The Demon's Daughter

The slightly windy spell of the previous week was over; the sun was shining brightly as Madeleine Shay hurried across the road to her favorite bookstore, too brightly for 9am in the morning, she thought. The hood of her sweater was up to keep her hair from blowing across her face. The weather might have warmed up, but the wind off the East River could still be brutal. It carried with it a faint chemical smell, mixed with the smell of rot, gasoline, and pastries from the bakery down the street. Olive was waiting for her in front of the bookstore along with a couple of other book freaks like her, her carrier bag slung across her shoulder “Hey” she said as Maddie reached her “I've been waiting ages for you. The new books aren't going to buy themselves.""Sorry, sorry" Maddie replied, slightly out of breath "My dad wouldn't let me go out without taking this" she raised an electric zapper up and rolled her eyes "For 'security reasons' he said. Big whup"Olive struggled against the throng

"Do you think she'll ever wake up? She's been unconscious for 4 days.""You'll have to give her time. I don't think Jason's dogs were being too careful when they abducted her""Mortals die awfully easy, don't they? Weak little things"Four days. She'd been sleeping for four days.She had to wake up.But she couldn't. Her dreams came on to her like torrents of water, each more vivid than the former. Figures of darkness crashed and blended into one another. She saw her father, tied up at the tower of a cathedral. She saw Olive, standing atop a pile of bones. She saw herself, like watching a recorded tape of herself, but with straight, black hair and eyes like cesspools of darkness. When she opened her mouth, spiralling smoke came out. Figures in black clothing running at her with blazing swords, and their weapons slashed through her skin like paper.Then she saw angels with white wings. Angels falling from the sky. And she woke up.She couldn't move. She felt as if her eyes have been g

After eating her first meal in days (and truly, Cassiopeia was a very good cook) Maddie had a bath, though she had no change of clothes. After this, Ethan came in to her room."Hello" He said "I was asked to fetch you. The Sword Sisters are ready to see you""Okay" Maddie said and got out of bed. She walked out of her room with Ethan into a corridor of sorts, lined with similar looking doors."This way," Ethan said and led her to the left.As they continued walking, Maddie noticed that the house had a queer sort of outlook, the way the house of a wealthy kleptomaniac would look, so to speak. Rows and rows of shelves were filled with oriental objects gathered from all over the world, from Chinese porcelain dolls to African traditional masks and figureheads.The walls were also filled with portraits of varying people, all wearing the same black turtlenecked gear she'd come to associate with Hunters, all with their names scribbled at the bottom of the portrait. Maddie whispered them as s

The Caucus of Hunters was a tight-knit group of representatives from the best Hunter families. They consisted of seven members from different families across the New York metropolis, and acted as the governing body for the race of Hunters present in the city. George Ravenwood, Celia Ravenwood's husband, was the head of the Caucus. He had been away on some Hunter business concerning the dead bodies when Maddie had been brought into the Manor, so she hadn't had the liberty of meeting the man.Celia his wife had summoned the Caucus to the manor shortly after Maddie had regained consciousness, to discuss the next step to take on her behalf. They had walked into the manor in all their numbers, and Maddie hadn't been given the chance to see them. She had been pushed rather unceremoniously into a room adjacent the study, where the Caucus were supposed to have their meeting.Maddie found it unfair that Jason, Cassie and Ethan had been allowed to attend the meeting that would somehow decide h

"I need answers" Celia snapped."Mom, we can explain" Cassie, recovering her composure, stepped forward."Then get on with it" Jason's mother said, her arms folded, looking from Cassie to Ethan to Jason and back again. She was dressed in a stiff black suit, her hair, blonde like Cassie's and Jason's, packed up in a tight bun. Her eyes, an icy green, swept over her children like a searchlight. She didn't even act as if Maddie was there. Maddie could have been a hallway sculpture for all the attention she gave her.“We had a run-in with some Tracker demons in a diner. But it was nothing."Celia Ravenwood's frown deepened "And how much exactly is 'some'?"Even Cassie was silenced by that. She looked to Jason for an answer."A few" Jason said tentatively."A few' how many?" Celia's voice was rising. Ethan gave another squeak behind her.Ayesha spoke up for their benefit "I mean, technically there were about a dozen? But," she added, eyebrows raised "We only fought four""Four Tracker demo