The Demon I Used To Be

Chapter fourteen

    He ran back to me, grabbed my hand and pulled me.
   "Hey! Stop right there!", someone far behind us yelled.
    He grabbed the fence top, immediately we reached, and pulled himself up to plant his feet on it, swiftly. "Hurry up", he whispered to me, holding out his hand as he squatted. I gripped his wrists and he wrapped his fingers around mine then I planted my feet on the wall and trudged steadily till I was up with him. We look down, simultaneously. There was a man approaching. "Get back here!", he screamed in a croaky manner. He couldn't have thought we'd obey; although, he had a phone is his hand that he dialed quickly and pressed against his ear. We jumped down, into the dark and narrow street. He took my hand again, he'd let go when I reached up, then we ran as fast as we could, with him leading. His bag smacked his back severally as we ran. It didn't look heavy.
    The street was dark for a while as we ran then we turned left after two other compounds, and passed through an alley that led us to a brighter street. He stopped abruptly; I didn't realize he was going to. I tripped on my step, and slumped into his arm. It was like he saw it coming. "You should work on your stamina", he smirked.
    For a second, his right arm was wrapped around me, and I'd tightened my hold of his other hand when I lurched. Some of my skin got exposed as my hoodie shifted, and his fingers brushed it. I blinked three times in a jiffy as I stood back on my feet. Our gazes had also been interlocked. I pulled my right hand from the comfort of his shoulder that was once another support to avoid reaching the ground then adjusted my stance. With how hard my heart thumped, it felt like it was about to burst my chest open.
    I took deep breathes, and continued walking without him. I felt him hang his jacket on my shoulders from behind.
   "I'm not cold", I gave a witty reply. He chuckled, then hastened his steps.
   "Cold is the least thing we should be worried about right now", he said as he caught up with me. We now moved at the same pace, him by my left.
    I gulped sheepishly at my comeback then prepared myself, mentally, before continuing. "So, this is for?".
   "It'd be too easy to find a girl in an ash hoodie and a guy in a blue and red jacket if they still had them on two minutes later", he explained. Before the ash hoodie, a blue shirt with thin black stripes had been under the jacket. He swung his bag back to his back, letting it hang from his left shoulder. I shrugged at his explanation.
    After a while of the silent trek, we'd turned multiple times in different directions, and hadn't stopped walking.
   "Why did you even run? We nearly got caught", I tossed at him, realizing I had just strolled about a kilometer from where I lived. He was silent, for a while. I turned my head to see if he'd been lost in his thought, and our eyes met. The period of time it lasted would be negligible compared to a jiffy; I looked ahead of me as soon as I met the brown eyes.
   "So...", he cleared his throat, and gulped, "... I should've stood and let us actually get caught."
   "Well, thanks to you, I'm homeless"
   "You were an intruder in that building, anyway. But this time, you'll be staying with me", he retorted.
   "You must really feel smart". I stopped and turned to face him, folding my arms with a shrug. My eyebrows were also creased. My glare at him was undisturbed until he replied softly, "Hey, I'm sorry", slapping my arm, gently, and exposing a gap between his upper incisors in a cute smile. My gaze was now tender. I gulped. His lips merged again, but his eyes were still on me. I looked away. My heart had started fluttering again. The road ahead of us was still long. By my right, there were tall buildings, block of flats, with narrow passages between them. It gave me a sense of déjà vu as I scrutinized the lighted street. A familiar woman dumped a big black bag into one of the waste bins in front of the buildings at my right.
   Shortly after, he grabbed my hand and took me towards the next building. He opened the door and behind it was a series of steps leading upwards. I rolled my eyes and sighed, " oh boy", then we trudged up. It had been almost ten years since I last climbed so many stairs.
   "Do you live here? I mean, do you go up and down these stairs everyday?", I whined. We had passed the first two floors, and were still on our way up. We had rotated at edges whenever we reached a lobby with two doors on either side.
    "There's an elevator", he replied. I froze. I could feel my inside burn. My legs already ached from the trekking, before we started the journey up. I assumed the elevator was bad then let out a sigh and continued moving.
   "It should better get fixed quickly", I muttered under my breath. He puffed a chuckle, "There's nothing wrong with it". I stopped again then turned to face him. We had reached another lobby. The lights along the stairs were red and dim. I creased my eyebrows as I glared at him. A snicker escaped through clenched teeth.
    'He must have a reason', I said to myself. This was something I hadn't done for any other person since year two thousand and eleven; giving mental excuses to myself.
    "Why did you make us go through the stairs?"
    "I just wanted to hold your hand for longer, pardon me". For a second, his stunning reply aggravated the flame in me. I smacked his face without thinking, sending his gaze to the floor. He still had my hand in his. I regretted immediately. My heart thumped hard. My breathing became unsteady. He remained like that for quite a while. He couldn't have expected my reaction. I wondered what he'd do as I watched his face turn pale. He raised his head, but still looked away. I opened my mouth to apologize. The words wouldn't come out; they'd been missing from my heart for nine years. I looked away from him, focusing my gaze on the door by our left. It was silver, and was in two parts: one seeming to overlap the other. That was clearly leading to an elevator. I just hadn't noticed. I tried not to regret anymore. Besides, he shouldn't have let me strain my legs so badly; didn't he deserve the slap?
   I looked back at him. His eyes were on me. My eyes met them, their tender gaze.
    "I deserve it. I shouldn't have stressed you like this. I'm sorry", he said, softly, then let my hand drop to my side. He walked past me to the other door. "We're here already"
   It felt like my heart had been squashed till it melted. I shut my eyes and cursed myself, mentally. At the squeaking of the door, I turned around and joined him in. He flicked a switch by the door as we entered, lighting up the room. He shut the door behind me, and locked it.
    The room was not so small, everything fitted comfortably in its place: the box television on a table, the red loveseat and three-seated sofa, the wooden center table, picture frames hanging on the wall and the standing fan by the TV.
     I felt the jacket leave my shoulders and turned to pick it up, but I saw him fling it unto his shoulder. He still didn't say anything as he walked away, through a cream curtain that hung over a door frame. I stared at one of the seats, my legs still suffering in pain. My dad had taught us NOT to act like we're home at just anyone's place; he always asked for permission before sitting. At this point, I couldn't even ask him to excuse me. I didn't want to speak and not get a reply.
   Whenever dad was angry with mum, he'd give her the silent treatment until she apologizes. Sometimes, she'd need to beg continuously before he reasons with her.
    After a few minutes, he was out again, dressed in a plain blue round-neck tee and black shorts with two white stripes on each side.  "Have you been standing there?"
    "It's your house, not mine"
    "Are you for real?", he asked, hastening his steps towards me. He pulled me by my elbow and made me sit. "I'll get you something to eat"
     I waited for about a minute then he appeared with a tray in his hands. On the tray were two bowls of spaghetti with forks pronged into each and two bottles of water. He placed it carefully on the table then handed me one of the bowls.
   "Thanks"
   "You're welcome"
    I attacked the spaghetti immediately and began munching. The taste sent me to the moon. I felt eyes on me so I raised my head. He smiled, sheepishly, clearly holding back laughter. "Can we talk? Tell me more about you"
   I gulped down the bolus in my mouth then replied, "What about me?"
   "Let's skip to what's interesting – your love life"
    "I don't have one. What else?", I retorted.
   "You don't have one...why?", he replied between munches. I heaved a huge sigh, rolling my eyes simultaneously. "What's so important about it?". I pronged my meal and spun the fork, carefully, to get the most of it.
    "Well...I don't know. But, that would mean you're virgin, right?"
   I nearly choked on spaghetti. That question...