Chapter Thirty (Daimonas)

I tried to keep track of Dominik during school, but it was so hard since he was constantly running around.

It was no wonder he was so thin. All he did was run for his life from here and there. He'd sometimes stop to say hi to me or ask for sure if it was okay that we hung out after school today. He was so worried he was being bothersome, but he wasn't. I liked hanging around Dominik, and now it was even more important that we were together beause if my vision came true, Dominik would be dead and the thought gripped my throat tight.

I swallowed hard, getting up from my desk as the bell toned. I quickly gathered my things and hurried out into the hallway, looking back and forth for Dominik, but there was no sign of his purple hair anywhere. I moved through the crowd of people, scanning heads and faces to find him.

I spotted Anna and Dalilah standing near one of the drinking fountains. Anna was chattering excitedly and Dalilah just stared at her with a bored stare before she seemed to catch sight of me coming near them, so she elbowed Anna, who abruptly stopped talking. She turned, looking excited for a second, before she saw me and her face fell into a frown, but I was used to it.

"What do you want?" Anna asked dryly. I frowned at her tone, but I didn't have time to argue with her.

"Have you seen Dominik?" I asked. Anna scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm not the dog's owner. Maybe you should keep him on a leash." She smirked at that, like she was pleased with herself for being a jerk. I glared at her and took a step toward her, watching her stiffen and back up a step.

"My dad told me not to hit girls," I said, remembering what Newell had warned me about, but I was too angry to care, "But I'll make an acceptation for you if you don't tell me where he is." Anna's cheeks flushed angrily and she clenched her fists.

"You are so rude, you twat!"

"I don't even know what that means."

"And you're bloody stupid."

"And you're about to be plain bloody if you don't tell me where Dominik is." I threatened dangerously, feeling my fangs pulse in my mouth. I could feel the bloodlust pumping through my veins, urging me to just rip her head off and eat it, but to my surprise, Dalilah was the one who spoke, her voice nasally, but soft. She had a different accent from Anna's. It reminded me of the gym teacher's accent.

"I saw him running from the cafeteria earlier. You might be able to catch him if he's still around there." She told me. I nodded, brushing past them and making Anna fume at Dalilah, who just stared at her blankly. I went downstairs to the cafeteria, crossing the courtyard. I looked around there, but didn't see him, so I went into the cafeteria. I didn't see Dominik there either.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I went out the doors to the other wing, cursing the school for being so big. I rounded the corner and bumped right into Jason, who leapt away from me as if he had touched fire. He sneered at me.

"Watch where you're going, chav." He snapped and started to go past me, but I caught him by the tie, making him choke and gasp. I swung him around and slammed him into the wall, letting our bags fall to the floor. He squirmed, trying to shove me back, but I tightened my grip on his tie and he gagged.

"Where's Dominik, you pig?" I demanded. Jason choked a little, so I loosened the tie on his throat and he sucked in deep gulps of air, glaring at me.

"How dare you! I don't know where the mongrel is! You're his butt buddy--"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that," I seethed past clenched teeth, feeling my fangs elongate and making Jason go rigid, "You're so lucky that I was raised better than you, because I would have torn open your throat and bathed in your blood by now. You have no idea who you're talking to right now. If you want to live out the rest of your pathetic life, you'll tell me where Dominik is." Jason stuttered, his eyes wide and face pale. I could see my reflection in his eyes, seeing that my eyes had flickered to an eerie glowing gold color and my teeth were all sharpening again to their original form. I could even feel my spine twist in an attempt to release my tail, but I managed to rein in that much control, letting my eyes and teeth return to normal. Jason started to tear up.

"I-I don't know, really! I was looking for him too! Honest!" He protested, then seemed to realize his mistake and blubbered some more. I grabbed him by the front of his jacket and slammed him hard into the lockers again, baring my teeth at him angrily.

"Stop bullying him, you jerk! Dominik didn't do anything to you! You should've been grateful that he even saw anything in a pisshead like you! You should be kissing his feet!" I snarled, making Jason squeal and stammer a little more. I ground my teeth together.

"You're disgusting," I snapped, shoving him harshly against the wall and stepping back, letting go of him so he could slide down to the floor, trembling, "Anyone who resorts to rape is disgusting. People who rape deserve to be torn to bloody shreds and left for lesser beings to feed on. I can only hope that something finds you and rips you to pieces, like you ripped Dominik to pieces. He only loved you and you hurt him for it." Jason, with teary red eyes, still managed to glare at me.

"L-Love?! That's not love! It's repulsive! The Bible says that man should not lie with another man as he lies with a woman! He should be stoned! God says--"

"If your God believes that raping another person is justified, then I don't like your God," I snapped in disgust, "Because my God says that that's wrong. Maybe you should get a new God, or get a mind of your own."

"Your God?! You're a demon," Jason shouted, scrambling to his feet, but staying against the wall as he glared at me, "Your eyes! And your teeth! That's not human! You're a demon! You don't have a God!"

"I have whatever the hell I want, human," I sneered, making Jason squeak and press himself further against the wall, "And what I don't want is you picking on Dominik. I swear, if you touch him one more time, I'm going to forget all reason and just devour you, body and soul." Jason stiffened, then took his chance and ran away, disappearing around the corner. I scowled after him, rolling my eyes.

Humans were so weird.

I hurried down the hallway, looking around for Dominik. I ended up back in the main lobby, catching sight of purple and looking over to see Dominik emerging from the infirmary. I flinched. The bruises on his face were joined by a new one that ran along his jaw. His lip was busted and his arm was in a sling. Pain cut through me as I ran over to him. I wanted to hug him, but I didn't want to hurt him or scare him by touching him if he didn't want to be touched.

"Dominik, what happened?" I asked, alarmed. He looked relieved to see me and came over, struggling with his heavy bag on his other shoulder. I reached out and took it from him, making him look at me gratefully.

"I fell." He lied. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"I'm not a teacher, Dominik. Tell me the truth." I said. Dominik hesitated, looking around at the kids who were casting him sour glares and sticking their noses up at him as if they couldn't stand the thought of him holding his head up. So Dominik looked down at the floor again.

"Jason," He said quietly, "He slammed me into the wall and dislocated my shoulder." I flinched at that. No wonder Jason had smelled so putrid. He was lying to me. I gritted my teeth, wanting to go back and just rip him apart, but I didn't dare leave Dominik's side.

"Well," I muttered, "He's not gonna hurt you anymore." Dominik blinked, looking up at me in alarm.

"What do you mean?" He asked. I frowned.

"I scared him." I answered shortly. Dominik didn't look convinced as he looked me up and down, then met my eyes again for a brief moment, then avoided it.

"Daimonas, he might just be even angier." He whispered uneasily. I shook my head, gesturing for Dominik to follow me out of the school. He obediently stuck beside me.

"Trust me, I think he's gone for a while, and if he bothers you again, tell me, and I'll kill him." I said, frowning at how serious I sounded. Even Dominik looked a bit uneasy at my threat. I didn't try to pretend I was joking, though. Because if I did find out that Jason was still hurting Dominik, there would be hell to pay.

We were quiet as we made our way to my flat. Newell and Xed were already inside waiting. I wanted to change, but Newell insisted we didn't have any time, so we got in the car with our bags. I thought it was kind of funny seeing Xed sit in the tiny little blue car. He had to put his seat all the way back to fit his long legs in and he was hunched just a bit. He didn't seem to mind, though, so long as he got to sit next to Newell, who I soon learned could not drive.

Even though I couldn't drive, I knew Newell was doing things wrong, like the speed limit and hitting his brakes too hard and making me smack into his seat.

"Quit bouncing around back there." Newell snapped at me as I sat back and rubbed my nose. Dominik surprised me by stifling a giggle behind his hand, averting his eyes. Xed smirked as I snorted.

"It's not my fault," I protested, hitting the back of his seat and making him shoot me a murderous glare in the rearview mirror, "You can't drive!"

"Neither can you." Newell returned. I wrinkled my nose at him.

"That's true."

"Then don't complain until you learn how to drive. When you do, you can whine all you want. Until then, shut up and sit back." Newell ordered. I rolled my eyes and slumped back in my seat, gripping the handle on the door to avoid faceplanting into the back of Newell's seat another seven times.

"So you don't know how to drive?" Dominik asked casually, cradling his arm to his chest as best he could to avoid slamming into the back of Xed's seat. I shook my head.

"I kinda don't wanna. Just because it looks scary and I wouldn't be able to resist hitting people with my car, like in the video games." I responded, making Dominik smile.

"It's easy once you get used to it," He said quietly, "If you want, I could show you sometime." I beamed.

"That would be great! I wouldn't mind if you show me." I told him, making him blush and avert his eyes.

"I thought I offered to show you how to drive." Newell drawled, making me scoff and glare him in the rearview.

"No way. You'd get us both killed."

"I'm really tempted to get us in a car crash just to shut you up."

"That's not very fatherly of you."

"And your sass isn't very son-ish of you." Newell mocked. I stuck my tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes. Xed smirked and touched Newell's shoulder, making him instantly relax and slow down the car as we came toward the mini-mall. Dominik peered out the window at it in awe, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Haven't you been here before?" I asked. Dominik shook his head, settling his bag under the seat and adjusting his arm in the sling.

"My parents, ah, don't like to go out much." He said softly. I nodded in understanding. I wouldn't even want to go out in public if I had Dominik's parents. They would embarrass me. Dominik seemed to think so too.

Newell pulled into a parking spot before we got out and he locked the doors. He took out his wallet and handed me some money, then paused and handed some money to Dominik, making me look at him in surprise. Granted, it wasn't his money to toss around --it was actually Vladimir's-- I was still happy that he thought of Dominik, who blushed when Newell pressed the money into his palm.

"Buy yourselves something, but something you'll need, not candy." He shot me a pointed glare and I scowled.

"Candy is something I need."

"With your hyperactivity? Hardly," Newell retorted, making me roll my eyes and Dominik smile, "Anyway, grab something for school or new clothes or whatever. We'll meet back here at the car around half past five. If anyone's late, I'm going in after you and I don't think you'll want that. Understood?" Dominik and I nodded before we headed to the huge building that dwarfed my school. How was this considered a mini-mall? It looked like it had lots of shops, shops that were different compared to the ones in the United States, some being the same.

"Are you sure it's okay that he gave me money?" Dominik asked uneasily, looking at the money in his hands as if he were awed by the sight of it. I nodded.

"It's okay. We get lots of money anyway, although," I paused to look at the money oddly, "I've never seen this kinda money before." Dominik nodded.

"Our currency is different than American money. We use pounds. You use dollars. It's not that different. Just pay however much the price tags say. If you need help counting it, I can help." He offered, making me beam at him. He smiled back tentatively before we headed through the mall. There were a lot of other students there, both from our school and a lot from other schools. There were people in uniform, people not in uniform. It was huge and lots of people moved from place to place, carrying shopping bags.

I let Dominik lead the way, because even though he'd never been to this mall, he seemed to know what he was doing while I kept getting distracted by lots of things. I paused at a giant poster of a big green tree covered in lights with the photo of a fat man with white hair on it. I frowned, cocking my head.

"What's this?" I asked, pointing at it. Dominik looked up from the mall map, tilting his head.

"It's an advertisement. It's getting close to Christmas and they're saying Father Christmas is going to be here to take christmas requests. You know, ask him for presents and he gives you some." He explained. My eyes widened. A man who gave you presents?

"I don't get it. Who's Father Christmas?" I asked, interested. Dominik raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know him? I thought America had the same thing, but called him Santa Claus."

"I don't get it."

"Okay," Dominik said slowly, pausing before he nodded and explained, "Father Christmas. Every Christmas, if you've behaved through the year, he'll bring you presents and put them under the fir tree. He leaves them there and moves onto the next house. He delivers presents to every child in the world. Well, most." He frowned at that. I was totally awed. A man could do all of that in one night?

"That's amazing!" I breathed. Dominik arched a brow.

"You've really never heard of that?"

"No! That's so cool," I exclaimed, "Do you think he'd bring presents to me?" Dominik looked confused for a second, then smiled a bit.

"Definitely." He replied. I looked at the poster excitedly. I had never heard of this kind of thing before and to think that just one person could give everyone in the world presents all in one night. And was it for free? It sounded like it. Oh, except having to behave. I frowned, thoughtfully. What did Father Christmas consider good and bad? I wasn't sure. Was threatening Jason considered bad? I had done it to protect Dominik, though. And Newell did say I was a goody-two-shoes, but then he did say I was a brat sometimes too. Was that okay? I wasn't sure, but I wanted presents, so from then on, I would behave as best I could.

"Let's stop by that shop over there," Dominik suggested, "They look like they have some nice clothes and I kind of need a new shirt." I nodded and followed him over. I let Dominik browse, because I mostly wasn't into clothes. I was gonna spend my money on a new video games, even though Newell told me not to. I would just buy something else to cover up the fact that I bought  video game. Maybe he wouldn't notice.

"Can I try this on?" Dominik asked me, making me blink and look at him, to see him holding up a dark purple shirt that matched his hair. I smiled and nodded. He smiled in relief and went to one of the changing rooms, putting the shirt on before he poked his head and came to show me.

"Does it look okay?" He asked. I nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Dominik. If you don't think so, why don't you look in the mirror?" I asked. Dominik hesitated, then shook his head quickly, shifting uncomfortably. He didn't turn to look at the full length mirror. I frowned and glanced behind him to see that he'd purposely hung his uniform up on it so he was hiding it. I didn't say anything to him about it, though. He seemed self-conscious already, so I just smiled.

"I think you look cute." I said. Dominik blinked and looked up at me in surprise.

"Cute?" He asked. I nodded, reaching out to poke his cheek, the one that wasn't bruised, feeling his soft skin. I laughed when he waved my hand away and rubbed his cheek, blushing deeply as he looked down at his feet.

"You're really cute." I said.

"S-So should I get it?" Dominik asked shyly. I nodded. He smiled at that, then went into the changing room to finish changing. I rocked back and forth on my heels when I bumped back into someone. I winced and turned around.

"Sorry, I..." My voice trailed as my eyes widened. My eyes went from the pair of buckled black boots to a pair of ripped black jeans up to a shirt that had different country flags on it, a beat up leather jacket. I looked up at a pair of eerie mercury eyes that twinkled in the lights overhead, peering through wind tousled black dyed hair. My lips parted and I froze, hardly noticing that Dominik was coming out of the changing room.

"Starling?" I choked, taking a step back.

Starling smiled apologetically, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Sorry for surprising you like this. Is it okay if I shop with you guys?" He asked. I tried to find words to express how much I missed him and how happy I was to see him, but I couldn't find them. Starling just kept smiling, tilting his head curiously as he waited for me to say something. Dominik just stood stiffly behind me, watching Starling warily. I couldn't say anything, so I gave up and threw my arms around his neck. Starling gasped, then laughed quietly as he wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me close. Without even thinking, I kissed him repeatedly on the cheek, feeling tears well up in my eyes in relief.

"S-Starling, you're here! You're really here! This isn't a vision, right? You're really here!" I cried, sniffling. Starling laughed again, stroking the hair back out of my face before he kissed me on the forehead, then my nose, then my lips. It felt so good to feel his soft lips on my skin again. I wanted to feel more, but people were already staring at us curiously. I swallowed my tears back as I finally let go of him to wipe my eyes. Starling smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Dai... Who's your friend?" He asked, glancing behind me. I blinked, remembering Dominik and looking at him to see him still looking at Starling uneasily, but I dismissed it and pulled Dominik to stand beside me.

"My new best friend! He's really nice, Starling! And cute too! And he taught me lots of things, even about Christmas! I didn't know there was a Christmas!" I exclaimed. Starling laughed, then held his hand out to Dominik, who hesitated and timidly took it.

"Nice to meet you, Dominik. Thank you for taking care of Dai for me." He said. Dominik just nodded, then withdrew his hand. He cleared his throat, chewing on his lower lip and looking at me, but I'm sure he didn't mind if I stayed with Starling a while longer.

"Starling, I have so much to tell you," I said quickly, "About school and Newell and Xed! Oh, you should see Newell! He's gotten so big! You wouldn't believe it! And-And I learned how to use letters in math! And I can play the piano now too! Newell's taught me new songs and stuff! I can play Skip to My Lou! That one is my favorite."

"Whoa," Starling exclaimed with a chuckle, "Slow down, Dai, you're gonna bite your tongue. You're talking so fast. How about we go grab something to eat? I haven't eaten much since I got here."

"Got here?" Dominik asked quietly. I blinked, letting that sink in. They were right. Last time I spoke to Starling, he was stuck in San Francisco with his parents. I looked at Starling, confused, but he awkwardly looked away, like he was looking for some place to eat, even though we were in the clothing store.

"How about we try the food court? We'll eat and catch up there, is that okay?" He asked. I nodded and looked at Dominik, who shifted uncomfortably, but when he looked at me, he nodded and lowered his eyes to the floor. My heart was pounding violently in my chest as I linked arms with Starling, making him smile and kiss me on the head. Dominik just walked on my other side after we walked out. He ended up not getting the shirt, which confused me. I thought he liked it.

We headed to the food court and stopped at a McDonalds. I used the money Newell gave me to get myself and something to eat. Dominik just bought a soothie and sipped it gently through a straw. I think he was trying to be careful of the cut on his lip.

"So what happened to you?" Starling asked Dominik, who grimaced and reached up to brush his hair down over his bruise. Starling smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, that was kind of nosy of me. Just wanted to know why someone would want to hurt someone like you. You seem so polite." He said. Dominik blushed hard and looked down at his lap. I smiled, then looked at Starling.

"Some jerk picking on him. So I threatened the guy." I responded. Starling raised an eyebrow.

"You did?" He asked. I scrunched up my nose.

"I can be scary when I want to be." I said. Starling laughed and kissed me on the nose. I beamed and kissed him back.

"Ah, Daimonas?" Dominik asked, making me look at him to see him standing up. I frowned, confused as he picked up his smoothie, glancing at the clock that sat in the middle of the food court.

"I have to go. It's kinda late and I forgot to tell my parents I was going out, so I should get home before they get upset." He said, making me get up.

"But--"

"It's fine," Dominik forced a smile, "I'll talk to you tomorrow." He didn't even let me finish as he walked away. I wanted to go after him, but Starling caught me by the arm and shook his head.

"I think he just wants to be alone, Dai." He said. I hesitated, looking at him, then at Dominik, who was making his way to the exit. Part of me wanted to run after him. I didn't feel safe about leaving him alone. I wanted him to stay around me, but I also wanted to catch up with Starling. Maybe nothing would happen, I told myself as I slowly sat down, making Starling smile in relief. My visions didn't always come true the way they showed themselves in my head, and sometimes they were just symbolic for something. I made a mental note to ask Starling to help me figure it out.

"I need to talk to you about something, Dai." Starling said after a moment. I looked at him, confused by how uncomfortable he seemed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm trying to stay on the downlow," Starling admitted with a wary sigh, "See, I kinda just... packed up my stuff, and, well, let's just say I ran away."

"Ran away?" I asked, confused. Starling nodded.

"As soon as I turned eighteen, I got access to my bank account and all the money I had saved away for college, so I used it to get a plane ticket and come here. My parents don't even know where I'm at." He explained, making me wince. Wasn't that scary, though? What if his parents thought he was dead or hurt or something? And wasn't that money for college? Why would he waste it on coming to see me? While I was glad he thought of me, I was a little hurt that he didn't consider the long term effect or his parents.

"And I kind of ran into some problems on the way here." Starling said slowly, making me frown.

"More problems? What kind?" I asked, dreading his answer. Starling pursed his lips into a grim line as he twirled the straw in his drink. He looked around again, the way he had when we were in the clothing shop, before he looked at me, silver eyes swirling with caution.

"Zephyra's after me."