Chapter Text
One week, two days, and five hours had passed since we’d entered the human realm and left the demon realm behind. All I had was a dusty sleeping bag, a little mattress and an old sewing machine to keep me company.
Tonight I couldn't sleep. Most nights I couldn’t sleep, so it had become a ritual by now. My mind was filled with haunting memories of what had happened that night. I especially kept seeing Belos’s face over and over again in my dreams, as if he was a ghost following me around everywhere I went. Sometimes, when I’d decided to finally go upstairs (which didn’t happen often), I was convinced I could see him lurking behind the windows, staring at me and waiting for me to leave the house, so he could finally kill me. I could actually feel his piercing eyes prickling my neck from afar. That’s why I mostly stayed down in the basement, because it had no windows, so Belos couldn’t possibly stare at me from behind my back.
I turned around in my sleeping bag. It always made this awful noise when I moved and I was scared it would wake up Gus, who I’d been sharing the basement with for the past week. The sleeping bag was much different from the thin blanket I used to sleep under during missions. It was mostly warmer, which was a good thing, because it was relatively cold in the basement, but it also made me feel really claustrophobic, so I often ended up sleeping without it. If I even slept at all, that was.
I sat up straight and sighed as I focused my eyes on Gus, who was sleeping peacefully on the couch. The first night, after we’d arrived here, he had offered for me to sleep on the couch, but I'd firmly turned the offer down. He didn’t deserve to sleep on the ground, he was just a kid.
I often felt very protective of him, but I didn’t know where that feeling had come from or what I had to do with it. I wasn’t that great with emotions.
After turning around again and again on the mattress for a few minutes, I finally slipped out of my sleeping bag. The tiny red clock on the wall said it was already two o ' clock so I wasn't about to waste anymore time laying in my sleeping bag like a corpse. I had to do something, anything, to distract my mind. Usually I’d sew with Miss. Camilla’s old sewing machine, but it was far too late for that — I’d wake everyone up with the noise. Maybe I could find a way home and this nightmare would be over. We’d go home and build our life back up. I stopped in my tracks and stood motionless in front of the steps.
I had nothing left in the demon realm, I realised and my heart started feeling strangely heavy. I was the nephew and ex-right-hand man of an emperor who betrayed a whole island. No one trusted me. I didn’t deserve to be trusted after all the awful things I’d done. The others probably took me in out of pity, but they would be better off without me.
I quickly shook my head. Even if I had nothing left there, the others still had to go home, still had to be reunited with their family or whatever that was.
I jumped over the second and fifth step as I quickly made my way upstairs, because they always creaked very loudly. There was still a light on in the kitchen when I entered it — someone must’ve forgotten to turn it off. The first thing I did was quickly close the curtains and blinds so I knew for sure that no one was watching me behind my back. The house had pretty green curtains like the moss on the trees, which matched with the yellowish walls. Then I lit up some candles with the matches I found in one of the kitchen drawers. The candles reminded me of the good times, when I’d study together with Belos in his office. It reminded me of the times he’d taught me how to read, how to do maths, but it also reminded me of the times when he told me stories about wicked witches and stories about his old home. Now I know that was all a huge lie.
My eyes scanned the counter, the pantries and the fridge carefully. It didn’t seem like much had changed, apart from the fact that nothing had been cleaned yet. There were still dirty dishes on the counter, mostly dirty plates and cups, as well as in the sink. The door of the fridge was filled with magnets that Miss. Camilla had collected over the years and there were also some old childhood photos of Luz. One showed her with her mother and father at an amusement park. She was eating blue ice cream as she sat on her father’s shoulders with a big smile.
I didn’t know where her father was, because she never talked about him, but I’d assumed he’d died. That was the most logical answer for the avoidance Luz had been showing towards the subject.
I started cleaning the dishes one by one. I knew they had a dishwasher, but this made me feel more productive, like I was finally doing something useful. I let the hot water slide over my cold fingers, which started tingling gently from the warmth. I whistled a tune as I scrubbed the white plates clean. It was a tune that Darius had taught me when the missions became boring. Most of the time Darius despised me, but sometimes he was very kind and out of the blue we’d have great conversations. We had a strange relationship. I kind of missed him, his presence. That moment I decided the first person I’d look for was Darius if we ever returned back to the Demon Realm.
Then I suddenly heard a creak.
One of the clean plates slipped out of my hand and shattered loudly on the ground. The shards flew everywhere; under the kitchen counter, the fridge. One of the shreds had cut in my hand, which was now bleeding heavily. The blood dripped on the ground and the sleeve of my yellow shirt was starting to turn crimson red. I felt my heart beating rapidly and loudly in my chest. Belos must’ve gotten inside somehow. If someone had left on the kitchen lights it was likely possible that there was a window open somewhere in the house too, and now he was going to relentlessly slaughter every living-being inside this house.
I silently walked a few steps forward towards the closed kitchen door and put my ear on it. I could hear his footsteps on the ground, echoing through the living room. I quickly grabbed a nearby iron ladle, held it up high and stood next to the door. Belos had taught me these things and now I was going to use them against him. You always need to hide in the blind spot of your opponent so they don’t see you coming and then you sneak up on them. Beside that, it is always important to make sure you hit their head with your weapon so they pass out and are helpless against you. This way it’s an easy task to overpower your opponent and win the fight
I bent my knees in order to stand steady, and I waited for Belos to enter the kitchen as my hands gripped the ladle tightly. My hands were so sweaty that I thought the ladle would slide right out of my fingers and my breath was so shaky that I was sure that Belos could hear it from behind the door. I wasn’t sure if I was able to face Belos, because the last time we fought against him I’d ducked away like a coward. Gus had come to save me that time, and if he hadn’t been there I would’ve actually died. I stood a little taller and held my chin high. No, this time I wasn’t going to let him overpower me.
I saw the door handle go down and the kitchen door opened slightly. As Belos set foot inside the kitchen I flew forward and slammed my ladle right against his head, but something wasn’t quite right—.
I hit my head against the kitchen counter and fell harshly on the ground. A sharp pain spread through my head which made me cry out. My vision was spinning and my ears were ringing, which made me too disoriented to stand up, but the pain only made me grab the ladle tighter. The pain only gave me more motivation to fight back. I had to get up, I had to overpower Belos otherwise everyone in this house would die, I had to—
“Hunter, stop it!” I heard someone yell from afar. My vision slowly came back into focus and I saw Willow’s head hanging above me. Her eyes were wide like every time she was concerned about someone and she held the iron ladle firmly in one hand. She was still dressed in her green, plant-themed pyjamas and her hair was ruffled by heavy sleep.
“Belos,” I muttered hazily and I tried to stand up, but my hand immediately slipped away from under me. Everything was still spinning and I felt like I was about to throw up. “You gotta—“
“Hunter, please stay down. You’re hurt.”
“No! I-l gotta—“
“Stop it,” she said firmly and pushed me down by my shoulders.
I felt something warm trickling down my face and into my neck. Was I crying?
“Oh, Titan,” Willow mumbled and gently brushed my hair out of my face. Her fingers were hot in contrast to my cold skin, and I wanted to lean into her safe touch, but when I heard another pair of footsteps on the stairs, I immediately went into panic mode again.
“Willow, it’s Belos,” I tried to warn her with a weak voice. “He’s going upstairs, he’s-he’s—“
“Shh,” she shushed me. “Belos isn’t here. You’re safe.”
“What on earth happened here?” Miss. Camilla asked in concern as she ran over to us. I must’ve heard her on the stairs. It wasn’t Belos after all…
Was I hallucinating things?
Willow helped me sit upright with one arm supporting my back and I blinked against the bright lights, blocking them with one hand. I silently took in the mess I’d made in the kitchen; the shattered plate, the blood on the ground. Oh titan, I had completely ruined everything. Miss. Camilla was going to kick me out of the house because of my bad behavior, and I would need to find another home in a realm I wasn’t familiar with and I would have to survive on the streets and—
“Are you okay, Hunter?” Miss. Camilla asked softly with a very concerned look on her face.
I stared at her. For a few moments I couldn’t find any words to say.
“Aren’t you mad?” I finally uttered.
Miss. Camilla frowned her eyebrows in confusion.
“All I see is a hurt child,” she explained gently. “I couldn’t possibly get mad at you, that’s inhumane.” She frowned. “Or unwitchmane— anyway, I’d be a bad person if I’d get angry with you.” She carefully touched the wound on my head and I hissed in pain. I wanted to slap her hand away, but she’d shown me so much kindness that I held myself back.
“That looks painful,” she mumbled. “Let’s get you patched up alright? We’ll clean the mess later.”
Not much later I sat on the couch with a cup of tea in my hands and a blanket draped around my shoulders while Camilla bandaged my head and my hand. Willow sat awkwardly to the side, also with a steaming cup of tea in her hand (“Tea is the best medicine against a good scare,” Miss. Camilla had told us). I silently sipped my tea and avoided looking Willow in the eyes at all costs. I felt horrible about the fact that I had almost given her a concussion with an iron ladle.
“There you go,” Miss. Camilla announced as soon as she was finished and patted me lovingly on the shoulder. “You’re good to go. Don’t fall against kitchen counters anymore, all right?”
My ears turned bright red, and I quickly nodded as I hid myself behind my cup of tea.
“It won’t happen again, Miss. Camilla,” I said in embarrassment.
“Please, call me Camilla,” she smiled and stood up from the sofa.
“O-okay,” I stumbled over my words and my face turned bright red. All I’d done tonight was make a complete fool of myself. I wanted to disappear completely.
“Well, I should probably clean up the kitchen,” Camilla announced.
“I can help,” I offered immediately. Maybe I could repay her somehow, maybe I could make up for all the mistakes I’d made tonight. I almost jumped up from the couch, but she quickly shook her head.
“No, please finish your tea,” she said reassuringly. “I’ll handle the kitchen on my own, don’t worry about it. I’m Luz’s mother after all, I’ve cleaned up worse than this.” She gave me a playful wink.
After Camilla went into the kitchen, I was left alone with Willow in the living room. I pulled my knees to my chest and pulled the blanket a bit tighter around myself. I felt really weird. I felt a really weird feeling I had never felt before, but it felt too abstract to describe in words. It was there, lingering around the corner, but I couldn’t see exactly what it was yet.
There was an awkward silence for a minute or two, until I cleared my throat.
“I’m…sorry,” I apologized and stared at the steam that circled up from my mug. The mug was decorated with little blue butterflies, flying against a pink background. “I’m sorry for almost hitting you in the head with a ladle. I don’t know what possessed me to do such a thing.”
Willow looked up from her tea and gave me a small smile.
“I’m sorry for pushing you against the kitchen counter,” she said awkwardly and scratched the back of her head. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I didn’t give you much of a choice,” I said and laughed dryly.
“I’m worried about you, Hunter,” Willow confessed suddenly.
“What? I’m fine—“
“No, you’re not,” Willow said firmly and put her mug on the side table. Then she slid closer to me on the sofa, so close that our shoulders were almost touching. My ears turned red from the close contact. I never really liked being touched.
“You never leave the basement, except for food,” Willow continued worriedly. “You don’t sleep anymore. And now you’re convinced Belos is in the Human Realm? I just wish you would tell me what’s going on.”
I felt my throat closing up and laughed dryly. Too much was going on. Inside of me, anyway. Apparently, I was turning more and more insane day by day. By the time we’d finally have found a way home, I’d be a non-approachable, crazy person.
“You wouldn’t get it,” I mumbled and turned my head away from her.
“I can try to get it,” she suggested carefully. I stared at my shirt sleeve, which had turned crimson red from blood. I could try to confide in her, but what if she used that information against me? It would give her the overhand of the situation. I couldn’t let that happen.
I shook my head. “Just let it drop.”
Willow pulled away from me with a hurt look on her face.
“Well…we should probably try to get some sleep,” I said quickly and drank the last bit of my tea.
“Yea, you’re right,” Willow mumbled, avoiding my eyes.
I stood up from the couch and dropped the blanket, before I held out my hand to Willow.
“Here, give me your mug. I’ll bring it to the kitchen.”
When I entered the kitchen with the two mugs in my hands, I saw Camilla throwing the plate shards into the bin. She looked up to see who had entered the room.
“Hey, Hunter,” she greeted me and closed the bin. “Are you feeling better?”
I nodded quietly, which was actually a lie. I had a sharp headache and I felt very nauseous, but I couldn't tell Camilla that, because it would make me seem weak towards the others. I’d only be a burden if I was weak and that wasn’t an option.
I put the used mugs on top of the counter. Camilla had already turned the dishwasher on so I couldn’t put them away, which I found very annoying. I had to hold myself back from not cleaning them immediately by hand.
“I’m…I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused,” I apologized and sat down on one of the chairs. I stared at my socks. They were grey with blue stripes and made me feel like a zebra, a striped animal that Belos had once told me about. I wanted to lay my head down. It felt like my skull was splitting in two.
“Are you sure your head doesn’t hurt?” Camilla asked, concerned. I had convinced her in the living room that I didn’t have any pain, but I was doubting she bought that. Luz had told me she was an animal doctor, so she must’ve known about all these sorts of injuries.
“Well, if you change your mind you know where to find me,” Camilla sighed and put the broom away. I laid down my head on my arms, a nice relief to the pressure that tortured my head.
“You know,” Camilla said softly. “You should go outside some more. Sunlight is good for you.” I felt her sitting down beside me and she hesitantly rubbed my back as if she feared I’d pull back immediately, but I let her. It felt nice, like something I hadn’t felt before. Like…someone cared for me?
“I’m doing fine in the basement,” I mumbled against my arm and my eyes slowly closed.
“You can’t let fear rule your life forever,” Camilla answered and pulled back her hand. “Some things are uncomfortable to go through, but you’ll only come back stronger from them—“
I didn’t hear the rest of her philosophical peech, because my brain slowly shut down as sleep took over my body.