8 CHAPTER EIGHT

"Is she dead?"

"No."

"Why didn't you kill her?!"

"We need her. You know it. You've been spying on her. Do you think I didn't know that?!"

Silence.

Sigh.

"You said 'no more humans involved'. And what are you doing? You're involving a human. How is this fair?"

"My head hurts. Can't you go back to your business and leave this problem to me?"

"We don't need her. We need the Barbie girl. You know, the one who was Touched. That's our girl. Not this one. So get rid of her. If you can't, leave it to me."

"We still have time. I know what I'm doing."

"Goddamn fox. You cherish human life too much. Snap out of it."

Silence.

***

Huge pain in the back of my head made me wince, keeping my eyes closed. I felt my whole body numb like I was paralyzed. I could sense the light warming my eyelids and I realized it was daytime. I frowned, thinking about the last thing I did.

Blood. Blood everywhere. Shot in the head...

I flinched, opening my eyes wide. I drew quick, superficial breaths, trying to calm down. I rose my upper body, massaging my temples. I let my eyes get used to the strong light and I had a scary revelation: that wasn't my room. I had no idea where I was. I was lying in a huge, king-size bed with white sheets tangled between my legs. In front of me, there was a plasma stuck on the wall. The right and left walls were full of books, arranged carefully in cleaned, black shelves. Besides the plasma, there were huge windows, which let the strong light of the sun come in, onto my face. I grimaced, narrowing my eyes.

"You're awake."

A low, tired voice came from my left, where the room's door was. Caiden, with his arms crossed over his chest, was standing there, watching me carefully. He sounded disappointed. He probably hoped I would die in my sleep.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My throat was dry. He pointed out the nightstand right in front of him. I followed his gaze, to see a glass of water. I swallowed hard and took it so fast that for a moment I was scared it might fall on the floor. Fortunately, it didn't and the whole water went down my throat. I sighed relieved and put the glass back on the nightstand.

For a few seconds, my mind was empty. I didn't know what to do, what to say. He was standing there, studying me, like I was ready to run any minute. I drew in a deep breath and turned my head to face him. "Explain."

He sighed, stepping into the room. His... wound was covered with a big, white aid-band. He was wearing black clothes and...

And his hair was white. My eyes widened, staring at him as he placed himself on the bed, in front of me. He sighed, returning my gaze. "What now?"

I pointed out his hair, with a trembling finger. He touched his wound, his mouth's corners almost turning upwards. "I said I'm gonna explain it to you..."

"No." I whispered quickly, feeling like my body went numb again. "Your hair. Your hair is white. Please tell me you dyed it."

He rose his eyebrows. "Oh. I forgot about that. Well, for now, shut up and let me tell you a fairy tale." He replied, his voice going even lower than it already was.

I swallowed hard and bit my lips. Fairy tale? It seemed more like a nightmare. I shook my head. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, letting me put my thoughts in order and then continued: "You saw right. They shot me in the head. Right here." He said, pointing out the white aid-band. "I pissed off some aggressive humans and they came back at me. It happens."

He stopped, narrowing his eyes. I blinked slowly. "That's... it? This is your explanation?"

I couldn't believe it.

"I didn't tell you what I'm gonna explain to you, so yea. Plus, I didn't let you on the street, at night and I took you to my house. Shouldn't you be grateful?"

I gasped. "Are you kidding me?! This is not even half of the explanation! And I helped you yesterday! If I didn't..."

If I didn't help him what? He would've stayed there a few hours until he came to his senses and got on his feet like nothing happened?

Did I really help him or have I made the things even more complicated? A shiver went down my spine, making me flinch. Suddenly, the room was cold and I took the sheets, throwing them on my back. I lifted my chin, making eye contact with... with... him.

"As you noticed already, your help wasn't needed." He said, reflecting my thoughts. "But, still, you can help me in the future."

I narrowed my eyes. A smile danced on his lips.

I didn't like that sly smile. "You see, your friend, Emily... has a memory I want. And it's not for selfish purposes, I assure you. The world as you know will be destroyed if I don't get that memory. I can't tell you more about that because it's irrelevant; you can't do anything about it anyways. So... I'm telling you exactly what I am and you help me get closer to Emily."

I couldn't lie. I was curious. Really curious. It was scary, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know more about this mysterious world he was talking about. About the things I couldn't see because of my human limitations. I always thought aliens were real. I dreamed of meeting them, interacting with them. I drew in a quick breath. Maybe he was an alien! Could he read my mind? I narrowed my eyes, picturing a pineapple in my mind, and looking straight into his black eyes. He lifted an eyebrow, a confused expression appearing on his face.

"What are you doing?"

I blinked slowly. "Uh... I thought that... you might be an alien."

His expression became impassable for a second and fear clenched my heart: what if I pissed him off? Was he able to kill me if he wanted to? Was he an immortal?

And then something weird happened: he cracked up. He started laughing so hard that I flinched, surprised by his sudden reaction. His laughter was such a beautiful sound; I was amazed by its musicality.

"Sorry. It's my first time hearing that. I'm not an alien. I'm a fox."

He stopped laughing, but a smile remained on his pale face. I went poker face.

A fox?

Was he for real?

How could he be a fox? Like, a forest fox? A polar fox? Maybe that's why his hair was white. "Where's your tail?" I said, keeping my composure and trying not to laugh at his funny explanation.

"There's no need to show them. I have nine. I'm the fox. The oldest fox. Have you heard about kitsune? That's me: the demon fox."

Demon? Did he say demon?

I felt how the color drained out of my face. I was probably even paler than him.

He grinned, exposing his white teeth. "Scared?"

I shook my head, even though I felt like throwing up. "No. Go on."

He shrugged. "Fine. I'm an old demon fox who came to earth to get an important memory from your friend. This is my explanation and that's why I'm not dead. And yes, I followed her these days. You sensed me. And now, because I told you all of this and because I spare your life, you'll help me."

He was watching me, noticing every single twitch of my face's muscles. I swallowed hard, feeling like something was stuck in my throat. "Will you hurt her?"

He wasn't prepared for that question. He rose his eyebrows and ran his hand through his silver hair. "No. I have to pry in her head, but it's harmless. The only thing that I need to get is her trust. Which seems it won't be easily gained. She looks terrified whenever she sees me. It's probably because of the 'touch'. She can sense my nature."

"Touch?" I asked, confused by his words, but at the same time relieved that he didn't intend to kill her.

He gave me a dismissive wave of his hand. "No need to know. Focus on making her trust me."

I took in a quick breath. It seemed reasonable. I helped him get his 'memory', whatever it was, without harming Emily and I could stay alive. "Can I ask you something?"

He narrowed his eyes, folding his muscular arms. "Depends."

"Ever since... ever since two years ago, things kept happening to me. Bad things. People... got hurt because of me. And I was always out of the danger. It seems like... I bring bad luck. Is it possible to know why this is happening?"

He exhaled sharply, touching his bottom lip with his finger. "There might be a lot of reasons. Being touched by a demon who brings bad luck might be the reason. But this kind of demons stopped coming on earth after the first war ended. I can make a charm for you, which will neutralize the bad luck."

"You can do that?" I asked him, the enthusiasm growing in my heart and warming my whole body.

It would've been perfect!

"Of course I can. This is nothing. But for this, you have to set a date for me and Emily... and well, you can come as well because she would be uncomfortable with only me around."

He gave me a sly smile, which said: "did you think you would escape so easily?".

"When?" I said, letting my shoulders fall forwards, defeated.

"Today." He said quickly, inspecting his nails.

"Today?!"

"Today."

"I can't! I risked a lot going out with her already! Something might happen because of my bad luck!"

He rolled his eyes, resting his hands on the bed. His nails were really long. Claws.

"Nothing will happen because I'll make your charm right now. I need some talismans and a quiet space, so leave me ten minutes alone and refrain yourself from making noises. Go to the kitchen, there's food."

I inhaled deeply. I was a bit skeptical about him creating a charm for me, but... he gave me enough evidence that he wasn't a normal person, so why not? Nodding, I got on my feet and left the room. "Close the door." He said and I obeyed his commands, without even questioning. I exhaled sharply, looking around his house. There was another room on my left, empty, with just a bed in the middle of it and a big, white wardrobe. It didn't look like he was staying too much in this flat. I sighed, closing the room's door and opening the door to the kitchen, it seemed. Everything was white and black. On the left were the fridge, the sink, the cupboard, and the cooker. On the right was a black table with two white chairs around it.

My first instinct was to open the fridge, but something on the table caught my attention. Chinese take-away. I almost cracked up, but I covered quickly my mouth with my hand, remembering his command: stay quiet.

I believed him. The way he tried taking care of me seemed clumsy, thing that made me smile even though I shouldn't have done that. I should've been scared, running away from him like he was the Satan himself.

But the promise of a charm that might change my life? That was more than tempting: that was a dream coming true.

But can you trust him? He said it himself: he's a demon. He could've lied to you, making you trust him and then kill you and Emily both.

My blood froze in my veins. A shiver went down my spine and my eyes widened. I was so stupid! How could I trust a demon?! How could I take his word for granted?!

But what was I supposed to do? He could've killed me anyways! I sighed, shivering.

There was no true option in that situation. I had to go with the flow.

Don't trust him. Just pretend you're his friend.

I drew a deep breath and started eating Chinese food. I had to admit it; it was really good.

By the time I finished, the door opened suddenly and Caiden came in, his eyes looking at me exhausted. "Here it is. It took more than I expected because of the head wound. The second it heals I will get my full power back. This charm won't last long. I have to remake it."

He sat on the other chair and placed the charm on the table, in front of me. It was a necklace; an ancient necklace, I thought. It was made from gold with a small pendant, its shape reminding me very much of a cross. I looked at him and lifted my eyebrow. He shrugged. "No one said I can't charm the Christian's symbols."

I sighed. Guess he was right.

I took the necklace and put it around my neck. It didn't have a hocus-pocus effect on me; I felt the same as always, but, again, the same was with the bad luck as well: I felt normal but, still, the things happening around me weren't.

I touched the cross, playing a bit with it. "Thanks."

He gave me a dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't need your gratitude. I need you to call Emily and set a date today."

"Can't you reconsider it? Today is kind of..." I gasped, remembering something vital. "Where's my phone?!"

He looked straight into my eyes. "Here." He said, shoving his hand into his pocket and taking out my phone, putting it on the table, with elegant and fluid gestures. I grabbed it, panic-stricken. Fortunately, there was just a scratch on my screen; nothing too bad. It still worked. But that wasn't the thing I was worried about.

I unlocked it, happy I had more than 20% battery.

"Oh, my God." I gasped, checking my messages and calls.

30 missed calls from my mom. Three from Mike.

And 120 messages from Emily. I couldn't even read them!

For a short moment, I decided who I should've called first. Emily seemed safe, according to all her messages at different hours and mom...

But it was too late. In the second I tried pressing on her name, 'mom' appeared on the screen, making me almost drop my phone.

"Mom, let me explain..." I managed to say before she started raging.

"What happened?! I tried to call you yesterday all night and you didn't answer! Has something happened? Did it come back?! I told you to not go out! Heavens, you never listen to me! Where are you? Is Emily okay?!"

I jerked the phone away from my ear, scared that I could've lost my hearing. Caiden looked confused at me, frowning and narrowing his eyes. I sighed and muttered to him 'don't you dare say something' – the fact I wasn't at home the whole night was unacceptable, but, above that, sleeping at a guy's place? Without telling her his family history, his blood group, and his past secrets? I would've been dead.

"I'm sorry. I slept over at Emily's and my phone died, but I didn't notice."

I squeezed my eyes shut, begging in my mind that Emily didn't contact her. She sighed and I exhaled, relieved. "Don't you ever do that to me! Come home now!"

I put on a grimace, staring into Caiden's dark eyes, which were pretty pissed off by my mom's interruption. "Okay, I'll come home in thirty minutes. Love you."

She hung up and I left my phone on the table, blinking slowly. "Don't you tell me you can't make it today. Go home and talk to your mother. I can't wait any longer. My... situation got worse." He said, leaning his body forwards, having a worried expression on his pale face. His eyes were so dark that I could swear there was no difference between the pupil and the iris. His brows furrowed, forming a line on his forehead. His mouth was a thin line, which made me remember the first time I talked to him, two days ago.

How could things go wrong so fast?!

I sighed, a little bit scared by his intensified glare. "I will talk to her. But now I need to go."

I got to my feet and he did the same, opening me the door. "Go down the street and turn left. Then go straight down and you'll find your house."

I lifted my eyebrows, turning my head to throw him a suspicious gaze. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Yea, I followed you as well. Get over it."

I rolled my eyes and turned my back, ready to go home and face my angry and raging mom.