Demons Run (3)
The next morning I woke up alone. Very weak daylight was peeking through the crack in the curtains. Had it not been for the clock by my head stating that it was noon, I would have thought it was still fairly early in the morning. Upon further investigation, Roman was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the room with one quick sweep of the eyes before brushing my hair out of my face and getting out of bed.
There was a change of clothes sitting on the desk. I took them to the bathroom with me and was surprised when they fit me perfectly. Roman had left me a pair of denim shorts, and a thin, red long-sleeved shirt.
After dressing and running a brush through my hair, I entered the room again. Still no sign of Roman, no note, no nothing. I had a couple of dollars and was thirsty, so I decided to go looking for a vending machine.
I opened the door to the hotel room and ventured off down the stairs. Suddenly I was thankful for the long-sleeves; there was a chilly wind that seemed to pick up even more as I walked through the breezeway. It looked like there was a chance for rain. Glancing toward the parking lot, I saw the Sierra Grande was still parked in its spot from the night before. He couldn't be far.
The further I walked, the more weird I felt. I didn't feel weird about being miles away from my home with a demon who looks like an angel. I felt weird that I was comfortable with my situation.
A Coke machine was at the end of the corridor. I walked over to it and pulled the two or three dollars out of my pocket; the vending machine rejected my first bill, and I let out a soft curse. I kept trying to push the bill into the machine, but it wouldn't take. I slammed my fist against the flimsy plastic and a bottle of Sunkist dropped into the slot. I was going for a Sprite, but that'll do.
I was bending to grab the fizzy orange drink when I was snatched up by a pair of strong arms and a hand flew over my mouth, dragging me backwards. I screamed but it was no use. I was slammed into the brick wall next to the Pepsi machine and the attacker's forearm was on my throat. When I looked up, I saw Roman's furious silver eyes.
"Dead." He said simply; the word was spit with vehemence. He was too close to my face for comfort. "If I had been another demon, you would be dead. Not all of them play with their food like Ornias does."
My heart pounded and I was shaking all over. "I just wanted a drin--"
"You wait for me." He said sternly, "I will always come back. I will never stay gone long, because I know that'll provide a chance for another demon to come in and hurt you, and that's the last thing that I'm gonna let happen. If I leave a hotel room, you stay in that hotel room. I don't care if you like me, but I need you. And as much as you hate to think, you need me too."
"Okay." I said, swallowing. I was about to let the conversation go, when I was struck by curiosity. "Where were you, anyway?"
"I was checking us out. Time to hit the road again." He said. Something about his too-quick answer told me that wasn't all he was doing. I had no reason to think he'd lie to me, other than the fact he was a demon, but it was... well, intuition.
*
We left the hotel a few minutes later and were back on the main road with other vehicles.
"The clothes fit?" Roman asked, glancing over at me. I absently looked down at the outfit before shaking my head yes.
"Yeah, perfectly." I said, "When did you get them? How'd you even know my size?"
"When I brought you home last week and was cleaning you up. I saw your measurements." He said with a smirk, "I made a quick stop a few days later to get some clothes your size. Figured you'd need them for our trip. You're lucky I'm merciful and didn't buy really slutty clothes."
I blanched, "Cleaning me up?"
"Yeah." He said innocently, "You know, when I stripped off all your clothes and washed all the dirt and dried blood off of you. I was gonna leave you in bed naked, but then I figured nah, maybe not. Didn't wanna freak you out too bad."
"You saw me naked?" I squealed. Luckily, I'd recently my legs and painful unmentionables hot waxed, and had been wearing cute underwear that day. Not a matching set, but at least I hadn't been wearing my granny panties. I wouldn't have minded him taking a peek either, but it still embarrassed me.
"No, I'm just screwing with you." He said mischievously, "I saw undies only; black lingerie suits you, by the way. I want your consent when I finally get to see the real thing."
I made a disgusted face at him, "Not happening. Ever."
"Don't even pretend you haven't dreamed about me." He said. I could've slapped him for his arrogance.
"You're right, Ro." I said sweetly, "You dove head first off of a cliff."
*
A few hours ticked by and my stomach began to gurgle.
"Do demons eat?" I asked.
He gave me a no-shit look before saying, "Of course. Puppies and chubby kids."
"Can we stop for food? I'm starving." I said with a frustrated sigh.
He glanced down at my stomach and then flicked his beautiful silver eyes back to my face, "No you aren't. When you're starving, your body starts packing away fat to feed off of it due to lack of food. So you get bigger before you get thinner..."
"Not literally, you asshole."
"I should probably feed you before you get fat then, shouldn't I?" He said, "After all, you might end up having to run for your life. You'll need good cardio."
"You're such a prick!" I groaned, "There's nothing wrong with being big and there's nothing wrong with being little. Everyone has something worth loving, don't you know that?"
He was quiet for a brief moment. It was almost as if I'd stunned him. He shook it off, gripped the steering wheel, and returned to his sarcastic state. "I'm a demon, sweetheart. We don't love anything."
From his tone, I could detect nothing unusual. It was hard to think that someone-- something, even-- had never felt the one emotion that everyone craves desperately. Love is something that's a given. You'll feel it at some point. Even though Ornias was a true-blue form of evil, he loved something. He loved inflicting pain. So, I knew better than to believe Roman's statement.
"You know how to, though." I said, pulling my legs up on the seat and angling myself towards him.
"Oh yeah?" He asked with a challenging smirk, "How do you know that?"
"You said you remember what it's like to be human; love is the most human emotion there is. It's the best feeling and the worst; it's our downfall." I said with a shrug, "You won't tell me how you lost your humanity. Might as well pester you about things you remember from it."
He paused, "You're really annoying, did you know that?"
I rolled my eyes, "Yes, you mentioned. Now tell me! Don't you remember what love was like?"
"Yes." He said hesitantly.
"Who?"
"My brother." He said, shifting in his seat. I could tell this wasn't a topic he wanted to be on. "I loved my brother."
"That's sweet." I said, leaning on my hand. "I wish I had siblings."
"Not so sure I'd like that family tree."
Conversation beyond that, if any, was cut and dry. Thankfully, however, he pulled over at the next friendly looking diner we came across. It was a small, homely little place called 'The Smokehole'. Personally, I love family-operated diners like these; they tend to have the best tasting food.
When we walked in, the little bell above the door rang, signaling our presence. There was only one other customer at a booth on the other end of the diner, sipping on coffee and reading the paper.
We were seated, and I ordered the Bacon burger and cheese fries while Roman ordered a Rubin on swiss. The wait for food wasn't long, and although Roman and I didn't say much, at least the context of conversation wasn't totally impolite.
Okay, it's zero understatement to say the burger I was eating was positively orgasmic. It practically melted in my mouth and the bacon was crisp and cooked to perfection. Which is why I believe I had totally valid reasoning for tuning out most of whatever Roman was saying.
He finished chewing a bite of his sandwich before saying, "We've gotta be on the lookout now. I'm not sure if Ornias is holding information or if he's started telling everyone that we're together. Either way, it's extremely dangerous for-- Jesus, Eve, do you need a minute alone with the thing?"
I looked away from the burger and to him. I'd been eyeing it lovingly, my mouth already full of the bacony goodness. I chewed and swallowed before shooting him a sheepish grin.
"How can you even breathe with the way you're inhaling that burger?"
"It's called college. You run late, you're busy, you have to get to work on time. The schedule isn't exactly ideal for being able to sit down and eat, so you learn how to eat meals quickly. Truthfully, I should probably savor this because I'm not used to eating food this damn good." I moaned. He gave me a look crossed between werided-out and disgusted, then continued on eating his Rubin.
"Anyway," He continued, "Just be on your guard talk to as few people as possi-- what's that-- Highway to Hell, must be your phone."
"I gotta remember to change that." I mumbled, setting down my burger and digging the vibrating and ringing phone out of my pocket. I looked at the screen to see a flashing picture of Ben.
"Who is it?" Roman asked, taking another bite of his sandwich.
"Ben." I said nonchalantly.
"The same little fucker that called you last night?" He asked, setting down his sandwich and leaning forward. I nodded and he stuck his hand out, "Give me the phone, I can handle it."
"No!" I scoffed, "Eat your sandwich and wait on me. I'm gonna go to the bathroom and answer this."
"Oh, what, gotta have a private conversation that I can't hear?" He sounded extremely possessive.
I didn't respond, merely shot him a warning look, "Touch my burger and I'll cut off your demon penis."
I removed myself from the booth and clicked answer on the phone as I made my way to the back of the diner towards the bathroom.
"Hello?"
"Hey baby!" His cheery voice said as I pushed open the door to the bathroom. "I went by your apartment this morning, you still aren't home. Where are you?"
"Oh, about that." I said softly, grasping out for any lie I could think of. "Penelope's grandpa died, so I'm going to be out of town for a little while with her."
"Wait, what? Are you serious?" said Ben, "Oh, babe, I'm sorry. Are you guys okay?"
"For the most part." I said, trying to make my voice sound remorseful. "What about over there? Everything okay?"
He let out a soft laugh, "Yeah, I suppose. Cramming for midterms is kicking my ass."
"Well it'll pay off, won't it?" I said with a smile, "When you're an amazing doctor, saving lives and whatnot."
"Aaaaand, you're gonna surprise me at work in nothing but a trench coat, right?" His voice was both humorous and suggestive.
"Haha," I replied sarcastically, "Nice try, Benjamin."
"You're the best, you know that?"
"Aw, you too!" I said. Suddenly I felt this pull back to Roman, almost as if he was telling me my time was up. "Hey, listen I'm sorry, but I really gotta go."
"Damn. Bummer. Anyway, tell Penelope I said hello, and give my condolences." He said, "I'll call you tonight, okay?"
I wanted to scream 'NO, DON'T YOU GET IT? MY DEMON IS GETTING REALLY FED UP WITH YOU CONSTANTLY CALLING ME, AND I WOULDN'T PUT IT PAST HIM TO A.) BREAK MY PHONE, OR B.) BREAK YOUR NECK.' But that probably would've sounded really crazy and over dramatic, then he'd send psychiatrists out to find me, so instead I went with, "Okay."
I clicked 'end call' and stuffed the phone back into the pocket of my shorts. I didn't leave the bathroom right then, instead I leaned forward and splashed water from the tap onto my face. I let out a deep sigh as the cool rushed over my skin. I stared at my reflection, almost in wonder. It was like I was a familiar stranger.
I had spent a total of two days with Roman, and I was already spouting out lies to my best friend just so I could stay with him. What's wrong with that picture? I barely know anything about this guy, and what I do know isn't even good. He's a demon, and he marked me. Ben and I know everything about each other, yet lies were spilling out of my mouth left and right when I spoke to him.
My gaze lifted in the mirror to see a woman standing behind me, a grim expression on her face. She hadn't been there moments ago. It was a woman in maroon shirt that showed just the bottom of her stomach and a sleek brown leather jacket with low riding boot-cut blue jeans. She had pretty, big eyes as black as midnight, and a bleach blond pixie-cut. Her mouth quirked into a half smile when she caught me observing her. "They weren't kidding. You look delicious."
I opened my mouth, but her eyes were swallowed by the black of her iris. She ferociously grabbed the back of my hair and slammed my face into the mirror in front of me. My head swam with dizziness and my eyes watered; I stumbled back when she let me go. She turned with a baleful smile and shoved me to the ground. I yelped as my ankle bent wrong while I went down to the tile. I'm not sure if it was sprained, but it hurt like crazy. I was breathing heavily, scuttling backwards and trying not to cry too hard, when Roman burst into the bathroom.
He tore the demonic woman away from me and slammed her into the wall on the other side of the restroom. The wall behind her cracked at the pressure and left a huge dent in it. She let out a grunt before screaming angrily and diving for him; she hopped onto his back and he bent forward, tossing her off. Her back hit the ground and she brought the heel of her boot back and slammed it hard into his chest. Roman let out a soft grunt, but now he just looked pissed. He lurched forward, bent over the woman and placed one of his big hands around her throat. "Hello Azela. You've come at quite the lovely time. Maybe you can serve as an example of what happens when you mess with my damned."
Azela's eyes went wide and he tightened his hand before clamping down his fingers and completely ripping out her throat. Blood covered the floor beneath her, splattered the walls, and the front of Roman's shirt. I was too horrified to scream.
Roman stood up and grabbed a paper towel, wiping the scarlet off of his hands, neck, and face. He paused and looked down to me with disapproving eyes, "If you would've listened to me instead of having sex with a burger, this could've been avoided."
"I'm sorry." I said mousily. I was still sitting on the cold tile.
"You know what? Better yet, how about we just don't answer the phone for Brad anymore? At all."
"His name is Ben."
"His name is 'nuisance'." Roman growled. I flinched, and he seemed to ease up. His voice was a lot softer and more forgiving when he said, "Get up."
I moved to stand, but I let out a soft cry as a sharp pain shot throughout my ankle. I looked back up to Roman shamefully; he shook his head and crouched down next to me, "Oh, angel. What am I gonna do with you?"
I was too upset to answer as he scooped me up in his arms, careful of my hurt ankle. I had my arms securely around his neck as he carried me from the bathroom, leaving the corpse of the fallen demon woman behind.