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A whisper in the night called to me. Called me to it. I couldn’t say what it was but something pulled me out into the cold. I’d never felt such a need to be outside before in this particular season. If I did it was because I had already seen the stars and wanted to stay out longer. The cold had been so bitter lately that I was starting to turn into a hermit. I really hated the cold and I made a point to stay the hell out of it. I would much rather spend my days inside sulking in front of the fireplace than be about in such depressing weather. So it was really strange to have this sudden urge to be outside. True it wasn’t that cold outside but when the wind blew it sent striking jolts of cold at my arms and face. I stood on the porch of our country house and looked around for anything out of the ordinary. There was silence for a moment as I looked out miserably at the white snow. It occasionally snowed at this part of Texas but it wasn’t to be expected very often. ‘Maybe that’s what brought me outside’, I thought putting a cold finger to my lips so I could huff out a warm breath onto it.
Suddenly I heard a loud barking in the distance and my head whipped to the side. The neighbor’s dog was a very kind dog and it often barked at strangers but it usually always remembered a scent. To me this obviously meant that something was wrong. So I unconsciously took a step back as the barking grew more intense till as suddenly as it came it stopped. My ears were used to quietness so I heard the crunching of the snow. It was getting closer to me but I was too shocked and scared to move. A man jumped onto the railing that lined our porch and my eyes widened as I hit the house wall from being startled. It was almost a mystic moment. He had perfectly managed to land right on it, snow fell from his boots, and a creaking sound came from the rail as he began to sway backward. The thing that was strange was his white hair. It was as white as the glowing snow. The moment ended though when his head shot up sending his strange hair flinging around his crown. His eyes pierced me, they were red, red! I tried to move but I only succeeded in pushing myself more onto the wall. There was another creak and he had pushed himself off the rail and to the porch with me. He tipped to one side as he landed then seemed to straighten himself before he came towards me. I’d meant to grab the door but he slammed his hand with such force onto the wall beside me that I swear the house shook. I jumped at that and turned my face back towards his for fear that he might aim that hand at my head next. Now it seemed that his eyes had turned into a honey color; I blinked at that and the fact that his face was crumpled into one of defeat and helplessness.
“Please!” He pleaded and put his hand roughly onto my shoulder and shook me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end from his touch and I tried to keep as far away from him at the wall would allow. “You’ve got to help me! I’ll do anything, I swear, I promise; just please help me.” His words tore at my heart. He was so desperate and pleading; and his face! He looked like he was about to cry! I leaned in unconsciously as my brows furrowed.
“W-what’s wrong? H-how can I help?” I stammered out sending a puff of smoky air at him. His eyes seemed to go out of focus for a moment and his face came closer to mine. He started to tip to one side again and one of the hands that was on my shoulder went past my jacket collar and touched my neck. I squeaked from the pure coldness that came from it. It leaned more on me as he leaned more to the side and I felt goose bumps rise up my arms.
“So cold…” He breathed out his eyes not really seeing me anymore. “They’re… Chasing me… Too cold…” He began to tip dangerously now and I grabbed onto his arm to try and support him. That made his hand slide all the way onto my neck and I bit my lip from the suddenness of it. That made all my decisions final. This guy, as it now seemed, was going to freeze to death if I didn’t get him inside. I didn’t care who was chasing him; he looked sorry enough to me now that he was close to dying so if he was running from a crime he’d no doubt turn himself in for it later. As I tried to pull him with me to the door his hand gently squeezed my neck but I was so determined to get him inside that I hardly noticed. Good thing the screen door had busted a few days back other wise I don’t know how I would have gotten him inside. I had to turn the knob and kick the door open just so he wouldn’t topple over. We wobbled in slowly but it wasn’t until I got into the middle of the living room that he raised his head and looked at the fireplace with wide eyes. He put his other arm out to reach for it and he began to drag me along!
“W-wait you’ll fall!” I tried to stop him but I managed to stumble. That made him stumble and his eyes blinked slowly for a moment before he went completely limp. It all happened so fast I didn’t have time to at least try and hold him up. His arm slid off my shoulder and out of my hands quickly and in a moment he was on the floor with a thump. I gasped pulling my hands to my mouth, but there was a sudden wind that came through the open door that sent cold chills through me. I quickly bounded over to the door and slammed it shut and locked it all in one swift motion. Then I bounded back to the white haired guy and crouched down by the side his face was visible from. I stared at him for a moment noting his furrowed brow and frowning face. I then placed a hand to his forehead and felt his cheeks. He was definitely cold! Don’t get my wrong my hands were ice themselves but my hands always seem to get cold quickly so I knew what cold felt like. I couldn’t help but stare at him again. First at his hair; it really was pure white! Then at his slumped form; he was really out and I was worried about his health. If he was really in trouble I wouldn’t be able to help him. I put a finger to his neck and felt around cautiously for a pulse. When I finally found it I sighed with relief. Not only was it beating at a reasonable pace it was a strong beat. I pulled away from him then and shook my head, sending my thick wavy locks this way and that. I stood up and put a hand to either side of his jacket’s collar and began to pull him closer to the fireplace. I turned him so his entire body could feel the heat and ran upstairs to my room to grab on of my thickest blankets. I threw it over him for now because I wasn’t sure if I could get him on top of it at all. Then I quickly went into the kitchen and put on the hot water. I looked around for a good sized towel and by the time I found one the water was steaming. I placed it under the water with a few sucking in of air; because it was hot enough to scorch for my cold fingers. Then I rung it out a bit, but not too much, and ran back to the white haired guy. I moved his strange hair out of the way and placed the warm towel on his forehead. I patted it a few times and was thinking about rubbing the rest of his face with it but I figured it would just leave cold places if the towel wasn’t there to keep it warm. After all of that I finally sighed heavily and placed my hands onto my hips. After another moment of staring at him I rubbed my hands together fiercely and turned to go upstairs. I began to take my jacket off as I went and I shook my hair out again to try and get the coldness out of it. I threw it onto my bed when I got into my room and went straight for the closet that I had gotten the blanket from. There was a few pillows stuff in the corner there too so I grabbed one and through that on the bed too. I looked at the pile of clothes at the bottom of my closet as I tried to take my bulky boots off. I finally found the pants that I wanted when I was trying to hop out of the ones I was wearing. After I donned those I went back over to the bed and threw my jacket to the floor this time. I grabbed a pillow for me and my set of blankets that I always slept with and placed them on top of the larger pillow I had picked out for the guy. Finally I picked up all of that with one arm and bent down to pick up my jacket; I set the jacket on a coat hanger as I left the room and shut off the light. It wasn’t until I got downstairs that I realized my socks were still on. I really liked to be barefoot and it wasn’t really because the flooring in the living room was wood, as a matter of fact all the flooring downstairs was slippery material, it was just a preference. If I wasn’t wearing shoes then I didn’t need socks, and if I was inside I didn’t need shoes. I sighed and threw my bundle onto the sofa that was pushed to the wall far enough from the fire that you wouldn’t get uncomfortable but far enough for me to freeze without the proper covering. My parents loved the cold; that’s why they had decided to go on a winter trip this year. It wasn’t a big deal to me because they had wanted to go to some type of ski resort or something, and like I said before, snow isn’t my thing. I had to beg them to leave me here and if it wasn’t for the neighbor’s promise of keeping a close eye on me then I would have been forced to go. I was happy that they would be enjoying themselves; they needed a break and time to be romantic with one another without having to worry about me so much. This also gave me my much needed alone time and a perfect excuse to stay indoors without seeming like a recluse.
I picked up his pillow and carried it over to him. He seemed to have moved a bit so that seemed like a good sign. Unfortunately I had to take his blanket away for a moment so he wouldn’t be too uncomfortable on the floor. I fixed it so that he could have some cushion under him and enough blanket to use to cover up. I left the pillow to the side so I could try and roll him onto the blanket. I put the towel into my mouth as I pushed him closer to the blanket then as gently as I could I flipped him over onto it. One more flip and he was right side up again. I quickly replaced his towel and was about to cover him up when I noticed that his hand looked a weird color. For a moment I thought it was only being shadowed by his jacket but when I looked closer I realized it was his skin! Dread filled me and I quickly grabbed it. But to my amazement it twitched at my touch and it felt slightly warm. I had thought he might have had frostbite! Now I realized that his nails were a sickly cream color and not only that but they were more like claws than nails! I moved his hand between mine using my other hand to test the roughness of the skin. It twitched again he let out a small grunt. I quickly dropped it and looked to his face to see if he had woken up. His face was still frowning but his eyebrows moved, still though he didn’t seem to be awake. I looked back over to his hand cautiously as if I had just been imagining the whole thing. It was still a light grayish color and he still had claws on it. Now that I looked at it the ends of the claws seemed to have red on them. I didn’t see any anywhere else though. I hoped that he wasn’t hurt or something. I looked for his other hand but it seemed like the normal hand I had first seen. Now that I thought about it he had made the house shake, and he had seemed pretty fast even though clumsy. I pulled the blanket over him again and went to pick up his head. His hair felt really soft on my fingers and the firelight made it seem to be a bit pink now. After I put the pillow in place I took the towel quickly and put new hot water onto it. I replaced it and went to sit on the far ledge of the fireplace. I stared at him with crossed legs, one bobbing up and down as I thought. The fire felt nice and warm from here but the brick was a bit cooler on one side of me. He seemed to be perfectly asleep and I knew I was about to doze off any minute too. You would think that something like a clawed hand would freak me out but… The truth was that, it didn’t. In fact it was quite the opposite. It made me excited; like what could he be!? What if the Government was after him?! That makes me think alien now, but that seems all wrong. He’s gatta be like a vampire or maybe a demon or something. He couldn’t be a demon though cause who the hell would a demon be running from?! Ha! Hmmm maybe he’s like part animal or something? Ok now I’m confusing myself. I rubbed my eyes and gave a loud yawn. I blinked looking at my still socked foot. I slid the sock off and took the other off as well and threw them at the end of the couch as I walked to it. I put my pillow in place and curled up on the couch. I gave another yawn and I was out in a matter of seconds.

I awoke later in the night to the crackling of the fire. It was louder that usual and usually it only popped once or twice every so often, now it was popping and sizzling every few seconds. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore so I sat up clutching my blankets to my chest and look towards the fireplace. My droopy eyes instantly popped open. Kneeling by the fireplace was the guy and his hands were moving around inside of the flames of the fire. I jumped up quickly and went towards him.
“What Are You Doing?!” I moved to pull his hands out of the flames but his arm came out of it quickly and shoved me back. He gave me an annoyed look and I realized he no longer had his jacket on, much less his shirt!
“You idiot, your going to burn yourself. Stay back.” He looked at me with those honey colored eyes but his hair was definitely a shade of darker pink. My mouth dropped for a moment but it turned into a pout as he turned his attention back to the fire.
“Me?! You’re the one up to your elbows in the fire…” My voice trailed away as I realized that his flesh was perfectly fine and not oozing off his bones or blistering or anything. I leaned a bit closer and over his arm to get a better look and he turned his head towards me with a raised eyebrow.
“I need the warmth, the fire. I am a fire demon you know.” I turned towards him now with my hands pulled together in front of me.
“Really?” I glanced back at his hands; they seemed to be normal hands now.
“Yes”, he turned his body pulling his hands out of the fire and I watched them curiously. “Thank you, by the way, you saved my life you know.” He placed a hand partly on my neck and chin and I watched it till the warmth from it made me blush and I looked up at him.
“R-really?” I couldn’t help but swallow as his eyes stared into mine intently. I was starting to get a bit nervous now. Earlier the thought of a demon seemed like a perfectly natural incident; now it was starting to scare the crap out of me. Maybe I’d been in shock? Oh God that’s what they always say! It’s a sheer sign that I’m just losing my mind! Suddenly a loud sound came from him and I realized that he was laughing. I looked down blushing again. His hand moved on my neck and he made me turn it as if he was looking at something on it.
“Sorry about those scratches they should heal by noon tomorrow. I wasn’t really coherent earlier and I seemed to have drawn some blood.” I felt around my neck for anything.
“Huh?” I hadn’t felt anything but his freezing flesh but now right below one of his fingers was a tender spot on my neck and a few more on other points below his hand. I hadn’t been paying attention to him well so I didn’t notice he was getting closer till he nuzzled my neck with his face.
“You’re just so warm, I couldn’t resist in my weak state.” He inhaled deeply and my face flushed for the third time. I quickly pushed him away.
“O-Kay~ that’s enough of that.” I huffed and pulled down the bottom of my shirt trying to calm myself down. He laughed staring at me with clear amusement.
He placed one of his hands to his chin and let out a “Hmmm.” I crossed my arms through one another as I still held onto the rim of my shirt.
“What?” I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes. His grin seemed to get bigger.
“What would you like?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Huh?” He pulled his hand away from his chin and placed both of his hands on his hips, his grin getting all the bigger.
“I promised you anything for your help, so what would you like?” My brows furrowed. Weren’t you not supposed to make deals with demons?
“Nothing?” I asked confused. I didn’t really expect anything from him and I certainly didn’t want anything if it was going to get me screwed in the end. He laughed.
“Nothing at all?” I thought for a moment.
“Umm, nope.” His smile was a little strange; I wasn’t sure if it was genuine or not and if it was I didn’t know if it was there because he was amused or if he was just thinking evil things. I guessed it was both. His smile grew wider still.
“I could make spring come earlier, or summer hotter, or perhaps make a certain someone like you, or if its money you want-”
“No I don’t need any of that.” I said with a pout, but I bit my lip after a moment and looked to the side. “Could you really make spring come earlier?” Spring was my favorite season; despite my love for warm weather. I was really just curious as to how he could do such a thing.
“I could. Is that what you want?” He raised his hands in the air and I jumped up and pushed them down.
“No!” I frowned at him. “I was just wondering how…” He laughed again and I couldn’t help but notice how warm his hands were. I pulled mine away from him and looked away.
“Simple I just make it a little warmer and warmer in this region till spring kicks in.” I placed my lip between my teeth as I thought about that.
“I suppose that would work…” He leaned toward me but I ignored him.
“Why so glum, sweet?” I blushed a little and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I don’t know you make it seem so boring.” He laughed again and I decided that I liked the way he laughed. He did it full heartedly and didn’t hold back a thing. It was loud but a pleasant sound.
“What would you like me to do say that I personally see to small patches of grass and flowers and trees to make sure they grow more little by little each week?” I pouted.
“Well that seems more interesting than doing one measly simple thing.” He laughed.
“I am a demon. I’m not meant to nurture things but if you wanted something like that I’m sure an earth demon could do something of that sort. You got stuck with a fire demon, and if it’s so simple then why don’t you do it Miss. Expert?” I pouted more and gave a huff. He laughed of course. “Why don’t you go back to sleep. I’ll try and be a more quiet.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave a gentle push. I swatted his hand away and walked to the side.
“No. I need to make sure you are doing better. So while I’m up I’ll make you something to eat if you like? What would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate? We pretty much have everything I’m sure; my mother stocked up on tons of food before they left.” He raised an eyebrow at me and stared at me with those amber eyes.
“Where did they go?” I stared back at him with annoyance and shook my head.
“Doesn’t matter. Are you hungry? I make great tea and hot chocolate, but mom and dad are the only ones who drink coffee so I don’t know if I’d make good coffee.” He came closer to me and placed his hands on my waist. I tried to wiggle out of his grip but I found that it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
“You should sleep I’m fine. You’ve helped me enough tonight I don’t need to be taking your beauty sleep from you.” His hand came up as he talked and he rested it on my chin as his finger glided over my cheek. I blushed and tried again to pull away from him but he only brought the hand back down to make sure I wouldn’t get away.
“At least let me make you something warm to drink before I go back to bed!” He laughed and turned so he could push me towards the kitchen.
“Hmm make me some tea then, please.” I pursed my lips as I walked into the kitchen. The floor was cold so I walked with my toes. I got a bag from the cabinet and threw it on the counter as I grabbed a good sized pan to put water in. I was starting to doze off as I waited for it boil and I could hear him laughing at me from the other side of the bar behind me. Finally I could stick in the bag and I walked over to the pantry to get out the sugar. I grabbed a large spoon and a pitcher. I put some cool water into the pitcher and then waited a while longer for the tea. I was dozing off by then too and I jumped when I felt something touching my neck. I noticed that it was him and that his hair was getting darker it seemed.
“What are you doing?” I asked sleepily. He smiled.
“Just checking your neck; it’s almost healed. I can handle the rest now you can go to bed.” I shook my head slowly so I couldn’t get a headache.
“No it should be done by now.” He frowned at me for some reason.
“Just don’t burn yourself you stubborn girl.” I walked over to the tea and grabbed the handle of the pan. The pitcher was by the sink and now the pan tilted this way and that while I tried to put the pitcher in the sink. He hurriedly grabbed it away from me and set it down. He made an attempt to grab the pan from my hands too but I pulled it away and made a whining sound at him. Then carefully I pulled the tea bag towards the handle so I could hold the end with my thumb as I poured it. It went in successfully without any major spills. I set the pan on the burner again and made sure it was off then I went to get the sugar and a towel. I pulled the pitcher out with it and whipped it off. Then I mixed the tea after adding a lot of sugar. Once I decided it tasted good enough. I went to get two cups. A large one for him and a small one for me. I poured his first only having a little trouble with the heavy pitcher. He was giving me a very annoyed look but I was to busy with my tea to care. I pored mine and was about to take a big gulp when he nimbly grabbed the cup away from me.
“HEY!” His brow twitched and I reached for my cup.
“Ow…” He glared at me and I glared back. “What is wrong with you child? Are you trying to burn yourself?” I frowned.
“What are you talking about? Gimmie my TEA!” He raised it higher so that there was no hope of me reaching.
“What is with the yelling?” I stretched as far as I could but I couldn’t even touch it.
“My Tea~” I groaned a very loud and long groan as I tried to reach it. He blinked at me for a moment before becoming annoyed again.
“You just got it off the stove your going to burn yourself!” I reached now with both hands moving my fingers as if sheer will would bring the cup down.
“Noooo.”
“Yes”, he declared. Finally I gave up and spun around with my arms crossed over my chest. I’m tired darn it, I want my TEA. My eyes caught sight of his large cup and I slowly went for it then finally lunged.
“DON’T!” I took two large gulps and was satisfied, plus he pulled it away from me. Some had spilled on my mouth so I proceeded to lick it off as I turned back to him.
“Can I have my tea now?” I asked him after I was sure I’d gotten every last drop. He stared at me with a strange look.
“What is wrong with you?!” I frowned.
“Whaaaat?” He quickly got annoyed.
“That was Hot tea don’t you have any sense?” I pouted.
“I like hot tea, now gimmie!”
“That was too hot for you! Don’t you feel it?” I rubbed my tummy then my throat.
“It’s warm. Just the way I like it.” He raised his eyes then shut them with furrowed brows.
“For heavens sake…” I huffed and whirled around.
“I’m going to bed. You better drink my tea before it gets cold! And all the rest of the tea too!” When I was crawling back into my bed on the couch he came over with my small cup and handed it to me with a raised eyebrow. I sat up with it and raised an eyebrow at it and him. He didn’t say anything to me he only stared so I brought the cup to my lips and drank my tea taking big gulps. I would pause to let the heat settle in my chest before drinking more and when I finally finished I sighed and blinked sleepily. He took the cup from me leaning onto one side of the couch so he could lean towards my face. He smiled a bit and chuckled.
“You’re not human.” I blinked again and smiled.
“Thas right I’m parr dinosaur, raawr. I’m cold-blooded so I gatta stay warm or I’ll die.” I grinned at him and he laughed his full laugh. He placed a hand on my chest and pushed my down to the pillow. I didn’t have any objections I could hardly keep my eyes open.
“Sleep dear.” I was already dozing off when his hand moved more up my neck then back towards my collar bone. It was so warm, almost as warm as I felt after all that tea.

It was warm when I woke up and I heard sizzling and popping again. I could smell food and it made me wonder who was making it. I wasn’t too curious though because I was still tired, so I rolled over taking my blankets with me.
“Delilah! Wake up young lady and eat some breakfast.” My brows furrowed as I tried to remember this voice in my head. I shot up from the couch as I remembered last night. My flung past my face as I turned to the sound of sizzling. “Come Eat.” My brows furrowed again as I made my way out of my tangle of blankets. I walked over slowly on my toes again because the floor was very cold. My hands were clenched together at my chest as I awkwardly poked my head past the kitchen wall. He was standing in front of the stove with a frying pan above a foot of flames.
“Ah! What the heck are you doing?!” I jumped toward him but I quickly realized my last mistake about him and fire and put my out stretched hand on his shoulder. He turned his pinkish head of hair to look at me with a smirk.
“Making breakfast of course. Since you weren’t really in a bed I just decided to eat it over here.” I was a bit confused by what he meant but I was more concerned about the fire to worry about it.
“What’s going to be left of it?! And look your going to get the fan dirty!” I couldn’t very well take the pan myself so I settled for the next best thing and grabbed onto his wrist. I pulled but it didn’t budge in the slightest. He laughed at me and I pouted.
“I was only playing. Here have a look.” The flame died slowly down and he brought the pan away from it and leaned it toward me so I could see. In it were most perfect sunny-side-up eggs I’d ever seen and next to them were two slices of mildly pink bacon. My face fell and I pulled away from him.
“Oh…” He laughed again and I turned away with a pout.
“This is yours. Go sit down and I’ll put it on a plate for you.” I was too embarrassed to object or even try to help so I did what he said and say sulkily into a chair at the small table on the right side of the kitchen. My hands were starting to get cold so I placed them between my legs as I waited for my food. He placed a pink glass plate in front of me with a cheery smile. The food still looked amazingly perfect and I couldn’t help but be amazed by it. Even my mother, who was one of the best cooks in town couldn’t make her eggs look that perfect. They looked just like the carton depictions of them in ads and on TV. He set a spoon down by my plate and I grabbed it quickly.
“Can I have a fork instead?” I stared up at him and his eyes narrowed for a moment. “What is it?” His face softened then and he gave a weak smile.
“Nothing. Of course you can have a fork instead; I’d been so foolish in giving you a spoon, I’m dreadfully sorry.” I frowned as he took the spoon with a smirk.
“Your mean.” He laughed boomingly as he went over to the drawer and got a fork. I stared at my food with a frown as I waited for him to come back. He gave me the fork with that same cheery smile and walked back over to the oven. I stared to eat my food as he began to expertly crack eggs open and into the pan. He placed various slices of bacon into the pan as well and I watched as the fame from the burner grew and grew. The food sizzled again and he stared at the pan with a smile. With his height I’m sure he could see the food but I couldn’t. He was actually tall very tall compared to me. I took a bit of egg and reached for the salt afterwards. After giving a few shakes onto my eggs and a bit on my bacon I began to eat again. I was now happily munching on a piece of bacon when I smelt something burning. I turned my head to see a small bit of smoke coming form his pan. His eyes looked far away and I watched him till the smoke grew bigger.
“Hey!” I jumped up when I realized I still didn’t know his name. I grabbed onto his red shirt sleeve and shook him a bit. “Hey what are you doing?! It’s burning!” He jolted and the large flame in front of him flickered for a moment.
“Huh?” His eyes traveled over the food and his brows came together. “Oh…” His flame died a bit and he turned the pan so I could see. The bacon was black and I didn’t know if you could even consider those things eggs anymore. I moved my head back with a frown and he laughed. “No worries; that’s just how I like it.” I gave him an annoyed look and noted how I was still holding onto his arm. I quickly pulled away and stared back to my chair.
“Whatever. Don’t you burn my house down!” Now I was seriously going to have to clean the top fan. I was just about to make it to my chair when he pulled me back by my waist.
“Don’t be mad Delilah. You were happy just a minute ago so be happy again.” I blushed at his words and his breath hitting my ear. I tried to push myself out of his grip but he grabbed me with his other arm too. “I haven’t had the chance to properly introduce myself either.” I turned my head toward him because I could see him grinning with my peripherals. “My name is Flamaestus the forth. Pleased to meet you Delilah Chaucer.” I blushed and turned my head away from him quickly.
“H-how do you know my name?!” My head shot up when I realized what he said. Before I could try to squirm my way out of his grip he had pulled me toward him. He held me with his long arms trapping my body. I blushed more and tried to look up at him but my hair was getting in the way. He grinned and looked up to the side as if thinking.
“Hmmm. Devil’s intuition?” I blinked at that. It was kind of weird how you could forget something so important but for some reason it was hard to believe he was actually a… Demon. Weren’t they supposed to be like heartless or something? I know they wouldn’t be so nice right? It’s just so hard to see him as some type of evil entity. My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a warm finger on my chin. He tilted my head up more, which didn’t really seem possible, and some of my hair moved so I could see him better.
“You know when you’re thinking really hard about something you tend to zone out. You stare for a very long time without blinking; I’m not sure if that’s particularly good for your health.” My face grew hot and I tried to think of something to get him off of the embarrassing subject. My parents even commented a lot on my “thinking time”.
“Um, so… Your names really Flamaestus?” I blinked up at him hoping that he could take a bit of teasing. He laughed at me and if his laugh wasn’t such a booming one I wouldn’t have noticed just how close I was to him. His chest shook when he laughed and I blushed a bit because was still a very cute sound.
“Most people just call me Flame.” He looked down at me with a smirk and I got this sudden feeling like I should be embarrassed by what I just thought. “It’s a passed down name from my Father and his, and his, and you get the picture.” I nodded slowly because I was still a little weirded out by that feeling. He hid his eyes from me with his hair and I was about to ask what was wrong when he gently pulled me away from him. Even then when I turned to ask he pushed me. Not just any ordinary push either; his hands were on my… My butt! I blushed profusely and whipped around with my hands over said area.
“Hey! That is very inappropriate!” I pointed a finger at him but he continued to hide his face from me and stand there with his arms over his chest. “If you’re going to be staying here then you’re going to have to follow some rules. Got that Mr. Flame?” I pouted putting my own arms over my chest.
“Heh. You go from old lady to kid just like that.” He looked up at me with a smirk.
“Huh?” I frowned at him in confusion and he began to walk over to me letting his arms fall. He came really close and I was forced to back up. I was trapped though by the table and he leaned his face down toward me.
“I’m in a bad mood ok? Don’t tempt me.” I frowned at him; what the heck was that supposed to mean?
“A bad mood is no excuse. You have to follow the rules or you can’t stay.” His brows twitched and he stared into my eyes for a moment.
“Whatever just tell me your stupid rules.” He backed up a little but he still didn’t let me escape. My brows were furrowed as I looked at him. I take back what I said earlier about him not seeming the type…
“Rule number 1. Stay out of my bubble.” I looked up at him and he had an annoyed expression. “Got it? I have no reason to be so close to you and you don’t have any either so stay away.” I pointed a finger at him to make myself clear then pushed at him. He finally backed up but he wouldn’t look at me. “Rule number 2. Don’t make a mess.” I crossed my arms over my chest so I could try and calm my own temper. “I’ve got to clean this place so I would appreciate it if you didn’t get anything dirty or mess anything up. You can use my computer if you like but please stay out of my parents’ rooms and especially my Father’s study.” I tried to think of more things to tell him but that really seemed to be it. “I can’t think of any other rules but if I do I’ll tell you them later. You can pretty much do anything you like, oh, don’t mess with the animal please some of them are a bit wary of strangers. Hmm you can eat whatever you like I can always buy more food, but I would appreciate it if you would not waste any food to begin with. Let’s see what else…” I placed a hand to my chin as I thought. “Oh! We do have a guest room you can sleep in so you won’t have to sleep on the floor; I was just worried about taking you away from the fire last night but you should be fine now. I’ll have to clean up the room though cause it might be a bit dusty and-” There was a warm hand that came and covered my mouth.
“Ok I get it. Can you shut up now?” I blushed and quickly but gently bit one of his fingers. I pulled away from him with a frown.
“You’re in my bubble!” I pushed at him so he’d move away; he did but there was no doubt that he was pissed. His hands were at his sides and they weren’t fists but they were stuck almost to that point. He pulled his head up to look at me and his eyes froze me in place.
“Do you have any idea what the word demon means?” His words seemed to be forced out of his teeth. I stared at him for a moment before I frowned.
“I do but you’re in my house. I’m doing you a favor so you’d better be on your best behavior or I’ll throw you out.” I stepped toward him and stood straight right in front of him. “I am not going to be scared of you because that is exactly what you want. So grow up young man or your manners are going to get you thrown out. Got it?”
“Your logic is idiotic. If you piss me off there’s no telling what I’ll do to you. I could kill you with one little motion; don’t you know that? I could kill you and just take this house for as long as I want it.” His eyes were staring into mine with such intensity that I noticed when they started to change from the honey color to an orange color. “Doesn’t that scare you?” I took his challenge and narrowed my eyes at him. I am a Texan after all and we don’t bullshit.
“No because if you kill me I’ll come back as a ghost and haunt you for the rest of my undead life.” I smirked at him; after all if demons were real then ghost most definitely had to be too. His mouth twitched and it pulled into one of his own smirks. Suddenly he had me turned around and he pushed me toward my chair at the table.
“Eat the rest of your food before I char that too.” I went to sit and I grabbed my fork with a raised eyebrow in his direction. He went over to his pan which surprisingly was still smoking from the heat of the food. I munched on the rest of my eggs as he came over and plopped down into the chair across from me. His plate looked so bad I had to laugh at it. His eyes looked like pork rinds for crying out loud. “What?” he asked clearly annoyed still.
“Want the rest of my food? I can see that someone did a bad job at making yours; you’d better tell them to take that back to the kitchen.” I laughed again and pushed my plate toward him as I placed another piece of egg into my mouth.
“Humph. I don’t want your stupid food.” He grabbed a piece of his black bacon and placed it into his mouth with a crunch. I stared at him as he chewed it without making a since face. He raised an eyebrow at me again. “What?” I couldn’t take it anymore; I burst out laughing. I got up from my chair still laughing. It was just so funny! I mean the slice was black; it even left black spots on his finger and lips.
“Finish my food. I don’t want anymore.” I giggled as I made my way back to my room. When I finally got to it I placed my hands on my hips and let out a long breath of air. I looked around for my boots and I placed them by the door when I spotted them. I looked in my drawer for a good shirt and then went looking for my thick pair of Wranglers. Once I had finally donned those I went on a serious search for my gloves. I had thrown them somewhere yesterday because I was so pissed about the weather turning colder so fast. It was hardly in the 70’s again yesterday and then it got back down to the 50’s really quick. That’s Texas for ya though. I found one by my bed and another under a pile of clothes by the closet. Finally I had to grab some thick socks and then I quickly ran down stairs with socks and boots in hand. From the sound of it Flame was washing up after breakfast. It sounded so weird and awkward to say his name, but I was busy so no time to think about that now! I sat on the edge of the fireplace again and noticed how there was a small fire still going inside of it. I pulled on my socks quickly and placed my feet roughly into my boots before I jumped up and made my way outside. Well I tried to make my way outside. I had just put my jacket on and was about to grabbed the knob when he appeared in front of me.
“Where are you going?” He stared at me hard as he put an arm over the door.
“Outside.” His brows furrowed.
“Why?” He said it through his teeth so I knew he was pissed but I didn’t have any idea why.
“I have to feed the animals and make sure they are doing ok and check on the crops. Is there a problem?” I tilted my head in confusion; I really had no idea why he should be so angry about it. He was quiet for a moment but his arm slowly slid away from the door.
“How long are you going to be outside?” I checked my watch and estimated how long it’d take me to do my work with this snow around.
“A couple of hours maybe 4 or 5. Don’t worry as soon as I’m done we can go out for dinner some place if you like so we wont have to wait long for food. Or I could make something it doesn’t really matter.” He sighed and I looked at him with new confusion.
“You talk too much. Just hurry up ok? And be careful too.” He stared at me for a moment then he narrowed his eyes and came toward me. I was about to object to his closeness but he quickly pecked me on the forehead and walked away.
“H-hey! That’s still breaking a rule you know!” I stammered out through my blush as I held a hand to my forehead. The spot were he kissed me was warm and it made me blush even more.
“Don’t open that door until I fix the fire. And seriously be careful; don’t talk to anyone you don’t know.” I raised eyebrow at his sudden attitude.
“Yes, Dad I didn’t realize you came home early. I’ll bring in some more logs when I come back so use as much as you want.” I waited for the moment when the fire would flare back to life and sure enough it did so in a matter or seconds. “Ok I’ll be seeing ya.” I waved bye to him and he walked to the stairs with a frown. It was really cold outside and I shut the door quickly so none of it would come in. It was so bright too. I was practically blinded but anything was better than freezing so I didn’t mind that much. I quickly got to work and trudged my way over to the barn. I had to move the animals into their own special places in the barn yesterday because I was worried about them getting to cold. Now I was starting to wonder if I should shovel the snow off most of the field. I know I would have to eventually but I needed to do it when snow wasn’t expected. I’d have to go back and check the weather later right now the animals needed fresh food. Since they couldn’t go out and graze I had to put hay into their stalls. The sheep and goats had their own pins were they could move around but ultimately the cows roamed around different places in the rest of the farm. It was actually funny because you’d expect us to have a dog but we didn’t. We did once but we hadn’t wanted to replace him… We had two horses but they were in a separate stable and the chickens of course had a coop. Everyone seemed to be perfectly fine and normal so I did the usual work of picking up crap and putting down food. I brushed the horses for a little while and got the eggs from the chickens. Finally I got to my mothers crops. I had put a special tarp over them yesterday and today they seemed fine. None of them seemed crushed so that was good. I went to check on the neighbor’s dog and waved hello to him so he’d know I was doing ok before I headed back home. It wasn’t a particularly long walk back to the house but it was so quiet without the animals out. Usually it was quiet out hear but being so close to the fields and it being this quiet was a bit weird. I remembered about the fire wood and I made my over to the part of the house that Dad did most of it. It wasn’t particularly easy to chop wood but Dad had given me some pointers. I had got fire cut when I gave up on it for the day. I started again on my way inside trying to balance the logs in one arm and the basket of eggs in the other. Just as I was about to turn the corner to the house a big gust of wind came and knocked the logs out of my hands. It was so cold that I had to forget about them for a moment so I could rub my arms. The thing I hate most about winter is the cold winds. It’s never really cold unless the winds blowing. If it blows then it sends the cold all over your body and into your skin. With me being so thin it seems to get even farther than my skin. It pricks at me horribly especially my hands. From all the work today and despite my gloves my hands are numb. That’s what really made it so hard to chop the wood. Every time I got contact with the wood it sent horrible little pin pricks threw my palms and fingers. It doesn’t sound like much but imagine the pricks you get when your foot is asleep and you move it. That’s painful but imagine the thousand stabs in deeper and colder. No I really couldn’t stand winter at all. I went up to the porch and dropped off my basket then when grudgingly back to the wood. I grabbed them but I could have sworn I heard something so my head whipped up and I looked around. I didn’t see anything though so I walked to the door and kicked it a couple times. Hopefully he wouldn’t leave me out here in the cold. I kicked a few more times and finally the door slowly opened. I huffed and walked through as one of the logs began to slip from my grip. I looked around but I didn’t see him anywhere.
“Um a little help here?” I gave a small laughed and looked around the room. Another large gust of wind came and it pushed at my back. I stood still trying not to drop my wood. Still no one was there and after I gave a few fierce shivers I tried to walk to the fire place. The door slammed shut after I took a few steps and it scared me so badly that I dropped everything except (thank God) the eggs.
“Are you ok?” I heard his voice behind me and I whipped around.
“You nearly scared me half to death! What’s wrong with you sneakin around like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack…” I placed a hand to my chest as my cheeks warmed up. Usually when I get scared my Texan comes out if you know what I mean. Ok my accent picks up, so not only was I embarrassed about that I was embarrassed about getting scared in the first place. He bent down and started to pick up the wood with furrowed brows.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you…” He started to walk over to the fire place to put up the logs and I walked into the kitchen and put up the eggs. I sighed as I set the basket onto the counter by the opening in the wall. When I opened my eyes he was in front of me and I didn’t have time to pull away from his hands before they grabbed my face. I blushed and gave him annoyed look.
“What?” He looked me over turning my head this way and that.
“You seem to be ok, if a little chilled.” I hadn’t really noticed how warm his hands were till I remembered how cold my hands were. I pushed at him before I walked back into the living room. I began to pull off my gloves; slowly because they were still painfully numb. At least I could feel the slight heat from the fire. I pulled off my jacket and shook off a shiver as I hung it up on the rack. I walked back over to the fire place and noticed that he had just put the wood on it instead of our designated spot. I looked around for him and found him still in the same spot but turned around looking at me.
“Can you help me put these up? Sorry I actually forgot to tell you where the other logs were, heh.” I gave a nervous laugh at my stupidity.
“Sure. Hand me a few to put in though.” He walked over and I nodded to him. I picked up one and handed it to him as he came closer. When he put it in he placed his whole hand and part of his arm in with it too. The next log I handed him was a bit smaller and our fingers touched when he grabbed it, but I guess his fingers were still very hot because I pulled away quickly after a sharp pain came to my finger.
“Ouch, ouch!” I waved my finger around a bit and stuck it into my mouth quickly. He stared at me with wide eyes and I didn’t blame him because it felt like he had burned me. My hands were obviously still cold because my finger was freezing; the tip of it stung badly. He quickly came towards me but when he made a motion to grab my hand from my mouth I quickly moved away. “I wouldn’t. I think your hands are too hot.” My brows furrowed as I looked at him. He had a sad look on his face but I didn’t want my whole hand to get burned if I gave it to him. Finally he put his hands out to me and his honey colored eyes looked into mine.
“Please. Let me see.” This suddenly looked and sounded just like the guy I had met last night. That same pleading voice and face forced me to pull my finger out of my mouth and I place my hand into his. His hands weren’t as hot but them being so warm made my hand ache. There was a ‘sssss’ sound and steam actually came from his hands. “Your hand is freezing.” I nodded and noticed my eyes were watery. He reached for my other hand and I winced at the ache. Soon though all I felt was warmth as he rubbed my hands gently to try and get them back to life. He began to rub my arms and I flexed my fingers; they’d never gotten so warm so quickly before. I only noticed he had pulled me closer when my face hit his chest. He hugged me tightly as he hands moved over my shoulders. I couldn’t really move so I was forced to talk to his chest.
“Um… My bubble F-Flame…” He pulled me a bit away from him so he could stare at me with an annoyed look.
“Don’t call me that. If you’re uncomfortable with the name then give me one that you would like.” My brows furrowed.
“Huh? But that’s your name I can’t just rename you.”
“Well you can’t call me that.” I continued to look up at him with a pout.
“Then I’ll call you Flamaestus.” It was a bit of a mouth full but to me that did seem to fit better than just merely Flame.
“No.” Now I was started to get annoyed.
“Ok fine but only a nickname then.” I thought for a moment but I didn’t even know who his name was spelled so how was I supposed to really try and make a name for him. “I change my mind I can’t.” I pouted at him and he sighed. He pushed me away from him gently and I was stuck with my arms covering my chest. I suddenly realized just how warm he was because I got another chill. I quickly made my way over to the fire place and put my hands up to the flames. Hmmm I couldn’t call him Estus that sounded like a name for an old man. There was really nothing I could think of besides Flame everything else was just sounds heh.
“You shouldn’t have stayed out for so long if you were that cold. Do you even have any brain cells?” I pouted but I didn’t turn my head away from the fire. At least I was inside again and warm. My hands just get cold way to fast. I stared at the fire trying to think of some type of nickname. In the quiet house usually the only things you here were the fire and my guitar. My hands would be to cold to play so soon after I got back inside and after waiting for them to thaw I was already working on something else. “What the hell are you doing?” He had grabbed my wrist and I realized that I had been getting dangerously close to the fire. He roughly pulled my arm and made me spin around to face him. I winced at the pain in my arm and at the look on his face.
“Ow… Sorry I wasn’t thinking.” I looked to the side as I pouted. The windows rattled harshly and our heads whipped around to them. The wind pushed at them and I turned to him with wide eyes. His eyes were locked onto the windows but he seemed to get paler by the second. My brows furrowed and I noticed his grip on my wrist hadn’t loosened up. “What’s wrong?” I tired to push myself up so I could get his attention but I was too short. I pulled on the arm that he had but still he didn’t look away or even blink. “Hey…” His head slowly turned toward me.
“They found me… They ******** found me…” The wind picked up more and the windows moved back and forth harder. His eyes looked into mine and he smiled at me, but he looked so… Terrified. It made me nervous and my heart started to beat faster. “What am I going to do? Their ganna kill me…” I grabbed onto his shirt sleeve and tugged on it.
“Who?” I hadn’t remembered till now what he’d been saying to me the night before. I guess all the other things he had told me distracted me from it.
“Angels.” His lips curled into a sneer. “Those ******** ice angels. They had been following me in the forests ever since I made it into Texas. Then before I knew it I was trapped by the snow.” He picked up a hand and put it to his forehead. “Agh… I didn’t provoke them at all they just attacked me. If I get to cold I’ll burn out… They know that but still they made the snow stronger and pretty soon the sky was full of it. I had to stop using all of my powers so they couldn’t track me; but that left me without any heat.” He placed his hand to my shoulder and it was just like last night. He stared into my eyes with his desperate honey colored ones. “I was dying and you helped me. If I had done any wrong the angels would have known and they would have found me; that’s why I needed someone to voluntarily let me in.” His eyes got wide. “That’s how they found me. I was so out of my damn mind that I hurt you; and they found me.” His brows furrowed and he looked past me with those wide eyes. I wanted to help him so badly but… I didn’t know how. The windows were still being pushed on but now they got louder. I couldn’t stand to see him like this; even if we had just met he was still under my protection. I chose to help him because he needed help and even if he was a demon I wasn’t going to go back on my word. Heh maybe I already made a pack with the devil after all… I couldn’t let them hurt him, and if they were truly angels then they wouldn’t be hurting people for no reason. The world was already corrupt as it was and now this… No; I’m not going to just stand by and watch. I pulled my arm away from his grip and pulled myself away from him completely. One look at his hopeless expression was all it took to get me going.
I ran towards the door but as soon as I was about to pull it open he pulled me back.
“Delilah no! What if they hurt you trying-” I reached past him and managed to pull the door slightly. A burst of wind made it swing all the way open; it banged loudly but all I heard was him screaming. He’d been holding onto me but as soon as the cold touched him he let go of me and fell to the ground. The wind was strong and it sent flurries of snowflakes inside. I knelt down and put my arms around him to try and shield him from the cold. I tried to look out and see anyone but all I saw was the porch and the stupid snow.
“Leave him alone! He never did anything to yall and he never intentionally hurt me! Doesn’t God forgive? What kind of angels are you to be hurting someone out of spite?” The wind started to die down but he had turned so cold in my arms. His hair seemed thin again and when I looked down at him it was white once more. I wanted to cry seeing him like this, and I couldn’t explain why. I picked my head up and looked outside but still I couldn’t see anything. “He’s my guest and this is private property please leave…” I was starting to feel helpless again when the snow seemed to be blindingly bright.
“What are you going to do, mortal, when this demon turns on you? Are you to naïve to see that he is using you?” The voice could only be described as cold. My eyes were trying to stay open but the light from outside was too bright. I could tell though that the voice belonged to a man.
“He owes me his life. I think even a demon will know how to honor that aspect. And so what if he’s using me, heh, I’m using him too. I don’t think it can really be counted as being selfish when we’re both being selfish about the same things.” The voice scoffed.
“You humans are all the same. Sorry selfish creatures. I should save you now from this evil even if you are too stupid to realize what you’re doing.” I thought for a moment trying to figure out a way to win this.
“Aren’t you not able to sin if you’re an angel? It almost sounds like you’re about to break one of the deadly seven…” Oh God please work…
“You, mortal, don’t know anything. It’s very possible for an angel to sin; they are just more prone to not sin because they know everything about sinning. We know what shouldn’t be done; therefore we do not do it.”
“But you were implying that you should ‘save me now’ as if you were too lazy to do it later. If I remember right one of the seven deadly sins is sloth.” He was silent for a moment and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I’m trying to out wit an angel about sinning! What have I gotten myself into?!
“Fine! If you believe that he can resist his devilish ways then so be it! I will give you and him a chance. You will have to keep an eye on him and you must watch him too. I will only help you if you really need my help. And if he does anything that I deem severely sinful; I’ll come with others to dispose of him. Fire demons have been very troublesome these last few months especially in this area, we were sent to scout them out and dispose of any that seemed even slightly powerful. Do you understand what I am saying? He could be a very bad demon indeed. Do you still wish to protect him?” There was no doubt in my mind that I wasn’t going to help him. I just could not turn my back on him.
“Yes.”
“So be it mortal.” If I could have seen the angel I would have bet money that he had narrowed his eyes at me. The light on the snow got brighter and I had to look away from it. Then when I turned back around everything looked normal. It was still pretty cold outside and my hands were freezing. My hands were still holding onto his head but he didn’t seem to be moving. I moved my numb hands to his shoulder and tried to shake him some. I pulled his body away from me and I tried to bend to see his face.
“Hey…” I looked up to his furrowed brow and figured he had passed out. It had taken his hair a while to get to the pink color it had been and then it got white so quick. It was a bit of a hassle trying to get him lying down without hurting him. I only have so much strength after all. I managed it quickly enough though and I made my way over to the door. I looked out at the snow and the tree line. That had been… Scary. I didn’t really want to think about it right now. Funny though; how he just sort of turns into a Popsicle when he gets to cold. I shut the door with a sigh and looked over to him. You’d think that when a fire goes out it leaves… Ashes. My eyes widened. “That’s it! Ash!” I laughed and went over to him. I rolled his body over and looked at his face with a smile. “Wake up Asher we have a lot to talk about.” I smirked and began to pull him towards my, now dead, fireplace.




^^ hope you liked it