Page 95 of Monsters' Touch

Dad looks at me with pity, like I’m some poor broken thing. Michelle keeps her gaze down while trying to cave her torso in on itself. And Mom’s face is blank. Like she can’t even comprehend the level of bullshit I just served her.

Guys? A little help?

Instantly, Barb and Mal are at the front of my awareness.

How can we help the one and only ‘demon slayer’?Mal asks with a bit too much glee.

Haha, pipe down. Just help me show them one of your faces.

On it.

Mom notices first, letting out a small gasp. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

I nod. “The horns don’t lie.”

Michelle glances up and the second she catches sight of the face behind my face, she lets out a relieved huff. “Good lord, Lil, I thought you were seriously delusional. I thought it was time for pudding and grippy socks.”

I laugh, hard and long. “Yeah, you’re not the only one. Can you imagine going through this and not knowing what was happening?”

“Hold up, wait. Hang on just a minute here.” Dad’s brow is pulled together in a tight V as his gaze bounces to the three women in front of him. “What are you lot going on about? There is no such thing as demon slayers, and no one has any horns.”

Sorry. Your dad hasn’t been demon-touched. He won’t see it as easily. Let me just…

“Holy crow!” He grabs the wall behind him to keep from stumbling back.

Mom nods, as if she knew it all along. “How many do you have in there?”

“Right now? Just two.”

I gotta hand it to her. She’s taking it in stride.

“And is that where you imprison them? In your body? With you?”

“Imprison? No. The ones I keep in my head are my friends. Well. More like my boyfriends.”

Dad’s eyes about pop out of his skull.

“Oh, put your eyes back in your head, Tom. All the kids are some kind of poly nowadays.”

“Poly?”

“Yes, Tom. Try to keep up.”

“It’s not the poly part I’m worried about, Hope.”

Mom turns back to me, ignoring Dad. “I saw one, a demon. It was different than this one now, but I saw it behind your face that day in the hospital. In fact, I’ve been seeing all kinds of weird things here and there since then.”

“Yeah. They said that might happen.”

Mom nods and her eyes go misty. She takes a second before speaking again. “I know I wasn’t supposed to make it out of the hospital this time, and I suspect you and those horned fellows in your head had something to do with that. And so I say, whatever you need to do to find your happiness, Lil, do it. Do it with my blessing.”

My eyes start to well up and I pull her into a tight hug. “Thank you, Mom. I will.”

It takes a while for the questions to stop and for Mom to stop picking through my lily garbage for “just one more” thing she has to save in case I change my mind. But before long, my parents say their goodbyes.

“I am sorry I lied to you,” I say to Michelle as she heads to her car.

“I completely understand why you did it, Lil. I’m just glad I didn’t go overboard and call an ambulance when I suspected you were delusional.”

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