Dark Silence

24 days (4)

“No more questions remained? Are we done?” the demon asked.

“Yeah, we're done with this, you may get out of here,” Darnell waved his hand at the minion. But he wasn’t leaving, shifting from foot to foot and staring at the floor. “Is there anything else?” the man asked.

“Well, you know, don’t report to your staff that you’ve summoned me…” the demon answered, “and don’t tell what I’ve told you. You never know. I surely understand that I lost my temper in that situation, but agree, that i***t made lots of mistakes, and I was in a sour mood. But being destroyed…” He laid back his ears in humility, depending on Darnell’s mercy. The man hardly hid the smile, as he by no means was going to report how he violated the rules of the Agency. And the minion with the dog head looked funny, he wouldn't want him actually be destroyed after they had this small conversation.

“Fine, I won’t repost this,” he answered to calm the minion down before he could leave. “That’s it, you may go. I release you, the minion, go back to your world.”

The demon lifted his eyes at Darnell and broke into a grateful smile as much as his dog-face could demonstrate it. Yellow smoke muffled him up, and the minion slowly dissolved into it. Let this creature think that Darnell showed kindness to it even though he didn't care much about it. The candles arranged around the pentagram brightened and illuminated the room with a warm, flickering yellow light. The summoning session was successfully over and brought at least some useful information, although the man would have to think over who might make the minion so much scared that it refused to speak directly. Darnell blew the candles out one by one and looked around for Madeleine. She wasn’t present in the room, so the man sighed and went to the kitchen. Madeleine was sitting on a chair, legs tucked, and wrapping arms around her knees. She was frowning and looking out the window at the darkening street.

“Did you get scared or what?” Darnell asked and came up to her. The girl shook her head stubbornly. “There’s nothing shameful in feeling afraid. As well as confessing such feelings and admitting them,” said the man. “But listen, I figured out where I should start. Tomorrow I’ll need to visit one person, do you want to come with me?” He squatted down on his haunches in front of Madeleine and tried to look into her eyes. She shook her head again, still avoiding his gaze. It seemed that her eyes were red, but Darnell couldn't figure what scared her that much, as everything was done the most secure way. “Oh, come on, you’re gonna like it," he tried to cheer the girl up and make her forget about the minion, "we’ll go to the forest. Doesn’t this sound nice? A day out of the noisy city in nature.” Darnell wished to convince her. Madeleine looked back at him unwillingly. “Yes, she lives far from the city, in the forest, but she is a good person and can help us. Can help you.”

Madeleine was boring a hole in Darnell thoughtfully. It made no sense for him to go alone, but he was getting sick of persuading the girl each time he needed to make the next move. If she continued having an attitude, one day he would lose temper and simply shove her into the car by force. Especially due to the fact that no one would understand that she screams and calls for help. This vile thought gave Darnell chills down his spine, and he hoped that Madeleine would be smart enough not to try his patience once again, especially since it was running out.

“So, shall we go tomorrow?” he hurried the girl to give him the response.

She sighed and nodded, to Darnell's relief. He smiled back as sincerely as he could and stood up. We went to one of his closets and found a mop in there. He went to clean up the mess in the room. Darnell collected the candles and returned them to his room. He needed only to wipe the rune of the minion summoning, and his apartment would look like nothing happened in it.

“Will you ever release me?” Cole asked suddenly in an indifferent voice while Darnell was running his wet mop diligently over the floor. He leaned on its handle and went deep into his thoughts.

“Why would I let you go?” he asked. “You are a small spirit. You are not capable of anything, can’t even read thoughts.” Darnell smiled gibingly. “That is because you are…”

“Don’t you dare!” shrieked Cole. “Don’t say that aloud!”

“...a pathetic first-level spirit, a one,” Darnell finished his thought. “And thoughts can be read only by demons of the third level and higher.” He thought over his own words. “That means that I can attribute myself to at least the third level, how curious, never thought of this.”

“You are a bastard, not the third level!” Cole began to swear. “How dare you say this to me! A one?! I’m a fire spirit, I want to break free! Let me out, fucker! I will burn you alive! I refuse to keep on living here! You have no right to keep me here by force, you violate the agreement of people and demons!”

Cole started to pound at the walls of his dome in vain but it didn’t move even for an inch. Darnell secured it tightly in the grooves in the bottom to avoid such a situation. While Cole was struggling with his dome, Darnell swept the floor not hurrying much and covered the painted pentagram that was empty now with a carpet. He hardly placed the sofa back at its place on the carpet and came up to the spirit. When he noticed that his torturer was near, Cole stopped bumping against the glass and froze in place, swaying like a drunk.

“I'll let you go,” Darnell promised quietly.

“When?” Cole asked, shaking himself off.

“When I finish Madeleine's case. You won't stay here forever, I promise.”

"Well ... okay then," Cole replied, looking shocked, as Darnell walked into the kitchen.

The man put the mop back into the closet and turned to Madeleine, who was looking for something in the refrigerator.

“I’m going to bed. I advise you to do the same if you don’t want to doze tomorrow.”

Madeleine waved her hand at him, being absorbed with her occupation. Darnell sighed.

“You do need a lot of life lessons to learn at least something.”

***

"May I join your game?"

"We won't play with you, go away!"

"But why?"

"Miss Carrington says you are the devil!"

"Devil, devil!"

"Begone, devil!"

"Get away from us, we don't want to see you!"

"Get lost, devil!"