Coming to a Term

"Those horns don't suit you at all." Amelia made a remark.

"Yeah, I wonder if I can trade them with something more demon-like. These forked horns are so lame." Dewey touched the horns protruding from his skull. Upon letting out more of Gaap's power, his appearance would be closer to that of a demon.

"That insult was not necessary." Gaap said.

"These things are wacky as hell." Dewey replied. Amelia who could not hear Gaap's voice assumed that he was talking to the demon. Watching the two interact must have seemed surreal and weird for an ordinary person like her.

"You two keep talking, I'll get something to eat." Amelia stood up and walked towards the door.

"You still can't cook?" Dewey asked but Amelia did not answer. "I feel sorry for the guys she dated."

"Is cooking that relevant for you mortals? We demons just cannot relate." Gaap asked.

Dewey walked towards the stove. "Well unlike you, we've got palates. People's tastes vary, for example, some people can't handle spicy food. Some can't handle bitter one." For demons who did not need nutrients and instead leeched off energy from the host, that was a new concept. "Never asked that kind of stuff to your previous hosts?" Gaap did not answer.

"You do realize that you could just have used your power to boil the water, do you not?" The kettle's whistling made questions appear inside the demon's head.

"I can still pay the gas bill just fine." He poured the hot water to a cup which already contained dried tea leaves. He then took out an old mug from the cabinet, cleaned it, and put two tablespoons of ground coffee. "Does she even still drink this kind of coffee these days." Dewey wondered.

Gaap became so curious on both Dewey and Amelia. "You mortals do change a lot, despite it only has been few years." He said.

The host blew the cup before tasting the tea. "Well, we do live shorter lives than you." It was still too hot, he practically burned his tongue.

Amelia came when Dewey was sticking his tongue out. "Gross." She said while throwing a meal set towards him. "Oh I smell coffee." She rushed towards the kitchen counter and picked the mug. "I remember this one, being hung up, aren't we?" She patted Dewey's shoulder.

"Maybe not in every aspect." Gaap chuckled.

"Oh yeah, look at this." Amelia showed Dewey a piece of newspaper.

"At least buy one with my name on it." He took it from her. "Cases of tumor raised in the last month, wow thanks, can't you wait at least until I finished eating?" The picture on the paper drove away his appetite. "Let's see..." The news covered some reports from the local hospitals, the number of sudden death increased significantly within a short time, moreover, most victims' bodies' were ridden with some sort of tumor which turned their flesh dark and swollen.

Gaap who could see through his host's eyes looked curious. He was one of the demons who could read letters, therefore, he could read the news just fine. "Failed bonding ritual, I am certain."

"Excuse me?" Dewey asked.

"Some demons may go as far as taking the host's body, in other words, giving the demon real physical body. However, a ritual must be done by the host, both the host and demon have to sign a blood pact. By offering the body of the host to the demon, all limitations placed onto the demon who was residing in a mortal body would be removed." Gaap explained.

"And if one of them disagrees?" Dewey asked, but Gaap remained silent. His eyes moved towards the article on the newspaper. "You'd better not thinking of anything stupid, you vile creature." Dewey warned the demon, but again, Gaap said nothing.

"So it really is related to the demons, I assume?" Amelia asked.

"Maybe I really am punished. I've ignored anything supernatural's existence all this time. Now it all coming together to bite me in the ass." He sighed. "Too much mustard, are you sure you didn't get our orders switched up?" He looked towards Amelia, who just finished her meal. "Nevermind."

Dewey strolled on the pedestrian's road where he was stopped by a man with unkept beard. "Would you please spare some change for this old man? I'm sure god will repay you later." The man asked.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in something like that. You can have these, though." He gave the man just enough to buy food.

"Is that so?" The man put the money to his shirt pocket. "I guess it makes sense for a demon not to believe in god." He jumped back while throwing an empty glass bottle at Dewey, but he missed his mark. His appearance changed, a pair of thick horns grew out of his forehead as he groaned. A triangular shaped mark appeared just under his feet.

"A host!? Why didn't you say anything?" He was about to get mad at Gaap but he remembered that he prohibited him to say anything in public, now he felt stupid. "Fine, fine! Talk to me when we're threatened." Dewey gave up.

"Andromalis, he is the demon of guilt and resentment." Those were the series of words Gaap said to his host.

"What the hell does a demon of guilt even do?" He ran towards an empty alleyway.

"Don't run away!" The old man caught up to him, it was strange for Dewey, he thought he had sprinted as fast as he could but he could not help to walk slower. "You're mine, young lad!"

"Crap!" The old man headbutted him, Dewey fell to the ground with the old man mounting him. He took out a knife and raised it high. The knife dove towards Dewey's chest, however, it came flying.

Fortunately for Dewey, a chunk of frozen water he got from nearby hydrant saved his life. "That was dirty." The old man jumped back and picked his knife up.

"Say that to yourself you damn geezer." He melted the water and refroze it to a shape of a crooked staff. Gaap laughed at his best attempt at forming the water, and that of course made Dewey mad, given the circumstances. Nevertheless, Dewey charged at the old man, pushing him with the end of his staff, but again, a string was pulled inside his heart. "So this is the power of guilt?"

The old man stood up and swung his knife at Dewey, plagued by guilt, he could no longer hit the old man. The old man lost his balance and was about to fall, driven by the emotion, Dewey caught him up, only for him to get stabbed in the abdomen.

He fell to the ground as blood escaped the body. "You are hopeless, oh new host of mine." Gaap tried to froze the blood to stop the bleeding, it did not work very well. "You might feel like you are about to enter the void by now, however, this exact moment is our chance." The demon whispered.

As his consciousness was about to fade, the guilt to the old man shifted to an overwhelming feeling of regret. Dewey broke the old man's trick. He froze the blood on the ground, covering his knuckle with it. With a clean hit, he knocked the old man down. Dewey could not hear the old man's whines through his almost unconscious state. Scared and scarred, the old man flee, leaving the Gaap's host by himself, kneeling on the road.

Evening arrived when Dewey returned back home, his shirt was cut and stained red. Amelia upon seeing him, undoubtedly was worried.