"Mr. Raggon, your house could use an exorcism." The silence was so deafening that it was downright uncomfortable. Kief looked at Nessa unsmiling as if waiting for the punchline. Rin stared at the coffee table in front of him, clenching his fists at his side. Leah looked on in confusion, while Zel's face was unreadable.
Finally, Nessa puffed out a laugh. "This house is very old. I mean, you never know… someone could've died here. Evil spirits like to linger in places like this." Kief waited a beat before he barked out a laugh. He tilted his head back and laughed so hard the table shook. At that moment, all the tension in the air suddenly drained away and you could almost hear someone breathe a sigh of relief.
Kief finally settled down and spoke with smiling eyes. "I have no doubt about that! But I got it at a cheap price, and it works for all of us."
Barely, Rin thought to himself. He had finally relaxed a little and was still shaking his head trying to get rid of the tension still in his body. Suddenly, he felt eyes on him and turned to his left to find Zel staring at him strangely. Rin furrowed his brows and before he could ask Zel what was wrong, Zel looked away.
"So, you're a Spiritualist then? Not too many left in the city. I believe most live in the outskirts now," Kief said as he crossed his legs. He took a sip of his tea and frowned. It was cold.
"No, I'm not a Spiritualist. Well, I used to be but…not anymore," Nessa said with a sad smile. "I work independently now, it's the easiest way to really help people. I'm not burdened by any rules."
A Spiritualist in his home was the last thing Rin needed. He actively avoided confrontation with any Spiritualist. He thought of them as no more than pests that never knew when to quit. While most wouldn't cause any damage to Rin, the truly gifted ones could, however. And it just so happens that the woman sitting not eight feet away from him made him think she was in the latter category. Rin had noticed it as soon as he opened the door. Her aura was strong. She tried her best to conceal it, but it still showed. However, this wasn't what made Rin nervous, her aura was a Holy Aura! You don't really see such aura unless you were dealing with a god. She's no god though, Rin thought.
Nessa had peaked Rin's interest. I need to keep an eye on her from now on, Rin thought as he bit into his snack. Kief and Nessa, continued with small talk and the atmosphere was back to normal. Leah, intrigued, immediately started talking about a book she read about Spiritualists from the past and the blessed ones who ascended. Zel looked positively bored at this conversation, but engaged Leah, nonetheless. Rin pretended to pay attention but was secretly still eavesdropping on Kief and Nessa's conversation.
Suddenly, Cura came back into the dining room and announced, "Car's fixed. Distributor cap was loose." Cura was explaining to Nessa that he tightened it, and her car would start now, all while having a strange look in his eyes. Nessa finally rose up from the table. "Ah! Thank you so much! Such a small issue caused such a big ruckus. I'm in your debt," Nessa said as she shook Cura's hand. She then turned back around to Kief. "And thank you Mr. Raggon for the delicious tea and company while I waited."
Kief also stood and said, "It's no problem, and please, call me Kief. It was a pleasure to meet you Nessa. Hope to see you around." Nessa smiled at Kief and finally looked to Rin.
"Rin, it was nice meeting you too." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small business card and handed it to Rin. You seem quite responsible, if your guardian does change his mind about needing an exorcism, give this number a call." Rin took the card and stared at it. It only had her name and number. No address or even a business name could be found anywhere on the card. Rin looked up and nodded at her.
Cura walked Nessa to the door, while Kief stared at the teacup in front of him. After a while, he pulled his notebook that he had set aside earlier back in front of him and began to write again. He was back to his old self.
After a while, Zel and Leah prepared to leave as well, and Rin walked them both outside. "You always attract the strangest company, Rin," Zel said looking back at Rin laughing.
"Which would explain why you're always at my side," Rin said sarcastically. Leah let out a laugh at the two. Her favorite two people always bantered and traded insults. It made her smile warmly at them both.
"No, but seriously. I'm glad she left. She made me feel…nervous for some reason." Zel said as he put his hands in his pockets. He had a very serious look on his face.
"Relax, I'll probably never see her again," Rin lied. He knew that wouldn't be the last time he saw Nessa. She would definitely show herself to Rin again someday. For now, he had to play nice with her when he did run into her again.
Leah spoke up beside them. "I thought she was really nice! It's not often you see Spiritualists nowadays."
"Former Spiritualist," Zel corrected. Leah pouted before she turned to Rin. "I think you should really give her a call if you do run into trouble, Rin. I keep hearing about strange freak accidents lately. Some people think it's coincidence, but a lot of people think it's the work of evils spirits and demons." Zel and Rin just looked at Leah with pointed looks. She hurriedly said, "I know that you guys think that people are being superstitious and that the remaining Spiritualists are basically a cult but think about it…There's a reason they're still around and still believe... Maybe they can see things we can't." Zel, rolled his eyes and began to walk away. "Come on Leah, it's getting late we should go."
The trio bid each other a good night, until they saw each other at school on Monday. Rin headed back inside, to clean up the living room. When he passed through the dining room, Kief was no longer at the table. Rin sighed and cleaned up the mess from the snacks before getting ready for bed. Passing by Arty and Ruru's room, they had already returned from playing after Nessa left, and were now already getting settled and ready for bed.
After Rin finally settled into bed, he lay awake thinking about his encounter with Nessa. Her aura was no joke and made him feel uneasy. He felt like the best thing for him was to try to stay under the radar as much as possible. Most nights he would head out to destroy a spirit or demon with the potential to manifest into a physical body and gain stronger powers, but now he thought he should leave them be for a while. He'd deal with them later if he had to. He had to be more careful. If powerful people with spiritual powers, like Nessa, were around it would mean more trouble for him than a manifested spirit or demon.
Rin drifted off to a troubled slumber. Before long, he was dragged from his sleep abruptly. He rose up from his sheets with a gasp. Something felt off, but he couldn't pinpoint it. There was an evil spirit at work. It wasn't on the verge of manifesting a physical body, but something about it felt wrong. He shook his head and decided to investigate. Slipping out his window, he jumped onto the powerlines, like normal, and started running. What is this? Rin thought as he ran. He was starting to sweat. The closer he got to the source of the weird spirit the more his heart dropped. No wonder something felt off, he could feel another presence mixed with the evil spirit. It was Leah.
It was well after 1 a.m., so she shouldn't be out now. Rin kept running until she came into sight. Walking down a deserted back street she was dressed in her pajamas, a long sleeve top and short set. She had no shoes on her feet and looked to be walking aimlessly. Rin leapt down from the powerlines and slowly walked up behind Leah.
"Leah?" Rin asked with caution. She ignored him and kept walking with abandon. Rin finally walked right behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She suddenly stopped in place, her back still facing Rin.
Rin rounded on her and now held both her shoulders as he lightly shook her. "Leah please, it's late. Why are you out right now?" Leah still said nothing. She had a dazed look in her eyes, as if she was seeing but not seeing Rin. It made the hair on the back of his neck rise. Finally, her eyes focused and a small smile began to creep across her face. Then she spoke with a distorted voice.
"Oh? you know this one?" The voice that spoke was not Leah's. Rin finally figured out what was happening. Possession. An evil spirit had possessed her body. It had not completed the possession though. Its movements were sluggish in her body and there was a slight delay when it tried to move in her skin. Rin had to get it out and quickly.
The smile on Leah's face widened and it spoke again. "Forget about her…what do you think about me?" It raised its hands to her breasts. It slowly stroked over the curve of Leah's chest and began to fondle her breasts. "These are nice…would you like to touch? I loved to be touched like this."
From Rin's point of view, it looked like Leah was fondling herself, but Rin knew better. The smile remained on her face as it cocked her head to the side coquettishly. It looked into Rin's eyes as it moaned. Rin stood there unmoving with an angry look on his face. Emboldened by Rin's silence. It took one step closer to Rin. Stopping its assault of Leah's breasts, it slowly dragged her hands up Rin's chest. Caressing every inch of his chest, it kept its ascent up his body and wrapped her arms around his neck. If anyone had passed by in the moment it would just look like lovers in an embrace.
Rin finally moved. He caught Leah's wrists and yanked them down. Holding them down by her side, he did something shocking. He tilted his head down and caught her lips. He began kissing Leah passionately. The evil spirit must have been stunned for a moment because it didn't return Rin's kiss immediately. After the shock wore off though, it began to aggressively kiss him back. Their tongues clashed and slid over each other. Rin still held Leah's wrists but began to slowly walk Leah back towards the light pole that was across from them both. Still kissing fervently, he walked Leah back until her back hit the light pole. The spirit was enjoying itself as it used the pole as leverage and wrapped Leah's legs around Rin. With Leah's body securely between him and the light pole, Rin let go of Leah's wrists and grabbed her face. The kissing then became more frenzied, the spirit blinked in confusion, and started to break out in a sweat. In between moans it started to pant. After this went on for a minute it placed Leah's hands on Rin's chest and started to push.
Rin wouldn't budge. He was rooted to the spot still tonguing Leah. It began to pant louder and louder before a wheeze could be heard. Suddenly, Leah's body froze, and panic was etched on her face. "Stop…what are…you doing to me?" it spoke during pants and kisses. Now it was fully struggling against Rin, but it was no use. It couldn't get away. Rin continued his assault on Leah's lips and then finally he stilled. After a beat he broke away from her body and jumped back. And with it was the evil spirit that had possessed Leah's body. Leah's body fell to the ground, she was unconscious. A female spirit appeared next to Rin in that moment and looked between Rin and the body she had just possessed.
"YOU WRETCH!" she screamed at Rin. He was panting heavily, lips glistening from the sloppy kisses. He wiped at his mouth and smiled at the female spirit.
"You tricked me! If I had a physical body of my own, you wouldn't resort to such things." She wanted to continue to yell at Rin, but a thought came to her. She suddenly smiled sweetly.
"I can see now that you're a demon. A strong demon. I can give you what you want. I can make you happy and make you feel good…Let me possess that girl fully. Just promise to protect me from being exorcised by the Spiritualists," she said as she walked slowly toward Rin. She had a determined look in her eyes.
"There's nothing you can offer me that I would want," Rin said with a defiant look. "Although…I did enjoy the kiss. Too bad I can't thank Leah for it when she wakes." Suddenly he leapt forward and grabbed the female spirit by the neck. He didn't want to attract unnecessary attention, but he had to destroy this spirit before it grew more dangerous. The spirit struggled and her eyes grew even harder.
"CURSE YOU!!! DAMNED TRAITOR!! She'll never love you or fuck you! don't you see?? You're betraying your own kind! A demon like you should be helping me! That dirty little bitch! Let me…" Before she could finish, Rin had already snapped her neck. The energy surrounding the spirit fluctuated and then she turned into smoke and ashes.
Rin stood for a moment and then turned toward Leah. She was still unconscious as she lay on the ground. Rin sighed and walked to her. He needed to take her home. Hopefully, he could sneak her back undetected. Rin bent down and collected Leah in his arms. He stared down at her and admired her sleeping form. Her lips were puffy and swollen from the kiss. Rin actually flushed a bit but wasn't sorry for it. He did what he had to do and got a kiss from Leah out of it, even though she wasn't aware of this fact.
Rin turned on his feet and started to walk in the direction of Leah's house when he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He stood still for a moment trying to focus on stabilizing his energy. When he still felt eyes on him, he yelled out, "Who's there?"
There was no response, but after a beat he felt the presence disappear. Somebody had been here the whole time and saw what happened. Not good. Rin decided not to linger any longer and took Leah home. Arriving at her, house he jumped up on the roof and walked towards the window to her bedroom. The window was unlocked thankfully, and Rin brought her inside her bedroom before laying her down on her bed. He gave her one last look before leaving to head back home.
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The next day Rin woke up expecting to have a missed call from Leah. But when he looked at his cell, there were no calls. He sighed in relief and decided he would go about his day like normal. He would see Leah and Zel at school tomorrow, so he'd put his worries aside until then. Deceiving humans was tiring but still quite easy.
Rin walked into the dining room and sat down for breakfast in his usual seat across from Kief. Once again Kief's head was buried in his notebook but looked up when Rin sat down. He looked at Rin's face and frowned. "You didn't get much rest it looks like."
"I was cleaning the closet last night and found your stash of porn. It scared me so bad, I couldn't sleep," Rin said as he poured creamer in his coffee. "Who knew you had other interests besides yourself." Kief couldn't help but chuckle.
Cura brought out their breakfast as Ruru and Arty entered the room and sat at the table. After the plates were filled, everyone dug in. Everyone was heartily eating before Rin turned to the children and asked, "and what do you two have planned for the day?"
Ruru piped up and answered with enthusiasm, "Cura is taking us out to pick up a new game and then to the park!" Arty shook his head enthusiastically and told Rin all about the new game and the characters' designs. He was so detailed Rin couldn't help but smile. It's times like this where he felt conflicted.
He had always despised humans but slowly he was making room in his heart for a few. He would kill anyone who harmed Ruru or Arty. He was fond of them, and they loved Rin so much. They thought of him very much like a big brother.
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The next day Rin arrived in class right before the bell rang. The teacher looked at him disapprovingly, but as usual didn't admonish him. He couldn't. Rin was the top student in his class, so that meant he got certain privileges much to the chagrin of the other students. Rin walked to his assigned seat and plopped down. Zel, as usual, didn't even acknowledge him. Leah, who would usually give Rin a small wave, was looking down. She noticed eyes on her and looked up to find Rin staring at her. She flashed him a small smile but then looked back down. Rin frowned at her and then turned his attention to his textbook.
The classes flew by before it was time for lunch. The three silently grabbed their lunches and walked to their usual lunch spot on the roof of the school. After the three sat down, the silence became unbearable. Zel was the first to speak up. "What's wrong?" He furrowed his eyebrows and looked between Rin and Leah. Rin said nothing, but Leah, not wanting the situation to turn awkward said, "I had a bad dream the other night and no matter what, I just can't shake it. It felt so real." Rin tensed but still said nothing.
"What kind of dream was it?" Zel asked. Leah took a moment before answering. "It was in this dark place, I could see myself but couldn't move my own body. It felt like I was drowning. I wanted to scream but couldn't." As she said this, she absentmindedly touched her lips. "Also, I think I was sleepwalking. My feet were dirty when I woke up."
"That's dangerous, you should tell your parents so they can take extra precautions," Zel said with concern. Leah nodded, but truthfully her parents were never home. Her mom was a doctor and was always on call and her dad was a prominent businessman and was always travelling. She rarely saw them.
Rin looked at Leah thoughtfully, before reaching out and touching her hand. This surprised Leah but she didn't shake his hand off. "It's just a dream Leah, and dreams aren't real. Try not to think about it okay?" Rin said softly. Leah at that moment beamed at Rin and nodded her head. In the back of her mind, Leah thought that somehow, she always felt safe and secure just being near him. Rin kept his hand on Leah's for a beat before returning to his meal. The two continued to eat while Zel stared at the both of them in shock. When had they grown this close? And he didn't even notice.
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In a remote village in the Demon Plane, there was a family busy with their daily chores. A slim woman in an old and worn chiton dress was carrying water from the nearby well back into her hut. Her husband, in similarly worn clothes, was just outside the hut chopping wood. It was going to be cold that night, so they would need the extra wood to keep the fire burning throughout the night. A couple of feet away a little boy was playing with a patched over ball. It had been made from various materials and was stitched together roughly. Regardless of the condition of the toy, the little boy treasured it. He kicked the ball further away and just as he ran to get it, his mother called out to him. "Don't go too far! Dinner will be ready soon!" She smiled and ducked back into the hut. The father, satisfied with his work, put down the axe and started to pick up the wood to bring inside.
Just as the father walked inside, he heard a shrill scream which momentarily froze him to the spot. The mother and father looked at each other before reacting. In an instant they scrambled toward the open door of their hut before they abruptly stopped in their tracks.
They barely registered the sight before them. Their son was bloody and twisted awkwardly. His crumbled body was on the ground while one of his legs was being held in the hand of a dark figure. His lifeless body unmoving. The dark figure began to slowly walk toward the hut's threshold and that's when the man and woman could see fully who stood before them. It was a demon.
The demon was very tall and looked like a very handsome young man. He was dressed in black robes and underneath wore matching black pants. Over his pants he wore black boots that stopped at his knee. Wrapped around his waist was a silver sash that held the robes together. The sash had silver ornaments hanging from it and situated to his side was a silver ornate sword. He had long black hair that stopped at his waist and despite the current scene, he looked to have a peaceful expression on his delicate face. A small black crescent moon was in the middle of his forehead and with one look the couple could tell who this demon was. He was a demon god.
The woman screamed when she saw her son and ran towards the demon god. With one small shove from the demon, the woman went flying back and then hit the ground with noticeable snap that could be heard. Blood pooled out of her ears. She was dead. The man stared between his wife and his son and looked devastated. He dropped to his knees and began to sob.
The demon god walked inside the hut still dragging the boy behind him and slowly walked toward where the man had kneeled. Once he reached the man, he spoke in a low voice, "Don't cry, it'll be over soon, and you can join your family."
The man then said between sobs, "Why have the gods forsaken us? Were we not dutiful enough? Did we not make enough offerings to them?" He looked distraught.
The demon god spoke, "No, you did everything you could. But they cannot save you, they never could. Your gods have abandoned you and your family. Now, I'm your god." The demon slit the man's throat. As the blood pooled on the floor, he began to devour the family of three.
Outside of the hut, there were two more figures. They had watched everything unfold and did nothing. They stood outside waiting patiently for the demon god to finish his meal. After a while, he finally emerged from the hut. Blood dripping from his hands and mouth, he licked his lips and stared at the two figures.
One of the figures finally spoke, "Demon god Maru, we have traveled far. We have much to discuss."