How To Kill A Demon; for DUMMIES | tpn x reader

ARC I-ACT IV

Ray was a boy who was painfully simple. He wanted one thing and that was to survive - no matter what he had to do or who he had to step over to reach that goal. At the ripe age of four, Ray had become one of the smartest children at the home, his scores reaching new time highs and his mind complex with well thought out plans. It didn't take much brain power for him to put two and two together and evidently figure out the secrets of not only the house, but their dear, dear Isabella.

So, just why couldn't he figure you out?

For the most part; you were an open book to him. Antisocial, quiet, anxious, judgemental. You were quick to make an assumption about others and distance yourself from them - mostly the kids your age, and older. Though, part of that didn't root from your own judgements, but rather the several cases when you got teased, made fun of and borderline bullied by others.

Though, Noah, Emma, Norman and Isabella were always quick to defend you.

So yeah, he could say he had a good idea of you, but there was still that underlying annoyance that you too were smart and as suspicious of him as he was of you. You had used that intelligence to build a wall between you both; one that no matter how hard he tried, he could never get a peek over the edge of - he would never be able to see what you're hiding from him unless you brought down that wall.

He had brought this up with Isabella - spilling every detail and worry he had about you and your extent of knowledge you had on the orphanage.

"Is that so?" She hummed. Her arms were crossed over her chest and a shadow fell over her face from the flickering light in the room; she made note to change the dying light bulb once the boy left. "I'll take a look at them. Thank you for telling me."

"How are you gonna check?"

Isabella hesitated, turning her head to the side. Slowly, she glanced at the books that were lined and placed neatly on a wooden bookshelf - most were fairytales for the younger ones while others were manuals for emergencies or other instructions. (Mostly CPR, meal recipes or other booklets of that nature.)

"When they were four they had asked me for a notebook on their birthday. They said it was because they wanted a diary but I have a feeling it's something else; I'll take a look into it."

Ray nodded, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Very well. Goodnight then." He turned and opened the door, walking out the dimly lit room.

There was no reply from the older woman.

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Again, much like the days before, the sun was bright as it sat atop the sky - allowing the children a beautiful warm day to spend yet again running around and tagging each other after their daily test. Though, I guess what made that day special was the fact that you were yet again dragged out by Emma, Jake and Noah and taken towards the woodland areas.

Noah laughed as he grabbed onto your hand, the other one being taken by Jake as Emma lead the three of you towards her 'favourite' tree. She had mentioned it had some low enough branches for you to sit on and didn't seem to have any cobwebs nor bugs, so she had deemed it safe enough for you.

Reaching said tree, Noah sweat dropped at the sight of the tall tree - the first branch being too high for you to reach.

"How about I help you up- huh?" He had begun to offer, but was shocked to see you weren't beside him where he last saw you when the four of you arrived. Instead, he heard Emma and Jake cheering, slowly turning to widen his eyes at the sight of you carefully manoeuvring around the trunk of the tree and towards the branch.

He almost snickered at the sight of the book you had brought now being held in your mouth instead of under your arm as you had when they dragged you over.

With a final huff, you grabbed the branch and pulled yourself up, carefully placing your legs on it to help tug you up.

"Wow!" Emma and Jake cooed with stars in their eyes, even Noah had to admit he was impressed. "You're so strong Y/N! That's so cool!"

"Cool?" You tilted your head as you looked down at them from the branch, they nodded their heads. "Hm, I never thought of it that way."

Noah grinned and crossed his arms, shaking his head at the younger child. "Alright, well - if you need anything just call for me. I'll try to stick around the area, alright?"

"Mhm." You hummed, not really listening as you opened your book.

Beside Noah, Jake and Emma cheered - running off to the rest of the group while the older boy followed, laughing at their antics. Once certain they were far off, you turned to look at their retreating figures from the corner of your eye - watching their backs before fleeting your gaze to the house where the tall figure of Isabella stood out like a sore thumb.

The woman laughed and coddled the children around her, tending to their needs and giving them their oh so needed attention.

She was always so beautiful, so serene - it would take an idiot not to see that. And that's why it upset you so much. With a huff, you turned back to your notebook. Scribbled on the first few pages you skimmed by sat doodles and sketches of useless junk - fairies and flowers. Anything a grown person would deem harmless. It would only be until mid-book where the pages begun to fill with words. Notes, observations, theories and suspicions. Scribbled in long, wordy paragraphs sat what could, and couldn't be of the place you called home.

Perhaps that fateful night three months ago was something anyone would consider a curse - running off to say one final goodbye to the only kind ten year old that had treated you like a true friend, only to see her mangled, lifeless corpse laying on the cold, hard tiles of the exit gate. The way her eyes screamed terror and fright, yet so dull - without a single thought behind her brown irises. You remember almost puking on the spot, seeing the horrifyingly, sickly pale color of her skin contrasting the tall flower that stood proudly from her impaled chest. A flower so beautifully haunting - almost as if teasing you with the way it bloomed and blossomed. Thriving from the body of someone who was once just as bright and colorful.

The snap of a twig snapped you out of your thoughts with a frightened jump. Snapping your gaze down to Emma - a wide grin on her face as she brought a finger up to her lips. "Shh! I'm hiding!" She tried to whisper, but oblivious to her volume - she became blind to the approaching Janesse.

"You might want to run, actually." You chuckled, not once separating your eyes storm the older girl.

Emma looked up and tilted her head curiously before turning to look at whatever you were staring at behind her. With a loud shriek, she dashed out of the bush and bolted off - the dark skinned girl not far behind her.