Succubus

Chapter 21: First Date

Chapter 21: First Date

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Adriel asked.

"Everyone skips a day now and then. I asked for a day off and my mom called me in sick." Tara didn't mention the bad feeling she'd had this morning. She barely had to act to convince her mom that going to school wasn't the best idea. "Also, why are we having our first date here?"

Adriel looked around. "What's wrong with the community center?"

Tara watched an old lady standing ramrod stiff as she pumped her arms and fast walked around the jogging track. "It's not exactly romantic."

"We met right over there," Adriel said as he pointed to a spot a few yards away. "Remember how romantic that was?"

Tara remembered chasing him down and extorting him. Still, she was flattered that he remembered where they first met.

"So we're playing ping-pong?" Tara asked.

She was standing on one side of the table, Adriel was on the other. He had his paddle ready; hers dangled from a limp grip at her side.

"I volunteer to do this with the families who move into Bridgeton. It's a great way to get to know someone."

"Next time I'm picking the date spot."

Adriel grinned. "Winner picks the date spot," he challenged.

Tara bent her knees and scowled. For a second Adriel thought he saw horns. "Serve the ball."

It wasn't an intense game. Tara had no experience and Adriel was used to playing against children. The ball bounced back and forth like a calm swimmer's heart rate. Adriel might have done better if he hadn't insisted on using pen grip.

"Best two out of three" turned into "best seven out of thirteen." The lead went back and forth with neither able to edge ahead of the other for long.

After getting to best twelve out of twenty three they took a break. The clock on the wall showed half past three. They'd played right through to the end of school. The games had attracted a small crowd without their noticing.

A group of middle and highschoolers watched the ping pong table from a respectful distance. It was strange to see two people who looked like models playing ping pong. Even their boring playing looked like a commercial for athletic wear.

"You wanna go get ice cream?" Tara asked.

"It's kind of cold for ice cream," Adriel said.

"So there won't be any people there."

"Works for me."

Together they left the community center, leaving a crowd of disappointed students behind them. The only place that sold ice cream in Bridgeton was in Mike Gonzales's garage. Mike wanted to start a home brewery, but Bridgeton was a dry town. Mike compromised and started making his own ice cream. It was good enough that the cops looked the other way on his lack of permits.

Tara and Adriel thanked Mike and sat together on the curb to eat. They shivered together as they ate, but no one was gawking at them.

"So you knew Vine?" Tara asked.

Adriel nodded. "I stayed in her house for a weekend. She must have become quite smitten with me."

Tara thought that was putting it lightly. The demon had chased him across layers of reality.

"Did you ever think you'd end up together?"

Adriel whittled his cone down with his tongue. "I'm used to people wanting things from me. Most of the time I'm happy to oblige, it's a great feeling to be needed. The way Vine needed me was hard to wrap my head around."

"How so?"

"Because it doesn't benefit the town. We're taught that angels are supposed to be as selfless as the demons are selfish."

"But you had fun today, and that didn't really benefit the town."

"It's protecting the town from you."

Tara jabbed Adriel in the ribs with her elbow. "If you just wanted to protect the town you could just hug and kiss me once a day and I wouldn't have to eat anyone."

She was half joking but Adriel seemed torn up. He stood up and headed down the block. "I had fun today, I'll try and pick a better spot for next time."

Tara was suddenly all alone on the curb. Just like that her first date was over. The ice cream tasted too cold to finish so she threw it at a tree.

"Asshole," Tara muttered.

Vine wriggled around in her chest, but Tara ignored the feeling.

"I'm not going after him," she whispered. "He's the one who should apologize."

Tara might have gotten more upset if she hadn't been interrupted. She heard the buzzing sound of a bike gear freewheel as someone cruised by her. The buzz suddenly stopped. Tara looked up toward the end of the block. A tall boy was turned halfway back toward her on his bike. He looked like a shadow set against the pink and orange sky as the sun set. Slung over one shoulder was a duffel bag. Tara blinked and for an instant she swore that an enormous bearded man was standing behind the bike.

Tara's guts twisted. She could feel Vine's fear, even if she couldn't explain it. With as much calm as she could manage Tara stood up and began walking away from the boy on the bike. She heard the duffel bag unzip and she walked faster. The hiss of bicycle tires across the asphalt closed in on her from behind.

Tara spun around just in time to see a sword descending on her head. She ducked and the sword only managed to clip a few of her hairs. The bike skidded to a halt. The boy dismounted and ran toward her.

In Bridgeton everyone knew everyone else. Tara recognized him from school, even if she couldn't put a name to his face. The moonlight shone off his sword as he closed in. Tara's head suddenly felt heavier. She reached up and felt a pair of horns just above her ears.

"Я нашел тебя" he whispered.

"Wait, I'm not hurting anyone! You don't have to do this."

"My mother doesn't count? What about the exhausted students I see at school?"

Tara remembered the dream at the art museum. If that really was his mom then she had crossed a line, but Tara decided to worry about that after she was out of danger.

"I didn't mean to hurt your mother. I have an agreement with the town angel. I haven't fed since that first night."

"Лжец, if not you then who?"

Tara didn't have an answer. She decided reasoning wasn't going to work.

His hand closed around one of her horns to hold her head in place. The sword loomed above her like a radio tower. Tara didn't think, she just spat in his eye.

The grip on her horn slacked just enough for her to pull herself free. The boy cursed and tried to rub his eye clean. He was blushing furiously.

Tara realized what was happening. She let out a laugh before she could stop herself. The boy slashed toward the direction of her laugh, but she was too far away. She scrambled over a wooden fence and began running through backyards. Garden sheds and chain link fences were a blur as Tara put as much distance as she could between her and her attacker.

After many blocks of hopping fences and zig zagging between houses Tara collapsed. She sat with her back against a mailbox and tried to get enough air to think. Was he an agent of heaven, here to stop Vine? If he was someone from school then he would have no problem finding a picture of her. There were yearbooks in the main office, and directories with phone numbers and addresses.

Tara took a deep breath. If home was off limits then she'd figure something else out. Being invisible was her specialty.