Chapter 5: 5. Not Human

Thursday morning I actually managed to wake in time for the free breakfast. I was up at ten after nine, and pulled on my leggings, sneakers, and a t-shirt. I grabbed my purse and headed out of my room, messy hair and all, in my quest for free food.

The dining room wasn't that busy, and I was left wondering if that's because literally everyone else in the hotel got up a lot earlier than me. The buffet looked all right, they had plenty of options to choose from and the smell got my mouth watering a bit.

I loaded my plate with two slices of toast, some bacon, and some scrambled eggs. A glass of juice rounded out my selections, then I picked a table by the windows.

After another half minute I'd basically assembled my own breakfast sandwich. It was alright, and the orange juice was fresh.

Once I was finished eating I had a flash of brilliance and went up for round two, despite being full. I grabbed some extra napkins then back at my table I assembled another sandwich, which I wrapped then smuggled up to my room. Suddenly my free breakfast also included free lunch, and I left the neatly-wrapped meal on the edge of the dresser for the time being.

I got undressed again and had a shower and finished my morning routine, then finally got dressed once more. And as I sat crosslegged on the bed with my long hair wrapped in a towel I asked, "Hey Eva? Are you around?"

A moment later I was aware of her presence again, and she responded "I'm here Lexi. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I was just thinking, you said something last night about a big conversation today. I was wondering if you wanted to do that now? And what exactly you wanted to talk about."

There was a pause, and I got the impression of her taking a deep breath then letting it out in a long quiet sigh.

"You're right, we do need to talk. And I suppose now is as good a time as any."

I frowned slightly, "This sounds serious. Is something wrong? And actually, are you ok? You sound a little off this morning."

Her voice was still beautiful and melodic, but there was definitely something 'off' today. Like there was a sadness that she was trying to conceal.

Eva sighed again, "While you were sleeping I tried some preliminary searches for my family, but I was unable to find them. I also took the time to use your mobile telephone device and did some research on the internetwork, to get a better understanding of how long I've been gone and what the current names are for the places I wish to visit."

I frowned, "It sounds like bad news Eva. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but talk about it I must."

She definitely sounded sad, and after another pause she began.

"Seeing how much the world had changed when I woke a couple days ago I feared the worst, and the worst has come to pass. I've been gone for more than three millennia. I was betrayed and all but killed in approximately eleven-hundred BCE. I say approximate because your calendar system was invented long after I was gone. As best I can determine, the area I once called home is now referred to as Scandinavia, and I lived in what you would call the Bronze Age."

She continued, "My lover made her home in what's now known as Italy, near the modern city of Naples. And our child lived on an island they now call Santorini, in the Aegean. As I said, my preliminary searches were unsuccessful, and after three thousand years I..."

At that point her voice faltered, and she went quiet for a few seconds.

I desperately wanted to hug her, but she was a voice in my head and I had nothing to touch or hold.

"Eva I'm sorry -" I started, but after a deep breath she pushed on.

"Thank you Lexi," she replied softly. "As I said, my downfall came as the result of a betrayal. Someone I knew and trusted turned on me and I was all but destroyed. My lover and child also knew that person, also trusted them. I have no idea what's happened during the three thousand years I've been gone, but it's quite possible they were both attacked as well. Perhaps they've been destroyed, or imprisoned like myself."

There was another brief pause before she added, "I have to stay hopeful though. I have to trust they're all right. Perhaps they've gone into hiding? That actually seems a prudent course of action for them, considering the way your modern age seems to function. It would be most unwise for any of my kind to show our true selves among humans, with the prevalence of your mobile phone devices and their cameras."

At that point it was my turn to be awkwardly quiet for a bit, as I processed everything she'd just told me. I also realized that accent she had when we first met seemed to have faded over the past few days. She was sounding more like a Canadian, though now and then it seemed like she had a bit of an English accent. I let that go though, it seemed unimportant compared to everything else going on right then.

"So um," I said nervously, "You're definitely not human then? And you said you weren't an angel either, right?"

Even though I couldn't see her I somehow knew she was nodding. "That's correct Lexi. I am a supernatural creature, I was born just over six thousand years ago. And to be blunt, your kind have often referred to my kind as demons. Though I'll stress, we have nothing to do with the underworld or the afterlife. We're not agents of evil, although I'll freely admit some of my kind are truly despicable. And I admit, some of us do prey on humans. That, and the fact that we have magic and live a very long time and are hard to kill tends to make humans hate us."

I took a couple deep breaths, then got up and grabbed one of the water bottles I bought the other day. I opened it up and had a few gulps, before asking "Ok. So you're a demon, but you're not the evil kind?"

When she responded I could picture the sad smile on her pretty face, "That's right Lexi. I'm over six thousand years old now, although to be fair I spent nearly half that time in the oblivion of a magical prison. And the family I wish to be reunited with are also demons. My lover... She does prey on humans, but all I will say in her defence is she only takes the evil ones."

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"So what do you do?" I asked. "I mean, if you don't prey on humans, what's your thing?"

Eva took a deep breath then sighed again, "Demons don't eat food, not like you do. Our sustenance comes from energy, and we all take that energy in different forms. For me, I feed on sorrow, fear, grief, anger, and other negative emotions. I don't cause humans to feel that way, but when they're experiencing those emotions I can help them to feel better."

She added after a moment, "Last night you were feeling sad and lonely, and I could have helped with that. I didn't, and I won't, because I don't want to be seen to be taking advantage of you. But that's the sort of thing I would otherwise consume."

"Ok," I said slowly. "Not gonna lie, I don't understand any of that. But uh, I guess what I'm wondering is why you're telling me this? Apart from being honest, which I do appreciate by the way."

"I'm telling you because the deal we made a few nights ago is a short-term solution. It will expire after seven days. We're about halfway through that term, in less than four days our deal will be over. Your soul will move on to whatever comes next, and I will return to the oblivion of my prison. Unless we make our agreement permanent. And in order to make it permanent, I have to tell you the truth about me."

"Shit," I sighed.

I started to think this was like one of those bait and switch sales tactics, where they suck you in with something too good to be true, then after you're on the hook they show you the real deal that's nowhere near as good. I should have known there'd be a catch. Like the new body, the money, the new life. It was all too perfect, to easy.

After gulping down the rest of the water I asked "Ok, so what are the terms of the new deal?"

Eva sounded almost confused as she replied, "The terms would be exactly the same as the current one? Except permanent. You and I would be bound together, you'd keep this new body and new life, and I'll remain here with you. We'll continue helping each other, but without any time limit or deadline looming over our head. I'll use my magic to keep you healthy, I'll protect you and keep you from danger. I'll take care of our financial requirements, ensure we have food and clothing and a place to stay. In return your soul remains an anchor for me, I share your body, and you help me to find my family. And the two of us remain together."

"Wait," I frowned. "This still sounds too good to be true. So what's the catch?"

She responded, "The catch is I'm a demon, a supernatural creature that humans are supposed to hate and fear?"

I thought that over for a few minutes. And I could kind of see that might have been scary five hundred or a thousand years ago. But in our capitalistic hellscape world the scariest things I could think of were all self-important rich white men burning the world down for their greed. And the second scariest thing I could think of was organized religion, the sort of folks who'd damn me to hell for daring to be my genuine self.

Compared to the cute demon girl in my head, who saved my life and gave me a perfect body that was everything I ever dreamed of, it was pretty much a no-brainer which side I was on.

"Meh," I finally said. "I'm pretty sure the scariest thing out there is other humans. So how do we make this deal permanent?"

"Just like that?" Eva asked. "You... You're ok with what I've told you?"

I almost laughed, "Eva I don't care if you're a demon or an angel or an alien. You brought me back to life and let me be my real self. There's only one human who's ever done more for me than that, and she died a couple years ago. So yeah, I'm down with this. Now what's the next step?"

She was quiet for a few more seconds, maybe digesting all of that, before she finally spoke up again.

"I'll give you a contract, you'll sign it in your own blood. It's called a pact, you and I will be pacted. It's a permanent bond, bound together for life..."

It sounded like she was anxious or embarrassed, or afraid I'd be scared off by the stuff she was telling me. I wasn't though, I just rolled with it.

"Ok," I nodded. "So once we sign this pact, what's next?"

She hesitated, "Um. I suppose I'd like to arrange travel for the two of us, to Santorini? To see if my daughter still lives there. And from there we'll travel to Naples, to try and find my lover. And along the way we can also do things you're interested in too of course. We're a team, a partnership. It's not all about my goals, it's what we both want."

That put a smile on my face. "I get it Eva. And yeah, we'll be a team. And I hope this doesn't make it weird but like I told you last night? I pretty much don't have any friends, and I've kind of given up on my family as well. So maybe you and me can be friends. And yeah, we'll do this together. So where do I sign?"

A large sheet of some kind of old-timey paper appeared on the bed next to me, along with a sort of knife-pen thing.

"Read it very carefully Lexi," Eva cautioned me. "Read it a few times, and be positive you're happy with it. If there's anything you don't like or any questions you have, don't hesitate to ask. When you're satisfied, sign it at the bottom in your own blood."

"All right," I frowned as I picked up the big sheet.

It felt odd in my hands, I still couldn't tell what it was made of but I decided I was better off not asking. It was fairly straightforward though, like there wasn't any legalese or confusing terms.

The first paragraph outlined the purpose of the document, describing it as a pact between the demonic entity known as Eva and the human girl named Lexi Lund.