“Help me, there are d...” The tiny creature trailed off, as he let out a cough. “-bad monsters trying to catch me and eat me. Please, I’m a red fairy. I have great powers and will be in your debt if you help me regain my strength.”

A red fairy? What the hell? A fairy?
"Seriously?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "A fairy?!"

“I need food, lots of foood~” he continued. “Hurry before they storm into this very house!”

Did he mean the 'bad monsters'? What the fuck...? "Okaaay..." she muttered, rolling her eyes. "I suppose, I could, um, get you food. Just stay here."

She jogged out of the room and ran down the stairs. Her parents had stopped arguing. She could see her father in the sitting room, and though she couldn't see her mother, she assumed she had left the house due to the missing car. She opened the cupboards, looking through them. What did 'lots of food' mean? What type of food? How much?

She decided just to grab a unch of random food from the frdge, but not efore grabbing a small salt and vinegar pringles pack for herself, eating it on the way back.

"Uh, back," she said as she entered the room, and dumped the food on her bed.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips, when she said he could stay. He took anothe glance out of the window as she said something about how his place was supposed to protect him from hell guards. Well hell guards aren't that smart. There actually quite dumb." Azazel took another swig of the beer. "They'll be looking for me around the most angry of people. Considering you don't really show anger in public, they wont be expecting me here." 

Azazel explained, for once he didn't feel like ripping out someone's throat. You were obviously about to go do something, don't let me stop you." Azazel said, after a moment. 
If I were to tag along then I could feed. It has been awhile since I have eaten and the essence coming off of Itzal wasn't enough rage for the empty feeling in his stomach to be sated. 
"If you will, I could tag along. It has been awhile since I have fed." Azazel thought of that for a moment. "I just sounded like a vampire, didn't I?" Azazel shrugged slightly. 

Paige shook her head as if she was in a trance,she looked back up at the man.She thought for a moment .Her eyes narrowed,she wanted to let him stay and get paid but then again she just met him in her backyard and who the hell knows he could be a lunatic."Whatever you can stay."Paige looked around the yard quickly and grabbed the boys hand and dragged him into the house.

Paige closed the door behind her silently then glided to her bedroom.She put a blanket and a pillow on the couch."Listen I don't know who the hell you are ,so basically you can sleep here."she motioned her arm to the couch.she swiftly,avoiding the boy,went to the kitchen and opened the fridge.Paige grabbed two of her fathers budwisers,and put one in the boys hands.She opened hers and sat on the couch .She eyed him carefully and sighed."So what's your name and seriously what the hell is going on?"

Her voice was sodden with tiredness. It was very calming, actually. It made Cuspin's body droop slightly with the pleasant numbness of sleep. he could probably flourish forever in this lethargy, if she was always like this. She swallowed his tale well enough, it seemed, either that or she just wasn't listening, too sleepy to care. That was fine with him. Sleepiness was a good asset in his eyes. It left a body so easy to...to... Cuspin blinked. He'd been tired before, but rare was it that he was so tired that he lost his train of though, Oh well. He'd find it later... maybe.

Her feet padded across the room, he could hear, and the squeal of her bed as she flopped back into it was very appealing. He lay back on the carpet, which embraced him warmly, but his back refused to let him sleep. It was sore, as was most of the rest of his body, but his spine dug into the floor uncomfortably. The carpet wasn't that soft. He needed a better place to sleep. Leaving his cane on the floor, the sleepy boy stood and stumbled to one side, his hands out in front of him. Oh, there was the door, don't want to go that way. Cusp turned around and stumbled the other way. He ran into a couple things, but thankfully he didn't knock anything over. he didn't, however, find another acceptable place to sleep. His muscles were complaining loudly now, and he was about ready to collapse on the ground. But he had his mind set on something, and he really wanted to achieve his goal.

The dark haired fellow ran into the window again, which was still open. he stuck his head out into the cool night air for a moment, shaking his head slightly, then pulled away, shutting the window again and stumbling off in a new direction. He could hear the girl breathing, so he stumbled in that direction. Aww, fuck it, he thought, and felt out the end of her bed. Why not? He curled up at the end, his head lolling off the edge. It was much more comfortable than the floor. The boy was asleep before he could even blink.

He stepped towards the staircase and began to descend, noting that the girl was still behind him, watching him cautiously. He really couldn't blame her, but the behavior was starting to get rather annoying by now. It was good to be slightly apprehensive, but there were limits to how scared a person could be. This girl was about to cross the limits in his mind. He suppressed a frustrated sigh and instead stopped on the fifth stair from the bottom and craned his neck back to look up at the girl. There was enough light spilling in from the hallway above for him to slightly make out her features. There was a clear expression of worry and confusion on her face. He did his best to offer a smile before remarking in the gentlest voice he could muster,

"Heck, I know I'm sarcastic and rather rude but I'm not going to do anything to you. That wouldn't be fair after you let me into your house. Seriously. That little action was a lot more than you might think it was."

Indeed, harming this girl now would be a poor form of repayment. The fact that she had even allowed him into her house was enough of a gift for him to be indebted to her for a long time to come. In fact, if she hadn't allowed him to come in...no, he wouldn't think about what might happen if he had been left to his own devices on the cold street with the punishing lights. Determined to get the thoughts out of his mind, he turned back around and ran a finger through his bangs as he continued walking down the staircase.

When he reached the bottom, he leaned against the wall and crossed one leg over another. His back was pressed against the cold wall, and the sensation felt oddly comforting after his flesh had been trapped in the sweaty shirt for a number of hours. He knew that it was about time to get down to business. Sooner or later, she would ask him what his business was and why he had been running down the street alone and soaked in blood. Best to get it over with now. He chuckled ruefully before turning to look at the small girl in front of him.

"Well? Aren't you going to ask me who I am and why I was running along the street?"

He glanced upward towards the main floor and realized that there was enough distance between the two and the rest of the family that no one would ever have a chance of hearing them if they spoke in quiet voices. Knowing this, he persisted in prodding her.

"Well? No one's going to hear us."

He wasn't sure why he was so insistent in the first place. Maybe he really did need to tell someone. Yes, that was it. With the darkness circling him, he had a strange urge to spill all his secrets and make the girl believe that he really was a demon from Hell who had run away to have a better life on Earth. Would she believe him? What did it matter? He just had to tell someone. It didn't matter if that person believed or not.

"O-oh... Sorry..." Ren stammered, unsure of how to respond to the strange visitor's first comment. An apology seemed appropriate, since her apprehensive treatment of him had probably insulted him, in a way. He seemed nice enough, but he also seemed rather strange. He had showed up on her doorstep at almost one in the morning, bloodied from some kind of fight and asking for shelter. That was most definitely NOT normal, and Renevari Lehsade grew somewhat fearful at abnormal things happening all of a sudden.

Turning her eyes away from the boy, she quickly picked up a simple button-up white shirt and a thin black vest from a nearby table, where they lay to be folded at some point in the future. Handing them to him, she glanced at her feet as though suddenly fascinated by the floor. In reality, she just wanted to keep herself from staring at him. She wasn't a dirty-minded person, by any stretch of the imagination, and didn't want it to look that way just because he was so... odd.

"A-alright... Why exactly are you here? Who are you running from, and what happened?" She asked slowly. The way he pressured her to ask him... it was yet another thing that was out of the ordinary. It was almost like... no, exactly like he was looking for any excuse to tell her something. He was eager for her to know his past, and for someone on the run, that did not seem in any way expected or even practical. The only explanation she could think up was that he was planning to scare her, to threaten her somehow. Immediately, she began wracking her brains for some way of escape, should things go sour. While she had been reassured by his placating words a moment previously, he was acting strangely, and that scared her.

Maybe he wasn't as nice as she had thought. Even still, she realized, she mustn't run away. If there was a chance that he was in earnest, and really needed her help, then she would just have to be brave, and give that help to him.

"We all have our vices. Indulging in rage can't really be that different from indulging in booze and drugs," she laughed with a shrug.

"Well, in that case, let's go. I'm sure there will be enough bar fights and angst teens like myself to satisfy you. Oh, should explain. I play gigs with my guitar in bars and clubs. Well, I'm planning on partying more than playing tonight but, you get the gist. And although you're from hell, I'd watch out. Some of the people in these places are pretty damn weird."

She gave a full gut laugh that was all her own, slinging the instrument to her back and the rest of the beer down her throat, she strode over to Azazel and took his arm.

"Our subway tickets are on you my little fugitive."

--

"A free room? For serious?Oh my Satan yes! Thanks Niah. You're the best. And since you didn't succumb so easily, I'll be able to play with you!"

Torus leapt up like a small child, bringing her to her feet as suddenly as her had taken her off of them. His hands slinked around Niah' curves to trap her in a tight hug. But then there was that awful, gorgeous aroma again. As he held her, the trickle of blood sent him into a beastly arousal. 

Forgetting his promise and her protest, he pressed her closer to feel the outline of her breasts. One arm stayed at her waist, the other became lost in her tresses.

He was himself right now, the demon self that he hated and loved. Torus eye her with diapers pupils. His nearly white blonde hair fell onto her face as he neared in. Closer. There was his prize. A small lap of a quick tongue and he had tasted the blood, then her lips. He deepened the shallow touch to a kiss, but only forma teasing moment.

 "Like I said, I'm not into rape, but it's a different story when you're asking for it."

His body serrated from hers. His causal tall stance told that his words were true, and the eagerness he had showed moments before was not quenched.

"So my gracious host, where will I be staying? I'm not picky, a closet will do if you need me out of the way and the parents."

Niah couldn’t help but to smile a small smile; perhaps he wasn’t so bad after all? He seemed quite excited to be staying here for free, and more than grateful at that. She just watched him in silence, the oblivious and goofy smile still on her face; though, when he had wrapped his hands around, she became slightly startled.

It didn’t help her when he wouldn’t let go, only bringing her closer towards him; was it just her or did it feel like that her breasts were getting awfully squished against his body? And what the hell did he mean by he could play with her?!

Suddenly, Niah felt his tongue against her skin; her heart started to pound in her chest and ring in her ears. She was completely dumbfounded at the whole scene; the only thing that filled her entire body was the sound of her heartbeat, while the butterflies flew from her stomach to her chest- then it happened.

Their lips touched, but only for what seemed like a pure second before he deepened it; random thoughts started to appear in her head- she wondered whether or not if he could hear her heart beat, or whether he could even taste it, how her blood tasted, or whether this was a dream or actual life.

As if time had just stood still and then resumed once more, the kiss was over; Niah’s first reaction was her hands shooting to her lips, her face now almost as red as her blood itself. Holy shit! Did he really just steal her first kiss? Sure, Niah was oblivious to many of the rumors and gossip that went around school, but she knew at least enough to know about Torus- the playboy, the heartbreaker, etc.

She listened to his words about rape; like hell! How was she asking for it? Niah’s head suddenly started to spin, and the confusion in her eyes became completely noticeable; her head even spun a little on her shoulders. Then, his next words cut her from her confusion, "So my gracious host, where will I be staying? I'm not picky, a closet will do if you need me out of the way and the parents."

Niah looked at him, her thoughts now catching up to her. “H-Hey!” She squeaked, trying to untangle her words, “I don’t really appreciate you s-stealing my f-first kiss...” This time, she practically whispered, almost embarrassed that the playboy of her school stole her first kiss- especially when most of the girls he went for where pretty experienced, unlike Niah.

She straightened herself up, as if she was trying to make herself bigger- even standing on her tippy-toes; she puffed out her chest and threw back her shoulders. Niah’s small face distorted into a scowl, as if she was trying to scold him for his wrong doings, “I-I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t a-advance on me; if you p-promise me this, then you can s-stay where you’d like!” Her nervousness started to cause her to stutter a bit.

Once she ‘scolded’ him, she released her breath, falling back onto her toes; man, was this guy making her nervous or what? Well, he did just randomly show up and even went as far as to kiss her; perhaps that was it? “You can pick a spot in my room to sleep, but please make yourself unnoticeable when my father leaves for work- which is around 5AM, but don’t worry, he doesn’t come back from work ‘till 9PM.”

Niah looked at him, now wondering if it would be a good idea to let him in her house; oh great, now she was thinking- what was the worst that could happen? He did say rape wasn’t his forte, and she doubt he’d steal anything from her; counting that nearly all of the stuff she had would be useless to him. Though, her second thought was her underwear drawer, though it quickly faded as her attention now settled onto Torus.

“Uh, well; why don’t we go upstairs and get you settled in before my father awakens.” A weak smile was on her face as she pointed to the steps, somewhat stepping near him so she could try to pass him to get up the steps first- it would be bad if he so happened to go upstairs first and found her dad outside her door.



He smiled at her, knowing that he hadn’t any money at the moment. This was his lucky break! Luke trotted behind her like a pup as they walked through the door. He listened to her speak before he plunged into the couch; popping off his sneakers and resting his hands behind his head.

“I am Luke; and as for who I am- well, let’s just say you shouldn’t worry about it sweet heart.” His relaxed tone only seemed to be a silent message that said, ‘leave it alone’. “Anyways, I have some assholes following me, and I’d appreciate it if you allow me to stay, only for a short while; I promise I won’t be a bother.” Luke said, now picking his teeth with his pinky finger.

She nodded her head,she 'basicly'knows him,just by the way a couple girls at her school talk about him.She looked out the window and at the clock,it was past the time her parents said they would be home by two hours so they probably got wasted and rented a hotel room.Paige looked up at look Luke"Well uh you might know me from school,but whatever Im Paige.And I would appreciate if you don't call me sweetheart,just my fucked up parents call me that even though their is nothing sweet at all about me."
Paige stood up,knowing something with him was up but,she shook it off.It was starting to get hot so she took off her robe and threw it on the loveseat.She turned a fan on and sat on the arm of th couch."Well we bolth have school tommorow and bolth had a very fucked up night,so I think we bolth should get some rest.".she gave a faint smile and got up."My room is done the hall"she pointed to the third room on the right in the hallway."if you need me I will be in there.If your hungry or thirsty the fridge is right in the kitchen.".she nodded at Luke and walked to her bedroom.When she closed the door behind her and flopped onto her bed.She put the money that was on her bed into her desk drawer and put headphones in and listned to her music ,trying to drown out any sound and fucked up thoughts she had at that moment.

Watching her reactions had become an unknowing source of amusement for him in the past few minutes. Human girls really were easy to mess with and manipulate. He hadn't even been trying to be rude or sarcastic, yet she was already looking extraordinarily panicked and nervous. Maybe he needed to lay off a bit. When he saw the white shirt and black vest being offered to him, he took both garments and silently pulled the shirt over his bare chest, covering the tattoo again. As he fingered the buttons on the shirt, he suddenly wondered if it was a good idea to tell this girl the truth. Maybe he should just make up some fantastic story on the spot. But that might not be a good idea. In his experience, lies always failed after a few days. Besides, she had helped him and he felt he owed her at least something. Something genuine. But his real story? Was that really a wise move to make?

His long fingers slowly buttoned up the first of the many buttons that were sewn into the white fabric of the shirt. Through the side of his glasses, he looked at the girl thoughtfully. She was staring at the ground with a sort of fabricated intensity, as though she was eager to stare at anything but him. Maybe his behavior tonight had been a little out of the ordinary. No, way out of the ordinary. The more he stared at her, the more he realized that he needed to say something. He heaved a gusty sigh and his fingers moved down towards the next button.

"Look, let me say something right off the bat. I'm not a nice guy."

He wanted to clear that up at least before she began to naively trust him or place any sort of confidence in him. The button went through the loop.

"In fact, I'm an overly sarcastic and egotistical guy."

Another button. Another loop.

"But I'll make one thing clear, sweets. I don't lie. So you'd better be ready to accept that what I'm about to say is all truth, no matter how fantastic it might sound."

He stared at her again out of his vintage style glasses and finished buttoning up the last two on the white shirt. He left the vest dangling from his arm and instead moved towards the girl. She was still staring vacantly at the ground and with a sigh, he reached out and yanked her chin up so she was at least more or less looking straight at him.

"So, tell me sweets. Do you believe in a place called Hell?"

Bella woke up in the middle of the night, which was rare for her seeing as she was a hard sleeper. She just had the strangest dream that a boy came in through her window wanting protection from something. She looked at the end of her bed and saw the sleeping boy. Bella rubbed her eyes. The dream couldn't be real could it? She lightly poked him. Yup, he was real. She looked at him. He was sort of cute sleeping, but he was on her bed. She narrowed her eyes. How was she suppose to get a good night sleep if there was a boy on her bed. She quickly shook him to wake him up. She was getting really sleepy now and wanted to go back to bed. Lets see what was his name again. Oh yeah, it was Timothy. She quietly said," Um... Timothy i don't really mind you here, but can you get off my bed i want to go back to sleep."

(Sorry for such a short post. X.X)

"W-what?"

This was not good. Even with the boy's claims that he wasn't about to lie, none of Ren's apprehensions were assuaged. She didn't fear him telling some false story, no. She was afraid of something else now. She was afraid of what seemed to her to slowly be becoming a very threatening discussion. She straightened herself up, putting herself in a more firm stance from which she might run or resist if attacked, although she honestly doubted her capability to do anything to protect herself if things got violent. This was not a good situation.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked as composedly as she could, glancing back up with somewhat narrowed eyes. "I suppose I believe in a Hell, yes, but I don't see why that's important."

Azazel smirked slightly as Itzal told him to be careful at the bars. Those were the main places he went to get something to "eat". Azazel didn't say anything though, especially when she said he was paying for the subway tickets. Which made him slightly chuckle. "Of course." Was all he responded as the two made there read to the subway. Azazel kept on checking behind them and in front of them, however, for hell guards. In case they did find his scent and tracked him, even though it was of little use. As he had said before, the hell guards I.Q. would be that equivalent to a fourth grader. Even then that's stretching it. Fourth graders actually do work. 

The two got to the subway easily, no hell guards jumping out of alley's or falling from the sky. Witch has happened before in Azazel's case. To most people's eyes he looked like an ordinary seventeen year old boy. The subway wasn't exactly packed considering it was Sunday and most people were getting ready for school or work the next day. "Shit, school." Azazel mumbled under his breath. Oh well, wasn't like he really needed to go to school, he just used it to "fit in" so to say. 

After buying the subway tickets and boarding the underground like train, Azazel started to become a tad hit curious about as to why Itzal didn't laugh and kick him out when he told her he was a demon. Most of the ones that would beleive him would probably of shouted verses from the bible and spray some holy water. As to the truth, holy water does burn like hell but it doesn't make demons melt. Nor do bible verses, all it is is just words. Especially if you didn't know which verses to read in what order. As the subway started to go, Azazel brought his voice down a tad low. Not exactly whispering considering there really was no point. "So why didn't you think I was mentally insane." Azazel asked, leaning back on one of the seats. 

His eyebrow shot up and he grinned as he noticed the shift in her stance.

"Well, you're certainly a lot tougher than you look. But you know, any sort of bravery is wasted here. I'm not going to do anything to do."

Besides, excessive bravery often lead to trouble. Tonight had been a prime example of that. He had been brave enough to sneak out of the gates of Hell, but the result was that the Hell guards had been chasing after him for well up to an hour. Maybe even more. Even now, as he stood in this girl's basement, he could still feel his heart palpitating in an odd way. It wasn't fully recovered from the long run, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be for quite a while. If he had to run again...well, his body might not be up to the challenge this time.

Speaking of Hell, he realized that the girl had declared soundly that she 'supposed' she believed in a Hell. That was a better answer than he had first anticipated. From what he knew, humans were an overly cynical bunch who refused to believe anything that the couldn't see or hear or touch. Yet Hell did exist, and those same skeptics could see and hear and touch it. They just didn't bother looking hard enough for clues. Scientists claimed that they wanted to know as much as possible about the universe, yet they were failing to investigate thoroughly and pick up some of the obvious signs that Hell existed. Sometimes, this blindness was unbelievable.

He released his grip on the girl and moved back against the wall. Another deep sigh escaped his lips. He prepared himself to tell her what she wanted to know. And what he needed to tell.

"Alright. So you say you believe in Hell. Well then, let's take it a step further. If there is a Hell in your mind, then there must be demons also. Isn't that right? Do you believe in demons?"

He hadn't really told her anything yet. Maybe she would be smart enough to piece together some of the strange questions he had asked her and find the bigger picture. It wouldn't surprise him. She seemed to be a pretty intelligent and open-minded girl. He needed someone like that to hear him out.

(I was so tempted to make a "No, you are the Demons" reference here. XD)

"If there's a Hell, then something has to live there, doesn't it? There has to be some purpose. So yes, I suppose my answer to that would be 'I believe in it,'" Ren said coolly, waiting cautiously to see what the bizarre boy would do next. He had appeared out of nowhere, already under strange circumstances, but these bizarre hints he was making about Hell and Demons didn't make any sense. Was he trying to tell her that he was being chased by Demons? Or perhaps he was trying to say that he WAS the Demon!

"So what are you saying? That you were chased here by Demons straight out of Hell? Because if that's the case, then I'm afraid that you aren't much safer hiding in my basement than you were outside," She stated simply. She didn't want to think about the other possibility behind his words, because if that was what he meant, then she was about to feel very, very threatened.

"Wassamatter?" Cuspin had just settled fully into sleep, and now he was being shaken up. At first he thought it was the Hell guards, and his body, which was still prone, tensed. A female voice was began to speak, talking about someone named Timothy. who was... ooh, right, he was Timothy. He didn't quite catch what she said, he was still waking up. His body didn't particularly want to start working again, however, and he couldn't sit up. His back was sore as anything, and he was too lazy to fight against gravity. He profiled exactly what had happened through the sludge in his mind, and he slowly managed to put two and two together. She wanted him to get off her bed. Well, duh. Cuspin rebuked himself vaguely, green eyes opening again, and frowned slightly.

"Kay." He mumbled, his voice thick with muddiness. It took a slight motion from his legs to send him sliding backwards, head first towards the floor. Impact was slightly more painful than he had anticipated, but not enough to wake him up properly. His lower half bent forward, over his floor-bound head in some sort of lack-luster somersault. His knees met the floor and he rested that way for a moment, folded up like a box. His spine, however, did not like that arrangement, and like a slinky, the boy unfolded himself in an upright position and stood up slowly. Standing up, however, was a bad idea for two reasons. The first was that he experienced an extreme vertigo because of the (sort of) sudden change of his center of balance. The second was because he had no clue where he was going.

A prime example as to why no one should ever, ever allow Cusp to do anything or go anywhere, entailed. He walked straight into the wall across from her bed. That startled him immensely, and he held a hand over the impact point, his nose wrinkling. He mumbled an apology to the wall and sort of sank down, leaning against it. His hand dropped from his forehead to the ground as he dropped back into sleep, his jaw going slack and his body slumping forward, sliding against the wall, until his face was flush with the carpet. It was a wonder that he could breath at all in that position, half bent over, arms and legs sprawled in an almost macabre fashion. But he was already so far gone into his precious sleep world that even his spine didn't protest the painful arrangement.

Sleep, the natural opiate.

(LOL, you should have.)

The fact that she managed to piece together the pieces and remain unnerved was something that caused him to do a double take. Not only was she open minded, but she seemed totally undisturbed to the supernatural as well. Who was this girl? She was beyond strange for a human. True, he didn't really have much experience with humans, but this girl seriously exceeded all the boundaries he thought that humans were supposed to fit under. Something was off. In fact, her cool acceptance was almost unnerving. But he laughed off all the feelings and grinned.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. Aren't you smart? But since you're so smart, I guess I don't have to explain much else to you."

He leaned further back against the wall and whistled admiringly before muttering half to himself.

"A human this acute...who would have thought?"

The last part of what she said was slightly disappointing. Maybe she was right though. Was he any safer hiding inside her basement? His will said yes, but reason said no. He really was no safer inside her basement than if he was outside because, as long as the Hell guards were motivated, they could find him anywhere. Hopefully they were too lazy or too preoccupied to come after him though. Or maybe they would be too discouraged after he had wriggled right out underneath their fingertips. He eyed her again as he contemplated this thought before chuckling again.

"Maybe you're right and I'm no safer in here than anywhere else. But what's that matter to you? The Hell guards aren't interested in a human like you. They just want me. So regardless of where I am, you and your family are still safe."

His right eyebrow shot up mischievously again as he said this. What he said was completely true. The Hell guards couldn't care less for humans. Knowing that, would she still let him stay in here? Or would she force him out? It was almost entertaining to anticipate her next action.

Ren's eyes widened in surprise. He really meant what she had guessed? She couldn't believe it. Her remark had been more an indirect way of telling him to get to the point than any actual sort of suspicion. She hadn't actually expected... Was he serious? Maybe he was confused, or trying to confuse her! There wasn't such a thing as Demons entering the material world, was there? Demons were supposed to stay in the afterlife, punishing those who had lived evil lives, or, or, or something! If they could enter the Human world at their leisure, then what did that mean?! That damnation was hovering over the heads of every single person alive? If Demons could just pop down onto Earth whenever they wanted, that meant that almost everything she'd ever believed or known could all be some twisted lie!

But she was getting overly worked up. She needed to face this in a calm and reasonable matter. Before she simply accepted what he said, he would need to prove it tru-

Wait, had he just said what she thought he had?

"A Human this acute... who would have thought?"'

"The Hell guards aren't interested in a Human like you."

He had.

"So... Let me get this straight," Ren said quietly, watching the unusually blase demon boy with caution and worry. "You're saying you're a Demon, being chased by more Demons, and you want me to shelter you? Because if so, first, I'm going to need some proof. If you show that you're a Demon, then I can accept that there also might be Demons chasing you, so don't worry about showing me these 'Hell Guards' firsthand. Secondly, you're going to need to explain to me why I can trust you. I was under the impression that Demons were little red guys with pointed tails who carried around pitchforks and only came to the Human world to drag people to Hell, and if that last part's the case, I'm not sure I want anything to do with you."

When Micah returned there were two demons standing in her room. The one holding the trident regarded her with sunken eyes that burned like hot coals. Large, black tusks protruded upwards from his lower jaw and black smoke left his wide nostrils on thin ribbons. He was holding Ix by his leathery wings; the little imp had been as limp as a rag doll in his grip from hunger pains and weakness. It was when he heard Micah’s, Uh, back that he raised his head to watch her dump an arm full of food on the bed. Surface food!

A slither of drool escaped the corner of his mouth as he spoke behind a starving grin, “About time!”

His tail swung upwards to crack like a whip against the trident demon’s hand. The demon released Ix with a yowl, and the little imp darted over to the bed. He slapped open a Styrofoam box of a half-eaten burger. Without hesitation, he bit into it and the burst of ketchup, mustard, smoked beef, onion rings, and bacon took him to another world. Tears sparkled at his eyelids, threatening to fall as he felt an overwhelming joy fill him from within. This must have been what Heaven tasted like.

So…beautiful… he mentally whimpered before his eyes flew open. His yellow irises were shrunk and his tiny mane flared out as he began tearing into the burger like a wild animal. Micah could hear his growls and lips smacking as the burger was devoured in seconds. He scampered over to the pizza box on all fours, he was like a red rat amongst a pile of delicious garbage.

“The human has seen us!” the other demon exclaimed.

The trident demon snorted, lowering his hand from his mouth after he had given it enough soothing kisses.

“No worries. We will set a curse on this house. Spirits will haunt it and tear her family apart!” the trident demon declared.

Ix leapt into the air and soared over to perch on Micah’s shoulder.

“Yeah right! The girl is with me, and I think it’s about time you guys got the hell out!” Ix yelled as his hand unconsciously dug into her salt and vinegar potato chip bag to steal a handful of chips that he crammed into his face.

He then looked to Micah and warned with a devious, food speckled smirk. “Cover your ears doll face.”

The little demon inhaled deeply until his chest was the size of a baseball; and then upon opening his mouth, a loud belch that seemed impossible for his size exploded from him in powerful sound waves that slammed into the other demons. The trident demon pressed his hands to his ears, while the other demon clutched his burning nose to spare it from the stench. The sound waves shattered the glass of Micah’s window and the intensity blew the demons off their feet and outside like a great wind.

The rippling waves eventually faded as Ix’s belch fell to a quiet, drawn-out burp. Ix finished and fluttered off Micah’s shoulder to hover before her with a witty grin.

“How’s that for an exit?” he questioned playfully.

Little did he know that he not only damaged her bedroom window and made her room look like a tornado had passed through it, but her parents were just downstairs and must have heard the whole thing.

"Let me ask you something deary,"

He chuckled again, pressing his head against the wall.

"Do you honestly believe everything that everyone tells you like a little lost sheep? Do you ever question that what's said to you may not be the truth?"

He had read human literature before. The way that they portrayed demons was what he considered some of the most insulting and ridiculous works that he had ever read. Little red things with horns and sharp tails who carried around pitchforks? Hardly. The assumption was so far from the truth that he almost wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Demons aren't what your literature portrays us as. In fact, the only work that you humans have produced that is even a bit reflective of Hell's true nature is Dante Alighieri's 'Divine Comedy'. And judging from your statements just now, you've never read that."

She had also asked for proof that he was a demon. Well, he'd give her proof. He just wasn't sure that she'd like it. He pulled himself off the wall and stepped in front of her, raising his hand in full view of her eyes. Then, he flexed it in the same motion he had done an hour earlier on the streets. Immediately, his hand underwent the same transformation. Flesh turned into steel, and he was left with something that looked eerily like knife blades coming out of the place where his fingers once were. He waited for her reaction, smirking.

"Here's your proof darling. Don't tell me that you're not going to believe it when you've just seen it with your own eyes. As for why you should trust me..."

His eyes clouded over at this point and he turned away for a second as quite a few bits of his past resurfaced in his mind. Quietly, he muttered.

"I'm a lot more human than you might think. And I hate my home more than you might imagine."

"I was being sarcastic," Ren sighed. "Now you see why I don't do it more often. I'm always so earnest, people take me at face value-" She might have said more, but at that moment, with a crack and a hiss, the demon boy raised his hand, and, to her horror, she watched as his fingers twisted, writhing about and warping themselves into frightful metallic blades. Instinctively, she took a step backward, but managed to steady herself. This... this was the proof she had asked for, but she hadn't honestly expected...!

"A-alright..." She murmured, trying to collect her shattered thoughts as she stared nervously upon the unnatural boy who stood before her. "I g-guess I can trust you, but... why me? Why exactly did you come here?" She had to know. What was it about her that had attracted this Demon here? Was it some sort of evil within her own soul? She... didn't think she could handle knowing something like that.

(Short post is short. OTL. Sorry)

She looked almost about to faint when he pulled out the secret blades that were hidden inside his carefully constructed human flesh. He sighed and retracted the blades and with a hiss, his fingers reverted back to normal. As though nothing had happened in the last few seconds. Well, she had asked for proof. And now she had that proof.

"Why you?"

He laughed, because the answer was really simple.

"Actually, I just knocked on the first door I saw. But you know," He took his eyes off the ground and stared hard at her for a few moments. "I might have gotten lucky. There's not many humans who are too smart. And even fewer who would willingly let a stranger in the front door."

“About time!”
Micah rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow as the creature ran over to the bed. That was when she noticed the other demons.
"Uh...what the fuck is tha-" Micah started, before being interrupted by the deomon. “The human has seen us!” one demon said.
The other one gave a small snort, before saying; “No worries. We will set a curse on this house. Spirits will haunt it and tear her family apart!”
"Erm, sorry to interrupt but I don't-"

“Yeah right! The girl is with me, and I think it’s about time you guys got the hell out!” the 'red fairy' yelled, who by no Mich had relized wasn't exactly what he said he was. And she was interrupted. Again. She gave a small sigh of annoyance. The fairy looked at Micah, and gave her a smirk. “Cover your ears doll face.”

Micah knew better than to ignore the warning, and quickly placed her hands over her ears, just as the fiary let out a large belch. The force of it blew the demons out the window, to who-knows-where, while Micah ducked in an attempt to get away from the sound and stench.

“How’s that for an exit?”
Micah looked up from the round. Her room was a destroyed mess, and the other window had been damaged now. And the sound was pretty loud...
She heard footsteps on the stairs. "Shit," she cursed, sighing.

She turned o the fairy.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! Why did you do that?! And what the fuck are you?!" she yelled, just as the door swung open. She quickly kicked the fairy into the wall, turning to face her father.

"What just - Oh god, what is that smell?"
"Um, me," Micah lied, giving an embarrassed expression. "Sorry."
Yes, it was a shit excuse, but she was panicking.
Her father gave her a quizzical look. "I heard-"
"BYE DAD."
She pulled her fatehr towards the door.

"Oh... I see," Ren said, relief evident in her voice. It was still hard to believe what was happening. Maybe she had fallen asleep and this was all a dream? No, she was sure she was awake. In that case, there could be only one response. Demons walked amongst Humans, and one of them was standing right in front of her. The knowledge that he was apparently a rogue didn't help to ease that shocking revelation's impact.

"Alright, well then, if that's the case, I suppose I'll let you stay here. However - and please don't take offense to this - please don't get near my family. Even if they won't be targeted, if they find out exactly what you are, or see any of the Demons chasing you, they might be eliminated as witnesses. I'll take the risk myself. In short, I'll let you live here, but only in secret." He might have wondered how she intended to do such a thing, so she continued, giving an explanation before he needed to ask.

"I'm... a bit of a shut in," Ren began rather reluctantly. "I suffer from a bad case of narcolepsy. I fall asleep all the time, and it's not always a relaxing experience. Because of that, it's not exactly abnormal for me to stay locked in my room all day, and only to get up at night. I don't really have any friends, either, and my family only ever really comes to see me to give me some food. Funny, I never thought all that'd actually be convenient for helping someone." She sighed bitterly. It was pretty clear that she herself wasn't exactly happy with the arrangement, but had long since given up her hopes of changing anything. It wasn't quite that she seemed jealous of her relatives, but she wasn't content with her lot, to be sure, which was a sort of envy in and of itself.

"Anyway, the point is, almost nobody ever goes into my room, since it's in the attic and I keep the door locked, so as long as there isn't a bunch of noise, you could hide out up there, and nobody'd be any the wiser. The roof is sloped, with only small gaps between the floors, and the bottom of the roof is at ground level in the corner of the back yard, so you could climb out the window and sneak out if you got tired of sticking around inside. I don't ever really eat much of the meals they leave outside my door, either, and those are pretty big, so you'd probably be able to keep yourself fed on that alone."

"So... how does that sound?" She asked at last.

Ix’s brows shot upwards when the dark-haired girl screamed in his face in her panic.

“I’m a red-”

He hadn’t expected the abrupt kick. Did the girl do martial arts or something because the next thing he knew, he was flying across the room to splat against the wall. The imp looked like a bug on a window shield, and fortunately her father hadn’t noticed the new decoration on her wall.

As Micah escorted her father out, Ix had returned to the food piled upon her bed. He slashed through a sheet of saran wrap over a bowl of potato salad and dunked his claw within its cold, creamy dressing.

“Aah, this feels good,” he said before climbing inside the bowl to sit in it amongst the chunks of potato and relish—the salad came up to his waist (while seated). He cupped handfuls of the salad and began rubbing it against his dry, scaly skin believing it to be a good moisturizer as well as a tasty meal.

“Ok, so, I’m not exactly a red fairy,” Ix finally decided to confess between mouthfuls. “I’m a demon like the ones that were just in your room. My name’s Ixrafael or Ix; I escaped Hell to come to the human world because I heard you had better chow. Now I’m here, and you’re my human. I can’t survive up here without a human, and you won’t be able to survive without my help. Those hellguards are going to keep coming after me and you too since you gave me food. But eeh~” He waved a claw dismissively. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m pretty strong for being a low-level demon. ‘Don’t let my looks fool you. I’m just too weak to change into my demon form. But enough about me, what other food you got? Oh yeah, and what’s your name I guess?”