Mimi's Demons

Chapter 101: Fear is Not Controlled

There was a street demon in her room. And it was looking right at her.

While Mimi's room wasn't pitch black, it wasn't light enough for the demon's features to be that clear. And yet they were, looking at her with big yellow eyes and claws hanging off its knobbly knees.

It was a disappointment to her, but Jaxon didn't always notice demons. Perhaps it was because there wasn't enough around her anymore for him to notice. But he slept on next to her on her bed, unaware of the flesh-red thing on her window seat.

She met its eyes. It smiled.

A thrill of fear prickled through her she didn't fully understand. It hadn't been that long ago that she'd traveled through streets of demons and slept knowing they were congregating right outside her door or fluttering around corners she didn't care to look at. She used to live a life with them and had a silent agreement that if she didn't look at them, they wouldn't look at her, and that life had worked.

But that felt like ages ago. It was night time, it was dark, and this room had always been safe unless someone brought one in. She even had her cat who had scratched a bad guy and meowed her from nightmares.

Did that mean there was someone in her room?

The street demon's smile seemed to curve up to its bulbous eyes.

Papa, she thought, already putting a toe out of her bed. She clutched Sir Bloods-a-lot with both arms for courage and forced herself to look away from the demon. It was just a street demon. It couldn't even hurt her. Even if it anticipated hurt for her.

Turning on her phone's screen nearly blinded her.

She heard Jaxon give his question chirp.

She had an emergency text button that her Papa had Juli's dad set up for her, so all she had to do was push the button and her Papa or someone he sent would be on their way.

Still, that didn't mean she'd sit on her bed and wait for whatever waited for her in the dark to get her.

"Come on, Jax."

The soft carpet hurt her too-cold feet. Her heart pattered loudly in her ears. Sir Bloods-a-lot wouldn't squish any further in her arms.

The muffled thud of Jaxon jumping off the bed sounded behind her.

She made it to her door, cursing how big her room was for once. Her hand was sweaty on the doorknob. She turned it quickly and nearly jumped out into the hallway—

And into the skinny, hard chest.

She shrieked. Jaxon jumped a foot in the air. The dark body jumped as well.

"Don't be scared!" They all but yelled.

Thing is, rarely does telling someone not to be scared actually stop them from being scared. And there was a street demon grinning like the Grinch behind her. And she didn't know this tall person at all.

And they were dark colored. Very dark. Everything was dark. Inhumanly so.

She remembered blood and demons eating from her mouth. Images of bodies with satanic marking's flashed through her mind.

She screamed again, higher, and hard clawed hands grasped her upper arms hard. Jaxon started hissing.

"Mimi!" they cried.

Hearing her name calmed her, if only a bit. Papa always had a guard outside her door, didn't he? And they usually wore dark suits. Maybe...

She looked up...

Green, glowing eyes met her gaze.

Her body turned to stone. A cold chill settled over her.

Because Honrye wasn't this big. Honrye had been small and cute. This person grabbing her hard enough to make her arms hurt wasn't human, wasn't Honrye—

And their face was getting closer. Jaxon was growling, but he hadn't attacked yet. Why? Why?

The person, demon, boy? Made a wordless groan, puffing hot, funny smelling air over her face.

"Don't...don't...stop being afraid..." he croaked, his mouth inches from her neck, a scratchy beanie getting into her face.

Mimi opened her mouth to scream again, but only the tiniest squeak got out. She hadn't the air. She couldn't breathe. And why wasn't Jaxon attacking? Why? He attacked strangers, wasn't this a stranger? A stranger grabbing her, pulling her--

He was going to eat her.

A warm mouth trailed along her skin, feather light, sucking, gasping. The hands clutching her shook her, shaking her along with them.

She heard the street demon cackle.

The demon holding her whimpered.

Then, an ear-splitting crack—POW—the thing holding her staggered. Another crack—gunshot, Mimi realized—peeled off the demon from her completely and they collapsed.

Jaxon yowled and bolted.

"Mimi!"

She would swear later that she actually flew with how quickly she ran into the arms of her Papa. Only once his familiar nighttime, sleepy musk met her nose and his warmth envelope her did she finally suck in a ragged breath.

"You bastard."

The growled words made his chest vibrate against Mimi's cheek.

She could hear the demon behind her gasping. It was hurt. Really hurt. But demons didn't have bodies. But demons eyes didn't glow. Still, it was human enough to make Mimi's insides quaver, because seeing it in pictures was one thing. Talking about it was one thing. But she didn't want to be around when her father killed someone.

Mimi began to cry.

"She came out afraid..." gasped the demon-human-thing. "Terrified, I just—"

"And I don't give you enough?"

"It's not...it's not something that can be—"

"I don't give a damn. Get out."

Another gunshot. The demon—no, a boy, a boy!—cried out in pain.

"Stop!" Mimi cried.

But Papa didn't stop. He made the air crack like thunder does when it hits right outside your window. The air was sour with the smell of hot metal and gun powder. The boy screamed until he wasn't screaming.

And somewhere in that nightmare, the terror took hold of Mimi and she let go of her Papa.

Mimi ran. 

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Scheduling this ahead again because I don't know if I'll have a house or internet. Also, I really hate when they make kid videos with over exuberant narrators or actors. Like, calm down. We're not excited, we're learning so we can get this over with and go to recess. We're not stupid. Oh, what brought this up? I didn't want to throw my kid into a public school for the last month of his schooling because I know what stress that causes (thanks mom), and after calling around a lot, learned that homeschooling was my only option. SO! I'm trying to homeschool my child. I think I started out okay, but the anxiety and depression of living away from my husband in a stressful situation in my in-laws house has sort of been gnawing on my motivation to do anything but roll around in misery in a clover patch. If anyone knows the secret to manipulating your mindstate and emotions to do what YOU want, let me know, because I really could care less about being depressed, anxious, or pining needlessly after my husband and I've tried all the prayers. And there's a reason I went into writing and not math.