Demons Beside You

“Chen, the Coastal Rescue Team is short on people,” Fali said. “Can you lend me Black Ma and White Ma for a few days?”

“Why? Are there a lot of accidents recently?”

“It’s because of what happened that day,” Fali complained. “There are more tourists to Angel Beach and a lot go into the deep zone. We give out a lot of warnings, but we still can’t stop those brainless tourists. They’ll take any risk just to see Amon. Some of them even pretend to be in danger, because they think it can lure Amon over. But instead of getting Amon, me and the rest of the team are getting exhausted.”

Their features in the video from that night had been unclear because of the darkness, but it was still popular. Hundreds of thousands of people watched it every day.

“If you take them, they probably won’t stay obediently at the beach. With how playful they are, they’ll probably go collect coins everywhere.”

Woof!

“Master, we’ll be good. Let us go.”

“Master, I promise we’ll save people.”

White Ma and Black Ma loved the beach and enthusiastic tourists too much. They could make money there and buy dog food with it.

“Then go, but remember what you said. Fali, if they don’t listen and run around everywhere, remember to tell me.”

Woof, woof, woof!

White Ma and Black Ma ran around the house in excitement. They could finally go to the beach again.

...

“Chris, what do you think?” Sienna touched her chin as she looked at Cheryl.

Chris shook her head. “Doesn’t stand out enough.”

“Still?”

Cheryl was like these two women’s puppet. Sienna and Chris kept making her wear weird clothes. She suspected that they did cosplay. Otherwise, why would they have so many weird things?

“This Western cowboy-style outfit just looks weird on Cheryl. How about we change the style?”

“Cheryl is a werewolf, not a magician. The weirdest thing is having a werewolf dress like a magician. Just imagine seeing a werewolf in magician clothing fighting. Isn’t that weird?”

“Then what suits her?”

“Can you two decide first and then make me try it on? I hate being moved around like this.” Cheryl finally lost her temper.

“How do I know what suits you if you don’t try it? There’s this catwoman bodysuit. Try it on.”

“Do I have to wear the ears too?”

“No, but try it with these shades.”

“Huh, this outfit surprisingly suits her,” Chris said, holding her chin with one hand crossed over her chest.

“I think it looks good too.”

“Cheryl, try transforming now.”

“I’m not a full werewolf. I can’t transform at will. I can only do it at night and I need calming medicine or else I’ll lose control like last time.”

Cheryl wasn’t a pure werewolf, so there were conditions for her to transform. First, it had to be after the moon came out. If it was a cloudy day and the moon was covered, she wouldn’t be able to change.

If her bloodline was activated, she could then transform freely. But the way to activate her bloodline was by killing someone!

“Then you’ll start acting with us tonight,” Sienna said.

“To UCLA again?” Chris asked. “we didn’t find any evil spirits last time. I feel like they aren’t there anymore. After all, Chen expelled them all last time.”

“Lauter Brewster called me today, saying that there are commotions in the old campus again. No matter what, we’re the special safety consultant of UCLA now. We have to work for our salary.”

Sienna placed importance on this official and steady job. Back then, she could only find one or two jobs around $1,000 each month and didn’t try very hard. Most paranormal activities were because the client was being dramatic.

This job was different though. The biggest difference was the salary. She made $10,000 per month. Chris, as her assistant, had $6,000 too. This kind of money counted as being high-income.

Sienna would never let herself lose this job.

“Sienna, Chris, do I have to wear this outside?” Cheryl felt embarrassed. The bodysuit was too tight.

She was only 12 years old, but she was going through puberty again. Plus, she had a special bloodline, so her body looked more mature than her age.

“It’s okay. It’s night. No one will see.”

“I think it’s hard to use my skills like this.”

“Your style is more important.”

Sienna and Chris didn’t actually plan on letting 12-year-old Cheryl do anything dangerous. She had a special bloodline, but she was still a child to them.

As for making her wear these weird costumes, it was just to satisfy their weird hobbies.

...

“White Ma,” Black Ma called. “You already took so many pictures. It’s my turn now. You should stand on duty now.”

“No, I only took pictures with ten people. I barely have any money in my bucket.”

“No, it’s my turn. More people like me. I’ll make more money.” Black Ma bared his teeth, putting on a scary expression.

“No, more people like me.”

“No, me.”

“Me.”

“Me!”

“Then let’s duel. We’ll see who makes more money.”

“I won’t lose.” Black Ma and White Ma both grew competitive.

“Who’ll stand guard?”

Black Ma looked around. “Walter, come here.”

Woof!

Walter flew toward the Silly Twins. He was the most simple-minded one, waiting for his brothers’ orders with his tongue out.

Woof, woof.

“Stay here and help us stand guard.”

Just then, there was a loud cry in the distance. A kayak had overturned.

“Someone’s drowning!” the lifeguard on the observatory deck cried while sounding the alert to the headquarters.

Dozens of lifeguards rushed out immediately. They ran and jumped into the ocean.

However, there were three faster creatures. White Ma, Black Ma, and Walter shot out like lightning.