5 The stranger

The mysterious guy stared at me impatiently as he waited for my response. All I did was freeze up.

"Hello? Who are you?" He repeated.

I couldn't let him scare me. I knew it was just a dream anyway. He couldn't do anything to hurt me.

"Who are you?" I asked him in the same rude tone that he gave me.

I expected him to be irritated or angry at me; but instead, he was calm. His body was relaxed as he sat back in his chair. His eyes were glued to me, looking me up and down as he tried to figure me out.

"I asked you first, ma'am."

My heart was still pounding. I couldn't let him see that I was scared. I sat in my chair with confidence, while looking him straight in the eyes.

"Well, I don't have to answer if I don't want to."

There was a long pause, but then he spoke again.

"I can throw you outside with the demons. This is my place, you know."

His place? He looked like he was the same age as I was. Seventeen or maybe eighteen.

If this was his place, then he must have been the leader of the group. I guess that's why he had people doing things for him.

Before I spoke again, one of the guys dressed in armor came up to us and interrupted our conversation. He had brown skin and brown eyes, just like me. I recognized that he was one of the two guys I saw earlier. The ones who were fiddling with their weapons in the corner. "We found her In the forest of Demons and we brought her here. We even took care of her wound just in time before transforming. Still haven't heard a thank you from her yet."

"Oh. Thank you," I said.

Transforming? What did he mean by that?

He looked at me. "My name is Dean. I'm the one who coaxed my friends into saving your life." He reached his arm out to shake my hand.

I remembered Leo mentioned his name earlier.

"I'm...Malaika." I kept my eyes on Dean, while purposely ignoring the rude jerk beside me.

Dean turned his attention away from me. "We haven't found anything new yet. Just got attacked by more demons. Any luck with you kai?"

Kai? So that was the rude jerk's name.

"Yes. We finally found some new territory. There is a giant cave that you can see from the north ridge. A group of demons are blocking the entrance of it. I've never seen so many of them grouped all together like that. I sent Jaden to the top of the mountain to be there in case anything changes. He should be back before nightfall."

Dean smiled. "Do you know what this means? That cave could be the very key to leaving this place."

Kai's face stayed the same. Dull and Expressionless. "It could be. The only problem is how many demons there are in that cave. We can't fight them all at once. Our numbers are too small. Plus the temperatures at night are very extreme up there."

Dean looked down at the ground while thinking. "Well… we just have to train more kids. Or come up with a plan to draw the demons away. And since when has extreme temperatures ever stopped us. We have to know what's behind that cave!"

"Calm down. Can we save this discussion for tomorrow? I'm tired."

Dean paused for a moment and then nodded. He turned to walk away but I stopped him.

"Wait. What do you mean by what you said before? You said you took care of my wound before "transforming." What does that mean?"

Before Dean could speak, Kai interrupted. "When you've been scratched by a demon, you turn into one. Many of our comrades were turned into demons. Their claws have a special venom in them that goes into your body once they scratch you. We've just recently figured out how to extract it in time."

You mean, I could have become one of those creatures? Wait! I didn't have to panic. This was not real.

Kai noticed the concerned look I had on my face, but he continued to talk.

"Each of us here has a job to do. Those guys cook for us, and do chores." He said while pointing to Yara, Jake, and Leo. "And those guys are the doctors of the group and the group over there watch over the little ones." He pointed to another group of people, who were patching up other people's wounds and the others were telling stories to the kids. "The rest of us go out to kill demons and find new territory as well as try to find a way out of here. Not all of us have to go out though. Some of us stay behind and guard the castle."

It was interesting to see that they were all young. They each had such responsible tasks. No matter the level of it.

"Did you say, Castle?" I asked.

"Yeah. This place is much bigger than you realize. We're actually in an abandoned castle. It has much more space than our last home. By the way, I'm not sure what task you'll get, but you're definitely not fit to fight any demons, that's for sure."

I glared at him. "Excuse me? Are you calling me weak?"

He sat back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "Your words. Not mine."

The audacity of this guy.

"Whatever. I'm not planning on fighting any demons, because this isn't even real. You're not real. They're not real. None of this is real."

Kai gave me a slow smile. Something that I didn't expect to see upon his face.

"You're right. This is all a dream. So, why not make the most of it. Let's go outside."

I paused in confusion. "What for?"

"Oh just to go explore. Have a little fun in the snow."

"But… What about the demons?"

He grinned. "You said that they weren't real. So let's go outside."

He got up from his chair, and walked over to a doorway, grabbing a sword on his way there. "You coming?"

Suddenly Yara showed up with a plate in her hand.

"Where are you going, Kai?"

"Malaika wants to go outside and see one of the demons up close."

Yara frowned at him.

"Are you trying to get her killed?"

"She can't really die. This is all a dream. Let's go Malaika."

Yara put a hand on my shoulder and looked at me with a serious face.

"Malaika. I know it's hard to believe, but this is not a dream. Please think this through."

Kai waited impatiently at the door.

"Don't worry Yara. She's in good hands. Have you forgotten who I am?"

Yara rolled her eyes and walked away from us.

Kai opened the door, and the cold wind came through again. His voice was now serious.

"Come on. I promise you won't get hurt by the monsters. I just want to show you something."

He then walked outside.

I was very hesitant about whether I should follow him or not. After a moment, I got up and walked over to where the weapons were to grab a sword. Then I followed him out.

As soon as I walked outside, my body began shivering. I folded my arms and kept my head down as I walked.

"It's cold huh? You don't normally feel anything this real in dreams." He continued to walk farther out. The snow was now reaching above my ankles and it was getting harder to walk. Especially with the wound that was still on my leg.

As I looked behind me I saw the huge castle that we were inside of. It towered high above my head and stretched wide. There were multiple windows and columns.

Behind it was a big night sky, with multiple moons and giant planets hovering above me.

"It looks like a dream," I said.

"Yeah. It looks like a beautiful dream and seems like a nightmare at the same time. But it's all real."

He stopped at a large tree covered in snow that glowed as bright as lights.

"Look. It's one of our little friends." He pointed at a demon that was eating another strange animal. The animal looked like it was a crossover between a dear and a pig. It looked horrifying, but the demon looked much worse.

It stopped eating and all of the eyes that were covering its body looked at us. I got scared, but Kai wasn't phased.

It suddenly ran towards us. The speed of it was faster than I've ever seen.

I quickly ran and hid behind the tree, with the fear of being scratched again or eaten. I even accidentally dropped my sword in the process.

Kai swung his sword and the monster's head was on the ground. Just like that. He barely even moved.

Purple blood splashed on me. It was all in my hair and my clothes.

I became nauseous and you know what followed next.

He walked over to me and handed me a napkin from out of his pocket.

"Here. Wipe your face. Quickly."

I wiped my face and checked if I got everywhere.

"So tell me. Why did you run?" He asked.

I stared at him in confusion. "Isn't that obvious? I didn't want to die!"

A smirk came across his face. "But isn't this just a dream?"

I hesitated. It all felt so real but I didn't want to believe it. I didn't know what to say.

"I...don't know."

"You do know. You know that this is real but you're too afraid to admit it."

"Stop it!" I yelled as I pushed him away from me.

My eyes were raging but full of fear. My mind was wandering all over the place.

"If… if this was real...then that would mean that my sister is actually in danger! I got separated from her when we were pulled in here! You have to help me save her!"

Kai gave me a concerned look.

"How old is your sister?"

"She's eight."

He scratched his head and looked away from me.

"According to Dean, you were barely alive when my comrades found you. I don't know how to say this, but I don't think that your...uh" He paused before speaking again. "Well...It's... it's possible that your sister made it. "