Chapter 2

Augustine pulled the molasses cookies out of the oven, inhaling their fragrant, sugary scent, then placed them on the heat rack. When that was finished, he picked up his jacket, and opened up the door. He hadn’t done any work yesterday, so now was better than never. He was almost out of the house, when Ayame’s voice rang loud and concerned. “Augustine! Where the hell are my new socks?”

He clenched his jaw a little bit but answered as he slipped on his jacket. “They’re in your shoes.”

“…Where are my shoes?”

“On your feet.” (A/N: Borrowed from Flubber. :D)

“…Thank you,” his sister muttered begrudgingly.

“Welcome.” And with that, Augustine was out the door. He looked around, not noticing anything at first, the air around him tranquil and breezy. But after he took a deep breath, relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes, He began to feel a sick shift in the air. It was suddenly humid and foggy, so thick it could be cut with a knife. And he hadn’t even opened his eyes yet.

When he did, the area surrounding him was encompassed in black clutters of shadows. He grinned, and began a slow strut into the blackness. They surrounded him at first, trying to consume his good to produce evil. Once they recognized his kind of power, a loud shrilling hiss spat into the air, and they sped away from him as fast as they could.

But it wasn’t fast enough.

Augustine leapt into the air, and jumped back down onto each black shadow, making them disappear faster than lightening flash, each one screaming in agony before they perished. After a good twenty leaps, they were gone completely. He checked around himself one last time, and feeling certain there were no more demons, he inhaled deeply, blinked, and tensed up some, bringing himself back to reality.

He smiled at all the people walking around him. All things were well now. For it wasn’t strictly demons he was killing; he was killing the demons that inhabited the souls of humans by becoming his soul-form. He had to admit, that he loved the idea of making someone’s soul a little cleaner, and making them perform kinder deeds.

Lately however, business had been slower. Augustine usually didn’t take day-offs. He couldn’t afford to. Far too many demons had been lurking around for anything to be safe. But more recently, he could take days, even weeks off at a time. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried or relieved. Possibly, the demons of the world were disappearing, and he could lead a normal life.

As he walked to a little hotdog stand at the beach, he scoffed to himself. Fat chance of that.

(Cecilia)

Cecilia sipped her coffee and giggled at the Garfield comic below her. She had read that strip before, but Garfield was her favorite strip ever since she first read him. She had often thought to herself that if Candy hadn’t been a girl, she would most definitely have been named Garfield.

As she walked over to the toaster to collect her Pop-Tarts, she heard her phone ring, making Candy meow from her position above the microwave. “I know honey, I heard it.” Cecilia picked up the phone, and answered with a pleasant, “Hello?”

“Hi Cecilia. Look, I know we promised to go out this Friday, but Zach just came out with these hot tickets to go see Alan Jackson!”

“Hope he’s not related to Michael.”

“Huh?”

Cecilia rolled her eyes, but continued to speak. “Nevermind. It’s alright; I’ll just go with Amy.”

“Ohh…yeah…and Amy said that Milo surprised her with a second honeymoon to Honolulu.”

Cecilia paused in the reaching for the sugar frosted Pop-Tarts. “Oh…”

“She’s leaving tomorrow, so she asked me to call for her since she has to pack today. Are you going to be okay this Friday?”

Cecilia shook her head, and brought herself back to reality. “Oh yeah, I can just sit at home and read a book. I don’t need to go out this week. I was actually hoping for a break.”

“Well, only if you’re sure sweetie.”

Cecilia took her plate of Pop-Tarts back to the table while saying, “I’m fine.”

“I know Cecile sweetie. But are you really okay?”

Cecilia laughed. “Promise to stop calling me that and I will be.”

Jamie laughed on the other end of the line too. “Sure. Okay. Adios.”

“Later.”

Cecilia slumped onto her and while her elbows supported her weight on the table. This wasn’t the first Friday the girls had managed to find something more exciting to do. But she had yet to do it herself. She didn’t know anyone from work that well, there were no guys in her life, and her cat didn’t exactly know how to dance just yet.

Said cat had jumped onto the table, and sniffed the Pop-Tarts. “Sorry Candy, but your little tummy is too sensitive to handle this kind of food just yet.” Cecilia said while petting the furry little kitten.

Sighing in disappointment, Cecilia stretched, exhausted after only three hours sleep and no soak in the tub to relax her. She had planned on one, but realized that if she did try taking a bath she could end up falling asleep in it.

Knowing that there was no way she’d be able to set foot in that bridal shop without at least eight hours of sleep, caffeine, and a good bath, Cecilia picked up the phone, and dialed the shop.

Maybe someday, things would change. She’d get out of her blasted routine, find someone to love who would love her back, and just maybe she’d get to try out one of those dresses at the shop.

After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, Cecilia just laughed at herself, realizing, it would never happen. All she had now was her kitten.

As she reached over to pet Candy, she turned to her with a tiny look of fear, and jumped off the table to go get something to eat from her bowl before looking back at a defeated Cecilia.

“Thanks a lot cat.”

(Augustine.)

Augustine stepped back onto the beach, horribly exhausted after all the hunting he’d managed to accomplish that day, but that was accompanied by a sense of fulfillment, maybe even satisfaction. He didn’t deny that along with his human job, he liked Demon Hunting. It made him proud to carry on in his fathers footsteps. Take on a legacy so well that the Demon King himself came looking for a challenge. Just like he did to Augustine’s father.

Smiling, Augustine looked out at the ocean, very tempted to go for a swim to calm his muscles. Of course, with dinner probably already on the table at home, Augustine had seconds thoughts about risking Ayame’s wrath. He smirked a little before something caught his eye in the ocean.

He walked a little closer to it, and after brief examination, he found what appeared to be a scroll of paper. Actual wooden (A/N: GR! For lack of better word,) spools. And even a string tying the whole thing together.

Never having been a man to resist even the slightest mystery, Augustine leaned over, and picked it up. He removed the string, and unraveled the document. It was written in some weird hieroglyphics. But…one of the symbols looked familiar…he couldn’t decipher what it was, but maybe Ayame would know. Eagerly, he rushed home.

“I think I’ve seen this before Augustine.” Ayame said, her eyes studying the parchment with intense concentration.

“Yeah, you seem to have a knack for hieroglyphics.” Augustine said, hands on hips as he observed his sister’s intense gaze at the parchment.

Ayame shook her head. “No, I mean I’ve seen this parchment before. Oh…where’s that old book?” Ayame said, almost to herself as she set the parchment down to go through the old books of Demon Legends on the nearby mahogany bookshelves by the television.

As she found one book, she thumbed through the pages until her face lit up, bright and brilliant.

“Oh my God! Augustine, do you know what this is?”

Augustine gave her an are-you-kidding-me look. “If I knew…why would I ask?”

Ayame rolled her eyes at the sarcasm, but rushed over to show him the book. “See this?”

Augustine leaned over her shoulder to view the page. He discovered that it was actually a picture of that scroll along with some captions. “Cool…can you figure out what it says?”

Ayame shrugged. “Sure. There’s a translation section in the back of the book that explains what some of the hieroglyphics are. Hopefully they have some in there that are shown on the scroll. Let me burn the midnight oil, and maybe I can figure out what this baby says.”

A grin lit up Ayame’s face as she set herself down at her desk, and pulled out her magnifying glass and a pencil to get to work.

(End.)

Oooh! What does the scroll say?? I KNOW I KNOW! Hope you liked it. Myt be short, but it’s given me a HUGE breakthrough! :D