Demons Part 3

A Story by Saltyspacerock

A 15-year old girl comes face to face with a horned, 5-eyed, six-armed demon... things go well.

Man, I was hungry.

It seemed to be about 7:45 or so-- Eilowy was very good at keeping time --and I remembered I hadn't eaten a single thing since the chocolate bar I had... and my stomach was growling and gurgling, as if it was begging for nourishment. I had to get Eilowy back to the commons so I could salvage some of my groceries.

"Hey, Eilowy?"

"Huh?" It grunted impatiently, not even bothering to turn and look at me.

"Can we make a quick pit stop near the entrance? I'm hungry."

"We don't have food here, kiddo. You're gonna have to stick it out." It waved its hand dismissively.

"Well, you don't need to worry. I brought my own." I countered.

It stopped and put a hand on its chin. It seemed to be weighing its options. "...Y'know what? Sure. Why not. treat yourself."

I scoffed. "Don't act like this is some big privilege."

It mocked my scoff. "Once you die, you'll get it."

I had the smarts to keep quiet... about the food. Then I decided to open my big mouth and tell it to slow down and that we all couldn't be as giraffe-like as it.

We continued our trek downstairs. Thankfully, the way we took was much faster-- Eilowy getting tired of me having short legs, picking me up, and sprinting down the damn hallway holding me like a battering ram.

So that was fun.

Eventually, once it put me down, I had to lean against a wall because I felt like I was going to puke. Thankfully, I had nothing inside me to upchuck, so we went on our way.

I recognized my surroundings, and eventually spotted the bag, rushing toward it like a vulture swooping at its prey. I devoured at least three snack packs. Eilowy watched in a strange mixture of disgust and awe.

"Having fun?" It commented sarcastically. It sat down in front of me, six arms splayed out on the ground.

I smiled scornfully with a mouthful of crackers and pretzel. Eilowy's face scrunched up.

I swallowed the food, and began to interrogate Eilowy. "Soooo... now that we're on a little break here, I'm gonna ask you a few questions."

"Alrighty. Make it quick, though. I want you out of here as soon as possible."

I couldn't tell if it was joking.

"Okay, Okay... so, what's your beef with food?"

"Well, first off, It's mostly the fact thAT OH MY SWEET REMOTE STATIC THAT WAS A PUN." The neutral look on its face morphed into... a unique mood you feel when you hear a bad pun. Frustration? Anger? Disappointment?

"Please spare me from those. Please. Just don't. Say. Any more. Capiche."

I nodded, hiding my sniggers behind my hand and a big smile.

"Alright. So. It's mostly the fact that I don't really want to eat. And even if I did, it would just remind me of my old life. A life where I had a heartbeat and my lungs were full of air, and then I'd just get super morose and lamenting and crap. Plus, it would just feel weird."

"Huh. I see." I looked down at the slice of bread I was currently chewing. "...You sure you don't want any?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"...You sure--"

"I'm good, thanks." Its voice became deep and unsettling. Like what one would imagine the monster in their closet to sound like. All five of its eyes narrowed, aimed at me. I jumped, clasping the loaf of bread to my body.

"...I'm not one for peer pressure." It said, calming down. After an awkward moment, it stood up. "Well," It huffed. "Lets get going."

It began striding away again, and I quickly scrambled to my feet, still clutching the grocery bag. I jogged lightly to keep up.

"So, uhm..." I desperately searched for conversation topics. The silence was a little spooky. "Who is this T-t guy?"

"Not T-t, T." The way his name was pronounced was just the sound a T makes. A little tick from the tip of your tongue. Swift, like the slice of a knife.

"Okay, T. Who is he?"

"Another demon. He's nothing unsettling like me or Memei, so you don't have to worry."

"You're not unsettling," I replied. "Just a little... brazen, is all."

"Hm. I guess I'm not, if I couldn't scare you away." It remarked, staring straight ahead. Before I could say something witty and probably pretentious, it continued. "Well, even if he isn't creepy or anything, he is a little... brash."

"What do you mean?" I said, digging into the grocery bag for another snack.

"Eh... I guess he's... a bit feisty? He likes picking a fight. He says it keeps him in touch with his past life. It's the only thing he'll ever say about his past life."

"Huh, I see." I replied, fishing some gum out of the bag. I unopened the wrapper and popped some in my mouth.

We soon reached a set of double doors, which I determined to be a gymnasium once I stepped inside-- there was a basketball court layout on the floor, and bleachers lining the walls on the left and right. Of course, like everything else in this place, it was falling apart. The bleachers were stained in some places with a black substance, and the floor was cracked in many areas. Bits of the roof had fallen out. The nets on the basketball hoops were torn.

There didn't seem to be anyone here except us. And that seemed to disturb Eilowy.

"Shoot. shoot shoot shoot shoot okay kid this guy is going to freaking jump you if you don't watch your step because oh my gosh darn diddly dang it we are going to find ourselves in an unpleasant experience. A crummy juncture is what that is. Yup yup." It seemed to arrange itself in a defensive pose, one set of arms at its sides, another raised in the kind of pose you see boxers do, and the other holding onto its horns-- I later realized this as a nervous habit.

I I reflexively spun around, looking for any signs of movement. I stopped chewing on my gum. I wish I was warned of this beforehand. This is ridiculous. "So THIS is what you meant by 'feisty'?"

"He's usually sparring right now, and if he ISN'T, that means he's been lying in wait somewhere for a sneak attack. And every single time it scares me so much."

I snorted. "Why? That's just r--"

I got kicked in the jaw. Just enough to hurt, but not break anything. The gum flew out of my mouth and onto the ground.

This guy was good.

I immediately spun to my attacker, T. He wore a cheerful but smug smirk, a red and white oversized jersey jacket, jorts (ew) and had... diamond-shaped pupils? Huh. He had blue eyes, very short, iridescent hair, and was barefoot. Upon closer inspection, I noticed he had a tattoo of something--someone?-- on his left shoulder. His nose was crooked, as if it had been broken in many places. Two sets of horns poked out from behind his pointy ears.

He stood up straight after landing his kick and smiled.

"Hi!" He said. One of his teeth was strangely... out of place. Long and pointed, a little chipped on the side. "The name's T."

"Nice you meet you, Tut. I--"

"No, T. Just a tick."

"T. Right. Okay." I nodded. "So. Care to explain why you kicked me in the face?" A quiet annoyance was starting to hum in the back of my head.

"Oh! Right! Sorry there, bud, I was aiming for that one." He said, pointing to Eilowy. I wondered why one Earth he got me in the jaw if he was aiming for Eilowy's face. I decided not to question it.

"Alright, pleasantries, aside, T where is the Manual I swear if you don't have it I will literally rip your fingers off and shove them up your nose."

"Love you too, babe." T winked, and also did the finger-guns thing. I didn't know how to feel about this guy. "Sorry to burst your bubble, doll, but I don't have 'em. Try Memei."

"I already tried Memei. It's ether with Harris, or lost, and either way I am not happy about this."

"Welp, don't know what to tell you, darling." Noticing Eilowy's distress/fury, he attempted to cheer her up. "Hey, darling, you look tense. Why not sit down for a drink or something?"

"T, you know how I feel about drinking. That's incredibly disrespectful." Eilowy said, fists clenched, staring at the ground, eyebrows furrowed, teeth clenched. Wow. It seemed upset.

"Oh! Right right right right-- I'm so sorry, Eiye, I-- uhm.." He nervously looked over to me. "H-how about you? Wanna just chill for a sec? Have a drink? Least I could do after almost knocking a tooth outta ya, hehe..."

Bleh. I hoped he didn't mean alcohol. Don's room reeked of it already-- I didn't want any more drinks in my life. "No drinks, thanks, but sure. I'll stay for a bit."

"Great. Cool. Eilowy, how about you?" T offered hopefully.

"Sure. fine. I can't have you two causing chaos when left unsupervised." It sighed and sat down.

T seemed satisfied and sat on the floor as well. "So, kiddo, where you from?" He asked me, resting his head on his hands.

"Lived around here my whole life."

"Your whole life, huh? What about death? What was that like for ya?" It chuckled. "Honestly, you're the plainest demon I've seen. Didn't even bother to spruce yourself up? Man."

I side eyed Eilowy. We exchanged a look.

"Wait. Don't tell me. You're NOT a demon." He looked at me funny, the recognition slowly spread across its face.

Suddenly, in a flash of movement, he was on his knees, bowing.

"I'M SO SORRY!"

"For what?" I said, shocked. I was leaning back. He was uncomfortably close to me.

"For kicking you in the face, duh!" He sat up. "That was awful of me. Apologies. So sorry. Humans are so fragile, I could have broken you! Oh my goodness, I'm such an idiot--"

"Despite never hesitating to sucker punch any of us, he's always had a certain tenderness in his heart." Eilowy whispered to me, smiling a little. "He's so stupid."

He finished babbling for a second, then gasped. He leaned forward, nose inches away from mine.

"IS THE LOANDIJER STILL THERE?!" He shouted. Desperation littered his face. Whatever the Loandijer was, it was urgent.

Wait. I knew what that was-- it was a sleazy bar I heard of. No one seemed to know where it was, but it was well known. I always presumed it was an underground club/bar thing. But the Loadijer was well-known for its excellent bouncers and phenomenal bartender. Hm.

"Yes, it is." I replied, scooting a few inches back.

A smile lit up his face. I don't think I've ever seen someone so elated before. His strange tooth was in full view, broadly displayed behind an upturned lip. He shot to his feet, jumping and laughing, amazingly excited.

Along with me, Eilowy was confused. "Wait, what? T, when did you--"

It gasped. "T, are you talking about--?! Are you ready to talk about this...?"

"Oh, hell yes I am! If the Loadijer is still there, that means-- yes! SHE'S STILL THERE! SHE'S ALIVE! Ahahaha~!" He fell onto the floor, laughing so happily I couldn't help but smile.

"I feel like... I feel like I could do anything." He said breathily. Composing himself, he sat up, unable to suppress his smile. "I think..."

"I think I'm ready to talk about my life."

"Huh? Your life? Like... when you were alive?"

"Duh! What else?" He laughed. "We demons never really revisit our pasts-- unless someone awakens those memories in us! And you-- you've done it! And I feel fantastic... knowing she still exists."

Eilowy intervened. "Okay, cut the crap. Who in an astral plane is 'she'?"

"That's what I'm going to talk about now. I hope you're ready for a story."

He positioned himself so he was sitting up straight, back curved upwards. He folded his hands and cleared his throat.

"This is the story of when I was alive."

Author's Note

--Update--

Whoa, what?? a backstory?? woooow how cool! I'll be releasing the T's life chapter eventually, so be patient please! Thank you for reading this chapter. I'm definitely having a lot of un writing these! If you have any question, suggestions, or criticism, please tell me! I'd love to know.