Maria placed the kit on the couch, eyes wide. “Is someone after you?”
He continued to pace around the room. “Oh, God. Oh, God. I really screwed up.” He walked to the kitchen, placed his hands on one of the counter chairs, and squeezed. “I can’t fucking”—he hurled the chair across the room—“believe it.” When the chair hit the wall, it broke into pieces.
We jumped back. “What happened?” I asked. He stopped, the blood dripping off of him and forming a small puddle on the ground. I kept my distance. “Take your shirt and shoes off. We’ll wash them.”
“No!” A bead of sweat rolled down his neck. “No… I can’t.” He was sweating profusely now.
“Take it off or I will. You’re not going to ruin all of our furniture,” I said. Who did he think he was barging into our home at 2AM, waking up us both, and ruining all of our furniture with his blood? I snatched the top button of his shirt.
He grabbed my wrist and dug his nails into my skin. “I said no!” His voice was low and absolutely terrifying, nothing like I had ever heard before.
I pulled myself away from him, clutching my wrist. Blood was dripping down my forearm from the deep nail wounds that punctured my skin.
When he saw the blood, he stumbled back. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what’s happening.” He pressed himself against the couch, chest heaving up and down.
What was wrong with him? What was going on? Why was he suddenly so angry?
Maria was standing near the foyer, her brows furrowed together. Her arms were wrapped around her small body.
“Trevon, it’s okay. Just… just tell me what happened, please,” I said.
His beady black eyes darted around the room like he was watching for something or someone. “I don’t remember.”
“Is this your blood?”
“Dani,” he said, voice low and full of fright. “I think something is happening to me.”
Mom’s pendant began to freeze against my skin. “What’re you talking about?” I asked.
With trembling hands, he unbuttoned his shirt. There was blood all over his chest, and what looked like claw marks. He stared at me, tears filling his eyes, and dug his fingers into his chest—breaking the skin.
“Trevon…” I breathed deeply. He continued to dig his nails, about an inch deep, until blood began spewing out. “Trevon, stop!” Tears welled up in my eyes, watching the blood pour out of him. When he pulled his fingers out of his chest, the wound closed slowly—like it had never even been there.
“That’s not all.”
God, I wished that was all.
He gazed up at me with pitch black eyes. They were darker than Eros’s. Then, he parted his lips, showing me a mouthful of fangs.
Maria let out a piercing scream.
This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t. I shuffled back against the front door. There was a demon in the middle of our living room. I grasped Mom’s pendant. It felt like ice against my fingers.
Someone banged on the door, and I jumped away from it. Another one?
“Dani! Are you okay?” Eros asked.
I took a deep breath. Okay, oh, God. It was only Eros.
Trevon stepped toward me, but I could tell that he was trying to hold himself back. “Please, don’t answer, Dani. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, staring behind me at the door. His lips parted, and he bared his teeth at us—like he was going to hiss. “If you open the door…” Another bead of sweat rolled down his neck. “I won’t be able to hold him back.”
Maria grabbed the knife from the side-table but didn’t move toward the door, nor toward Trevon.
Eros knocked again. “Dani! Answer the door.”
Trevon’s chest heaved. He placed his hands on the couch, claws ripping through the leather. He shook his head wildly, like he was trying to get the demon out.
Maria snatched my arm and held the knife in front of us. “What are we going to do?” she whispered.
“I—I don’t know.”
“I don’t want him to hurt us or the guys next door.” The knife in her hand trembled.
Even though Trevon was terrifying me right now, I knew he wouldn’t intentionally hurt me. If he wanted to, he would’ve done it by now. But I knew that if we opened the door, he would lose control and hurt someone else. And that someone would be Eros.
I would never forgive myself for that.
This needed to stay contained. At least until Eros went back into his own apartment.
Trevon doubled over onto his hands and knees, then curled into a ball, clutching his head. “It hurts.”
Eros banged on the door again. “Open up or I’ll come in.”
“What are we going to do?” Maria asked again.
I pushed her toward the kitchen. “Go get some garlic or salt or something. I’ll keep Eros out.” God, I really should’ve kept reading that article about demons.
She sprinted to the kitchen, and I deadbolted the door and pressed my back against it.
“Did you just lock me out?” Eros asked through the door.
“Eros, I’m busy right now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Are you okay? There’s blood on the front door.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Maria just got her period! That’s why there’s blood. Anyway, got to go help her. Bye!” I ran back to the living room, praying to the Heavenly God above that he’d leave us alone because I didn’t want him to get hurt like Mom did.
If I could protect someone, it was going to be Eros.
Maria rushed back into the living room with a container of salt. She created a circle around us with it. I didn’t know if this would work. Hell, I didn’t know what we were doing. I just wanted the old Trevon back. I’d take Trevon the Cheater over Trevon the Demon any day.
We huddled closer to each other, and I wondered if we were supposed to put the circle of salt around us or around Trevon.
Maria was pressing her face into my neck, tears streaming from her eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been to church in months, but, God, please don’t let us die.”
After hours of watching Trevon struggle with himself: pacing around the apartment, tearing apart furniture, slashing his skin with his claws, he finally let out an ear-piercing scream and collapsed onto the ground. His claws disappeared into his fingers, and his teeth transformed back into his pearly whites.
Maria sucked in a breath. “What was that?”
I swallowed hard, heart racing. “A demon?”
We stayed in the circle for a good twenty more minutes until Trevon eventually sat up. He leaned against the couch, breathing heavy. Everything seemed to be back to normal—for now.
I cautiously stepped out. “Trevon,” I asked.
“I’m sorry, Dani,” he said, gazing up at me with sorrowful eyes. “I couldn’t control it.”
Maria stepped out and rushed to the front door. “I need to get out of here.”
“Maria,” Trevon said. “Please don’t tell anyone!”
She hesitated, but then nodded. “Okay.” She disappeared behind the door and closed it.
There was a long pause, and Trevon looked back up at me with tears in his eyes. “I’m scared.”
“Me too.”
He took one of my hands, squeezing tightly. “Thank you for staying with me.”
I took a deep breath and knelt next to him. I wasn’t okay, but I’d have to be. We would have to find out how to fix this, because I would not let Eros get hurt.
“What happened last night?” I asked. “Why were you covered in blood?”
He gazed at the ground, his lips trembling. “I—I hurt someone.”
“Who’d you hurt?”
“I don’t know. I brought him to the hospital…” His voice cracked. “I nearly killed a man last night, Dani! What’s wrong with me?”