That wasn’t at all on my list of possibilities. I was taken aback. I was expecting her to lie again, but for it to be this unbelievable? I mean it wasn’t even possible for demons and spirits to communicate with each other as familiars. So her speaking with Dog shouldn’t have been possible.

“Okay then, if that’s true, then how were you talking to Dog when he’s a spirit?”

She hadn’t even moved after I asked her that. Her body was slumped over and her eyes were still to the floor, only moving back up to look at Dog. Again the two of them appeared to be having a short conversation.

When they were done, she finally brought her eyes back up to me “Because Dog isn’t a spirit… he’s a demon.”

My back fell against the wall to help me stand. I quickly looked down at Dog who was looking up at me and wagging his tail. Is he trying to tell me she’s telling the truth? If he is, then this would go against everything I had been taught. Only spirits could wield Fire magic, so how is it that I ended up with a demon as a familiar?

“No no no that can’t be… I’ve been with Dog for 4 years. Only a completely oblivious person wouldn’t have figured it out… there’s no way I couldn’t have noticed. There’s no way.”

I wasn’t sure what to do. My breathing was heavy and my mind was running in all sorts of directions trying to find some sort of sense for everything. Dog could feel this panic out of me and put his paw on my foot and made a little bark.

Naomi could feel my hesitancy. So she suggested the one surefire way to prove what she was “Would it help if I showed you my true form?”

Not knowing what to say, I only nodded in agreement. So with my back still up against the wall, she stood up and walked to the most wide open area in the apartment. Which just so happened to be right in front of the door.

She was nervous. I could see that from across the room. The thought of running out the door once again crossed her mind, but she quickly shook it off. In her many conversations with Dog, he had let her know I could be trusted with her secret. Only that didn’t make it easier when the time came to reveal it.

With one last glance in my eyes, she closed hers and began the transformation.

A black smoke appeared from nowhere and began to cover her body, though there were still enough gaps for me to see her morphing into her true form. The first thing I saw was the extremely pail hue of her skin change into a blueish/gray color.

The black in her hair faded away into a deep purple. Then from her forehead, two large horns began to form. They both curled upwards and followed the shape of her head before forming an upwards point at the back of her skull.

From behind, I could see a tail forming out of her tail bone. It was a long, thick tail that reached all the way to the ground. And from the tip grew a small amount of hair that matched the purple of the hair on her head.

And lastly, the outline of her wings appeared. They both originated from her shoulder blades and grew into their folded up position. Out from the large joints that sat higher than her head grew a sharp spike. They looked similar to a bats wing and even when folded looked large. She was standing at the same height as before and the wings folded length went from the joints slightly above her head to the wing tips that ended at knee length.

The smoke slowly faded away until I had a clear view of her entire body.

Seeing everything all together really was quite the sight. I had only ever seen pictures of what demons looked like in textbooks. But having one standing in front of me was completely different. Naomi was still just as stunning in demon form as she had been in her human form. Though the bashful look she was making lead me to believe she hadn’t shared the same sentiment.

Even with her being fully clothed, she was still trying to cover her body with her arms. She wasn’t even able to look me in the eyes “So… what are you thinking.” she asked, almost ashamed.

I was still too busy taking everything in that I wasn’t thinking straight during my response “I think you look absolutely stunning. You’re so beautiful.”

Her eyes darted to mine and she lowered her arms “Y-you’re not disappointed?”

The squeakiness of her voice as well as the hopeful look on her face makes me giggle “Why would I be disappointed? I’m so happy that you showed me the real you.” I then noticed Dog was barking and wagging his tail “And it looks like Dog is happy too.”

Instead of her face blushing red, her cheeks turned purple. Which she quickly tried to hide by looking to the ground and bringing her hand to her face. It was very cute to see a being that one could find scary or intimidating looking so coy.

The only thing that I actually felt was somewhat off had to do with the clothes she was wearing. There was a homemade feeling to the dress she was wearing. She had on a black and purple halter dress that had a hand-tied knot behind her neck. It was a pretty dress, only it look quite a bit worn. Patchwork could be seen on multiple different areas and the fabric looked to be thin in others.

But the more I stared at her, the more clear my mind was becoming. And with that clarity came a really pressing thought.

All the demons I had seen pictures of had their hair color matching their corresponding magic abilities like the witches did. The Blood magic demons all had red hair while the Illusion magic demons all had yellow hair and so on. But Naomi’s hair was purple… there hadn’t been any purple haired witches in town for a very long time, and there was a reason for that.

My heart started beating quicker and my body began shaking. Naomi could feel the sudden shift in my emotions and the coyness from before turned to alert. My voice was weak when I asked “Um Naomi… wh-what type of magic do you have?”

Naomi had known exactly what I was feeling in that moment. And it wasn’t because of my face or my body language, it was because of what type of demon she was. The magic she had made her able to feel the emotions of those around her. And she had been sensing my emotions the entire time the two of us had been together.

“You figured it all out huh? Please don’t be scared. I promise I’m not here to cause any harm. I only wanted to see this world.” her voice was calm, but with her biting the corner of her lip and playing with her hands, I could tell she was anxious.

Though in that moment, it was impossible for me to not be scared “P-please just tell me. I need to hear it so I’m sure there’s no misunderstanding.”

Her eyes were glassy as she took a deep breath before saying “Yes… I am a Dream demon.”

My legs were weak. If my back wasn’t against the wall I probably would have fallen down. My heart was beating so quickly I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. The thing we were taught was the most dangerous threat to our town was standing right in front of me. The town still had a kill on sight order for any Dream demons or Dream familiars in place. But Naomi seemed so harmless.

“I-I… what? Y-you’re…” I wasn’t able to speak.

Dog could be heard barking his little head off and I assumed he was barking at Naomi as a warning. But he wasn’t. He was actually barking at me the whole time. I had no idea what he was trying to convey with his bark, but I was too scared to try and decipher it.

“Evelyn… I know that you were taught a bunch of awful things about Dream demons, but believe me when I say that we’re not all like that. I really mean you no harm. I love this world and have always wanted to see it for myself.” she was slowly approaching me and had a soft smile on the whole time she was talking.

There was no reason for me to distrust her. She had shown me nothing but kindness over the last two days. But it’s hard to override 18 years of education in only two days. No matter what she had said in that moment, I would have still been freaking out.

“I don’t… I-I’m scared… please don’t hurt me.” I actually began to cry.

Naomi said something else to me that I was too distraught to have heard. I was becoming lightheaded and my body continued feeling weaker. The only sound I could make out was Dog’s small, high-pitched bark going off continuously. My legs finally buckled underneath me to where I was now sitting on the floor.

Naomi immediately ran up and knelt beside be. Then as soon as she touched me… there was nothing.

Everything went black.