The place Alice chose for lunch was a nice little café on 6th avenue, a shopping area that is flanked by office buildings. Row of chairs with dark brown cushions filled the room with some shiny wooden tables. Glass chandeliers dangling low from the high dark nuanced ceiling. The floor was golden marble. Even from the appearance of the menu book, they already knew the price that will be listed on it.
Because Theo was only twelve years old and he doesn’t have money, he was horrified when he saw the price list. Limping, he said that he would just sit and watch Alice eat while his stomach is rumbling. But Alice waved her hand carelessly and said, “I am a Demon, I don’t pay my food. Let me treat you”.
“How can you treat me if you don’t pay for your food?”
“I have money”, Alice said unconcernedly, while flipping through the menu book. She sniffed at the appetizer page. “But the money is not mine”.
Theo frowned. “Do you mean… you stole the money?”
Alice snorted offended. She reached into her small hand bag, took out a round cloth wallet, and opened it. Theo felt his jaw loosening, there were sheets of cash crammed inside the wallet.
Alice closed it back, she leaned back in her chair with a cocky face. “Money is the weapon of the devils to divert humans. Of course I mastered them all”.
“Do you mean, you… control money? You can create money?” Theo asked in disbelief.
“As easy as spitting the phlegm”.
Of course, sometimes spitting the phlegm was not that easy. But Theo chose not to explain the difficulty of spitting phlegm. And because he was hungry, he happily chose his lunch right away before the waiter continued her suspicious gaze to the children that might have no money.
“I want a big cheese burger and a cup of chocolate milk”, said Theo to the lazy-faced waiter who stood beside them.
“I want a bowl of moth soup”.
“Hot soup, you mean?”
Alice raised her head from the menu book, raised an eyebrow to the waiter.
The menu book was taken and the waiter left them, Theo saw Alice grinning broadly at him. Her face looked amused and comforted, as if she just saw a monkey eating eggplant. “Why is it, you guys always feel right to correct my words?”
“Do you really eat moth soup? And dried cockroaches? And worm tea?”
“Of course. What do you think I eat? Big cheese burgers and chocolate milk? The human food is not tasty, they makes you fat too. The moth is tasty and crispy, and very suitable to be eaten with kitchen waste” Alice ignored the disgust wince that stretched across Theo’s face. “But Theo, you haven’t told me about your friend, Ludo”
Theo fell silent. He remembered that Alice already knew about his best friend, Ludo. The thought had bothered him. Feels like he doesn’t have privacy anymore.
But to be honest, Theo felt a little excited and curious now. Is there really a chance for Ludo to survive? But he was worried, was he strong enough to sacrifice himself for Ludo? Was he brave enough to sell his soul?
And the most important thing is, is Alice really a demon?
Alice tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing, just thinking. You already know everything, why are you still asking me?”
Alice smiled. “Never mind. Just tell me”.
“Ludo is my friend” Theo scowled, annoyed at Alice. “since we’re little. He lived next to my house. His parents are kind. My parents like to entrust me to them, and they often entrusted Ludo to my house. I am several months older than Ludo, but he looks more like my older brother even though he is small”
“I wouldn’t say that your body is big,” Alice commented, pointing to Theo impolitely. But it was true, Theo was a skinny little kid himself and he was not so very tall. His skin was pale white with some light brown freckles.
“He stutters”, Theo continued, ignoring Alice’s annoying comment. “Not so bad, but he can’t talk so smoothly. One of his ear couldn’t hear because he had a severe fever when he was little. Many people make fun of it, but” Theo stopped, thinking how to put in the next words. He sniffed back, he nearly cried, and then continued in a stern voice, “but I love him”.
Alice leaned her temples against her knuckles, sighing softly. “Do you have his picture?”
“What do you think I am, keeping his picture in my wallet?”
Alice grinned. “You are too defensive. I like it”
Theo retreated when Alice stood up and leaned toward him. Her hand rested on the table and another hand stretched out to Theo’s forehead. Alice glared at him, so Theo didn’t dare to move any further. The girl put her finger on Theo’s forehead. Theo shuddered when Alice’s fingertip touched his forehead. Alice’s finger feels like ice.
Alice moved her fingers slowly, forming an irregular space in the air, muttering something Theo couldn’t hear. Her eyes closed. She looked very calm, unlike the usual sassy girl.
Theo jumped in surprise. From the tip of Alice’s finger, a substance of golden thread came out from Theo’s forehead, floating midair. Alice pulled the golden thread while moving backwards until she sat back in her chair.
Theo can see the thread clearly now, it was gold colored, fluorescent, and amazingly beautiful, stretched almost a meter across the table. He tried to touch the thread, but his finger seems to get through.
The thread finally came off from Theo’s forehead, it globed on the tip of Alice’s finger. It formed a small ball about the size of a pearl then it glowed very brightly that Theo had to close his eyes.
“Ah, here it is”, said Alice.
Slowly, Theo peeked from behind his fingers. Alice already has a photo in her hand and the light was completely gone.
Alice waved the photo to Theo, and Theo can see the picture on the photograph: There was a boy with pale blue eyes, he has short stiff straight blonde hair and the tip of his nose was reddish. The boy scowled on a fierce face, he accompanied by another very thin boy with glazed grey eyes and brown curly hair.
It was the picture of him and Ludo.
Alice chuckled triumphantly while tapping her finger on Ludo’s face, “Is this Ludo?”
“His real name is Charles,” murmured Theo and pushed Alice’s hand away from Ludo’s face. “I used to call him Ludo, taken from his middle name. Because it’s hard to pronounce it, I just call him Ludo”.
“The kid looks strange”, Alice commented, snorting.
“He is”, Theo grumbled and snatched the photo from Alice. He turned his gaze back forward from the picture to Alice, then scowled fiercely. He cannot remember what he did in the picture.
Theo put the photo back on the table. He cleared his throat, “What did you do to me?”
“Oh”, Alice said, nodded.
“I took a little picture from your memory. The one that doesn’t really matter. So it came out in gold color, wasn’t it? Because, gold is the least valuable color”.
“I thought gold was valuable”.
“Gold is rubbish. That’s why we gave them to human and told them that it is valuable. If something is really valuable, we would not give them to human”.
“The demon world is very strange”, mumbled Theo softly. “Then, what color is valuable?”
“White”
“White”, Theo repeated. He was thinking. “Hei, you gave me a hand bell with a white ribbon”.
Alice smiled, nodded. “Yes”, she said. “Because I knew you will ask for something very valuable, and so you will give me something very valuable too in return”. Alice’s smile wider. “The two of us are related, very tightly”
The place Alice chose for lunch was a nice little café on 6th avenue, a shopping area that is flanked by office buildings. Row of chairs with dark brown cushions filled the room with some shiny wooden tables. Glass chandeliers dangling low from the high dark nuanced ceiling. The floor was golden marble. Even from the appearance of the menu book, they already knew the price that will be listed on it.
Because Theo was only twelve years old and he doesn’t have money, he was horrified when he saw the price list. Limping, he said that he would just sit and watch Alice eat while his stomach is rumbling. But Alice waved her hand carelessly and said, “I am a Demon, I don’t pay my food. Let me treat you”.
“How can you treat me if you don’t pay for your food?”
“I have money”, Alice said unconcernedly, while flipping through the menu book. She sniffed at the appetizer page. “But the money is not mine”.
Theo frowned. “Do you mean… you stole the money?”
Alice snorted offended. She reached into her small hand bag, took out a round cloth wallet, and opened it. Theo felt his jaw loosening, there were sheets of cash crammed inside the wallet.
Alice closed it back, she leaned back in her chair with a cocky face. “Money is the weapon of the devils to divert humans. Of course I mastered them all”.
“Do you mean, you… control money? You can create money?” Theo asked in disbelief.
“As easy as spitting the phlegm”.
Of course, sometimes spitting the phlegm was not that easy. But Theo chose not to explain the difficulty of spitting phlegm. And because he was hungry, he happily chose his lunch right away before the waiter continued her suspicious gaze to the children that might have no money.
“I want a big cheese burger and a cup of chocolate milk”, said Theo to the lazy-faced waiter who stood beside them.
“I want a bowl of moth soup”.
“Hot soup, you mean?”
Alice raised her head from the menu book, raised an eyebrow to the waiter.
The menu book was taken and the waiter left them, Theo saw Alice grinning broadly at him. Her face looked amused and comforted, as if she just saw a monkey eating eggplant. “Why is it, you guys always feel right to correct my words?”
“Do you really eat moth soup? And dried cockroaches? And worm tea?”
“Of course. What do you think I eat? Big cheese burgers and chocolate milk? The human food is not tasty, they makes you fat too. The moth is tasty and crispy, and very suitable to be eaten with kitchen waste” Alice ignored the disgust wince that stretched across Theo’s face. “But Theo, you haven’t told me about your friend, Ludo”
Theo fell silent. He remembered that Alice already knew about his best friend, Ludo. The thought had bothered him. Feels like he doesn’t have privacy anymore.
But to be honest, Theo felt a little excited and curious now. Is there really a chance for Ludo to survive? But he was worried, was he strong enough to sacrifice himself for Ludo? Was he brave enough to sell his soul?
And the most important thing is, is Alice really a demon?
Alice tilted her head. “Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing, just thinking. You already know everything, why are you still asking me?”
Alice smiled. “Never mind. Just tell me”.
“Ludo is my friend” Theo scowled, annoyed at Alice. “since we’re little. He lived next to my house. His parents are kind. My parents like to entrust me to them, and they often entrusted Ludo to my house. I am several months older than Ludo, but he looks more like my older brother even though he is small”
“I wouldn’t say that your body is big,” Alice commented, pointing to Theo impolitely. But it was true, Theo was a skinny little kid himself and he was not so very tall. His skin was pale white with some light brown freckles.
“He stutters”, Theo continued, ignoring Alice’s annoying comment. “Not so bad, but he can’t talk so smoothly. One of his ear couldn’t hear because he had a severe fever when he was little. Many people make fun of it, but” Theo stopped, thinking how to put in the next words. He sniffed back, he nearly cried, and then continued in a stern voice, “but I love him”.
Alice leaned her temples against her knuckles, sighing softly. “Do you have his picture?”
“What do you think I am, keeping his picture in my wallet?”
Alice grinned. “You are too defensive. I like it”
Theo retreated when Alice stood up and leaned toward him. Her hand rested on the table and another hand stretched out to Theo’s forehead. Alice glared at him, so Theo didn’t dare to move any further. The girl put her finger on Theo’s forehead. Theo shuddered when Alice’s fingertip touched his forehead. Alice’s finger feels like ice.
Alice moved her fingers slowly, forming an irregular space in the air, muttering something Theo couldn’t hear. Her eyes closed. She looked very calm, unlike the usual sassy girl.
Theo jumped in surprise. From the tip of Alice’s finger, a substance of golden thread came out from Theo’s forehead, floating midair. Alice pulled the golden thread while moving backwards until she sat back in her chair.
Theo can see the thread clearly now, it was gold colored, fluorescent, and amazingly beautiful, stretched almost a meter across the table. He tried to touch the thread, but his finger seems to get through.
The thread finally came off from Theo’s forehead, it globed on the tip of Alice’s finger. It formed a small ball about the size of a pearl then it glowed very brightly that Theo had to close his eyes.
“Ah, here it is”, said Alice.
Slowly, Theo peeked from behind his fingers. Alice already has a photo in her hand and the light was completely gone.
Alice waved the photo to Theo, and Theo can see the picture on the photograph: There was a boy with pale blue eyes, he has short stiff straight blonde hair and the tip of his nose was reddish. The boy scowled on a fierce face, he accompanied by another very thin boy with glazed grey eyes and brown curly hair.
It was the picture of him and Ludo.
Alice chuckled triumphantly while tapping her finger on Ludo’s face, “Is this Ludo?”
“His real name is Charles,” murmured Theo and pushed Alice’s hand away from Ludo’s face. “I used to call him Ludo, taken from his middle name. Because it’s hard to pronounce it, I just call him Ludo”.
“The kid looks strange”, Alice commented, snorting.
“He is”, Theo grumbled and snatched the photo from Alice. He turned his gaze back forward from the picture to Alice, then scowled fiercely. He cannot remember what he did in the picture.
Theo put the photo back on the table. He cleared his throat, “What did you do to me?”
“Oh”, Alice said, nodded.
“I took a little picture from your memory. The one that doesn’t really matter. So it came out in gold color, wasn’t it? Because, gold is the least valuable color”.
“I thought gold was valuable”.
“Gold is rubbish. That’s why we gave them to human and told them that it is valuable. If something is really valuable, we would not give them to human”.
“The demon world is very strange”, mumbled Theo softly. “Then, what color is valuable?”
“White”
“White”, Theo repeated. He was thinking. “Hei, you gave me a hand bell with a white ribbon”.
Alice smiled, nodded. “Yes”, she said. “Because I knew you will ask for something very valuable, and so you will give me something very valuable too in return”. Alice’s smile wider. “The two of us are related, very tightly”
