Caden drowsily opens his eyes, he stares at the ceiling above him, a fan spins above his head. It seems to make him dizzy at first. But the sickening feeling quickly fades.

He looks over at Zoe, she sits on the floor, ankles crossed but her knees raised. She just stares at him.

”How long was I out? Did i just pass out? Where are we?”

”Slow down. We’re in your apartment. You passed out yes. You’ve been out for two days.”

Caden stiffens, but she raises her hand. “I told your teacher you were out of sorts. They’re excusing you for the missed days, it’s….4:30.” She says as she looks at the time on her phone.

”Thanks.”

She gets to her feet. “I told you to gain control over it Caden. I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

”Thanks?”

”You misunderstand. Caden, I have seen that process you went through, many, many times. Ive only witnessed 3 to have overcome the desire for blood and stop themselves. 2 of them didnt even fully stop, they slowed themselves to a stop. You stopped it like it a clear window deflecting a bee…even if you think it was more difficult than that.”

He frowns at her, “What does that mean?”

”It means you are very strong. Even among Blood Demons.”

”So i could become an Alpha pretty fast?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t become an Alpha because of strength alone. Why did you throw the blood Caden?”

”What?”

”Why did you throw it away?”

”Because I didn’t want the Frenzy to take control anymore?” He says frowning,

”You threw it away because you weren’t sure you’d be able to stop with it in range? You hoped it would stop the Frenzy?”

Caden nods with a frown. “Someone who relies purely on strength would have just pushed the Frenzy away, buried it. You knew you couldn’t, so you threw the blood away. You have intelligence Caden. Brute strength isnt enough, often times it’s not enough to even be a Bravo. You need to be skilled physically and internally.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Thanks, Zoe?”

”I am not complimenting you. I’m telling you to give yourself some credit. But I am also saying if you want to be an Alpha, there’s more to it than just strength or wisdom alone. Its who you are as a person as well.”

”Zoe? Can I ask you something?”

”How did I become an Alpha?”

Caden nods as he sits up slowly. Zoe sighs, “Can we not talk about this?”

Caden nods, “Yeah. Sorry. Thank you Zoe.”

She nods, “Yeah.”

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Maybe. What is it?”

“The woman that attacked you, err, us. Who was she? If I may, why did she attack?”

Zoe rubs her neck. “Her name is Helena. There’s different classes of Demons Caden. From simple scout class to God class. Helena is a God class Demoness. Therefore she’s one of the most dangerous beings in existence.”

“Are there many?”

“No.There’s been maybe 3 at most in any given eon. She’s the only one that we know of.”

“Hmm.”

“Caden?”

“Yeah?”

She exhales hard through her nose, “What I’m about to tell you, you never tell anyone. It’s…it’s actually required by law. The council doesn't want people panicking.”

”O…kay?”

”Everyone knows something is happening. They don’t know what. Not even the council knows for certain. Helena is targeting us. We don’t know why.”

Caden’s eyes widen. “What? She’s killing us off?”

”Yes. There’s supposed to be 100 of us at the most in the world. Right now there’s 14.”

Caden leans his head forward, wide eyed, as if asking her to repeat it incase he misheard. Her expression doesn't change.

”14?! She’s killed that many!?”

”I dont think so. But she has killed a lot of us. We’ve been hunted and killed off for eons, within the last thousand years our numbers dropped fast. People are killing us, she is a huge cause of it, I’m not sure exactly how big. But we are definitely being hunted. She came for me.”

”How is she tracking us?”

”I don’t know. But she is. It is dangerous to just exist Caden.”

”What do we do?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Okay come on Zoe! I understand no friends, but even I realize that being alone is a death sentence right now! Please? Just acquaintances. We watch each other’s backs, nothing more.”

She looks at him and down at her hands. “Caden…it’s not safe to be around me. Physically, mentally, even socially.”

“Zoe? Do you realize how people look at me?”

Zoe gets to her feet and rolls her eyes, “Caden you will never have another friend if you talk to me. You’ve already risked your life by talking to me.”

”Zoe it’s just being alone.”

She glares at him. “No it’s not. You aren’t getting it! It….You won’t be alone Cade! You'll be abandoned! You won’t be a weirdo like you are now. You’ll be a monster. A horrific being that when people see, they scream for everyone to run.”

Caden’s face turns sad. “I don’t care Zoe. If what your saying is true. It’s more important than ever that we have each other’s backs. They can hate me all they want. You don’t have to be my friend, you don’t have to like me, you don’t have to talk to me. But I’ll talk to you, I want to make sure you’re okay. If you were some monster, you wouldn’t care enough to tell me about Helena, you would’ve told me to ask the council. And you wouldn’t have cared if i hurt anyone going Full Demonic. Now-I know thats not what you meant. Obviously you aren't a monster. But I don’t care if people see me the same way. If you need my help. I’m gonna be here to help you. End of discussion.”

Zoe rolls her eyes, “You’re an idiot.”

Caden shrugs, “Probably.”

She snorts, “We still aren’t friends…but fine. We watch each other’s backs.”

Caden smiles, “Thanks.” She says to him,

His smirk broadens, she just looks annoyed. “You ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll knock you on your butt, got it?”

He nods, “Yup.”

“You are now a fully fledged freak Caden. Congratulations. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

He walks her to the front door. “Bye Zoe.”

”Mm.”

She walks out the door and walks to her apartment. He looks down at his hands as he shuts the door. Full Demonic.

Blood Demons really are dangerous. He feels something press against his mind but it’s subtle, he almost doesnt notice it. Until it speaks.

’We clearly have a lot to talk about.’

Caden stops walking to his room, he turns fast, scanning the room. It’s dark and empty. “Who’s there?”

It’s dead silent. “Here I was thinking I something of a master of stealth.”

Out of the shadows and black emerges a form, a youthful man, defined, intense yet soft brown eyes. This is a councilman from his hearing! Which was he?

“How’d you get in here?”

”Oh the uh…dean. He let me in. I wanted to speak with you. How are you doing? Having any suicidal thoughts lately? What about homicidal? Murder anyone lately?”

Caden gives a weird look. “Who are you?” He asks, trying to get something from him,

”I believe I asked first.”

Caden narrows his eyes, “So your question is?”

His apartment door swings open. “Oh look! The mutt is here!”

Caden jumps as she strides through the doorway, followed by another man. She’s young and flawless as well. Her purple eyes seem to pierce Caden’s soul, threatening to cut him down where he stands, especially with her infuriated gaze. But it’s not directed at him. The young brown eyes man looks pissed and horrified at the same time.

”I’m sorry to interrupt Caden. I’m sure you were having a lovely chat but this man has no right to be here.”

”And you do?!”

She clicks her tongue and frowns. “You’re right! I accidentally placed your invitation into the fire. My fault. But unlike you I’m actually invited tonight.”

”Go crawl back into hell’s fire.”

”Oh thanks for the reminder, the devil said hello. Also he wants to see you.”

”Knock it off. Out. You don’t have business with Caden.”

”Well this is his place last I recall.”

The second man rolls his eyes, “Caden, to put it shortly I’m the council member for demons, my name is Haegan, this is Sylvia, she’s the representative for vampires, she asked to join me tonight, and this is the council member for werewolves. May we be welcomed into your housing?”

The werewolf scoffs, Sylvia’s eyes grow wide, she hesitantly steps back outside the door behind Haegan but still within Caden’s line of sight and sighs.

”I got caught up in the…I sincerely apologize for my repulsive and boisterous behavior.”

Caden groans, “A few days, i just want a few days that are normal. What do you want?”

”Same reason, to see if you’re a raving lunatic yet like your neighbor or if you got a few days left.” The werewolf says,

Caden shoots a glance toward him, practically growling. “You can piss off for all I care.”

“I am not going anywhere. Someone needs to make sure you don’t murder innocents, you’re a true monster now after all! No one wants a dangerous monster around them!”

”Get out. You want me to show respect? Show some to me. I haven’t said one mean word to you and you’re accusing me of being a lunatic and a monster. Get out. Now.”

He scoffs and glares at him as he walks to the door. Caden quickly follows and waits for him to exit.

Caden grabs the still humbled vampire’s arm and yanks, almost throwing her inside the apartment then slams the door against the werewolf’s back.

He turns and looks at the bigger, well built man and the woman. Her shoulders are slightly raised, as if trying to hide behind them but not reveal her awkwardness.

”Caden-uh Mr. Jackson…I apologize once more for my-“

”What do you want?”

”In a much nicer way than the werewolf addressed, to check up on you. Blood Demons are a dangerous race, we want to make sure you’re okay and that the transformation hasn’t affected you. Or that anyone is giving you too hard a time. Including the other Blood Demon that lives in this building, have you met her yet?”

Caden raises an eyebrow. “I’m fine. Can you get out now?”

“Caden we wouldn’t be here unless we were concerned about yours and others safety.”

”Yeah me and Zoe are fine. No we aren’t murdering people. If they be kind to us, we’ll be kind to them. End of story.”

”So you did meet her.”

”Yes. Is this how you treated Zoe? She’s not as bad as you think.”

The two look at each other, then back to Caden. “She has been a Blood Demon for centuries minimum, Mr. Jackson. Quite some time.” Sylvia says,

”So?”

“She’s earned herself a reputation. She’s credited with the murder of 10 people and believed to be responsible for 14 more.” Haegan says.

Caden frowns at them. “She is dangerous Mr. Jackson. She’s not fond of others especially her own kind…or rather so we’ve come to understand. We wanted to make sure you were alright.”

”Like I said, I’m fine.”

Haegan nods, “Alright. We apologize for being so intrusive. We meant no disrespect.”

”If you do not mind me asking sir. How did you befriend her? It’s just…we’ve kept tabs on her for a while and reports state that she’s always been introverted. Keeps to herself and doesn’t enjoy the company of others.”

Caden snorts at her, “I talked to her. Yeah she’s cold, but from the sound of it. It’s cause she’s used to others treating her like a mistake living in this world. Some people even look at me like that. And no! I haven't hurt or threatened them or anything, I blow it off. When it’s religiously happening though. I can understand why she would be hesitant to be friends with people. And we aren’t friends. We’re acquaintances. Members of the same race, not friends. I haven't thirsted for blood or death or been in any fights. Everything is going fine. If i can get some peace.”

”Forgive me. I’m glad you are settling here, hopefully it continues to go well.”

They turn and walk out of the apartment, shutting the door softly behind them. What infuriates him is that they, even the council member of demons speaks about Zoe like she's something to steer clear of.

Did she really murder 10 people? That must have just been a coincidence...why did they leave so fast? If they really wanted to check up on him, they would have sat down and talked to him or tried to set up a different time at least. He told them to leave sure, but they just bounced in and bounced out.

'You believe them?'

He jumps and turns, "Dude! Whoever you are get out!" He shouts,

"Hello?" Caden continues,

'I'm not in the room Caden.'

"Oh yeah?"

Caden draws out his claws, "Where are you then huh?"

'Your mind. I'm your ‘frenzy’ Caden.'

Chills run up and down his body. He looks around the apartment. No way. No way this is real.

‘Oh its real. We need to talk. Preferably before you lose your mind and pound on Zoe’s door.’

”What do you want?”

‘First? A better name than frenzy. Second we need to layout where we both stand. You made yourself pretty clear a few nights ago. You displayed your dominance Caden. There’s two options.’

“They are?”

‘I reside in the back of your mind. I won’t disappear but I wont be incredibly present either. I am still a being after all.’

Caden sighs, “Two?”

’We morph consciousnesses i will only appear as a last resort. But you’re in control.’

”Why offer that? If you'll Just practically disappear?”

’If I were the dominant of us both and had won the fight that night i would be in charge when you go Full Demonic, not you. But since you are in charge, I’m inclined to tell you the options now, but since we share the body it’s best to do whatever is most convenient.’

”I thought I had control over Full Demonic?”

’You would, I can talk to you whenever but if we merged, I would only be present in the most dire of situations.’

”Verge of death?”

’Yes.’

Caden sighs and rubs his eyes. “H-how does it work?”

’You should sit down, you’ll likely pass out…or i can do it in your sleep, it won’t hurt, you won’t notice and will have total control over Full Demonic.’

“Alright. Fine, when I sleep tonight.”

’Alright. Tonight it is.’

“How about Shade? For a name?” Caden asks as he sits on his bed,

’…..I like it.’

”I thought you’d be more….evil.”

’I’m you, a defense mechanism. When I come out to play it’s because we are in danger. The lust for blood is mine, not yours. It comes out when I do.’

”How long will it take?”

’A few hours.’

”Okay well if you don’t mind, I’m gonna get something to eat.”

’I’ll leave you be.’

”Thanks.”

Caden walks out into the hall and groans. “Jeez what an insane week.”

He stops and turns, he knocks on Zoe’s door. After a minute the door opens.

”What?”

”The spell.”

”Oh, guess I never told you. Reckta. That’s the spell.”

”Thanks, I’m gonna get some food, you want anything?”

Her eyes narrow ever so slightly, “Good night Caden.”

”Night Zoe.”

He wonders if he should ask her. But if he does it could be dead wrong, something to aggravate her. It might not even be true. He mutters the spell as she closes the door. He feels the energy rush through him, strength, speed, smell and hearing.

He feels like a beast. Capable of anything! This is incredible! He breaks out into a sprint fast, everything slows around him. Freezes even. He sprints out of the building and down the sidewalk, he doesn't feel like he’s running that fast but obviously he is. He can feel the air. As he runs he can feel that it hits his throat and lungs with crazy force, exactly like when Zoe picked him up and ran to the abandoned building the night he went Full Demonic.

He sprints down the sidewalk for miles but doesn't run out of energy. He arrives at Beefy Johns and runs around the back and comes to a stop.

He huffs out and smiles, that was the coolest thing he’s ever done. That was so insane! Caden sighs and laughs. He needed that. And he cant wait to do it again. He grins but bends over to his hands and knees, his head begins swimming, his hands shake.

‘That’s why you got to be careful.’ He thinks to himself,

’Or practice.’ Shade says,

”True.” He says, almost breathless,

“Shade? Can I talk to you if we merge consciousnesses?”

’No. we’ll be merged together, the only way I can have a voice is if I emerge.’

”Wow, that sucks on the way down. But that was…awesome.”

He climbs to his feet and groans. He walks around to the front and walks into the fast food burger place.

He walks in and waits in line, the dimly lit fast food building’s interior doesn't provide much of a happy feel to the scene, but the tons of people do. Smiles and diving into food, it makes him smile.

He sits down and waits for his food to be ready. He studies the vinyl covered booths like the one he sits at. The reddish purple is a strange color considering the dim lights and the white walls. Wouldn’t be his first choice.

His food finally arrives, he takes his time eating it, the flavor explodes in his mouth, burger and fries, he dips them in ketchup and munches it down faster than he would’ve liked to have done. He didnt really get to enjoy the taste much. He wastes an hour people watching while he pretends to be on his phone. Tomorrow is Saturday, no school. He’ll apply for jobs tomorrow.

He takes his time walking home after he eats. He walks across the river that separates Cambridge and Harvard and stops halfway to stare at the water in between the sides of the river.

“Do you need something?”

Caden jumps and looks over at a young woman, she raises an eyebrow and lets out a laugh. “Did you really not see me?”

”S-sorry. I must just be really out of it.”

She scoffs, “One of those days huh?”

”More like one of those weeks.”

He stares at the water. “Hmph. I know what you mean. You going to Cambridge then?”

”Eh, sort of.”

”Sort of?” She asks,

He looks at her, she made a point to place a hand on the barricade. As he glances at her hand, her black nails slowly grow longer, barely fast enough to notice. “You’re a vamp? Or a demon?”

She scoffs and half smiles, her bright white teeth are as pale as she is. “Oh? And what are you?”

Caden’s forced smile dies, “Blood Demon.”

Her smile disappears too. “Of course you’re one of us.”

He shrugs, “Sorry. So were you really there when I got here?”

”No. I’m hungry.”

”Well. Caden. Sorry I’m not available.”

She looks at him and smirks, her frost colored eyes shine bright in the darkness. “Saige. So a Blood Demon? They weren’t lying.”

”Who?”

”Sylvia Thorten for starters.”

Caden rolls his eyes, “Is that the vampire council member?!” He asks softly but angrily,

Saige raises her eyebrows, “Something against her?”

”Oh you mean when she barged into my room tonight to ‘check up’ on me?” He asks using finger quotes in the air,

She tilts her head, she looks surprised. “A werewolf may have snuck in first. And waited for me to come home before they arrived.” He finishes,

She snorts, but its frustration she’s exhaling, not humor. “Stupid mutts. That explains why she barged in. She hates them more than most. With good reason. Did she apologize?”

”Yeah.”

Saige smiles, “That’s who she is. She’s proper, she tries her best to be kind and understanding.”

”Tell her to try harder.” Caden hangs his head,

”Sorry. I mean no offense.” He says,

”Hey I get it. You probably got a lot on your mind. Caden Jackson, the new demon that everyone wants to know about and that everyone wants to avoid.”

”Thank you for that.”

”Sorry.” She says,

”Me too.”

”For what? Reacting to everyone hating you? For still trying to be human? Ugh! How dare you Caden. You should be ashamed.” She says,

He looks at her, her strawberry blonde hair with blonde highlights hangs down over her black eyebrows. The rest hangs just below her shoulders. Her black eyeshadow, eyeliner and lipstick add to the vampire look. After a moment of silence, she sighs, she pushes away from the barrier and starts down the sidewalk. “Well, I am still hungry. Have a good weekend.”

He almost asks how she feels about killing people for blood but that’s probably really inappropriate. Maybe she doesn’t? He stops himself from opening his mouth.

He watches her walk away her black boots tap the cement walkway, echoing their clicking, tump! Tump!

She…actually seemed genuinely friendly. He smiles, “Thanks Saige. I needed that.”

He turns and continues home. When he does, he gets on his phone and onto the college website, he signs in and does his homework for the next several hours. Finally he finishes, his brain never having grown tired, though its not a perk for Blood Demons it’s still nice that he was able to focus so well. He submits his last assignment and plops on his bed.

”Alright Shade.”

He makes himself grow tired until he closes his eyes and drifts off.