The rain pounded on the car windows going down the highway, headed south away from its old home. The back right window was fogged from the heat of Sarkas's forehead leaning on the cool glass. They had been driving all day with few stops, but even so he was starting to find it hard to keep his eyes open. He had hardly slept for the past week and now with the constant movement of the car along with the darkness provided by the storm clouds he felt the insomnia slipping away. His eye lids felt like bricks and almost unconsciously they finally slid down. The dark shadow gripped tighter and leaned in close to his face...
NO! Sarkas jerked awake for the hundredth time. He shook his head and put his fingers up to massage his temples, Can't fall asleep...damn it.... These days even when he could get to sleep he didn't want to. The nightmares just kept coming back. Except they weren't really nightmares. He tried to convince himself that was all it had been, but nothing could get rid of the ice and fire feeling that still tingled his neck when he thought about that night....
He laid down the other way against the suitcases and boxes piled up to the ceiling of the car. His head hurt from bouncing against the window and various corners of things were poking his back, but maybe the uncomfortable ness of it all would keep him awake this time.
"How much longer?" he yawned.
"Not far now hun," his mom answered from the front seat, "Only an hour or so left. Then we can get some sleep and get all settled in tomorrow."
"No sleep..." he mumbled too softly for her to hear. His eyes were already closed again and unconsciousness was claiming him.
It had been raining that night too...Had it only been a week? Felt like a year. Too much had happened in too short a time. That night he had just been hanging out with his friends. It was a nice night, he figured he would just walk home but half way it started raining. It wasn't real heavy so he didn't mind much. When he walked past the neighbors fence he saw his shadow going across. Didn't notice it until he realized there were no street lights close enough to make a shadow. That's when he moved and discovered the shadow wasn't his. He turned around and looked every which way but there was no one else around to make the shadow either.
That’s when it came at him. It came away from the fence but instead of slinking down into a 2D form on the ground it came out in a 3D blob of darkness. He didn't know what to do. Half frozen in terror he just watched as the shadow came closer and closer. Only when its black hand closed around his neck did his feet finally start to move but by then it was too late. It had a good grip for being a shadow and it wasn't letting go. He was losing air fast. The shadow started to blur. That was the last thing he remembered before waking up on the sidewalk. The next day his dad had come home announcing he was going to get a huge raise and promotion if he transferred down south to a different location. A week later they were on the road.

Sarkas woke to the sound of salsa music blaring somewhere around. His eyes opened and closed several times as they got used to the sunlight streaming through the window. He was in a bed, in a bedroom. He must have slept the rest of the ride to the house and all through the night. Judging by the volume of the music outside his door it wasn't morning either. He gave a small smile and closed his eyes again. The sunlight felt so nice and the sleep had felt so good. Even with the nightmare he would not have minded going back to sleep now, but the music forbid it. He opened his eyes and sat up in the bed.
There were boxes all around. Sarkas glanced over them all until he spotted the one marked, 'S. clothes'. He opened the lid and dug out a clean shirt. He looked out the window at the sun that had partly woken him up. There were hardly any clouds up there. It was going to be a nice day. There was a tree not far from the window. It was a ways down and he realized he was on the second floor. Sarkas grinned, he had lived on a one story his whole life. He had no objections to a bigger house. Across the street he saw a house with a lawn chair in the front yard. On the chair was a young woman laying out. She had the long blonde hair and was holding a magazine in front of her face so he couldn't see how old she was, but by the look of her body she wasn't ancient. Still, Sarkas had never seen a day in October in his life where it was warm enough to go tanning. South might not be so bad as far as weather was concerned.
As one song ended and another began Sarkas snapped back into reality. He torn his eyes away from the girl and opened up the door. Hopping down the stairs he saw his dad stumble across the hall carrying a lamp. He put it down for a second and wiped his forehead then he looked up to see Sarkas leaning on the rail.
"Hey Lili, sleeping beauty is finally awake!" he called into the next room.
"No kidding!" a woman dressed in paint stained clothes with a bandana tied around her long black hair came walking up. Even with the get up she still looked like it was designed for her. Lili Carson was one of those women where no matter how old she got, she still looked beautiful. Sarkas wasn’t that bad himself, but he inherited his wild black hair from his father which never seemed to go where he wanted it. Sarkas jumped down the last few stairs and his mother quickly gave him a hug and kiss on the head.
"I've never seen anyone sleep so hard for so long, we were beginning to think you had gone into a coma or something!" she told him grinning.
"Yeah, you guys look so concerned too." Sarkas poked her and pulled away from the hug.
"I was beginning to get concerned I was going to have to move all the furniture myself!" Chris Carson said.
Lili laughed, "Even though we all know your father is so big and strong!"
"I donno, he looks a little winded to me." Sarkas grinned. It was a known fact in the family that Chris had as much arm strength as a school girl.
"You would be too if you had been carrying boxes around all morning!" the man defended himself.
Sarkas chuckled, "Alright you pulled my arm, I guess I can help ya out a little." Chris picked up the lamp and they herded into the living room, "So what do you want me to do?" the boy asked rubbing his hands together and looking around the room of chaos. There were boxes scattered around with some chairs in between. The boom box with the salsa music blaring was in a corner on top of the television.
Lili ran her eyes over it all, "Well I was thinking we could have the couch against the wall with the coffee table in front. Then the two recliners over there facing the window...no put one of them in the corner there then we can put the lamp in between...."
"Okay lets just start with one thing at a time." Sarkas patted his mothers arm to quiet her down. He walked over to one of the big recliners and pointed to the corner by the window, "Over there right?"
"Yeah!"
Sarkas put his hands down but Chris ran over too, "Let me help ya with that son!"
"No dad, it's okay I got it!" it was true too. While the father may have been weak as a kitten the fifteen year old son was stronger than anyone the family knew. Though he had only been a freshman he had been the biggest rising football star at his old high school had ever had.
"Come on, let your old man feel useful for once in his life!" Chris pleaded.
Sarkas grinned and shook his head, "Okay okay lift on three. One...two...three!" they lifted up the big chair and hauled it over to the corner then adjusted it until Lili was satisfied.
She grinned and walked over then took Sarkas's hands and started dancing around with him, "My big strong men, I don't know what I'd do without you two!"
"You'd prolly be able to find a better dance partner!" Sarkas laughed and let his mother guide him back and forth but didn't put much effort into the dance. He hadn't for years now.
"Oh noo. I'll let you poke fun at my strength but when it comes to my dancing I am the king!" Chris bragged and stole Lili away from Sarkas. He watched as the two danced around the maze of boxes to the bouncing music coming from the boom box. They had won a lot of contests over the years. They were the closest thing to professionals without actually being professionals. They had met dancing too, at a club near the college they had gone too. Lili had taught it all to Sarkas when he was younger and he caught on quick, but as he got older it wasn't as cool anymore and he gave up. He was still the best dancer around next to his parents but no one else would ever know that. Sarkas smiled and started organizing the boxes around so they could move better.
Suddenly they heard a loud knock on the wall. They all looked over to see an old Japanese guy with gray hair standing in the living room door.
"My apologies!" he tried to yell over the music. Chris quickly jumped over and turned it down.
"I rang the bell but no one answered, then I noticed the door was unlocked and just let myself in. I hope I did not interrupt anything."
"Oh no, Mr. Yami!" Chris said cheerfully.
"I was afraid the bell might have been broken but I am not as sure now." the little man smiled.
Chris walked back over and put an arm around Lili, "Guys, this is my boss Mr. Yami. Sir, this is my wife Lili and my son Sarkas."
"Nice to meet you." Lili said politely and shook his hand.
Sarkas couldn't even force himself to smile. He didn't need introductions. This was the man that had ruined his life. He was happy his dad was getting a big raise and all that but his life by itself had been completely destroyed. This was the man that had pulled him away from his friends, his school, his rising football career. Not that he couldn't start over in his new school but he had had a foundation there. He could keep in contact with his friends he had known since kinder garden, but it wouldn't be the same. And he was going to bored to death in school until they realized he should be moved to a few honors classes if they wanted to challenge him at all. Sarkas disliked very few people but he hated this man with a passion.
Mr. Yami extended his hand to Sarkas and it wasn't until Lili hit him lightly before he took it. They shook and when Mr. Yami pulled his hand away he had to shake it out a little, "Quite the grip your boy has there." he commented. Lili glared at her son but couldn't scold in front of her husband’s boss. Sarkas knew better than to be so rude.
"Anyway I just wanted to drop by and see how you were getting along or if you needed any help moving in." Mr. Yami said.
"Ahh, no I think we've got it under control," Chris told him, "We've got our own little wrecking ball here." he nodded at Sarkas who still couldn't seem to pull his face into anything nicer than a cold glare.
"That is right, that was the other reason I wanted to drop by," said Mr. Yami, "I realize moving right in the beginning of a new school year is a little hard so I looked into a programs Sarkas might be interested in. He could make a few friends before he starts next week so he would not feel as lost."
"Well that sounds wonderful." Lili smiled.
Like what? Boy scouts? Volunteer work at the old folks home? Sarkas kept the comment to himself but wouldn't be surprised if that was what came up.
"I remember you once saying your son was into Karate?" Mr. Yami looked at Chris.
"Ah, well yes but he earned his black belt years ago." Chris said slowly. That was part of the reason Sarkas was so strong. Before he got into football, when he was still in elementary school he got into karate. Turned out he was a natural and got his black belt almost half as fast as any of the other students. After that he moved onto Kung fu and Tai kwan dou. He finished them both by middle school and that was when he joined the football team. Yeah, he was a legend in his old neighborhood and he was going to miss it.
"Ah yes." Mr. Yami nodded, "Then how do you feel about Kendo?"
"What?" for the first time since the man entered the room Sarkas's face softened and went more to confusion.
"It is like a Japanese sword technique. Similar to fencing here I think. I started the program myself. It is very interesting, I think you would be good at it." the little man told them.
"That sounds wonderful!" Lili said cheerfully, "Sarkas what do you think about that?"
"Maybe...." really it depended if the old guy was going to be teaching it or not. There was no way he would be able to stand being in the same room with him for more than ten minutes at a time. But he had always thought fencing would be kind of fun in the back of his mind. Swinging a sword around would probably help him release a little stress too.
"Well I think it's a great idea." Lili used that tone of voice and suddenly Sarkas knew he didn't have a choice in the matter. This was her unconscious way of getting him back for being to rude in the beginning, but he didn't mind as much. The little guy was so old there was no way he would still be teaching a class like that now.
"All right. I'll try it." Sarkas agreed.
Mr. Yami smiled, "I will take care of the arrangements. We will call it a business expense for the first session shall we?"
"Oh we couldn't let you do that!" Chris said hastily but Mr. Yami waved it off.
"You have enough to deal with right now. Call it my little treat for sacrificing your lives and moving down here to help my business. There will be no more arguments."
"Thank you very much!" Lili exclaimed and even Sarkas found his voice to murmur a small 'thank you'.
"I have to go now but I will get the details to you later." Mr. Yami told them and started to walk back towards the door. The three followed him back. When he opened the door Mr. Yami reached out and they heard a chime echo throughout the house, "Guess it is not broken after all!" he smiled and bowed goodbye to them all then walked down the little path to his car in the street.
As Sarkas looked out the door he noticed the girl in the lawn chair across the street again. He could see her sunglasses above the magazine she was holding. Then Mr. Yami turned to leave and the magazine moved up an inch so it was covering her eyes. She wasn't tanning, she was spying on the new neighbors! Sarkas smirked. He couldn't really blame her. He was always curious when new people moved in around him too. But he had always just resorted to the looking through the blinds technique. He had to admit she had a good spy system going there.

Four days later the house was looking pretty good. Sarkas had his room all set up the way he wanted. It was huge compared to his old room and it was odd seeing so much floor space. It was Wednesday and officially five days away from his first day at the new school. He was nervous to have to start all over but today he getting all excited for this Kendo program he had been signed up for.
With a quick hug and kiss, Lili dropped her son off at a building that looked like a gym on the outside. It had a bunch of pictures of people doing karate, wrestling and fencing on all the outside walls. Sarkas walked slowly up to the doors. Already something about this place didn't seem quite right. Then he realized there was no parking lot. Just a little semi circle for people to pull in and right back out.
Guess they don't hold a lot of parties here, he thought as he opened the door and poked his head inside. It reminded him of his old school's activity center. The floor was divided into about five different basketball courts. There was a track going around the whole thing about three quarters of the way up. There were two huge gymnastic mats laid out in front of him that covered two whole courts. Only problem was that there wasn't anyone in there. Sarkas stepped in and when the door shut behind him it echoed throughout the whole place.
He heard some movement off to the left and looked to see a girl about his age and height picking herself off the floor. Okay so there was one other person there. She started walking over to him. Sarkas quickly put on a friendly smile and gave a small wave.
"Hi! Are you here for the Kendo thing too?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah! You must be the new kid," she looked at him, "Hey, you're the kid that just moved here right?" she blurted out.
"Y-yeah, how'd you know?" he hadn't been out of the house except to go help get take out dinners.
For one second her eyes gave away that she had said something she shouldn't have but she instantly covered it up with a smile and put out her hand, "Nice to meet you," she dodged the question, "I'm Katie Walker."
Sarkas took her hand, letting her get away with it for now, "Sarkas Carson."
"Sarkas? That's a cool name!"
"Blame my parents." they let go but not before Sarkas noticed her skin was as dark as his. He just naturally had darker skin and he could tell by her blond hair that she had to have been out in the sun a lot to get to his color. Then it clicked, "You're the girl across the street that's been watching us aren't you?"
Katie's eyes widened in surprise for a moment then she grinned, "You're sharp. It would have taken any other guy in this poor excuse for a town a month to figure that out, if at all."
"I'm no ordinary guy." Sarkas smiled and looked around the empty gym, "So have you been doing Kendo for a while now?"
"Huh? Oh yeah yeah, I've uh, been doing it for about two months now." the smile was gone.
"How many other kids are in the class?" he had some what been hoping his mom had gotten the time wrong and he had been an hour early or something.
Katie gave an apologetic look, "It was just me until today!"
So much for making a lot of friends before school, "I see, well is it fun?" was it some kind of sign that there was only one other person in the class?
She opened her mouth then bit her lip and looked at the ground. The friendly look slowly disappeared from Sarkas's face. Something was seriously wrong here. Katie opened her mouth again, "You'll see." was all she had time to mumbled before they heard a door opened from the side of the gym. Both heads turned and an little old man hobbled through.
Oh no. It was going to be Mr. Yami teaching the class. Everything about this was whack. Sarkas needed out, now. He started to turn to the door as the old man spoke.
"Ah good you two have all ready met. That saves us a few extra minutes. Tell me Mr. Carson what would you gain by leaving?"
Sarkas turned back around. Something was different. This wasn't the same polite, timid old man that had come to greet them to their new house. No, just looking in his eyes he could tell this guy reeked of pride and power. The old shaky voice was gone, replaced by a strong tone of confidence in every word.
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" still didn't change the fact that it was his fault Sarkas was stuck in this place.
Mr. Yami looked un amused, like he wasn't used to dealing with people talking back to him, "All right then. I will tell you that you would gain a lot more questions but unless you stay you will never find the answers."
What was he playing at? "What do you mean more questions?"
"I mean the game has begun. If you leave now you will start seeing things, hearing things, maybe even doing things that you will not be able to explain. I know all about you Mr. Carson. I know that you do not like not knowing the answer to something. It is already eating away at you. The questions in your mind about that night, what is it, a week and a half ago now?" the old mans eyes stared at Sarkas like he could see right through his head and into his soul.
After a small pause Sarkas realized it was his turn to say something, but no words were coming. He should just turn away and leave now but he couldn't bring his legs to move. There was something behind those eyes. Something more powerful and more fearsome than anything on Earth could imagine. Mr. Yami was right, Sarkas wanted answers and obviously he was the only one that had them. He could see behind those eyes that Mr. Yami knew exactly what that thing was that had attacked him and the where and whys of it.
"So glad you decided to stay with us." Mr. Yami said and turned before Sarkas could even open his mouth. He walked onto the big gymnastics mat on the floor and motioned for them to follow. The two kids made their way over. Both a good few inches taller than the old man. By following him Sarkas had just signed his own funeral. Any chance he had to leave had just disappeared.
"Now, before we begin," Mr. Yami faced them, "I want to see how far your skills are so far." he motioned to the mat, "The one who pins the other first wins."
"Wait, you want us to fight?" Sarkas confirmed and looked over at the blond prep girl.
"Yes I want you to fight," the old man stated, "Nothing too dirty though. Can not have you going home all banged up on your first day."
Katie smirked and cracked her knuckles. She could see Sarkas eyeing her as one of those weak cheerleader types, "This will be a good warm up." she threatened.
That statement said a lot. She was apparently very confident with her skills and Sarkas put his guard up as he walked closer to the middle of the mat.
"Come now you two we have not got all day." Mr. Yami prompted them.
"If you say so, but if she breaks a nail just remember it was by your word." Sarkas grinned and took a stand facing his opponent.
They were both on to each other now. Each knowing the other had confidence and skill. The point to be determined was how much. If someone knew their attacker was underestimating them, they could sometimes attack with full strength on the first move and knock them out quick. Katie made the first move, that nail statement always hit a nerve. She ran and attacked Sarkas with her fists. He watched her move and dodged the first swipe and catch the second. Still he was surprised with her speed and force. She kept striking at him and Sarkas had to back away. Finally he was able to catch both her hands and aimed a side kick at her waist, but somehow she had seen it coming. She twisted her hands away and did a fast no handed cartwheel to avoid his attack. It was official, she was good and she knew it too. She landed in a squatting position but quickly sprang up and came at him again. Her fist went out and Sarkas blocked it but he was too late to notice her opposite leg coming out in the same attack he had just used. He was hit in the side and knocked over. Her foot was on his head before he could get up again.
They heard soft clapping off to the side from Mr. Yami. Katie took her foot away and offered a hand to help Sarkas up. He put a hand to his side and sat up then politely waved her hand away. She hadn't kicked him as hard as he knew she could, but it was going to leave a nasty bruise non the less.
"You're good." she complimented, slightly out of breath.
"Not good enough." Sarkas smiled as he realized this was the first time he had been beaten since elementary school. It was exhilarating to finally find an adversary that could match him.
"A little out of practice though?" it was more of a statement than a question.
"Just a little." Sarkas nodded and looked up at Mr. Yami who had appeared at her side.
"Good good. You two are exactly as I had hoped for. We will whip you back into shape in no time Mr. Carson." he said.
"Whip me back into shape? Is this class really for Kendo?" Sarkas had been having doubts since he walked in.
Mr. Yami looked at him, "Yes and no." he said slowly, "You will be learning to use a sword and all. But you will also be trained in the art of the bow and arrow, darts, stars, whip, disk, dagger and anything else I decide you need."
What the hell was all this? "Why don't you just teach us sniping while you're at it!" the fun from the fight was gone and Sarkas was not happy.
Mr. Yami shook his head, "Too small, too fast. Only things guided by the hand can be controlled by the mind."
"We can't learn all that at once!" Katie protested. She had known the outline of the whole deal but she apparently hadn't gotten the details yet.
"Oh you will." Mr. Yami told her, "You two are special. You're smarter, faster and stronger than the average human. You have something inside of you that no one else in the world has. You have been trained since you were young. You were born to fight."
This was seriously starting to freak Sarkas out now. Just walking in the door had been creepy, but this was just insane. Who was this guy? Was he some big shot mob guy that was going to train them to be assassins or body guards? It was bad enough he had to drag Sarkas away from his whole life now he was going to make him a criminal too? Or maybe he was from the government sent to train new spies. Either way it was messed up. Katie was looking at him too.
"What, did you think I was just going to explain it all then say 'go have fun fighting them kids'?" Mr. Yami exclaimed, "No no, you will not win anything that way. You need to become even stronger and more skilled than you are now."
"Fight who?" Sarkas interrupted.
"The demons." the old man told him.
Now that was just comical. This whole thing, the Kendo set up, the weird talks, the fight, all so they could train to fight a few bed time ghost stories?
"Don't be so naive Mr. Carson." Mr. Yami snapped, almost like he knew what he was thinking, "You met one. And you will meet others. I guarantee it."
The black shadow. That thing had been a demon? Sarkas couldn't take this anymore. Everything about this was just wrong. He shook his head and stood up, "I'm out of here." he had too much stress to deal with already without people telling him one thing and it turning out to be another. He didn't need to know that he was supposed to fight these demon things. He stormed out the door and started walking back the way they had come. It wasn't far by car but it took a while by foot and Sarkas was actually a little surprised he didn't get lost. But he needed the time to think. Too much was going already without all the junk that had just been thrown at him. Sarkas didn't get any sleep that night but he was used to that by now.

The door bell rang at exactly three thirty the next day. Lili opened it to find a pretty young girl standing outside.
"Hi is Sarkas there? I've come to take him to our Kendo class." she said with a smile.
"Oh are you in it with him?" Sarkas hadn't said much when he had come home the day before but he must have already made some friends.
"Yes ma'am." Katie nodded.
"How nice! Sarkas?!" she yelled into the house.
"Yeah?!" a response was heard from up the stairs.
“Come down here you have a visitor!"
Sarkas came out of his room and looked down the stair case. He knew who it was and...yep there she was...talking to his mother?!
"Do you guys need a ride?" Lili asked.
"No thanks, it's not far and we have time to walk." Katie said.
"Alright then, SAR- oh there you are!" Lili smiled and motioned for him to come down the stairs, "Better hurry up or you'll be late!" she was overjoyed that he had made a friend so quick.
He couldn't do anything weird in front of his mom so Sarkas forced his legs down the stairs and out the door with a quick pat on the back from Lili. Katie started walking as soon as the door was closed and Sarkas had no choice but to follow.
"Listen up." she said before he could say anything, "I know exactly what you're going through. I went through the same thing when he first told me all about it. I didn't believe a word he said until I actually met up with one."
"One what?" Sarkas asked lazily, a little out of it from the lack of sleep.
"Demon! I've fought with two already. They're strong but they're stupid."
"Demon's don't exist." Sarkas mumbled.
Katie looked at him, "If you really believed that you would have gotten some sleep last night."
Sarkas stuck his tongue out at the sidewalk. She was right.
"Come on..." she suddenly changed direction.
"I'm not going back there." he didn't want to deal with any kind of demon thing even if they were real.
"We're not going right to the gym." Katie said.
"Where are we going?"
"Star Bucks, hello, you can't function like this. We need some coffee." only two blocks down was a small strip mall of about ten different stores, Star Bucks being right on the end, "And if you don't go back I'll come and beat you to a pulp then drag you there." she threatened, "I refuse to do this alone anymore." she whispered under her breath. Katie went in and quickly ordered one of those fancy mint Oreo cooler thingies. Sarkas had been in a Star Bucks maybe twice in his life. After a lot of arguing and debating she got him to try a simple raspberry smoothie.
"Hey, this isn’t so bad," he finally admitted as they got to the gym. Mr. Yami was all ready waiting for them.
"Now that you have had time to think about it will you stay still and listen today?" he asked Sarkas as soon as the door closed.
"I'll listen and go along with this whole demon fighting thing if you answer some questions for me first." Sarkas bargained. He hadn't been up all night for nothing and the smoothie really was giving him a buzz.
"Shoot."
"How did you know about that thing attacking me a week and a half ago?" Sarkas demanded.
Mr. Yami was silent for a moment, "I sensed it. I went to check it out and saw you."
"I blacked out and when I woke up it was gone. Did you kill it?" he asked.
“No" was the simple answer.
Sarkas took a drink, "Then how come it was gone when I woke up? It was about to kill me, I doubt it just ran away after I blacked out."
The old man paused again, "When you blacked out something else woke inside of you and killed it."
"What woke inside me?"
Mr. Yami looked at the ceiling like he was trying to figure out the right words, "An...entity, a power....." he left it at that.
"What do you mean?" Sarkas asked. Katie was watching Mr. Yami closely, she was curious too.
But he just shrugged, "You will find out later."
"Later?" Katie protested.
"But you said you'd answer my questions!" Sarkas argued.
"That is my answer, you will find out later. You are not strong enough yet to be able to use and control that power, so there is no point in me waiting time teaching you about it yet." he turned his back, telling them the matter was closed.
Katie sighed and finished off her cooler then looked over to see Sarkas with his face scrunched up and his mouth moving, making fun of Mr. Yami. She had to put her hand up to keep from spitting her drink out while she laughed silently. Then Mr. Yami spun back around and both snapped up like good little school kids.
"So then shall we start?" he asked, "Drinks down." they both looked around and no trash can was in sight so they just set the empty cups by the edge of the mat.
"Wait, I wanna know about these demon dudes, if I'm going to be fighting them and all." Sarkas said as they stepped up.
"Talk while we work. Mr. Carson." Mr. Yami said and handed them both a wooded sword, "Take a few swings, see how you like it."
Katie waved hers back and forth a few times. Sarkas just weighed it for a moment, "These are really heavy for being wood."
Mr. Yami nodded, "The inside is steal. Heavy to build up your strength. The wood is just a cushion in case someone takes a wrong step."
"Like I need my strength built up any more." Sarkas boasted as he took the sword in both hands and swung it around experimentally.
"You will if you want to beat me." Katie grinned and took a stance with the sword pointing at Sarkas in challenge.
"All right then." Sarkas smirked and held his own sword in front of him, "Have you ever done this before?"
"Nope." the grin just got bigger.
"Yes, you two get warmed up while I fill Mr. Carson in on the situation." the old man stepped back as Sarkas took a slow swing at Katie. She easily blocked and the two went through some rounds of easy swings.
"So start fillin'!" Sarkas said after a minute of silence.
"Alright Alright." Mr. Yami cleared his throat, "A few months ago these demons started appearing around this area. They only come out at night."
Sarkas thought about the night he had been coming home from his friend's house.
"Their appearance is darker than space."
It had looked like a shadow, but it had been raining and there was no light around to make any.
"They are fast and strong."
The feel of the unnatural hand around his neck.
"You two are the only ones that can see them, touch them and fight them. Given free reign they would go on to wreak havoc among humans and no one would ever know what was happening. That is why you must fight." he paused and watched them, "Stop stop. I can not take watching you take your little baby swings at each other any more. Get some space."
They separated a few feet.
"Now feet shoulder width apart. Sword in both hands. Arms out. Elbows locked. Bring the sword up...and down! Harder! You won't kill anyone with those weak thrusts! Again!"
Sarkas brought the sword above his head and slammed it down, stopping it a few inches from the mat.
"Harder still! A sword is made to kill and protect, when you swing a sword you not only swing it with your arms but with your heart! Again, with feeling!"
They did it again, using all their strength to bring it down and stop it short.
"You are still no getting it," Mr. Yami scolded, "Imagine a small demon is right in front of you and about to kill a loved one. Now hit it!"
Sarkas lifted his arms and looked down. All he saw was the mat. He tried to imagine the demon that had attacked him standing right in front of him. For a brief instant he saw a small shadow in front of him and suddenly all the hatred and anger that had built up inside of him the last few days was released. It was their fault he was here, their fault he almost died, their fault he had to listen and go along with all this crap, their fault he was going to have to go out and risk his life for something no one else could even see, their fault if this ever got out he would be called crazy, their fault he was stuck with this lunatic old fart every day now, but heck if that old fart wanted him to kill them he'd kill them, he'd go out and kill them all right now then maybe he might be able to put his life back together! "AAHHH!!" the sword came down and stopped an inch from the mat. The shadow was gone.
"YES! That is exactly what I want to see Mr. Carson!"
Sarkas just glared at him and tried to get his breath back. Back? He had been fine two seconds ago. How could one swing have tired him out so much? He glanced over at Katie, she was staring at him like he had just committed murder or something.
"Do it again!" Mr. Yami was excited though.
Sarkas replaced his feet and lifted the sword. The shadow came back in front of him. Wreak havoc on humans? How dare it try to kill him and threaten his family. He'd kill them all before they had a chance to havoc on ants! "AHH!" the sword came down again just as hard.
"Yes! You got it!" Mr. Yami shouted.
Sarkas was breathing even heavier now and he was forced to rest the tip of the sword on the ground to take some of the weight off for a moment. Dang that was hard.
"Walker!" Mr. Yami looked over at Katie. She nodded slightly and raised the wooden sword above her head. Sarkas watched as her eyes went from serious to determined to mad to unearthly in the span of a nano second. She cried out and brought the sword down and as it stopped before the mat a pulse came out shook the air and made Sarkas shiver. Now he knew why she had looked at him so funny the first time.
"Good!" the old man was smiling, "In the first ten minutes you two have reached a level that even master samurai's have never reached!" he was ecstatic, "Next we have to work on performance and technique, but first do that again another thirty times!"
"Thirty?" after the first two Sarkas was sure he would pass out after ten!
"Yes! Any more questions and I will make it fifty! No pain to gain!" Mr. Yami grinned.
Sarkas sighed and the two lifted their weapons. The shadow appeared in his eyes and the sword came down. Two unseen pulses swam to the sides of the gym.
"Again!"
They did it again. And again. After about fifteen Sarkas was dripping sweat, but every time he lifted the sword it came down with the same power. By now he didn't even need to envision the demon. He felt the power inside and released it in his arms when they came down.
"There are two ways to kill a demon." Mr. Yami decided to continue the lecture when he felt they had gotten the hang of it. The air pulsed as the swords came down and lifted again, "One! Light. Any form of light will do. That is why they only come out at night."
"Then why bother with the training, why not just bring a flashlight and smoke them all?" Sarkas gasped and brought his arms down again.
"Any form of batteries go dead within a hundred feet of them. Batteries have two elements. Positive and Negative. Demons are pure negative energy. They disrupt the batteries so the positive electrons overtaken by the negative. And the battery can not work without a balance of the two. Any other form of light, traffic lights, street lights, are all burned out before they get to where ever they are going."
The air pulsed.
"Number two! By basic combat. You can touch them and fight them, therefore they are solid beings to you. Knock them down and step on their head, whatever you have to do to kill them. Once they are killed they will fade away, that is how you will know you have won. It will become easier as you get stronger. You will be taught to use weapons and those will aid you greatly in the fight." the air pulsed, "Once more!" Mr. Yami commanded. They brought the swords down one last time, "Good! Take two minutes to get the feeling back in your arms."
Sarkas collapsed on the mat. His lungs burned, he was drenched in sweat and for a moment he swore he couldn't even feel his hands. Katie was sitting down looking much the same as he felt, "Does he do this every time?" Sarkas managed to get out between breaths.
Katie shook her head, "I think he's been waiting for you to start the real training." she looked up and started crawling towards the wall of the gym. There were two convenient drinking fountains built in.
Sarkas rolled over onto his hands and knees and made his way over as well. The water never tasted so good in his life. He drank as much as he could then just let the cool water run over his face. He could never imagine another time when he was this tired out either. Even when he was in karate and all that they never worked them this hard. And he was strong enough where very few daily tasks made him sweat anymore.
"Alright break is over!" Mr. Yami called the two back.
"There's more?" Sarkas whined.
"You did not think I would just have you swing a sword around for a while and have you be done did you?" the old man picked up the swords and put them outside the mat. He was stronger than he looked, "I will be nice and give your arms a break for a rest of the day so next we will work on your legs."
Sarkas had a bad feeling about this. Mr. Yami herded them up to the track that went above the gym. At the top of the stairs he had what looked like big metal bracelets waiting for them. He put one around each ankle of the two kids. The metal was a little cold against the skin and they were a snug fit. Sarkas picked up his foot and shook it and the thing didn't move an inch.
"These are twenty pounds each." he told them, "Four times around the track is a mile so lets do...five miles to start with? No, lets make it three then you will still have some energy to finish up the day." Sarkas couldn't imagine what he had in store for the last thing, "So twelve times around the track! Go!" The two groaned as they picked up their feet and started a light jog around the track. It was harder with forty pounds on their legs.
"What are you doing?!" Mr. Yami yelled after them.
"Running! Exactly what you told us to do!" Sarkas yelled back annoyed.
"You are not running! You are skipping little school girls! When I say run, I want you to run!"
Sarkas looked at Katie who looked back like she wanted to cry. Sarkas tried to smile and shrug. She saw he was at least trying and lighten up, so she nodded and they picked up the pace.
"Faster!!" Mr. Yami prompted them until they were at a full out run.
After a about seven rounds Sarkas wanted to ask if the old man could turn on some music, but he was afraid if he spared even one breath he would pass out. To be honest he was surprised he hadn't already. By the time they finished he was shocked beyond belief and was at the point where he would have rather passed out than continue with this cruel and unusual punishment. They collapsed by the stairs. Mr. Yami took off the metal anklets then picked up one of two big buckets he had. With those things off Sarkas felt like his feet were so light they would float. The old guy walked over to Katie first who was leaning against the wall and had her eyes closed. He tipped the bucket and a waterfall fell onto the girl, drenching her completely.
Katie snapped up and shrieked, but after the momentary shock she calmed down and leaned back against the wall, "You are so lucky I can't move right now."
"I will take your word for it." Mr. Yami said and picked up the second bucket. Sarkas was laying on the floor and smiled as the cool water came crashing down on him, "Can not have you two overheating now can we?" Mr. Yami put the bucket down then started down the stairs, "You two stay up there and rest while I get the last thing ready!" he called back.
"Great, what has he got planned for the finally?" Sarkas muttered.
"Probably wants us to lift this entire building up with one finger." Katie replied.
Sarkas smiled again. The girl had a sense of humor. Although he really wouldn't be surprised if it were true.
After about ten minutes the old guy yelled up to them, "Time to move on, time is running short on us!" the two stumbled their way down the stairs.
The gym was totally different now. There were about seven different platforms all lined up going from three feet high to thirty five. Then on the other side there were bars that people jumped over set up the same way, getting higher and higher.
"We will just do some simple jumping to finish off the day." Mr. Yami told them, "Ms. Walker has all ready had a little practice in this."
"Nothing that high." Katie whimpered looking up at the platform that went almost up to the ceiling.
"Same concept." Mr. Yami assured her, "And since you know how its done you can show Mr. Carson. With a demonstration the technique should be a little easier to grasp."
Katie nodded and walked over to the seven foot high platform first. She climbed up and paused a moment when she got there before jumping off. She had a smooth landing with her knees bent and arms out. It actually took Sarkas a second to realize her feet had made no noise when they hit the ground! He looked down to check, and she was wearing shoes. He gave a small two inch jump up himself and when he came back down the sound echoed like a drum. He looked back up at Katie and the old man for some explanation.
"I told you, you two were unique." Mr. Yami took over, "You have abilities that can go so much farther than normal humans you could even call them...supernatural. Did you hear anything when Ms. Walker landed?"
Sarkas shook his head.
"That is because with the power of the mind you can train your feet and legs to absorb the shock so much that a three story fall would be equivalent to a three foot fall."
Was this guy for real?! "Supernatural powers?" Sarkas was getting skeptical again, "So what, we can learn to fly like superman too?"
"No you can not go quite that far. Even you two will have your limits. You can bend the rules but you can not break them. Although your legs can absorb more than the average human, they only take so much. I think anything higher than fifty feet will cause the same effect on you as it would any other human." he motioned to the little three foot platform in front of him, "Let us see how you do first on your own shall we?"
This was getting all freaky again and Sarkas had a right mind to bail. The sword power was one thing, the running was another, but jumping three stories down and not feeling a thing? He stepped up onto the little three foot ledge and jumped down. His shoes hit the tile and the sound echoed through the gym.
"Do you see that look in his eyes?" Mr. Yami said to Katie. She nodded, "If he does not believe in it all the way it will never work. Go up a little higher."
"Me?" Katie asked.
"Yes you. Try, uh, that one." Mr. Yami pointed to a platform that went up about twenty feet. A fall from there would hurt.
"Shouldn't I, like, work up to it or something?"
Mr. Yami gave her a look and said simply, "Same concept."
"Okay okay." Katie took hold of the ladder and started climbing up. When she got to the top she looked down then up then straight ahead. She leaped off with her arms out again. She fell like a log but when she hit the ground her knees bent and she stayed balanced. Not a sound was heard. She straightened up and gave a sigh of relief. Sarkas blinked. Not only did she land on her feet from a height that would have broken a few ankle bones for anyone else, she did it with no sound at all.
"Your turn." Mr. Yami said to Sarkas.
"On thadaba..." he pointed to the twenty footer.
"Obviously not." Mr. Yami rolled his eyes and jerked his head back at the three foot stool.
Sarkas went over and stepped up. How did she do that? He bounced up and down on his toes for a moment. If he landed on his toes first it usually made less sound than the whole foot at once. He took a step off and tried his theory. He made less noise than he had before but the impact was still the same.
"Imagine the floor being a big trampoline." Mr. Yami told him, "The simulation of the floor taking the shock instead of your feet will lead you to your goal."
Sarkas nodded and stepped back up. This had to be the stupidest thing he had ever done. It even beat letting his parents drag him to this town. He was only happy that there was no one else in this gym to see them jumping around like frogs. The floor as a trampoline? Okay, yeah whatever. He looked down again and when he jumped he tried to imagine jumping onto a trampoline but his feet hit solid ground again.
Mr. Yami sighed, "Try again. Ms. Walker, you continue also."
Someone needs to teach that guy some patience. Sarkas thought as he went back up again. He looked over to see Katie climbing up the twenty five foot platform. He watched her jump down and land gracefully with her knees bent. Maybe that was what he should try. He jumped off his little foot stool and bent his knees. When the tips of his toes touched the ground he saw the floor literally sink under his feet as the rest came down! When his heels touched the floor was normal again.
"Good! Move on to the next!" it took a moment to realize Mr. Yami had been talking to him.
"I did it?" Sarkas mumbled to himself. He went over to the seven foot and climbed up slowly. Bent knees, he told himself. He jumped off and again when he hit floor it sunk under him to give him a soft smooth landing, "Freaky..." he bent over and felt the hard floor of the gym. No way it move like that, but whatever he was doing it was working! He went on to the ten foot platform. He took a deep breath on top. He was going to focus on this one. Figure out what exactly he was doing. Because if he didn’t and freaked on anything higher than this he was going to go splat. He jumped off and watched the floor fly up. When his toes touched he felt a slight vibration run through his body. The floor didn't sink but when his heels hit the ground, he was still standing and didn't hear a sound. He gave a proud smile.
"You think you have it?" Mr. Yami asked. Sarkas nodded happily, "Then test it on that one." he pointed to the thirty foot platform Katie had just jumped off. The one that went almost up the ceiling. She landed as safely as she had on all the others.
Sarkas's smile disappeared but he nodded. If she could do it, so could he. He walked over and climbed up the ladder that went all the way to the top. When he got up there he was only about ten feet away from the pipes on the ceiling. He looked down. That was a looooong drop. I can do this I can do this, bent knees. Sarkas took a deep breath and launched off. The floor rushed up and for a split second he was sure he was going to die, but he controlled his emotions and when his toes hit the floor the shock ran through his body like jolt but his feet landed and no sound was made. "Daaang." Sarkas sat down where he had landed.
Mr. Yami smiled and nodded. He looked over at the jumping poles he had set up, "I think we will save those for tomorrow." he told the two.
"We're done?!" Sarkas cried happily.
"Yes we are done for today. But before you go I have one last thing I would like to discuss with you." he looked back and forth at the two, "When the sun goes down, the demons can come out. I want you two in contact at all times. Mr. Carson."
"Yeah?" Sarkas got up and walked over.
"This is for you." Mr. Yami handed the boy a plain black cell phone.
"Sweet! Thanks!"
"That is not for personal use. It has my number and Ms. Walker's number all ready programmed into it. That phone should never leave your side. That way we will be in contact at all times."
"Yes sir." And he had gotten so excited there for a minute.
"These are for you also." he handed him a pair of retro looking red sunglasses.
"So what we won't get blinded by the darkness?" Sarkas joked as he took them.
"No, so you can actually see the darkness. I would not do that!" Mr. Yami snapped as Sarkas was about to put them on, "They absorb the light that bounces off everything so in total darkness you can see as if the sun were shining right above. Since light does not bounce off demons they will stand out like a sore thumb compared to if you try to find them in the dark they will be much harder to spot. How ever if you put those on during the day there is a seventy five percent chance you will go blind."
"I hear ya." Sarkas put the sunglasses in his pocket next to the new cell phone.
"Good. I will see you back here tomorrow at the same time. Dismissed." Mr. Yami turned and walked to the back of the gym.
Sarkas and Katie quickly made their way to the doors and out into the fresh air. The torment was over for one day.

"Hey, mom! I'm home!" Sarkas yelled as he stepped in the door and slipped off his shoes.
"Oo how was it?!" she called from the kitchen.
"It was...different." Sarkas muttered as he made his way in there and grabbed a banana from the counter.
"Different as in good different or bad?" Lili got up from the kitchen table to check on the goulash in the pan.
Sarkas debated for a moment, "Fifty fifty."
"Really? Do tell!" she was happy today he was at least talking. Yesterday he had just run up to his room and refused to say a word.
"It's interesting stuff, but they work you so dang hard." Sarkas threw the banana peal away and opened the fridge.
"Don't eat too much, we're gonna have dinner soon." his mother said, then turned back to the subject, "You mean the work is hard, even for you?"
"You wouldn't believe it." Sarkas decided that was as far as he wanted to go, "Have you found a job yet?" he sat down at the table where newspaper clippings had taken over.
Lili shook her head, "Not yet. Sent out a few more resumes today though. Hopefully I'll hear something by next week. And you'll never believe my luck I found one for a receptionist at the old folks dance floor!" they had moved so Chris could get the raise and promotion but that left Lili out of a job. She argued that he would make enough for them to live by, but she would die of boredom if she just stayed in the house all day so she was going to get a job just for something to do.
"So you can sit there and watch all the old people do the polka?" Sarkas suddenly had an image of Mr. Yami bobbing back and forth to some old time music. It was really more disturbing than funny.
"Not so much that as I can teach them how to really dance on break!" Lili laughed.
"I donno, I think you should stick to jogging, you might give one of those old guys a heart attack!" Sarkas joked.
"Don't be making fun of my jogging, I think its really helping. Look! my flab is going down!" she lifted her shirt so her stomach showed.
Sarkas cracked up and put out his hand, "Okay mom I don't need to see that!" he turned his head.
"Why not? This is your fault! Feel that, you can't even get a whole handful anymore!" Lili gloated. Sarkas just laughed and shook his head until Lili came over and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug.

Sarkas laid on his bed that night and stared up at the ceiling while he tried to sort everything in his mind out. Like that could ever be accomplished in less than a year. The first time the phone rang it didn't even register in his mind. The second time pulled him back into reality to the point where he tried to remember if they had even had their new phone plugged in yet. On the third he finally got his wits together and took the cell phone out of his pocket. The name on the screen read "Black Kat" cat spelled with a K. K? Katie?
He pushed the talk button, "Hello?"
"It's about time!" the voice from the other side snapped, "We got a code red from Mr. Yami and he wants us at the gym like ten minutes ago."
"Code red?"
"Demon alert." she translated.
"Already?!" Sarkas squeaked.
"Yeah! So come on, I'm already outside."
"How am I going to sneak past my parents?!"
"You don't have to! Say you're...going out for a midnight jog or something. Just hurry up!" the line went dead and Sarkas took that as a sign for her saying, step on it. He just looked around for a moment not really sure what to do. If he said the word jog, his mom would be all over wanting to come with. Still his mind was so cluttered right then he couldn't think of anything else.
He dashed down the stairs and threw on his shoes, "I'm going out for a walk!!" he yelled to his parents watching TV in the living room then jumped out the door before they even had time to respond. Katie was there standing on his side of the sidewalk just like she had said. It was ten at night and cloudy out. Would have been pitch black without all the street lights around.
"Come on." she started running down the sidewalk when he reached her and Sarkas was forced to follow.
"Shouldn't we save our energy for the demon guys?" he asked about half way there.
"We'll get it back by the time we reach them." she told him.
They got to the gym and entered the bright area. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sudden light. Mr. Yami walked up to them quickly with two bundles of black clothes, "It is about time," he scolded, "Change into these." he handed one bundle to each, "These will help you to blend into the night better."
"We get uniforms too?" Sarkas raised an eyebrow and went behind one of the curtains that had been set up.
"There are a total of twenty five street lights out on the back roads along Auto Club." Mr. Yami informed them.
"No idea where that is!" Sarkas called.
"I know where it is." Katie called back.
"There are two demons out there." Mr. Yami continued, "They have wised up to the fact that Ms. Walker can defeat one on her own. I am not sure if they know you are here yet or not Mr. Carson. But either way there is one for each of you."
Sarkas stepped out in a thin black sweatshirt and pants. Katie came out in something similar, but a little tighter.
"Hey, where's the cape?" Sarkas smirked.
"Cape?" Mr. Yami asked.
"Yeah, you know, all superhero figures always have a cape attached to their uniform. Why don't we get one?"
"Not all superhero’s had capes." he said simply.
"Aaww but it completes the look, makes ya feel like a real superhero, can we get capes, can we huh, huh, huh?" he was this close to burst out laughing.
Katie really was laughing, "I wish I had a cape." she went along with his joke.
"I will, uh, see what I can do." Mr. Yami stammered then recomposed himself, "But now you have to go!" he shooed them out the door.
"But Auto Club is too far to run to!" Katie protested.
"There is a car waiting for you outside!" Mr. Yami said, "Now go, go, go!"
They jumped out the door which was closed behind them fast. Sarkas turned around to see a plain black car waiting for them sure enough.
"That was so not there when we came." he pointed out as they filed into the back seat. The driver was wearing a big hat and long pants and sleeves so they couldn't make out anything. If they were taking a car Sarkas figured it would take a few minutes to get to where ever they were going.
"My name is Sarkas!" he said to the driver trying to make a little small talk. He didn't say anything back, "Uh, what's your name?"
"Daemon."
He suddenly felt proud he had just gotten a name out, "Nice to meet you." There was another pause and Sarkas decided to shut up while he was ahead. They only drove for about five minutes before the car stopped and the door next to the sidewalk opened by itself. Sarkas took that as, you can get out now. So he hopped out with Katie right behind him. As soon as she stepped onto the ground the door shut and the car drove away.
"Friendly people you got in this town." Sarkas muttered as they started walking down the dark street. They didn't see any cars along the road. There wasn't much on the sides and up ahead they saw a country club looking building with a parking lot full of cars, but all the lights in the lot were all burned out, "I think we're getting close." he whispered and looked over at Katie.
"Keep a look out." she instructed. Sarkas noticed she had her sunglasses on. Sunglasses on at night. It was the weirdest thing he had ever seen. Apart from a shadow demon, swords that could cut through air and the ability to jump three stories down and not make a sound. He realized how sci-fi his life had suddenly gotten. He took his own sunglasses out and put them on.
Whoa, let there be light! Sarkas grinned. It was like someone was suddenly shining a big spot light on everything. He could see it all as clearly as if it were the middle of the day! There was still a faint yellowish tint to everything but other than that it was amazing!
His fascination was cut short by a loud creaking noise. Two heads whipped over in the direction of the parking lot. One of the light poles was swaying. At the bottom where two shadows looking like they were trying to push it over. Sarkas had a sudden very clear image of the night he was attacked and his palms got sweaty. Katie on the other hand took off without a second thought. He hastily made his way after her.
Demons. They looked like black clouds with little wisps coming off their arms or legs every few seconds. They had the shape of a pudgy human. The chest and arm size of a football played in uniform was a better description.
Before they even made it to the parking lot the light pole creaked loudly again as it leaned over more. Then the shadows floated away from the light pole. Sarkas didn't see why at first then he noticed the light was falling on its own now. They had uprooted the thing and two seconds later it crashed down on a nice looking Volvo car. There was the sound of the metal crunching the car roof, then the car alarm that started going off at full blast. Sarkas looked over at the doors of the country club. Any second now people were going to come running out of there at any second to see what all the commotion was, and two teenagers dressed in black were not exactly going to be let off so easily.
Katie grabbed his sleeve and pulled him down into a crouch behind a truck on the end of the lot. It suddenly hit Sarkas how real this all was. Before it had almost been a game. Object: go kill the demons before they kill you. Like a video game or something. But that light pole had been real. That car had been real. And the two security guards making their way to the wreck were defiantly real. Something unreal had caused something very real to happen. Sarkas's hand went to his neck where the demon had grabbed him that one night. The feel of that hand had been real too. They really were headed into a real fight for their lives. And that made him real nervous.
"Come on." Katie whispered and started moving, but after two steps she noticed Sarkas wasn't following so she grabbed his shirt again to get him moving. He moved like a zombie. Almost ran into her twice when she stopped at the end of a car to make sure the guards were looking the other way before jumping over to the next. The two demons were at the opposite end of the parking lot now, working on a new street light. They were out in plain view and Sarkas couldn't figure out why the security people didn't see and stop them until he remembered that he and Katie were the only ones that could. Even if they could have seen them, they were on the other side of a dark parking lot and it would have been hard to see anyone in the dark. They had reached the end of the cars on the side of the lot. The demons were only thirty feet away still pulling on the street light.
"We gotta get them away from the parking lot." Katie mumbled. The end of the lot dropped off onto a driving range. No one would be able to see it unless they were standing right on the edge. The problem was the corner of the lot was free of cars and they would be out in the open for thirty seconds, "Lets go." but this girl obviously didn't think about that. She got out from behind the car and made a run for it. She made it to the end and ran down the grassy hill. Sarkas looked over at the demons for moment before going after her. They were too occupied in trying to tip the light pole down.
"We gotta get their attention." Katie was looking all over the ground.
"Here!" Sarkas picked up a leftover a gulf ball and threw it as hard as he could up towards the lot. Hit it the corner and bounced back on the grass. The one hit was enough though. The demons turned around and looked to see the two humans standing ready in the grass. They didn't need their diversion anymore.
"Any suggestions?" Sarkas asked jumping back and forth on his feet a little.
"Like I said before, they're strong has heck but they're stupid, the best weapon we have is our minds. A lot of fakes and things usually help." she looked so much calmer than he felt.
Sarkas was freaking. He didn't even understand why. He had always been cool and calm in fights, why was this one any different? Because he had always known what he was up against before. The demons were almost to them now and Sarkas felt himself freeze up. Just like the other time.
Katie jumped forward to meet the one headed for her. The other came at Sarkas and reached its black misty hand out for his throat. NO! Sarkas unfroze and pushed its arm away then aimed a punch at it. It was time to stop being a baby and a coward and figure out what kind of challenge these things were!
The two pairs locked in battle and Katie had been right. They were disturbingly strong. One hit and Sarkas knew he would be out cold. More reason to be very cautious. Still after about ten minutes of hitting, kicking and dodging, no one seemed to be gaining the upper hand.
That’s when Katie noticed the parking lot suddenly get brighter. The security guards had figured out how to turn the lights back on. Or the ones that worked anyway. The one near the end that was tipped over had no power. But it would still work. She faked a punch and gave a swift kick to the things head. Then she started running as fast as she could back up the hill. The demon came after but speed was only one step above brain power so they weren't much faster than the average human. Katie reached the parking lot and was bathed in a faint glow of light. She had to take off her glasses to see and turned around to see the demon stopped just short of the pavement.
"You can't come in can you?" Katie gloated. She suddenly realized she could have a lot of fun with this, "You want to know a secret?" she said quietly, "I know a spell that you can use so you can come into the light unharmed." she paused to let it sink it, "Would you like to hear it?"
The shadow nodded.
She had wondered how dumb these things really were, and now she knew. She cleared her throat, "Okay, its kind of complicated so try to keep up. Put your arms up like this." she raised her arms and bent them at the elbow and wrist so each arm had an Egyptian wall drawing kind of look. She had to keep from laughing when the shadow actually copied her, "Now move them back and forth. Just at the elbow! Thaaaat's right. Add the hips. And we're pointing. And we're going down." she bent at the waist, still moving back and forth and barely moving her hands up and down while pointing up, "Now back up." they straightened up, "Now we go to the side," she moved both arms to one side, "And the other side....And now we're back." she returned her arms to the Egyptian looking pose.
The demon had followed her through the whole thing. This would have been a great story to tell her friends. If she could tell her friends and if they still talked to her....
"And now we're done!" she announced, "You can come in now!" the demon shifted and paused for a moment then ran for her. As soon as it came into the light, white beams pierced through its cloudy arms and body. Took a total of three seconds before it exploded and disappeared.
One down, one to go. She headed back down the path with her glasses back on. Sarkas had managed to get the shadow on the ground and had his foot on its head. The thing didn't move because it might have been dumb but it knew if it moved his foot would come down and that would be the end of it. For some reason Sarkas couldn't bring himself to bring his foot down. He had never killed anything, human, animal or demon and he wasn't really sure if he could.
Katie came up to him and looked down at the demon on the ground, "Good job. Finish it off and lets get back." but he couldn't seem to do it. Suddenly the demons hand shot out and wrapped around Katie's foot. She screamed and fell down. Katie! Sarkas's foot slammed down and the demon disappeared.
"Thanks." Katie muttered and picked herself off the ground.
"Hey you kids! What are you doing down there?!"
A security guard was at the top of the parking lot. He must have seen Katie when she was up doing her dance, "Run!" she whispered and the two took off.
When they were out of sight of the country club they walked in silence for a while. Both thinking about the fight and hoping the car was going to show up soon or it was going to be a long walk back. Sarkas was proud of himself for everything. He had taken on a demon dude and fought it to the ground. A kind of revenge for the other one that had attacked him. He looked over at Katie who looked like she was about ready to drop dead. The fight really hadn't been that bad, she couldn't look that way because she was tired.
"Hey, uh, that was fun! A real party!" Sarkas said trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah..." Katie didn't even look up from the ground, "You did good...."
"It'll be fun to brag about it huh?" he forced a smile.
"Ya...."
Sarkas sighed and gave up, "Maybe we should call Mr. Yami to make sure that car comes." he said quietly and took out the cell phone. He flipped through the options until he found phone book and looked at the choices. 'Black Kat' and right below it 'Super Sensei'
"What's my nick name?" he wondered out loud, "Hey can I see your phone quick?" he asked Katie. She took it out and handed it to him without a word. He used his phone to dial hers. The ringing filled the quiet air and Sarkas looked down at the screen.
'Carkass.'
"Carkass?! What the heck!"
Katie smiled which turned into a grin and then a full out laugh as Sarkas complained.
"That is so not funny! Why do I get the dorky name?! How do you change it? That is not cool! Not funny!!" but at the same time he has glad to see his partner laughing again.

Katie showed up at three thirty the next day. This time Sarkas made sure he was near the door to avoid parental contact with the outside world.
"Mom, I'm going to Kendo see ya later!" he shouted and hopped out the door.
"Lets stop by Star Bucks again." Katie said as they walked down the sidewalk.
"Why? Last night was the best sleep I've gotten in a long time! I'm pumped!" Sarkas punched the air a few times.
"Yeah, well, some of us had school and didn't get the luxury of sleeping in until noon." Katie mumbled and dragged him to the shop. That's right, he was going to have to start school in four days. Darn, he was enjoying his little vacation. Well it was hard to say he was really enjoying it, but he was enjoying the no school part about it! He got another smoothie just for the heck of it.
They got to the gym and Sarkas once again took notice that there was no parking lot, "Doesn't anyone else ever use this place?" he asked and finished off his drink.
"Nope, this is Mr. Yami's private gym." Katie told him. Sarkas gave a low whistle. The old guy had some money to spare.
They walked in. The jumping poles where still set from yesterday but only two big platforms were still there. The ones that practically reached the ceiling.
"We have to move today people." Mr. Yami said as soon as they stepped in, "We have to finish jumping then do everything else too. So first things first, up, up, lets review." he pushed them towards the platforms.
"Forget warm up just push them off a cliff first thing." Sarkas shook his head as he climbed the ladder of the first with Katie right behind him. They got up there and looked down.
"Off the plank of doom and down into the cold waters of hell. Oh Earth, I shall miss thee!" Sarkas joked dramatically. Katie laughed and grabbed his hand. They jumped off together and landed with the stealth of cats.
"Good do the next one then we will move on." Mr. Yami ordered.
Neither of them had been up on this last one yet. When they got to the top Sarkas reached up and actually grabbed onto one of the pipes that went along the top. He tried not to look down.
"Bet I can jump farther than you." Katie challenged.
"You're on." Sarkas let go of the pipe and they backed up to the end. The platform was only big enough to get about two strides in. The two took their running start and leaped off. Both of them landed way father than Sarkas ever thought they could. Even from a height like that, but Katie didn't seem to notice.
"Oo! My toe landed in front of yours!"
"What?! That is so not in front, we tied!" Sarkas fought.
"Look at that! That is at least two inches ahead!" she argued.
"That's not even two centimeters!"
"Can't argue with the evidence." she stood up and bobbed back and forth in a tiny victory dance.
"Whatever!" Sarkas stood and shook his head.
"No time for petty games now." Mr. Yami broke it up, "Moving on to the jumping. I expect this to take five minutes at the most. When you land from a jump your legs absorb the power of the shock. When you jump you just take that power and release it in your legs when you lift off."
"So let me get this straight." Sarkas looked up at the high poles, "Not only will we be able to fall from a building, we'll be able to jump up there too?"
"Yes."
"Sweet, Spiderman powers!" he grinned and walked over to the lowest pole set up which was about four feet off the ground.
"You will need to use both legs to get enough power to get you over it." Mr. Yami instructed.
Sarkas bent his knees. The shock from the last fall was still had his feet tingling. Once he got over the fact that he was now spending time everyday with the man he currently hated most in the world, this supernatural stuff almost made everything else that had happened worth it! Every kid saw all the action and sci-fi movies and wished they could be in them. Well he was actually living one out! He had already done so much he had never thought he could do and he knew there was tons more to come. Suddenly he felt invincible. He could do anything and nothing could stop him. Sarkas concentrated on the feel he got when he landed from the big jump. He felt the power grow in his legs and when he jumped, he flew over the four foot pole with ease and landed just as gracefully.
"By George I think he has got it." Mr. Yami sounded proud.
"Booyah!" Sarkas raised his hands in the victory sign and moved onto the seven foot pole.
Katie walked up to the four foot but she knocked it down three times before she got over it. By that time Sarkas was working his way up and over the twenty five foot pole. It was like flying once you got it down. The jump lasted so long from the way up to the way down it was like freedom being up in the air. He never knew defying gravity could be so exhilarating.
When they had gotten through all of them Mr. Yami handed them the wooden swords again, "Warm up with ten thrusts down. And no stalling today."
"Only ten?" Sarkas was shocked.
"We have to work on technique today and I do not want dead arms." Mr. Yami told him. Sarkas brought the sword above his head and used the same adrenalin power he had gathered for his legs, but put it in his arms. The sword came down and the air quivered and rippled out. They did that ten times then lined up in front of Mr. Yami for instructions.
"There is little I can teach you about the skill of using a sword. Most of it will come from experience so from today on you two will spend a good chunk of your time trying to cut each other arms off."
The two looked at each other. Katie put her hand on her arm.
"Basic movement of the sword. Up and down left to right and right to left in one smooth motion. Basic rules. Never expose your back. Watch your opponents hands at all times. If they suddenly start fighting with one hand you know the other is reaching for another weapon. So try that quick then fight." Mr. Yami stepped back.
They just swung the sword a few times then attacked each other. Mr. Yami often prompted them with, "Faster!" and "Harder!" but it was a heavy piece of wood and they could only do so much. After it seemed like they got the hang of it he resorted to scolding, "Watch your back Ms. Walker! You are being careless Mr. Carson! Find an open piece of skin and strike! The legs are a good target, but then you risk your exposed back!" the fight went on for at least an hour. It was hard to keep going near the end. It was hard work with the heavy sword and Sarkas was glad to finally hear the quit call.
"Good." Mr. Yami nodded, "Take a drink then come back and do fifty thrusts. Then we will run again to finish off the day. You are doing good."
"I should think so, we've gone farther in two days than anyone else has in a lifetime." Sarkas muttered to Katie as they made their way over to the drinking fountains. She mumbled her agreement and the two sucked up the water like no tomorrow.
They did the air pulsing thrusts then jumped up to the track where they had the twenty pound anklets attached to them again. This time they had to run five miles around the track. This fantasy stuff was cool but it sure made Sarkas wish he were dead a lot.

The next three days all went the same. Mr. Yami worked Sarkas and Katie to the bone with his special training program. On the weekend he worked them even harder with two hours in the morning then two hours for lunch then another three to finish off the day. It was too much. And to add to it all, Monday Sarkas started at his new high school. Joy.
Lili went with the first day. It was raining slightly which didn't help with the dread and anxiety growing in Sarkas's stomach. They met the Principle and got a briefing on how things were run. Sarkas got a schedule for the year. Their system was a little weird. They only had four classes a day and one class a max of half the year. It looked confusing but the principle assured him he would get the hang of it quick. By the time they were done talking the final bell had rung and the once crowded and noisy halls were deserted. Lili left with a quick hug and kiss, then Mr. Hill escorted Sarkas down to the gym for his fist class.
The gym was average size with retractable seats for basketball games. There were two different groups of people all sitting down and lined up in rows of five or six. One group looked a little younger than the other and Sarkas guessed that was the freshman batch. A female and male teacher stood in front of each group taking attendance.
Sarkas followed Mr. Hill as he went up to the male teacher and talked to him in a low voice. Sarkas just stood there and tried to act like thirty pairs of eyes weren't staring right at him. When he was done Mr. Hill told Sarkas to come to the office if he needed any help finding his classes after that, then left.
"Hi Sarkas I'm Mr. Evens." the gym teacher shook Sarkas's hand.
"Nice to meet you." Sarkas replied.
"Everyone! This is Sarkas Carson the new target we ordered for dodge ball last week!"
"Hey!" Sarkas grinned while everyone laughed. He liked teachers with a sense of humor.
"I'm just kidding." Mr. Even's patted Sarkas on the back and pointed to the last row on the right, "You can sit down in the back over there." Sarkas walked over and took a seat on the floor.
"But because of the rain we can't go outside today so we're gonna play with the freshman and you have a choice of either Big Base, Kingpin or Dodge ball. You can vote and decide the kiddies doom." there were snickers from the class, "So, raise your hand for Big Base!" that was what won in the end. Sarkas had played it in elementary school so he knew the general rules.
He was excited. Today he was going to show THEM who was the target! This was new blood. New place to show is talent. Of course he wouldn't brag. He would just keep it obviously subtle so they would just note that he wasn't some weak computer geek.
They set up the big mats around the gym and the teachers reviewed the rules. It was similar to kickball but the bases were set of at each corner of the gym and you had to go around all four of them twice before you could be counted as home. There was a hall that went around the top of the gym for people to get on and off the bleachers. If you kicked the ball up there it was a homerun for one time around. If you stepped off the base at any time you had to go. There could be more than one person on a base but you had to run every time the ball was kicked.
The teachers flipped a coin and the sophomores were up to kick first. Sarkas was able to squeeze in half way down the line. Most of the girls tried to huddle at the back of the line but there was a strict boy, girl, boy, girl, rule for the line up.
By the time Sarkas was up to kick, they had three runs. There were four outs in this game and they already had three. He smirked as he waited for the ball to be pitched. It came at him and he kicked it as hard as he could and it shot up to the back wall, bounced off, hit the rail and went up again. Sarkas was half afraid it was going to bounce back down to the floor but it stayed up there and he took his lap while the kids in line cheered loudly. Two more guys got home and they had a total of six runs when they finally got their last out and switched places with the freshman.
He showed them out on the field too. His speed and aim were impeccable. He hit his target every time and the Freshmen didn't even get a single run before the line up was changed again. That was about how it went the whole game. No one really kept tract of the actual score but it was pretty clear the sophomores had won hands down.

The only other one in the class that got close to his speed and skill was not the one he would have suspected. A girl, about five feet four inches. Medium brown hair pulled back in a pony tail and a kick that nearly broke a hole through the ceiling when she hit the ball. Sarkas let out a loud cheer as she ran to the first mat and when she got there she looked back to see who had made all the noise and smiled at him.
When the bell finally rang Sarkas was feeling pretty good. He couldn't have asked for a better start to the new school year. He was already talking to some of the guys in the class. They all seemed real nice but he had to focus on finding his second class in the next eight minutes. He had World History with Miller in room C218. No idea where that was. He wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes. The warning bell rang and the halls started to clear out. Sarkas was about to give up and ask for directions when he spotted a blond head closing a locker door. And she was alone too. Good, then he wouldn't look like a geek going up and asking for directions.
"Hey! Black Kat!" he called out and made his way over.
"Hey, how's it going?" she asked while swinging her backpack over her shoulders.
"Where's C218?" he asked, showing her his schedule.
"Oo you got Miller, he's awesome." she mumbled looking at his card, "It's down the stairs, take an immediate left and it should be on the right side somewhere." she told him, "Hey! We have biology together! That means we'll have lunch together too. Nice." she handed the card back, "I gotta get going, I have to get all the way to Art. See ya!" she trotted off before he got a chance to ask any more questions. He quick made a mental note of the location of the locker in case he needed any thing else in the future.
World History was uneventful for the most part except for the unnerving stares he got as Mr. Miller introduced him to the whole class. They were studying ancient Egypt.
After that was lunch which worked out perfect since he had worked up a good appetite during Big Base. There were four different lines, each a mile long. Two for hot lunch, one for the alternate and a slightly smaller one for the salad bar. The hot lunch line next to the wall was shaped weird and Sarkas had to do a double take before he realized the kids were snaked around some ropes set up going around the wall in a small rectangle. There was a tarp hanging over it that went up almost to the ceiling. It was weird but he was too hungry to wonder too long about it. Sarkas got in back for the hot lunch. It took about five minutes to get through it. Mac and cheese that looked like some kind of animal's brain with chicken nuggets, green beans and overly buttered buns. The place was crowded and absolutely no empty tables. Sarkas picked a spot on the end of a long one with people on the other end. He was allowed to sit alone since he didn't know anyone else there.
"Hey newbie I'm sitting with you today." Katie came up and set her tray down across from him.
Sarkas quickly swallowed the nugget in his mouth, "You're giving up your prime spot at the popular table to sit with the new kid?! I'm in shock!"
Katie rolled her eyes, "Okay for one thing I'm not that popular and two, I thought you might have some questions or comments and I'd be happy to answer them." she picked up a bun and bit into it.
Sarkas thought for a moment, "Alright, question, does Mr. Miller really send you to the office if you have water in stead of pop? And comment, I kicked butt in Big Base today!"
Katie laughed, "No he doesn't throw you out and good for you!"
"I bet even Mr. Yami would have even been impressed," Sarkas bragged, "Speaking of the old goat I've got another question: How did you first end up with this job?"
All the happiness was sucked right out of her face, "You really wanna hear it?"
"I got nothing else to do except try and figure out what they're trying to poison me with." Sarkas picked up a spork full of Mac and cheese.
"Fine," Katie mumbled, "But I'm only telling my story once. It was the middle on August, the gymnastics captains were having their first meetings and I went along-"
"You're in gymnastics?"
"Was, and don't interrupt me. Anyway Mr. Yami approached me after one meeting and said he thought I had talent and that he could help me out if I wanted. I was skeptical but thought going to one session just to try it out wouldn't be that bad. Well it turned out to be wonderful. I had the best workout I've ever had in my life...before you came and he started working us to death...so I went back the day after and the day after that. But that was when he gave me that whole demon shpeel he gave you that first day. I freaked and bolted and didn't go back for a week.
"A week after I left I was coming out of a movie with some of my friends when a shadow demon attacked me. I ran off, it followed and it was a close call but I'm obviously not dead. The next day I went back and agreed to hear him out. He told me he would help train me to fight them and that soon another would come and help me. You."
"He really knew all that?"
"I think this guy knows a lot more than he's letting onto us." Katie whispered. The people on the other side of the table were picking up their trays and heading over to the trash cans. Katie looked up at the clock and quickly finished her milk, "We should be getting to class now."
"Isn't there a bell?" Sarkas stood up and swung his backpack over his shoulder then picked up his empty tray.
"Only lunch that gets a bell is third. First and second just have to watch the clock and people." they dumped their trays and Katie led the way to the class. She took her seat at a table near the door behind three rows of chairs. Basic science classroom with the chairs in front and tables to do labs on in the back. Sarkas sought out the teacher and introduced himself.
"Ah, yes. I got an email about that this morning. You can take a seat right on the end there." he pointed to the end chair in the first row. Sarkas sat down and put his bag beside him. Other people were coming in and taking their seats.
"Hey Mr. Stenbeck who did the comic?" one boy called out grinning.
"I don't know, it was on the board when I came in this morning." the teacher that definitely looked like a science geek glanced back at the board, "Probably my first hour T.A."
On the white board behind him was a doodle of a cartoon that looked remarkably like the teacher in front holding up a rock and a speaking bubble that said, "Look! An Igneous! Man, geology rocks! Get it? Rocks! Hahaha! I'm so funny!" then above the character was a cheetah crouching on a tree branch and a thought bubble above it saying, "Yep, nobody's gonna miss THIS guy!" Sarkas chuckled.
The class started and Mr. Stenbeck introduced Sarkas to everyone. He was getting used to this by now. Then he collected the homework and set them to work on a lab in the back having to do with osmosis. Sarkas got paired with two freaky looking kids, both named Mike. But they turned out to be really nice and funny. The thing that killed him was when they were filling out the question pages with the lab they had a beaker full of water and sodium nitrate, and one of the questions was, 'which beaker has a higher concentration of water?' They actually had to call Mr. Stenbeck over to make sure it wasn't a joke.
His last class of the day was a study hall. Since he came in the middle of the quarter they didn't want to start him off with too much right away. No complaints there. Lili picked Sarkas up at the end of the school day. With everyone leaving at once, it took him a while to find her car in the crowd. He got home about three and had a snack while filling his mom in on the details of the day. Three thirty right on the button the door bell rang and Sarkas ran off with Katie to "Kendo". He was still sore from the weekend workout but that never stopped him before. That day when they went in there were strings hanging across from one side of the track running above to the other.
"We are going to work on balance and concentration today." Mr. Yami said as he came walking out of a side door he always came out of. He handed them both a long wooden stick. It was longer than the sword they had been working with but not as heavy. Sarkas grinned. He had been looking forward to the day when he would show them some new power of theirs.
"But first we work on power. Hold the stick out." Mr. Yami actually had one too. He held the pole out in front of him in one hand. The two followed suit.
"We are going to learn one basic warm up that covers all the angles then you two will go up there." He pointed to the ropes, "I will only show once so watch closely and pay attention. Hold it out horizontally. Jab left, jab right, pass it around your back, jab to the front, bring it up, swing to the left, swing to the right, twirl, twirl and slam it down!" the snap of the wood hitting the hard floor made Katie flinch. He had done it all so quickly and flawlessly it was amazing. So the old guy wasn't all talk. He has some mad skills going on there.
"So now you try it." he rested the pole the was almost as long as he was on his side.
"Chya right." Sarkas tilted the stick back and forth in his hand.
"We do not have time in this class for arguments Mr. Carson." Mr. Yami snapped, "Try it."
"Whatever you say." Sarkas held the stick out in front of him. He snapped it to the left then right and managed to pass it around his back rather clumsily. He snapped it to the front and brought the stick up in both his hands. He swung it to the left then to the right. He was doing good up until the part where he had to twirl it. He tried to spin it around but it was too long. The edge hit the floor and slowed him down. Katie seemed to be doing a little better. She was taking it slow but her movements were nice and smooth.
"And slam it down." two sticks slapped against the floor, "Now try it faster and harder." Mr. Yami coached, "Use your power, feel the movement."
All right. This he could do. Sarkas held the pole out in front of him again and focused the power he could now control to his arms. He snapped it to the right. He smiled at his own sudden speed. He snapped it to the left, swung it around his back, switching hand position, then snapped it to the front and lifted it up. After a few more rounds Sarkas saw Mr. Yami was right, there was a rhythm to it that was child's play easy once you got it down. He swung it down to the left then back up and down to the right. Back up once more. He still had trouble with the twirl, but nothing a little practice couldn't fix. The pole came up and he slammed it on the ground. A small dust cloud trailed off and a few loose strands of hair floated up and down. Sarkas just stared at it for a moment, soaking up the power when he heard a gunshot in his ear. His head whipped to the side only to see Katie with her own stick on the floor. It hadn't been a gun it had been the force of the wood hitting the gym floor.
"Good enough. Now onto the main event. Hop up." Mr. Yami nodded to the ropes hanging forty feet above them.
Both of them looked up at the ropes, down at each other and back up again. Neither of them had ever done anything like that before. Katie had some experience on the bar and with balance but she never had to walk across it for more then two steps. They jumped up to the track where the ropes were tied to. Sarkas reached over the rail and felt one of the ropes. It was tight and strong. They wouldn't have to worry about it giving away in the middle.
"AHEM."
The signal for 'move it!' So after one last look and shrug, Katie made her way to another rope about ten feet over. Sarkas jumped up on the rail, using the stick to keep his balance. He slid one foot down the rope, followed by the other, then the first one again. The pole was on the edge of the rail now. Slowly Sarkas pulled the stick off the rail and moved his back foot towards the front one, but it only took a total of two seconds before he lost his balance and started teetering back and forth. With a small cry he fell off the rope. He only panicked for a nanosecond before he turned himself over and landed smoothly on the floor. Katie only made it about two steps further before she landed next to him. They looked at Mr. Yami.
"Try it one more time." their teacher said. So the two jumped back up and climbed onto the ropes again. They made it a little farther this time before they fell off again.
"Center yourself." Mr. Yami instructed as they jumped up once more, "Root your feet to the rope, feel your power in your center going down to your feet and holding you in place. Your arms are noodles with no weight. They do not balance you. They move and attack. Your feet, your power keeps you in place."
"All right." Sarkas knew there had to be some kind of trick to it. He understood this power thing. It was always the same when fighting or jumping you just had to focus it. He took a deep breath and tried to force the weight out of his arms and into his chest. Then he jumped up on the rail and eased one foot onto the rope. Root your feet, he thought to himself as he slid his second foot onto the rope. He straightened up and tried to imagine roots coming out of his feet and attaching to the rope. He carefully lifted the stick from where he had positioned on the rail and stood for a few seconds. He didn't fall. One plus there.
Your arms have no weight. Sarkas concentrated on keeping his feet down. When he felt confident enough he started rotating and moving his arms. He wobbled for a moment but quickly straightened himself up again.
"Stand up tall Ms. Walker!" Mr. Yami yelled from below. Sarkas looked over to see Katie still trying to get away from the railing. She stood up and seemed to find her center as she stopped wavering back and forth. Their eyes met and Sarkas smiled and winked then took another step down the rope.
"Keep going!" Mr. Yami prompted him. Sarkas took a few more steps until he was in the middle of the rope. He started swinging the pole around, but he was getting too confident. He took one more step and lost his concentration on his center. Power flooded back into his arms and he tripped off the rope. He fell and landed silently next to the old man.
"We could make a fortune if we joined the circus." Sarkas grinned as he watched Katie step back and forth on the rope, keeping better balance than he had.
"You and Ms. Walker are learning faster than I anticipated for your age." Mr. Yami admitted, "To be honest I had hoped I could hold off until you were fully grown but the demons appeared earlier than I had expected. But since you seem to be catching on so quickly there is no need to worry. I think it is time for me to raise my expectations of you two and kick things up a bit, what do you say?"
"Bring it on." something about being there always made Sarkas feel invincible. He could do anything no matter how hard the old guy pushed them.
"Play time is over then." Mr. Yami said a little louder so Katie could hear too, "Mr. Carson, hop up to the track and Ms. Walker make your way back."
Sarkas jumped up and Katie jumped down from the rail. Mr. Yami made his way up the stairs over to them with a bag. Out of the bag he took a few of those metal bracelets he had put on their feet when they ran.
"These are twenty pounds each." he told them as he attached one to each of their legs and around their arms, "I want you up on the same rope. Then try and knock each other off with the sticks."
"Ooo a duel. Sounds like fun." Sarkas hopped up on the rail and slid onto the rope. It took him a little longer to balance on the rope with the weights on. Especially with the ones on his arms. When he was ready Katie followed and the two made their way into the middle of the rope.
"You ready for this?" Katie asked after a few practice swings.
"You bet."
Katie took the first swing at him which he easily blocked, but she teetered back and forth a few times. Sarkas let her lean on the sticks while she got her balance back then took a swing at her legs. He had to use some power to swing the stick fast enough to get her but he realized too late that was exactly what she had done. Sarkas lost his balance and fell off sideways. He landed safely on the floor but the buzz that went through him was harder than normal. Probably because of the weights he figured.
"Get back up there!" Mr. Yami yelled from above. Sarkas made to jump up to the track but Mr. Yami stopped him, "You are no longer allowed to land anywhere but the floor and the rope." he said.
Sarkas looked up and after only a moments hesitation he jumped up. His accuracy was pretty good. He came right above the rope and back down onto it, but he couldn't find his center fast enough before he had fallen right off again. Katie laughed as he went down.
"Laugh at me will ya." Sarkas mumbled and jumped up again. Not as high this time so his free hand caught the rope and the one with the pole in it swung around, knocking Katie off her feet. As she fell Sarkas hopped up and was able to balance again.
"Your arms only move and attack. They have their own power. Do not try to give them any more." Mr. Yami suggested.
Katie jumped back up and got her balance faster than Sarkas had. They attacked again and quickly got the hang of it. As everything else, it was easy once they got the hang of it and knew what to focus where and how much and all that good stuff.
Once Katie aimed a hit at his legs. Sarkas had no choice but to jump. He jumped off to the side and unintentionally landed on another one of the ropes hanging across. He felt proud and knew why there had been so many set up now. That set off a chain of tag. The two jumped between all the ropes more than they tried to fight. That went on until Mr. Yami yelled at them again, then they went back to fighting until it was time to go.

Chapter 9

For the rest of the week they divided their time doing that and sword fighting. Tuesday and Thursday Mr. Yami drilled them with the conditioning basics of running, jumping, balancing and sword thrusts.
On the third day of school Sarkas was already treated as if he had been there all year. No one really pointed him out and people were already learning his name. Katie still sat with him at lunch because she "didn't want him to feel bad sitting by himself".
Friday after their training Mr. Yami had a reminder for them, "Sunday is Halloween and only a sliver of a moon. An invitation wrapped in gold for demons so I want you both here at six sharp to do rounds."
"Yes sir." Sarkas and Katie headed home.
Halloween. He had almost forgotten, he had been so busy with school and training. For pretty much the first time that week he thought back to his old neighborhood. Every Halloween since fifth grade Sarkas and two of his best friends would always go out trick or treating and get the mother load of candy. As they got older they resorted to going as ghosts and just bending down on their knees as they went to houses to look younger. But they always got their ultimate load of candy. He had to wonder if they were still going to go this year without him.
That night after dinner Sarkas picked up the phone and called his best friend from back home.
"Hello?"
"Brad? It's Sarkas."
"Sarkas! Hey! We were starting to think you had died on your way down there!"
"Not quite." Sarkas grinned. They talked for a while. Sarkas did most of the talking as he told him all about his new school and home. He told Brad about the new Kendo program too but left out the details. It felt weird, he had never kept anything from his friends before. Finally he got to the subject he had been wanting to get to.
"So what is everyone doing for Halloween this year?" Sarkas asked.
"Oh." there was a sudden silence.
"Are you guys going trick or treating again?" Sarkas asked slowly after a moment.
"N-no. Actually, uh, Mark, Matt, Kenny and I were invited to a Halloween party."
"Really?" he was actually relived, he would have felt left out if they had gone for candy, "Who's house is it at?"
"Well, it's at," Brad cleared his throat, "Uh, Shannon's house."
Sarkas literally felt the world stop, "WHAT?!"
"She was going to invite you too! She was looking for you and seemed really bummed when we told her you had moved." he blurted out.
Sarkas was suddenly reminded of how much he loathed this whole place, "You're kidding me." was all he could squeak out.
"Uhh, on the up side the football team is in the state tournament!"
He calls that good news? "You're kidding me."
"And Kenny finally got the nerve to ask Megan out."
"You're kidding me."
"Oh and you‘ll never guess who I heard boasting that he was going to make Shannon fall head over heals for him at her party."

He didn’t even want to know, “Who?”

“Andy Laman.”
And that was the salt in the open wound, "You're kidding me...."
"He won't have the guts to do anything though! He's all talk, you know that!"
Sarkas nodded which really didn't matter to the person on the other line who couldn't even see him.
"Soooo I'll shut up now."
Sarkas shook his head and found his voice again, "Hey, I still have stuff to do, I'll talk to you later okay?"
"Sure! See ya."
They were both a little glad to hang up the phone. Sarkas let his head bang against the wall as he hung the phone back up. He wanted to go home.

The next morning Sarkas could still hear the conversation in his head. The gym with the old freak was the last place he wanted to go when he heard the doorbell ring at ten in the morning. He just laid in bed as Lili answered the door.

"Sarkas! Time for Kendo!" he heard his mom yell.

Yeah, I know. he thought but couldn't move.

"Sarkas?! It's rude to keep people waiting! Hurry up!"

Katie didn't count as people. He had no problem keeping her waiting. She was just another one in the scheme to take him away from his perfect life and make him go crazy. He heard the door close down stairs and sighed. Good, they got the message he wasn't going anywhere today.

Suddenly he heard a knock at his window. He looked over and saw Katie balancing on a thin tree branch right outside and leaning on the glass. For a second he spazed and jerked up then nearly fell off his bed before the whole scene registered. Then he crawled over and opened the window.

"What the heck?!" was all he could say.

"Hurry up, we're gonna be late." she snapped back.

"I'm sick, I don't feel like going over there today." Sarkas sat back down on the edge of his bed.

Katie rolled her eyes, "You are not sick and you're coming if I have to drag you there!"

"Have fun dragging me then!"

"What’s your problem?!"

"My problem is that I miss my old life where I had friends and...a life!" Sarkas got up and started to close the window but Katie put her hand in between it and the wall.

"Don't give me that. Don't even think of going there with me. I told you I refused to do this alone any more and I meant it. If you don’t drag your sorry little butt out that door right now I'm going to break this window, rip apart that screen and beat you until you come to your senses." her hand leaning on the frame was shaking slightly and Sarkas watched her eyes turn slightly pink as she tried to hold back tears. As much as he would have liked to just crawl back under the covers he knew he couldn't do that to her.

"Okay, I'll be right down." then he went down stairs and walked out of the house.

He went to the training but he went through it in a daze. For a while he had looked at Mr. Yami more as a teacher, but now he was back to looking at him as the enemy. He tried to tell himself to calm down and just get over it, but he just couldn't do that for some reason.

He didn't feel any better Sunday either but he went to training in the morning without a fuss. They got the afternoon off since they were going to be up all night walking around. He was going to be walking around patrolling for Demons while all his friends were going to be partying without a care at his old crush's house.

He met Katie again at five thirty to head back over to the gym. They stopped at Star Bucks on the way over to get a little buzz for the night.

"I think I'm getting addicted to these things." It was the first thing Sarkas had said since the morning before.

Mr. Yami was waiting for them with the two bundles of black clothes he had given them the time before, "And as requested," he said as they slipped it on, "I made up two capes for you."

"Sweet!" that almost made up for ruining his big chance with Shannon. Almost. Sarkas walked over and tied on the cape. It had thick string and was black like everything else. It went down to his ankles, but stayed close to his body.

"It will retract into the strings when you start to fight so it will not get in your way." Mr. Yami told them, "I suggest wearing the glasses at all times too since you will be walking around. You will look more in character for the holiday. You two have your cell phones right?"

They nodded.

"Then go have fun." the old guy shooed them out the door.

They wandered around for hours. Sarkas had no idea where they were and he didn't really care. But every time they passed a house with a lot of lights on and cars in the front he let out a groan. He could only imagine what he would be doing if he were home then. A few times they stopped at houses, posing as trick-or-treaters to get a snack and their candy fix. They always got the speech about 'aren't you a little old?' But by ten all the kids had gone home and the good candy was picked over. Eleven o'clock at night Sarkas had to sit down at the park they were passing.

"Can't we call the old fart to come pick us up and call it a night?" he asked Katie as she dropped down next to him, "We've been out here forever. Nothing is gonna show."

"Yeah, can't hurt to try." she was tired too. She took out her phone and was about to push the button when it rang, "Wow." the timing was amazing, "That must be him." she said as she hit the green button and put it next to her ear.

"Perfect, ask him to send the car." Sarkas muttered.

Katie was silent for a minute. Occasionally mumbling some 'mhms'. When she was done she clicked the phone off and put it in her pocket, "No car coming yet. He said there are some demons walking around Queen avenue."

"How does he know that?" Sarkas wondered as he got up, "Is Queen avenue far?"

"Not at all, right on the other side of this park actually." Katie said and started walking across the cool grass. They never had to worry about tripping or running into anything with the light sensitive glasses on.

"Talk about the right place and the right time." Sarkas mumbled as he followed her. As they reached the other side of the football and soccer field they noticed all the lights from the houses and streetlights nearby were all out. Suddenly a big orange thing flew across the street and smashed into a wooden sign that said, 'Charred Lake Park'.

"There." Katie pointed to the house on the corner. Two black shadows were playing with pumpkins. They smashed another one on top of the car sitting in the drive way and the last went on the doorstep. Then they moved onto the next house, "We gotta get them before they break a window." Katie said and ran off.

"Wait up!" Sarkas hissed. He picked up a chunk of the pumpkin that had come off the one that had hit the sign then took off after Katie. They got to the sidewalk in front of the house where one of the demons was posed to throw a pumpkin through the glass door of the house. Sarkas reached back and threw the pumpkin chunk right at it. It hit the demon on the head and the full pumpkin dropped to the ground. They turned around and faced the two teenagers.

For a moment everyone just stared at each other. Wondering if the other was going to make the first move. The two demons snapped first and glided more than ran across the yard at the two.

"Here we go. Round two begin." Sarkas muttered, putting up his hands. The demon came up and slowed down too far from his reach, but its own arm came swinging around and Sarkas just managed to duck at the last second, "Oh shiz! Their arms-!" he didn't have time to finish the sentence as the black cloud took another swing at him.

They're too long!! his head screamed as he did a back flip to avoid the hit.

Katie adapted faster than he did. She dropped to her hands on the ground and twisted her feet in, tripping the demon and sending it down. Sarkas wasn't as lucky, his own attacker came at him with both arms, one at his knees and the other at his chest. He was forced to jump up, and out of the stress of the situation, he jumped a little too high. He landed on the roof of the house they were by. Thankfully the roof was flat. Thinking fast he figured he could jump back down onto the demon and smash its head right there but less than a second later the black figure jumped up on the roof not ten feet away from him.

Dang! They can jump now too! He didn't know what to do when the demon came at him again. At the last second Sarkas jumped over it to the other end of the roof. That gave him an idea as he watched the thing run towards him. Right when it got in range of its long arms Sarkas jumped up and landed right behind it then kicked for all he was worth, sending the demon staggering forward to the edge of the roof. As it started to fall it turned and reached out. It grabbed Sarkas's arm and pulled him towards it. He cried out in surprise as the demon pushed him down to the ground and used the momentum to swing itself back up.
Sarkas landed safely on the grass but that wasn't the point. He looked over and saw Katie and her attacker still going at it. The point was these weren't the same old dumb demons they had been last time. He looked back up at the roof and jumped up so he landed in the middle. The demon wasn't far away and charged at him, but Sarkas was ready. He jumped straight up and the demon turned, expecting him to land on the other side. He landed right where he had been and kicked its back again. It fell down on the roof and Sarkas stepped on its head, hoping to end it right then.
That's when one of the arms snapped back around and raked through Sarkas's ankle. Sarkas screamed and fell down. There were four deep gashes going almost all the way around his right ankle. The pain was unbelievable. It was like his foot was on fire and frozen at the same time. He could hardly think, he had had injuries before but had never felt anything like this! The pain was unnatural, like it cut right into something deeper than his skin.
He weakly watched as the demon picked itself up and walked over to where Sarkas was crouched down. As if in slow motion, it reached out its hands towards his throat. He was suddenly very scared. He was having flashbacks of the first night he was attacked. The hands reaching for him and wrapping around his throat. He could still imagine the same fire ice feeling that was cutting his leg. This thing was going to try and kill him if he didn't do something. But his mind wouldn't work. One hand was gripping his ankle where the blood was spilling out onto the roof. He looked around for some kind of weapon. There was nothing. Why didn't people keep weapons on their roof?!!
The demon was almost on top of him now. Sarkas was having trouble breathing. He had to do something, anything. If he didn't he was going to die. He didn't want to die. Not yet. Not to some fantasy monster who didn't even have a face. He wasn't going to let this thing kill him. He couldn't. If it won then it would just move to someone else. He couldn't let that happen.
Get away from me, Sarkas thought, I'm not going to die tonight. Not here, not now. Stop moving! Go away! I'm not going to die! STOP!
"NOO!" his free hand swung out towards the demon. It fell just short of the its body but for a moment his hand seemed to be covered in the darkness of the demon. It extended out and cut through it from the top of its shoulder and diagonal down to what could have been called its waist. Then disappeared as Sarkas's hand dropped to the tiles of the roof again.
The demon stopped. It shook for a moment then the top half seemed to slide off the bottom half. It didn't get very far before both halves shook again and disappeared. Sarkas sighed and found himself alone on the roof. He concentrated on his wound now. It didn't hurt as bad as the first few moments but pain still shot through him. The gashes looked pretty deep and the blood was still flowing out of him like little rivers. His lower leg and hands were all covered in blood. He had to stop the blood somehow. Needed something to wrap his leg in.
The cape. He reached up and managed to untie the thick strings from around his neck. That’s all it was right then, a thick string. How did the cape get in there? He shook it a few times then suddenly the thin material shot out. It was big but it was going to have to do.
"Sarkas?!" Katie's voice suddenly rang out.
"WHAT?!" he didn't have time to deal with anything right now. He slipped the bulk of the cape under his leg.
"Where are you?!"
"UP HERE!" jeeze, couldn't she figure that out by herself?! He tried to tie it together but it was too much. He had to cut it somehow. A second later Katie appeared on the roof. It didn't take her long to notice the small pool of red liquid near his foot.
"Oh my god, are you okay?!" she ran over and knelt down by him.
"Does it look like I'm okay?!"
"Okay okay calm down!" she gently took the cape from his hands and he was happy to let her deal with it.
You try to calm down when it feels like your foot is falling off. he thought and winced as another jolt of pain shot through him.
Katie examined the edges of the cape until she found a loose thread and used her teeth to pull it out more then took it in her hands and pulled a strip of the cloth off in one clean tear. She wrapped it around his leg twice then tied the ends together above the cuts. One of them was still out a bit so she ripped off another piece and tied it next to the other.
By then the pain had gone down again and Sarkas was starting to breath normally, "Thanks." he said quietly when she was done.
"S'okay. We should get you back to see if Mr. Yami can make it any better." she said and stood up.
"Not yet," Sarkas pleaded, "I don't think I can walk. Can we just wait here a while?"
Katie looked back and forth, "All right." she said and sat down next to him, "I'll call and see if he'll send the car over." she took out her cell phone and did just that. Mr. Yami told her it would be over in a few minutes and to keep Sarkas still.
Sarkas laid down, trying to ignore the pain as best he could. He looked up in the sky and could see hundreds of stars peaking through the breaks in the thin clouds.
"Is that where the demons come from?" he muttered to himself.
"Hm?" Katie looked up too.
"The space between the stars?" Sarkas suddenly felt tired. It was understandable. It was late, he had had a hard night and lost a lot of blood.
"Maybe...." Katie said softly after a moment.
"To destroy them all, will we have to go there too?"
They were silent for almost a whole minute, lost in their own thoughts, "Maybe...." Katie answered finally.
The car showed up a little while later and drove them back to the gym where Mr. Yami examined the cuts on Sarkas's ankles. He went into a little side room and came back a small bag of white pills.
"Take two of these every morning until the cuts are closed. They will not help the healing but it will stop the pain so it will feel like they are not there and you can function normally." he instructed then sent the two home for the night. They had to get some sleep for school after all.