Huntress of the Night Chapters 3 & 4

*3*
    “You missed its heart,” he stated simply. “But at least you distracted it enough for me to get at it.”
Jennifer stared uncomprehendingly up at him, eyes and mouth wide open.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, waving a hand in front of her face. Her expression turned quickly to one of annoyance.
    “Stop that,” she said, grabbing his hand “I’m just a little shocked.”
    “I suppose you would like an explanation?”
    “No. I’m going home.” She stated simply, and walked off in the direction of the train station. He didn’t say anything, but instead shrugged, and followed her.
Jennifer sighed. “What are you doing?”
    “What does it look like I’m doing?”
    “Following me.”
    “Then that must be what I’m doing.” He said grinning.
    “Well stop it.” She said, getting annoyed now.
    “Make me” he replied, crossing his arms, and raising an eyebrow at her. Jennifer growled and stormed off. He continued to follow her.

By the time she reached the train station, he was still a foot behind her, so she slumped her shoulders in defeat.
    “What do you want?” She asked.
    “To keep you safe.”
    “I can take care of myself. Go away”
    “Sure you can,” he replied sarcastically. “I hope you realize that I did just save your life, I think I deserve a little bit of gratitude.”
    “I could have handled it myself!” She snapped back.
He snorted. “You couldn’t even find its heart! Besides do you even know what ‘it’ is?”
Jennifer’s face was now starting to redden with anger
    “Look, I don’t need you to protect me! Just leave me alone!”
He lost his joking, irritating attitude. “That demon will have friends, and they will be after you. There’s nothing for it now. Whether you like it or not, you are going to have protection. I will go, for now, but just be ready. There is a lot about this that you will need to understand.” Jennifer didn’t know what to believe. She couldn’t grasp everything that was happening, so she turned her back and walked to the train.
    “You need to grow up! This is out of your control now. It’s not a joke. You are now in mortal danger, and if you don’t let us help, then you will never be safe.” She turned to back to shoot him a skeptical glare, but he had vanished.

A thousand thoughts tumbled through her head as she made her way home. What if she was never safe again? What if she hadn’t been before, but just got lucky. She realized that she would have no privacy, or sense of security ever again. She might need to be tracked continuously by a bodyguard. Before she knew it she was home at her apartment, and she trudged inside. Jennifer knew that she had to accept whatever help she could get, and be grateful. But it wasn’t fair to expect her to be okay with all of this right off. She had always resented having to depend on anyone else, and that wasn’t likely to change.
***
Jennifer switched on the light as she entered her apartment, and dumped her bag on the table in the kitchen. As she came back into the lounge she saw something that she had missed earlier. A hooded figure stood by the window. Strangely enough, she wasn’t shocked. The appearance of a hooded figure in her apartment just seemed to be just another addition to the abnormal turn that her life had taken in the span of a few hours. Despite the fact that she was not surprised, she still became defensive, in case the figure proved to be hostile. After the events of that day, she was not about to let herself to be caught off guard so easily.
    “Who are you?”
The hooded figure turned. “My Identity is unimportant.” His words were abrupt, and to the point, as if he was impatient to get this over with, though his voice was gentle.
    “Well then why are you here?”
    “I am here for two reasons. Firstly to give you information, and secondly to give you a choice.” He paused. Even though his eyes were in shadow, she could tell that he was looking right at her.
    “Are you prepared to listen?”
She paced the room, running her fingers through her hair. He obviously knew about her previous encounter.
    “I don’t think I am yet. I need some time to think it all through. Can it wait?”
He seemed to consider for a moment. “You have until midnight. This is most urgent. I will wait here until you are ready. Don’t try to run; it isn’t safe for you anymore. We are your only hope now.” He turned back to look out the window.

Jennifer always thought best when she walked, it was her own form of meditation, so she left the building and went for a long walk to the park. This wasn’t like her. She needed to clear her head, and get control of the situation.
*4*
“Are you ready now, Jennifer?”
She sighed and sat on her couch. She decided that it was best to answer honestly. He could probably tell if she didn’t.
    “No, But I need to know anyway.”
She thought she saw the ghost of a smile flicker across his face, but she couldn’t be sure. He finally turned to face her, and fixed his luminescent blue eyes on hers. He sighed, and seemed to search for a starting point in his story.
    “Well I suppose I should start from the beginning, and I mean the very beginning. I just ask that you keep an open mind.”
Jennifer nodded.
    “Well, when you die, your immortal soul is sent to limbo. Only while in limbo can you be returned to your body. Once you have been decided, it is too late to be revived.”
    “You may know this, but approximately 110 people die every minute. The way the fate of a soul is decided is very complicated process, and is difficult to understand, but I will put it in terms that may make more sense, though it is less accurate. It is very difficult for the entities that control the gate to the afterlife to decide the fate of each individual’s soul in such a short timeframe, so the line continues to grow. Because of this, the entities at the gate stop time at midnight every night. Some days are worse than others, but whenever time stops, it creates a small rift between the dimensions. Out of this gap, demons are free to enter the world of life. If too many get through, they kill, and so there are more people in the line, and time needs to be stopped to allow time to sort all of them. This means that more demons can get through, and continue to kill. It’s a vicious cycle that we try to balance.”

    “Every soul sent through limbo is given two choices: to go to heaven or hell, or to help save the world.” He paused briefly, and Jennifer nodded, trying to keep back her skepticism.
    “You are not dead, but because you have seen more than you were supposed to, and you actually survived, I can offer you a similar choice.” He folded his arms and continued as Jennifer leaned forward in anticipation. Whatever she chose would change her life forever.
    “When a soul chooses to stay behind and fight these demons, they are not alive so to speak, because they cannot die, but otherwise are completely human. You aren’t dead, so we can’t make the same offer. You will remain mortal. You will have certain abilities, and someone to teach you how to use them. If you do not agree, however, your life will not be able to go back to the way it was. You will never be safe again, so you will need constant protection. The choice is yours.”

Jennifer sat in silence for a moment, weighing her choices. There was really no comparison. She wasn’t one to live her life in fear.
“Count me in,” she said resolutely.
He smiled. “Well that is one less problem then.”
He then turned and strode towards the door. “I know this is a lot to grow accustomed to, so I would like to thank you for your co-operation. You should be safe for tonight, so sleep well, and tomorrow, someone will be sent to watch over you, and teach you what you need to know.”
With that he left the room, the door swinging closed gently behind him.

Jennifer, suddenly feeling the effects of the day’s events catching up with her dressed in her PJs and went to bed. She lay awake for a while, her brain refusing to sleep without processing some of the things she had learnt and experienced in the last few hours. Despite her jumbled thoughts though, she was too exhausted to have any revelations that night and so allowed herself to drift into an uneasy sleep.