An Odd Demon

Hiding

James sighed as the bell rang. He hadn't been able to pay attention in school for weeks now, but he couldn't help it. He was still hurt. He felt torn between the truth and his feelings. He wanted to be with Adam again so badly, but his mind was screaming at him that it was all a lie. He picked up his backpack and walked with his friends to their next class. James was staring at the floor, not wanting to participate in any conversation. His curiosity made him look up when he heard Laddi gasp.
'What is it?' Maaz asked.
James didn't need an answer. As soon as he looked up, he saw it too. Adam was sitting in class again. After weeks of being absent, he was back. He was staring through the window and didn't even look up when James sat down next to him. The blonde looked away from the demon, hoping he could let his mind forget he was there, but that didn't work. The tension between the two boys was so strong, even a couple students that had no idea about the situation looked over curiously.
'Good to see you're back, Mr. Ortiz.' The teacher said as he went over the list of names. Adam just nodded.
James was struggling to pay attention more than ever. He forced himself to not look at the demon, but he couldn help but be distracted just by knowing he was there. Adam didn't even take out a pen or anything. He didn't seem to be following along, he just stared out the window. Though James could've sworn he caught the demon glancing at him sometimes.

When the bell signed the end of class, Adam finally looked away from the window. He looked over to James and nervously cleared his throat.
'So, Jameson... can... can we... talk?' He nervously asked.
'No! I don't wanna hear whatever excuse you might have!' James snapped. It broke the blonde's heart to react like that, but he couldn't help it. He was hurt.
'I'm your roommate, James... you can't avoid me. We're gonna have to talk sooner or later.' Adam muttered.
'I can't keep you away from your own dorm. But that doesn't mean you'll see me around much. Just leave me alone.' James replied, taking his bag and leaving the classroom. Adam sighed.
'You guys don't think you can get him to talk to me?' Adam asked his old friends, but he already knew the answer to that when he saw their death glares.
'I know I fucked up, but it's not what you think.' Adam tried.
'Did you or did you not torture my brother for information?' Jaiden asked angrily.
'I did, but I...'
'Did you or did you not manipulate Mona into falling in love with you so she'd become a demon?' Maaz asked.
'I mean, I did, but that was before...'
'Did you or did you not abuse Illy's trust to destroy her when you didn't need her anymore.' Rush asked.
'Okay, if you sum it up like that, I know that sound bad, but...'
'What excuse do you believe would ever be possible to make that okay?' Laddi asked angrily. Adam sighed.
'You don't know the full story...'
'You know what, I don't care! Stay away from us! And stay away from James! He's hurt enough as it is!' Maaz called. For a brief moment it was silent.
'How's Jax?' Adam whispered eventually.
'He's gonna be okay, but not thanks to you! How do you even have the guts to ask about Jax after what you did!' Jaiden replied and before Adam could say anything else, she grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom, her friends following, leaving the demon all alone.

As soon as Adam entered the dorm, he saw James get up from the couch to go to his room.
'Don't bother... I'll be staying in my room all night.' Adam said. It wasn't what he had wanted to say. He wanted to tell the blonde to wait, to hear him out. He wanted to convince him he wasn't evil. But he didn't know how to. James slowly sat down again, looking at the demon with suspicion.
'What are you gonna do there all night? Make some new evil plan?' He asked. The accusation made something sting in Adam's heart.
'No... believe it or not, I'm gonna take a nap, probably draw or listen to music, maybe watch some YouTube and then I go to bed.' Adam explained.
'Sure...' James replied with disbelief in his voice. Adam sighed as he walked over to his door. Right when he was about to open it, he heard the blonde's voice behind him.
'Why did you come back?' James whispered.
Adam froze, his hand on the doorknob and his back facing the blonde.
'What do you mean?' He asked, speaking in a whisper as well.
'No one has seen you around for weeks. You haven't been at school or here at our dorm since the day I learned the truth about you. Where have you been? And why did you come back now?'
'Believe it or not, Jameson, but every demon has it's own room in Hell. That's where I was.' Adam finally turned around to face the blonde boy, still avoiding James's eyes.
'And why did you come back? You knew I didn't wanna see you!'
'I'm hiding.'
'Hiding? Hiding from who?'
'Lucifer...'
'You're hiding from Satan? What do you think this place is gonna do for you? It's the fucking devil we're talking about!'
'He can't just burst into school, dragging a student with him to the underworld.'
A beat of silence went between the two.
'Why are you hiding from Satan?' James asked.
'He's pretty pissed at me. I failed the assignment he gave me, so now I'm supposed to be punished for it.'
A shiver ran down James's spine. He could only imagine what horrors a punishment from Satan included.
'I didn't know he'd punish you if I didn't fall for your tricks.' James replied, a hint of empathy in his voice.
'He's mad because I didn't kill the angel I was supposed to hunt, a.k.a. Jaiden. I was never supposed to recruit you. I never tried to recruit you, James. I never pulled any tricks... I love you... I really do...' Adam said, desperately taking a couple steps towards James.
'Sure...' James snorted.
'Jameson, please... I swear I'm not a bad person, you have to believe me!' Adam begged.
'Why should I!?! Are you denying what you did to Mona, Jax and Illyssa?'
'No, I'm not, it's just... yes... I did some really bad stuff. But that doesn't mean I had much of a choice in it... I became a demon when I was seven... I WAS FUCKING SEVEN! I was a child... but I was dragged to Hell and forced to do horrible things. I was trained by the most ruthless demon that has existed in centuries and I was thrown into the field, knowing that if I disobey, I'll get things done to me worse than death. Worse than you with your human mind could ever comprehend. I've had to say goodbye to my heaven at such a young age. Even now, ten years later, I'm still technically a child. But also a fucking demon, filled with manipulated thoughts, propaganda printed in my brain, specifically taught to do this stuff... Sure, you can call me bitter, call me twisted, call me a killer, a sinner, call me a monster, call me evil, it's all true. But I'm just as much broken, just as much scarred, scared, alone... I never wanted any of this, James... I don't want to be like this... I never wanted to be like this...'
Silence filled the room. James could see how Adam was trying to hold back tears.
"Maybe that's just a trick!" A voice in the back of his head warned. But what if it wasn't? What if what Adam was telling was indeed the truth? Than he'd been through all those awful things... was forced to be this monster... without ever having a choice.
"He did have a choise..." the voice in his mind reminded him.
'Please, James. I beg you to try and understand. I'm not a bad person!' Adam begged.
'No, you're not a person at all. You're a demon.' James replied.
'I'm serious, James!' Adam called, starting to get angry.
'So am I!' James called back.
'What do you think, James? That I really wanted this? Oh yeah, sounds like an amazing plan, doesn't it? Let me just leave all my friends and family behind to never see them again! Let's just throw away everything and everyone I ever cared about! Let me go through the torturous process of losing my soul slowly over the years! Let me get beat up and tortured for the smallest mistake I could possibly make for YEARS while being in training! Let me live in the constant fear of failure because of the horrible punishment that you can't even imagine! Let me just roam around and break hearts and attack people! Because all of that sounds like loads of fun, doesn't it? DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I WANTED ANY OF THIS? DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I WOULD'VE BECOME A DEMON IF IT HADN'T BEEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY?' Adam shouted. With every word he said, he felt both more angry and more broken.
'OH YEAH? WELL WHAT WAS SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THAT IT WAS WORTH BECOMING A FUCKING DEMON FOR?' James yelled back, feeling just as angry.
'OH, I DON'T KNOW! MAYBE SAVING YOUR UNGRATEFUL ASS!'
A heavy silence fell over the room as both boys realized what had just been said.
'S-saving... m-me?' James asked a little shaky.
Adam turned to look away from the blonde.
'What do you mean?' James asked.
'I shouldn't have said that...' Adam muttered as he walked past the blonde towards the door.
'Wait, why not?' James asked as he ran after the demon.
Adam shook his head.
'It's not your memory to be cursed with.' He replied softly before he opened the door and ran away, disappearing in the dark hallway.
'Wait, Adam, come back!' James called, but to no avail.
Adam saved him? From what? James didn't remember ever having to be saved... What was this all about? Does that mean that, all the pain and suffering Adam went through... all of that, he did for James?