Chapter 72 - First Night

"..." Samantha spoke smiling and hugging Jin firmer. Lasting for a couple of seconds longer, she let got of him. Feeling a small sense of ease from his words, she pecked his cheek.

"Thanks honey...I hope you get a good night's rest."

"...you the same mom...night," he spoke in a neutral tone.

"Night," she said then entered the study room. Closing the door to be left open ajar, she made her way to the recliner.

"..." the sophomore commented standing in the same place.

Just focusing on breathing, he tried to calm down. It took him a minute or so to acknowledge that he was breathing slowly. Curling his fingers a tad, a couple cartilages cracked a little bit. It sounded like small thin twigs breaking under a person's weight. Looking down at his hands, they were tense and straining in the position of claws.

Hearing movement from the other side of the living room, he stepped into an area of darkness. Turning around quietly, he saw someone slowly going down the steps. Judging by the shape of the person, it was neither his brother or the young Felmort. Remaining still and watching, the TV was still on and gave enough illumination to see who it was. Seeing his father reach the living room floor, he turned into the kitchen.

Not saying anything, he rolled his feet to deafen his footsteps. Knowing part of his father's late evening routine, he heard the refrigerator door open. Making it to the doorway and peering into the kitchen, Jin recognized Alex's bent-forward-into-the-fridge position. Still feeling a stress that made him feel unstable, he decided to mimic his E.D.E. character. Getting on the other side of the refrigerator door, the sophomore stayed out of the light shining from inside the cold temp cabinet.

"...de-di-do...da-di-da-do..." Alex mumbled grabbing something to munch on.

Pulling it out and looking at it, the food seemed to satisfy what he was craving. Closing the door, he saw something to the right in his peripheral. Looking over, he jumped from fright from seeing a person with heavy shadowing. Portions of the individual's face on the left side were shown. However, it was the sight that the person's hand was in a shaking claw position that made him alarm.

"...dad...it's me..." Jin whispered in an airy voice.

"...!?" Mr. Ainsley reacted with relief. Glad he didn't drop anything he pulled out from the fridge, he gave a sigh.

"Jin...w...what are you doing?"

"...I...can't...sleep..."

"O-okay...why are you talking like that? It's creepy," he asked not liking it.

"...sorry..." the male teen stated in a normalized tone. It made his father look less stressed.

"It's...alright...where is your mother?"

"She is in the study room...going to bed."

"I see...is she...still upset?"

"..." his son replied with silence. A couple of seconds went by until someone spoke.

"...uh...Jin?"

"Yes dad?"

"...was that a yes...or a no?"

"...somewhat..."

"Ah...well if we give her space, she will eventually calm down."

"...okay..."

"..." Alex spoke putting down the food on the table.

Feeling the environment still being awkward, he tried to figure out how to neutralize the tension. Lost in thought, he heard something. Listening, it was coming from the stairs. Smirking that the individual hit a creaking spot, he turned to his left. Looking at the doorway, the person that came down slowly peered in.

'Hmm...based on the length of hair and what Jin just said, it isn't Samantha. It must be Derek's daughter,' he thought. About to speak, he felt something very close to him. Only turning a little more to the left, fear came to him quickly.

At the same time, he did a sharp intake of air and held it. Jin was standing within a foot away from him. His hands were closed into fists as half his face was visible. Though he has seen his son's glare before, the one that he was showing to him now was graver. The darkness around with dull illumination from the living room painted his face with shadows and made his left eye glisten into an vicious stare.

"...dad...I have...a message...for you..." Jin breathed remaining still.

'...guess the saying is true...' Alex thought with an audible gulp. '...have to always watch out for the quiet ones...'

"Y-Yeah...what kind of...message?" he asked carefully and not moving. His son didn't blink and kept staring causing goosebumps to flare up on his arms.

"...Tiffany Sander...said hi..."

"...!?" Mr. Ainsley reacted with shock. It got him out of his apprehensive freeze; however, he continued to feel alarmed.

"...did you say...Tiffany...Sander...?"

"...yes..."

"When?"

"...several minutes...ago..."

"How?"

"...came in a car...to pick up Renee..."

"Oh...as in doing a favor for her mom?"

"...that is...Renee's mom..." Jin continued speaking in the same tone and still did not blink.

"...ah shit..." Alex spoke out loud. Breaking away from the staring match, he turned to a chair at the dining table. Pulling it out quietly, he sat down. Immediately putting his arms on the table, he brought his hands to his face and was rubbing his forehead.

"So...that means she has our address."

"...yes..."

"Does...Samantha know?"

"..." his son answered with a blink. "Should she know?"

"No. Don't tell her," the man immediately answered. He continued to rub his forehead in what looked like agitation and stress.

"Your mother does not like your friend's mom at all. Any mention of her would just be opening a can of worms."

"...I see..." Jin spoke. He hadn't move his stance or where his head was facing. His eyes were only looking down at his father's figure.

"Tiffany...is a bit of an intense person...so...she is back in town...or has been for who knows how long," Alex stated. Moving his hands in front of his mouth, he seemed to be contemplating. Pondering on what to do, he sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Coming to a conclusion that it was too late to be thinking about this, he turned his head to look at his son.

"You know Jin...shouldn't...you..." he trailed off.

Staring with small amounts of apprehension, there was no one behind him. Blinking and looking at the doorway, there was no one there. The illumination of the TV had stopped. So lost in his pondering, he didn't noticed the environment become darker. Immediately turning on the ceiling light to dimly shine his surroundings, he did a 360 degree turn. There was no one else in the room with him.

"..." Alex commented and visible shook as if something cold went through him.

Shaking his head, he focused on satisfying is late evening munchy. Once done, he put the food away. Exiting out of the kitchen, he slowly looked around the living room. It was dead still. The two rooms on the other side appeared to be closed as well. Looking up the stairs, he slowly went up.

Avoiding the weak spots, he reached the top. Observing around him, both of his sons doors were closed. Feeling tense, he shook his head. Ignoring what had transpired, he walked to his bedroom. Only after he entered the room and closed the door behind him, he felt able to relax. Rubbing his face again, he went to his bed to go to sleep.

Reaching their home, the station wagon drove up the driveway. Stopping and parking the car, Renee's mom took one last drag and still had a smirk on her face.

"...since then, both of us went our separate ways. I never heard from him nor did I contact him," Tiffany stated putting her e-cig away. "I had no idea he was here in town."

"..." the junior commented.

Only able to blink and look at her mom in surprise, she was still trying to digest what she relayed to her. The aspect that her mom knew Jin's dad was unexpected. At the same time though, it wasn't a shock. From being at the Ainsley's household and the group of people that came, it seemed that the adults were associates or friends at one point in their high school.

Renee knew that Tiffany had a bit on the punk attire and theme for most of her life. Looking at family photos before her mom got a new boyfriend, the intensity of looking like a misfit decreased over the years. As a result of doing so, she was more approachable and appealing. Shaking her head internally, she thought about what she did to Jin's dad. Being a bully to him then and how she talked now, it made her wonder.

"...so...do you like Jin's dad?" she asked getting out of the car. Her mom got out as well and closed the door. Thinking that would set her off or something, the look on Tiffany's face was different. Her smirk changed to a small smile.

"Like him?...I don't know. All I know of him is his past behaviors way back when," she started as both were walking up the pathway.

"I still can't believe what you did to Jin. You have never done that with any guy that I have seen at the house or where you take me places."

"..." Tiffany responded with a mild snort. "You wanted to see your mom in action? Is that what I am hearing hon?"

"NO," Renee commented with a frown. About to retort her, her mom chuckled and got out her keys.

"I was curious to see if Alex's son was anything like he was at that age," she stated unlocking the front door. Opening it, both entered the house.

"And you would do that to him regularly?" the junior asked with a questioning look. It made her stop and look at her with a mild disapproving face.

"I picked on him because he was weak and always made lame excuses to escape."

"Was he the only one that you bullied?" Renee wondered putting her hands on her hips.

"The gang that I was in picked on a few people. Not exactly proud of it, but no one committed suicide," Tiffany reasoned crossing her arms over her chest.

"...are you for real?"

"...great...now you turned my good mood sour," the woman stated with a frown. Turning around, she walked away.

"Be glad I'm not questioning your decisions of seeing two boys."

"I'm not!" the junior stated loudly. Hearing no response, it made her feel very irritated. Deciding that she was passed being tired, she headed toward her room. Entering, she began her nightly routine prior going to bed.

After exiting the kitchen without his father noticing, he walked up the stairs. Not acknowledging Selbith's presence at the bottom of the steps, he climbed. Hearing following footsteps, he ignored them. Once reaching the top, there was no one there. Looking at Gene's door, it was closed.

Going to the restroom, he quietly opened the door. Entering after turning the lights on, he turned around. About to close it, Ami was standing on the other side. Both stared at each other with his face being a grave one and hers being impassive. After a couple of seconds, he narrowed his eyes and opened the door.

Turning around, he went to the sink. Hearing the door close quietly, he grabbed his toothbrush. Applying the toothpaste and brushing his teeth, he saw Ami walking toward him. Standing right next to him and staring at him, he continued his cleaning. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned toward him a little.

"...so...has the Breaker returned?" Selbith asked.

"..." Jin replied and continued with his brushing.

"That is how a reaper should instill fear into mortals," she continued giving him a small smile. "...silently...gravely...deathly..."

"..."

"Given that you can do that without the perks or abilities that had bestowed on you of a Grim Reaper, is impressive."

"...are you done yet?" he asked continuing to not look at her. Seeing her face change to an mocking smirk, she watched him spit out foam. After he rinsed his mouth out, he reached for a towel. Ami took it first and held it close to her chest. To her want, he slowly turned his head and looked at her.

"So you finally look at me."

"..." the sophomore commented with a blink. "I'm not in the mood."

"You were in something downstairs. What was that?"

"...bottle that was full and sizzling at the cap..." he stated then reached for the towel.

"Even you have a threshold before you turned into a quiet demon," Ami mentioned with a smirk. Putting the towel out to meet his hand, he grabbed it. He brought it to his mouth and dried it off.

"I am human...I'm not a machine," the sophomore stated putting the towel back on its holding rack. Turning to female teen, he kept his impassive expression.

"I need to use the restroom."

"I'm not leaving. I have told you this."

"...what are you a pervert or something?" he asked. Selbith frowned then got into his face.

"You know why. I could care less. What you did downstairs only strengthens my thoughts of not leaving you out of my sight."

"..." the male teen reacted with a scorn. "...fine...whatever...I don't care anymore."

Turning around, he headed for the toilet. With his back facing Ami, he lifted the seat. Only getting as far as unzipping his pants, she stood beside him. Pressing his lips together, Jin turned his head toward her. Glaring at her, she stared back at him.

"What is wrong Jin?"

"..." he answered with blinking slowly once. "I can't go with you watching me."

"Are you tense?"

"It's something that everyone does privately...ALONE...with no one standing next to them," he emphasized the last parts.

"Then I shall do the same things you did for me in that damnation of a hospital."

"...!?" the sophomore reacted with veering back a little. His grave and sour mood lessened.

"...no...you don't need to to do that...just...turn around."

"Really? Are you that ashamed of showing what makes you male?" Ami asked with a smirk.

"..." the male teen replied with slowly doing a face palm and covering his eyes. "...why do you want to see it so badly?"

"What!? I don't!" she stated sternly in a low tone. She reached out and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Listen you imbecile. I have told you I could care less how you look or what you have. I have seen more bare bodies than you can fathom. Everyone has the same attributes. All you mortals look the same in the end."

"If you don't care, why do you want to be a spectator to me relieving myself?" Jin asked quietly with agitation.

"Why are you so upset? You didn't put up this much resistance before."

"...?" he reacted with much confusion on his face. Blinking, he still wasn't connecting what she mentioned.

"...what do you mean...before?"

"Are being dumb now?" Selbith stated with a small frown. Reaching into his right pants pocket, she pulled out his cell phone. The reference came to him quickly. At the same time, he still couldn't accept it.

"Do you remember now or are you still going to be an idiot?"

"...I hate you..." he muttered seething.

Removing his belt and undoing his pants, he pulled everything down. Sitting on the toilet, he eventually was able to relieve himself. Standing in front of him, Ami stood there with arms across her chest. Still holding on his phone, she waited while watching with a neutral face. After seeing that he finished, he cleaned himself and flushed.

Pulling his lower garments back up and securing them, he went to the sink. Washing his hands, he felt something get put into his right pants pocket. Feeling it to be the shape of his cell phone, he looked up in the mirror. Selbith turned and went to the toilet as well. Seeing that she removed her pj pants, Jin looked back down at the sink.

'...damn her...damn her...damn her...' he thought repetitively in his head.

Taking an extra amount of time to clean his hands and fingernails, the toilet flushed again. Turning off the faucet, he went to the towel to wipe his hands. Not looking at her, Ami walked passed him and washed her hands. Removing the towel and turning toward her, he handed the cloth when she finished. The female teen blinked then took it to dry her hands and fingers. The expression on her face was neutral.

'...I can't even tell if this is what married people do...or this is a sick and twisted version of people doing things together,' Jin thought feeling not as agitated and more contemplative. Seeing her finish, she handed the towel back. Grabbing it and hanging it up, he looked back at her. She was staring at him.

"What?" Selbith asked.

"...did you brush your teeth?" he asked.

"No. Why?"

"...you probably should...at least twice a day."

"And pre tell why I must do this?"

"...your breath will stink...your teeth with get stained...and you'll be more susceptible to...dental infections."

"..." she reacted with crossing her arms over her chest. Though it looked defensive, her face showed something different.

"...will...I lose teeth?"

"Yes," Jin stated without a pause.

"...I see..." Ami commented then turned to the sink. Picking up his toothbrush and the toothpaste, she mimicked what he did.

"..." the sophomore opened his mouth to say something.

Stopping himself from seeing her beginning to brush her teeth, he closed his mouth. Internally sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Hearing her finish, he watched her put things back to where they were. Deciding that he should try to move on, he walked toward the door. Opening it, Selbith was following him. Exiting, he closed the door after she got out.

Walking to his room and entering, Ami walked in as well. Closing the door, he hoped that she was not going to make him do something. Going to his closet, he got out extra blankets. Moving to the area in front of his bed, he laid them down. Grabbing one of the pillows on his bed, he placed at the head end of the blankets.

"What are you doing?" she asked confused.

"Sleeping on the floor."

"...why not on the bed?"

"You can have the bed."

"..." Selbith was about to say something then stopped. Remembering certain events, she pondered about his choice.

"You slept in your bed before and after when the invaders attacked...what purpose are you resting on the floor?"

"So I don't get shot at," he stated nonchalantly. Getting onto the floor, he heard well planted feet. Looking up, she was hovering over him angry.

"You trying to kill me?"

"...why no...why would I ever do that?" Jin commented sarcastically then laid down. About to pull up the blankets to his neck, they were pulled off. Ami immediately lied down next to him.

"..." he commented sighing. "What are you doing?"

"Your sarcasm isn't amusing Jin. So shut up."

"Please tell me you are not going to sleep with me."

"After your comment and remembering you stating about being shot at by intruders at night, I'm resting beside you."

"The bed in the guest room is more comfortable than mine...or the floor for that matter."

"Your persuasion is meek," she stated looking at him.

Though the room was dark, she assumed he had a deadpan expression. Hearing a grunt of irritation, he sat up. About to grab him, he reached to grab the blankets. Pulling them up and over, it was wide and long enough to cover both of them. Lying back down, she saw him turn to his side and look away from her.

"...whatever..."

"..." Ami remarked.

Feeling her irritation slowly dissipate, she stared at the ceiling. Though the floor itself was not as comfortable as the bed, the temperature was slowly warming. Looking back at the pillow he was using, he occupied one side of it. Moving closer and placing her head on it, she faced his back. Thinking he would comment, his body tensed up a little bit.

"..."

"..."

Without words passing between them, both fell asleep at different times.

In the dreamscape, Selbith did not have the various and rapid images as before. Instead of visions of her imprisonment and ills from other demons on her, they were milder and calmer. A majority of them were of the travels she did after Jin released her. Through the adventures and the people that came, she was viewing everything from a 3rd person perspective. Though it was not strange, she noticed differences.

The actions of others toward Jin, her reaper self remained stoic and would make dismissive comments or insults. However, Ami felt a sense of irritation instead. Whatever the female demons did, she disliked it. Even seeing the thief express something similar to how she felt, she disliked her getting close to him. Suddenly, the environment changed to the mental memory of the park.

"..." Selbith spoke watching the event replay again.

Seeing what her human form looked like, it was a stark difference from the body she had. Blinking in surprise, she was in the sand box with her other self and Jin on the swing. Never really remembering a time that she saw what her human form was, it was seeing it for the first time. Everything that radiated from the form and the appearance seemed to emulate what her soul reflected. The scene changed to when she confronted him then mounted him on the swing set.

'...this is where...I had a glitch...' she thought observing carefully.

Seeing her mannerisms being slightly different than normal, she could see that her human side was influencing her irrational decisions. Strangely though, the scene was not exactly the same as she remembered. Her human form started becoming more intimate and embraced him. Blinking from seeing them sucking their faces together, Ami felt odd watching it.

'...this is the second time...visioning this act of intimacy...'

Looking back at the dream image, the park slowly started to fade. Thinking that the ambient gray atmosphere would come, only darkness came. Thinking it was her imprisonment, there was not a window of light above her. Confused, she tried turning around. Seeing two crimson demonic eyes bore at her, her nerves tensed up instantly. A cold metal thick cylinder was placed on her forehead followed by a vicious hiss.

"WhAt#$#ArE$%#YoU#$^#...b...e...i...n...g?" the figure asked in a monstrous tone. Before Selbith could reply or react, a vicious explosion occurred at her forehead.

"...!?" Ami reacted opening her eyes.

Not moving, she looked around in an alerted state. Seeing darkness around her, she waited till her eyes adjusted. At the same time, she began hearing mild breathing nearby. After several seconds, Selbith was able to make out the environment. Seeing that she was on the floor, she saw a silhouette laying next to her.

Remembering where she was, she felt cold. Looking down, she was partially under the blankets. Feeling herself calm down, she shivered. Prompting herself up, she looked over at the person adjacent to her. Jin was still asleep and mildly breathing in and out.

Knowing what demons did in some of the colder parts in hell, she lied back down. Scooting over till her front touched his back, he was warm. Intertwining her legs with his and arms around his torso, his body heat felt calming. Placing her head back down on the pillow, she adjusted her position to be comfortable. A couple of minutes went by as she drifted back to sleep.

"...d...o...i...t..." a dark voice echoed through the landscape. "...r...e...l...i...e...v...e...y...o...u...r...s...e...l...f..."

"..." Jin replied blinking lethargically.

Recognizing that he was dreaming, this one seemed vastly different from others. Instead of a nightmare or night terror, it was lucid. He was free to do what he wanted with infinite imagination. What seemed like ten minutes, he explored the surreal dreamscape. Going through the ground, he ended up in someone's house. Looking for a way out and opening a door, the bottom of the sea was seen.

Blinking and thinking about the perspective, it looked similar to being in the underwater lab in E.D.E. game. In the distance, he could see the silhouette of the underwater prison. Imagining turning into a Grim Reaper, he did so. Going through the water, he was suddenly falling from the sky. Blinking in confusion and looking down, it appeared to be a bird's eye view of a large town. The center water fountain was recognizable.

'...this is the first town...what was it...Stratnum or something?' he thought continuing in a controlled free fall.

"...So MuCh...To ReClAiM..."

"...uuuuhhhhhhhh...hhhhheeeeelllllllloooooo...?" the sophomore called out in slow motion.

"...yyyeeeesssss...ccccoooommmmeeee...bbbbaaaacccckkkkk..."

"...w...h...a...t...?"

"YoU cAnNoT...rEsIsT" the demented demonic voice echoed.

"...?" Jin responded very confused.

Seeing that there was a couple of seconds before impact, he decided to see what happens. Orienting himself to land on his feet, the ground gave in to the impact. Being stretched like rubber, it slowly inflated back to being street level. Blinking in bewilderment, he felt light headed. Shaking his head, he looked forward and froze.

"..."

"..."

"...oh...it's you again," the sophomore began then stood straight. "I thought I defeated you."

"...yOu...WoN a BaTtLe...BuT nOt...DeFeAtEd..." the dark clone of himself stated with a cruel grin. It was the one that he battled in Pandora's Box after finishing Satan.

"...kay...so what are you suppose to be? My evil self?"

"eViL iS...sUcH a CrUeL...tItLe," it stated snapping its neck. "i'M...tHe ReApEr...YoU cReAtEd."

"...really...?" Jin asked unimpressed. "Gee...I'm so scared...eeeekkk."

"I'm NoT hErE tO kIlL...bUt To GiVe MeSsAgE," the figure stated fading away in the air. "wE aRe DeAtH."

'...uh-huh...sure we are...' he thought with an eyeroll.

Seeing his demonic clone vanish, the environment went back to being the town setting it normal was in Stratnum. Shaking his head, he tried to walk forward. Though he was able to lift a leg up, it seemed to weigh a ton. Trying his arms, he couldn't move them well either. Pondering on why, he looked down and saw nothing was hanging or tied onto him.

'...that would mean...she wouldn't have...' Jin thought glaring at no one.