Inner Demons

Chapter Nine: A Clear Goal

Quinn turned around and peered into the mirror and her jaw dropped. Gwen stood behind her with a pair of scissors and surrounded by small strands of brown hair. The back of Quinn's hair was cut a bit shorter and flared out slightly at the sides, the hair framing her face was left mostly untouched and her tiny horns could be visibly seen on her head. 

"They were not that big a few weeks ago..." he remarked, poking them cautiously. 

"They grow fast, once they start," Gwen replied, Quinn paused for a second and sent her a suspicious look. 

"How would you know?" she asked, the other female just chuckled. 

"I've seen plenty of demons like you in my lifetime. I know them better than you think," she replied with a sly smile. 

All of a sudden, shouting came from the main room, Gwen pulled the door open and Quinn rushed out. Vanth was on his feet and snarling at Jamie as he growled back just as angry. 

"The hell is wrong with you kid?" Vanth spat, clearly angry. 

"I don't have to deal with your shit, you're not my Dad. I'm done with this," Jamie grabbed his jacket and threw the door open, Quinn saw Gwen run to Vanth and try to calm him down. 

She looked back at Jamie, he was leaving, he was halfway out the door when Quinn sprinted after him. It was still dark out, nearing morning. Jamie was stomping down the hall of the hotel, growling angrily, she sprinted up to him. 

"J-Jamie? Are you okay..." 

He turned on her, his eyes wide in fury, his mouth turned down and teeth bared as he grabbed the collar of her sweater, he brought his head down and bashed his horns against her head, she let out a stifled yell as he struck her, hard. She stumbled back against the wall, holding her head, it was throbbing angrily and she could already feel the beginnings of a headache echoing in her skull. She was gaping at him, traces of regret on his face, but he was still angry. 

"The hell was that for!?" Quinn snapped, her anger taking over. 

Jamie was taken aback by her sudden burst of anger, since she was typically so quiet. His mouth was set in a line as he spoke, 

"Why do you care so much about that guy?" he asked, she paused. 

"Vanth?" she asked, Jamie scowled at his name. 

"I can't stand him. He just stood there weaponless when that demon guy attacked, he wasn't even trying to help us!" Jamie growled, "And to make it worse, when he was injured everyone just flocked to him to make sure he was okay. He had a dagger in his jacket, i saw it, he could have used it to protect us. And when that Belial guy was eyeing us, Vanth only told him to get away from you..." his teeth were grit and his eyes narrow. 

"You never asked if I was okay, no one did. He doesn't care about me. No one does..." he said quietly, he was about to say more when suddenly a fist connected with his cheek, he jerked backwards and put his hand over the spot where Quinn had punched him. 

"Idiot!" she yelled,her voice going high pitched and all the fight went out of Jamie. She wasn't happy. 

"What do you mean no one cares about you? That's bullshit!" she snarled, he was just standing there, hand on his cheek in surprise as her anger got the better of her. 

"You're an oblivious idiot you know that?" she muttered, her voice quieting down. 

Jamie bit his lip and kept quiet. 

"We all care about you! Vanth wouldn't have picked you up like he did if he hated you, and he took that wound for the both of us. We care about you, I care about you." she said, the anger vented and her voice back to it's normal volume. She exhaled and looked up, Jamie was looking down on her with something odd in his sea blue eyes, he was about to speak when a white head popped into the hallway. 

"You two kids all done?" Gwen asked cheerfully, Jamie flushed and looked away. 

"We need to sleep, we only have a few hours before the sun comes up and if we're going to find Abaddon then we need energy," she pipped and slid back inside just as quick as she entered. 

Jamie awkwardly met Quinn's eyes. 

"By the way..." he started, she waited expectantly, 

"You have quite the punch..." he remarked. She rolled her eyes as they headed back inside.

Gwen examined Quinn's head briefly before they went to bed, after shining her phone's flashlight into Quinn's stunned green eyes, she determined she didn't have a concussion and was safe to sleep. 

After five minutes of debate of who would sleep where, somehow Quinn and Jamie ended up sleeping in the same bed, Gwen reasoning that since they knew each other they would sleep better, Quinn reasoned that Jamie shouldn't sleep with Vanth because of his outburst, and somehow they ended up in the same bed. Much to Quinn's annoyance later that night. 

She was just about to drop off when Jamie started moving around in his sleep, first it was just shifting around, then it was slapping her clean across the face and snuggling up to her back. She was suffering awkwardly in silence as he finally quieted down with his forehead pressed against her back. She felt more awkward than she had ever felt in her life, but she still managed to drop off to the sound of Jamie's light breathing behind her and his breath on her neck.

A light assaulted Quinn's eyes as she attempted to bury her face in the pillow to blot it out, her attempt was foiled when she found she couldn't move. She shifted a little in an attempt to roll over, it took her a second to realize that Jamie was splayed out on top of her. Her face exploded red as she sat up so fast she knocked him clean off her. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and let out a yawn, oblivious to what he had previously been doing, Vanth chuckled on the next bed over, 

"Kid's got more game than I gave him credit for," he chuckled as he pulled a new shirt on over the freshly replaced bandages. 

Quinn was blushing, Jamie was blissfully oblivious and half asleep beside her. 

Gwen entered the room with two grocery bags in her right hand, several unmarked ones in her left, she placed them down on the table in the corner and began digging through, pulling out a muffin and biting into it, she held it in her mouth as she poured herself a glass of warm apple juice. 

Quinn crawled out of the bed and sauntered over, sleep still plaguing her eyelids as she accepted a muffin from the other girl. She bit into it and went to head for a shower when she seemed to realize she had no other clothes, she turned and looked back at Gwen, the white haired girl gestured to the bed, a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt sat there, as well as clean undergarments. 

"Mine, i'm not sure how well they'll fit but it's worth a shot," she replied, Quinn said a quick thank you and headed to the bathroom. 

Once Jamie had been roused and Gwen mysteriously came out with a change of clothes for him, they all headed out the back stairwell, leaving the room as they had found it. Vanth's ripped and bloodied trench coat was gone and instead he wore a simple dark green sweater over his bloodied shirt. The four of them paraded out the back of the hotel, unseen, and headed towards the park where they landed the night before, Vanth was still in pain, but Gwen seemed to think he was fit for the walk as she said nothing about the way he was limping. 

"...Where are we going?" Quinn asked, Gwen just smiled mysteriously. 

"Well, we need to find Abaddon and get him to beat some sense into Belial before he does something stupid. Last I heard he was headed to Europe with a few other demons to see if they couldn't reclaim their old lands...I don't think he grasps the gravity of how long it's been since they lived there, there's no way it's still intact," Gwen explained, 

"We're headed across the ocean!?" Jamie exclaimed, perking up suddenly from beside Quinn who was still feeling awkward from the incident earlier. 

"Yep. We're gonna head out and fetch some more supplies first, then it's across the ocean we go." she replied, 

"...How are we going to get there?" Quinn asked, she chuckled slyly.

"Wait and see."