Eva POV #5
“Your care makes it more special,” the younger guy whispered.
I wanted to throw myself down the apartment stairs.
The old shop owner finally stepped inside while rubbing both hands over his face like a man seconds away from retiring from existence itself.
“We leave her alone for ONE evening.”
“You sold me the candles!”
“I did not expect this outcome.”
The demon frowned from the kitchen. “That is insulting.”
The old man pointed at him. “You were summoned accidentally by a drunk unemployed woman with craft store candles.”
“…Fair.”
Nina was completely useless now because she’d reached the stage of panic where everything became funny. She was sitting on the couch silently shaking with laughter while clutching the blanket around herself.
The younger cult guy noticed the summoning circle still surrounding the coffee table and froze,
“Oh no.”
I snapped at him. “ABSOLUTELY not. You do not get to say that now.”
He gestured toward the floor. “Is that gold chalk?”
I blinked. “…Those were the gifts from your shop.”
The cult members stared at the old shop owner in complete horror. Who was finally looking guilty enough now.
The bandaged guy sat down like his legs stopped working. “That’s insane.”
“WHY DOES EVERYTHING I DO MEAN SOMETHING.”
The demon was enjoying this far too much. “You are accidentally very romantic.”
“I’m accidentally going to die.”
The younger cult member was still staring at the circle like he was looking at forbidden knowledge. “Do you understand how difficult it is to summon him at all?”
I pointed at the candles to him. “Apparently not?”
“We sacrificed three goats!”
The old man corrected him in an instant. “Four.”
“One exploded halfway, that barely counts.”
Nina buried her face into the couch cushion because she was laughing too hard to breathe properly now. Meanwhile I was standing in the middle of my apartment realizing I had become the demonic equivalent of a relationship threat completely by accident.
The bandaged cult guy studied the demon for another moment. “Wait.”
The room went quiet after that before he lifted one hand and pointed directly at the hoodie.
“…You’re still wearing it.”
The demon glanced down at the oversized black hoodie calmly trying to pull the sleeves down. “Obviously.”
The younger cult member was visibly agitated, tears gathering in his eyes. “Oh she’s SERIOUS serious.”
“I HAVE NEVER BEEN LESS SERIOUS IN MY LIFE.”
The younger cult member regarded me with the kind of respect usually reserved for dangerous women in mythology.
“That’s the scariest part.”
I stared at him. “Why are all of you acting like I accidentally conquered a small country?”
“Because,” the bandaged guy said carefully, “most summoning rituals fail.”
The old shop owner nodded tiredly. “Usually always.”
The younger guy pointed toward the demon still standing comfortably in my kitchen. “And even when summoning works, he normally leaves in seconds.”
I turned to the demon. He met my gaze calmly while sipping coffee from MY mug, wearing MY hoodie, in MY apartment. Then he had the audacity to smirk.
“…Oh I hate you,” I muttered.
“You offered a piece of yourself," he replied smoothly.
“I offered laundry.”
“That’s not how demons take it.”
Nina was entertained enough to make this into a ten seasons show.
The old man’s gaze swept around the apartment, lingering on the candles around the coffee table, the wine bottle, and finally the demon himself before his gaze settled on me. By then, he seemed deeply tired.
“You used vanilla candles, gold chalk, wine, personal clothing, and a private domestic setting.”
I blinked at him. “When you list it like that it sounds criminal.”
The younger cult member pointed dramatically at me. “That’s basically demonic foreplay.”
“I NEED EVERYONE HERE TO STOP SAYING THINGS.”
The demon quietly muttered into his coffee, “I told you humans are terrifying.”
His words offended me more. “YOU ARE LITERALLY FROM HELL.”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “And you are still the more aggressive one.”
The room went silent for about one second before Nina burst out laughing loud.
The bandaged cult guy leaned toward the old man slightly. “…I kind of understand why he stayed.”
“I heard that,” I snapped.
The demon almost smiled again, and I realized this situation had developed a completely different problem.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Hold on. Why ARE you still here?”
The apartment grew quieter after that, and for the first time all night the smug expression faded slightly from his face. His expression was serious enough for me to panic before he calmly set the coffee mug down on the counter.
“…Because,” he said carefully, “the summoning worked both ways.”
Nina furrowed her brow. “What does that mean?”
The demon’s eyes shifted toward me briefly before he answered.
“It means she did not only summon me but also almost formed a bond with me .” My stomach dropped instantly.
“Oh absolutely not.” Becoming unemployed was not enough, my life was apparently collapsing in real time.
The younger cult member's gaze darted between me and the demon, his excitement growing by the second. “Wait. WAIT. Does that mean the bond formed properly?”
“Do not say bond like that,” I snapped. “That word feels medically concerning.”
Alarm flashed across the bandaged guy's face, though for completely different reasons. "That should not be possible."
The old shop owner was already rubbing both hands over his face again like a man spiritually exhausted by reality itself. “Of course this happens during my shift.”
I pointed at him. “You sold me haunted candles!”
“They were not haunted.”
“They summoned a DEMON.”
“That is very different.”
The demon, meanwhile, was by far the calmest person in the apartment, which made him the scariest person here.
I glared at him forcefully. “Explain. Right now.”
For the first time since appearing, he hesitated slightly before answering. “Summoning rituals are usually temporary.”
“Good. Love that. Temporary sounds amazing.”
“But,” he continued calmly, “the ritual changes depending on intent.”
The entire room turned toward me.
I glanced around in disbelief. “Why is everyone looking at ME like I knowingly seduced Satan?”
“You used vanilla candles,” the younger cult member whispered again like he still couldn’t believe it.
“I’m going to kill all of you.”
The demon ignored us and continued speaking. “Most humans summon demons for power, revenge, knowledge…”
His eyes shifted toward the candle circle around the coffee table.
“You summoned me because you were lonely.”
I was too stunned to answer him. I swallowed hard, rubbing my sweaty palms on my clothes. From the couch, Nina watched me carefully. She wasn't teasing for once, which made me dislike where this conversation was going.
“I was drunk,” I said defensively.
The demon nodded once. “Yes.”
“That sounded judgmental.”
“It was observant.”
That was deeply unhelpful.
The old shop owner cleared his throat awkwardly while looking everywhere except directly at me. “Emotional intent affects ritual outcomes.”
The younger cult member nodded seriously. “That’s why most demonic summonings fail. Humans usually lie during the ritual.”
I frowned slightly. “Lie about what?”
“What they actually want.”
The way the demon's eyes softened at me searching instead of judging scared me. I pointed at him to regain control of the situation. “Okay but NONE of this explains why you’re still in my apartment drinking my coffee.”
The demon glanced down at the mug in his hands.
Then very calmly said, “Because part of the ritual attached me here temporarily.”
My stomach dropped again.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Unfortunately yes.”
Nina eyed us both. “…How temporarily are we talking?”
The demon was quiet for half a second too long.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “You don’t know either.”