Ladies of the Night Part 7
Rosemary, Dominic, Joshua, Krystal, Kayleigh, and Ashley all raced back to the basement to resume their party. They couldn't stop talking about what an awesome fight they just witnessed. An archangel battling against a giant demon. Two veterans of an ancient war that ravaged across many realms reengaged not to hold domain of this world, or determine the fate of souls, but rather to gain respect for one another. To feel the thrill of battle once more course through their veins. A thrilling battle of immortal combat it was. Their attacks shook the very neighborhood they lived in. It was like watching a superhero battle from their favorite comic book movies up close, or video game characters from a fighting game come to life, or the tale of David and Goliath... on superpowered steroids.
The group was divided on who they believed won. While there was no real victor but there was no real loser either. One half boasted that Mike, the archangel, was the winner with the other half defended that Moloch, Dominic's monstrous father, held his ground. Regardless, they all agreed that that fight, and all six of them just hanging out together, made this the best night ever.
"That was, like, totally awesome!" Krystal cheered.
"Very awesome!" Dominic joined in.
"That was a battle of biblical proportions," Joshua proclaimed. "just don't tell my mom I said that."
Rosie said, "Alright, let's get back to our game night. Dom, why don't you see if you can take on Ash in Major Rager."
"I think I'll pass," Dominic sadly said. "How about Ash goes against Kayleigh? I'll sit out."
Dominic walked to the snack table and helped himself to what was left of the pizza slices. Confused, everyone but Rosemary and Ashley placed themselves at the from of the large flatscreen TV. The two friends looked worried for the demon boy, who isolated himself from the others. They then approached the table where Dominic was filling his plate full of cold snacks.
"Hey," Rosemary said. "what's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Dominic fibbed, paying no attention to the two humans who tried comforting him.
"Is it something that Ash said?" She asked again.
"Well, that's just it," Dominic retorted. "she hasn't said anything to me. I don't think she likes me all."
Both Rosemary and Ashley gasped at Dominic's comment. Rosie defended, "What? That's crazy. Of course she likes you."
"But when I first talked to her earlier she ignored me. And then when I smelled blood, she just stared at me when I asked if she was hurt. Help me out here? You obviously speak girl."
Rosemary looked onto Ash and replied, "Okay."
Dominic watched closely to see if Rosemary could get her friend to communicate. She lifted her hands before her face and gave Ashley a mixture of hand signals. Ashley said nothing but relayed similar hand motions. Back and forth the girls signaled one another, much to Dominic's surprise.
"What's going on here?" The baffled imp asked.
"Speaking girl, obviously," Rosemary answered. "this is called sign language."
"Sign language? Like for—oh!" Dominic held his forked tongue. He felt lucky that his skin was red otherwise everyone would have seen how embarrassed he was. "I didn't know."
Ashley signed to Dominic while Rosemary translated. "It's cool. Don't worry about it. I went deaf when I was four years old due to a genetic condition called autosomal recessive Alport syndrome. It affects my kidneys by damaging the tiny blood vessels, leading to kidney disease and kidney failure. It can also affect my hearing, though no one is sure how the two are connected. It's only recently that my kidneys started acting up. A usual sign of this is blood in my urine."
"So the blood I smelled was..." Dominic awkwardly said.
"Yeah, that's kinda gross that you detected that." Ash signed. "Sadly, there's no cure for it, and sooner or later my kidneys will completely fail and I'll need a transplant."
"I'm sorry."
Ashley shook her head and signed again. "Please don't be. I know I might be in some pain as I grow older but I'm going to live my life to the fullest. There's medications I take to help treat the symptoms, which is a good start. That's why I want to be a biophysicist like my dad when I grow up, so I can find cures for all kinds of diseases. And you don't need to have Rosie translate for you all the time. I can read lips too. Just treat me like any other kid and we're good. Besides, I think it's so cool you're a demon from Hell."
"Really?" Dominic gleefully said, "Thanks!"
"Hey Dominic," Joshua called from the sofa. "we got an extra controller if you want to join."
Dominic waved to Ash and Rosie before teleporting himself to a cozy spot next to Joshua and Kayleigh. He gladly took the spare game controller from Joshua and joined in on the first-person shooter action. Rosemary smiled at the sight of all her friends, mortal and demonic, getting along so well. Before she could join them she looked at Ashley, who gave her a mischievous smirk.
"What?" Rosie hesitantly requested.
Ashley signed, "Your boyfriend's pretty cute."
Rosemary laughed and signed back, "He's not my boyfriend. But he is cute."