Chapter Thirty-Nine #2
“You alright?” he asks.
“Do I look okay?”
“You look amazing.” He moves closer and puts his hand on my lower back to guide me forward. He’s done it a few times since we started fake dating, but I wouldn’t say that I’m used to how it makes me feel. “Come on, they’re in the back.”
We go down a small, dark hallway, and, in a room completely to themselves, are Zarmenus’s parents.
This room is even more opulent than the rest of the restaurant.
A crystal chandelier hangs above the beautifully decorated dining table, which has a floral centerpiece designed to look like flames.
The walls are covered in dark green and black–patterned wallpaper.
Both are in their human form. Maleilius is in a dark suit, and Lysteria is in a ballgown the color of blood. Nestled in her slicked-back hair is a tiara studded with rubies.
They both notice us, and Maleilius shoots to his feet so quickly he knocks over a glass of water, which he scrambles to pick up.
“Sorry,” he says as he offers me his hand.
We shake, as Lysteria gets to her feet and gives me a cold hug.
Her perfume smells like dark roses and honey, and my first thought is that this scent is lethal.
As she pulls away, I notice there is something wrong with the walls in the room.
They’re somehow taller than they used to be, as if the ceiling has been raised by a few inches since I walked in.
It makes the paintings look stretched out, elongated to unnatural proportions.
“Dark tidings to you,” says Maleilius. “I take it the drive was unpleasant?”
“I know you know you’re saying that wrong,” says Zarmenus.
“I can’t help it,” says Maleilius. “It’s always fun seeing the way humans react.”
He turns to me.
“Um, the drive was amazing,” I say. “The car was so nice.”
“You should see a fire chariot.”
I look at Zarmenus, and he laughs to himself.
“What?” asks Maleilius. “Am I missing something?”
“I said the same thing,” says Zarmenus.
“What’s that human saying about great minds?” asks Maleilius. “Owen, do you know it?”
“Do you mean ‘great minds think alike’?”
“That’s the one! Oh, brilliant. I must say, you humans do truly have a horrendous way with words.”
Zarmenus glares at him.
I want to concentrate on the conversation, but my focus keeps getting pulled to the walls. I know I’m not imagining it, they are stretching before my very eyes.
“Is something wrong?” ask Lysteria, her eyes locked onto me. I think about admitting it, but I know why this must be happening. Being around Zarmenus is enough to make strange things happen. It makes sense that being around three demons would multiply that effect.
“No,” I say, swallowing hard.
“Oh, are you worried about the walls?” asks Maleilius. “It’s just reality warping. Nothing to be worried about.”
I disagree, that very much sounds like something to be worried about. Zarmenus pulls out a chair for me, and I sit down. There’s a leather-bound menu beside a set of expensive-looking plates and cutlery.
Zarmenus puts his hand on my leg reassuringly.
“How was your trip here?” asks Zarmenus.
“Quite dull, if I’m being honest,” says Lysteria. “People are all so polite, and I haven’t seen blood in hours. I don’t know how you stomach it, Owen. Don’t you find it all dreadfully boring?”
“Mom,” says Zarmenus. “Please try to be civil.”
“I think you should let him answer,” says Maleilius, as a waiter comes to the table and sets down a basket of bread. They seem human, and they must’ve been briefed on the walls changing, as they don’t seem to care that the room is now radically different from how it looked only moments ago.
“I don’t like blood,” I say. “It makes me feel queasy.”
“Blood makes you queasy and you are dating the prince of Hell?”
“Mom!” says Zarmenus.
“So what do you do for fun,” interjects Maleilius.
“I like video games,” I say. “And books. And hanging out with my friends.”
“How respectable.”
“Mom,” growls Zarmenus.
“I didn’t say anything!” she says. “He must really like you, Owen. I’ve never seen him this fractious.”
The waiter reenters the room. “Can I get you started with some drinks?”
“I’ll have your most expensive red,” says Lysteria. “My husband is paying, right, darling?”
“Of course.”
“Coke, please,” says Zarmenus.
The waiter turns to me. A droplet of sweat runs down their neck. I hope they’re getting paid well for this night.
“Just water, thanks,” I say.
“Still or sparkling?”
“Still is fine, thanks.”
They leave.
“Zarmenus tells us that you’re doing well in your classes,” says Maleilius, munching on a piece of bread.
“I think so,” I say.
“He’s being modest,” says Zarmenus. “He has straight As.”
“That’s impressive,” says Lysteria. “Do you work hard or are you naturally intelligent?”
“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever met,” chimes Zarmenus. “He’s always studying.”
“Even more impressive.”
Lysteria smiles at me, and I feel like I might be winning her over.
“What about you, Zarmenus? How are your grades?”
“They’re getting better,” he says.
The waiter returns, placing the drinks down in front of us.
I’m looking at one of the paintings when I notice a hand reaching out through the wall, making me jump.
Everyone at the table turns their head as something in the shape of a human steps out of the wall.
Its skin is the same pattern as the wallpaper, and covers its entire body.
“Don’t worry,” says Zarmenus, barely glancing at the thing before helping himself to a piece of bread. “It won’t hurt you. Where were we? Ah, have you decided what to order, Owen?”
A few more figures have stepped out of the wall. Each one seems to be made of the same material as the wallpaper. Some of them have antler horns, and others have talons instead of hands. I’ve lived with him long enough to trust Zarmenus, so I know they won’t hurt me.
I open the menu. The first thing of note is that there isn’t a single price attached to any of the meals. Which means they have to cost a fortune. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
I return my focus to the menu, and decide to order pasta with meatballs. The waiter returns, and we all order.
“Were you surprised that Hell is real?” asks Maleilius.
“I mean, yeah. It was a hell of a surprise.”
I said it accidentally, but it makes both Maleilius and Zarmenus laugh. It even earns a lip twitch from Lysteria, the corners of her mouth moving dangerously close to a smile.
“Are you religious?” asks Maleilius.
“Not really,” I say. “I guess I’m agnostic, but I don’t think about it that much.”
“What about your parents?” asks Lysteria. “I’ve found most humans get their beliefs from them.”
“Dad’s as skeptical as they come,” I say. “And Mom isn’t traditionally religious, but she believes, in a way. Her aunt passed away when she was a teenager. And even though she’s been gone for so long, Mom truly believes she’s watching over us.”
We talk for a while until the food is brought out, and the pasta looks incredible. As I twirl the pasta around my fork, one of the meatballs blinks at me. Because it’s not a meatball, like it should be. It’s an eyeball.
“Is something wrong?” asks Lysteria.
“No,” I say, moving my fork away from the eyeball that is now watching me. This is still a human restaurant, so I assume the eyeball is a result of reality warping, but I decide to stick with bread from now on.
As we eat, Zarmenus tells them about his classes, and how much he enjoys his acting class, and how he thinks he might audition for some plays once he’s back home.
The conversation flows easily, and after a while my nerves fade until they are barely perceptible.
I don’t eat the pasta, only moving it around my plate, but nobody seems to notice.
The waiter comes to our table. “Would you like to take the rest to go?” he asks me.
“Yes, please.”
He takes the plate from me.
“Shall we order dessert?” asks Maleilius.
They all look to me.
I’m not really hungry anymore, probably because of the eyeball in my pasta, but there is a passionfruit panna cotta on the menu that I would love to try, as long as it’s a normal dessert.
Still, I take it as a good sign that they want to continue the dinner, and I know how important this is, so it’s an easy decision.
“I’m in,” I say.
The waiter returns, and we all order.
“Do you get along with your parents?” asks Lysteria.
“He calls them every day,” says Zarmenus. “It’s cute.”
A short while later, desserts are served. I’m the only one who chose the panna cotta which, thankfully, seems totally normal. Zarmenus has picked a lava cake, and his parents both picked a deconstructed jam donut that is the fanciest-looking jam donut I have ever seen.
As I eat, I know the dinner is coming to an end, and Zarmenus still hasn’t asked about staying at Point next semester. I get the impression that he wants to, but his nerves are getting the better of him. Under the table, I nudge him with my foot.
Zarmenus clears his throat. “Mom, Dad. There’s something I want to ask you.”
The room goes quiet. A hush even falls over the crowd of monstrous figures watching us.
“How would you two feel if I stayed at Point next semester?” he asks. “I’m having a really good time, and I’d like to stay a little longer.”
“Oh,” says Maleilius. His tone of voice immediately gives away that this isn’t going to go the way Zarmenus wants it to. “Listen, Zarmenus. I like that you’ve had a good time. But you know as well as I do that too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing.”
“What your father means to say,” says Lysteria, “is that our situation is delicate. You’ve done a great job, but if you stayed, you would risk undoing all the good you’ve done.”
“But I’m the prophesied one,” he says. “I was talking to Owen about it—”
“You told Owen about the prophecy?” hisses Maleilius, his entire demeanor changing, becoming hostile. “We agreed that under no circumstances were you to disclose that information to anyone.”
“He’s my boyfriend,” he says. “I should be able to tell him everything.”
“Enough,” says Maleilius. “We will not speak of this any further. At the end of the semester you will come home. End of discussion.”
I feel about as crushed as Zarmenus looks.
We have our answer. It’s a no.
It means he has to go back to Hell.
As soon as we get back to our room, Zarmenus drops face down onto his bed.
I don’t know what to do to help him. Before the dinner I was worried that I was going to give us away and reveal that we’re not truly boyfriends. Now that seems like a better course of events than what actually happened.
“We need to break up,” he says.
I go totally still.
“If I have to go back,” he says. “That means we need to break up.”
Does it? We could pretend to date long distance. Actually, what am I thinking? That’s ridiculous. He’s right, we need to break up. Logically, it makes sense. Still, I wish there were some other way, a different path we could take.
“It should be somewhere public,” he continues. “So you’re free to do whatever you want next semester.”
I still don’t know what to say. I don’t want to think about next semester without him, or being free to date somebody else.
I don’t want that, but I don’t think it’s my place to tell him that he should stand up to his parents and stay.
It’s what I want, but I’m sure if it were an option, Zarmenus would have properly considered it.
“What if we break up at the end-of-semester dance?” he asks. “The Heaven and Hell one? That seems appropriate.”
I know exactly what he’s referring to. There is a school-wide dance being thrown on the last day of exam week. It’s Heaven and Hell themed, because once again Point is wanting to capitalize on Zarmenus being here.
It is the perfect place to break up, though. It’s in public, and if we make a big scene, word will spread fast.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “We can make it amicable, or I can be the bad guy. Humans break up all the time, and Leeke’s deal with you was to stay together until the end of the semester, right? So we’ll be fine.”
For a moment I think he’s going to say something else, but then the moment passes, flickering out and dying before it can be saved.
“Easy,” I say.
I don’t mean it.
I don’t think there will be anything even remotely easy about this.