‘What are you talking about?’
Rye huffs, finally bringing his eyes to meet mine. ‘Did you know?’ I shake my head, confused. ‘Did you know about my feelings? Because I made them pretty obvious and somehow I thought that you felt the same way too.’
I swallow hard. ‘Yes, I knew. But it’s okay. I can pretend I don’t again.’
Rye scoffs. A harsh sound that causes me to grit my teeth. Again, he mouths. ‘It’s not the same now.’
I frown. Why doesn’t he understand? ‘But it can be–’
‘I don’t want it to be,’ Rye snaps. ‘I’m tired of chasing after you, especially now, knowing that you’ve been letting me.’
Irritation and hurt flare at my cheeks. ‘What are you trying to say? That I’m either your girlfriend or nothing?’
‘How am I supposed to hang out with you like we used to after all this? It would be too weird, and too painful.’ As I start to open my mouth in protest, he continues, ‘For me.’
Despite the overflowing emotions, I can’t find the right words to say. More than sad, I’m annoyed. Angry, even. Rye reaches out his hand to touch mine but pulls back when he sees my stare. ‘How can you do this to me when you know my situation?’ I say, bitterness finding its way into my tone.
‘This isn’t about you,’ he says, cutting deep. ‘You’ll be fine, Siara, we both know that.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘If I asked you to stay here, to not go back there, would you?’
I shake my head, still confused. ‘To get everyone’s memories back, I need to work with the demons. I made a deal. You know that.’
Rye shakes his head too, indicating I’ve gotten something wrong. ‘No. What if I asked you to stay here and you can go with the demons like normal? You can have your own room, you can take Julia’s – she won’t mind. It’s not like she’s using it.’ He’s asking me to leave that house, leave them. It makes sense and his offer should be a no-brainer.
Rye returns my stare, watching my reaction. My brain fumbles, thoughts scattered and incoherent in my mind. I don’t know what I want.
‘Would you choose me?’ Rye says.
‘Stop it. This is stupid. I don’t understand the point of this,’ I hiss, not able to even give the offer the time of thought. ‘They wouldn’t let me do that anyway.’
Rye smirks bitterly; whatever game he is playing with me, he has just won. I’ve given the wrong answer. ‘All I’m saying is there’s a reason you didn’t tell me the whole story the first time we met.’ I shake my head, still not sure what he means. ‘It’s fine, Siara, I’m going back inside.’
‘You’re still coming tomorrow, right? Meet at the same place?’ My words float out in the space between us but only silence responds. Rye mutters something under his breath, walking back towards the door. ‘Rye,’ I say, causing him to turn. His eyes linger on me for a few moments before closing the door behind him.
Left with only my thoughts on the slow walk home, a variety of emotions battle for control. Guilt, anger, anxiety, sadness; it seems I can’t choose just one at the given time. If only Rye hadn’t confessed. I wish he had just waited just a little longer. And I wish I didn’t feel so relieved at the thought of going home, back to the house filled with demons.
18
William
‘Has anyone seen my coat?’ Siara scurries about the house in an almost feverish daze. Her movements are uncoordinated and nonsensical, an incoherent mumbling trailing wherever she goes. ‘No, not my coat. My bag, I need my bag.’ Xander glances over to me. It was only last night that she had returned, eyes puffy and silent. There was not so much as a greeting before she returned upstairs. Xander had rejoiced, catching on quickly that it had something to do with the human boy, and consequently jumping at the opportunity to terrorise the human ‘just the smallest amount’ but despite Siara’s aggravation, she strongly dismissed the proposition with short and curt words.
I turn the page of the book in my hand, reading the next sentence. Siara strides past again, still muttering to herself as she walks into the kitchen. The silence stretches a few moments before she wanders back out, confused and disorientated. I blink, re-reading the same sentence. Xander says nothing, instead feigning innocence in front of the television, his eyes glued to a screen of action heroes in different coloured body suits. If he was still alive, I’d say it couldn’t possibly be good for him. Siara jogs back up the stairs. Xander makes a quick glance at the drawer on the other side of the room. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. Luckily that’s not an issue. So that’s where he hid it.
From Siara’s room upstairs I hear a quiet sniffle, accompanied by a creative profanity.
Snapping my book shut, I retrieve the bag from its hiding place just as Siara slumps defeated down the stairs. ‘Were you looking for this?’
Her green eyes brighten as she spies it within my hand. ‘Thank God. Yes. I was looking for it everywhere. I haven’t seen it since yester–’ She pauses as we make eye contact, both of us remembering the awkward situation we found ourselves in yesterday. Her heartbeat skips and she breaks her gaze. ‘Anyway, thanks.’
‘It’s fine,’ I say, caught off guard. I can feel Xander’s stare from the couch. I don’t blame him. Why is this encounter so awkward? What I saw yesterday has nothing to do with me. I clear my throat and push the bag into her arms. ‘Here you are then. Try not to lose it in plain sight this time.’
Siara frowns, the awkwardness dissipating. ‘Yeah, yeah.’ She sniffles, taking a tissue from the bag and blowing her nose. She proceeds to then rummage through her bag until she finds the small tubes and containers of different sizing that she was after. Mascara. Lipstick. And various other products that I can only assume the purpose of. Returning up the stairs, she leaves the bag haphazardly on the table. That’s what she was desperately wanting it for? Why does she need that? She’s never cared about that stuff before. I turn around, slightly irked. Xander still watches me curiously before looking back to the cupboard I’d left open. ‘The pacing was annoying me. I couldn’t focus.’ Not that I have to explain myself to him anyway.
Xander doesn’t respond right away but looks back at the television contemplatively. ‘I didn’t realise she was such a distraction for you.’ He says it so casually that it takes until I sit down and for me to understand his meaning. Does he think I don’t see through his childish charade? I know better than anyone how truly cunning he can be.
I open my mouth to sneer a warning but a familiar rhythm of steps walks up to the front door. I pause. The sound of running taps travels through the townhouse’s still foundations. I’m really not in the mood for this. The knock echoes from the wooden door, a nervous heartbeat thudding just on the other side. The bottles and tubes all make sense now and just adds to my irritation.
‘I’ll get it!’ Xander chirps and I don’t stop him. It’s not my problem.
The front door flies open, a strong breeze flowing into the room. The human stands stunned, a disconcerting mix of surprise and fear at seeing Xander standing in the doorway. Curiosity compels me to loiter, listening, anticipating as to how this situation might play out.
‘Yes?’ Xander says, his petty jealousy translating as a childish attitude. ‘Did you need something?’
‘A-ah, it’s you,’ Rye stammers. ‘Is Siara there?’
Xander clicks his tongue. ‘She told me to tell you that she doesn’t want to speak to you any more, and that she wants to focus on doing her job with us.’
This is already more entertaining than I had initially anticipated. Rye falls silent, proving that something must have happened after what I witnessed yesterday. It’s a believable lie; it does sound like something Siara would say, at least if it was directed at me.
Rye’s brows furrow under his blonde hair. ‘I don’t really think she’s the sort of person to say something like that.’ It’s harder than expected to refrain myself from rolling my eyes. Siara is absolutely the kind of person to say something like that, especially to me. Xander responds with his own few moments of silence. It sits heavily, alluding to the demon’s intentions.
‘Oh.’ Rye laughs nervously. I suspect he’s realised that Xander had no intention of letting him see Siara from the start. ‘Lucky I came prepared then.’ The human continues still unnerved. The sound of crumpling paper reaches my ears. ‘Can you give this to her then? Tell her I’m sorr–’ The door slams. Xander doesn’t notice that I’m watching or more likely he has forgotten that I’m here all together. He has snatched the letter from Rye and is eyeing it with curiosity. A tempting position to be in, no doubt, considering his limited self-control.
Xander tears the envelope, taking out the letter, immediately giving into his temptations and paying no mind to the humans’ privacy.
