‡ Promise 26: Sudden Invitation ‡

-As told by Lily-

ieth said I wouldn't remember our conversation, but I did remember everything. Especially about Rose. He had looked so old and pained, when I had mentioned that name, and still I felt guilty about bringing it up. "She died. And it was my fault." All along, I saw Keith as an arrogant bastard, thinking of himself as better than a mere mortal. But the truth was, he felt responsible for the death of a mortal that he loved, and because of Rose he just didn't want to be close to another human.
Why did he feel responsible? Was he responsible? I don't know. I want to ask him more questions, but I don't want to see that pain on his face again. Besides, I doubt he'd tell me. And still... He cared enough to let me back into his home, to let me sober up on his couch, and to call me friend. I wasn't going to get into serious trouble with my parents, because of his quick thinking, and that fact still amazes me. How can such a caring and kind man be such a cruel murdering demon?
I had puked most of that night, went to bed, and woke the next afternoon with a horrible headache. I didn't want to leave my bed, but I had other questions that I wanted to ask Keith. So I dragged myself to my feet and began to get dressed. "Morning, sleepy-head!" cheers my mother, as I reached the bottom of the steps. I winched, my head still pounding, despite the aspirins I took. "I made breakfast," she continues, "It's in the fridge, you'll have to microwave it. Really, you should start waking up mornings." "Yeah, whatever." I mumble, wishing her voice would go down a few decibels.
There is a ping, coming from the computer, in other room. "Back to work." nods my mother, then gives me a weird look, "Lily, are you okay?" "Yeah, fine." I said, rushing away to the kitchen, before she can analyze me further. I felt like hell and probably looked like it too. I didn't feel like having any food, so I poured myself a glass of orange juice and headed out into the yard. As usual to the time of day, Keith was sitting at the table, in his yard.
"Hi, Mr. Rolmir." I said, then taking a sip from my glass. "Miss Lily." he says, softly, "You have a hangover, this afternoon." "How do you know that?" I ask, my heart racing, hoping my mother didn't notice as easily as he did. "Just a guess." he shrug, "With the amount of alcohol you've had, I'd be surprised if you didn't have one." "Oh." I said, relieved that it wasn't obvious that I've been drinking. I huddled closer to the hedge. "Um," I swallow, "Can I ask you a question?"
Keith doesn't answer, staring out towards the woods, his right fingers softly drumming the table. "Do you...?" I continue, trying to find a delicate way to ask, "Do you kill a lot of humans?" A soft grin grows on his face. "A lot?" he asks, slowly, "Well I guess, over the centuries, there have been a lot. If you count up the years. But, what I think you're trying to ask is, do I have a habit of killing humans?" I now feel uncomfortable with his nonchalant way of talking about murder. "I don't go out of my way to kill." he nods, still not looking my way, "There's no point to killing humans, anyhow. They're too easy, no sport in it.
"I do, however, come across the occasional human, demon-hunter or holy zealot. And those I do kill, if they attack first or get too near my kingdom. This I do not apologize for nor care enough to. You may hate me for it, but I can't help what I am and what I must do." "Whatever." I said, wishing I'd never ask. I finished off my orange juice and let out a large burp. "Lovely." frowns Keith. I ignore him and hop over the hedge. Still not looking directly at me, Keith doesn't say a word as I sit in another chair at his table. He seems to be concentrating on the woods ahead.
"So," I said, starting on my next question, "That demon, in the woods, the other night..." "I was wondering when you were going to ask about that." he nods, now paying attention to me. "Why did she attack you?" I ask, nudging my chair a little closer to his. "I killed her family," he shrugs, "Her whole kingdom, and then smashed her world into bits. My army tried to kill her too, but somehow she had survived." I felt my jaw dropping, my eyes widen, and my heart racing. Keith grins, "I had a reason for it all." "What?" I ask, but it almost sounded like a demand than a question. "Her father killed my father." he said, looking back to the woods.
"Dammit," I mumble, feeling guilty, "I did it again." "Hmm?" asks Keith, his head turning sharply towards me, "I didn't mean to make you upset." "No," I said, shaking my head, "I'm sorry. I keep asking painful questions." "Oh," he sighs, "It's not a painful question. It's sort of a hard fact of a Rolmir's life. A demon can only be killed by another demon. And there are always other kingdoms in rival with each other. And there is no kingdom more rivaled than of the Rolmirs. My father was going to be killed, one way or another. The same for me and all others of my family. It's just the way things are. And I've long accepted that fact."
"What?" I frown, sitting up in my chair, "Why are the Rolmirs singled out?" "Our blood." he shrugs, "It's mixed with human. Many demons see this as a weakness, some as a threat, a few as a nuisance. And for centuries, many have killed, maimed, or was killed by the members of the Rolmir family. It's often a vicious cycle of killing; they kill us and we kill them, but demons are stubborn and vengeful creatures." "Seems stupid." I sigh, slumping in my chair. I hated the thought of Keith dying. "Perhaps." he smiles, softly. I can feel myself blushing and quickly look away.
"Lily?" my mother's voice calls, a few feet away. I turn in my chair to see a very confused mother reaching the hedge. "Lily?" she frowns, "What are you doing?" Keith stand to his feet and I jump to mine. "Hello." he nods, politely towards my mom. "Hello." she reply, her voice steely, "I'm sorry, is my daughter bothering you?" "Mom." I frown. "Not at all," answers Keith, "Miss Lily is delightful. She's an excellent critic of my work." I was shocked by his sudden manners and politeness. "Oh, that's right." says my mother, warming up a little, "You're that writer, that Lily's been talking about." I nearly had an heart-attack.
"Yes, I'm a writer." he introduces, "Keith Rolmir. Nice to meet you, Mrs...?" "Cathrine Harris." she offers. "You wouldn't happen to be Cathy H's?" asks Keith, referring to my mother's online business. "Well, yes." she answers, a little taken aback, "How do you-?" "My editor is a fan." Keith grins, "She loves your hat collection." "Oh, wow." giggles my mother, "Small world!" "Yes, it is." he nods. This whole situation feels weird to me, and it suddenly turns weirder. "Well, Mr. Rolmir." smiles my mother, "Since we are neighbors and never got to really talk, how about you have dinner with us, one of these nights?"
"What!?" I yell and then shake my head, "Mom, Mr. Rolmir doesn't-" "A home-cooked meal?" he asks, thinking deeply, "It's been forever since I had one of those. I think I would be interested." "What?" I frown, feeling all the blood drain from me. "Well, good." nods my mother, "Is Thursday okay?" "Mom," I sigh, "No, I'm sure Mr. Rolmir has a book to finish." I give Keith a look, giving him a silent hint to take the exit, but he ignores it. "No," he waves, "I can take one night off, from working. I'm free on Thursday." "Great!" smiles my mother, "We'll see you then. Come on, Lily."
"Why?" I frown. "You haven't done your laundry yet." she huffs, "Your dirty clothes are stinking up the laundry room and-" "Okay, okay!" I frown, feeling my face turning all sorts of reds. Keith pretends not to hear about the laundry, suddenly interested in the side paneling of his house. "Um," I mumble in his direction, "See you around." "Goodbye, Miss Lily." he grins, as I hop over the hedge. This is the most embarrassing day of my life! My mother wouldn't like it, if I mentioned about her dirty and stinky laundry, in front of Tom Jones. In fact she would kill me! Parents are a headache, especially my mother.
I do my laundry and avoid Keith for the rest of the day. By nightfall, I'm too tired to go into the woods and decide to get ready for bed instead. Now that Keith and I are friends, I don't have that insistent need to find him in the night, anymore. I pretty much got what I wanted, which is his friendship, and had all of my questions answered. There were only a few left and one of them is, "Why the hell did you accept my mother's dinner invitation?". I'll have to ask him that one, some other time.
I am settled in my bed, the covers pulled over my chin, and I'm slowly drifting to sleep. But tiny taps on my window wakes me. I sat up in bed, realizing that someone was tossing pebbles outside, in that long cliche way of getting a girl's attention. I look out into the darkness, seeing nothing at first, only shadows. But as my eyes adjusted, I realize it was Faldan, standing at the edge of my yard and waving me down. I glance at my alarm clock, it's nearly midnight! Grumbling, I head down two stairways and into the kitchen, still in my pajamas and pulling on a robe.
I step out into the dark cold, just like a few nights ago, and approached a very bruised Faldan. He looked as though he was in a rough bar-fight recently, a very dark black ring around his left eye, and a once bloodied lip. "What happened to you?" I ask, not really caring, but wondering more about what he wanted. "Nevermind," he waves, "Hey, how would you like to get a drink with me?" "What?" I hissed, now getting angry. "No, not Spitfire." he frowns, "A regular one. At a human bar, outside of town. I hate drinking alone."
"Are you crazy?" I frown, "It's late and I was sleeping! And I'm a minor, they won't let me drink in a bar!" "Well," he says, shaking his head, "This bar would. They don't care about checking I.D's there and you can always sleep later." "B-But," I choke, trying not to shout and wake my parents, "I don't have a car. Do you have a car? I don't think so." "Well, I do have a car." huffs Faldan, a little insulted, "Most demons do! ...But, I did leave it in Seattle. Well, I can fly us there." "Fly?" I nearly shriek, as he flaps his huge wings in response, "No way! No. You're crazy!"
"Come on, Lily." he sighs, "I hate drinking alone. Hey, if you come along, I'll tell you the whole story of Rose." "Huh?" I ask, a little interested. "I know my cousin didn't tell you everything." nods Faldan, "It's too painful for him. But you should know the whole truth. Come with me and I'll tell you everything. Just one drink and I'll bring you back home."I thought about it for a second. I did want to know the whole story about Rose. But to fly, open in the air, to some shady bar? The light in Keith's yard flicked on. "Eep!" yells Faldan and disappears in it's dull yellow glow.
Keith hurries out of the house, a look of disdain on his face, and Talon following behind. "Miss Lily." he frowns, reaching the hedge, "Why are you talking with Faldan?" "I don't know." I shrug, "He wanted to talk to me. I was asleep and he woke me up." "Talk about what?" growls Keith, giving an dark look towards the woods. "Dunno." I lied, "He didn't get a chance to tell me. He ran when your light came on." "He's up to no good again." mumbles Keith. "Well," I shrug, backing away, "Goodnight."
"Wait, Ms. Lily." frowns Keith, "I know you've befriended Fray and myself. And with some time, you may even befriend Dore, if possible. But don't try to befriend Faldan... ever." "What?" I frown, "You trust me to be friends with a psycho-killing ghost, but you don't trust me with your own cousin?" "That's correct." he nods, "And that should tell you a lot. Faldan's trouble. You don't need him for a friend." "Whatever." I sigh, finding Faldan strange, but not dangerous. "You should head inside." Keith says, pulling his robe closer, "You'll catch a cold in this weather."
"Yeah." I nod, shivering a little, "Goodnight, Mr. Rolmir." "Goodnight, Miss Lily." he smiles, warmly. I can feel myself blushing again, as I head towards my house.