Dark Silence

26 days (3)

He found the girl exactly where he had left her - near the counter. Madeleine managed to charm the old librarian somehow, because she was doting on her, and Madeleine was chewing something enthusiastically. When Darnell approached, Madeleine lifted her eyes at him and swallowed her loot like a content boa.

“Let’s go?” he asked. Madeleine nodded. Darnell referred to the librarian, “Thank you for looking after her.”

The old lady only frowned strictly at him not answering a word. Old ladies never liked him for some reason. Maybe because he never wore white shirts and costumes but dressed like a tramp, just old harridan told him in the orphanage. He never knew why they cared for his view so much, but he couldn't care less about their attitude.

Darnell lit a cigarette as soon as he stepped outside the library. Because of Madeleine, he couldn’t return to his bad habit as often as before, and a pack of cigarettes that used to be enough for half of the day lasted almost for two days. He dragged on the cigarette avidly and puffed the smoke up to not let Madeleine breathe with it.

“Let’s return to the Agency first. Ewing is not there already, but I need to take something.” Darnell threw a stub away and went to the car.

As he expected, the parking lot of the Agency was empty. He took Madeleine with him and quickly went to his office. Darnell rummaged inside his drawers and found his Colt and its gun holster. He took off his coat, put on the holster, and placed the gun in it.

“I hope I won’t need it tomorrow,” he said.

Darnell turned aside from the table and to his surprise faced Cyril. It looked like he was standing behind his back for some time already.

“What’s up?” asked the demon jauntily.

Darnell looked at Madeleine feeling angry at her for not letting him know that the demon appeared in the room. She lifted her arms in the sign “I have nothing to do with this” and went away to the book-case starting to look through the titles with a faux interest.

“It’s none of your business,” Darnell grumbled out an answer trying to go round Cyril, but he blocked his way. The demon crossed his hands and covered his elbows with his wings.

“The boss was looking for you all day long today. He was shouting so loud, so loud. Couldn’t reach you on the phone.”

Darnell took his phone from the pocket. It turned out that it discharged and turned off. But anyway Darnell was staying almost in the basement, and the signal was unlikely to reach him.

“Dammit, I didn’t notice,” the man muttered.

“He’ll get you the note for the absence,” uttered Cyril thoughtfully. “And you also haven’t provided him with the weekly work report. But I guess it will most likely look like a description of your drinking blasts.”

“I’ll deal with this, okay?” answered Darnell in an irritated manner. “What do you want from me? I told you to stay away from me.”

“You are not the one I need,” said Cyril approaching him, “but the one whom you keep on hiding so persistently,” he stretched his long knotty finger and touched Darnell’s chest with a black claw sliding it down.

Darnell choked with rage and pushed his hand away. He snatched the gun from the holster. The man pressed the barrel of the gun to the demon’s forehead and gave the push forcing him to take a step back. Cyril lifted his hands in a gesture of making peace and stepped back. Darnell noticed with a corner of his eye that Madeleine ran out of the office when the mess began.

“I’ll turn you into a cloud of dust now,” hissed Darnell in the Cyril’s smiling face.

“Oh, believe me, you don’t want more troubles for dispersing another demon.”

“I don’t give a damn,” the man forced himself to speak. “Leave me alone.”

“I only want to help you,” Cyril smiled wider revealing black gums. “But look what you resulted into. You scared Madeleine and she ran away. Who knows what might happen to her,” Cyril tilted his head to his shoulder looking at Darnell attentively.

The man shook his head trying to come to his senses. He hid his gun back to the holster.

“It’s all your fault,” he muttered.

He grabbed his coat from the table and pushed the demon rudely from his way. Darnell went to the hall, but Madeleine wasn’t present in the open-space which made him worry. He ran around the offices and rushed outside. He ran to the entrance hall and stopped noticing golden tails showing from behind casework. Darnell slowly approached the girl and squatted down on his haunches in front of her. Madeleine was sitting on the floor grabbing her knees burrowing her face in them. Darnell sighed.

“Did I scare you?”

The girl nodded not lifting her head.

“Well, I did warn him not to pick on me,” Darnell shrugged his shoulders. “I never waste words. You shouldn’t worry about him, this is just a demon. Looks like he decided to drive me mad completely. Shall we go?”

Madeleine shook her head and didn’t move.

“I did nothing to him,” Darnell tried to persuade her. “Why are you all so into this freak?” Darnell got so angry at this situation that he stood up and started walking in circles. The flaps of his coat flew up like the wings. “How is he doing this? Is he charming you?” Darnell leaned towards Madeleine and she shrank into herself even more when she heard the rustle of his clothes near her. “Remember: when talking to a demon, don’t look into their eyes, and don’t trust their words. They know what you think about. They play head games and stiffen alertness to obtain what they want.”

Darnell walked around another circle in irritation and thudded on the floor near Madeleine looking at the ceiling. He kept quiet for a while and continued to speak.

“You know, I used to visit various doctors. Differed psychologists and even psychiatrists.”

Madeleine turned her head to him with curiosity and stared with one eye. Darnell smiled.

“Yeah, there were times when I thought I had issues with my head,” he tapped his temple. “For example, I had aggressiveness, mood swings, a voice in my head, endless depression, and fatigue. Doesn’t sound too normal, huh. And the doctors gathered such a big consultation. Couldn’t come to terms with whether I’m schizophrenic or have a compulsive disorder. Or I have a multiple personality disorder.” Madeleine turned to him, clearly not understanding him, and blinked. “Well, it’s a split personality,” he explained. “They prescribed dozens of packs of pills, for everything at once,” Darnell feverishly waved his hands, “but they made me feel so shitty that one moment I decided to pretend that I cured miraculously. Those doctors were even ready to lock me up in a clinic, and I regretted that ever came to them. Can you imagine me being put into an asylum?” Darnell laughed, and Madeleine looked at him in surprise. “Now I think that maybe I was wrong when refused from this offer.”

The man stretched his feet and stared in front of him at the wall. He was always sure that all those dreams and countless bursts of anger he had were not the results of a mental disorder. Darnell could have believed this if his demonic side never manifested in any other way. But he knew how to concentrate to hear the thoughts of another person, and sometimes he could feel that there was a demon in human disguise somewhere near. Medications knocked him down completely and didn’t allow him to either think clearly or live a full life. There were more side effects than the positive ones, so Darnell decided that it was better for him to cope with his demon alone.

“Anyway, why did you run away? I couldn’t find you,” he peered at Madeleine. She sighed soundlessly and pulled her sleeve up showing the tracking bracelet. “Oh. I forgot about it. I’m so scattered,” the man laughed feeling his mind easing. For some reason, when he was talking to Madeleine, he calmed down and gathered his wits. Maybe Ewing guessed that this extraordinary approach might help him. “So, maybe there’s enough sitting on the floor? You may catch a cold, and Ewing will eat me alive. Ya know, like an alligator, only my boots will remain untouched,” he gave Madeleine a wink. She smiled and hid her face into her hands folded on the knees.

Darnell stood up stretching his legs and rubbing lower back. It turned out that with years passing sitting on the hard floor became quite uncomfortable. The girl also rose and started at Darnell with a wide smile.

“What?” he showed surprise. He looked himself over from head to foot just in case but didn’t notice anything that could catch her attention. Madeleine pointed at the back of her head, and then at him. “Ah, you mean this,” he ran his hand over his hair gathered into a ponytail, “yes, this is really more convenient. But this is only until I find time to get to a hairdresser, you know.” Darnell turned around confusedly and went to the exit. He heard the light footsteps of Madeleine catching him up. The man peered at her. “Do you have a black hair tie by any chance?” Madeleine shook her head and laughed soundlessly. Darnell felt uncomfortable because of this image. Madeleine surely had a beautiful sweet voice, and the laughter must resemble the jingle of small bells. He will certainly hear it one day.