★ 2013 Watty Finalist ★
The day Reyna gives her friend Dante the chance to be her boyfriend is the day a demon's soul awakens within her body. His name is Mundus, and he can read her thoughts and sense her emotions. Reyna desires her normal life bac...
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Drawing: Dante by Gernpunk from deviantart
4.
Food is Expensive
The school bus halted and its thin twin doors creaked open. Several seconds later, doors retreated, its motor rumbled away from the beige and white house. A curtain swayed as Reyna let it fall back into place. She usually walks to school, but seeing the bus pass by made her feel less guilty.
She walked back to the living room, Mundus' sword still in her hand. It began to vibrate and sing its sad yet ear splitting melody. She groaned as she plopped on the couch.
What am I going to do with you? she thought.
The phone on the small table next to couch rang. Instinctively, Reyna reached for it but caught herself and let the answering machine pick it up.
"Reyna?" The soft voice of Mrs. Felix was being recorded. "Oh that's right, you're probably at school by now. Are things going well? How are you? Have you been taking your medicine?
"Well, listen up. Right now I'm at your uncle's and dad's going to drop by on his way from his business trip and all three of us are going to fly home. We should be there Sunday afternoon or so if all goes well. Things got wrapped up earlier than we thought.
"Your uncle is going to stay in our guest room so make sure it's ready when we get there, okay? Fill you in later when we get there. Alright, love ya and see ya later."
Groaning again, Reyna deleted the message, briefly wondering when her family was going to step up to the modern world and buy her a cell phone. Coming from modest upbringings and now living in a grander style of life, Mr. and Mrs. Felix did not want to raise a spoiled child; thus they felt Reyna didn't need a cell phone, car, or any other luxury anytime soon.
Damn you, Mundus. What the hell am I going to do about you when my parents come back? she thought and a horrific notion ran through her mind. Would Mundus try to hurt her parents?
"Had I not settled such thoughts?" Mundus' voice appeared along with his essence. The sword in Reyna's hand went from its calm buzz to a skin crawling scream. Despite the questions she wanted to ask him, the maddening sound took priority.
"How do I shut this thing up?" Reyna covered her ears.
"Reside it somewhere dark and its silence will come," he replied.
She grasped the sword and walked towards the stairs. Before she could reach them, an unseen force pulled her down to the ground and the sword slipped from her hands. Breathing hard, Reyna stared at the stair's soft carpeting.
She let out a frustrating cry. "What is going on?"
Mundus remained silent, but his mind was filtering the event. It tries to take her essence. I am impressed she is able to hear its cry.
