3 Chapter 2: The Demon Among Us Part 1

After the nightmare of a morning, Aiyana's mother allowed her the day off from the stall and since that it was now midday Lark spent his lunch break with her. They went to the place they usually spent together when they were younger, a pond on the far south-east side of the town. Directly south was the forest and east were the wheat fields and farm lands, slightly passed that on a steep hill overlooking the farms was the Duke's Manor. It was secluded from the town, isolated almost. Neither Aiyana or Lark had seen his manor; they haven't ever needed to go across the wheat fields. Only the rich traveling merchants or farmers with inquiries could visit. Even then, depending on the Duke's mood he might refuse seeing anyone.

Lark laid on the grass resting against the trunk of a weeping willow, its strands swaying slowly from the slight midday breeze. Aiyana sat opposite, between them on a white cloth was some pastries and fruits.

The two sat in silence, unsure of what to talk about or how to even begin a conversation. What does one talk about after seeing a body ripped to shreds at their own doorstep? Besides the breeze the only other noise was the loud, deafening sound of an apple being chomped on by Lark. Aiyana looked at him and snorted, grabbing a strawberry tart.

"If you want to impress those women you're going to have to be more charming than that" she remarked, watching him look up at her with his mouth completely full, the apple's juice dripping from his chin.

A muffled sound emanated from his mouth.

"What?" Aiyana snorted at his attempt to speak.

He swallowed and coughed. "This is perfectly charming; I mean who couldn't resist this" he gestured at his face with a wide grin that had apple skin stuck in between his teeth.

Aiyana couldn't hold back the laugh at his face which made the grin grow wider. He joined in her laughter. After they both settled down Aiyana was back to being silent, staring at her hands. She was the quiet and shy one while he was the loud and rowdy.

A thought crossed her mind which made her begin to speak slowly.

"Did your mother hear about today?"

Lark's smile faulted as he leaned back against the tree, looking out towards the pond. He watched two dragonflies glide across the water, sound around Lark became mute as he watched them zipping and passing by each other; as if in their own sacred dance. Their wings created ripples on the water's surface making the waterlilies below sway; their reflections mirrored their counterparts in perfect harmony. One of them darts towards the edge of the water only to be gone in an instant making Lark blink.

It took Lark a few seconds to process that that dragonfly was snatched up by a tongue of a green frog and devoured, making the remaining dragonfly flee. His head shifted back to Aiyana, only to be greeted with her giving him a raised brow.

"What?" he blinks twice.

"Your mother, does she know about what happened?" Aiyana repeated, her eyes gauging his reaction to her question. With pursed lips he shook his head, "No, as you know she never leaves the house, she might of heard some of the commotion but I doubt it. I'm going to tell her about it after I finish working, so I might be late to the meeting in the church."

Lark's mother was a troubled women, some of the townsfolk believed she was crazy or a cursed woman. Lark's father, Mirak was a fisherman who died ten years ago, causing his mother to go into a deep depression; she hasn't left her home since. This has been hard on Lark from a young age; having to go buy food from the market, wash his and her clothes at the river alone, practically anything that involved going outside he had done by himself.

"What about your dad Aiyana, how long has he been gone for now?" A deep, long sigh escaped Aiyana's mouth as she slouched a little. "I believe this is the longest he's been away from home, since he's a traveling merchant he can be gone for weeks to months at a time, I believe this is the longest he's been gone for however. Mother and I have been trying not to worry, but now it's been almost 3 months" she finished speaking looking down at her hands.

Lark grimaced. "I mean it should be alright, maybe he had a few extra stops to go to or a customer held him up?" Lark tried his best to reason.

"I guess so."

Lark leaned over and gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling her into a side hug; she closed her eyes and smiled weakly. "It'll be alright" Lark whispered.

For a few more minutes they sat like that, head on shoulder staring at the borderline of the forest.

"I should probably head back to the store now, I'm late" Lark remarked as he stood up brushing off his pants.

"But I mean." He continued "I doubt Miss White would even know I left, she's as blind as a bat and as slow as a newborn calf."

Both of them erupted in laughter, smiling up at him Aiyana said "I'll see you at the church later then."

With a nod and a wave, Lark went off into the direction of the town. Aiyana sat there with a slight croaking sound coming from the pond, glancing over she noticed a green frog jumping from lily pad to lily pad. She smiled. "What a cute frog."

As Aiyana got up to leave, an ominous feeling covered her like a thick aura, with her back towards the forest she spins around, her hair covering her face; quickly pushing it aside her eyes are greeted with the wind pushing the swaying tree branches at the forest's edge. She turns around, clutching her basket in one hand. As she walked in the direction of home she didn't realize nor see the pair of inquisitive blood red eyes watching her.