I pointed at her. “Attractive? THAT sounds demonic.”
“They’re wearing robes.”
“…Okay that’s less comforting.”
Another knock sounded through the apartment making Nina flinch hard.
Then a familiar voice called through the hallway. “Please open the door before he notices us standing here awkwardly.”
I froze for a second. I was definitely sober enough to recognise that voice.
Slowly, almost painfully, I turned toward Nina. “They are the candle store people”
Nina went pale. “THE CANDLE PEOPLE FOUND OUR ADDRESS?”
“That feels illegal.”
The demon’s expression darkened beside the kitchen counter. “Of course it’s them.”
“You KNOW them?” I asked him curiously.
“They attempted to summon me for eleven years.”
I stood there in a stunned silence, while my attention shifted from him to the summoning circle still surrounding the coffee table.
“…I bought candles during a mental breakdown and succeeded accidentally?”
The demon’s smirk deepened. “Extremely successfully.”
“Wow, that feels insulting.”
Another knock interrupted us again. This time the younger cult guy yelled through the door, “We brought expensive wine and emotional support!”
Nina blinked twice. “I genuinely cannot tell if we’re being haunted or visited.”
I walked toward the door carefully while every survival instinct in my body begged me not to. The demon watched me over the rim of his coffee mug but didn’t move to stop me.
The second I opened the door, the younger guy from the shop lit up. “OH THANK GOD.”
Behind him stood the old shop owner looking exhausted as usual, along with the bandaged guy from the back room.
All three of them went quiet the second they noticed the demon wearing a very short girly hoodie. The younger guy pressed his lips together, fighting to keep a straight face.
The bandaged one whispered, “…He accepted a clothing offering?”
The old man closed his eyes like he was trying to survive the moment spiritually.
I glanced between all of them, horror creeping into my voice. “Why is everybody reacting like I accidentally proposed marriage?”
Their lack of reaction made my body cold. “I definitely hate this day,” I muttered rubbing my hands hard.
The younger cult guy was still staring at the hoodie like he was witnessing history happen in real time. “Do you understand how hard that is?”
“I DON’T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT I DID.”
The bandaged guy pointed dramatically at the demon standing in my kitchen. “He accepted the clothing offer.”
“It was cold!”
