Chapter 59: Did... did someone call?"

Leaning against the wall, he tried to catch his heavy, ragged breath.

​Even after waiting for a few seconds, when that damn elevator stayed stuck right where it was, Himanshu’s patience snapped. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he kicked the elevator door hard and turned, sprinting toward the stairs.

​For the first few floors, his speed was completely fine, skipping two steps at a time.

But by the time he reached the last two floors, his legs totally gave out. The veins in his thighs felt like they were going to burst.

​Resting both hands on his hips, he somehow dragged himself up, gasping for air with every step. At the final stretch, his condition was so bad that he gripped the staircase railing tight and just dropped to his knees on the very last step.

​Just a little more... a little more... almost there.

​Pulling his water bottle out of his bag, he quickly wet his dry throat again. Dragging his exhausted body, he finally made it to his main door.

​Without a second thought, he pulled the house keys out of his bag with trembling hands.

He had started carrying the keys in his bag from the exact day the demon threatened to chop off his fingers and hang them up.

​The moment he opened the door, he dashed inside, screaming like a madman,

"Don’t pick up the phone! Don’t pick up the phone!"

​One second passed... two seconds passed...

When no sound came from inside, a weird silence surrounded him.

​Walking further into the hall, he called out her name.

"Valoria!"

"Valoria...?"

​But again, no voice came. The whole house was dead silent.

When he checked every place one by one, all he saw were empty rooms, an empty kitchen, and an empty bathroom. She was nowhere in the house.

​When he couldn’t find her anywhere, he let out a sigh of relief. With a brief smile on his face, he just stared at the empty walls for a few moments. Pulling a chair out from the dining table, he just plopped down onto it without a word.

​Slowly, that hall was starting to feel like his old world again, where he was free to do whatever he wanted after his mom left.

​He cast his gaze at the dining chair in front of him, where his mom always used to sit.

Remembering his old days, he let out a light laugh. Because now he could live his old life again. That too, with a new companion by his side.

​But suddenly, his eyes drifted to the chair pushed against the side of the dining table.

He realized something was missing. Something that was connected to all this.

​Who knows why, but Himanshu’s smile slowly started to fade. Pulling that chair out with his hands, he remembered that quiet, expressionless face. The one who had been eating meals with him for the past few days.

​He slowly started feeling a bit weird inside.

Priya’s number, the phone call, all that panic... it all slowly started to feel like it was fading into the background.

​His eyes started wandering around the empty walls again.

His gaze went to the sofa, where she used to sit with her legs folded, watching TV.

Then his eyes moved to the hall bathroom, where he could vividly picture the demon standing on top of the washing machine, scratching her head again.

​Staring at the bathroom like that for a few moments, a light chuckle escaped his mouth.

And just a second later, that laugh turned into silence.

​After staring at the same spot for a while...

He forcefully snapped himself out of it and stood up.

Good thing she left.

​And right then, he remembered something.

He ran straight back to his room.

​His closet was exactly where it was. Just the way he left it this morning.

Taking it step by step, he opened the closet door.

​Everything was exactly the same in there. His clothes were kept right there, his underwear was still hanging in the same spot. But who knows why... now it wasn’t giving him ’sexy’ thoughts, but reminding him of the scolding he got from the demon in the morning.

​Shuffling through the clothes, he tried searching around, almost like he was looking for a final letter or some message she might have left behind.

It was really bothering him—he wanted that demon to go back, right? Then why was he digging through this closet?

​As he kept flipping through the clothes in the closet, her words, her every little movement, and especially when she laughed at his stupidity for the first time this morning... he suddenly started remembering all of it.

​And the moment he put his hand on those clothes again... he noticed that the two knives weren’t there!

​Seeing that, everything clicked in his brain in a flash.

He quickly snapped his neck and locked his eyes on the wall clock.

The time was 6:30.

​And right then, his eyes narrowed. For a split second, relief washed over his face, and then suddenly that same old phone call panic surrounded him all over again.

Shit...

​That’s when he remembered the demon’s 4:00 PM shift at the cafe.

​He bolted toward the hall without even closing the closet. Picking up the receiver of the landline telephone kept on the table, he put it to his ear and started dialing the number.

​Even after dialing the number, when no tone played in the receiver, he lifted it up to check.

The telephone wire was hanging broken.

​And then he remembered! After the demon had dislocated his shoulder, Himanshu had taken out his frustration by smashing this very phone in anger.

​Shit, man! Have I really not fixed this yet?

Annoyed, he slammed the phone right back down.

Standing there, he started pulling at his own hair with both hands.

​Without delaying another second, he turned back toward his room to get ready for the cafe.

​His mind was slowly starting to accept the fact— Priya must have called by now. And if the demon picked up, she must have already told Priya exactly who she is to me!

​Who knows why, but now a furious anger was bursting out at himself. Because he was the one who gave that mobile phone to the demon! How was he supposed to know that the phone, which had only ever received spam company messages until today... would actually get a call from Priya today?

​Buttoning up a normal t-shirt over his sweaty body, he stepped out of the room. Grabbing the sandwiches kept in the kitchen, he shoved one in his mouth, held the other in his hand, and walked out the main door.

​With the sandwich stuffed in his mouth, he locked the door and started running toward the cafe, taking massive strides.

​°°°°°°°

​Seeing the cafe on the road, his steps got even faster.

On the way, he had tried calling from some stranger’s phone, but the demon didn’t pick up.

​He was both happy and sad about this.

If she isn’t picking up my call... then she definitely wouldn’t have picked up Priya’s call either. But if she’s ONLY ignoring my call... then that’s a very bad thing.

​Pushing the cafe door open, that quiet and relaxing music hit his ears.

Just like yesterday, there was a pretty decent crowd in the cafe.

Some people were sitting quietly by themselves, while others were laughing and talking with their friends.

​Right then, his eyes landed on ’Maya Senior’.

With that same sweet smile of hers, she was serving coffee to a customer.

The moment he saw her, his steps headed straight toward her.

​"Senior... did Valoria come in?"

​Hearing this, Maya turned around instantly.

Her smile faded just a bit. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she stared at Himanshu for a second and said,

"Yeah, she’s in the kitchen."

​Hearing this, Himanshu’s tense eyebrows went back to normal.

​"Why, did something happen?" Maya asked with a bit of suspicion, her eyes still narrowed. "

​Turning his steps toward the kitchen, Himanshu hesitated and said,

"No... I was just asking."

​Maya just kept staring at him until he reached behind the counter. Her fingers were brushing against her tray, almost like she was deep in thought about something.

​As Himanshu kept getting closer to the kitchen... the loud clanking of dishes kept getting louder and clearer.

Hearing this sound, he was totally sure that the demon was inside.

​For the entire trip, his massive strides hadn’t slowed down once, but as his steps got closer to the kitchen door... they automatically slowed down.

Deep down, he felt like there was something more than just ’Priya’s call’... something else that had made him run so fast all the way from his house to here.

​The moment he gripped the kitchen door handle, a long, peaceful breath filled his lungs.

Feelings are just like that. They aren’t in your control, they just come out of nowhere... and you just start feeling them.

​Letting that breath out, he slowly pushed the door open.

​The second he looked inside, Himanshu’s eyes narrowed slightly and then blinked twice.

Standing right in front, with her back to him at the dishwashing area, was the demon.

​She was wearing the simple cafe uniform—a dark shirt, an apron tied around her waist over it, and dark pants. The clothes were basic, but from the back, her body looked absolutely perfect.

​She had her hair tied up in a bun. She was completely engrossed in her work. Just looking at the way her hands were moving, anyone could tell how new she was to this job, yet how much focus she was putting into it.

​A few moments later, the second the demon sensed that someone had opened the door, her fast-moving hands slowed down just a bit. Her work started looking a lot cleaner and smoother now.

​And the moment Himanshu called her name...

"Valoria..."

​Hearing her name, the demon’s hands started moving even faster than before.

And right then... the loud crash of a breaking plate echoed in the kitchen.

​Crash!

​Looked like she had gripped the plate a little too hard out of anger.

​It didn’t even take a second for Himanshu to realize— a Demon Queen... was stuck doing dirty dishes in this world, just because of him.

​Instantly pushing down his trembling body and that terrible guilt screaming inside him, Himanshu gathered his courage and asked in a low voice.

"Did... did someone call?"

[Author’s Note]

New alternate Chapters are free!

Chapter 60 — 100% free

Chapter 62 — 100% free

Chapter 64 — 100% free

All free Chapters are available in Vol. 0: Auxiliary Volume.

You can find all these free Chapters before Chapter 1.

These alternate Chapters are completely free for all readers. No payment is required to read them.

Enjoy these bonus Chapters, and thank you for reading and supporting my story!]

And do not buy Chapter 60. because its free.