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“Well, hopefully he won’t be feeling much while he’s shoveling dog shit all day,” Ben jokes, “but just be on your guard. He really needs this.”

I nod in agreement, determined not to be the reason Theo loses an opportunity to get his life back, especially not now that my own world is so different. I can feel myself changing, feel myself becoming more human–separating from her, and I know I cannot lose that either.

I will not go back into the darkness now that I have found my light.

37

Theo

Anniebeing back insideme is weird.

When she’s in human form, it’s easier for me to forget that she’s a demon–that she’s supposed to be taking control of my body and making me do terrible things. As Aileen gives me a tour of the semi-decrepit animal shelter, I can feel her swirling around in the back of my head, and I’m just thankful that she’s no longer angry or violent. Now, she’s quiet, curious, warm, even loving. I feel a little burst of joy from her every time we’re introduced to a new dog, and I’m surprised to find that none of the animals treat me any differently than they treat Aileen.

My new boss is a tough, older woman who wears nothing but Doc Martens and Wrangler jeans, but I think she likes me, even if she doesn’t seem confident in my ability to lift more than 50 pounds. It’s true, I haven’t been to the gym in awhile, but I do manage to wrestle a large, wiggly Staffordshire mix into a bathtub and hose him down while he tries to lick the skin off my face. Aileen is satisfied with that, so once she’s given me the tour and shown me what my duties are, she leaves me alone to work. Cleaning kennels, bathing and feeding the dogs, washing towels and blankets, refilling water bowls, bringing dogs and cats out to the visiting area to meet potential adopters, and doing intake paperwork for new animals. It’s basic work, but it does feel good. A hell of a lot better than rotting at a desk and roasting under fluorescent lights all day, anyway.

What sort of dogis that?Annie asks me every time we move to a new kennel. Most of them are just listed on their tags as ‘mixed’, so I’m really not sure. Her curiosity is infectious though, so I start looking up dog breeds on my phone and showing her pictures while she bemoans the fact that she can’t pet them while she’s inside me. I promise to bring her back sometime in her own body.

On my lunch break, we meet Ben at a little café near the public library, where he’s been doing research. It sounds like he hasn’t found much yet, but I can tell we’re all trying to remain hopeful.

“It’s too fucking quiet in that place,” he complains as we sit down at our table with several large milkshakes and a basket of fries. “I can’t focus on anything when all I hear is my own thoughts.”

“How on earth did you make it through seminary?” I tease.

“Can’t a man have any secrets?” Ben shoots back. “Anyway, I’ve had a thought. Shocking, I know, but hear me out. We only have a couple more weeks until Robert comes out to try this exorcism thing again, but Annie has been changing so quickly already on her own.Mi amor, what would you say are the things we’ve done that make you feel the most…human?”

Annie stirs her milkshake thoughtfully, bites her bottom lip, then answers, “Sex,” not bothering to use a hushed tone. It’s all I can do not to put a hand over her mouth as several other customers give us the side-eye.

“Yeah, that’ll do it,” Ben laughs. “What else?”

“Spicy food, and hot chocolate, and showers,” she says, continuing to think. “Spending time with Monty and Roger…meeting people who are important to you…seeing humans be kind to one another, or to animals…”

“Ok, so…wholesome shit,” I suggest.

“I dunno if I’d call our sex life wholesome,” Ben mutters with a fiendish grin, making Annie giggle. I roll my eyes, but he grips my thigh beneath the table and slides his hand up. I have to bat him away to make sure I don’t get hard in the middle of lunch.

“Well, my idea is that we just try to do as many of those things as we can over the next few weeks. Let Annie really experience all the good things about life, and about humans. Then, when Robert comes to do the exorcism, maybe it’ll get rid of the demon and Annie will be…left behind, so to speak.”

“That was basically your original idea,” I sigh. “Doing good deeds to force her out. Didn’t really work, did it?”

“Not the way I intended, but you can’t tell me it didn’t have something to do with the way she’s changed, Theo.”

I just grumble, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Listen, I can’t have perfect ideas all the time when I already look like this,” Ben jokes. “It just wouldn’t be fair to the rest of you.”

Annie giggles again, but then we all fall into a rather stoic silence, considering what the consequences will be if this new plan fails.

“We have to try,” I say quietly after a minute.

“Agreed,” Ben mutters. Annie puts her hand on top of mine where it’s resting on the table, then reaches over and takes Ben’s too.

“Everything will be fine,” she says with a strained smile. “What did you tell me before, Ben? ‘Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things’, right?”

I raise my eyebrows. “You taught our demon girlfriend a Bible verse?”

“She didn’t burst into flames, so I think it’s fine,” Ben replies, lifting my hand to kiss the backs of my fingers. Our food arrives, and we all eat in relative silence, but when Ben and I go to the bathroom together, he pulls his phone out and shows me a list of things we can do with Annie over the next few weeks.

“I want her to be surprised,” he says eagerly. “What do you think?”