Chapter 5: The Schedule

Anise attempts to plan out a dating schedule.

By the time I woke up, dinner was already being made. I rubbed my eyes to try to feel more awake. My nap lasted a lot longer than I intended it to. A yawn left my mouth as I sat up in bed and got out of it. The smell of roast beef hit my nose, causing my stomach to grumble. I left the room to find out what else was on the menu for tonight, but then I was stopped by a certain incubus.

"Hello, My Angel. You have slept for a while. Perhaps I should start calling you 'Sleeping Beauty' instead, hm?" He tried to make conversation. Or I should say that he was trying to flirt instead. I didn't particularly feel flattered as his deep voice actually made me jump. I wasn't expecting him to be right outside my door.

"O-Oh, um. . . hi, Cassius." I simply greeted. He chuckled at my nervous response, a charming smile appearing on his face. He then flipped his chest-length, purple hair over his shoulder.

"Getting flustered already? We haven't even been on our first date yet. I can only imagine how much your heart may beat when I take you out." Cassi teased. At the mention of "date" I felt my cheeks heat up just slightly. I almost forgot that that was something that I had to go through with everyone at some point in time.

I shook my head at him and went to walk past him. He continued to laugh and follow me down the stairs. "What's the matter, Ani? Feeling a little embarrassed from my flirting?"

I wasn't sure how to respond. My blush was more from the thought of my future dates, not necessarily on his planned date. His flirting keep me on the edge however. "I-I just want to see what's for dinner and make a schedule. . . Could we talk about this at some other time?"

Cassius stepped out in front of me, now standing on the step right below me. He made eye contact with me at the same level. His pink eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief. His face quite handsome. It should have been no surprise to find such an energy and beauty from him as he was an incubus. However, it didn't stop my heart from skipping a beat somewhat.

"Whatever you wish, My Angel." He answered, winking as he said this. Despite the answer, he still stood in my way. I did a sidestep to move by, but he followed my movements. Another sidestep resulted in the same thing.

"Do you need something from me?" I inquired, slowly starting to feel uneasy by his presence.

He shook his head and flashed a flirtatious smirk. "Not really. I just wanted a few minutes longer to stare at your beautiful face"

I'll admit, Cassius worked smoothly. I felt a blush spreading across my cheeks before quickly stepping to the side and dashing down the stairs away from him. I could hear his laugh even as I got further away from him. I had to remind myself that he was an incubus. Flirting and being as smooth as he was was natural for him.

I finally reached the kitchen to see Zamuel and Beo, Zam cooking away while Beo tried to converse with him. Both of them looked up at me as I entered. Beo grinned and his brown, fluffy tail began to wag. "Good afternoon, Anise!"

Zam checked on the roast cooking in the crock pot before greeting me as well. "Hello, Anise. Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Thank you very much." I politely answered, looking at the roast that was bathing in gravy. My stomach lightly grumbled and and I shook my head. I was hungry but it was best to not focus on that. The more I focused on food, the hungrier I would get. I had to be patient.

Beo must've picked up on the sounds my stomach was making. His ears twitched and he smiled towards me. "Zam said that dinner will be ready soon. As soon as he finishes the mashed potatoes, we can eat."

"O-Oh! Thank you!" I sheepishly thanked. I could feel my cheeks begin to heat up as I realized that my hunger was clearly noticed.

I cleared my throat and turned on my heels towards the exit. "I'm going to see if I can plan out a schedule. I'll be in the Witch Room if anyone needs me or wants to call me for when dinner is ready."

"Okay. Good luck, Anise." Zamuel gave a little wave goodbye as he backed up towards a giant pot on the stove. Beo beamed as I left and then turned his attention back towards Zam. I went ahead towards the Witch Room, pulled out a blank journal and large piece of paper, and began to think about dates and times.

My pen hovered over the blank page before setting down on the paper. My name filled a slot with all the times where I was available. I had a good amount of time on my hands since I was taking online college classes and magic made chores easier to complete. I then began to write all the names of the monsters I had to get to know. Endrian, Beo, Danton, Mystis, Cassius. . .

Zamuel? I know that he said that he didn't plan on participating, but there was a possibility to change his mind. I wrote his name down with a question mark at the end of his name. Yikes, that was a lot of dates. I looked down at all of the empty slots set for times for everyone. The idea was was that they would be able to write down their own name and time for a future date. If I planned it this way, then I wouldn't have to pressure or question anyone to try to set a date.

All of a sudden, a hand came over my shoulder and wrote down their name next to a free time slot and a set time. "Cassi" was written down in purple ink. Three o'clock to eleven o'clock. He whispered in my ear, tucking a lock of hair behind it. "Special dinner date. Just me and you, My Angel."

I jumped up from the chair, startled. I ended up falling out of the chair and onto the floor as my flight response kicked in first. My hip began to ache from the fall and I began to feel embarrassed. The familiar heat was quickly traveling to my cheeks. Cassi chuckled and stretched his hand out towards me. "I'm sorry about that, My Angel. I suppose I was just too eager to be the closest to you."

I hesitantly went to grab his hand before changing my mind. My hand went to the top of the table instead and I helped myself up. Cassi didn't look particularly bothered by this, more amused if anything. I really couldn't keep up with this demon.

"Hey, Cassi? W-Would you mind. . . cooling down a bit?" I tried to politely ask. He quirked a brow, now looking a somewhat confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked right back. I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to let him know that I was getting uncomfortable with his actions. That they were distracting.

"W-Well, what I mean is is that if you could just. . . give me some space? I don't mean to be rude but if I'm being honest, you have been distracting today. It startles me and I'm not a fan of it." I managed to get out. Wow, I really hated confrontation. I felt pretty bad about asking him to stop something that was most likely in his nature.

Cassius held his chin for a moment as his eyes shined with mischief. I didn't like that look. "Is Ani getting nervous around me already? Does your heart skip a beat when I get close to you? Are you beginning to fall for me already?"

"No." I replied, perhaps a little too quickly and bluntly. It was true that my heart did pick up but I had a feeling that it was more fear-driven than love-driven. His face fell almost immediately after my answer.

I tried to remedy the situation. "I-I'm sorry for my bluntness. I do get nervous when you're around. However, I feel a bit nervous around everyone here. The idea of having to go on dates with all of you still makes me feel like none of this is real. It makes my head spin. You're just moving too fast for my liking."

"No, I understand, My Angel. As an incubus, it is part of my personality and desires to move quickly. Things like flirting and seducing is what I do best. But, you should know this, Ani. I do aim to capture your heart first and make you mine. However, I would never even consider breaking your heart." He explained.

It sounded like a sincere explanation, but I couldn't exactly trust everything he said yet. He was a demon after all. It would be silly and naive of my to completely trust him right now. Time would tell if he was really sincere.

I decided to change the subject a little. A part of me was curious about this date he had already planned. It was almost impressive how quickly he was able to come up with an idea. But then again, he was an incubus. Dates were probably a cinch for him. "What is this dinner date that you are planning? Do I have to dress formally for it? And I don't think dinner is meant to start in the earlier part of the afternoon and last for several hours."

His face lit up as he was asked about his idea. He winked at me and took a seat on top of the table, crossing one leg over the other and crossing his arms over his bare chest underneath a navy blazer. "A fantastic question, My Angel. You don't have to dress like you're going to a ball, but a sense of formality would be best. I bet you would look ravishing in a formal date dress."

My heart picked up at his compliment and I cleared my throat, trying to get him back on the original topic. Did he have to try to flirt with me at every second? "And the dinner part?"

"A fine meal. Only the finest ingredients made by the best chefs. All for you, Ani." He winked once more. I ignored it and furrowed my brows.

Now that I thought about it, it seemed like these monsters were confined here but perhaps not all of them. I decided to inquire about this before talking about the date again. "Cassi? Could you explain to me how your and everyone's curse worked when it comes to where you can go? Endrian took off on a motorcycle this morning and yet, Mystis seems to only be able to reside in the garden."

"Excellent observation. All of us are confined to this small town, Hazelview. However, some of us have more freedom to explore the town. Wulf, Endrian, and Myself are able to leave the property. Danton and Mystis must stay at the mansion at all times. Zamuel can leave but chooses not to due to physical appearance. He tends to raise some suspicious brows compared to most of us who can appear to be more human if we wish." Cassius explained.

"Even though we can leave the house and explore the town, we all have to return at a certain point to regain our energy. Still, we are fortunate to have more flexibility." He finished explaining to me. He almost seemed proud of himself for providing me with some insight. Like he felt incredibly intelligent to know this much information.

I nodded and took a seat back my chair, looking over the schedule before looking up at Cassi. Another question entered my brain. I had to ask it before I forgot. "Are all of you under a same curse then? Or is it for individual reasons and under individual limits but with the same cure?"

He smirked at me. It was the same, flirtatious, devilish smirk he's been flashing me all day. "You'll have to wait in order to figure out the answer to that, My Angel. Otherwise, we may run out of things to talk about on our first date. We will be together for eight hours after all."

I opened my mouth to reply but I was caught off by the sound of the dinner bell. Cassius jumped off the table and gently kissed my cheek. "See you at the dinner table tonight and on our date. I can't wait, Ani."

I sat, frozen. My cheeks felt really hot and I gulped. My heart was beating really fast now. I still couldn't tell if it was out of fear and anxiety on what Cassius had planned, or if it was me genuinely feeling embarrassed about his flirting.

All of these dates were going to be the death of me, if not exclusively Cassi's.