Loving The Devil's Son ( #Wattys2017 )

Chapter 26: Wish I Had Some Hunting Gear Right About Now

Song:  That's what I like

Artist(s): Bruno Mars

"Wha—" I exhale, confused, my eyes still glued to the slit-free skin. I steady my breaths that reveal the disquieting shock and reevaluate what happened. Both males had been wrestling each other until the guy kicked Aiden off. Then, he slashed Aiden in the side while his attention was on... me. 

I grit my teeth, full of regret and confused by why I hadn't just called the police instead of telling him that I was 'going to' as an assurance. This is the part where everyone throws tomatoes (preferably bricks) at the stupid person in the movie; heck, I'd join them too. Fucking idiot, Lauren.

"Lauren, you must have not seen it right. See, I'm okay," he says softly, sitting up. 

Before his shirt folds over the 'invisible' wound, I hastily lift it back up. "No, Aiden!" I spout, him not reacting even by an inch. "I-I heard that sound you made when he pulled back." I run my hand through my hair, eyes closed. I lick my lips, my eyes falling back down to his side. "Aiden, there's blood on your hip," I say, my voice dropping mid-sentence into a whisper

"Then explain to me why I have no cut," he comes right out, a passive challenge. 

"That's what I'd like to know," I shoot back.

"You know, there isn't any other logical explanation besides simply not getting cut at all."

I heave a sigh, exasperated. "'How can you just expect me to exclude any previous knowledge and replace it all with a unornamented statement like that?" 

"Must it be a complete oddity to be occasionally answered so conspicuously in life, Lauren?" he questions rather authoritatively. His eyes are calm, but the face they rest on look faintly wan. "Is everything obliged to temporarily retain complexity in order to be valid? Come on, Lauren."

"Well what was with all the groaning then? If it weren't for my, yes, previous knowledge in the scenario, I could have simply assumed you were getting fucked from the back."

He looks down and back up at me, the corner of his mouth open crookedly. 'Seriously?' his face expression tells me. "Lauren, I was taking on someone larger than myself; did you expect me to giggle?"

I grunt. "Gah, no, that's not it. I just... I—" I shift in my seat.

"Lauren, do you believe in a God?"

I barely shake my head. Why with this question all of the sudden? I answer anyway, a tad questioning in my tone. "Yeah."

"When it comes to putting your faith in a God, you don't have the answer to every question, right? When it all boils down, that's what you need to have: faith." He crosses his fingers in his lap and sighs. "I'm not saying that you can't ask your questions, but when you don't get a response— when you don't get the response you're looking for— is that really when you drop the credence?"

I bite my lip and shake my head. I can't aver else otherwise, because he's right. I may have a family that neutralizes and kills demons, sure, but there was a time when I hadn't known about all of that. A time when I used to think what my parents meant by 'hunting' was gathering up some bullets for the rifles to hunt deer, rabbits— animals. A time when I used to ask myself so many questions about who God was and 'What's in it for me in this world?' instead of 'What's in it for us?' My family isn't religious in the sense of going to church and praying, but knowing that there were humans, even though a small handful, who were blessed with blood to actually kill the Devil is pretty huge for even some witch to come up with. There was no hard evidence, just hard faith.