Hearts of Steel

My heart pounded in my chest as I hurried down the stairs. Could the demon really help dad? I was sure as heck willing to give it a try. I stepped carefully over the glass shards of a broken bottle of vodka as I made my way through the living room. Dad was still out cold on the couch where I had had a hard time leading him to before he passed out. Once in the kitchen, I ransacked every cupboard and drawer for any food items I could get my hands on. Which wasn’t much. I ended up returning to my room with half a box of cheerios, a jar of pickles, and leftover macaroni and cheese. I set my findings in front of the white fox. He gave an exasperated sigh, and a fierce scowl marred his long muzzle.

“What is this?” he asked, suppressing his anger as his tail twitched in annoyance.

“Food,” I said dully, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Don’t you have any meat?” he asked me, tilting his head up in my direction. From the look on his face, I don’t think he liked looking up to anyone, which would explain the size of his previous form.

“I just looked, there’s nothing cooked. We might have some raw in the freezer, but-“

“Then go get it,” he snapped, interrupting me. I sighed as I fingered the pendant that hung around my neck underneath my shirt. I suppressed the urge to punt the moody demon back to the seventh ring of Hell, and turned on my heel. I returned to the kitchen, this time searching the bowels of the freezer. Sure enough, there was a half-pound of package of ground beef near the back. For 30 minutes I waited as it defrosted in the microwave, knowing full well that the demon would complain if I presented the rock-hard package of frozen meat to him. I returned to Hexus with the defrosted beef afterward. I set it in front of him, and before the plate hit the floor, he tore into it like a ravenous… well… fox. I averted my gaze as the raw meat stained his muzzle and cheeks red and pink. With slight amusement, I noted that in my absence he had tried the pickles, with obvious distaste. And he didn’t even try the mac-n-cheese. He liked the cheerios, though.

Hexus soon finished, then set to work cleaning his muzzle thoroughly as I laid on my bed and occupied myself with my rubicks cube. He looked rather vain, from the corner of my eye, with his tedious and now unnecessary washings. I almost snorted. The thought of such a vain, hideous monster seemed quite comical to me.

His claws clacked against the wooden floor as he trotted over to my mattress. He sat, and I could feel his lavender gaze burning into me.

“What?” I said, puzzle clicking.

“The bed. I want it.”

“Occupied. Here’s a pillow.” With that, I tossed a fluffy blue pillow on the floor for him. He scowled as he dodged it.

“You ungrateful wretch!” he snarled, “I should just kill you!” His hackles were raised and ferals growls were mingled with his voice. I looked at him.

“You’ve already tried that once, now haven’t you? You’d be doing me a favor if you could get it right.” The fox’s hackles dropped, and he stared at me, stunned. The fact that he had failed in killing me before had apparently slipped his mind for a moment.

“Then you can forget about your father,” he growled, regaining his composure. My temper diminished, and I suddenly feel foolish for picking a fight with him. Swallowing my pride, I stood from the bed and returned the pillow to its place.

“Here, Hexus,” I said apologetically. Head high, the demon leapt up onto the mattress and curled into a ball. He buried his face in his bushy white tail. I hesitated as an apology teetered on the edge of my lips. I decided against it, and turned away from the demon to look out the window. Night was falling, the ground and shapes of houses dark and defined against the bright orange horizon. One or two stars winked at me in the rapidly darkening sky, and I could see a bright haze in the direction of Chicago, a few miles away.

I sighed as I bent to pick up the plate and remainder of food, and shut off the lights on my way downstairs. Dad was snoring softly on the couch, muttering occasionally.

“Emmeline…”

I halted in the doorway of the kitchen. I held my breath, trying to make out my father’s incoherent phrases. He kept repeating my mother’s name.

“I’ll find you… I’ll… save you…” The breath caught in his throat as I turned around. Tears streamed down his flushed cheeks. I turned, sadness grasping at my heart, and continued into the kitchen.

I picked up the house, tidied the kitchen, and draped a blanket over m slumbering father. Still he muttered. After I realized what he was saying. And it made my heart ache.

“Ma femme,” he whispered, “Ma femme.” My wife, he was saying. He loved my mother so deeply. She taught him how to speak French, as she taught me when I was very young. I have always wondered why she left us.

I snatched a pillow from the arm chair opposite of my father, as well as a blanket. I curled into a ball on the floor in between the chair and the wall. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep.

I was awakened sometime in the middle of the night. The room was pitch black, and I felt disoriented as my heart spun. Then I realized I was being picked up and carried. Whoever was handling me set me down carefully on the couch. The dark figure crouched next to me.

“I’m so sorry, Sable,” my father’s voice whispered, “I’m sorry for everything.” His stubble tickled my face as he kissed my forehead before he was gone. Tears filled my eyes.

He had never apologized to me, either.

****

My eyes opened to bright sunlight as I woke squinting. I attempted to escape the sun by turning over and burying my face into the couch cushions. I released a big sigh.

And a thought hit me.

I leapt off of the couch as if it had been on fire. Stumbling over the coffee table and almost tumbling tail over tea cups, I rushed into the kitchen to look at the clock on the oven. I groaned as I slapped my hand to my forehead. Twelve forty-two. I had slept through most of the school day… Oh well, I guess. I’d get the make-up work from Mike when I tell him how he’s right about demons.

I fished through the fridge and found some eggs, along with a half-pound of cheap bacon. I threw them all onto the biggest frying pan I could find, and took the products up to my room once they were done. I hesitated at the door, my fist automatically hovering in mid-knock. For heaven’s sake, it was my room. I walked in.

The white demon-fox raised its head sleepily.

“Mornin’ Hex,” I said, plopping the plate down on the floor. It narrowed its lavender eyes at me.

“That’s Hexus to you,” he growled. I ignored him and helped myself to a few pieces of bacon before sliding the plate towards the bed.

“The rest is yours.” After a few seconds, he leapt off the bed and attacked the food. It was gone in moments. He made a face as he sat back on his haunches.

“Earth food,” he said, his scowl deepening, “I can’t wait to get back to Gadorath.”

“When will you?” I asked hopefully. He looked thoughtful for a moment. His form started to change, slowly at first, until he appeared as the monster that I had first seen him as. It still made my skin crawl. His now bloodshot eyes burned into me as an unnerving smile spread over his lips. His large curled horns seemed larger than I remembered.

“Now, I believe,” he purred. I didn’t like the look on his face. He turned away from me to look out the window over my bed. “Ah,” he sighed, the corded muscles of his sickly-colored shoulders shifting as he breathed. The talons of his giant claw started to extend.

“Hexus, my father…” I said, taking a step toward him, “I did what you asked, you said you would cure him…” Hexus turned.

“Sable,” the demon said, white hooves clopping against the floor as he shifted his weight, “Never trust a demon.” He slashed at the air with his claw, and a familiar ripping noise sounded. Faintly, a shimmering curtain spilled to the floor, billowing gently on its way down. I clenched my fists at my side, and tears pricked my eyes as he took one last look towards the city out the window.

“I hate angels.” The shimmering curtains swayed, and he was gone.