There's one more chapter after this :")

"I'm just going to go to the shop, you coming?" Mark questioned.

Ethan shook his head, responding, "Got editing to do."

"Fair enough. Blank? Do you want to go on an adventure?"

"The human world isn't that different to the demon world, Mark... but fine." Blank stood up and followed Mark out of the room, leaving Ethan on his own.

He decided that being home alone was an opportunity to get ahead with recording. He sat down at his desk, turned on the camera and belted out his intro. He didn't get very far before something made him stop.

He could have sworn he heard footsteps.

Slowly pulling off his headphones and placing them on the table, he strained to try and hear the quiet sounds again. Sure enough, there they were. The footsteps.

"Mark?" He yelled, his voice shaky. He had no reason to feel paranoid; he shared the house with another person (or two more people if Blank counted) so it was expected for the other person to make noises. What made him even more anxious was the fact that he didn't get a response from the person, whoever it was.

He pulled his door open ever so slowly, swallowing thickly and trying to convince himself he was making a big deal out of nothing. He peaked out into the hallway but it was empty. His head whipped to the side when a shadow moved. "Mark, you're really scaring me now." Ethan muttered, more to keep himself sane than to get an answer.

"Oh, Ethan..." It sounded like Mark but there was no doubt it was his evil ego. Ethan slammed the door to his recording room shut, pressing his back against it as he breathed heavily. He was hallucinating, right? Dark didn't have a physical form. He wasn't in the house. "Ethan, Ethan, Ethan..." Ethan's head snapped around again and, sure enough, Dark was standing there.

He was grinning, like Ethan's fear was nothing but a game to him. Ethan's eyes were burning with tears but he refused to cry. He needed to manipulate Dark into thinking he wasn't afraid. Beat the expert at their own game.

"You and Blank are so pathetic. Seriously... a demon that doesn't crave blood on his hands? That's unheard of. It should be illegal. And now you and Mark are going to make him seem like a real human. How cute... but he'll never be a human. He will always be a demon and he will never belong here."

"Shut up about Blank! He's actually a nice person-"

"Person," Dark snorted. "He'll never be like you. It's in a demon's nature to want power and to kill."

"Blank isn't like that."

"You wouldn't have said that when he was torturing you."

"That wasn't his fault! You were manipulating him. You manipulative-" Ethan started to yell the last sentence but he cut himself off by using all of his energy to shove the demon backwards. He didn't even stumble. He merely rolled his eyes at Ethan, staying still, as if he was a statue.

"Be careful what you say. You may be cute but I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Do it then. Kill me."

"Trust me, you don't want that. I'll make it as slow and as painful as possible."

"You wouldn't dare. You like me and Blank. If we were gone, you'd have no one to torture."

"I don't need you two anymore. I've found someone new. Little did Blank know, I had another boyfriend the whole time. He was just a little game on the side."

"That's horrible. You're horrible."

"How sweet of you. That means so much to me!" Dark crept forward before snaking an arm around Ethan's neck. He kept his grip weak so it would have been easy for Ethan to slip out off. He soon tightened it, so much so that Ethan couldn't speak; he was just gasping for air. "You're so cute and pretty, it's a shame I have to kill you like this."

"Please-" Ethan choked out, his eyes wide and helpless.

"No amount of begging can save you now." Dark dropped the man, rendering him a breathless heap on the floor.

Then the sound of the front door closing echoed around the apartment.

"You got lucky," Dark spat, kicking Ethan's weak body. "Or should I make them watch?"

"Please don't. They don't-" Ethan gasped. "Deserve to see it."

"Lucky you then." Dark clicked his fingers and he faded into a black mist.

"What are you doing down there?" Mark asked once he had entered Ethan's room. He obviously hadn't noticed the scrunched up look of pain on the other's face.

"I tripped. You know how clumsy I am," Ethan chuckled, wincing as he stood up. "I hit my side on my table, what an idiot, right?"

Mark laughed at Ethan, a sign he totally believed the lie.

-

That night Ethan was certain Dark was going to kill him.

He made sure to randomly hug both Blank and Mark before they parted ways to go to bed. The hug lingered longer than it should have, mainly because Ethan was petrified to let go. He didn't want to have to say goodbye.

He, in the least creepy way possible, crept into Mark's bedroom once he was certain the other man was asleep. He leaned forward and whispered, "I love you..." (this can be taken either platonically or romantically) before backing out of the room again. Every part of him hoped that wouldn't be the last time he saw his roommate.

He then tucked himself up in bed and awaited Dark's appearance.

Ahhh I like this chapter and I never want this book to endddd