Succubus Tear (Triune promise) (11 page)

“Ah, exactly what I need,” he muttered, reaching within his blazer pocket. He pulled out a few crisp one-hundred dollar notes and wedged them in the bottom seam of the vault’s door. He stared for a few moments at the setup. No doubt Cain would assume the bills just fell out of place and would accept their presence without a second thought.

He reached out with his abilities, sensing the spiritual focus he placed upon the bills. Was the focus faint enough to escape the notice of the Succubus? It was unlikely she would sense the peculiarities of the money. But if she did, she was likely to destroy them out of caution and jealous spite. Although money always held a spiritual signature due to man’s worship of it, his trace on the bills was purposeful, and Succubi were jealous to a fault.

Walter looked about the room. No, he would not risk it. He paced about, determined to double his chances. He did not get this far to be stopped by the whims of a Succubus. He looked around at the items in the apartment. There had to be something else Cain would always keep close at hand. His gaze fell upon a Smith & Wesson handgun on the bookshelf.

Yes, that will do nicely!
He hefted the weapon and passed his thumb and forefinger over the trigger.

No! Damn you, Cain!
a shrill voice screamed in his mind, punctuated by a distant sound of a gunshot.

Walter placed his hand to his chest, where a large bloodstain was spreading across his shirt. He gave a quick look around; he was on the South End Harbor, and Cain was holding the now-smoking gun at him. There were three others: that Asian friend of his, holding back a struggling blonde woman, and the Succubus, who was screaming in fear.

The fool! He has no idea!
Walter shook his head, forcing the vision to break apart, and emptied the revolver.
Let these instruments of death be cursed! Let them never find flesh or blood.
He reloaded the revolver and placed it back onto the bookshelf.

“Now, what else?” Walter said, glancing about the apartment.

Apparently Cain wasn’t the type to hold onto objects of sentiment. Everything in the entire apartment seemed to follow an overlying theme of practicality. He would need something else. But for the moment, the money and his weapon would have to suffice.

He quickly took in the apartment one last time visually, making sure he left no obvious trace of his presence, and relocked the door with his cascade key.

“All is well, no?”

Walter closed the door of the waiting SUV and nodded to Jeannette, who drove off. “As well as it can be. I had no idea my plans would be moving along so far ahead of schedule.”

“This is a good thing, no?”

Walter shrugged. “Perhaps…Jeannette, I want to make a stop by the South End Harbor.” Walter got out his phone and quickly dialed in a number.

“Mister Jones, the gentleman involved in the altercation yesterday, is he working today?”

“No, sir, Mister Stratton. He is off today, but he and his friend will be back tomorrow.”

“Good. I want you to transfer him to the jobsite you have going on at Mercy Hospital, the day after tomorrow, for one day. Do not tell him of this new development until after five.”

“Um, sir? That job doesn’t require welding.”

“I am well aware of this, Mister Jones. Please do as I asked.” Walter quickly ended the call and thought hard.

“Walter, are you well? I do not think I ever heard your voice sound worried before.”

Walter sighed and looked over at Jeannette, who was still driving and sparing a glance over to him every so often.

“Quite well, Jeannette. I am not accustomed to good fortune. I am used to events following a plan, and a plan following a pattern.”

Jeannette smiled and clicked her tongue. “Even the best plans go awry, no?”

Walter shrugged. “Only for those who do not account for every angle.”

“And you do?”

Walter picked up his phone and dialed another number. “Always, from the very beginning.”

The First of Many Days

“What is a toilet?”

–
Al’bah

At first, Cain thought Al’bah’s playfulness was cute. But he never knew just how far her little trait could go, and how much attention it could draw. What started out as nothing more than a clothing run, had turned into the most awkward day of his life. As they walked through the mall parking lot, Al’bah started the day’s insanity by grabbing onto his jacket and pointing at one of the local police officers.

“I did not know humans could be sooooooo BIG!”

Cain’s shock was so complete at Al’bah’s blatant observation, he neglected to watch where he was going and smacked his head into a parking lot pole.

“And I didn’t know some humans could be soooooo DUMB!” the cop shot back.

Cain felt Al’bah grab ahold of him, and she ushered him quickly away from the scene. The mindless nausea from his new head trauma seemed to last forever, punctuated by a harsh ringing noise scrambling all coherent thought.

“There, you are well. Happiness fills me.”

He blinked; the nausea, the vertigo, and even the ringing in his ears were gone. His vision focused on Al’bah, who had a playful expression that was comical as it was inappropriate. “What the hell was that? What is wrong with you?” he hissed.

Her expression didn’t waver a jot. She blinked her eyes and continued to smile, bringing Cain to smile, too. “I am sorry for the antagonism, but I do not know why my observation made the overly big human so mad, or you so distressed.”

“You don’t know? You—what?” Cain suddenly felt very grateful he decided to visit the mall just as it opened. The realization of the apparent absence of social etiquette in Al’bah made him weary of what he might face today. “Um, look. Just follow me, and please try not to talk so loudly.”

“Of course.” Al’bah beamed, but her attention was quickly captivated by one of the more eccentric panhandlers. “Hey, look!”

Cain learned that trying to keep Al’bah under control just fed her little outbursts, and so he quickly gave up. But even though he walked as fast as he could, he could not stop the ongoing commentary Al’bah had while trying to keep up.

“Hey, look at that guy! Hey, wait a second! Look! Look!

“Hey! That human over there! That one is really a male! Look! Cain? Where did you go?

“Look! This thing is not a real plant! How strange!

“What is that? That thing sticking out of her ear?”

At last he made it to his favorite store, which was thankfully deserted with only one normal-looking and bored female cashier. “Okay, Al’bah, we need to find you some clothes that fit you,” he said, eyeing the store. “So do you want—dammit, where is she now?” He quickly found her in the men’s section of the store, admiring blue jeans.

“Al’bah.”

Al’bah didn’t even turn around or look up; she just moved slowly from one pair of pants to the next, caressing the material. “Al’bah?” Cain sighed and snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. “Hey! Al’bah!”

“Hmmm?” she muttered, looking at him at last.

“Al’bah, these are men’s clothes. C’mon, the women’s section is over here.”

“Oh, I thought these clothes were awkward on me,” she said, looking down at her outfit that was obviously too large for her.

“Al’bah! C’mon!”

Wide-eyed, Al’bah stood at the selection available in the women’s section. Her mouth opened in awe and slowly turned into a smile.

“Hey, Al’bah?” Cain said quickly, trying to keep her focus. He was getting to know the look she got when her attention wandered.

“Hmmm?”

“Do you want me pick out some clothes, or do you?”

Cain regretted that statement. After trying on almost every article of clothing in the store, Al’bah was at last satisfied with her selections.

At least she can fold clothes just like the store employees can,
he thought to himself as the lone store employee gathered yet another batch of clothes Al’bah didn’t want. Cain tried his best to pointedly look elsewhere. He felt the full unholy condemnation of the employee’s stare as she gathered up the perfectly folded bunch and forcibly shoved the pile back on the shelves.

He had offered to place them back, but the employee rebuffed him with the most polite smile and customer-service-eat-shit-and-die refusal he had ever experienced. So he had little to do but endure the harsh stares and wait for Al’bah to try on her “last outfit, I swear.”

Though Al’bah had come in and out of the changing room for
hours,
Cain was always amazed and somewhat excited to see how well she wore clothes fitting for a woman. It was a very revealing thing to see what sort of colors and styles she preferred. All the artwork he had ever seen of Succubi depicted them as (slutty) seducers, either wearing no clothing or wearing scant, revealing garments.

So he was surprised when Al’bah’s tastes leaned toward modest yet close-fitting clothing. Long sleeves, high collars, full-length pants, tame braziers, and boyshorts. Her color preferences gravitated to cheery colors: white, sun-yellow, and baby blue, with the occasional deep red and vivid purple. Her favorite type of garment also struck him as odd. She
loved
outerwear over everything else, such as jackets, coats, and hooded sweaters.

But his surprise was mixed with a strange apprehension. Al’bah was racking up quite a tally. The last time he checked, her numerous selections (about nine outfits, now working on number ten) were nearing his one-thousand-dollar limit. He started to think idly about getting a store card to offset some of the cost, as they offered a discount along with an interest rate.

One thousand dollars.
He sighed internally.
How many hours does that equate to, breaking my back in the hot sun or blistering cold? God, how the hell do these stores get the shitty justification to charge so much for clothes?
He sighed, about to get up to inquire about the card, when Al’bah’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“So, what do you think?” Al’bah said as she stepped out from the changing room for (what he hoped) the last time.

Her hair was pulled back with a brilliant white ribbon, contrasting her obsidian hair like the moon shining so fearlessly in the night sky. The shirt she picked out was a close-fitting purple tee that brought out the color of her eyes. Her pants were unremarkable stonewashed hipster jeans. Finishing off her look was an outrageous crimson sweater with a white faux-fur trim on the hood and sleeves, and matching boots.

“You look beautiful,” he said, amazed.

Al’bah smiled wide and spun around. “I would like to wear this outfit out of the store.”

“Right,” he said, returning back to reality and the entirety of Al’bah’s selections. “Let’s get this paid for and head back home.”

“Cain, wait.”

Cain clenched his teeth together. What did she want now? He couldn’t afford another outfit, and she—

“You are so wonderful to me, my precious Bond,” Al’bah breathed, taking hold of Cain’s arm and hugging it to her body.

“You give up a great deal to provide for my well-being,” she said, now taking hold of his other arm.

“Let my entire worth, and joy, declare my gratefulness to you. I thank you for your caring for me, of me, to me,” she whispered, now embracing his torso and kissing him.

“Uh, you’re welcome, Al’bah,” Cain breathed, feeling a bit out of breath. He never thought he could so easily let go of his frustrations to the hit his savings was about to endure. But Al’bah’s way of thanking him cut straight through his bitterness, making him feel so
needed
and perhaps happy.

He picked up clothes and made his way to the register. By this time, the store employee was at the end of her patience, expressing her frustrations by using excessive force on the cash register and the numerous bags, stuffing the clothes in with equal excessive force. Though Al’bah seemed oblivious to her ugly looks, Cain wasn’t. It was all he could do to not slink away to murder his liver at a tavern.

“Right, that comes to nine hundred and sixty-two dollars,” the cashier said through her teeth.

Cain never had a bank account, nor did he ever have a need for a credit card. He fished out his money clip and handed it to the cashier before he could change his mind.