An Odd Demon

Punishment

'Look who finally showed up.' Mona said as Adam entered the warehouse.
'I'm not in the mood, Mona.' Adam replied with a tired voice. He had hoped he'd be alone in the warehouse.
'I'm assuming this means you weren't successful in having James letting you stay.' Mona said.
'No, he let me stay, I just ran myself. I... told him something I didn't want him to know and I just had to get out of there before I said more.' Adam explained.
'What did you say?' Mona asked curiously.
'That's none of your business, Mona.' Adam replied as he walked past her to the other side of the warehouse, not really sure what he was gonna do when he arrived there.
'You know you can't keep hiding, right? It's Lucifer. He'll get you.' Mona said.
Adam froze, but didn't reply.
'He's pretty pissed that you're avoiding him. I'm saying this for your own good, but I think you should go see him. The longer you wait, the angrier he'll be, the more awful it'll get.' Mona added.
'You failed the assignment too and you seem fine. Don't tell me to see him, when you didn't do it yourself.' Adam replied, turning around to face Mona again.
'I did see him. The thing is, I'm still in training. As long as I'm a student, any failures and troubles are the responsibility of my master. A.k.a you.' Mona explained.
A shiver ran down Adam's spine. He'd forgotten about that. Did that mean he'd get both his own punishment as well as Mona's?
'Hey, just go and get it over with, Adam. That way we can get a new assignment and move away from all the drama to get a fresh start with a new quest.' Mona said.
Adam avoided her eyes and stared at the floor instead, nervously biting his lip.
'You... you don't wanna move away from here, do you?' Mona asked.
"Damn it! Why is she so good at reading me? I hate it!" Adam thought, but he didn't react to her statement. The two were startled when suddenly a bright, red light shone from their right. When they turned to see it, they saw a portal open. A gate to Hell. Two demons stepped out. They were both big and buff. Adam didn't know exactly who they were, but he did know he wasn't gonna win a battle with them.
'Adam Ortiz? You need to come with us! The boss wants to see you and he's tired of waiting!' One of the two said.

James walked through the city, his mind racing. Dozens of questions, all started with one sentence. One little secret uncovered. Adam became a demon to save him. But save him from what?
"It's not your memory to be cursed with." He had said. What did he mean by that. Not his memory, why would he not have a memory of being in danger, despite the fact that the danger had to have been big enough to form a serious threat. Otherwise Adam wouldn't make such a sacrifice to save him. James looked over in the direction of the warehouse. Maybe he would find Adam there. Maybe he would be able to ask some questions. But what if he walked into something he didn't wanna see? No, Adam didn't have a mission at this point. He said he was hiding because he refused to kill Jaiden. But why would he refuse that if he had killed many angels before her? Maybe he did care about his friends. James only realized his legs had carried him to the warehouse, when he was right in front of the door. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
It was empty. No one was there. The daylight flowing in from the door illuminated the wall, showing a light switch. James hesitantly flicked it and bright, warm light filled the warehouse. James walked in a little further. He hadn't had the chance to look around the first time. Against the wall on his right were a couple of bookshelves. When the blonde looked at the titles, he learned it were probably books with spells. Some of them were even in a language he couldn't read. Against the wall in front of him, there were some tables with all sorts of weapons and torture tools. He shivered when he saw them and quickly turned to see what was on his left. This part of the warehouse seemed to be what he least expected. Some shelves with girl stuff he assumed was Mona's. A bed, a couch, a closet, a door with a bathroom sign and a little kitchen. Next to the door that led outside was a second couch. That was the one James had hidden behind when he came here the first time. The blonde felt curious. He knew better than to go through someone's personal stuff and he didn't wanna see the weapons from too close, so he walked over to the books. Most titles he couldn't read. Some of them were in different languages and even a couple of the English ones had weird words of which James did not know the meaning. He noticed a book with the title "simple spells for beginning demons" and was about to take it from the shelf when he heard a voice behind him.
'What in the world are you doing here?'
When James turned around, he saw Mona in the doorway. His face went pale and his heart skipped a beat as he saw what she was carrying. It was Adam. He seemed to be unconscious. There were bloodstains all over his clothes and even on his face and hands he had some severe injuries.
'What happened?' James asked worriedly as he ran over to the demon.
'Lucifer found him. He didn't like that Adam was trying to avoid him and on top of that, he still had his punishment for failing.' Mona explained as she put the unconscious demon down on the couch.
'Is he gonna be okay?' James asked.
'He'll be fine. It might take some time and it might leave some scars, but he'll be fine. Demon healing abilities are really the best. But why do you care? I thought you were mad at him.' Mona said.
'I... Mona? Do you know why Adam became a demon?' James asked.
'No... he never told me. I assume he was recruited by someone, but I have no idea.'
'Why do you think he was recruited?'
'That's how most of us become demons. But you didn't answer my question, James. Why do you care? Why are you even here?'
James looked over at the unconscious demon's face, worry overpowering any other emotion.
'I hoped to get some answers. You don't happen to know anything? He said he became a demon to save me.'
'Sorry, sugarcube. He never mentioned any of you guys until we arrived here and he didn't like talking about any of you with me. But you probably better go. Before you know it we get a new assignment and then it's done with the rest and back to the torture and murder.'
James felt a shiver run down his spine when Mona said that.
'I guess you're right.' He muttered as he turned around. Suddenly he felt someone grab his hand. When he turned around, he saw it was Adam. The male demon had woken up and stared at James.
'Stay...' he whispered with a weak voice.
'Ofcourse...' James replied, crouching down so he was on the same eye level as Adam.
'Why? Just a couple days ago I'm sure you would've started shouting at him as soon as he came near...'
'Can you leave us alone, Mona?' James asked, interrupting the female demon.
'But... I...'
'Leave us alone, Mona.' Adam said.
Mona sighed and turned around, going outside and closing the door behind her. She knew she had to listen to Adam since he technically was her master. She wished she had a master that was less weak. No, she didn't want another master. She wanted Adam to be less weak. But she'd never want another master. Because even after all this time, she still wasn't over him.

'Why did you come here?' Adam asked in a whisper, his voice sounding very weak. He tried to adjust himself, but yelped in pain.
'Take it easy, Adam. Just stay laying the way you are now...' James whispered worriedly. Adam nodded, a whimper escaping as he moved just a little bit.
'So... why did you come here?' Adam asked again after some more time passed.
'I had some questions...'
'I imagine you do... I'll save both of us the time and tell you immediately that I won't be answering them.'
'Why not? You said you saved me. It's about my life that was in danger.'
'But it's not in danger anymore, that's all that counts.'
'Maybe for you, Adam, but not for me. How can it be that I was in danger, but don't remember it?'
'You were seven, James. Just a kid. Kids forget so easily. Kids are so innocent, so oblivious, so naive... It's not anything a child should've known.'
'You were a child too, Adam. You were also seven. Why do you think there was any difference between us.'
'Because I was forced to grow up so fast...'
A silence fell over the two boys. James only now realized he was still holding Adam's hand and it made a blush fight it's way up his cheeks. He tried to stop paying attention to it, but the comfortable warmth of the demon's hand stayed a distraction.
'I'm, not a kid anymore, Adam. I should know...' James whispered.
'James... do you really think I would've kept secrets from you if it wasn't to protect you?' Adam whispered back as he placed his hand on the blondes cheek, using his thumb to wipe away a tear that James didn't even realize had escaped his eye.
'You're... you're trying to protect me? Why?' James asked.
'When will you get it through your thick head? I love you, James! I genuinely love you. This isn't like it was with Mona. I do actually love you. It's been messing with my mind for so long now. I didn't even know demons could fall in love. But I did. I fell so hard. This is all new territory for me, James. There are so many things I'm no longer sure of. But if there's one thing I know for certain, it's that I love you. And that I'd do anything to protect you. Whether that's means becoming a demon or keeping secrets or undergoing whatever torture possible. I want to protect you so badly, I'd be willing to die for it.'
James's and Adam's faces were only inches apart.
'You'd do all of that... for me?' The blonde whispered.
'Ofcourse... that's what you do when you're in love.' Adam replied.
'Yeah... love...' James muttered. He looked at Adam, feeling something fluttering in his stomach. His eyes fell shut as he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips carefully against Adam's.