Succubus

Chapter 32: Breakfast and a Proposition

There were only a few more hours until dawn. Tara weaved through yards dodging motion sensor lights until she was back on her own street. The sight of her house was enough to make her throat catch for a second, but she took a breath and kept moving.

On the outside of her window was an expired library card wedged between the two sliding pieces. Tara pressed the card forward and the latch unlocked. She lifted the window open with as much care as she could.

Inside of her room were pockets of stillness and pockets of disarray. Her desk had clearly been ransacked, likely by her parents or the police looking for clues as to where she might have gone. The bed was still made, and the things on her dresser had a thin sheen of dust over them.

Tara went over to the closet and began pushing things out of the way. She found what she was looking for and closed the door. Out in the hallway she could hear the buzz of a mechanical light timer. Two rooms away her parents would be asleep. Walking in and waking them up would be easy. They could all hug and cry and be happy that she wasn't missing anymore. Tara wanted to do that, but she might have to disappear again, and it wouldn't be fair if they thought she'd come back just to disappear a few days later. Tara wiped her eyes and went back out the window.

"It does not have to be goodbye," someone said from a bush.

Tara nearly suffered something that would send her to Vine's house. It took a moment for her heart rate to drop below 200bpm. She turned toward the bush and watched as Adriel stepped out.

"What are you doing back there?" she hissed at him.

"I can't just stand here in the middle of the night. Someone will call the police."

The argument was sound, but Tara was still mad. She grabbed him by the ears and began kissing his face. Anywhere that could be kissed got kissed. Both of them fell behind the bush.

An old man walking his dog happened to be passing by. He saw them fall out of sight. He chuckled to himself and kept walking.

After a few minutes Tara stood up. Adriel stood up a moment later and let out a breath.

"Sorry, I've been dieting for a few days," she said.

"It's ok. It's what I'm here for."

"How'd you know I was heading home?"

"After Daumantas saw you at Peter's house he started praying for guidance. I happened to hear it and figured you might show up here."

"Hm. So did you want something besides being breakfast?"

Adriel looked her dead in the eye. "Let's run away."

Tara felt blindsided. She'd spent all day scheming. Hundreds of scenarios had played through her head about how the Vine situation might work out. In some of them she died, in others everything went back to the way it had been, but what Adriel had just said was nowhere in her imagination.

"Why?" Tara stuttered.

"Because it's the best choice for everyone. Everyone is safe because you have someone to eat. Peter doesn't have to kill anyone. You get to live. We'll be able to stay a step ahead of Paimon if we try."

Tara didn't have to try hard to imagine it. Two divine beings on the road together, hopping from town to town. Paimon hadn't been able to find Tara even in a tiny town like Bridgeton. Imagine how easy it would be to hide in the rest of the world.

"I can't," Tara said.

Adriel looked like a hurt puppy. "Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't work. You're trying to juggle everyone's problems at once, and I'm playing host to a very selfish demon."

"So no go?"

"No. You and Vine will have to work things out yourselves. I can't be the go between."

Adriel nodded. "Then I'll help you however else I can."

Tara smiled. "I figured you would. I've got a job that only you can do."

"Of course, what do you need?"

"All the holy stuff you can find, bring it all to the dance tonight."

"From the churches?"

"That's where holy things usually are, yes."

"I can't steal from a church."

Tara felt Vine's frustration right there with her own. "Can you do it if it'll save a bunch of high schoolers tonight?"

Adriel thought. "I think so, I'll pray on it just to be sure."

"Good. Also, if this doesn't work and Peter has to kill me make sure my family gets my body back. Even if I turn into ashes or something, let them get some closure."

Adriel nodded. "Closure should be the last thing we give to those we leave behind."

With those romantic words they parted. Tara gave him a good luck kiss for the road.

Feeling fuller than she'd felt in days, Tara headed away from home. The sky was beginning to gain some color, so Tara needed to get off the street for the day. There were only a few more hours until the dance. Until then, she would have to lie low.