Wish Upon A Demon

41.

CHAPTER - FORTY ONE

[ The demon I had wished upon, would be the only one to hold my heart, in the past, present and future. – Faye Martin ]

The day I saw Zylen again was the day I decided to move on.

Though I was aware I couldn’t ever forget Zylen, I was determined to push away my longing for him. I wanted to wait for him, no matter how long it took, but I didn’t want to lose myself in the process. I wanted to experience the thrilling college life just like others, but at the same time, I wanted to always remember Zylen even if he took months – years to come back to me. But seeing him right before me on the day I was to move to another city, was something that I had not expected. For starters, I had visualized a better place and time for the next time we met. Also, I feared that meeting him right when I took the initiative to stop pining for him, would hold me back.

I knew he wanted me to go to him first. It was the reason why he stood in front of me, silently, waiting for me to take the first step. And for the first time, I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to because I hoped that the next time I saw Zylen would be when he would be alive and healthy and ready to stay with me forever – not when he could only visit for a few minutes before disappearing into thin air.

So I turned away.

And then I took one step, then another step, and then another and so on in the opposite direction, away from him. He didn’t follow after me, I was thankful for that. Perhaps, seeing me was enough for him just like it was for me, for now. One day, maybe when everything was over and he didn’t have to live in danger, we could meet.

And then maybe we could talk and laugh and start all over again.

“He’s a moody son of a bitch.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard you curse,” I say to Alexandria who’s grumbling on Skype. “He’s insulted – humiliated me more times than I can imagine though I keep my distance from the pack.” She continues. “It was the pure curiosity of why he saved me that bought me here but now I feel it was useless and utterly stupid of me to follow up on that instinct,” Alexandria says. “He doesn’t know that you’re a – ” I’m cut off. “He doesn’t. I’ve been successful in that at least.” She says. “How am I supposed to get answers out of a person who’s warned me to always stay fifty meters away from him?” She questions. “How is your grandmother?” I question.

“If it wasn’t weird that a grandmother I hadn’t heard from in years suddenly invited me to live with her, it’s even weirder how she gets up every morning to leave to the packhouse only to return at night,” Alexa says. “I’ve thought about it a lot but I just can’t find any reason why she would go to the packhouse or how she’s affiliated to that particular pack.” Alexandria continues. “But haven’t you thought about it?” I question. “Thought about what?” Alexandria questions. “Like you said, you maintained almost zero contact with your old grandmother, and suddenly, she calls you out of the blue to live with her, the exact same time you plan to move to Pilot Hill in search of the wolves. Isn’t it the slightest bit weird?” I say, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

I don’t hear a response – nor do I hear a sound from her side. When I take my eyes off the ice cream, I don’t see Alexandria anymore. She’s cut the call without a word so I was guessing there was truth to my hypothesis. I shrug, frowning.

“Well, that was fast...”

I was getting used to the normal life pretty soon.

The life without a certain demon king, I mean. Unlike in high school, I interacted with a lot more people here in college. They were nice, fun and gave me company. I didn’t feel alone anymore. If anything, I was falling in love pretty soon with this life. I admit, there were a lot of times when I thought of Zylen. But I was accustoming myself to go through without him...at least until he came back. There were times when I wanted to sit inside my dorm room, hug a pillow and cry, but those were the times I forced myself to walk out the door and fake a smile until, within a while, I began to really smile. Mostly it would be because of my newfound friends and maybe – sometimes – a little bit because of the booze as well.

I talked to my father frequently, just like I did with Alexandria. With the wedding approaching, my father was beyond excited. However, Alexandria, not so much considering how she went through multiple humiliations by a hard-headed wolf. Not the mention the nuisance they caused. Life was hard for her but I knew she’d find a way to outsmart them at some point. There was no more news from Michael or his family – based on what my father told me. They were in hiding. And they chose to hide at the right time. I imagined Michael leading a normal life, without the interference of bows and arrows. Although, wherever he was, I wished happiness for him.

Nolan, on the other hand, was in constant battle. He’d disappeared and every time I thought of him, I could only imagine him as one of the thousands of Fallen, at war with the demons. Maybe he was holding a sword right now and piercing it through the hearts of demons, or he too, could’ve gone in hiding, or maybe he’d left – preferred to live a life on his own without worrying about vengeance and war. Nevertheless, I hoped he’d decided to follow up on the right path and live righteously.

Alana, however, was determined to lose an opportunity to flaunt herself before me. If she wasn’t beautiful before, she was glowing with happiness now. I was happy for her. She’d found her happy ending with the man she loved and in return, she healed him and made him step out of isolation. So, to my father, she was just like a good luck charm.

After the time I turned away from Zylen, I didn’t see him. I knew, deep down, that it was the last time I’d see him, but though my heart tugged, I forced myself to walk away for better good. Sometimes, I wished I could relive that moment just so I could run into his arms – as cheesy as that sounds – but other times, I respect the decision I made. It was a silent goodbye – calm, clean and simple. No tears, no unspoken words, no more complications.

When he came back, we would start on a clean slate.

But for now, I was content with the memories I had of him and of us.