Page 44 of Protected By Monsters (Everwood Demons 1)

“Then there was the time Chumley kept taking bites out of the soap. I overheard Miss Sage mentioning it to Mr. Baron, so I went and had a peek. He took a bite out of the soaps in his bathroom like they were brownies,” Hadley laughed.

“I heard Jack poured pudding on someone’s head,” Matthew spoke up, smirking down at his book.

“Yep. They were talking too much, and I think he was curious to see what would happen. He was only just starting to study human behavior and emotions.” Hadley nodded.

“Chumley used to shift into a hellhound and wreck the furniture, chew and claw at it,” Diane added.

“Creeper used to be heaps creepier, he used to scare some of the older students. He watches a lot, I know he’s trying to understand and learn, but that expressionless face weirded many out. I hear Chumley didn’t understand the whole ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ thing. He was so brutally honest he was hated for so long,” Wayne snickered.

“Bug used to run away, like, legit run off down the hall if someone was talking to him too much and he got too upset or nervous. Other times he’d shift and run away to hide. It was a little sad actually. I think he struggled the most with dealing with others. Creeper as well, in his own way.” Hadley sighed.

I felt a little bad hearing these stories about the boys. They’d been funny at first, but now they were just sad. They’d struggled so much to fit in.

Sure, they were laughing about it, but both Wayne and Hadley looked a little saddened now. They obviously cared for their companions here. How couldn’t they? They lived together and ate together. Of course they’d grow close.

“Two years ago, Dezikiel offered to enlighten them apparently. Used his powers to give them some kind of great programming type thing, so that they’d understand how they were meant to be. All the weird stuff stopped after that. No longer toddlers in adult bodies,” Wayne said as he leaned back in his seat.

“Yeah. I kinda miss it. It really made this place so much more interesting and fun. Creeper still struggles, apparently he didn’t agree to the enlightening, so he didn’t get the update,” Hadley added as she focused back on the game.

Diane was watching me now, those brown eyes searching mine.

“You’re curious as to what Dezikiel is, aren’t you?” she finally said.

Crap, telepathic. Guess there were no secrets with her around.

“He’s angelic, right?” I asked. I still needed to figure out what was so different with angelics.

“Sort of, you’ll find out eventually,” Diane shrugged.

What did she mean by that? My hellhounds had agreed he was, but there was obviously something they weren’t telling me. Hell, I didn’t even know what an angelic was really.

“I think you’ve learned a lot all in the space of what, not even a day?” Hadley cracked a small smile.

“It’s hard to not ask questions,” I said as I leaned back in my chair.

“Things reveal themselves a little after you’re awakened. Don’t stress too much. Just enjoy your afternoon, it is your birthday after all.” Diane smiled brightly. “Wanna finish my puzzle with me?”

I pursed my lips, realizing they’d all decided they’d said enough, even Hadley seemed like she didn’t want to spill any more. Maybe they were right, I had learned a lot in just one day.

I nodded, and Diane stood up, leading me over to the table where she had been working on a large puzzle.

I used to love doing puzzles with my mom. After she’d died, I didn’t do them any more.

Maybe it was time to re-discover my love for it.

I’d finished the puzzle with Diane, chatting with her about all sorts of things, from music and movies, to some shared Netflix shows we loved. She liked my Australian accent too, thinking it was quite different, along with some words I used.

I found we had a fair bit in common, and I actually enjoyed the few hours I spent with her on the puzzle.

A lot of the others had left by the time we’d finished, except Hadley and Dylan, who were playing the Playstation now.

Now I was in my room, lying on my bed as I smiled softly.

I liked the people here. They were nice, and this whole Academy thing, the knowledge that I didn’t need to stress about money any more, no more struggling for jobs, it was rather pleasant.

No one here thought I was crazy.

Maybe I could finally make real friends, feel comfortable and welcome.

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