Hedgesville, West Virginia
Harbinger Academy
Wednesday, August 21, 1996
6:35 AM

Walking quietly in-between Rem and Reiyl, Jennie held the straps to her backpack and watched her feet move. Behind her Kasei was keeping in step with her. She could hear the soft tap of his shoes on the tiling. Ignoring her nervousness, she looked up and ahead of herself to find various demons heading toward them. Her eyes followed them as they passed.
“Wow, that was some tattoo,” she stated, tapping her cheek where the tattoo on the demon had been. “You’re allowed to have tattoos?”
“Oh yeah,” Rem said as he stopped in his tracks. “Guess no one told you.”
Jennie paused as she found Rem staring down at her with an amused smirk. A few more students passed them as she noticed some contained markings on their arms, necks, and faces.
She looked even more confused as she noticed Rem bend down slightly and fold down his left ear so she could see behind it. Her eyes focused then widened.
“You have a tattoo?!” she asked as she peered at a swirling tribal-like design.
“All us guys have one,” Kasei said as he pulled up his jacket and shirt where Jennie could see a tribal tattoo on his stomach that reached up to his chest.
“Really?” she asked. “Why?”
“Male demons are born with their own mark,” Rem said as he rubbed at the back of his head. “No demon has the same tattoo unless a male gives it to a female.”
“Say that again?” she said confused.
“When a guy meets the girl he wants to stay with forever, he gives her his mark,” Rem said. “It can be an easy task or a painstaking one, but it makes a girl the demon’s mate for life. No other man is allowed to touch her.”
“Oh,” Jennie said as she watched more demons pass, staring at their markings. “And how do you give a girl the mark? Draw it on with a permanent marker?”
“No,” Reiyl laughed as he shook his head. “The male takes his claw and draws his symbol in the same spot as his on the girl’s skin then cuts into his own marking.”
“The final step has the two exchange blood from their cuts,” Kasei said.
“You mean drink blood?” Jennie questioned.
“No, let’s say you and I wanted to get married by demon laws,” Rem said, pausing to make sure Jennie was paying attention. When he saw she was gazing at him with interest, he continued. “First step would be me cutting my symbol behind your left ear to match mine, second step would be me cutting into my own symbol, and the last step would be where you would take your blood and I would take mine and mix it into the cuts. Our blood would flow as one then.”
“Oh,” Jennie said, taking in all he said.
“Some lucky demons find their soul mate!” Kasei said with excitement.
“Soul mate? Does that mean the same thing I think it does?” Jennie questioned.
“When someone is born, they are made for someone else,” Rem said. “To be their partner in life. And if you can find your partner and do the exchange of the mark, you will be able to sense their feelings.”
“That’s neat,” she said, staring at the ground. To find your soul mate and be connected to them all the time... Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
“That’s one lesson that should help you out in demon anatomy,” Rem said as he patted Jennie on the back.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “What about you? Where’s your mark?” She looked to Reiyl as he stared back.
“You don’t want to see mine,” he replied with a chuckle, walking down the hall without the rest of them.
“What? Is his on his ass or something?” Jennie questioned as Kasei shook his head. “Then where?”
“It’s here,” Kasei said, pointing to the outer part of his right thigh. “He didn’t want to pull his pants down to show you.”
“Oh,” she said as she blinked. Her eyes looked into Kasei’s as he gave her a smug look. A brashness formed in the boy’s eyes as she looked away. She whipped her eyes away from him when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“I want you to stay close to Kasei,” Rem said as he handed her a yellow sheet of paper. “These are all your classes and mine. If you need me for anything, just come get me. And if I’m not in class, I’m probably in detention or skipping on the roof.”
“Okay,” she whispered, taking the paper. She stared at it for a moment then watched as Rem headed down the hall. He gave her a quick wave before dashing forward to catch up with Reiyl.