Burning You Down

Vic didn’t show up at school the next day. Maybe he just didn’t want to see me. I was supposed to be happy about it, I guess, I mean, he wasn’t bothering me anymore, but I felt kind of disappointed that I didn’t find him there. I wanted to talk to him about last night and figure things out.

The whole day I was absent-minded and nervous, and I didn’t pay attention to the lessons, because my mind was too busy with other things. I hardly waited for the classes to be over and when the bell ringed I just stuffed my things in the bag, grabbed it and rushed outside, eager to leave and find that damn demon.

“Hey, Kell!”

I stopped, a little annoyed that someone was wasting my time, and turned around to see my friend Justin run to me. I guess you could say we were friends, yeah, even though we weren’t that close ever since Jesse went all bully and shit.

Now he ran to me and stopped a few feet from me, giving me an odd look.

“What?”, I asked, not really politely. Well, I wasn’t exactly in the mood for chatting. I had work to do.

“Nothing, I was just wondering, what’s going on with you and Walt lately, man?”

I furrowed eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve both changed a lot…”, he trailed off, slipping his eyes down to my clothes meaningfully. He was right. Vic had made me buy some new outfits and they looked actually quite good on me so I stuck to wearing them. “You started dressing like these cool kids, you act differently, you skip classes…”

“It was only once!”, I protested, but he ignored me and continued:

“I’ve been wondering what’s going on for quite awhile now, and… Are you guys dating?”

I raised eyebrows. Wow, I didn’t see that coming. So that was the conclusion he got to? Really? Well. Better than starting to ask me around about teleporting and shit. I stared at him for a moment and then started laughing, at first just a little giggle, and then true, genuine laughter.

“What, what’s so funny?”, he blinked, confused.

“N… Nothing…”, I took a deep breath, managing to stop laughing before he thinks I’m insane. “I just thought of something, don’t mind me.”

He gave me a long, suspicious look, and then urged: “So? Are you?”

“Are we what?”, I asked him to specify.

Justin rolled his eyes at me. “Dating.”

“Ah! Erm…” I hesitated. I could deny, but then he’d start asking more questions which, unfortunately or not, I couldn’t answer. Or… “…You got me there.”, I chuckled. Damn, spending so much time with Vic was slowly turning me into one hell of a liar and now I said this so smoothly that I almost believed myself too. “Yeah, we’re dating, but don’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want them to know yet.”

“Sure thing, man.”, my friend shrugged. “So Brittany is lying, then?”

“About what?”, I raised an eyebrow, not understanding where he was going with this.

“Well, she said that about a week ago Walt went to her place and did her so hard that she had to skip school on the next morning because she couldn’t walk or some bullshit like that. In fact, there are a lot of rumors like this lately.”

“There are?”, I asked innocently, trying not to blush at the thought that these rumors are most likely the truth.

“Yeah, I’m surprised you don’t know about it.”, Justin shrugged. “But they’re obviously not true, if you guys have been dating this whole time.”

“Of course they’re not true, don’t be ridiculous.”, I rolled eyes. “You know Walt almost as well as I do. He wouldn’t do anything like this.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m sure this is either one big misunderstanding or some kind of a joke. I don’t care anyway. Don’t worry.”, he patted my shoulder. “Where is he today, by the way?”

I opened my mouth to say I don’t know, but then I thought it would be better for Vic if I came up with something else.

“He’s sick.”, I lied. “I’m actually going to visit him now.” Well, the second part was true.

“Oh, okay! I’m sorry for keeping you, then, I didn’t know you’re hurrying.”, Justin quickly apologized. “Give him a ‘Get well!’ from me.”

“Sure. Alright, then, see ya later.”, I gave him a half-fake smile.

“Laters!”, he grinned and waved.

I didn’t waste any more time and quickly headed out of school. I wanted to find Vic as soon as possible. Waiting just made me more nervous, and the more nervous I got, the guiltier I felt. I had the bad feeling that it was my fault that he didn’t want to see me today. And then another thought popped into my head. What if something had happened to him? What if someone hurt him? What if he got in an accident? What if they called him back to Hell? This really shouldn’t bother me, I know, but for some reason it did. That was it. I was worrying about him, want it or not. I didn’t even know why, I mean he was a grown… demon, he knew how to take care of himself better than any other man I knew. And then again, he was a creature quite unfamiliar with our world. He could be tricked easily.

With this new, strange feeling in the chest, I headed towards Walter’s house.

* * *

Walt’s little brother, Mike, opened the door. No matter what Walter says, he’s pretty badass for a fifteen-year-old. I like him a lot, even though he’s one of the “wild kids”. He got his first tattoo when he was, like, thirteen, and he likes going to parties, things like that. At the same time, he’s a true Potterhead, really, and he likes reading books. He also plays drums. Shortly said, he’s cool. I’ve always wanted to hang out with him more, but Walt wouldn’t really let him go anywhere with us.

“Kellin!”, he smiled, looking glad and kind of surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?”

“Is Walt home?”, I replied with a question. By the confused look on his face I could tell that maybe I made a mistake, though.

“Um, I thought he’s with you? This morning he left for school early and said he’s going to hang out with you later.”

Oh, is that so? So he’s really avoiding me. Great.

And what if something happened on his way to school?, my worried self reminded.

Bullshit. He’s not exactly the kind of guy who gets kidnapped just like that or something.

But still. He could be in trouble.

I chased these thoughts away and tried to think of a way to get out of this situation of me looking dumb as fuck.

“Umm…”

Fail.

“Yeah, alright, okay, of course. I knew that. Yup.”, I quickly said.

Fail.

Mike gave me a weird look. “Kellin, are you okay?”

“Yeah! Why wouldn’t I be?”, I smiled innocently.

“Well, for starters, you’re acting like you’re on drugs or something.”

Damn, he was right. I had to get my shit together!

“Sorry, I…”, I laughed awkwardly. “It’s nothing, really. Forget about it, please.”

“Okay…?”, he blinked, seemingly worried about me.

“Uh… yeah… So, I should be going now…”, I shrugged. “If Walt shows up, tell him I came to look for him, okay? He left school really quickly and I don’t know where he went.”

“Sure, I’ll let him know you’re searching for him.”, Mike nodded, still not really convinced in my sanity. If I were him, I wouldn’t be convinced too. I have to admit, I was acting like I was totally nuts.

“A’right, then, bye!”, I waved cheerfully with a fake smile and walked away before he starts asking more questions about my strange behavior.

So Vic hadn’t gone home either… Strange. I wondered where he was. Anyway, I would have to wait for him to show up by himself, and I knew he would. Eventually he’d need someone to clean his boots. Or prepare him breakfast. Or some other stupid shit like that.

At least I hoped so.

* * *

Three days passed, but I still had no clue where Vic was. As far as I knew he showed up at Walt’s house every once in awhile, but I always missed him, arriving only a few minutes after he had left. Eventually I stopped, afraid that his parents might get suspicious and tell my mom I have been acting weird, and I didn’t want her to know about any of this. I didn’t want her to think I’ve been getting drunk or something. Not that she’d yell at me. She’s not one of these harsh parents, at all. But she’d get all disappointed and upset, and I hated seeing her like this. Ever since dad left, I had promised myself I wouldn’t let a single tear slip out of my mother’s eyes. I was trying my best to be the son she expects me to be, and I hated to disappoint her. Now, as the only man in the house, it was my duty to take care of her and Kailey, even though I was the youngest here. That didn’t matter.

I wasn’t sure what game Vic was playing, but his disappearance was causing me trouble. He never showed up at school, so my classmates started asking me about where he is and why he’s gone. He had become quite popular the last couple of weeks, so now basically everyone knew him and sensed his absence. I kept lying, saying that he’s ill and he can’t go to school because he’s contagious and he’s not feeling well, but I knew this couldn’t go on forever. His, or, well, Walter’s parents would find out about this and they wouldn’t be quite happy to know that their “son” is skipping classes.

I didn’t even understand why he was doing it. It wasn’t like something that bad happened. It was just a fucking kiss, nothing more, or at least this is what I kept telling myself, trying to ignore the fact that I actually felt something as his lips touched mine. I didn’t want to like him, but, here it goes, I had to admit it to myself, I kind of did. He was an annoying demon prick, but he was my annoying demon prick and I needed him back.

On the third day while I was sitting at home, watching TV, I suddenly had an idea. I kinda knew where he could be… But of course. I should’ve thought of this earlier.

Suddenly enthusiastic, eager to find out if my guess would turn out to be true, I jumped up on my feet and rushed towards my room. Kailey, who was sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine, looked up at me.

“Where are you going?”, she called out.

I just mumbled something about having to study and slammed my door shut behind me. Now. I needed a map. There was no other way to find this place otherwise, since the only time I had visited it I hadn’t even walked there. But since I didn’t have demon powers of any kind, I was forced to take my bike now and find the spot like any other normal human being would.

I opened the drawer under my desk and basically dove in it, searching for a map, but it wasn’t there. Maybe my mom had taken it. I closed the drawer in a hurry and headed out to the kitchen, where I’d usually find her half an hour before dinner. I skipped down the stairs, the whole time mentally rehearsing my lines, wanting the lie I was going to tell her to sound convincing. Jesus, I had been lying a lot lately, hadn’t I. This was so not like me. But then again, I guess Vic was a bad influence. He surely was.

“Mom!”, I called out, swinging the kitchen door open and peeking in. The smell of recently baked food hit my face and filled my nostrils, and I inhaled the pleasant scent, which made my stomach complain. I hadn’t eaten for a few hours now, I was hungry, but I had to ignore this, at least for now.

My mother was standing near the stove, holding a bowl of something unidentified.

“What is it, Kellin?”, she gave me a quick smile and returned to cooking.

“I forgot to tell you, I gotta go out, real quick. Walt and I have to do this school project… The first stage is to take pictures of the city at night and some other stuff, and I need a map for it. Can you help us out, please?”

“I don’t know, it’s a bit late, Kell…”, she shook her head, frowning a bit and throwing a glance at the clock.

“That’s the point. We have to take night pictures.”, I quickly said. “Please, mom. It’s important. Otherwise Mr. Peters is gonna give me a B, and it would be unfair, because last week I answered his question and he still-”, I started ranting, and just as I thought, mom interrupted me right away before I get annoying:

“Okay. But be home before eleven, we’ve already agreed about this. And don’t do anything stupid.”

“Wow, that’s what I call an advice. Thanks, mom.”, I chuckled, then walked to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, making her smile again.

“Oh, don’t start kissing my ass now.”, she rolled her eyes with a grin. “I already let you go out, don’t spoil it.”

What can I say? I have a cool mom.

“Okay, okay. Bye mom, I’ll try not to be late.”, I promised.

“You better do!”, she shot me a warning glance. “And you can find the map in the living room, in the cupboard next to the TV, the second drawer, I think.”

“Thanks!”, I nodded and headed to the door.

“Take care!”, she called out after me.

Yeah, that’s easy to say. I was going to look for a demon in the darkness at an abandoned crossroad, it’s not exactly what I call safe… but it was worth a shot.

“I’ll try my best…”, I muttered quietly as I walked out of the room.

* * *

This place really seemed to be always windy. I brushed a strand of hair off of my face, but the wind kept pushing it back in front of my eyes, pulling my clothes and making me shudder and snuggle into my warm jacket. Besides the shitty weather, the place looked exactly like we left it – the same old broken barrier, the same dusty road, the same green fields, now looking grey as stars started to appear on the still partly bright early night sky. The place was pretty, but creepy at night, every little noise startling me and making me turn around sharply. I felt tempted to put my earphones on to distract myself, but on the other hand I didn’t like the idea of not being able to hear if someone is approaching me.

The crossroad seemed empty and somehow sad now. I leaned down and picked up something that was shining under the moonlight. It was a bottle of beer, probably left from either me or Vic. Besides it, there was nothing else indicating that anyone has been here. I felt the urge to turn around and just leave. I mean, there was no one here. But I had come for a reason and I had to give it a try. I cleared my throat.

“Victor… I’m not sure how this demon thing works, but I… um, I’ve watched movies, and I’ve watched Supernatural, the TV show, and… other… things… even though this is probably damn inaccurate… Anyway, I hope you can somehow, like, hear me, or sense I’m here looking for you… I really need to talk to you. Please. Stop avoiding me, it’s annoying, and the worst thing is that I don’t even know what I’ve done. I… I don’t think I did anything bad… So please, come back… Please…?”

I stopped. I felt stupid, just standing here talking to myself. Nothing happened. I mean, a dramatic lightning would be good, or at least a sudden change in the wind, or slight smell of sulfur, but everything was normal. I guess the people who made the movies just used their imagination. Maybe demons can’t hear when people are trying to talk to them. Fuck this. However, I knew that Vic often came here, so I decided to go with the human way to let someone know you’re looking for them – I was going to leave him a note.

I pulled a notebook out of my bag and scribbled something in it, then tore the sheet off and looked around for a place to put it. It had to be somewhere obvious, but at the same time where the wind wouldn’t blow it away. I ended up putting it on the ground, slipping it under a rock which would keep it from the wind. Yeah, that was good. I just had to hope that Vic would see it, and, more importantly, that he’d pay attention to it. He could choose to ignore it, just like he ignored my calls and attempts to get to talk to him.

I stayed there for awhile, listening to the moans of the wind and the creaks of the barrier it was ruthlessly hitting. It was just a matter of time before it falls apart. The dust that usually covered the road was now in the air and I had to constantly blink so it wouldn’t get into my eyes. It was getting cold, storm was coming. It was time for me to leave. Yeah, my mom would be worried. I had promised her I’d be home on time, besides, I didn’t like the idea of having to go home all by myself at night.

I picked my bike up and carefully brushed the dirt off of it.

“Vic, please stop being such a little shit.”, I murmured more to myself than to him, knowing he couldn’t hear me, then got on the bike and rode off, leaving the note behind. He was going to read it. Maybe.

“Stop being a dick and get your ass to my place. We have to discuss some stuff.

…Please.”


END OF CHAPTER 11.