Page 16 of Cry for Help

The men who had bought me weren’t men at all. They weredemons.

They had to have a plan for me, right?

Drifting through the house, on my third loop, I noticed things I hadn’t before. Dust collected in the corners or spiderwebs on the ceiling. A thin layer of grime.

Though the house was tidy, it wasn’t clean.

Bored out of my mind, I grabbed the pitiful collection of cleaning supplies from under the sink and got to work.

I vacuumed. I scrubbed. I wiped.

Once the house smelled fresher and lunchtime came, I stepped outside for fresh air—reluctant to go too far from the house. I rested my elbows on the porch, watching the human district during the day.

Each home was the same size, with a stretch of lawn out the front and no fence between properties. The road was cracked, with a dozen potholes and no cars in sight.

“Hey!” A brusque female voice called out.

I was startled, turning to the sound and finding the nearest neighbor on her porch. Her hair was an unnatural flame red, and her shorts were indecent. Her flip-flops smacked against the uneven sidewalk, and she paused to take a drag of a vape pen before she started toward me.

“You just moved in?” She said, stopping at the bottom of my porch steps.

I pointed to my lips and then signed, “ASL?”

“You deaf or something?” she put her hand on her hips.

I shook my head but pointed to my lips again.

“You can’t talk?” She guessed, making her way up the steps without an invitation. “This house has been empty for a while. You just move in?”

I shook my head, then nodded, unable to decide on an answer.

She ignored me, holding out her hand. “I’m Aimee.” She declared. “I live just over there. I guess no one at the Meat Market wanted you on account of—” She tapped her mouth. “Sucks, don’t it? There aren’t enough humans in the Red City for demons to afford to get picky.”

I gestured toward Aimee, raising my brow in question.

Her mouth softened with understanding. “I work on Real Housewives of the Red City. Costume department. Demons can be really funny about their clothes. Some of them didn’t evenwear clothes until they came to the Human Realities for the first time. Plus, tails, horns, and other bits mean loads of tailoring work.”

My eyes rounded.

“Reality TV.” Aimee joked. “Not as much reality as you’d expect.”

I nodded in agreement.

Aimee glanced over her shoulder. “I better get back to work. You can call if you need anything. Or... Maybe not call, but knock, okay?”

I agreed, making my way back into the house. Feeling normal for the first time in a long while.

The sun had set when one of my new demon masters returned home.

Thankfully, it was Caim and not one of the others.

Caim spotted my efforts to clean. Immediately signing instead of speaking. “You cleaned?”

“Yes,” I replied.

Caim grinned. “Did you miss me?”

I ignored his question. “I met the neighbor. Aimee. She’s nice. She said the house was empty, though?”

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