Three
Arien
My first night working with Elias went as well as I’d hoped. When I touched his pulse, it was regulating better the longer we sat and watched the movie. I tried to stop myself from laughing but I hadn’t watched a comedy in a long while. His expression went from frightened to relaxed in a matter of seconds, and when the other demon tried to surface, I fought against him, using his weaknesses to break him down until he gave up.
My kind hate being challenged when they’re seeking out what they assume will be an easy target. There are too many humans out there with trauma and fears to waste so much precious time on one—in most eyes at least. I have a goal, and I plan to see it through. The dark room and blanket wrapped around the human makes it hard to see his face, but I don’t need to see it to know how handsome he is.
His smile in his old pictures stuck with me. So did the two men standing at each side of him. Where one had dark hair, similar to his, the other had short blond curls, and bright green eyes that brought out the flowers in his shirt. I searched for him on social media, going through his photos on Facebook and Instagram. The blond man was kissing him in some of them. He must have been the boyfriend who survived the crash.
The article listed all their names, mentioning who they were to one another. I found it odd how affectionate a few of the blond man’s smiles were toward Elias’s brother whenever he joined them in later pictures. They all seemed so close. One of the posts mentioned them buying their first house together, but Elias is in a small apartment when I visited him last night, which means he no longer lives there. He was alone too.
What happened to his boyfriend? Elias hasn’t posted any updates in a year. Not since before the car accident. He was at fault after falling asleep at the wheel and losing consciousness. He crashed into a median, but no other vehicles were involved, and no alcohol or drugs were found in his system. I’d suspect there wouldn’t be after knowing his diagnoses.
So many people go years before knowing they have narcolepsy. Some may never know and just assume they’re low on vitamins and need to eat better. Elias might have gone longer without knowing if it wasn’t for the accident. Would they all have been better off if one of the others drove instead? Or would they have just been met by a different tragedy down the road?
“You can go on through now,” a guard dressed all in black, wearing a serious expression says.
I blink my eyes toward the widening portal and slowly step through, signing another tablet as I enter the human world. We’re inside what looks like some kind of warehouse, and two security guards lead me outside two double doors. “There’s a car outside waiting to take you wherever you need to go. Make sure you’re back by eight p.m.”
Since I get out of work at five, that gives me three hours to explore a little. Or almost three. After seeing where I am and hearing the driver tell me the street we we’re turning onto, I know where I’ll go too. To see my good friend Kyvian. He owns a bookstore three streets away, and I haven’t seen him since the last time he visited the base. It’ll be nice to see a familiar face out here. Wanting to surprise him, I hold off texting him about where I am. I told him about the new job opportunity but never mentioned where and when I started.
Getting distracted, I kept switching to other subjects, and he gave up on trying to ask me again after trying to steer me back several times. Laughter filled the line and that was his usual response. No annoyed sounds or yelling. No asking me why I can’t be like this or that. He’s one of the very few people who don’t make me feel bad for getting easily sidetracked and having a major squirrel brain. He also knows what it’s like being seen as some evil creature from hell due to being a demon. His kind have also been given a bad reputation, but neither of us represent the creatures told in urban legends.
We’re also both looking to fill suffocating voids. He wants real love and I want . . . I’m not a hundred percent sure yet. I had a friend once share his experience of riding the best wave of his life and how he felt so close to the sky while feeling sturdy on his feet. He had both ends of the earth at his fingertips, giving him the best of everything, and I remember wanting to have that too. To be caught in a beautiful moment you’d give anything to stay wrapped in forever.
I glance out the window, smiling gleefully at everything we pass. So many large, colorful buildings. Larger than the structures on base and with more color too. The sky is bright with white fluffy clouds that remind me of cotton candy. Everything is exactly as shown in movies and described in books. Light from the sky is so different here, and when I step out of the car, the sunshine feels wonderful on my skin.
I spin around, ignoring the odd stares of the driver as he glances at the back seat where my bag is. I quickly reach for the long strap, sliding it up my shoulder before slamming the door, and the car takes off before I fully step onto the sidewalk. I sure hope the same guy won’t be taking me back home. Walking along the sidewalk, I cover my eyes while searching for the side of the building I’m supposed to enter. Pink flowers scatter along the grass, and they’re very still. They don’t sway or sing. I lower my ear to the ground, waiting for any kind of sound, but nothing comes.
Snatching one from the stem, I bring it to my nose and inhale the sweet scent so deeply my brief sneeze blows the petals away. I laugh, dropping the rest to the ground as I continue stepping forward. Are all plants and flowers like this here? Are they all small and defenseless?
Once I find my way, I enter the double doors and I’m greeted by a woman with scaly pink skin. Her eyes are golden and glow under the bright office lights as she guides me in the direction I need to go. “You must be Arien.”
“Yes, that’s me,” I quip, my tail wrapping tightly around my leg.
“I’m Lisa, and it’s good to have you here. I heard about your idea and think it’s wonderful.”
We enter a lab, and she shuffles some papers around. “You can chart here, and there’s a couch in the break room if you need somewhere more comfortable to work. I’m not sure where would be a good place for you to make your visits, though.”
She means when I enter Elias’s half-lucid states. It can be done anywhere, but the more I’m able to concentrate and relax, the easier the process is. “Here should be fine, I think.”
The door snicks open behind us and two people walk in. I glance from them to the second option she gave me, tugging at my shirt collar. “On second thought, the break room may be better.”
If too many people are looking at me, I won’t be able to channel Elias’s emotions, which help create a different type of portal to take me to where he is. I’m not physically there in his dreams, but I am physically there in the same room. I have to be close to the person sleeping in order to influence their hallucinations. We can also make it so no one else sees us but the person we’re visiting.
As chatter fills the lab, I make a beeline for the door in the back and quickly close it behind me. Based on the schedule I was given, Elias goes to bed, or naps—I’m not sure what he calls it—at 9 a.m. That’s in five minutes. I’ll have to leave the base earlier next time. I never want to risk being late, especially when the other demon might try to come back in the hope I was just randomly traveling around. Most of us are human hoppers. It’s not often we stick with one person.
As weird as it will be to be in the same house twice in a row, it’s also less nerve-racking. I know what to expect and what I’ll be walking into. And though I really don’t want to feed off Elias’s negative energies, I don’t think I have a choice today. My powers are weakening. I didn’t get as much energy as I needed from him yesterday since I was so focused on the small amount of satisfaction he let out. His slight smile had triggered a little light inside him, and it had flowed through me but died off way too quickly.
He’d really enjoyed the place I took him to using dream dust from the sandman. It wasn’t easy going to the desert part of our world to retrieve the sand he feeds on, but I managed it more than once, making sure to use every bit of dust I got in return wisely. I couldn’t think of a better way to use it either.
I can disguise my body and features when I visit, but I don’t have enough strength to magic myself some clothing. I’m naked. My tail is exposed, and I start to panic. I’m about to back out when I remember how much he needs this, how shaken he’d been, with fear filling his veins the last time as I’d waited for him to open his eyes. When I’d snatched the hoodie off his bed, slipped it on and did what I set out to do, giving him a reason not to fear sleep or waking up.
I’m aiming for the same goal today, as I close my eyes, thinking his name and remembering his smell. His face is so vivid in my mind as light flashes around me, and I chase the memory of him, reaching out my hands toward the opening space until I’m back in his room.
Everything looks so different at night. The bright spines of books lining a bookshelf next to his TV are more visible, calling my fingers to run over them. I love books and I’m one of those people drawn in by pretty covers. His taste varies from horror to historical fiction to romance. I smile, pulling at one of the books and flipping through the pages. My cheeks pink at a passage my eyes land on, and I sneak a glance at his sleeping form, wondering if he’s read this one yet.
I put the book back where I found it, familiarizing myself with the small space. No pictures hang on the walls and his black curtains are wide open. He doesn’t like being in the dark when he sleeps, does he? He didn’t mind watching movies with the lights off yesterday, but I did notice he left the hallway light on, and a small one in the kitchen under the microwave.
I spread the curtains wider, opening the blinds. If he wants light, I’ll give him light. Here and behind those fluttering lids too. The thin sheet slips down his hips as he wiggles in his sleep, shifting to his side. A long pink line trails his skin, and why am I tempted to trace it?
His body tenses and he curls into himself, putting more of his bare muscular hip on display, the sheet tenting in front of him. My mouth waters as I walk closer, my eyes gliding up and down his back. He’s not wearing any clothes. His round globes push out as he cuddles the pillow tighter to his chest.
Averting my eyes is harder than it should be. I’m stuck in a trance I can’t escape. This isn’t appropriate. I’m not supposed to be ogling a patient’s naked body. I never have before. What’s so different about him? I quickly move forward to lift up his blanket, and he pushes it straight back down. I slide it up again and he releases a soft whimper, twisting his body to press his back to the bed. Sleep lines rest along one of his cheeks, and on the other are scars from the accident.
His jaw stiffens and his lips twitch. “No,” he yells. “No, please.”
Sitting beside him, I rest a hand in his hair and rub at his scalp with my nails. He groans, kicking out his legs and shaking his head. “I . . . please. Please wake up. Adam. Please.”
Tears pour from his eyes and my chest tightens. I curl up beside him, pressing my body to his. “Please,” Elias begs again, his distraught voice clawing at my heart. “Wake up, Adam.”
And that’s when I sprinkle dream dust on his face, and as I whisper in ear what I want him to see, the car disappears. Adam’s gone too, and Elias is sitting on a dock at a lake. He looks around and fishing rods hang on each side, the lines leading to the water.
He slides back, glancing around him and tugging at his sleeveless shirt. Brow furrowed, he studies the jolting fishing line in the water and looks back. “Hello?”
“Hello,” I say, not ready for him to see me.
“Who’s there?” He scratches at the wooden planks. “Adam?”
“No.”
“Who then?”
“A friend. I want to show you something.”
He closes his mouth and then opens it again. “What’s that?”
“I bet you’ve never fished at a lake like this one before,” I say, remaining hidden behind a tree.
“I’ve fished in many lakes. Surely this is no different than any other,” he mutters under his breath. “Wasn’t there . . . Didn’t I get in a wreck?”
“No. Not this time. Not here. You’re just simply out on a nice day, about to tell your new friend how wrong you were about the lake.”
“Really?” His voice is a little humorous. “Am I . . . Is this a dream?”
Oh no. If he’s questioning it . . . then that means he’s beginning to wake up. I need to give him and his body enough of a reason to sleep longer.
“Does it matter?” I step out of hiding, running a hand through my hair. I glance down at my hands, hanging onto the illusion I want to give him and shaking away the purple tinting from my hands.
“I . . . I don’t know. This feels like a long time for me to be asleep if it is.”
“And would that be such a bad thing?” I cock my head.
“Do I know you?”
“No. I’m Arien.”
He shuffles on the deck, bringing his knees to his chest. “And where’d you come from, Arien?”
“From the trees. I saw you fishing and thought I’d join you. Try not to take your eyes off the water for too long, though. Those sneaky sirens like to play little tricks and games.”
“Sirens? In a lake?”
“Sometimes, yes.” I lower myself beside him, reaching for one of the poles. “They don’t stay particularly close to the surface though. It’s harder to lure their prey into the water that way.”
His eyes widen. “You’re being serious.”
“Very.” I jump up in excitement, slowly reeling the line in, and Elias’s eyes nearly shoot up to his brows when his gaze is met with the large creature attached to my hook. The blue and green fish with spikes on its fins flaps in my hands. With glowing scales, it fights against me, revealing fangs, and just as it’s about to snap at my fingers, I toss it back in the lake.
“What the hell was that?” Elias slides back, looking at the moving water.
“A fish,” I say between chuckles.
“No fish I’ve ever seen.”
“I told you this lake was different.” I preen, lowering the line back into the water.
His lips tilt in the corners and he laughs. “Yeah, you did.”
His laughter sends a rush of bubbly sensation through me and I feel myself glowing on the inside. It’s still not enough, though. It doesn’t match up with his sadness and anger. We stay by the water while he sleeps, fishing and dipping our feet in the water. He stares at all the strange animals he sees. The turtles with two heads and metallic shells. The laughing crabs with legs that can grow to different sizes.
“This place is so weird. This is definitely a dream.”
I place my hand on his as he begins to reel in the line. “Not yet. You’ve caught a really big one this time, but these guys like to make you think you have them before you actually do.”
His eyes lock onto mine and his breaths quicken. Zaps of electricity travel between our skin and we remain frozen for a long time, only breaking when the line jumps again. It tugs harder, making the pole nearly slip from his fingers. I use my other hand, and my ears are met with more laughter when we tug against the fish so hard we crash against the deck with him landing on my lap.
My breaths stutter and he licks his lips, tapping at something above my head. My charms. He can see my charms . . . That means he’s waking up. How long has it been? If I can’t keep my charms away, will I once again appear in his room without any clothes on?
“I’ve seen these before,” he says. “I’ve seen you before.”
I crawl away, rushing back into the trees, and he calls after me. “Wait.”
He’s going to open his eyes soon, and I need to be ready when he does. Sure enough, when I enter the room again, I have no clothes on. They were here when I first appeared, but that’s because I relied on his bad emotions. I can’t do that again. I don’t want to. It’ll be too tempting to keep leaning into them, and I’ll forget why I came. Hey, I never said I was perfect. I am still a paralysis demon and strong energies, whether bad or good, can be addictive. And I’m quickly becoming hungry for all of his.
His dark eyes flash open, glazed over and darting around. Spotting the hoodie draped over a desk chair, I grab the large piece of clothing and throw it on before his gaze lands on me. His lips move but nothing comes out, and my muscles are too small to pull him out of the REM stage. He looks down at his lower body then back at me.
A breath of relief exits my mouth as I look at the mirror on the wall. I’m still in human form. Well . . . kind of. I shove my tail inside the hoodie, leaving a hand behind my back to keep it from finding its way back out.
“Hi,” I say, stepping closer.
Muscles in his neck and face tense as I lower myself onto the bed. “It’s okay,” I whisper, wanting to keep my voice light and soft—nothing he can connect to anything scary. Not that anyone’s ever said I’ve sounded scary before. Cute, I believe is how many describe my voice. Cute and delicate. One guy I dated mentioned there was even a little vulnerability there.
Come to think of it, I’m not sure I do a great job at invoking fear in people anyway. I really do have to disguise myself as something they would typically run from if spotted in a dark room or alleyway. It’s all the ammo I have, really. What a sad excuse for a demon I am. But I still get by okay. Yeah, sure, my powers are not as strong as they could be, and my energy levels are low. It could be worse, though.
Scooting closer, I tuck my legs up into the hoodie and twirl the strings around my finger. “I see you like to read. Maybe I can read you some pages from something.”
Searching around, my gaze pauses on his Kindle. I flip through his books, my eyes darting between his and the light green device. There’s a note taped to the back that reads, “Happy Birthday, El. There are only two books, but I figure I can add a new one every time we have an argument where I’m in the wrong.”
Edges fringed and color fading, the tape barely hangs on to the paper. This has been there a long time. I’m guessing a year. There’s no name. It’s not needed. Especially with the way he’s watching me with watering eyes. I run my fingers over the words and continue to scroll through his library, laughing at some of the added books. So many with the title “sorry” in them. I click on the one with the Berenstain Bears on the cover and begin on the first page, smiling through every word I read.
Occasionally, I search for his reaction, and I swear I see a smile come across his face more than once. A surge of energy zaps me on the inside and his fingers twitch. This is comforting to him. It’s one of the things he wants to remember about his brother. What he wants to hold onto. He’s had so many happy moments in his life and needs help being brought back to them.
My fingers begin to fade as I flip to the next page. He’s waking up. Fully coming back to reality. It’s time for me to go, but I wish I could stay and keep reading. To see how many more smiles I can bring to the surface. There’s always tomorrow, though, and I keep thinking about how I can’t wait as I slowly drift away from his room.