𝑇𝐻𝑅𝐸𝐸 𝐷𝐸𝑀𝑂𝑁𝑆

x 39 x

x LAURA x

I texted Rhi as I laid in bed, the familiarity of my room seeming to be enough for now to keep my anxiety and flashbacks at bay.

Me and them were just about to FaceTime when my mother knocked on my bedroom door. "Hey-

A sudden wave of anger overtook me.

"Don't come in," I yelled.

My mother already had the door halfway open, and an expression of who the fuck is she talking to and confusion was blatantly on her face. 

I couldn't stand the thought of her messing up my space, whatever that meant. My room was what made me feel comfortable right now, and I didn't want anyone else in it. My mother was obviously waiting for some sort of explanation but I was at a loss of words.

"Please. I just-

I could barely breathe, and it felt like everything I had been through in the last 24 hours was hitting me blow after blow. I started sobbing, and I didn't realize my mother had crossed the room until I felt her presence against me, bringing me in and comforting me.

"It's alright, baby. It's alright."

Once I had calmed down, I wiped my face, looking up at her. "What were you trying to tell me?"

My mother's eyes widened, "Oh God. Those poor babies are probably burning up outside. Or freezing. I don't remember the weather," she scurried towards the door, and I sat up too quick, interested in whatever she was talking about. I blinked back my wave of nausea and followed her to my doorway.

I watched as my mother opened the door, spotting Khloe and Devana. I didn't know how to feel about them being here, at my house, when that had been a big no-no in my mind not that many days ago. But, I knew I didn't want them in my room for sure.

I closed my bedroom door quietly and quickly threw something comfortable on, and made myself presentable. I noticed my hands shook a bit more than usual as I got myself together, but I tried to ignore it. I felt like a layer of my strength had been skinned off of me.

A soft knock hit my door, but no one made a move to come in from outside of it. Not my mother again, then. I took in a deep breath and clasped my hands together, trying not to fidget with the fabric buildup on my sweats.

"Wait a minute," I call out.

I took in a few more deep breaths, and gave myself some reassurance before I opened up the door.

Demon looked...she looked gone. And Dior looked tired, but almost regular. "Hey," I looked between the two of them. I thought Demon said I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore? And even though I could sense that they weren't out to bother me...all of this still felt so much different than last week.

"We can go in?" Dior asked, gesturing to my room.

My chest burned with embarrassment. Did they know about my freak out with my mom a couple of minutes ago? Was she mocking me? Why am I freaking out so much?

"Um, no. How about we go somewhere else?" I ask.

"The park?" Demon suggests quietly.

My mind went back to me and Jessica creeping through the woods to see the secret meeting Demon and the trio had going on. "No. But somewhere else."

Dior cocked her head to my mother in the kitchen, who was probably trying to eavesdrop. She didn't even ask for the full story of things, just believed what I said regarding last night.

"We're going out," I tell her. "That cool?"

"Just be back in time to pack," she advises, her gaze lingering on me for a short second. My mom was at the age where she had a decent amount of people in her life she had grew up with alive, but also a slowly rising amount that was dying. She had seen death before and grief and I saw the worry in her eyes. Her little baby experiencing that.

"I'll be fine," I say lowly, squeezing her hand and giving her an awkward, little hug.

Demon, Dior, and I left the house; Dior's flashy Mustang parked out front. It looked so out of place here. Her car could probably pay a lot of our bills, but I don't think about that as I slide into her familiar seats and Demon sits in front of me.

"How you doing?" Dior asks me, buckling her seatbelt.

"Fine," I shrug.

That's far from the truth but I've learned to change my trust in people now. Demon turned my sadness against me before, I won't let her do that to me again.

I reach for my seatbelt and an image of Dior over Syn, doing CPR, seized my mind. The panicked look on Devana's face as Syn laid there limply.

I blinked the image away but my heart was damn near beating out of my chest. "You sure?" Dior asks, preoccupied with her phone, an angered expression on her face. "Yeah," I answer, my eyes meeting Demon's in the mirror.

Could she see through my brain?

I shake away the thought. A thought that shouldn't even be valid to me, that sounds stupid as hell. But I can't help but realize my heart had sped up a little again. Nobody can see through anybody's brain, Jesus, Laura!

"What about the basketball court in Southwest?" Demon suggested, breaking eye contact with me.

"That's...fine," Dior agreed, probably wondering why Demon would make such an odd request. I wondered the same thing too. "Sure," I agreed faintly, at least it was a place I knew well.