My Demon

15. The taboo subject

“Wait, wait,” said the redhead, trying to assimilate what her friend had just said. So she began to wave her hands, getting more and more nervous by the second, trying to get some theory out of all the thoughts that were overwhelming her.

But there was nothing. She didn't understand anything, just like her partner, they were totally confused. What the brunette had just told them had come as a great shock to them.

“How?!” They asked at the same time, causing the girl to jump in her place in fright at the sudden action, almost knocking over her drink in the process.

She, after recovering from the fright the couple had given her, sharpened her gaze at them and they tensed slightly. Instantly, though, that shiver of fear had passed into concern as she lowered her gaze, letting out a pitiful sigh. A grimace formed on the brunette's lips and she simply shook her head.

“I don't know,” she said without releasing the cup from her hands, staring at the hot liquid inside, letting the two in front of her observe the faint finger marks on the girl's wrists and frown. “But his look... it was different. I don't really know, and I don't really understand it either. I'm a mess and there are no answers.”

“Did you ask peach?" asked the writer, arching one of his eyebrows as he stroked his partner to try to relax her, but he soon received an angry look from the journalist, and a quizzical one from the younger girl.

“Peach?” she said, c*****g her head to one side. And before he could speak further, he received a punch in the stomach from Akane, causing him to let out a grunt and hug himself. The blue-eyed girl brought her gaze to her friend and sharpened it softly. “What does he mean?”

At the redhead's silence, the girl folded her arms, her eyes had an intensity in them that made the journalist swallow thickly, while her partner remained silent and didn't say anything about it, as he still couldn't speak after such a tremendous blow.

A few minutes later, when the tension could be cut with a knife, the brunette spoke, with a seriousness that made her friend look away.

Receiving no reply, her brow furrowed more noticeably and she opened her wallet and took out just enough money for her cup. She grabbed her things and looking sideways at the redhead, she stood up to try to leave, then, she felt her wrist being grabbed and when she turned around again, she saw Akane looking at her with a faint smile, trying to calm her down.

“Come on, Caeli. Don't be like that, come on, sit down,” she whispered softly to entice her friend. She made her sit down again and sighed to look at the younger girl. “You see, by peach, we mean 'demon', more specifically Thomirchotch. I didn't want to say that name too much because there's always some gossip who listens and talks too much”.

The girl, at that moment, looked at them in surprise and then remembered the question that the blond had asked her. At that moment, she turned red, as red as a tomato. She began to shake her head erratically as she remembered the scene from just a few weeks ago and what had happened that morning.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” she said again and again and again to hide her face in her hands in total embarrassment.

The Japanese girl only sighed again, for she knew what had happened and why the blue-eyed girl was acting so embarrassed. And since she told her boyfriend everything, he hadn't found it so strange why Caeli was acting that way either. The rest of the place, on the other hand, well, that was another matter to deal with. After half an hour of trying to get her to relax, the journalist and the writer looked at each other, took the girl by both arms and calmly, paying what was due to them and the artist, left the place for a walk so that she could relax.

The walk was long, quiet and certainly comical, for every time the younger girl relaxed, a green-eyed jet-haired boy would appear to get on her nerves again and make Akane and Curt take her even further away to calm her down. It seemed almost impossible, though. Or so it was, until, at one point, already in the last of the parks they could be in -where there was no one but them there- the red-haired girl snapped her fingers, opened her palms and braced herself.

Her gaze in that instant sharpened, the bones in her shoulders and elbows creaked. Soon, she lunged at Caeli, making her leap in place. But when she went to dodge her, the only thing heard in that godforsaken park was the slap that spun the artist in place until she fell into a sitting position on the bench behind her.

The brunette put a hand to her sore cheek, looked up at Akane, who, seeing her much more relaxed, smiled.

“Well, you're finally calming down, Mrs. Martirios,” laughed the girl, sitting down next to her friend, who, when she removed her hand from her face, showed how her cheek was swollen and with the notorious mark of the redhead's hand. Getting the future journalist to grimace. “Well, I overdid it a bit with the blow.”

“A little? A LITTLE?!” She shouted furiously, trying to throw herself at her. Then, stronger arms stopped her, pulling her away from Akane so that no catastrophe could happen.

A few minutes of kicking, screaming and snorting later. The light blue-eyed girl stood completely still, letting the writer's arms release her. She rolled her eyes softly and sat back down next to her friend, and it didn't take long for her friend to hug her and give her a loud kiss on the cheek, followed by many more, which, after a while, made the brunette and the redhead start laughing together.

She couldn't really stay mad at Akane for too long, she knew exactly what she had to do to keep her from getting too upset and relax.

After a few moments of trying to control their laughter, the blond started to take some pictures of them for memories, saving them in the "reconciliation" folder, where there were many pictures of the two of them laughing, crying or hugging each other doing both.

The red-haired girl at that moment let out a soft sigh to look at the younger one and she looked at her in the same way, they hugged again for a few moments. They separated again to look at each other again, letting out a last laugh they both gasped at the same thing and at the same time leaned their backs against the bench.

The blond smiled at that, squatted down in front of them and waited for one of them to speak, as he had nothing to say at the moment.

Clearly, the first to speak was Caeli. “I'm sorry,” she whispered in embarrassment as she covered her face, which had not taken two seconds to turn completely red. “It's just remembering and...” she growled in annoyance at herself as she tugged gently at her hair. “I-I can't help but get nervous. I mean s-since Orfeo I haven't, I haven't felt anything like it. And for that stupid demon to arrive…”

“Peach,” said the blond, correcting the artist.

“What?” she asked quizzically.

“Peach will mean demon from now on,” he nodded and the journalist did the same for the brunette rolled her eyes.

“I don't know how I could have felt that way about that... peach.”

The girl at that moment averted her gaze, the feeling she had experienced with that demon, it made her strange, it made her curious, since her ex-boyfriend... she hadn't been able to feel anything else with anyone else. Although she knew that it was probably more because of the mark he had put on her body, and she was reacting to him, otherwise... why did she feel that way? Why did she feel like she wanted more from that demon?

The pair looked at each other after seeing how the brunette was in her own world. Giving way to one of their many mental conversations they had been having.

«Eli really is in a bad way, what can we do to make her feel better?» The boy asked looking at his girlfriend who had a thoughtful expression, then seeing her smiling broadly.

«Don't worry Curt. I have a plan, and I'm sure this will cheer her up a lot. But I need Tom to be here!»

«How's that peach going to help us?» He asked arching one of his eyebrows.

«Easy and simple silly. These two like each other, or at least Caeli does. Just look at the way she is now!» She told him bringing her gaze to her friend, who was still stuck in her world, sighing softly as she rested her chin in her hands.

«Okay, even if you're right... How are you going to attract that peach!?»

«I've always considered myself a witch, you leave it to me».

She smiled teasingly at him, causing Curt to arch one of his eyebrows curiously, letting him then deny with a smile. They both looked back at the younger girl and after a few moments, sat down next to her. She was still in her own world, but it took no time at all for them to pull her out as they both hugged her warmly, bringing a blush to the brunette's cheeks and a faint smile to her face. She reciprocated the hug her friends were giving her.

But not everything could be so nice, and the thought in her head had come out on its own.

“I think... I need to talk to Orfeo,” she whispered and there the redhead was surprised next to the writer and both separated from the girl to look at her. “He knows something, I have so many doubts, I need to clarify. And... settle this issue once and for all.”

“Why are you bringing this up now? We were doing so well,” said the redhead, getting up. “After everything that's happened, you still want to talk to him? He just wants to mess with you!”

“He said he wanted to protect me. I need to know what from, and then settle it. If it doesn't do any good I'll just walk away, I have no business with someone who left me with no explanation. But... He has some information, I don't know what, but I know he would never lie to me. Everything he is capable of, he has never, ever lied to me.”

There, silence settled in the park, a place where not a soul was present, except for the couple and the artist. The redhead felt her fists clench, and the caress on her back made her take a deep breath.

“Caeli... Orfeo is a f*****g son of a b***h. Who abandoned you, who gave you no explanation, and now he's stalking you with the excuse that he 'wants to protect you', don't you see how toxic he is!?” She told her angrily. “Yes, when you were dating he was charming in his own damn way but that doesn't take away from what he did to you.”

“Yeah, but...”

“If he wanted to protect you like he says, he would have told you why you broke up in the first damn place, and he wouldn't use any damn trickery to get back at you. Yes, we were all wrong, but he screwed up so badly. He broke your heart,” she said and the shorter one began to tremble, “f**k Caeli, I don't want to see you suffer again!”

The brunette opened her eyes in surprise and soon got up to go to her friend and hug her, and she began to cry, letting the tears fall from her eyes. This surprised the present two, as she was always the cheerful one in their lovely little group.

And to see someone like her break down... it broke the hearts of the two artists.

They both hugged the redhead, who reciprocated the gesture. And after a few minutes, the blond held out some tissues to the girl and she wiped her snot and sighed while her partner hugged her.

The artist smiled calmly and soon kissed her friend's forehead.

“I promise you Akane... that you won't see me suffer for Orfeo anymore...”

“Please Eli, just don't get together with him again. Last time I noticed, he's changed, look what he's done to your wrists!” She said pointing to the mark on her wrists and she hid the wounds. “Please... I'm not going to demand that you don't see him, but listen to me, stay away from him.”

The brunette there nodded and soon hugged the shorter one, who reciprocated the gesture. But the artist had a clear thought, and, regrettably, her friend was not going to change it.

The blond watched the gesture on the blue-eyed girl's part, and then his girlfriend's pouting in denial, he could only be there to support them both. For the moment, he would stay out of it. He preferred not to bring up the taboo subject of her ex-boyfriend.

The three of them at that moment simply stood in that secluded park, the writer letting neither of the girls think too much. Letting the time pass by, they got up from the bench. They began to walk leisurely, talking about trivial matters that managed to get a big laugh out of them and relax the tense atmosphere that had formed earlier.

When they arrived at the brunette's house, just at the moment of saying goodbye, the redhead caught the younger girl in her arms as a farewell and the blond joined in, causing Caeli's skin to take on a semi-violet tone for a few seconds. Once they realised the skin colour their bear hug was giving the artist, they released her and laughed nervously, receiving a murderous glare from the girl, who only laughed softly once she could breathe.

With a kiss in the air, she said goodbye to both of them and without further ado went into her home, where her mother was waiting for her. They had dinner and talked about what had happened that day -although the younger girl didn't tell her mother certain things so as not to worry her-, after finishing dinner, and spending some time together.

The younger girl went to her room, lay down on her bed and remembered what her friend had said.

Stay away from him.

The girl grabbed her phone and soon went to search her messaging app for a chat she had blocked and then sighed before doing anything.

“I must know the truth...” Said the girl and there she unblocked the number to send the message.

After that, the girl put the phone aside and just changed her clothes, putting on her pyjamas and sighing she got into bed, hoping to fall asleep soon.

What she didn't know, was that on one of the rooftops of the houses around her, a mocking gaze had been following her for quite some time, and the poor brunette hadn't noticed it, nor realised the danger she was in.