Cradle Her In Darkness, Love Her In Light

Chapter 8

Shawn approached Tara with slow, cautious steps, pretending to wipe down the counter with a dry rag. He was not a great actor. Once he was just a foot away, he finally spoke. "Ava mentioned that she... told you."

"Mmhmm," Tara responded. It was the first sound she had made vocally in almost twenty-four hours.

He took it as a confirmation to continue. "She said you seemed to go into shock and... stopped talking."

It was true. After her girlfriend of a single month, whom she had only known for around nine weeks, announced she was a mythical being, Tara had found herself struggling to digest the announcement and comment on it. She wasn't entirely sure she believed it. But Ava was not the type to make silly or childish jokes. And the way she said the word 'demon', it was paralysing. In fact, she had felt paralysed inside of her own mind since she found out. Her girlfriend is a demon. A biblical creature. A monstrous entity from another realm.

Again, Tara could only hum in answer. "Mmm."

"She said she carried you home, dropped you off, and you went inside without saying goodbye."

Also true. Having attempted a few times to encourage Tara to speak or stand on her trembling legs, Ava had admitted defeat, gathered the smaller woman in her arms carefully and held her against her firm chest. She had then carried her out, locking the door to Jessi's Java behind her, and walked steadily to Tara's apartment building. Every movement felt slow and calculated, it gave Tara the suspicion that Ava was deliberately doing her best not to spook her further. With a quiet tone she advised that she would let Shawn know he needed to start his shift early, then placed Tara on her feet at the building's front door. Tara nodded gratefully, although did not turn her head to look Ava in the face, and let herself in with fumbling fingers.

"Mmhmm."

"And that you didn't respond to any of her messages all night."

"Mmm."

"And I can't help but notice you haven't said a word all morning."

"Mmhmm."

Silence filled the empty cafe for a few minutes. Neither of them moved. They must have looked like a pair of mannequins, stood immaculately still at the counter and facing the front door.

"And... you're scaring me a little," Shawn said with an awkward humour layered over his words. Something about them flicked a switch in Tara's mind, it triggered a spark of frustration and annoyance within her.

"What do you have to be scared of?" she said far too sharply. "You're one too, right?"

He considered his answer momentarily, his mouth twisted with indecision, before replying with his own question. "Did she tell you that?"

Tara murmured, "no." She had been hoping he would deny it.

"Well, even demons feel fear, Tara."

Hearing the word spoken so casually was still grating to her ears, she wasn't adjusted to this reality yet. This foreign world in which she was dating... a demon. Tara was still debating whether or not she could simply pretend she had never heard what Ava said the previous day, play dumb for the duration of their relationship. But how long would that be?

"How much longer will the silent treatment be going on for? I may have to turn the radio up."

Tara let out a sigh that was bordering on a groan before grumbling, "it's not the silent treatment, I'm thinking."

"In that case, do you want to ask anything? You probably have lots you want to know."

"I'm still processing the word 'demon," Tara admitted, unable to look at him when she said the word that now felt like an expletive. "I haven't really progressed beyond that."