Runaway Devil
35

As I walked through the human's streets, the taste of opossum still in my mouth, I found their presence irritating. I have been searching for Karau for weeks. I stayed to the outskirts and trying to go unnoticed, but I still seemed to turn heads. I paid them no mind.

I caught my reflection in a window, I looked ragged and wild. I had been living in their wilderness, which was easy enough. They had vegetation all over the place, which encouraged plenty of prey to stick around. My stomach was full and I did not find myself wanting for anything. Apart from Karau. My human hair had grown, it was longer than it ever was in Hell. It touched the tops of my ears and even fell into my face.

I kept moving, my stride was longer and more aggressive than the people around me. In this realm, you needed money for everything. Lodging, food, supplies, you couldn't trade a kill for any of it. We valued food and water in Hell more than these humans did. They wanted things. Humans surrounded themselves with material possessions and made it a competition to see who could die with the most stuff. And in order to obtain these things, you needed money.

In their realm, humans were at the top of the food chain. Supposedly, they were the most intelligent creatures here. But, they hadn't accounted for a demon to be walking among them. They were absent-minded, clumsy, and careless. Taking money from them was easy enough, all I had to do was demand it when it was dark out. Maybe grab them, and they just threw it at me. They feared the dark, or more like, they feared what was lurking in it.

I wanted something warm to drink. Their realm was colder than I expected. It didn't help that Karau was somewhere colder. I silently cursed her as I approached a rundown diner. The sign above the door read "Dan's Diner". I opened the door and was met with a blast of cold air. I grit my teeth as I felt the chill squeeze the back of my neck. I sat at the counter, the seat was sticky and creaked.

The waitress was an older woman, she looked tired. Her cheeks had turned to jowls, reminding me of Stella still back home. She was probably on the front lines with Thalmol and Igoth. She could never resist the opportunity for blood, the smell alone got her drooling puddles. The woman's nametag said "Judy" in faded letters, the lamination peeling at the corners. Her eyelids drooped over her pale eyes, which were lined with a thick layer of black.

"What can I getcha?"

"Coffee."

"Cream or sugar?" I shook my head. She set a mug unceremoniously in front of me, pouring a cup without looking at it. She responded to another patron, my presence forgotten. I turned my attention to the old television mounted on the wall. Taking a sip from my mug, I felt the hot liquid pour into my stomach. I imagined it sliding over the opossum, or what was left of it, bathing it in hot coffee.

The news was on, the picture grainy and the audio cutting in and out. Judy walked over and smacked the side of it, grimacing at the sound of something rattling inside. The anchorman was talking about a fire, a warehouse fire in a neighboring town. It had started in a side room, an accident. I set my mug down and paid close attention. Horrific accidents don't just happen, not usually. Shortly following the fire, a group of twenty-somethings had gone missing.

A woman tearfully explained to the field reporter that her husband had been in the warehouse, she swore it. The reporter asked why no remains had been found, not even in the ashes. No bones, no DNA, nothing. She became enraged, cursing in another language, tears streaming down her flushed face.

"Era ella, esa puta. Era ella," She was taken away, still sobbing in her language. The subtitles told me all I needed to know. A fire, quickly followed by multiple missing persons. Karau had to be there. I chuckled to myself and knew that she could only control her patience for so long. If I could barely restrain myself, she would have already snapped. We had been trained in the same ways of discipline, but I had a good ten to fifteen years on her. I knew how to be surrounded by prey and not salivate. But knowing her bloodlust and inner-rage, she was the one who killed all those people. I had no doubt.

I left money on the counter, my coffee still warm, and left. I made for the bus stop a few streets over. I had gotten used to human transportation, no matter how slow it was. I waited with a homeless man, my leg bouncing at an inhuman speed. My fists clenched and unclenched on my knees. I finally had a solid lead, I could taste it. The man looked at me nervously and scooched over, away from me.

"Do you know when the bus comes?" He shrugged and shook his head, trying his hardest to ignore me. He glanced at me a couple more times, probably trying to place my accent. I kept looking up and down the street for ten more minutes before I saw the bus's headlights. I climbed the stairs and handed the man a wad of money. "Could you hurry? This is urgent."

"Well, sure. I'll just put her into hyper-drive, maybe we'll run a few people over while we're at it." His smile flashed a mouth full of yellowed teeth that were too big for his face. I sneered and growled under my breath. I sat in another sticky seat and breathed.

The bus lurched forward, moving like an elderly woman who was being rushed. Stubbornly and painfully slow. I closed my eyes and tried to reach out. I followed the mental chain that connected me to Karau. It was thin, pulled taut with more than one kind of distance. Instead of running into a dark wall, as it had for weeks, it went further. She was close, her presence pulled me forward. My heart ached in my chest, longing for her. I grit my teeth and quelled my frustration. I wanted her with me, right then and there. I was tired of searching relentlessly. I needed her, I hadn't been the same since the day she left.

I could only hold those guards off for so long. The feeling of the heavy chains around my wrists and ankles haunted me. I dreamt of collars and rusted cages, even still. I pushed the memories back and stared out the smudged window, trying to think of Karau and nothing else.

I practically ran out of the bus, skipping the last two steps. I took a deep breath, taking in all the scents around me. They were mostly foul, reeking of human filth. There was a storm drain that inevitably led to sewage. Smoke and exhaust permeated the air. I walked down the sidewalk, passing by a gas station with a flickering sign.

I kept inhaling, looking, listening. The buildings lining the streets were piled on top of each other, various stoops occupied by groups of people. For the ones unlucky enough to not have a spot on the steps, they stood next to the banisters, watching the street. I bypassed them, making my way deeper into the center of town.

I was about to cross the street when I caught it. Karau. Her scent was faint, barely lingering. My heart skipped in my chest, and I took off running. My human legs were infuriatingly slow, my lungs weaker than I was used to. I followed it around the corner and all the way down that street.

I dodged people, almost knocking into them. If I had been in my true form I would have run right through them. My thick hooves would have trampled their fragile bodies. I pushed the thought aside and found a spot where her scent was stronger. I found myself in front of a tattoo parlor. There was a woman just inside, talking to a skinny man. His arms were gangly and covered in inkings. I thought of Karau and how she loved the idea of getting more inkings. We had little time at our disposal, but I had promised to take her to the best inker I knew. I saw the spark of joy behind her eyes. It had been just days before she left.

She had been at that shop recently, within the week. I pushed the door open, looking for any sign of her. The air was clean and crisp. But her scent faded, she hadn't been inside. I was trying to put the puzzle together with next to nothing. I approached the woman after the gangly man had left, and she smiled at me. It was lit up her face.

"Hello, can I help you?" Her voice was rich and friendly. A customer service voice. I looked at her for a second too long, not knowing what to say. I opened my mouth and her eyes slipped to my lips. "Were you looking to get work done today? Or do you have a consultation?"

"I'm looking for someone. A girl." She waited for more, but there was none.

"A girl?" Her brow furrowed and I felt heat slink up my back. I nodded. I had no idea what name Karau had chosen to wear.

"She may call herself Karau," I said. She took a moment to think, but then something flashed behind her bright eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't—" I interrupted her by grabbing her arm and pulling her towards an open door. She gasped shakily and clawed at my hand. She was about to scream, but I closed the door before she could get a breath out. I backed her up against the wall next to the door and covered her full lips with my palm. My nose almost touched hers as I stared at her with hard eyes. I felt her face heat beneath my hand as her eyes kept slipping to my lips.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I said. "I just need to ask a few questions." I consciously softened my face and waited for her to relax. She was breathing heavily through her nose, the air rushing against the back of my hand. "I'm going to let go, okay?" She nodded and I moved my hand back. Her lipstick had smudged and her face was flushed. I didn't bother to look at my hand, I knew it would have a red stain on it.

She stood flat against the wall and breathed in a self-soothing pattern. I waited but before I could ask anything, she took control. "Why are you looking for Kara?"

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