Accidental Demon Slayers: Daughter of Darkness pt. 6

Ashtyn nearly fell out of her chair when the door opened, and Bobby and Kurt walked into the office. 

“Holy hell, you’re still alive!”  Ashtyn stood up, rushing over to her friend, wrapping her arms around him. 

“Yep.”  Bobby’s voice had a flat quality to it.  “I finally decided to return to the land of the living.” 

When she finally released him, she was shocked to see that her friend was giving her an odd look. 

“There’s something different about you.”  He narrowed his eyes. 

She suddenly felt panicked.  What if he could sense Tabitha?  I mean, her goddess’s mother did kind of, sort of live in her best friend’s brain.  What if Juktha was telling him right now all about her long lost daughter that had just taken up residence in Ashtyn. 

“You just haven’t seen her for a while.”  Kurt gave Bobby’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t go getting all weird on everyone, okay?” 

She could see Bobby relax.  “Yeah, of course.” 

“So,” Ashtyn sighed, relieved, “what brings you in today?” 

“I just wanted to see if I was needed for anything.” 

“Not right now.”  Ashtyn glanced around the empty office.  “Clare and Brittany are out in the field, and I’m almost done with the paperwork on our…” She stopped herself.  The last thing she wanted to do was bring up their last job.  “Everything is pretty much handled.”

“Have you found anymore info on Grath?”  He flinched when he said the god’s name. 

“Don’t.”  Kurt frowned.  “We need to put that behind us.  Far behind us.  I’m talking full on, mental repression.” 

“There isn’t a lot about him.”  Ashtyn glanced at Kurt, unsure if she should be saying anything.  “Not much is known about the culture that worshiped Grath and Juktha.” 

“What about Elizabeth and Steven?”  Bobby ignored the worried look on Kurt’s face. 

“Well…” Ashtyn really didn’t know what to do.  Should she tell him that Steven’s body had been found in a ditch just south of the Wisconsin border?  Should she mention that Elizabeth had pretty much vanished off the face of the earth? 

“Ashtyn, if there is anything going on, I have a right to know.” He was starting to get agitated, and he was visibly grinding his teeth. 

She told him.  She couldn’t keep it from him.  He would probably have found out everything on his own, anyways, and then he would be even more upset because she had kept something from him. 

As long as the two of them had been friends they had never kept secrets from one another.   She wasn’t going to start now. 

But she was keeping a secret from him.  She was keeping a big secret.  Should she tell him about Tabitha? 

“Please, don’t.”  Tabitha’s voice was soft.  “Not yet.  I’m not ready yet.” 

Ashtyn hated being put in this position, but what could she do?  She had to admit that Bobby was in no shape to handle a big shock, and who knew what would happen if Tabitha freaked out. 

“So, is there anything else going on?”  Bobby was still grinding his teeth.

“Nope.”  She plastered on a smile, and lied.  “Nothing else.” 

“We should probably get going.”  Kurt gave Bobby’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.  “It was good seeing you Ashtyn.” 

“When do you think you’ll be coming back?”  Ashtyn followed her friends to the office door. 

“I… I don’t really know.”  He gave her a half smile.  “I’ll be around though, don’t worry.” 

They said their goodbyes, and then Ashtyn was alone again. 

“Thank you.”  Tabitha chimed in again. 

“Why don’t you want me to tell them?”  Ashtyn plopped down in her chair, the tension in her shoulders growing.  “What is the point of all of this if they don’t know you’re here?” 

“ Just trust me on this,” Tabitha’s voice seemed to shed its innocent edge, replaced by a calm, collected tone.  “We need to be careful who knows about me.” 

Ashtyn didn’t like that answer. 

***

As Kurt made his way towards the car he did his best to fight back his frustration.  He knew it was a bad idea to stop by the office.  He could already sense Bobby shutting down again, and the last thing he wanted was to see the man he loved go back to being an immobile lump. 

“I needed to know, Kurt.”  Bobby didn’t look at him as he spoke.  Instead he focused on the city that surrounded them.  Kurt noticed that his eyes darted towards the steps leading up to Lilac Park every couple of seconds. 

“I thought we both agreed that distance is what you needed.”  Kurt pulled his car key out, and used the remote to unlock the doors.  “You need to heal, and deal with what happened.  You don’t, however, need to jump head first right back into the crazy.” 

Bobby paused, his hand on the passenger side door handle.  “What I need is to ensure that nothing like that can happen again.  What I need is to take out Grath, and his psychotic followers.”  He was getting so angry that he was starting to shake.  “That son of a bitch needs to pay for what he did.”

Kurt watched, stunned, as the tears started to roll down Bobby’s cheeks. 

“Bobby…” 

“He made me feel powerless, Kurt. Then he…” Bobby choked back a sob, gritting his teeth in an attempt to control himself.  “ The next time I see that son of a bitch, I will end him.” 

Without another word, Bobby slipped into the car.  Kurt got in, settling in behind the wheel.  He reached out, but Bobby pulled away.  Again Kurt noticed his boyfriend’s eyes glancing over towards Lilac Park. 

“Someone is watching the office.”  Bobby didn’t look up as he spoke.  

Kurt glanced out the passenger side window, towards the stairs leading up to Lilac Park.  There, standing at the top of the stairs, was a woman.  She almost blended in, but there was something, something that Kurt couldn't put his finger on, that told him that she was watching them.  There was something else, too.  

She looked familiar.