A week went by and things seemed to be finally going back to normal. My wounds fully healed and the incident at the mall felt like a distant memory. Sometimes it felt so unreal that I woke up some days thinking it’d been a dream. 

Other nights I’d wake up in my dark bedroom and relive the icy nothingness of the demon’s bottomless black stomach. I’d lay there for a few moments, gasping for air until reality settled in.

I wanted to forget it ever happened.

They say the chances of you seeing a demon in your entire lifetime is one in one thousand, so I’ve already done my service. 

Never again.

“One of the girls in my class is getting bullied,” Rini said softly one morning, poking at her pancake with a fork from across the table.

“Yeah,” I said, shoveling eggs into my mouth, “that sounds like school.”

“Uhg, I’m being serious, Nyx! I told the teacher but they refuse to do anything about it.”

“Well, what are they doing to her?”

“You know… like putting gum in her hair. And ripping up her homework. It’s only because she’s smart. They’re jealous. She refuses to let them copy her homework so they get mad. I don’t understand why they’re so mean.”

“Kids can lack empathy at your age. You’re just more grown up than they are.”

“What good is that if I can’t help? I tried, you know. I asked them to stop and they laughed like I was joking and brushed it off. They don’t take me seriously.”

“Let me tell you a secret, Rini. I have the perfect method of making any bully listen to you.”

Rini groaned. “Please, be serious…”

“I am serious. It really is easy. All you have to do is shock them with something. Be unpredictable.” 

“Okay, and how do I do that?”

I thought for a moment. Rini was the sweet, perfect student that most kids looked up to. She was class president and the teacher’s pet. Normally those traits would get you bullied, but she was also sociable and pretty.

“Walk up to them while they’re bullying the girl, pull your arm back, and punch the leader in the nose as hard as you can.”

“Are you crazy! I can’t do that!”

“Why not?” I laughed, “If anything, you’re the only one that can do it. Think about it. If I did something like that, I’d get in trouble because it’s something the teachers expect me to do. But you? The teachers love you. You’re a good student. You punch the girl, then you lie through your teeth. Tell them you tripped and accidentally hit her. Make something up. You’re smart. You won’t even get in trouble, and I guarantee they’ll stop bullying her. They’d be too afraid of what you’re going to do next.”

Rini pondered my words but didn’t seem convinced. 

“I…I don’t know. Valentina says violence is never the answer…”

I scoffed, downing my orange juice in one big gulp.

“Violence solves almost anything. That’s why war was created: to solve the unsolvable.”