The demon with the smooth raven hair stood there with those same familiar tree-trunk arms folded across his rock hard chest.

“Woman, if I truly wanted to kill you, would you be standing there waving that priceless heirloom around after having destroyed an irreplaceable French silk shade?”

Another demon laughed. “I’m jealous! Out of all of us last night, the only one she recognized was you.”

“That’s because he was the one who carried her to the tower and then back to her home.” Another demon chimed in.

The two who spoke looked identical. They had the same green hair that was bound back with gold metallic bands and mischievous brown eyes.

“Everyone calm down.” The last person to speak was the red-haired demon with startling reddish brown eyes.

“You,” he turned to gaze into Candi’s eyes. “Put the lamp down and get off the piano.”

Candi crouched on the piano in a fighting stance, her makeshift cudgel still in her hands.

She was effectively cornered. If she was going to do something, now was the time to do it.

“Aaaaaarghhh!!!” She screamed and took a flying leap towards them, swinging the lamp with all her might.

Red-haired demon flicked a finger and a strong power gripped her in midair, leaving her body dangling as an invisible force kept her levitated above the floor.

“Aaaahhhh!!! Let me go you monsters!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. “You big bullies! Let go of me!”

The demons ignored her as she continued to scream at them.

Blondie plucked the crystal lamp base, rescuing it from her wild swinging grasp.

He carried it back to the side table and redeposited it back on its stand.

Then he picked up the lampshade and gave it a quick tap, restoring the ripped fabric to its original glory. He dusted it with a quick flick of his fingers and reattached the shade to the lamp. With a final snap of his fingers, the lamp lit up.

“Ah. There we are. No real harm done.” Blondie muttered to himself even as Candi screamed and struggled and fought the invisible binds that held her aloft in midair.

Tree-trunk Arms reached out and touched her mouth with his hand, sealing her lips with his magik.

“Hmmmm mmmm mmmm hmmmm!!!” She screamed inside her throat.

“Smooth. By doing that, you just pissed her off even more.” Pinky laughed at Tree-trunk Arms.

“She has very strong vocal cords. My eardrums were getting hammered and I was starting to get a bit of a headache.” Tree-trunk sighed.

He turned back to Candi. “If I take the seal off your lips, will you stop yelling?”

“Hmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmm.” Candi struggled and bobbed her head around.

Tree-Trunk Arms reached out and touched her lips.

“You damn bastards! I’m going to rip your eyeballs out and stew them in curry! How dare you seal my lips!!! Who do you think you—Hmmmmm mmmmm hmmmmm mmmmmm.”

Tree-Trunk Arms reached out and resealed her lips as the others laughed with wild abandonment.

Red-head stood silently gazing at her as if to assess the situation. Finally, he tapped on Tree-Trunk’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you take her back to her home and let her rest a bit. She’s not going to be able to handle the event today.”

Event? Were these demons the event organizers?

“Hmmmmm mmmmmmm hmmmmmm!!!” She struggled as she tried to communicate with the demons. If she did not show up to the event, Madam Broussard would terminate their agreement!

But of course, since her lips were sealed, there was no way she could say this to the demons.

Stupid lug nuts!

Tree Trunk Arms regarded her for a moment. He reached out with a single finger. As he brought it closer to her face, Candi’s eyes grew large.

Oh God! He was going to poke her eyes out! Tears began streaming from her eyes and she shut her lids hard.

He blinked with confusion and touched her forehead.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in her own bed with the sun streaming in through the window.

Candi gasped and sat up, clutching at her comforter.

She looked around. There was no one in the room with her.

She swung her head down and checked under the bed. Nothing there but some dust bunnies.

Then she swung her feet down and padded over to the door.

Cautiously, she cracked it a tiny bit and peeked through the slit. No one was in the hallway.

She opened the door and slipped through the tiny hallway into the living room. It didn’t look like there was anyone there either.

Candi covered her face with her hands and heaved a shuddering sigh of relief. Maybe it was all just a bad dream.

Wasn’t she supposed to be part of the archaeological panel that was supposed to be on-hand at the fundraiser auction of ancient broken pieces of pottery and such?

What time was it anyway?

She was about to return to her bedroom to grab her mobile device when she heard a sound coming from the kitchen.

Candi gasped. She was not alone after all.

She reached out and grabbed the closest thing she could reach, a cheap imitation ming vase, and crept over to the kitchen.

A large dark figure lunged out at her.

Screaming with fright, Candi closed her eyes and swung the vase as hard as she could.

The vase hit its intended target with a thud and flew from her grasp.

Crash!

It hit the opposite wall and shattered into a multitude of blue and white shards, coming to rest on the jute rug below.

“Woman, will you calm the fuck down!!!” A very familiar voice growled out.

“You!” She opened her eyes and stared at a very angry Tree-Trunk Arm. “What are you doing in my kitchen??? What are you doing in my house???”

He scowled, holding onto his arm which looked like it was bleeding.

“I took you home, remember? I didn’t want to leave you alone because you looked like you were afraid, so I stayed to watch over you.”

He turned back and indicated at the stove. “I was making something for you to eat when you got up. That’s why I was in the kitchen.”

Candi stared at him.

He thought she was afraid to stay by herself, alone? Didn’t he know that she was actually afraid of him? The thought made her laugh, but she sobered as she saw the gash on his arm.

“I’m…sorry about that.. Let me clean and bandage it for you.”