Chereads / The Dealer's Game / Chapter 34 - Chapter 33 - Alex

Chapter 34 - Chapter 33 - Alex

James saved Ayro's life. He was more powerful than I originally thought. I didn't think he could turn back time like that, and I'm curious as to what else he can do. I looked at him, and he was carrying the spear that I thought had killed Ayro. The girl, Layla, was incredibly quick. She appeared in a flash of pink wind and just stabbed him. But James had saved him.

I wasn't too angry at Ayro anymore. I realised that it wasn't his fault he had some sort of body stealing demon leeching off of him. I could see him touching his neck, making sure he wasn't hallucinating. When James turned around, be was holding her metallic spear, and blood was coating the edges. Ayro again checked his neck.

James had calmed down a lot since I last saw him. He was still livid, but his anger had gone from an explosion to a little spark. He walked towards his room and walked inside. I followed him, closing the door behind me. He shoved the spear in his closet, and sat down on the bed. He had his face in his hands. I sat down next to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, and I could see the pleading in his eye. The one that was removed was covered with his bangs. He was still insecure about that, and nobody else in the group knew about it.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I hate this place. Coming here was a mistake," He said bitterly.

I didn't know what to say. I'm not good at comforting people, but I wanted to try. Since I'm not good with words, I took one of his hands in mine. He stopped frowning and gave me a small smile.

"I'm glad you're with me, though," He said.

I smiled at him. "Me too."

Raven

Ayro was sitting in the corner, just feeling his neck and hugging his knees. I wanted to comfort him, but Crystal was already there. Crystal is so kind and caring, but those voices aren't. James had explained everything about Shadow Dwellers and Animus Holders to the group before we got here, but some things were just confusing. Also, learning that James is 200 years old, yet biologically 20, was fascinating. Animus holders grow and mature a lot slower than humans do.

I glanced over at Crystal and Ayro again, and sighed. Crystal was really barking up the wrong tree. Ayro had chosen his name as some sort of pun. Half of his name was based off the fact that he's a monster with a bow and arrow. The other half is because he's aromantic. Though he has explicitly said that he is not asexual. He also told me that nobody else knows this, and he doesn't like telling people. When he was in high school, he got bullied a lot for coming out- both as trans and aromantic. Crystal didn't know him at the time, so she had no way of knowing this.

Ayro was too nice and nervous to tell Crystal if she was making him uncomfortable with her flirting, and Crystal probably wouldn't notice. Crystal rarely flirted anyway, but still. I needed to keep an eye on them when together, because I already know how the situation would go down. Ayro would be uncomfortable with the flirting, Crystal wouldn't notice, and Crystal keep doing it, then I would tell Crystal, she'd feel really bad about it, apologise to him, then internalize it and feel guilty for a full year.

This is just a huge disaster waiting to happen.