Why You Should Never Rescue Stray Demons Chapter 176

**ACE**

I try my best not to laugh and make noise as I climb up the shelf, chasing after my brother, but mostly running away from the mess we just made. We didn’t mean to knock over that jar! It was just sitting there, all wobbly and close to the edge. And I was only trying to throw little rocks into the bowl next to it! My aim was supposed to be awesome. Guess it’s… Not. Ian scrambles up ahead of me, he is really good at climbing and he’s DEFINITELY showing off. I follow him up the shelf and behind a bunch of dusty boxes into our special place in the rafters. It used to be super gross up here, all spider-webby and sneezy, but we cleaned it all by ourselves. Now it’s our hideout. I think Dad PROBABLY knows it’s up here, but he’s way too big to fit. So it’s ours. Our own little castle. I peek down through a crack in the boxes just as Dad walks out from the back room. He stops, stares at the broken jar and all the sparkly powder on the floor, and sighs so hard it makes his hair move. 

“Oi, you two need to stop destroying my stock or we’re never going to make money on this place. Little monsters. Ugh, I hope this is just a phase…” He mutters. I frown. That was kinda mean. Usually he just tells us to clean up and be careful next time.

“I think Dad’s extra cranky lately.” Ian whispers beside me.

“Yeah,” I whisper back. 

“Maybe he’s sick? I get cranky when I’m sick.” I suggest. 

“He doesn’t look sick.” Ian says. We both lean way out to check, our little arms gripping the wood. I almost slip, and Ian grabs my sleeve and yanks me back. My heart thumps so hard I can hear it.

“Careful!” He hisses.

“Was just looking.” I mumble, kind of embarrassed. I peek again, this time more careful. 

“I don’t think he’s sick. But… He DOES look kinda sad.” I decide. Ian nods. 

“Yeah. His face looks all droopy.” He points out. We watch him for a while in silence. He just stands there, rubbing his forehead, muttering to himself. Then he cleans up the mess I made. Now I feel kind of bad…

“Maybe we should cheer him up?” I whisper suddenly. Ian brightens. 

“Yeah! But… How?” He asks. We sit cross-legged, thinking really hard. My ears twitch as I focus, it’s hard to think quietly.

“We could clean up better? Or make him a present?” I suggest. Ian makes a face. 

“I hate cleaning. We’re not good at it. Remember the glue?” He reminds me. I wince. The glue incident was bad. It took three days to get it out of my hair. But I thought that it would get the dirt better. 

“Okay, no cleaning. What about a game?” I try again. 

“But he doesn’t know the rules.” Ian says, shaking his head. 

“He’d lose and get more sad.” He says with a sigh. 

“Hmm.” I tap my finger on my knee. 

“We could bring him a snack?” I suggest. Everyone likes eating. 

“He doesn’t like our snacks. You saw his face last time you gave him the beetles.” He says in a grumpy voice. I giggle. 

“Yeah, that was funny though.” I remind him. Ian grins, and his eyes gleam. 

“You think he’d like funny?” He asks. I grin back. 

“Maybe! Laughter makes people happy.” I say. We both sit there, grinning like little maniacs, ideas sparking between us.

“This is way harder than I thought.” I admit, trying to sound serious but already snickering. Ian elbows me. 

“We’ll figure it out. We’re goblins, and we’re super clever.” He says proudly. 

“Yeah,” I agree. 

“Clever AND funny.” I add. He snorts. 

“Mostly funny.” He decides. 

“Mostly clever.” I argue. We both try to keep straight faces, but then we burst out laughing, muffling it behind our hands so Dad doesn’t hear.

The little bell on the front door rings, and I look up fast to see who it is. OZ!

“It’s Oz! Let’s go play!” I announce. Time for a break from idea thinking. Ian grins, and we both scramble down the shelf as quick as we can. We pick our best launch spot and get ready to jump down and surprise him. He’s Kaci’s friend, and he’s cool because he’s really big like a jungle gym, and he’s got that awesome tail, and he actually plays with us. Most people who come in here don’t. Some just yell when we try to play, or they get grumpy and stomp around. Some are even mean to Dad when we show them our games, which isn’t nice at all. So we usually hide from those ones. Oz has his back to us. Perfect. We creep across the shelf, super sneaky, quiet as shadows, and I get ready to jump. I always go right and Ian always goes left. That’s our rule. It stops us from crashing into each other midair. Having a plan is smart. And we’re super smart. I leap. But Oz turns just in time and catches us both out of the air. Spoil sport! Before I can even complain, he hooks us each under one arm like we’re shopping bags and carries us toward the counter.

“Well, look what I caught, two little birds flying straight at my head.” He says in his big, deep voice. I giggle. 

“Not a bird!” I tell him. 

“Okay, monkeys then.” He says. I wiggle until I slip free and scramble right up his arm, hanging off his shoulder. Ian’s slower, but he makes it too. Oz doesn’t even seem mad. He’s smiley. Like, REALLY smiley. I lean toward Ian and talk in my best whisper voice.

“Oz is happy. Maybe he has ideas.” I whisper. 

“Yeah! Let’s ask him!” Ian whispers back. Oz clears his throat. 

“Ask me what?” He asks. I frown. 

“How did he hear us? We used our whisper voices!” I hiss at Ian.

“Maybe demons have super good hearing?” Ian guesses. 

“Your whisper voices are kind of loud.” Oz says, rolling his eyes. 

“And you’re yelling right into my ears, you little rugrats. Now, what did you want to ask me?” He asks again. Oh well, might as well ask him anyways. 

“You’re all happy, what made you happy?” I ask him. 

“A lot of things make me happy.” He says with that same smile. I glare. 

“That’s not helpful!” I complain. Ian crosses his arms. 

“Yeah! What made you extra happy? You’re more happy than last time you came here.” He pokes Oz’s cheek, and it squishes funny. Oz thinks for a bit. 

“Well… I suppose I’m happy because I get to be with Kacia.” He answers. I tilt my head. 

“But you were with her last time!” I point out. 

“That’s true, but last time we were just friends, sort of. Now we’re MORE than friends.” He says. Ian and I share a confused look.

“What’s more than friends? Like best friends?” I ask. Oz laughs. 

“Sort of. But even more than that. She’s my girlfriend. The girl I’m in love with.” He explains. His smile goes all soft and silly, like when Ian and I are thinking about cake. I squint suspiciously. 

“Girlfriend. That’s like a KISSING friend!” I announce. Oz raises an eyebrow. 

“Where did you hear that? But… Yeah, I guess so. When someone finds their special person, it’s like having a best friend, but more. Like having a partner in crime. Someone you can trust even more than everyone else.” He says with his happy smile. 

“More than my brother?” Ian gasps. Oz grins. 

“Kind of.” He answers. I’m about to ask a hundred more questions, but Dad shows up and says he and Oz need to have a ‘grown-up conversation.’ Boring! We scurry back up to our hidey hole. Ian flops down beside me. 

“So… Oz is happy because he has Kacia. She’s his special girlfriend now.” He says. I nod, grinning so wide my cheeks hurt. Because now I know what we have to do. I whisper dramatically. 

“We’re gonna find Dad a girlfriend!”