Hello loves, I took some good advice and slowed the hell down. The writing frenzy was great but I think I got a little ahead of myself. Anyways, here is a chapter in which Rachel makes Al laugh and then starts thinking too hard again. There are also pixy kids. xxx
It was around four on Saturday morning and I was just drifting off to sleep when my nose began to tickle. Three sneezes later I was stumbling around my dark room, cursing and looking for my bag. I'd decided that the bag and mirror needed to stay with me mostly all the time seeing as we were on amber alert for demons. After stubbing my toe and hitting my funny bone on the wardrobe, I found the light switch. Another sneeze and I located the bag. I had to disentangle the mirror from the new charms and my keys before clumsily placing my fingers on the glyphs.
Yes? I thought at the caller and then started really hoping it wasn't Newt. Feeling the presence of Al's consciousness made me relax, if only slightly. Being rude to him was far safer than being rude to Newt.
Were you sleeping little witch? Thought Al and he was full of amusement. To my surprise, he also seemed to think I was cute when sleepy.
Yeah. Haven't really got much else to do these days, seeing as you got me put under house arrest. Being irritated helped cover up any thoughts I was having about the dreams, or Trent, or being anxious.
Oh, terribly sorry dove said Al, clearly not sorry at all. I could feel the smirk through our connection and thinking about punching him in the face just made it worse. How do you feel about coming over now? Tron has been asking after the car and I'd rather get it out of the way early, so you can recover before our lessons.
Go over early? Well, it wasn't like I had any plans…
Will I be safe? At Tron's house I mean. I asked and winced as Al's thoughts circled around the concept of safety and our conversation about it last time I'd been with him. Yep, he was most definitely still angry with me.
You'll be safe if I'm there Rachel. Replied Al, putting a lot of emphasis on "safe". No one is going to try anything with me around. Besides, Tron is a coward and far more interested in cars than sex. Well, sex with women at any rate. Huh, whadya know, a gay demon. I'd always thought they were into everything and everyone.
Can I call you back in about five minutes? I asked, wanting to talk to Jenks and Wayde. It would've been nice to ask Ivy too but I was fairly sure she wouldn't be around until after sun up.
Five minutes only itchy witch. You don't have an awful lot of darkness left. With that he broke the connection. I threw on last nights' clothes and went to see if anyone was still awake.
Jenks and Wayde were where I left them, watching some cheesy action movie together. The volume was down low but they could probably both hear it fine. Wayde was working his way through a family size bag of chips and some of Jenks' kids were watching him put away handful after handful in absolute fascination. They'd been fascinated by how much Wayde could put away since the first time they'd seen him eat. Every so often one of the kids would dart out to catch a crumb and it would get shared round. It wasn't fair, how come they would sit quietly whilst Wayde watched TV but not when I did it?
Jenks turned at the sound of my footsteps and buzzed over to me.
"What's up Rache? Were we keeping you awake?" he asked and settled on my shoulder.
"Oh, no. You guys are being great, really quiet." I replied and went to perch on the arm of the couch. Wayde muted the TV and quit eating. There were a few exclamations of disappointment from the kids but a buzz from Jenks shut them up.
"You smell nervous" stated Wayde, "What's happened? Did you get a call? Is Ivy ok?"
"As far as I know Ivy's fine. Al called me, he wants me to go over there now so I can do stuff for another demon without it interrupting my lessons" I said. At the mention of Al calling Wayde had stiffened and gone into bodyguard mode. Like that he became the man everyone took seriously even without pants on.
"And you're going?" said Jenks, "Why? We can keep you safe here and you shouldn't have to do anything for any damn demon, you don't owe them shit"
"I agree," added Wayde, "You're safe here. Who knows, it could be trap."
I tried to soften the irritation by telling myself that they were only looking out for me. It didn't really help but I wanted not to sound like a whiney teenager.
"Al can keep me safe too guys. One demon won't be a problem and he won't kick off anyway." I said and got raised eyebrows in response. "Look, I'm so bored here I could cry. It'll be nice to actually do something useful for a change. Besides, when they know I'm there they won't try anything here so the church will be safe." Wayde looked resigned. Jenks looked mad.
"The hell Rache, you don't need to jump into the fire to keep us safe. What about Ivy? She needs to be included in this." He demanded.
I was running out of time.
"I'll leave a note for Ivy. She'll be fine, she knows how bored I am. I need this Jenks, or else I'm going to do something really stupid like try a big curse or see just how fast the mini will go" Alright, the threats were low but so was bringing Ivy into it. "I'm going Jenks, I just wanted to let you know."
Jenks swore a blue streak before flying off and into the desk, taking the kids with him. Wayde sighed.
"I'll tell Ivy when she gets back. I still think you're an idiot, but you've always come back on Sunday so…" he trailed off, shrugging.
"Thanks Wayde." I said, before running back to the calling mirror.
Al was waiting in the kitchen when I finally got packed. In the end I'd just taken a bundle of clothes off the top of the dryer and hoped they fit together. The demon had insisted on coming into the kitchen to wait for me. He'd been poking through everything and already found the baked goods, deciding that they were coming with us. It was still odd to see Al, in his frock coat, eating a brownie. It just didn't fit somehow.
"Where's you gargoyle?" Al demanded and I sighed. I'd thought I was ready.
"Bis?" I called, searching the kitchen ceiling for him. He flapped in from the hallway and I guessed he'd been in the belfry. Either he'd felt the tug on the lines when Al turned up and had been waiting or he had really good hearing. It made me sad to see that he wasn't wearing the Disneyland shirt but I didn't say anything. He probably didn't want to give Treble an excuse to bitch at him. Settling on my shoulders, the gargoyle gave my neck a comforting squeeze. Bis had stopped talking in front of Al since Treble had told him some horror stories.
"Ah, good. All ready then?" Al asked, mopping up crumbs with a finger and putting the tubs of cookies and muffins under one arm. I nodded and took his hand, circle already up around my mind. The jump was smooth and it felt kind of good to be back in a line again. With Al holding my hand, I felt safer than I had done all week. It was odd to feel safer with the demon than away from him.
Al's spelling kitchen looked like an explosion in a charm store. Dirty bowls were heaped up round the fire pit and stray herbs were everywhere. It didn't look like a safe situation to be working in but it wasn't my kitchen so my caring was limited to whether or not Al was going to make me clean it up.
"Streaming pus buckets," Al exclaimed, "I told that damned worm to clean this up before I got back." Worm? Had Al bought Pierce back? What was Al making in here that he didn't want Ceri knowing about? My questions were answered when someone else popped into the room.
Assuming that it was an attacking demon I dived under a bench and began going through my bag for a splat gun. The sound of Al laughing brought my head up, cautiously, to see a skinny figure kneeling before the guffawing demon. Face burning, I left my hiding place and stuffed the splat gun back into my bag. The laughter was warm and rich, real, and hearing it didn't tick me off nearly as much as it should have done. Damn demon was getting far too familiar.
"Relax itchy witch, it's only the worm. I've been renting him as Ceri is being less than accommodating since I met her lovely daughters." Said Al, and the tone of his voice when he talked about Lucy and Ray made me feel sick. Tink's silk knickers, how could I have enjoyed his laugh? Al probably laughed like that when he killed puppies. Pushing down my disgust I looked down at "the worm". He must've been either a witch or an elf, and I was betting witch. Elves were rare enough now that most demons hung onto them. He shifted and I caught the scent of redwood under burnt amber. Witch then. He was skinny and the clothes hung off his bony frame. I couldn't see the face, it was hidden behind a curtain of lank blonde hair.
"Worm, say hello to your temporary mistress." Commanded Al. Mistress? There was no way I was ever going to order this poor man around.
The man stood and turned and I got a good look at his face. It was gaunt, like the rest of him, but must have been handsome once. Under the grime, his skin was pale and there were dark shadows under his eyes and high cheekbones. With feeding, he would have been what you called classically handsome, if not for the massive scar bisecting his face. It was old and raised in white skin. I guessed it was made by some kind of claw because sharp blades don't leave that much damaged.
"Good Morning Mistress Rachel. I am Worm, please call on me if you require anything." His voiced was cracked and broken and there was nothing in his eyes as he addressed me. He didn't meet my gaze and stared at a point in the air between us. I'd call him Worm for now, until I could ask his real name, but it didn't feel right. He reminded me so much of Ceri that I wanted to cry with the unfairness of it all. At least Ceri had been clean.
Al dismissed Worm with a wave of his hand and we were left in silence. Inside I was ripping myself to pieces over the contraception charms. How the hell could I even think about fucking this man? His whole people enslaved and abused my people, the elves and the humans. The made people like Worm and used them until there was nothing left.
Had Al wanted to do that to me?