Daemonophobia; The Fear of Demons

"Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. All the world is waiting for the sun."

"You have a nice voice, Mikey."

"Thank you, Gry

"What would you do if it actually stopped rain?"

"I think I would go outside and jump around in puddles."

"What of there was a worm in that puddle?"

"If there was a worm in that puddle, I think I would try to save is from drowning."

"That's nice, Mikey."

"Thank you, Gry."

. . . . . . . . .

"Hey, Gry?"

"Yeah, Mikey?"

"Would you try to save the worm from drowning too?"

"I think I would."

"Okay."

Mikey comes over from the window and lays across the bed. I push away from the door frame and crawl over to him. I lay on my side and prop up my head with my hand and elbow.

I watch Mikey as he looks out the window at the rain. The light that filters in makes the shadows of the rivets of rain on the windowpane dance on his face.

"What ya thinkin' 'bout?"He asks, turning his sea foam eyes to me.

"Um... I'm thinking about about...uh...how..." I say, not wanting to reveal my thoughts, but in the end, I say it anyway, "I'm thinking about how you look in this light."

His eyes become unreadable, "How do I look?"

I smile, "Like Mikey."

He smiles back, letting it reach his eyes.

"Kinda sad how it rained all spring break."

"Yeah." I say, "But it's calming. You know what I mean?"

Mikey props himself up on his elbow, facing me. His eyes twinkle with a sort of inner light. He sweeps my hair behind my ear.

"I know what you mean." His voice is quiet.

We calmly pass into a comfortable silence. Each lost in each owns thoughts.

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Danny greets me at the top of the stairs. We hadn't really seen much of each other over spring break. I think we're realizing the the boyfriend/girlfriend thing is past it's due.

Nonetheless, He draws me into a hug, and then we walk together to class. His arm hooks around my shoulders and we share headphones.

"Do you think the Dragon will last much longer?" he whispers softly.

"No. It's fighting back so violently because it's hold is getting weaker; it'll have to leave soon." I reply, "It is fighting though."

He nods and I feel him look at me. I meet his gaze, my eyes searching his calm blue orbs.

"I'm sorry for not being there for you. I know I'm not much help, which is why I try to learn as much as possible." His eyes flicker, " I wanna protect you and . . . "

"Luna." I pick up the dropped end of his sentence. "It's okay, Danny."

He looks at me, and I swipe my hair away to look at him with both eyes. I smile at him and somehow we both now what's going on. Danny smiles and hugs me.

"So... Can I assume that this close-knit relationship is to be categorized as a friendship?" He asks.

His words signal the mutual knowledge that we are both moving on from being boyfriend and girlfriend with no resentment or regret.

"Yeah." I reply, confirming it.

Danny gives me a soft reassuring smile. I return in and give him a gentle hug. Still friends. We are still close, close friends. He wraps his arms around me and we listen to music till the bell rings.

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The mosaics are neat to look at. Mrs. Moon hangs them all up in the hall and let's up look at them. I move slowly, taking in the detail of some and smiling at others.

Some are simple, trees, flowers, that sort of thing. One or too tried to hard and ended up with an abstract person or a puddle of puke, depending on how you look at it. However one guy had manage to portray Frankenstein's monster.

Emma's was one of the better ones. Hers was of a fish, but not an ordinary goldfish. This was a koi, a Japanese fish and it was beautiful. My sparrow had turned out well, but it sorta paled in comparison, but only a little.

The black smoke Butterfly is no where to be found, but . . . it is there. Hanging in the air, just vanished. I can sense the Daemon, holding onto existence. It's not manifesting today, though. Emma couldn't be happier.

"They came out good, huh?" She smiles at me.

I nod and give a small smile. She still is the host, but there is something about this Daemon that makes me hesitant, but not in the normal way. Maybe it's the demon. It seems to affect confidence. So maybe I'm just psyching myself out. I shake my head and clear my thoughts.

One crisis at a time, I tell myself.