All The Wrong Signs

Have you ever been irrationally mad? Like to the point where you weren’t even sure if you had a legitimate reason to be mad or not. That was exactly where I was with Blaze.

After he had put on an entire show of shutting all of my windows for me. He had been suspiciously quiet. Never far away, but silent. His eyes, though, those icy blue eyes stayed glued to me as if he was afraid I would disappear if he blinked.

I couldn’t concentrate with him so close to me so I settled on watching tv in the living room. I had no idea what the movie on tv was about even though I had watched the preview before choosing it. I couldn’t even pay attention to the screen because I kept looking over at Blaze, only to find him watching me.

The jerk had only disappeared once. He had the nerve to go pop some popcorn and was even now eating it, as he watched me with an amused smirk on his face like I was putting on a show for him. He was loving this.

Annoying bastard demon prince or what the hell ever he called himself. If I knew how to banish him, I’d do it without a second thought at the moment.

I wasn’t even one hundred percent sure why I was even mad at him anymore. Was it because I had failed at trying to banish him? The fact that he had made a joke of the whole thing? Or was it him pushing me against the door that had sent me off?

Collin used to push me around when I tried to standup for myself. But with Blaze, it had felt different. Something was different about him. While technically yes, he did threaten me, I think he was more poking the bear for fun.

“Don’t ever touch me again,” I said, cutting my eyes over at him.

It was the first time I had spoken to him since I had yelled at him in my bedroom.

Blaze tilted his head, “Fine. I won’t touch you until you beg me to.”

“Well, don’t hold your fucking breath, you…”

My doorbell rang, making me jump. Who the hell could be at my door?

Lakyn.

She had said she was going to come by and bring takeout. I’m sure she was worried about me, thinking I had some kind of mental breakdown last night. I wish she could see the stupid demon sitting with me in my living room. Maybe together we could figure out how to send him back to hell or his prison. I really didn’t care, as long as he wasn’t with me.

Getting up, I walked to the front door, opening it up wide. Lakyn had her hands full. As I took one bag from her, she shook her head. “You didn’t ask who it was. Did you even look through the peephole?”

I frowned at her. “I doubt anyone is going to knock on my door with takeout just to murder me.” I wanted to add, besides, I have a whole ass demon in here with me. A murderer might be better company.

Lakyn rolled her eyes. “Remind me not to get your drunk anymore. You get cranky.”

“I do not,” I said, trying to defend myself. I guess I should be lucky she didn’t say crazy.

“Yes, you do,” Lakyn said, setting her bag down on the counter. “I got us some street tacos, but I also went to the cupcake shop and got some yummy desert.” She looked at me, smiling. “Well, I didn’t, but Noah did.”

I walked to my fridge, pulling us out a soda. “Please, you just wanted to see him.”

Lakyn tilted her head from one side to the other. “I mean I did. But he is so young. I mean, he has given me almost every signal in the book that he would be down for it and I don’t care what people think, but…”

I nodded, “I get it. But you never know unless you try it.”

“Funny coming from you.”

I turned to look toward my living room, seeing that Blaze had gotten up and was now eavesdropping on our conversation. What did that even mean? Funny coming from me?

I rolled my eyes at him, turning back to Lakyn. She looked confused, turning and staring at the entryway to my living room. “Are you still seeing demons?”

Demon. I was seeing a demon.

I shrugged. Did I tell her the truth? I had no reason to lie to her, and she was probably the only person on this planet that could help me. The problem was, I didn’t think she believed me.

When I didn’t immediately answer, she frowned. “I can smell the sage. Maybe you had a spirit. This is an old town. I had to sage the shop twice before I was happy with the energy.”

Grabbing my food and drink, I led Lakyn to my living room. Blaze stood in the entry right up to the moment I was about to walk through him. Maybe If Lakyn saw me run into an invisible wall, she would realize I wasn’t crazy.

Blaze chuckled as he moved out of my way, allowing us entry. Walking over to my couch, I sat my food down on the coffee table, pulling it closer to us as Lakyn sat on the opposite end of the couch.

“I’ve been wanting to watch this,” Lakyn said, focusing on the tv. “Is it good?”

Shrugging, I looked at her. “I honestly don’t know. I can’t focus on it. I’ve been distracted.”

“April and I were talking earlier. I swear the world is on its crazy shit and taking time away with us without us knowing. I’ve been reading about the Mandela effect. Like some of it is just bullshit with people with bad memories, but some of it is legit.”

Blaze tilted his head, listening to her as she chattered along. Once again, I had trouble focusing on anything but him. To not be awkward, I nodded, “the mind is a funny thing.”

She nodded. “There is a theory that when you die in one alternate reality, it affects all others.”

“And you believe it?” I asked.

Lakyn shrugged as she took a bite of her taco. “Who am I to say? There are a lot of things that we don’t understand in life, don’t you think? Is God real? The Big Bang? Or is a little of both? We don’t really know do we?”

I nodded at her, avoiding looking at Blaze because he was proof that we really didn’t know anything about the world we lived in. “You’re right. I used to think about it a lot when I was younger. Like how did we figure out how to make the things we have now? How did the Egyptians build the pyramids? Were the gods and goddesses just someone trying to explain things they didn’t know?”

“It was aliens.” Lakyn looked at me, setting down her food. “I swear, I really think aliens are real.”

I snorted at her, “I mean, all things are possible.”

“Think about it. It makes sense. It’s not just the pyramids, there are lots of places that they can’t figure out how they were made.” Lakyn sat up. “Don’t let me get started because I could talk for days about it.”

Laughing, I grabbed my food. “I never took you as a conspiracy theorist.”

Laughing, Lakyn shrugged. “Certified Wiccan and conspiracy theorist.”

Taking a bite of my food, I looked over at Blaze. He looked up at me as if I was going to speak to him and when I didn’t, he winked at me. I shot him a look, but quickly pulled myself together.

“I think I need to get my tattoo fixed,” I said to Lakyn put directing my conversation to Blaze. “I messed up.”

Lakyn looked down at my hand. “I think it’s pretty bad ass. You created your own thing. Go with it. It was meant to be.”

“She’s right, you know,” Blaze said. “It was meant to be. You were meant to be the one to release me, little witch.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Lakyn looked over at me. “Are you ok?”

No, I wasn’t. I had an annoying ass demon who would not leave me alone. Was he trying to drive me insane? Was I going insane? What if this was all in my head?

No, it couldn’t be. Earlier, when he had pushed me up against the wall, I had felt that.

“Yeah, just tired. It’s been a long day.” I took a breath to gather my thoughts.

“You know, sometimes the demons we see are our own internal battles.”

Looking up at her, I shook my head. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

Lakyn shook her head no. “If you say you are seeing demons, I believe you. Hell, even the catholic church believes in demons Riley.”

“Well, the sage didn’t work. He basically laughed in my face.” I said, looking dead at him.

Blaze snorted, “I did not! I helped you.”

Lakyn turned to look where I was focusing. “Is he here now?”

I nodded.

She shook her head. “I can usually sense spirits, but like I said earlier, I’ve never been around demons. Well, at least not that I know of. If there is a demon here, I don’t think he is here to hurt you.”

“At least not yet,” Blaze added.

I frowned. “Can I like salt my house and make him leave?”

Lakyn tilted her head. “Not leave. Maybe trap him in a circle, or keep him out of a space. It really would depend on how old or how strong of a demon he was.”

I looked at him, and he smiled. “I’m a prince Riley. Never forget that.”

Shaking my head, I looked over at Lakyn. “What if he happens to be a demon prince?”

Lakyn’s face paled. “A prince? If you have a demon prince in your house, that is not a good thing. He would be one of the strongest demons in the world.”

Blaze sat a little straighter puffing out his chest.

“Demon princes are feared and respected by all who worship chaos. They are feared even by other demons, although they are looked up to as some sort of god by their kind. It is said that they have angel’s blood flowing through their veins. They have a direct link to the devil, who you know was a fallen angel.”

A lot of what she was saying corresponded to what Blaze had already told me. Blaze had nodded as she spoke, signaling that he agreed with everything she was saying.

“So, how do I get rid of him?” I asked, avoiding Blaze.

Lakyn shook her head, “you have to break your bond. Or release him. If you simply release him, you would be able to call him back by his name. Do you know his name?”

“Not his full name.” I admitted.

Lakyn chewed on her lip as she thought. “I mean, demons can get bored fast, so maybe he will tire of you and just leave on his own. Even summoned if you aren’t using him, he will be free to come and go as he pleases.”

“So you believe me?” I asked her.

“If you believe there is a demon in your house, who am I to tell you no? You were pretty freaked out earlier.” She looked up at me. “I’ll do some research. We have to find out what he wants, but…”

“He wants my help,” I said.

She frowned, “help?”

I nodded, “yeah this one doesn’t want my soul, at least not yet.”

Lakyn looked around the room as if she was trying to locate Blaze. “Just be careful. If you have a demon attached to you, they can be manipulative. They will lie to you. Demons use and abuse.”

I snorted, “he can’t be worse than my ex-husband right?”

“I don’t know if I should be offended or honored about that,” Blaze said, making me look at him.

Lakyn followed my gaze. “let’s just finish eating and watch movies. Demons don’t like to be ignored, so if we ignore him, he will leave us alone.”

Blaze laughed, “most demons will start acting out to get your attention. She wants me to show her I’m real. Should I show her little witch?”

I shook my head no as he began walking toward her. He didn’t look angry, but he had a hint of something evil in his eyes as he approached her. I didn’t know what he would do to her, and I really didn’t want to find out.