My Demon

9. A journalist's perspective

This time, we go back a bit before all the events that have taken place so far.

And we are headed for a rather wealthy flat in the centre of Manhattan.

Where a certain porcelain-skinned redhead opened her eyes with a smile, and with a quick wave of her hand turned off the alarm clock before getting up. Just at the exact moment when it had started ringing.

What time was it? Six o'clock in the morning.

With a huge smile, the girl took her sports clothes and put them on to smile as she looked at herself in the mirror. She took her watch with the podometer, and put on some music on her AirPods to start dancing softly.

She left her room, with a smile on her face, knowing that her roommate would be resting - since she wasn't much of an early riser-.

She simply picked up the set of keys to leave the house and looked at her watch.

“Well, half an hour to go and half an hour to come back,” smiled the Japanese woman before stretching, and after a little warm-up, start running, and while she was doing so, she thought about a thousand things about her homework. «I must finish the research project and contact that man to be able to carry out the interview».

So began the day for a promising young journalist. With an unstoppable spirit and a huge smile, a smile that infected many people.

Or at least almost all of them.

After running for an hour all over Manhattan, even at that hour there were people on the street, running with a coffee in their hands, -surely because they were starting work very early or wanted to get there early-.

Normally she was warned not to go running in the streets so early, but the girl was always prepared in case she ever ran into any undesirables -she even had a knowledge of self-defence-. Still, Akane didn't listen to reason, she was an active person, and a stubborn one at that.

And just that morning, after breakfast and after arranging a meeting with her contact. She dressed up and put on her make-up, always with her smile on her lips, to go to the district of Queens, where a friend was devastated by a break-up that had happened only a few weeks ago. Her dear friend, Caeli needed her more than ever, and she planned to support her in every way she could, starting with the fact that she was always worried about the blue-eyed brunette, and that her stubbornness wanted to get the younger girl to at least go out to lunch with her.

Day in and day out, the redhead tried. But there was not a single day that she managed to get the artist out of her room. After a while of trying to motivate the brunette, she simply refused and stayed at home again.

For her part, the Japanese girl couldn't do much at that moment, she didn't have anything to get her out of the house or bring a smile to her face, anyway, Akane had to find a way to cheer her up, as stupid as it might seem, in order make her happy.

The moment she left, while she was on the train, she sent a message to her boyfriend, waiting for his reply, she managed to get to her stop, seeing the time she could only sigh and go home, she still had some university business to attend to, and she preferred not to have any delays with the deliveries. She was too manic in that respect.

As soon as she got home, she received a notification on her messages, and when she saw who it was, she smiled and dialled the number and waited for the other person to answer.

“You've caught me at a good time, my cherry blossom,” he said and the girl smiled in rapt attention, she loved it when her beloved writer spoke to her in that way, “Did you go to see Caeli?” The silence settled for a moment in the conversation and the woman heard a soft sigh on the other end of the line. “Let me guess, yes, but she didn't want to go out again, did she?”

“Yes, you know her,” said the girl, holding the bridge of her nose with a soft sigh, and with noticeable weariness. “She's been like this for weeks. I can't get her to cheer up”.

“You will get it sweetheart. Some people need more time to get over a break-up,” he said, laughing at the same time. “Remember that it took me more than five years to get over my ex, and then a certain journalist wanted to interview me and won my heart,” he whispered with that soft flirtatious tone that made the girl giggle. “I have an idea,” he said, changing the subject, “You and me, tonight at our favourite restaurant, what do you think?” He asked, and the younger girl smiled delightedly.

“I think it's a perfect idea, and I think I need it, and this way you can help me think about how to cheer Caeli up,” the girl nodded and kept silent for a moment, knowing that her partner would be pouting. “And also so I can spend time with my adored writer,” she said teasingly and almost ‘saw’ how the blonde had become really happy.

“Perfect, I'll book for nine o'clock, that's good for you, isn't it? Will you be done with whatever work you have left by then?” He asked wanting to make sure there wouldn't be any problems, getting a soft chuckle out of the younger girl, she loved how cute the man was.

“Yes, yes, there won't be a problem, I'll leave early and I'll see you then,” she said and after a few minutes of gooey goodbyes, they both hung up and she clutched her phone to her chest, and her flat-mate just stared at her. “What?”

“You guys suck,” she said, and there the redhead gave her a dirty look.

“Shut up, we're so f*****g lovely!” Said the pouting journalist.

“So much that I'm going to throw up rainbows,” said the blonde rolling her eyes to get her lunch out of the fridge and soon start eating.

There, the redhead arched one of her eyebrows and shook her head and headed for her room. As soon as she arrived, she put her headphones back on, and with an AC/DC song blaring, she began to tidy up her room, which looked like a tornado had passed through it.

[...]

After long hours of concentration in order to finish her reports and pending news, the girl stretched in her place, cracking her back and knuckles.

The alarm she had set herself so that she wouldn't be late, rang, and soon she began to get ready with a smile -like always-. And as she was picking out her clothes, a notification came to her phone. She looked at the message and her expression saddened as she saw that her friend had sent her some pictures, everything Orfeo had given her.

And just imagining that her friend was already crying made her sad in a big way, but also pissed her off, because Orfeo, in her opinion, was a complete asshole, just imagining his face made her rage run through every damn particle of her being. It was really annoying.

But right now, there was nothing she could do, and damn, how she wanted to do something for her friend.

In view of those messages she could only say a few words of "consolation". She knew it wouldn't do much good, but she had to at least try. Slowing down, she continued to get ready, lost in her thoughts, thinking about the brunette, who would be cowering on her bed right now, crying her eyes out for a jerk who didn't deserve her.

For a moment she thought about telling Curt to meet another day, but with a moment of lucidity in her thoughts she denied. She had to be happy too, she was worried about her friend, but she couldn't let go of her boyfriend. Especially since they hadn't seen each other for an entire week, and she wanted to spend time with him and talk about a thousand things that they would surely have to tell each other.

In a calmer mood, the girl sent a message to her boyfriend and just like that, she left her house, saying goodbye to her flat-mate who was lying down, with the computer on her stomach and watching a series.

The streets of Manhattan at that hour were crowded with people, and the youngest girl stood out for her appearance, and although she had many eyes on her, she was simply focused on her thoughts.

And in them were only Curt, and Caeli. At least at that moment. She knew everything she wanted to talk to the charming writer about. But when it came to her friend, her mind went blank, she needed to find a way to cheer her up - she preferred not to think about it too much so as not to bog the blonde down with what she could and couldn't do-. The problem with it all, was that ideas weren't going to come to her out of nowhere.

Or so she thought, as suddenly, a strong gust of wind whipped through the streets of the city, causing some to squeal, and the girl in particular to hug herself in surprise, only to fall back on her butt when a piece of paper - that had hit her in the face, pissing her off- had forced her to take shelter in a nearby store. Seeing the time, she sighed, she could still make it in time if the wind stopped.

«How could it have started to get windy all of a sudden?» She thought quizzically, and when she looked around to see where she was, her eyes widened in surprise and sparkled.

She was in an occultism shop! And one she didn't know in the city!

Like a little girl, she began to look around for something that caught her attention and soon, she stopped at a display case, seeing a set of objects that seemed to be used to summon a demon.

“I see that you are very fond of the occult, lately there are many young people who are interested in it,” she said, and the newly appeared woman smiled sweetly when she saw the little girl's excitement. “I see that you have a good eye for objects of this style. That particular one is to summon one of the most powerful demons and bring him to our dimension to grant you a wish,” the dark-haired woman with the deep grey eyes explained.

The younger girl there turned to look at the older one with surprise and excitement.

“Really? That's impressive! For as long as I can remember I have loved the subject of the occult and also what we call hell, but I have a doubt, can that demon grant any wish, even to forget someone?” She asked curiously and the woman, with a gentle smile, nodded. «Although it may seem stupid... Perhaps it is this kind of stupidity that she needs in order to improve herself».

There the girl looked at the woman to ask her to take out the items so that she could buy them, but before she could say anything, the black-haired woman had already taken them out and prepared them in a bag.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I saw you were so excited, and I thought you wanted it,” she said in surprise, putting a hand to her lips in embarrassment.

“No, no, it's all right. I really wanted it,” she said, laughing to calm the woman down.

“Then I'll prepare it for you, is it for you?” She asked with a smile and the younger girl shook her head.

“It's for a friend who needs it more than I do,” she nodded with a smile and soon the woman handed her the bag and she paid without any hesitation to smile and after a little chat said goodbye to the woman. “Oh, I forgot,” she said in surprise, looking up at the woman. “Do you mind if I stay until the wind stops? I forgot it in my excitement,” said the girl, gently scratching her cheek.

“What wind, dear?” She asked quizzically, and the younger girl looked out, seeing that... the gust had stopped. “Oh, if there was, I didn't notice it, the store is very well soundproofed,” the woman laughed softly.

The red-haired girl was surprised and soon shook her head. When she saw the time, she tensed up and soon, with a thank you, left the shop to run to her partner, who was waiting for her at the entrance.

As soon as she arrived, the man greeted her with a kiss and a smile and upon seeing the bag in her hand, he arched an eyebrow.

“Another occultism shop, right?” he asked with a laugh. “Which one was it this time?” He asked curiously, and the younger girl thought about it, trying to remember the name of the shop.

“Erm... I, I don't know,” she whispered quizzically and then denied. “Anyway, this is a gift for Caeli, and I just want to focus on one person right now,” she said and pointed to the man, who smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist and soon, the two of them went inside to enjoy a nice dinner.

[...]

A few days later, the female had gone to her friend's house to give her the presents, getting her to cheer up a little more. And that was a huge achievement after all.

She knew her friend would try it, because she had told her that she should, and after talking at length, the Japanese woman went to find her partner to spend the day with him, as it was the busy writer's day off.

After arriving where they had arranged to meet, the couple passed by a street that sounded familiar to the girl, and with a smile she took her boyfriend's arm and began to push him to follow her. She arrived at the point where she remembered the shop was and was surprised to see that it was an alley.

“So, where is this shop? Now you've made me curious,” he said amazed and the younger girl remained silent and folded her arms.

She knew she had not been in the wrong place, so what had happened to the shop?

The girl had many doubts at that moment, doubts that wanted to be solved by an answer, but... she couldn't find an understandable reason.

“Maybe this wasn't the street, you'll remember my cherry blossom,” said the blond, kissing the younger girl's head, and she reluctantly left with the boy.

Still, there was something that didn't quite add up. And she still didn't quite understand what happened that night. But with several kisses and that silver tongue of the writer's, her thoughts dispersed, and the subject of the occult shop was simply put aside for the time being.

But not too much, for just a week after she had given her friend the gift, Caeli had arranged to meet her so that she could go out for the first time after many days in seclusion.

Curious, she had asked her if she had done the summoning, if it had worked, and if anything impressive had happened.

Unfortunately, and dashing her hopes, her friend had already told her no.

And though she tried to insist, the artist would simply change the subject to one they could both enjoy, and she could not reproach her for that.

[...]

After all these strange and paranormal events, time passed. She saw how her friend improved greatly, something that delighted and at the same time intrigued her greatly.

She seemed to be more cheerful, more alive than ever, and her eyes were brighter than ever.

And for the journalist, it could only mean one of two things: either that she had been flirting with someone or that she had been flirting with someone.

With more curiosity, she tried to get the artist to confess something, the slightest thing, and at first, it was in vain. But the journalist, with her journalistic curiosity, did not give up. She tried to investigate, she tried to get information out of her. And sadly, there was no way to get anything. At least until she met the brunette's ‘cousin’, that's when everything started to fit together, especially observing their behaviour when they were together.

But there were still questions to be answered.

Luckily for her, that very day, everything was going to make sense, and the puzzle was finally going to be completed.

For when she entered her best friend's room, the truth would be revealed.

And what she had discovered could not have been more succulent.