The Demon Inheritance

TWELVE

He let the fleshy picture frame drop and shrugged. "You know, I read so much yuri that I forget straight is even an actual thing. I seriously ship you guys, though."

"What the hell does even that mean?"

My Grandma snuck behind me, letting her hand on my shoulder. She laughed as I jumped. "Your parents insisted I put Loverman by Metallica on the CD just to freak out everyone who is invited."

I grinned at that bit of news. "What did you say?"

"I told them, 'hell no'."

I chuckled at her. "Is the CD as innocent and clueless as the designer of my dress?"

My grandma poked my nose. "Oh hush, child! I picked that dress out. But, yes. Most of it is really soft and things Metallica fans such as yourself would not enjoy."

"I enjoy every second of this!" I assured her.

My grandmother patted my head, then glanced up at Dillan. "So, is this your boyfriend?"

Dillan looked mildly amused, while I suddenly had anger melting through my veins. One of my brows twitched. "No. He has a girlfriend. I am single and shall remain that way until the end of time."

Grandma merely chuckled and patted my shoulder before walking away. I grimaced. Why were adults always like this when I was around someone of the opposite gender? Just because I was fifteen and a girl doesn't mean my brain was soaked in hormones. Then again, that was most other girls I knew... I gave Dillan an apologetic glance. "Sorry. Adults make assumptions- What's so funny?"

"Nothing..." said the Vurandoes prophet, rippling with chuckles. "Just, nobody has a chance with me but Nahara. I find it funny when people think I could be with someone else."

My eyebrows creased, and I shrugged. "Whatever... I don't care... Go check with the preacher to make sure everything is set."

Dillan dipped his head and went off towards the preacher, who was happily talking with the family of the groom. He raked his fingers through the back of his hair, clearly uncomfortable with his usual purple headband missing from his black hair. His boots clicked against the wooden floor as he made his way towards the old man.

I watched the Vurandoes prophet stalk off, arms crossed over my flat breasts. Mary should have been here with me on this special day. She should have been the one here with me on this beautiful hour. She should have been happy in her pale dress and flowers, beaming beside me as my father and mother said their vows. But, for now, Dillan was as close as I could get to a true friend to be here with me. The violet-eyed boy turned at me from over with the preacher and winked; we were ready to begin the ceremony.

I placed my hand over the ruffles across my chest, as if attempting to hold the air around my heart. "Thank you, Dillan Raking, for being here..." I muttered. "I will not forget this..." I took a breath, then began walking towards Dillan to take my seat in the crowd of family and friends. Delta and Fango, hand in hand, entered the church. Oliver followed behind him, gently blowing out the last of his cigarette smoke before entering the building.

From the smile that slid onto my face, you would have thought it was my wedding day. I waved over to the rest of the group to sit with Dillan, who had chosen a bench for us all over on the side of my dad's family. Oliver and I cried the entire time.

***

I scraped the icing off of my cake with my fork, propping my chin up on my knuckles. A small smile remained on my face, and the image of my parents and their vows never left my mind. Had I not been in a room full of people that were my family yet I had no idea who they were, I would be all over the place laughing very crazily. However, I kept all the joy bottled up inside. I was saving it for the ride home.

"Earth to Emma!" shouted Fango, waving his fork in my face. "Why the hell would you reject that beautiful product of sugar?"

I gave him a confused look, then realized he was talking about me scraping all the icing off. "Oh, this creation of diabetes? You mean that?" I wiped the fork off with a napkin, then sliced into the rest of it.

Delta took his own side. "You took off the fondant?! Emma is not human!" His eyes flashed with fake hurt.

"You're right," said Dillan through a mouthful of cake and icing, in which most of it was on his chin. His words were muffled my food. His cheeks bulged. "Emma is a demon, my faerie friend."

The said Minios prophet, Delta, sighed. "You know what I mean. Emma, do you eat anything fun besides pizza?"

"Nope," I said matter-of-factly, then swallowing the rest of the food in my mouth. Even the cake without icing was unsatisfying; I didn't have much of a sweet tooth.

Oliver shrugged with a small smile. "I have not come across any foods here I dislike yet."

"Wait until you eat an avocado," Fango spoke, pushing his drooping glasses up against his nose.

"I like avocadoes!" came my defense.

Oliver chuckled, fidgeting with the white sleeve of his hooded jacket. "You Exants get into the most magnificent arguments. I guess it's that you grew up in a different dimension than me, and your behavior is so different."

"Just now figuring that out?" Fango put his hands on his hips. His voice was stern, but his expression was playful.

"Of course not."

Suddenly, Dillan reached forward and squeezed my wrist. I shot a glare up at him and held it until I realized he was giving me an urgent, pitiful look of question. I inwardly rolled my eyes. "What is it, Dillan Raking?"

"Are we going to go get Mary tomorrow?" he asked quietly. None of the adults heard us, but Oliver, obviously part of the conversation, was leaning in to hear. "You are getting so happy because she is alive, but she won't be for long if we don't act soon."

I gulped and glanced up at my parents, who were laughing, lost in each other's company. My eyebrows creased in worry. "It would be horrible to leave them so shortly after the wedding, but... Yeah... We will make our journey tomorrow. Milton Alabama to Los Angeles California. Just where it says Mary is on that little paper."