Page 2 of Demon Stalked
Maybe I’m a masochist. Maybe I feel as if I deserve this new Hell I have found myself in. Or maybe it’s because I’m so hopelessly in love with her that I’m willing to treasure every stolen glimpse in her direction, every laugh she shares with her best friend, Stacy, every time her eyes flicker towards me before quickly turning away, a delicate blush staining her cheeks.
I live for those blushes now.
“I thought I was the only one who stalked her,” a familiar voice muses, and I wrench my gaze away from Katrina to meet Akor’s gaze head-on. The pain demon leans casually against the nearest locker, his pink mohawk, tattoos, and piercings making him stand out amidst the snobby rich kids like a zebra in a flock of sheep.
“Akor?” I quirk a brow as he keeps his eyes fixed on an oblivious Katrina, currently laughing with Stacy and her boyfriend, David. “What are you doing here? I thought we decided that…” I lower my voice so as to not be overheard, “…that you weren’t going to pretend to be a student here. Because ofreasons.” I stress the last word with a pointed look at my brother in all ways but blood.
And those “reasons” consist of dead bodies and eccentricities. The leader of our demon murder, Raz, agreed that Akor best served our cause elsewhere. Anywhere thatwasn’ta room full of teenagers. He has a tendency to murder first and ask questions later. Besides, he’s in charge of watching our newest pet—a football player named Jason, whom Akor accidentally killed and then brought back to life as a zombie dog.
Long fucking story, but one that sums up everything there is to know about Akor.
“She hasn’t returned my calls,” he practically growls, the primal noise scaring a passing freshman girl, who jumps ten-feet in the air, turns wide eyes onto Akor, and then runs in the opposite direction. “Or my smoke signals. Do you know how long I sat outside her hotel room window, burning that bonfire? Maybe I could set off fireworks in her room, declaring my lo—”
“Nope,” I cut in immediately. It’s always best to stop an ‘Akor idea’ before it can solidify.
“Or a firework show and a—”
“No.” I shake my head side to side vigorously. When he finally peels his gaze away from Katrina, genuine confusion in his eyes, I shake my head once more. “No fireworks.”
“But—”
“And no bombs shooting glitter either.”
“But—”
“And no foreign animals that are capable of eating her. Actually? No animals.”
“Animals…” Akor taps a finger to his chin as a wicked gleam enters his eyes. It’s one that a lesser man would cower from. Even I, a demon with centuries of experience with him, feel a cold chill skate down my spine like a snake hewn of ice. “I have an idea!”
Before I can protest—beg him not to—he lets out an enthusiastic whoop, garnering Katrina’s attention, and hurries in the opposite direction, fist-pumping the air.
“Oh, dear God.” Ignoring Katrina’s probing, curious stare, I pull my phone from my school uniform pocket—bloody hideous, these things they call clothes—and type out a text to Raz. He responds back instantly, promising he’ll keep an eye on Akor, though we both know that will do virtually nothing. Once Akor sets his mind to something, it’s almost impossible to get him to change it.
I shove my phone back into my pocket and finally lift my gaze to meet Katrina’s. I’m barely breathing as I prepare myself to stare into her gorgeous eyes, as I prepare myself for a Hallmark-level moment where she realizes how much she actually loves me. How she can’t even comprehend leaving me.
But when I lift my head, it’s to see an empty stretch of hallway.
Katrina is gone.
* * *
Just before lunch,I duck into a tiny nook between where one section of locker ends and another one begins. This position allows me to see the entire hall, but no one can see me unless they look this way specifically. It’s completely undignified and quite juvenile, but I can’t find it in me to care.
I watch in rapt fascination as Katrina walks down the hallway, smiling softly at whatever Stacy is saying. For the first time, I notice how distraught and weary my girl actually looks. Her pink hair hangs in a loose ponytail, a few strands escaping and framing her cherubic face. Katrinaneverwears ponytails. Ever. Even in gym class, she’ll often keep her luscious pink locks down. Heavy bags settle underneath her eyes as if she hasn’t been sleeping well. She wears no makeup, not even the standard mascara she normally applies, and it makes her face seem even paler. Thinner. Has she been eating well?
Maybe I can deliver a huge turkey for her and Adam. Humans like turkeys, correct?
At first, I assumed that even though my heart was breaking, hers was still in one piece. Even though I was miserable, she was flourishing.
But to know that she’s as distressed about this decision as I am only cements my resolve.
Iwillwin Katrina back, no matter the cost.
Her smile is tentative as she turns towards her blonde friend, Stacy, and says something in response to the other girl’s monologue. Stacy laughs immediately before the two of them stop at Katrina’s locker.
I wait with bated breath as she turns the dial, still nodding along to whatever Stacy is saying, and when she finally opens it, my heart gallops like a herd of wild horses.
Katrina pauses, staring intently into the locker as a delicate frown pulls down her full lips. I can’t tell for certain from this distance, but it appears as if tears prick her eyes as she grabs the fuzzy black jewelry case I put in there earlier today. It was surprisingly easy to get her locker combination. All I had to do was slide a fifty to the secretary.
