Chapter 06

After the movie date, Lily and I spent the afternoon at some random cafe in the mall. We weren’t spending time talking over coffee, no. Rather, we weren’t talking at all.

The two of us simply sat at a table by the window and mindlessly watched the mall traffic. It was a lazy weekday afternoon, so there weren’t many shoppers. We were looking at our reflection for most of the time, seeing the expressions on our faces looking dead and exhausted.

“So?” Lily, after probably an hour of silence, finally spoke up to start our first conversation since coming to the cafe. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, I intended for us to just have a chat in this cafe after the movie”, I replied. “But evidently we’re both not in the mood for that.”

Lily then covered her face, which seems to have flushed red based on her ears turning red as well.

“That was so embarrassing”, she said, recalling the events in the movie theater. “There weren’t many people there, but we were still seen.”

As for me, I was simply recovering from getting my soul drained so I wasn’t in the mood for a casual conversation.

Regaining her composure, Lily asked again, “What’s the plan?”

“We try again, of course”, I replied. “You don’t want to be taken over by a demon, wouldn’t you?”

“I guess not.”

“I also don’t want to have my soul eaten.”

“I guess you wouldn’t.”

“So let’s come back here tomorrow and hang out.”

“Tomorrow?” Lily asked, sounding confused.

“Well, you don’t look like you’re in any mood to window shop right now.”

“True… although I guess I could say the same about you.”

The tiredness didn’t go away even when we’ve been resting at the cafe for a while now, and we both saw that in each other’s faces.

The following day, we only had classes in the morning. We both decided not to skip them.

Although, I may as well have just skipped them considering I was half asleep the entire morning.

We agreed that Lily should stay at my home until we complete the demoness’ challenge so we could take the same precautions. That’s why, the previous night, I had to ward her off not once but twice as they didn’t work perfectly. They were good enough for me to be able to hold her off at least.

The first was just past six, and the second was at around midnight. I stayed up all night in case she appeared a third time, but nothing happened until the sun rose.

But, I still didn’t let my guard down as I knew the demoness appeared during the day. It was only during class that I was able to relax as Lily and I didn’t have the same classes for the most part.

The afternoon came, and, while I was able to stay alert, there were still times when I would feel drowsy due to the lack of sleep. 

We were at the department store and looking at clothes. At first, the date was going as normal. Lily was trying some items she picked and showing it to me to get my opinion of them.

Then, with only one spell of drowsiness hitting me, Lily grabbed me by the collar and pulled me into the dressing room with her. Except, she had turned into the demoness and started feasting on my lips once the curtains were drawn closed.

I was lucky to survive as she stopped when the store assistant came to check on us. But, the ordeal still lasted a few minutes.

The following day was a school day as well. We decided not to skip classes again, so I invited Lily to the arcade during our noon break.

I was better rested than the day before since I felt there was a pattern on the appearances of the demoness. The first two nights, she appeared early in the evening and at around midnight, but didn't do so for the rest of the night.

As the saying goes - once is chance, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern.

Although, it was a gamble for me to go to sleep without confirming the pattern. I only did it due to a gut feeling, and I realize I was lucky it ended up that way. But, I wanted to be awake and alert for the next date.

However, with or without sleep, it didn’t matter. When Lily wanted to take a picture of us in a cutesy photo booth, that’s when it happened. I was ambushed all the same.

Next thing I knew, I was slumped into a stool in front of a coin-op machine with a demo of an old fighting game playing on the screen.

Meanwhile, a red-faced Lily was sitting on the seat next to me. She was busy shredding the freshly developed photos of what happened inside the booth with her hands.

The next day, it was finally the weekend. Ironically, Lily wasn’t willing to go out with me.

“Three consecutive times of having it happen where other people could see is enough for me”, she explained.

So, we agreed on simply staying at her home and stream a movie or two.

We couldn’t do it at mine because my mom was at home even if she was asleep. Meanwhile, her family would be out until the evening doing their own things.

Considering the pattern of her turning into the demoness on or near noon, Lily agreed to her arms and legs tied during this time.

It felt weird to tie Lily up in the middle of the day, but it didn’t feel too weird as I had gotten used to the act considering we had been doing this for the past four nights.

Although, she was looking upset each time, visibly and understandably unable to get used to it, and today was no different.

After having our lunch (which Lily was able to do while her wrists were tied), we played a movie that was almost two hours long. Unexpectedly, we watched it to the end without Lily turning into the demoness.

It seemed we didn't need the precautions.

Once we confirmed the time, we thought it was safe to untie Lily. But, as soon as I untied the ribbon on her wrists, despite her upper arm and legs still being tied, she transformed and jumped at me immediately.

Luckily, I was able to grab her wrists on her initial attack. She jumped at me too soon when my hands were still on hers, that’s why I was able to react quickly. I wasn’t able to stop her from pushing me onto the floor and sitting on top of me, however.

I tried placing our hands between our faces. I’ve given up trying to overpower her as I’ve failed doing so plenty of times before. What I’ve learned from the nights I was able to defend myself was I could at least delay her until she turns back after a few minutes.

Based on my observation, it was more or less six minutes. That was how long I have to survive the ordeal until the next time.

However, her hands were reaching for the wreath of garlic I was wearing. I forgot that her first move was always to get rid of the garlic. But, the alternative was making my mouth vulnerable for her to move into so I wasn’t sure what to do.

“Just let me feed on you”, she said in between the struggle. Her eyes burning red filled with anticipation. “I’ve been waiting patiently for hours. I’m so hungry.”

”Like I would just let you”, I replied in defiance.

I rolled to my side to throw her off me, but she didn’t budge. All it did was loosen the wreath of garlic off my neck.

“How nice of you to remove that stinky garlic off your neck for me”, she commented.

“Shit”, I couldn’t help but curse.

Now, she was trying to overpower me by wrestling my arms to the sides. All I could do was slow her down and pray I could reach the six minute limit before her lips could meet mine.

The wait seemed like forever as she made her approach as soon as the gap between our arms was wide enough. I was debating in my head if I should release my hold on her wrists so I could cover my mouth instead, but I was hesitating since I felt she would be able to react quicker.

Desperation made my decision as her face came closer. But, as I had feared, she was quick to grab my wrists and pin them down on the floor.

At that point, my lips were free real estate.

Afterwards, when Lily returned to normal, she burst out crying.

“I’ve had enough of this”, she said.

I couldn’t find the right words to say to her. Especially now that the fangs and wings remained even after regaining control of herself.