Devon _________________ "Devon its time to bring the owner's their lunch again" Mabel said, her voice thick with boredom Devon, who had up until then been vainly trying to clean a grill with more rust than an industrial yard looked back at her. He studied her face, looking for a clue as to if she was telling the truth. Over the past few weeks he had become more and more suspicious of the goings on of the diner. The cloaked diners, silent owners, unsanitary kitchen and now three kids (two of whom seemed to like their jobs) had quit without notice. On the same day the owners demanded to be brought food, which they had never before requested. And three meals at that. The whole thing seemed off to him, and made a knot in the pit of his stomach. But he was careful not to let on. Devon offered a smile and said "yes ma'am" before starting the grill back up. "What will it be today?" He asked, opening the fridge to pull out ingredients. "Cook up some pancakes. I don't think they've had those recently" She replied absentmindedly looking around "I'm going to go check on the diners. Just put the plates on the bar when you're done" Devon quietly waited for her to leave, then quickly tossed some of the pre-made batter onto the grill before silently leaving the kitchen. It was a slow day so he was the only chef on duty, a detail critical to his plan. He knew something was up, his instincts had never led him astray before, and he had to find out what. The pancakes would take about 5 minutes to cook, which gave him just enough time to sneak out into the back and complete his mission. For the past few weeks the owner's garage next to the restaurant had been closed up, which would not have been notable except it had always been kept open for Mabel to park in. Though now her white Ford was parking with the rest of the employees. Devon's heart raced as he turned the corner of the building to the side entrance to the garage. The door was well aged, with sun faded red paint hinting at its former color. Beside it was the outside stairs to the owner's suite, the condo above the diner that was only accessible via the creaky and well worn wood steps be stood by. Afraid the owner's would hear him, he pulled a small screw driver out of his pocket. With shaky hands he quickly unscrewed the two threads holding the lock in place. Without their support the cheap brass lock fell quietly on the dirt below. The door opened quickly with his hand, as he pushed it in. Thin sunlight streamed through the door revealing its contents. The walls were bare, except for a few shovels and basic tools hung on the opposite wall. But Devon did not notice these tools, because through the light he could see an old pickup truck sitting inside the one car garage. Even with the dim sunlight he could tell that it was Ashburn's the Alabama license plates (long expired) looking back at him. With a start he quickly closed the door, heart racing loudly. Running back to the kitchen he stopped to catch his breath. "Why is his truck here? And where is Ashburn?" He silently whispered to himself. The smell of burning pancakes quickly reminded him what he was supposed to have been doing for the past five minutes. With the speed gained by years in the kitchen he quickly plated the cakes, which were black and burned one one side (this side he put down so Mabel wouldn't notice). He set the plate down on the bar and paused to settle his mind, and ponder over his new discovery. Mabel _____________ After spending several minutes chatting with customers, including a short ghoul that had some funny stories to share, she went back to the kitchen. Without a second thought she picked up the plates of pancakes and shakes and took them downstairs as usual. Locking the door to the transformation room behind her she followed her usual routine, handing the boys their plates and taking he position at the front of the room. Today would be a special lesson indeed. "Sorry I haven't had time for another lesson. Apparently a bunch of vampires from Canada decided to stop in town and eat here every day, so I've been busy. If you don't like it tough. Now then since I have been delayed I'll just give you three lessons at once today to get you up to date. Don't interrupt me because I will just be doing them all in a row. "Special Abilities "Roughly 85% of demons have special abilities. These are defined as powers that are not found among the population as a whole. The dispersion of them seems to be random, as people within the same family can all have different powers. It is believed that these powers come from the innate ability to manipulate your soul and alter its form. Obviously this is limited based on your soul’s energy level and is a good way to kill yourself if you are not careful. As I have said before, if you use all your soul’s energy you are dead. Period. "Getting accurate numbers about special ability dispersion is difficult. Many demons choose to keep their powers secret, in case they need them. It gives them an element of surprise, and makes it difficult to anticipate what they do. As I’ve said most demons are good, but when we go bad we go really bad. Now then, these powers are not being listed in any particular order so don’t read too much into the placement. "The flames of hell is one of the more stereotypical abilities. A demon who possess these abilities can produce flames by superheating the air until it combusts, obviously this can be extended to superheating other materials such as wood. This also gives them the abilities to produce lightning bolts. As a part of their ability their bodies are essentially fire proof, and heat proof. This was proven when one particularly adventurous demon, a vampire, attempted to commit suicide by jumping into a volcano. His attempt failed miserably and all he managed to do was burn off his clothes. Death reaping is quite possibly the most morbid of the abilities. Once an animal, such as a human, stops living a demon with this ability can control the empty puppet that remains. These “meat puppets” if you will are completely mindless and will continue to decompose. When controlled they pull on the energy from their puppeteer’s soul to animate their bodies, however they cannot relay information. They can only follow direct orders that the puppeteer can give telepathically. Obviously this power is what led to the human myth of zombies. A ghoul death reaper in early Rome tried to take over the empire using reanimated human dead, and failed miserably. The hot humid climate of Italy quickly rotted his army to the point they were unusable before he even finished taking the first city. He was shortly executed by his fellow demons for exposure. "Soul Shredding is the rarest of abilities. It is so rare that some demon philosophers argue over whether it should be combined with death reaping, since they share similar attributes. Like death reaping a soul shredder can control animal/human bodies at will, limited only by the power of his soul. However, there is two big differences, the first difference is that a soul shredder can possess even a living creature, or even a rock or tree. He/she can see through its eyes and hear what is a round it at will as if it were a part of his/her own body. The size of the soul part depends on what you wish to do of course, a bigger piece is needed to control a living creature, and a smaller piece to simply animate a rock or hear what is around it. Now you may have noted I said “size of the piece of soul”. This is the second difference, a soul shredder literally tears a piece of their soul out and puts it into a person or object. This is irreversible because a soul once split can never be put back together. I won’t go too far into detail because this power is so rare that some even wonder if it is a myth. "Guardian’s Blessing is the most predictable ability. All guardians have it as part of their genus. It gives them a unique portfolio of powers, all of which revolve around their unique role and biology. A guardian is ten times stronger than other demons, in terms of soul power and physical strength. To compliment this power they have skin, or outer shells, that are tougher than tanned leather. Some even are said to have skin as hard as plate metal. A guardian also has a few minor abilities reserved for their “soul partner” as the guardians call them. A guardian once bonded can communicate through a mental link to him/her and truly feel their every thought and emotion. They can also always identify where their partner is to within about a kilometer or so. Since their life relies on their partner’s life this has served them well historically. "Telekinesis is the second most common over all ability, and my personal favorite. A telekinetic demon has the ability to read people’s minds and souls. It comes in handy when trying to determine threats and intentions, but a trained demon can tell if their mind is being read. Demons with this power serve an important cultural function in our society because we can tell people their soul names. I’ll elaborate more on that later though. "Coming in at about 20% of the population, and most vampires, the power of “temptation” is the most common. All types of demons can have this power but for some reason vampires seem to make up the majority of the population with this power, which probably inspired the vampire stories humans tell. Temptation gives a demon the power to seduce mortals with ease. To your preferred gender (or genders) you are irresistible and fill their hearts with desire. This makes them putty in their hands and can be easily coaxed into anything. It virtually melts a victim’s free will. The most famous example of this is Vladimir Dracula, who I am sure you’ve heard of. He used his charm to maintain power over the hearts of his people (both genders since he was bisexual) even as he tortured them for his amusement. Obviously this figure inspired most of the vampire myths because unlike most vampires he had a literal lust for blood and was a powerful figure. "The final abilities is called “Illusions”. This power is a bit of an oddity because it is theoretically harmless. It gives a demon the ability to project illusions into a person’s minds. So they can make people think they are in a big mansion, when in reality they are in a slum for example. An illusionist cannot change reality though, so your touch will be able to reveal the truth to you if you’re a victim. Imagine that somebody put a tv in front of your eyes and you can smell everything you see on that tv and that pretty much describes what it is like when those powers are used on you. A few well known magicians have actually had this ability, basically standing on stage and making them think they saw the impossible. However this con has been much reduced since the advent of television, since cameras can’t be fooled. "Guardian Class Demons, this means you Eric "Guardian class demons are the oddest of all the demon types. At 5% they are the smallest percentage of demons and many things about them seem to defy the rules of demon biology. "Guardians are massive in stature, with some being as tall as 15 feet. They often look fearsome, with fangs and horns being very common features. Unlike the rest of demon kind all of them have special abilities. They are 10 times stronger than an average demon and have skin as tough as tanned leather (some as hard as steel plating), and about half of them have a SECOND ability (a trait virtually unheard of outside of guardian class). Their souls have the distinct ability to heal ten times faster, making sleep unneeded and giving them the ability to ignore almost all rules of energy management the rest of us must follow. "They however do have one weakness, and it is a big one. When a guardian meets their “soul partner” as they call them they form an eternal bond with that person. Upon a single kiss their soul is tied to their partner’s forever. A guardian and their partner have the ability to connect mentally (though it is not telepathy since it can only be used between the pair). "A guardian can only be killed by the death of their “soul partner”, and this gives guardian culture some unique traits. Guardians generally fall under two types. The first type are called “bondsmen”, they are either bonded to a partner or actively seek a partner (apparently being unbonded makes a guardian feel hollow and empty). These are the majority of guardians since their instincts are to find the demon to whom they are destined to be with forever (It should be noted that they can only bond with demons that are not guardians) "There is a notable minority that actively fights this instinct though, the “lone men”. They travel the world alone, hiding from all life for fear of becoming “mortal”. Fighting their instincts comes at a great cost however, after a century of fighting their natural urges they begin to decline into insanity. Many wander the frozen north and south of the planet in a daze, a hollow shell that is immortal but does not live. Every moment is an agony. "The unique traits of guardians mean they don’t have any of their own centers of population. They can be found among every population, as they stay with their soul partners. Though they are often the more isolated population centers since it can be hard for a guardian to pass as human. "Vampire Class Demons "The most common class of demon we vampires are currently thought to number at about half a million demons, over double the second most populous class. Vampires look the most like humans, and can easily pass. "Vampires are generally at the upper end of height for humans, but rarely pass six and a half feet. We are seen by many mortals as extremely beautiful and this complements nicely our most common power of seduction. Vampires have earned the nickname of the “urban demons” since our population centers are in areas that are highly populated by humans. "Areas such as the American northwest, Canadian southwest, upper Scotland and Moscow are hotbeds for vampires. Since we vampires have strong eyesight the sun can prove blinding, forcing us to be nocturnal like the rest of our demon brethren. "Even though we vampires tend to live in close proximity to each other, it is unusual for any organized movements to happen. We are often well integrated into human society and are a very loosely knit class. Many vampires view themselves as separate from the rest of the demon family tree, since we are the only group that can truly pass. This leads to many “playing human” and just ignoring demons as a whole. This mentality has proven to be problematic in the past, when one of us is discovered. Since vampires live in population centers and in close proximity when one of us is caught often whole families get hunted by humans as a result. This has happened several times throughout history, the most famous example being the Salem Witch Trials. "Oh I forgot to mention that humanoid demons will change form about every century, often in congruence with human evolution. This goes for vampires and fallen angels. The changes are subtle, often things often things such as height. So even after these changes a humanoid demon is still obviously the same as before. For example my last change was about fifty years ago and all that happened was I grew half an inch. "Fallen Angel Class Demons "Fallen angels are the second most common class of demon, after vampires, and currently have about 200,000 members. They are named such because a required feature is a set of wings, which can either be feathered or more resemble bat wings. Fallen angels are a humanoid type of demon, and as such strongly resemble humans. However, they can have difficulty “passing” because in addition to wings they can have horns, fangs, and other body features than can be hard to hide. "Like vampires they tend to be more social, banding together in small to medium sized groups. They generally prefer areas that are either very mountainous or very isolated plains so they can fly without being seen. They come in all personality types and it can be hard to make any generalities about their social traits. Those who settle down into areas mostly live in groups that are only fellow fallen angels and even establish governments. Though these governments are weak and serve more as an authority to keep rebellious demons in line, they are a source of pride among the fallen angels because it is unique to their class. "The largest of these groups is in northern Quebec along the shore. The “clan”, as they call themselves, is about 25,000 and they are far spread throughout the countryside and islands away from most humans. They meet once a year to elect a leader, and form a yearlong militia to enforce laws among demons. Like most fallen angel governments they tend to butt heads with other demons classes who want to live in the area but not follow the government. "The largest concentration outside of Quebec is in Europe, especially northern Europe. According to their mythology they are native to this region, and even inspired the angels of myth taught by Catholics to this day. It’s sort of a running joke between them and a point of humor for all demons." Mabel paused for a breath for a moment before asking "Now are there any questions?"