Chapter 10

Need for Connection

Hollie

Angie was asleep. Her hair and hands were sprawled out across the large white bed. Hollie had managed to calm her down; she started crying when they talked about her father again. The girl really looked like an angel; so young and innocent.

Hollie felt her blackberry buzz. Thank goodness she left it on silent—she didn't want to wake Angie.

She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"I'm taking Evelyn back; you can bring Angie along anytime you want." It was Adan. Hollie could hear the crashing of the waves in the background. They were probably at the port.

Hollie smiled. "Okay, see you there."

"How is Angie doing?"

"She's sleeping, she kind of cried to sleep but she's okay now." Hollie knew that she shouldn't feel bad for the girl. They're demons, killing was what they did. This was the only time she got so close to a victim's relative, and a cute girl at that. There was a small tugging at her heart, Hollie easily succumbed to it- she loved Angie already.

"Take care of her, Eve wouldn't like it if she kept crying," Adan whispered. He was trying to hide from Evelyn that he cared. Hollie shook her head. When was he going to understand the best way to win her over was to show that he did?

Hollie sighed. "I'm managing pretty well."

"Meet you back home then."

"See you."

She ended the call and placed the phone back into her pocket. She brushed her fingers through her hair and looked at the little girl. Angie just got a ticket into the messed up brutal world of monsters. No child should have to endure that. Hollie bit her lip. They were going to have to turn Angie sooner or later. She wouldn't live very long as a human. Hopefully she'd be able to last at least five years before they were compelled to change her. The full transition from a pure-blooded human into a monster was one of the worst experiences ever, not something for a child to handle; at least, that was what she heard.

Angie started to thrash around the bed. "Daddy?" She was starting to sweat and tears were flowing down her frowning face. "Daddy where are you?"

Hollie was startled by the sudden movements. She gaped at Angie, uncertain about what she should do. "Angie?" She prodded the little girl's thoughts.

Angie was having a nightmare. The girl was held down by tendrils of fear, her eyes wide and heart beat loud and thumping. She was a few feet away from her father, who was surrounded by darkness morphed into the shape of predatory tigers. He looked mid-thirty, with small wrinkles beginning to show. Angie had the same brown hair as him. "Daddy no!" the girl cried. The man was pleading for the tigers to stop, looking around frantically for a way out.

Then, it went dark.

Evelyn's face lit up in the darkness. Although it wasn't the usual her— she was in her demon form, with her pulsating veins evident all over her skin and her eyes dark as night. She was stalking towards Angie, while letting out a low wicked laugh. Angie screamed. "Don't come near me!"

"Angie wake up, it's okay… shush darling," Hollie said, her tone soft and soothing. She wrapped her hands around Angie's face, cooing to her. The girl's eyes shot open and stared straight into Hollie. She looked stunned at first. Then, she started crying again.

"I had another bad dream Hollie," Angie said. The tears wouldn't stop.

Hollie tried to give a reassuring smile, though she was sure that she was grimacing instead. "I know, it's normal." Her tone was hushed. She didn't know if it was normal, but that was what she read; it was a post-trauma syndrome. "Its okay dearies, just take deep breaths." She pulled Angie into a tight hug and stroked her lovely hair. Angie apprehensively returned the embrace; Hollie hoped that it brought her comfort. She didn't deal with children very often, especially not broken children that just lost their fathers.

"I want to go home."

Hollie's lips curled up into a sad smile. She brushed Angie's hair away behind her ear. "You can't Angie." Hollie's chest pained for the girl, she was so lovely, yet unfortunate.

Angie rubbed her eyes. "Why?"

Hollie thought that her eyes were going to tear; preposterous, she was a few millennium years old. "Because your daddy isn't home anymore."

"I want him to come back." Angie looked at the blank sheets— the poor girl.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"He's not going to come back."

"He's watching you. Remember what I said?"

A faint smile spread across Angie's lips. "People turn to ghosts after life, and they look at us, they're all around watching quietly." Her voice was weak. Sadness was evident in it.

Hollie stroked Angie's face with the back of her hand. "That's right, and your daddy doesn't want to see you so sad now."

The little girl nodded. "I'll try not to be sad."

"I'll go get you some water okay?" Hollie slowly released the girl from her arms, not knowing whether she'd crack again if she did. She took a good look at Angie— her face was ghostly pale and her pink bottom lip was quivering slightly. "Wait here," Hollie said. She left the room and silently shut the door behind her, before walking briskly to the kitchen. Quickly, she filled a cup with water. She didn't want to leave Angie alone for so long; the girl looked so vulnerable.

The dream played in Hollie's mind. Angie remembered Evelyn's monstrous form so vividly, and she was afraid of it. Hollie could remember the immense fear that tainted Angie's mind then. Perhaps it would be better to not bring her to where they lived. It was monster territory, with vampires, werewolves, ghouls, even zombies walking around freely, many of them in their true forms. The girl would freak.

"Drink up," Hollie said. Angie obediently took the cup from her and sipped from it slowly.

The demon took out her phone from the pocket and dialed Adan's number. There was one ring, then two, and then he picked up.

"Yeah?" he said. There was the sound of the wind whirring past him. He must've been running back home. Hollie wondered how Evelyn was coping along.

"I'm not bringing Angie back just yet."

"Okay, when?"

Hollie twirled a strand of her hair with a finger. "Um… five years later maybe?"

"Huh?" Adan said. She could imagine the shocked look on his face. "What do you mean five years?"

Hollie thought that the background noise was slightly distracting. "She just had a bad dream, about demons Adan."

"Yeah so?"

"Well, she's not going to handle 'back home'."

"Why not?" Adan sounded slightly frustrated.

Hollie scowled. "Seriously? You know how it looks like there; you think that Angie is going to be 'oh okay, demons' and just accept it? She's a tiny little clueless girl."

Angie was staring at Hollie, having finished her cup of water. She cocked her head to a side, giving Hollie a look that asked what was going on. Hollie lifted the phone away from her ear and covered it. "I'm sorry darling, give me a moment." It was back on her ear in less than a second.

Adan snorted. "So you're going to disappear for five years with some random little girl somewhere?"

"I don't know, maybe three," Hollie said.

"That's ridiculous; you know that we need you back here. Evelyn needs you."

Hollie was starting to feel angry. Why couldn't Adan just understand? He's being so bossy again. "Well Angie needs me too."

"Then bring her back here," Adan said.

"No."

"Why no?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because. I already told you why no."

Adan growled. "The girl's got to accept it whether she likes it or not," he said. His tone was menacing. "I want you back here. You've got one week tops."

"But Adan!"

He sighed. "Fine, we'll try not to scare her. I'll see if I can do something about all those scary monsters walking around."

Hollie crossed her arms. "Do what?" She was feeling so annoyed. She looked at Angie, the girl still pulling on her heart strings. Angie had already suffered enough. Adan was great most of the time but now he was just being a stupid jerk.

"A spell or whatever," Adan said. "Don't worry I'll handle it."

"Promise?" The whirring had stopped.

"Yeah promise. Now get yourself here before I start getting pissed and tearing people's heads off." There was a short pause. "Maybe Angie's…"

Her eyes narrowed. Hollie could hear a sharp gasp from the other end of phone. "You wouldn't!" Evelyn and Hollie said in unison. They both sounded angry and shocked.

"Yeah yeah. I wouldn't, happy now?" Adan said.

Hollie raised an accusatory finger, pointing at no one in particular. But she was pretty sure that she'd jab Adan with it if he were there next to her. "I'd kill you."

She could almost see his smirk. "Uh huh, sure, you have to wait a lifetime," he said. "And last time I remembered, we can't die."

"Okay whatever," Hollie said. She wasn't going to argue with Adan over this. He was the stronger one and they all knew it. "I'll see you back home then, and make sure that you get that spell running or…" She went silent, her lips pressed into a hard line. There was nothing to threaten Adan with. "Or you'll get it from me."

He chuckled. "Oo, I'm so afraid," he said, mocking her. "I'll go ask our witch, now hurry up and get here."

"Fine jerk," she said. She hung up the phone on him again. Angie was curled up into a ball, hugging herself as she leaned against the wall behind the bed. The girl looked so pitiful, Hollie wanted to hug her again, so she did.

Angie's uneasy gaze shifted towards Hollie. "What was that all about?" Her voice was so small. Hollie wondered whether she was always like this, melancholic and timid. Most likely not, Angie was probably a very happy child before her father died. She should be laughing away now, warm in the arms of her dad, not an ancient demon that played a part in that unfortunate accident.

Hollie caressed the girl's hair. "A discussion with Adan, you know, that guy from earlier."

"Oh," Angie said. She looked down. "Am I going to see him again?"

The demon nodded. "We're going to have to meet him now."

"Now?"

"You can sleep first; we can go in the morning, or we can stay here for a few more days if you want."

The girl's eyes widened at the mentioning of the word 'sleep'. She wrapped her arms around Hollie's neck and hugged tightly. "I don't want to sleep."

"Why?" Hollie said.

"I can't sleep. If I sleep I see that monster's face."

Hollie's mouth parted slightly. She didn't know what to say to the little girl. How would Angie react when she found out that she was just like that monster too? "Don't worry she's not going to hurt you." Hollie wouldn't let anything hurt the little girl, not with how precious she was. "I'll protect you."

Angie shook her head. "I still don't want to sleep. I can't sleep."

"Oh sweetie." Hollie held Angie's hands. "Okay, you don't have to sleep now. Do you want to stay here or go meet Adan?"

The little girl looked blankly at Hollie. "Stay."

She thought that Angie wasn't going to reply at first. "Okay you can stay; we'll just watch TV outside now okay?"

"Okay."

Hollie held Angie's hand and walked her into the living room. The girl was so contained and introverted. She hoped that one day Angie would be able to open up to her. Right now all she wanted to do was to make Angie smile. Maybe she could do that, with a cartoon comedy. They should have it on television right?

She flipped through the channels slowly; there were mostly adult shows this late at night. A few images of scary monsters popped up on screen. She went through those very quickly, glancing at Angie to make sure that she wasn't frightened. Angie closed her eyes when those images flashed, and always took in a quick sharp breath. The girl looked so adorable, especially when she shifted towards Hollie to hug her arm.

Finally, she found the Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon network. She should have chosen that channel first. It wasn't comedy but at least it was suitable for Angie's age. "This okay for you?" Hollie asked.

"No."

Hollie raised a brow. "Huh?"

"The monkey scares me; I don't like the monsters," Angie said, her voice shaky.

"Oh." So the girl was afraid of everything. Just great. Now what could they watch? Hollie picked up the remote again and switched past a few channels. Was Hannah Montana too scary? Nah…

Hollie mentally crossed her fingers and prayed that Hannah Montana was okay. "How about this?"

Angie shrugged. "I guess it's okay," she said. Hollie let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness; if Hannah Montana scared her they'd be sitting in front of a black television screen staring awkwardly into the night. Or she could try to cheer Angie up but the girl was falling over the edge of depression. Making her happy seemed like the hardest feat in the world. The girl just needs time. Hollie wished that what she just thought was true.

Hollie patted Angie's head and smiled wryly. "You like this show?" she said.

"I guess, Hannah's quite funny." Angie didn't look like she found it funny at all. She simply stared at the screen with a dry expression, not even grinning, or smiling for that matter.

The demon was at a loss of what to do. She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. Ice cream should help. All kids loved ice cream right? She took the whole tub of strawberry and vanilla ice cream back to Angie. They could eat it together, bond a bit maybe. Hollie felt like the action of eating from the same container would hold some significance to Angie.

"Here I brought this for you," Hollie said, placing the tub on the coffee table. She peeled the cover off slowly.

Angie took the spoon that Hollie offered her. "Thank you," the girl murmured. "But I don't really feel like eating."

"Well you have to eat something." Hollie wasn't really sure that ice cream was healthy. At least it's healthy for the heart… I think. "Scoop some," she said, putting a spoonful of the desert into her own mouth, as if demonstrating to Angie how to eat.

Angie reluctantly shoved her spoon into the ice cream. She held it closer to her mouth, but fiddled with it, not wanting the food her mouth.

"That's not how you eat," Hollie said. "Here let me feed you." The demon snatched the spoon from the little girl's hands. "Open wide."

Angie shifted away from Hollie. "Must I really?"

"The plane is coming!" Hollie grinned. She felt rather stupid. They only did this to three year olds but she was starting to feel very desperate. She tried to make the sound of the plane, though failing miserably. "Oh no it's gonna crash! Oh wait it's back up, yay! Open wide!"

Angie smiled. Not a faint or shy one. A smile; a genuine one that reached her eyes. "You look funny," she giggled softly. The laugh sounded so sweet, it warmed Hollie right up, and oddly enough, gave her a sense of self accomplishment.

Hollie pinched Angie's nose playfully. "See, you look so pretty when you smile."

"Thanks," the girl responded meekly. The bright smile faded, but at least she looked slightly happier than before. Only slightly.

"I'll eat some," Angie said, then took the spoon from Hollie.

The demon watched the girl eat. She felt terrible every time she thought about what happened to her. But that was the life of demons. That was why she didn't dwell over every single victim. It carried too much emotional baggage, like Angie.

But she wanted the girl to be happy. The happiest girl in the world. An instinct started surfacing in her heart. A motherly instinct? Or perhaps it was a sisterly instinct? Hollie didn't really care; all she knew was that she didn't dislike the fact that Adan brought Angie over, and now she was going to do everything she could to ensure that the girl doesn't face anymore trauma in her life.

The thought of the trip back home came up. Well that's going to suck.