Demon's Awaening

I'd started to seed the idea with Alor going to Jin's work in his steed. Alor was bemused at first, but not interested in following another persons orders. The outside world had been inaccessible to him for the past millennium, and I was certain he wanted nothing more than to stretch his stolen legs. After reasonable consideration, he complied.

But Alor never simply complied. From the onset, I knew I would need eyes on him.

November brought a crisp breeze, I watched my breath fog up the morning air as I escorted Alor to the food market. He cringed at the air, unfamiliar with the discomfort of lacking body heat. I'd managed to shove a warm coat over his cooking attire before we headed out.

"Control yourself today," I said, knowing fully well he wouldn't. "I know you might have plans for world domination or something else catastrophic, but at least scope out your surroundings by cooking in the market. Nothing more."

The subject of danger had grown casual. I thought it was better to talk to him this way, as it wasn't an outright display of my worry. If Alor knew, he could easily take advantage of my fears. Hell, it was one of the first things he ever did to me! The damn horror movie. He needed to underestimate me. So, casual it was.

He gritted through his chattering teeth. "I have my ways."

A train ride and a walk away, I dropped him off at the market and told him I'd pick him up after uni. Disappearing behind the tarp like door, Alor was none the wiser. I made my way down the usual campus route, only to veer off down a side street, going behind the one of the buildings to end up on the opposite street.

Ethan had texted me an address to a cafe in one of the smaller buildings which had a great vantage point of the market and Jin's food stall. When I arrived, Ethan was staked out on the balcony, idly sipping his coffee and staring through his binoculars at the scene.

He flinched as I sat down beside him.

"Sorry," I chuckled, pointing to the binoculars. "Can I?"

Ethan handed them to me. "There's not much action yet."

It was too early still, the lens showed no person in the front of the stall. A good uneventful start was better than the entire market going up in flames. Relieved, I handed them back to Ethan.

"Hugh said he'd show." He added. "I don't know when. He's generally lax when it's the uni break."

"I'm not surprised. At least you're here." I said.

The bittersweet silence was almost deafening. Had I really faced my feelings with Ethan? We were bridging back together, but Alor's effect on us hadn't rubbed off since that night. Ethan might've claimed otherwise—working with a demonologist and all—but I couldn't believe it. I was uncomfortable with the possibility of something nice getting ruined again.

But more pressing matters were at stake. I needed to focus on Alor.

"I've not had any paranormal encounters since Alor." I said. I'd been blinded by Alor's presence so much so that I hadn't noticed my ability to connect to the Spirit Realm felt non-existant. Going undisturbed by spirits at night time wasn't normal for me. "It'sthe Spirit Realm has gone silent now that he's here."

"You have to remember," Ethan crossed his arms, expression stern. "As a demon he's a high ranking entity. Low levellers must make way for him."

The peasants must make themselves smaller for the King. Both our eyes turned to the market below. Office workers trudged up the street on their morning commute, school kids weaved their way through the crowds, and food market owners set up shop, voices casual and cheery despite the cold.

A waiter set down a cup on the table. I gave Ethan an odd look.

"I ordered it for you." He admitted.

Warm espresso on a breezy morning. He'd forgotten that I liked two sugar packets but, he thought of me. I cupped my hands around it, and smiled at the heat. "Thank you. I'll pay you back."

Ethan's eyes were downcast, his mind somewhere else. "You don't know how much I hate him." There was a slow tide of emotion rising in Ethan, amid the placid plane of his face a muscle twitched in his jaw. "You look at me like you don't want to see me. Like you want to forget."

Rip, and the sugar packet spilled over the edge of my espresso.

Fuck

. I could survive on half of one. I stirred the sugar with the little spoon.

Ethan grabbed both my hands. "Look at me Mina."

When I did, he was hurt and it pulled the words from me without a thought. "I don't want to ruin what we had."

He frowned. "It's not ruined, nothing could change my opinion of you. I missed you."

Damn it. Ethan was such a nice guy, but I couldn't risk another possession like that again. Even if Alor wasn't powerful. He was still here and it was too much.

"I think its best we don't date for now." I answered.

A wall shifted between us then. I let go of Ethan's hands and took a sip of my espresso, hiding behind the action.

Ethan slowly sat back in his seat, resuming a straight expression. "Fine."

Car tires screeched from below before a resounding pop. Ethan and I almost threw ourselves over the edge to see a car had veered off the road into a light pole. Crowds of people surrounded the driver, calling the authorities.

I have my ways.

"It's him," Ethan said, guiding me to see Jin's boss clutching his phone and shouting down the other person on the line. He was looking savagely across the car park and down the street the car would've driven through had it not crashed.

There was no time for words. I followed Ethan's brisk pace out of the cafe, onto ground level and booked it down the street. Past the disarray, all traffic had halted the further we headed into the main city centre. Crowds were packed here, and trying to dodge without mowing people down in the process made my ankles weak.

Ethan took my hand in his, surging me forward. "Come on!"

Car horns blared as we emerged into the main intersection. The gravity of the situation peaked when I spotted a trail of destruction left in Alor's wake. I could've pictured it; he'd walked down the road in oncoming traffic, cars scattering themselves clear of him only to collide or flip onto their roofes.

This was all my fault. I shouldn't have released Alor into the world! He'd cause harm, no matter if he possessed power or not. Ethan stopped, bracing his hands on his knees to catch his breath. I did the same, sweating and half delirious from all the running.

"We bring you live coverage of a man who appears to be scaling up C4 Tower."

The big screen above the intersection showed who we were after. A naked Alor inching up the glass panelled tower, giving the camera man cheeky looks. The national media was all on him, and he was revelling in it. A demon locked inside an apartment for millennium, this was all he'd craved for.

"He's going to announce himself to the world." I muttered in horror. Or jump off the tower thinking he's invincible. We still had three blocks to cover to get to Alor. "There's no way we can make it to the tower before he does something."

Ethan cursed, dialling a number on his phone. "Pick up your fucking phone Hugh!"

Dark armoured trucks bolted through the intersection and I felt myself stiffen. If the FEDs were first response, they had plans to lock him up. As much as that idea was appealing, Jin would suffer the after effects of this event for the rest of his life.

Rain sprinkled down and distant thunder rumbled. Ethan shoved his phone back in his pocket, eyes darting around the scene. I spotted a journalist nearby, reporting the crashes and interviewing bystanders. News broadcasted in the city centre all the time, I betted Alor could hear it from the tower.

Ethan's protests didn't stop me as I charged for the journalist.

"Oh, we have another one." The journalist's cheery disposition was unnerving as she smiled at me. "Tell us what you saw."

"This is for the man on the tower," I panted, hair dampening in the rain. "Jin I take it back, I'll marry you!"

There was a collective gasp. A false narrative was better than the real one, I could picture the headlines:

Man gets rejected to throw naked tantrum on C4 Tower

. Jin had to bear the label, but at least in this way I could make Jin's outlandish escapade make sense. If the public believed it, Jin would suffer less.

Offering myself to a demon on the other hand, was terrifying.

Alor stoped scaling the tower. The rain was pelting down on him, rivulets streamed down the locked muscles in his back, barely suppressing a shiver. Those red eyes peeked over his shoulder, curious.

But he didn't say anything.

Come on Alor, play along.

A union with a human was something a demon like him couldn't pass up. We'd already made a deal in my sleep, but I didn't know how effective it was now that he was powerless.

He gripped the lipped edge of the building, and opened his mouth ... only to slip and plumet out of frame.