He never knew when exactly it started. As far as he knew, he's always been able to see them. The squirming, black masses that hover and float behind people, following them, unnoticeable to everyone, but he sees them. A few others can as well, but they never speak about it. Like an unspoken law, it was labeled taboo to talk about those black masses, but he knows who can see them. They always give him that knowing look, the look that says 'I know you see them too.'
He sat outside a small cafe one day, giving a dog a small piece of his sandwich when it padded up to him through the metal bars of the fence. The owner ran to the dog, quietly scolding it for bothering him but he smiled and reassured the owner that no harm was done. He could see the demons. Three. One was small, curled up into a ball trying to make itself hidden to the rest of the world, scared to death. He had always labeled that one 'Anxiety.' The size and severity depend on the person. The second was a glowing red, angry with devil horns sprouting from its head, lashing out at anything and anyone that got close to him. 'Anger.' The last was a lot larger than the other two, sitting in the air hunched over, weeping loudly. 'Depression.'
On another day, at the same cafe, he spotted two people walking down the street towards him, laughing loudly. Male and female. The girl was shorter by a few inches, but her demon behind her was prominent. 'Stress.' It slowly followed her like a shadow, shapeless legs dragging on the invisible floor behind it as it looked to be fighting away sleep and exhaustion.
The man, on the other hand, was much more interesting. He only had one demon, one that looked scared and alone, avoiding anyone and anything that came near it even though it craved affection and attention. 'Loneliness.' But there was something else, two white ones, flying around his head, filled with energy, laughing and smiling. Angels. The one that flew around the most was a dazzling white with a wide smile and the friendlies face you could ever imagine, looking soft like fleece. 'Kindness.' The second one caught Kindness' hand and flew with it, compassionate and warm. A glowing pink heart rested on its chest. 'Love.'
The man had noticed him staring and smiled kindly, glancing behind him. He could see it. He could see his demons. The sheer, abnormality of them, a writhing black mass of all his deepest and most hidden emotions. Anxiety, depression, fear, anger, loneliness. But he could see more. He could see Atonement.
On the fifth day, he returned to the cafe, sitting outside at the same spot. Again, the man walked up to him, smiling softly. He was alone this time. "Hello," he greeted softly. "My name is Julien."
Blinking, he introduced himself. "Olivier." He could see Julien's Angels peering over his shoulders to look at him. Kindness seemed to be whispering something into Julien's ear.
"Would you like a refill?" He asked, gesturing to Olivier's empty cup.
Olivier was surprised. No one's ever bothered with him. "Ah, no thank you, that's not necessary, I was just about to head off to work," he stuttered awkwardly, standing up from the chair.
"Oh, well, I hope to see you again some other day," Julien grinned.
Julien did see Olivier some other day, three days in a row after their first official meeting. Julien had insisted on buying Olivier his coffee and sat down in front of him, hands folded on top of each other and smiling brightly. His Love had grown bigger while loneliness slowly shrank. Olivier on the other hand, his mass of demons had become smaller, slowly splitting off into their own individual forms, while Atonement still stood tall like a knight with a sword pointed straight up, resting against its shoulder. In the time Olivier has spent with Julien, he started to gain more Angels. Love and Compassion, and Julien could see that.
Day twenty. Julien had sworn to Olivier that he would help him get rid of both their demons. On day forty-two, they were nearly all gone, and their love had fused into one.