"Will she really kill them all, Dante?"
"She'd wipe their entire race off the face of the planet if she could."
The two of us had been engaging in conversation to pass the time it seemed, with no calls coming in I figured I might as well get to know my pint sized roommate. I asked her if she had any siblings, turned out she was an only child. Her Parents both worked within the Christian Monastery in Capulet City, which gave me reason to believe that they were adamant in denying that their only daughter's night terrors were the result of demons having targeted her for her rebellious ways. They seemed to resent her for staining the family's God abiding image by being ravaged by the Incubus… As if she willingly allowed them to do so. Missy had been long deemed to be the so called Anti-Christ of the family, and was labeled as an attention starved delinquent by many of her family members . Her run in with the Incubus only fostered the idea more so.
"They probably don't even care I'm gone…"
"Well, I beg to differ." I disagreed, "If they really didn't care, chances are you wouldn't be here."
She took what I said into consideration. Realistically, if her parents didn't give a damn, I would have never been called. Missy would have never spotted me lurking around the house, and she wouldn't have followed me back to Devil May Cry looking to have me slaughtered. I'd be spending the night like so many before, alone.
I asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, the answer made me smile.
"I'd sure like to kill demons for a steady pay."
I chuckled, "Like I don't have a hard enough time keeping a roof over my head with just one competitor."
The sun was steadily nearing dusk as night soon followed. the two of us sitting on the couch flipping through channels on Tv. Much to my surprise, Lady had been uncannily kind enough to order another pizza hours after she'd left us. We both soon had our fill and were succumbing to post pizza couch potato syndrome damn near dozing off. Truly a little slice of heaven. A few beers, about an hour with my bed and a nice woman to myself and I could have died a happy man.
We'd finally settled into a movie to watch for the next couple of hours, upon its ending Missy got up and asked, "Dante..?"
"Yeah." I responded wearily.
"I-I really need to take a shower…" She hesitated to admit.
I nodded and smiled, "Yeah, I was going to say something, but I figured that wouldn't be very polite of me now would it…"I waved my hand in front of my face jokingly, "When was the last time you bathed child?"
She wrinkled her nose and cut me a dirty look. Tread carefully Dante. Wouldn't want to end up with another bullet between the eyes.
"Towels are hanging up in the bathroom," I pointed my thumb towards the door in the back, "take as long as you want. Just leave your clothes by the door and I'll throw'em in the wash. I'll let you know when their clean. "
With that, Missy scurried off to the washroom. Upon hearing her set of clothes clatter to the ground and the running water from the shower, I pried myself out of my spot in the couch to retrieve her clothes to throw in the wash. The poor kid hadn't washed in almost a week having calculated when she ran off from her home and the time she spent at Devil May Cry.
Something about the situation was slightly unsettling; I realized I'd never washed women's clothing and undergarments before… Then I quickly thought, of all the difficult things in the world, surly washing women's clothes couldn't be that testing… Besides, there were tags on the articles that typically indicated how they should be washed, sure enough, there wasn't that much difference , the kid had a few layers of tops, a pair of jeans, striped toe socks…. Huh, like gloves for your feet? And lacey… Ugh.. In the wash they all went. Hoping dearly that I didn't accidently destroy any of the kids clothes. God help me if I did… they looked expensive.
I stretched the full length of the couch and continued to watch TV, the sound of the shower in the back room lulling me on the edge of being awake, and falling into many hours of sleep, but the sound of the Washer finishing signaled that they were ready for the dryer, I peeled myself off the couch once more and sauntered into the room where the machines were being kept and tossed the clothes absent mindedly into the dryer and set the time.
"Missy" I called through the door knocking, "Your clothes are drying now, you didn't drown did you?"
"Very funny, you know how long it's been since I'd had a bath?" She queried, her voice echoing throughout the bathroom, "You stop showering for a week and see what happens."
I considered her notion, and chortled, "Strange kids probably wouldn't break into my shop and steal my pizza, that's for sure."
"Ha, very funny"
I made my way back onto the main floor where I took up the pool cue and struck the 8 Ball scattered amongst the others into a corner hole, but quickly lost interest. The Jukebox glowed its typical neons and I felt some ambient music was in order. I walked over and skimmed through the track list I had, falling at Nirvanas Smells Like Teen Spirit...
Missy played this song like a pro, with some consistent lessons and plenty of encouragement, I wouldn't put it past her to go off and become a famous rock star… But then I remembered her parents, and chances are they were convinced she could turn her ways around and fall in love with the idea of becoming a Nun than taking up something she clearly loved. Delusional, I thought.
Once you got past the eccentrically spiked jet black hair, the eye makeup, abstract clothing and the fact that she'd spend the last month being ravaged over and over by horny demons, she was a great kid with a bright future.
"Dante! Are my clothes done yet?" I heard Missy call from the bathroom.
"Not yet kiddo!"
"I'll wear them how they are!" She attempted to negotiate, "I don't mind!"
" Forget it! I'm not going to let you prance around with damp clothes!" I finalized now yelling at the bathroom door, "You'll catch a cold and you're not getting sick on my watch. Just fill the tub with hot water and relax for a bit."
A few seconds passed and I could hear the sound of the faucet from the tub run once more for several minutes until it almost reached the brim of the tub, and the only sound left throughout the office was that of the dryer running, and the closing chorus to Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Finally, the dyer stopped and I quickly left to retrieve them for Missy… Then I realized I'd made a huge mistake with the undergarments…
"Shit…" I muttered holding up her bra delicately by the straps, completely warped out its typical cup shape. I knew I shouldn't have put the undergarments in the dryer….
I'd never wanted Lady's presence more than I did at that moment…
I separated Missy's clothes and brought them to the bathroom door, where I damn near hesitated breaking the news to her then and there, but thought twice about it… I didn't want Missy to think I'd been purposely messing around with her undergarments; it was an honest mistake after all. But that might not come off that way to a teenage girl…
I knocked on the door and anxiously called into the washroom , "Missy, your clothes are here whenever you're ready."
"Finally!"
Within seconds the bathroom door flew open to expose a drenched toweled up Missy bending down to reach for her clothes, she stopped short of noticing her distorted bra and picked it up in the same fashion I had, she dangled it in front of her and glared up at me.
"You put it in the Dryer didn't you…"
Now I don't know it it's possible, but I could feel my face burning with discomposure and surly reaching a shade of red that matched the Crimson Harley parked in front of the shop, which certainly didn't go unnoticed.
"Are you blushing?"
She asked it in such a horrified tone I couldn't help but try to look innocent, despite knowing better.
"I-I didn't know it would do that!"
She shook her head and with the roll of the eyes, retreated back into the washroom closing the door behind her.
I could do nothing but hang my head in shame…
"Got a lighter?" I heard her call after a few moments of silence, "Might as well burn it, it's no good no more."
A lighter? Really?
"Why not just throw it out?" I asked dumbfounded at the closed door before me.
"I always wanted to burn one!" She declared excitedly, any discomforting awkwardness I had felt within those seconds seemed to be alleviated with that one sentence.
I reached into a pocket and produced a lighter where I slid it underneath the bathroom door, and I left her to it.
"Burn you oppressive man-made contraption!"
I had to hold back roars of laughter…
I soon discovered after Missy had immerged from the bathroom that I was going to need to keep my eyes averted from her for the rest of her stay. Eventually I'd just had enough.
"Alright, bedtime ya little bra-burning-anarchist you."
For hours after she'd came back out of the shower she just sat there on her end, enjoying her new found freedom. She ditched the 2nd layer top and was now simply sporting her torn jeans, toe socks and a tank top… GOD this was uncomfortable… Sure, if it was Lady or Trish prancing around Devil May cry letting it all hang out I'd have no problem with that, hell I'd probably make a few cracks about it… But this was someone's 14-15 whatever-teen year old daughter, and I just simply lacked the know-how on telling a woman of any age that she needed to dress little more conservatively, either way I'd sound like a sexist pig. There was no winning with the exception of keeping my gaze strictly averted. Problem solved.
"Guess it is late." She declared, she bent over the couch to reach for her zip up jacket and walked towards the door leading up to my bedroom, "G'night Dante!"
"G'night." I wished and was completely relieved with the sound of the door closing. Now I could finally lift the burden of needing to keep my eyes allocated to a certain portion of the shop.
I'd been awaiting Lady's return with good news; that the Incubus she was hunting had been slaughtered, along with any of its survivors and that Missy would be able to go home by sunrise, but come 2:00AM and with no answer, I'd decided it was time to call it a night, and head to sleep.
Perhaps it was my deeply hidden paternal instincts coming out, but I almost liked having the kid around. She provided decent music when asked, better than the jukebox half the time, and could carry an intelligent conversation, when it wasn't being riddles with expletives... But I quickly remembered that whether I wanted it or not, I would have to be out of her life, and that there was a good chance once she did return to her family, that they'd more than likely abandon Capulet City out of dishonor of their daughter… Never to return.
What a shame… Perhaps I'd see her name somewhere in the future as a front woman to a heavy metal band.
I'd dug out blankets from the laundry room along with a spare pillow and threw them onto the couch, discarding my coat and knocking my boots onto the floor at the end, to soon drift off into a peaceful sleep…
But sleep didn't come easily. As I'd tried to fall into a peaceful slumber I couldn't help but try to wrap my brain around why exactly the Incubus targeted Missy… I tried to think like them with their deep seated instincts; to seek out fertile women and will them into paralysis, allowing me to take them for as long as needed.. I Tried to see the world through their eyes; seeing every woman as a possible host. I imagined feeling what they feel; a quenching lust for gratification that my purpose had been fulfilled, and that it would only be a matter of seeking out another victim. Never truly satisfied. I imagined walking through my office with the intent to hunt down a victim, and have my way with them…
My footsteps soon lead me at the bottom of a door leading up a flight of stairs, where I grabbed the handle and found myself into a bedchamber where a figure lay there, fast asleep. Slowly, I found my way to the foot of the bed. I placed my hands and knees at the bottom to soon crawl my way towards the body.
A drowned out scream filled the air. I was quick to silence it with my hand, and stared deep into my victims' soul, it was female… soon the need to silence her was no longer needed as my gaze restricted her will to struggle against my grip.
I proceeded to remove the blankets from her to reveal her slender young body illuminated in the moon's light streaming into the bedroom… Truly enticing… this would not be over quickly…
I slowly ran my finger down the length of her torso, from her chest down to her abdomen. Simply stunning, I thought. My lips soon met a tender spot against her neck where I could feel her pulse racing like mad, I planted tender kisses on her lips as I caressed her skin softly. As my lips lightly brushed against her flesh I could feel myself give in to pure lust.
That one simple feeling quickly took over all form of reasoning.
Clothing clattered to the ground, and the sight of blankets being ripped off the bed soon followed where I had my victim completely cornered with nowhere to go but within my grasp. Moans began to echo throughout the room, becoming more labored and frantic as cries from both of us heralded sweet release. I wanted more… Again and again I sought to fulfill my insatiable yearning to feel her flesh against mine, and feel the overwhelming sensation of reaching over the edge or pure lust.
For hours this continued until I felt my surrounding blur and the vision was gone.