The Demon Inheritance

TWO

"Emma, we're neighbors!"

I faked a smile. "I can see that. Come on in." Don't let the door hit you. I wasn't only afraid because of who he resembled, but also a bit ticked off because, well, he existed.

I hate people.

Oliver, however, held the door open for all of our fathers. I led all of them into the kitchen, and let them seat themselves. After each individual was situated, my mother was the first to talk.

"What made you decide to come to Millton, Alabama?" Mom questioned the older men. "We're such a small town."

"We decided that it would be best for Oliver," the gray-eyed one answered, carrying a bit of the strange accent on his his tongue. He seemed more practiced at pronouncing English words than his son. "We wanted to find a place where people are more connected, and not by social media. Do you have any concerns about this place, before we make a huge mistake?" He grinned to show he was joking. His lips twitched with amusement.

Father spoke up in his husky voice, "Well, Carter, the church has a bit of power here... I feel Oliver may be bullied by some of those people who use God as an excuse to dislike different people, for what his parents are." My father was quite religious himself, and still nearly as open-minded as Mother. I wasn't sure how I got so openly judgemental, with them as my parents. They liked people, one thing I hated. "That's one concern."

The black-haired man muttered to me while they went into conversation, "Hello, Emma. Oliver has spoken quite a lot about you." Although he harboured a smile, his eyes glimmered in question.

I shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sure he has. Nice to meet you, sir." How much has he talked about me? That's what's concerning.

"Call me Ace. Where I come from, formality isn't a need." He smiled, propping his chin up on his tanned knuckles. "Still nice to get that respect, though."

I knit my eyebrows in confusion. "Alright, Ace, I guess..."

"You have all your classes with my... son?"

I nodded, trying not to frown. "I do. He mostly sticks to his books." Thank God, or else he'd probably be watching me all the time. "Has Oliver ever been to Alabama before this week started?" Maybe, just maybe, I had seen him before to be able to dream about him.

Ace said, "No."

I slouched and cut off a bit of eggs before scooping it into my mouth with the prongs of my fork. Instead of truly tasting my food, my mind wandered off into the dark corners of my mind. In movies, this is how you always die. There's strange people that move into a neighborhood... Creepy things happen... Then, they end up killing you or something. Sure, I was being paranoid, but those dreams... For all I knew, Mary was right; Oliver just thought I was pretty, and he wasn't being a stalker. However, the dream could not be ignored. It felt so real to me when it happened, almost like a memory of something that never happened was being relived. And the way the new-ish boy played into everything when I slept was disturbing. He trained me to use the weapons in my sleep, and if I tried to use those skills in the waking world, the lessons he taught would show.

Perhaps I was overthinking things.

"Emma," my mother said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glanced down at my plate and found a half-eaten strip of greasy, crisp bacon to be the only thing left. "Did you hear what Carter here proposed?"

"No, ma'am. I went off into Lala Land, sorry. Could you repeat that?" I blinked up at my mother blankly.

Father sighed, exasperated. I daydreamed often. And I usually chose the wrong time to do that, too. "Carter asked if you could show Oliver around the neighborhood, since they had only been in the motel for the time they were here in Millton. What do you say?"