The Unread Message (Part II)

4] Really time to go

I'm floating in the air and I almost scream out loud but I stifle it with a hand. I don't want to awaken the neighbors. Archer's hold on me is consistently tight as he holds me closer to his body. A little too tight, I think. Along with the cold smoke supporting my weight from below, I feel like flying and floating. It slowly brings me back on the ground as we land safely as he immediately dusts himself of an imaginary dust.

He gives a big sigh as he lets go of me. Thankfully I don't have any broken bones, I'm just crumpled on the ground, still catching my breath, until I feel his eyes looking at me, just standing there like a bystander who's not helping the tiniest bit.

He smiles and sighs, flicking a strand of his nightly hair from his face, his lop-sided smile looking permanent on his face. "Now, that isn't so bad."

He seems to enjoy my suffering so badly.

I try to glare at him but he gives no feedback as he gives a blank expression. I feel no energy in my legs as I try to stand up. I'm frozen to the ground..

Maybe it's because I'm so surprised that I can't move. How can he jump that high and still be fine?

The third floor has many rooms. It's stacked into two blocks horizontally. So it is wider at the center than at the bottom and top parts. 

It can fit up to 30 rooms at least. Yeah, Japan has a large and complex apartment. "You know, I'm surprised you speak good english considering that we're in Japan. Were you born in the village?"

I narrow my eyes, "No, I was born in the UK. It doesn't explain the accent but my friend has it. And I moved here after graduating high school."

"Alone?"

"No, my friend came with me but she's probably at home, sleeping like a princess. And I did take Japanese courses before, thus my survival kit in this town." I hate how he's asking such questions too leisurely, it's like he never skips a beat.

"Well, that explains it. So are you gonna get up from that cold concrete or not?" He crosses his arms. I snap back to reality and realise that I'm still crouching, getting too comfortable resting on the gravelled ground.

I sigh, "All right, all right I'm up." Dusting myself off, I'm even more ridiculed by the fact that there's a demon, right here in front of me ---after being sold by my own father..

Way to go, dad. He --apparently, moved to Japan as well, leaving my mother and our past behind. He moved and flew over 3 months after Ereina and I moved. He didn't tell us though. It was a big 'smack in the face' surprise when he suddenly phoned us and told that he wants to live here. And that he'd rented his own apartment by the beach. It's too far away from here--- does he hate his daughter that much? And its too late to tell him that I'm going to go someplace far away.... And never come back.

My chest twists in agony but I don't show it on my face.

"So, what do we do now?" I ask. I'm alone and face to face with a demon in front of me, having my heart beat so rapidly it's absorbing my energy out of my body. I really just want to go back to sleep...

He nods, "So now, try to breathe normally and take a break because we're going through a portal next."

"A- What?" You're joking me.

"I hope you're ready because it's going to be one and a half minutes travelling from here to the demon dimension." He chuckles. It's slow at first, but then the laughter doesn't end in its steady, constant note.

And I feel like he's laughing at me for some reason.

Is he mocking me?!!!

'Does he really enjoy my human suffering that much?' A demonic voice inside my head says back. I really don't need you right now, inner soul of self.