The next day, Tom and Ezra went into the village to see if the locals had softened their opinions of Tom. The sandwich shop was closed, but Gren actually served him when Tom asked for sausages in the butchers. He even asked what had happened yesterday, but Tom didn't want to stick around and act as though they had always been friends.
"Harper and Cal have broken up you know," Gren said in that mindless way of talking. He spewed gossip as if he was talking about the weather. His eyes were empty, as if thought of nothing other than everyone else.
"I don't think you should be talking about that to people."
Gren shrugged, "Harper is. She's telling people that he's around you too much."
"My best friend is around me too much?" Tom scoffed. "I used to like Harper. She was nice." He then grimaced, realising he should have kept that to himself. Harper would know by the end of the day and Cal could be in for an argument. "Don't talk about Cal and Harper to people, Gren. You'll upset him."
Gren shrugged again. "Everyone else does."
Tom rolled his eyes and muttered on the way out, "I think Farmer Joel's missing a sheep."
Ezra chuckled lowly and waited outside the shop next door.
The woman in the charity shop didn't let Tom in. She was more concerned about Ezra lurking outside, and quickly locked the door. She clutched her necklace and glared at him through the glass.
"And another one," Tom muttered.
On their way down the street, a woman with a young child stopped them, and Tom braced himself to be yelled at. Though the woman smiled up at Ezra and pushed her son towards him. "You saved him yesterday. You probably don't remember, but you pulled him out of the fight. I can't thank you enough!" She then hugged Ezra, who widened his eyes, looking down at her head pressed firmly into his chest. "Thank you so much. I'm so sorry if I've ever made you feel uncomfortable in this village. You live here too, you deserve respect."
She didn't hug him long enough for him to hug back, but he awkwardly squeezed her shoulder as she pulled away. "I remember," He whispered, smiling down at the young child. "I hope he is okay."
"Thanks to you, he is. What do you say Joe?"
The little boy craned his neck to look Ezra in the eyes. He grinned with three missing teeth, and the innocence of youth. "Thank you, mister demon."
Ezra started blinking back tears. All he could do was nod his head to keep them at bay.
When they left, Tom linked their arms and waited until Ezra had gotten a hold of his emotions again. "That was lovely," he said, pleased that people were starting to notice that Ezra had a heart, and feelings. He cared about people, and he had shown that yesterday, and the public had noticed.
"I didn't save that boy for gratitude, but yes, that was nice of her."
There was a change in the way people looked at them. Nobody started for too long. Nobody scowled or shook their heads as they walked past. Though people did still double glance at Ezra. Tom hoped that they would accept him in the village, and soon stop caring so much about his presence.
If demons got fed up and decided to fight for change, he worried that things would get even worse for them. But if they didn't speak up, things could still get worse for them.
On the way past the library, Othrowan stood in the doorway. He was the only one in the street staring at them without looking away. He watched them walk arm in arm. His expression was blank, but Tom knew he was thinking deeply about something.
Ezra stopped too and stared back. A tension grew between them. They voiced an unspoken conversation, both telling the other that they knew things they thought the other didn't know. Othrowan was first to break their locked gaze and disappeared inside the library.
"What is he up to?" he muttered. "I have to know."
"We will find out," Tom reassured, "but we must be careful about this. Come on, hopefully Kie and his friends come back today, and we can talk to them some more."
The group of demons returned to the pub late in the evening. Kie told them more demons were coming, and to let them in the pub at midnight.
Four more demons turned up, and each one was eager to meet Tom and Ezra. They were fastinated by Ezra's past, and even more interested in their developing relationship. Tom was frustrated that they were very suspicious of him, though understanding enough to know that little faith remained in humanity.
"So, Othrowan huh?" a woman said, sitting at a round table and sinking into an armchair. "He's always been a weird one. He's old and cunning. Do you think he's responsible for the rise in violence?"
"How could he be?" Tom asked.
She shrugged. "There's patterns we've started to notice."
"Like what?"
"Like the more angels there are in one place, the more violent humans are towards demons."
"How could they effect humans like that?"
"Have you been having bad dreams lately?"
Tom glanced at Ezra. "I have," said quietly.
"And have they been about demons?"
"They have."
"And have they been about demons acting violent towards people you love or vandalising places you love?"
Tom nodded again.
"All it takes is for the wrong sort of person to take that personally. Fearmongering at its finest. The angels must have something to do with it."
Tom sat down, thinking hard. "Whatever is going on, it has something to do with Ezra and Othrowan."
"And perhaps the village fair," Kie said, sitting in the corner of the pub with a full view of the group. "The angel's choir has been growing in numbers over the past few weeks, and they have been practicing late into the evening. Though I don't think they meet to sing, I think they meet for other reasons, and we need to find out what it is."
"Can your source not find out?" Ezra asked.
"They're trying."
"They need to try harder. I don't like being in this situation. If they don't find out soon, I will confront Othrowan myself."
"Ezrakhell, you can't. You could get punished."
"I've been punished by him enough," Ezra growled. His eyes darkened, and his shoulders tensed. Tom watched the anger flow up him like a volcano ready to erupt.
"How do we know you're innocent?" a new member of the group asked, raising a brow and looking Ezra up.
"Othrowan admitted it," Tom defended him. "He told me himself."
"And how do we know you're not lying?"
Ezra suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over. "Tom is not a liar." His hands turned to fists, and his knuckles whitened.
Kie sat forwards and whistled. "Enough," he ordered. "Ezrakhell is innocent, Tom is on our side. Othrowan is the liar here. Sit down, both of you."
Ezra sat, but refused to stop glaring at the other demon, who in turn smirked at him. Kie got up and stood in front of the newcomer. "If you're here to cause trouble, get out. But we are here to get to the bottom of whatever the fuck is going on in this village. Disrespect Tom again, and I will not hold Ezrakhell back. Is that understood?"
As the other demon gave in and sat down, Tom couldn't help but to feel fiercely protective of Ezra. His life had been hard and unfair, and he still dealt with doubters a hundred years after his punishment. He knew that if Ezra was guilty, he would have admitted it because he was that kind of person.
He wanted everyone to see Ezra the way he saw him. But not everyone wanted to get to know him. All they saw was a bitter demon, someone who hated themselves because he was forced to be one of them. But really, Ezra hated how unfairly he had been treated. He didn't hate demons. He hated being one in a world who hated them.
"Being a demon has taught me many things," Ezra said. "Mainly, it has taught me how hard we have it, especially now. And what's even worse is that we're all hated because it is easy to hate us. We are not perfect, but neither are humans, and neither are angels. If we can come together and make a difference, then I want to be a part of it. I don't care whether you think I'm innocent or not, I care that you know how much I want to help."
The other demons nodded together, agreeing that they had to stick by each other. They all suffered the same injustice.
"Tomorrow we should offer to help set up the stalls for the fair. If we get ourselves among the people, maybe someone will know something about what the angels are up to. And if not, then at least we are building trust between us and them," Ezra said.
"I wish there was no us and them. We all have to live in the same space," Tom complained.
"One day," Kie said, nodding slowly. "One day, O'Connell."