Chapter Eight
I pulled my keys out of the ignition and stared at the house. I couldn’t understand. The house was big, fancy and beautiful; completely white with large windows and the unmistakeable smell of chlorine. I could just picture a massive pool out the back of the house. God, they must be rich.
I stepped out into the crisp, autumn air and locked the car, before masking my eyes with my hand. This was stupid. That photo could easily have been copied and pasted by some eighty year old man for all I knew. I half wished I was an undercover cop, just so I would feel better about coming here. Of course, that wasn’t about to become the case anytime soon.
I taking a deep breath, I marched up the staircase, ready to give this person a piece of my mind; maybe even a slap or two if the situation called for it. As I got to the top, the door swung open and I readied myself, hissing as I saw a hand snake around the side of it and pull me inside, quicker than I could break off its fingers. Something was definitely creepy here.
“What do you want?” I screeched at the person before taking the time to truly look at them. “Why do you have me here? What the hell is wrong with you?”
The person, who I still hadn’t seen properly, put a gentle hand on my shoulder, and I spun around, slapping them in the face. I’d always had faster reflexes than other girls my age. I credited it to being- well- not really your stereotypical Asian teenage girl.
I liked who I was, and who I was hated stereotypes with a burning passion. I wasn’t quiet and studious; I was outspoken and much preferred videogames to text books. I wasn’t stupid, but I didn’t really care about grades all that much. I never played violin or piano or any “beautiful” instrument; too many people had said I should.
“You could do so well at piano with long fingers like that.”
“You should take up the violin; you’d be just like your mother.”
It was for this very reason that I completely ignored them all and learnt how to play the electric guitar and the drums.
I had to admit, though, that my weakness was with people. Being the loud, overconfident person that I was, I had a few trust issues with other people. That had caused me to get into a few... disagreements, you could call them. Like now.
The person stood up. I was shocked that instead of slapping me back like so many people had tried to in the past, a torrent of verbal insults flooded from her mouth. I got a good look at her now, and I was surprised to find that this was the blonde girl I’d seen in the photo on the email.
“Stop,” commanded a quiet voice from the other side of the room. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt compelled to relax my limbs. It seemed to work on the blonde girl too, as she stopped speaking.
“Come, Reason. Let’s not infuriate our friend before she comes to understand our ways."
I almost snorted. Friend? How was I their friend? Firstly, I didn’t even know them, and secondly, I had just attacked the one called Reason. How was that friendly?
Reason stared daggers at me before she went over to where the other girl- Mystery, I assumed- was standing. She was a good few years younger than Reason. She had long, jet black curls to her waist, alabaster skin and piercing, green eyes. She looked about fifteen, but she looked a lot wiser.
"Mystery," I muttered under my breath.
She nodded and gave a cool smile. She seemed almost... unhuman. Angelic, almost like a goddess. "Clarity, please sit down. Reason will make you some tea."
Reason shot me a look of pure poison. "What would you like? Sugar, salt or arsenic?"
I laughed sarcastically under my breath as I positioned myself to spring, before a cool wave of calm washed over me. My muscles relaxed and I straightened my body, a placid smile on my face.
"Enough!" Mystery spoke quietly, but it was loud enough to echo through the whole room. It was like a demand that you had to comply with. She stared both of us down.
"Two sugars, please," I smiled sweetly at Reason. She ignored me and strutted off into the kitchen, irritation a cloud around her.
I turned to Mystery. "So, you going to explain to me why you want me here?"
"Please sit down, we will join you shortly," she replied without giving an answer.
I sighed and threw myself into a beige leather armchair. It was extremely comfortable, even though it was beige. I hated beige. It was just so boring, and it wasn't even that nice a colour. It was just a colour that couldn't make up its mind as to whether it was light brown, cream or white.
I was completely silent, and I could hear Mystery and Reason talking in hushed tones in the kitchen. By the sounds of it, Reason was whinging about me, and Mystery was, in her own way, telling her to suck it up. I smirked.
I heard two sets of footsteps and the pair of them entered the living room. They both took a seat on the lounge across from me. Reason set the mugs of tea on the frosted glass coffee table and Mystery leaned forward, looking directly at me. It was almost a little creepy.
I grabbed my mug and sipped at it, before leaning back in the chair. "So, speak."
Mystery gave me a fleeting smile. "I'll leave that to you, Reason."
Reason matched Mystery's body language. "So I guess by now you've discovered that none of us are normal."
I rolled my eyes. "What do you mean by 'not normal' exactly?"
"Well, we're not. None of us. Not you, not me, not Mystery. Far from it, actually. We're... we're immortal creatures."
"What are you talking about, Reason?" I yawned. "How are we supposed to be immortal? So what, we can't die?"
Reason cleared her throat. "Actually, we can die, but not easily. But that's beside the point. The point is...we've been around for thousands of years- our spirits have, anyway. We're reborn into human form every hundred or so years, for many reasons. Often to protect people from demons and bad spirits."
"Then... what are we?"
Reason looked straight into my eyes. "We're demons."
