She's the Devil | ✔

Chapter Five

Xavier

"I'm home!" I hear my mom call, but I don't move. She will find me if she needs me and hopefully she doesn't.

If it were possible to take my brain out and beat it, I would've played baseball with mine by now. And Dad always said I was a good batter. I've been walking circles around my head, looking for explanations behind the bizarre things I've witnessed. Besides, I'm pretty sure now I'm on a government watch list for the things I've googled.

"Xavier!" Mom yells, but my body refuses to move. I hear her footsteps on the stairs and seconds later she throws my door open.

Her eyes widen as she takes in my situation. I'm laying on my bed, spread out like a starfish, with every light on, staring at the ceiling. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the words that come out of her mouth.

"Are you on drugs?" She asks, eyeing me suspiciously. "Because if you are, you can tell him. I know the move has been hard-"

"No, mom. I'm fine." My voice sounds almost robotic. She sucks her teeth like she doesn't believe me.

My mom and I have always been close. I'm somewhat of a mama's boy. But when Dad died right years ago, she was all I had. The younger me had issues making friends. So she was my friend. My mom has seen me through my darkest times, both as a mother and as a friend. But I'm not quite sure I can share this part of me with her.

"Well, let me know if you need anything." She says, deciding it's best not to question. She turns and leaves, shutting my door behind her.

Then I remember something, my dad gave it to me. A dream catcher, one her made himself when he was a kid. He was native, and he believed in spiritual things. He gave me the dream catcher shortly before he died and told me it would keep the evil away. If this demon really was a demon, and I'm really on the devil's radar, I'm going to count of my father's spirit to keep that away from me.

It sounds so silly, but I've reached a breaking point. There's not much more that I can hold. Not after a week straight of terrifying nightmares and sleep paralysis while that creature watches me. I haven't even been to school these last few days because I'm so exhausted.

After securing the dream catcher to the wall, I fall back into my bed, pulling the comforter over my tired body. And slowly, I fall into the warm arms of sleep.

¥

"You've been gone for a week, Xavier. I thought they suspended you." Mark tells me as we walk to lunch after a long morning of me playing catch up.

"No, I was just... Dealing with some shit." I reply, leaving it at that. The dream catcher works, I have no idea how, but it does. I haven't seen One Eye Willy since I put it up.

Though, I have no idea if it keeps the Devil away. Something red catches my eye and I look to my left. Macaria stands hidden behind the stair case leading to the second floor of our school. She waves me over, a worried expression on her face.

"Uh... Hey, go save us seat. I have to go talk to a teacher about homework." Mark gives me a weird look before he agrees, mumbling a bye. I cut across the sea of students to join Macaria under the stairs.

At my old school, the space under the stairs was used for unspeakable things.

Macaria bites her plump lip, looking up at me with those black eyes that make it hard to see her pupil. She opens her mouth, then closes it again. I haven't forgotten what happened, it's hard to do that when I keep thinking I'm going insane. She's got the answers I need to confirm further that I'm either mental ill or something is up with her.

"How did you do it?"

"I can explain."

We speak at the same time, causing her to smile ever so slightly. I motion for her to continue and she takes a deep breath. "You hit your head pretty hard in that fight. And you kept insisting that I stopped time. I just didn't want you spreading that around. People already think I'm a freak, I don't want them to have even more reason to think that."

I stare at her for a moment. I used to live in a busy city, where lying was everyone's first language. I don't know if she's purposely being bad at lying, or if she really can't lie, but it's not believable. And to tell me that I 'hit my head' is unbelievable. I did though, but that was while getting attacked by a demon.

"I don't believe you." I laugh, crossing my arms. Her eyes snap up to mine, narrowing slightly. But a glint appears in her eye.

"Well, that's what happened." She claims, crossing her arms and mimicking my stance. I almost chuckle at how much sassy she is showing right now. 

My amusement dies quickly when I remember the demon thing with one eye, "I know something is up with you. So when you're ready to tell me the truth, you know where to find me."

Her face falls, but I don't stick around to see it. I've been through enough mess in the last two weeks for the rest of my life. Not only have I mentally gone through the ringer, but I have physically as well. I wish I could forget about it, but I've become somewhat paranoid. Especially when I am at home, because that's where the attacks are frequent. Not to mention the threat to stay away from Macaria is still very fresh in my head. 

Maybe I should be worried that I won't like the truth. If she decides to tell me that is. But it wouldn't matter either way, I just want some reassurance.