Hayden didn't know how long they were holding each other, it could've been hours for all he cared. Words couldn't describe how happy he was to meet her again.
The female demon pulled away causing Hayden to do the same and for a moment they stared into each other's eyes. She pressed her forehead very slowly against his as if trying to reconnect their lost bond. Hayden was slightly taken aback but soon after relaxed into it and somehow found himself enjoying it.
"I knew I wasn't crazy…" Hayden said softly slowly pulling away to look into her eyes. "Is your name, Charlotte?"
The demoness beamed and her eyes quite literally sparkled, "Yes…" She wiped a tear from her eye.
"I'm so happy to see you." Hayden stepped back and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry for strangling you."
"Oh, it's okay, I'm sure I would have done the same thing," Charlotte admitted sheepishly.
Hayden let out a small chuckle "Uhh, you want some pizza?"
Hayden led Charlotte to the kitchen and both quickly noticed the broken glass. "I forgot about that." He groaned as he grabbed a few wet wipes, a dustpan, and a brush. "Take a seat at the table, I'll be there shortly."
Hayden knelt and began to brush up the broken glass as he did so, he noticed Charlotte grabbed some wet wipes and wiped the coke off the wall. "Charlotte, you don't have to do that."
"But we'll be done much quicker," A hint of mirth in her voice.
Hayden shook his head with a smile "If you say so!" He replied in a similar tone.
A few minutes later the two of them were sitting down at the table sharing the pizza Hayden bought earlier. Both were still at a loss for words. After all, how do you start a conversation with someone you haven't seen in… well forever? So they just ate quietly and allowed the fact they found each other again to sink in.
"So Hayden," Charlotte spoke up. "How old are you in human years?"
Hayden smiled, "Uh, either 26 or 27. It depends on how old I was when I was dropped off at the orphanage."
"You're adopted?" Charlotte shook her head, "Ugh, that's a dumb question, I'm sorry"
Hayden let out a small laugh, "No, it's fine," he said while standing up, "Just wait a second." Hayden returned a moment later and handed Charlotte a picture without saying anything.
She examined it and saw a man and a woman with their arms wrapped around a young Hayden and in his hands was an adoption certificate. "They're your parents?"
"Yeah, Melissa and Desmond Kyle." Hayden sat down and began explaining, "A few years after they married, they discovered the hard way they can't have children, and like a lot of couples they wanted kids. So after a lot of discussions, they decided to adopt and they just so happen to choose me." Hayden's gaze suddenly hardened, "and thank fuck for that, I spent five years in that hellhole."
Charlotte set the picture down and bit her lip at the sudden change in Hayden's demeanor. She wanted to ask about it but quickly decided against it, she didn't want to ruin the moment. "Did you ever wonder who your biological parents were?"
"Of course I did, I attempted to find out and obviously I couldn't find anything, so I just had to accept it and move on."
"When did you start to realise that you weren't…" Charlotte attempted to find the right word to not offend her brother.
"Human?" Hayden finished. Charlotte reluctantly nodded. "After I turned 18 I began to have dreams. They've always felt like memories that weren't complete but over time I could build a small idea of my demonic life."
"Yeah, me too. It was messy, I know that much." She rubbed the back of her head. "Hey, Hayden?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you happy in the human world?" Hayden, in all honesty, took slight offense to that question, Charlotte quickly took notice and raised her hands, "I didn't mean it like that! It's just so different to Hell is all."
Hayden's gaze softened, "I can imagine, well I've "lived" a normal human life with relative peace and the occasional challenges no different to what every human faces in life. So yeah, I'm very happy up here." Hayden slowly rested his hand on top of Charlotte's own, "and I would love to show you what it has to offer."
DING*
The two of them jump slightly at the sound. Charlotte reached into her pocket and checked her phone. She let out a sigh of disappointment. "Hayden I'm sorry but I need to go," Charlotte looked up from her phone, "I said I would only be gone for a few hours."
Hayden was slightly disappointed, but he understood. It must be extremely risky for Charlotte to be in the human world without direct permission. Especially since she isn't supposed to know she has a brother.
"Yeah, sure let's get you home," Hayden stood up as did Charlotte, "How do we get you home."
"Oh, I set up a ritual portal." Charlotte then got an idea, "Hey I saw you have a garage, by chance is it empty?"
"Yeah, I only use it for storage. Why?"
"I think it would be best to set up my ritual there. You know, away from the public eye."
"Okay, follow me." Hayden led her towards the garage. They entered and Charlotte looked around. It was large enough to fit one car but there was no car in sight, instead, there were a few boxes piled in the corner, and a few folding chairs were leaning on the wall next to a fire pit and table. Next to the door was a washing machine and dryer with various washing powder boxes and clothing pegs on top of them.
"This is perfect." Charlotte placed her backpack down and pulled out the chalk, crystals, and candles, thankfully nothing was damaged in their scuffle. "Do you have table salt by any chance?"
"Yeah"
"Can you get it please?" She asked sweetly.
"Sure." Hayden went to the kitchen and grabbed the barely used bag of table salt from the pantry. When he returned, Charlotte set up the finishing touches of her portal ritual. It wasn't the stereotypical pentagram in a circle as Hayden expected, it was a hexagon with a candle on each point and a crystal on the middle of each side.
"That was fast," Hayden said while holding the salt to Charlotte. "This won't put a curse on me or allow any murderous demons to come out of there and kill me in my sleep?"
Charlotte giggled "Don't worry Haydie, this ritual is just to create a portal for me and me only."
"Hmm, Haydie…"
"What's wrong with "Haydie?" She looked up at him with her eyebrow cocked.
"Nothing, it's just a few of my friends call me that." He watched Charlotte sprinkling the salt on the outer perimeter of the circle, the hexagon was inside of, "What's the salt for?"
"Oh, it's just an added layer of protection." Charlotte stood back up and grabbed a scroll from her backpack. "Okay, bro stand back."
Charlotte began to read the scroll in what Hayden could only assume was an incantation. The candles then lit up all by themselves, the crystals began to glow and the hexagon glowed a bright red colour. Hayden took a step back and grabbed a nearby folding chair. Very quickly he folded it flat and ducked behind it as a bright light came from the middle of the hexagon. Hayden closed his eyes and braced himself.
"Uhh, Hayden, it's over," Charlotte said while suppressing a laugh. Hayden stood back up and looked at the portal that was now in the middle of the hexagon. He turned to his sister, she had a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh.
"I thought it was going to explode or something." He tried to explain with as much dignity as he could. Unfortunately for him, Charlotte let out a laugh.
"Well Hayden," Charlotte said, grabbing her pack and slinging it on her shoulder. "Once I've sorted out some stuff, I'll come back and we can hang out and get to know each other some mor-"
Charlotte stopped as she felt a hand grab her wrist. She turned around to see Hayden with a worried look on his face. "Charlotte, please…" He let out a small sigh, "...please, come back. "
Charlotte noticed that tears began to leak from his eyes again and his grip on her wrist trembled slightly. It was as if he was afraid that she would disappear forever again if he let go. She carefully pulled him into a warm embrace. "Don't worry, I'll come back."
Hayden let out a small sigh of relief, "Sorry I just- I don't want to lose you again."
Charlotte pulled away from the hug and held his shoulders, "It's okay, I don't want to lose you either." Hayden nodded as Charlotte let him go, and walked to the portal. She turned back and smiled at Hayden, "Nice to meet you, Hayden."
Hayden smiled back, "Likewise. See you soon, Charlotte." She then turned around and walked through the portal, a few moments later the portal closed. The ritual hexagon stopped glowing and the candles went out.
Hayden stepped out of the garage and checked the time on his phone. It wasn't that late, but he was beginning to feel tired. He let out a yawn and made his way to the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he walked into his room, put on some boxers, and climbed into bed.
DING*
His phone on the side table chimed and the screen lit up the room. Rolling his eyes in frustration he grabbed his phone and checked the message.
"Miss me yet?"
His annoyance vanished and a smile replaced it as he typed his response.
"You have no idea."
Thank you for reading.
Hope you all are doing well.
I wish you all the best!