How To Make A Demon

A Moment Of Peace

I happily moved into our new home the very next day, not wanting to wait until after the wedding. Although I'd never admit it, I was relived; for a while I'd thought I'd be moving into his old house. It still gave me the creeps and I avoided going there as much as I could.

Mother claimed she was sad to see me go, but I could tell she was also worried about loosing my financial support. She didn't need to worry, Alastor and I had promised to take care of her. I'd already assured her that I would be visiting all the time anyway.

Alastor had already moved into our new cottage, happy to leave his old house and its haunting memories behind. He kept it for the time being though, as his visiting cousins were staying there for the wedding. As soon as they were gone, I wanted to burn it to the ground.

His cousin Thea was a beautiful young woman with the same caramel skin and warm brown eyes as him. She had brought along her husband Henry and two small children, Alfie and Louise, aged 5 and 8. They seemed to be a happy family, although Henry kept to himself a lot. He barely said two words to me when we met.

Thea and I clicked immediately as she had a very similar personality to Alastor. Her dry sense of humour and love of music worked in my favour and I won her over easily. I got the impression that she didn't have company often, as she seemed to be spending a lot of time with the two of us. She came to our cottage every day with her children, who were very cute and well behaved. Alfie had a mischievous grin that I recognised all too well.

Alastor was amazing with the children, which made my heart swell. He hadn't seen them since Alfie was a baby, but they loved their "favourite uncle" and his enthusiasm in the games they made up and played together. Often the three of them would be playing tag in the garden, which made me smile.

Thea and I watched them sipping lemonade from the patio, laughing at and enjoying the clear fun they were having.

"Isn't he so good with them?" She chuckled as Alastor allowed himself to be tackled and taken down by a 5 year old.

"He is," I mused. "I've never seen him like this before. It's very sweet."

"It must be nice to know that he will be a good father," Thea grinned at me.

I didn't have any response to that, and sipped my lemonade thoughtfully. In truth I had been considering my future with him and what kind of family we would be. We had not been abstinent by any means, but always used protection. Lately, I'd been wondering if it would really be so bad if I were to loose the diaphragm and let fate decide. Alastor had always wanted us to have kids. That would be a discussion to have after the wedding, I decided, shaking the thought from my head.

Perhaps I was only opposed to having children because I myself had come from a broken home. But seeing Alastor like this... I could picture him playing tag with our own dark haired children, running in carefree bliss around the garden.

The three of us decided to go out one evening, Alastor, Thea and I. Henry stayed behind to watch the kids.

We visited a jazz bar I performed at regularly, eager for an evening of dancing and letting loose. Thea especially so; she hadn't had a night out since practically before she became a mother. One of the regular bands were playing, I recognised some of its members and waved at them from across the room.

One of them was Emmet. He had still kept his promise of being a friend to me, which was nice. He had a long term partner now called Vera, who was sweet and a chatterbox just like him. I'd met her a few times and we seemed to get on well. I spotted her in the crowd too, here supporting her partner. I smiled and decided I would go and say hi to them later on.

Thea and Alastor together were like a whirlwind- they barely paused for breath as they chattered and caught up with each other. I almost felt like I was forgotten about, except for Alastor's hand soothing against my back.

"Ah, sweet cousin. How I have missed you!" He exclaimed. "You must come down to visit more often."

"Oh, honey you know I'd love to. But being a wife and a mother and all takes up every second of my free time." Thea sighed longingly.

"Careful now, you don't want to be putting this one off." Alastor grinned, pulling me closer.

I laughed, rolling me eyes. "If that were possible, I would have vanished long ago."

"You two are a good match, it's as if you were made for each other." Thea chuckled lightly. There was something in the way she looked at me, as if she were envious.

"I hope your husband is treating you well?" Alastor asked, also noticing the strange look.

"Oh, Henry's a sweetheart. He has a temper sometimes, but what man doesn't? I am a very lucky woman to have him." But she didn't sound overly convincing, not meeting Alastor's skeptical gaze.

I decided that was a good time to leave them to their discussion, and I excused myself to go and catch up with Emmet. Him and Vera had been  thrilled to receive their wedding invitation and the three of us chatted excitedly about the upcoming day.

We returned home pretty late in the evening, it was gone midnight. I scolded Alastor for staying out for so long as he was due on air the following morning, but it was so nice to see him catching up with family. Ever since his mother's death, he rarely had visitors.

We arrived back at our little cottage, and I was exhausted and beyond ready to go to bed. But Alastor had found something in his pocket.

"Ah. It's Thea's purse," he said. She had given it to him earlier to hold while we were dancing.

"She can survive for one night without a purse," I smiled. "Come, my almost husband. Let's go to bed."

"I think I'll just run it back to her quickly," he frowned, a concerned expression on his face. "She will still be awake if I go now."

"Hurry back to me," I said, planting a kiss on his lips.

"Mmm, very tempting. I'll be home soon." He was smiling as he walked out the door. But something in his eyes made me wonder if there was something I didn't know. He looked worried.

His old home was only two blocks away, so he would be back soon enough. It was embarrassing that I actually missed him. I went upstairs and prepared myself for bed, removing my makeup and slipping into a nightgown.

I tried to stay awake, but sleep must have taken me at some point because I woke up to a loud knocking on the front door.

With a groan, I rolled onto my side, intending on shaking my soon to be husband awake. But, exhausted and confused, I noticed that Alastor wasn't next to me. That would be him at the door then, I quickly remembered that he'd stepped out. He must have forgotten his key. I padded back downstairs to let him inside.

Sure enough, he was there on the threshold.

"Did you forget your key, my love?" I yawned, my voice thick with sleep.

And then I saw him clearly.

His cheek was bleeding, a huge cut gauged across his face, which also featured a quickly blackening eye. His clothes were a mess, his shirt torn and missing several buttons. His usual neatly ruffled hair was sticking to his face, the blood from his cut cheek crusting and clumping into it.

But what was most alarming was the fact that he was absolutely head to toe soaked in blood. There was a deep gash in his shoulder that was bleeding protrusively and covering his clothes.

He clutched at his shoulder and practically fell through the doorway and into my arms.