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Ash curled up tightly in the entity’s lap and laid her head against its shoulder, frowning as she crossed her arms firmly over her chest.
“Neither of them have been around lately,” She complained, feeling a hand lay on her shoulder, “It’s bullshit. They talk about liking me and wanting to start something and they just disappear ?”
The faceless entity holding her didn’t move its mouth, as it did not appear to have one, but nonetheless a voice coming from it said, “What did you expect from them? The demon is reprehensible at best and the boy is not strong enough to truly do anything against him. No matter the boy’s interest, he may have gone as far away as possible to try and prevent you from coming to harm…”
“Which you would endorse, of course.” Ash sighed miserably.
“Of course.” The entity said, wrapping her up a little tighter in its arms. “I want you safe.”
“But I want Evan.” She replied, a little stubbornly.
“And the demon?” It supposed, and somehow it managed to convey the exact feeling of raising its eyebrows without having any.
“Maybe.” She huffed. “I’d like to have them both, but I know I’m safer with Evan than Habit.”
“You’re safer away from both.” It snorted, “But I digress.”
She grumbled, still grumpy, for a while, and it simply allowed her to continue without interrupting further.
Fighting with Habit was something that, by now, Evan was unfortunately very used to. He’d been struggling against him periodically for literal years , since he was first possessed and figured it out, and it was a gruelling job. He couldn’t do very much to keep the demon from causing problems―mankind’s bad habit was far older and far stronger than he could even pretend to be―, but he could usually divert him enough to avoid anyone he liked very much being hurt.
That was, of course, the current subject of conflict.
Back in high school and his early college years, Habit had hurt a lot of people Evan liked. It was a far-reaching mystery why Vinny and Jeff even still hung around him, and that Jeff let Evan be around his brother after some of the crap Habit had pulled back then was completely incomprehensible to him, most days. It wasn’t until he was about halfway through a two-year degree that he’d managed to figure out how to get Habit to back off enough to have some say in who got hurt and who didn’t.
Vinny, Jeff, and Alex had been safe since then. When he’d been able to prove they’d be safe, they’d allowed him back into the circle and it’d been smooth sailing with them.
But Habit wasn’t that easy to please or get rid of, so it was a constant game of tug of war with him. Perhaps the biggest mystery was how Evan had kept him from killing anyone.
Ash, of course, had been different from the very beginning. He’d met her outside of the dojo he taught martial arts at―had run right into her, in fact. And she’d known immediately that there was something weird with him. He’d been able to tell that she knew. And since he could tell, so could Habit, and Habit had latched on instantly. Spiritually sensitive people were exceedingly rare in this day and age, after all.
Ones sensitive enough to sense a demon that had millennia of experience hiding from detection were the rarest of all.
She hadn’t let the bad feeling drive her off and Evan was beginning to think it was a mistake, because they were about a year and a half into knowing each other and he had a terrifyingly intense crush on her. He hadn’t felt that strongly about anyone in years... Which was a problem in and of itself, because he couldn’t afford to have any serious relationships outside of the three people he’d gotten Habit to permanently leave alone.
That Habit also liked her very intensely presented a whole separate host of issues.
And, thus, they’d reached an equivalently intense conflict with each other.
His knuckles were white, gripping the steering wheel with all the force he could muster. If he didn’t concentrate on keeping control, it was all-too easy for Habit to take over. He couldn’t do that right now.
You can’t just run from this, Evan.
“I know I can’t.” He said, jaw clenched. “But I can at least get far enough away to feel safe actually talking about this with you.”
I’m not going to hurt her.
That Habit sounded simultaneously amused and offended did nothing to put Evan’s frazzled nerves at ease. He’d said that before, about someone else, and Evan had long-since learned not to trust his words alone. Deceit was among mankind’s bad habits, of course, and was therefore among the tactics employed by the demon of the same name who had decided decided the local teenage gym rat was the best host to latch onto however many years ago.
There was a way to make sure he kept his word. Evan knew it. It wasn’t easy. It would take a lot of effort. It would take a lot of energy. And he couldn’t let Habit know it was happening until he got to the right place to do it or Habit would actually start putting up a fight and might send them careening into a ditch off the side of the road as a result.
“You know exactly why I don’t believe that.” He told the demon, instead of any of that.
Habit, tellingly, did not reply, and it was a long drive still to get where they were going. At least another hour on the road. Evan could only hope that Habit would keep his trap shut that long. He was capable of being quiet that long, the only question was whether he would be or not.
It was a long, tense hour. Evan spent the entire trip trying to simultaneously concentrate on keeping control of the body he shared with Habit and keeping Habit out of his plans. It was surprisingly easy, tonight, to do the second one. It seemed even Habit was susceptible to becoming too distracted to try and pry if he was in enough of a tizzy over something.
And boy was he in a tizzy over Evan not trusting him not to hurt Ash.
He didn’t speak during that final hour of driving, but he radiated his dissatisfaction like a kerosene heater. It came off of him in waves and did little but distract Evan from his attempts to keep control of his body. Even if Habit didn’t seem interested in taking control at the moment he couldn’t afford to slip up long enough for Habit to notice.
Inevitably, Habit only did anything new when he noticed Evan easing off the gas after flying down the roads at 90 miles per hour for the past three hours.
Evan. He said, somewhat alarmed and maybe a little betrayed. Are we where I think we are?
Evan didn’t reply as he spun the steering wheel and took a sharp turn off the main road onto an unpaved side road. He shut off the headlights―he knew this place like the back of his hand, even in a vehicle. He didn’t need the lights to find the place he needed. Muscle memory alone would take him there.
Evan. Habit spoke again, disbelief coloring his tone but not at all masking the continued alarm.
The host guided his vehicle to an uneasy stop and took a breath, focusing on control more than keeping his plans away from Habit. It would be fairly obvious now what he was doing, anyway.
He reached across the console, dropping the glovebox open and withdrawing a hunting knife that he wasn’t entirely sure was his, but wasn’t entirely sure was Habit’s, either.
And then he got out and closed the door, gripping the knife tightly.
He walked the ten or so feet further into the foliage, and combated the way that Habit immediately started rallying against him and trying to push him out of control. It was easier to fight him than Evan liked―either this place’s strength was growing over the years or Habit was too disoriented to fight as hard as normal, and he wasn’t fond of either option. Habit disoriented was good , to some extent, but him staying that way for any length of time wasn’t. He needed Habit to fully comprehend what was happening or it wouldn’t work.
“I don’t trust you not to hurt her,” He said, calmly, slowly, and if his hands were shaking it was no one else’s business. “You know that. I know that.”
Evan, I know you’re nuts but have you completely lost your fucking mind?!
He ignored him and kept on, “You can tell me you’re not going to hurt her until you’re blue in the face, and I won’t believe you. You’ve given me every reason not to. Being gentle isn’t in your nature.”
He carefully dropped down to his knees, free hand seeking the old divots in the rock beneath him. Once he found them, he took a deep, deep breath. Let it out slowly.
Habit didn’t speak in reply to his words, but the growl that rumbled through Evan’s entire being told him that he didn’t appreciate them whatsoever. Evan… Did not care. Could not care less. If the demon took so much pride in hurting people, in killing people, then his sudden change of heart for one human girl was not trustworthy in Evan’s book. He’d liked the last one too, said he wouldn’t hurt them, and then he’d done it anyway.
“You can fight and be pissed off all you want. But I’m holding you to your word.” He said, and he gripped the knife tighter. “You’re not going back on this one.”
He closed his eyes and cut his palm wide open and pressed it down into the carvings in the rock. The sudden pressure in the air almost choked him. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her. And you’re not going to―not severely and not on purpose. If you do, Slender can have you. I won’t protect you from him. I’ll let him tear you out of me and do whatever he wants. I’ll make sure you never have a host again for as long as there are hosts to inhabit.”
The pressure closed in tighter, tighter, and Habit’s growl cut off abruptly.
Fine. He finally said. Fine.
And the pressure released and the next thing Evan knew he was on his ass five feet away, propped up against the base of a tree. The carving in the ground was glowing, still, like burning coals.
The great thing about being possessed by an age-old demon was that there were ways to bind them. Ways to force them to comply. And since this was where Habit had possessed him, it had a particular power over the demon and what he did while in Evan’s body, and Evan’s word and blood as his inhabited here had even more. And that he’d been thrown bodily into this tree told him that it had worked. The magical knockback of the brand new covenant was killer.
You are a stubborn little shit. Habit grumbled lowly, Are you fucking happy now?
“Very.” Evan told him breathlessly, and he closed his eyes and let himself relax.
The next day found Evan back at Ash’s place, standing on her doorstep wearing a sheepish expression and offering a cute stuffie as penance for disappearing. He didn’t tell her what happened. She didn’t ask. They discussed feelings a bit and, with the binding there to back him up, felt safe telling her again he’d really like to be with her.
She kissed him.
And she noticed the bandage on his hand and the dark circles under his eyes, noticed the way a separate, distinct power seemed to float around him that wasn’t at all Habit, and she decided… She decided she didn’t care.
She kissed him again.