Chaotic Demons

Harper’s POV

I had just moved to the city and my new neighbor had to be a smart ass no less. It wasn’t like I was a bad person; I was just overprotective of my nephew. I knew that much, yet what happened bothered me. The way that man had replied to me yesterday and the fact that we live near each other wasn’t really helpful or assuring. He could be my sister’s friend or someone she had send to take little Aden away from me, and I didn’t want that.

Aden was with me legally after the court hearing. My sister was really into drugs, hard drugs and Aden wasn’t safe with her. He needed a place which he could call home; a place where he would be surrounded with friends and people who loved him. My sister wasn’t able to give him that. She wasn’t even able to feed him, if I wasn’t there to take care of him, my little Aden would have turned to a skeleton.

The anger from yesterday hadn’t dropped at all and the fear of my sister taking Aden lingered in my heart. I was trying to calm down while helping myself to a second coffee. It didn’t really work though and to make matters worse, I had to open the remaining boxes from yesterday and decorate the house. I always liked decorating apartments and I wanted to have fun while I did so. I had already enrolled my nephew to the school here (even though we had some paper problems) so I was going to be alone at home till two. Then I had to go and get him.

The furniture were already where I wanted them so I only had to open the boxes with the rest of our stuff and place them to all the right places. I was glad that I finished most of them yesterday after Aden slept because I would have more time to look for a job later on. Upon seeing that the time was already ten in the morning and two hours had passed since I left Aden at school, I got up from the comfy couch in the living room and turned on the stereo that I had placed on top of a small table in the right corner. I picked my favorite station of rock songs and started opening up the boxes while I sang. The windows were open and the new light purple curtains were cast to the sides so the sun could brighten the inside of the living room. I sang along to the lyrics of Loving You by Scorpions as I set the photograph albums along with some photos on the small shelf made of wood.

Aden was only a baby and he was between me and Alicia on her bed. If only she had never tried those things, we could have stayed there as a family. Our parents had died years ago and it was just us; two sisters and a baby. We were looking after each other, yet somewhere along the way things changed and I hadn’t even realized it. Brushing off the tears of my eyes, I went back to opening the rest of the boxes. With a scissor I cut the tape on the top of the box. I opened it and saw pencils, notebooks, posters as well as CDs and DVDs. I put the disks under the table in line for the time being, the DVDs on the back and the CDs at front.

A few minutes later the bell ring, and to be honest I was more afraid than surprised because I wasn’t expecting anyone. Plus, I was new in the neighborhood. I lowered the sound of the music and went to the door. ‘’Who is it?’’ I called, while watching through the peep-hole. A man around twenty-five with black hair and dark eyes was standing outside my door.

‘’Can I talk to you for a second?’’ He asked, looking at the peep-hole. His voice sounded rough, yet kind and adult-like. Not being sure if I should open up or not, I stayed silent debating what to do. ‘’I live to the house next to yours and the loud music come from your house, right?’’ Upon hearing he was here for the loud music, I felt embarrassed as I opened the door.

‘’Yes, that would me,’’ I told him with a smile on my face.

‘’I’m sorry to ask this but could you please lower the sound? My daughter is sick today and she only fell asleep two hours ago. I’m Nick Burton, by the way.’’ He extended his hand for me to shake and I did. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in two weeks if not more, and yet he looked pretty good. It was hard to find men who looked handsome when hadn’t shaved.

‘’I’m Harper Davis. As for the music its okay, I hope your daughter feels better soon.’’ I was about to close the door and continue with the boxes, when he said ‘’see you around’’ with a smile that showed his teeth and made him grin.

As he walked away to the left, I saw the man from yesterday getting on his bike. I closed the door and went to lower the sound of the music a bit more before I started working on the other two closed boxes.

***

I had just arrived outside Aden’s school. I was there ten minutes earlier, watching more parents and siblings as they arrived and waited for the children. Soon, the bell rang and a few minutes later the teachers came out in the yard along with the children. I entered the school and looked for Aden. When I spotted him around a blonde woman I walked towards them in order to pick him up.

‘’Excuse me, I’m Aden’s aunt, Harper Davis,’’ I said to the teacher and she smiled at me.

‘’Okay, I’m Estelle Rendon. I will be his teacher for the whole year and hopefully the next one.’’ She smiled at me and I did the same. ‘’Aden is a really good and kind child, and he already made new friends.’’ She added as Aden came beside me and held my hand.

‘’You made friends, isn’t that nice sweetie?’’ I asked him as I looked at his shining eyes. He had so much energy inside him, like every child was supposed to have. It really made me wonder with what heart my sister ignored those eyes and did what she did and for so long.

‘’Yes, it’s nice and Ms. Estelle is really good,’’ he smiled at his new teacher with his cheeks flushed bright red.

‘’You’re so sweet, Aden. Go home now, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.’’

We left the school and went grocery shopping. Aden wanted to eat his favorite hamburgers along with fresh orange juice and since he was a good boy at school, I didn’t want to pressure him to eating vegetables. He didn’t like them and always left them to the side of his plate so I was a bit harsh whenever it was time to eat. He needed his vegetables and I made sure he ate them.

When we reached home, Aden threw his bag on the couch and sat there waiting for me to get his food ready. I went to the kitchen with the shopping bags. Once the orange juice was ready, I went to give it to him before I went back inside to cook, leaving watching TV.

After eating, Aden would go to sleep for a while (around two hours) and I would be able to look for a job. Then, we could go to the park and have some fun. This would be a fun day for Aden.