Chiara Marino and the Demons of Darkness

Chapter 10: Moldy Cheese

On the walk to school on Monday, Chiara read the daily Scripture verse on her phone:

"So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'"

She knew the verse was true, but it didn't settle her heart this morning.

She let her eyes wander to the view of the changing leaves on the trees. She appreciated that everything in nature had strict laws of interactions. The pattern of the seasons, the phases of the moon, the rotation of the earth. It was all predictable. Dependable.

With people, however, she never knew what to expect. They could be loving or hateful in reaction to the same sentence. Or they could be friendly one day and turn cold and distant the next, for no apparent reason.

Chiara was distracted from her own problems when she saw a boy sitting on one of the benches in the park as she passed. A swirling cloud of demonic energy floated at his side.

She pretended not to see the spirit and greeted the boy warmly. "Hi there. I think we go to the same school."

The boy glanced back and forth at their uniforms, and nodded.

"Well, see you there," she said with a smile. "Have a nice day."

With that, she walked on. She glanced back and saw the demon fly off. She smiled to herself, satisfied that that one had been such an easy fix. Sometimes a person just needed to be acknowledged.

"Hey! Wait up," the boy called.

Chiara stopped.

"I'm Benjamin," he introduced himself when he caught up with her.

Benjamin had greasy blond hair, crooked teeth, pale skin covered in acne, and a tall and round stature. She imagined he got teased a lot.

"We should walk together," he suggested.

"Okay," Chiara agreed.

As they walked, Chiara had a strange feeling in her gut. Her instinct was to avoid him. But she wondered if that was intuition or just a base judgment she was passing on someone who looked different.

"So," she asked, "you looked down. Is everything okay?"

"Just normal stuff," he said with a noncommittal shrug. "School and family."

Chiara didn't know if she should ask for more details.

"But you know," he continued, "one good friend can make all the difference, right? What's your name?"

Chiara froze. Her mouth hung open. For some reason, she was reluctant to answer.

"Hey kid, you bothering this girl?" Adrian suddenly appeared from behind them.

Benjamin backed away. "No, not bothering."

"Maybe you should get going," Adrian warned through bared teeth.

Benjamin ran off without further delay.

"Thanks," Chiara said, grateful Adrian had showed up when he did. "But you didn't have to give him nightmares."

"And you didn't have to be so nice," he scolded her. "How would you have gotten rid of him if I weren't here?"

Then he threw his arm around her shoulder as they walked together toward the school. She looked at his arm and back at him. They were surrounded by other students. This was against the rules. His rules. She started to smile, enjoying the warm gesture.

"What's this about?" she asked.

"Don't get used to it," he said with a plastered grin. "I just figured I'd do this while the chicks were watching. I hear they like this stuff."