Women And the Demons Who Love Them

Little Devil's Cove-4

Florence + The Machine- Cosmic Love

Kellen: 

    I didn't leave my room after helping mom unpack everything in the kitchen. It's her favorite part of the house. I personally love my room. She let me have the master bedroom because it has a book nook overlooking the peak behind our house. This place is magical. My brothers helped me set up my bed as I started pushing my collections of vintage novels on the shelves around the window. 

    "This is how you know she's the favorite," Kayne said dropping on my bed. 

    "Your room is twice the size of mine," I scoffed. Mom doesn't have a favorite, but she does pay more attention to Kayne. He's an i***t though so he needs it.

    "Yeah, but you've got your own bathroom and a view," 

    "Bigger room beats the bathroom and it wouldn't be fair for you to have your own bathroom and not me," Kyle smirked, sitting on the barren nook. I need to go into town and get something to decorate it with. "Besides, what would we need all these shelves for?" 

    "I would put my TV right there where you're sitting. Cover the windows with dark curtain and my video games and CD collection can go on the shelves," 

Kyle and I shook our heads. 

    "Do you see this view?" I asked. 

    "You can always just walk out there to get a better look," he said in a duh tone like that was a better alternative. 

    "Get out meathead," I said pushing him out. Kyle laughed taking him by his arm as he walked out. 

    I looked over at the copy of Glass Town I had tried to salvage and wondered how Sail is doing. Her head had hit the ground hard. The sound it made was similar to one a coconut made when Kayne slammed it on the floor to break it open. The pages creme colored pages were stained but they weren't damaged. The book closed normally and none of the words had blurred out. A tap on the door made me turn to my door. 

    "Hey, there's someone here for you," my mom said. 

    "Who?" I asked. 

    "A boy. He wants to know if you took a girl's things?" I nodded turning to the book. I grabbed it, her coat, her purse, and rushed out. 

    "Hi, I wasn't going to keep none of this. I just didn't want those girls to ruin anything," I reassured him as soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs. It isn't her brother and it doesn't look like he's related to her. He's tall. Really tall and looks as expensive as she does. 

    "Don't worry about it. Thank you for taking care of Sail's things," 

    "How is she? She hit her head super hard," 

    "It sounded like she split her coconut open," Kayne called from the kitchen. It bothered him to hear my brother say that. 

    "Don't mind him. My brother has no filter," I tried to comfort, motioning him out. 

    "I'm Alek by the way. I want to personally thank you for trying to help. Anyone else would have left her there. It means a lot to us. Sail is a tough girl. She had a mild concussion. Nothing too bad. A few bruises. Nothing we haven't dealt with before," the way he said it. His words hold anger in them.

    "I'm glad she's okay. My mom called the hospital but they said she didn't go there," 

    "Yeah, her family has their own physician. Faster than the ER. Are these all her things?" 

    "Yes. I tried to fix her book as best I could. Those girls..." I said shaking my head. "She had been really calm before they showed up. The officer acted like it was her fault without even knowing what the hell was going on," 

    "She tends to get into trouble. It's hardly ever her fault. She's just different," 

    "Are you related to her?" 

    "No," he said shaking his head. "Her brother Sam and I are really close," 

    "Oh," I said nodding. 

    "Not like that. I like women. We both do. By close I mean we're friends. He's just a friend," he rushed out in a panic. I laughed. 

    "Okay. Even if you weren't it's none of my business. It's normal,"

    "I should go now," he groaned, shaking his head. He turned away before glancing at me. He lifted her things and nodded. "Thank you," 

    "You're welcome," I nodded. He mumbled something as he walked to his car. 

    "Subtle," Kyle said opening the door. The three of us laughed watching as the red taillights disappeared. 

    The rest of the weekend was dedicated to unpacking. By Sunday night, almost everything was ready in case we had visitors. My mom kept asking herself if there was a way to remove dad from the family pictures and replace him with Henry Cavill or Christian Bale. My brothers thought it was a great idea so Kyle started working on it right away. We all voted for Henry Cavill. 

    "So, who was the boy who came Friday night?" mom asked as she put plates in front of us for dinner. 

    "He may or may not be the girl's who our dear sister saved brother's boyfriend," Kayne laughed. I rolled my eyes. 

    "He might secretly be the girl's boyfriend but since he's best friends with her brother they're hiding it," I said. They all turned to look at me.

    "This is not a romance novel, Kels," Kyle laughed. 

    "It could be. It would be cliche and super cute," my mom defended. 

    "Pft. Women," Kayne said rolling his eyes. 

    "So, no late night tonight. You're all going to bed early. It's a school night. So once you're done with dinner please prepare your things for tomorrow. I have an early day myself so I'll leave breakfast ready. Please get to school early to get your schedules and textbooks. I don't want you to be late," 

    "Okay," the three of us said annoyed. She smirked at us proudly. 

    "We're starting to sound like a real family," she said.

    "We kind of even look like one," Kyle added making us all laugh. 

    "Kay it's your turn to do the dishes," she said. 

    "What?" he asked outraged. Kyle and I cleaned off the table as he washed the dishes. He murmured something about how unfair it was. 

    I went right back up to my room and began to rummage through the pile of clothes I had left out as a possible first day at a new school outfit. My mom came in shortly after. She took apart some of my ideas and made one of her own. Then she placed a brown box on top of the outfit. 

    "I know it's a couple of months early but I couldn't wait. I was in town and I saw these. I knew they were perfect for you. Your dad didn't like you wearing these but he's not here anymore," as soon as she said that I knew what they were. I pulled the top off to see the most perfect black Steve Maddens. "Happy Birthday," 

    "Mom these are beautiful," I mused pulling one out. The inside is a bright crimson red. 

    "I knew you'd like them. Now you have the perfect outfit for tomorrow," 

    "You got the boys something too right?" she nodded. "Good cause they'd chew me out tomorrow if they saw I got something new and they didn't," 

    "How are your knuckles doing?" she asked. I lifted them for her to see. She looked at the light bruise on my chin and the thick-cut on my lip. "Promise me you're not going to make this a habit,"

    "Mom, they jumped a girl who was reading and having tea in a diner. There were four of them," I defended. She nodded. 

    "Okay, supergirl. I'm just saying. Kyle told me what the cop said and I don't want you getting into trouble. You've never done anything like this. I just want you to be safe," 

    "I won't do it on purpose," I promised.

    "Alright then. Get some sleep but first. Put all these clothes away," 

    "Yes ma'am," I saluted her playfully. She got up and closed the door behind her. I grabbed the remote to my music player and pressed play. Florence + The Machine came on as I got back to work.