THE RESIDENT DEMON

Despite what I’d thought last night, today had come all too quickly. And while I usually looked forward to spending time with Wriothesley, I couldn’t entirely say that was the case this time.

Still, I practically leapt to my feet when the doorbell rang. Earning me glances from both Alhaitham and Kaveh who’d been sitting with me all this time in silent support. After all, I’d ended up telling them what had happened last night. There hadn’t been much of a way for me to get out of that considering the interrogation that had occurred the moment I’d got back and they’d taken a look at my expression.

I awkwardly bade them farewell before Kaveh could have a chance to feed me anymore, ‘It’ll all work out’s or anything of that sort.

He meant well, of course, but there was also only so much a person could take. Something I was reasonably certain Alhaitham recognized judging from the looks he’d been giving Kaveh.

But, in truth, it was hardly any better when I got outside. 

In fact, it might even be worse.

Things were still awkward at best between Wriothesley and I. And while that was understandable, that realization didn’t really help the current situation. Especially since I had a feeling that this wasn’t a conversation either of us had been looking forward too.

He held up a hand, managing a tired smile as he broke the weighty silence that hung over us, “Hey.”

I bobbed my head, smiling tiredly in return as I echoed his greeting. Genuine, if weak, amusement creeping into my tone even despite the situation, “Hey.”

The corners of Wriothesley’s lips twitched up just a fraction higher at my tone before he gestured to the side, “Do you remember that park we used to meet at during semesters when our classes didn’t line up?”

I nodded, feeling my smile spread wryly at his words, “Of course I do. How could I not after how much time we ended up spending there?”

He nodded in agreement, and a small part of me wondered if he was thinking about those afternoons we’d spent together. Often not leaving until it started getting later in the day, with the light fading and essentially forcing us to move along. We’d talked about almost everything under the sun there. Usually laughing and picking on each other.

Though there would be those moments where comfortable silence would dominate the old playground in the center of the park as we would simply exist peacefully in each other's presence. As if nothing else mattered.

“I thought it might be fitting to talk there. For old time’s sake, if nothing else.” I felt my smile, slight though it had already been, falter at his words. Not liking the somber undertone in his voice at all.

It only seemed to confirm my fears about how this conversation would go and what the result might be.

I stayed silent though, trailing my way along behind Wriothesley even though I knew the path just as well as he did. After all, even after he’d disappeared from my life I’d still stopped by here. 

Perhaps it had just been a habit, but I’d never been able to shake the feeling that if he did come back, I would somehow bump into him there. Ridiculous as that seemed, but perhaps I simply became a little more senseless when it came to him.

That certainly seemed to be the case in light of how long I’d put off this conversation.

I still wasn’t in any rush to reach our location, though, and something about his slow gait told me that he wasn’t either. So we walked along in silence. Neither one of us apparently feeling up to the task of breaking the weighty silence that had settled itself over us once again.

But even then, with the heavy atmosphere around us, I felt myself smile slightly as we walked up to the park.

It was nostalgic to be here, with him, again. But somehow I feared that rather than a new beginning, this could be the end of everything that I’d been desperately clinging to.

Wriothesley came to a stop and I glanced his way, watching as he tilted his head at the swing set, a wry smile flickering across his face, “I guess it might’ve gotten repainted to help with the rust, but other than that it doesn’t look like anything’s changed.”

I nodded, lifting one shoulder in a half shrug, “Some things don’t change even after time has passed and other things have changed around it.”

I paused as Wriothesley met my gaze, searching for words before I finally continued with a vague hand gesture. Breaking eye contact with him as I looked back toward the swingset, “I think that’s okay, though.”

He smiled at my awkward finish, but nodded slightly. Seemingly signifying his agreement despite how awkward I felt I had ended up sounding.

“Having a steady constant like that can be a boon. Sometimes things like that are what get us through the most difficult moments in life.”

There was a deeper meaning to his words. I had no proof, but I could feel it as I nodded my silent agreement before walking over and plopping myself defeatedly into one of the swings. 

I pushed myself idly as Wriothesley followed me, letting out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “So last night… I should apologize for the way I goaded you into bringing up the rumors about me.”

I hummed in response, nodding slightly, “Thank you, but I can’t say I really blame you for pushing the matter. I have been kind of dancing around the subject.”

Wriothesley’s hand wrapped around one of the swing’s chains just above mine and he leaned over, giving me a subtly amused smile, “Hey, I’m a big boy now. I know when I’ve messed up.”

I snorted, shaking my head at his antics, “And I’m mature enough to know we both messed up. It takes two to tango after all.”

I paused, looking back forward as I felt my grip tighten on the swing’s chains. And even now, as ridiculous as it was, I was painfully aware of the short amount of distance between my hand and his.

I swallowed thickly, “Besides, I should apologize too. I can’t deny that what I’ve been hearing has been concerning.”

I had to fight the urge to grimace at the silence that followed my words. But it was true, even if it was horrible of me. All the rumors and gossip had steadily made me wonder if maybe something really had happened during the time I’d lost touch with Wriothesley.

And when he responded, his tone had lost all of its levity, “I’d be worried if you hadn’t been concerned. Because it’s true.”

I twisted, looking up at him with slightly widened eyes as his words confirmed my fears, but somehow still caught me off-guard.

He simply met my surprised and no doubt distressed expression with an apologetic smile before he shook his head slightly. And I watched as he let go of the swing and walked forward. Putting his back to me before he spoke, “Do you remember what I told you about my foster parents?”

I frowned, nodding slightly as I stood, torn between following him and staying put, “About how there was trouble and they needed help?”

He let out a hollow sounding laugh, but nodded, “I guess I should apologize about that too, because that was a lie.”

He paused and I watched him silence until he finally shook his head, his voice coming out softer this time, “Or perhaps it would be better to say I omitted the truth.”

He looked back at me with a smile I could only describe as bitter as something unpleasant flickered in those pale eyes of his, “You see, I was the issue.”

I shook my head in disturbed confusion, my gaze locked onto his as I searched his face for any explanation, “Wriothesley, I don’t understand. How were you the problem? You weren’t even living with them at that time.”

His gaze held mine, and for a moment he simply stayed silent. But then he spoke, “Bluntly put, they lost control of me.”

I outright frowned at him in utter confusion, but he continued in a flat tone, “It turned out that my parents weren’t really foster parents at all. They were taking in orphaned children, but it wasn’t to help them find families. It was to sell them.”

His words were perfectly blunt, leaving no room for misinterpretation, but I still felt myself freeze in shock before I finally managed to shake my head in horrified disbelief.

My mouth opened as if to speak, but nothing came out as my words failed me. 

But what could I say? What could I ever say in response to that?

I didn’t want to believe it, but I had no real reason not to, and I could see in his eyes he wasn’t lying. And even without that as evidence, I knew he would never lie about something like this. Even if he had changed in the time he was away, I was confident of that.

He exhaled, explaining exactly what had happened during our time apart in a dry tone that bordered on being emotionless even despite what he was saying.

“I had reached the end of my ‘sellable period’ when I went home for my visit. It turns out that all of the children who reached that age, all of my older siblings, and all of those who found out about what happened before me ‘disappeared.’ And that was what they had planned for me. Unfortunately for them, though, I found out about it before they could make sure I was handled in the same way my siblings had been.”

Something told me I knew exactly what ‘disappeared’ and ‘handled’ meant, but I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t even sure if I could, much less what I would say. So I just listened in silent horror as he continued. His tone growing more and more bitter the longer he spoke.

“I escaped and ended up living on the streets for a little while, but I knew I couldn’t leave things as they were and the officials….. Well, they wouldn’t listen. So I went back and I handled it on my own.”

He paused, meeting my gaze from where he’d looked away as he'd spoken. He swallowed, his throat visibly bobbing before he finished, “When the police got there, I’d already killed them and passed out from my injuries. When I came too in a hospital, they were already preparing for my court appointment. I pled guilty, did my time, and got out early for good behavior.”

I stared at him as he finished, feeling oddly like I was frozen in place. But I was still at a loss for words.

I’d thought I’d prepared myself for what he might say, but instead, I’d been caught wholly off-guard. And I wasn’t sure anything could have prepared me for everything he’d just told me.

It sounded like something out of a horror novel or a true crime series. Not something most people would ever encounter in day to day life, and certainly not something to expect from a long time crush.

As if acknowledging my shock, Wriothesley nodded, a tenseness still radiating from him even despite the way he held up one hand as if to stop me from saying anything, “I’m not going to try and defend my actions. That’s why I pled guilty. But I’m also not going to lie. I don’t regret what I did. I couldn’t just leave things the way they were when I knew more children… more of my siblings would suffer.”

He paused, frowning slightly as he looked my way in an almost apologetic manner, the tenseness starting to slip from his frame as he looked at me before continuing with a certain kind of strained tone sliding into his voice, “You don’t have to say anything, nor do I expect you to make any decisions immediately.”

I pressed my lips together and managed to nod, finally finding my voice again past the steadily growing lump in my throat. Though even with that, I still only managed five words which were in no way enough to respond to what he’d just told me, “Thank you for telling me.”

My voice came out soft, and a brief, though weak smile flickered across Wriothesley’s face before it faltered, “I’m sorry it took me this long to tell you. I knew I needed to explain after essentially ghosting you, but…..”

He trailed off with a shake of head before he drew himself up straighter and met my gaze directly, taking on a more direct tone, “I already called Lettie and asked him to walk you back home, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

He paused, shifting awkwardly before continuing, “We- We don’t have to talk until you’re ready. I’ll wait. If you need me, just call.”

I nodded, murmuring a ‘thank you’ again as if I were some sort of demented stuck record.

It wasn’t until Wriothesley grimaced slightly and said he had to get to work that I stepped forward and called, almost desperately after him, “Wriothesley!! Take care!”

It was possibly the most pathetic thing I could’ve come up with to say after everything he’d just told me, but he paused nonetheless. Turning to look back at me with a more genuine, if small, smile on his face as he nodded, “You too, Y/n.”

I pressed my lips almost painfully together. Not sure of what to do or say, but still filled with a vague sense of desperation as I called out to him again, “And I will get back to you! I might not know what to say right now, but I will!”

If I wasn’t horribly mistaken, he let out a half-hearted chuckle as he nodded before waving farewell and turning to go. Leaving me to sort out everything he’d just told me along with my feelings.

And maybe it was for the best that he left me there, because I certainly couldn’t think while he was standing there in front of me. Guilty of far more than having kept a few secrets or told a few lies.

And it wasn’t long after he’d disappeared that I sunk bonelessly to the ground. Trembling as a thousand emotions took over.

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