Chapter 12

A couple of days soon turned into weeks and Angie was getting restless. Mother didn't know where James was nor could she get a grasp on where he was according to Angie's dreams. Yes. Angie dreamed every night of James. With his powers, he was able to communicate with her every single night, and every single night she woke up in a cold sweat and screaming from the top of her lungs. It was routine now for Jasper to get in bed with her and calm her down enough to get back to sleep, but even so, she was still exhausted throughout the day to the point where she would fall asleep while doing anything. She could be doing something that required her utmost attention and still nod off. She was thankful that she had Jasper was staying with her. She didn't trust herself to even drive to the grocery store to pick up something to eat so he would do it. Although, he would teleport rather than drive, but she couldn't care less at the moment.

"Don't people see you teleport to and from the store?" She asked one day while putting away groceries.

"Humans don't care about anything but themselves when it comes to daily lives," Jasper answered. "They just care if you stand out. Other than teleportation, I don't stand out."

"True enough."

"People really don't know me enough around here. If they did, I would probably stand out a little more."

"Well, it has been a couple of weeks. I'm sure people are starting to notice you more."

Jasper shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee that he had gotten from the local coffee shop before coming back with the groceries. "If they start to notice, I'll just make them forget what they saw."

"Jasper!" Angie whipped around to face the demon with a glare. "You can't just mess with people's minds like that!"

Jasper hummed, setting his coffee down gently on the table and made direct eye contact with her. "Is it any different than what we do now? Changing hearts?"

"Well... yes!" Angie said. "We are getting rid of a parasite that attaches itself to the hearts of humans! It's not the same at all!"

"Then, we are no different than that parasite if you truly think about it."

Angie huffed and turned back around to finish putting away everything. She wasn't going to argue. It wasn't the same thing. It wasn't the same thing at all. They wanted to get rid of those parasites in order for humans to turn back into their normal selves. It wasn't as though they were actually changing people's hearts for their own gain. Well, at least she wasn't. Maybe that's why he found it to be so alike because he and the rest of the demons in this cult were in it for their own personal gain; to be able to eat the souls of non-infected humans so that they can continue to be within the mortal realm. She didn't want that though! She wanted people not to be manipulated anymore by a sinister being. That wasn't the same! That wasn't the same at all!

Right?

Angie's head tipped back and she let out a long, drawn out sigh from her throat. "You forgot eggs."

"I'll get them tomorrow," Jasper mumbled, trashing his coffee cup and getting up from his chair with a stretch. "We already ate breakfast anyway."

"You don't just use eggs for breakfast," Angie scrunched her nose and snarled. "You know what? I can't deal with you right now. I'll go get the stupid eggs."

"No, no. No you are not. Not without me."

"Come on!" Angie whined, slouching a bit as she stamped her feet. "I'll use my teleportation. No driving. I'll be right back too! I just... need some time to myself, okay?"

"If you need time to yourself, go take a shower."

"A curtain in between you and me is not private time!"

"Fine!" Jasper growled, throwing his hands up dramatically. "Go get your stupid eggs by yourself! Even better! I'll give you an hour to yourself! You're only allowed to stay within the shopping center though! Got it?"

Angie beamed and hugged the still growling demon tightly. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"You're literally vibrating," Jasper groaned and rubbed both hands up and down his face. "Just get going. Your time starts now."

Angie sped to grab her purse, waved goodbye and trudged out the door only to warp to the back of the shopping plaza. She had really gotten the hang of teleportation so quickly, even Jasper was surprised. Still, she wanted to feel normal at all times so, Angie opted to taking the car more often. She had promised to use her teleportation, so she did and nonchalantly walked around to the front of the plaza. She would get eggs last. She was going to make the best of this hour alone from Jasper. She didn't need anything other than eggs, but there was a nice little clothing store that she absolutely adored. Angie waltzed right in, nodding to the cashier that didn't look like she wanted to be there and got to work, browsing through the sections of the store.

"Hey."

"Hm?" Angie looked up from the shirts on the shelves to see who had greeted her, but there was no one around. She shrugged it off, thinking that living with Jasper for too long had really gotten to her, and made her way over to the dresses in the far back of the store.

"If you can hear me, pick up that pink dress."

"Who the hell...?" Angie looked around, but again she was alone.

"Pick up the damn pink dress if you can hear me."

"James?"

"Hush!' The voice hissed. "Pick up the damn the dress!"

Locating a pink dress, she lifted it from the rack.

"Good," The voice hummed. "Now, you can put the dress back unless you want to buy it."

She put it back.

"Now, listen to me. Continue browsing around while I talk."

So she did and went towards the pants section of the store.

"I know that your little demon friends have been trying to find me, but I only want you to find me. Only you. Not you and Jasper. Not you and Mother. Only you. If you understand, pick up those denim shorts."

She grabbed the shorts and threw them over her shoulder.

"How did I know you were going to buy that?" The voice sighed then continued. "Alright, meet me at the pier tonight. Remember. Come alone. I don't care how you get rid of the demon, just do it."

The voice was gone after that. She put the pants back and headed over to the grocery store. She was suddenly not in the mood to be alone. Knowing that James could see and talk to her anytime he wanted to gave her the creeps. She didn't want to go meet James alone. Hell, she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. She couldn't tell Jasper what had gone on though. James would know. What did James want anyway? If he really wanted to kill her, he could have just done it. If he was powerful enough to do all this shit that he had been doing to communicate with her, he was definitely powerful enough to take her out along with Jasper. Just what did he want? What was he after?

"Angie?"

She screamed bloody murder and whipped around to bash whoever it was over the head with her purse, but she stopped just in time to see Jasper who was thoroughly confused. She blinked at the demon, wondering why he had appeared at the grocery store with her, but looking around at her surroundings, she noticed that she was back home with a carton of eggs in a paper bag around her wrist.

"What are you doing back already?" Jasper asked. "I gave you an hour and you only took maybe 15 minutes."

"I... uhh...." What the hell was she supposed to say? She made such a big fuss about getting away from him before that she couldn't just say that she missed him. She couldn't tell him about James either. She had to think fast.

"When I was getting eggs I suddenly had inspiration for a new painting."

Jasper perked up and she internally sighed in relief that he wasn't suspicious.

"Really? I guess you should go out to get eggs by yourself more often."

She turned up her nose with a huff and practically threw the eggs in the fridge; not even flinching when she heard them bang against the shelving. "Yeah! You should!"

Jasper put his head down and sighed. "Listen Angie. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to keep you safe as per Mother."

Angie also dropped her head with a sigh. "I know you are." She closed the fridge door and strode past Jasper towards the back door. "I'm going to paint before I lose my inspiration."

Jasper nodded. "Alright. I'll leave you alone until dinner."

She shut the door behind her and walked off to her shed, but this gave her an idea of how she would get out of the house without suspicion from Jasper.