[Baconwizard]

Ava shuddered as the demon came towards her, and she shrunk back, her back hitting the doorframe. She swallowed, tears swelling up in her eyes again. Who was this creature? This crazy, demented thing... was this really her friend? Her hands clutched tight in front of her chest in an instinctive gesture of protection, Ava took a shuddering breath. "Cyril is very important to me, Sencha," she whispered, staring into the demon's eyes. Well, one of the many pairs of eyes. Panic closed up Ava's throat, and she felt dizzy again; if she wasn't leaning against the wall, she probably would have fallen. Forcing herself to breathe, Ava continued in a trembling voice. "I-if you hurt him, w-we won't be friends anymore..."

[zapdragon555]

Sencha's advancement towards Ava was cut short by her words. He stood stock still, his muscles bunched as he breathed through his jaws, and he angled his head to the floor, looking deep in thought. "We... we won't...?" he mumbled, and his pupils sharpened as he began to paw at his face, almost as if he was smacking himself. "Bad... Ava likes Cyril... so I can't hurt Cyril... I did a bad thing..." he whined to himself, clawing at his own face.

Cyril's eyes had flickered open, breath wheezing out of him as he stared at Sencha approaching Ava, and with a silent wince he pushed himself into a sitting position and took a knife out of his jacket, getting to his feet and approaching the demon from behind with a darkness in his eyes.

[Baconwizard]

Ava watched Sencha with a fixed horror, fear and revulsion rising up in her as the demon began to hurt himself. Part of her wanted to stop him, soothe the demon back to his regular calmness, but another part did not even want to touch him. Noticing movement behind the demon, Ava looked at Cyril, at the dark look on his face, and her heart plummeted in her chest. She had thought that this town would be better than the city. That maybe... she and Cyril could have a new start. No more blood, or coverups, police investigations, or hysterical panics. But Ava should have known better than to think that a simple change of location could fix things. A part of her knew that, but Ava had chosen to forget.

Ava closed her eyes, tears beginning to leak down her face again. "Sencha, y-you need to go," she whispered, not wanting to see Cyril stab Sencha. No. Ava didn't want that at all.

[zapdragon555]

Sencha froze for a moment at Ava's words, claws tipped in black blood from his own face, and he whirled his head around just in time to feel the knife drive deep into the lower part of his spine. Sencha howled a horrific noise and kicked outward at Cyril, who twisted the knife deeper, making Sencha's hind legs go limp. Sencha managed to twist his body around and kick Cyril square in the chest with a foreleg, sending him several feet away, and he quickly found his legs again, a constant moan of pain coming out of him as he lumbered out of the room as fast as he could, taking the knife with him all the way to the door.

Cyril was breathing hard, black blood staining his shirt, and he scowled, letting his head drop for a moment. "Don't let anyone in this house without me knowing about it," he growled under his breath, slumping against the wall where he'd landed.

[Baconwizard]

A choked scream made its way out of Ava's throat as Sencha howled, and she brought her hands up around her head, as if blocking out the sound would stop the two from fighting. She began to sob as Cyril was kicked towards the wall, tears blurring her vision and breaking up her voice. Sencha was gone. It was just her and Cyril know in the quiet living room. There was black blood all over the floor. Some of it was on Ava's sock. Her feet finally gave out from underneath her, and she slid to the floor, huddling in a small, shaking ball, breaths coming in quick, shallow sobs. Sencha was gone, probably forever, and she needed to get up and see if Cyril was okay, but Ava couldn't stop crying.

[zapdragon555]

Cyril's eyes narrowed to glittering slits as he heard a sob come from Ava's direction, and he let out a shaky breath, pushing himself up into a standing position with some difficulty. The damn beast took his knife. Cyril moved over to Ava, scowling at the blood soaking into the carpet, and he bent down to her level, or tried to. Something in his knees gave out on his way down, and he caught himself with a hand on the wall, then sat down beside her, his expression softening a bit. "Ava," he whispered, his voice gentle. "He's gone. He won't come back here, I'll be sure of it."

[Baconwizard]

Ava lifted up her head as Cyril spoke to her, and she blinked at him through the tears, shuddering. Why couldn't she stop crying; the danger was already over... She wiped her nose with the back of her hand, trying to get control of her breathing. "Wh-who... Wh-what was that?" Her voice was quiet, and she stifled a small, whimpering noise as a fresh wave of tears overcame her. "I-I'd never... n-never seen Sencha like that, ever..."

[zapdragon555]

Cyril's eyes flickered as she looked up at him, and his eyes grew tired, his brows knitting as he saw the tears on her cheeks. Cyril reached into his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief he carried around with him, which had somehow escaped being soaked through with demon blood, and reached out to gently wipe her tears away. "That was Sencha," he murmured softly. "Or some version of him." He blinked slowly, then sighed. "He's a demon, I'm sure you knew... some kind of energy siphon. If he touches you, he sucks energy out for himself. He uses whoever he can get."

[Baconwizard]

Ava sat very still as Cyril wiped her face, staring at him with watery brown eyes. His voice crashed upon her ears like waves, and she could only pick up on bits and pieces of what he said. After the adrenaline dump from earlier, her body felt like lead, and Ava could feel herself beginning to fall asleep. Fighting it as best she could, Ava frowned, a confused look on her face. "Energy... siphon? I-I didn't... Does he really do that to people?"

[zapdragon555]

Cyril noticed Ava growing woozier by the moment, and the stench of blood really was overwhelming. He tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket and reached forward to slide a hand behind her shoulders, carefully steadying her as he maneuvered his arms around her to lift her up as gently as he could in his state. "Yes," he answered simply, flatly. "He's a dangerous demon, no matter how nice he might appear. Perhaps he means well, but in the end he has to feed. And the only way for him to do that is to get close to other people."

[Baconwizard]

Ava was silent at this, her mind filling with the large, terrifying creature that had confronted her. Was that... really why Sencha befriended her? Did he just want to take her energy? The thought made Ava's chest constrict. She leaned into the hand on her back, feeling yet again that incessant pull of sleep. As Cyril began to pick her up, Ava gasped, waking up a bit. She shifted in his arms, looking at him with an almost panicked look. "Y-you're hurt!"

[zapdragon555]

Cyril winced slightly as she shifted in his arms, and he let out a shaky breath, almost smirking at her. "Not nearly enough," he murmured, then carefully stepped so that he wouldn't slip in the blood on the floor, moving towards Ava's bedroom. Thankfully, there seemed to be almost no blood on Ava's person, save for what had gotten on her from Cyril's sleeve. He frowned inwardly at that, wishing he'd thought of it, as he gently set her down on the bed. "You look like you're about to drop. I'd prefer you do it here than in that room..."

[Baconwizard]

Ava was looking more upset now than she was before, and her eyes were brimming with tears. As Cyril put her down, she clutched at his arms, the fabric bunching in her hands. "C-Cyril, you really need to get your injuries looked at. Theres––there's a first aid kit in the kitchen..." God, her bed was so comfortable. Ava could feel the tug, pulling her under into the black quiet of sleep, but she struggled against it. She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to stay awake, to learn more about Sencha, to make sure that Cyril would take care of himself. He'd done that too many times before, be there when she fell asleep and leave before she woke up. Ava clutched at Cyril, as if willing him to stay would keep him there.

[zapdragon555]

Cyril's eyes flickered at her words, which held him in place far more than her weak grip on his clothes did. He sighed softly through his nose, fighting down the urge to lie down with her and just sleep, but there was risk of something inside him getting damaged again. "I'll do that," he murmured softly, and with a soft wince of effort he bent down to press a kiss to her forehead, then straighten up, his hands gently detaching her hands from his sleeves. "I promise. And..." he began, his voice firming up slightly, as if he'd realized her thoughts. "I'll still be here when you wake up."

[Baconwizard]

Ava felt relief wash over her, like a gentle wave, and she nodded at Cyril, her shoulders slumping as her body relaxed. "You promise," she murmured back. She let him move her hands off his arms, but held on to his hands, instead. She didn't want to let him go just yet. Sighing, Ava nodded again, and she slumped back against her pillow. She needed to keep talking, to say something so that she would stay awake. Her eyelashes fluttered as she tried to focus her vision on the man holding her hands. "Cyril," she managed to say, but she wasn't able to finish her sentence before she fell into a deep sleep.