Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

DECLAN

I didn't normally watch my brother on weekends, but my parents were doing some maintenance around the house and Ollie got bored. He called me asking to play and since I didn't have anything better to do, I took him to the park. My shop didn't open until late afternoon on weekends anyway. I didn't take days off, but I took half days on weekends to give myself a chance to rest.

I got a lot of funny looks in this neighborhood, so I was mostly just playing with my phone and staying out of the way when the demons showed up. My spine straightened automatically, worry for my little brother making me overcautious. I considered taking him home, but when I saw the kids ignoring the demon boy, it made me hesitate. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and he actually looked heartbroken that people weren't playing with him.

Since I'd been watching him, I saw the interaction between the demon boy and the human one. The kid looked curious and was asking the demon boy what he was doing under the slide when that Karen came out of nowhere, screeching like a banshee. I might be cautious around paranormals, but I didn't like her talking to the demon boy like that. Bullies were bullies, no matter their age.

When she realized she had no backup amongst the rest of the families at the park, she huffed and stomped off, dragging her poor kid behind her. He looked mortified, his ears bright red. I felt a little bad for him, but what can you do? You don't get to choose the family you're born into.

"Thank you."

Blinking, I turned back to the demon who'd come to the little one's rescue. His horns weren't on fire anymore, which notched down the intimidation a bit. He still looked like a criminal, but that had less to do with him being a demon and more because of the dark look on his face and the leather jacket, despite the warmer than normal fall weather.

"It's nothing. I just don't like bullies. I–"

"Dec! Dec! Those boys invited me to play basketball. Can I go?"

Ollie came flying in out of nowhere, his face flushed from all the running he'd been doing and a big grin on his face. He must've been too busy to see the interaction with the demons, and he barely gave them a second glance now. He was too excited to play.

"Sure, buddy." I knew better than to stand around, Ollie wasn't going to wait forever, so I gave an up nod to the demon as a goodbye. "Hope you have a better afternoon."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, though I didn't have any fucking clue as to why. I ignored it, following Ollie out of the playground and toward the basketball courts. That was the first interaction I'd ever had with a paranormal that didn't go to shit. I didn't want to stick around and give him a chance to get pissed at me or something.

We were at the basketball courts for a while before I saw the demon kid again. He was alone this time, no sight of the older demon behind him. It was getting close to lunchtime and parents were calling their kids to head back home, so it was only Ollie and one other boy on the court. They threw the ball, bouncing it off the rim, and it bounded away, smacking the demon boy in the back. He spun around with a snarl, baring his teeth at Ollie and the boy he was playing with. Tension settled in my shoulders as Ollie jogged closer, giving the demon boy a sheepish grin.

"Sorry. You okay?"

The demon boy didn't answer, just continued to glare at Ollie like he wanted to murder him for making a mistake. Ollie gestured to the ball that was closer to the demon than to himself.

"Can we have our ball back?"

The demon glanced behind him at the ball and took a few steps back. He picked it up, holding it in one hand to show it to Ollie. I saw what was going to happen before he made a move, but I couldn't get over there fast enough to do anything about it. The demon punted the damn ball so hard it cleared the building with the bathrooms. I was at Ollie's side in an instant, tucking my brother behind me. The demon boy lifted his lip in a sneer, waiting for me to say something to him. I chose to ignore him, turning and nudging Ollie towards the court.

"Come on. We'll ask for another ball inside."

Ollie looked confused and upset, but he followed me easily as I led him away. I shot an irritated look over my shoulder at the demon boy, but he wasn't looking in my direction. He stormed off again, kicking rocks in front of him. Whatever his issue was, messing with my little brother didn't help his mood any.

"Why'd he do that?" Ollie questioned quietly.

"Because some kids don't know how to play nice. Did Mom and Dad say they wanted you home for lunch?"

He shrugged, his head down and his hands shoved into his pocket. The boy he'd been playing with ran off after the demon boy kicked the ball away. It left us alone and after checking in with my parents on when they wanted Ollie home, I played on the court with him for a while before taking him home for lunch.

"I recognize that kid from school," Ollie said randomly on the walk home. That made me uneasy, and I had to work to keep the grimace off my face.

"Oh yeah? Is he any nicer there?"

Olie shook his head, which was pretty much what I'd expected. "He's in a different grade than me, though. I've only ever seen him at recess. I asked him to play once, but he said he didn't play with humans and told me to leave him alone."

"Then I would listen to him. If he doesn't want to make new friends, that's on him. I don't want you pushing it and getting hurt." He was obviously unstable, but I didn't say that part out loud. Kids were impressionable, and I didn't want Ollie making decisions on paranormals based on my interactions with them.

"Hey, Declan? Do you have any paranormal friends?"

"Nope. But I don't have many friends to begin with. I work too much."

"You've got me," he pointed out.

That made me smile, and I dropped my arm around his shoulders. "True. Who needs friends when I have the world's best little brother?"

He beamed at me, the hurt feelings from his interaction with the demon disappearing. One of the best things about Ollie was that he could bounce back from anything. He was the happiest kid I knew, and nothing kept him down for long. The kid could be stuck at home with the flu and still be chattering and smiling.

When we got back to my parents' place, Ollie darted inside before I could say bye. As far as I knew, he was unaware about the awkwardness between me and our parents. He didn't even know I was gay. Not that I hid it from him, I just hadn't dated in a while. It was too much work. I stood outside, debating going in to make sure my parents knew he was back, when the screen door cracked open and my dad poked his head outside.

"I, uh… I got as much energy out of him as I could. He's hungry now. If you need me to take him tomorrow–"

Dad shook his head. "We're going to my mom's for the day tomorrow."

"Ah. Okay. Well, I guess I'll see him on Monday then."

Dad dipped his chin to acknowledge me and disappeared back inside. It wasn't an invitation to follow. He shut the front door firmly behind him, which was as clear as he could get. I could come over to pick up Ollie, but I wasn't welcome inside. Not unless I was willing to stop dating men. Shaking my head, I shoved my hands into my pockets and headed home.

I got a call from the school two weeks later. They only ever called me if they couldn't get ahold of my folks. The second they said the word fight, I was out the door, leaving Ben in charge while I raced to get to my brother. I drove a motorcycle, and I made sure to grab Ollie's stuff before heading over there. I probably looked like a mad man when I showed up, booking it to the office without a backwards glance towards the other teachers in the hallway. I almost fell when my feet slid, trying to come to a stop, and I had to grab onto the doorframe to the office to stop myself from eating it.

The secretary looked up, startled, at my arrival. She sighed when she saw it was me. "Mr. Gray. Didn't you learn when you went here not to run in the halls?"

Mrs. Robertson had been the secretary at this school when I went here. She was an institution. I'd had trouble the first year or so of Ollie going here getting them to let me pick him up, but she vouched for me until my parents finally put in the paperwork to let me without a note from them.

"They said Ollie had been in a fight?"

She pursed her lips, tipping her head to where Ollie sat in a chair against the wall. He had tissues pressed to his nose and what looked like a black eye forming. My heart thundered in my chest as I kneeled in front of him, gently pulling his hand away so I could see the damage.

"What happened, buddy?"

He shrugged, but refused to say any more. When I glanced over my shoulder at Mrs. Robertson, she shook her head with a sigh.

"He overheard one of the new transfers say some choice words to one of his friends and decided to confront him. Principal Castillo is still trying to get the whole account of it, but I don't think he swung first. He shouldn't have been involved in the first place, though. He should've gotten a teacher instead." She gave Ollie a pointed look, like she'd already had this conversation with him in the past. I never heard anything from my parents about Ollie fighting, but I didn't trust them to keep me in the loop, either. Mrs. Robertson had no reason to lie to me.

"Alright. I'll talk to him and update my parents. Can I take him with me?"

She nodded. "He's good. Might have a black eye, but the nurse said some ice will do him fine. She's not worried about anything more severe."

Letting out a heavy breath, I guided Ollie out of the office with my hand on his shoulder. He didn't have many friends, but he was loyal to the few he had. He wouldn't say anything that he thought might get them into trouble until we were out of earshot of the teachers.

When we got outside, I stopped him with my hands on his shoulders, leveling him with a look.

"Alright, out with it. What happened? "

He scrunched his nose and winced for the effort. "Dante was being mean to Sophie. She was just asking him to play. He didn't have to call her names. I told him off and he punched me. You told me if someone hits me, I can hit them back."

True, I did say that. I got tired of him getting bullied. Ignoring them didn't work, so I taught him how to throw a decent punch to protect himself.

"That doesn't mean you can butt into other people's issues and start a fight. You and Sophie should've walked away. Or gotten a teacher if you had to. How many times have you done something like this before?"

His eyes dropped to the ground, which was all the information I needed. I didn't want to be angry with him, especially not for sticking up for someone, but I didn't want to encourage him to stick his nose where it didn't belong either. That's what got him bullied in the first place.

"Come on. We'll get some frozen peas on that eye and I'll call Mom and Dad. I hope you at least got a good hit in. That shiner is gonna be there for days."

He smirked at me, and despite the severity of the situation, I felt a small amount of pride for what he did. He used to cower from bullies. At least now he had enough confidence to protect himself. I just hoped the paranormal he had picked a fight with wasn't that demon boy. That kid made me nervous.