No. I didn't want to be here. I turned away and started running in the opposite direction. I ran for a few minutes before I saw an opening in the tree line. I burst through. Gary greeted me with a bored look.

"What part of 'you can't run from me in your dreams' was unclear to you exactly?" He asked. "Come on, stop stalling, let's go make a visit."

"Look, maybe I can't run from you, but I know you can't force me up there." I said, crossing my arms and sitting on the ground. "I'm not going to see him."

"Would it make you feel better if you knew he couldn't see you?" I must have looked shocked because he smiled and continued. "Oh, yes. He can see I have a soul, but he won't be able to see who. You could remain completely anonymous and see exactly what's happened since you left."

I hesitated. I was trying to rid myself of demons, not spy on them. Still, despite my determination to be completely done with Mal, a small part of me couldn't help but wonder how he had been since I left.

I shook off this thought. Older than time itself, that's how old he was. He existed long before anything, not just me. He was doing fine. He probably threw a fit like he usually did, moped around a couple days, and went back to work.

"Not exactly the case, I'm afraid." Gary said suddenly. I turned to him. He held up a hand and nodded in understanding. "In your dreams I can hear your thoughts, it makes it much easier to communicate privately. Now come, you said yourself you were curious. If you still want to leave after seeing him just let me know and I'll wake you."

I was still skeptical about whatever Gary's intentions were, he smiled at this, but at the same time I was curious. After all, I could always wake up, it was only a dream.

"That's the spirit!" He said, patting his crocodile's head. "To the house old girl!"

The crocodile waddled forward slowly. I followed them easily. Why didn't he just walk? It would have been quicker.

"You humans know nothing of making a grand entrance."

I froze when we reached the house. It towered above me ominously. I shouldn't be here. I almost considered running again when Gary suddenly stood and knocked on the door.

"It would be pointless anyway."

The house stayed silent. Gary knocked louder. Silence. Finally, Gary began to pound continuously on the door. I heard a shuffling and stomping footsteps move toward the door. The door swung open. Mal glared angrily from the doorway.

"Gary, fuck off!" He growled.

He looked different than the last time I saw him. His clothes looked old and wrinkled as if he hadn't changed them in days. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles rested beneath them. He looked pale and, despite his aggressive tone just now, he seemed very weak. Gary tsked at him, shaking his head.

"Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Mal rolled his eyes. Suddenly, he turned in my direction and gave a small smirk. My heart stopped when he looked at me.

"Gary, I'm not taking drop offs right now, take it to Lu."

Gary shook his head. "Not a drop off, just a rogue dreamer I latched onto for an adventure."

"Well, take it somewhere else. I'm busy."

I felt a wave of relief as I realized he didn't recognize me. Mal started to close the door, but Gary put his foot in the doorway. Mal proceeded to slam the door against Gary's foot, getting more and more aggressive with each swing. Finally, he threw his hands up in exasperation and disappeared inside the house.

Gary nudged the door open and stepped inside. The house was in a much worse state than I left it in. Trash and broken glass littered the floors. Dust covered every surface. Puddles of stale alcohol warped the wood floors in different places. Mal threw himself on the, now liquor stained, couch. Gary cleared the trash out of an armchair before sitting down. He tsked at Mal again. Mal tossed an empty bottle at him. It missed Gary completely and shattered against the wall.

"Honestly," Gary said, shaking his head, "for a demon to get so worked up over one little human girl."

"Gary, don't, just fucking don't."

"It might have been cute the first day or two, but you're behaving rather pathetically now, don't you think?"

"No, I don't." Mal mumbled, turning away from Gary to face the couch.

"Really? You haven't overlooked a soul in almost a week, you're drowning yourself in alcohol, you clutch that soul of yours like it might run off after her, and the only interaction you have is with that little familiar of yours you sent on a search mission."

As Gary said this the raven suddenly appeared outside and fluttered to the windowsill. It pecked at the glass. Mal shot up and fumbled clumsily with the latch of the window. The bird hopped inside and perched itself on the back of the couch.

"Did you find her? Did you find anything?" He asked the bird desperately.

Caw!

I worried for a second about what the bird might be saying, but Mal sighed and ruffled his hair. He rubbed his eyes, he looked exhausted. His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out something. It was the locket.

Mal ran his fingers across it gently. "Come on, there must be something! She's a human, they always leave a trace somewhere. How have you not found anything?"

"Mal," Gary said suddenly, "did you ever think it might be time to let this girl go? She's human, she doesn't belong in our world, not as a companion anyway."

"You think I don't know that?" Mal snapped at him. "You think I don't realized how stupid this all is? That I'm sending a bird to find some human girl I knew for maybe a month."

The raven hissed indignantly and flew back out the window.

"Well, if it's crazy then why are you doing it?"

"I don't know why!" Mal said angrily. "Trust me, nothing would make me happier than to know why I'm so upset by some little human girl. She's not special, she's not different, she's just like any other good little church girl. So why the fuck do I need to protect her? Why do I need to be around her? Why am I so desperate to know she's okay when she said, in no uncertain words, that she wants absolutely nothing to do with me?

I'm a demon Gary. A goddamned demon, and that's never going to change. So why do I keep chasing after this human girl when I know nothing but pain and misery could ever come from being around her? Nothing but pain and misery for both of us."

Mal stared at the floor quietly after that. Gary looked at him thoughtfully for a while.

"What would you say to her?"

"What?" Mal said, looking up.

"Even if you did find her, what would you say? Have you even thought about it?" Gary asked, shrugging. "If your thoughtless words made her run off, then don't you think you should be planning your next ones very carefully? What would you say to her?"

Mal sighed deeply. He crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling. He stared at it for a while.

"I want to say sorry," he said quietly, "but I feel like that would just piss her off again. She did this whole 'I'm sorry doesn't fix things' speech, so that's probably wrong. I want to tell her I didn't mean what I said, that I was angry, but then she'd say that's no good excuse to hurt her like that. And she's right. So that's wrong too. I want to tell her I care about her, but I'm really bad at showing it. Then she'd probably say that I should know how to handle my emotions considering how old I am. And, again, she's right, which means, again, I'm wrong."

Mal sighed deeply. He looked at Gary with desperate, tired eyes. "I said there was nothing special about her before, but that was wrong. She has this way of resisting us that very few humans seem to have. So if she can't be influenced into forgiving me, and she's too smart to buy my pathetic apologies, then what do I do? Gary, how do you make things right with a woman you've taken advantage of one too many times?"

"Mal, the demon who discoveres that answer will rule Hell someday. I've yet to meet him." Gary said with a smile.

Mal grabbed a random half-empty bottle from nearby and took a drink. He tilted the bottle back and forth, watching the liquid slosh around.

"You know the biggest bitch in all this, Gary?" Mal said thoughtfully. "I can't even be upset at her. She was right, everything she said was right. I did take advantage of her, say hurtful things, think I could apologize and have her forgive me every time." He looked down at the locket in his hand. "I should give up and realize we're both better off, but I don't want to.

I want to say 'fuck you' to fate, nature, and all that other bullshit. I want her to break me down, put me in my place, and destroy every belief I ever had. I need her to do that Gary, because no one's ever done that for me before. Now, I fucked everything up, because I'm a demon, and that's what we do. Fuck shit up."

Mal gave an exasperated sigh and threw the locket in my direction, hard. I threw my hand up defensively, I expected it to hurt but it passed right through me. Mal jumped up suddenly. He looked my way in amazement and horror. I had a bad feeling for some reason.

"Oh, dear." Gary muttered quietly.

Mal walked around me and picked up the locket. He turned back in my direction. I knew he couldn't see me, but something about the way he looked scared me. He inched forward carefully. His eyes looked hopeful. I turned to Gary. I wanted to wake up. Something felt wrong.

"Too late, I'm afraid." Gary said.

Mal reached out with the locket. It passed through my body. He dropped it like he'd been shocked.

"Venus?"

Wake up, wake up, wake up. I ran through him and out the door. I needed to get away. I heard footsteps chasing after me desperately.

"Venus, wait! Please! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Wake up, wake up, wake up. The words kept running through my head again and again. I needed to get away. Where was I? How did I wake up?

A loud sneeze did that for me. I jumped up in the van, panting wildly.

"Woah, woah there, Darling." Tommy said, grabbing my arms. "Calm down, didn't mean to frighten you."

"Tommy?" I asked still dazed.

"Yeah, it's me. Jeez, what has you so spooked?"

I started to tear up. Mal knew. I had no doubts he would find one way or another to get Gary to tell where I was. I knew it was a mistake, I should have stayed still until I woke in the morning. He would find me now, then what? I didn't think he'd hurt me, but what would he do? The tears rolled down my cheeks. Tommy pulled me into a hug.

"Hey, hey now. Was it a nightmare?" He asked.

All I could do was nod. The worst nightmare imaginable, one that was real. I wondered how long it would be until he came for me, would I be able to escape this time?

Tommy opened the doors to the van. As he did I heard him make a disgusted sound. I saw Gary hobble past the van, he smiled my way as he saw me. Tommy tossed an old can at him and shouted a bunch of curses.

The only thing I knew for sure is I wouldn't be safe here much longer. I needed to find a new place, a place they couldn't get to me. I just didn't know where that place was.