Dinner was really, really good. That was just the confirmation for David that Lauren's day had not gone at all like she had hoped for.

But at least she had calmed down through her work in the kitchen. David was still uneasy about talking to her and asking her what had been the problem. So he just enjoyed the soup which was delicious, followed by a piece of her apple pie. She ate it, too, although not with the same appetite as him. In fact, when he had finished, she had barely eaten half of her slice.

"You wanna talk about it?" he finally brought up the courage to ask. But in the next second he knew that he shouldn't have. Lauren looked back at him, her gaze full of anger and frustration.

"Yes!" she answered. "I want to. I really do. This has been bothering me all day, and I would love to share it with someone I trust. But I can't." She threw her half slice back onto the plate. "Damn, stupid patient-doctor-confidentiality!"

"You know, I would never tell on you," David assured her. "And if it makes you feel better..."

Her sigh cut him off mid-sentence. "David, don't push it! Please! I know you would never tell anyone, but I would know that I abused the trust someone had put in me for keeping this confidential, and I couldn't live with this on my conscience."

David knew that these words were final, and that Lauren would not be convinced, even if it meant discomfort for her. So they quietly finished dinner together, and then David took it upon himself to do the dishes. His wife had had enough on her day and deserved a break. Lauren did not disagree.

But in the evening things didn't get any better. David had decided to watch a movie, and Lauren for once joined him, because this time it was none of those 80s action flicks that her husband preferred. Instead it was a thriller movie about a father and his two sons who kidnapped and killed people who were allegedly demons. At first Lauren was snuggingly lying in David's arms, but the more this movie progressed, the more agitated she seem to become. She sat straight up, her eyes focused on the TV screen, never to be taken off of it. Her face was like a solid mask, but David who worriedly looked at her for one moment could see that something was working behind her forehead.

When the end credits finally rolled over the screen, he looked her straight in the eyes. "Seriously, Lauren, there is something amiss with you. I have never seen you like this."

As if she finally woke up from some sort of trance, Lauren blinked several times and looked back at David, like truly seeing him for the first time. "This movie... it reminded me of..." She still hesitated.

"Of what?" David frowned.

It burned inside of her, he could clearly see that. She faced a dilemma, and whatever she kept from him, concerning her work, it bit and clawed to get out of her. Then she looked back at the TV... "Do you think it is possible?" she asked. "That demons inhabit human bodies, making them do horrible things? For real, I mean?"

His first instinct was to comfort her. That it had been merely a movie, a work of fiction. But he understood in time. "Well..." he slowly answered. "Sometimes I do wonder how some of those criminals I have to deal with are capable of the things they are doing. Like they were steered by some other creature, totally succumbing to its will. But it seems highly unlikely to me, to be honest."

"It does," Lauren agreed. "But how can we know for sure? I mean... some would say that a demon lives in all of us, feeding us with selfish and unexplainable desires, tempting us to do things that would hurt us or others in the process. Even such horrible things... like we have seen in the movie."

Her pause convinced David. "Does this have to do with the prisoner you talked to today?"

"No!" she flatout responded. "I am just discussing a movie."

"I see..." He gently took her hand and squeezed it a bit to show her that he truly understood. "The people who are capable of doing such things are very few. The people who actually do it are even fewer. Otherwise, my work would be unbearable."

"But how can you tell? How can you be so sure of who is capable and who is not? In theory everybody could do something horrible..." Lauren sighed. "David, are we good people?"

"What do you mean?" David looked perplexed. "Of course we are!"

"Are we good enough to bring up our daughter? So that she won't turn into a monster?" Her voice was shaking at these words.

David nodded carefully. "Honey, we are good people. I keep the streets save, and you make a living by helping people. And we are good parents to Angela. She is a good kid, and with our guidance she will become a fine adult one day. You shouldn't worry too much."

Lauren shrugged. "I guess you are right. I do worry a lot."

"So do I. But that's just because we love her." David pulled her softly over, and she laid back in his arms again. While holding her, he brushed lovingly over her long blonde hair. Angela had inherited her hair color from her mother, and at times even Lauren looked like an angel to him. "That reminds me: Angela asked me to not embarrass her again like last time."

A quiet snicker came from the woman in his arms. "What did you expect? You rushed into the middle of her game, scaring her friend and her babysitter. At least you didn't wave a gun at them."

"It didn't look like a game to me," David tried to justify his actions. "When I looked through the window, I saw her sitting on the floor, all tied up like she was some sort of hostage. Of course I worried for her safety. What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that she was held by some criminal. Instead I would have assumed that this was in fact a game that children her age play. Haven't you when you were this young?"

David shook his head vehemently. "Never."

"Ah well..." Lauren freed herself out of his arms and stood up. "Trust me, this is a lot more harmless than other ideas children might cook up. As long as it is only a game." As she went over to the stairwell leading up, she stopped for a moment and looked back at David. "Are you coming?"

David thought about what she said, but he was still worried. And ashamed. But he would have done the same thing again if he thought that his little angel was in any sort of peril. "In a minute," he said.

Lauren nodded. "Don't take too long. You need to be refreshed if you wanna catch some demons tomorrow." She walked upstairs.

Those last words did something inside David. The picture of this dead body in the alleyway appeared in his thoughts, a picture that seemed to make no sense. Neither did the other murders his colleagues had worked on. But Lauren's voice echoed in his mind. Demons.

It was David's turn now to sit straight up while his mind raced.