Considering the horrible start to the school year, it really hadn’t turned out as badly as Kyle had originally predicted. Things had settled down within two weeks of the pep rally, and by the time Halloween had rolled around, he had most everyone convinced that he really wasn’t a monster. He just happened to be stuck with one.

To make up for the damage said monster had caused, he’d headed up the fundraising committee to replace the scoreboard and put a new floor down in the gym. The dozen or so bake sales, car washes, and bottle drives had been more than worth it. By spring, the pep rally was - although definitely not forgotten, at least not based on how quickly the crowds in the hallway still parted for him - no longer mentioned.

Standing now with arms crossed over his chest, he leaned back against the wall in the cafeteria. It was one of his lunch duty days; one of the times that reminded him that however normal things seemed there really was no going back. The students talked and laughed as always, but he could still feel their glances. Like they were checking to make sure he was still human.

Paranoid much? Ryka asked

With a sigh, Kyle shifted his weight. “It’s not so much the kids as the other teachers,” he mumbled, lifting a water bottle to his lips to hide the fact that he was talking to Ryka. Although at this point, pretending was meaningless - everyone knew about the demon. Still, it made him feel a little less strange.

Across the room, two of the other teachers also on lunch duty stood together, heads close while they talked, obviously about him, based on how frequently they looked his way. The further from death they think they are, the easier for them it is to forget what awaits them afterward. Those two are pretty old. And now you remind them of their own mortality.

Kyle almost choked on his water. “You say surprisingly intelligent things sometimes.”

“Surprising?” “Sometimes?” What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

“Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Yes you did. And if you’re going to be an asshole, I’m done talking to you.

Although he was relieved to hear that, he tried not to let on that he felt that way. Lately, Ryka had been exceptionally irritable, and carrying on conversations with him hadn’t been easy. They were both sure it had something to do with Ryka’s smoking habit – it seemed the longer he went without a cigarette, the worse his mood swings became. Kyle was seriously considering taking up smoking just to keep some nicotine in their system.

His thoughts were interrupted by a low rumbling in his head. Ryka was growling, but only for him to hear. Why are you happy that I said I wasn’t going to talk to you?

At this point, there was no use lying. “Because you’re getting upset over nothing. Why don’t you go to sleep? I have papers to grade after this, and it’s going to be excruciatingly boring.” A long string of insults followed Kyle’s suggestion, but regardless of how upset it had seemed to make him, Ryka still took the opportunity to nap.

“Are you doing okay?” Adam Brissette asked, suddenly appearing next to Kyle. He hadn’t even realized the other man was even in the room.

“I think I’m going to start smoking.”

“I’ve never heard that one before. Is it that bad? Or that good?”

“Bad,” Kyle answered quickly, feeling his face redden. Over the past weekend, Adam had caught them in a rather compromising position, something Ryka had undoubtedly done on purpose. While waiting for Adam to pick him up for a trip to the bar, Kyle had dozed off on the couch. He hadn’t meant to, and was glad for Ryka’s wake-up call. Initially, anyhow. Because Ryka had chosen a very pleasant way to rouse his host.

But Kyle had lost all track of time, so focused on his own pleasure that he completely forgot what he’d even been waiting for. Ryka hadn’t, though, and his timing was more than uncanny. Even though Adam had a girlfriend, Ryka had still felt the need to make sure their guest knew exactly who Kyle belonged to. And it had been the demon’s name enthusiastically on Kyle’s lips when Ryka had willed the door open.

Adam had stood frozen on the doorstep, fist raised, ready to knock on a door that had conveniently swung open at his approach. Ryka, Kyle had learned the hard way, was good at multitasking. He could run neighborhood surveillance and simultaneously pleasure Kyle. With ease.

Profuse apologies had followed- once Kyle was cleaned up and no longer inadvertently exposing himself to his coworker - but Adam had waved them off. Though he clearly hadn’t forgotten the incident.

“Hmm, didn’t seem that way to me.” Kyle didn’t even have time to react before Adam continued, “Lover’s spat, then?”

Every time Kyle thought he had reached peak embarrassment, it was proven that was far from the case. “No! He’s just being a pain in the ass, as always. And I’ve been so busy correcting and preparing for finals that he hasn’t been allowed out to smoke. It’s not helping his personality any.”

Adam laughed. “Well, you’re really going to need to start after I tell you this – they just asked me to chaperone at the prom, and on my way out of Dr. Taylor’s office, I happened to see your name on the same list.”

“Shit. When is that? Three weeks?”

“Yup. And personally, I think you’re being used. They know the kids won’t dare try anything with you there.”

“You’re right. And they won’t have any fun with me there, either.”

“I’m sure you can talk your way out of this with no problem,” Adam assured him. Kyle agreed.

***

On the walk back to his classroom from the principal’s office, Kyle couldn’t help but wonder how he’d been so easily persuaded to chaperone at the prom. Flattery, he supposed. Most of the younger teachers had been asked because they got along well with their students. Dr. Taylor said many of the older staff members felt out of place at the prom, and that the students acted like they were being watched over by parents or grandparents.

Of course, Kyle had argued that with him present, the students would probably be too scared to enjoy themselves. At that, Dr. Taylor had smiled. “You don’t know how much most of them like you, do you?”

That was about the point where Kyle had given in to the principal’s request. He had wasted half his free period trying to talk his way out of the job, only to be done in by a few well-placed compliments. All he could be grateful for at this point was that Ryka had been asleep for the whole thing, so there were no snide comments about his lack of a backbone, at least not while he was still at school.

As soon as he got home that afternoon, he headed straight for the kitchen. More specifically, right for the cupboard that housed their liquor stash. Right for the hard stuff. I’m so proud, Ryka remarked as Kyle reached for a bottle of whiskey. What did I miss?

“Wanna be my prom date? I have to chaperone ….” This after a few swigs of Jack Daniels.

Ryka’s laughter was enough to make Kyle’s ears ring. It didn’t last long, though. Am I the only one you can say ‘no’ to?

“Don’t start. Let me have a little more, and then it’s your turn. I finished everything I needed to do at school.” Well, mostly, he thought. But Ryka hadn’t been out in days, and there wasn’t that much work for Kyle to finish up in the morning.

Within minutes, Kyle was standing, mostly undressed, in the living room. “Remember, not too late okay?”

Whatever.

In his excitement to finally be allowed out, Ryka rushed the transformation, quickly unfurling his wings to their full extent, something he’d been careful not to do as much since the last time they’d grown. Even before he heard the mirror shatter, Ryka winced.

“Sorry,” he hissed, shaking embedded glass out of his wing before folding it closely to his back. “Son of a bitch.”

Don’t worry about it. Are you okay? Was that blood on the wall? I saw it when you looked that way.

“Just a little.” Ryka paused to investigate the scratches on the membrane of his wing then said quietly, “I’ll clean it up.”

I can do it.

“I’ve been a pain, right? Let me do it.” Moving much more carefully now, Ryka started for the closet where Kyle stored the vacuum. “I’ll even do under the couch, since you can’t lift it.”

You can smoke first. As much as Kyle appreciated Ryka’s willingness to help out, he didn’t need a demon suffering serious nicotine withdrawal accidentally flinging his couch across the room or tossing the vacuum cleaner out a window in a sudden fit of rage.

“I’ll be fine, really.” And to Kyle’s surprise, he was. With a quiet and calm that was surely forced, he cleaned up the broken glass before starting to vacuum under the couch. Deep, rumbling laughter made him stop his chore halfway, and with eyes narrowed, Ryka glanced over his shoulder at his shadow. “Fuck off,” he snarled.

The response sounded to Kyle like basso radio static - deep and unintelligible. But it was paired with a very obvious rude gesture, making the meaning of the shadow’s words quite clear. Ryka snorted out a laugh, returned the gesture and made a very effective threat. “Keep it up and I won’t feed you another soul even if I manage to get my hands on one.”

Instantly, the shadow silenced itself and retreated, its eyes dimming as it slipped away.

***

Three days before the prom, Kyle turned onto his street after a particularly long day of school, only to find that the road was closed. Police, firefighters and other assorted town workers were everywhere, staring helplessly at the two feet of water that had turned his neighborhood into a small lake. Mouth hanging open, he stopped his car and got out to ogle the disaster area with the rest of his neighbors. “What happened?”

“Water main break,” a man who lived two houses over told him. “And the rain didn’t help.”

It had been raining for almost four days straight. His yard had been rather swamp-like before the pipe had burst. Still, that had been outside. Now, he had the sinking feeling that the interior of his house was just as damp as the exterior.

One of the police officers, noticing that Kyle had just arrived, offered to paddle him over to his house to see if there was anything to salvage. Luckily, his property was on some of the highest ground in the neighborhood. Meaning that instead of feet, he only had a few inches of water to wade through.

I think you’re getting all your punishment while you’re still on Earth, Ryka remarked as Kyle filled a bag with all the dry clothes he could find.

“I think you’re right. This is unbelievable.” He was about to continue complaining when his cell phone started ringing. The number was instantly recognizable as Adam Brissette’s. “Hello?”

“Hey. I just saw your neighborhood on the news. Do you need a place to stay?”

His conscience screamed at him not to accept the offer, but the other voice in his head chuckled quietly and urged him to go for it. For a moment, he thought it would be a better idea to stay at a hotel, but that cost money. And he foresaw himself needing as much of that as possible to fix the disaster area around him. Insurance would only do so much. “Are you sure?” Kyle answered after a long silence.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t. Come on over.”

On the short drive to Adam’s house, Kyle tried to make it abundantly clear to Ryka that he needed to be on his best behavior. I’m not sure if I know what that is, was the demon’s response to Kyle’s lecturing. He could get away with being a smartass - that apparently didn’t count as lying - but this sounded like he truly didn’t know what constituted good manners. And he didn’t let Kyle attempt to explain again. But I suppose, for Master, I can try not to do anything too horrible.

Begging didn’t even get Kyle a better answer than that, and he was more than a little nervous by the time he arrived at his destination. And when he saw the librarian that had asked him out the summer before - now Adam’s girlfriend - he almost turned around and left. Though once she saw Kyle, she seemed just as eager to be on her way. “I’ll see you Friday, then?” she asked Adam, kissing him quickly on the cheek.

“Yup. I’ll pick you up around five. See you, Kate.”

Ryka managed to wait until she was in her car to start growling - Kyle uselessly clapping a hand over his mouth - but it quickly turned to laughter when he caught Adam backing away from them. This is going to be fun.

“I’ll be right in,” Kyle told his co-worker, setting his bag down inside the doorway. “We’re going to have a cigarette and go over the rules again.”

It still felt unnatural for Kyle to be the one smoking, but as he had hoped, it had greatly improved Ryka’s mood. Although now Kyle was the one sitting in class, counting down the minutes until his next break, when he could sneak out to his car for a butt. But he handled his addiction a lot better than Ryka did.

“Please, Ryka, I’m begging you. Don’t torment Adam. He’s doing us a big favor letting us stay here with him.”

What if I just want to talk?

“No. He’s not like my cousin; I don’t think he has anything interesting to tell you.”

Kyle could almost see Ryka rolling his eyes, but at least he didn’t outright refuse to leave Adam alone. All he could do was hope that Ryka didn’t get carried away.

***

The alarm clock next to his bed said midnight when Adam woke from a deep sleep. It took a few minutes of looking around to realize that the sudden, overwhelming darkness was what had pulled him from his slumber. Outside, the streetlights seemed to have all gone out, and since he couldn’t see any light under the door, he could only assume the nightlights in the kitchen and living room were out, too. He stared stupidly at the clock, wondering how it was still on when power everywhere else seemed to be out, when the numbers disappeared from the display.

Half-asleep, he struggled out of bed, thinking he’d make some attempt to investigate the power outage. He nearly walked into his closed bedroom door before finally locating the doorknob and stepping blindly into the living room. His eyes tried their best to adjust, and after lots of searching, settled on the only light in the room. Burning orange, the lit end of a cigarette hovered a couple feet off the ground. But that dim glow was completely overpowered by the red light cast by Ryka’s eyes, when he finally opened them.

Adam was sure it wasn’t just coincidence that they shone bright enough so that when the demon smiled up at him, there was more than enough light to see Ryka’s mouthful of pointed teeth. “Have a seat.” Before he could respond, Adam felt something wrap around his ankles and pull his feet out from under him.

He landed hard on his tailbone, awkwardly seated in front of the demon, who he was now eye-level with. Even though he was aching from the fall, he was hypnotized by the fire burning in those crimson irises. The pain - and everything else - began to fade away.

“I wouldn’t do that. You’ll see something you really don’t want to.”

Slowly shaking his head, he pried his gaze away, and found that his vision had completely adjusted itself to the dark. He could now clearly see Ryka, wings open halfway against the white living room wall. His tail was still loosely wrapped around Adam’s ankles. He unwound it as soon as Adam noticed - looking almost embarrassed to have been caught - and the tip swished back and forth over the carpet.

“Um….”

“What’s the matter? Do I make you nervous?”

Don’t tease him like that, Ryka.

Acting as though he never heard him, which Kyle supposed might be the case, Ryka continued. “Well? Do I?”

Unable to look at the demon, Adam nodded.

“It would be bad if you forgot how dangerous I was.” In the silence that followed, the street lights flickered back to life, and the nightlights audibly popped back on. Adam realized it was only the lights that had been off; his fridge hadn’t droned loudly like it usually did after a blackout.

When Adam dared look back at Ryka, he found the demon staring at him with narrowed eyes. They seemed to glow even brighter. “D-did I do s-something wrong?”

“No. Just a little reminder.” Another big grin followed those words. Even though Ryka was wearing Kyle’s plaid pajama pants, he wasn’t any less terrifying. Somehow, the disparity made him seem all the more dangerous. “Want to know something?”

“Yes,” Adam answered, wondering at what point he should start begging for mercy.

“When I haven’t been summoned, I can sleep. Of course, I’ll still always know when something upsets my Master.” A not-so-subtle reminder. “But when I’m in charge of this body, Master can never rest. Do you know why?” Adam shook his head. “It’s because hosts are never supposed to lose track of what their demons are up to. We have this awful tendency to cause trouble, just for fun. Especially when we’re bored.”

Adam was sure his eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he suddenly found himself lying on his back with Ryka leaning in much too close. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see Ryka’s hands on either side of his head. And see that his claws were out. A litany of silent prayers repeating in his head, Adam risked looking up.

Once again, he was mesmerized by the fire dancing in the demon’s eyes. “I’m bored,” he heard Ryka say, as if from a great distance. This pulled Adam out of the trance he’d been slipping into, but forced him to again confront the fact that he had been pinned down by an immortal. A bored one, at that. Running through his head were all the warnings Kyle had given him about things that might provoke Ryka, and Adam was sure he hadn’t done any of them.

Covering his face with his hands, he wished himself away, but it didn’t seem to be working. But to his great relief, Ryka repositioned himself against the wall, stretching and refolding his wings. At no point, however, did the unnerving smile he aimed at Adam ever falter. But at least there was distance between them, though Adam was sure no amount of space would ever be enough to give him a decent chance of escape.

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For the moment, though, Ryka seemed uninterested in moving. The lull gave Adam’s pulse a chance to slow back to normal. At least until the doorbell rang. Unable to stop himself, he screamed.

“Better get that,” Ryka said, obviously doing his best not to burst into hysterics.

Somehow, even trembling as he was, he managed to get to his feet and make his way to the front door. Unsure what to expect, but fearing the worst, Adam cracked it open. His heart all but stopped when he discovered a pizza delivery man standing on the other side. “Uh, you ordered a large meat-lovers pizza, a large order of jalapeno poppers, habanero wings, and a two-liter Mountain Dew. Right?”

A wallet landed near Adam’s feet, and he instinctively bent down to retrieve it. “How much?” He was rather impressed that he managed to keep his voice from shaking.

After paying for the food, he set it, and Kyle’s wallet, down on the coffee table closest to Ryka before heading straight for his bedroom. Not that he planned on getting much sleep, but staring at the clock until morning seemed a good way to calm himself.

I told you to let me order food if you were hungry. Why did you do that to him?

This time, Ryka actually answered. “Because even though food works pretty well, I needed something a little more substantial.”

Kyle didn’t know what to say to that. It bothered him that Ryka saw Adam as nothing more than a midnight snack. Though, he supposed, it could have been much worse. A phrase he found himself thinking much too often. In any case, Kyle knew there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do while Ryka was in control was watch helplessly.

“If you begged enough, I’d probably listen. I have before, haven’t I?”

You have.

“And he wasn’t that scared. He’ll still be able to look at you tomorrow. Speaking of, want me to leave you some pizza for breakfast?”

Sure. And don’t eat all that spicy stuff.

“Aw.”

Please. You know what it does to me the next day. Much to his continuing dismay, Ryka ate like a drunk frat boy - the greasier and spicier, the better. Of course, Kyle would be the one to deal with the consequences of the spicy food, without ever having been able to enjoy them in the first place.

At least Ryka understood what he was getting at. “Yeah, yeah. Fine.” Kyle was going to thank him when the demon continued, “Besides, if I’m going to destroy your asshole, there are better ways to go about it. Don’t you think?”

Words escaped Kyle. All he could do was hope Adam couldn’t hear any of this.

While Kyle sputtered and attempted some sort of reply, Ryka moved on. “That was a lot just for a pizza, though, huh?”

A little, yeah.

“Well, I am bored.” Mirror or no, Kyle could easily picture the look on Ryka’s face. The naughty smirk he’d be wearing in his attempt to seduce Kyle.

Not in someone else’s house. Sorry. And definitely not after what you just said. Now eat your pizza and go to sleep already. I’m tired.

“You’re mean.”

The worst.

***

The day of prom was technically a full day of school, but most students were dismissed a few hours earlier to start preparations for that night. Not that he was looking forward to the event, but Kyle almost wished he could leave, too, just so he wouldn’t have to try to teach to a nearly-empty room. The few students left were more interested in talking about the prom than they were in learning about the Civil War.

Even though he taught sophomores, and it was a junior/senior prom, many more underclassmen than he’d expected had been invited. Either that, or their parents had just agreed to let them leave school early for no good reason. Which left him with more empty seats than occupied ones. Halfway through his last class of the day, he gave up and started correcting some essays.

When the last bell finally rang, he headed out to the parking lot to meet Adam. Since Kyle was still staying with him while his house dried out and his carpets were replaced, they had been taking turns driving to school. It still amazed Kyle that Adam hadn’t kicked him out after Ryka’s stunt a few nights earlier.

He’s not brave enough.

“Shh.”

Adam was walking toward them, and Kyle had been trying to get Ryka back into the habit of not talking around other people. Because Kyle couldn’t stop himself from keeping up the conversation, regardless of how much it looked like he was talking to himself.

“It’s going to be a long night,” Adam said as they pulled out of the lot.

Kyle couldn’t have agreed more. He was already exhausted, and they still had several hours before the prom even started. He couldn’t have nightmares, but he could still easily envision the myriad ways the evening could turn into a complete disaster. Foremost among them at the moment was the rental tux he needed to pick up. Ryka was quite skilled at destroying his clothes. His personal wardrobe ending up as rags was bad enough, but he didn’t want to have to buy a tux, or explain what had happened to it.

Give me some credit, huh? And I’m not that desperate to get into your pants.

It was better not to respond to that one, Kyle knew. And Ryka let it slide as well.

As soon as they arrived at Adam’s, the two men parted ways. “I’ll see you there,” Adam said, never leaving his car. They had rented their tuxes from different places, and Adam still had to pick up his date. Kyle waved and got into his own car.

***

Two hours later, Kyle pulled up at the venue chosen for the big event: a country club. He picked a parking spot relatively close to the building. Just in case, he told himself.

In your case, that’s more of a ‘probably.’ Though this sucks already.

Not sure who it was bothering more, Kyle had readjusted his tie nearly a dozen times already. The shoes were even worse. At least for him, there wouldn’t be any dancing. Only standing around, watching everyone else have fun. Which was fine by him; the less he had to move around in them, the better. They had no traction and were already slicing into his ankles, even with the buffer of socks.

These fucking shoes. Take them off so I can burn them. And what sadistic bastard invented ties? If I’m going to be choked, I don’t want it to be like this.

The implication made by the last comment left Kyle wide-eyed, so he ignored it. “I don’t know, but he must be in Hell, right?”

Guess we’ll find out, hmm?

Kyle didn’t particularly like what was implied by that, either. But he pushed the thought aside, and instead shifted his focus to the venue. Not that he’d been to many, but it was a rather nice country club, with beautifully landscaped grounds and an elegant ballroom. At least based on the pictures he’d seen of the interior.

Worried as Kyle was for his rental tux, his new concern quickly became how much damage Ryka could do to the clubhouse. As he strolled up to the doors, he assessed the building and came to the conclusion no amount of fundraising would ever be enough if something annoyed Ryka and he decided to act on it.

All he could do was hope for a pleasant, sin-free evening. Which he hoped he’d make it to. The first obstacle was waiting for him just inside the main entrance. There, a photographer and a flower-covered trellis awaited the soon-to-be-arriving students. But that wasn’t what made Kyle nervous. It was the cluster of his fellow chaperones chatting just beside it that froze him in his tracks.

Mostly, it was spotting Adam and Kate that gave him pause. Well, Kate most of all. Seeing her in passing had been awkward enough. Now he was going to have to make conversation. At least it wouldn’t be in front of a crowd, though. His arrival chased off the other chaperones, leaving only Adam and Kate. As soon as the greetings were out of the way, Kate started on a topic Kyle had been hoping desperately to avoid. “No date?” she inquired.

There was only one way to settle this that would prevent Ryka from turning it into a big deal. Mustering what little courage he possessed, Kyle quietly told her, “My boyfriend works nights. He couldn’t make it.”

That left her looking more than a little surprised, as he had expected. But putting himself through the embarrassment was more than worth it. Now he wouldn’t have to listen to Ryka hiss and growl every time they ran into her. And now maybe she would understand part of why he had turned her down.

“Sorry to hear that,” she said, before dragging Adam away to discuss something - him, Kyle was sure - and leaving him standing alone. Well, as alone as he ever could be.

I’m impressed. Hide yourself in the bathroom and I’ll gladly reward you for your bravery.

Raising a hand to his mouth and pretending to cough, Kyle replied, “No thanks.” He was saved from further discussion by the arrival of the first group of attendees. Some of his former students, he was happy to see. One who treated him as normally as could be expected.

“Hey, Mr. S.!” Tommy greeted. Mackenzie was clinging to his arm, and Melissa and Nick followed behind them, also trying to walk and cuddle at the same time.

“You guys look great,” he told them. The girls blushed, thanked him for the compliment then left to go find their table. Nick and Tommy lingered, and Kyle worried they too were going to ask why he hadn’t brought someone along. Instead, they stared at their shoes for a few minutes. “What’s wrong?” he finally asked.

“There’s just a lot of kids who got invited that aren’t from school,” Tommy informed him, still unable to stop staring in fascination at his own feet.

Maybe this won’t be so boring after all. New sinners. Yummy.

Kyle nearly choked. Ryka’s accuracy in predicting when something bad was about to happen to him was rather high, and he still vividly remembered the scene in the convenience store, when the demon had known precisely what the robber was thinking.

“Don’t worry about it. Just have fun, okay?” They didn’t say anything else, but headed off to catch up with their dates. With no one else around, Kyle had no problem asking Ryka “Is there something I need to know?”

I can’t really say. People’s fates can change very quickly when immortals get involved. That asshole at the store was supposed to die in a car accident, but I was there.

“So, you can see what should happen, but that doesn’t really matter if you decide to do something about it?”

Pretty much. Angels could do the same sort of thing. Though obviously they’d be gently putting to rest terminal cancer patients, not choking the life out of dumbass kids. Usually, mortals run into us close to when they’re supposed to die anyhow, so not much really changes. Of course, we can really do whatever we want, though killing the saved doesn’t benefit me all that much, except that it’s probably a lot of fun.

At any rate, I have to see the person to know how and when they’re supposed to die and what they’re destined for afterwards. And all that can change – what I can see is based on what they’ve done so far. So, if something big happens – like with those two little shits, this as he forced Kyle’s gaze to follow after Nick and Tommy, their fate can change. If you hadn’t let me out and they’d never changed their behavior, there’d be a spot in Hell waiting for them.

Apparently, Kate had finished talking about him with Adam, because the two returned just as Kyle finished getting his brief lesson on fate. Only when he picked up a conversation with them, though, did he realize Ryka had never answered his original question.

***

The rest of the night went so smoothly Kyle completely forgot to worry. Although he noticed quite a few kids, most from out of town, had shown up drunk, he found he was more jealous than anything else. And besides their being a little too loud, they really didn’t do anything that would warrant his getting involved.

With only a half an hour to go before the prom ended, Kyle snuck out of the building. Try as he might to ignore the craving, he had realized he wasn’t going to make it another thirty minutes without a smoke. Once he was outside - and since most of the kids were now barefoot themselves - he slipped off his shoes, socks and jacket and undid his tie, leaving that last draped around his neck. The rest he tossed into the passenger seat of his car. He dug an open pack of cigarettes out of the glove box.

Man, that’s so much better.

“That stuff was bothering you that much?” he asked, lighting his cigarette.

Demons don’t wear anything. Your normal clothes were hard to get used to. Though I think we could have some fun with the tie. I’d let you choke me out.

“Ryka!”

We’ll talk about it later. Kyle wanted to disagree, but Ryka moved on, ensuring he got the last word on the subject. Those shoes were friggin’ torture, though. And I should know. I’m an expert.

Laughing, Kyle started across the driveway, thinking he’d idly examine the flower beds near the road and chat with Ryka more where no one could hear. He’d only taken a few steps in that direction when he caught sight of rapidly approaching headlights out of the corner of his eye. And he understood exactly why deer froze. His feet wanted him to run, but his mind was too busy envisioning him becoming roadkill to get the message and do something about it. Not wanting to see the blood, he squeezed his eyes shut and waited to be hit.

The squealing of tires was almost deafening, as was the sound shattering glass and crumpling metal. It sounded like the car hit a wall, and Kyle thought maybe they’d managed to swerve and avoid him. Because he never felt a thing.

Through clenched teeth, Ryka allowed himself one quiet “Ow” before opening his eyes to take stock of his injuries. A Mustang’s front bumper was wrapped around his legs, its grill embedded in his thighs, blood and car fluids pooling at his feet. The care was in worse shape. Smoke billowed out from under the hood, now accordioned in half, and broken glass glittered on the pavement.

Ryka. Oh shit, are you okay?

“Oh, I’m fucking peachy. These assholes, though,” he snarled, pointing at the nearly unconscious kids visible through the cracked remains of the windshield, “are about to die.”

You can’t do that.

Ryka didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed the car far enough away so that he could bend down. With very little effort, he dug his claws into the driveway and grabbed a handful of asphalt. But when he pulled his hand back to his side, it wasn’t just that fistful that came with it. A twenty-foot long strip of the road, tapering to near invisible fineness, separated itself from the rest of the asphalt. In his hand, the whip glowed molten red.

One crack, and all the windows in the club house fractured in their panes. Here was the property damage Kyle had been so worried about. Slowly, the four kids in the car sat up, their senses beginning to return. A second crack, and every car alarm in what Kyle was sure had to be a five-mile radius started to wail. Even over the pounding bass and blaring alarms, the nervous whispering from inside the building was clearly audible to Ryka.

His bare feet left bloody footprints as he started toward the driver’s side door of the car. The whip hung over one shoulder, the roadway bubbling and smoking wherever it touched. “Wakey wakey, shitheads. Time to pay for your sins.”

The driver, a young man who was quite obviously drunk, seemed to be sobering up rather quickly as he stared helplessly at the demon. “I’ll pull you right through the fucking window if you don’t hurry and get your ass out of that seat. That goes for all of you. Move it!”

The couple in the backseat scrambled out over the boy and girl who had been riding up front, and all four somehow managed to stagger to their feet. Their fear was almost enough to overpower the reek of alcohol. And now the rising panic from the club house was wafting out into the clear night air. Ryka inhaled deeply, and the whip glowed brighter in his hand.

Of the four teenagers standing before him, only one was unable to look at him, though the rest carefully avoided eye contact. Even for being drunk, the girl that had been riding shotgun was extremely unsteady. “You know where murderers go when they die, don’t you?” Ryka asked the driver.

“Murderer?”

“I meant you, dipshit. She’s got three hours before all that hemorrhaging does her in.”

Wide-eyed, the driver looked over at his girlfriend. Her face was bruised and swollen from hitting the dashboard, and blood trickled out of her broken nose and from a cut he couldn’t see above her hairline. She tried to look back at him, but her eyes kept going out of focus. “Danielle?”

“Aw, too late. She’s as good as dead. I’d be happy to put you out of your misery, too.” The boy flinched away as Ryka stepped closer. “Although ….” He grabbed the boy’s hair and forced him to make eye contact. His own glowing irises reflected in the boys’ glistening eyes. “Tell me what you see.”

Tears streamed down the boy’s face. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t pry his gaze away from the sight of his own death. “I’m h-hanging.” In his own closet, he noticed. Wearing his graduation gown. His heart started pounding when he realized that was only a few weeks away.

“Saves me the trouble of killing you at least. Guilt is a wonderful thing.” Ryka briefly considered breaking at least one of the driver’s arms, but thought he might not be able to do the deed without full use of both of them. Instead, he shoved the boy aside, smiling when he heard the “thud” of the young man’s head hitting the pavement.

Having heard the fates of their two friends, the two from the backseat were hugging each other and sobbing. “My Master is begging me to spare you, even though you nearly killed him,” Ryka told them. Kyle had, for some time now, been pleading with Ryka to calm down and not tear the children limb from limb. “I’ll obey my Master, although I don’t think it’s right to let you go unpunished. I suppose watching two of your friends die will have to be enough. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind.” They scattered, the driver bodily hauling his girlfriend out of the demon’s path.

By now, most of the people who had been inside had come out to see what was going on. None dared venture more than a foot or two away from the building. You have to stop this, Ryka. I mean, you can barely walk. Every step was agony, and accompanied by a sharp hiss through clenched teeth.

“Don’t remind me. Just one more thing, and then it’s all you, Master.”

Turning back to face the car, Ryka tightened his fist around the handle of his whip. Flame raced down its entire length. Never taking his eyes off the nervous mass of people milling near the building, Ryka cracked the whip one last time.

With a groan, the Mustang collapsed in on itself, flames already licking at the crumpled exterior of the car. The final lash, before the whip melted back into asphalt, had split the vehicle exactly in two.

***

With a gasp, Kyle sat bolt upright, nearly head-butting Adam, who managed to back away just in time. Hit your head and you’re on your own.

Disoriented, Kyle looked around him. The room was tilting wildly, but he still recognized it as the guest room at Adam’s. His things were just as he’d left them that afternoon, his work clothes still folded on the end of the bed. Adam, perched on the edge of the mattress, was looking at him with concern. Kate, hovering in the doorway, seemed worried as well, but Kyle suspected not for him. “What happened?”

You remember. It wasn’t a question, and now the events of the evening were flashing through his mind, every detail excruciatingly clear. Shutting his eyes helped with the spins, but not the nausea the replay triggered. And it certainly didn’t stop him from reliving every painful second of what had happened. He couldn’t bring himself to ask about it, not with an audience.

“How long was I out?” he asked instead.

“It’s been a few hours,” Adam told him. The dark bags under his eyes assured Kyle that this was the truth. “We thought it best to just come back here. You weren’t awake, but you could still walk. Well, sort of. He told me to get you away from there, so ….” Kyle grimaced. Unconscious, he was a puppet, and Ryka had been forced to take advantage of the fact. That had probably added another shock to an already terrifying evening.

“Ryka said to?”

Adam nodded. “It was his voice.”

He couldn’t imagine how unnerving it must have been for them to hear Ryka’s voice come out of his unconscious, but still very mobile, body. Maybe, he thought, he should give them Chris’s number and they could start a support group.

“We managed to leave before the police and paramedics showed up. We figured you were mostly okay – you don’t have a scratch on you.”

The urge to check was overwhelming, but he fought it. “Thank you. And sorry. For everything.”

Adam shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But -”

“Really. We’ll let you rest. Just yell if you need anything.” With that, Adam stood and started for the door. Kate followed him like a shadow, face pale and eyes wide.

As soon as the door closed, Kyle slouched back against the headboard. Time to hopefully put one worry to rest. “Ryka, are you alright?”

Well, the good news is we won’t be fighting over your body for a few days.

“You’re really going to be okay? You know, you didn’t have to do that.”

I’ll be fine. And of course I did. If I’d let you get hit, you’d have to miss a week of work at least. And I’d have to be out the whole time to fix you up. And then who’d go out and buy beer for me?

“What an act.”

I know, huh? I’m sorry you have to hurt, too. Kyle had been so busy worrying that only when Ryka mentioned it did he finally notice the pain. It certainly felt like he had stopped a car with his legs. Good thing we’re tall. If that piece of crap had hit anything more important, they’d still be picking up pieces of those kids.

“The kids ….” This wouldn’t be such an easy thing to come to terms with.

They were going to flip the car on the highway. With the same result.

That didn’t help much. Especially not when he remembered Ryka’s conversation with the driver. “And the boy. Is he really going to ….?” Kyle trailed off, unable to say it.

Don’t know. Seeing his own suicide might have changed his mind, but one thing wouldn’t change. But that’s not a sin. That’s not what’s going to damn him.

“Oh.”

They did it to themselves. We just happened to be there.

“I know.” And he did. The guilt wouldn’t last long. Neither would the uncomfortable feeling that followed, when he casually shoved the thought of more death to the deepest recesses of his mind. Where he could ignore it. Hopefully forever.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t the only one with regrets. Um, sorry about the suit.

Kyle could hardly muster the energy to look down and see what state the rental tux was now in. Someone - Kate most likely - had driven his car back, because his jacket and shoes were unharmed, sitting on the dresser. The remains of the shirt and vest were next to him on the bed, so badly ripped that they’d hardly be of use as rags. And the pants, which he still wore, were torn and crusted with dried blood. “Forget it. I’m just glad we’re both okay. Though you seem really tired.”

I’m immortal, but there are fucking limits. That whip took energy. And fixing us up is going to take the rest.

“The rest?”

They were all so scared. Kyle shuddered to hear how excited Ryka sounded. It was a good meal. And these two are dessert. She’s terrified. His gaze suddenly moved to the door, and he could hear Adam and Kate readying themselves for bed.

“Ryka ….”

Don’t bitch. There’s nothing you can do about it. And I’m less exhausted than I should be because of it. If it was unavoidable, Kyle thought he shouldn’t fret so much about it. He’d try to explain later, but already assumed that wouldn’t help much. Of course it won’t. So just get some sleep. Or do you need some help relaxing?

There was no doubt what Ryka was offering. Feeling his cheeks redden, Kyle said, “Not now.”

This is probably the only time I won’t argue. But what kind of shitty prom date am I? I didn’t get you drunk and get all handsy at some sleazy motel.

“A terrible disappointment, I assure you.”

Liar.

“Maybe a little.”