“Can’t you follow simple fucking directions?” I hear the man yell as he slams his cup down on the counter. Malcolm stutters and backs away from the counter. Poor guy, he only just started the job, and he was already getting harassed by handsome Latino men in jeans, t-shirts, and lab coats.

I wanna be yelled at by Latino men in lab coats. Maybe not exactly like how this guy is yelling at Malcolm, though. I was thinking more commands like ‘on your knees’ and ‘beg for me’, but whatever.

This guy, in particular though, intrigued me. Maybe it is the way he tossed the coffee over the counter, scorching Malcolm, or maybe it is the way he is currently half over the counter, grabbing onto the front of Malcolm’s shirt and threatening to kill him. His chocolate brown hair falls into his rage filled eyes, and his pink lips are pulled over his snarling teeth.

“Hey, who is that?” I ask Das without looking away from the new mysterious stranger.

“Oh, that’s Doctor Deidre Brennan. As you can tell, he’s a bit pissy, but he always is,” he replies taking a glance to me.

I look to Das. “Doctor?”

“Yeah, well, sort of,” Das says. He clicks his tongue then continues, “He got his license revoked a few months ago. Some scandal about him sleeping with patients.”

“Sleeping with patients?” I ask even more surprised. I turn back toward the scene and eye the hand gripping Malcolm’s collar. Sure enough, a gold band decorates his left hand, and it stands out marvelously against his tan skin. “Isn’t that a wedding ring though?” I inquired, looking back to Das.

Das nods looking over to me again. “His wife died about six years ago, and he never really got over it.”

“What happened?”

“She killed herself.”

“No wonder he’s pissy.”

“I know right,” Das scoffs, crossing his arms. “But I can understand why she did it. I mean, are you seeing this?” We both go back to watching Deidre torture the kid. Then he starts shaking Malcolm, and I hear Das sigh. “I guess I have to go save him, don’t I?” he asks rhetorically.

“I don’t know. Do you? This is kind of entertaining,” I respond anyway, referencing the way Malcolm is almost in tears and trying to curl into a fetal position.

“Yeah, but I’ll get fired if I don’t step in.” He gets up and walks over, prying the science-y pissed guy away from the small and fragile victim. Das gives him the whole You-Need-to-Leave spiel, and the guy responds by threatening to stop coming to the shop to which Das responds with “You won’t have to worry about that since you’re banned, and if I see you on this property again, I will call the police.” The other man huffs and storms out, leaving everyone in a stunned silence.

Das watches him leave, and then without my control, I find myself darting after him. Now that I had seen him in action, I needed more of it. What was this man like when he wasn’t screaming at café employees?

As I walk out the door, I hear Das shout at me, “Akuji, where are you going?”

I just wave my hand over my shoulder and follow Deidre around the corner. He walks so casually as if he didn’t just go into homicidal rage in a hipster coffee shop. He just has his hands in his pockets, his coat billowing out behind him, as he saunters down the street. I try to conceal my footsteps as much as possible, and I keep my distance as to not be spotted when he takes a turn. I follow him around a couple more corners until we’re in a more residential area. He takes me to a particular lot surrounded by a wall of trees and guarded with a black gate. It really screams rich doctor.

Ahead of me, he types in a code to the gate on a keypad on the side of the driveway, and the gate slides opens with a whine. He sighs and starts walking up his driveway. I curse as the gate starts closing a moment later. Would this be considered trespassing?

Yes. Alright, let’s go.

I make sure he’s a good distance away before I make a run for the gate. I slip inside right before it closes behind me. Maybe I’m not thinking this through. I’m now stuck here, aren’t I?

I laugh to myself quietly. I’m fucking crazy. What the hell am I doing? I’m following some guy that yelled at some employee just because I think his issues are quirky. What I do for good dick, I swear. It’s always the fucked-up ones too, and this guy seems like a land-mine.

I wasn’t sure if I was even going to get dick after this, thinking about it now. There is no good way this ends. Why couldn’t I just talk to him like a normal fucking person? Instead, I do the creepiest thing I could possibly do and follow a grieving psychopath home. Wow, I hit a new low that I didn’t think was possible for a Lesser Demon.

As I walk down the driveway, I feel myself relaxing. There was much more than just a wall of trees. It’s like a Garden of Eden in here! Beautiful flowers and lush greenery cover the land which gives off the magnificent scent of fertility. I relish in the comfort it brings me.

What makes Lesser Demons different from High Demons is that we are connected to nature while they are connected to the spirits. In other words, we draw power from the living and they draw from the dead. Meaning, I am in heaven right now.

Well, there is one other difference. Lesser Demons have white skin to symbolize the glory of life, but High Demons have onyx skin to symbolize death. When I say onyx, I literally mean onyx. Light reflects off their skin like they’re made of crystal. They think they’re all high and mighty because they control the underworld, and it’s true. They are high and mighty, and they know it. No disrespect to them though. They are my superiors.

I follow him around a bend, my mouth falling open at the modern structure that sat in the clearing. What a wonderful house! Its walls are made almost entirely of windows, and solar panels lined the roof. Vines and potted plants grew wild on balconies and off window sills. Talk about a work of sustainable neo-architecture. It is beautiful!

I jerk my gaze back down to Deidre as he walks inside his home but doesn’t close the door behind him. I walk forward more, approaching the open door with a curious look. Who leaves their door open? I come a couple feet from the doorway and stop. Is this really a good idea? No, definitely not.

Then before I can make a decision as to what to do, Deidre surprises me by sauntering back into the door frame, looking at me dead in the eyes. His bored brown eyes stare back into my surely now lime green ones.

“Well, aren’t you coming inside?” he deadpanned with a shrug and a vacant expression.