DEVILLE

8

"James I've read through this whole book about you yet I barely know anything." I plop down on the old office chair and sigh loudly, my hand rubbing down my face. James only shrugs and continues to groom his tail quietly.

I flip the book to the first empty page available and grab my pencil, "OLIVIA WINSLOW: DEVILLE" I label the top of the page and flip to the next. My pencil scratched loudly against the thick page as I began to draw James' face. Every once and a while I'd peek my head over the book to make eye contact with James. His eyes glowed a soft pink as he watched me closely, not once blinking or moving. "Your eyes.." I slowly lean over the desk, "always seem to be glowing different colors.. you seem to use pink a lot." I look into his eyes as I watch the pink swirl and dance in them slowly. "Mood." He answers slowly and I have to blink twice, "Mood? Like your emotions?" I furrow my brows as he nods his head. I quickly jot down, "The demon is now named James Deville." I talk aloud as I write,

"Time seems to not change how he acts and thinks. His love for chicken is as strong as his illusive nature.

Today he has let me closer. He has told me the color of his eyes portray his emotions. Pink seems to be his most common color besides white which I think means emotionless or is a base color."

I hum softly as I put down my pencil and look back at James who seems lost in thought, his blank white eyes watching the ceiling. "James?" I call softly and he whips his head to me, the familiar pink coming back to his eyes, "Why did my grandfather keep this a secret?" I put the book down slowly as I get up, "I mean I understand that the world may not be ready for this kind of truth but he hid it so long from me." My nose crinkled as I crossed my arms. "Government. Bad men." His words we clipped as he spoke and I furrowed my brows, "The government tried to hurt him?" My stomach twisted with a sick feeling as I quickly sat next to him on the couch, "What do you mean?"

James simply watched me for a second before standing up and walking to the desk. He leaned over and pulled back a drawer, his large hand disappearing inside before pulling out a dark green usb flash drive. "Open." He motions to my grandfathers old laptop and I rush over, quickly turning it on and popping the usb drive.

"NEW FOLDER: BURN BIN"

I quickly clicked on the folder, "Oh my-" I clap a hand over my mouth as mauled bodies of the mythical creatures filled the screen with their disturbing images. I quickly scrolled to the bottom and see a document.

"CORRUPT"

I quickly click it open and look at James who seems unfazed by all of this. "The government cannot be trusted." I read aloud,

"For years I worked my self sick to maintain the beasts of the Forrest and to keep them hidden from the filthy hands of humans but today has truly disgusted me.

The government has caught onto what I have been doing and raided the forest. Half of the species have been wiped out while others have been collected to breed and excitement on.

Warning: GREEN EYES BELONG TO THE ENEMY.

The once peaceful creatures have turned into bloodthirsty monsters who obey the command of the government. They have bred a new breed of shapeshifters who keep an eye out for me which is why I've decided to pack my things and travel to the mountains.

All my work has been burned besides this usb. Hopefully things will be better."

I lean back as I clutch a hand over my heart, "So he moved here and restarted.." I slowly turn to James who's eyes have turned a light blue, "Were you with him when the government attacked?" He only nods his head once before turning away to sit back on the couch. "That's why he trusted you with me.. and why you knew about everything." I stood up slowly and began to pace back and forth, "Now that my grandfather is dead, the government will be looking harder for all his work. Meaning that they'll be looking for me now." I bite my lip and rub my sweaty palms on my jeans, "I'll have to call in to work and tell them I'm moving out to the mountains. Make it seem like I want to be alone and all that artist stuff." I ramble on to myself as I collect my stuff and put it quickly in my bag. "We must not have a lot of time before they catch on." I look at James who nods his head and gets up, helping me to pack my bag.

I ran quickly to the slide and felt along the wall for the button. I click it once and watch as the wall slides open to reveal the exit. We quickly ran through the maze, "Two lefts, one right, up the stairs, left, then straight on up." I spoke to myself as we ran down the dark halls, the only light coming from my flashlight.

I sighed loudly as we reached the hatch. James reaches up above us and unlocks it to swing it open. He hops up and quickly looks back down to me as I make grabby hands, "You know I can't reach! I'm 5'4 James!" I pout as I make grabby hands faster. His eyes watch me in amusement as they glow a warm pink. His long arms extend down as I hop up and he watches my under my armpits. I laugh as he lifts me out with ease and closes the latch.

"Delicate."