Chapter 10

Answers

'Hey Paige, I think ya made quite an accomplishment here.' Finn said after he ate the last piece of fresh lasagna that the female demon had cooked for him. 'I ought to give ya a big golden medal.'

Paige, who was washing a few pans in the kitchen sink, couldn't help but smile at the friendly remark. She turned around, looked at the demon hunter and cocked her eyebrow. 'Oh, really?' she asked. 'What for, may I ask? Is my food really that good? Well, that must be the case, you have never given me a compliment like that before.' Paige had never thought that her cooking skills would improve to the point that Finn was willing to reward her for it, much to her amusement.

'Aye, ye're right, it is about yer food.' A small, playful smile could be seen on Finn's face when he pointed his fork at the female demon. 'This is the tenth time in a row that ya didn't burn my dinner. And for that, I think ya deserve a medal. Ya should be proud of that.'

Paige managed to cover her mouth with her hand just in time before she could burst into laughter. With twinkling eyes, she smiled and nodded. 'Oh yeah, that would be bloody wonderful. A big medal that says 'Didn't burn the food for the tenth time in a row'. I'll wear it all the time, even during work. I bet the customers will love it.'

'Trust me, they'll think that medal will look great on you.'

'Or they'll think you've finally gone batshit insane.'

The female demon chuckled and turned around, planning on continuing washing the dirty dishes. 'It's most likely they will think that.' she replied. While she scrubbed the caked meat off the pan, she softly chuckled once more. This was so crazy, now that she thought about it. Who knew she could feel so many emotions for the person who was supposed to be her natural enemy? Relief, anger, joy, concern, annoyance... A few hours ago she was so mad at him for crashing her car that she was on the verge of blowing her own store up with her demonic powers, now she was laughing about his joking compliment like nothing had happened. But of course Paige was glad that Finn was alright; after all, she cared more about him than a car. She sure hoped that the demon hunter would never encounter that angel again... but she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was encounter Baron sooner or later. Paige knew how Finn was; if he would find a lead in a case, he was going to the bottom of it. Did he even realize how ruthless Baron actually was? Paige tried to stop it, but the mental image of Baron ripping Finn to pieces, the way he preferred to kill his victims, was faster than her and flashed through her mind in the blink of an eye. Goosebumps appeared on her pale arms. What the hell was Baron even doing here in the Mortal Realm?

'So what is your plan?' Paige asked while rinsing the dish soap off the pan. 'How are you planning on finding Baron?'

'I've thought about it.' Finn replied. 'I'm going out tonight to find some answers. I'm pretty sure that there are demons out there who may know what Baron's up to.'

'Hmm.' Paige nodded, turned off the tap, put the wet pan on the kitchen counter and sat down at the dinner table across from Finn. 'You have a point in that. I think that chance might be big.' You had to think of the amount of demons in Levesque City as some sort of small community; everyone knew something about each other, so maybe there would be a demon out there who knew about Baron's plan, or at least some details of it. Any detail, whether it would be big or small, could be useful.

'Do you want to come with me?' Finn asked.

Paige shook her head. 'I can't, remember? If they see me with you, they won't only hurt you, but me as well. Hell, I think they're going to hurt me even worse than you.'

'Oh damn, you're right...' Finn mumbled. He felt like such an idiot for forgetting that one thing that the female demon feared for the most. 'Sorry about that.'

But Paige didn't reply for a little moment, staring at the table leaf as if she was lost in her thoughts. Then she suddenly looked up. 'But I can come along with you, as long as they don't recognize me.' she said. 'I can transform into an animal, like a cat or a crow. Maybe a crow, I think I still have a crow's feather in by backroom. I can keep an eye on you like that. As long as I keep my distance, nothing can go wrong. What do you say?'

Finn thought about it. It didn't sound like a bad idea at all, the demons wouldn't expect a crow to be a demon witch in disguise if she kept a safe distance. Unless they would sense an aura around her if she got too close, everything would be fine. And Paige was everything but dumb; she would know how far she would have to stay away and keep an eye on the demon hunter at the same time.

He nodded. 'Alright then.'

'Good. So we have a plan then.'

'Aye. Let's not waste any more time. Let's go.'

'You're right. Give me a moment, I'll go get that feather.'

After Paige unlocked the backdoor of The Pentagram, she briefly stuck her head through the doorway and quickly looked around to see if anyone was in the alley. Luckily there was nobody there, no demon nor human, which pleased the demon witch very much. There was nobody to see her transform into a crow or see her sneak out with a notorious demon hunter. She glanced to the sky, which had colored in a deep shade of dark grey; looks like they were going to get a rainstorm tonight. Paige twirled the big, black crow feather between her thumb and index finger and stared at it for a brief moment. It had been quite a while since she had transformed into an animal, she just hoped she wouldn't waste this one last feather and successfully transform. The female demon looked over her shoulder, looking at Finn who was standing behind her.

'It's clear, come on.'

The two stepped outside and Paige locked the backdoor. She held the crow feather in front of her nose, closed her eyes and slowly breathed out through her slightly parted lips, focusing on her powers. The female demon whispered a spell in an ancient language that had been long forgotten in the Demon Realm. Finn watched as the feather seemed to float on its own; the magic seemed to start to work. Then a bright, purple glow fully engulfed Paige, covering each part of her body. The shape of her body began to morph into a different shape, shrinking and growing a pair of wings and a beak. Two talons grew along with them. The purple glow faded away, revealing Paige's new form; she had transformed into a big crow, her feathers black as the night and small black eyes that nearly resembled small gems. Finn couldn't help but be amazed by the transformation, he had never seen his landlady doing this before. Crow Paige let out a caw and fluttered her wings to stay in the air. She flew to the rooftop of The Pentagram and for a brief moment, it looked like she was giving the demon hunter a little nod.

Time to head out.

Knowing that Paige was right behind him and keeping a watchful eye on him, Finn ventured through the dark alleyways, managing to avoid trashcans and trash bags despite the darkness that seemed to deepen more and more as time went by. He had been in these alleyways so many times by now, this obviously wasn't the first time he had walked through these narrow passages. But that didn't mean that the demon hunter was allowed to feel safe while venturing through the shadows. Every demon hunter knew that danger could be lurking in the shadows, ready to strike and kill you as soon as you got close enough. And Finn was pretty damn sure that there were demons in this city who would be willing to hide in the shadows of any goddamn alley and wait for an eternity for him pass them by, so they could attack him and kill him on the spot. Remembering that, Finn clenched his fingers around the grip of his pistol in his pocket.

He was more than ready to put a rock salt bullet through a demon's head if it dared to attack him; but not before he would try to squeeze some answers about Baron's plans out of them. There had to be one or two demons out there who would know about this, it just had to be! Finn was convinced about that. He wouldn't return to The Pentagram unless he would get some answers tonight.

It was like most of the residents of Levesque City had watched the weather forecast this evening, because he saw that the streets were nearly empty. When he exited the shadowy alleyways and crossed the street, Finn saw a young couple walking down the streets, possibly heading towards the bars or clubs that were located in the center of the city, holding each others' hands; he could even hear the girl giggle out loud.

He ignored the pain that was welling up in his heart and reached the other side of the street. The demon hunter faintly heard the sounds of flapping wings right behind him, Paige was thankfully still close. He entered another alleyway, hoping that he could find a demon here. The skies were turning darker and it wouldn't last long before the first raindrops would fall.

'No, please... stay away from me!' an old man's distressed voice could be heard whimpering in the distance. There was no doubt about it; someone needed Finn's help, right now.

The demon hunter ran into the direction of where the voice was coming from. Getting closer and closer, he could hear that more fear was added to the old man's voice, as if he was about to lose his life... which was probably the case. Turning around the corner, Finn noticed that the man had fallen silent and he could clearly see why. The voice belonged to a homeless man, dressed in a thick, worn-down winter jacket, torn jeans and dirt-stained shoes. He was completely powerless as a young woman with bright red hair, of which a thick lock of hair covered the right side of her face, forced his mouth open and sucked out a strange, thick, blue mist out of him, consuming it. His life force, Finn realized in the blink of an eye. There was no way in hell that she was a normal human being; this was a demon.

'Hey!' Finn shouted, pulling out his pistol. 'Let go of him!'

But it was already too late for the homeless man; as soon as the female demon let go of his jaw, his lifeless body slumped to his side, dropping dead to the ground. Finn could see the female demon quickly pulling something that resembled a surgical mask over her mouth and she ran away from him as fast as she could. But there was no way that Finn was going to let her get away. He immediately started the chase, following her through the shadowy alleyway. The red-haired demon was just a few meters away from him, but the demon hunter could clearly hear her ragged breathing. He was faster than her, just a little more and he would be able to catch her. The female demon must've realized that, because her breathing now had something panicky. They reached a T-shaped end and she turned left, quickly grabbed a trashcan and pulled it to the ground, blocking the path and causing the content to spill out. Rotten pieces of food, cans and pizza boxes rolled onto the ground. She was trying to slow him down, Finn realized. Before his foot could touch one of the pieces of trash, he swiftly jumped over the trash can and continued to run after her. The female demon briefly looked over her shoulder and let out a horrified shriek, realizing that her plan had failed. Much to his surprise, Finn saw that she was suddenly running much slower; he could swear that he heard her panting. Was she tired already? But how? She had just consumed a life force... But there was no time to wonder about that. Within less than three seconds, Finn had gotten close enough to her to reach her and tackled her to the ground with full force. The red-haired demon let out a pained grunt when she hit the ground with a painful thud. Finn turned her around on her back, facing her. A thin surgical mask covered her mouth, while a lock of hair still covered the right side of her face. A glimpse of panic was lingering the red-haired demon's visible left eye, but when she blinked them it had disappeared, as if she had just realized that there was still a chance of escape.

'You wouldn't hurt me, would you?' she spoke with the most seductive and hypnotizing voice the demon hunter had ever heard. 'I am the woman you have always dreamed of, darling. Let me go and I shall make all your desires come true. I will be the love of your life. You wouldn't want any other woman than me...'

Oh fuck... she was a succubus, Finn realized; but from the very first moment she had started speaking, he could feel his head growing lighter and lighter, as if he was being sucked into a deep trance. It felt so peaceful for a moment, it was just this seductive, feminine voice and nothing else. Finn was on the verge on giving into the trance, but then quickly remembered his training. If he would fall for a succubus' spell, it would be the end of him! He had to snap out of this, fast! There was a way to escape from this trance, he had learned this from his training. While the voice slowly took over his entire world, the demon hunter closed his eyes and focused on something in his mind with all the mental power he had. He formed a clear image in his head, an image on which he would always hold onto, no matter how old he would become.

It was the face of the woman he would always cherish. She had long red hair, olive green eyes and the friendliest smile he had ever seen. God, that mental image looked so real, he could swear he could burst into tears. But the image was there, he had to focus on it and block out the voice. He concentrated as hard as he could and found a way to silence the seductive voice that was trying to pull him.

'Becky... Becky... Becky...' Finn whispered to himself. Chanting that name worked perfectly, it almost instantly blocked out the voice and drove it out of his mind.

That's when Finn snapped out of the trance. He opened his eyes and glared at the succubus, who immediately realized that her last attempt to escape had failed. Her eye grew wide with horror when the demon hunter grabbed her hair and slammed the back of her head against the ground for three times.

'It's over, ya bitch!' he growled. 'Now what are ya hidin' underneath that mask?' He grabbed the surgical mask and ripped it off her face with one swift pull.

Finn's heart skipped a beat in shock when he lied eyes upon her mouth.

A large, wide, deep, open, dark red cut had diagonally sliced her mouth open, cutting through her lips and exposing her gums and most of her teeth. The lock of hair that had been covering a part of her face had slipped away and revealed her grotesque eye, the eyelids removed and the sclera colored light red. Finn couldn't help but be shocked by the succubus' horribly mutilated face and she could clearly sense it.

'Goddamn you!' she hissed angrily, barely understandable due to her mutilated mouth.

Finn suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings behind him, followed by a thud. Briefly looking over his shoulder, he saw that Paige had transformed back into her human form. The demon witch quickly looked around her to see if nobody was there, then walked towards Finn and the disfigured succubus with a worried look on her face.

'Holy hell... Eva Marie, is that you?' Paige asked, kneeling down next to her. 'What the bloody hell happened to you?'

'Do ya know her?' Finn asked in mild surprise, still holding the succubus down with all his strength.

'Yeah, she's Baron's lover. What is she doing here? Good God... who has done that to you, Eva?'

'Paige...' Eva Marie looked away, her face turned into a wry mask of shame. 'Baron...' she mumbled. 'It... it was him! He has done this to my face!'

Paige knew that Baron was one vicious son of a bitch, but mutilating his own lover... she hadn't expected that he was ruthless enough to do that. She must have done something to piss him off big time, the demon witch realized. Whatever it was, it looked like Baron did not only want to hurt Eva Marie... but he also wanted to humiliate her.

'That motherfucker cut my face and left me to rot on the side of the road!' Eva hissed through her teeth, spitting out little droplets of spit; it surprised both Finn and Paige that they were able to understand each word she was saying despite the fact that her mouth was sliced open. 'He wanted me to starve! Each man that wanted to give me a ride drove off as soon as they saw my face! No man would ever fall for a face like this, Baron knew that! I've heard that in Levesque City there were a lot of demons, so I assumed that Baron was there too... I want to make that fucker pay for what he has done to me! He has ruined me! It took me a few days, but I'm here... and I will fucking murder him as soon as I find him. I will... I will...'

Eva's ranting was abruptly interrupted by a loud coughing fit. Only now Finn saw how weak the broken succubus actually was; her skin was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. He knew that succubi heavily relied on their beauty to reel in men and consume their life force; they needed that life force to survive. But thanks to Baron she was slowly starving to death. God knows when the last time was where she consumed a life force, now wonder she was so weak. One life force would never be enough to refuel a weakened demon's strength.

'Eva, calm down for a moment and listen to me.' Assuming that she would be too weak to run away, the demon hunter decided to let go of her. His assumption was proven right; the mutilated succubus sat up and didn't show any signs of planning to run away again. And even if she tried to flee again, Finn would catch her with ease. 'We need to know somethin' very important, okay? Ya are... well, were Baron's lover. Did ya leave the Demon Realm along with him?'

Eva Marie silently nodded.

'Did he tell ya about what he's plannin' to do here? Why is he here? What is he up to? Tell me, Eva.'

'He... He told me that he wanted to find a half-demon called Finn Bálor. As soon as he would get a hold of his blood, he would use it as ink for his tattoos and become the strongest demon in the Demon Realm... that's all I remember.'

Finn's heart was not the only one that had just skipped a beat. Up until now, Paige had no idea why Baron would want to roam the Mortal Realm... but now it was perfectly clear why. They have finally found the answers they were looking for. Goosebumps appeared all over her arms, but at the same time, an important realization struck her. She scooted closer to Finn.

'Finn, I know what might be going through your head now, but don't kill her.' she said with a hushed tone in her voice. 'Right now, Eva's our best chance to get to Baron and stop him. We can take her back to my place, I can heal her back to health! She's our only lead, Finn. I will make sure she won't-'

Both of them didn't notice the thin, green, horizontal line that suddenly appeared on Eva's body; it took a single muffled bang to interrupt the conversation. Where the hell did that come from? It sounded so close, as if the shooter was... right behind them. Finn heard Paige letting out a startled gasp and saw that she was looking at Eva. His eyes grew slightly wider with shock when he saw why she gasped.

Eva was lying on the ground with a tiny hole in her forehead, her eyes wide and staring at the dark grey sky; blood emerged from the hole trickled down her left temple. Their only lead had been killed with one single shot to the head.

'What the fuck?!' Finn hissed, both in surprise and anger.

'Hmm, let's see if a mutilated succubus is just as much worth as a living one...' an unfamiliar voice with a Spanish accent mumbled behind them.

Looking behind them, Finn and Paige saw a tall man with tanned skin, short black hair and wearing a white blouse, black trousers and neatly polished black leather shoes, looking at a square-shaped device he was holding in his hand. A pistol could be seen in his other hand; fresh smoke was trickling from the muzzle. The corners of his mouth curled into a smug grin, exposing her bright white teeth.

'Buena tarde.' the man said. 'My apologies for not properly introducing myself. My name is Alberto Del Rio, professional demon hunter and proud member of the Legion Of Hunters. Pleased to meet you.'