Mustard

-DEMITRI-

I know he's awake. I huffed at my bangs and shifted in place, ringing the doorbell again. Of course he was awake, the music was blaring from inside his flat. It sounded like some underground Dubstep from the sound of the bass. And if it was dub step, that meant Luka was over. I gripped my hip when I peeked down the hallway just as the door opened, ironically being Luka. He pushed his glasses up and leaned against the doorway, not seeing much passed his broad shoulder. He must have been here for a while since he was gym shorts and a ratty t-shirt. There was obnoxious sniffing then, Lady and Lolly's noses slipping inbetween his legs. Lolly popped her head between his knees, the doberman laying her ears back and started whining with excitement. Luka pinched her head till she backed out between his knees, gripping the door and nodded to me. "What's up, girl scout?"

​"I just stopped by to see if Lythan has any eggs that I can borrow." I dropped my hand from my hip.

​Luka grimace for a second, hearing a girl bust up laughing from inside then Lythan shortly after. "Eggs at one in the morning?" Lukas snorted. "Let me ask him." He shut the door, soon hearing him yell at Lythan. I rolled my eyes when I heard him yell something but couldn't make it out. It was probably a smartass comment about being one in the morning. I crossed my arms and glanced down at my bunny slippers then down at the hallway, the hallway ended with a large glass wall. The buildings in the distance lit up beautifully. If I had any other neighbors, I'd ask them but Lythan was my only neighbor.

It was a new building, the rent was a little pricey but the square footage and new wooden floor smell was worth it. There was two others flats on our floor but they were still working on them. I moved in around summer time last year, Lythan shortly before then. When I first met him, he was checking his mail only in his boxers and bed hair. I later found out that he just walked a girl that stayed over to his car.

​The door opened again, wider this time with Lythan present. He had the egg carton in his hand, nodding off to me with a smirk. He ran his hand through his dark red hair. "How many do you need, sugar queen?"

​"Just three or four." I cocked a brow, "And would stop calling me that?"

​He shrugged, opening the carton and grabbed them. "I could have said sugar tits." He winked at me, I snorted and took the eggs . I noticed the game of Twister behind him then, three girls tangled while another girl and guy was sitting on the sofa. I heard the egg carton close as Luka came into view and picked up the spinner, suddenly hearing Lythan speak. "Eyes on me, honey bunny."

This was Lythan Gray.

Smooth talker and thinking with his second head most of the time. He was a good head taller than me, his left arm tattooed shoulder to finger tips. His steel blue eyes dimmed a little on me and his smirk twitched more to the right, having snake bites and split tongue. I always forgot about his tongue till he was in deep thought, he would comb through his teeth with it and even dance it around a little. I caught him doing that a lot when he was reading a book or writing. It was rare to not see this guy smirking from something whatsoever. The guy was hot in general(besides his tongue, it creeped me out), but tell him that to his face and his ego shoots through the roof. He was wearing the casual sweat pants and wife beater. But the weirdest thing about him was that he was a demon.

​He told me I was never supposed to find out about it, and I was supposed to be dead because I did. Demon laws he simply stated. New Year's Eve, I was heading home from Sophia's when I caught him in the alley way with a girl. I thought he was making out with her till I heard her panicking and realized he was deep in her throat, eating her alive. He was a "ghost feeder" as he labeled it, Luka later explaining it to me. Lythan silenced and fed on his victim who believed vampires were real or foreign travelers. I must have passed out since I woke up on his sofa the next morning, Lythan blocked the door till he let him explain his killer fetish. What a great way to start off a new year. Ever since then, he gave me fair warnings when certain nights I should stay in or certain people were coming over. Luka and Olivers were the only two demons that he trusted around me, either than that, he kept me out of his business--Which I didn't mind.

​Besides the sinister surreal side of him, Lythan worked at a wildlife reserve during the day and was a man whore party animal during the night. Hell, there was a few times he called me for a ride or he passed out on my couch because he stumbled in by accident(he was heavy, I tried to drag him out.). I still remember the one night my date went bad and next thing I knew Lythan was kicking a guy down our apartment building's front steps, we stayed up eating pop corn and watching How I met your mother till I passed out. That next morning, waking up to him gone but he left his knife on the coffee table. My best friend Sophia said we were close, but I saw it more as just friends who care about each other if anything happened.

​"Don't remind me about your looks." I gestured the eggs. "I'll return them when I go grocery shopping this week."

​"Don't worry about it." One of the girls called him, Lythan peeking over his shoulder and shifted a little block me. "One second." He called back and smirked back at me. "Anything else? Maybe a midnight cuddle?"

​"Goodnight, Lythan." I stepped back.

​"Nice slippers." Lythan nipped his lip piercing and shut the door.

I pushed the door open with my foot and lightly hummed, watching Harry walk over. I shut the door and walked down the hallway to the flat, Sophia, Julia, and Katie lounging out on the sofa. Sophia smiled at me first, tilting her chin up. "Ha! No hickies!"

"Shut up." I snorted, walking into the kitchen. "They're playing Twister."

"Sounds fun." Katie ran her fingers through her hair. "We should go over there."

By the way he was blocking me from seeing, he was probably throwing a private party. "I'm about to make midnight breakfast." I settled the eggs in the bowl, feeling the Pomeranian paw at my ankle. I squatted down and petted Harry, picking him up.

​Julia rolled her eyes and smiled at Katie, "Demi's just saying she's not as flexible as she used to be anymore." She winked at me.

​I scoffed and stuck my middle finger up.

"Seriously, why haven't you hooked up with him?" Sophia smiled, now all of three of them looking to me. Harry groaned low when I stopped petting him, getting creeped out from the awkward silence. "It's the tongue, isn't it?" She raised a brow, a little relief hitting my chest.

The day Lythan told me everything, he made it clear that I couldn't tell anyone or he would have to kill them. He knew he would already both of us in danger with me let alone. Besides the dark consequences, telling people that demons exist wasn't as easy as it sounded without sounding insane. He explained more after taking me out to lunch that I wasn't supposed to see him with that girl because it wasn't supposed to happen, he was in the middle of transitioning himself over to raw meat. He compared it to eating a juicy porter steak to a sliced turkey. He said he was grumpy but doing good till he met the girl and was walking her home when he cut her finger when she was grabbing something her purse. He said something just snapped in him, fighting it till he got her into the alley and next thing he knew he was chewing through her throat. That was he less detail story he gave me than what I saw. The girl saw me before he did, the horror in her eyes was burned into my head. She was terrified and she couldn't scream, she died in silence. Then he smelt me, seeing his pitch black eyes and licking the blood off his fingers.

"What's wrong with his tongue?"

I blinked, back in my living room. Right. "He got it cut after he graduated, he said he lost a bet." I lightly said it, watching Katie grimace a little with pain. "But it's not that noticeable." I quickly added.

"What kind of bet was that, those are steep stakes." Julia began to braid her hair.

"Not wrong about that." I settled Harry down. Oliver was flawless when betting. "He's lost a couple bets. He's got his nipples pierced too."

"Does he have something else pierced too?" Julia pointed at the floor, knowing where she was going with this. I couldn't help but think about of seeing him only in boxers, he's answered the door a couple times like that. That was one thing I did not need to know.

Sophia scoffed and scowled at her. "Julia, that's Demi's man. Not yours."

I grunted, grabbing a pan from the cabinet and settled it on the stove top. "He's not even mine. The guy has no standards."

"I've seen him at a few parties before." Katie hugged her pillow then. "He's got standards, he rejected Molly Thorton."

"Yeah, well, she's a dirty slut so good for him." Julia gave her a snooty look, turning to the TV then. I heard the doorbell then, Harry barking as he ran down the hallway first. I started towards it but Sophia shot up first, Katie and Julia running after her. "It's probably him!"

I rolled my eyes, walking after them. "Man whore."

Sophia was holding Harry as it was Oliver standing in the doorway taken back a little, but from the brightness in his hazel eyes he wasn't disappointed. The guy pushed his hat up more when he spotted me, perking up. "You never told me your friends were cute."

Julia and Katie snickered as I squeezed through them and shrugged Sophia behind me, "What's up?"

"So hear me." He rose his hands up, eying the multiple rings for a second. "I need some ducktape and a couple paper clips."

Another bet? I rose a brow, hearing Harry whimper a little. He started squirming to get free, Sophia petting him as she walked away. Julia crept closer, "So you're one of Lythan's friends?"

"Easy, Lassie." I grumbled, ignoring Oliver's wicked smirk. "I'm sure I have that stuff. Come in, just watch my bitches. They might hump you." I let the door open and walk down the hallway.

"Meow." Oliver snorted. "You may be as brutal as Lilith."

"Please." I rolled my eyes and glanced back at him.

Oliver wasn't as taller, narrow shoulder. At the moment, only seeing the neck tattoo of the great white shark. Oliver was a tattoo artist downtown, offering to give me tattoos at any time one day but Lythan gave him a warning look and said only during his shop hours. That was around the time I first met him. I guess Oliver had a big crush on me and came over the most. He must have just gotten here since he was still wearing his WHITE INQ TATTOO work shirt and pajama pants. "Why you still wearing your work shirt?" I flicked the lights on and walked into the laundry room, starting to go through the cabinets.

"It's comfy. I can come over shirtless next time?" He leaned in the doorway, hearing Julia squeak then Sophia to shut up.

I found the ducktape on the top shelf. "Doing another bet?"

"Yup." He nodded, hearing a jiggle then. "Hey, old sport." I dropped back on my ankles, seeing him crouching down and petting Harry. "So did you ever take him to Petsmart for this birthday? How old is he again?"

"I did." I walked over and held it out, "He's 12 now."

Oliver whistled and kissed Harry on his head, "You can still get bitches." He stood up and took it, wandering down the hallway to my office. I went into my drawers, seeing him walk around and lightly whistling.

I debated for a moment, "Private party?"

Oliver stopped whistling then, locking eyes. He lightly cleared his throat, swinging the ducktape around his index finger. He peeked over his shoulder at the door when the floor creaked, "Luka said Greg brought his...girlfirend over..." He blinked back to me, the playfulness draining from him. "So yeah, you can say it's a private party tonight."

I swallowed, picturing it: Six demons tearing one human apart. "You playing Twister with them?" I found my paper clips, grabbing a handful and shut the drawer with my knee.

"Nah, I'm full." Oliver came over, quickly understanding what he meant. "Lythan and I went out to this bar & grill place earlier tonight. Now if I can get some tacos while I'm here then I'm hungry fro that." He winked at me, slapping the paperclips in his hand. I ignored how soft and warm his fingers were, walking out from behind the desk.

"Well, stretch before you go for it."

"I always do, babe." He nipped and walked out first. I heard another squeak, seeing the girls twiddling their thumbs while we came out. Oliver shoved his paperclips into his pocket and nodded off to them. "You think I can ever get dibs on them?" He grinned back at me, shoving his shoulder.

"What if I call dibs first?" Julia nipped her lip, twirling her hair around her finger.

Oliver's eyes dimmed a little with anticipation, opening his mouth. "Alright, out." I snorted, pushing him to the door. Harry playfully yapped behind me, opening the door and shoved him out. Oliver stumbled a little and snapped his fingers and pointed at me, "No, you're not getting her number. I'll Lythan."

"Oh, don't tell Lilly." He waved.

"Oliver, get your ass in here!"

I leaned a little bit out, seeing Lythan leaning out too. "We doing this or not?"

"Right." Oliver chuckled, nodding to me. "Night, Demi." He jogged down the hallway and slipped passed Lythan. Lythan scowled at him then turned back to me, now noticing the sea captain hat. He saluted me before shutting the door, rolling my eyes and shut the door. Weirdos.