“You three are also demon hunters,” Logan said, and waited for their reaction. Kyle was the first to respond. “What?” he snickered. “Are you joking?”

“Well,” Logan began, looking down at his hands, “I'm not entirely certain, but it's possible. You all saw the demon, right?” he asked, looking up at them.

“Yes,” they all answered simultaneously, causing Kyle to shoot them an annoyed glare.

“Only exorcists or demon hunters can see demons, but there are also people who see demons but cannot become exorcists or demon hunters,” Logan explained slowly, making sure they all understood.

“How do you know all that?” Ian asked bluntly.

“I spent all night reading,” Logan said, looking a bit embarrassed. “I really don’t know much about this, but I figured that among us, I knew the most, so I did my best to inform myself and answer your questions.” Logan finished saying, his face completely red.

“Then how do we know for sure?” Kyle asked Logan in a failed soft tone of voice, it sounded more demanding than what he wanted.

“Don’t worry about that,” Logan said, waving his hand at Kyle. “It’s easy to find out but I need space so come to my house tonight,” Logan said looking at three of them. 

“Okay. Where do you live?” Ian asked Logan. 

“Here you got,” Logan said as he put a piece of paper with his phone number in front of Ian. “Text me later and I’ll tell you,” Logan said with a smile as he got up. “I’m sure you two got things to do and we have to open up so see you tonight,” Logan said to Ian and Max as he grabbed Kyle’s arm and dragged him behind the counter.

“Bye,” Ian said before leaving the coffee shop with Max. 

Max was curious about Ian's thoughts on everything Logan had told them. "What do you think about all that?" he asked.

"It's hard to believe," Ian replied. If he hadn't seen the demon with his own eyes, he would have thought that Logan was crazy.

"And about the other thing?" Max asked, referring to the possibility of being demon hunters themselves.

"He did say that just because we can see it doesn't mean we will be like him," Ian responded logically. He didn't want to worry about something that wasn't a hundred percent certain.

After Max and Ian arrived at the campus, they went their separate ways and continued with their day as usual. Ian walked wearily to his classroom and sat down in one of the first rows, following his routine of typing on his laptop while the teacher lectured. However, his mind couldn't help but wander to the strange events of the day, from the mysterious note to the encounter with demons, and the possibility of being a demon hunter. But something else was nagging at him – who was behind all of this?

As Ian left the building, he saw a message from Max asking him to meet at the administration building. When Ian arrived, he found the building empty and cold, reminding him of his own house.

Max spotted Ian as he was walking down the corridor and almost shouted, "Hey!" As Ian turned to face him, he wondered why someone like Max would spend time with him.

"When are we going to Logan's?" Max asked as they left the building.

"Let me ask him," Ian said, pulling out his phone and the scrap of paper with Logan's number. After texting him, Ian got an instant response with Logan's address and saying that they can go now if they want to. "We can go now if you're free," he told Max as they walked down the bustling and noisy streets.

"I don't have anything else planned. You?" Max replied.

"No," Ian said, imagining his house with no one waiting for him and its cold, empty rooms.

After walking for nearly twenty minutes, they reached Logan's home. As they approached the front door, they spotted Kyle on the porch, leaning against the railing and smoking a cigarette.

As they ascended the porch steps, Ian asked Kyle, "What are you doing out here?"

“Smoking,” he said with a grin as he finished his cigarette and threw it to the grass. 

Max rang the bell and Logan opened the door.

Logan greeted them with enthusiasm and welcomed them inside. But when Kyle walked through the door, Logan stopped him abruptly and sniffed him suspiciously. "Did you smoke before coming in?" Logan asked, blocking Kyle's path inside.

Kyle reluctantly admitted it, and Logan's eyes widened with indignation. "And where did you throw the cigarette butt? Surely not on my front lawn?" Logan scolded him, putting his hands on his hips, like a stern mother would scold her teenage son. Kyle remained silent, and Logan disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a wooden spoon in his hand.

"Go pick it up," Logan demanded, pointing the spoon at Kyle as if it was a weapon. Kyle sent an annoyed glare at Logan and reluctantly went outside to pick up the cigarette butt. He then tossed it in the trash before returning to the group in the foyer.

Logan dismissed the incident and invited Ian and Max to follow him, leading them to the kitchen. The wooden spoon was set aside, and Logan pulled out a couple of chairs, inviting his guests to sit down.

As Ian looked around Logan’s house it felt way different than his own, it seemed alive, with its hardwood floors and warm colors and the lingering smell of food coming from the kitchen. When he stepped into the kitchen he was soaked in the smell of home cooked food that was still on the stove. The more he looked around he was reminded of how his house looked like an exposition house with white, gray and beige colors.

“I still have some cleaning to do,” Logan said as he started picking the dishes from the table up and put them on the dishwasher. “My grandmother and I just had dinner,” He finished saying once all the dishes were on the dishwasher.

“Isn’t it a bit early for dinner?” Kyle asked as he eyed the food in the pots. 

“My grandma has dinner early to go to bed early so i like to have dinner with her,” Logan answered ,with a tinge of annoyment in his tone, to Kyle.

“You want something?” Logan asked Kyle, Max and Ian with a pot of food in his hand. 

“Yes,” Kyle answered excitedly. Logan pulled out three plates from a cabinet and served the three of them.

As Kyle, Ian and Max were eating, Logan started to clean the counter and put the leftover food in plastic containers to store in the fridge.

“How long have you been knowing Kyle,” Max asked curiously to Logan as they seemed awfully close.

“We met last Sunday,” Logan said with a smile and went back to cleaning.

“You do realize that we are on Thursday, right?” Ian asked incredulously, they didn’t know each other for even a week and they seemed like childhood friends.  

“Yes, but how could you not be friends with him when he has this face,” Logan said smiling as he approached Kyle and pinched one of his cheeks. 

“Don’t touch my face,” Kyle said angrily as he pushed Logan’s hand away. 

“Are you hitting the hand that is feeding you?” Logan asked, feigning hurt. “And here I was going to give you dessert, not anymore,” he said jokingly as he put three slices of cake in front of his guests. “Just baked this evening by my grandma,” Logan said with a smile.

“Ready to find out if you are demon hunters?” Logan said as they all finished their slices of cake, cutting abruptly the nice and warm atmosphere. “Follow me quietly, my grandma is sleeping,” Logan said as he left the kitchen and started walking upstairs.

They all followed Logan through the long corridor of the first floor until they arrived at the last door. When he opened it the smell of oil paints flooded everyone’s noses.

“Here is where the magic is made,” Logan said as he welcomed his friends to his painting studio. “I’m a painter if any of you didn’t know,” Logan explained as he pointed at the several canvases stacked on the walls and the easels. 

“You didn’t tell me that you painted,” Kyle asked as he eyed some of Logan’s paintings.

“We’ve known each other for five days. I can't tell you everything right away,” Logan joked as he remembered Max’s question from before. 

“Who is first?” Logan said as he sat down on the floor in the middle of the room. 

“Me,” Kyle answered confidently as he sat down in front of Logan. 

Logan pulled out a knife from his pocket scaring Max, Ian and Kyle that looked at him strangely. 

“Why do you need that?” Kyle asked, fear present in his voice. 

“Isn’t it obvious? To stab you,” Logan said seriously.

“What?” Kyle said scared of his newfound friend. After a few seconds Logan bursted out laughing. 

“It's a joke, is to make a small cut in the palm of your hand,” he said as he pulled out three band-aids, with small smiley faces on them, from his pocket.

“If you want I can do it first to show you that any of you will die,” Logan said, the other three quickly nodded. 

Logan closed his hand with the knife inside of it and made a small cut, he let the blood soak the blade of the knife and started drawing something in the floor with the knife’s blade and his blood as ink. “May the light of the divine guide your steps, and the wisdom of the ancients shield your soul. Let the holy fire of courage burn bright within you, and the pure blade of justice strike true. In the name of the righteous, we stand as hunters of the darkness, unwavering in our quest to vanquish evil from this world,” he said when he finished drawing on the floor. The blood started glowing and after a few seconds it completely evaporated into thin air.

“Turns out I’m a demon hunter,” he said with his palm still bleeding. “See? Completely harmless,” he continued saying as he licked his wound to stop the blood from coming. “Kyle, are you ready?” he said as he cleaned the blood stained knife with a tissue. 

Kyle reluctantly gave his hand to Logan and saw him as he made a cut in his hand and how he let the blood stain the blade of the knife. Logan followed the same procedure with Kyle’s blood. “May the light of the divine guide your steps, and the wisdom of the ancients shield your soul. Let the holy fire of courage burn bright within you, and the pure blade of justice strike true. In the name of the righteous, we stand as hunters of the darkness, unwavering in our quest to vanquish evil from this world,” when Logan finished saying the chant all of them looked expectantly as the blood glowed and also vanished into thin air. 

“You are a demon hunter,” Logan said jokingly as he put the smiley-faced pattern band-aid in Kyle’s cut.

Logan proceeded to do the same on Max and Ian receiving the same result. 

“So what does this mean?” Ian asked as soon as his ritual was done.

“I’m guessing we’ve been put together on purpose. Four demon hunter’s knowing each other is not as easy as it seems,” Logan said to his friends that were sitting in front of him. 

“I know what are you going to ask and I’m going to tell you,” Logan started to say before any of them could talk. “The difference between exorcists and demon hunters is very simple,” Logan started to say as he picked up a couple of books and opened them, leaving them in front of his friends. “Exorcists work for the church, they mainly use bible verses, different prayers to exorcise demons and other religious items such as rosaries or figurines of saints,” Logan said as he pointed to different drawings in the books. “And demon hunters are,” he started saying as he looked for the right word. “Freelance, to word it somehow. They don’t work for the church and don’t really use bible verses and religious items, they have their own weapons such as guns, swords, knives, with different treatments to kill demons.” Logan finished saying as he looked at his friends who seemed to still be processing the information.

“I know that this may be difficult to accept, two days ago you two just were clients,” Logan started saying as he pointed at Max and Ian. “And now you have to accept a new reality, I know it’s crazy.” Logan said as he closed the books he used for the explanation. 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Kyle asked once he finally started processing everything that just happened. 

“Nothing,” Logan said while shrugging. “Keep coming to work, do what you do normally, don’t worry about things that don’t really matter,” Logan said with a gentle smile to soothe his friends. “I’ve known for years that I was a demon hunter but until last night I’ve never seen one or fought one,” Logan said, hoping that his personal experience would help his friends be a bit more relaxed. 

“So we just keep living normally?” Ian asked as he got up from the floor.

“Exactly,” Logan said in an understanding tone of voice. “If any of you wants to talk about it you all are free to call me and if something happens don’t doubt in coming here,” Logan said as he opened the door of the studio so they all could leave. “Max, are you okay?” Logan asked him when he noticed that he had been very quiet. 

“What? Yes I’m okay,” he said as he left the studio, Logan could see that he wasn’t as okay as he claimed but didn’t press further. 

Logan accompanied his friends to the door and watched them leave as he wondered if they would be okay after knowing their true identities.

***

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Ephesians 2:10