Human by Alycia Linwood Page A

his grip.
    "Sorry," he said. "I need you to come with me."
    "Ok." I followed him down the hall all the way to an empty classroom. I really didn't want to know how he'd made sure no one was there.
    "You know we're not supposed to stay here," I said, closing the door behind me.
    "They won't know." Devin's eyes turned obsidian black for a second, and the door clicked. I licked my lips nervously, my throat suddenly feeling dry. I was locked in a room with a demon. That couldn't be good. Devin settled himself in the teacher's comfortable leather chair, and I placed my backpack on the floor.
    "I need you to stop putting fake memories in Italia Marlowe's mind," I said, hoping he knew who I was talking about. "I won't tell her anything, but I don't want you inside of her head."
    "Why?" He didn't look happy about it. I wasn't sure could he read minds or just parts that included him. If I asked him, he probably wouldn't tell me the truth.
    "She's my best friend." The look on Devin's face told me he had no clue what I was talking about.
    "You're in love with her?" he finally said, and I stared at him in disbelief, gaping like a fish.
    "No! It's not like that!" I was blushing. Ah, lovely. Devin cocked his head and eyed me carefully, rubbing his wrist under his black sweater.
    "I care a lot about her, but it's a different kind of love." I was fumbling with words, unsure how I was supposed to explain it. "Don't you have friends?"
    "I..." He seemed to consider it. "Maybe."
    "Oh. Well, you don't have to mess with anyone's mind anymore, right?" I said hopefully. He just gave me a plain look that told me nothing. I sighed. Talking to a demon was even harder than talking to an angel. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I thought how ridiculous it was that I could actually make a comparison of creatures I hadn't believed existed.
    "You can tell your friend whatever you want, but any mention of me or what I am will be gone from her mind." He pressed his finger to his temple and closed his eyes like he was trying to fight off a bad migraine.
    "Ok, but tell me why we are here." I went to get myself a chair and placed it closer to Devin. He reached for something in his pocket and threw it on the desk. A black cell phone bounced off the smooth wooden surface and nearly ended up in my lap.
    "Hey, you can't throw things like that. You're going to break it," I said, placing the cell phone back on the desk.
    "Show me how to use it." He leaned forward, his cerulean eyes boring into mine. I averted my look and took the cell phone, touching the screen lightly to get to the menu. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw a cute little white puppy as the background picture. Either Devin had a soft side I knew nothing about or the cell phone wasn't his.
    "It's not yours, is it?" My fingers slid away from the cell phone. There was no way I was going to touch something stolen again. The last thing I needed was for someone to report the cell phone missing and then me be the one to get blamed for the theft.
    "Some girl lent it to me." He smiled and pushed the cell phone towards me with his long fingers. Lent? Yeah, right. Maybe I should be happy that he didn't want to take mine. I sighed and started explaining the basics to him, thinking how funny it would be to actually receive a call from Hell. Cell phone service providers would have a lot of trouble figuring out how to charge that one, or they'd simply slap the highest price possible.
    "Give me your number," he said after I had explained in detail how to add contacts to the phonebook.
    "No way." I stood up, gripping the chair tightly in my hand, ready to lift it up and swing it at him. I didn't know of what help would that be, but I was willing to risk it. He just looked up at me, smiling, and his eyes went black.
    "Do you have a death wish? You know I can make everyone forget you ever existed," he said, getting up and walking over to me. I did my best not to flinch when he reached for a lock of my