SAGE

After the waitress served his tea, Damon sat waiting patiently for Sephirah. The woman had wasted his time enough already.

He had wanted to talk to her for two days now but she kept giving excuses to not make it. Finally she said they should meet here today and he was still here before her, she was still late. And of all restaurants in town why did she even pick this one for them to meet to talk?

After a few minutes of just sitting down, he sensed her presence and almost immediately she walked into the shop. 

When Sephirah sighted Damon, she walked over to where he was seated and sat in front of him. Damon just stared at her with an expressionless face as he watched her sit down. Just then another waitress came over.

"What can I get you ma'am?" The waitress asked. 

"I'll just have what he had." Sephirah replied and the waitress nodded and left.

"You wanted to see me." She spoke to Damon.

"So you finally decided to show up." He told her coldly.

"I had things to take care of okay, that's why I couldn't make it." She replied and just then the waitress returned with her iced tea then she bowed and left.

Sephirah took her cup and sipped from it. Damon hadn't even touched his yet.

"So why was it you wanted to see me?" Sephirah asked again.

"Any update from the underworld?" He asked back.

"Well nothing much and new has been going on for a while. But I'm afraid there might be a problem now." Sephirah told him.

"What problem?" He asked suspecting something.

"The SAGE. You've been on earth for a long while and it seems Sebastian has poisoned the minds of the rest and now they're planning on eliminating you to take over your position. It won't be long before they come to earth, if they're not already here." Sephirah said and sipped from her cup again.

Damon looked out the window. He already expected something like this to happen. He had been gone for just a few years and they were already teaming up. He just couldn't be amused enough of how stupid those demons were.

"For the SAGE to come after you, it seems they really have a death wish." Sephirah said.

They really did have a death wish.

Before anyone could think of messing with him then they must have acquired more than enough extra powers to make them confident enough to stand against him but even then they still were no match for him because he always finished them all.

Of course he was like a hundred times more powerful than those four useless things and Damon didn't feel the least worried. He was going to deal with them when the time came. And this time around, he wasn't going to spare anyone.

Damon finally picked his cup and drank from it.

"Any thing else?" He asked.

"Nothing." 

" Let me know if something new comes up." He told Sephirah and stood up to leave.

"Wait that's all?" Sephirah asked but he didn't reply.

"Hey have you paid for your drink already?" She asked again but the man had already walked out.

She hissed. "Now the bill is on me." She said and rolled her eyes.

She kept the money on the table and also stood up to leave.

************

Ashley and Natalie watched the handsome man leave the shop and then the beautiful woman also left. They cleared the tables in the shop that had been used. 

They still had a lot of customers through out the rest day and it was stressful as usual. At least they close early and tomorrow was even going to be a public holiday so they wouldn't be opening.

When it was 7pm, the restaurant was closed for the day. Ashley didn't want to go home yet. There was really nothing she was going to be doing at home. She then decided to go buy the phone she had been saving up for.

Ashley persuaded Natalie to follow her and so she did and they went over to the phone store. Natalie helped her pick a good smart phone and they paid for it then exited the shop.

"You'll have to charge it to a hundred percent before you can start using it okay." Natalie explained to her.

"Alright, thanks much." Ashley smiled.

They bid each other a good night and Natalie took a cab to her place while Ashley began to walk down. When she had come a long way, she began to feel some eyes on her like some people were watching her. 

Weird she thought.

And then she heard footsteps behind her. She looked around her and increased her pace while holding on to her bag tightly. The street was still a bit busy so she was also a bit relieved that she was not alone. But then she was really not alone as it was strange she felt people following her even with the road a bit busy.

She walked faster and it seemed like the people following her also tried to keep up with her. When she had gotten away from the main road, that was when what she feared happened.

Somebody covered her mouth from behind while another took her bag away from her. She tried as much as possible to scream but the hand on her mouth only muffled the noise. She struggled and then managed to bite the hand. Then she heard a scream and the hand left her mouth. She could finally breathe. She looked and saw two men one was holding his hand in pain. She sure bit him hard. The other was with her bag and he came over to her and pulled her hair.

"Arrrrgghhh," She screamed holding the man's hand.

"You shouldn't have done that." The first man spoke up and pulled her cheek. Then they began to drag her roughly into the bush nearby. 

"Where are you taking me?" She shouted hitting the man's hand but he didn't flinch.

"Let me go. Help, somebody help me." Ashley shouted while struggling to get away.

"Stubborn huh?" The man said again and then attempted to carry her when,

"Let the lady go." A voice said and they paused to look. This voice was familiar Ashley thought.

A man was standing in the shadows looking at them and they wondered who it was. 

"Who are you?" The man who had taken Ashley's bag asked.

"That doesn't matter. I said let the lady go." The man told them.

"Look this does not concern you so mind your business and get away from here don't make us deal with you." The one who Ashley had bitten threatened and then attempted to carry her again when Ashley kneed him in the stomach and then tried to escape but fell as the other man used his leg to make her trip and tried dragging her.

"It seems you want this the hard way." The man spoke and came out of the shadows. 

They looked up at him. Ashley recognized him. It was the beautiful man that came to the restaurant earlier in the day. But what was he doing here? There was also something scary she felt about him this evening.

The other men were fed up already.

"Since you can't mind your business then we'll teach you to." One of them said and rushed at him. Ashley moved to the side and watched as the handsome man dodged all of their attacks before giving them each beautiful punches on their faces and they fell unconscious to the ground.

Ashley gasped and got up. She looked around for her bag and picked it up. She checked and saw that her things were still intact. She was more relieved when she saw that her phone hadn't broken. She felt a little dizzy and when she turned she saw the man look at her then he turned to leave.

"Excuse me." She called running after him but he was walking so fast.

"Excuse me." She called again and touched him when she caught up with him. She suddenly felt something she couldn't explain, the feeling felt familiar.

The man turned to face her. "Thanks for saving me." She told him and he nodded then continued walking. Shouldn't he at least ask if she was okay, or maybe offer to drive her home who knows what next could try to hurt her?

Ashley watched him walking away he didn't seem like the type to talk much. She thought of following him. She wasn't sure if she knew her way from here and she was scared and also dizzy. The man had gone far already. Maybe she should follow him to beg him to help her get back home. She started walking. She felt weak from the all the struggling and screaming she did.

The dizziness was too much now. God please she was not going to faint here in the middle of God knows where with nobody around. The weakness had taken over her and she could barely stand and before she knew it she was falling. Her vision became blurry. 

And then she fell into someone's arm or so she thought. She couldn't see who it was and then the darkness finally and completely took over.

**********

Damon was driving on his way home when he saw some men harassing a lady. He wasn't supposed to care but he felt it wasn't right. He pulled over some distance away from them and watched for a while. He saw the lady struggling and then the men began to drag her into the bush. So he got out of the car and followed them.

Soon he heard the lady scream for help so he moved faster. And caught them then dealt with them. 

He looked at the lady who had kneed the man in his stomach. He recognized her as the waitress from the restaurant. She looked so terrified. Who knows what they would have done to her if he hadn't come to her rescue? But why did he? He never cared when things like this happened. He didn't know what to do so he walked out but heard her running after him.

Then she touched him and he felt his body shiver which was absolutely strange. That had never happened.

"Thanks for saving me." She said. He looked at her and since he didn't find any words to say he nodded and continued walking away.

He felt it wasn't right to leave her alone like that. He just saved her what if something else comes up and there was no one around to help her this time. She didn't seem strong enough to defend herself again after what just happened.

He shook his head and cursed then turned around and walked back. When he approached her, he saw she was almost fainting. Gosh they're so weak, he thought to himself.

He rushed over and caught her before she could finish falling. Where was he supposed to take her now?