The day before the fall of Almadel

The door slammed open and Jeremiah strode in, grabbing Trix's arm and wrenching her away from Salomé. His hand was ice cold. Trix spun around in surprise and saw that he was dressed only in swimming trunks and a towel that had been draped around his shoulders. Beneath the towel his knees were bleeding, the blood had dripped down his legs and mixed with the sea water, leaving his shins stained a frothy pink. He might have looked ridiculous but for his eyes, dark with rage and aggression. The cat laughed again, that same rolling purr.

"Did you feel it tearing, Jeremiah? Did you feel your warding vanish into dust? Did it hurt?"

“Oh, are you glad to see me, Salomé? Release the child's mind. The pathetic vestiges of your power do not impress us. What are you doing here, are you attempting to influence a freshling student? Such a mighty demon is Salomé.”

He gripped Trix's wrist harder and the happy light disappeared, as though sucked into his hand, leaving the room a dull, unpleasant grey. Trix gasped as the pleasant calmness dropped from her in an instant, as though a bucket of water had been dumped over her head.

The cat raised its head, its one red eye narrowed and pulsing angrily. “You dare to look down on me, modern man. You are nothing more than a seedless, obese banana. I am older than your school, older than your pathetic kingdom. I was there, in the hot and fragrant rainforests of Nusantara, before man walked that place. I remember the smell of the ancestor of that fruit. It was a dense, potent thing then. Bursting with fertility. More seed than flesh. Perfectly adapted to its goal: survival, reproduction, expansion. Then man: you, decided to mould it to its whims, and in so doing was moulded also. Something to be consumed and discarded, no longer concerned with conquest. A pale, flabby, sterile abomination.” The words were hissed and snarled, spoken through bared teeth that did not move with the words. The cat paused to lick its paw and clean the spittle from its face. “Our species were similar, once.” It looked at Trix, its face tender, now “I see life in you yet, though, little one. They have not yet beaten the spirit from you.”

“Ah, the banana spiel for Miss Beatrix, unoriginal. Why not tell her just how neutered you are, now, cat” he laughed derisively and turned as to leave, pulling Trix with him.

Salomé sprung from her chair and the room around her plunged into darkness. Trix saw only a red trail left by her glowing eye as she flew across the room, the cloud of blackness trailing behind her. The cat's skin seemed to stretch and deform as though some great pressure inside were trying to expand outward, jagged edges barely contained beneath. She flew at Jeremiah, legs outstretched, claws extended.

Trix shouted but it was too late, the cat flew past her face and impacted Jeremiah with a noise like a sledgehammer hitting a steel plate. The blackness flew out in a cloud to fill the room. Trix tried instinctively to wave it out of her face but to no avail. Jeremiah's grip on her arm remained strong.

“Don’t worry Beatrix, I was quite unharmed by that pathetic show”. The darkness faded and Trix saw Jeremiah had not moved. Salome was in the opposite corner of the room, back arched, tail raised high, hissing and spitting and writhing.

“Demons are unused to pain” said Jeremiah under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear, “they never feel it naturally. They do not know of hunger or cold or fatigue or disease. They do not age or become wounded. Pain is entirely foreign to them and as such they loathe it more than anything. They cannot stand it.” He gestured to the room around them. “Salomé cannot leave this room, nor can she touch any human who is inside the school. If she breaks these rules she will feel intense, debilitating pain. That is her cage."

"Yes, a cage of pain. Noble demon hunter. Truce breaker. Blood traitor. Do you not see that you are only making me stronger? Human hubris is risible. Do you not remember--"

Jeremiah waved his hand dismissively, “Oh shut up you tiresome creature. you are old and cynical, not wise, not worldly. Your many memories are like cataracts, you feel like you understand everything but you see only the same repeating patterns, you see no nuance, you see no individual variation. Your one eye is blind.” He leaned over and smacked the cat in the face viciously, causing it to yowl and clamber backward, trying desperately to retreat further into the corner. He advanced again, raising his hand.

"Stop!" shouted Trix, "you're hurting her!"

Jeremiah stopped, lowering his hand, and the cat turned its back on them. Trix could see only its tail whipping back and forth angrily, and a faint red glow that lit the corner of the wall.

"It has caused more suffering than you can possibly imagine. It has done things to innocent people that would make you sick. It is the most foul of beings, a demon, a hell-beast, it deserves no pity, Trix. Do not be fooled by its act."

"I am fooled by neither of you" said Trix, her words were cut off as Jeremiah pulled her roughly by the arm, dragging her from the room. He slammed the door behind them. He looked very pale, and Trix could see a barely controlled trembling in his neck. "Now, tell me what the god damn has been happening here?" he said.

Trix was very aware of the porcelain fragments on the floor next to them. She was too exhausted to attempt lying. "I stole your key, I wanted to see what was in the room."

"YOU broke the key?"

"It was an accident"

"YOU are the one who broke the key, you planned this alone? Nobody prompted you to attempt this?"

"No, it was me."

"You little fool." he said it quietly.

"You should have told us about the...the demon! You shouldn't have tried to sweep this under the rug on that first day of school! Had we known what she was, ..."

"Miss Beatrix Jenson, I have nothing to apologise for. Do you have any idea of what you just did? You have put the entire school in mortal danger. I am relieved that you are not a pawn of lord Andras, I truly am, but I am somewhat disappointed that an institution that has remained hidden for four centuries has most recently been endangered by the foolish curiosity of a petulant new student."

Tears formed in the corner of Trix's eyes, she knew she was going red, flushed. He was right, of course, she knew he was right, she wouldn't care otherwise. Suddenly she wanted to rip his eyes out, tear at his face with her claws. Claws? The feeling passed, she opened her mouth to reply, to defend herself, but he raised his hand. "Not today. I have much work to do, I cannot waste time trying to untangle the issues, presumably deep and many, that caused you to think this was a good idea. We will discuss this more tomorrow." he let out a long breath, "I also need a bath, and a change of clothes, and a drink. Go back to your room, and do not leave it. Not for any reason! Not until I send for you."

Emma had been in the room when she returned. Trix had said hello, at which Emma had turned away and ignored her, so Trix just got into bed without even changing her clothes. She lay there for a few minutes before she could hold it no longer, then she started crying, trying to be as quiet as possible, covering her face with the duvet, squeezing it against her mouth as hard as she could, her body shaking with thick, heavy sobs, the tears soaking into the duvet cover. Emma came over then without saying anything and lay next to her, hugging her until Trix finally fell into a fitful sleep.