"Never has a single Ardeon been chased by anything in history."
Martin said as he treated the wound on my cheek. Besides not being weatherproof, Ardeon is not immune to wounds. It sucks. The humiliating fact is, I didn't get this stupid wound from being chased by some mysterious creature, but from getting hit by a skateboards just as soon as I was out of my way.
"I've never heard of anything that hates Ardeon or hunts an Ardeon. No creature in the world knows the existence of a Circle. No, Levent."
"Martin, why would I lie to you?! There was clearly something watching me, chasing me, crashing me, and a piece of hand that tried to crossed the gate I had built. You think I'm drunk?"
I slapped Martin's hand away while he giving medicine at my temple, "I want to meet our Boss. It must be reported."
I grabbed the roll of paper from under my jacket and threw it in Martin's hand, "When are you going to hand over this data? I want to come with you."
"You know you can't coming there until a month before Christmas. Let me report it."
Martin stood off the sofa, glomingly watching the tiny, clean living room of my apartment. I could be categorized as a guy in the human world, but I'm kind of a neat guy. With my work like this, I have a lot of free time to clean my place.
"How can you tell him about what happened to me? You weren't there, and you didn't believe it. It's the middle of July, and I have to wait until the end of November. I could have died before I could report it!"
"You want to be locked up in Black Christmas for the rest of your life?"
Martin walked to the door. Just before he opened the door and left, he turned and looked at me. We've been working together for years. I think of Martin as my biological brother, and I know that Martin thinks of me as his little brother.
So when Martin looks at me the way he does right now, I know that what he says is because he cares about me and thinks about my safety. As the conversation started mentioning about Black Christmas, I couldn't say anything.
"I will accompany you in your next assignment. If there's still an attack, I'll report it to our Boss."
Then Martin left. He didn't give me a chance to restrain his decision. If it is true that he will accompany me in my duties, then he will be subject to punishment from our Boss.
"Stupid." I said, shutting my eyes and trying to get some rest.
*
Although Martin has said a lot of things to calm me down about this mysterious creature that's after me, it still bothers me. I almost stepped on a toy that made a loud noise while I was on duty. I stopped and took a deep breath. I never make mistakes on duty. Three mistakes and a Black Christmas waiting for me.
Today's last child is a girl with braces and a big body. It looks like she has to ask her parents for a new bed, and I think she's about to go into the 'grey' zone. At a time when a child no longer gets a gift from my Boss.
In the 'grey' zone, children are already familiar with the terms' lie for good 'or' white lie ', etc. In the Ardeon's view, such a child is now an adult. They are not a kid anymore. So we, the Ardeon, can no longer decide whether the children are good or bad.
I was busy watching a scene of everything that Gloria, this girl's name, was doing for the past one year, when I heard the sound of breath racing. I looked at Gloria, but her breath was steady. Then my body stiffens. Suddenly I felt a stare behind me. I quickly turned my head and was shocked beyond measure. Standing in front of me right now is the most terrifying creature I've ever seen in my life.
That thing jumped up to attack me. I moved swiftly. I was moving fast to the side, barely hitting the study table. That creature turned around and jumped back. Whatever that is, it's not a good fighter. I avoided again and this time I was right in front of the door.
The creature struck the study table and made the noise that woke up the whole house. Sh*t. Martin and the Superiors will be here. I need to catch this thing, or at least keep it by my side until the Superiors arrive.
I was sliding out of the house. Passed Gloria's parents, who of course couldn't see me, and when as I was outside I saw the creature jump out of Gloria's window on the second floor, and run. Now I have to go after it. I don't want to, but I'd rather not be given points for a mistake I didn't make.
I was sliding at high speed, chasing that blue thing. It ran at impossible speeds, it turned left, I followed it. We are now at a dead end. Suddenly, that thing turned around. I could see the long fangs and deep black eyes. It head was flawless with no hair and in irregular shape.
Seeing it form in detail makes me sick. I suspect this monster is a prisoner of hell on the loose and is somehow after me. Maybe it wants my inline skate. I quickly got rid of that stupid idea.
"Who are you?! "I asked, shouting a little. I'm not sure it understands me. It just froze. I could hear its breathing rapidly accompanied by a low murmur.
[Ardeon...]
The creature spoke in his snarl. I position the finest stance I can. I'm not armed with anything. When I became an Ardeon, all I was given were a pair of inline skates and a tattoo of pen feathers.
Actually, Ardeon's also being trained in basic martial arts. Advanced martial arts only acquired for Ardeon in place other than the human world, at higher risk. But for an Ardeon like me, getting a martial arts lesson is just a formality. I don't even remember the basic moves once out of martial arts class. Especially when I think of the teacher, all I can remember is pain.
So I'm just as good at bluffing as I can, and when that doesn't work, my best plan is to slide away as quickly as possible and call Martin. I've been staring at it for a long time. When I decided to jump up and take him, just as he did to me, I heard someone calling my name. The next thing I see is a light sliding right into that thing's head. Making the blue creature fall down on the street. Is it dead?
"Levent! " I recognized Martin's voice, when I turned I saw two men on each Martin's side. The Supervisors.
"Are you okay?"
Martin came running at me with an anxious expression. He observed me from head to toe, and when he saw me all right, he turned to the Supervisor on his left side. A very tall person, with fair-haired and cocky face. All the Supervisor are like that. Arrogant. I don't know what's causing them that way. Perhaps it's already like that since they were born.
"You know what that thing is? "Martin questioned a Supervisor. The other Supervisor approached the blue creature, turning it very carefully. Then the two Supervisors looked at each other.
"What?" I asked. They both fell silent, nodding at each other. Then the supervisor next to Martin spoke to me. "You must come to the supervisor. "
" it's still July. I don't wanna be locked up Black Christmas."
"It's the exception. You need to tell me how an Ashmedai came after you in the line of duty.
"What figure?"
"Ashmedai. They are the pets of the Monster race."
"Monster??"
I got goose bumps. I knew the Monster race really existed, but I never met them in person. Hearing stories about them was enough to make me reluctant to meet. Now when I saw the pet of those monsters with my own eyes, which, to my mind, was so terrible, I couldn't imagine what it master looked like.
***