Demonics II

The silence that followed that ‘vulgar statement’ (as Victor would say), was deafening. Hayden looked from the human over to Victor, and back at the human. “Well, that’s really rude, huh?” Victor sounded condescending, clearly annoyed. “What do you think we should do about him?” “I say we shoot ‘em.” The shopkeeper started leaning closer to the mysterious creature. “Either that or we make ‘em my ‘fternoon snack.” “Leave me alone, filthy d... demon!” The human paused on the last statement, unsure himself what they really were.

“Ok, ok, ok. You can go now.” Hayden motioned to the older demon, shooing him away. “We’ve got this from here. Thank you.”

The demon knew not to talk back to her, as consequences could be dire. He just turned and shuffled away, muttering profanities under his breath. Victor watched as he walked away and turned back over to the human. The snow was starting to pick up now, blowing the twins’ velvety cloaks around them, creating a shield around them. The human was still crouched on the ground looking up silently, glaring at the two. Hayden moved slowly, not wanting to scare him, crouching down to appear on his ‘level’. And getting closer only further concerned Hayden. While the human might look beautiful in the snowy light, he looked like he really had been through hell. Or the VOID. He had dark auburn hair, but it was dirty, so it was difficult to really tell what the color was. With lots of caked dirt and dried blood stuck to the strands. There were smudges of dirt or soot (maybe) all over his skin and face, His nose had begun to bleed, viscous red liquid dripping out. The human quickly went to turn away from Hayden and wipe his nose while not-so-successfully cleaning off the blood, merely spreading it around his face.

“Hay, he seriously doesn’t look good.” Upon closer inspection, Victor noticed the human’s condition as well.

In that moment, Hayden had decided something. He knew that this human wouldn’t be safe here, obviously. With the sheer amount of hungry demonics and other various entities, he figured the best plan of action to help this being was to take him in. Of course, he couldn’t just take him with them back home without consulting his sister first, mostly because if they should share the blame, Victor wouldn’t be part.

Hayden turned towards Victor, still crouching and keeping his eyes locked on the human. He couldn’t afford to let him out of his sight in case he tried to make a run for it, regardless Hayden still found himself tensed up and ready if that did happen. Victor turned towards Hayden, even though his eyes still fixated on the other man. She was towards the wind now, and her pale blonde hair whisked around her face dramatically, dancing around her. “I think we should take him-” Hayden tried to sound sure of himself. “It needs our help.” He was sure of something, it’ did need their help. The bruises arranged sporadically on the homosapien’s body as a subtle cry for help, along with the various cuts on his muddied hands. His clothes were grimy and falling apart, a once cream-colored sweater turned grayish-yellow and riddled with copious holes and a pair of the dirtiest brown sweatpants Hayden had ever seen. And while these were signs that he needed help, they weren’t so sure it would be the best idea to offer help. See, coming from a prominent family, image was everything. Association with humans is a taboo in the VOID, and the royal family really loved their image. Bringing in this human would be embarrassing and highly frowned upon by the public. Victor wanted to think about this thoroughly, she wanted to tell Hayden it wasn’t the best idea, but she couldn’t even get the word ‘wait’ out before he decided to scoop up the shorter human into his arms. “Hayden, what the HELL are you doing??” Victor cried. “Let it go, put it down now! It’s dirty!” “I’m taking it home.” Haden had made up his mind. Even with a thrashing human trying to squirm its way out of his grasp (to no avail), he started heading home with Victor nervously trailing behind him.

This isn’t a good idea...” She tried to reason with him, it was like Hayden couldn’t hear her. “We are so undead after this!”

After long minutes of walking and Victors feeble attempts to make Hayden drop the human, they arrived back at the palace gates. A rough black exterior covered the large building which was made entirely of dark stone and brick. There was an intricate wire fence surrounding the building with many staircases to be climbed up to the front porch. The palace was massive and had a huge outdoor garden, around and along the outer walls. Thick ivy covered some back walls and ran its way up to the 3rd floor; while there were only 4 stories, the house still looked quite extravagant.

After successfully getting past the outdoor guards and climbing a series of steps to the front porch, the three lay in front of the largest wooden door the human had ever laid eyes on. Made of solid oak wood with a dark brown finish. Standing outside, Victor, still a few feet behind Hayden, glanced over at him then at the door. Finally, after staring straight at the door for multiple seconds, Hayden moved his right hand to grasp the silver doorknob. After opening the large door, far too large for a normal human to lift, the two twins and the human were greeted by a maid trying to figure out where they’d gone. She looked to be around her mid 30’s which would make her around 240 in demon years. She had long, black hair which was incredibly curly and was covered with a dark red headscarf. She was a plump Irish lady with a heavy accent, one that could not be understood unless they’d known her as long as they had. The entirety of her outfit was a navy-blue hue with a few blood-red accents, much like her headwear. Almost frantically, she began to ask where the twins had been and why they weren’t ready for their meeting, but her questions had come to an abrupt halt as she noticed the scrunched-up human in Hayden’s grasp.

“Sir, what have you brought home now?” She started, looking very distraught and scrunching her nose at the creature. “I was under the impression that the queen had addressed this problem before?” “Noreen, just don’t-don’t worry about it.” Victor piped up from behind Hayden. “Don’t… tell them. Just don’t.” “He needs help. I had to take it.” At this point, the human had stopped squirming and went limp, simply observing the conversation about him. Noreen went silent and glanced over at the human, not yet digesting what needed to be done. After long seconds of silence filling the large foyer, she motioned for them to follow her.

Demonics III

The room wasn’t as spacious as the inside foyer of the house, but it was still quite big compared to most houses. The interior was covered in lacey-patterned wallpaper with a baby-pink color, there was an enormous canopy bed with pale pink bedding, practically drowning in pillows and various stuffed animals. They had been led to Victors extra bedroom (mostly for stuffed animals) and Noreen was rummaging through drawers in the connecting bathroom for bandages, all while Hayden was tending to the human’s wounds. The human had long since gone still, propped in a chair as Victor scrutinized Hayden’s ‘nurturing’, which was mostly prodding.

“These wounds are not fresh.” Hayden stated very blankly. “Yeah, they’re old…” the human said uncomfortably. Slightly shifting away from the demon still cleaning the cuts along his hands and arms. “Those look like they hurt! You must be in pain; humans really are delicate.” Victor asked incredulously. She leaned down to meet the human’s height behind her brother. “Just how long have you been here?”

“I don’t know, like a few months, maybe?” The hominid started, not quite sure of himself. “Where even is here? What is this...” He trailed off, voice fading as he looked around skeptically. “The Void, obviously?” Hayden responded, not breaking his concentration as he leaned over to grab the bandages Noreen placed near them. She had since left to attend to other duties, still sworn to secrecy of the current situation. “I suppose you might be from what human’s call ‘earth’?”

“I don’t know what your problem is or what you even are but, I’d like to go back to my ‘earth’ now. Please.” The human sat up, going rigid as the siblings immediately met his gaze. “Ah, well that’s the funny part mister, uhm… Mister, what should we call you exactly?” Victor turned from nervous to confused after realizing, they didn’t yet know the name of this man they brought in. “Human really isn’t cutting it, now, is it?”

“Hm.” The mortal shifted in his stance and eventually sat back down. “I don’t really remember but, I remembered the name ‘Chester’ so that’s kinda what I keep telling myself.” “What a pretty name! Don’t you think so, Hayden?” Hayden slowly nodded, as if this information was the most interesting thing he’d ever heard. “Can you tell me why exactly I can’t go home?” Chester inquired, obviously annoyed at the time this was taking. “It just isn’t possible.” Hayden spoke up for the first time in a while since he had answered Chester’s last question. While the answer was blunt and rude, it was true. The VOID was a glitch between the mortal world and the afterlife as people know it. And while it was entirely possible for people to end up here, it was almost unheard of for a human to make it out alive. Between the hungry entities, various threatening situations, and overall lack of supplies, humans were always killed here. No way out, no way to live here, just the end. After explaining this to Chester, he seemed to be less determined to escape and more neurotic of the plight he had really gotten himself into. The three sat completely silent while in the overly pink colored room. After a while Hayden got up and left the room, he seemed to be retrieving something, probably from his own residence. Victor looked over at the slumped figure practically wilting in the chair in front of her, she moved to give him a bit of space and put the bandages and peroxide back in the connecting bathroom. Mere minutes later, Hayden returned with a small lump under his arm, he handed it to Chester and ushered him into the bathroom gently.

While Chester was busy changing into the new clothes Hayden found for him, Victor busied herself by finding a ribbon to tie up her long, untamed hair. “He seems thrilled.” Victor said flatly, feeling quite sorry for the human. “I do not know what to do, Victor.” He mumbled to Victor, half begging for a response and half wishing she couldn’t hear him. “I need to help him. I need to, Vic.” She was speechless, all that filled the room was silence and the light shuffling sound of the human across the hall.

Hayden sighed heavily and moved to start pacing in a misshapen circle, moving his hands close to his chest, practically clutching himself. Victor watched, dismayed. She’d known her brother her whole life (about 168 demon years) and she’d never known him to be this worrisome or concerned. Hayden always had his head screwed on the right way. He was quiet but every time he talked, it was only facts and logical decisions that came out. Here he was, stressing about this human whom he’d never known and trying to figure out a solution to this impossible task. This was out of his control.

“I think we should just leave it. I mean, come on, Hayden. It’s a human-it’s not important.” Victor tried to explain it to him. Then, an unexpected outburst came from her normally collected and controlled brother. “Victor, you don’t get it, do you?” His voice got gradually louder; head still cradled in his claws. “I need to help him. Didn’t you see him?” “Hayden, it’s not worth your life-” She rebuked, immediately cut off. “It is a HE, Victor. He is a person. A real-life person, who lives and breathes just like us, Victor.” Hayden had snapped. His mind was made up, whether Chester liked it or not, he would be rescued.

After yet another long silence filling the room, a door slowly creaked open. Victor kept staring blankly at the frilly pink walls, not making eye contact with the specimen. Hayden’s neck practically broke snapping back abruptly to look at Chester. Making hard eye contact with the human, he was immediately reminded of why he made this decision. While Chester was in bad condition, he looked significantly better than he had before. He was given an extra button-down shirt (one too small for Hayden) and the same pair of sweatpants he was wearing before (Hayden’s pants didn’t quite fit him). He had put bandages on his own wounds and was cleaned up from the dried blood and dirt caking his skin. Looking at Chester now, Hayden could only marvel. Always having dreamed of seeing a human, it was amazing to finally be meeting one. Hayden always believed these creatures were beautiful, contrary to the beliefs of his well-respected culture and species. Hayden thought that he was the most beautiful thing ever in this moment, how would be able to live his immortal life with the thought that he had just let this creature be killed?

“Sorry.” It was the only word the human could mutter.

A noncommittal apology, but at the time it was as big as a whole barrage of expression-able regret. He heard through that surprisingly thin door about the complication he had caused this pair of twins, but that was all Chester could force out at the time. If the queen found out they were now housing a human in the palace, she would certainly banish Hayden, maybe even kill him in the process. The queen had a rough temper, while she was an amazing leader and always made the right decision for her species, her motherly-love department was certainly lacking. Especially since Hayden had been straying from her recently. Not killing when instructed, being excluded from royal decisions, even refusing the dishes including ‘human-meat’ (which she loved very much).

“I have some business to tend to…” Victor started scooting towards the door. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mister Chester. I’ll leave you here.” After inching away close enough, she skittered out and closed the door softly.