"Can you put this in the trunk too?" She asked as she handed me the two bags she was carrying. My hand brushed hers and I realized that the mark on my back hadn't burned this whole time. Did it only apply to Damarius and other demons? I remembered my dad hugging me and his hand had brushed the back of my neck. Did the mark not work on humans at all? Why would Kamar mark me if it only applied to demons? It didn't make sense to me since he made it seem like he was so jealous. Was he not threatened by humans at all? I would have to ask Damarius about it when I got back.
"Ya'll must be fairly new," my mom said as I put on my seat-belt.
"Huh?"
"You and Damarius."
"Oh, yeah. We've been friends for a while though."
"Where did you meet him?"
In Limbo is what I wanted to say, but I couldn't remember if my mother's sense of humor was as dark as mine.
"In Colorado. His brother actually helped us meet up." Which wasn't completely a lie.
"He has a brother? Is he just as tall and handsome?"
"Uh, yeah he's just as tall. He's not as nice though. He's kind of an asshole. No, scratch that. He IS an asshole."
She shot me a funny look. "Do I need to kick his ass?"
"No, Damarius does that just fine on his own."
"Do they not get along?"
I rolled my eyes back and forth to figure out how to respond to that. "They're just very different men."
We stopped by a few more stores on the way home to pickup some plates and cups for the party. My mom said that all the neighbors were bringing a dish so we didn't have to cook everything. I was glad that everyone was so nice, and I felt a little bad for not greeting everyone yesterday. Sometimes my social anxiety really gets to me, and the fact that I brought a demon with me didn't make things any easier.
"What's going on up here?" My mom asked as we both noticed the flashing blue lights up ahead. I looked around for any collisions but there were no damaged vehicles in sight.
"Maybe a license check?" I thought out loud, and she pointed to the dash so I could grab her paperwork.
"They never have one in the middle of the day. That's just weird," she said as she slowed down to dig through her wallet for her license.
The three policeman that were standing up ahead were all busy with the cars in front of us. I studied the one closest to us and he was average height, maybe 170 pounds, Caucasian, and had dark green eyes. They were all wearing those large Trooper hats and you could tell they all had a bullet proof vest on underneath their uniforms. My heart began to race as we approached him even though I knew we hadn't done anything wrong. My mom rolled down her window and handed her paperwork to him before he could ask. He gave her a friendly smile and took a quick glance at it.
"This is an unusual time for a license check," my mom said to him in a friendly tone.
The officer nodded. "That's the point. Where is your license?"
"I handed it to you."
We both looked around to see if it dropped in the floor and I saw it fall out of the officer's hand.
"My apologies, I think I dropped it," he said as he gently placed his hand on my mom's arm before she could reach down and grab it.
"Don't worry about it for now. The Council send your daughter a message."
My eyes widened and I could feel my chest starting to tighten. I watched my mother's eyes turn black as she turned to me with a smile.
"Hello, Miss Solomon." Her voice sounded male and demonic as her entire body changed it's posture. It still looked like my mother but she didn't act the same.
"Who are you?" I asked as I pressed my back against the passenger door.
"I am Sergius, one of The Council members. We approved of your family vacation and just wanted to check in to see how it was going."
I didn't believe him, and I was unsure of whether to hold in my sarcasm or not.
"Afraid to speak?" He asked.
"I don't trust many demons, especially ones that are possessing my mother."
I watched her grin and it was one of the creepiest things I had ever seen. My brain was having trouble processing that my mother's body was being possessed. Could she feel it? Was she in pain? Where was her soul right now?
"Get out of her body."
"She's all right in here. Just think of it as she's taking a little nap."
"What do you really want?"
"Like I said, just checking in on you. We want to remind you that the Ceremony is tomorrow night. We will not postpone it again, although we are punishing him for asking this."
"Punishing who?"
"The demon king, of course." He sounded pleased that I was concerned for him.
"It wasn't his fault that I had to attend a family gathering."
"So are you suggesting that we punish you instead?"
I did agree with that, but I was scared to answer out loud. He was still inside of my mother's body, and I didn't want him to hurt her.
"Please get out of my mother. You can punish me later."
He laughed then. "Luckily for you, The Council only deals with demon matters. That is why we are punishing the king instead. But on a personal level..." he leaned in to get a closer look at me and it took everything I had not to open the door and run.
"I will take you up on that punishment. There must be something interesting about you if you have the demon king's attention."
I didn't respond as he hovered over my for a few more moments and then returned to his seat.
"Please enjoy your night Miss Solomon, because it will be your last."
I felt a cold wind leave the car as my mother's eyes turned back to normal. She blinked a few times and looked around as if she had just woken up.
"Wha-" She tried to figure out what was going on and I looked at the policeman. The demon had gone back into him and he smiled as he handed her back the paperwork.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice day."
She took it from his hands before he walked off and she looked at me with a confused expression.
"What just happened? Did I faint?"
"I think so. We haven't had lunch yet and we did a lot of walking. Wanna grab some food?" I asked trying to sound upbeat as my heart went crazy in my chest.
"Yeah."
She took us through the nearest drive-thru and I ordered a chicken salad while she ordered a sandwich and fries. She shook her head when she looked at me.
"Do you ever splurge?"
"Not really. It becomes a habit if I let myself go."
"Your self control still isn't that good, huh?"
I shrugged. "You know I've always had body issues."
"She nodded and smiled. "Well, you look amazing. Are you happy though?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"You just seem like you have a lot on your mind."
Well you did just get possessed by a demon, I think that would make anybody a little off.
"No I'm really happy to be back home. I'm just taking everything in. It's a lot different up there, you know?"
"I do know. The few times I came to visit you I don't think one person said excuse me in the store."
I smiled. "Yeah, people definitely are nicer down here."
"I'm just glad you haven't lost your manners."
We finished eating our food in the parking lot and then headed back home. It was already 3:36 pm and we had to start getting ready for the party. My mom had a few dishes to cook and I had to take a shower and do my hair and makeup. I carried my costume inside and laid it on the bed when I heard someone yelling out back. I rushed to the back door and opened it to see my dad hollering with joy as Damarius hung up some lights on his shed.
"It's so nice not to have to use the ladder! We need him around more often!" My dad shouted to me as he leaned against the shed. Matt was still here and he was digging in a box before I came out. He came to his feet and turned to me. I gave a friendly smile and he started making his way over.
"Did you find a costume?" He asked as he stared at me with those blue eyes. It was almost surreal seeing him again. I hadn't seen him since I was in the hospital after the accident. I wondered how much he remembered from that night.
"Yeah, my mom found a female version of Jason Vorhees."
"Oh, nice!"
"What are you going as?"
"Nothing in particular. I just bought a creepy lookin' mask and was going to wear a black hoodie and pants. Your dad said he wasn't dressing up unless I did."
I laughed. "You and him are that close, huh?"
He shrugged. "He misses you a lot, you know. I think he's trying to make me fill that void, but it's hard. I mean, look at me. I look nothing like you."
We laughed together. It felt good talking to him again.
"Yeah, I missed him too."
I glanced behind him to see Damarius talking to my dad. Although he wasn't looking in my direction I had a feeling he was listening to everything we were saying.
"Oh! I'm sorry Matt. I just remembered I have to tell Damarius something. See you later?"
He smiled and nodded. "See ya."
Damarius turned to me before I made it over to them and he already knew something was wrong.
"Hey dad, can I borrow my boyfriend for a few minutes?"
He playfully rolled his eyes. "I guess. It was good talking to you." He shook Damarius' hand before we walked off.
"Vanessa, talk." He said before we could make it to the side of the house to get some privacy.
"Sergius possessed my mom while we were on the way home."
His body froze as his eyes began to flicker red. "Did he hurt you?"
"No, but he said the Ceremony was tomorrow night."
He gave a nod. "I figured they would make it as soon as possible since they postponed it for you."
"Did you also know that they were punishing Kamar?"
"I knew they wouldn't let him off easily for this, but no, I wasn't certain what they would do to him."
"You have to go back and make sure he's okay."
"And leave you here?"
"I'll be fine. No demon can touch me, remember?"
He thought about it and then shook his head. "Vanessa, even if I go back, I can't help my brother. If The Council is punishing him, I will also be punished for trying to help him."
I fidgeted with my shirt as a million thoughts ran through my mind. "I feel bad Damarius. I didn't know they would hurt him for it. Did he know?"
"I'm sure he knew there would be consequences for going against them, yes."
"Fuck." I placed my hand on my head and tried to think of what to do.
"Vanessa, I know you feel bad for him, but he has put you in a bad spot. He chose you as his concubine and marked you. I don't understand how you can still feel sympathy for him."
"I honestly don't know either." I let out a long sigh. "Do you know that his mark doesn't work on humans?"
"No, I didn't. But it does make sense since we are immortal. Most humans can't even tell we are different unless we show them our powers."
"But I can feel you. I can tell the difference even without seeing them."
He nodded. "Our bond has opened your senses to everything around you. You are also different than any other human I have met."
"You've said that before."
"Yes, but this time I mean it in a different way. You don't feel the same as you used to. There's another power inside of you, but I don't know what it is. I've noticed it's presence ever since you came back from the dead the last time."
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
"Because I didn't want to scare you. And it hasn't progressed or tried to show itself, so I was certain it would go away."
"But it hasn't."
He shook his head.
"And you honestly think that would scare me after everything I've been through?" I let out a sarcastic laugh. Now I was curious to know what was inside of me and why I hadn't felt it this entire time. My senses were high and I was having trouble breathing as I felt my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I looked off into the distance as my mind focused on how my body felt, and I was desperately searching everywhere inside of me to notice something different. What could it be? Was there really something there? My body froze as my mind took over and I could no longer see what was in front of me. My eyes were open but my mind was showing me what I wanted to see, and there it was... A small black ball of smoke rested inside my soul. I tried to get closer, but something was telling me not to wake her. Her? I studied the ball of smoke and realized it had the shape of a female body. She was laying down as if she was sleeping. I wanted to know who she was, but before I could open my mouth to ask, she lifted her head and turned those dark eyes to me.
"Finally."