I drifted awake and my eyes focused on the clock by the bed. It was a quarter after eight, Friday morning. I was the first one up. Melissa and Susan were both sound asleep next to me. The tall beautiful blonde was in the middle this time, the gorgeous curvy redhead on her right while I was on the left.
After a moment I decided to just let them sleep. I slipped out of bed and the thick deep carpet felt almost heavenly under my bare feet and between my toes.
The past four days had been busy. Some of them had been downright hectic, and it wasn't even over yet.
Monday actually wasn't so bad, Mr. Goranov postponed our inspection till Tuesday so I was very smart and responsible and went out and did my photography assignments like a good little half-demon. Then the next day when we met Troy's dad, that wasn't laborious but it was kind of tiring. It took like two hours to do the whole inspection thing, touring the house and listening while he explained everything.
It all looked fantastic and perfect, I was in love with the kitchen from the moment I saw it. The upstairs bathroom was great too, with a big bathtub and separate shower and everything. The master bedroom was a bit smaller than before, some of that space had gone into the other two bedrooms and enlarging the bathroom, plus there was a really big closet along one wall. It was fine though, we didn't need a lot of wasted space in the bedroom since we had the whole entire house. And the downstairs was great too, the den area looked cosy and the office part would be perfect.
He also gave us some tips and advice on how all the new stuff worked. Like the thermostat for the furnace and central air was new, the bathtub had a jacuzzi function, all the kitchen appliances were new. And he pointed out one of the drawers under the kitchen counters was full of manuals and instructions and stuff, for pretty much everything.
All in all the house was nearly perfect. Even the fireplace had been cleaned and everything, so we could use it if we wanted. The only thing on our original wish-list we didn't get him to do was a proper garage. There was still just a car-port on the side of the house by the kitchen. We agreed to leave that for now, but maybe we'd get Mr. Goranov back to do that too at some point.
On Wednesday a bunch of new furniture was delivered to the place, and the three of us were there to oversee that and get it all put in the right place and everything. We got a new king-size bed in the master-bedroom, and a new living-room furniture set that consisted of a big comfy L-shaped sectional and a matching love-seat and recliner. A new home-theatre system went in there as well, and a new table and chairs went between the kitchen area and the living-room area.
Meanwhile in every spare minute from Monday morning till Wednesday night the three of us were packing. Sue's stuff was mostly still in boxes but me and Melissa were packing up all our stuff.
And yesterday we rented a cube-van and started actually moving stuff. Sue's queen-sized bed went into the spare room at the opposite end of the house from the master bedroom, and Melissa's twin went into the spare room in the middle. Our living-room sofa and recliner went down into the den, along with our TV and stuff like that. My and Melissa's desks went downstairs into the office area, with our computers and everything else. And everyone's clothes came over in boxes but all that ended up in one of the spare bedrooms for now.
Last night we left Melissa's car parked in the carport and the cube-van was in the driveway, since there was still more to be done. We had to finish emptying out the apartment and moving the last of our stuff, and anything we didn't want or need would go to a donation place. Then we'd go empty out the storage unit we rented in January and do the same thing. Sue's desk and some other things in there would come to the house, anything else would get donated.
But for the moment, I was enjoying a nice quiet morning in our awesome new home.
I tiptoed naked out of the bedroom then grinned widely as I looked down at the wide-open space below. My tail swished around happily as I bounced down the half-staircase to the main level and danced into the kitchen. Unlike the upstairs, the main floor was all smooth faux-hardwood. Even that felt nice under my bare feet.
I got myself a glass of juice from the big fancy new fridge, and thought for a moment about turning on the coffee machine. I decided to wait though, I didn't need to wake my girlfriends up just yet.
Juice in hand, I swished my way back to the living-room area. And I stood there for a few moments just smiling happily at our comfy new furniture.
Outside the bay windows I had a great view of our front lawn, and two neighbours standing on the sidewalk looking back at our house. There was a dog with them, I figured they were probably out for morning walkies or something.
"Mara," Lily said in a calm but slightly wary tone. "You realize you're naked and your horns and tail are visible, yes?"
I shrugged, "I don't think they can see me. I'm not right up against the windows or whatever. And they haven't pointed or started staring or shouting or anything."
She responded, "Hmm. Well I think you and your girlfriends should investigate window coverings of some kind. Curtains or blinds, perhaps."
"Yeah yeah," I pouted. "We just got here, we'll get to that in a day or two."
The new sectional was calling to me so I sat down at the end of that and had a couple gulps of my juice. The furniture was really cosy and I knew it would be a great place to snuggle and cuddle and stuff.
After a few minutes I asked, "Hey Lily? Can you see my dreams? Like when I'm dreaming, do you see that too? Or can you?"
"I'm able to," she replied, "But I generally don't. Why do you ask, Mara?"
I had another gulp of my juice, then I put the glass on the coffee table and leaned back against the sofa cushions. A moment later I was inside with Lily, and I sat down next to her on her big leather sofa.
"Because I dreamed about your daughter again a couple nights ago," I replied quietly. "Tuesday night, or Wednesday morning I guess?"
My demon mom sighed and her face took on a troubled, almost pained expression.
She asked, "You didn't try that 'magic tea' again did you?"
I shook my head, "No. I've been trying not to think about her or any of that stuff, since I knew it bothered you? But yeah, I dreamed about her the other day."
Lily sighed and settled back against the sofa. She looked torn, like she wanted to ask me about it but maybe she was afraid or something.
After a minute or so she finally asked, "What did you see?"
"I saw her home, where she lived?" I replied softly. "She had a pretty villa on the side of a volcano, on an island called Thera. And I saw what she ate. Or I guess, I saw what I ate? Like I mean in the dream, I was her. She was sort of a kindness demon or something, right? She was the opposite of Verothilas, she absorbed people's sorrow and fear and hatred and stuff? But she was gentle about it. Like she didn't feed off people and kill them, she made them feel better."
Lily was quiet for another minute or two, then finally sighed again. "Yes Mara, that's a fairly accurate description. Like you, she was kind and compassionate. She could have taken much more, but she was averse to hurting people. It meant she was smaller and weaker than many others of our kind, it left her at a disadvantage. I tried to convince her to take more, I tried to show her how to feed directly on souls, but she was stubborn..."
Her voice trailed off and I could tell she was feeling emotional again.
I asked quietly, "So the stuff in my dreams is real? Like the stuff I've seen, it really happened?"
"I don't know," Lily shook her head. "I can't say if your dreams are showing you actual moments of her life. But the details and facts you've learned about her... Those are accurate."
I hesitated a moment before asking, "So do you believe I was really her? Like, I was her in a past life or something?"
My demon mom shook her head again, "I don't know what to believe Mara. What I can say, what I do know for sure is whether or not you used to be my demonic child, right here and now you are Mara Carter. You were born as a human, your mother is Emma Carter. You may be part-demon now, and your personality and temperament may share traits in common with my progeny, but here and now you are not her. You are your own person Mara, and I don't want you to ever forget that or turn your back on it."
"Ok Lily," I nodded. I turned and wrapped my arms around her and pulled myself closer as I hugged her, "I understand what you're saying. And I won't forget, I promise. I know I'm Mara, I know I was born human and all that stuff. And I'll never forget about my mom. I guess I was just thinking of all this stuff like as a thing that made us even closer or whatever? Like fate or something."
She sighed but wrapped an arm around me as well, "Thank you Mara. I understand your reasoning and your enthusiasm, and I hope you'll understand my reluctance and caution."
We were both quiet again for a few minutes as we just sat and held each other, until I finally came up with another question.
"What about the guy that killed me? Armaros? He was a friend right? Or at least, he wasn't an enemy. But he said his lover wanted me dead?"
I felt Lily grow tense, my question obviously upset her. I was about to tell her to forget about it when she responded. Her tone was low and there was an edge to her voice that almost scared me, except I knew her anger wasn't directed at me.
"I don't know if Armaros is still alive, or where to find him. He used to make his home around the Strait of Gibraltar, in what's now known as Morocco. As for the lover who apparently ordered your death..."
Her voice took on a darker tone and her body became even more tense as she stated, "The demon who shared Armaros' bed two thousand years ago is currently imprisoned within a silver brooch, in a black velvet box, locked in the vault of a nearby bank. And I am going to ensure that what little existence she has left will be as unpleasant as I can possibly make it."
I kept quiet for a bit after that. Normally Lily was my big cute cuddly demon mom, but her words and the tone in her voice reminded me that under her cute cuddly blue exterior, she was still a demon. And she wanted revenge for the death of her child.
The tension finally left her body and her voice as she apologized softly, "Mara I'm sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me. Why don't you put the coffee on, your girlfriends will be awake soon. The three of you have more moving to take care of today, do you not?"
"Ok Lily," I replied. I gave her a little squeeze then let go and stood up. "I'm sorry I keep upsetting you with all this stuff. I'll try not to bother you with it again."
She gave me a sad smile, "It's not your fault Mara, and you're not bothering me. Though I'd appreciate if we kept all of this between the two of us for now? We can share it with the others when the time is right."
I nodded, then returned to the body.
Like Lily suggested, I went back to the kitchen and got the coffee machine going. Then I poured myself another glass of juice and spent some time trying to figure out if I wanted to make breakfast or if we should go out.
In the end I decided we'd go out. Most of the kitchen stuff wasn't unpacked yet, and we'd probably have two sets of everything after we got Sue's stuff out of storage. So we'd have to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
I got comfy in the living-room again just as Melissa then Susan emerged from the bedroom. A few minutes later they had their coffees in hand and both joined me on the sectional.
After a sip of her coffee Susan looked out the big bay windows and commented, "We need some blinds. Or sheers or something. Otherwise we're going to get complaints about being naked where the neighbours can see us."
"Does that mean we can't have naked BBQ parties on the back patio this summer?" Melissa asked with a grin. "Maybe the real solution is to teach the neighbours not to be so nosy."
I giggled while Sue rolled her eyes and replied, "I'll look into getting us some blinds or sheers."
Justice for naked BBQ!!!