Demon's Protégé

Reboot

The next day I was again driving my way towards Nari’s house to pay her a visit. I had decided that since things had already set its motion between us, I just have to make the most of it now. Nari has already agreed to date me and this was my biggest chance to prove what I really felt about her. However, I have already expected that it will not be as easy as I think it might be, considering that her approval was kind of forced out from her. I don’t really understand why this town being a property of our family was a big thing for her and she even sounded like I was not allowed to delve into the whole secrecy anymore. But then, I have always been the type of person who can be intolerably stubborn when I want to be, especially when things really mattered to me. And this time, it matters even more because Nari was involved somehow.

Reaching the familiar driveway, I pulled over by the front of the house and turned the engine off. I took a deep breath to muster enough courage while I was still thinking of a way to greet the person who might welcome me once I knocked on the door. It would most likely be Nari anyway. Just thinking about it, I can already imagine the scowl on her face that she will automatically give me once she finally sees me in front of their door. I chuckled to myself over the thought. I just can’t help it, she could still be just adorable despite that overtly hostile attitude.

I got out of the car, feeling quite even less nervous now as I enjoyed to calmly breathe in the breeze of the wind under the blaring sun. Summer season is way more refreshing in this town than being in the city. I do get why people prefer suburban vacation and going to a beach rather than stay in the city when the season is coming, you could totally change a whole new perspective just by enjoying it at a place that has lesser pollution and much more graced with nature. I walked up until I reach the front steps of the porch, slowing my pace as I cleared my throat before proceeding to knock. The moment the door finally opened after I softly tapped three times on the wooden material, Bryan appeared before me.

He looked up, his eyes scanning my entire look and scowled at my face. His expression really looked funny because of how it resembled Nari’s. I could not even resist my chuckle as I looked down to his unwelcoming glare.

“Good day.”

“My sister’s not here. I’m sorry.” He turned to close the door on me but I gently blocked the attempt by wedging a feet against the door frame. I held the side of the door with one hand and tried so hard to give the kid a hopeful smile. I was not expecting that he was going to reject me like this so directly, but I guess the hostile attitude can be quite hereditary. Not that it was a bad thing at all, I can understand that the kid was just trying to protect her sister from me… Who, to admit, is still a suspicious person to him after all.

“Er… Is your mom there?”

The kid stopped pushing the door against my resistance and stared up to me as he paused. He regarded me with a skeptical look for a quick second as he raised a brow. It was cute, but it was still not helping me at this point.

“Why?” he asked me with a doubtful voice.

“Well… I just…” I trailed off, thinking of a good enough reason to survive this intense interrogation, “I just want to see how she’s doing. I’m visiting her.”

“You’re visiting mom?”

“Y-yeah.”

The small kid assessed me with his eyes for quite a long moment first before he quietly moved back and disappeared, leaving the front door opened ajar. I awkwardly waited, a little confused, but still stood there patiently. And finally, after a few minutes, the small kid appeared again and gave me a blank stare.

“She said you could come in,” he told me and as soon as he did, he left me again. Without a word, I took it as a cue to come in.

It was a pleasant way to distract my mind off from things when I finally saw Maria’s face again. I don’t know but there was just something in her very warm smile and that motherly look that she gave me that had me feeling serene inside as if I was sincerely being taken care of. Her warm hospitality cured me from all the mental blows I have been suffering with these past few days. Maria was like a breath of fresh air and it really calmed me away from my stormy angst.

“You came back,” she told me this after she immediately motioned me to walk into their house. She led me straight to the dining hall for some tea, just like the last time. I sat again on the same seat I had taken before and watched her do her brewing. The windows by the sink of their kitchen was left opened and it let in the breeze of cold air into the room, making me breathe in the refreshing soft wind.

“I thought you’d never visit again,” she added this and I turned to glance around the place as she continued making the tea. “Bryan actually slipped out the last time you came here to Nari. I tried my best to lie but then…”

I chuckled at her statement, and it was not really that significant to clear out anyway. However, she sounded really troubled over it and I tried to reassure her.

“She went to meet with me yesterday,” I briefly shared to Maria and she jolted as she gave me a look over her shoulder. She stopped moving and stared at me with a raised brow.

“She did?”

I let out another chuckle, replying, “Yeah. It wasn’t really a very long moment but we somehow sorted out the deal between us and we ended up making an agreement.”

Sordid as it may seemed, I felt like totally comfortable with sharing these things with Maria all of a sudden. She doesn’t really seem like the type of person who judges other people that weakly and it was actually refreshing to be able to tell things about myself to someone who was a stranger. It lessens the insecurity and hesitance to be more honest about myself and it makes me feel quite relieved of the weight of all my worries.

“An agreement?”

Maria turned off the electric kettle when it flashed the boiling indicator and took out two cups from a drawer beside her. As she carefully set the teabags on each cup, I sighed and looked towards the window.

“Yeah, it was the kind that—“

The sudden sound of a squeaking door from the living room immediately cut me off as I tensed on my seat, feeling the prickling of the hair on my nape. Maria also paused, the kettle on her hand raised midway above a cup. It was the front door. And by knowing that, it just only means…

“Mom? Bryan?” Nari’s voice echoed across the living room and it reverberated into the opened entryway by the dining area. I already knew it was her even before she spoke over the silence. I gulped nervously and I saw Maria slowly settling the kettle down on the counter and her back slumping as she sighed.

She must be thinking of how to work out this one, Nari would totally flip out once she sees me here inside. Just one step into the hall…

“Bryan?”

Another door opened in a bang followed by skittering footsteps as I heard the young kid’s squeal running across the hallway into the living room.

“Nari!” Bryan’s shout was very vivid and clear as it echoed all over the place and it just added more fuel to my overflowing nervousness. Maria glanced at me and our eyes met, sharing a sympathetic smile to each other. For some reason, we actually understand what might happen afterwards. I was completely glued to my seat, my mind totally blanked. I guess, this is now the time for me to think of an excuse or maybe a possible escape before Nari finds me here. But then, I don’t think I could even move. I was more than afraid to even make a noise than to save myself from the upcoming terror.

“Someone’s here.” I heard Bryan said this to Nari and I gritted my teeth, trying to bite back a curse. Leave it to the kid to spill the beans. He must really hate me that much.

“Someone?”

“He said he’s your friend.”

A long silence followed that and I gulped again, and this time it was loud enough to be heard by Maria. She gave me a pointed look.

“Where’s he?” Nari finally asked in a calm yet eerie regard. I can practically picture her face when she said that. I was completely doomed, I was sure of it now.

“At the kitchen with mom.”

The next few seconds felt like minutes when it went on as I waited for her inevitable entrance. I did not even realize that I was fisting my hands so aggressively that both of my knuckles had turned white. It was not that hot, but I felt my entire body sweating. Maria froze by the counter, the tea was already left untreated. I was feeling a dozen of whirling emotions weighing down to my chest and my mind remained blank.

I could sense the footsteps coming closer and not long after, Nari’s silhouette finally appeared by the hallway of the kitchen. I turned my head with eyes slowly darting over my shoulder after feeling her cold presence and our eyes instantly met. Her face said it all.

Maybe coming here was never really a good idea in the first place.