Daemonophobia; The Fear of Demons

~||MONDAY||~

"I wish the buses didn't smell so bad..." Mikey said, covering up his nose as we head to the back of the bus.

"They have to." I reply, "If they didn't, you might get happy."

Mikey laughs and sits down in the back row. I slide in across from him, taking up the rest of the seat.

I twist around and look at Mikey's house. I smile at the flower box that hangs outside my window. Mikey helped me plant it when we were nine.

As the bus slows down to the next stop, I don't bother to look up as people start to file in. Mikey, on the other hand, sits up straight and watches everyone.

As the bus ride continues, people fill the seats and soon the buss is buzzing with people catching up from over the summer.

When I'm sure that everyone is absorbed in conversation, my eyes shift from the window and I look around the bus.

I let out a relieved sigh and relax into my seat. No wisps... So much better than last year. This bus doesn't have any Demons. Last year's bus had three.

"Everything OK, Gry?" Mikey breaks his stream of talk with someone and asks me.

"Yep." I smile at him, "Everything's great."

"Hey, I remember you." The boy Mikey was talking to leans over the seat back further, cause me to almost recoil. "We had art together last year. I loved you're painting of the tree. It was my favorite. It wasn't until half way through the year that I noticed that your eyes are ---"

"James, leave her alone, can't you see you're scaring her."

In the seat next tom him, a girl tugs on his sleeve. Her eyes try to pull him back to her. James looks at her, and then back at me. I give him a little half smile. I remember him too.

"I'm not scaring her." He says to her, and she only 'humph's' and sits back down. "How are you feeling about starting school?"

"Excited." I smile up at him, "How about you?"

James tells me that he can't wait. I see Mikey start to talk to the girl next to James. I hear that her name is Mabel. James and I talk as the bus rolls up to the school.

"We should eat lunch together." James says as the bus jerks to a halt. "Sound okay?"

"Uh... I don't thi--" "Sure! If we can find the cafe around here." Mikey interrupts me.

"Cool. See you later, Gry. Mikey." James waves as Mabel tugs him into the crowd, leaving Mikey and I in a sea of people.

"Let's go get our schedules." Mikey says, moving towards the building.

I shadow him, pointing the way using the over sized maps that seem to loom over the students. A couple times we spot people we know, promising to catch up later.

"Here we are." Mikey opens the door to the office and follows me in.

"Hello, Whatcha kids need?" The lady at the desk smiles up at us, welcoming us in. She couldn't be over twenty-five, and could have easily blending into the student body outside.

"Our schedules got lost, so we need copies." I say. Mikey steps up beside me, "Yep."

"Okay, I'll need your names." She says, swiveling her chair to her computer.

"Michael Hale and Gry Willow." Mikey answers.

After a few taps and clicks, the printer spits out two pieces of paper. The lady spins her chair around, snatching the papers and turning back to us without stopping her chair. It makes me smile.

"Here ya go. If you ever need anything else, just come see me. Good ol' Ms.Kitt" She introduces herself, "Want direction to your first class?"

Mikey and I both nod as we stare at the schedules. Ms. Kitt opens the office door and points Mikey down the hall to Biology, and then points me up the stairs to Algebra 1 Honors.

Mikey gives my hand a squeeze and moves down the hall. I stand in the sea of people and watch him move off. Brrrrrriiiiiing! Everyone jumps simultaneously and moves with a little more purpose.

I go up stairs and find my math class. I look in the room and the teacher smiles. He looks like he has better things to do than teach, so his smile is fake and almost plastic.

The room is half full. The desk-chairs are in three columns, facing the front. They are set up so that two desks are close together and there is space between the pairs. Some people are talking and laughing while others sit still, listening to music or doodling in sketchbooks.

I slide into a desk at the back of the room. To my right, across the aisle from me, a boy writes silently in a note book. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as I cross my arms on my desk and rest my head on them.

His black hair falls like a curtain between us, and he has his left elbow on the desk top, resting his head on his hand. He writes with his right hand, turned away from me.

The music from his headphones is just loud enough to hear over the buzz of chatter in the room. He shifts in his seat and jumps a little when he sees me. I turn my head to look at him and nod my greeting.

He raises an eyebrow at me, studying my eyes. The bell rings as he nods his greeting back to me.

"Alright class, Roll call time." The teacher stands at the front of the class with his laptop open. "Christopher Allen"
"Here" A boy who is sitting on a desk top answers.
"Emily Anderson"
"Here" The girl sitting next to him chirps.
"Daniel Andrews"
"Present" The boy next to me raises his hand.

The roll is called and two boys come in late. They silently slide into seats and the teacher gives them a look, but doesn't mark them tardy. It is the first day after all.

"Okay, Class. This is Algebra 1 Honors. In this class there are under achieving juniors, over achieving freshmen and on track sophomores. I am Mr. Ming." As he was speaking, Mr. Ming opens a closest and pulls out a stack of text books. "When you get a book, write your name in it and put it in your bags."

A collective groan moves through the room and the book start to circulate. I put my head back on my desk and stare at the floor between Daniel and me. I jerk when two books slam in front of my face.

I hand one to Daniel and write my name in the other. I put it in my messenger bag and recoil. Next to Daniel's bag is the wisp of a Demon.

The red eyes form quickly and lunge at me. I pull my and back fast from the shape. Daniel gives me a funny looks and then goes back to his notebook. The Demon glares at me in a spider-like shape.

Its proportions are off and it isn't symmetrical, with more spike legs on one side than the other. The red eyes swirl around in the hazy body, and than the Demon scampers back to Daniels bag, dispersing and vanishing before it gets there.

The bell rings, and the back half of the class rushing for the door. I get out before everyone else and look at my schedule. The room number sorta blurs and I feel lost.

"This way." Someone takes hold of my elbow and pulls me down the hall. "Your English class is right next to mine."

Daniel points me to the class and before I can thank him he disappears into the sea people. I sigh and go to my class.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~
Later in the day
~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

My English class passed with out incident, and so did study hall. After asking around, I find the art wing of the building. I manage to make it into my class before the bell blasts my ears off.

"Hey! Gry, come sit here." James calls me over to the chair next to him.

I smile and pull up to the table. I let my bag drop to the ground next to my chair, and look around the room.

The room is huge and the walls are covered in paint splatters and hand prints. The walls themselves are cinder block, instead of the drywall.

"Hello everyone! I'm Mrs. Moon." The teacher smiles out from the front of the room. She has a canvas apron on that has more art supplies smeared on it than the walls. Almost. "Our first assignment is to bring back a sketch book this big" She holds up an eight by eleven pad. "I don't care how many pages or anything like that, but it must be eight by eleven."

From there Mrs. Moon takes roll, and then she gives the class a tour of the room. Oil and water color paints, pastels, inks, colored pencils, brushes, canvas and everything else. The room is like a craft store. I can't wait for the first project.

"Lunch is after this, so we'll find Mikey and go eat. What do ya think?" James asks once we get back to our seats. He looks up from doodling on a piece of paper.

"Sounds like a plan." My eyes dart back and forth between my paper and a clay vase on the window sill across the room. After a second, I look up at James, "How come you seem to know what's going on and where everything is? You're a freshman too."

"My parents made me come to orientation." James smile, but keeps doodling.

I look over his shoulder and on his paper are sketches of eyes. Some with noses or eyebrows or the whole face. He looks up at me, catching my own eyes.

"Um... uh," He stutters and covers his paper with his hands.

"You draw really well. Those look great, ya know." I point to the page of eyes then turn back to my own sketch. I see him relax out of the corner of my eye and continue doodling.

"Class, the bell will rings soon," Mrs. Moon says, "So please, put your doodles and sketches away in the cabinet shelf that I've given you."

The bell rings and we pack our things and head for the cafeteria. James tells me about how in his English class he's reading To Kill a Mocking Bird and I say we're reading that too.

"I've already read it, though." James says as we look around the cafeteria lobby for Mikey.

"Me too, it a good book. Oh, there he is." My smile and rush over to Mikey, who engulfs me in a hug.

"Yeah yeah, I missed you too." He laughs, "Now come on, I'm starving."

We move through the line and head into the cafeteria proper, looking for a table. I scrunch up my nose and my gaze shifts over all the demon wisps in the room. Soon the room swirls with smoke.

"Gry? Are you okay, you look like you're about to throw up." James places a hand on my shoulder.

"She'll be OK. Let's go sit outside." Mikey touches my hand and I follow him into the courtyard.

It's empty outside except for a few people sitting at some tables. Mikey, James, and I just sit down under a tree. After a while Mabel, the girl from the bus, comes and sits down next to James.

"Why didn't you guys wait for me?" She almost whined.

"Opps, I didn't know." Mikey interrupting James before he starts. "I saw this tree and really wanted to sit here before anyone else."

Mabel pouts a little before taking a bite out of her apple. I watch her lean towards James, not a lot but just enough so that's she's closer to him.

We all start talking and soon we're all laughing and kidding around with each other. We throw away our trash on the way in and split up to go to our next class.

I check my schedule. Science, Biology and Genetics. I stare at the paper and keep staring at it. I look up at the map hung on the wall and then back at my schedule.

"Uh... Why must this be so confusing?" I whisper to myself.

I hear someone chuckle next to me. I flinch and look up at Daniel. He's looking up at the map too. He turns and gently takes my paper.

"Oh, we've got the same science class." He says as he looks over my schedule. "Convenient."

He hands back my paper and starts down the hall. I follow, tucking my paper into my bag. Daniel looks back at me once, I guess checking to see if I'm there, before putting on his headphones and turning on the music.

I stretch my neck out, trying to see. Daniel tilts the screen for me. I'd never heard of the band before, so I just nod. I see him roll his eyes before we go into the room.

We take a table in the back of the room. I pull out my book from English and start reading, ignoring the class around me. The bell rings and I put away my book.

"I'm Danny, just so ya know." Daniel... Danny says.

"Gry." I say as I pull a notebook out onto the table, "Just so you know."

Danny rolls his eyes and goes back to doodling. The teacher stands in the front of the class and kinda glares at us.

"No iPods in class. And no phones." She says, bitterly, "So please give me your full attention and stop drawing on the table."

I shiver as the black wisp curls around her arm. She crosses them in front of her chest and the red eye glares at me. The Demon forms quickly into a dragon shape. It's small and proportionate.

I close my notebook and Danny takes off his headphones. He's glaring back at the teacher. The black wisp spider forms by his hand, close to the notebook.

It's distracting to watch them, the Demons and their hosts. The well formed dragon and the grotesque spider turn their red gleaming eyes at each other.

The teacher opens her laptop and takes roll. Danny looks at me and the Demon spider disappears. The textbooks are handed out and the dragon swirls angrily around the teacher.

"I'm Mrs. Jonas. Turn your book to page 12 and start reading." Mrs. Jones sneers, "Answer the questions at the end of the chapter for tomorrow"

I scrunch up my nose and open my book. I start to read the questions and then the chapter. Mrs. Jonas moves around the room, the demon reaching for each student as she passes.

It doesn't seem to touch them, just reach out and then pull its claws back in. I watch it as it circles the room. When Mrs. Jonas comes past my desk the dragon leaps off and lands on my table.

I cringe hard, and my hands start to shake. I shallow hard and stare blankly at my book. It morphs into the shape of a Demon cat and slides closer to me. The red eyes dart to my hand on the book and it reaches out and digs its claw into my wrist. I jump back a little, my movement jerky.

"May I go to the bathroom?" I ask swiftly, trying to keep my voice even.

"Sure, go."

I leave the room and see the Demon disperse as I close the door behind me. I walk down the hall and stop at a water fountain. My hands are still shaking as I take a drink. I look at my wrist and gasp a little.

Three small little cuts open in little pools of bloods on my wrist. In almost ten years I've seen hundred, maybe thousands, of Demons and only ever had two hurt me. The one that slashed my eye, and now this one.

I turn on my heels and march into Ms. Kitt's office. I open the door, my hands finally not shaking. She looks up at me and raises an eyebrow.

"You look like you're running from the devil," she doesn't know the half of it, "How can I help you?'

"I would like to switch a class." I say, breathing finally under control. "Science, this period."

"Um, I'll see." Ms. Kitt says and points to a chair, "Come sit."

I take a seat and Ms. Kitt click and taps away at her computer. I watch her look for another Bio class during this set. There is none.

"Well, I'm sorry. I mean I could give you a new schedule but I'm not going to rearrange your whole thing just for one class.” She gives me a sad smile, "Sorry..."

I just nod and leave, saying a small 'thank you' as I close the door behind me. I walk down the hall and look at my wrist. It's perfectly fine.

I stop in the hall and turn my wrist over in my hand, prodding the skin. Nothing, no blood, no cuts, no pain at all. Hmm... So it heals fast and goes away, but hurts at the time.

I walk back to the room, and find Danny standing outside the room. He looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

"You okay?" his voice is soft, with just enough edge to it to make me think he might not even care, "Gry?"

"Yeah, just, uh..." I shrug and shake it off, "Needed to go the bathroom, really bad."

The look Danny gives me tells me he doesn't believe a word, but he won't pressure me. We walk into the room and go to the back of the class and sit back down. The Dragon sits on my desk, glaring at me.

For the first time, I glare back at it. Yeah, I know you're there. Leave me be. The wisp mouth forms and opens in a sly grin, red gleaming teeth fill its mouth.

I sit down at my desk, and start flipping the pages of my science book. Danny leans over and together we write down the answers for the homework.

The Dragon slinks over, its wisps spreading out as it pads the text book. My whole body quivers, and I clench my hand under the table. My fingernails bite into the palm of my hand.

Danny looks up at me and questions me with his eyes. I shake my head. Nothing's wrong. You don't need to worry. It's only a dragon demon. Danny just goes back to reading the book.

Then... the wisp spider forms next to Danny. I look at it, not turning my head as the smoke becomes dense and the red eye gleams out from it.

The dragon regards the spider, which it smaller and not as well formed. The spider regards the dragon, which is larger and detailed.

Danny pokes my hand with the eraser of his pencil, telling me to turn the page. I jump a little, distracted by... obvious things. I turn the page and try again to read.

The smoke spider scurries across the table and leaps out at the dragon, which recoils at the attack. The dragon backs away, the red eyes glaring at the advancing spider.

I barely look at the book, totally absorbed by the fight. The smoke spider lunges at the dragon's face and it swipes at the spider with a claw. Finally the Dragon leaps from the desk and runs for the teacher. It jumps up for her and evaporates in midair.

I dart my eyes to the spider. Its red eyes gleam and some how it becomes more dense and more solid. It scuttles across the table to Danny and dissolves into the air.

My eyes drift from the vanished spider to Danny. He feels my gaze and looks up at me. He tilts his head to one side. I shrug and smirk a little. The bell rings and Danny points me up the stairs to my History class.

History goes well. The teacher, Mr. Martian, is funny and says he hates homework as much as the students. The bell rings and I head to my last class of the day, a study hall. I walk into the room and almost let out a squeal of joy.

Mikey look up at me and smiles, opening his arms out for me. I collide into his chest and he laughs softly.

"Day's almost over." He says, "You got any homework?"

"A little, science ... stuff" I pause, science makes me think about the Demon fight.

"We'll talk about it at home." Mikey says, automatically reading my expression. I smile up at him and nod.

"Are you two related or something?” The boy who was talking to Mikey before I came in speaks up.

Mikey rolls his eyes and I release him from the hug. I look at the boy and then at Mikey, who just pats the seat next to him.

"We're bother and sister," Mikey says as I sit down, "Just not by blood or law."

"Oh... Kay." The boy seems to understand a little, "So about joining the basketball team-"

I tune him out and finish my work, quickly putting it all away. I pull out a notebook and label the cover and start to doodle in it. I hear the chair next to me scrap against the floor as someone sits down. I glance over and smile.

"Hey." James says and pulls out "To kill a Mockingbird" and starts reading it.

The bell rings and the teacher takes roll. After that the room is in a quiet buzz as people talk or do work. Mikey talks about basketball, James reads, and I doodle.

The bell rings and I pack up my stuff. I leave the room with Mikey close by and James next to me. I walk down the hall and Danny appears by my side and almost makes me jump out of my skin.

"Man, you're a jumpy girl." He says, more to himself than to me.

"Only at school," I have to admit

"Yeah... Oh, here." He hands me a piece of paper. "My screen name, if you have any questions for science"

"Kay...” I look at the paper and quickly fish out my note book and scribble my screen name on it. I rip it out and hand it to him, "In case you have question for math."

He smiles and takes it. James looks over and he and Danny exchange glances. I feel James step closer to me. I know what he's doing. I'm not yours, James...

I jump back from James and walk out the door ahead of them to the buses. I wave to Danny as he goes to his bus. He waves back and disappears into the crowd. I hop onto the bus and move to the back.

Mikey slides in across from me and look at me. I smile, a tired but happy smile, and he smiles back.

I remain silent, watching out the window. The bus slowly empties out and finally Mikey and I get off.

First day.. done