Burning You Down

I observed him.

I observed him like a victim that observes the predator, estimating its chance to get away.

I observed him to understand him.

I observed him to get familiar with his habits, with his reactions, with his facial expressions.

I observed him to figure his thoughts out.

I observed him to study his emotions.

…But I mostly observed him because he looked really fucking good.

Honestly, at first I thought that since Vic is using Walt’s body, he’d look exactly like him, but I was wrong. Now he looked like a totally different person and if I didn’t know Walter so well I wouldn’t even recognize him. His usually straightened hair was now freely falling on his shoulders in slightly messy curls. His loose clothes were replaced with really tight black ones. My look moved from his leather jacket, through his dark skinny jeans down to his big black combat boots which were going up to his knees. And man, didn’t he look attractive. He was right when he said that he needed a new outfit to show “his body’s full potential”, as he said.

Shopping with Vic is hell, though. You can’t possibly imagine how choosy and pretentious he could be. He spent what seemed like eternity in the fitting room until he went out and announced that he, I quote, “didn’t like how it looked on him”. And when I asked him what he didn’t like, he simply said: “Everything.” After that he tried on every single piece of clothing they had in that store, or at least it felt like it, and after about half an hour spent there he decided that he couldn’t choose anything and we had to go to another shop. There he finally found what he was looking for, spent about one hundred years in front of the mirror contemplating himself and finally he ended up picking what he was wearing now (I had to pay for it, though, but I can’t say I didn’t see that coming). And the second we stepped out of the store he started loudly and annoyingly complaining about how tight and uncomfortable his new clothes were. Unbelievable.

Trust me. I have nerves of fucking steel.

Now we were back to my place, because he claimed that being alone bored him to death. He needed me to amuse him, or, most likely, he just needed someone to listen to his endless complaints and remarks about absolutely everything that surrounded him. To explain his presence, I told my sister that we were doing a school project together and he came to my place to work with me. It wasn’t something that happened rarely anyway – Walt usually spent most of his free time at my house.

Victor lounged on my bed without bothering to take his shoes off. I didn’t comment, because I didn’t want another slap in the face. I was sitting at my desk and trying to concentrate on that chemistry homework.

“Hey, Kellin?”, Vic spoke up.

“Mm?”, I didn’t move my look from my textbook.

“Why do you put pictures of some dudes on your wall?”

This made me look up. “Pictures of some dudes?”, I repeated.

“Yeah, I mean…”, he waved his hand at the nearest poster, “…these dudes. Why don’t you hang up paintings instead of this? I don’t understand.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “…Because I like them…? These guys are in bands. They play the music I like.”

He blinked, waiting for me to continue, but I didn’t, convinced that this is enough for him to understand. He still seemed confused, though.

“Well if you like their music, why don’t you just listen to them? Why do you need their faces all over your room?”

I thought about it. “…I honestly don’t know. I guess it just shows how much I like them and respect them, and it represents my taste in music… or something.”, I supposed. I couldn’t deny it, that was a good question.

“…Uh huh.”, Vic nodded slowly, sinking in the new information. I looked at him curiously.

“Do you really not know what posters are?”

“Well, no. Seven hundred years downstairs, sweetheart. We have no posters there.”, he reminded.

“Right.”, I murmured. “I guess you don’t have any TV’s and computers and phones too?”

“Of course not, but I know about this stuff. Every once in awhile we’d get a new soul in the torture room, and they had some really interesting stories to tell me about what Earth is like.”, he shrugged casually. “I’m not in the mood right now, but tomorrow you’d have to show me how these things work. I want to learn.”

“Okay.”, I nodded and returned to my homework. For a few minutes I could work calmly, but soon Vic interrupted me again.

“Let’s go out and do something fun.”, he said suddenly.

“Can’t now. I gotta get this done.”, I frowned slightly.

He tilted head to the side. “Why?”

“Because I have to.”, I shrugged. “They give us homework and we’re supposed to write it. You probably should do it too, by the way.”

He ignored my last sentence.

“Do you like writing homework?”

“No! Of course I don’t.”, I made a face. “But I have to do it to exercise myself, our teachers want us to work at home as well.”

“You don’t need to do anything only because someone else wants you to.”, he sat up, now interested in the conversation. “Humans are independent creatures. I’ve always found it funny how you keep trying to control each other, and after that everyone keeps doing whatever they want to. Sometimes, though, the weaker ones obey. And why are they weaker? Because someone told them that. For example, they tell you you’re weaker than your teacher, so you have to obey them and you shouldn’t question them. It’s really stupid, and it just doesn’t help you accomplish anything. It stops you from being free. See, I’m not much of an expert in human nature…”, he chuckled, “…but your kind likes to be free. Taking your liberty away just makes things worse. Damn, you humans are so silly.”

I wasn’t sure what to say in reply to that. He was right, yeah. But I didn’t like the fact that he called me, along the whole humanity, ‘silly’. However, I decided to let him go with this one too.

“You have a point.”, I admitted. “But that doesn’t change anything. I still have to do my homework if I don’t want the teachers to be angry at me tomorrow. This would get me in trouble.”

Vic rolled his eyes. “You’re such a good boy it’s actually really annoying.”

“I’ll take this for a compliment.”, I chuckled.

He just shrugged and I came back to reading. It wasn’t easy to concentrate with a demon who keeps shifting around to get your attention, though. And really, it didn’t take long before he lost patience and spoke up yet again:

“Kellin?”

I chose to ignore him this time. I would answer him whenever I’d be done with this. But he didn’t give up that easily.

“Kelliiiiiiin.”

I sighed and cast him a look. He was sitting on the edge of my bed now, rocking back and forth. God, he had suddenly became so hyper. I never thought that demons are that bipolar.

“Kelliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin. Come oooon, pay attention to me.”, he went on.

I finally gave up and closed the textbook. “What?”, I shot him a glare.

“I’m bored.”, he pouted. “Amuse me.”

“How am I supposed to amuse you?”, I raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know.” Now accomplished what he wanted, Vic returned to his usual lazy self and lay back down. “Just… do something amusing.”

“Yeah, thanks, that was a very helpful advice.”, I snorted out sarcastically.

“Mm, you’re welcome.”, he grinned. “How about… Let’s play a game or something like that.”

“What kind of game?”, I asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know, think of something. It’s your job to entertain me anyway.”

I filled my cheeks with air and then let it out slowly with a pfffffffff. How do I amuse a demon? What do demons even like to do? As far as I knew all he ever did was torturing people, and he didn’t even enjoy that. He decided to help me out.

“Do you know how to play strip poker?”, Victor asked casually, playing with the end of a strand of hair.

I blushed slightly. “Not really. No.”

I hoped that would put him off, but it just seemed to cheer him up. “I’m going to teach you, then!”

I made a disgusted face. “I’m not playing strip poker with you!”

“Why not?”, he sat up again.

“There are like one million reasons why!”, I exclaimed. “For starters, I don’t want to take my clothes off in front of you.”

“Why?”, he repeated, looking genuinely confused.

“Because I don’t know you!”, I blushed a bit harder.

Vic blinked. “So? Does that matter? Is it because you’re shy, or…?”

“No, it’s… Yeah, maybe that’s it, a bit, but it’s just… We don’t simply undress ourselves in front of others.”

“But there’s nothing to be shy for. Your body isn’t something you should be ashamed of.” He shook his head, still not understanding my concept. “You, humans, are so funny.”

I just muttered a quiet “Never mind.” Before we could continue our conversation, though, the door opened and my sister came in without knocking. I groaned. She always did that, it was so annoying! I had to learn to lock my door, but I bet this still wouldn’t keep her out for long.

“Kellin, have you seen my blue sneakers?”

“Nope.”, I shook my head. “There’s no way they could be in my room.”

“I might have left them here when I-” And that’s when she noticed Victor and froze. Damn, he really had an amazing effect on women!

“Hey, Kailey.”, he smiled and stretched, his muscles moving smoothly under his tight clothes.

“…Hello, Walter. You look… changed.”, Kailey stared at him.

“I do? Oh! Yeah. Thought I’d get some new clothes for a change.”, he laughed a bit, perfectly copying Walt’s slightly shy tone he had when he was around girls.

“You look nice.”, she couldn’t help but say.

“Thanks.”, he smiled innocently and crossed legs. I noticed his look quickly scanned Kailey. No, no, no, hands off of my sister, you bastard. I cast him a glare but he didn’t seem to notice.

She kept her eyes fixed on him for another minute, but then she remembered that she’s still in my room and that she had come here for a reason.

“So you’re sure you haven’t seen my sneakers.”, she turned to me.

“Yup, one hundred percent.”, I nodded affirmatively. “Where are you hurrying for anyway?”

“Helen throws a big party at her place tonight, at eight, and I don’t wanna be late.”, she quickly explained, checking under my bed even though I told her I’m sure her sneakers aren’t here.

Vic’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh, we should go!”

Kailey stopped searching and gave him an odd look. I knew why. Walt and I never went to parties, we always preferred going out just the two of us. We never liked noisy events like this, especially he.

“Well, if you decide to come, give me a call, I’ll let you know where it is.”, my sister said after a small pause, then she got up and left the room, probably to look for her shoes somewhere else.

“Vic, you sure it’s a good idea?”, I raised an eyebrow when we were finally alone. “I mean, we don’t even know the girl, we can’t simply show up at her party.”

“Nah, bullshit.”, he waved his hand. “There will be a lot of people, the girl won’t even notice we’re there. Come ooooon.” He pouted. “It will be fuuuun.”

I let out a deep sigh. I didn’t feel like going at all.

“Can’t you go alone?”, I said hopefully.

“Going alone would be boring.”, he declared. “Come on, Kellin, darling, don’t be so anti-social. You might even get yourself a boy there.”

“But I don’t wanna get myself a boy.”, I protested.

“Oh, yes, I forgot, you’re faithful to your sweet Waltie.”, he giggled with amusement. “Whatever. I’m not asking you anymore. We’re going. This is an order, and you’re obligated to obey.”

“You said humans need to be free and independent and they shouldn’t follow others’ rules.”, I pointed out accusingly.

“Yeah, I did. So?”

“Why should I obey you, then?”

He laughed. “Because we’re not equal. I’m not a human, dear, I’m a demon, and you’re my little bitch. This is different. I have power over you.”

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at him. He really had power over me, I couldn’t deny that.

“…Okay.”, I sighed. “But no teleporting.”

“No teleporting, okay.”, he confirmed.

I nodded. “Let’s go, then.”

“Nope, you’re not going to a party dressed this way.”, Vic cut me off firmly.

I looked down at myself. I was wearing a simple white buttoned shirt and jeans. Nothing too bad, I’d say.

“Why not?”, I furrowed eyebrows.

“Because you look like a loser. You’d be embarrassing me.”, he replied through a smirk. “Show me what else you’ve got.”

“Dude, you don’t need-”, I started, but the demon raised his hand to stop me.

“Ah, ah, ah, stop right there, what did we talk about arguing?”

“…I should always agree with you.”, I murmured, fixing my look on the ground.

“Exactly.”, he ‘shot’ me with a finger. “Now. Let me see your clothes.”

I hesitated. Irritated, he let out a theatrical sigh, got up and waved his hand, doing his demon magic thingy and making the door of my wardrobe open by itself.

“Let’s see…”, Victor murmured and stood in front of it, taking a look. “Hmm.” He took a shirt out and checked it out. “No.” The shirt flew across my room and landed in the corner.

“Duuuude!”, I protested. He ignored me, taking another one.

“…No.” It ended up next to the first one. Vic kept pulling clothes out of the wardrobe. “No… No… No… No… No, no, no!” He cast me a look. “Yes, I was right, you really dress like a loser. I mean, Hawaiian shirt? Really?”, he held the shirt in question accusingly in a way I could see it and probably feel guilty for possessing such thing. Then it joined my other clothes on the floor in the corner. “Oh, boy, oh, boy, it seems we had to buy new outfit for you today, not for me.”, the demon sympathetically shook his head. “Anyways. I think we might figure something out…”

I helplessly watched him as he dug deeper and pulled a pair of skinny jeans out.

“…Yes. This.”, he threw them on the bed. “And… this.” He showed me a simple black and white striped t-shirt and tossed it to the jeans. “Oh! And this, this is sexy.”

Now he was holding a tight red jacket made of artificial leather. Yeah, the jacket was nice. Problem was…

“Dude, that’s my sister’s.”, I noted.

“It is? Well, you’re a little guy, you’ll fit in it.”, Vic shrugged and put the jacket next to the other clothes he had picked for me.

“Yeah, but that’s not the question. It’s made for girls.”, I frowned.

“Who says that? When you put it on it wouldn’t matter who it’s made for. No one would know, as long as it looks good on you.”

“Kailey’s gonna be there, too.”, I continued. “I don’t want her to see me wear her clothes.”

“We’ll avoid her.”, Victor winked. “Come on, Kellin! Don’t be so picky!”

“Oh, I’m picky?! I’m not the one who just took basically all the clothes out of the wardrobe and threw them on the floor because they’re loser-ish.”

He chuckled. “True. Sorry, not sorry. Now…” He stuck the clothes in my hands. “Put those on.”

“Alright.”, I nodded and waited for him to leave, but he just sat back down on the bed. I coughed. “Um, could you please go out? As we already discussed, I don’t feel comfortable with getting undressed in front of you, or anyone else, in fact.”

“Aw, poor shy little thing.”, Vic said in a sweet voice and lightly tweaked my cheek.

“Out.”, I almost growled.

He rolled his eyes and spread arms helplessly, disappearing after a second. That was better. I waited for a minute to make sure he’s not coming back and then started getting dressed. After I was done I decided to put the scattered clothes back in the wardrobe. It was pissing me off how Victor was making himself at home at my house! Like he owned the place. Damn, he didn’t belong here, he didn’t even belong to this world. And now he wasn’t only telling me what to do but what to wear too! Unbelievable! I hated so many things in him, but at the same time somehow I couldn’t hate him in general. I could say I kinda understood him. It wasn’t his fault that he was bad, it was just his nature. He wasn’t even truly evil, he was just mean, selfish, cocky and bossy, and quite a complainer too. But he definitely was much different from the image that pops in people’s heads when you say ‘a demon’.

I was just folding a shirt and putting it at its place when a soft voice murmured in my ear:

“Well, that’s significantly better.”

I jumped and turned around quickly to face Vic, who was standing right behind me. I wondered for how long he had been there. He stepped back and looked at me from head to toe with a smirk.

“Mm, what a babe.”, he whistled, seemingly impressed. His look slowly slipped across my body and he didn’t even try to hide that he was checking me out. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but on the other hand he was checking out basically everyone. His eyes stayed fixed on my crotch for a few seconds and he raised eyebrows, a small smile dancing on his lips, and then he finally looked back up at my face. “You’re looking gorgeous, darling. Where’s that cap of yours you were wearing earlier today?”

“Um, here.” Still a bit embarrassed by his look, I took the hat out of my school bag. “Should I put it on?” After a nod received from him, I put it on my head.

“No, no, no, not this way.”, Vic quickly shook his head, reached and turned the cap backwards. “Yeah, that’s better. I think you’re ready to go now. Shall we…?”

“Sure, come on.”, I agreed.

And then he did something really surprising. Smiling a bit at me, he took my hand in his gently, intertwining his fingers with mine. Did he just voluntarily hold my hand?! That was so not him. It was far too sweet. I looked at him, quite shocked, but as my eyes met his I noticed the playful twinkle in them. And realized what he was up to.

“No! No, no, no, Vic, don’t do it, Vic, no, please…”, I struggled to break free, but he was holding my hand tightly and my desperate attempt to avoid what was going to follow just made his grin widen. “No, Vic, you promised, PLEASE-”

…We teleported.

END OF CHAPTER 4.