I winced, feeling cold out of nowhere. I knew something was wrong with them, but I wouldn't have guessed what exactly...
"Do you know how he looks like?" Jessica asked him and his eyes bored into hers.
"Yes. He was next to us all this time. Watching us. Laughing every time we made a wrong move." He turned his head towards me and narrowed his eyes. "And you let him go right now."
I threw him a puzzled expression, knitting my brows. "What do you mean?"
"The bald sexy guy who came here with you?!" Jessica almost yelled, widening her eyes.
It was my first time seeing her surprised.
But I was more than surprised. I froze. It was like my brain couldn't focus on the subject, like the moment Jessica said that, an error appeared in my mind. No way they're talking about Gabe.
Caiden rose to his feet and placed a hand on the chair, supporting his body, like he couldn't keep his balance. Beads of sweat trickled down his white face. He was short of breath and I was afraid he might've collapsed. "He was smart. He knew we were looking for him. Hell, he probably sensed the dimensions destroying and started approaching us the moment we stepped on Earth."
"Why didn't you say anything?! We just let him go!" Jessica asked him, her hair waving dangerously around her, like her fury became palpable.
"Because I'm not an idiot. The moment we give him hints we know about his true nature, then it's over. I think he's toying with us." He replied, sitting slowly on the chair and grimacing.
"And how exactly can we make him restore the balance if we don't ask him?!" Jessica continued, still furious and scandalized.
"We need a plan. We need his powers, but without him realizing we need that."
"Maybe he doesn't know the balance is destroyed."
"I doubt that. He is The Fallen. He knows everything about hell."
"I'm sorry, but who is this 'Fallen'?" I asked. Both of them turned their heads towards me, surprised I was still there. They forgot I was in the room.
Caiden sighed and his eyes were glowing in a strange way. "Lucifer. Satan. You can call him how you want. He is the original Fallen Angel. The rest of us are just demons."
I blinked twice, letting the information infiltrate my brain. We just met Lucifer? I almost laughed, but I couldn't open my mouth at all. I remained short of breath and my eyes became wet. "You're telling me... I just let Lucifer run away with my best friend?"
This can't be happening.
"Calm down. He won't do anything to her. He's hiding from the demons and if he kills a human his mark will be on her. I don't know how he managed to kiss her and still, just his approximate location was found out." Jessica said, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What do you mean 'kiss' her?!" I asked, showing them a puzzled and confused expression. Jessica rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.
"That means he 'touched' her. You idiot, if 'touched' meant what it actually means then you would've been 'touched' too. Hasn't he touched you at least once? Wasn't he in your class or something? See? A kiss means 'Touch' in our 'demon terminology'."
I blinked twice, staring at her cynic and sarcastic face. It made sense. I actually thought about this, on how he touched me, like grabbing my arm, without resulting in me being 'Touched'. But still...
"Emily kissed Lucifer? This is... weird, strange and fucked up." I said, not understanding how my life could've got much worse in a few days.
"Give us a break! We're in human bodies. We're craving things. Right, Caiden?"
Caiden ignored her and looked straight into my eyes. "It's essential for us to not show him what we know. He has no idea I extracted that memory. He thinks I failed. He might think I'll try again in several months. Extracting a memory is a painful process. And I wasted almost all of my energy. He thinks everything is ruined for us now. He doesn't think I could take it by force."
I clenched my fists, a harsh expression appearing on my face. "I swear to God, if this 'by force' means her mind is destroyed, then..."
"Then what, Ivy Moore? You're gonna kill us both? Good luck with that."
Jessica scoffed, folding her arms and leaning against the wall.
I sighed. She was right. I had no power at all. I couldn't do anything. I was useless.
That was the single moment I've ever wished to not be normal at all.
But life is not fair and you never get what you want, right?
"Anyway, why did you need her trust? When you made mom and Mike forget me you did it in seconds and they didn't even see you!" I said, being a bit too aggressive, making him narrow his eyes.
"I just erased their memories with you. I pictured you in my head and made their memories with the thing I imagined disappear. I didn't need their trust just to remove something. But to visualize something... to receive information... to get that memory and make it mine... I need the person's approval. It's like copyright, you can say."
I frowned. The process seemed pretty complicated. I sighed. It was no point in questioning him. He was always one step ahead of me. If something seemed fishy to me, he'd already had a valid explanation to give me even before I opened my mouth.
"You know what? I don't even care anymore if what you say is the truth or not. I just want Emily back. After that, you can do whatever the hell you want. I'm out. I respected my part of the deal. I'll come back when this necklace... 'expires', you give me a new one and that's it. I don't care what happens to the 'balance' you talk about and, for sure, I don't care what happens to you two. I'm done. Have a nice... eternity." I snapped, being aware of my red face. I pivoted and stormed out of the kitchen, not giving them even one more glance.
I put on my shoes and bent over to open the flat's door, but my arm got grabbed and yanked back, making me almost fell on the floor.
I turned around quickly to see Caiden's face so close I could practically notice his strange eyes movement. He got a firm grip on my wrist. I grimaced and tried to jerk away, but it was no point. He was clearly too strong for me, even though his face was even paler than before.
"Look at me, human."
I avoided his eyes, not wanting to make eye contact. Why couldn't he let me have a dramatic scene? If I started crying at that moment, everything would've been ruined. I had to leave as soon as possible, but if I let empathy take control, then I would've stayed with them until the final of everything. He got a grip on my chin and lifted it, getting our faces even closer. I inhaled his amazing smell and my knees started shaking.
Even though I didn't want, I bored my eyes into his. His expression was a pained one, but at the same time it was focused and it was clear he had a plan in his mind.
He always has a plan.
"Listen to me, human. If you want to leave, that's fine with me. But think before you do something. Where will you go? Your family doesn't remember you and the coalition might be after you if they figure out you're out of our protection. And I know this might be skeptical coming from a demon, but everything I told you is true. Everything. So stop acting like a kid and try to think about your situation, because even one action taken wrong can mean your death. Or Emily's."
I gulped. I couldn't open my mouth. Besides the intimidating air he had, he was right. I couldn't leave them. I had to stick with them because I didn't have any other options. I sighed and lowered my eyes. Caiden released my chin and wrist and took a few steps back, still watching me. I frowned. He was acting like he was giving me the single choice I had. He wanted me to believe that. "What do you want now?" I asked him, looking straight into his eyes.
His mouth became a thin line. He was thinking about something. I was right. He had a plan. And he needed me.
"I know that anything you're thinking about now involves me, right? What's the deal now? What do you want me to do?"
"Fuck, she's becoming good at reading you, foxy fox. You gonna have some problems." Jessica said, lighting her cigarette and grinning at us, leaning against the wall, next to the kitchen's door.
Caiden ignored her again, boring his eyes into mine. "You're good friends with... Lucifer."
My heart skipped a beat. He was right. I hadn't realized that until then. All of this was so weird, so... unreal. For a moment I thought I lost my mind. But, unfortunately, it was real as this handsome guy in front of me, staring at me, intimidating me only by breathing. I gulped, looking a bit too much at his white shirt exposing perfectly the muscles underneath.
He folded his arms.
I sighed. "You want me to talk with him about it? He will do it because we're... 'friends', right?" I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
"He hates humans. If he figures out you know who he is, everything will be ruined. He'll probably try to kill me. Not like that matters to you, but I want to keep my tails intact."
My brows furrowed. "Didn't you have just one?" I asked, making him roll his eyes.
"I told you once I have more tails. I can't transform completely in this dimension. This is beside the point. The thing is... you have to keep Lucifer even closer than before. If need, you might have to bring him over."
"What... are you planning?" I said, showing him a puzzled expression.
"We might have to trap him. Do you still have that 'source', Xsilia?"
Jessica puffed on her cig and grinned. "Of course I do. He's ready. Angel blood?"
Caiden nodded, giving her a meaningful gaze and touching his bottom lip. "Yes. We need to poison him so he can't move. Then we can threaten him. He's using a human body so he can die easily."
"And if he dies... he goes back to hell. The place which rejected him." Jessica's grin became even larger. "He doesn't want to come back. His torture will be legendary."
"Exactly." Caiden confirmed, nodding, and smiling at her.
I blinked twice. "What do you mean 'rejected'?"
Jessica gave me a dismissive wave of her hand. "He's not the hell's 'king' as you humans say. He's just a sinful angel. He hates us. He hates humans. He hates everyone and everything. And he's too full of himself to give us some credits. So demons got mad. He got mad. He's strong, true. But we're more. So we outnumbered him. And he was cast out from hell. He's now an Earth Wonderer." She shrugged. "We don't have a king. Just an old demon who tells us what's going on with the dimensions in general."
"I think this is enough, Xsilia." Caiden warned her and she shut her mouth, gesturing how she zipped it and threw the key.
Caiden turned his head towards me. "I think you should call Lucifer. Or Emily. Just to be sure she's alright."
"Foxy fox. You really care about that human?" Jessica teased him and Caiden, still looking at me, rolled his eyes but said nothing.
I drew a deep breath and took out my phone. I dialed Emily's number, remembering I didn't have Gabe's. After two beeps, Emily's tired voice responding made me exhale relieved. "Yes?"
"Emily. Hey, it's me, Ivy. I just wanted to see if you're... fine." I didn't know what to say next. I looked helpless into Caiden's eyes and he realized I had no idea what the story about her fainting was.
"Yea, I am. Can't remember why I fainted, thou. Gabe called my mom on my phone. He was such a nice guy. My parents weren't so happy to see him carrying me unconscious, thou... He said something about blood. He said Caiden cut himself and I passed out because I saw the blood? Can't remember... and I don't usually faint if I see blood. It's kinda weird."
I took a deep breath. Gabe really was... what they said he was. He even covered us. I cleared my throat. "Yea, he cut his pinkie. He's fine now. Sorry, I couldn't come with you, but I had to take care of this clumsy child." I said, rolling my eyes and faking a giggle. "I'm glad you're fine. You were pretty pale. You should eat some sugar."
She laughed and I heard something noisy in the background. "Actually, I'm doing it right now. Some milky bars. If you want some, come over." She joked and I chuckled.
"Wish I could, but I need to stay with this baby. He's so childish! He's almost crying, I swear!" I exaggerated and Caiden narrowed his eyes giving me a deadly look. I shrugged and grimaced. I had to be nonchalant and relaxed, it wasn't my fault Gabe came with this excuse in the first place.
"Ok, darling. Go ahead and take care of your babe. This babe gonna eat chocolate and sleep. Nighty night."
"Good night." I said and hung up the phone. I sighed, putting my phone back in my pocket and running a hand through my long hair.
Jessica began clapping and made a few steps, coming right next to me and Caiden. "Good acting. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go to a party. I'm sure you're gonna figure something out, foxy fox. Hit me up through a text when that happens. Xoxo."
She blew a kiss towards Caiden and winked at me, then opened the flat's door and left us.
I sighed, realizing I was alone with Caiden, after the embarrassing scene I had. But the thing was that everything I said was true, so I had every right to question their doings. I drew a deep breath and pursed my lips, playing with my left hand's fingers. "So... what's the plan?"
Caiden sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't know. I need time to think. And, also, I need a drink." He said, pivoting and going back in the kitchen. I frowned and followed him. He opened the cupboard and got a firm grip on a huge brown bottle. He lifted towards me and shook it, a thing which reminded me of Jessica at last year's party. "Do you want as well?"
I shook my head and chuckled. "Nah, I'm good. Besides, if you get drunk at least one person will be here sober if something happens."
He rolled his eyes, placing a glass on the table and pouring the transparent liquid in it. "Sure. Because you'll know what to do." His sarcastic voice made me roll my eyes, even though what he said was certainly right.
I pointed out his glass right before he took a sip. "Do you... get drunk? Like normal people do?"
He nodded, finishing the glass and pouring one more. "It's a human body. If I don't use my energy, drink angel blood, or transform in half of my true form, then it functions like an ordinary one. Being drunk makes me get more ideas." He explained and shrugged, like he did this so many times he couldn't care less about one more hangover.
I sighed. "The first week of school is almost over and... so many things happened."
"This is nothing. You have no idea what will come." He said cheerfully, taking another shot.
"I think you should slow down. You might pass out before you think of a plan." I grimaced, folding my arms.
He shook his head, gulping and placing his hands on the table. "I have a high tolerance. A few shots can't get me."
"I'm sorry."
"Your prejudice about my drinking habits doesn't affect me." He answered in a sarcastic tone.
I shook my head and he threw me a quick glance. "I wasn't talking about that. I'm sorry about... the scene I made. I know it's not your fault. I know you don't want to hurt us, because if you wanted you could've done it already. I trust you. And I'll try to help you, even though I'm a merely... human and I'm pretty limited." I said, lowering my eyes.
I felt awkward telling him... my feelings and my thoughts. It was weird to let a stranger in your personal space and in your mind. But it was even weirder the way my heart was waiting for his answer.
"You don't need to apologize. It's in your human nature to jump to conclusions. But, thank you for understanding. It's rare to see a human being so... chill with all this chaos brought by us. Entering the other dimension and finding out about almost everything in just a week must be exhausting. You can go to sleep now. I will take care of everything. Our worlds will be safe. Nothing will be torn apart." The last sentence was more of a whisper as he lowered his head, probably feeling the alcohol taking control of his mind.
I sighed. "It's fine. It was a hard day, yeah, but I'm used to... strange things in my life." I smiled at him and a corner of his mouth went upwards.
"Can you pass me another glass? I want some water." He asked me, not changing his position at all and I pivoted quickly, hitting the cupboard with my arm.
It happened so fast. This second I was watching the glasses shaking right before my eyes and I realized they will fall on me. I knew I should've moved over or try to catch them, but my body froze and I felt like I couldn't take even one step. I squeezed my eyes shut, ready for the impact.
My arm got yanked back and I almost fell on the floor, but two strong arms got me all secure in a firm back hug. He let himself fall on the floor, with me laying on him. I watched the glasses falling in front of us and shattering in a million of pieces. I exhaled sharply, a shiver going down my spine.
"Stupid human! Can't you be careful at least a minute?" He said into my ear, tickling my neck. I flinched, trying to escape from his grip, but he clenched his arms around me and put his head on my shoulder. His warmth overwhelmed me and his good smell made me almost inhale deeply, but I restrained myself.
"What are you doing?" I asked him and I sensed him leaning his back against the table's leg.
"I'm tired. And this human body doesn't help me much." He chuckled. A tired, low and hoarse chuckle.
I sighed slowly. "You're just drunk. You need to sleep. More than I do. And that says a lot. But... anyway... thanks..." I said, blushing nervously because of my own stupidity.
"You know, I think you're my favorite human. You don't nag much. Your prices are quite small. And you care about everything and don't listen to prejudices. Not all of the demons are bad. Like not all of the angels are good. People think the balance is white and black. But they always forget that we all, put together, are a combination of these non-colors. Grey."
I listened carefully to his dreamy voice. "And... you are good, right? A good demon?"
He didn't react at first. His body tensed and my brows furrowed. Had I said something wrong? He didn't want to be categorized? Did I misunderstand what he said and he couldn't believe how stupid I was?
But, his body relaxed in an instant and a burst of melodic laughter delighted my ears. "Hell no. I'm not a 'good' demon. I've never been. Maybe I got sympathy for humans, for some of them and I don't want these dimensions to disappear. But my past is as dark as a night without stars and moon. You can't understand it. I consider myself... neutral. Last hundred years I lived peacefully. I know it won't redeem my sins, but at least I'm not falling even deeper."
I let out a sharp exhale. "You seem pretty... humanized, to me. You did good things, but also did mistakes. But... you still give me the vibe of a good person."
I didn't know if I said those things because he seemed vulnerable and I wanted to comfort him. Or maybe, if I kept telling him he was good he would've let me go.
Or those were just my beliefs.
He chuckled, his chest going up and down, making me move along with him. "It's easy to talk when you have no idea what the context is. But, again, jumping to conclusions." He sighed. "Sometimes I believe you always hurry the things because your lives are short. Other times I think you're just stupid and don't think before taking any action. Humans are simple, but complicated at the same time. Don't you think so?"
I gave it a little more thought. He was right. We seemed pretty simple. We all eat, breathe, sleep, we all look alike. We love, suffer, get excited, get sad, die. But, even though it seems simple and basic, the details within each thing we do make us complicated. Our flaws, our differences, our personalities make us complicated. I smiled. "Yeah, you're right. People can be confusing."
"And that's why I'm always surprised, even though I shouldn't be. There will always be something I don't know and it makes me feel suspicious about the decades I've lived until now. You would say an old man like me knows the universe's secrets, but I don't even know why Mr. Wilson yells at those children just because they are not in their seats."
I cracked up. The conversation was so deep, so serious and then he just snapped, including our teacher in his speech. I shook my head. He really was more humane than he wanted to admit.
"Chit-chatting time is over. Get off me now, you're heavy."
I gasped, jumping to my feet and pivoting, so I can look down at him. I pointed my finger at him, having a scandalized expression on my face. "You didn't want to let go of me! Don't you try to make it look like I wanted to be hugged by you!"
A smile danced on his lips and his eyes glowed quickly, almost too fast for me to catch it. "No one will believe you, human."
I scoffed and folded my arms. "I think you forget something. At school, we are a couple."
He rolled his eyes and got to his feet, planting them in front of me. He lifted his chin and looked at me with a superior gaze. "School being the keyword. That's just a façade and you know it."
I rolled my eyes, turning my body towards the kitchen's door, intending to go to my room. "Yea, I know."
I took a few steps and opened the door, but I heard him whispering: "Careful what you wish for, human. The universe has a strange way of working."