Wish Upon A Demon

16.

CHAPTER - SIXTEEN

“Sorry,” I said to the girl I had bumped into.

“It’s okay.” Came her soft response. She pushed up her glasses, bending down to pick up her books. I kneeled down as well, assisting her. “I’m Faye,” I say, smiling, handing her books to her. “I’m Alexandria.” She says, and that’s when I spot Nolan and Michael, the awfully close buddies, walking ahead of me. “Nice to meet you, and I’m sorry once more.” I stroll off, behind the both of them. They head towards the direction of Nolan’s locker and I hid behind the wall, trying to listen to what they are saying. These days, the lack of the demon’s presence in my life had made me a lot nosier and curious. I knew all of them were related somehow, given their mutual hatred, but I just needed to find what that ‘somehow’ was.

“She knows.” I hear Michael say. “I know she does, it’s not every day that a girl transforms overnight when we saw her the previous night outside her window.” I slightly gasp. Thinking about it, I did hear voices that night when I had made the wish but never pegged that someone was watching me. “Not that. She knows that I’m a hunter.” Cue another gasp. What in the world? Did he like hunting? Well, I did see a lot of animal skin in his house. Or did he mean something else? My mind raced with thoughts.

“How would you know?” I hear Nolan ask. “Because I found a strip of her skirt stuck in the zip of the bag I keep the tools in.” Michael Kingston explains. I knew it. That damned skirt. “For all we know, she could have told him already. And by now, they would understand that there is a link between the Fallen and hunters.” Michael continues. “This isn’t the right place to talk. I’ll bring the others to the shack in the evening, we can discuss then.” Nolan says, and I take a step back. As I’m moving backward slowly, trying not to make a sound, I hear Nolan continue. “And while we’re at it, we have to find a way to put an end to the demon’s spy.”

I freeze.

“Or in this world, she goes by the name of Faye Martin.”

“Nolan Shaw and Faye Martin.”

My throat dries as the teacher finishes announcing the last pair for the project. Of all the students in the class, why did I have to get paired with him? Especially after I heard that conversation today, how could I even stay in a fifty-meter radius with Nolan Shaw without shivering? “About the project...” Nolan says as he approaches me. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about it, I’ll do it, all on my own,” I say. It was better than doing it all by myself than being near him. “I was going to say that we could do it together. I don’t like dumping my workload on others.” Nolan says, with a charming smile.

But I knew better.

“But, you see, I want you to dump your workload on me. I want to do it all by myself.” I say and continue, “I have a condition. Either I do everything by myself or nothing at all.” I flash him a toothy, nervous grin, hands locked behind my back. “That’s okay, we can meet up and do it together,” Nolan says. “I’m sorry, what, meet up?” I question again. No, no, no. “Yes, meet up. Your place or mine?” He questions, adjusting a strap of his bag, which lay on his shoulder. “You see –” I’m cut off when Nolan nods his head. “Great, my place then. I’ll text you the address. And remember, don’t bail unless you want to fail.” He says, walking backward and turning around, disappearing quickly from my sight. And then one thing hits me.

He didn’t have my number.

How did he get my number?

I followed the direction on the map on my phone. It seemed that Nolan’s party house was quite different from Nolan’s real house. The real house really wasn’t far from mine, but as I got closer and closer, I realized it was in a much different neighborhood as mine as well. It was quite chilly out so I had dressed warm, but I wished I took up my dad’s offer of dropping me off.

“There it is....” My voice trailed off. Nolan Shaw’s real house looked straight out of a horror movie. And not just his house, every house in this neighborhood gave me the creeps. They resembled neighborhoods that looked straight out of a horror movie. I gulped and stood in front of Nolan’s house. The whole street was clear, with no one in sight, and just the winter wind blowing. I walked up the steps of the porch and came in face with the wooden door of his house. Go back, Faye. Oh to hell with this project, I turned around, ready to dash away when the door opened.

Two guys stepped out, Nolan standing behind them. “Oh, Faye, when did you get here?” Nolan Shaw looked at his watch, “And you’re right on time, come on in. Bye man.” Nolan let the strangers go before he signaled me to walk inside. I didn’t miss the way those strangers eyes looked at me either. “Follow me.” I ignore the stares from the other members in Nolan’s house as I quickly follow him up the stairs. This was a mistake. I didn’t like the way their eyes roamed over me, looking me up and down. It made me uncomfortable; it would make anyone feel uncomfortable. Nolan’s already disappeared into his room and the only reason I know it’s his room is because it’s the only door to a room which is open and has the lights on. Even this hallway was creepy. Dark and cold were some of the words that could be used to describe it, not to mention there were several doors which were no doubted, locked.

“Yeah, I’ll call you later.” I see Nolan keep down the phone on his desk as I walk in. “Did you have any plans?” I ask, breaking the silence and letting him know I’m here. “I did with Michael, but I canceled it now,” Nolan says, instantly, taking out his laptop and files. “What plan did you have, with Michael?” I ask, setting my files and USB on the desk. “Oh, he’s hosting the next party on my behalf so we had to discuss the details,” Nolan explains, lying smoothly. I knew why they had to meet up and it was not to discuss party details, but to discuss how they were going to take care of me.

“Okay, so shall we get started?” Nolan asks, a grin taking up his face. Like Michael, he too was gorgeous to a person who thought he was a normal teenager, but again, in the eyes of a girl who knew a demon, he wasn’t very normal.

“Yup.”

I try to force a smile.

“The only time we can meet again is next week, because I’m quite busy this week,” Nolan says as he sees me off to the door. The project was complete halfway, and we had worked in complete silence, which came as a relief to me. Nothing else happened, except for the fact that as I came down the stairs, the same multiple pairs of eyes monitored me curiously. “Okay, I’ll see you then.” I nod, fixing my jacket. “Do you want me to drop you off?” Nolan asks, hands in his pockets. “Oh no, that’s fine. My house is nearby anyway.” I say, stepping out. “Okay then, see you next week.” I nod once more, and walk off, out the neighborhood.

And not once did I look back.

The feeling of déjà vu was overwhelming. The first time I had felt this scared and jumpy was when I was walking home from Michael’s house and now, I was feeling it again when I was walking home from his partner in crime, Nolan Shaw’s house. For a second I thought that the demon would surprise me with a little ‘boo’ like last time. But his absence in my life for this long made me believe that he wouldn’t be surprising me anytime soon. I tried to be okay with that, I tried to, but it wasn’t a lie that I wouldn’t like seeing those hazel eyes again.

And that kiss had been on my mind even after I tried to force it out.

I knew that the demon had his reasons for approaching me, but something made me believe that there was more to it. Maybe, there was a chance he had feelings for me too. I did share my first kiss with him, and he did respond to it, so I knew that he too felt something for me. My previous guess was confirmed when I returned to an empty porch with no demon surprising me. I waited, even while I was putting the key in, I waited, but there was only silence and there wasn’t a demon that could break it.

I walked into the house, shutting the door, and that sound was the one that broke the calmness outside.