Knowing a thing or two about demons from the diablery class, Irene found it odd enough that she wondered just what was the wording of these demons’ contracts. Perhaps something like they couldn’t sabotage one another. Not telling them might count as some sort of betrayal.
As for the other demons, they all reacted in varying ways. Some didn’t seem to care. One or two started shaking with genuine fear on their faces.
But the last one…
Saija knocked as she had with the others. No one answered immediately. That wasn’t so strange. Not everyone answered as quickly as the first. A few of the other rooms had even been missing their occupants. Irene and Saija had just assumed that they were out mingling with the humans and had slipped a note into the little message box at the side of the doors.
However, someone was obviously home here. The noises coming from the other side of the door were evidence to that. Just a few moments of hearing them had Irene pulling away from the room.
The squelching and thumping. It was like someone was using eight meat tenderizers at once while singing with all the ability of a deaf walrus.
She had never actually heard a walrus sing, but that was beside the point.
Saija didn’t seem disturbed in the slightest. Angry, perhaps. Her arms were crossed over her chest. One of her fingers thumped against her arm in tempo with the thuds coming from within the room. After a moment, she hammered her fist against the door and didn’t stop until the door swung open.
The thumping within the room ceased at the exact moment that the door cracked open.
Irene looked away, almost afraid of what she might find in there.
Curiosity got the better of her.
She peeked an eye open.
Then both eyes.
A young man stood in the doorway wearing a polo shirt and slacks. His hair was neatly combed and his nails were clean, shiny, and cut short. Irene only noticed his fingers because his hand was up by his mouth as he let out a long yawn.
“You caught me while I was napping,” he said in a completely casual tone of voice.
Were it not for the noise that had been coming from his room, she might have thought that they had accidentally knocked on the door of a regular student. In fact, maybe that had been music of some sort. She had thought that something in that noise sounded like singing.
Saija kept her eyes narrowed as she pushed past the student into the room. “What were you up to?”
“Napping. I just said as much.”
“Liar. I’ve not slept once since coming to the mortal realm.”
“Don’t assume that everyone is the same as you.”
“Hmm.” Saija continued looking around the room.
From her position at the doorway, Irene couldn’t see anything odd about the room. Just a normal dormitory room. Three beds with desks at their feet, a mini-kitchen, and a door leading to a bathroom on one side of the room.
Actually, once she started really looking at it, the room was almost too clean. All three beds had their covers smoothed out without a single wrinkle. No bits of old clothing lying anywhere on the floor. The kitchen looked unused.
But there was a strong scent of lemon cleaner around the place.
“Whatever,” Saija said. “Only came by because it is demanded of me to tell you that one of the Keeper’s dolls might be somewhere around the mortal realm.”
This demon was the first to do anything more than slam the door in their faces. Something he might find difficult with Saija already inside the room. Even still, his reaction was different.
A lock of his perfectly combed hair slid out of place.
“Excuse me? I’m not sure I heard you properly.”
Saija’s face split into a grin as her gaze turned towards the demon for the first time. “Oh, I don’t believe that for a minute. Worry? Concern? I can smell it on you. Someone has been naughty. What’d you do?”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I honestly didn’t hear you.”
“Like you honestly were napping.”
The demon opened his mouth, but Saija waved her hand.
“Protest all you want, I don’t care. It will be interesting to see if you’re still around in a few days. But I’ve done my part. Good luck,” she said, starting to leave the room. “Or not,” she added before slipping out.
Saija didn’t hesitate in beating a retreat. She gripped Irene’s arm on the way—quite a bit rougher than Irene would have liked—and dragged her down the hall.
“Ouch, hey–”
Irene cut herself off as Saija squeezed her arm. Slamming a finger over her lips, she jerked her head back towards the room they had just left.
The demon was leaning around the corner, watching them leave with a perfectly normal expression on his face.
“He isn’t what he seems. Best to get away sooner rather than later.”
The way the demon was staring at Irene in particular removed all arguments and complaints from her mind. She nodded and just about ran forward, almost dragging Saija along with her. They only slowed once they made it back to the stairwell.
“What was up with that?” Irene said after taking a moment to catch her breath. She wasn’t sure why she was so out of breath, the hallway wasn’t that long.
“He’s an odd one. Don’t worry about him too much. Though he was acting a little suspicious,” Saija said, tapping her chin. “Have any of the students gone missing recently?”
“I don’t think so… Is that a thing? Should I be worried that he’s been eating people?”
“Oh no. He would just pretend to grant people’s wishes while trapping them in a sort of alternate reality where everything is perfect, feeding off their emotions in the meantime.”
“Thats–” Irene started. She had been about to say that it wasn’t so bad, but changed her mind after thinking about it for another second or two longer. “That might be worse.”
“Yeah. I mean, technically it isn’t hurting the humans, but probably still violates the spirit of his contract. Fascinating. Let’s watch and see if the doll shows up.”
“What? Why? I thought you didn’t care about him.”
“I was just saying that. If a doll is really here to take him out, I want to watch it happen. I’ve heard about them and yet have never actually seen one.”
After being kind enough to let Irene finish filling her lungs with fresh air, Saija dragged her straight up to the second floor.
At the junction between the rest of the stairs and the second floor landing, Irene had tried to slip away. She really didn’t want to watch some demon, especially one as creepy as that perfect guy. Homework had been light so far into the year, but Irene still had an essay to write.
The second she had tried to break away from Saija, the succubus had her hand on Irene’s shoulder once again.
She could have protested, but she didn’t. Irene just sighed and resigned herself to her fate. Eva, Catherine, and now Saija, all of them traveled at their own paces and expected the same of everyone around them. Seemingly especially of Irene.
Though maybe she was the only one who needed to be dragged into things.
Juliana followed along on her own as did Shalise. Obviously Arachne wouldn’t need to be dragged into things. She was a demon and part of the things that needed dragging into. Shelby and Jordan…
Wait, Irene thought, pausing her light pacing in front of the second floor stairwell windows, Shelby and Jordan are never a part of anything. How do they manage it?
She didn’t get a chance to consider the answer.
Saija pressed her nose against the glass. “I can feel him pacing back and forth. He keeps moving up next to the window. What are you going to do?” she said, more to herself than to Irene. “Stick around? Maybe flee and try to put some physical distance between yourself and the doll?”
“If he sticks around for more than a minute or two, I’m leaving,” Irene said.