Chapter One - What Else Are Horns Good For? 

              I closed the door with the heel of my foot. I fell, leaning my back against the cold metal of the brass door. A girl can get tired of this routine. All I do is stack papers, stock shelves, sort letters, and organize shampoos. I could seriously use some flavor in my life because this was a boring schedule. I do not understand. I have been out of school for a year. Why is everything repeating itself?

                Throughout high school, I had to listen to teachers who constantly talk about history. To me of course it was the same old story; they fight, they get strong, they fight, then they die. That is how it feels to me right now—constant repetition—with just a few surprises.

                Come on! I am a twenty-year-old woman. I need some color to paint all these bland walls! I need to get out of the boring shades of grays and white. I need something interesting to happen to me. I need it to happen fast. If I do not I am going to run a bullet through my head in boredom. Eventually, my eyes began to grow heavy and I forced myself to head to my bedroom. I turned the corridor then I heard the slightest squeak of my door. My hair on my neck stood up.

                I stood silently in confusion. I knew that I had locked it. I do not have any late-night friends who would want to come to see me so badly they would break into my house. I turned around back to the hallway entrance. With a shaky hand, I ran nimble ringers through my long almost knee-length light brown hair.

                For the love of God, I cursed under my breath. I took a glance in hopes my nervous silver eyes could find my intruder. I watched as a man held the door open for a dog to sliver its nimble black body through the doorway. Auburn waves that fell around the man's chin blocked me from seeing his face. Two long horns protruded from his scalp around the top of his head and I noticed the left one chipped unevenly close to his scalp. The other one (the one that was still intact) looked sharp and painful. It could probably penetrate skin with hardly any effort. I ran my hand to my stomach as it jumbled in horror.  The man was extremely tall and his shoulder blades caped with bat-like wings that almost drug the ground as he walked. Swishing behind him was a long, thin tail.

                He closed the door with his large hands and turned to look at the dog. "Whelp, where is she?" he asked.

                I jumped, holding back my peep of surprise that nearly escaped through my thin lips. Who was she? Were they looking for me? I have never seen these... things before.

                The dog turned its big muscled head toward the man. Three red eyes formed on his face, blinking in different sequences. His ears stood up in long, tall, and sharp points. As the dog wagged his tail, long, scale-like blades exposed through his short fur. His eyes glanced toward my doorway. My head was poking out vitally and I jerked back into security.

                "Oh, wow! I didn't even notice her!" the man laughed at himself with a deep chuckle. "You might as well stop hiding, we know you're there,” he called out to me.

                I jumped out of my skin, and poked my head back around the doorway, "Why are you in my house?" I asked, steadying up my shaking voice.

                "You don't have to hide,” he held out a hand urging me toward him.

                "I'm not hiding I want to know what the heck you're doing in my home, out of all places,” I remained behind my doorway because let us be honest, he could be a rapist.

                I realized. He could be a rapist.

                What am I going to do against them? I cannot defend myself! I am barely even five feet tall! What is he? Like 5'6”? There is a back door!  I remembered.  I am sure I could make it there... if I made haste, maybe I can kick the dog and it only bite off half my foot. I could escape with half my foot and possibly my virginity...

                I said possibly.

                "My name is Red, by the way, if there are to be introductions,” he introduced himself as he wiped his sweaty hands down his pants.

                "What? Uh? Wha- what are you supposed to be? Is this cosplay?" I shifted from leg to leg. I was talking to a cold-blooded killer. God, please let it be cosplay.

                When the man looked at me with a puzzled expression, I realized it was not cosplay.

                I! I panicked in my head. He's a murderer! Is he going to kill me then rape my body? Does he like the dead look? I must look dead, nine hours of work did kill me mentally, I am sure it is physically too.

                "Cosplay?" The man scratched the back of his head with a short laugh curling off his tongue. Then he shook his head. "No, like I said my name is Red."

                I snapped my finger and pointed at him vigorously, "I know who you are, but what are you?" I almost yelled out desperately. My voice wobbled at the end of my sentence. I am so afraid of messing up. I do not want him to end up hurting me.

                “I’m a demon,” he said shortly. “I worked for Satan for the majority of my hell life. However, they banished me. I guess you could say I am a raised demon, or whatever. Maybe you get it, right? It’s like a fallen angel?" He waggled a finger in the air.

                "What are you doing here?" I asked. "You aren’t welcome in my home! I have Jesus in here, buddy!"

                "It ain't like I'm here to do evil!" His lips curled into a twisted smile. "Are you afraid I'm gonna say, ‘oh yes let me into you pretty girl,’ lemme do all kinds of creepy things with you.” He turned his head to the side. "Can I have your body I promise that I'll do well with it? I’ll let you figure out exactly what horns are good for." He seductively winked at the end of his sentence.

                "Now, mister," I stepped out of hiding spot, narrowing my eyes and snarling at him. "You are in my home! You cannot come into my home and say such nasty things to me! So, you better watch your mouth before I call the police."

                He flashed me a smile and lifted his hands in defeat, "You're right," he admitted. "I am sorry, but anyway. I came here to tell you that you're here to help protect over me and my hellhound, Flamewhisper,” he said as he pointed down to the dog at his feet.

                "And why is that?” I snapped. “I don't quite remember agreeing to anything that included you two."

                "But," The hound yapped. I jumped out of my skin and looked down at the dog, it was a big dog, I would say almost the size of a lab and if it was not for the ears (and extra eye). I'd swear up and down he'd be a pureblood. "You're a fairy?"

                "A fairy?" I questioned raising one eyebrow to stare down into the dog's bottom eyes, "I am no fairy. I’m a human."

                He came over to me. I backed away, pushing myself into the wall behind me. The dog wagged his long tail and leaned forward to sniff me. "If it looks like a fairy, talks like a fairy, and smells like a fairy, it must be a fairy."

                "And what would one say a fairy talks like?" Red asked, chewing on a fingernail.

                I attempted to get the hound to back off me by kicking at him. Instead of going back to Red, he licked my foot.

                "I ain't a fairy you mutt!" I cussed at him.

                "Hey!" the dog cried out. "I'm not insulting you, now am I? You gotta be nicer than that!"

                I chewed on the dead skin of my bottom lip. "It's the truth! I think I'd know if I were something like that."

                "Not really, you smell as if you have virgin powers,” Red jumped in.

                "I told you specifically,” I pointed at the demon, “don’t talk like that to me!”

                The man backed up, holding his hands in the air defensively. "I'm sorry little fairy girl, but I meant you haven't used your power.” Then he waggled his thick eyebrows, “Not to poke at the subject, but clearly, you haven't lain with a man either. Anyone could see it. You act too adolescent and cute. You'd be more open to the subject of the birds and the bees if you'd have known what a good time felt like."

                My eyes widened in horror and I felt little cold chills run down my stomach. "Get out of my house,” I snapped. "Right now or I am calling the damn police! You have no right to be here! I want no part of you guys being here, especially with the way you're talking to me.” I was blushing fiercely

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                "But, you're a fairy girl you must understand!" The dog snapped.

                "You're high! You know that! You have to be!" I backed up a step back as I noticed the man was becoming more desperate to get me to listen to him. I felt cold fear run down my spine. I took another step back and the man took one with me. "Why can't you go find someone else to help you?"

                "Because you're the only fairy I've found and I've been searching for almost a week! I don't wanna have to keep searching for someone who might reject me."

                "Well, you can keep looking, demon man. For all I care, you can go hang under a bridge. It's not my job to watch over you."

                "Well, please just listen,” Red began nervously, “you're a fairy. A fairy's magic has only one purpose—to watch over fallen angels or banished demons. If we are banished, we are sent to come to talk to you because we need magic donations to survive."

                "And how is it my problem that you screwed up and now Satan doesn't want you?" I was shaking in my clothes, my vision was becoming splotchy and I bit down on my cheek.

                His jawline flexed as he ground teeth together. He looked down at his dog and whispered something out of earshot. His jawline was carved out of a Greek god statue and his hair fell around his chin in auburn locks of waves. His shoulder blades protruded out of his back in muscles as his arm flexed. He straightened back up and twisted himself to look me in the eyes. The man's eyes were strangely breathtaking. They were slit through the center by cat-eye pupils that divided his golden yellow irises. His eyelashes were darker than his hair and draped his lids that slightly pointed upward. He wore a dark cloak-like thing that went down to his feet. Jeans and a wife-beater were worn underneath it. He was wearing leather boots.

                "Let's start this thing all over!” The hellhound said. "My name is Flamewhisper."

                I pulled my hands up and covered my eyes. "The dog is talking to me!" I whined out.

                "I'm not a dog," The hound yapped. "I am a hellhound."

                "That doesn't make it better!" I cried.

                "Flame,” the man said. "I think you upset her."

                "And there's a demon in my house!" I threw my hands up. I pinched my arm hard and held back a whimper. "Come on Olivia! Wake up!"

                "But yeah... I am Red Violet... A demon. And this is my partner in crime, Flamewhisper."

                "O-M-G,” I whispered. "You guys are partners in crime! Have you killed people?"

                "What?" Red said. "Well, um... yeah?"

                "Oh my god,” I face-planted into my palms and let out a huge sigh. "I am just going to cry. You're all so crazy and creepy!"

                "Well. Um, what did you say your name was again?" Red asked, softening his voice.

                "O- WAIT! Are you one of those weird demons who can possess people by knowing their names?"

                "That's not even a thing, Fairy Girl,” Flamewhisper whispered.

                "Why not! It might be! You might just be saying that in hopes I'll hand myself over,” I pointed blame at them, narrowing my eyes suspiciously between my fingers.

                "No, I don't wanna possess you."

                "You might be lying!" I accused pointed a tan fingernail at him.

                "Fairy Girl, I wouldn't come to someone like you if I wanted to possess someone. I am just saying."

                "Have you ever possessed anyone?" I asked.

                "Well, I am a demon so yeah. My first vessel was a girl named Lily. She was twelve and I spent the majority of her life within her."

                "What?" I stretched out the word like wax on my tongue. "Why would you tell me something like that?"

                "Because you’d believe it."

                It was true. "No, I wouldn't! You don't know anything!"

                I ran one hand down my face and whined inside my throat. "Will you please just leave me alone?"

                Red grimaced, "Can we please just sit down on the couch? Let's talk over a cup of coffee okay?"

                "No, whatever you need to say we can say it right here."

                "My name is Red Violet; I am a worker from Hell. My hellhound is named Flamewhisper and all hellhounds do in Hell is watch over houses so they don't get robbed,” he said all his words stretched out, trying to calm me. "I was kicked out of hell because I failed to do a job that Satan claimed to be extremely important."

                "What job was that?" I asked.

                His eyes darkened, "It was to bring someone back who ran away from him."

                "Why did you have to bring him back?"

                Flame jumped in before Red could, "We aren't allowed to ask questions about our jobs."

                Red continued. "We came to Earth in search of magic powers from a Fairy, you see a Demon or an Angel has to have a small source of magic that dwells inside a fairy, ghoul, or in the afterlife areas."

                "Is there such thing as purgatory?" I asked.

                "What? Um, I guess you could call it purgatory,” Red scratched the back of his head. "But we just call it Nothingness."

                "Why did you come to me and not someone else?"

                "You see, fairies are a dying race and ghouls have been known to kill their person they protect."

                "But you've been searching for a week?"

                "Exactly," Red said. "And you're the first one we found."

                "It would be a sin for me to take you guys in though,” I said.

                "It was what you were MADE to do,” he said. "You are not human, you were destined to take the damned or fallen in and help them. If you weren't supposed to do that, you wouldn't have magic."

                I opened my mouth to fall silent again.

                "Fairy Girl,” Red began, "If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it already. Don't you think?"

                I shrugged my shoulders.

                "Give us a couple of days,” Red began. "You'll see we aren't that bad! If you don't want us here by next week we will leave!"

                I exhaled in defeat. "I guess, but I still don't think this is best."

                Flamewhisper's tail picked up a small pace before he calmed it again. "So are you ever going to tell us your name?"

                "No,” I said. "You guys don't get to know my name."

                I was standing ground on that one. It was going to be that way. I can't let them know what I am called because names have power. "If I don't want you by the end of the week you will leave though? Right?'

                "Yes,” Red said.

                "Okay. You guys can temporarily stay here."

                "I am going to bed,” I said. I backed away through the doorway of my hall. "Goodnight."

                "No, wait!" Red yelled. "You can't go to bed! I am starving!"

                "There is a kitchen in there,” I pointed.

                "But I am so hungry!" Red whined, "If I go and try to make food, surely I will pass out from exhaustion."

                I cocked an eyebrow up, "You can help yourself to leftover turkey in the fridge."

                "Turkey?" Flamewhisper jumped up to all four paws and raced in the direction of the kitchen.

                I shook my head in disgust. I do hope they aren't always like this, or my entire week is going to be a hell ride. "You guys can sleep on the couch, foods in the fridge, do not wake me up, or go into my room unless it's an emergency."

                I was still shaking I needed to take my contacts out. I refuse to sleep in them, and they are drying. My glasses were sitting in the living room and I was a little reluctant to join them in there again. I chewed on the inside of my jaw. Do I want to be able to see?

                I reached into my room and found my old set of glasses. They were too weak but I can manage with them. Until I can wake up and put in my glasses. I debated on putting a bible at the entrance but thought twice. They seemed nice enough.

                I'm sure dozens of murders seemed nice too.

                That night, I slept with a bible.