Hell's torturer: The Demon in Disguise

Part 5

 It's been a while since I last came here. Steph usually doesn't like having guests. She's the type of girl who would cancel plans at the last moment to lie down and watch a horror movie alone. It's something we bonded over. That and the whole lie we concocted to prevent her parents from kicking her out. I still regret it. I don't even know if she still thinks about it, but I can't get it out of my head. I also can't help but think whether or not I would be able to do the same if I was in her predicament.

I get out of the Uber and close the door. He gives me a weird look after I open and close it again, three times over, but I try my best to ignore it. He probably thinks I'm a weirdo. Rachel says I should try to replace negative assumptions with positive ones, but the way he stares at me with his wrinkled face doesn't give out anything positive.

I go to the front door and press the doorbell on the apartment complex, waiting for an answer. Just as I start to think there is no one home, I hear a buzz and the door unlocks. A sigh of relief leaves my lips, knowing she's okay. My heart has never felt lighter as I'm walking up the stairs, anticipating our meeting. We'll chat for a little bit and I'm going home to focus on my studies. Just a few more steps. I can't help myself but count them as I go. There are 48 steps until I reach her apartment and I don't expect the number to change each time I visit her, but it still sets my mind at ease.

I knock on the big blue door with the number 38 on it and wait for her to answer, but instead of a petite brunette in her pajamas, I'm greeted by a tall man with dark hair and deep blue eyes. It takes me a second to but I recognize him.

"You must be Jamie," he says with a playful smile on his face and extends his arm to introduce himself. "My name is Damian. I believe we met the other day, yes? Stephanie has told me so much about you."

"Oh," I exclaim, for I have nothing better to say as I stare stupidly at this man who can easily be on the front cover of a magazine. "Are you guys..."

"Now, I wouldn't call it dating, but let's say we're more than just friends." He winks at me, before gesturing for me to come in.

"Is she here? I can come back at another time if it's okay."

"You came all the way here, I'll feel bad if I send you off now. Steph went out to get some groceries, she'll be back any minute now."

I can't think of an excuse on time, so I reluctantly go inside and take off my shoes. Thankfully he's not around to watch me take a ridiculous amount of time to align my velvet boots with the tiles on the parquet. Something about him makes me feel uncomfortable like I'm going to embarrass myself at any given moment. Sometimes I hate my brain for making me feel this way.

I sit on the couch and pull out my phone to distract myself, to my dismay, there isn't any connection to the wi-fi. I sigh and put it away, since my battery's close to a single digit anyway. How annoying that even when I check everything a thousand times before going out I still forget to charge my phone.

My eyes wander off to the blue walls, where they settle on a painting of a mount Fuji, that is slightly skewed on one side. I look around to see if Damian is still there and quickly get up to fix the edges before he sees me. As I sit back I notice that it's not just the painting, the photographs on the wall are nudged to the side too. It almost seems like it is on purpose. There are three candles on the small glass table in front of the TV, but only two of them are lit. The white carpet is skewed and has a dark smudge on it. Steph threw so much money on this thing, that I'm surprised she hasn't cleaned it immediately. She's the only person I know who could match my preference for tidiness.

"Do you want to watch a movie while we wait?" I jolt when I hear his voice. It's like he suddenly materialized behind me.

"Sure," I cross my arms, trying to appear as small as possible as he sits on the other end of the couch, then picks up the remote to scroll down the library. I'm glad he's keeping a distance. Back then, when he put his hand on my shoulder, it raised my heartbeat to such a level, that my fitness tracker confused it for an elliptical workout. "What movie do you want to watch?"