Demon Boyfriend: Jolly Jay 3 (complete)

Female Main Character x Male Monster

Jay puts on his mask and sits on the edge of his desk, looking down at me. I’m the cat with the canary, or it may be more apropos to say I’m the canary in the coalmine right now. I can only glance up at him for a moment before I turn my eyes away. I fiddle so much with my shirt that a lower button rubbing against the belt falls off and bounces on the floor. It rolls to Jay’s feet and he stoops to pick it up. It looks so tiny between his long fingers.

“I wonder,” he begins with that smooth, cool voice of his. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have given you that book and planted the idea in your head.” His arm stretches all the way across the room and places the button in my palm. He sighs heavily. “Maybe it was my own selfish desire.”

I clutch the button in my fist. “I heard the radio and came to check on you. Seeing you gone made me…” I trail off. What exactly made me open the door?

Jay rises off his desk and stands erect before me. He’s wearing a dark sweater that covers his neck and arms, and the gray pants he wears are a bit too short for him. “Made you what?”

I look up at him and that grinning mask. “Where did you go?”

“I thought you didn’t like knowing these things. That it was best you remained above it all.” He places his hands in his pockets. “Why the change of heart?”

“The dates in the books. The eyes.” I shake my head and shrug. “I can’t pinpoint it. If I am Pandora or if I’m the Bright Star to you, does it matter?”

His shoulders fall, and his hands slip out of his pockets. “You read Bright Star?”

I nod. “Those pages were the most worn. I knew it had to have been read many times.”

“I don’t know why it was banned. It made so many happy.” He chuckles under his breath.

I take a cautious step towards him. “Jay…”

“I know. You want answers. All this time together and now you want answers. Why you? Isn’t that it?”

I stiffen my jaw and grind my teeth. “You’ve always been a step ahead of me. It’s like you know how I am going to move. That’s why I didn’t feel the need to know..”

“Yet you were smarter this time, keeper.”

I furrow my brow. “This time?”

“I can only be held, truly, by someone I have known before. And I have known you many, many times, Imelda. In different places, by different names, in different worlds.” He turns and sits down at his desk. “But I lose you each time.”

“Stop hiding things!” I snap at him. “What the hell do you mean?”

His head turns over his shoulder, and I see an eye flicker behind the mask. “You want to know the truth? Then come here.” He turns his chair around and holds out his hands. “There is too much distance between us.”

I take a deep breath and confidently stride towards him. I sit down upon his lap, placing my arm around his back. “Better?”

He’s very still. “I just meant for you to hold my hand. You’ve surprised me.”

I’ve never heard his voice break before, let alone heard him so nervous. It’s kind of refreshing. “Tell me what’s going on.”

He clears his throat. “I come from a world called the Underneath, a void that connects worlds, and inside are creatures like me. Long ago, I was summoned by my first keeper, and I fell deeply in love with her. So when she died, I used the Underneath to find her again. Selfish of me, perhaps. After all, she would be a different person when I found her. And I did, a couple of times.”

“So the books…” I murmur.

“Tokens I got from her wherever I went. She always loved books. There are some constants.” He sighs heavily. “I found her far too soon, and while I waited for her, I took on jobs. Found a job for a radio station.”

“You mean here?”

“I have a lovely voice, so I was a natural. Unfortunately, that got me caught up in another sort of world. Revolution and forced smiles. I wasn’t able to find her in time. I still wanted to be with her, but the right time had to come up. Eventually, your basement became available.”

“Matilda?” My voice cracks.

“No. Matilda scares me.” He clears his throat again. “Obviously it’s you. You get that, right?”

“Yeah. I was just trying to make a joke.” I grit my teeth as I swallow. “So, these other versions of me…”

He places his hand on my head and strokes the hair away from my face. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I can see all sides of a thing at once. Being from the Underneath allows me such vision.”

“Why stay here?” I exclaim. “When you saw what was happening, why didn’t you just leave? Why get tangled up with the GIU, the radio, the lilac-and-yellow suits?” I stare at him, wanting an answer, but knowing I won’t receive it. “I would leave. I would run… Don’t stay for…”

“For you?” He points at me. I don’t say it, but he knows what I’m thinking already. “I knew I couldn’t leave you here. The forced smiles made me ache inside. So that’s why I went along with the lilac-and-yellow suits. It was too early for you here, so I decided to try to make the world something better for you.” He points at the bed. “What do you see?”

“I see a destroyed mattress.”

“I made a nest,” he chuckles. “But no. The whole bed, everything. What do you see?”

I shake my head. “Just that! I just see a bed.”

“You dream often, right? And your bed can collect all that. The wall between the Underneath and the world you know is thinnest in places like these. There’s where children see bogeymen and monsters, and because sometimes they are real, they often make their nests there. Everyone has one.” He smooths his hand up my back. “Most of the GIU leaders keep their homes secret, right?”

His mask’s smile seems softer for some reason. “Don’t tell me you hide under their beds.”

He laughs. “I can’t just track them without some prior knowledge of them.” He takes up his script, showing me the coordinates. “I use the radio. It took some time to master, and lots of experiments, but I finally have it mastered.” He taps the codes I had noticed before. “First Greene and his good friend, Donnie Marigold. Both are old, fading lights, and it will appear that Marigold died from grief.” He sets the script aside.

“You killed Marigold?”

“No. I made him look at me.”

I keep my eyes fixed on his mask. “Into your eyes?”

He lays his head upon mine and holds me close, taking my hand into his. “Do they frighten you?”

I squeeze his hand. “A little.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “But I keep myself covered. So don’t worry.”

I keep my gaze averted. “You’ve killed people.”

“Evil men,” he corrects. “Men who have done more harm to this world than any good. I know what they’ve done.”

“It’s still…” I look back up at his mask. “Why not just leave? There are more of me, aren’t there? Just go to one of them and leave this place.”

“It’s not that simple. You don’t just exist endlessly. I came here to you, and I am going to stay with you.” He smooths his long fingers over my cheeks, brushing my hair aside. “I’ll save this world for you.”

“Take me away,” I whisper.

“Oh?” Jay sounds surprised.

“Take me through the Underneath, to a world with all the books on shelves. Show me these places…” I begin to cry.

“I wasn’t prepared for that.” He pulls my head onto his shoulder and strokes my hair. “People have been pulled through the Underneath before, but existing in another world can be a shock. And do you really wish to leave this world in the state it is?”

“I want to run,” I whisper. “I’m tired. I’m sick of smiles!” I want to scream in disgust. “I’m sick of being told that I have to smile or I have to hide. I don’t want either.”

“Let me finish my work here,” he says. “Just a few more, and the suits will be able to take power. I can take you somewhere you’ll have all the books you want. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to give you anyway.”

“How long will it take?” I whisper.

“Not long. I have to give it some time after Marigold’s passing, maybe a few months longer. Can you wait for that?”

I sit up and wipe my eyes dry of tears. “If that’s all you need for an eternity away from this place, I can wait.”

Jay touches my cheek, tapping his thumb over my lips. “Be prepared. We could wind up anywhere.”

“I told you, as long as it isn’t here.” I grab the edge of his mask to pull it up, but he stops me. He fidgets with it and bows his head. “Close your eyes for me.”

I do. I feel his lips press to mine, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I grab his chest, tugging at his sweater as his hand grasps the back of my head. His fingers tangle in my hair, then relax, and a low, gentle moan builds in his throat. “It’s been so long since I felt that kiss. I feel silly now for waiting.”

He places his mask back on as I open my eyes. The kiss is still warm on my lips, and I feel a desire for more growing inside me. “Maybe that’s why you never let me open the door.”

“Ah, perhaps.”

The Jolly Jay show continued as it has. After Marigold was found dead, there’s a rift in the GIU. Someone new has to be elected, but that hasn’t happened for years. Loyalists to Greene and Marigold are brought in, but I’m made aware they wear lilac-and-yellow suits. After a month, Jay reaches out through the radio to another leader, and then another. More people wearing lilac-and-yellow suits are sworn in.

I come to his room one night, finding him wearing his yellow suit. He stands as I approach and offers me his hand. “I found us a place.”

“Now?”

“It won’t be much longer. And I fear we will be found.”

I take his hand. “I’m ready. I have been.”

“Your smile is beautiful right now. But you’ll never have to show it again unless you want to.” He covers my eyes and kisses my forehead. “You won’t be able to pass through the Underneath and stay conscious for long. So when you wake, you will be home.”

I wrap my arms around him, letting him take me away. I remember seeing darkness, and then a rainbow of shadows, but after that I don’t remember a thing. I wake feeling groggy and heavy. My hair is a mess, and everything feels quite cold. I look up to a window, seeing snow falling outside.

“What a dream,” I murmur. I get out of bed to look out the window. The world is pure white, and not a thing is moving. The entire street is blanketed in snow, and no way am I going to be doing any business today.

Then I begin to remember. The world I came from, and the life I left. But I knew this one so well, too. I look back at the bed, covered with a heavy yellow comforter with matching pillows. Above the bed is a shelf of books and potted plants, and the bedside tables are black. “Jay?” I call out. I touch the ring on my finger.

“In the kitchen!”

I follow the sound of his voice through the tiny apartment. A black cat jumps down from a bookshelf and begins meowing while following beside me. I look at it in fear. I’ve never seen a cat indoors before. Most cats aren’t allowed as pets.

“Coffee is almost ready… Hello!” Jay leans in the doorway, looking down at me. “Just your shirt and panties. You know I like that look.”

He looks the same, only he’s wearing a long-sleeved shirt with lemons printed all over it and matching bottoms, and bright highlighter-yellow socks. “Jay?”

“Yes?” He turns to me. “Something wrong?”

I run my hands through my hair. “I feel… odd.”

“You okay? Not sick, are you?” He places his hand on my forehead. “No. You’re not warm.”

“No. I feel… out of place. I feel…” I grunt in frustration.

The cat meows loudly, and Jay picks her up. “Hug Matilda, it will make you feel better.” The cat’s eyes grow wide, and she starts purring like an engine.

“Matilda?” I hold the cat, looking at her as she stares unblinking at me. Unblinking.

“Oh!” I yelp. “You did it!”

“Make cinnamon roll waffles? Yeah. I did.”

I shake my head. “You took me through the Underneath! You found us a new home!” I hold Matilda and laugh. “You really did it!”

Jay kneels, lifting his mask aside and whispering into my ear. “Welcome home, my love.”

I beam up at him. “Where are we? What’s this place like?” I rush over to the bookcase, going through all the books while Matilda curls around my ankles.

“My brother recommended this place,” he replied. He hands me a cup of coffee with lemons printed all over it. “You’ll get to meet him here.”

“You have a brother?”

“Two sisters-in-law, three nephews.” He moves his mask and kisses the top of my head. “Downstairs you own a bookstore and antique shop. Should be second nature to you, though.” He strokes his hands down my arms. “We’re married, if that’s alright with you.”

I smile to myself, and only for myself. “Oh, really?”

“Three years next month.” His hands wrap around my hips. “We met on a dating site. Our first date ended horribly when I accidentally squeezed lemon juice into your eye. I took you to the doctor the next day. We’ve been together ever since.” His fingers trace the line of my underwear.

“You’re getting handsy,” I giggle.

He buries his face in my hair and moans. “You’re right. Breakfast first.” He pats my rear, then stands back up. “It’ll be done shortly. Enjoy looking at your new home.” He strides back to the kitchen while I take a stack of books over to the sofa and sit with my coffee, looking through them. Matilda curls up in my lap, falling asleep there while I read.

Jay calls me for breakfast, and we eat at a small table together. Under the table, he rubs his foot up my leg. “Since neither of us have work today, and we’re trapped by the snow, what would you like to do?”

I lick icing from the corner of my mouth. “I’m not sure where to begin.” I look at the mask and grit my teeth.

“You don’t have to hold it back,” he replies. “Time to break that habit.”

“Right.” I slide my fingers along my jaw. “Well, I was thinking… I mean, you can kind of guess what I’m thinking.”

“Just a little. I’m not a mind reader.” He tilts his head. “So tell me what you’re thinking.”

I point to his mask. “Can you take that off?”

He cups his hands around the glossy mask. “You won’t be afraid?”

“I don’t know exactly,” I murmur. “But I think, after what you’ve done for me, where you’ve put us, you deserve to be seen. After all, we’re married.”

Jay sighs and begins to remove the mask. He stops again. “Are you sure? Because this mask may appear creepy to you, but there’s something underneath much worse than this. I would hate for you to look at me and then… never look again.”

I squeeze his hand. “I like you too much to care about what you look like.”

“I’m glad that you do,” he whispers. Jay slowly removes the mask, keeping his head down at first. He lifts his gaze, and all his eyes flicker for a moment, shy and unsure as I stare. He’s all eyes with darkness in between them. He fidgets with the mask, nervous for my reaction.

“Oh,” I sigh.

“Oh?” All eyes focus on me. “What does that mean?”

I reach out and take his hand into mine, seeing his wedding band proudly placed on his long finger. “Nothing. Just that I still love you.”

He lets out a shaky sigh of relief and leans down, kissing me. “I love you too, Imelda.” His eyes seem to smile, which makes me smile in return.

“Even with all those eyes, you can still get handsy again, right?” I say with a wink.

“For you, I can do anything.” he purrs, then stands up from the table. “We can clean up this mess later. Why don’t we go back to bed for a while?”

“Sounds fun.” I follow behind him, but in the hallway, he stops and turns around. “What’s wrong?”

“I just wanted to see you smile.”

I’m left breathless. “I didn’t even realize I was.”