Demon: Book 1

Chapter 9: An Unexpected Guest

"You seem awfully happy tonight," said my mother as we cleared off the dinner table.

I shrugged and carried my plate to the sink.

"It's all that fresh air." My father pulled me to his side and ruffled my hair. "Told you it would be good for you."

"Right, Dad. That must be it." Fixing my hair, I headed for my room.

I closed the door and threw myself on the bed with a sigh. It had been almost a month since I started going to the campground, and in that short amount of time, I was actually excited to go. Sitting up, I thought about going to the hot pools again with Titus on Monday. I already had my bag packed for it.

Grabbing my laptop, I flipped it open and clicked on one of my music video playlists before settling in for the night.

***

I opened my eyes to tapping. I looked around the darkened room and saw my computer had been moved. The scratching sound came from the window. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes. The noise got louder. I scooted up against the headboard and turned on the lamp on my desk.

Titus's face appeared, and he gave me a wave. "Aden."

"What in the world?" I climbed off my bed and went to the window. Flipping the lock to the side, I lifted it and put my head outside. I gave Titus a confused look. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged and climbed into the room. "I came by to say hi."

I glanced outside. There was a slanted roof as well as a good twelve-foot drop to the ground. "How'd you get up here?"

"It wasn't that hard." He flopped onto the mattress and put his arms behind his head.

"You could've used the front door." I closed the window.

"Your parents don't know me"—he sat up—"and I didn't want to be told to go away."

I stood at the foot of the bed. "Okay, but how did you find me? Please don't tell me you've been peeking into my neighbor's houses?"

He laughed softly. "No, I saw your dad's truck parked out front."

I chuckled to myself. "That stupid thing keeps giving me away."

"Yep." He put his feet on the floor. "So this is your room?" Standing, he started wandering around.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "It's kind of boring." I did a quick scan to make sure I didn't have anything embarrassing lying on the ground. Thankful, my mother had done the laundry yesterday.

"I think it's nice." He examined my laptop for a moment. "Hey, what's in there?" Titus pointed to my closet.

I jumped up and laid across the door. "Nothing."

"Well, if it's nothing, then you won't mind me taking a look." He nudged me to the side.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Really, Titus. There's nothing interesting in there."

"We'll see." He opened the door and disappeared inside.

"Titus, stop!"

He reached for a box and I dove for it. I knocked it out of his hand, and it crashed onto the floor.

"Great." I dropped to the ground to pick everything up.

There was a knock on the door. "Aden?" called my mother. "Is everything alright?"

I bolted from the closet and ran to stop her from entering. My mother was halfway inside.

"I'm fine."