Sometimes it felt weird for Hailie to not have any friends at the college. Her sister Molly used to say that it was the perfect time of the life. You can party and have as much fun as you want. She loved studying and when Hailie decided to go to the college after having a gap year, she kept saying that it's going to be a new start for her. It was partly true, at least at the beginning, because now Hailie felt like coming back in time to the past. She was a freshman and there was nobody she could talk to, except demons living in her house. And so, at the same time it felt not only weird, but also funny that she made acquaintance with hellish creatures, not with human beings. Well, she had good relations with two humans, Lucien and Shane, but now the situation was complicated with both of them.

After the end of all classes, she walked out of the campus building, thinking about going to the library. Hailie dropped that idea quickly, because if she wanted to find out something about the house, she could just ask Pride or another demon about its history.

Hailie made maybe two steps, when suddenly someone caught her from behind and pushed to a brick wall. She almost stumbled on her feet, but managed to reduce the hit impact with her hands.

"What did you do to him?" Jayson caught her by the winter jacket and pressed to the wall, before she had a chance to react. Her head hit the bricks and for a moment the whole world started spinning. "Where is he?" Jayson asked with his voice full of anger.

After a few seconds the dizziness came to an end, but she still had no idea what Jayson was asking her.

"Who?" she mumbled, scared to say anything at all.

There were other people at the campus, but apparently nobody saw how Jayson threw her at the wall. Or maybe, nobody cared.

"Don't play dumb," he hissed, acting like he was ready to do her more harm.

She wanted to escape, but he dug his fingers into her arms, making it impossible. He was way stronger. She always knew that.

"I really don't know," she cried, not daring to look him in the face. Fear filled her whole body, even if he couldn't do anything more than just threaten her.

Jayson laughed bitterly.

"D.E.C.L.A.N. My friend," he spelled it. "He went to your house three days ago and I haven't had any contact with him since then. He wanted to play a prank on you, along with Amy, who apparently got scared and ran away, leaving him there."

"Amy?" Hailie opened her mouth wider with disbelief.

Amy brought Declan to her house? And now he was missing?

No, not missing.

Dead.

Demons killed him.

Hailie knew right away that if Declan really walked into her house, there was no possibility that he was still alive. And she doubted that Amy escaped, because she was scared. She just left him there. Left him to die.

No, it couldn't be possible. She wouldn't do something like that. Talking about revenge and her anger issues was something completely different than actually getting that revenge, than killing her ex-boyfriend. That was unhuman to do.

If Jayson couldn't find Declan, it must have been the truth, though. She did it.

How could she do that?

"What happened to him?" Jayson asked again, but there was no way she was telling him.

Besides, deep down he already knew what happened with Declan. He had it written in his eyes. He was angry, because he suspected that his friend was already dead. Because of her.

"I don't know, I didn't see Declan," she said, but her words didn't matter.

Jayson clenched his hands tighter on her arms and yelled with fury, "You're lying!" He strongly caught her by the throat, making it hard for Hailie to breathe. She started suffocating, while the black dots appeared in her vision. "Tell me!"

"Hey!" Someone yelled from the behind. "Let her go!"

Jayson wanted to tell him to fuck off, but he quickly released Hailie, seeing that it was a policeman. He stepped back from her, pretending that nothing had happened. Trouble with police wasn't one of the points on his to-do list.

"Easy officer, we were just talking," he tried to play it with a cool card, while Hailie started coughing, trying to breathe in after being held by Jayson.

"It didn't look like talking to me." Shane gazed at Hailie, who was trying to hold in tears. She was grateful to see him.

"Because it wasn't," she managed to say with hoarseness. Her throat felt sore and she hoped this feeling would go away quickly.

Jayson narrowed his eyes. He looked at Hailie, then he looked at the policeman again. It was easy to see that he was worried about her. Way more worried than a random police officer would be. Besides, the way he was staring at her... Jayson knew that look. He smiled, figuring it all out.

Now Hailie has friends in the police. How interesting.

"Right, sorry I lied, officer." Jayson freely leaned on the wall and put his hands in the pockets on his jeans. "I got angry, because of my ex-girlfriend, who accused me in the past of violence. It all turned out to be just false accusations and now she's stalking me again. I guess that's how obsession works. I'm not feeling safe and I tried to scare her a little bit so she would leave me alone finally. My bad. I shouldn't have done that."

He was saying all those things with such a certainty that it would be hard to question him. Hailie didn't even try to do that. Shane was on her side. He knew the truth and he would never believe Jayson.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have." Shane walked closer to Jayson. On the outside he looked really calm, but there was no telling how he felt on the inside. "And you can quit the bullshit, because you're not a victim here. Leave Hailie alone."

She was wondering what Shane was doing on the campus, but then she saw his mother watching this scene from a distance. He was visiting her, like the last time, when they met in the college.

"What a hero you are," Jayson mocked him. Hailie didn't like the way this conversation was going. "What will you do, huh? I'm afraid I can't not see Hailie, considering that we go to the same college. And now we live in the same town, so I guess we can also meet in the store, in the library, in many other places." He was so amused that even Hailie started feeling furious and annoyed. Jayson believed that he could do anything he wished, but it was wrongful thinking. His actions had consequences and Hailie still hoped for justice.

First, he lost his parents, now he lost Declan. When will he understand that he was not in the winning position? There was still time to walk away.

Later it might not be an option anymore, because Hailie realized that there was no way in stopping demons. They were doing whatever they wanted. And she was sure that now they wanted Jayson's blood.

"Oh, snap, you're right." Shane raised his hands, like he just got the meaning of Jayson's words. "So, let me make this clearer for you." He swung his fist and punched Jayson in the face, sending him on the ground. Hailie covered her mouth with a hand and stepped back, watching Jayson trying to pick himself up. There was blood dripping from his nose. A lot of blood. Shane wasn't gentle and Jayson wasn't expecting a punch from a police officer. Shane leaned above Jayson and repeated, "Leave Hailie alone."

Hailie straightened up and raised her head, while saying, "Exactly. Just leave me alone." It felt weird to stand up to Jayson like that, but she had Shane beside. She wasn't afraid anymore, because once again she had a chance to learn that Jayson wasn't invincible.

"Let's go." Shane kindly took her by the arm and took away from her aggressive ex-boyfriend. He didn't try to strike back, which was something new. Jayson was always in for a fight, but apparently not with a policeman. "What was it about?" he delicately asked Hailie, when they were far away enough.

She sat on a wooden bench and bit her lip, before answering, "He thinks that Declan went missing and it has to do something with me."

"Weird." Shane frowned. "Apparently he's blaming you for everything that goes wrong in his life."

It felt wrong that she couldn't tell him that Declan was killed by the demons living in her house. She had to play dumb and pretend that she knows nothing about his alleged missing, while she figured it out in a minute.

"I guess so," she sadly agreed and massaged her throat. "You were visiting your mum again?" Changing the topic of this conversation was definitely a good idea. She was tired of speaking about Jayson and Declan, and there was a conversation with demons ahead of her.

"Yes, but actually I wanted to talk with you too." He sat at the bench beside her and clenched his fists, then he tried to relax, which seemed like a hard thing to do for him.

"I'm not angry with you anymore." She thought that it was about their fight. It's been some time and she could think about it. Shane walked into her life and maybe it wasn't right that he kept his little investigation in secret, but now she understood that he was doing it for her. He really was trying to help her. Maybe he chose the wrong way to do it, because he believed that keeping her in the dark was a better idea than telling it straight-forward, but his intentions were pure. "I can't keep you out of my life. You're too important to me. You were the first person who was so nice to me in this town and you keep helping me. I really appreciate that, but next time just tell me the truth, okay?" She felt like a hypocrite, because she wasn't completely honest with him either. But that was about to change. Maybe not today, but she decided to tell Shane the truth. He deserved to know. He was not a stranger to her and moreover, she trusted him with this secret.

"I will, I promise. I see my mistake. We're supposed to be honest with each other, even if it's hard sometimes. I'm sorry that I was investigating your life, but I just, I really want to put Jayson behind the bars. For your sake and safety, so you wouldn't have to be afraid anymore."

She put her hand on his hand and smiled with comprehension.

"I know."

"That's why I need to tell you about one more thing." His eyes darkened. "I did some background checking."

"On whom?"

Shane already knew everything about her past. He checked her records some time ago. He also found out everything he could about Jayson, Declan and Amy. Who was he now investigating?

"Your roommate. Lucien Tuls." It was easy to notice that whatever he found out, wasn't anything good.

Her heart started beating faster. She was scared of whatever he was about to say.

"Don't keep me waiting, please. What did you find out?"

Somehow he knew that his words might hurt her, because apparently she was in good relations with this guy. But he was just not the person he was pretending to be.

"Nothing. A man named Lucien Tuls simply doesn't exist."

Hailie exhaled sharply from her mouth, "No!"

She stood up and started walking circles, trying to find an explanation.

"I'm sorry, Hailie, but the man living with you, whoever he is, it's not Lucien Tuls."

Maybe he changed his identity, because he's running away from something? Maybe he had a good reason to do it? Something horrible must've happened in the past. Maybe it was something with this little girl he once told her about? There must be an explanation. She refused to believe that he was a bad guy. That he might've been a criminal or fugitive. Demons could feel other people's emotions! If he wanted to hurt her, demons would know. They wouldn't let him live and yet they never said anything bad about him. Well, except that he was a player under the control of Lust. Those were Pride's words. But nothing more. Surely demons would know something, anything! If he was dangerous, with bad intentions, he wouldn't be able to hide it, right?

She felt like losing her mind. It was obvious that whatever happened, Lucien wouldn't tell her. They didn't know each other that well. But know that she knew... Maybe he would tell her now?

It was a chance to find out the truth about him. She was safe in the house.

"I need to go." She had to come back home.

Shane caught her hand, before she walked away.

"Hailie, this man might be dangerous."

She shook his hand in a kindly way.

"I'll call you soon. And I think we should go grab dinner tomorrow. There's something I need to tell you too. But right now, just, don't do anything, okay?"

He slowly nodded, even if he didn't like the idea of Hailie coming back to this house.

"Fine," he agreed, not convinced. "Write me a lot and I'll pick you up tomorrow after your classes. Just let me know when you'll end them."

"Thanks!" She kissed him on the cheek with her mind occupied with a lot of different thoughts.

And one, which was the most important.

If the man, who lived with her, wasn't Lucien Tuls, then who was he?