“Hi.”
“Hey,” Alex waved a hand at her.
It was an awkward wave. Feeling foolish, he used the hand to gently close his somewhat antiquated laptop.
“I got you coffee,” she flashed him a smile, showing perfect teeth.
True enough, she had in her hand a red mug. She placed it on the table, then pushed it towards him. Alex took the mug and raised it to his lips. He took a sip. Yup, it was coffee alright.
He stared up at her, not sure what to say next. Alex had a talent for being a bit of an ass, for being able to make smart and quick comebacks. What he didn’t have a talent for was making charming small talk, which he figured was what he should do now. What was he supposed to say? She stood there staring down at him with an expectant smile. Thanks. You could thank her for the coffee, his brain yelled at him.
“Uh, thanks,” he mumbled.
“Alex, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Do I know you?”
She sat opposite him on the soft fabric sofa. “It’s Chrissy. We were in the same class in primary school?”
Alex eye’s narrowed. “Chrissy Skinner?”
“I think I was the only Chrissy in class,” she said, her smile so natural. “But yes, Chrissy Skinner. What are you doing?” she nodded at the laptop.
“Uh, trying to write a book…” Alex said hesitantly. It felt strange seeing Chrissy after so many years. He’d had the biggest crush on her about eleven years ago. A small fact that he’d never managed to work up the courage to share with her back in the day.
Her eyes lit up. “That’s so cool. What genre?”
“Fantasy at the moment.” He hoped she wouldn’t ask about the plot. Alex’s story was about a boy who finds out he’s a wizard and ends up going to wizarding school. So like Harry Potter was what pretty much everyone said immediately after.
Chrissy nodded enthusiastically. “What’s it about?”
Dammit, Alex cursed silently. “A boy who finds out he’s a wizard, then goes to wizarding school. It’s not like Harry Potter.”
Chrissy flashed him a smile. “Hey, JK Rowling doesn’t have a copyright on wizards being educated.”
“Exactly!” Alex thumped his fist on the table.
From behind the counter, Madeline turned her eyes on him, her brows furrowed. She spotted Chrissy. Her face lit up, she winked, then gave him the thumbs up. Alex looked away, hoping his somewhat pale skin didn’t redden too much.
“I do a bit of writing too. Been working on a fantasy myself,” Chrissy said. “Struggling to find a satisfactory ending for it.”
Alex stared at her curiously, wondering if that was why she’d approached him, because she already knew he was writing? It was a professional interest then, not personal. He supposed that made more sense. Alex was tall, but skinny and pale. His dark hair was usually messy and his choice of clothing wasn’t exactly hip. Girls didn’t randomly approach him for a conversation - especially not pretty girls.
Chrissy stared back at him, still smiling, though it began to wane some. Of course, it was waning. She’d said something and was probably waiting for him to respond because you know, that’s how conversations worked.
“Uh, I’d love to read it. I mean, if you want another pair of eyes looking at it?” he said quickly.
“Yeah, awesome!”
They exchanged emails. Not quite telephone numbers, but Alex was feeling cool about it. And then, some dude walked in and ruined his mood. Standing at well over six feet tall, he had blonde hair slicked back. He was wearing tight black jeans and a white V-neck vest that showed of what were regular hours at the gym. Or steroids.
He looked like a bit of a prick.
Chrissy jumped to her feet at his approach. He grabbed her by the waist. They kissed. Alex caught Madeline staring at him, making a sad face.
“Ready to go?” the guy asked, his voice suitably deep.
“Let me just grab my laptop,” Chrissy said. “Alex, Jamie Azarath,” she said, then darted off.
“Hey,” Alex said.
In response, Jamie gave a nod of the head, apparently clearly too fucking cool to waste words. And then it happened. His face changed. Literally. One moment, he was a white guy with blonde hair and blue eyes, the next moment, his skin was red. All of it. His face, his exposed arms and neck, it was all red. And not the sunburnt red. This was the devil red. Like Satan in pretty much every image anywhere. His hair had changed too. It was no longer blonde, nor did it seem like hair. Each black strand was as thick as a needle. His eyes were black like pools of ink.
“…what the fuck,” Alex muttered.
“What?” Jamie frowned.
“The fuck happened to your-,” Alex raised both his hands and pointed in Jamie’s general body.
“What are you seeing?” Jamie asked, his voice wary.
“I’m seeing you,” Alex mumbled. “But you’re all red and… your teeth. Jesus fucking Christ, they’re like shark teeth.”
Jamie grinned and Alex was sure there was a picture of him in the dictionary under the word evil. “It’s happening more and more.”
“What is?” Alex asked.
“More and more humans are seeing us for what we are. The veil is breaking.”
Alex wasn’t naturally slow, but his brain had frozen somewhat, and it took him awhile to process what Jamie had just said. Staring up at the beast of a being, he swallowed nervously. “If you’re not a human… what uh… what are you?”
Jamie smiled, and Alex leaned back against the sofa, feeling light headed. “What do you know of demons?”
Alex didn’t get a chance to answer the question. Chrissy appeared at that precise moment. Her Apple Mac was pressed against her chest with one arm.
