Chapter 7

"You're leaving?" Lovino asked.

"Uh, yeah, I hope you don't mind. Something came up. I'm sure Antonio won't care...if he even finds out, right?"

His coworker glanced to Ivan, but shrugged. Matthew took that as a good sign, and hurried out of the bookstore. His new company followed close behind, but kept glancing to the dark sky. Whenever a car zoomed by, he would let out a startled gasp and stare after their lights.

Matthew stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned around. "Hey, are you all right?"

Ivan stopped, too, not looking 'all right' at all. "I think that glowing one is suspicious."

"Wait, you can see it? You can see the glowing?!"

"Yes!"

"Oh, thank God, it's not just me and Alfred! Ugh! Wait," Matthew shook his head, "suspicious of what?"

"Me!" Ivan said, as if it were obvious. Another bitter breeze blew from behind him, and he clamped his arms around himself. "It has always been like that, since the beginning. Always suspicious. Are you?"

Matthew did not know what to say.

"I do not want you to be afraid of me." Ivan sort of smiled, "It would be funny for a while, but I want to do other things. Things that cannot be done if you are screaming and running away. So, please, don't run and scream like all the grown people do."

Matthew took a steadying breath, clenching and unclenching his numb fingers. "Why would I scream and run from you in the first place?"

Ivan gave him a funny look, and so casually said, "It's because I'm a demon, Mattie! Hee-hee! Everyone always runs from me!" He gasped, "Oh, did you forget that, too?"

"I must have." Matthew weakly nodded. "A demon? Is that what you said? Like, from Hell?" It sounded ridiculous when he said it aloud, but with everything that happened so far, this was just another one of those strange things sticking to other strange things.

"Yes. Where else would they come from?"

"Inner turmoil?" Matthew squeaked. Ivan was waiting for a legit answer so he said, "But you...you were different from before..." This was way before Alfred's accident. Sometime when they were kids! He remembered drawing the memory of their first meeting countless times in his head, and on paper. There was supposed to be something more to it.

All Matthew could think to say when this dawned on him was, "Oh, shit."

"Huh? What's that?"

"I...um, I need to get home."

"Oh," Ivan looked disappointed, "Are you going to scream and run away now, too?"

"What?" Matthew let out a little laugh, "Nah. I just need to check on something, and then...I'll think of something for us to do."

"When?"

"Do you have a marker?"

Ivan reached inside his jacket and produced a pen. "Will this work for whatever you need it?"

"Paper?"

"What about it?"

Matthew shook his head. "If you don't have that either, may I write something on your hand? It'll wash off."

"Y-yes?" Ivan said uncertainly, holding out his arm. He hissed when the pen pressed against his skin, but realized it did not hurt as the ink harmlessly scrawled across his palm. "What are those numbers for?"

"So, you can call me...wait, you know how to use a phone, right?"

"Uh...yes."

Matthew gave Ivan a skeptical look. He did not look like a demon. He had not done any demon-things like one would expect...so far. "Why don't you call me in a little bit, and we'll talk. First, we got to get out of this freaking cold, all right?"

Ivan stared at the numbers on his hand. "Yes, I think that is all right." He looked up and tipped his head. "You won't run away and scream?"

If this supposed 'demon' was planning on eating Matthew's soul or selling it, he lost the element of surprise. Matthew put on an assuring smile, "No. I'll be back."

Ivan tapped a fingertip to Matthew's nose, grinning as he flinched. "So will I."

~.~

~BOING~

~.~

"Hey, Mattie!" Alfred called from the couch when a brotherly whirlwind poured up the steps without a word, "Bye, Mattie!"

Matthew tore down the hall and threw open his bedroom door. He circled around his room, wondering where to start tearing it apart. "Stupid, there's no way..." He knelt beside his bed and pulled out a flat tote. He rummaged through the notebooks inside, but they were just old projects from school.

His dresser had nothing besides clothes and a candy bar he forgotten about, much to his building distress, and mild surprise at the chocolate. The bedroom was tidy, if a bit cluttered, but there was no trouble with finding anything that was lost. He wondered if he could find something he still doubted that was real. Yet, he remembered that Alfred would sometimes stash whoopee cushions beneath his mattress, so he lifted the old box spring when nothing but a tucked bed sheet hid under the cot.

Between the support beams and the box spring, hid a piece of folded paper. Matthew slowly plucked it from its years long resting place and lowered his mattress without taking his eyes from the paper. Despite his eagerness shown in shaky hands, he gently opened the old parchment and gazed upon the crayon drawing for a quiet moment before snickering.

Two long brown sticks with a green bush on top represented a tree, and next to it, stood a large person with a blobby body. He had black triangles coming from his sides, as well as little lighter ones from the side of his head. A line beneath purple dots represented a smile at the bottle shaped object the little figure was holding out. He even had light lines coming from a bulge around his neck, which Matthew guessed were supposed to be a scarf.

"What are you drawing, Matthieu?"

"My friend!" The boy proudly exclaimed, and leaned away from the drawing he hunched over. His father turned the sheet to get a good look, and his soft smile fell into an expression of worry.

"That is...an interesting picture."

"Boring!" A young Alfred sang from the stool beside his brother, his legs swinging back and forth as he waited for lunch. "I found this white feather on the ground outside! It's way cooler than your tacky drawing!"

"Ugh, shut up, Al! You're so mean!"

"Dad! Mattie told me to shut up!"

"Boys..."

"There you are." Matthew giggled at the beautiful artwork. The scene took place in his yard almost ten years ago. He remembered hiding the paper, his secret from his family, and a secret he must have hid from himself, too. It was real, and it did happen, all connecting to scrawls on the shed's wall. He set the paper on his dresser and pulled out his phone to glance at the screen, wondering if demons knew how to use those kinds of things.

Matthew lightly slapped a hand to his face. "Demons," he sputtered into his palm. "What's next, vampires and werewolves?" This was bigger than he could have ever imagined! Yet, it was what he was secretly yearning for, and whether or not this was a blood-thirsty, full-of-sin demon, or an odd guy driven by simple curiosity, he was going to soak up this dream while he still could.

His phone buzzed. His thumb hesitated over the answer button for a moment, staring at the unfamiliar number. "Yeah, hello?"

"Mattie? Is this Mattie? Please be Mattie!"

Matthew tried not to laugh, "Yeah, it's me."

"Mattie!" Ivan's voice on the other end cried in relief. "I was touching these number buttons, and I must have put the wrong numbers in this err, metal box. Then, this strange voice asked me what I was wearing. They said I had to give them money! I only had a few coins I found on the ground, and I put a lot in this...this talking tube-thing!"

Off with a great start. "Did you give them any information?"

"No, I pressed the end button, because I wanted to stop the weird moaning in the background. Are you laughing?"

Matthew had to put a hand to his mouth to straighten out. "No, that was just a little cough. I found something I drew. It has us on it."

"Us?"

"From that day in my back yard, when we first met."

"Oh, you drew us? That is great to hear!" After a moment of silence, Ivan asked, "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, surprisingly," Matthew murmured. "I'm sorry, this is crazy. I'm chatting with a demon on a phone none the less. It's kind of a lot to take in."

"Am I scary?"

"Uh..." Matthew decided to answer honestly, "A little bit."

"Only a little bit? I might have to work on that!" They both laughed, but Ivan asked, "So, you are not going to scream and run?"

"No, Ivan, I'm not. Wait, were you planning on like, eating my soul or something?"

"Eating your what?! Ha-ha, no! I don't eat souls! What a weird question!"

"All right then, I won't scream and run away."

"Oh, good! Very good! Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Matthew started to feel warm with embarrassment despite not being face-to-face with the guy, "I have to ask you something first."

Ivan's light fit of giggles died for a more serious tone. "Something bothers you?"

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but why are you here? Not that I don't want you around, though at first, I didn't know what was going on, but it's fine now-"

"You called me!"

"Yeah, you said that. But why? Why did you come from, um, Hell just because I summoned you?"

"I thought it is rude to ignore somebody that asked for you."

"It is. I mean, what are you doing here aside from the fact that I called? Are you going to do...demon things?"

"Demon things?"

Argh, that sounded terrible and maybe a little racist, if that is the right word to use. "Yeah, like, wage a holy war with humans in the middle?"

The other line went silent for a heavy moment. Matthew glanced at his screen with baited breath, but the call timer was still counting. Just as he was about to spew out a lame apology, the speaker became alive with Ivan's hearty laughter. He was able to make out only a few fragments, "Oh, no...you...ha, ha! Tell me you are joking so it can feel right to laugh!"

"A little."

"Good! Bwahaha-!"

Matthew nodded in beat, not able to help his own grin of amusement. "Are you all right over there?"

"Yes, yes. Oh, yes, I have not laughed like that since...I cannot remember! My sides hurt now!"

"I'm sorry?"

"No, do not apologize. It is one of the good kinds of hurt! You are very funny, Matthew!"

Matthew was really glad that they were not speaking face-to-face, because now, he was smiling like a happy idiot. "Oh, thanks..."

"Where were we? Ah, yes, although a little bit of trouble would be nice, that is not what I am after. I have been growing restless lately, and I feel as if I am not doing anything when there is a lot of everything! Especially on the surface, with these...these things that humans created! I was searching for, no, I needed something interesting, or something..."

"Something different?"

"Yes! It seems like you are wearing my shoes!"

"I'm what?" Matthew echoed, and glanced down to his sneakers.

"There is a saying about shoes I heard. You say you wear someone else's shoes, but you are not?"

You walk a mile in someone else's shoes. "Uh, yeah, it seems like I am. I really am. There's more out there, you know? Besides what I have. Ugh, that kind of sounds entitled, but-"

"It is not selfish to look for your own happiness. Is that not what everyone else is doing?"

"Maybe they are. Hey, Ivan, I didn't mean to forget about that drawing. About you. I can't believe I forgot. I don't know what I was thinking-"

"You do not need to apologize! Children's minds never stay in one place for long, but you are much more grown than that now, so do not forget about me again!"

Matthew glanced to his old crayon drawing, and his cheeks were starting to numb from smiling so much. "I don't think I can. There's a little problem, though."

"A problem? Oh, no..."

"So, you are the same guy from all those years ago that was just chilling in my back yard, but if I remember correctly, Mister Demon had wings on his back. One of them was ripped! Did you...did you lose them afterwards?"

"I am not sure I would go the length of stripping myself just to walk amongst humans, Mattie. No, they are still around, but I am hiding them."

A trunk or even a nearby closet would be strange hiding spots for demon stuff. "Hiding them where?"

"They are cloaked! When I cloak myself, everything is hidden from prying eyes, and I look like your kind. Ah, this is difficult to describe to you. It is so humans do not look at me and scream. It can attract...unwanted attention."

"You can do that sort of thing? Whoa, that's actually pretty cool."

"No, I still feel as warm as I do when I am uncloaked."

"It's another figure of speech, Ivan."

"Oh."

Matthew nearly jumped out of his skin when several knocks landed against his bedroom door. "Um, I have to go!"

"So soon?"

"Yeah, yeah!" He hissed into his phone, "We'll talk again soon, okay? Goodbye."

Ivan tersely agreed with, "Yes, soon."

"Bro?"

Matthew ended the call, and slouched his shoulders. "What is it, Al?"

"Is someone in your room?"

"No, I was just on the phone." Matthew wondered how much his brother heard.

The door creaked open, and Alfred's eyes jumped all over the place, looking for who-knows-what. "Really? You got a friend?"

"Shut up, Al."

Alfred snickered, and took the liberty to nonchalantly slip into the room. "You came home in a hurry! You didn't even say hi!"

Matthew rolled his eyes, but smiled, "Hi, Alfred."

"Wassup?" Alfred laughed, "What happened, man?"

"Nothing happened! I'm fine." Just a demon kept him. Matthew smiled at his brother's possible reactions, but did not consider actually telling him that. "Uh, Lovino went home early, so I had to stay behind and put away the new arrivals. I'm here now, at least."

Alfred only made a noncommittal sound, and set his jaw in a thoughtful look.

"Where's Arthur at?"

Alfred's expression turned sour. "You know, we're not up each other's asses all the time." When Matthew simply stared with a mildly shocked expression, Alfred continued, "He just left a little bit before you came home."

"Really?" Arthur was in their house again. Hopefully, he stayed away from the stove this time. "Well, he..." Matthew was not sure if he should tell his brother that his buddy was creeping around the bookshop.

Obliviously, Alfred asked, "He what?"

"S-something's different about Arthur."

"Oh!" Alfred exclaimed like he just realized this. "We still got to talk about that, huh?"

"Yes, he was lurking around the bookstore just before I left."

"He was?" Arthur must have not said anything, but Alfred grinned anyway, "Was he looking for...books?"

"What, Al, no!" Matthew couldn't believe Alfred was not taking this seriously. "He asked me if I saw anything 'otherworldly' out and about."

"Oh!" Alfred said again. "Did you?"

Matthew scoffed, "No, I didn't, but don't you find anything weird about that?"

"Ha-ha, maybe he's a Ghostbuster!"

"Al."

"What, Mattie?" Alfred clocked the door with a hard shove from his hip, and it bounced off the wall. "Is it bugging you that much?"

Yes, it is! Matthew held up his hands, remarking, "Oh, no, not at all. Arthur's a real angel."

Alfred's breath caught, and he covered it with a wheezy laugh. Matthew gave a questioning raise of the eyebrows. "Yeah, you got that right." Alfred stepped toward the door, checking to see how much damage there was to the paint. He stilled, staring at the wall for a moment too long. "Mattie?"

Oh, great, my poor wall. Matthew could not keep an edge from his voice, "Yeah, Al?"

"Do...do you ever think we were meant for something...more?"

Nasty feelings died from Alfred's obvious worry, "What do you mean?"

Another shrug, and Alfred distractedly traced the wood paneling. "Isn't there something more to life than trying to go through years of school to find a decent job and marry some lady and have kids? What if there was...something... maybe more fulfilling for us?"

"What? Where is all of this coming from?" Matthew uneasily laughed, but choked off as a thought zipped through his mind. Oh my God...if Ivan is a demon...does that mean there's angels out there, too? With that weird glowing, is Arthur...? I wonder if Lovino or one of my teachers are secret mermaids, or even dragons. He let out a another nervous laugh, and his brother gave him a wary look. "Al, if there's anything you need to talk about..."

Alfred's face bloomed a brilliant pink, and for once in his life, he decided to be very quiet, "Um, yeah...I will. I'm just...thinking about...lots of stuff." He swiped a hand over his face, and his voice shot up again, "It's late, you know?! I'm beat! I'm going to go to bed! 'Night!"

Matthew blinked like an idiot as his brother ran out of his room like his behind was aflame. "Uh, uh, goodnight?!" He got up from his bed and peered down the hall, but Alfred had slammed his own bedroom door shut. "What the Hell is up with him?"