Denbora

I'm out in some foreign desert; it's not one I've seen before or that could possibly be pulled from memory. There are the regular inhabitants; cacti, tumbleweeds, rocks. Lots of rocks. Can barely see the dirt. But the only living thing besides myself is a single lizard, bathing in the blistering sunlight. It does not run no matter how close I got to it but each step towards it draws closer an ominous feeling, growing from an unsure whisper in my brain to a definite fear fluttering in my heart. It would then stare at me with its perfectly yellow gaze and as my heart rate spiked I would awake before I could die of fright. A dream; one of an ominous omen if I remember correctly. Ugh. Damen sure picked a fucking perfect time to up and disappear.

I think I'll just skip to the interesting part. June and I stopped at a local deli after spending most of the morning searching for Damen (against June's better judgement, but she acknowledged he did save us from the van that crashed into the restaurant). My thoughts were consumed with the possible areas he might be and where we had yet to check that I completely blocked out June's presence. Until, that is, when things got weird.

"You are truly a loyal companion, aren't you?"

I thought maybe I was hearing things. Clearly the voice couldn't have come from anyone else other than June, but it was deep and distorted... almost... demonic.

June's eyes, which had turned a familiar bright yellow, flashed to my hand as it grasped the table knife ever so slightly. "Hmm. I stand corrected." The creature in turn picked up June's knife and held it up to her throat. I cursed and set mine back down.

"Haven't you ever heard of manners?" it taunted, distorting June's face into a monstrous smirk.

Folding my arms, I asked, "Who are you and why are you here?"

"You yourself have invited me, the demon Denbora."

"Bless you."

"Too late for that, girlie."

I threw my head back and glared at the sky. "Do you mind leaving? I'd kinda like my friend back, you know."

"Sorry, I'm not as easy to get rid of as Damen."

Oh, that got my attention. I met the cold hard gaze of the yellow eyes and stared into them for a good few minutes before shrugging. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised demons know each other..." Something else occurred to me as I said this last sentence. "... Have you been watching me?"

And the sneer I received in response confirmed it all. "No, I haven't. But I have. And I will."

Before I could get a word in on what he meant, June suddenly collapsed and laid unconscious on the cement floor. She's sill breathing but she has yet to awaken; I carried her from the deli and placed her on her bed once we got home. Denbora hasn't shown up since then. It's been three days. And I'm feeling pretty vulnerable right now. I haven't been able to buy groceries with a card or drive anywhere considering I don't actually have an identity.

But at least I wasn't alone.

Long story short, Damen told me he only returned when he smelled Denbora's "scent" at June's residence. I wanna say they are sworn rivals, but I don't think they hate each other. Damen describes Denbora in explicit detail; his appearance, his personality and, more importantly, his motivation. Though it screams nothing short of a typical demon.

"He and I have a bet," Damen remarked, fidgeting with a small round object in his hands. "But this is unfortunate. We might just be competing for the same- " He stopped himself short, but soon continued to throw the ball in the air and catch it repeatedly. "I'll get to work on waking June up. Shouldn't take long. Do you guys have meat?" So I fed him an early dinner before he proceeded to look after June. Personally, I don't think he's making a damn bit of difference. But I suppose the only thing I can do is just wait. In the meantime, I think I'll take some great advice and search for others who might share my dilemma. 

"To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy."

"Always say 'Bless you' after someone sneezes to ensure that the devil hasn't entered their body."

Things Have Been Quiet Recently

I'm starting to look up some websites about superstitions. I've got a pretty good one here; really, I didn't think there were so many. Damen was being an ass and told me some of them were not true but he refused to tell me which ones. Now I just think he's messing with me. That comment sparked the interesting part of our conversation.

"So how do I get rid of this bad luck?" I asked, almost nonchalantly. I attempted to appear uninterested and not really expect an answer. He decided to humor me.

"You have to get rid of me." He smiled devilishly at the thought of it, like it was an impossible act. Or maybe he was imagining me choking him to death to solve the problem.

"I take it killing you is out of the question?"

His eyes flashed and the smile turned inhuman. "You could try. I doubt you'll get any results."

"So that's a no?"

"Did I say that?"

I flipped him off and he burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. He rose to his feet after it was over and patted on my head as he headed for the kitchen. I half wished I had thought about poisoning some of the food 'til I remembered June might accidentally die instead if she ate anything I poisoned.

"Hey, Damen!" He didn't respond. "Why do you insist on saving me from bad luck if you won't even tell me how to get rid of it?"

"Call it just desserts," he replied through a mouthful of food.

"That doesn't explain anything."

"Get used to disappointment, little girl."

Okay. I could play that game, too. I leapt off the couch and stomped over to the coat rack. Damen was unaware at the moment what I was doing, but I'm sure my sudden silence got him suspicious. The moment I found what I was looking for, Damen suddenly appeared, his hand gripping my wrist and the other confiscating the umbrella.

"What happened to just desserts?" I mocked, wrestling my arm in attempt to free myself from his grasp.

"Don't cause trouble."

"Oh, I see, I'm so very sorry. I didn't realize that was your jurisdiction." He threw my arm aside, finally annoyed with my struggling. "If you only told me why I'm sure I would be less inclined to 'cause trouble'."

He cursed under his breath and broke the umbrella in half. I didn't want to think how I'd have to explain to June how her umbrella broke without her lashing out in hysterics. Damen shook his head several times now and I snickered at his frustration. I'm sure he was realizing he couldn't keep me in the dark for long.

"There are... worse things than a car crash," was all he said.

"Such as?"

He stood there for several seconds, glancing at numerous things as though they would save him from this confrontation. At a loss for words, he finally tossed down the two halves of the umbrella and retreated back into the kitchen. There were sounds of clanging plates and unraveling of plastic as he resumed his task of making lunch for himself. My own frustration boiling over I grabbed a coat and walked out the door, taking extra care to slam the door for him. It wasn't good enough. I needed answers.

Well, I spent the rest of the afternoon just cruising around downtown. Several times I was tempted to deliberately give myself more bad luck, but I knew it would only get my ass screwed over than anyone else's. Especially since Damen wasn't here if I did. Flashes of images of the car crash weeks earlier resurfaced and I couldn't be sure if the next unfortunate incident would result in my death if Damen wasn't here to save my sorry butt. He knew that, too; and he knows that no matter what I'm at his mercy. Is that the reason he won't tell me how to get rid of him?

The rest of the day passed by as uneventful as ever and tension was high at home after June picked me up at a local coffee shop. There was the usual behavior between June and Damen, but June couldn't help but notice how Damen seemed to be ignoring my existence as well. It annoyed me to have him on my back all the time, but his silence concerned me. I finally had to say something during dinner. June was the only one who noticed me as I stood up from my chair, glowering at Damen.

"If you're not going to tell me what the fuck you're after, you can leave." That caught his attention. He placed down his silverware slowly and gazed up at me as though I were an insignificant bug.

"You can't survive without me," he replied, as if reminding me that in order to eat I needed to chew.

"I know all the in's and out's. If you hadn't noticed, superstitions aren't hard to come by. I can handle things from here. Now get out."

He shrugged and, slightly to my surprise, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. June's face mirrored my amazement as he shut the door with a forceful bang on his way out. I stood there frozen and finally sank back into my chair.

"... He's really gone," June whispered. I couldn't say anything in response. June attempted to lighten up the atmosphere but finally realized I wasn't in any mood to feel happy or relieved. I called in early that night and stared at the ceiling for a good hour before falling asleep.

That was almost a week ago. Everything has been quiet since then. I decided to not do anything rash since I figured that's what he wanted. My just desserts. I'm going to see if I can return to my normal life now that he's gone. I'm going to stay on my guard, though. I can't really be expected to believe that getting rid of bad luck can be that easy.


"It’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head."