Excerpt: The Demon on My Shoulder

Kia awoke feeling strangely warm and rested. Only the tiniest measure of light was sneaking in through her window, illuminating her face and the face beside hers. With a start, Kia sat up, or tried to. An arm was resting securely around her waist, anchoring her down to the bed.
Disoriented, Kia rolled over, finding herself face to face with Demetrius. Initially, she had been shocked, and thoroughly uncomfortable. Now that she was unable to move, she couldn’t help but look at Deme. His face as he slept was far from demonic, she thought. His dark eyes were hidden, and his face was relaxed. He looked almost. . . happy.
Cautiously, Kia put her hand on his shoulder, shuddering as he groaned in his sleep and buried his face into the pillow and, consequently, into Kia’s neck. Her muscles immediately tensed and she pulled back imperceptibly. She could feel his hot breath on her neck, whispering up to her ear. She forced her eyes shut and gulped, her throat dry.
“Deme?” She whispered, her mouth smothered by his hair.
“Mmm,” He replied, if it could be termed a reply.
“Could you get off me?” She asked, politely, a strain of uncomfortable tension vibrating in her voice. “. . . please?” She added after a moment’s silence.
“Mmm,” He groaned again, snuffling into her throat, running his hand up her side to rest on her ribcage protectively.
“Okay, okay,” She thought to herself, leaning back into the pillow, having given up on waking him. She wouldn’t admit to herself, though, that she had given in rather quickly. She justified this with the fact that he was quite warm and it was pretty cute that he was sleeping on her like that. It would be rude to wake him after all that had been happening. He needed his rest. Who was she to take that from him?
Slowly, Kia fell into a dozy state of half sleep, dreaming lazily.
~

Everything was tinged warmly and brightly, sunset shades. Soft, comfortable brick red and calm, serene purples and mellow pinks. She floated on her back through a sea of clouds, crashing waves beneath her, rocking her, lulling her into total comfort. The shadow beside her only made the light all the more beautiful.
She trailed her fingers through the clouds luxiouriously, the soft cotton beneath her lifting her into the air. There was bright blue sky above her, milky and tender.
She linked her fingers with the shadow and sighed happily, relaxing into the moment and allowing herself to be swept along by the tide of the clouds. The waves swept her along, cool water tickling her legs, the soft clouds keeping her from the surface of the sea. The warm shadow by her side moved closer and she moved closer to it.
Something dark and threatening moved in front of the sky, loud sounds emanating from it. Kia hid her face in the shadow, trusting it to protect her. She murmured its name and attempted to hug it to her, falling into its unsubstantiated form.
The sound grew louder and louder, and her mouth opened wide, hands going to cover her ears in fear. The shadow moved away from her and she grabbed for it, trying to hold on to tendrils of its darkness as it faded away in the rays of the sun.
~

Kia gasped and sat up, disoriented and sticky, sweat coating her brow. Sebastian was standing in the door, shouting words that Kia couldn’t understand. She watched him fuzzily as Deme stood in front of him, presumably with the same angry look on his face.
“Deme?” Kia whispered, her voice lost in the cacophonous sound in the room. Her head ached and she longed for the comfort she had felt while she had been sleeping, with the demon beside her. It was as if he had continued to block the darkness from her.
Deme heard her say his name and turned, about to rush to her side as he saw the confused expression on her face, the pained twinge about her eyes and mouth. Before he could soothe her helpless woes, Sebastian grabbed his arm and swung him around, punching him solidly in the jaw. Then he said something that Kia could understand, if a bit vaguely.
“Get out,” Sebastian hissed, blue eyes blazing angrily.
Deme stood, lifting one hand to his mouth as blood trailed down out the corner. Refraining from spitting on Kia’s brother as he walked past him, Deme left, vanishing some point between the door of Kia’s room and the front door of the flat, without another word.
As soon as Deme disappeared, Sebastian relaxed, letting out a relieved breath. Kia swayed, leaning back on her hands, her eyes unable to focus solidly on anything.
“Deme,” She whispered again, slurring.
“No, Kia, he’s gone. And good riddance,” Sebastian said, snorting. “So, come on. Time to get up. You need to get to school, or you’ll never graduate.” Sebastian chuckled, even more relieved that that was the maximum worry he would have to have, now that the demon was out of their life, for good. They wouldn’t be bothered any longer, and Sebastian was satisfied. They could live the normal life they had been seeking. With a soft scuff of his foot on the wood floor, Sebastian left the room and clicked the door shut behind him.
Kia’s mouth opened and shut incomprehensibly several times as she tried to grasp the concept of Deme being gone. What that would mean for her. Before she could get any further down this vein of thought, Kia collapsed back onto her bed, falling unconscious, mouth opening uncontrollably. She screamed, her voice bonechillingly cold. Except now, there was no firey demon to warm her up or to chase away the darkness, so the cold and the dark descended on her. All memories of any previous comfort vanished from her mind as quickly as Deme had disappeared.
Her shadow had left, and there was no one who could keep her from the dark any longer. Kia shivered and screamed, her throat becoming sore and her fingers numb, and she kept getting colder and colder and the darkness kept getting heavier and heavier.
~