looked at Hunter once more. The blood
smeared around his wounds and seeping from his compress was indeed
black. This was real. She wasn’t asleep. She wasn’t in some strange
dimension. She had helped a demon into her home. A real demon. He
had deep-set eyes below a broad, protruding brow. He had large
canines both top and bottom that extended past his lips in both
directions. But the most prominent features were two small horns
set high on his forehead just at the hairline.
What should I do? I’ve always
helped something or someone if I could. Should I call the
ambulance? What would the police or paramedics do with him? If
only she could have spoken to him more before he passed out, she
thought. What would Dr. Stuart do if he were in her shoes? Then she
knew what must be done. Dr. Stuart would stop the bleeding and
dress the wounds, then ask questions when the patient was able to
answer.
With that decision, she went straight to
work, boiled water in the teapot, and grabbed some towels and a
first aid kit.
With all that black blood, things looked
bad, but after cleaning up the wounds and giving him a few stitches
with a needle and dental floss, the bleeding stopped and she had
him bandaged up in about twenty minutes. She was cleaning up when
his face morphed into a less scary and quite handsome human form
and his eyes opened.
He looked around, ran a hand over his side,
and realized he was patched.
“I wasn’t sure if I should take you to the
hospital or if there was somewhere else I should take a demon, but
instead of you bleeding all over, I thought I should just stitch
you up myself,” she said, picking up the last of the soiled
towels.
“Thanks. Are you a doctor?”
“I’m a vet. Well, a vet doing my internship
under another vet, but I have my degree,” she admitted.
“Lucky me,” Hunter said, sitting upright on
the couch, hissing through his teeth with pain.
“As far as I can tell, your anatomy is
pretty much the same as a human, aside from the black blood,”
Summer said.
“Yes. Very similar. A little less delicate
than humans and faster healing, but pretty much the same.”
“So do you want to explain to me what was
going on out there and what that dead creature is in the
woods?”
“Oh, crud. I need to check on
something.”
“You need to what?” she said with her hands
on her hips.
“Can you take me back to where you found me?
I left something there.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“No. It’s important.”
She stared at him for a long time before she
agreed, but opted to change into some actual clothes for this trek
into the forest.
*****
As they walked slowly back to the creature,
she said, “Are you going to tell me what you were doing and what
that thing is in the woods?”
“I’d rather not, but I don’t think you’re
going to let me leave things unexplained,” Hunter said.
Their eyes met and she gave him a
disapproving look.
“Right,” he said. “Well, the creature you
are referring to is a hellhound.”
“A hellhound?” she replied as they came
within a few yards of the beast. Its skin looked like what Summer
assumed an elephant’s skin might look like, with a slight sheen to
it, but she noticed strange tattoo-like images here and there,
similar to scar tissue but bright red on the black skin.
She ran her finger over the red marks and
asked, “What are these?”
“Sigils,” he said distractedly.
“Sigils? What are sigils?” she asked.
“They’re kind of like a monogram or a seal.
Each one represents a high demon lord,” he said.
“Does that mean each of these demons own
this hellhound? Like a brand on a cow?”
“No. Nothing like that. Think of it more
like an artist’s signature,” he said impatiently.
“An artist? What?”
He sighed. “An ancient story claims that
after a great battle between demons and angels, a great tear
between Hell and Earth was made. This hole left Hell open to anyone
or anything to enter and leave at will,
smeared around his wounds and seeping from his compress was indeed
black. This was real. She wasn’t asleep. She wasn’t in some strange
dimension. She had helped a demon into her home. A real demon. He
had deep-set eyes below a broad, protruding brow. He had large
canines both top and bottom that extended past his lips in both
directions. But the most prominent features were two small horns
set high on his forehead just at the hairline.
What should I do? I’ve always
helped something or someone if I could. Should I call the
ambulance? What would the police or paramedics do with him? If
only she could have spoken to him more before he passed out, she
thought. What would Dr. Stuart do if he were in her shoes? Then she
knew what must be done. Dr. Stuart would stop the bleeding and
dress the wounds, then ask questions when the patient was able to
answer.
With that decision, she went straight to
work, boiled water in the teapot, and grabbed some towels and a
first aid kit.
With all that black blood, things looked
bad, but after cleaning up the wounds and giving him a few stitches
with a needle and dental floss, the bleeding stopped and she had
him bandaged up in about twenty minutes. She was cleaning up when
his face morphed into a less scary and quite handsome human form
and his eyes opened.
He looked around, ran a hand over his side,
and realized he was patched.
“I wasn’t sure if I should take you to the
hospital or if there was somewhere else I should take a demon, but
instead of you bleeding all over, I thought I should just stitch
you up myself,” she said, picking up the last of the soiled
towels.
“Thanks. Are you a doctor?”
“I’m a vet. Well, a vet doing my internship
under another vet, but I have my degree,” she admitted.
“Lucky me,” Hunter said, sitting upright on
the couch, hissing through his teeth with pain.
“As far as I can tell, your anatomy is
pretty much the same as a human, aside from the black blood,”
Summer said.
“Yes. Very similar. A little less delicate
than humans and faster healing, but pretty much the same.”
“So do you want to explain to me what was
going on out there and what that dead creature is in the
woods?”
“Oh, crud. I need to check on
something.”
“You need to what?” she said with her hands
on her hips.
“Can you take me back to where you found me?
I left something there.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“No. It’s important.”
She stared at him for a long time before she
agreed, but opted to change into some actual clothes for this trek
into the forest.
*****
As they walked slowly back to the creature,
she said, “Are you going to tell me what you were doing and what
that thing is in the woods?”
“I’d rather not, but I don’t think you’re
going to let me leave things unexplained,” Hunter said.
Their eyes met and she gave him a
disapproving look.
“Right,” he said. “Well, the creature you
are referring to is a hellhound.”
“A hellhound?” she replied as they came
within a few yards of the beast. Its skin looked like what Summer
assumed an elephant’s skin might look like, with a slight sheen to
it, but she noticed strange tattoo-like images here and there,
similar to scar tissue but bright red on the black skin.
She ran her finger over the red marks and
asked, “What are these?”
“Sigils,” he said distractedly.
“Sigils? What are sigils?” she asked.
“They’re kind of like a monogram or a seal.
Each one represents a high demon lord,” he said.
“Does that mean each of these demons own
this hellhound? Like a brand on a cow?”
“No. Nothing like that. Think of it more
like an artist’s signature,” he said impatiently.
“An artist? What?”
He sighed. “An ancient story claims that
after a great battle between demons and angels, a great tear
between Hell and Earth was made. This hole left Hell open to anyone
or anything to enter and leave at will,
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