Page 6 of My Demon Neighbor
Three
Pythor
This morning, I'd calledEshim as soon as it was an acceptable time, and Jerry had advised me not to mention the nightmare, assuring me it would do nothing but embarrass my neighbor, and maybe even make him suspicious about how I'd heard him. Taking his advice to heart, I'd merely told the human to continue listening to his music, and after some thought, added a small gift as an apology for causing his nightmare.
I'd felt him standing on the other side of the door when I went to deliver the note, and I'd wondered if he was watching me. It was why I'd only magicked up the brushes when I was leaning down and out of the peephole's line of sight. The last thing I needed was for him to clue in on my inhuman nature. That would surely terrify him more than any nightmare of his.
My work at the community center kept me distracted the rest of the day. I had multiple self-defense classes, one for women, one for teenagers, and one even for children, which just made me sad. What kind of world did the humans live in, where even children needed to know how to protect themselves?
As a demon, I'd seen the worst of humankind back when my job was to torture dark souls, and even that hadn't prepared me for the real human world. While most humans weren't half-bad, they had a tendency to look the other way when someone truly evil did something bad, and that, I thought, was what made this world the dumpster fire it currently was.
I wished I could just blame it all on the escaped dark souls and believe that the world would improve exponentially as soon as they were captured, but I wasn't naive or dumb enough.
Sighing, I leaned back on the couch, then picked up my phone. I'd gotten a talking-to from one of my teenage 'students' about not using my 'socials' properly, so I clicked on the app they'd installed on my phone a while ago, and my brows shot up at the amount of notifications waiting.
Most of them were pictures I'd been 'tagged' in, whatever that meant, but there were also a few messages, and some comments. I went to the messages first, finding the names of some of my friendlier students. I replied to those who had questions, and ignored the one woman who'd asked me if I was free to grab a coffee. I'd decline in person when I next saw her.
The last message was from someone named Artist216, and I squinted at the name. The profile picture was a riot of blacks and reds, and it reminded me of my demon form.
Curious, I opened the message.
Hello!
I'm Codie, your next-door neighbor. I got your name from Vanessa. You met the other day. She told me you teach self-defense, and I wanted to know if you could teach me? At my place, I mean. I'll pay whatever you'd like to charge.
Please let me know. And thank you for the paintbrushes. They're very nice.
Codie.
I blinked, then glanced at the window as if I'd catch a glimpse of my elusive neighbor from here. He wanted me to teach him how to protect himself?
I stared at the message for far too long, but I didn't have to think too hard to know what I was going to tell him.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that my neighbor was very afraid of something. He stayed cooped up in his house not because he wanted to, but because he was scared to leave.
If I could do something to make him feel less frightened, I wanted to do it.
Quickly, I typed a reply.
Hey Codie,
Thank you for contacting me. I would be happy to teach you one-on-one. Just let me know what time you'd prefer, and we can figure something out.
I don't charge for my classes, so money is not an issue.
Pythor
I sent the message, then mulled over whether I should've said something more, or phrased anything differently.
I didn't usually second-guess myself, so it was a strange feeling to worry about getting things wrong.
He'd sent his message earlier today, and I hoped he'd see my reply, even though it was hours later.
My phone stayed silent, and when there was no reply after a while, I sighed and turned my attention back to the TV. He'dreply when he saw the message, and if he didn't, I'd take the hint.
After I'd finished dinner, I cleaned up and then went to bed, sliding under the sheets. They felt cool against my bare skin, and I sighed in contentment.
Nothing was better than a comfortable bed.
