Demonic Bounty Hunter

By K.C. Yates

Would you believe that there are bounty hunters that hunt the things that go bump in the night? Well, believe it. Rayne Reaper is one of those hunters, and she is the best. How did she become one? Well, first, she had to die, and she also had to be a murderer.

Rayne has been hunting for a few decades before the king of hell gave her two hellhounds as her partners, not that she needed them. Destroy and Devour, a.k.a. DeDe, have been around since the start of time; and they have served under many hunters, but none of them scare them as much as Rayne does. She has so much more power than she uses. But they will work and serve her until either she gets out of her contract or the king of hell decides to kill her. Whatever happens first.

But until that happens, Rayne and her hounds work through her bounties, and the simplest one turns into a nightmare. One vampire is caught up in so much that Rayne has no idea where to start or who is even in charge anymore. She will need to work with another hunter, which might backfire on her and her hounds. And she may even discover what she is in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638815426

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Copyright © 2022 K.C. Yates

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-63881-527-3 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63881-542-6 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

For my family and best friend

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Just one foot in front of the other… Breathe. Come on! Just one foot in front of the other. There he is… Breathe. At the end of the aisle was a man dressed in a tight-fitting suit with a blush-colored tie. I looked straight into his baby-blue eyes as I made my way toward him. As I reached out to take his hand, I thought the world had stopped. Is this really happening right now?

Oh yeah, it’s real. Are you ready to do this?

I nodded as I handed my bouquet to my sister, who was grinning ear to ear. I gave a wink and turned back to my almost husband. Oh, honey, you spilled something on your shirt? I noticed a small dot forming on his shirt. Honey, are you okay? I asked as I watched his face go pale and his eyes darken. Robert… Robert… Are you okay? Suddenly, screaming erupted as Robert fell to the ground. "

Robert!

"

Zzzzziiiiipppp! I felt a sharp pain in my back as I looked down to see the same spot forming on me. I looked at Robert and saw an orb leaving his chest when I glanced up, and everyone was in a panic, but I just felt calm as my vision darkened.

*****

Well…that was interesting. DeDe, go get their souls. I watched through my sniper lens.

Growls sounded through the air as two doglike creatures jumped down the building. I stretched before taking my sniper apart. I had to be quick; the collection didn’t take long. Hey, guys! Where are my souls? Something growled behind me. I glanced over my shoulder while I slung my bag over my shoulder.

I watched my puppies climb over the railing.

They’re right here, but they don’t taste as good as some of the others. Destroy grinned, licking his teeth.

I know… They never do when they are humans. But at least, it was interesting. I shrugged, holding my hand out to Destroy.

Destroy is one of the hellhounds that I received when I signed up for this career. Hellhounds are huge doglike creatures that always seem to be on fire. They have two forms: one an average-size dog like a German shepherd, the other a massive fire creature that with one swipe of their paw could kill hundreds. And they look inflamed in both forms. They are impossible to kill, and they have powers like invisibility and the ability to draw souls from beings, which is good when I need those souls to survive. My other hound is Devour, and he does what his name says.

Devour, did you take a bite out of them? You have blood all over your chin. I grabbed the orbs and swallowed them in one bite.

I couldn’t help myself. She looked so good in that dress. Devour grinned, licking his paws.

Okay, I’ll give you that one, Devour, but maybe ask next time. I laughed as we all walked through a glowing red portal on the ground.

Jobs And Training (So Much Fun)

Rayne, how did it go? Did you enjoy yourself? smirked John.

It was fine. But you know I don’t like weddings, and this wedding was pink and blue. I mean seriously those are the colors of newborns, I groaned, slumping down in the chair.

John laughed, leaning back in his chair. He pulled a file from a stack on his desk before crossing something out and throwing it on the pile on the floor.

So what jobs do you have for me? I crossed my legs.

John grabbed a few from the pile and scanned them before pulling a couple out and tossing them on the table. Here are a few that you might find interesting, but they aren’t anything special.

I grabbed the files and scanned the first one; it was another slimeball of a human. Boring. Next. The next file was a vampire couple. Vampires are a bitch to kill, so I would need special wooden bullets or go close combat. Maybe. I flipped the next one open, and it was a demon with scars all over his body and horns on his head. Wow, that’s a look. The last one was another demon, but this was easy. First-time offender with minimal skills. I could easily spot him in the picture with thousands of other people around. Wow, give me a harder one, why don’t ya. I rolled my eyes as I threw the file at him.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself. John laughed, throwing the file on the pile. So which one are you going for?

I looked through each one to see where they were located. I scanned the information to see if I needed to stake them out or not. So…how high do these guys rank for you? I pulled a picture out of each file.

John leaned forward, interlocking his fingers under his chin. He reached out and moved the human to the far right and the demon to the middle. The vampires were then picked up and scanned them before tossing it back. Oh, what did they do to you? I smirked as I calmly set the photo back on the table.

That is a need-to-know, and you aren’t that high yet. But keep up the good work and you might just get there, John smirked as he leaned back against his chair.

I looked at the ranked pictures. Question can I take all of them and work through them? I picked up all the pictures and the files before looking up at him.

Now, why do you want all of them? They’re miles and countries apart. But you can. I just expect them to be completed in a timely manner. John shrugged, waving it off.

I stood up and waved the files at him. Okay then, see ya when I’m done. Oh, and I will be needing some wooden bullets and the gym. I need to work on my fighting style with DeDe.

John nodded as he waved me off. I smirked as I headed out. The building itself wasn’t too big, but the hallways themselves seemed to go on for miles. Oh my god, why do these always seem longer when I want to leave? I grumbled as I stepped into the elevator. I pushed one and waited for it to go down. Then the elevator’s music started, and it was some weird techno stuff. Great…he has been in a good mood. I hope it stays this way, I mumbled as it opened up to the outside. The fires danced and raged as they always did. Hell would be beautiful if it wasn’t so hot and the screams weren’t so constant and loud. Hell looked like a city that was swallowed by shadows. The only light came from the flames and the Judgment Zone. That zone was the only place that had some good in it. When people die, they first go through the Judgment Zone, and the judges decide if they stay down here or they get to go up to a good place, which I really don’t believe is there.

But then again…I didn’t get to go. I died in 1862, and I honestly wasn’t a good person. I killed and tortured people for a living. Now, mind you, I never touched a good person. I went after the people who attacked and used me. The first time I killed, it was the person who raped me and walked away laughing. After the trial, I lost it. The system had failed me, so I took the law into my own hands. After that first kill, I enjoyed it. I savored that kill because he was a monster that was a rich boy. He was an arrogant son of a bitch, and I was the twentieth victim that this man had raped, but his downfall was that I was left alive. All the others he had killed or beat within an inch of their lives, which left them dying on the way to the hospital. When I killed that man, he went through the same zone I did, but he didn’t get a new job. He went straight to the deepest parts of hell, also known as The Pit. I know this because I died ten years after that from some disease. And when I went through the Zone, the judges judged me as evil and sentenced me to The Pit. But before the sentence was carried out, Satan appeared before me and offered me a job instead. When I said yes, I was freed from the Zone, and I landed in the same office I was just at. I sat before Satan as he gave me three options. One was to become a demon and go back up and cause chaos. The second was to serve him in throwing the hellish people into their proper place. The third option, the one I picked, was to become a bounty hunter—to track and kill the things that escaped The Pit and/or stopped following Satan’s rules. He sends me out to deal with those people, and when I complete the job, I am one step closer to wiping my slate clean. I will get the chance to be reincarnated into someone new. I work only for that chance. I spend hours up in the human world, and it has gotten better over the years, but it has also gotten worse. I just want to have a chance that I didn’t get before I was raped—to actually have a life.

Well now that I told my story, time to move on.

I walked through the streets until I came upon a huge building with a neon sign that said

gym

. DeDe, where are you guys? I thought it was the only way I could communicate with them when they weren’t with me. Satan gave them to me after I took down a rank 10 demon, a fight I didn’t come out of unscathed. I spent some time in the hospital and the Healing Zone where I got one more gift besides DeDe. I got the gift to change my appearance. I can look and dress differently every time I go up. It is also really good for my job because my demonic face has gotten to the escapees, and they started to get smarter with their activities. They started hiding their dealings and ran away every time I was even hinted in the area.

Hey, Rayne, what brings you to this part of town? Mikey smiled behind the desk.

Hello, Mikey! Just stopping in to do some training. I’m still a bit rusty on my hand-to-hand combat, I said as DeDe trotted through the doors.

Wow, are they actually hellhounds? I haven’t seen them outside of The Pit. How did you get them? I heard Satan never gives them out. Mikey gasped at DeDe.

Oh yeah. We are hounds, and I would love to eat him. Destroy grinned, snapping at Mikey.

Woo…watch where you snap! Just go in, said Mikey, backing away from Destroy.

Why have you called us, Rayne? We were eating, and you know that we don’t like being disturbed when we are eating, growled Devour.

Sorry, but we got new jobs. And we might need to fight hand to hand. So I called to practice some techniques and to improve our fighting styles, I replied, heading into the back.

Destroy growled and nipped at Mikey before following Devour and me through the doors. I led them to one of the back rooms so as to not have them kill any of the other demons. Satan doesn’t really care if DeDe eats his agents, but it doesn’t sit well with me. What if I need help and no one answers because DeDe bit their leg or arm off? You can never be too safe. The back room had a large floor mat in the center of the room; and around it were various weights, punching bags, and pull-up bars.

Do you guys have to be so devilish? Not that I’m judging, but come on. I rolled my eyes as I pulled out my gun and unbuckled my holster to not automatically reach for it. My gun was my safe haven, and it was my favorite to fight with. I never cared for close combat. I preferred if my targets never saw me. But vampires are quicker than a bullet. You can shoot them if you surprise them, but they are really hard to surprise with their stupid heightened hearing and senses. If you miss the chance, they can quickly kill you or disappear. If they run and hide, you won’t find them for years. The best bet is to quickly inject them with a garlic substance to slow them down. Once they’re slowed, you can either stab them with a wooden stake or shoot them with a wooden bullet. Most people just cut their heads off, which does work too. That is why they are bitches to kill.

Destroy, you are good at taking down enemies from anywhere and with nothing, correct? And, Devour, you have this stealth-like grace that I don’t have as of just yet, I stated as I stretched.

Correct, but what does this have to do with training? Destroy yawned.

I need to know how you guys fight so that I can learn to fight with you guys, but you also have to learn how I fight. I started moving around dummies and other bags to practice on.

Oh fine. We will practice, but you have to understand that we are hellhounds. We don’t move like people. So let’s see how this works. Now, what are we doing first? Defending or attacking? Destroy moved onto the mat.

Devour was a step behind him as they moved on the mat to get a feel for the fabric and textures of it. Let’s work on defending first, and if that goes well, we can move on to attacking. I shrugged as I moved an automatic dummy into position.

Okay, let’s see how we defend without planning anything. I think we all have natural abilities to change styles to fit any situation.

DeDe nodded as we got in our stances. Devour stood on my right and Destroy on my left. Ready, guys! I’m just going to go for broke and set it to vampire speed. I started the program on the dummy.

Let’s do this, growled Devour as Destroy snapped his jaws together.

Three…two…one…start!

Right from the get-go, we started weaving through punches and kicks. I took some hits, but nothing stopped me. I could also feel DeDe in the back of my mind. I could tell where they were moving and what their next move would be. I was already breathing hard as DeDe danced with the dummy with ease. I felt they could go for hours. After hours of defending, we took a break and lay down on the mat.

Well, that was a good session, but I need to work on my stamina. And a question, do you guys know what I’m about to do before I do it? I gulped my water down.

DeDe lapped at their water bowls as they took their break. I didn’t notice anything different. But then again, demons aren’t used to having partners. Oh, and we are inside your head, so that could be it, smirked Devour as he sat down.

I jumped up. Wooooo…wait a minute, you guys have been inside my head these last few months! How did I never notice? I thought it was only supposed to be when I called you that you get access to my head. When were you guys going to tell me?

Devour looked at Destroy and then back again. We thought Satan explained that when he gave us to you. When you completed the blood oath, you gave us access to your mind. You also have access to our minds. It is helpful when you want to be stealthy during hunts.

Destroy stretched with a yawn. So are we ready to start the attack? Because I want to bite something.

I threw my water off to the side. I started moving dummies off the mat, returning them to the back. While there, I saw this huge one. I grabbed it and started dragging it out. This dummy was the size of a freakin’ troll. It had big bulging muscles everywhere. Well, this should be entertaining. I haven’t actually used this guy, but he looks strong. I hope he moves around. We need to work on using our surroundings. That’s going to majorly help us when we fight in the field, I mumbled as I tried to drag it to the mat.

DeDe trotted over, and they each grabbed a leg. That made it easier. But it still took a bit to get it on the mat.