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Amid all the drama, nobody had told me that Ike was coming to visit. I can hardly believe my eyes when I open the door a few days later and see him standing there, cape and all, giving me a warm smile.
“Hello there, Tanaka,” he greets me in Japanese. “It’s good to see you.”
“Ike!” I can’t help but throw myself at him with a hug. Out of all of the members of “Luxiem”, I’d bonded with him the most - partially because we were both writers at heart. He returns my hug firmly, then pulls back to ruffle my hair. I pull him inside, and call for Vox and Lucy in English. “Ike’s here!”
Lucy pops out of the guest room and gasps, running over and pulling Ike into a hug as well. “It’s so good to see you!” she pulls back and looks him over. “And you look no worse for wear. The flight over was uneventful?”
“As can be expected,” Ike says. He pushes his glasses up his nose. “Where’s Vox?”
“Probably in his office,” I say. I bite my lower lip and admit, “He . . . doesn’t come out of there much these days. I think you being here will be good for him . . . although I didn’t quite know that you were coming, or I would’ve prepared a little more.”
“Vox asked me to come over,” Ike’s brow furrows. “Said he needed some support.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” I sigh. “Lemme go peek in on him.”
I let Lucy and Ike talk as I creep over to the office door and open it without a sound. To my surprise, Vox is there - fast asleep at his desk. He’s still dressed in his usual streaming outfit, and I can tell the chat is going wild. He hadn’t even ended the stream.
Oh no . . . oh dear.
I poke my head out from the office and say to Lucy and Ike, “He’s asleep. Fell asleep during a stream!”
“That . . . doesn’t surprise me, from all he’s told me,” Ike worries. “Let me just-” he walks over and into the room, kneeling down to check on Vox. After a quick look-over, Ike nods, and says, “Yep, fast asleep. Probably a very deep sleep, as well. If we can carry him to the bedroom-”
“Yeah, I can do that. You just end the stream, okay? The chat looks nervous,” I walk over and manage to wrestle Vox into my arms. He’s taller than me - heavier, too - but at this point I’m strong enough to carry him out of the office and into the bedroom. I put him down on the bed and tuck him in. He looks so exhausted . . .
I come back out into the living room just as Ike exits the office. “Well, that’s one way to greet a guest,” Ike jokes. “But he clearly needs the sleep. Lucy, do you want to stay and keep an eye on him? Tanaka, I imagine you haven’t left the apartment in a long time, and I haven’t eaten anything since I got off the plane.”
“I can show you to a nearby cafe,” I offer. “I’ve just gotten some strength back, so a walk to the cafe wouldn’t be too bad.”
“That sounds good to me,” Ike says. “Let us know if he wakes up, Lucy, and we’ll come right back. No need to worry him.”
“Got it,” Lucy smiles at us both. “Enjoy your outing, okay?”
“We will.”
***
I haven’t left the apartment since the kidnapping, but at least with Ike, I feel something akin to safety. We find ourselves at a little cafe nearby - close to the one Vox and I initially dated at, though not the same - and we sit outside, ordering drinks and food. Ike is a great conversationalist, which is good, because it’s nice to talk to somebody who isn’t constantly asking me if I’m okay. Not that I resent Vox or Lucy for that, but . . .
“How’s your freelance work going?” Ike asks me halfway through our scones and drinks. “You were working on some articles recently, weren’t you?”
“Now that I’m better, I’m back to writing, yeah,” I say. “Mostly exhibition reviews, informational articles about the city - stuff like that. Honestly, I’m waiting for somebody to give me a challenge - something that I could really research in depth.”
“Have you considered a blog for personal projects?”
“I have,” I say before sipping on my drink. I add, “But monetizing such a thing is rough these days, you know?”
“I do,” he chuckles. “I feel lucky that I have a steady contract for novels right now, even if it means my streaming schedule is a little messy.”
“Vox has had a messy schedule too,” I say, before I finally sigh. “He’s been so worried about me - and feeling so guilty, too. I don’t know how to convince him that it wasn’t his fault.”
“The kidnapping?”
“Yeah. He seems like a nervous wreck. To be honest, I think he’ll probably tear the apartment apart when he wakes up and I’m not there. At least Lucy will be there to tell him where we went, but-”
“-you need a life of your own, and you need to take things at your own pace. Vox will understand that - at some point,” he says. He gives me a smile. “I’ll talk to him. We trust each other. And I think he has a soft spot for me.”
“Oh, I’ve heard the way he talks about you,” I chuckle. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s crushing hard.”
“He acts like it, too,” Ike says, though slightly less amused. I smile regardless.
“No, but he really respects you, Ike. You’ve got a good work ethic and a good heart. I know that just from the time we’ve spent together.”
“Thank you. I think you have a good heart, too.”
I smile, opening my mouth to say something, when I hear a bark - almost a yip - from close by. I jump and almost shriek, turning to see the source - a small black dog.
A . . . very . . . very . . . black dog.
The poor thing couldn’t have been more than a couple of weeks old, with fur so dark it looks like it’d been painted with Vantablack. Its eyes are round and cute; it looks a little bit like a Labrador puppy. It’s staring at me, panting, and I’m so stunned I don’t know what to say.
And then its third eye opens, right in the middle of its forehead.
The puppy yips again, running around in circles before rolling onto its back for pets.
“. . . Ike?” I ask, blinking at the puppy. “Are you seeing this?”
“. . . yes,” Ike says, just as stunned as me. He reaches out, but the puppy gets up and barks at him, just once, before trotting to my side and curling up in a ball. All three of its eyes close in content. After a moment, I reach down and touch the pup’s head. It gives a happy pant.
“Is this . . .” I look to Ike and whisper. “Is this a demon?”
“I . . . would assume so,” Ike says. “And it seems to like you.”
“Does it?” I look down at the puppy again. After a moment, I reach down and pick up the pup, whose legs flop around in the air before I put them in my lap. The puppy seems happy to be in my lap; it turns to me and starts licking my face, panting happily. I laugh for the first time in what feels like forever.
“Ah- hey, that tickles!” I reach down and start scratching the pup behind the ear, and it immediately settles, cuddling against my chest. Ike leans forward, clearly to observe whatever the hell has settled into my lap.
“I . . . don’t quite know what to say,” he admits. “It’s clearly some sort of hellhound.”
“It doesn’t seem to have alerted anybody else,” I note, checking the rest of the seats nearby. Like I thought, nobody had noticed the interaction, so I look back to the pup. Was it a threat? I screw my lips into a frown and reach down to pet the pup again, and it gives a happy whine.
“. . . well, whatever it is, it does like you,” Ike says. “You said you were some sort of demon magnet, weren’t you?”
“That’s what I thought,” I say, “And then . . . then that vampire got killed. By the demons protecting me. At . . . at this point, I think there’s something more going on. But I don’t think Vox knows anything, or I’d ask.”
“Maybe something in your ancestry?”
“You know,” I admit, “I’m having . . . weird dreams. I’m not one hundred percent sure what to make of them, but maybe they mean something,” I look down at the puppy I’m petting and think aloud. “Maybe a trip to the local library would pull up something. Not that I’d have a whole lot of luck finding out anything here, but-”
“It’s better to look and see, rather than wait.”
“Well,” I say, “I don’t know. I used to have a recurring nightmare about a demon I couldn’t reach, and I’m pretty sure looking back that demon was Vox. And I’ve had . . . other dreams about him, too. I just don’t know if it all connects or not.”
“Maybe they’re memories,” Ike suggests, “And if that’s the case, maybe he does know something after all.”. The puppy starts snoring in my lap. I look down at it, thoughtful, and then look back to Ike.
“Has Vox told you anything?”
“Me?” Ike’s eyes go distant, like he’s trying to think. “I know he cares about you . . . a lot. And he’s alluded to something about ‘wanting you to remember’, but-”
“That’s all I need to hear,” I say deadpan. “We need to do some research.”
“Local library?”
“That, or online. I think that’s our best chance of figuring this out,” I pet the pup as I think. “If I had an ancestor from the 1600s that Vox knew, it might explain some of the way he feels about me. Some of the anxiety, maybe.”
“Speaking of which,” Ike takes a long sip of his coffee before going, “We should get back. Don’t want him to worry too much.”
“I agree,” I look down to the pup in my lap. “Do we bring it- him- what sex is this dog?” I lift up the pup and look under its tail. The puppy somehow sleeps through it, and I find the answer I’m looking for in . . . “Void. Literally, there’s- there’s just a void. Or- …an eyeball might be looking out at me from it. I don’t know. I don’t want to keep looking.”
“Sex is not applicable to demon dogs?” Ike asks.
“. . . N-A. Nah. Alright, then, you’re coming with us, Nah,” I stand up and put Nah down. They awaken immediately and yip, running around my legs as Ike stands as well. “Let’s get back. Let’s see what Lucy and Vox think of this.”
***
Lucy greets us at the door when we get back to the apartment. She’s faintly sweating, and from inside I can smell dinner cooking. “I just finished making up the couch-” she stops the moment she sees Nah in my arms and cooes. “Oooh, a puppy!”
“We’ve named them Nah; little demon dog, we think?” I hand the once-again sleeping Nah to Lucy to cuddle. She cooes and pets them, letting us inside as she rocks the puppy in her arms. Ike stretches out and starts taking off his cape; I fight the urge to stare. I’d never really seen him without the cape on; he’s skinny, but he looks good.
“Vox is still asleep,” Lucy says to me before handing back Nah. “You should go check on him. I’ll finish making dinner.”
“Will do,” I say. I walk over and into the bedroom; Vox hasn’t moved much since I carried him in here, only flipping onto one side. He looks so tired; I sit next to him on the bed and put Nah on my lap, reaching over and brushing Vox’s hair back.
“Sweetheart,” I say. “You still asleep?”
His brow furrows, and he nuzzles into my hand, still half-asleep. “Gen . . .”
It’s my turn to raise a brow. “‘Gen’?”
He doesn’t seem to hear me. His eyes blink open once, then twice. Then he starts to sit up. “Ugh . . . what-” he shakes his head, like he’s trying to shake himself awake. “Where-?”
“Your bed. You fell asleep during your stream.”
“...ugh,” He puts his face in his hands. I lean over and pull him into a hug, one he doesn’t quite return. Still, I pull back and pick up Nah in my hands.
“Don’t worry; Ike ended your stream, and I carried you to bed. Do puppies make the situation better?”
“. . . puppies?” He looks up from his hands, and I swear, I see his eyes light up as he looks at Nah. His jaw drops open; he lowers the hands from his face to take Nah from me, and that seems to wake the pup, because their eyes open - all three of them. Vox starts, and then . . .
“Aww, who’s a good little pup? Who’s a good little pup?” Vox puts Nah in his lap and immediately starts scratching them behind the years. Nah yips and pants happily, nuzzling into the affection. I sigh in relief; I knew Vox liked dogs, but I wasn’t quite sure how he’d take to Nah. Vox looks up to me with those same big eyes, and I smile to see him looking quite a bit happier than he had been. “Where did you get a hellhound from?”
“Ike and I were sitting at a cafe, and they just sort of . . . appeared,” I admit. “Do you mi-”
“Do I mind? Absolutely not,” Vox looks back to Nah and starts playing with their paws. “I haven’t had a dog in ages. And as Nah grows bigger, they can protect you.”
Back to this, I suppose. Still, I lean in and kiss his forehead with a chuckle. “You’re so sweet like this,” I admit. “By the way, like I said, Ike’s here. When were you going to tell me that he was coming over?”
He looks up at me, as if unaware of what I’d said. Then it hits him. He reaches up and slaps his foreheads. “I did forget to tell you. Shit. I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s fine; I’m glad he’s here. We have a new project to work on,” I smile, and reach a hand out for Vox to take. “Now let’s get out of here. Lucy’s made dinner.”