Fatal Attraction

“So would you classify this as an ‘average’ mortal bedroom?” Azremir picked up Jason’s computer mouse and began to twirl it around her finger.

“Hey!” Jason snagged the mouse before it could fly off and hit a wall. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“Hmm.” The demon girl frowned and placed her thumb and forefinger against her chin. “You need more decorations.”

She hopped up onto Jason’s bed and pointed around at his mostly barren walls.

“A few bloodied pentagrams, black wallpaper, and upside down crosses would be a good start.” Azremir nodded, pleased with her own suggestion.

“I’m sure it would.” Jason sank down into his chair and placed his head in his hands. “Remi, why are you still here?”

The demon girl froze. “What did you call me?”

“Azremir is a bit of a mouthful, I decided to shorten it.” Jason explained.

He glanced up and found an extremely flustered demon staring back at him.

“Y-you can’t just go making up nicknames for me!” She threw her hands down and growled. “Stupid g-guy like you doesn’t know anything about proper names!”

Jason slouched back into his chair and lifted a single eyebrow. “So Remi is no good?”

She lifted up her hands and tapped her index fingers together. “I didn’t say that…”

“Then it’s settled.” Jason shrugged. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Remi folded her hands across her chest. “I already told you. I can’t leave until you and I make a deal.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Jason said firmly.

“Then I’m going to stay here until it does.” Remi shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like I really want to hang around you or anything.”

She looked away pointedly and stuck her nose high in the air.

“The problem with that is I don’t live alone-”

Just as Jason was about to explain his current living arrangements, he heard the sound of a car pulling up outside.

“Speak of the devil…” Jason cursed and dashed over to his window.

Remi poked her head around Jason’s shoulder.

“What about him?” She asked casually.

A flash of red hair could be seen on the far side of a dark SUV that parked directly in front of Jason’s home.

“We’re out of time.” Jason darted over to his closet and flung open the doors.

After hastily rearranging the cluttered mess inside, Jason managed to carve out a large enough space for Remi to squeeze into.

“All right.” Jason huffed. “You can hide in here.”

Remi’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m not burying myself in your filthy clothing.” Remi leaned back against the window and cocked her head. “I’m flattered you want all of your clothes to smell like me but you didn’t even ask nicely.”

“Har, har.” Jason rolled his eyes and grabbed Remi’s arm.

Her black and red eyes widened and Jason could have sworn she blushed a little.

“W-what do you think you’re doing?” Remi pulled away quickly. “You may be able to get away with this with mortal girls but not with me!”

“Would you calm down!” Jason hissed as he heard the sounds of Kylee approaching the front door downstairs. “My aunt is missing so a detective is staying with me until they find her. If she finds you here you’ll get arrested, or worse.”

Remi frowned. “So… you weren’t trying to take advantage of me?”

“No!” Jason heard the front door open and Kylee call out his name. “Coming!”

Jason strode out of his room and paused to close the door behind him.

“Just stay up here and don’t make any noise.” Jason instructed the oddly dejected demon. “I’ll be back up later.”

Jason shut his bedroom tightly and jogged down the staircase to find a disgruntled Kylee tossing her shoes against the front door.

“Everything okay?’ Jason asked.

Her head snapped up at the sound of Jason’s voice and her face broke out into a wide smile. She stepped over and pulled him into a warm hug.

“It is now.” She sighed. “Sorry. A lot of paperwork and meetings.”

“Any news about Shannon?’ Jason asked.

Kylee’s grip tightened against his back, causing Jason to wince as he felt the detective’s nails dig into his skin through his shirt.

“Uh, no.” Kylee’s grip loosened and she pulled back. “Still looking everywhere we can.”

Her smile faltered but she pointed to the kitchen table over Jason’s shoulder. Jason turned to find a few bags of fast food leaned up against one another.

“I brought dinner. I’m a bit too tired to cook a real meal.” Kylee ran a hand over Jason’s head. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, that’s all right.” Jason felt unsettled by Kylee’s behavior but he wouldn’t have much time to dwell on it.

Just as Kylee walked over to the table and began removing items from the bags, Jason heard the unmistakable sound of his bedroom door opening upstairs. He froze in place.

“What’s that delicious smell?” Remi’s voice asked.

“Uh.” Jason’s brain began to heat up as he raced to think of a possible explanation that could satisfy Kylee.

The red haired detective turned and lifted a questioning eyebrow at Jason.

“Everything all right?” She asked without so much as a glance at the footsteps coming down the steps right next to them.

“Everything…” Jason trailed off as Remi stepped into view.

The demon lifted her nose and followed it to the kitchen table. She brushed right passed Kylee but she didn’t even blink.

She can’t see her? Jason felt his muscles relax slightly.

Remi lifted a chicken sandwich from one of the bags and began to munch on it happily.

“Everything’s fine.” Jason finally responded to Kylee. “Sorry. I’m just trying to adjust to things, you know, with my aunt being gone.”

Kylee’s worry deepened but understanding entered her green eyes.

“I’m so sorry Jason.” Kylee once again pulled him into a tight hug. “You shouldn’t have to go through something like this.”

Jason felt a pair of lips brush against his forehead. He stiffened. Kylee’s frequent hugs were one thing, but this was the first time she had ever kissed him, even if it was only on the head.

“I promise, I’ll make sure you’re okay.” Kylee whispered.

“Wow. And here I thought you were against your condition.” Remi joked from behind Kylee’s back.

The red skinned demon leaned around Kylee’s shoulders and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. Jason couldn’t respond but he did glare at Remi. She laughed.

“Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I can choose who I appear to. I’m always visible to you since you’re the one who summoned me but I’m undetectable to everyone else. Watch.”

Remi reached her hand behind and pinched Kylee. The detective yelped and smashed herself against Jason.

“Sorry Jason. I just wasn’t expecting that from you.” Kylee’s green eyes smoldered with intense desire.

Jason pushed himself away from the detective as hard as he could.

“No, Kylee, I mean, Miss. Anderson, I didn’t mean… I just wanted… I’m hungry and thought we should eat dinner…” Jason floundered with his words as he attempted to blanket the fire that was burning inside of Kylee.

Remi cackled and continued to snack on the chicken sandwich she had claimed for herself nearby. It took a few minutes of hasty back peddling but Kylee eventually returned to her normal self, though Jason did feel she was looking at him a bit differently. Fortunately for Jason, Remi seemed satisfied with the single instance of chaos she had sown. Instead, Remi busied herself by walking around and inspecting everything in the house. Since it was already pretty late, Jason didn’t have to wait too long before excusing himself to bed. Kylee walked up with him and uncomfortably watched Jason until he shut his bedroom door. Remi was still walking around downstairs, so Jason finally had some time to himself.

Jason’s thoughts began to creep into the dark bedroom. His aunt was still missing. The way Kylee was acting earlier made it seem she knew more about the situation than she was letting on. If Jason was being completely honest, he was afraid. Shannon should have contacted him by now, or at least called the police if she was in trouble. The fact that she had remained silent for so long was troubling. The worst part of this entire situation was the thought that Jason might inadvertently be at fault. He wasn’t sure how he could live with that fact if something happened to the woman who raised him.

To avoid spiraling down any further, Jason pulled out his phone. Much to his delight, he had a text from Hayden.

Hey man, sorry I didn’t pick up your calls earlier. Everything all right?

Jason felt stupid for worrying for nothing, but he was glad to hear from his best friend.

I was just diving into the hard drive. Jason typed out and decided to leave out summoning Remi. I wanted to talk over some of the things I found but that can wait till tomorrow.

Jason sent his message and let his phone fall onto his chest. Only a minute later and a chime announced the arrival of another message from Hayden.

That why you dipped early from class? Normally I’d be on board for you to get some time to think things through, but you were right about Jessica and Courtney. Those girls looked ready to murder each other after you left. Though, now that I think about it, they did seem to calm down after lunch. Not sure what happened there. You gonna be back tomorrow?

Jason frowned. He honestly hadn’t thought about going to school tomorrow. There was a lot more of the hard drive to look through. Plus, now he had a certain demon hovering around him. After the incident with Kylee, he didn’t think having her around the other girls would be a good idea.

Not sure. I guess I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Jason responded honestly. He wasn’t sure what would be best and his brain was incredibly worn out from everything that had happened today.

I get that. Hayden responded a moment later. Catch some Z’s my dude. You certainly need it.

Jason smirked and tossed his phone onto the bed beside him. He was incredibly tired. It wasn’t long before his eyelids closed and didn’t reopen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Azremir returned to Jason’s room after she had finished exploring the house. The room was almost completely dark but that wasn’t an issue for her eyes. She spotted Jason sound asleep in his bed, his tired and worried face now slack and comfortable. Demon’s didn’t require sleep, not like mortal’s do, so the concept intrigued Azremir. Quiet as a mouse, Azremir snuck over and lowered herself down onto the bed next to Jason. She placed her arms under her head in a makeshift pillow and proceeded to watch Jason sleep. Azremir wasn’t the type of demon that invaded mortal dreams, so she had no idea what he was dreaming about, but from the look on his face, Azremir guessed it was pleasant.

Azremir wasn’t sure how long she rested there, but eventually she heard the faint sounds of scraping coming from Jason’s bedroom window. The demon girl stood slowly as to not wake Jason. Without a sound, Azremir made her way over to the window and peeked through the blinds. On top of the hanging garden just in front of his window, a girl crept her way over to the locked window. The girl couldn’t see the demon, but the sight still caught Azremir by surprise. The girl was wearing all black. Baggy sweatpants, large sweatshirt, and an oversized hat on her head.

She glanced back at Jason and considered waking him. Before she could make the decision. The girl outside pulled out a long thin tool and used it to unlock the window. Azremir watched the dark haired girl carefully pull open the window far enough to slip inside. With practiced ease, the girl slid into the room without making a sound. Though Azremir didn’t know who this girl was, she wasn’t giving off hostile intentions towards Jason. On the contrary, Azremir detected an overwhelming excitement flooding through the girl as she crept towards the sleeping Jason. The girl glided around the far side of his bed and knelt down near Jason’s head. Much like Azremir had, the girl placed her arms under her head and began to watch Jason sleep.

Just like I did… Azremir thought before her face began to burn.

No, no, no, no. Azremir squeezed her hands tightly into her palms. I was only doing that because I had never seen a mortal sleep before… That’s all. I don’t l-l-l-li-

Her conflicted thoughts were interrupted by a content sigh coming from the invader. The girl took one final look at Jason before she removed a shirt from her pocket and tossed it onto Jason’s laundry. The girl proceeded to take a different shirt and stuff it into her pocket. Azremir watched the girl slither out the open window and close it once more without so much as a creak. Whoever this girl was, she clearly had done this numerous times before.

Azremir glanced over at the oblivious Jason. The boy clearly had been telling the truth when he said there were mortal girls here who had it bad for him. While it had amused Azremir at first, she couldn’t help but sympathize with the poor kid. If the red haired woman’s reaction earlier was any indication for the feelings these other girls had for him, he was in for a rough time.