Phantom; Blessed by the devil, Cursed by the gods

Chapter 4 Katarina

The air was cool the next morning, so much so that Sal could see his breath puff out in white vapor as he walked the half awake Philadelphian streets.

He'd come out early that day, mostly because he wanted to avoid Lester. He couldn't tell Lester, at least not yet, and he dreaded lying to him at all.

Lester was his best friend yes, but there are some things that separated even the strongest of bonds.

He desperately didn't want to lose Lester.

There would be no life without him.

Sal pulled the hoodie lower over his head as he passed a couple of werelizards looking at him like he was a delicious swarm of flies, he hated what he could see now more than ever as well, it had only been a day but the world that mortals could not see was already making him go crazy and it was much worse at night, especially last night when he helped Boulder fully take over Bobby's joint and found out that nearly half the kids there were Shaded beings. Imagine his surprise when a twelve year old werewolf nearly bit his leg off.

He pushed thoughts of yesterday out of his mind, now he was going to meet Casmir and he silently wondered what the vampire had in store for him.

He got to the abandoned factory, it's wall crawling with moss and water stains, and leapt over the fence. He knocked on the large iron doors as he got to them, the sound reverberating throughout the neighborhood.

Casmir opened the doors with a loud scratching sound that and emerged beaming at Sal, his eyes almost shining in the dim morning light.

"Hey", Casmir greeted, "I'm glad you came this early, a little later and I'd be a pile of ashes after opening this door"

"No problem", answered Sal.

Casmir turned the beaming smile down to a gentle chuckle and ushered Sal in.

Sal couldn't believe what he saw next.

The factory was very bright, illuminated  by medieval torches hanging at high corners and on the sides of the walls and burning with bright orange flames. There was a large space where all the manufacturing equipment would have been but was replaced by a large gym with duffel bags and dumbbells and fighting dummies and a large boxing ring.

Off to one side was a bed, a bookshelf and a wall of paintings, every single piece of artwork looked original, paintings of blood and blur and battle. Not far from that was what looked like a smaller version of an art studio, with a bunch of easels, canvas and a large cupboard with the word "COLOURS" painted on it, each letter a colour of the rainbow.

Sal turned to Casmir who had somehow gotten a glass of blood in his hands and was looking at Sal with his usual amusement.

"What do you think?" asked Casmir.

Sal scoffed in astonishment.

"One hell of a place you got," said Sal.

Casmir chuckled.

"C'mon, I've got something to show you," he said.

He zoomed past Sal with a speed that startled and excited Sal.

He ran to keep up, following Casmir through a door and emerging into another astonishing place.

"You have got to be kidding me" Sal exclaimed.

All around them and lined on the walls were weapons, all of them in the shape of different kinds of blades; daggers, swords, scimitars, kindjals, and even kitchen knives and machetes hung there. The blades gleamed in the dimness, like precious dangerous treasures.