Exiled

Chapter 10

The week went on, each day basically the same. Wake up way too early, go to work for the whole day, make money. Then, come home, chill on the couch, and go to sleep. There was no further Angel attacks which led me to believe it was a rogue agent.

At the end of the week, I received my paycheck. $125?! That was a pretty decent bonus to my $500 in tips. That was almost a grand a day. Serena was paid as well, so I guess together we had over a grand, but you get the idea.

We got to leave early on Fridays. Then we had the weekend and Monday off. Three days. Just me and her. What was the worst that could happen?

As we approached the door to the apartment, Serena gasped. I turned to find her digging around in her purse.

"I can't find my keys", she said.

I facepalmed. She was smiling now.

"Use yours", she said as she handed me a key.

I must've look surprised because she put the key in my hand and directed it toward the door. I unlocked the door and we walked in.

"I figured you should have a key since we're together", she said with a slight blush.

I looked at her.

Together? As in a relationship? I guess that was okay... for now.

I smiled and kissed her. She always had some way to surprise me. Unpredictable. Yet another word I'd use to describe her. It was only 3. I had noticed Serena using some sort of communication device while we were on breaks at work. When I had asked her what it was, she told me it was something called a "cellphone".

She encouraged me to get one since it allowed long distance communication. I had told her I would consider. It seemed like a waste since she was basically glued to me, but you never know.

Serena went to get changed and I stripped down in the living room. The cool air hit my body and I shuddered. I put on some clothes, some jeans and a graphic t-shirt.

I didn't understand human clothing. The jeans I was now wearing had rips and tears in them, which was apparently a "fashion trend". And they cost more money than the regular pairs of jeans too! Why were people paying more money for damaged clothing? I didn't understand.

And my t-shirt was something called a "graphic" t-shirt. There was nothing graphic about it! It had a picture of some animated character on it. And they were smiling. What about that was graphic? No blood or gore or anything that I'd consider graphic.

Serena walked into the living room in her bathrobe and kissed me, stopping my train of thought. I guess it didn't matter too much what they were called...

"We have the rest of the day to ourselves, what do you wanna do babe?", she said cheerily.

Babe? When did I get that name? Was this what humans did when they were "together"? They give each other different names?

"I'm not sure... babe", I said.

The word just sounded weird coming out of my mouth.

"The weather's nice today, we could go out", she suggested.

I nodded.

My brain was just on autopilot at this point.

She led me out the door and we set out into the city. We were headed more into the city rather than just along our street. Where were we going? Our hands were intertwined, courtesy of Serena, as we walked. Her smile radiating happiness at all who passed us.

It was weird to watch. We had walked by a couple who was fighting and they stopped as soon as they saw us. Did we have some sort of aura? A magical effect?

She had stopped walking and she pulled me back.

"We're here!", she announced.

It was an arcade. I could hear the laughter and talk of the people inside. There was a lot of extra noise as well, like ringing bells and electronic beeps.

As we entered, Serena reached into her purse and retrieved a plastic rectangle.

"Come on! We gotta get cards", she told me over the noise.

Cards? I had so many questions... my head felt like it was about to explode. I wish I'd engaged in more human experiences before I met Serena. Maybe then I wouldn't be like a lost toddler right now.

She led me over to a kiosk that apparently dispensed cards. After about 5 minutes, she handed me a card.

"Now we're ready! Let's get our game on!", she said happily.

I didn't know where to start. From what I could tell, there was over 100 different games in this one room. Serena had already taken off, leaving me to find my own way around.

I sighed.

This was utter chaos. Maybe I had found my way back into Hell. A child ran past me screaming as what I'm assuming was their parent chased them.

I walked to the first game that caught my eye. It was called SkeeBall. I watched as another person played. It seemed all you had to do was roll the ball into the holes in the wall at the end. The smaller the hole, the more points. I swiped my card and the game started dispensing balls. I picked one up.

Now if you don't know anything about demons, we are especially good at games. If we so choose to be that is. I rolled my ball and watched it sink into the smallest hole. Ding! Ding! Too easy. I sunk the rest of the balls in for what I believed was the best possible score you could get. A couple of people were gathered around me, watching in awe. I moved on. Maybe I shouldn't draw such attention to myself.

The next game I stumbled into was some sort of beat game. You had to hit the pads in time with a song that played. I swiped the card. There was a kid behind waiting. I swiped through the list of songs.

"That one's the hardest", a small voice peeped up.

I turned.

The kid looked at me. "That one", he pointed.

Apparently, this kid had never met a demon.

I selected his so called "hardest" song and the screen informed me to "get ready". The song started and my hands moved. I could hear the kid exclaim as I progressed through the song perfectly.

It was only at the end I realized that a small crowd had formed around me. I nervously bowed and made my way away from them. I just couldn't help it sometimes. Being a demon isn't easy. I ran into Serena, literally. We bumped into each other and she started to fall. I caught her by the hand and we looked at each other.

"There you are", she said as I pulled her up.

She looked behind me. "What's that about?", she asked as I turned.

The crowd I had attracted was looking at me. I laughed.

"I beat some sort of record or something on that game", I bragged.

We spent a couple hours at the arcade before we finally went home. We had cashed in our "tickets" before we left. Apparently all the games we played gave us some sort of digital currency we could turn in for prizes. Serena had gotten a giant plush teddy bear and I had settled for some sunglasses in the shape of stars. We laughed and talked the entire way back home.

"I can't believe your so good at arcade games!", Serena had exclaimed as we opened the door to the apartment.

I laughed and shrugged. The perks of being a demon.

She seemed satisfied with her teddy bear so I passed out on the couch. 2 more days of just us. I could really get used to this.