the child kept running forward, she charged for the front of the house. The woman, upon seeing her as well as Aiden and Teagan, turned around, retreating into the house. With the door left open, she nodded towards Aiden, signaling her understanding, and watched him as well as the surroundings of the living room closely until he gave them the all-clear.

Silently pointing to each of them and a specific direction, Yuki took up the kitchen while Teagan investigated the family room, per Aiden's instruction. As always, they were to rendezvous with him, this time upstairs where he had decided to take up his search. If the rooms downstairs were clear, then it was evident that upstairs would be the only hiding place left, and they would have them cornered. If either of the two parents were downstairs, however...well, they'd find that out soon enough.

Luckily, Yuki had tied her hair up in a tight bun, suspecting that something like this could happen if witches were involved. Anything carrying her DNA--hair strand, skin cells, blood--all of it could be used against her if they managed to place it in a hex bag. The last thing she needed was for a loose hair to fall to the ground. Clutching her gun, she progressed quietly into the kitchen. The stove was left on, which made her both uneasy and relieved at the same time. Someone had been in here and in a rush had abandoned the stove, not bothering to turn it off. Her opponent had to be some kind of idiot to leave a trail so blindingly obvious.

On the flip side, that also informed her that whoever her opponent was, he or she couldn't be far. She listened closely for any breathing or footsteps, but all was quiet except for the low sizzle of the tiny flame on the stove and the ticking of a clock hanging on a wall. She couldn't shake the feeling like she was being watched, but when she turned around, there was no one in sight. A window was positioned in front of the sink, left ajar with not even a screen in place. Maybe one of the parents had leaped out the window? Approaching it cautiously, she peeked out, gun still in hand.

"YOU'RE MINE!" yelled a husky voice, and before she had time to shoot, from underneath the ledge of the window, a man lunged at her from outside, tackling her to the ground. "Get your filthy hands off of me!" she snapped midst the confrontation, firing her gun before he tried knocking her out with a speedy punch. Shooting him in the leg, the man cried out in pain and stumbled back. Managing to get on his feet, Yuki aimed at his chest. "Damn you! Just you wait, once our master rises, he'll rip you to shreds." he barked. "You think you hunters will be able to do anything? He'll be back, and I'll be able to see him once more! And when I do, you'll be sorry," he chucked darkly, limping on his foot towards her.

Yuki raised her gun at his head. "If you really want to see him, take one more step and you'll join him in Hell."

[CJ]

CJ just nodded and rushed inside the car. Who in their right mind would steal the car from the person that was saving them? The only time CJ would steal the car is if his rescuers were killed and dear old mom and dad came after him. There was no way the guy that owns this car can get him after death, unless he becomes a ghost, but that's impossible because ghosts don't exist.

CJ's fear had begun to subside, allowing his thoughts to finally calm down. His breathing was slowing down, his jittering arms quieted, and his facial expression changed from fear to calm. Now that he had control over his body, CJ realized something about his rescuers. From their facial characteristics, they didn't seem to be that old, but the aura that originated from them was astounding. It was as if this sort of situation was second nature to them, but that's impossible. Not one of them seemed older than CJ, yet he felt like a two year old next to them, and that sickened him.

"What am I doing? They are out there risking their lives for a childish idiot like me. There has to be something I can do." CJ shut up after realizing that he was talking to himself and that he probably looked like an idiot. He stared at the front door, and realized that they had all gone in. If he remembered the interior of the house correctly, once someone enters the house immediately to their right is the family room. Walk forward a bit and you reach the stairs, but if you continue on and turn to the left, one reaches the kitchen. This is where CJ had to reach. The kitchen was the only place where one could go enter the backyard, and the backyard was where CJ needed to be.

CJ exited the car and headed for the gate. Opening it, CJ made it inside the backyard. Victory! Jennifer was standing there. Failure! Her angry expression was still etched on her face, and it caused the fear to return. He could barely see her, but he knew that she was still holding the scissors in her hand. How did she get here? Maybe...The thoughts of his rescuers dead clouded his mind. He stared at the hand that was holding the scissors to check if there was any blood on it, but he couldn't tell in this light. He hoped, no, prayed that there wasn't any blood on the scissors.

Jennifer walked closer to him, causing CJ to back up all the way up the wall of the house. CJ's arms were frantically searching for something to use as a weapon, when all of a sudden he felt something. Grabbing it, he brought it to the front of his body in order to shield himself, and he noticed that the weapon he got was a rake.

Jennifer laughed at CJ's weapon. "You call that a weapon! It won't cause damage to me like a sharp weapon will," Jennifer proclaimed while spinning the scissors on her hand. She was right, but CJ noticed something that caused him to smile, which of course caused Jennifer's smirk to get wiped clean off her face.

"Your right, Mom. My weapon won't be able to stab, but yours won't either."

"What are you talking about? These scissors are sharp and will definitely stab through your skin." Jennifer's smirk returned to her face, but CJ was still smiling. His smile caused Jennifer to take a step back, in order to fully examine if he had anything around him that he could use as a better weapon.

"Jennifer, I'm not hiding anything." CJ noticed her eyes darting back and forth, which just caused him to laugh. "Look at my rake. Do you notice anything about it? No? Then let me tell you, no, better yet I'll show you." With this he jabbed Jennifer in the stomach, causing her to kneel over, trying to catch her breath. "Do you notice it now? It's length." With these words CJ slammed the rake onto Jennifer's head, causing her to fall over completely. Not wasting anytime, CJ ran over and obtained the scissors. Studying them told him that they weren't covered in blood, so he was finally able to breathe normally.

CJ checked to make sure he hadn't killed Jennifer, and thankfully she was still breathing. He looked to his side and made his way to the kitchen.

[Aiden]

Aiden quickly did the math in his head when he uncovered the book that CJ had during his run upstairs. He'd come up the stairs and found no one immediately, so he did a quick sweep through a few of the rooms. The first, he assumed, belonged to the kid they had run into outside. The next was a bathroom, hiding nobody but a few dust mites. Another room, probably a guest room, sat undisturbed. Lastly, he came to the master bedroom, where the book still sat out. There hadn't been any attempt to hide it once more, and as Aiden looked over it, his mind quickly made sense of it.

They were timed sacrifices. Stuffed in the book were certificates of the foster children they were supposed to have been looking after, as well as medical records stating they had fallen ill from various conditions and sicknesses, and died. Problem was, Aiden could forge better medical charts than what they had, it was unbelievable that people might buy into the belief they were real.

He decided that since it was quiet, and since he was alone upstairs, he would do a sweep for hex bags. One in the bathroom. One in the kid's room. And as Aiden tossed one of the kid's shirts out of the way, he felt something in the bottom seam. He paused, holding it in his hand. He knew that in some practices, bones and other such materials didn't have to be whole, but instead they could be ground up. They hadn't made it into a fine powder, but it was enough not to be noticed by the wearer.

Which meant the kid was a walking hex bag.

Aiden ran over to the banister, leaning over. "Teagan! Get to the car and protect the kid!" he called. "These witches are good!" he added, and then flew down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom, listening to Yuki and the man fight and a gunshot go off, and then listening to a slight scraping against the wall outside. He furrowed his brows, and then silently slipped outside.

He was just in time to see the kid use his head and use the length of the rake to his advantage, but Aiden knew that the woman, Jennifer, wouldn't be down for long--what the guy needed was some more strength to his blows. Aiden quickly jogged over to CJ as he headed to the kitchen, and grabbed him by his shoulder. "Listen, I need you to trust me, alright? We'll make sure that these guys won't get to you. What I need you to do is go get a shirt from the back of your closet, or one you never wear, something like that. Check the bottom, make sure there isn't anything sewed in, alright?" he said, pulling on the bottom of his shirt for emphasis.

"After that, pack a bag, and be ready to go." By the looks of things, these people were determined to get their sacrifice, and he wasn't sure what the age group was, but he and Teagan might be viable replacements for the witches. He moved back inside, making sure that Jennifer hadn't moved, and then swept into the kitchen.

The man was limping towards Yuki, a large knife in hand, and blood pouring from his leg. He hadn't spotted Aiden, since he was behind the man, so Aiden raised his gun, and fired a shot that stopped short of the man's good foot. "Try it and see what happens. Neither of us are forgiving people, so don't test us," Aiden said a little darkly, moving into the kitchen. He slowly stepped up behind the man, gun in his back, and reached for the knife. The man, however tough he had once acted, was now shaking as he placed the knife in Aiden's hand.

At the last second, he drew the knife back and split Aiden's palm open, causing Aiden to draw back and grab his now gushing hand. "Son of a-- Crap, Yuki stop him!" Aiden cried. The man had slid his finger across the remnant blood on the knife, moved to the counter, and had begun drawing a symbol using it. Aiden knew what he was doing; he was about to attack Aiden using a number of spells. But when Aiden said something aloud to his partner, the man raised the knife, and threw it at Yuki, narrowly missing her shoulder, but pinning her to the wall by sticking her shirt.

He began chanting in Latin, and by the time Aiden got to the man, now trying to ignore the stinging pain in his hand, he finished the incantation. This guy had practice, because through all of it, his stream of dialogue hadn't broken or wavered once. The reaction on Aiden included a splitting pain in his head that brought him to his knees, his vision burning white, and his hand feeling very much the same.

"How about some broken bones? I can do that too. Eye for an eye, shattered tibia for a shattered tibia," the man said aggressively, as he began chanting again.