Never Say Die- Chapter 18

 

Chapter 18

 

 

            Todd stayed through the weekend and left Sunday night, we had just hung out around the house, showed him around town and took him to the best restaurants. I tried to take it as easy as possible to avoid upsetting Rhys’s stomach but he seemed to be fine now.

            Todd was a fan of exploring so we ended up going hiking on the outskirts of town when he’d noticed a random trail off the side of the road. He suggested that we follow it and we discovered an abandoned rock quarry with boulders strewn all over the place, it’s high walls hiding it almost completely from the rest of the world with only a narrow passageway leading in and out.

            Rhys and Todd thought it was pretty cool, taking turns shouting at the great stone walls and listening to their voices echo back at them. There was nobody around for miles to hear us and they took every advantage of the situation that they could.

            Flan and I stood watching them with identical smirks on our faces.

            “They try to be men but when you get down to it they’ll always be little boys somewhere in there.” She said to me and I chuckled.

            “No doubt about that.”

            “Saydie!” I turned to pay attention when I heard Rhys calling my name, suddenly afraid that he’d gotten sick or hurt, but then I heard, “I love you! I love you, love you….” The words echoed off the walls just like everything else and I couldn’t help smiling at him and yelling, “I love you too!” listening to the repeated fade of my voice bouncing off the stone enclosure as the echo got quieter each time. He grinned back at me brilliantly and went back to exploring with his brother.

            “Yep. Just two little boys having the time of their lives.” I muttered with a smile and Flan smiled back.

            “This must be what it’s like to have kids.” She replied and we both laughed.

           

            When it was time for Todd to leave I was genuinely sad to see him go, I’d had a great time while he was here and was looking forward to seeing him for Thanksgiving. He gave me a big hug, just like he had when we’d met, but this time I didn’t mind as I hugged him back tightly. He and Rhys shook hands and hugged one last time before he slid into his rental car and headed for the airport.

            Rhys looked so sad as Todd drove away, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.      

            “You really miss your family don’t you?”

            “Maybe a little,” he admitted, “But with a brother who picks on you how much could you really miss him you know?” he tried to smile to go along with his joking attempt but it wasn’t happening. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it.

            “We’ll see them again soon.” I assured him and he smiled down at me.

            “I know we will.” He replied and bent to press his lips against mine.

 

            The next day Flan made me promise to meet her for lunch so that I could check out this new demon guy while Rhys was in class. I lazed around the house, reveling in having time to myself again, waiting for the time to pass so that I could leave. I got too impatient and decided to stop at Marlene’s to pick up a couple ciders before I met Flan.

            When I walked in the door, Marlene herself was manning the front counter and I was glad to have an opportunity to say hello, we hadn’t gotten the chance to talk in person yet but she knew who I was, from pictures that Rhys’s mom inevitably emailed to her to show off his new girlfriend if nothing else.

            “Hi Marlene!” I said brightly and she looked up and smiled at me.

            “Saydie, my dear it’s so nice to see you! We seem to keep missing each other.” I smiled and nodded as she came around the counter to give me a hug.

            “Thank you so much for taking care of him while he was sick, my sister can over-react sometimes, you’re lucky she sent Todd instead of coming herself.” She said seriously.

            I chuckled, “So I’ve heard.”

            “So what can I get you?” she asked, walking back around the counter.

            “Just two ciders, I’m meeting my roommate at the college.” I said pulling out my purse and setting my wallet on the counter.

            “Oh dear, put that away, your money is no good here. My nephew loves you and so do my daughters, that makes you a non paying customer and I won’t accept any argument.” She added the last part just as I opened my mouth to argue and so I just smiled sheepishly at her as she winked and then turned to prepare the ciders.

            As she pushed them across the counter toward me she took one of my hands in hers.

            “If you run into Rhys tell him I said hello, he should be coming back to work soon shouldn’t he?”

            “Yes I think he’s all better now, I wanted him to at least give it the weekend to be sure.” I replied, not sure if she’d be upset that he had spent the weekend with Todd instead of working.

            “Of course dear and his brother was in town, they don’t spend nearly enough time together. I’m glad he got some time to relax and enjoy Todd’s company.” I sighed quietly, relieved that she hadn’t minded.

            “He definitely did that.” I assured her and managed to find my smile again.

            “Alright then dear, I won’t hold you up, see you again soon!” she said and waved as I headed out the door. Rhys had such a wonderful family, it kind of made me wish that I had more human, or at least part-human, members of mine.

 

            I sat down at a table outside of the science building that Flan was in, it didn’t take long before I sensed the other demon on the campus and even less time to zero in on where he was exactly. I turned my head the slightest bit to the left to see him coming out of the gym, walking a wet haired Vanessa to her next class. It seemed to take him longer to realize that I was there but his head snapped up immediately when he did.

            I tried to look as friendly as possible as I nodded toward him and he seemed to relax a bit as he nodded back before steering her into the nearby music building. I could hear them talking just inside.

            “I almost forgot I have some errands I need to run but I’ll be here after you get out of class.” He said in a very seductive tenor that surprised me.

            “Okay, I’ll see you later then.” She replied.

Now that I thought of it, with her devious side she completely belonged with a part-demon, they’d probably match pretty well if he was even the slightest bit more evil than human, no doubt she was and she wasn’t a demon at all.

            I saw Flan coming out of the science building just as the part-demon came out of the music building. They were both headed toward me without noticing the other. Flan reached me first.

            “I’m so glad you came, you’re not going to believe this guy, he’s absolutely gorgeous and I’m not even into guys.” She chuckled as she pulled her cider toward her and took a sip, nodding her thanks.

            I couldn’t argue with her assessment, getting a better look at him as he got closer to us. He was tall but slight with piercing blue eyes that seemed like you could look into his soul through them. His dark hair was carefully combed across his head to the right in a messy style, covering one eye just a bit. He reminded me a whole lot of a guy I’d recently seen in a remake of Hairspray and I couldn’t help wondering if he was actually trying to duplicate the actors’ careless hairstyle or if it just happened on its own.

            Flan followed my gaze as she sat down, “Oh I guess you’ve seen him already.” She muttered, realizing that he could probably hear her by now. I only nodded as he approached our table.

            “I heard you were here. Should I refer to you by some kind of royal title?” He asked curiously, not looking the slightest bit uncomfortable in my presence.

            “You can just call me Saydie like everyone else.” I smiled at him and held out my hand to shake his.

            He took it in his own, “Armistead.” He replied simply as his life story unfolded in my head, despite the fact that I hadn’t tried to obtain it. He seemed to understand what was happening and remained still until it was finished. This was one of the effects of being around another demon, you learned about them if you touched them whether you wanted to or not.

            “Nice to meet you Armistead.” I replied, going over the information I’d just received in my head. He patiently waited while I processed what I’d just learned of him.

            “Oh, I see how that works now.” I said out loud, but not meaning to, and they both looked at me quizzically.

            Care to elaborate? He asked silently and Flan and I both raised an eyebrow at him, I registered in the back of my mind that I was somewhat surprised that Flan had heard him too.

            “This is my roommate Flan, she told me you were here and had mentioned that she wasn’t sure if you were using your Charisma around Vanessa because it didn’t seem to effect anyone else.” I turned to Flan, “He has control of his Charisma and can direct it at one person rather than everyone around him but he’s not using it on her, she genuinely likes him.”

            “I assume that you project to everyone?” he asked raising his own eyebrow back at me.

            “Yes, I have to maintain a neutral setting so that they can all tolerate being around me.” I responded quietly, gesturing for him to sit.

            As he lowered himself onto the bench a confused look came across his face, “How do you know Veronica?” he asked carefully.

            “She used to date my boyfriend; we’ve had some real problems with her since we started dating.” I replied, not bothering to elaborate, he could get the information from her if he wanted it.

            “Saydie is the one who broke her nose.” Flan chimed in happily, obviously proud of me and refusing to contain it.

            Armistead nodded, “I see.” Was all he said, with no hint of surprise in his face.

            “It wasn’t on purpose, I lost my temper.” I quickly defended myself, “I don’t like to gossip but she’d been trying to get back with him since they broke up and I’d finally had enough.” I didn’t go into the details about Rhys being possessed and all that.

            “So when we realized that she was into you it was a huge relief, maybe she can move on now.” Flan added and he nodded again.

            “I have to be honest, I don’t understand what you see in her, she’s a real piece of work unless she’s a totally different person when she’s not obsessing over my boyfriend.” I said dryly and he smiled.

            “We seem to be fairly compatible, we relate in a lot of ways.” He replied smoothly.

            “Yeah and you’re both evil.” Flan muttered under her breath and I gave her a sharp look.

            “I understand your wariness Seer but I assure you that I’m no more evil than the demon princess here and could only dream of being a fraction as powerful as she could be.” He replied with a tone of great respect and reverence when he referred to me.

            “I still think it’s the little bit of evil that draws her in, she’s way too evil for a human.” Flan responded sourly.

            “She didn’t handle the breakup well, I know that, but I think you’ll realize that she’s a very different person now.” Armistead replied generously.

            “And you’re really into her, knowing how she is?” I asked incredulously.

            “Yes I am, but like I’m sure you have been as well, I’ve been worried about how my demon side would effect things if she knew. This is why I have been careful not to get too attached but I find that I like her more and more as time goes on.” He seemed very solemn with his answers and there was no doubting his words.

            “Yeah, that makes things a little hard.” I said, feeling somewhat grateful to have met someone who knew how it felt.

            “Perhaps you would not mind taking a look into my future Seer?” He turned to Flan and surprise crossed her face as she stuttered her response.

            “I, um….I guess…sure.” She replied before closing her eyes momentarily and then opening them again. “I can’t see anything on either of you…” She replied sadly looking down at the table, seemingly disappointed in herself.

            I put my hand on hers, “It’s not your fault don’t be upset.” I said kindly before turning to Armistead.

             “She generally sees peoples futures better if she knows them well; when she met me she could see what was coming in my life because it pertained to her as well. To be honest, we try to avoid Veronica like the plague and she probably just doesn’t know you well enough yet.” I defended her and she gave me a grateful smile.

            He nodded, “Understandable, perhaps we should get to know one another anyway, there’s so much I’d like to know about the daughter of evil and how you live your human life.” He spoke of me with reverence and respect again and I nodded. I wanted to know everything I could about any demon, part or otherwise who lived anywhere near me.

            As our conversation continued we lost track of time and were surprised when Veronica came prancing over to the table with a goofy grin on her face, she was clearly taken by Armistead.

            “Hey you!” She said before kissing his cheek and throwing her arms around him for a quick hug from behind.

            “Hi Saydie, Flan.” She said with less enthusiasm but still very warmly, shocking Flan and I both into silence as she smiled genuinely at us.

            “Um, hi Veronica.” I managed to get out just as I caught a glimpse of Rhys coming out of the economics building. Before I could move or say a word, Veronica called to him and gestured for him to come over as if they were old friends. I knew he’d been avoiding her and a very confused look crossed his face before he seemed to look past her to see me sitting there. A wide smile crossed his face as he recognized me and he hurried over to the table.

            “I see that one loves you very much.” Armistead said so low that only I could hear, I merely smiled and nodded as Rhys approached the table and pulled me into a warm hug, planting a gentle kiss on my lips.

            When we pulled apart we looked back at the group assembled at the table, Rhys looked slightly confused again as he took in Veronica with her arms around Armistead.

            “Rhys this is Armistead, he’s new here.” I said, and they reached across the table to shake hands.

            “Rhys Davis.”

            “Armistead Williams.” They nodded at one another before releasing their grasp on each others’ hands.

            Suddenly Veronica spoke, “I suppose I owe you guys an apology…” she trailed off a bit and Rhys and I looked at her with mirrored expressions of surprise. I couldn’t see Flan’s face but I had an idea that her expression was similar to ours.

            “Saydie I’m so sorry that I overstepped the boundaries when you and Rhys got together, I was fueled by jealousy and hatred and it was very wrong, we won’t have any more problems, I promise. I hope that eventually we can even be friends.” It took me a moment to fully let her words sink in, I think she took my silence as disbelief, “And don’t feel bad about breaking my nose, I totally deserved it, I see that now.” Now I actually was staring at her in disbelief; I took a moment to file this memory in my head, I was going to remember this moment for the rest of my life!

            “Um, sure Veronica, don’t worry about it anymore.” Was all I could think to say and Flan gave me an incredulous look while Rhys looked very proud of me. “I’m sorry I got you benched for the season.” I added in the spirit of the situation.

            “Like I said, I deserved it and if you hadn’t I may have never met Armistead here. I think my days of dating football players may be at an end.” She smiled happily seeming unnaturally pleased with him. I shot him a quizzical look, wondering if he was using his charm on her but he very slightly shook his head and smiled sheepishly.

            They seemed to genuinely be crazy about each other, and as much as the thought blew my mind, I was glad that they’d found each other. Maybe now I really could get back to my own life without worrying about her.

            You should keep an eye on her though, there’s a demon who has been influencing her to do things to interfere with my relationship, I’d hate to see you catch her doing something that she shouldn’t because she was out of control of herself. I projected at Armistead; he looked surprised as the information came to him since he wasn’t expecting it.

            Thank you for letting me know, I’ll be sure to do that, he responded sincerely and I nodded slightly.

            We managed to have a nice time sitting there and chatting about the Halloween fundraiser coming up and what we were all going to be. It absolutely blew my mind that Veronica could act like a normal human being but I was very pleased to see it happening. Rhys seemed to be happy as well but still kept an arm around me the entire time, giving me the impression that he might be more worried about Armistead than Veronica.

            I smiled to myself; it was so cute that he was jealous, even if he really didn’t know that he had nothing to worry about.