Angel’s Demon, part two

“You’re a demon.”

“Yup.”

“You’re not allowed outside the Barrens.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Angel and her demon walked in silence for a few moments.   She kept giving sidelong glances to her companion.  With his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, black horns curving back from the top of his head, large black leathery wings folded along his back, and dark red skin, he looked like a typical demon.  But the tail was different.  It, too, was red and it was long and skinny, but there was a tuft of black fur on the end, like a lion’s.  He was barefoot, but he wore a simple vest and extremely baggy pants—both black.

His golden eyes flicked to hers and he smirked.  “Like what you see, sweetheart?”

Angel rolled her eyes.  “As if.”

The pair was silent for a few more steps before the demon spoke up.  “Where are we going?”

“To my apartment,” Angel responded.

“Why do you live in an Outsiders district?”

“It was the cheapest thing I could get.  And it’s close to work.  Y’know, if you’re just going to complain, you can leave.”

“I can’t leave, doll face.  Not for the first twenty-four hours, at least.  Think of it as a trial period.”

“My name isn’t doll face.  It’s Angelina.  I hate doll face.”

“Maybe if you didn’t look like a damn doll, people wouldn’t call you doll face.”

Angel glared at him.  It wasn’t her fault her ivory skin refused to tan and her blond hair fell in almost perfect ringlets.  And so what if she was petite?

“So what was your name?” Angel asked a few minutes later.

“Dahryus.”

“D-A-R-I-U-S?”

“D-A-H-R-Y-U-S.”

“Why is it spelled funny?”

“How do you know the other version isn’t spelled funny?”

Angel didn’t have an answer, so she didn’t say anything as she lead her new demon up the stairs to her apartment.  She slid the key into the lock, but before she turned the key, she glared at Dahryus.

“If you make fun of my apartment, you will be sleeping out here.  Have I made myself clear?”

The demon saluted and gave her a cocky smirk.

She rolled her eyes and unlocked the door, flicking on the light switch as she entered.  The furniture was second class and none of it matched, but the only thing she cared about was the fact it was cheap and did what it was supposed to do.  Right now, she didn’t need to live fancy.  She’d do that later.

Angel set her purse on the kitchen table and draped her jacket over the back of one of the two chairs.  She turned to locate her demon . . . and wanted to bash her head into the wall.  He was standing in front of her book shelf, knees bent and arms slightly out with his palms down.  He was shifting his weight from side to side, and his tail flicked every now and then.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice annoyed.

Dahryus didn’t turn around and continued his defensive maneuvers.  “It’s like everywhere I go, their eyes follow me.”

Angel pinched the bridge of her nose and prayed for patience.  “They’re just porcelain dolls, Dahryus.”

“I think they’re possessed.”

“Whatever.”  She walked past him to her bedroom.  “You’re sleeping on the couch,” Angel told him as she slammed the door in the demon’s face.