Wednesday morning I ended up having the whole house to myself for a while. Amber was at work as usual, while Melissa and Susan both went out on business last night. They'd probably be home around noon, which was in another hour.

I had a slow lazy start to the day, I got up to see Amber off when she left for work then I went back to bed for a while.

When I did finally drag myself out of bed I only made it as far as the living-room, where I put on the TV and got cosy on the sofa. My mood was pretty good though, mostly because it felt like Lily was in a better mood too.

The past two weeks or so it felt like there'd been something bothering her. Nothing big, but it was like she had some background stress or something. Whatever it was seemed to end yesterday.

As usual she didn't want to talk about it so I didn't actually know what the problem was or how it was fixed. Whenever I asked what was up or offered to help she got all flustered and said it was no big deal. She always tried to act strong and tough and all that, she hated to let on that she was vulnerable and had emotions and stuff just like everyone else.

So I didn't pry, I kept quiet and let her go on pretending that she was a big scary demon who didn't get flustered and embarrassed and didn't occasionally need a hug and cuddles. Mostly I was just glad she was feeling better.

I was only about ten minutes into a movie I'd started streaming when there was a knock at the side door.

Normally delivery people or visitors came to the front door, so having someone knock at the side door was unusual. The four of us used it because it opened up from the kitchen onto the carport. Other than us, only friends or neighbours would know to use it.

With a sigh I paused the movie and got up, then made my way to the opposite end of the house. I walked through the kitchen and opened up the door, then found myself staring for a couple seconds.

"Grace? Are you ok?"

I almost didn't recognize her. She wasn't wearing any make-up, her hair wasn't styled, and she was dressed in a wrinkled t-shirt, track pants, and sneakers. Her face was sort of pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, which were red and slightly blood-shot. She was carrying a fashionable-looking purse, but she just held it loosely in her hand.

Beyond the way she looked, my demonic intuition thing told me some bad stuff had gone down and she needed help. More than that she needed a friend, someone she could talk to.

She shook her head slowly and asked, "May I come in?"

I stepped aside and nodded, "Of course! Come in, sit down and get comfortable. Can I get you anything?"

She didn't respond as she shuffled past me into the house. I followed her back through to the living-room, where she slumped heavily onto the love-seat.

After watching her for a second or two I asked again, "Can I get you a drink or something?"

"Yes please," she nodded.

She didn't seem to care what, so I grabbed her a bottle of water. I also put the coffee machine on just in case.

I opened the bottle and handed it to her, then sat down next to her and asked "Do you want to talk about it? Is everything ok?"

Grace took a couple gulps of water, then sighed deeply. It took her a few seconds but eventually she started talking.

"I had a huge fight with my parents Monday night," she said quietly. "My uncle... It was a really bad day at work. So after I got home, I told my mom and dad how my uncle was exploiting me. How he was under-paying me and taking advantage of me and what he..."

She sighed again, "My dad told me it was my fault for being lazy. That my complaints only made me sound like I wasn't cut out for the 'real world', that if I couldn't handle a summer job for my uncle I'd never made it anywhere else. I said I was going to quit and try working somewhere else, to find out for myself if I could handle it or not."

Grace continued talking softly, "Dad told me I wasn't allowed to quit, he said our family weren't quitters. I told him I'd had enough of him and mom trying to control me and micro-manage my life, told them I needed to make my own decisions. Then mom got involved, she called me naive and ungrateful..."

There was a long pause, then she sighed once more.

"Anyways it all got pretty heated. And I uh, I came out to them about being gay. Told them I was never going to marry one of their approved church boy choices they kept picking out for me. I told them if I ever got married it would be to a woman. Dad told me I was going to hell, mom said I was hysterical, confused, acting out, and I didn't know what I was talking about."

After another pause she shrugged, "It just got worse after that. They talked about cutting me off, then they started giving me ultimatums. If I quit working for my uncle they'd kick me out of the house. If I didn't start socializing with guys at dad's church they'd stop paying my tuition. That sort of thing."

"Shit," I winced.

My intuition stuff wasn't giving me much in the way of details, but I noticed when she mentioned her uncle it was like her mood dropped really low and her emotions got really dark. It was the same with her dad, but maybe not quite as bad. Her mom upset her too, but not as much as the other two.

"Are you ok though?" I asked warily. "That was Monday, what's happened since then?"

Grace drank the last of her water then sighed again, "I didn't sleep much Monday night. And yesterday morning I refused to go back to work. We had another big argument, and dad grabbed my phone... It got smashed. Then one thing led to another and I guess I'm cut off and kicked out and all that stuff."

After another shrug she added, "I packed up as much of my stuff as I could fit in the car, then I left. I didn't know where to go or what to do, I guess I kind of lost it or something? Maybe I had a break down, I don't know. I ended up at a park, and I spent last night there in my car."

By the time she'd finished talking there were tears in her eyes and she looked like she didn't know whether to be embarrassed, ashamed, frightened, or just sad.

I pulled her into a hug as I said, "Grace I'm so sorry. Why didn't you come over here? You didn't have to spend the night alone in a park."

"I didn't want to drop in unannounced," she mumbled. "And I couldn't call or text first because my phone's gone. So I didn't know what to do."

She gulped and hesitated, then asked nervously, "I was wondering though? Could I maybe meet with Lily again? I think I'm ready to accept her offer."

I stifled a little sigh. As much as I wanted to help her I never wanted it to be in this kind of situation. Like offering to help and having her choose to accept it was one thing, but having her feel she needed it or she had no choice was different. And from the sound of it she hadn't had a good night sleep in a couple days. Then I realized she probably hadn't had a proper meal in a day or two either.

"Ok Grace," I replied softly. "But not just yet, all right?"

I let go of the hug but kept a hand on her arm as I pulled back a bit to look her in the eyes. "You need some sleep and a clear head before you worry about demons and contracts and stuff like that, ok? You can use the guest room, get yourself comfortable and get some rest? If you want to eat first I'll make you something right now. Otherwise I'll make sure you have a good meal when you wake up. Ok?"

She stared at me in silence for a few seconds, then she almost collapsed into my arms again and started to cry.

I wasn't actually sure what I said that set her off, but I held her and did my best to soothe her and stuff till she calmed down again.

She continued to cry for a good ten or twelve minutes as I held her. Eventually the tears and sobs tapered off and she slowly pulled herself upright again.

"Thanks Mara," she sniffed. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," I replied. "C'mon, let's get you settled."

She followed me up the stairs, then while she was in the washroom I went into the guest room and pulled the curtains closed and got a nightshirt out of the closet for her. I even turned down the bed so it was all ready.

When she was done in the bathroom I gave her another hug, then left her alone in the bedroom. I closed the door so she'd have some privacy and quiet, then I went back down to the living-room. I grabbed my phone and sent a brief text to Melissa, Susan, and Amber. I didn't go into a lot of detail, just let them know Grace's folks kicked her out and she was staying with us for now.

Then I slipped inside to see my demon mom.

"You did very good Mara," Lily said as soon as I joined her. "You're a good friend to her."

I was frowning as I slumped onto the sofa next to her, "I feel like I'm her only friend, Lily. Me and the DLP anyways."

She didn't comment on that, instead she asked "You're here for a reason, what did you want to talk about? I think you did the right thing by the way, not rushing to have her meet with me. That was very thoughtful of you, to ensure she'd be rested and fed and have a clear head when she meets me."

"That's just common sense and stuff," I said with a shrug. Then I got to the point, "Lily did her parents hurt her? Did her uncle hurt her? What happened that she's not saying?"

My demon mom shook her head, "If she wanted you to know those details she would have told you herself Mara. Don't ask me to betray her privacy like that."

"Sorry," I sighed. "You're right, I don't need to know. But if it's something really bad, will you do your thing? Take care of them or whatever?"

Lily grimaced, "I don't..."

She went quiet for a few moments then tried again, "I'd rather not talk about that. I think it's best if we focus on positive things, like how we can help Grace and ensure she remains safe. Let's not dwell on the negative."

I was quiet for a few seconds as I thought about that. I didn't like to press for personal details from folks, but I got the feeling something was up with my demon mom lately. I was positive something changed a month or two ago, about the way she fed or whatever.

Like I couldn't remember the last time I lost my appetite for a couple days, and that used to happen regularly every time she went out to feed. Meanwhile that still happened for Melissa and Susan, like I knew neither of them would want to eat for the next couple days. And Amber barely ate at all anymore, unless we were getting sushi or whatever.

Rather than argue or question Lily about that stuff I let it go again and just nodded, "Ok. You're right, we should stick to the positive stuff. Thanks."

She smiled, I actually got the impression she was glad I wasn't pursuing the topic. Instead she suggested, "I'm sure Melissa and Susan will be home soon, they'll probably want to talk to you about what's happened. And there's no rush for Grace to meet with me. Whenever she's ready, I'll be here."

I agreed with that, and after giving my demon mom another hug I stepped back out into the body. After that, the rest of the day was fairly quiet but maybe a little stressful.

Melissa and Susan came home together at about half past twelve, and the three of us ended up sitting downstairs in the den while I filled them in on what happened, what I knew, and what I'd seen and suspected and stuff. Then they both took turns in the shower getting washed up and stuff after their work last night.

Amber got home early, she took a couple hours off for personal reasons so she could join us. I got her filled in on the situation as well, so all four of us were sort of ready to help or just talk and listen when Grace finally woke up.

That finally happened around half past six, she emerged from the guest room and used the washroom, then came down the stairs and joined us in the living-room.

She looked a little better after getting some sleep, her eyes weren't red anymore and the dark circles under them had faded. She was still a bit pale though. And rather than looking like she was on the verge of tears, now she mostly looked numb.

I grabbed her a bottle of water, I didn't want to offer anything alcoholic before she'd got some food in her. And for that matter I didn't want to offer her any booze if she was planning on talking with Lily tonight. I figured she needed to do that sober, then we could celebrate after. If she was in the mood for that.

"Thanks Mara," she said quietly as she accepted the water. She quietly greeted my girlfriends, then after a gulp of water she apologized "Sorry for showing up unannounced. I don't mean to be a big disruption to everyone."

Sue shook her head, "It's ok Grace. You're not a disruption, and you're not imposing or anything else. We're sorry your folks have been so unreasonable, and we want to help you if we can."

For a moment it looked like she was going to start crying again, before Grace got her emotions under control. She had a couple more gulps of water then looked at me and asked, "Could I please speak with Lily now?"

I hesitated, "You don't want to eat something first?"

"I'd rather talk to her first," she replied. "I want to... I'd like to get that sorted out, so I don't have to worry about it. Then maybe I'll be able to relax and eat something."

"All right," I said as I got to my feet. "We'll head back down to the den, Lily will want to do that in private. Then we'll figure out dinner after. I can cook something, or we can order in or whatever?"

Grace got up as well and gave me a weak smile, "Thanks Mara. And Susan, Melissa, Amber."

"Good luck," Melissa said as me and Grace headed for the basement stairs.

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