When he got to his sixth class, Riley was already there reading something in a magazine she had brought from home. He sat down next to her cautiously, unsure if he really wanted to risk everyone finding out just how upset she was at him.
Unlike his third period class, where he sat next to Grayson because Mrs. Hayes had allowed the students to pick their seats on the first day, Michael’s seat was next to Riley Sullivan purely because the alphabetical seating arrangement allowed for it. There was a Summers, Sutherland, Sweeney, and Tanner in between them.
He attempted to get her attention, but she held the magazine up a little higher and ignored him. Sighing, he leaned back in his seat, deciding he should wait to try to talk to her. His phone vibrated in his pocket just then, but he looked at Riley when he heard her phone vibrate too. For a brief second, she made eye contact, knowing they were probably in a group text, but looked away again ignoring both him and her phone.
Since they still had a minute or two before the bell rang, he decided to check the message. It was from Amelia again, except it was a link to a news article she had sent to all of them, including Grayson. Opening the link, his breath caught in his chest.
An image of a woman around his mom’s age appeared at the top of the article – it was her, the woman Miriam had been crouched over in the woods…the woman she had killed by drinking her blood.
Her name was Rebecca Sparks, and she was an elementary school teacher at a neighboring town. The article claimed she had last been seen two days ago, but it had gone unnoticed until Monday morning when she hadn’t shown up for class. Michael immediately realized that it was more of a lost person’s page rather than an article – they didn’t know she was dead yet – although there was a short interview with the woman’s sister.
Apparently, Ms. Sparks had been diagnosed with a brain tumor several weeks ago that was in an inoperable location. No one had known about the tumor, except her sister, because she had chosen not to disclose her prognosis to anyone. Her only symptoms had been severe headaches, so she had been determined to continue living her life as normal as possible until her last day. However, due to the aggressive growth rate of the tumor, Ms. Sparks had been told that she only had about another month to live…meaning her time had been up any day now.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Riley was checking her phone too in response to seeing his reaction. He wondered why Amelia had sent this to all of them. Checking her text again, he saw her comment. Ms. Sparks hadn’t always taught at the other school. She had once taught at the elementary school for their area, and she had been Amelia’s teacher back then.
Taking a deep breath, he stuck his phone back in his pocket as the bell rang. He saw Riley quickly type something on her phone, possibly saying something comforting to Amelia, before hiding it away in her jeans again.
As their teacher began class, Michael found himself consumed with just one question: Had Miriam known?
He wondered if it was just a coincidence that she had killed someone who was terminally ill, or had she targeted Ms. Sparks specifically because she was going to die soon?
Michael wanted to believe that deep down Miriam wasn’t what she appeared to be: a bloodthirsty monster that only viewed humans as a food source. She had given him no indication that she wasn’t truly a monster, except that she hadn’t killed him right away. However, everything she said seemed to indicate that she might do it soon.
Granted, he had to admit that much of what she said could be interpreted in multiple ways. Still, he knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to get his hopes up. She had been very clear on at least one point: it wasn’t possible for him to remain with her for very long.
He didn’t know how much time he had before she either killed him or left him for dead…since he felt like he might end up as a shell of a person if she left forever…but he suspected it wasn’t much more than a few days at the most. He hated to think about it.
Once the bell finally rang, Riley continued to ignore him as she gathered her things and left without a word. He pulled out his phone to see what she had sent Amelia earlier: “I’m so sorry Amelia. I hope they find her soon.” He knew Riley probably hadn’t had enough time to read about the part where she was terminally ill. She didn’t know that finding her wouldn’t improve her outcome much…assuming she hadn’t already been killed by a blood-drinking demon.
Michael’s last class of the day went by quickly too, and before long he was getting in his car with Grayson and his sister. Grayson was requesting his keys again. “You look worse than this morning. Let me at least drive until we get to my house.”
“Really? I actually feel a lot better than I did earlier.” He did feel extremely tired, having not really slept in a day and a half, but his anxiety had calmed down significantly. It helped knowing Miriam promised to visit him tonight.
Not wanting to argue about it, he handed Grayson his keys and climbed into the backseat again. He was surprised that Amelia appeared to have forgiven him already, as she climbed in the back with him. She then took off her dark brown jacket, tossing it into the next seat over. After buckling up, she wrapped her arm around him like she had done that morning, and he readjusted himself to lay his head on her shoulder.
“Sorry about earlier.” He whispered, as they began driving down the road.
She gently hugged him tighter. “It’s alright. We were all just really surprised is all. You must really like her to put up with such eccentric behavior.”
He wanted to tell her how he really felt: that he was madly in love with her and didn’t understand why – that she acted odd because she was a demon and had nothing tying her down to human social norms. However, he couldn’t say any of those things, so he just nodded.
His sister continued speaking her thoughts. “Although, did you really just meet her today? I can’t understand how you could like her so much when you don’t even really know her. How could you, after only one class?”
Grayson chimed in then. “He said they have great chemistry.”
She scoffed in response. “Chemistry?” She looked down at him, her green eyes skeptical. “Michael, you know you need more than chemistry, right? A relationship can’t just be physical.”
If he hadn’t been so exhausted, he would have abruptly sat up, startled that his fifteen-year-old sister was lecturing him on having a relationship that was more than just physical. Instead, he tried to change the subject as fast as possible. “Uh, can we not talk about this right now? The last thing I want to do is have this type of conversation with you of all people. No offense.”
Blushing from embarrassment, she turned her head to look out the window. “Oh…sorry.”
After a few seconds, he decided to at least explain a little, feeling bad that he might have been too harsh with her. “You’re right. I know a relationship can’t just be physical. I don’t know why I’m so set on her, but I can tell you that it’s not just her appearance. There’s just something about her that draws me in. I don’t know how to explain it, but I don’t think it’s only because she’s really pretty.”
Sighing, she squeezed him tightly again, but she didn’t respond. Michael closed his eyes, enjoying her embrace.
❖ ❖ ❖
Without realizing it, he had drifted off to sleep and woke up to find that they were already at Grayson’s house. Confused by the lighting, he looked around without lifting his head off Amelia’s shoulder to see that the sun was lower than it should be for this time of day.
“What time is it?” He wondered out loud, but it only took him a second to find the clock and answer his own question. It was 4:23 PM. He had been asleep for over an hour.
Grayson was still in the front seat – he turned around in response to Michael waking up.
His sister was the first to explain the situation as he sat up. “Did you sleep alright? We decided to let you nap for a while. Grayson didn’t think it would be safe to let you drive home without getting at least a little bit of sleep. We’ve
just been talking while we waited.”
Groggily he asked, “Oh…what were you talking about?”
Grayson chimed in a little too fast. “Just about school and such. Think you can make it home now?”
Nodding, he sighed and slipped out of the backseat to drive home. Amelia joined him up front on the passenger’s side and they said farewell to Grayson. As they pulled out of the driveway, Michael tried to find out the details about her conversation with his friend, but she wouldn’t share. It didn’t help that he was still extremely exhausted and that she was very good at changing the subject.
“You need to take more medicine when we get home. You’re definitely running a fever.” She tugged at her shirt a little as she continued, allowing her skin underneath to air out. “You made me sweat, although you’re still dry as a bone.”
“I will, I will. But don’t think that lets you off the hook. I want to know what you and Grayson were talking about.”
“Ugh, it was nothing bad.” She slumped down in her seat. “We talked about a lot of things, mostly regarding you and Riley.”
“And what about regarding him and you?” Michael was surprised at his own bluntness.
Amelia was clearly shocked too. “Whoa! It wasn’t like that at all!”
He quickly tried to recover. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s fine, but what made you think that was the nature of our conversation?”
He glanced at her, before returning his eyes to the road. “It’s just something Grayson said earlier today.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “What did he say exactly?”
Thinking about the conversation from earlier, he admitted the truth. “Actually, he didn’t say anything about you. He was about to say something about dating a girl, but he didn’t actually say her name.”
“Oh, and you assumed he was talking about me? It does make sense. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he tell you? Although, I’m not sure I would want to date him.”
Hesitantly, Michael inquired for more details. “Okay, not that I’m disappointed, but why not?”
“Umm, can we just leave it at ‘it’s complicated’ for now?” She seemed just as uncomfortable about his question as he had been when she had started talking about him having more than just a physical relationship with Miriam.
Slumping down in his seat a little, he agreed. “Sure. But I just want you to know I’m here for you if you need to talk about anything.”
“You too.” She added. Then after a pause she continued. “Seriously. Don’t keep everything bottled up – if you need to talk let me know.”
“Why do you think I’m keeping something bottled up?” Michael wasn’t sure if she suspected something more was going on between him and Miriam than he had let on, or if she was just extending the same offer he had presented her. Either way, he couldn’t tell her what was really going on. Not only would she not approve, but it would be risky for her if it turned out that Miriam really was a heartless monster.
She gave him a look of disbelief. “It’s not hard to figure out. Why else would you spend so much time going off on your own at night?”
“Oh, well, I just like thinking in the woods is all. It’s really peaceful.”
“Peaceful, huh? Then, can I join you sometime?”
Michael looked at her to see that she was studying him carefully. Did his sister know something? How could she? No, he realized he was just being paranoid. “Well, I never said you couldn’t…” He tried to sound casual – he didn’t want her to pick up on any defensiveness in his voice. “…although I won’t be going out tonight obviously.”
Amelia sighed and leaned back in her seat, mumbling something to herself.
When they arrived home, Michael took some medicine and then told Amelia he wanted to get some more sleep, which wasn’t a lie. He felt like he was about to crash standing up. As he stumbled to his room, he wondered if this is what being drunk felt like. He was almost afraid he was going to suddenly wake up on the floor, not even remembering having fallen.
Once he was safely behind his bedroom door, the first thing he did was open his window, before changing into gym shorts and climbing into bed shirtless. He was excited to know he would be able to see Miriam again in a few hours, but his excitement wasn’t powerful enough to keep him awake. Within seconds, he was sound asleep.
❖ ❖ ❖
A void of nothingness.
It was coming for him again. Terrified, he tried to run away, but his legs were pinned down. He was paralyzed. Abruptly, gravity shifted, and he found himself falling straight for the void. He passed through the edge, his eyes wide with panic, and immediately the light began disappearing as he fell deeper and deeper.
Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. He was suffocating, and the weight of the world was pressing in on him as he fell faster and faster…deeper and deeper. The light disappeared off in the distance and the terror of absolute emptiness filled his chest.
He could hear moaning as he tried to scream – his moaning. An invisible force suddenly grabbed ahold of his chest, and like coming up for air from deep underwater he felt his mind instantly resurface to reality.
Gasping, he found glowing red eyes staring down at him from only a few inches away. His own eyes widened in fear before his mind had a chance to register that they belonged to a familiar face.
“M-Miriam?” He realized that the weight of the world he had felt was actually her on top of him. She was much heavier than he would have assumed given her small frame. He couldn’t help but feel aroused by her physical presence.
“Yes love?” She answered back with a grin. “You must have been having a terrible nightmare. You were struggling so fiercely. I tried to wake you up by covering your mouth with mine, but you just wouldn’t rouse.”
Now he knew why he couldn’t breathe in his dream. Forgetting briefly that she was a demon, who might take pleasure in causing him discomfort, he questioned her. “Why…why would you do that?”
“Oh?” Her head tilted to the side slightly. “Should I not have?”
“Well…it’s just that I actually felt like I was suffocating in my dream…” He hoped he wasn’t giving her any ideas for ways to torture him later.
She almost purred as she said, “Hmm…Would you have rather I let you remain asleep? I thought you wanted to see me.”
“No, it’s just, why not wake me up like…in a normal manner.” He had been about to say like ‘a normal person’ but realized that didn’t apply in this situation.
Her head tilted to the side again. “Oh, but I did try to wake you up using other means. Nothing I did, shy of harming you, would rouse you. So, I tried that. Humans tend to wake up when they can’t breathe. You should just be thankful I allowed you to breathe once you did wake.”
A genuine chill ran down his spine in response to her words, causing a slight shiver. She noticed his reaction and grinned. “Afraid yet?” She asked innocently.
“Maybe a little,” he answered honestly.
“Want me to leave?”
Michael realized that he was almost entirely pinned down underneath her weight, except for his hands. In response to her question, he uncontrollably grabbed ahold of her sides, touching her warm bare skin, trying to keep her in place. He knew it would ultimately be a meaningless effort, but a sincere smile touched her lips, pleased by his reaction. He blushed when he realized again that she wasn’t wearing clothes.
In a taunting tone, she chastised him. “You really are stupid.” Yet, despite her words, she looked at him with an endearing expression. “So, tell me love, what was so terrifying in your dream?”
Not wanting to remember the horrible experience, he begrudgingly tried to recall the essence of it. “Well, it was like I was dying, except it was worse than death.”
“Oh? And was I the one killing you in this nightmare?”
In contrast to her still taunting tone, her expression was suddenly sad, causing Michael to wonder if she was trying to find
out if he secretly did fear her deep down. He tried to clarify. “No, it wasn’t a person. It was like a presence – like an evil force of nothingness. A void of nothingness.”
Unexpectedly, Miriam’s face turned stone cold. “Describe it,” she demanded.
Michael was shocked that his dream was causing her to have such a strong negative reaction. He stuttered as he tried to elaborate. “Umm...I d-don’t know how.” Her bright red eyes were glaring at him. “I…umm…sorry, it was just…”
Her voice was more hostile now. “Let me see it.”
Confused, he tried to respond, but suddenly a strong pressure appeared in his head. It intensified until he closed his eyes and began groaning from the discomfort. Then, just as abruptly, it disappeared, and Miriam looked away. She appeared extremely annoyed.
She spoke to herself briefly in some unknown language, but Michael was certain it was some type of curse word. He wanted to ask her what she had just done to him, but didn’t want to provoke her with questions while she seemed so upset.
Patiently he waited.
Her neutral expression slowly returned, but she continued to look away. He admired her beauty while he waited – her perfect, flawless beauty. After a few minutes, she finally returned his gaze. Her voice was flat and aloof, sounding insincere, as she apologized. “Sorry…are you alright?”
He wasn’t sure if she really meant it, due to the large disconnect between her words and tone. “Umm…yeah, but…what did you do?”
“Nothing.” She said curtly. “I tried to see it, but I couldn’t.”
She seemed to be missing the point of his question. “But…how? Why did you think you could?”
Miriam’s face was stone cold again. “You should ask a different question.”
Michael realized that she didn’t appear to be suggesting this topic was completely off limits, only that she wouldn’t tell him freely. He carefully tried to construct a different one. “Umm…can demons see into human’s minds?”
She continued to stare at him, but her crimson eyes softened slightly. He realized she probably wasn’t going to answer him. Instead, it appeared she would remain silent as long as his questions were correct. He continued. “But…you couldn’t see into my mind…”
Demon Seer (Demon Demigods Book 1) Page 6