Demons // l.t. ✔️

8

"Hello, children," Mr. Morris smirks.

"Mr. Morris?" Kaia asks, shocked. "But you're not a demon. I would've sensed it across the classroom."

"Do you sense anything now?" Mr. Morris pushes his half-moon glasses up his nose.

Kaia pauses, her eyes turning bright purple for a split second. I jump up in my chair. Her purple eyes turn back to brown.

"That's weird," Kaia mutters.

"What's weird?" I ask.

"How are you a demon now?" Kaia glares at Mr. Morris. "How'd you do that?"

"Kaia," Mr. Morris grins. "With someone as smart as you, shouldn't you know what's going on by now?"

I stare into Mr. Morris's eyes, and when he looks at me, for a split second, his black eyes flash green, and then they go back to brown.

"You're not Mr. Morris," I hiss. "But that's impossible. You aren't--"

Mr Morris slowly shifts into a different person. Brown eyes turn green, bald head grows dark black hair, potbelly disappears, his body becomes long and lanky instead of short and stubby.

"Oh my god," I say loudly.

"Hi, Louis," the boy grins.

"You know him?" Kaia glances at me.

"He knows me," the boy keeps smiling. "He knows me very well."

"Oh my god," I repeat, and desperately strain against the chains to try to pinch myself. Of course, demons can't dream, but it's worth a shot.

Niall slowly wakes up. "Oh god. We're in Hell's dungeon," he looks at the boy staring at me questioningly. "Who are you?"

"Why don't you ask Louis?" The boy smirks. "He knows me."

"Kyle?" I whisper.

"Hey," Kyle hugs me, and his touch unravels the chains so I hug him back, tears rolling down my cheeks. "Long time no see."

nine years ago.

"Hey, Louis," Kyle opens the door.

"Whassup?" I sit down on his messy bed.

"Nothing much," Kyle grins as he sits next to me. "Wanna talk?"

"Talk? Why?" I look at him questioningly.

"Well, I've been feeling super weird lately, and I feel like the world might be ending soon," Kyle laughs as I raise my eyebrows. "So, wanna talk, then?"

"Sure...?" I tilt my head. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Kyle musters a smile. "I'm fine. It's just, this demon stuff is really weird sometimes... we can't touch anyone normal because we'd burn them. What if we just happened to be walking down the street, and then someone bumped into us? What would happen?"

"I don't know," I put my arm around his shoulders. "But you know, 'with great power comes great responsibility'."

"What do you mean?" Kyle asks.

"I mean, I can move things with my mind, and you can shape-shift. No one else can do that," I laugh.

"Do you reckon other people like us can also move things with their mind and shape-shift?" Kyle smiles.

"Nah, I don't think so," I poke him in the chest. "I think we're special."

"Special," he repeats, poking me back.

"Yeah," I pat him on the back. "Anyways. Wanna go to the park?"

"Yeah, sure," Kyle grins. "But it's really dark outside, are you sure?"

I look outside. Sure enough, stars are glistening against the clear sky, the full moon dimly illuminating everything.

"Yeah," I smile. "Let's go!"

We leap out the window to Kyle's room, and hop on our bicycles.

"Let's go," Kyle starts pedaling on his bike. "Race you there!"

I giggle and then I chase him. "No fair, you got a head start," I say as he eventually ends up beating me there.

I stand my bike against the park bench, and start to swing on the swings.

"Whoa," Kyle sits on the swing next to me. "It's cold outside. Should've brought a jacket."

"I'm never cold," I swing more as the cold air whistles past my ears.

"I know," Kyle says, his forehead creased with worry. "Me neither. Until now. Not even the time we both got stuck in Alaska."

"What the heck?" I swing higher into the air. "That's weird."

"Yeah," Kyle says as he starts swinging with me. "This kind of feels nice, though. The co--"

He's cut off by a gurgling sound coming from his throat, and he falls off the swing and onto the ground, twitching.

"Kyle!" I scream, and I jump off the swing, landing gracefully next to him.

Kyle's back arches, a scaly claw coming out of his stomach.

I close my eyes in fear as something flies past me.

I open my eyes again, and Kyle's still lying on the ground. His shirt is torn and bloody.

I thought demons weren't supposed to produce blood?

"Kyle? What just happened?" I panic.

"I don't know..." Kyle whispers. "But I think I'm dying."

"What?" Tears begin to streak down my face. "What do you mean, you're dying? We were supposed to stick together forever, remember? We're supposed to be best friends 'till we... die..."

"I... Louis... remember me," Kyle's voice is slowly fading away.

"How could I forget?" I cry. "But you're not going to die. I won't let you die."

"Remember..." Kyle repeats, before his eyes become glassy and reflect the stars that they can't see.

present time.

"You're dead," I mumble. "You died."

"Yes, and where do demons go once they die?" Kyle grins that grin that I've missed for nine years.

"Oh."

"Finally, you figured it out," he rolls his eyes.

"Why are you trying to destroy Hell?" I ask, my eyes brimming with tears at the sight of my old friend.

"I'm not trying to destroy Hell, Louis," Kyle laughs. "I'm trying to escape it."

"What for?" Niall interrupts.

Kyle looks straight at me.

"To see you again."