Chapter 28: (BONUS +Ch.) Where there is a trade... there is no relationship.

Because of yesterday’s exhaustion, terror, and all-day frustration, Himanshu fell into such a deep sleep that he completely lost track of time.

​Lifting his heavy eyelids like always and rubbing his eyes, he looked at the clock hanging on the wall in front of him. But instead of the clock, he only saw an empty, blank wall. Seeing that unfamiliar wall, all the terrifying events from last night flashed through his mind in a single jolt. Sleeping on the sofa, tearing the pillow, and then the Demon’s terrifying form...

​Turning his neck to the other side, Himanshu looked at his Mom’s bed. Her bed was neatly made, just like always. There was no one in the room.

​Placing both hands on his hips, he took a deep, relaxing breath and then looked at his own messy bed. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly started smoothing out the wrinkles on his bedsheets.

​But the very next second... his hands stopped completely. His body froze like a rock.

​The moment this thought crossed his mind, he spun around and ran outside like a crazy person. Mom’s voice was coming from the kitchen next to the hall, but Himanshu didn’t pay attention to anyone. He ran straight toward his room’s door without stopping.

​He stopped dead in his tracks right in front of the door. He was breathing heavily. His heartbeat was hammering against his eardrums. With trembling hands, he grabbed the cold door handle.

​"Please... please..."

Praying to the man upstairs, he slowly turned the handle.

​Inside the room, there was only his stuff and nothing else.

​But he wasn’t fully satisfied yet. Walking on tiptoes, he slowly made his way toward the bathroom. His breathing was getting even faster now. Standing in front of the bathroom door, he controlled his heartbeat and knocked twice.

​Knock-knock!

​No sound came from inside. After waiting for a second, he yanked the door open.

The bathroom was completely empty. There was no one there!

​"Yahohoooo!"

A loud scream of pure joy escaped Himanshu’s mouth.

​"I’m free from that witch!"

Spreading both his arms in the air, he jumped and landed straight onto his soft bed.

​As soon as he laid on the bed, he hugged his pillow tightly.

"Oh my sweet bed, you are only mine." Hiding his face in the pillow, he mumbled happily, "No one can take you away from me. Not even that witch."

​But right then... a weird scent coming from the bed hit his nose. It was the Demon’s scent. That smell was so intoxicating and mesmerizing that it would honestly put any expensive perfume in the world to shame. Without thinking, Himanshu just kept taking deep breaths. That scent was like an old, expensive wine for an alcoholic, messing straight with his brain.

​But the very next second, as soon as he snapped out of it, Himanshu jumped out of the bed.

’What am I doing? She is a monster!’

​Now, more than the scent, he was obsessed with the fact that the Demon wasn’t in the room. If she wasn’t in the room, then where the hell did she go? He ran back to the hall. He couldn’t see the Demon there either.

​Just then, Mom’s voice came from the kitchen,

"What are you looking at?"

​"Nothing Mom. Just looking around." Himanshu said, scanning the hall with his eyes.

​"Are you feeling better now?" Mom asked from inside the kitchen.

​Because of his happiness and the panic of finding the Demon, Himanshu had completely forgotten about his fever excuse.

"Feeling better from what?"

​"Yeah, you had a fever yesterday, right? How are you feeling now?" Mom reminded him out of worry.

​"Oh yeah, yeah, I’m perfectly fine." Himanshu quickly covered it up.

​A light laugh came from Mom in the kitchen.

"What happened? Why are you so happy today?"

​"Just because." Looking here and there, Himanshu finally asked, "Did you see the Demon... I mean Valeria?"

​Right then, Mom came out of the kitchen holding a plate of breakfast. She smiled and said,

"She is standing right behind you."

​Himanshu whipped around.

​And there, right in front of him, stood the Demon. She was wearing the clothes bought from his shopping money—a pair of dark jeans and a stylish top that fit perfectly on her body. Just like always, she had neatly hidden those little horns under her long black hair. And the weirdest part... she was holding a plastic grocery bag in her hand, filled with basic household items. She looked exactly like a well-mannered and perfect ’daughter-in-law’.

​Grinding his teeth, Himanshu lowered his eyebrows, glared at the Demon, and muttered under his breath,

"This girl..."

​Taking the grocery bag from the Demon’s hands, Mom said very lovingly,

"Thank you my love, for bringing all this."

​Right then, the Demon spoke in a very soft and sweet voice,

"Please don’t embarrass me by saying thanks... this is all my duty."

​Hearing these overly-cultured words coming out of the Demon’s mouth, Himanshu’s eyes went wide. His jaw was about to hit the floor.

​Taking the bag inside the kitchen, Mom laughed and said,

"I’ll keep that in mind from now on. And yeah, breakfast is ready, eat up."

​The Demon’s sweet voice came again,

"Yeah."

​Himanshu was still just staring at her with wide eyes. As soon as Mom went inside the kitchen, Himanshu quickly slid over to the Demon and growled in a whisper,

"Why are you clinging to my Mom so much?"

​The Demon threw off that whole ’good daughter-in-law’ act from her face in a single second. Pulling back a dining chair, she said in her usual fierce and cold voice,

"Because she is the owner of this house."

​Himanshu gripped the dining chair tightly with both hands, looked into her eyes, and said,

"What are you trying to say?"

​Sitting comfortably on the dining chair, the Demon said,

"Idiot, if I don’t keep her happy, she can throw me out of the house anytime."

​Hearing this practical logic of hers, a weird kind of anger bubbled up in Himanshu.

"Do you not have a heart inside? She considers you her daughter-in-law. Why would she kick you out of the house?"

​The Demon rested both her elbows on the table, leaned forward slightly, and with the experience of an 8000-year-old entity, she said,

"The rule of nature is to trade. And it is followed everywhere. Love, friendship, enemies, in every relationship."

​She paused for a moment, then threw a side-glance at Himanshu and mocked,

"Whatever, let it be... kids don’t understand these things."

​Hearing this, Himanshu moved his hand from his chair, placed it firmly on the dining table, and said in a dead serious tone,

"Where there is a trade... there is no relationship."

​Hearing his deep words, a faint, amused smile appeared on the Demon’s face.

"Good joke." The Demon said sarcastically.

​Just then, Mom came out of the kitchen again. Seeing Himanshu’s dropped face, she asked,

"What happened, is the breakfast not good?"

​Himanshu stood up straight and said to Mom,

"Why did you make breakfast so early today?"

​Mom looked at him in surprise.

"Have you not looked at the clock yet?"

​Himanshu quickly turned around and looked at the wall clock. The hands of the clock were showing...

"No way... 8:30!" Himanshu’s eyes bulged out.

​He snapped his head back to Mom.

"Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m supposed to be at school at this time!"

​"You were sick yesterday." Mom answered very calmly.

​Pulling his hair, Himanshu ran toward his room quickly and yelled,

"I didn’t go to school yesterday either! At this rate, I’ll fail again!"

​"Missing two days won’t make the sky fall." Mom’s cool voice from the hall echoed through the entire house.

​And right then... BAM!

​Himanshu angrily and frantically slammed his bedroom door shut. Sitting at the dining table, the Demon just quietly stared at her breakfast.