Incubus

||| - 8

I am pretty sure he will not open the door for me but I am willing to wait for him to come out. Either to bring Angel to kindergarten or to go to work. Pretty hopeless I ring the bell and take a step back to wait. Like I expected nothing happens. I ring a second time and want to step back again when the door gets opened. To my surprise, it isn't Thomas who opens the door but Angel. She looks at me with big watery eyes and I immediately kneel down to be on her eyes level.

"What's wrong Angel?", I ask. She doesn't answer but opens the door fully and jumps at me. Her arms around my neck, her face pressing against my chest and she starts sobbing. I embrace her and make sure the door doesn't fall shut at the same time.

"Angel, hey, don't cry", I stand up Angel in my hands and enter the apartment. The moment I don't have to hold the door open anymore I pet Angel's hair. She is clinging to me more. The apartment looks more chaotic than I remember. In the kitchen, there are several unwashed dishes and leftovers as well as two full beer bottles. The living room is a mess of pillows, blankets and Angel's toys.

"Where is your Papa?", I ask Angel. I wait for her to answer but at least for a minute she is silent but then she says:

"Can you help him, please?" The desperation and hopelessness in her voice overrun me. No child should ever have this tone in their voice.

"Where is he?" She just points down the hall to no specific room but I know she either means the bedroom or the bath. With her still on my arm, I run toward his bedroom and open the door. Lucky first guess. There in bed lies Thomas sleeping but it doesn't look like a satisfying sleep. Thomas looks like he is in a nightmare. I rush to the bed and sit Angel down beside Thomas.

Angel crawls over to her dad and shakes him.

"Papa, wake up."

Her eyes are still filled with tears. I place a hand close to him not daring to touch him. There is a tug going through his body and then he reaches out and puts his hand on mine. I tense up because I have no idea what is about to happen. Will I lose control or he is going to wake up and scream at me? But nothing happens for a moment and then I feel energy flowing out of my body. I can't believe what is happening because I have never seen or heard from something like this before. Thomas, a human, is drawing energy from me. Unconsciencesly, obviously, since he still asleep but he is feeding off of me, for lack of a better term.

Thomas visibly relaxes. He rolls over and his other hand is also reaching out to touch my skin. I'll take his other hand.

"Papa, papa are you awake?", Angel is asking hopefully.

"Angel, he is still sleeping", I say and she is looking at me. "But he will get better, he just needs a lot of sleep." Then she crawls up to me and hugs me.

"Thank you", she says. I am still surprised by how mature Angel is. She lies down beside her dad and closes her eyes. I stare at her and want to remember every fucking detail about what I see. I want to frame this moment in time because nothing looks so soft and heartwarming as Angel lying relaxed next to her dad.

I still kneel beside the bed my hand on the bed covered with Thomas's. It feels like a waste to not putting my head down on the mattress and join them. The only thing I hear is both their breathing and my heartbeat. It is so peaceful and in seconds I close my eyes and drift away.

I wake up again when Thomas rolls over releasing my hands. First I think he is waking up but he just keeps slowly breathing and doesn't move again. Angel did also wake up. She is rubbing her eyes and yawns.

"Did you eat breakfast yet?", I ask her and she shakes her head no. I hold out my hand for her to take and say: "Then I am going to make something for you."