Narrator's P.O.V.
The early hours of the morning had been a bit complicated, both for Ariel and Marcos. The younger boy suffered constant attacks every time he fell asleep. Literally, he only had to close his eyes and that thing would come again and again, which only stopped when the Asian man remembered some prayers his parents had taught him when he was still a child. Chinese people were quite superstitious, and certainly, one of the things they feared most were evil entities like demons.
Chen had never felt so grateful to have been forced to memorize those prayers. Never, in his entire life, did he think they would be necessary. He had always been the member of his family who believed the least in the supernatural; however, indeed, what was afflicting his beloved was something evil, and he would deal with it the best way he could. While Ariel slept, the man prayed constantly in order to ward off whatever it was that was disturbing the younger's sleep, and he would do it even if he had to stay awake the whole night.
That was the only way to protect him!
He noticed that whenever the other fell asleep, things happened both to him and to Ariel, and even around the house itself. It was almost as if something besides the two of them was present there. There clearly was something there! Voices that sounded like Ariel himself called out to Marcos in order to persuade the man, trying to get him to step away from the curly-haired boy. Noises of pots and cabinet doors banging were heard from time to time, along with a low laugh accompanied by grotesque sounds that seemed to try to scare him, but all without success.
The Asian man stood firm and would continue to protect the younger boy from whatever that thing was, regardless of what he saw or heard! Marcos was only able to get some kind of rest after the sun came up, because Ariel seemed to have finally been left in peace, even if temporarily. Inevitably, Chen fell asleep; after all, he had spent his entire night awake, pleading and praying for Ariel to be protected...
...
Upon waking up, Marcos and Ariel decided together to make a hearty breakfast to give them some energy. Both boys were exhausted, but they still managed to enjoy each other's presence. In fact, it seemed that with the sunrise the attacks had completely vanished, so for a certain time they could forget about everything that was happening... even if it was nowhere near something they could ignore. At that moment, the boys were talking while finishing their breakfast. Soon they would have to leave, since Marcos wanted to take the younger boy somewhere.
So, since they needed to get ready, the curly-haired boy had a great idea...
"Marcos, do you... want to go... you know..." Ariel seemed nervous. He was really nervous about what he was going to suggest.
"Want to go...?" Chen encouraged him to continue, nibbling on another piece of his sandwich.
"Since we're going out, I thought we could... you know... take a shower... together. What do you think?" The younger boy was so apprehensive to ask that that the Asian man couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Why are you laughing?" he huffed.
"Because you look very cute when you're embarrassed, Ari." He smiled, pulling the younger boy onto his lap. Marcos kissed his lips softly, then placed several other little kisses on his face. "I am completely in love with you, you know?"
"Now I know." He laughed coyly.
"And answering your question... I do want to take a shower with you," he declared, placing one last long kiss on the curly-haired boy's cheek.
Marcos stood up with Ariel still in his arms, which made the boy burst out laughing. The Asian man headed to the bathroom, letting out muffled laughs as he let himself be kissed by the younger one...
...
Some time later, the boys headed to the shop of a friend of Chen's who knew specific rituals to get rid of various types of entities. Knowing that what tormented Ariel was probably a demon—or at least some type of demon—the Asian man thought she could be of great help. He was visibly tired, while Ariel appeared to be exhausted, even though he had managed to sleep for a few hours, which was certainly an effect of the incubus's attacks...
But still, they didn't hesitate to go to the older man's friend as soon as possible, because they needed to find a solution to that problem as quickly as they could! Chen knew how dangerous those things were, and as much as the younger boy didn't believe it as much, the spiritual world was real and there was a real evil trapped inside that place. An evil that often, for some reason, extended into the world of the "living".
Ariel was a bit apprehensive; after all, he didn't know what would come next. Marcos had told him that the woman was a sort of clairvoyant witch, someone who dealt with forces of nature and who understood certain types of energies and entities. The couple headed to the Liberdade neighborhood, which is where the majority of the Asian population in the state of São Paulo is concentrated, going straight to a little antique shop located in a slightly less busy part of the neighborhood.
As much as the circumstances weren't the best, in the end, they were both happy to be in each other's company, making several mental notes to go together to some bars and restaurants they saw along the way that they deemed would be great for future dates. Marcos smiled all the time at the smaller boy, transmitting a surreal comfort to him. Ariel felt his heart warm every time he looked at Chen, feeling an intense happiness knowing that he was finally there, by his side.
"Do you think she can really help me?" Ariel asked. His voice sounded like pure exhaustion, but he still tried to seem at least somewhat "okay", even though the other knew very well his true state.
"I don't know if she can really help us, but I know she might have the necessary knowledge to know what or who can," he answered simply, pulling the smaller boy closer to him so he wouldn't end up bumping into someone rushing past them.
As they walked, because they were holding hands, the couple noticed some stares on them. Some curious stares, some disapproving stares, and even some admiring stares. In the end, that really didn't matter in the slightest, not even to Marcos who had just "discovered himself", which gave Ariel a bit of happiness and relief amidst all that chaos, because he knew that maybe the Asian man would be by his side unconditionally...
What he didn't know was that Marcos had already intended to have him for a long time, and he wasn't going to leave his side anytime soon!
In a few minutes, both arrived at the place. It was a rather charismatic little shop, where visibly only relics and antiques were sold, which gave a somewhat mysterious air to that place. The younger boy looked around for a few moments, feeling a slight nervousness being there, but he couldn't tell if that was good or bad. Chen, in turn, observed the curly-haired boy's brief reaction; after all, he wanted to know how much that entity was attached to the smaller boy.
Knowing that place was consecrated, he wanted to observe Ariel, because depending on his reaction he could get an idea. He hoped it wasn't too late and that the demon wasn't too deeply embedded in the younger one. Entities like that were like a virus, spreading through the host's body and impregnating their soul with a corrosive and deadly disease that slowly consumed them until there was nothing left. They had to be fast to stop that as soon as possible!
Finally, they entered the shop. Upon opening the door, they heard the chiming of bells, which made the smaller boy's head ache for a few moments. For a few seconds, his vision darkened and he felt a bit dizzy, having to be held up by Marcos. Ariel brought his hands to his ears and covered them, in an attempt to muffle the sound and dissipate that sensation of pain, but it was completely in vain since every time the sound resonated it was as if something hit him directly in the head. He didn't even understand the reason for that, since until a few moments before, even though he was tired, he felt relatively fine.
"Are you okay?" the Asian man asked, rubbing the other's back.
"I bet it was the sound of my bells that gave him a headache, wasn't it?" A woman appeared from behind the counter, walking towards the couple standing at the door.
"How do you know?" Ariel asked.
"Believe me, you're not the first person to be caught off guard by the sound of this bell." She laughed in an amused way.
"Eico, we came here because we need your help and I..." Marcos stopped speaking when she signaled for him to be quiet.
"My dear Marcos, for what other reason would you seek me out without any prior notice?" The woman smiled gently at him, who smiled back.
Eico Yamamoto was one of Marcos's oldest friends, so old that she even took care of him when his family arrived in Brazil after he turned ten. She was Japanese and had come to Brazil about fifteen years ago, which is why she spoke Portuguese so well, so much so that Ariel didn't even notice an accent. The woman motioned for both to follow her to the back rooms, before signaling Chen to flip the sign from "open" to "closed", which he did immediately. He knew that if she was closing the shop just because the two of them were there...
Well, indeed, things from that point on wouldn't be so simple...