Daemonophobia; The Fear of Demons

~|| Tuesday Afternoon||~

"Hey Danny." I beckon him into the group.

He gives me a pained smile before joining me... us. He drops his messenger bag, letting it lean onto mine for support. Then Danny settles next to me in the grass.

James looks up from his lunch. I see him from the corner of my eyes, looking Danny up and down. Sizing him up. I watch as Danny watches James, and James watching Danny. Three way stare off...The epitome of High school.

"Welcome. I'm Mikey." He says, blatantly ignoring the tension that's crackling between Danny and James. "You're in my History class, right?"

"Yeah, that's be me. Danny." They greet each other and lunch simmers on from there.

I'm glad Mikey is here. He automatically makes the air light. Even after he goes back to reading and eating, the tension seems to disappear.

Danny and I start talking as we sit facing each other in the grass. Every now and then he'll glance up and over my shoulder. I toss a look, just to check what he's looking at.

James smiles at me, breaking his sentence to Mabel. I let the corners of my mouth turn up in return. Oh... duh.

Danny touches my shoe, bring my attention back to him. He curls his finger, beckoning me closer. I lean in and Danny whispers into my ear.

"He keeps looking at you. And then he'll glare at me. He's freakin' me out..."After a long pause he leans in close, till his breath trickles down my neck. "Do you think I could take him?"

I back away, giving him a look. "Like in a fight?" I ask, my voice still low.

Danny nods, his face serious. I silently regard him, trying to figure out if he really is serious. My eyes flick back and forth, searching his.

"Just Kidding." He gives me a half-smile. He puts his head down, quietly laughing into his bite of pizza.

I raise an eyebrow, then smile. We all finish lunch and start to head inside. I give Mikey a hug and he gently ruffles my hair.

I walk slowly with Danny through the halls of the Science Wing.I'm inno hurry to get to Bio Dragon class. Thank you. No, thank you.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Danny look around the halls, and then he nudges me with his elbow.

"So..." He starts, "Tell me about yourself. What's with the eyes?"

"You noticed that, huh?" I smile a little as I say it, looking down the hallway.

"Yeah?" He questions, "How could I not. Have people not noticed before?"

"Not really." I look out one window as we pass. Danny nudges me again. "Do you not look at people? Is that why they don't notice?"

He seems amused by the thought, covering his right eye with his hand. I roll my eyes as the first bell rings.

"Come on, tell me." He says.

"I whack my eyeball when I was a kid and when I got to the hospital, it was this color. It was really damaged and the doctors were all saying that I wouldn't see out of it, but after a year and a half it healed, but it stayed the white, pale blue color." I give him an abbreviated, Daemon free version of the truth. "What about you? Tell me something."

"Um... Oh. My hair is really blond. I only dyed it black because my mom says I look...'cute' with blond hair." He sighs like he just told me his life story.

"What's wrong with being cute?" I ask as we reach the door to the Bio class room.

"Nothing. If it's a girl saying it." He answers. "But I try to avoid hearing it from my mom."

He makes a little face, showing his displeasure. I smile and pat him on the shoulder, before going into class.

The room is empty. . . and dark . . . and the atmosphere is heavy.

No students, and no teacher. I look from Daniel to the empty teacher's desk. He only shrugs and moves to his seat. I walk to the back desk I share with Danny and drop my bag.

Moments later, Mrs. Jonas swipes into the room. My eyes, pale blue and forest green, watch as she opens a drawer of her desk and slams in a lighter before rattling the drawer shut.

She looks up for the first time. Her brown eyes look blood shot, and when they spot mine, they start to narrow.

I feel Danny nudge me again, forcing my gaze away from Mrs. Jonas. He tilts his notebook to me. I look down at it.

A clean page with only one line at the top.

Always let Teachers think they are Invinceable.

I nod and get out my own notebook. Students have already started to fill the room from lunch. Everyone takes the seat they had yesterday.

Ah, yes. The social interaction and networking. Good stuff, provides ordered choas. I think as I watch the room swirls around me. The second bell rings and Mrs. Jonas starts class.

"Everyone, please get out your homework." She says.

The room shuffle in motion. I flip open my notebook to the page of science. Doodles of stars mark up the margins, and makes me smile a tiny bit.

"From now on, " Mrs. Jonas continues as she moves around the room, marking who has their work, "This will be the first thing we do. I may not give homework, but when I do, I will check for it, and give you credit for it."

She passes by Danny and I, putting check marks next to our names. With her comes the smell of cigarette smoke. It chokes up my lungs, and that's when I notice that the rest of the class already has their hands covering their nose and mouth.

"It'll give all of you an easy way to ...make or break your grade." She finishes and goes back to her desk where she starts to enter the homework grades. "Congratulations. Everyone did the homework. That's an extra five points."

She gives the class the same smile someone would give their dog after that dog did a neat trick. The students notice and aren't happy with the comparison, just the points.

"On your desks, you'll find two textbooks." She says, setting up the projector. "They will always be there, so there is no need to bring in your home copies. Class, turn to chapter one. Now."

I grab the top copy and open it. My eyes drift up to the projection slides and snap to the dragon demon sitting on Mrs. Jonas desk.

It glares at me with it's two red eyes. It looks smug, swinging its tail back and forth, lazily. The end of the tail has a mace like look, with barbs swishing through the air. It looks more sinister today than earlier.

Get use to it, Gry. The thing is attached to the teacher. The teacher stays with the class. Thus... using logic... the thing stays with the class, too. Simple.

Still, a shiver runs down my spine as it starts pacing on the desk, sneering at me. My fist clenches tight, and I feel the nails of my fingers bite into the skin of my palm.

I see Danny look at me funny. He turns back to his text and notebook. After a minute of going over two questions, Danny slides his notebook over and nudges my fist with it. I look down and read what it says.

Do you have a vendetta against Bio?

I roll my eyes and scratch out a quick responds.

No. But it's too hard to explain in a note.

Danny nods and pulls his notebook away and restarts his notes. I go back to mine, but at some point I notice him look up at me. I try to ignore him and focus on my book. Mrs. Jonas finishes and shuts off the projector.

"Class, does anyone have questions on this chapter?"

The answer is dead silence from the class. Mrs. Jonas turns to the class and assigns us the nights homework. She leans against the desk, bracing her hands on the edges.

The dragon scurries up on arm, coming to rest on her shoulder. I flick my hair out of my pale eye, watching it silently. It raises it's claws and outstretches its wings, its red eyes stare mercilessly at Mrs. Jonas. It moves in, wings curling around her face and jaws going near her ear, almost if it whispers to her.

My breath holds as the claws of the Dragon Daemon curl in a cruel grip on Mrs. Jonas, one along her cheekbone and one along her neck. I want to start screaming. Then I notice the Daemon look up at me.

It's showing off. It's doing this on purpose, just for me.

The thought flashes in my mind, and the Daemon shifts out of focus. A puff of black smoke barely lingers around Mrs. Jonas.

"Class you may go." She says, letting us out five minutes early.

At the door, I part from Danny, who looks like he wants to discuss science. However that would be bad, considering it might bring up the whole seeing-Daemon thing. Which is bothersome and a good thing to be avoided.

I slide into my desk for history. Mr. Martin is talking to anther teacher. The second bell blares out, visually shaking the mental stability of the room.

The class assembles and is conducted in the military ways of Alexander the Great. History. Fun stuff. . . not really