"Incubus's need to feed often, don't they?" Jones asked after a minute.
"Incubi, but yes. They're a Class Three because of how often they need to feed." Jade confirmed, looking up.
"How do these classes work?" Mark asked.
"Simple. Class One is weakest. This class contains Demons such as Parasytes and Wisps. Class Two is the next one up. Nightmares and Boegies fit there. Class three is the middle, strong Demons with big weaknesses, like Incubi and Succubi. Class four is for the Chaos Demons, and Class Five is the most dangerous. Mainly Hellspawn and True Demons." Jade said, listing the classes from memory.
Her father had drilled the classes into her, so she would know when to run or stay and defend herself.
Jade caught movement from the corner of her eye, and she glanced over to see Derik leaning back in his chair.
"What's the strongest you've encountered?" He asked.
"Alone or with my dad?" She asked.
"Both."
Jade thought for a moment, going through her life-threatening adventures with her father.
"Alone, I'd have to say, Class Four, Chaos. I got cornered in an alleyway on the way back to a motel room. They thought if they had me, my father would stop hunting them." Jade said, remembering the night vividly.
She was twelve. Her mother has just left, and it was only her third hunt with her dad. She had went to the store to get some drinks and was on her way back to the motel room her and her father were sharing. Smith Parke had been trailing a Chaos Demon that had been terrorizing the townspeople. They were close, so Jade was being extra careful, avoiding people every chance she got. That's what she had been doing when the Demon appeared before her. Her Hunter's instinct told her not to endanger the people, so she didn't run. Instead, she calmly spoke to the Demon, as she hit the emergency button on the bracelet her father had made and given her. Her dad rescued her, but Jade couldn't help feeling guilty. She did absolutely nothing to help on that hunt.
"What happened." Jones asked, obviously interested.
"I kept them busy until my father came and got me. He did a banishing ritual, cause he wouldn't dare kill anything resembling human in front of me back then...no offense."
"None taken, Babe," Derik said smoothly.
Jade's face warmed at the nickname, yet he never asked her out or anything like that.
'I'll talk to him about it later.'
"And with your father?" Mark asked.
"Easily Class Five. It was a Hellspawn and Hellhound combo. And I'd like to mention, hellhounds are like a billion times scarier in person than their lore suggests."
"Now I'm curious," Derik said, leaning forward.
"It was right before the whole Demons-are-joining-the-population thing. There was a string of murders in California. The local Hunters suspected multiple Class Five's, and my father was the most capable and logical choice to call. Long story short, we had started with a group of five and had three graves to make. My father was facing the Demon, not many bullets left, and I was stuck watching his back, facing the Hound with only my knife. We learned I'm immune to Demon Mist, I could see the Hound fine, but that didn't make my job easier. Of course, both my father and I are alive, so yeah." Jade said, remembering the children of the Hunters she had to comfort that day, the letters she sent every birthday, the tears she listened to and continue to whenever she's needed.
Her heart hurt at the memory. It had been the first time she killed. She had done several banishings, and set traps, her father doing the killing, but that was the first kill she had ever done herself.
"Are you okay, Jade?" Derik asked, reaching for her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Anyhow, enough stories. I can guarantee the Incubus will come looking for me when night falls. I can banish it if you'd like." Jade said, looking back to the journal.
"Yes, that's the best idea," Mark said.
"I don't like how he'll be after you," Derik said quietly, yet the whole table heard.
"Relax. I've been doing this for five years now. I'm better at banishing than my father is."
"Still doesn't make me like it," Derik grumbled.
"You don't have to like it, just deal with it," Jade said simply, mentally noting what she'd need to banish the Incubus.
'One: Blood of the prey...so my blood. Two: Sage..obviously for cleansing. Three: Obsidion paint..for protecting the prey from being fed from. Four: Six Soul Stones.'
"Hey, Derik?" Jade said quietly.
"Hmm?" Derik replied without words, thinking.
"I need to get something else from home." She said, sighing.
"What do you need?" Jones asked.
"Banishing supplies. Sage, Obsidian Paint, and Soul Stones." She replied.
"I'll them to you in time," Derik said, letting out a breath of air.
Jade looked at him and nodded. As she stared into his eyes, she saw his fear and concern for her, if only briefly. She gave him a reassuring smile and closed the journal.
"Who's ready to stop an Incubus?" Jade asked the guys around her, both human and Demon.
"Let's get ready," Derik said, taking Jade's hand under the table.
The group ordered food since it had become lunchtime by then. Jade didn't really feel like eating and took a single slice of a pizza the table got. Her thoughts kept her busy, her mind zoning out.
'The only Soul Stones I know of are with my dad. And the Sage and Obsidian Paint. If I went home and raided the banishing supplies, dad would never let me leave the house."
She let out a heavy sigh. Derik had said he'd get her the supplies, but how would he get the Obsidian Paint? Obsidian was a Demon's weakness. Like, a major weakness.
Derik rested his hand on Jade's leg, sending a flow of warmth through her body. She looked over at him and he smiled at her. She nodded, more to herself than to Derik. They could do this. They could banish an Incubus. No sweat.
'Just blood. '
The grim thought left a bad taste in Jade's mouth, which she tried to ignore with a huge bite of pizza. For now, everything was okay. What could possibly go wrong, a bunch of teens taking on an adult Demon?