“Ugh, this tastes so sweet that it is sickening,” Annabelle stuck out her tongue, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “I can’t believe I loved these snacks to death before... Has chocolate always tasted this bad?”

“Isn’t it only because your taste buds aren’t used to sweet food anymore? After a while, I’m sure you’ll crave for it again,” Jules commented, handing over a bag of jerky to his sister. “In the meantime, this should be more to your taste.”

Annabelle nodded and took the bag, staring at it for a moment. The strips of dried beef reminded her of Lady and how her little dog had been nibbling and fighting with her food lately. It was a cute sight, really. But thinking of it made her heart jump into her throat and her belly twist in pain.  

Ah, she missed her. She missed her so damn much. 

“When you’re ready to talk about it, know that I’m here,” her brother’s voice resounded, and a gentle kiss on her temple followed. “For now, try to eat a bit.” 

“Yeah… Thank you,” Annabelle sighed as she closed her eyes, bringing a piece of dried meat to her mouth. “I’ll tell you all about my life in that world one day—just not now.” 

“Take as long as you need,” Jules comforted, ruffling her hair. “And if you never feel like talking about it, it’s fine too. I’m just glad to have you back.” 

“Yeah, I couldn’t have said it better!” Iris chimed in with a smile while Melody latched onto Annabelle’s arm, nodding in approval like a kid. 

“Well, I’m happy to be back too,” was Annabelle’s answer, a faint but sorrowful smile tugging at her lips. “Anyway, you can count on me for taking care of things like ghouls and walking corpses. They kinda polluted the world I lived in.” 

“Alright,” Jules agreed, albeit a tad reluctantly. He had seen her fight and knew she could fend off for herself, but still. No one liked the idea of their sibling battling monsters, and the hunter was no exception. “Just be careful not to push yourself.”

“I know, I know. If there’s something I can’t handle, I’ll tell you. I’m not as brazed and cocky as I was in my teenage years. I won’t try the impossible and put myself in danger, so don’t worry.”

To this, Jules laughed quietly. Annabelle indeed thought the world was hers to take when younger. She had the preconception, like many youths, that she was invincible, that all the bad things happened to others and wouldn’t happen to her. The reality was harsh, however, and she learned the hard way that no one was safe from hell.   

“By the way… Who do you think is older? I, or you? Frankly, I’m pretty sure I am, so shouldn’t you call me big sister from now on?”

A brief moment of silence settled before Jules chuckled. As Bastien had said, his sister was strong-willed, maybe even more than he was. She would rather do her best to move forward with her head held high than to drown in regrets, something he admired greatly. 

So, Jules should try to learn from her, turn the page and look toward the future, for a new chapter of their lives had just begun. He could not change the past, but he could pave a bright future for his sister. Whatever would happen next, he wouldn’t let the nightmare repeat itself. 

For now, though, he should remind her who exactly was the big brother.

“No matter your age, you will always be my little sister in my heart, the baby I had to change the diapers and rock to sleep every night.”

“You! Don’t bring that up! That’s a low blow! ” 

Annabelle’s fake indignation made the group burst into laughter. They hadn’t laughed so much since all hell had broken loose in the haunted house a few hours back, and this bout of laughter was like a ray of hope that promised better days to come. Now that Annabelle was back, everything would be fine. 

Yes, everything would be fine.

.

.

“How about sharing your snack with me?” Bastien asked Jules, a playful smile on his lips. “Seeing you wolf down your bag of chips makes me hungry. Jealous, even.”

“That’s one lame excuse to ask for a kiss,” Jules sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did his best to ignore his sister’s snickers. “Didn’t you eat a lot earlier?”

“That was hardly enough.” Bastien bent over to whisper in Jules’s ears, his voice just loud enough for him to hear, “I hadn’t had a proper meal in two thousand years, you know?”

Jules choked on his food at those words, the corner of his eyes twitching. No wonder Bastien was so weak despite being an old demon… No matter how strong you were, if you didn’t feed yourself for an extended period of time, your strength would default you at one point. That was common sense. 

Yet, that guy seemed not to have eaten anything since his wife’s death, which was freakish enough in itself. Incubi were known to be frivolous with love matters mostly because they needed to absorb an absurd amount of life force to sustain their bodies. Long story short, not many had enough vitality to feed an incubus continuously—save for heavenly beings, but demons and angels were like dogs and cats and rarely meddled with each other. 

All in all, being loyal to one partner was akin to seeking death for incubi, be it for themselves or their lovers. That was the main reason why incubi tended not to get too emotionally involved with others and pursued pleasure above everything. Otherwise, they would be the ones to end up hurt.  

But ignoring all of this, Bastien was telling Jules that he had starved himself for thousands of years and somehow managed to survive. In addition, the first thing he had eaten after so long was a jiangshi's corrupted life force. It was a miracle he hadn’t collapsed and died on the spot, honestly.  

“You’re a freak,” was Jules’s conclusion, “even for a demon.”

“Look who’s talking!”

Bastien cocked an eyebrow while Jules averted his eyes. Right. He himself couldn’t talk as he was no better. However, he didn’t want to dwell on his own freakishness, especially not in front of his sister and her friends. Anna was older, yes, but regardless, there were many things he didn’t want her to find out. She was still too young in his eyes. It was too soon.

“Iris, Melo, it seems like my brother and his boyfriend want to have some private time,” Annabelle said with mirth, startling Jules into coughing. “I’ve been wanting to inspect the bookshelf for a while now. What d’you think?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Iris chuckled. “And who knows, we may find something interesting.”

Before Jules could say anything, the girls leaped to their feet and skipped to the bookshelf on the other side of the living room. They then chattered, clearly trying their best not to eavesdrop, though their giggles let Jules know they weren’t inspecting the books and were most likely speculating about the nature of his relationship with the demon. Girls and gossip, ah. 

“Your sister sure has grown,” Bastien laughed.

“Yeah, she sure did,” Jules smiled faintly.  

If it were before, Annabelle would have demanded to listen to their conversation with that rightful tone of hers, adamant about not being left out. And this was considering she had noticed Jules had something to say in private first thing first. For whatever reason, his clueless little sister had become quite perceptive over the years, and also more composed. Her bossy behavior had always been bothersome, but now,  Jules was missing it a bit. 

“So, tell me, who’s more freakish between you and me?” 

“You, of course,” the hunter grunted before not-so-subtly changing the topic, “How come you haven’t managed to break your family’s curse in all these years? Two thousand years should have been more than enough.”

“Ha, that…” 

“What? Are you really that bad with curses?”

“No, it’s not the main problem.” 

“Then what?”

The incubus smiled wryly, and with a sigh, he explained, “The one who cursed my wife was an archangel. And, you know, these guys can be quite a pain.”

“Wait,” Jules stopped him, his tone carrying a hint of disbelief. “You dated an archangel…?” 

“Hm?”

“You said it was an ex who cursed your wife, remember?”

“Oh, did I? Frankly, they were more of a fuck buddy than a lover. We only ever met to screw like bunnies before parting until the next time. But well, that doesn’t matter much now.”

“…” Jules massaged his temples. It seemed that before meeting his wife, Bastien did live up to his species’ reputation of being willful, even daring to lay his hands on an archangel. 

A freak. Bastien truly, honestly, was a freak. 

“Anyway, to break the curse, I need the blood of a high angel, and most heavenly beings hid in the heavenly realm after the Holy War two thousand years ago. So not only is it rare to stumble across an angel in this day and age, they had to be willing to give me their blood for the ritual to work. I can’t just wound them and snatch it. And you must know just how prideful they are; they would never help a demon, a thing they think of as inferior to them. We’re not even worth bugs in their eyes, you could say.” 

Bastien paused to grimace before continuing, “But you know, a few years back, I met an archangel who was willing to help break the curse. He was nothing like his kin, I must add.” The demon let out a faint chuckle. “He was a softy at heart who didn’t know how to say no, really.  It’s a pity he was murdered before he could give me some of his blood. The agreed day was so close too….”

“Murdered…?”

“Yeah, by hunters. He was helping out suppressing bloodthirsty demons and the likes but said hunters betrayed him one day, literally stabbing him in the back. Sometimes, your colleagues are far eviler than us, demons. It’s almost comical.” 

“…”

“Come to think of it… You and that archangel look a little similar. Is it your eyes? Or—”

“Must be your imagination,” Jules interrupted with a deadpan tone, picking up the backpacks as he stood up. “I’d say we rested enough. Let’s move out to the next room, shall we?” 

The incubus responded with a knowing smile but didn’t comment any further. They indeed had to get going, so he followed along in silence. At any rate, they could always discuss later after things had calmed down. Until then, he wouldn’t bring up the subject again.