I took the coldest imaginable shower, not even caring about the burning sensation all over my skin or the fact that I was shivering all over. I needed to wash everything off; all the exhaustion, and fear, and confusion. Warmth couldn't help me with that.

So I endured the shower, and when I finally wrapped myself in a towel, I felt slightly better. Once I got dressed, I knocked on Morta's door, hoping she wouldn't scream at me for waking her up this early.

To my surprise, she opened the door immediately.

"Hey." I offered a small smile. "Can we talk?"

"Of course." She yawned, "I don't know what otherworldly force woke me up at this time."

"It's 9AM."

"Inhumane."

I chuckled, "Is Amma awake?"

"I think so." She shrugged. "Do you want me to call her?"

I nodded, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes again. Morta realised, and her gaze softened, but she didn't ask anything. Instead, she went to Amma's room, disappeared inside, and after a minute, the two of them walked out.

Amma had her arm wrapped in a cast and a blanket thrown over it. Judging by her eyes, she hasn't got much sleep last night either.

"What's going on?" She asked, and her gaze softened the moment she saw my expression, which has probably been one of complete defeat.

I squeezed the hem of my hoodie, and my lips quivered. Anger and helplessness seeped out of me, as if a dam broke, and tears flooded my eyes.

"I need someone to- to keep an eye on Leon." I said, all the responsibilities suddenly too heavy for my shoulders. "Because I can't do it. I need to stay away from him."

To my surprise, Morta took a step forward, "I'll do it, don't worry."

Her eyes were round and wide, full of sympathy, and I knew I didn't have to explain anything. I sat on her bed and buried my face in my hands. Everything boiled over.

"Jade-" Amma began, her voice tentative, "Do you... love him?"

My chest tightened, and the only way to breathe was to let tears fall freely down my cheeks. So I masked those tears with a throaty, brittle laugh.

"See, I can't say that." I took in a shaky breath. "Because if I do, then I'm a fool. I'm everything I can't stand in girls like Bella."

"Honestly, with the father you've got, it's no surprise you're going for the emotionally detached." Morta murmured, and it made me laugh.

"Thanks for the analysis." I wiped away the tears.

"Anytime."

"Nobody would judge you." Amma said, her voice still soft. "If you loved him."

Morta put her thumb and forefinger together, "Maybe just a little."

I breathed in and got off the bed, "It doesn't matter. We've got problems that can't be solved with a bottle of vodka."

"Oh, awesome." Morta's face fell. "Something other than the fact that your ex-boyfriend is a demon?"

"He's not-"

Morta cut me off. "If you cry because of him after you slept with him, he's an ex-boyfriend."

I sighed and glanced at Amma, "He told me something today, and it's about what we talked about last night."

"Crap." Amma murmured. "What is it?"

"Apparently, there's a demon following me."

Morta and Amma both glanced around in panic, as if expecting to see the demon hanging in the room with us.

I took out my phone, "And leaving me messages."

"Another?" Amma yelped.

Morta eyed her, "Another? There are more?"

"Two." I showed her the first. "This was last night when I came to my room, while you were at the party."

Morta frowned at the phone, then looked up, finger pointing to the screen, "There are weird letters in here. Why?"

"Because it's trying to teach her its language." Amma took the phone and scrolled forward, to the latest message. "Look, here's an E."

Morta stole back the phone, "The path to hell is paved with good intentions? Why is a demon giving you unsolicited, pretentious advice?"

"Because I'm just that lucky." I quipped. "Even a fucking demon is judging my love life."

Morta squinted, "What?"

I rolled my eyes, trying to brush it off, "I might have... spoken to it."

"Excuse me, what?" Amma jumped in, and the blanket almost slid off her shoulder, but she snatched it in the last second. "You spoke to a demon?"

"It wasn't to the demon, per se." I clarified. "It was to myself, but apparently, the demon answered. I said I didn't know why I did, why I used that spell on Leon-"

Morta raised her eyebrow, "You needed a demon to answer that question?"

"No, of course not-"

"Wait, you can speak to it?" Amma's eyes widened. "Jade, if you can talk to it, you can ask-"

"We are not communicating with a demon." I cut her off. "We are finding a way to prevent him from talking to me-"

"Him?" Morta's eyebrow arched even more. "Is this the first time you've referred to it as a him?"

"I-" Yes.

Yes, it was.

"Okay, whatever." Morta brushed it off. "I agree with you, we should find a way to get rid of it."

Amma glanced between the two of us, a shadow covering her eyes again. Right when I thought she wouldn't say anything, something hard settled behind that shadow, and she looked up.

"Let me figure out the language."

"Amma..."

"It could be useful, Jade." Amma interjected. "Think about it, you've brought Leon back to life with it. How insane is that?"

Morta looked at me, a gleam in her eyes, "She's not wrong."

"That's the thing, though." I bit the inside of my cheek. "We don't really know what happened to Leon. Did he even die? Or was it just a clever ploy constructed by the demon? Because, trust me, the attack was intentional."

Amma and Morta's shoulders sagged.

"We don't even know if we're alone." I whispered. "There might be a demon listening to this very conversation, finding out all about our plans."

A shiver ran down my spine as if something had responded to my words. Amma and Morta glanced around again, cautious.

"I don't feel any weird magic." Amma said.

"Me neither." Morta nodded.

I sighed, "Maybe the bastard's with me only when I'm alone, since I can't feel it."

"What do you mean?" Morta asked.

Ah, right.

"Jade doesn't have magic." Amma answered in my stead.

"Excuse me?"

"It's true." I nodded. "Since I brought Leon back."

Morta let out a laugh, "You lost your magic? How are you going to do anything about the demon without magic?"

I took in a sharp breath, "With your help, obviously."

"I don't think we can do this without black magic." Morta crossed her hands on her chest. "You need to bring Thar in. Tell him. He'll know what to do."

My lips formed a tight line.

"I agree with Morta." Amma cut in. "If we're doing this again, we're doing it right."

Again. The word rang through my mind. Like it had ever stopped.

"Okay." I nodded. "I'll tell Thar. And we are not communicating with a demon, we're figuring out how to get rid of it."

"How about you let me construct the alphabet?" Amma asked again.

I cocked my head to the side and crossed my hands on my chest, "Alphabet leads to communication."

"Oh, come on, Jade." Some of her old flame returned to her eyes. "I'm not even going to get far. Do you know how long it takes to decipher a language? Years, at best."

I pursed my lips. Morta and I exchanged a glance. We did not need words to communicate.

Amma has been locked in her room for the past three months. If this was what it took to get her out of the hole, maybe we should let her have her fun.

"Fine." I let out a sharp sigh. "Decipher their language."

"Are you allowed to be back in the school?" Morta asked.

"No. I have to leave today."

"We'll come with you." She offered, surprising me.

"I... think you have to study." I chuckled.

"We'll study with you." Morta shrugged.

"Man, the older students weren't kidding when they said the whole Academy is just studying Demonology." Amma sighed.

"Yeah, even our hobby is hunting demons." Morta murmured.

I managed a weak laugh, "Come on, I have all demon literature we need at home."

"I hope your father is far away, though." Morta said as she headed for the door.

"Me too."

"One more thing." She turned on her heel abruptly. "Something I need to know if I'm going to take over this Leon thing for you."

My shoulders sagged, "Go ahead."

"Did you sleep with him yesterday?"

I sighed, "Only literally."

"I'm serious, Jade."

Another sigh, sharper this time, "When I came to his house, he had a fever. So, I stripped and got under the covers with him, because he was fucking shaking. When I woke up, he was... better."

Morta pursed her lips, and Amma hugged herself, covering her lost limb with her hand. They didn't have to say anything – I read it all in their expressions. Pity.

"Let's just go." I walked past them, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest.

When we left the school in Morta's car, I noticed Leon's wasn't there anymore, but I couldn't allow myself to care about his whereabouts anymore. It just wasn't healthy anymore. Or it's never been healthy to begin with.

For once, I was happy to bury myself in Demonology, and judging by the looks on my friends' faces, they shared the sentiment.