Disclaimer: I own no one, nothing, and have very little amounts of money. The only one I own is Nyx, and even then that's not much. Kitten owns Belle.
Ugh. Sorry it took so friggin' long to get this up, guys. It's that joyful time of year where all us broke college seniors are scrambling to get scholarships, and most require really long, really boring essays. Again, sorry.
Johnny-on-the-spot: Thank you! It is always nice to see a new reviewer, especially one who doesn't live like a minute away from me. *Cough* Kitten *Cough* If I have my way with things, I'll try to kick as many of these bad-boys out as I can while trying to keep all the snarky Cal goodness in.
Kitten: Now I know what you feel like when I pester you to write. I'd say I'm sorry, but we both know that's a lie and I don't feel like lying to you.
A big thank you to all those who have read this, are reading this, and will read this in the forth coming future. You are truly wonderful for putting up with my lazyness, delays, and ramblings. Thank you.
Elsewards to Onwhere!
Nightmares.
They're a bitch no matter how old or tough you are. I've seen Niko through his fair share of them and God knows I've had more than enough of them myself. I'm man enough to admit that at twenty years old, they still scare the shit out of me.
The main problem is, my nightmares are based in reality and trust me, that makes them a whole lot worse than having spooky dreams invented by a sadistic subconscious. No dreams of falling out of windows when you live on the first floor for me. No, I get the dreams where your demonic relatives come to drag you kicking and screaming through a rip in reality.
Tonight's midnight creature feature was slightly different. Yes, the Auphe did come to make me miserable, and miserable I was. And yes, they were out in hordes proving that once again I had failed to end their miserable race. But the weird part about my dream was that there was always a shadow lurking in the corner with glowing red eyes, but it wasn't an Auphe.
Lucky me I knew of one other thing with red eyes.
So when I woke up screaming and thrashing, it wasn't just because my aunties and uncles had dragged me to Hell, cackling all the way. It was because while I was in Tumulus, I had been forced to watch as the incubus violated a girl with an innocent and trusting face, then drained her and tore her apart with his bare hands out of boredom.
I really hoped I hadn't inherited any psychic abilities from Sophia's Rom heritage, because that truly terrified me and I didn't want it to happen. Ever. I was terrified of the Auphe, sure, but I had beaten them so many times that they had become more annoying than scary. But watching that girl getting torn apart was horrifying and disgusting. The worst part was she was begging as he touched her, wanting more. And she didn't fall silent until he ripped her throat out.
I got up and plodded into the living room/kitchenette and collapsed onto the couch with a groan. In seconds my brother was next to me, offering me a glass of cold water for my throat and smoothing my sleep-matted hair. I may live in nightmare central, but by god I had the best brother there ever was. He didn't question what my dreams were about, didn't ask if I was all right. He just sat there, repeating three words to help me.
"Fish-sticks and cartoons," he said quietly, over and over until I numbly joined in the mantra.
Five minutes later I was sitting upright with a blanket around my shoulders and a gun happily in my lap. Niko hadn't even broached the subject of my nightmares, though I knew he was curious. We hadn't seen an Auphe since the nuking of Tumulus, and the sight of them usually caused my scare-fest dreams.
"He was in them," I said weakly after a moment.
"He, who?" Niko asked, not allowing any surprise in his voice though I knew I caught him off guard.
"The incubus. Nyx. Whatever," I said glumly, closing my eyes. I immediately jerked them awake at what I saw lurking behind my eyelids. "The girl was there too. He… he got her. He got her bad. It was like it was really happening."
Niko actually sat back and looked puzzled for a moment, his mind quickly working through the vast knowledge of everything important.
"Ah…" he said after a moment. "Ironic, though I don't believe he caused it." He was being vague again, the smug smart bastard.
"I'm tired Nik," I grumbled, "No Jedi mind games till noon."
He leveled an even look at me. "You should have been paying attention better when I explained things to you the first time, little brother," he said, completely calm, "Otherwise you would know what I was talking about."
"It's three in the morning!" I nearly shouted.
"Knowledge knows no bounds of time," came the serene, sagely reply from superninja. I tried to hit him and he simply batted my sleep-deprived hand out of the way and into a wristlock. After several minutes of scuffling, swearing and various other humiliating fun on my part, I wound up face down with his knee between my shoulders and my hand twisted in a position that was painful just to think about, let alone experience.
"Alright… I give," came my muffled concession. "Bestow your knowledge and don't break my arm." It pissed me off. Not an ounce of supernatural in him, and he still kicked my ass at three AM when most humans should be too tired to take a pee properly. But it grounded me, and for that I was grateful.
"Your arm is safe," Niko said, "It's your shoulder that's in jeopardy." He let me up. "Anatomy will be our next lesson, though I'd hoped you'd learned it by now."
"I know anatomy," I said, "Cut here, here and here or shoot there and they're dead." I made motions to various arteries and squishy bits. "And I know that if you get a girl to—"
The rest of my statement earned me a narrowed eyed look and a thump to the head that cut off something rather interesting. Trust me, it was interesting.
"Crude, but practical," he said, settling down again, "And if you ever try to bring up something like that again, you will be on house arrest with no visitors until I've determined whether your innocence can be salvaged."
I gulped and quickly changed the subject before my mouth shot off again and made little Cal died from neglect. "You said that you had something to tell me…" I said, rather speedily.
Niko smirked slightly, acknowledging my tactful change. "Ah yes, about your nightmare," he said, "Incubi are often associated with them. Several myths have stated that they actually induce them."
I gave him a look that said I didn't care. "And how does that have anything to do with my nightmares?" I asked.
"I'm getting there," my brother said with a look of annoyance, "From what I've learned, incubi have to have physical contact with their victims. Obviously he is not here. And I doubt he even knows who we are." He sighed. "So for now I say we assume that it was just a nightmare."
"Whatever. I'll take first watch anyway," I muttered, settling down. "Go rest. I'll wake you in four."
I heard my brother sigh but get up and walk down the hall. When we'd been on the run, we'd trade watches. We hardly did it now, especially with the Auphe hopefully dead and gone, but I decided it was better sleepless and safe then dead in my bed.
Locks couldn't keep this guy out. He could walk through walls and teleport faster than an elf could gate. It was insanely unlikely that he knew about us, but on the off chance that he did I wanted there to be some defense in place against him. I didn't want to be asleep when he decided to sneak up on me. After all, I already had enough nightmares to deal with.
By the time the evening rolled around, I was ready to just kill the incubus when we found him. Every time I tried to fall asleep, I saw the same scene played over and over. By now I was more than sick of it.
Apparently it showed when I walked into the bar because Ishiah, my winged boss, raised his eyebrows and said simply, "You're being Auphe."
I glared at him, grabbed an apron and fastened it around myself before working to calm down. It wasn't for me, but for Ishiah that I was even trying. While the Auphe had been gunning for me, they'd taken down one of my coworkers. The result hadn't been pretty for anyone, especially not Cam, but I had lost my job for a few weeks. After hearing of our vengeance for the dead peri, Ishiah reluctantly let me have my job again. It was slow progress but things were getting better.
Several minutes later I grinned at him to let him know that I was better before I started hustling booze. All in all tonight was a good night.
It was also a slow night.
Niko was there around midnight once I called him and told him we were closing early. He waited patiently, sipping juice as I finished my duties and waited for my share of the tips. He watched the dark corners of the bar, just in case, just as he always did. He didn't speak, just sat and observed. Like a freaking statue, my brother was.
I grabbed my coat and pulled it on, about to head out when my brother spoke.
"What do you know about incubi, Ishiah?" he asked. I hadn't even noticed he was still seated. I rolled my eyes and sat down near him, stealing his juice.
"I'm assuming you mean incubi, not lilu since you know enough to kill one of those garden snakes already," the peri replied, his wings rustling uncomfortably. "Incubi are disgusting, loathsome creatures. They lie, cheat, steal, and will sleep with anything that holds still long enough."
I wisely didn't comment on how much that sounded like Robin while making a mental not to get the two together. They'd be best buddies.
Ishiah also seemed to come to the same conclusion. "Worse than the puck," he added. "They kill for the fun of it, or if they're bored. They like to toy with peoples minds because they can." He put a glass away with a loud thunk. "Why do you ask?"
Niko and I exchanged looks. "Because our client believes an incubus kidnapped his daughter. Three days ago," he finally said. I watched as he produced the picture of Belle and one of Nyx's. "Have you seen either of them?"
Ishiah frowned as he looked at the pictures. "No," he said, "And I don't think I will." He slid the pictures back towards Niko. "I hope you don't run into him. If it's been three days, that girl is already gone."
I watched as my brother's eyes flashed and narrowed. "Thank you, Ishiah," he said, "Though we'll still try anyway." With that he got up and headed towards the door.
"See you tomorrow, Ish," I called.
As we walked out the door, I distinctly heard my boss mutter "Fools."
We walked in silence for a while, my hands in my pockets, clutching my knife while Niko, ninja extraordinaire, needed no such physical security blanket. It was all in the mind, after all, he'd say. The two of us melted into the thinning crowd of the darkened streets perfectly, moving like wraiths. That thought was like a bucket of cold water to my brain. If we were wraiths, then the incubus was a fricken shadow. If we were all but invisible in the crowds, he was like the night itself.
I didn't have to meet the guy to know just how dangerous he was. According to Niko, they were night-dwellers, preferring darkness to daylight.
And here we were, a couple of snacks wandering around in his hunting grounds. I'd prefer not to go fight a tiger in his den.
Unfortunately for me, it seemed like that was what we were doing. Niko had taken a detour somewhere along the way back "home", and now we were the only two people walking through a run down part of the city, complete with broken down warehouses and gaping slum buildings. I pulled my knife free and held it as we walked past yet another apartment building that had seen better days.
"What are we looking for?" I asked, though I had already guessed the answer. From the steely look in Niko's eye, it was easy enough.
His eyes slid over towards me before going back to their ceaseless inspection of our surroundings. "We're looking for his nest, little brother," he said, his voice so quiet I wouldn't have been able to hear it if not for the eerie silence that surrounded this part of town.
Internally I groaned, but I'm smart enough not to complain. Much.
"Wouldn't it be better to do this during the day?" I asked, trudging along beside him. He was as light-footed as a fucking cat, where as I sounded like an elephant at best.
"Maybe, but then we'd risk the chance of being ambushed by him if he senses us coming," Niko pointed out, taking a left at the sixth or seventh skeletal apartment we passed. He waited for me once he sensed my confusion.
"But aren't we trying to find him?" I asked, mentally kicking myself for such a stupidly phrased question. But Niko knew what I meant, the good brother he was.
"Yes, but I'd rather find where he is first so we can ambush him. According to what I've read, you never want to fight something like him face on, where they have the most advantage to trap you," came the patient response from the darkness to my left. I heard a sword whisper from its sheath as a sudden chill raised the hairs on the back of my neck. We were close.
"So we here on the hopes that he's out for the night so we can scope his hidey-hole?" I asked, lowering my voice as much as I could. I made a good attempt anyway.
"Precisely," Niko said as he stopped near a rundown warehouse and crept towards the door, the black-coated blade of his katana as stealthy as he was. He pushed against the door and got it open with minimal creaking, though it was hard considering the rust on the hinges had rusted.
The instant the door swung inward, the skin on the back of my neck tried to crawl off my body. The heady sent of blood and sex wafted out and threatened to make me woozy before I put my hand over my nose, breathing through my mouth. Niko looked at me before pulling an honest-to-god bandana from his pocket and offering it to me. I tied it around my mouth and nose before proceeding with more caution.
"Rob a bank anywhere, Cal?" Niko asked as he went first into the maw of the incubus's personal playground. I was tempted to hit him until I caught my reflection in the dim light of a mirror on the wall. The bandana was bright red and with my inky hair and pasty while complexion, I looked like I had come off a wanted poster.
Somehow, Niko flicked the right switch and half the lights in the place flared to existence, nearly frying my sensitive eyes. They watered and stung for several minutes until they adjusted and I was able to see.
The warehouse was pretty barren, all in all. There were old factory work tables scattered about. Some had been toppled while some had been moved to the other side of the large room. Nik and I ghosted silently through the building, looking for signs of life. There was none, though the scent still lingered and got stronger as we neared the solitary office in the place.
Niko cautiously peaked through the crack in the door that hung funny before pushing it open. Much to my surprise it was devoid of life. Guess I was luckier tonight than I thought. I could tell instantly why the scent was so strong in here. This was where he lived, slept and most likely fed.
Pillows and cushions lined the entirety of the floor, every inch covered in something soft. Blankets and more pillows lay tangled at one side of what I guess was his bed and there was a bag of clothes on the rickety desk in one corner of the room as well as a hair brush and a few other personal items. The entire room reeked of his scent and I didn't dare go inside any farther than the threshold. Even then it was almost overpowering.
Something metal caught my eye on the table, next to a hairbrush. "What's that?" I asked, my voice stiff as I tried not to be suffocated by the smell of incubus.
Niko navigated the pillowed danger of the floor before picking it up, letting the pendant for the necklace dangle from his hand as he held the chain. It was the letter B.
Right, it's up folks. Cliffhangers are a bitch, I know, but they're so fun!
Read and review, share and enjoy, go through life with a plastic boy or girl... *breaks off humming*