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Simon’s point of view
When I woke up on Sunday morning, the first thing I heard was music. I grunted, already in a mood; Guido must have put his iPod in the dock station again, instead of using the earphones I’d given him to try and give him a very obvious hint about not waking me up with music in the weekends.
I was already halfway up when I recognized the song – I lowered the pillow I’d been clutching to throw at Guido’s face.
Two is better than one. I would recognize that song everywhere; it had haunted me ever since she’d sung it with Eros. I could hear her voice in my mind now, singing that horrible song all by herself. She felt more relaxed than she’d felt all week and I recognized the feeling immediately: she was in the shower. A vision of Demona in the shower made my cheeks flush bright red and had my blood boiling… But why was she singing his song?
Grunting again, I threw myself back in bed and put the pillow over my head. But while this might’ve helped if it had been Guido blasting music, it didn’t keep her voice out of my head. When the song was over, she didn’t pick a new one. She kept repeating this one over and over again while she was showering, and even when I felt her drying off, she kept humming. It was more than bad: it was torture.
What had happened while I was asleep to bring this on? What had he done to make her happy again, to make her sing their song? I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know…
Demona’s point of view
When I was done showering, I decided to dress elaborate. I put on my red Christmas dress with the black heels – the clothes I’d worn when Simon had kissed me for the very first time. If I was going to get to him, this would do the trick just fine.
“Wow, where are you going?” Paulie asked when she saw me. “A ball?”
I spun around so she could see the entire outfit. “I’m on a mission,” I informed her. “Wish me luck.”
“In that outfit, you won’t need any luck,” Sam mumbled with the tiniest hint of a smile playing around her lips. She was obviously happy with having the old Demona back; Sam hadn’t dealt well with all of the crying at all.
I could feel Simon leaving his room, in the company of Antwan and Will I guessed. I bowed to my roommates and whished them a nice day they before I left for breakfast. Time to get this show on the road…
When I entered the cafeteria, I saw a lot of people looking at me. I wasn’t the only one dressed up, but I was definitely the only one looking like I was attending a Christmas formal – in January.
“Damn girl, you look dapper,” Carl commented when I walked past with my tray.
I smiled at him and greeted Angie and Georgie, who were engaged in a very serious conversation with Eve and Drew about the recent developments in the show Game of Thrones. The past week, Eve and her friends had welcomed me back at their table with open arms. I hadn’t sought out their company much after the first few weeks of school .I’d had my own friends to sit with: Simon, Antwan, Will and Minnie. But with the fallout I’d been having with Simon, I hadn’t had a place to sit. Eve had waved me toward her immediately the first day and her friends had pretended like it wasn’t strange at all for me to seek them out all of a sudden. I was sure Eve had filled them in on the break-up, since no one had asked me any questions or ever brought up Simon.
Today, however, I wasn’t going to sit with them; like I’d told Sam and Paulie: I was on a mission. I talked with Carl for a little while, standing there with my tray, but then I excused myself and purposefully marched over to the table Simon was sitting.
Simon must have felt me coming, since I saw him slump down in his seat and his glow turned from brooding grey to a miserable muddy brown. He hadn’t seen me yet, since his back was to me, so I still had the hope of getting to him with my outfit.
Will was the first one to notice me coming to sit with them, and his eyes went wide the moment he saw me. He nudged Antwan, who did a double take when he saw me as well. Both of them shook their heads at me ever so slightly, trying to convey through their eyes that this was a bad idea. I smiled and cocked my head to the side, making it perfectly clear I had gotten their message yet I wasn’t going to listen to them.
“Good morning,” I said animated, pretending to be in good spirits.
Minnie was the only one who greeted me with some enthusiasm; the guys did nothing but grunt. Great, be like that, I thought – I hadn’t expected them to welcome me back with open arms anyway, not wearing this extravagant outfit. What bothered me was that Simon still hadn’t looked up at me, thereby totally defeating the purpose of my dress and the ridiculously high heels I was wearing.
I put my tray next to Antwan’s then, letting it hit the table with a loud thud. I couldn’t sit right across from Simon, as Antwan had already taken that seat, but this would do just fine. “You won’t mind moving over a little bit, would you?” I asked kindly, pulling up a chair from the table behind us.
Just when I wanted to sit down, Simon’s eyes flashed up to meet mine. It was just a fleeting moment, but I could see the outfit was having the effect I’d planned on: he looked like he’d just been hit by a tractor and then trampled by a herd of cows. I felt a little guilty, but I knew my goal of getting him back would justify the means.
“You like my dress?” I asked sweetly, adjusting it while I sat down.
“You look great,” Simon grunted, looking down at his half empty plate.
“Why thank you,” I replied, my voice still lively, even though I could feel the waves of sadness rolling off of Simon. I’d felt it all week, but this was different, since I was actively hurting him right now.
“So, you just happened to decide to put on your dress from our Christmas party?” Antwan asked skeptically. “Just like that?”
I shrugged. “You know me, I’m weird.”
“I would’ve thought you were better than this, Demona,” Will sighed. “This is low and you know it.”
“Leave her be,” Simon murmured, picking at his bacon with his fork but not eating anything.
Antwan threw down his sandwich and pushed back his chair. “Now you’ve even got him defending you!” he yelled, making everyone stare at us even more. “Don’t think we don’t know what you’re doing, coming up here all dressed up. You should be ashamed of yourself, Demona Hollow!” Without so much as another glance in my direction, he stormed off.
Minnie sighed and got up too. “He’ll come around,” she told me ruefully. “I’m sorry, I need to…”
“Sure,” I replied lamely, not so sure of myself anymore. It seemed like my plan had backfired and blown up right in my face.
“If I were you,” Will warned, “I wouldn’t come near us again today. Not unless you can put on some normal clothes and act like yourself again.” He got up too, looking pointedly down at Simon. “You coming too?”
Without another word, Simon got up and left with his friend, leaving me all alone at the deserted lunch table. Evidently, I’d crossed some sort of line by showing up here like this, yet I didn’t feel sorry for it. I wasn’t going to make this easy on Simon, because I knew that if I did, he’d think I agreed with him. He’d think he’d made the right decision and stick with it. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I’d just have to figure out what to do next, because Demona Hollow may play dirty and deal out low blows, but she wasn’t one to give up this easy.
Sunday afternoon I spent writing an essay for Supernatural Basics, since even though I wasn’t paying much attention to school these days, I still needed to do my homework. I could’ve really used Simon’s help, but he wasn’t offering, so there was nothing I could do except for sweat like a pig and pray for a C minus. At least – that was what I’d thought.
At lunchtime, I could feel Eros coming closer and closer to my dorm. Eve, Sam and Paulie were all gone, since they all had a life. I, sadly, was stuck here all by myself, writing my essay. I was very hungry, but I didn’t feel like facing everyone again. I was nowhere near giving up, but I still hadn’t figured out what to do next…
Before Eros could knock, I had already opened the door and sat back down. He walked in, a huge bag slung across his shoulder. He put it on the table right in front of me and smiled broadly.
“You are so gonna love me when you see what I’ve brought for you,” he announced.
“Do show me,” I urged. This day was so dull, anything could brighten it. Whatever was in that bag, I was more than ready for it.
“Dum dum dum…” Eros opened the bag, making a real show of it. “I brought… lunch!” He pulled out a thermos of what hopefully was coffee, sandwiches wrapped in tin foil and a fruit salad. “I have with me… snacks!” he announced next, pulling out a bag of chips, a few chocolate bars and a bag of popcorn. “And last but not least…” Out came a whole stack of books. “… the help troops for your essay!”
“How did you…?”
“I heard some of your classmates talking about it,” he explained. “Can’t say I’m the best person to be helping you, since I can’t even remember what my last class was about, yet alone something I learned two years ago… But well, I’m what you’ve got.”
I got up and threw my arms around him, tears threatening to spill over. Eros hugged me back, stroking my hair. When we pulled back, we both were a little embarrassed, which was an unusual feeling for either of us.
“Well…” Eros was the first one to recover. “Let’s get started, shall we? What do we need to write about?”
Eros and I worked all day, and he actually proved to be pretty smart. The essay I’d written was great and on top of that, he had managed to make me forget about Simon for at least a little while. He’d snuck up dinner for us and hadn’t even included any meat for himself. When I went to sleep that night, I felt a way I hadn’t in a while now: I was content. Happy, even.
Who knew Eros Slayer had this nice guy hidden inside of him for long? Fact was he was being a way better friend to me than I had ever been to him. I’d always tried to help him, but me judging him had always been part of the package. He hadn’t even made so much as a joke about the whole Simon-situation. If he kept this us for a few more days, I might just have to declare him a saint. Although I wasn’t sure any kind of religion would approve of a vampire saint with a tainted past…
“Good morning, little vamp,” Eros greeted me Monday morning with a huge smile.
I was still in my pajama’s and my hair was all over the place; it was six thirty and I’d been awoken by the huge rush of adrenaline he’d send purposefully to me through our bond. I’d hurried to open the door, since I didn’t want him waken up my roommates. He was in a complete sport-outfit and smoking a cigarette: it looked kind of weird together…
“What – you’re not ready for our run?” He pouted, shaking his head at me. “You’re disappointing me, little one.”
I rubbed my eyes and grunted. I hadn’t foreseen that the two of us taking a run was going to be a daily kind of thing – but hey, I wasn’t going to complain. Yesterday had been the best day I’d had in a week and I wasn’t about to start doubting Eros now.
“Five minutes,” I growled, turning my back on him. No matter how nice it was of him to come and get me and no matter how great I’d feel after our run, I was not a morning person and there was no way I was going to pretend to be all chipper at this time of the day. He’d be able to tell I was faking it through the bond anyway.
When I’d put on my sport outfit and my hair was pulled back into a messy bun, he immediately bolted.
“Come and get me!” he taunted, effortlessly racing down the stairs.
With a heavy sigh, I closed the door behind me and hurried after him, fangs fully extended. If I ever wanted to catch up with him, I needed to be fast.
When I got outside, I realized I had no idea where Eros had gone. He’d probably headed into the forest, so I ran toward the trees. The day before, I hadn’t noticed there were three paths leading into it – great, that made finding Eros only harder… I stopped for a moment, closing my eyes so I could focus on my superior senses. I’d learned in Vampire Basics that the best way to use your senses was to eliminate the others. So, if I eliminated sight, I should be able to focus on hearing and smell. In the distance, I could indeed hear feet hitting the ground. It sounded like it was coming from my left, which meant I could count the right path out: that still left two possible roads. I put my fingers in my ears then, not really knowing another way to rule out my hearing. I inhaled deeply and suddenly, I knew where Eros had gone. I pushed off and sprinted full-out through the forest, following my nose. I couldn’t believe Eros was actually wearing his very powerful cologne; it meant he was either very vain, very scared to let me smell his sweat, or he’d somehow known I would try to sniff him out and wanted me to get a chance to train both my vampire senses and my legs. With the insight he’d shown the past couple of days, I knew not to rule that last option out, even though it seemed unlikely. Fact was I could easily follow Eros through the wood now: he’d left a very clear trail. I kinda felt like one of those police dogs… or maybe a werewolf? Was this what they did all the time? My smell was pretty good, but theirs must be at least fifty times better than mine… My head spun from the possibilities.
The thought about werewolves was the last one I had for over thirty minutes. I kept pushing myself to the limit, making sure my brain had to shut itself off completely to keep my focus on just my breathing and the movement of my legs. After a while, I wasn’t even paying attention to the Eros’ smell anymore.
When I almost had to gasp for breath, my brain snapped back on: I could smell a cigarette! That meant Eros was close and he’d stopped running to have a smoke. How very cocky of him. I prayed to every God I knew I’d somehow be able to take him by surprise today like he’d done with me yesterday. I ran on, keeping my pace steady so that he wouldn’t suspect anything. I could smell where he was, but I ran past his hiding spot, continuing on the path. He needed to believe I had no idea where he was.
When I’d run for another ten minutes, I pretended to twist my ankle, threw myself on the ground and swore loudly. The moment I heard Eros’ feet sprinting across the path, I very quietly changed to a crouching position and then leapt from the ground into a tree nearby. I hadn’t been sure I’d make it when I’d pushed off, but apparently my vampire strength was flowing through my veins or something like that. I climbed up a little higher, trying to keep quiet; he’d be here soon.
A flash shot past then, too fast for even my pretty good eyes. A few second later, the flash returned, this time freezing right underneath my tree. Eros was sniffing the air around him, looking confused.
“Demona?” he asked, worry leaking through his voice.
I readied myself for the jump: this was going to be good. With a war cry very much like his the day before, I dropped out of my tree. I’d expected a collision with Eros’ body, but that didn’t happen. I hit the ground pretty hard, hurting my wrist when I tried to catch myself.
“Oh, sweet mother of God…” I grunted. “What the hell?”
Eros’ laugh sounded above me then, his strong arms pulling me up from the damp soil. “You didn’t really think you could ambush me that easy, now did you?” he taunted. “Good try though.”
I moaned, clutching his arm with my good hand; not only my left wrist throbbed, my left leg was twitching slightly as well. Great – not only had I failed to startle Eros, I’d injured myself.
“Are you okay?” Eros asked, his worry suddenly swirling around me, engulfing me like a warm blanket.
“As okay as anyone can be after dropping a few feet and landing on the harsh ground,” I grumbled irritated. “You could have caught me, you know, with those impressively strong arms of yours…”
He laughed, less anxious now. “If you can joke, you can’t be banged up that badly,” he assessed.
I pushed him away then, trying out my left leg: it seemed I could stand on it well enough. I flexed the muscles in my left arm then, noticing that my wrist wasn’t as bad as it had been just moments ago either.
“It’s your fangs,” Eros explained, noticing my astounded expression. “You’re embracing your powers: vampires heal more quickly than humans. However, I’d be careful with that leg if I were you, I wouldn’t want you to get seriously injured.”
I rolled my eyes at him, annoyed yet also a little humiliated. I couldn’t believe I’d seriously thought I could take on Eros…
“Hey, you were pretty crafty there,” he assured me. “You just didn’t realize you’re up against the most brilliant, powerful and glorious vampire ever to roam the earth.”
I chuckled at that. “When you’re done talking yourself up, could we maybe get back to the school?” I proposed. “I really need my shower and my coffee…”
“You’re okay to run, or do I need to carry you?” he teased, patting my head in a very demeaning way.
“I could run all the way to the school and back here if I had to,” I bragged. “With you on my back, if I had to.”
I really, really shouldn’t have said that. Eros’ mouth stretched into a full-blown grin and he hopped on my back, his arms and legs all over me. “Hop, bunny, hop!” he yelled.
I almost fell over from the sudden weight and after taking three very slow steps, I had to stop. After all the running, falling and talking, I really wasn’t up for this. “Maybe if you cut back on the fries, I might be able to carry you next time,” I wheezed.
“Pussy,” he jeered. “Baby, cream puff, featherweight, jellyfish, milksop pushover!”
I took off then, not wanting to hear any more. I made sure my fangs were all out, because my leg was still protesting a bit. Eros stayed right next to me the whole way back to school, obviously wanting to make sure nothing bad would happen to me. I could feel he was concerned about me, but he didn’t say anything about my slight limp.
He did, however, continue to taunt me all the way back to school. I had never hear anyone use so many synonyms for ‘weakling’. My favorites were surely namby-pamby, pantywaist, scaredy-cat, schlemiel, and yellow belly. Leave it up to Eros to pester people with the weirdest words possible.
When we arrived at the edge of the forest, he slowed to a very human pace, shortening his fangs so they looked like normal, albeit slightly pointy teeth.
“I’d like it very much if we could keep this up, you know, running in the mornings,” he told me with a minute smile. “If you’re up for it, that is. I like starting my day with you.”
I was taken-aback at his earnestness: it was still hard for me to make sense of this new and improved Eros Slayer, my knight in shining armor. “Erm – sure,” I decided. “I’d like that.”
He put arm around my shoulders and gave my arm a gentle squeeze. “Good; now I propose you go take a shower and make sure you’re ready for action in half an hour. I’ve got a little something up my sleeve for breakfast. I’ll meet you soon.”
Before I could ask what he was referring to, he’d already taken off, sprinting into the school and up to his dorm. I shook my head in wonder; what the hell had gotten into that guy?
I was still buttoning my shirt and brushing my teeth when Eros’ knocked on the door. Paulie rushed to open it, while I tried to make myself look presentable.
“You brought breakfast!” I heard Paulie cheer. “Eric, you’re my favorite person in the world right now, you really are.”
I rinsed my mouth with some cold water and walked into the living room with Eve. She was just putting on her leather jacket, ready to go meet Drew and her friends for breakfast.
“Fancy a fresh cup of coffee and a donut?” Eros asked Eve when she walked in, holding out one of each.
Eve accepted the offer happily and wished all of us a great day before she left. Even Sam produced a little smile when Eros handed her the paper cup and the glazed donut.
“To what do we owe this special treat?” I wonder aloud, pulling on my black leather boots.
Eros didn’t answer – he just pulled me in into a quick hug and then ushered me out the door. He took the pallet of steaming cups with him as well as the box full of sweet, fattening snacks that had been standing on the table. We walked in silence while I sipped the mocha latte he had brought me: it was heavenly. I wondered where he’d gotten it and why…
“One town over, just because I can,” he replied to my unspoken questions. “I don’t need half an hour to shower, unlike some people.”
When we rounded the corner into a very familiar corridor, I suddenly realized where we were going. “Oh, no!” I protested. “I’m not going there unless I have some kind of plan. It didn’t go to well last time I saw him.”
“Who says you don’t have a plan?” Eros argued, pushing the pallet and the box into my hands. “You brought a peace offering to show how very sorry you are for upsetting everyone and you hope they’ll accept your apology gracefully. Then, you’ll tell him in front of his friends that you want to stay friends, and that you still think you should at least talk about what happened, because he never even let you in on the decision.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, absolutely horrified. How had I let it come to this? How had it come to be that Eros was plotting to get me and Simon back together? I could feel Simon’s mind was still fuzzy – he hadn’t been awake for very long – and also confused, because he could feel me right in front of his door, yet I wasn’t knocking on the door or anything. Eros’ mind was quite different: he was very determined, yet also a little sad. When I opened my eyes, he smiled at me ruefully.
“I’ve screwed up so many times with you in the past… I’m not about to let that happen again,” he told me gravely. “I know you feel like you need to be with him, so I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen. So go, make things right. I’ll see you around.” He bent down then, touching his lips to my forehead ever so lightly, making me shiver. “For what it’s worth, I really hope this works out today.”
I watched him walk away from me then, my heart strangely aching to follow him. It felt just plain old wrong to let Eros sacrifice himself for me this way; I could tell he was very unhappy about me wanting Simon, yet he was pushing me to be with him. He could’ve taken advantage of me the past couple of days, yet he hadn’t… It seemed he truly had changed and somehow become a better version of himself. A better person than me, that was for sure: I was stringing him along, pining after Simon… And at the same time, I had to admit I was drawn to Eros as well, which only made all of this even more confusing.
While I was standing here, all alone, the smell of coffee and glazing all around me, the minds of two amazing boys connected to mine, I couldn’t help but wonder: what did they see in me? I was fickle, irrational, selfish and moronic. Not very attractive tributes, if you ask me.
I shook all the thought off of me then, and hit the door with my foot three times. My arms were too full to knock, and I was sure Simon wasn’t going to come and get the door even though he could feel me standing there. Sure enough, it was Will who greeted me with a sour smile.
“Are you on your best behavior?” he asked sternly.
I grimaced. “I’ve come to apologize to all of you – I even brought a peace offering…”
Will took the box from me then and lifted the lid a few inches. “Donuts!” he cheered. “Okay, you can come in if you promise to be good.”
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