Julian and I've been friends forever, but he doesn’t know that I’ve secretly been in love with him.

I don't want to ruin our friendship, so I plan on staying quiet about my feelings. Anyway, my name is Cody, and I’m 18 years old, a senior in High School.

Tonight we’re going to our good friend Wes Daemon’s party. My older brother Marius is out of town with his new boyfriend, Mr. Van, and my dad is spending time with Julian’s dad.

Julian

I can’t wait for tonight, my best friend Cody and I are going to Wes Daemon’s party tonight. With my dad and brother gone, I’m going to get rowdy, and I’m happy it’s Cody here with me. What he doesn’t know, though, is that I have been secretly in love with him for years, and maybe tonight, I can finally confess to him.

The Party

When Julian and I arrived at Wes’ house, we could hear the music blasting and saw that people were already drinking.

“Finally! Let’s party!” 

“Just think, Julian, this is our last party before we graduate in a couple of weeks.”

“I know, which makes me sad.”

“Don’t be sad, you have me.”

“Now, that gives me comfort.”

Julian and I began to laugh.

As we entered Wes’ house, we noticed some guys from another school, in particular a Half-Human, Half-Demon by the name of Luc and his band of Misfits.

“What the hell are they doing here?!”

“I don’t know, but let’s go!”

Before Julian and I could leave, though, Luc stopped us.

Lucifer, The Son Of The Devil

“Hey Cody!”

“What do you want?”

“Take it easy, it’s been a while since I last saw you, and I just wanted to say hi.”

“Okay, now get lost!”

“You don’t have to be so hostile.”

See, our rift began several years ago when Luc, who was my best friend at the time, decided to betray me. One night, while we were hanging out, he confessed to me that he had a crush on Julian. Hearing his confession infuriated me as I also liked Julian. Anyway, I told Luc how I felt about Julian, and out of jealousy, he asked Julian out. Although short-lived, they began to date, and that was the moment I lost both of my best friends… After their breakup, though, I was able to mend my friendship with Julian, but Luc and I were never quite the same…

“You okay, Cody?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“I’m glad now, let’s get something to eat.”

“I am hungry.”

Julian and I headed for the kitchen, and that's when we heard the commotion outside.

“Run!” I heard somebody shout, but before I could get Julian and me safely out of the house, the doors and windows began to shut like some invisible force was trying to trap us inside. 

Although most of the partygoers managed to get out, several of us were trapped inside.

“What the hell is going on?”

But before I could answer, there were ear-piercing shrieks outside, followed by the sounds of footsteps coming from the roof of the house.

“Demons!” I heard Luc shout.

“What are we going to do?”

“Well, one thing I’m going to do is use an incantation to keep the demons out. Are you ready?”

“Yes!” We all shouted.

“Let us begin, then, help me find some candles, some paint, or chalk. We also need some salt, too. We need to hurry before the Demons decide to break the doors down.”

“Yes, boss.”

Incantations By Lucifer

After gathering the items, Luc began to place salt near the doors and windows. He cleared the living room and began to draw a large Pentagram in the center of the floor. Looking through his phone until he stopped scrolling.

“Here it is!”

He pushed us inside the pentagram and then placed some salt around it.

“No matter what happens, stay inside the Pentagram. This will protect us from the demons as they cannot enter the circle.”

Julian and I stood there mesmerized as Luc began to read from the incantations, and despite the party full of Vampires, Warlocks, Werewolves, and other oddities but nothing could prepare us for a full-on Demon siege.

“Hey, has anybody seen Wes?” Julian asked.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen him since our arrival.

“Where the hell is he? Shouldn’t he be here with us?”

But before anyone could answer, we heard an ear-piercing scream coming from outside.

“Wes! I need to go help him,” Luc shouted, and he ran out the door.

Lucky for us, Luc’s band of misfits were also Demons, so they were able to keep the incantations going… in the meantime, somebody had to save Luc and Wes, and of course, I volunteered. Despite our differences, I wasn’t going to let him get hurt or, worse, killed.

“Julian, I need you to stay here and watch over everyone. I promise I won’t take long, okay?”

He clutched onto my arm for a few seconds before he released his grip and said, “Okay,” and mumbled the words, “I love you,” which I’ve been waiting for practically all my life. Hearing him say those words was all the motivation I needed. I hugged him tight and said, “I love you, too.” He kissed me on my lips, and then I was gone.

Once outside, I could hear Wes’ screams and Luc shouting his name, and all the while, the Demons were everywhere, minions and minions of them. If I wanted to save Wes and Luc, I had to act fast before the creatures killed me. 

I ran in silence all while scanning my surroundings. See, as a Vampire, not only can I hunt in the dark, but I can also see in the dark, so I was able to see the Demons. 

As I proceeded forward, I caught a whiff of their scent. I followed the scents and noticed they were getting stronger in the direction of Witch’s Cave. I quickly ran inside, and that’s when I discovered both of them bound and gagged..

The Rescue

“Cody!”

“Shh.”

Although there were no Demons in sight, he didn’t want to take his chances while rescuing both Wes and Luc, so he quickly began to untie them and was successful.

“Now, follow me.”

We proceeded to make our way out of the cave, but just as we were exiting, one of the Demons grabbed Luc.

“Run!” I shouted to Wes. “I’ll get Luc.”

I could hear Luc as he was being carried away, and I could smell the fear on his skin. Although he was part Demon, he had his limits and was no match for a minion of them. It was about an hour later when I was finally able to track them down. He was tied to a tree, and they seemed preoccupied, too, barely glancing at Luc. That’s when I decided to make my move. I glided over to Luc and began to untie him. He seemed to be slightly out of it, but was okay otherwise. I managed to untie him, and we made our escape. As we were leaving, though, I stepped on a branch, alerting the Demons of my presence.

The Demons began to circle in on us, and with nowhere to go, I thought for sure we were going to die. But all of a sudden, I felt a blast and saw a wave of energy coming from Luc before everything went black. When I awoke, I found myself in the hospital.

Landed Myself In The Hospital

“Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital,” Julian said as he bent down to kiss me.

“I love you, Julian,” I said as I grabbed his hand.

A few seconds later, Luc entered the room.

“How are you feeling?”

“Besides this headache, I feel fine.’

“Well, you did hit your head pretty hard.”

“I have no memory of passing out, well, thank you for taking me to the hospital.”

“It’s not a big deal. Besides, your recovery is what’s important, so I’ll let you get some R&R.”

“Thanks, and oh, before I forget, what was up with Demons?”

Not Marrying The Devil

“Oh, that's well, earlier this week, the son of a rival Demon leader wanted to marry my sister, but she refused as she is in love with someone else, a human, to be exact. Well, needless to say, he was furious and wanted to take revenge on our family. Somehow, he got word that Wes and I were secretly dating and that I would be at his party, and he wanted to hurt the one I loved the most in this world.”

“Wait, since when did you and Wes start dating?”

“About the time we had the falling out.”

“Oh, that?”

“Cody, I have a confession to make… You see, I was never in love with Julian, and I only started dating him to get you jealous, but I guess it backfired.”

“Wait, what?”

“I was in love with you, but that’s all in the past, so I hope we can move on and perhaps, mend our friendship?’

“I’d like that.”

Three Weeks Later

Three weeks have passed since the Demon incident, Luc and I picked up where we left off, and now, I’m officially dating Julian. He’s been in love with me for a very long time, too, but was too scared to tell me because he feared it would ruin our friendship, and so he kept his feelings to himself, but I’m so glad he finally told me.

“Hey Julian, when we start college, do you want to live together?”

“I’d like that.”

“Okay, we’ll start looking for an apartment.”

As I lay there holding him, I began to feel sleepy, and finally, I fell asleep. Soon, I began to dream, and when I woke up, I felt rather blissful and thought, at this moment, all is right with the world.