Succubus

Chapter 28: Under Siege

Tara woke up the next morning feeling queasy but well rested. It was a similar feeling to eating a lot of fast food and then falling asleep. Tara had gotten a similar feeling the previous night when she saw Charles. He was something she shouldn't be eating, but hunger made her desperate.

Charles was already awake. Her pseudo-brother stood at the window and looked out on the street. His hair caught the sunlight and seemed to glow. She could see the suggestion of someone else in his face, someone darkly handsome with horns.

"Did you do it for me?" she asked.

Charles turned around. His eyes seemed so much sadder than they were at the park. "I knew I didn't have a chance otherwise."

Tara felt flattered. More genuinely flattered than she'd felt since linking up with Vine. Plenty of people had been paying her compliments since she joined with the demon, but Charles was talking about the old Tara.

Tara sat on the floor with her back to the wall. She patted the ground next to her. Charles walked over and they sat side by side.

"A few years ago my favorite band was Tomorrow Collapses. The Summer before I started Freshman year their lead singer got married and cut his hair. I was so upset that I pulled all their posters off my wall."

Charles crossed his arms over his knees and rested his chin in the middle. "I'm not mad that it didn't work out between us. I'm mad that everyone is treating me differently."

"Well, I'm in the same boat as you. We've both got these things inside us. We decided to put them there, and now we just have to deal with it. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't feel bad because you had a crush that didn't work out. Everyone does."

Charles sighed. "I guess it did help me get closer to Barb," he muttered.

Tara worked really hard to keep her expression neutral. Barb was interested in a middle schooler. She didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. She felt a strange big sister urge to keep Barb away from Charles.

From outside the window came a muffled sound. It was voices all layered on top of each other. They sang a somber melody with a repeating hook.

"You hear that?" Charles asked.

Yeah," Tara said as she stood up to look out the window. As she got to her feet she became aware of a headache. It was like she hadn't drank any water all day.

Tara opened the window a crack. From outside came the subdued tones of a hymn. Down on the sidewalk a small group was huddled together holding posters and a bucket. They sang about the Lord being there in a person's time of need. It made Charles and Tara feel like someone was shining a flashlight into their eyes.

The crowd moved in step up a walkway and to the front door of another house on the street. They stopped singing and knocked. The door swung open revealing a small old lady who looked ready to fold in half.

"We're taking a collection for the families of those missing kids," the front singer said. Another member of the congregation showed the old lady a poster. It took her a while to adjust her glasses, and then an even longer time to find her purse. After finishing with the old lady the group resumed singing and slowly moved toward the next house. There were at least a dozen other houses on the block.

"We have to get out of here," Charles said. He'd left his spot at the window and was now huddled in the corner of the room with his hand over his ears.

"They can't do this forever," Tara said. She tried looking at the positives, also she didn't want to risk an encounter with the sword guy from school.

"I can't take another hour of it. I'm getting out of here and going home," Charles said. He stood up to leave.

Tara scrambled away from the window and blocked the doorway. "You can't leave. It's dangerous out there, and we're safe in here. We've got a place to sleep and it's gross but we've got food."

Charles looked at her like she'd lost her mind. A part of Tara realized what she was saying, but it was too late to back down. He moved to slip past her, but Tara got low and tackled him in the chest. They fell to the floor.

Like most middle school boys Charles was prone to go feral when he felt backed into a corner. All his limbs began to thrash as he tried to pull himself away. His feet squeaked on the floor and spun them in a circle.

Tara caught a few wayward arms to the face. She felt a jolt of anger and started pounding her fists on Charles's back. Inside her chest Tara could feel Vine urging her on. She was close enough to Charles to feel a similar urge coming from him. Vine and Erlik were just as eager to air their grievances.

Charles and Tara stood up, still locked in a sumo hold. They pushed each other out into the hall, but didn't watch where they were going. The stairs were coated in too much dust for sneakers to handle. Both of them tumbled down in a mess of limbs.

At the bottom of the stairs both Tara and Charles took a moment to catch their breath. Tara was the first to get up.

"Fine, get out. But I won't be here if you come back."

Charles stood up and limped toward the window. "I'm not coming back. I hope I never see you again."

"Brat."

"Loser."

Charles slammed the window shut on his way out.

Tara was alone again. She was angry enough that her skin felt hot. The singing outside wasn't helping. There wasn't even a basement she could wait in. Tara found a corner of the house farthest from her street and put her hands over her ears. It would be a long time until nightfall.