Demons Beside You

Chen Zhao sat on the side to wait. He took a sip of his drink and ate his hamburger.

The couple was arguing with no sign of stopping, but it was clear that Ethan was at a disadvantage. Caprice was defeating Ethan in all aspects. The swears spewing out of her mouth were practically textbook-material.

“Is this how humans argue?” Beelzebub squatted before Chen Zhao, watching the two with interest. “Seeing you humans argue, I suddenly feel like my arguments with Raymond and Carrie are too immature.”

“You know why I never ate dinner before getting in bed with you? Because I was afraid I’d waste my dinner after seeing your body!”

“You think I’m willing to get into bed with you? I’d rather spend $20 and get a wh*re off the road. At least I won’t need to pay for birth control.”

Chen Zhao felt helpless.

“At least they can make me orgasm. Can you?”

“You should go to Hell, you sl*t.”

“If I go to Hell, I’ll definitely drag you with me.”

In Beelzebub, Raymond, and Carrie’s opinions, they didn’t need to be so polite. They were both qualified to go to Hell. Neither of them were good people. They were practically poster children for horrible men and women.

“If I were them, I’d suggest suicide. Then they’ll definitely go to Hell. Strongly recommend it.”

“The best suicide method is to shoot your forehead,” Blackie added to the discussion. “You won’t feel any pain and you’ll die immediately.”

“Why do so many people choose sleeping pills?” Carrie asked curiously. “A lot of the spirits I’ve met died from that.”

“Actually, suicide by sleeping pills is the most, most, most painful. I strongly advise against it,” Blackie said. “Overdosing on them won’t make you lose consciousness immediately. Instead, your body will malfunction while you’re still conscious. Diazepam starts acting on your entire body. It seeps into your blood and then it’s like you’re thrown into boiling water. The malfunctioning will increase with gastric convulsions. And because your circulation loses control, you stop breathing. It’s like drowning, burning, hanging, and jumping off a building all combined.”

Twenty minutes later, the two were tired from arguing. They sat at the counter to catch their breaths. They seemed to have a lot of chemistry. It wasn’t their first time arguing.

“Why are you here?” Ethan asked.

“To see if you’ve accepted any escaped criminals here.”

“Did you, a warden, accept a bribe and release a criminal and now you’re blaming me?”

So this woman was a warden? You really couldn’t judge a book by its cover, but no wonder she was so domineering. Regular people couldn’t perform that job well.

“You think I’m lowly like you?”

With that, the two were about to start fighting again. Thankfully, Ethan’s phone interrupted the reigniting fire.

“Hi, it’s Ethan... Oh, I see.” He put down the phone. “Chen.”

Another client? Ethan didn’t say anything, but Chen Zhao already understood. A moment later, Ethan sent the information to Chen Zhao’s phone.

It was an old client. Ninety-eighth Street, Rutherford.

That injured track runner again?

“Miss Caprice, I have to leave. It was nice meeting you. Bye.”

“Bye... You’re probably thinking that you never want to see me again, right?”

“Uh...” Did this woman study psychology?

“We’ll meet again. I believe this.” Caprice smiled faintly.

F*ck. I don’t want to meet a b*tch like you again.

Chen Zhao practically escaped from the motel. Caprice gave him way too much pressure.

The only upset one was Walter. Things were getting heated up between him and Sasha. They were only a step away from a home run. Chen Zhao had to kick Walter’s butt to get him away from Sasha.

He called Vincent, who’d already left, to come back and take him to 98th Street. Chen Zhao really didn’t understand how these parents could give birth to someone so great as Robio.

Robio was gay, but he was still a stereotypical conservative good boy. At least, no one else Chen Zhao knew was more upright than him.

He was like a saint, more perfect than humans. He was like Captain America. Anyway, Chen Zhao just had a good impression of Robio.

He was kind, upright, sincere, and brave.

Of course, Chen Zhao didn’t plan on becoming someone like Robio. Living like that was too tiring. Robio was the biggest irony to Caprice and Ethan. How could two twisted people have such a sunshine kid?

As he thought about random stuff, Chen Zhao arrived at Rutherford’s home. He rang the bell and the door cracked open.

But when Chen Zhao saw Rutherford, he was shocked.

“Rutherford, you—”

Rutherford’s face was covered in bruises. His white tee was covered in blood.

“Chen...Come in.” Rutherford’s voice was very weak.

Chen Zhao caught the wavering Rutherford as soon as he entered and helped the man to the sofa.

“Let’s sit on the ground so we don’t dirty the sofa,” Rutherford said. “It’s expensive to clean it.”

“You’re still worried about that now?”

“I lost my job so I have to care. Plus, I can only give you $200 at most.”

“Your injuries look like you were beaten up.”

“Yeah. I broke into the club’s office and made a scene. They fired me.”

“So you can’t do track anymore?”

“I can. I’m still an athlete, but there needs to be a club willing to sign me.”

“Can you race as an individual?”

“Yes. Professional athletes aren’t decided by the club. It’s an identity given to me by the association. My national rank last year was pretty good. I was in the top 20. Usually, my points after three races should get me into top 15. With that score, I can attend some first class national races, but now I don’t even have money for surgery.”

“How many years have you worked for? How come you don’t have any savings?”

“Do you know how much my nutritious meals cost? The standard is $200 per day. The club would pay for 60% of it before. Now, I can’t even feed myself.”

“How much can you make from a first class race?”

“It depends on the host, organizers and sponsors. Usually, the champion should get anywhere around 50k to 100k. Second and third place should be between 10 to 30k.”

“If you win, all the money will go to the athlete, right?”

“No, you need to split it with the coach and club. Usually, the coach gets five percent, the manager gets five to ten percent, and the club takes 20 to 30%.... What, you want to switch careers? To be honest, Asians have no advantage in track. Plus, with your body and fitness, you aren’t suitable for track.”