11
Joseph watched as Aziz methodically went through the room. First the demon locked both locks and the deadbolt on the door, then he moved to the lone window of the room, then finally he barred the door leading into the inner courtyard.
Uncertain of what he was suppose to do, Joseph merely sat there, on the bed, watching as Aziz moved throughout the room, checking the bathroom, under the bed, in the closet.
Finally deciding to speak, Joseph said. "What are you doing...?"
Aziz looked over at Joseph, in the middle of drawing the curtains shut. "Securing the room."
"Well.... What if I want to get some food?"
The afrit frowned. "You're not going anywhere."
Joseph frowned, pouting a bit.
The demon raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously pouting?"
Joseph glared, bringing himself into an even more childish state.
Aziz rolled his eyes. "When they gave me your file, it said that you had like three Ph.Ds. Yet with all that knowledge, you still find it necessary to revert to childish actions?"
"Fuck off." Said Joseph, scrunching up his nose.
"Another offer?"
"Ew nasty, you asshole!"
"I'm not an asshole." Said Aziz, smirking.
"But you punched me earlier!"
"I'm a demon, remember?"
"It was uncalled for."
"You ran away."
"Because I didn't want to be around some stupid demon asshole! jsi zlý teď!"
Aziz sighed, rolling his eyes, then in a flash had Joseph pinned to the bed. "You, human, are trying my patience."
Joseph gulped under Aziz's now-red gaze, trying to wriggle out from under the demon's strong arms. But Aziz responded to Joseph's struggles by shoving his knee between Joseph's legs, making the linguist yelp in surprise.
"Get off! andare via!" Said Joseph.
Aziz smirked, his nails and teeth growing in length and sharpness. He grabbed onto Joseph's chin, successfully pinning the linguist down.
Shit. He couldn't fight a demon, 'specially not in the horribly weakened state he was currently in.
Joseph finally stopped fighting, instead going limp under the afrit.
Aziz just stared at Joseph for a moment, making the linguist blush and advert his eyes.
After about a minute of scrutiny, Aziz finally got off of Joseph, then went back to unpacking as though nothing had happened.
Joseph just lay, stunned, on the bed. Finally he found his voice. "What... was that...?"
Aziz glanced over at Joseph, his signature smirk on his face. "I was making sure you understood who is in control." He said simply.
Joseph swallowed a growing lump in his throat. "You don't control me..."
Aziz paused in the middle of unpacking, his back turned to the linguist. "And what makes you say that?" His voice sounded neutral.
Jesus, this demon was fucking bipolar. "Because it's a free country..." Even Joseph knew it was a lame excuse.
Aziz straightened up, turning to face Joseph. He cocked his head to the side. "Ah... So then who does control you?"
"...No one..."
Aziz took a step towards Joseph. "Are you really so certain about that, human?"
Joseph didn't answer, seemingly paralyzed by the demon's approach.
Aziz continued. "The Company put me in charge of you." He was no more than a foot away from the bed.
Something finally clicked about the unpredictable nature of the demon and Joseph began to scoot back on the bed. The fact that Aziz was moving slowly, in a nonchalant way, made everything more terrifying than if he'd been moving fast and pissed off.
"The Company doesn't control me... They have no right to!" Joseph said, almost desperately.
Aziz cocked his head to the side then began to laugh. "You stupid human. Do you not realize that this has nothing to do with politics or your 'free nation'? This is all nature..." Aziz suddenly grabbed Joseph's foot, pulling him off the bed and onto the ground.
Joseph groaned, the hard floor having bruised something. Aziz leaned down to the linguist, his face mere inches away, and whispered. "...And you just so happen to be at the bottom of the food chain."
Joseph rolled over onto his back. Aziz straightened up, smiling an innocent smile. "I wish you would just get it through your thick skull that you're weak."
Joseph glared up at the afrit but said nothing. Joseph hated to admit it, but he was weak.
"Now." Said Aziz. "Get up. We have a visitor."
Joseph frowned, but did as he was told. Just as he was brushing himself off, there was a knock at the door. Aziz motioned for Joseph to stay where he was, near the bed, while the demon went and unlocked the door.
The door swung open, giving Joseph a glimpse of the man who had checked them in earlier. He was balancing two plate of food on one arm, liter of soda in the other. Just smelling the food made Joseph's stomach grumble.
When was the last time I ate? Oh cholernie. That chocolate bar the night before. No wonder I'm so tired.
The man was now talking to Aziz, a smile plastered on his worn face. "...And this is your meal. We provide two per day, breakfast and dinner. If you need anything else, just dial 2 on the phone and I'll be more than happy to assist you."
Aziz nodded, taking the meals and soda, balancing them with ease. The man turned to leave. Aziz kicked the door shut behind him, quickly dead-bolting the locks.
"Here. Come eat this."
Joseph sat down at the small table, grabbing a plate of what seemed to be steaming hot Mexican food.
"God I'm starving!"
Aziz eyed Joseph as he began eating, shoveling the food into his mouth. Joseph looked up at the demon then stopped. "Why aren't you eating?"
Aziz smirked, leaning against the wall. "I already ate."
"I've been around you for the last day and a half. You haven't eaten anything." Joseph said accusingly. How can someone be so built yet not eat? It wasn't fair.
Aziz said. "You see, demons don't have to eat as often as humans do. But when we do eat..." Aziz gave Joseph a hearty grin, then leaned closer to him, close enough to raise the hair on the back of the linguist's neck. "...I eat souls." Aziz then gave Joseph's ear a light tug with his teeth, making the linguist jump out of his seat. "F-fuck! Don't freaking touch me!"
Aziz just smiled, sitting down, backwards, in the chair opposite to Joseph's. "What. Did you think I was kidding when I said that you humans were at the bottom of the food chain?" Aziz chuckled. "Come finish your food. It's getting cold."
Joseph reluctantly returned to the table. Soon all the food on his plate had disappeared. Aziz watched Joseph eat, then wordlessly pushed the other plate towards the linguist.
Joseph's eyebrows knitted together. "Why do I need to eat another?"
Aziz chuckled. "Have you seen yourself lately? You're just skin and bones. It's kind of disturbing."
Joseph frowned. Now that he thought about it, Joseph hadn't actually seen his reflection since before the whole drugging episode...
Joseph got up and went to the bathroom. The person who looked back at him in the mirror was nearly unrecognizable. Sure, Joseph still had black hair and blue eyes, but the eyes were dull and the hair was long and limp. Joseph pulled up his shirt. The linguist was startled when he could easily see and count his ribs. "Holy shit..."
"That's what a diet of nutrition through a needle does to you." Aziz was leaning against the bathroom door frame.
Joseph poked at his stomach, which now had a giant, fist-sized bruise. "Asshole." He muttered under his breath, scowling at nothing in particular.
The afrit let it slide, instead walking back into the main room. There was no couch, only a bed, dresser, small table and chairs. This is going to be interesting. Thought the demon. Hopefully he didn't end up on the floor.
Aziz sighed, looking back at the human who was still captivated by the mirror. Joseph's physical state was pathetic. Aziz was actually surprised that the linguist had been able to walk so far earlier that day. Though now that he thought about it, Joseph had probably been powered by sheer adrenaline... Aziz felt bad about hurting Joseph. But dammit, the linguist was stubborn, and furthermore, he didn't know what he was getting himself into, what with messing around with demons and gods.
Aziz shook his head.
Amazing how Joseph had already seemed to have let the episode pass...
Joseph was moving back towards the table, a bit disturbed looking. He wordlessly began eating again, mechanically shoving food into his mouth. Aziz waited until the linguist was halfway through the second plate. Then he said, "You don't want to make yourself throw up by overeating."
Joseph nodded, pushing the plate away. "I need a shower..." He said.
Aziz threw him a dufflebag and a towel. Joseph's eyebrows knitted, looking at the dufflebag in confusion.
"Change of clothes." Aziz explained.
"Oh."
"Leave your dirty clothes out here. I'm going to do a load of laundry."
Joseph nodded.
"And don't even think about leaving."
Joseph paused, looking at Aziz as a slightly panicked expression flashed across his face. Aziz smirked. So maybe the human wasn't so bull-headed after all.
Soon the afrit was outside with a bundle of clothing, having changed already, making his way towards the washer and dryer.
On the left side...
While waiting for the load to cycle, Aziz noticed some vending machines to the left of the dryer. Most of the food looked at least ten years old, but thankfully some were more recently stocked. Upon closer inspection, Aziz noticed there was chocolate.
The demon looked at the vending machine, still feeling guilty about making the linguist cry. But he had to. He couldn't've let the idiot human get himself killed, not with the Company holding hostage his- Aziz slammed his fist into the machine, warping the metal.
Don't think about it. It'll only make things harder.
Taking a deep breath, Aziz dug into his pocket, feeling for his wallet. He felt bad about punching Joseph... the guy was more like a kid.
...a freakishly smart, emaciated kid.
But a kid nonetheless!
Aziz decided he would give him some chocolate, (all the cocoa-based products already having mysteriously disappeared from both dufflebags). That would probably make the linguist happy.
Maybe he should stock up for bribery... Aziz smiled. This was going to work out well.
But before the laundry was done, the afrit began to feel a deep, gnawing hunger at the pit of his stomach.
Shit.
He needed to eat, and soon. Aziz couldn't risk himself being hungry around Joseph.
Thinking about what he was going to do for only a minute, Aziz finally decided his course of action, quickly beginning to make his way towards the front of the check-in. The laundry would be a couple more minutes. Aziz had time to spare.
In the meantime... Hopefully that old man was still there.
* * *
Okay this chapter is kinda short... SORRY D: I just once again felt as though the natural flow of the story needed to stop here.
Yeah... well the next part is pretty freaky! O_o I was writing it at like 2 in the morning then I woke up and looked at my phone and was like 'WHEN THE FUCK DID I WRITE THIS??!' Then I read it and was like 'WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME? MY MIND IS WARPED! This is genius.' o-o So I promise you this chapter is just the shitty calm before the awesome storm!! :D
ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING AND SUPPORTING ME IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! *single tear*
ENJOY SOME CAKE!
Luvvvs
LE DICTIONARY
jsi zlý teď!= you're a mean cur!
andare via= go away
oh cholernie= oh damn