Demons Among Us

Chapter 19: Dylan

What the hell did I just witness, Dylan thought to himself as he led Yazmina out of the restaurant, her outburst was so unexpected and the tone of her voice was harsh and forceful yet it was the sweetest voice he'd ever heard, jesus what's wrong with me Dylan yelled silently to himself.

The three of them made their way down the main street in silence, they all seem to be reflecting on the events that just happened, finally Jenna broke the silence "so once we get there and find the ruins or whatever, what then"?

Dylan thought about that, he didn't figure they would find anything, he was just hoping that Yazmina would finally see that what she is saying isn't possible, if she could see that then maybe he could help her with whatever else was going on with her and then maybe just maybe he could keep her.

Keep her! he yelled in his head, she's not your property he admonished to himself, he had no right to keep her but his instinct was telling him to keep her and keep her safe. Dylan had ignored his instinct most of his life, he always had this inner voice that would guide him or give him the instinct to always know what to do and how to act.

As a child he welcomed his instinct, it told him who to make friends with and who to stay away from, it told him where to find toys when he lost them and when his parents were trying to trick him into eating his vegetables, then he began to speak out loud to his instinct and that's when things went bad.

Dylan would have conversation with the inner voice or his instinct as he came to know it, he only did this when he was alone or at least he thought he was, about a week after he was having private one sided conversations with his instinct a knock came at the front door he heard the loud knocking all the way in his room. They're coming for you his instinct told him in a rush.

Dylan frantically searched for a way out but being 7 years old he was too short to reach the window, his parent had put it high on the wall on purpose and kept it locked, he never understood why but also didn't really care that's just the way it was. Dylan started to panic as he heard steps heading towards his room, he listened for his instinct but it was quiet, so he did what any 7 year old would do, he hid in his closet. Dylan snapped out of his memory when he heard Yazmina speak "Huh"? he responded.

"Close"? Yazmina asked, Dylan told her that they were 2 blocks away, he chuckled to himself when saw Yazmina's look of confusion on her face "Yes, were close" he said. They had just crossed the street when his instinct spoke, be patient. Dylan froze mid step as his instinct spoke again everything is about to change, be ready.

They moved on in silence again, Dylan wished he knew what to say, even Jenna was unusually quiet he couldn't blame her, a lot has happened and he was afraid this was not even the beginning. He wondered what to do about Jenna, she was already way more involved then she was suppose to be and now she's heading to the beach with them, he listened for his instinct for guidance but he couldn't hear it. Of course he thought to himself bitterly

Dylan turned to Jenna and answered " first we need to find the ruin that we saw if its still there and then I don't know" he told her honestly then continued "I guess were going to have to see how Yaz reacts" he finished. Jenna smirked at him and said "and when exactly did she become Yaz"?

Did really just call her that he asked himself, he didn't know why he called her Yaz it just seemed right, hell he didn't even know he had called her that until Jenna pointed it out and that got him thinking, when did she become Yaz and what did that mean?

He looked down and saw Yazmina's head moving all around, she seem to be taking in everything around her, studying it, he smiled at the wonder that was written on her face, like she was actually seeing all this for the first time, he felt his instinct stir but pushed it away, two can play at that game he thought and turned his attention back to Yazmina.

"So what do you think of out little beach town? he asked and immediately felt stupid, really Dylan that's what you lead with. " I mean do you have beaches where your from" he tried again. At least if she answered that he might get an idea of where she was from.

He was surprised when she answered and he felt his instinct perk up "no beaches, best swamps, lots to hunt and explore, so many different creatures". He could tell by the way she responded that she longed to be wherever it is she's describing.

Wherever she was describing sounded dreadful to him, he could imagine the smell of the swamp and pictured gnarly old trees scattered about, he didn't even want to think of hunting any animals from a swamp and did she eat them oh god he hoped not.

As they made their way down the street to the deserted beach the silence was palpable and everyone was lost in their own thoughts, no one knew what to expect or what they would see when they got there. What would he say to Yazmina once she realized nothing was there, hell what will he do with her if there is nothing there.

Dylan could smell the beach before they could see it, he wrinkled his nose, it didn't smell the same, the smell of water lapping up the sand then retreating back to its home was different there was a bitter smell to it that he didn't recognize and it made him uneasy.