The Inseparable

I. Tails

I woke up to a cold breeze blowing through my window.
I snuggled my blanket up to my face, not thinking twice about it.

Then I suddenly remember closing it before I went to bed.

Instantly sitting up, I brought the blanket closer to me and scanned the room from my bed.

Shivering from a mixture of the cold and fear, I slowly pushed the blanket down to the end of the bed. I grabbed a pencil off the nightstand to my left and placed one foot, two, onto the carpet. I slowly walked over to my window and closed it, after craning my head out and searching for anything that could be lurking outside. Before turning around, I heard the creak of a spring from behind.

Something was on my bed.

Spinning around, my eyes closed, I threw the pencil as hard as I could from where I was standing. I heard it thunk against something, followed by a curse. I opened my eyes.

"What.." the thing rubbed its forehead angrily.
"G-get off my bed!" I squeaked, shaking vigorously.

A pair of blue luminescent eyes glared at me from the middle of my bed. The thing was in a crouched position, slowly crawling to the end of my bed in my direction.
"I just don't understand you.. creatures.." it said.

Finally crawling off the bed and standing up in front of me, it entered the moonlight shining through the window.

A boy, several inches taller than I, stared down at me intently. He had long, burgundy colored hair that had a wild look to it. A thick streak of blonde swept across his left eye. He bent over, reached his hand down and put a finger under my chin, lifting my head up. I shuddered wildly, managing to whimper,"Wh-who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," he laughed charmingly, his eyes flashing crimson for a split second, "but really, I need your.. assistance. What did the humans name you?"

"Kristen?" I said shyly.

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"I.." blushing wildly and wanting to get out of this weird situation, I leaned back, cocked my fist and punched him hard in the gut. He didn't flinch.

"Weak," he scoffed, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Hit me again and see what happens. I do bite." he grinned, revealing a large set of fangs.

Afraid and confused, I tore away from him and took a step back. Suddenly the boy yelped and covered his mouth with one of his hands. I spun around, looked down and screamed.

"SNAKE!"

I leapt forward and pushed him backward and we fell onto the floor, him taking most of the impact. He groaned, his face bright red, accompanied with a look of pain.

"That's not a snake, you fool, it's my tail!"
"T... tail?" I said, unsure how to feel about the word that just came out of my mouth.
"Yes! I'm a demon, for Evil's sake, I'm the heir to the throne of the Underworld. I have a tail. Most demons have tails."

A long black tail with a point at the end emerged from under the boy, slapping me across the face. I jumped up, eyes watering, and rubbed my cheek tenderly.
Standing up and reaching into a pocket on his shorts, he pulled out a photo that looked very small in his hand. "Enough games," he said, a slight growl in his tone, "I'm sick of you. Have you seen this man?" He held up the photo.

It displayed a man with bright blue hair; shaved on the sides but a large tuft left on the top. He wore glasses and a loose fitting shirt. His skin was very pale. Surprisingly, I recognized him.

"He.. works at my school. A custodian."
"How classic.." he scowled, "Just my luck. A campus full of tiny, disgusting humans. I am elated."

I frowned at his sarcastic words.

"They're not all young.. or disgusting.." I protested, "I'm 17. There are young adults that go there!" I tried to stand up as straight as possible to seem tougher. My attempt was futile; me being 5'2 and him possibly approaching 6'5, at the least. He was an intimidating figure.

He laughed and rolled his eyes, purposefully insulting me.
"Whatever the case, you're all young to me. I'm a century older than you." he said sweetly, poking my chest. A confused look was plastered on my face.
"But anyhow," he continued, turning and walking back to the window, "I must be going then. I appreciate your help, but not your company." he winked at me.

"W-wait!" I stuttered, scurrying over to him. "What's your name, at least?"
"It's Hayden." he grinned again, his fangs less noticeable than before.

Hayden patted my head gently and, with that, he leapt out the window into the chilly air.