Annaveri

Chapter 3

The rain pounded against the payment. It was a cloudy dark night, and a storm was approaching fast. "Oi oi, I know! Bummer though..." A young man cried out to himself. His umbrella popped open and he ran from the storm. A young woman with long, blue hair knelt down. She reached out her hand, and ever so gently slid her fingers across the cheek of the boy, and she vanished. He woke up, but not out in the rain. His face laid on a fluffy pillow, his hand gripping onto the undisturbed sheets. He did not move. The smell of lavender fluttered around him, and the light of the day shown through a big window. His soft breath flipped up his hair, but it fell back down onto the pillow. In the distance, a door sounded shut. Keys rattled hard, and dropped on the table. The boy turned over slowly, and looked down the hall. A very tall man with long thin hair walked in. He stopped and looked at him. "You're up!" Even though he was tall and heavy looking, his foot steps were light and almost unnoticeable. "Can you sit up for me?" He asked. The boy blinked at him, then slowly sat up, but yelped loudly. His side was wrapped in bandages. Blood began seeping through on his left, and the man noticed. "You seem to not be healing. Lets change these ok?" He began to change the bandages, and took his time, carefully unwrapping, cleaning the wound, and reapplying the bandages. "Can you speak English?" He asked. The boy shook his head. Though the boy spoke fluent french, all demons can understand each other just as well as others who speak the same language. The man nodded. "Ok, well what's your name?"

"Ypolous."

"That's a nice name, I'm Siopi." 

"Mh." 

"How old are you?"

"!! ...uh..." He began to count on his fingers, but when that didn't work he put them down. Siopi smiled a bit at him and watched. "Here, open your mouth." He instructed. Hesitantly, Ypolous did so. Siopi counted all his teeth, and felt his fangs. "7 years, almost close to that big 10." He mumbled. "For your fangs to be that sharp it's crazy, do you eat?" Ypolous shook his head. "Hm. Do you feed?" Feeding and eating are two different things: eating is consuming humans, animals or plants. Feeding is drinking the blood of them.

"My mother used to let us feed, but she stopped."

"Ah, I see."

"Can I take these bandages off?"

"Huh? You cant leave an open wo-"

"Its gone now." They both stared at each other. Siopi raise an eyebrow and he took off the bandages. Ypolous' wound had healed right up like he said. "See? All gone." He said softly. Siopi stared at his side in amazement, but it turned into a smile. "That will be very useful for you in the future." 

"Mama tells me that all the time-...you have horns...!" 

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Why?"

"And fangs! You're a demon too?"

"Yes, I am. Just like you."

"Can I feel you're horns...?" Siopi looked at him and thought a bit, but bent down and let Ypolous touch them. His tail flicked excitedly and he smiled. "Mama always told me stories about other species of demons...but I've never seen one before...your horns and ears are so different from mine, why is that?" 

"All species look different from each other. Now, I have errands to run, and since I can't leave you here by yourself, you will have to come with me. I want you to get dressed." He got up and began to walk out. "Ah, Siopi? I have no clothes..." Ypolous mumbled looking down at the sheets on him. Siopi stopped and looked at him, then got him one of his shirts and put him on it. "You will be fine in that for now, c'mon."

The streets were busy with people running errands too. Everyone in and out of stores, walking their hell hounds, doing their jobs. Siopi pulled out a thick envelope and walked down the pathway, his long legs carrying him quickly. Ypolous struggled to keep up. People bumped into him and he wanted to look around, and every little thing caught his eye. New sights, new sounds, new colors. He hadn't been outside in 5 years, and he wanted to see what he had missed out on for so long. "Keep up, Ypolous." Shouted Siopi above all the noise. A chained up hound barked loudly at him, scaring him and making him run to Siopi, but he began to slow down again as he looked around. Siopi looked back and began to get irritated. He picked up little Ypolous and carried him on his neck. Ypolous looked down at him. "Sorry..." He mumbled. "When I give you a command it is for your own good. What I say, you do. Understood?" The irritation was heard clearly in Siopi's voice, and his eyes narrowed.
"Yes sir..." Ypolous mumbled again. Siopi carried him into a small building of marble floors and light blonde walls. He tossed the envelope on the desk and reached in his pocket, but looked up at the woman at the desk, not acknowledging him at all. His eyes narrowed more, and he clicked his tongue, making a soft "tch" sound. The woman still did not look up. "For?" She muttered, and after a few seconds of  silence, she looked up. Siopi glared at her hard, his brows furrowed down on his pitch black eyes. "I come here every week on the exact same day, hour, second. And your asking me... for?  You're kidding me right?" The woman jumped and immediately grabbed the thick envelope and opened it. "I-I'm so sorry Sir Siopi I had no idea it was yo-"
"I don't have the time, and I don't wish to make it for the horrible customer service here. This place is going down and it's gonna drag you down with it. If I was your boss, you would be fired." The woman froze for a second, but continued her job and avoided eye contact. "I am sorry...Your majesty-"