Age of Demons

Chapter 8 - Leyla

Deliverance Safe House

Leyla didn't sleep.

Instead, she sat on the podium, taking in the rest of the sanctuary. She rested there with the moon, its light fragmented by the cracks in the windows. She remained perched there when the sun took its place. The glass glittered from the rays touch, highlighting the dark wood of the pews, the light pooling at her feet. She wished she could step outside and bathe in it. Yet, quickly, the sun's glow drained as clouds overtook it. She sighed. It seemed they only received an hour of sunlight before the storms arrived for the day. They hadn't had sun for almost a whole week. In its place, storms ravaged the air. Leyla worried about the energy running out soon. They had solar panels on the roof, and with how bright the sun burned these days, it was easy to store the generated current. But for a whole week? Not likely. She wished the sun would fight back—hoped it would for their sake.

Every time she came to the sanctuary, she sat in one of the pews, facing the podium, where the director would give his daily speech. But today she took his spot, staring at the vacant seats.

From where she was positioned, the room seemed so much smaller to her. Maybe that was how he saw everyone—small, just ants. And he was as big as a giant.

Leyla huffed and let her head collapse into her hands. This was a place where she liked to think, at least the second one on her list. The first was the roof. But with knowing how closely they watched her, she thought it not a good idea to head there right away.

She chuckled dryly to herself. "So stupid," she muttered. She used to marvel about everything the director said and apply it to the world—make sense of why they shared the earth with demons—er, spirits. But now she contemplated her world inside this place. Why everything was structured a certain way. Why the director did the things he did. Doubt was a seed in her mind, and it was growing rapidly, eating up the rest of her thoughts in its cultivation.

"Of course I find you here." A gruff voice invaded her thoughts.

She raised her head to find Carter walking down the aisle toward her. His hair was a bird's nest. His mouth was slightly curved down.

"What do you want, Carter?" she asked. She knew he was there to berate her.

Carter stopped before the podium and stared at her. She refused to meet his gaze.

He plopped down next to her, his arm brushing hers. "I'm not mad."

"Really? Because you seemed pretty angry at me yesterday." She didn't know why she was arguing with him. It didn't matter. She shouldn't care.

He groaned. "I'm sorry about that. It's just... I'm worried about you, Ley."

Her heart stuttered when he said her name like that. She crossed her arms and held herself tight, as if that would hide how he made her feel.

His hand touched her shoulder, and she almost flinched from the contact.

"You know I'm here for you. If there's anything you want to talk to me about, I'm here."

She couldn't hold it together anymore. She lowered her face into his shoulder, her hand clutching his arm. His hands came up and wrapped around her. He whispered something, but Leyla was too distracted by the emotions tangling around inside her. She wouldn't let them drip out though.

After a couple minutes, she unlatched herself from him. Humiliation burned inside her, and she regretted letting her barriers down, even if it was minimal. She didn't like that he made her vulnerable, that she could split open at his touch.