𝐚𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 [𝟏𝟖+]

Chapter 28

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𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 frantically busted through the doors of Dahlia's school, desperate for help. "Dahlia?! Dahlia Winslow?!" He yelled out, looking around the crowded hallway, gaining some weird looks and stares from students. Suddenly, Mr. Simmons appeared behind him and politely tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hello, I'm Ryan Simmons, Head of demonology at this school. Anything I can help you with?" He greets, extending a hand, and Oliver ignores this. "I-I'm looking for Dahlia Winslow." The younger male pants, resting his hands on his knees. Mr. Simmons furrows his eyebrows, "She's my student, but she's not here right now. Wha-" He starts, but before he can finish, Oliver sighs in relief and grabs hold of his arm, pulling him into an empty room. 

"What the hell is going on here?!" Mr. Simmons asks, demanding an explanation as to why this frenzied stranger had shown up to his place of work, looking for one of his most exemplary students. Oliver leans against the wall and rubs his temples, "Look, I'm from Calloway Labs, Dahlia is working there on an internship from here." He explains, and Mr. Simmons stares at him with narrowed eyes. 

"Yes, I know, I applied her for the internship." He repeats, and Oliver nods. "Okay, well, she's in trouble, and I'm going to need your help." The blond inhales, and Mr. Simmons hums suspiciously. "So, Dahlia has been having relations with the demon that we keep in the lab for testing and research reasons, except the boss, Gerald Sullivan, really hates demons, so he's trying to develop a serum that can accurately kill demons within seconds. Dahlia found some pretty sketchy shit in his office, so she devised a plan in order to steal his summoning book and expose him, but one of the other employees told Gerald everything, so he kind of shot Dahlia." Oliver explains, taking a breath.

"Wha- You- What?!" Mr. Simmons yells, his voice echoing through the room and making it's way to the hallway. "Yeah, he shot Dahlia, and then the demon showed up and took Dahlia to God knows where, and Gerald disappeared. I'm scared Gerald is going to get to them, and I need help getting there first. You seem to know her the best, would you please help me?" Oliver pleads, his eyebrows furrowed. Mr. Simmons is leaned back, jaw agape, as he takes in this information.

"Dahlia is like a daughter to me. I never should've sent her there!" He roared, punching a hole in the wall beside him. Oliver approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Who knows, maybe she's not dead. The demon seems to really love her, I doubt he'd let her die." He says softly, and Mr. Simmons groans. "That doesn't help!"

"I just can't believe she would date a demon, that's so unlike her!" He exclaims, resting on a chair. "When you love each other, things like that don't matter." Oliver sighs, looking down. Gerald had disappeared a few hours after the demon knocked him out, and he left without a word. This was especially painful for Oliver who, despite putting on his best strength mask, was yearning for his innocent childhood years, surrounded by family and friends. By his once affectionate father, and his forever lost presumably dead mother. 

Seeing his father's bloody outline on the floor only worsened his pain, and it was mind-boggling to him that it took him this long to see that his father was indeed the enemy. He had always looked up to him, always wanted to be just like him. To have the fulfilling job, to own the place, to be in power. Oliver's grandfather's death certainly took a toll on Gerald, he was more devastated than anyone. He was always convinced that his death was the result of a demon's wrong-doing, so he shifted all of his energy and dedicated all of his time to making demons feel the same way he felt.

His anger was misdirected, however, because there was no proof that his father's death was anything but nature taking its course. Sadly, he trusted his own estranged theories, instead of the hard facts, descending him straight into a psychotic spiral. Dahlia was only a pawn in his own sick game, but now that everyone had seem him, the true him, he had no choice but to make sure she was gone for good. Gerald was pushed over the edge, his need for revenge and his burning hatred only igniting further inside of him. 

Oliver saw his mother in Dahlia. They were both compassionate in a way, prioritizing others and ultimately harming themselves in the long-run by doing so. They wore masks, they hid all of the pain they felt and they viewed it as a weakness, nothing more than a flaw. Perhaps Oliver's sudden desire to save Dahlia was a last attempt at bringing back the closest thing he's had to a mother since she died, despite Dahlia being older than him. Immaturity was his coping mechanism, his one distraction from the horrible truth that lay deep beneath him. 

Perhaps he only wanted to save his friend. Gerald had already taken so much from him, he wasn't going to let him take one of his best friends as well. He had already taken his happiness, his pride in the family, his hope, his trust, and he wasn't sure what else he would take once he found him.