6 CHAPTER SIX

He inspected carefully his surroundings. The park was silent and the lamps were the only source of light. No one was there, not even the occasional junkies. It would've been problematic if he was followed. He perked up his ears. Birds. Wind. Water. Only nature. He exhaled sharply, walking slowly towards the big tree in front of him. He checked his phone, making sure it was the right time. He couldn't cope with this technology; he loved the old times, when everything was much simpler, especially the humans. Humans were so complicated in these new times! He shook his head, remembering that brown-haired girl. People used to leave him alone, because of his hazy aura. But not her. She practically broke his spell and this thing was confusing for him. How could she? Did she have any powers? Was she a mage? He's never seen one, but the world was changing. If he could exist, then even wizards could've been real.

"Next time let's meet at the beach. This autumn vibe makes me want to swim."

Xislia appeared in front of him, falling from the tree. He took several steps back and narrowed his eyes. "Your hair is a mess. How can you seduce someone with all those leaves?"

He approached her, picking the soft leaves from her red and wild hair. She bit her lips, staring at his perfect face and thinking how his lips would taste. "If you have funky ideas, drop them. I'm not your meal."

She rolled her eyes and pulled back. "I know. It's just my instinct, you know. Anyways, did He send you here?"

He sighed, lowering his body and touching the muddy ground. His hands got dirty, but he couldn't care less. "Yes. Have you noticed? It got worse. I think in a year we'll all end up aches."

She gave him a puzzled gaze, following his hands' movements. "You can feel it? If that old demon didn't tell us, I wouldn't have got a clue, to be honest." She said, shoving her hair back away from her face.

Caiden sighed, getting to his feet and rubbing his hands. "Yes. I've got a connection with nature."

She chuckled, turning her back. "Is that an Asian thing? Do you have sex with the trees?"

He rolled his eyes, annoyed by her ignorance. "And I thought only humans can be racist."

She laughed, turning her head only to see him sulking. "I'm sorry, kitty. Don't take it personally. Humans have a huge impact on me. Can't get through day without sarcasm and cigarettes, you know?"

"I don't."

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Are you not allowed to smoke?" She came closer and whispered in his ear, in a conspiracy-kind of manner: "Is it because of your connection with nature? Your body, your temple?"

He jerked away, his nose getting wrinkled. He didn't like her full-humane smell. "Did you just suck the energy out of a human before you came here?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms over her generous chest. "A girl has to survive. It's not polite to ask a demon what he has to do for a living. Am I asking you if you fucked a tree? No. See?"

"I have no idea why I'm dealing with you." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a few seconds, he drew a quick breath and met her dirty gaze. "Anyways, we have to keep it a secret. We are the only ones who know about the Fallen."

"And the rest of them?"

He glared at her, but she just shrugged. "Sorry. I can't focus on something boring. That meeting made me want to kill myself, to be honest."

Caiden sighed. "It's too risky to let them know. They will create chaos on earth, even more than already is."

"Of course." She mocked him, smirking. "You know, I think all this nerd charade gets you very well. You truly look like one. Especially because you look like an Asian. Asians are nerds."

"As much as I like talking to you about racist things, unfortunately, I have more important matters to discuss. Like the possibility of finding the touched one."

"That Barbie girl? I checked her out. Nice necklace she got. If she gets killed, I will keep the necklace."

Caiden blinked slowly, staring at her bored face. "You stole her necklace?"

She shrugged nonchalantly, inspecting her nails. "It was a pretty one. You know I love shiny things."

Caiden gasped, not believing her childish behavior. "God Damn, Xsilia! Are you even aware of the rules? You know what's happening now with our worlds and, still, you do such things! If they get aware of our presence, we'll die even faster!"

She growled, appearing in front of him in a fraction of second. "You are even hotter when you are angry. But, baby, please don't call me by that name. I'm Jessica."

He rolled his eyes, taking a few steps back. It wasn't because he was tempted by her succubus aura. He, in fact, was disgusted by her filthy nature. But, sometimes, even his disgust seemed to disappear. "Anyways, He sent me to warn you. Do your job and stop interfering with so many humans. If you use them, kill them and dispose of their bodies. Don't make our situation even worse."

She yawned, covering her mouth with her hands. "Is that all? I have to go to a party."

That succubus was unbelievable. Caiden shook his head and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just go, you're annoying me. Oh, and by the way."

She turned her head and met his gaze. His mouth's corners almost went up. Almost. "Jessica is a boring name. It sucks."

She stuck her tongue out and her nose got wrinkled. In a second, she disappeared, leaving him alone with the wind messing his hair up, as his mind already was.

***

"If you really want to make things right with me, we'll go there in thirty minutes. No 'buts' or complaints. Understood?"

I sighed, moving the phone on the left hand. "Yea. I'll finish washing the dishes and get dressed. Anyways, I have something to tell you. Can't believe you ignored me this whole day!"

"I ignored you just four hours, stop over-reacting." She said and I was pretty sure she rolled her eyes, annoyed by my clingy behavior.

"Yea, but I had something important to tell you!"

"Fine, fine, tell me in thirty minutes, I have to do my make up."

I opened my mouth, ready to tell her what I wanted to say ever since the History class, but she hung up on me, making me pinch the bridge of my nose. Sometimes I wanted to kill her for not listening at all.

I sighed, thinking again about that weird guy. Why did Emily think of him as 'scary'? I couldn't understand, to be honest. He seemed normal. Maybe kind of antisocial and a bit mysterious with those dark-shaded glasses, but he didn't look like a murderer or something like that. He was just weird, that was all.

"Ivy?"

I jerked away from the phone and ran towards the door. I opened it, letting my mom come in with her arms full of groceries bags. I took some of them and she sighed, throwing me a 'thank you' glare, without saying it aloud; she seemed pretty exhausted.

We got in the kitchen and started arranging the groceries. "How was school today? Is Emily doing well?"

I cleared my throat. Ever since those incidents, it was an invisible tension in the house whenever mom would open this subject. "Yea, she's fine. I'll go out with her in thirty minutes. Can Mike finish the dishes if I help with the bags?"

She drew a deep breath and blinked slowly. A line appeared between her blonde brows. She ran a hand through her short, blonde hair and threw me a significant glare. "Ivy. I know it sounds harsh, but you going out..."

"I know. I know." I said quickly, raising my hands, defending myself. "I think it stopped ever since we came here. Nothing's happened this year. Maybe.... Maybe now I'm fine."

Tears filled my eyes and, suddenly, I felt the urge to cry my heart out. I didn't want to be careful. I didn't want to consider 'my situation'. I just wanted to go out without any worries.

Mom gave me a sad smile, her eyes looking as tired as always. "I know, dear. I know you want to go, but this... whatever it is, can't be controlled. You never know when it comes back. You don't want to live with regrets, do you?"

Out of nowhere, my chest filled with anger and I could feel my heart pumping so fast that I was scared it might stop at some point. "No, mom, but I'm tired! I'm almost 19! I wanna go out like I used to! You can't make me stay in all my life. Why don't you just get me out of school, huh? I bet I can be home-schooled or something. Why don't you do that?"

She was staring at me, with a hurt expression on her face. I frowned and clenched my fists. I knew it wasn't fair for her. It wasn't her fault. But it wasn't mine either. I didn't want to stay hidden just because of this... thing. I wanted to face it. To fight it. To escape from it.

"Ivy... I'm sorry... But it's not... "

"Whatever. I'll go out today. With or without your permission. And if nothing happens, I will go out again. If the opposite... I promise I will leave the school."

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Ivy!"

I shook my head. I knew, I knew it wasn't the best decision. Hell, it might've been the worst. But I still wanted to try it. I couldn't live my life only in fear. "I'm sorry, mom. I'll get back safe, I promise!" I said, turning my back and running into my room to change my clothes.

"It's not you that I'm worried about..." She whispered, making me shudder.

I knew very well what she was talking about.