•Demons By Imagine Dragons•

I stopped dead at the unmistakeable accented voice that I'd only heard once but knew I wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. I turned slowly, keeping my eyes trained on the ground so she wouldn't see the blush staining my cheeks.

They wandered to her feet and widened when seeing that they were bare. My jaw practically unhinged when I followed her feet to her coltish ankles, then strong and muscled legs. The shorts and loose sweater she was sporting hardly left little to the imagination. Her grey eyes were trained on me and swirled with some emotion I couldn't identify.

The puppy kicked her little legs in my arms and yipped. She finally tore her gave from mine and looked at it, her lips forming a small smile.

I held my breath as she came closer and rubbed the wiggling pup behind its ears. The scent of sandalwood and coconut filled the air, a different but pleasant scent. "I see you've found a new friend." She arched a brow at me and a blush stole across my cheeks.

"She's yours?" I wanted to snack myself. Duh, she basically just said that!

Her lips twitched faintly and she nodded, turning her gaze from the pup to me. I froze under her stare, feeling my heart pump overdrive and sweat coat the back of my neck.

Her brows raised slightly as she looked at me. "Well, are you going to give me my dog back?"

My mouth flopped open for a moment before the puppy was suddenly out of my arms and cradled in hers. My eyebrows furrowed in annoyance but it was short-lived as I watched her interact with the little animal.

"I was um......sitting out here for a bit when your friend joined me." I glanced down at the ground and kicked a piece of seaweed around half-heartedly before I looked up again.

Previously, her expression had been hard and unapproachable, but as I made contact with her I witnessed it firsthand become truly scary.

She stepped forward and seized my chin in one movement, one hand, and tipped it to the side. My stomach erupted into butterflies at her soft skin on mine. It hurt, but I figured it was worth it.

She released me after a moment looked into my eyes seriously. "Who did that to you?" The words were barely audible as she spoke, but I could hear the slight raspy growl in them. Her eyes were as dark as a thundercloud and it warmed my heart to know she cared.

My cheeks deepened in color as I inclined my head towards the volleyball players. She followed my gaze with her flinty one and nodded.

I was almost scared for a moment as I observed her observing them. She looked so poised, as if she were a tiger preparing to take down a lone deer.

Or just the whole damn herd for the hell of it.

"Well, you should probably put some ice on that."

I pulled my gaze back to hers and blinked at her in surprise. The puppy yipped at me but she just walked away, leaving me hopelessly confused and longing for more.

More of what though?

• • •

"Charlotte! Come on! We're going to be late!" I yelled again from the kitchen as I furiously shoved my new school supplies in my new bag.

She came barreling out a moment later, and even my flustered state I had to stop and giggle at her. The uniforms they'd given us were composed of a knee-length blue plaid skirt, a white polo shirt, and mid-thigh black stockings. The whole thing was wrapped up in a tie.

And Char had hers all over the place.

Her blue eyes peered at me from under her lashes and I smiled at her as I knelt down in front of her. "Alright sweet girl. Let me show ya how it's done." I made a silly face at her while I un-looped the catastrophe and wiggled my eyebrows. She giggled and laughed, warming my heart with the sound.

"There." I said, straightening the little black bow-tie out across her neck. You could wear it two ways, long, or in a bow-tie. I chose long just because the bow-tie was a pain in the ass to keep straight.

"You look very pretty, mommy." Her cheeks pinked and I thanked her with a kiss on the cheek. I didn't normally let her call me that anywhere but home, but I think it's time I acknowledged what she was to me. "You look pretty hot yourself." I winked before standing up and grabbing my stuff. Char already had her bag on her back so we headed out.

I was thankful I'd started the car when I did, because this morning was cold as shit. My slightly wavy hair whipped around my face with the wind and I was sure I looked like rudolf as I kept rubbing my nose to keep it from running.

I got Char in as fast as I could before I buckled myself in, sighing when the heat smacked me in the face. Traffic was a nightmare, as I'd suspected, but we managed to make it to the school not too late.

Students walked by me from all sides, glancing at the car curiously and then at us when we finally climbed out. The school wasn't really anything horribly snobbish. It was a big building though, which at first made it extremely intimidating.

Entering the double doors was like being hit with a bomb. Noises, strange smells, weird sounds, and above all, so many people. Char cringed into my side and I looped my arm around her protectively as we walked. The logical part of me was trying to argue that it's probably a nice, clean, school which had nice, clean, kids. But you could never be too sure.

The stares and whispers grew and I stiffened as some of their words reached me.

"Who is she?"

"Wow she's hot."

"Is that her sister?"

They were a never ending circle and I quickly hoofed us into the building. Charlotte's wing was all the way at the other end of the school.

I found her age-marked classroom and crouched down in front of her and straightened out her tie a little bit. "Char, I want you to know that were safe here. We don't have to play our little game anymore and you don't have to call me "sissy" anymore, okay?"

Her forehead crinkled in thought before the biggest smile I'd ever seen from her spread across her face. "So I can call you mommy now?"

I smiled in amusement and nodded. She squealed and jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I laughed and held her for a moment, just enjoying the freedom of it.

My eyes pricked with tears as she ran off, yelling "bye mommy!" Over her shoulder. I was sure the school was going to be swarming with rumors by the end of the day, but I didn't really care. I was her mother, and I wanted to be seen and referred to as her mother.

I nearly had a heart attack when I turned around and was met with silver eyes.

Ms. Thornton leaned against the lockers with her arms crossed over her chest. I knew the stance was meant to be casual, but it still didn't stop my heart from working overdrive.

For a moment I was worried about what she heard, but then, how could she not have heard? Char was ecstatic and I knew she'd be telling anyone with in earshot. But I didn't care. She deserved this, a normal life.

Okay well, semi normal.

I met the principles stare head on, locking my jaw together and fisting my hands as I prepared for her verbal lashings. I hadn't seen her since Friday, and knew she didn't think very highly of me, but to my surprise she just sighed, meeting my eyes briefly and shaking her head. The corners of her lips turned up slightly as she mumbled something under her breath.

"Fiica ta este frumoasă."

The words passed over me so clearly but so not understood. They rang in my ears even long after I'd gone to class. I looked them up in computer science and my eyes pricked with tears when they translated into English from the Romanian language.

"Your daughter is beautiful."