The more the weeks passed, the more I realized Athanasios had not prepared me quite like he should have.

The school was fun, and I actually made a few friends, but, most importantly -- I finally managed to turn the Speaker into a friend of some sort.

I hoped he'd never have to know why it was that I wanted to be his friend in the first place.

And I liked to boast with my vast knowledge of the battle skills and with my ability of the spear, but I noticed that Athanasios' lessons had lacked too much in theory.

To focus on the practise, he often didn't care if the theory went through, and so I found myself saying stupid stuff about Creatures I usually wouldn't be caught dead saying. Their size, their powers... everything that wasn't 'attack, attack, attack', probably couldn't be learnt if you studied with Athanasios.

It was refreshing, in a way, that my best friend was the Speaker. At least Roman didn't really care if I knew things about the Creatures or not. And he was too busy thinking about his own reputation to even spare a thought about mine. It was not easy being Atticus' weird little brother, the one who was not so good at everything, but wrote street poetry in his free time.

If only Roman could have known how creative, and a stroke of genius, I found his verses. But I couldn't tell him -- it was not the way we talked to each other. I liked better to tease him, since he'd never paid me a compliment since we first became 'friends'.

I should know. I'd been waiting to hear one, and I'd been counting down the days.

And then, Roman and I shared a secret. The Demon.

At first, Roman didn't want to keep it a secret, but I'd be dead before the teachers caught me doing something they might mistake as lying. It was not like telling my usual stories -- lie was something that I abhorred, and that the adults that I'd always known loathed even more than I did.

Then, Jonathan tried to escape, and battled a Demon, and slayed it, and Cypress had been there to confirm that it was the truth. I realized Roman and I could have told about the Demon to the teachers, because they might believe it now, but Roman reminded me that the Demon we found was inside the school, not outside. The school they were supposed to protect.

"Why did you ask me to come?" Roman rubbed his eyes. It was daylight, and Mira and Minx were preparing for the routine we'd have to follow once we turn. Blood Drinkers did not exactly lived during the night and slept during the day, but they woke much earlier than everyone else and went to sleep later than the norm.

"I want to read you a few things I found in the library about our roommate," I said.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You can't call the Demon our friend."

I shushed him. "Do you want people to hear the D word?"

"Well," Roman looked uneasy, like everytime he didn't get a certain joke or thought a reference was stupid. "Don't call it our roommate. It's not even in your room, much less our room."

"It's in our school, got to count for something," I reasoned. "Besides it can go wherever it pleases, I'm sure."

"Okay, fine," Roman replied. "I didn't think you were the reading type."

I put down my stacks of books abruptly, but realized later it wasn't the smartest thing to do. I should have been more silent.

"Just because there are much more interesting things to do," I raised an eyebrow. "And just because I like to do them, well it doesn't mean reading is not one of my favourite activities. It might be in my top ten, perhaps at the ninth place."

Roman looked ready to call me out on my bullshit. I was relieved when he gave up, and didn't reply.

"I'm sure you know there is quite a lot to learn about Demons," I said. "The one Jonathan and Cypress met did not look at all like our little hurricane friend."

Roman's eyes became slits. It was easy to see him upset, but not to see him unnerved. I relished the fact that I could do both.

I opened up the first book. I was elated. Finally, I would not be seen as the ignorant type anymore. All the readings I had done about Demons was going to make everyone who thought I was not the reading type change their minds.

"There is a legend," I cleared my throat. "About a demon who takes the form of the dead at night. It can possess people. It is said it was the spirit of a giant who was slaughtered in battle."

Roman looked at the first book with disdain. "I think those are children's stories."

I felt my cheeks becoming scarlet. Thankfully he couldn't see me very well in the dim light. Roman would never become a Blood Drinker, and he'd never be able to see in the dark, not like I will have.

I tried not to envy him too much.

"Ah," I exclaimed. "Ah, you're right. You really are. Well, I knew that, obviously."

Roman looked at the books. "Is there anything good?"

"Maybe we can learn from children's stories as well," I replied, offended.

"Except that I can speak to the spirit of the dead, and I'd know whether the Demon was the soul of a giant slaughtered in battle."

"Did you know that there's a legend that says that for each one of us there's a shadow, a mirror, a demonic counterpart?" when I saw that Roman was about to reply something unkind, I held up my hands. "I know that it's just a legend, I know! I said that."

"I don't know," Roman only said. "Why you like stupid stories more than the truth."

It was a blow that was very hard to take. "I-" I couldn't help but stammer. "W-well, at least in the stories I knew who my father was..." I looked down. "I don't remember anything about mine. Or my mother."

"Shit, I'm sorry," Roman looked guilty. "I just.... I just don't understand why you're fooling around with this Demon as well. Not that I understand when you're doing it with your life, but it is your life, and you can do it."

"You know," he added. "I understand if you feel like you have to paint your parents differently from how they were. I mean, I don't think I would do that, but I understand. I think Atticus might want to do that, sometimes, but he's just too honest."

"Well, I've got," I coughed awkwardly. "Other news for you. Demons are jealous of humans because we have a body, and they don't. This is why they possess us. So, feel flattered. The little whirlwind from the other day really wanted you for your body."

Roman looked very bothered -- he was used to biting back. Oh, I had heard his poetry. He'd tell me he wanted me dead only to revive me, or something. But nobody must have teased him on that things in particular. Who could have, with Atticus around?

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"Demons live on the Other Side, where they can hold on to something that resemble bodies for a little while," I added with a slight smirk. "They can tell the future, though I don't think they'd be able to communicate it to us. But maybe, if you let it get hold of you, it will make you start spouting prophecies..."

"I'm not cool with the idea of the Demon haunting me," Roman replied sultry. "Just because I'm a Speaker. Maybe the next time, it will come for you."

"Let him try," I replied. "I am very attractive, after all."

I didn't know if I believed that -- it had never been a priority. But I would have said it just for the puzzled look on Roman's face.

"Another thing about Demons," I swallowed the fear, because this part was much worse than the ones I'd told before. "When they are not holding on to a body, you can't see them."

"We know that," Roman replied.

"But," I added, "And this is the worst part, they can see you."

We looked around the room, holding our breaths.

"When they don't have a corporeal body," I added. "They look either invisible, or difficult to wrap your mind around, like the little hurricane. But it is said that once they're invisible, they have crows feet. If you sprinkle ashes near your bed, or where you think a demon's been, you should check if you see something that resembles the footprints of a cock."

Roman looked suddenly ill. "I don't know if I want to do that," he said. "It seems much more difficult than what Jonathan has gone through to kill the Keteb."

"The Keteb was a kind of demon, but it was a Keteb nevertheless. This is a demon with a capital D, you get it? The blueprint. The others are something near Creatures, that can't be called Creatures, and so they're called Demons."

Roman nodded, convinced. I was happy my knowledge was showing.

"One last thing," Roman started picking at his sock. "Why do their feet looks like crows'?"

"I figure it's the same reason why a Leviathan shows up, and you get a plague or an earthquake," I replied, proud I'd learnt the lesson. "Things that thrive in the Chaos or on the Other Side don't look quite the same on ours."

At last, Roman and I reached an agreement. He sparkled ashes on the pavement of the room where we'd met the Demon ("nobody ever cleans up this room," he assured me) and around his bed. I didn't think Atticus, who shared a room with him, was ecstatic at the idea, but there wasn't much else we could do. The Demon had possessed Roman, though quite briefly, so it could go back and try to take hold of the same body another time.

A few days later, Roman set next to me during lunch. I beamed. It was the first time that he did it -- usually, I would invite him, and Atticus would have to beg him.

"I have news on the Demon," he whispered. I looked around. He hated the nicknames I came up with, but he was okay with saying the D word all around the school as if nobody actually cared to hear it.

He was wrong. I shuddered at the idea of Minx and Mira, or even Jonathan and Cypress, finding out there was a Demon in the school, and that we'd already seen it.

"I realized there is only one kind of Demon that possess bodies," he said. "A Dybbuk. It must be what this creature was."

I immediately felt very alarmed.

"But I read about Dybbuks!" I complained, trying to keep my voice as low as I could while I was in the middle of freaking out. "I know how to make them go away, and it won't be easy..."

"We never thought it would be," Roman pointed out.

"Yes! But... all the legends mention what to do when it's already possessing you," I panicked.

"Atticus told me that when people are panicked, you can change topic of the conversations," Roman said, taking a long look at me. I was shaking, and my breath was heavy. "So, did you know that dybbuk is short for dibbūq mē-rūaḥ rā'ā?"

I proceeded to breathe steadily again. Not because Roman's advice wasn't trash -- it was -- but because I knew how to proceed. How bad could it be?

"Okay," I said. "I feel calmer now. Uh... no thanks to you. We could become demonic bait and let the Demon possess me or you. That way, we will be free of it."

"How do we know it's still in this realm?" Roman asked. It was a valid question.

"Because back then, I pushed you, and it got out of your body. While to banish a Dybbuk, we need to follow the procedure. And it isn't what we did back then."

"What the procedure would be? Hypothetically?" Roman asked. "Not that I agree with your idea."

"There are four steps," I said, counting them on my fingers. "First, you find out who is being possessed by a Dybbuk. Second, you ask the Dybbuk about their story. Unlike other Demons, they are souls of the deceased. Third, the Dybbuk tells you their story, and you listen. You don't roll your eyes or make snarky remarks. Yes, I'm saying it for you specifically."

Roman rolled his eyes. I was afraid he'd say a snarky remark any time now.

"Fourth," I added. "You say a spell. It must be some sentence in an ancient language, like the one you just spoke. The Dybbuk will leave the body."

"Why do we have to listen to the story then?" Roman asked.

"I don't know. Good manners? Or maybe we can trick them into thinking we can help them with whatever they're back on Earth for -- revenge, money, love, you know, the unfinished business..."

"You would lead on a Demon?" Roman's eyes became slits.

I waved my hand. "Don't be so bleak, I'm sure it will be much easier than we think it will."

"Sure, like that's how those things usually go," Roman commented.

"Listen, do you want my help or not?" I became impatient. "I have no other idea. Or if you prefer, I could tell Mira everything, including that you want to keep it a secret."

His eyes became very wide.

"Like I thought," I replied. "Don't worry. I like having a secret with you. I think of it as an unbreakable bond that will forge our friendship..."

"How do we find the spell?" Roman interrupted me. I had the impression he'd stopped me on purpose.

"I... don't know," I admitted. "But aren't Minx and Mira always saying that we need to get our books from the library?"

"Where are you getting at? You've already been to the library," he snapped.

"Well," I reasoned. "I remember, on my first day, Mira was giving me a tour of the whole school. She told me there are some rooms where first-year students aren't welcome. Because we're not Blood Drinkers yet, you see, and we know so little..."

"Speak for yourself," Roman replied. "I know a lot about the lives of the Blood Drinkers, but I'll never get to be one."

I bit my lip. I wanted to scream, I hate being trained. I don't want to become a Blood Drinker. If I could wish for one thing in the whole universe, it would be not to become a Blood Drinker.

But I didn't. It seemed unnecessarily whiny, and not at all something that would be of Roman's interest.

"One of those rooms act as another library," I continued my sentence. "Mira told me specifically, 'look for the books you need in the public library, not the private one'. I believe there is a deeper meaning -- perhaps you need a password, or a code, to get to the private library?"

"And you believe the spell to exorcise a person is in there?" Roman looked curious now.

"Well, let's put it this way," I said. "Where else would it be? We already know that it's not in the public library, and I would understand Mira's reasoning. Exorcism can't be something they teach to thirteen year olds."

"Um, you have a point," Roman conceded. "We could look for this room together."

"Together means you and I, you know?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied. "Let's not ask the teachers -- they would be too suspicious. This could turn into a great adventure."

His eyes shone mischieviously. I should have seen it coming -- the rebellious Speaker wanted a quest of his own, where he could shine more than his older brother did.

Not that Roman was jealous of Atticus, or at least, I didn't think he was. Still, it must have been difficult to live in the shadow of an older brother people admired. Especially if that brother was your opposite.

I shrugged. "Okay," I replied. "I like adventures too."

I felt guilty at the idea that there was another reason why I wanted to spend most of my time with Roman. I was adamant -- he'd never find it out. Not from me. But what if it just slipped out of my mouth? I needed to be more careful.

The memory haunted me for a moment.

I was alone, on the streets of a city I didn't know. Athanasios had just bought me, and I was afraid of him. He brought me along to one of his trips in Meglenia, because he wanted to show me off to some friends. He said he wanted to test my powers as the first thing, and he started beating me bloody. I went out into the streets, at evening.

My idea, then, was to run away. I told myself it would work, that they would never find me.

I had to believe it.

I walked for a few miles, in the snow, but there wasn't anyone around. I was beaten up, and hungry. Until the moment where, across the road, I saw a boy of similar build as mine, and his huge blue eyes turned around to look into mine...

"What are you thinking about?" Roman asked.

I looked at him, and I probably flushed. I knew Roman was not the boy from the memory. I was just imagining things, and it was a great story, like the one about my father being some kind of war hero.

The truth was, just like most of my childhood memories were missing, the first years with Athanasios were a blur too. I might have made up the blue-eyed boy, or maybe it was an hallucination even back then, because I was too hungry and scared.

"Nothing," I lied, relieved that Roman probably didn't care to find out more than that.

"Atticus has a map of the school in his room," Roman told me. "Aurora got him one, because she's mischievious and liked to hang around the school when she was our age. Atticus didn't do it, but sometimes he followed her, and so she got him the map."

"Do you mean...?" I asked.

"Exactly," Roman replied. "We can check how to get to the wing of the school where we're not allowed. That's where the private library is likely to be."

I smiled. The secret I'd never tell Roman was this -- even if he wasn't the same boy who gave me his coat that day, even if that boy might have not existed at all, being next to him made me feel safe, just like I always did in the memory.