Chapter 29
Awake And Alive
When was the last time he had slept this peacefully? A long time, that's for sure. Nights like these were rare if you happened to live demon hunter's life; every night of sleep could be your last one if you weren't careful enough. Even though no dreams were present in his sleep to entertain, inspire or horrify him, it was very pleasant. It was like the events at the city park had never happened, it was just this good kind of darkness and this delightful serenity. If you listened very closely, there was only one single sound you could hear in that darkness; the demon inside Finn had finally found rest and was just as sound asleep as he was, his soft snoring filling in the silence of this dreamless sleep.
Something warm was shining right on his face, yes, he could clearly feel it. It was a gentle warmth, it was just right. Finn was slowly pulled out of his sleep as the warmth egged him on to wake up. Come on now, he wanted to sleep a little longer, just five more minutes or so... But like a stern mother who wanted her child to get up and get dressed for school, the gentle warmth didn't give into his lazy wish. A faint headache traveled through the demon hunter's head as he carefully opened his eyes. Despite the fact that he had plenty of sleep this night, his eyes were slightly stinging with tiredness. The headache suddenly became stronger and Finn had to close his eyes for a second, afraid that it was going to get worse if he wouldn't do so. He groaned and rubbed his right temple. The headache lessened and he dared to open his eyes once again. Thankfully he barely felt anything now.
The demon hunter saw the source of the warmth that had pulled him out of his sleep; it was a ray of sunshine that was shining through the window of his bedroom. Finn sat up and looked around. The sunshine had the magical ability to turn the bedroom into a little kingdom of tranquility. Staring at his surroundings made Finn feel relaxed on so many levels. Small pieces of dust were illuminated by the sunlight, dancing around his Lego pirate ship on the desk. Finn let out a sigh and rested his back against the headboard of his bed and stared at the unfinished structure. If there would still be some time tonight after the shop would close, he could perhaps finish it.
The demon hunter suddenly heard the door handle softly creak and someone carefully opened the door. Paige peeked inside the bedroom and as soon as she saw that her tenant was awake, she blinked her eyes one time in surprise.
'Oh, Finn! I didn't know you were awake already! How are you feeling?'
'I'm... feelin' fine, I suppose.'
'Really, mate? Don't you... remember anything?' The demon witch shook her head. 'Well, maybe it might come back to you later, who knows. Stay in bed, I'll be right back. I've got a little surprise for you! Wait right here!'
And gone was Paige. Finn glanced at the ceiling, wondering what the hell she was talking about. What was he supposed to remember? He frowned and concentrated, trying his best to recall anything. Just then, it struck him. He tried so hard to recall what he had done before going to sleep, but... it was like his memory of last night had somehow been erased. A blank slate, nothing more. A shiver ran up his spine as he realized that there was absolutely nothing to remember. All of this was getting more terrifying by the second... Finn was snapped out of his thoughts when the door opened once more and Paige stepped inside the bedroom, holding a colorful, middle-sized box in her hands. She walked towards the confused demon hunter with a smile on her face. She tossed the box on his lap. 'Here you go. Picked it up from the toy store this morning!'
Looking down, Finn couldn't help but crack up in amusement; it was a box of Lego. A spaceship made of Lego blocks was printed on the front. 'Holy smokes, Paige! Thanks a bunch!' the demon hunter sniggered. 'Have I been such a good employee to ya lately that ye're gonna pay me with Lego from now on? Then I ought to give up on searchin' for a new place and stay here for the rest of my life!'
'Sorry to disappoint you, but no.' the demon witch replied. 'I figured you earned a little present after everything that has happened last night. Trust me... you've really earned some Lego after all that shite you've been through.'
Finn's smile disappeared from his face as he stared at his present with a pensive look in his eyes, not saying anything and still trying his best to remember something, no matter how small that memory would be, it would still be something at least. Paige sat down on the edge of his bed. 'You really don't remember anything?' she asked with a soft voice.
The demon hunter shook his head. He looked up and wanted to say something back to her, but what he saw made him quickly close his mouth. A big bruise, a dark blue patch of skin mixed with a hint of purple, could be seen on the demon witch's right temple. Good God, what the hell happened to her? Did she trip while working in the shop and hit her head against something, or... did someone punch her? But it wasn't the only injury she had. Claw marks peeked at him from behind the neckline of her black tank top, filled with dried-up blood and reddening the skin around them. They came without any warning; the memories shot through Finn's mind with the speed of a bullet. Damn, now he remembered... he remembered everything single damn thing.
Every detail was so clear, it was almost terrifying. Each punch, each drop of blood, all the pain... it was like he experienced them all over again. Yes, he recalled this all now. The phone call, the arrival at the park, Baron's ruthless violence, the hand in his chest, the taunting words, the transformation, the betrayal, Baron's descent into madness, Roman's arrival, the sound of Baron's tattooed skin ripping off of his body, just everything... the memories all came back at once with so much impact that it nearly cut off his breath.
'Christ, are you alright there, Finn?' Paige asked. 'You're as pale as a bloody sheet!'
'I... I'm fine, don't worry.' the demon hunter replied while he rubbed his left temple. 'It's all comin' back to me now, ya know? Ah, my God... Is... Is Roman okay? Didn't he crash against a tree?'
'It's okay, Roman is fine. He was all sore when he regained consciousness, but he survived.'
'Glad to hear that.' Finn sighed and stared at the ceiling. 'Joelle's way too young to go through life without a father...' He glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand and widened his eyes in surprise when he saw that it was half past twelve. He immediately sat back up. 'Damn, is it that late already?! I should be helpin' you out by now! Hold on, I'm gonna get changed!'
'No no, you're going to lay down for today, mister!' Paige said when the demon hunter was about to jump out of his bed. 'You have had one hell of a night, as your landlady I insist that you're going to rest! Don't worry about me, I can run the shop by myself.'
'But...'
'No buts! It's okay, I promise you, I can handle it. You're going to rest until you feel fine enough. You can finish your pirate ship over there if you want to, I will make your breakfast. Yes, I know, it's noon, but you've still got a delicious breakfast made by yours truly to catch up on. And do you want to miss out on my infamous home-made waffles?'
Finn shook his head and chuckled. 'No, of course not.'
After he had a plate of fresh waffles made by the demon witch, Finn decided that it was time for him to take a shower to clear his head. Feeling the hot water trickling down his head and body nearly made him feel sleepy again, but it felt good nonetheless. He couldn't help but wonder how Paige was doing downstairs in the shop (he had no idea about the state of The Pentagram was in last night, but a little bit of Paige's magic powers was thankfully enough to fix all of the damage) and he did feel the urge to come downstairs and help her out anyway, but he knew that she wasn't going to budge and would send him back upstairs without any hesitation. No, if Paige was determined about something, she was going to stick with it, so the demon hunter knew that this attempt was going to be useless. After half an hour or so, the hot water ran out and he decided to get out. Finn brushed his teeth until he saw a trickle of blood in the minty foam, put on his clothes and went back to his bedroom. The Lego pirate ship was waiting for him there, waiting for days to be finished. Well, if he was going to have a day off today... Finn sat down at his desk and grabbed the pirate ship's manual, wondering where he had left off last time he worked on it. The figurehead and a few other parts had to be attached, so it wasn't going to be much work. While he attached the blocks and other small, plastic items onto his little artwork, Finn could feel the last bit of unease he had when those memories came back to him fade away. For as long as he could remember, playing with Lego had always been soothing to him, it helped him to get his mind off things and relax. It was the only thing he actually enjoyed doing back at the orphanage years ago, as long as he would be alone with his Lego, everything was fine to him.
But still, there was one question that was on his mind that was impossible to ignore... where was Baron?
Two voices sharing a conversation in the living room snapped him out of his thoughts. The demon hunter was able to recognize Paige's voice, but he didn't recognize the other one. Who could that be? It clearly belonged to a female, but he didn't know who it could be. Could it be Dolph's wife deciding to drop by for a little visit to see who her husband was visiting whenever he had a strange case? Her name was Kaitlyn, that's all the demon hunter practically knew of her (besides the fact that she made the most delicious pasta dishes in the world, which Dolph liked to brag about sometimes), he had never seen her in person. Time to introduce himself, he guessed. He got up from his seat, left his bedroom and headed to the living room.
It wasn't Kaitlyn.
'Here, try drinking this.' Paige said when she put a glass of healing potion in front of Sara. 'I'm not going to lie, it will taste pretty bitter, but it will heal your burn faster, trust me.'
Sara picked up the glass and looked at the green liquid with a pensive look on her face. It looked like someone had put greens in a blender, if you'd ask her. It looked everything but delicious, but if it would indeed heal her and perhaps even take away the pain her burn was causing... She decided to give it a shot. Sara took a sip of the potion and clenched her eyes shut in disgust as soon as she tasted the bitter flavor, but despite that she swallowed it anyway. The bandage that was wrapped around her wrist did numb the burning pain a bit, she hoped that her assumption about the potion taking the pain away was right. But just as she wanted to take another sip, she felt a pair of eyes staring right at her. Looking to her right, she could suppress a gasp of surprise just in time. Finn was standing there in the doorway, looking almost just as she surprised as she was. He immediately recognized her as the young woman who was with Baron last night; the same young woman he had betrayed by burning and tossing her in the lake.
'What is she doin' here?' the demon hunter asked. Sara could clearly hear a hint of distrust in his voice.
'Finn, it's okay.' Paige replied. 'She's no longer an enemy, she never was in the first place. Sara here was just another victim of Baron.'
Victim... hearing that damn word she hated so much made a chill run up Sara's spine. She had sworn that she would never become one again... but now it turned out that she had yet again fallen into that humiliating role she tried to step out of. Right now was not the moment to think about that, though; she now had to convince Finn that she wasn't a threat and gain his trust, or at least a bit of it.
'You see... Baron... He... He told me some really bad things about you.' she said. 'I trusted him that much at that time that I believed him. He said that you lived to protect bad people, like the abusive and such. And I fell for it, because... I was forced to live with those kind of people for many years. I was convinced that we were the good guys the entire time.' Sara let out a sigh and glanced at the floor in shame. 'God... I feel like such a stupid idiot. I'm so sorry...'
It was silent in the living room for a little while.
'Ya don't have to feel like that.' Finn spoke. 'Ye're not the first person in this world to fall for a demon's lies. While it is true that I defend humanity, I would never, ever, in a hundred years, protect those who are nothin' more but pure evil. If I would know that a human being only lives to ruin the lives of others in any kind of way, well, then... I'd rather let a demon have their way with them. Because honestly, I believe that some humans can be much worse than any kind of demon.'
Sara looked up and blinked her eyes in surprise. 'Really? So... you're not mad at me or anything? After everything that has happened?'
The demon hunter shook his head. 'No. Baron has manipulated you with his words and you fell in his trap, just like he probably wanted. I don't blame ya for anythin'.'
The corners of Sara's mouth curled into a very small, relieved smile. 'Thank goodness...'
'But look, Sara... do ya perhaps have any idea of where Baron is?' Finn asked. 'Is he still out there, is he still alive?'
'Um...' Sara glanced away for a second before looking back at the demon hunter. 'Yeah, he's still alive. I... I took him home with me.'
'What?'
Sara had already expected this kind of reaction, but she wasn't afraid of defending her choice. 'I know, it sounds so weird, I don't judge you, but it was me who came up with that. I want to take care of Baron, he needs my help. I can't let him suffer like this. He is in so much pain, it breaks my heart to see him like this. Yes, I know what he has done, I know that he has killed many people and I know that he has betrayed me, but... I believe that he has been punished enough. I admit it, I remember I wanted him to die after what he had done to me, but when I saw you ripping his tattoos off and heard him screaming, I thought this punishment was good enough for him. I couldn't let him die, I just couldn't. There has already been too much violence, hell, I have experienced violence my entire life, I wanted it to stop so badly. Despite all those horrible things he has done, Baron still means a lot to me. He has done things for me that nobody else has done. He made me feel like I actually mattered to someone. Paige has told me that she has seen something inside me that made me different from Baron, she told me that she could see that I am a kind person. I have never believed that, but... now I do want to believe. I want to be that kind person. I want things to change. And if taking care of Baron will make a good person, then I will gladly do it. I know that he deserves a second chance and I want to give it to him.'
It was quiet once more for a few seconds.
'You're bloody serious about it, aren't you?' Paige asked.
Sara nodded. 'Yeah.'
'Very well then. But you must realize that you're taking a big risk here. Even if you treat Baron with all the kindness you have inside you, he might not change. But if you feel like things are going to spiral out of control, you give me or Finn a phone call. We will put that bastard in his place before he can even lay one finger on you.'
'I appreciate your concern.' Sara replied with a small smile. 'Thanks.'
Finn and Paige took a moment to give her their phone numbers. The demon witch didn't want to say it out loud for Sara's sake, but she swore to God that if the ink demon would dare to harm her in any kind of way, the last thing he would ever feel and see was a ball of blue fire in his face. 'Hey, we haven't had lunch yet.' she said. 'Do you want to eat with us? It's no problem, really.'
Sara shook her head. 'Thanks, but no thanks. I wish I could stay a bit longer, but I have to check up on Baron.'
'I see... Hold on a minute, I have some things to give you.' Paige walked away and headed to the bathroom. Finn and Sara could hear her mumbling something in a strange language before she came back with a roll of bandage. 'I've put a spell on this. Baron's wounds will heal faster if he uses this.' the demon witch explained. 'Here, have this too. I can easily brew another one.' She grabbed the half-full bottle of healing potion from the table and handed the items over to Sara.
'Thank you, Paige.' she replied, smiling at her. 'I will never forget what you have done for me. I promise I will drop by whenever I can. Goodbye!'
'Goodbye. And good luck, girl.' the demon witch said; she dearly hoped that she would have all the luck in the world.
And so Sara exited the apartment, went downstairs and left The Pentagram. As soon as Paige was absolutely sure that she couldn't hear them, she let out a sigh and shook her head. 'I will never understand humans when it comes to love...' she mumbled.
'Well, what can I say, Paige...' Finn said when he filled the coffee maker on the kitchen counter with water. 'Love can do some strange things to a human.'
