Hybrid

Chapter 29: One More Dance

"W-Why?" Alice uttered, watching me stare in fear at my mother up there. "Why would he... do that to them?" She whispered, turning to me. "Don't they work for him?"

"Yeah... but they were late."

"That's all?" She asked incredulously.

"That's all-- but he also seems to... dislike... humans; he thinks they're stupid and inferior for trying to be immortal, so that might play a part in it," I mumbled, watching my mother talk to Jole. "Do you think they know?"

"That Greed is planning to--?"

"Yeah," I responded quickly.

"I hope so." She said, studying me. "What's the plan if they don't?"

"If we're lucky, he doesn't know what we're doing here and if it comes to it... we get to him before he can get to them-- What the hell?" Out of the left side of the staircase, peeking out was a pair of red eyes, glowing, and though I knew that it could've been any demon... I could tell by the way the silhouette was standing that it was Greed.

"What, it's probably just a--"

"That's him," I said softly, looking away to my mother. "I can tell. I was hoping we could do a little more investigating, but there's no point with him standing there."

"We're so very sorry for the wait!" My mother said, laughing through the microphone. She looked surprisingly comfortable setting up for something like this. "We'll be playing a couple of slow songs in a bit for dancing, but I think--" She glanced back at Jole, smiling as he nodded, a smirk on his face. "Yeah, we got a song that requires a little more rock than normal. Is that cool with you guys?" The people around us started to group up towards the base of the stairs, laughing and nodding in affirmation.

"So what do we do?" She asked, not turning to me.

"Until he leaves, or until the music is over, we enjoy the show." Damn it. I couldn't tell what he was looking at; he could have been looking at me or the crowd, or the band... Would it be suspicious if I looked again? I shot another glance at him. He was talking to someone beside him. "Kind of wish I learned to read lips..."

"He said 'fetch me a seat.' I'll teach you after this is over." She said, her lips upturned in a smug grin.

"Alright." My mother was positively beaming up there, nearly crushing the microphone stand in delight. She looked so natural. She cleared her throat and spoke softly into the microphone, almost in the tone of a lullaby. "When the days are cold and the cards all fold, and the saints we see are all made of gold." Jole began strumming softly into the guitar bringing out a sound that felt too gentle for the electric instrument in his hands. "When your dreams all fail and the ones we hail are the worst of all and the blood's run stale!" She began to raise her voice, but it still sounded restrained and smooth. "I want to hide the truth, I want to shelter you, but with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide! No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed! This is my kingdom come, this is my kingdom come! When you feel my heat, look into my eyes, it's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide!"

As the people around me started to sing along, I couldn't help the grin on my face. "She's not very subtle, is she?" Alice yelled to me, barely loud enough to be heard over the volume of the people around us. 

"Yeah, I can't say that this song doesn't hit a little close to home," I laughed. It was such a strange sight; I had never seen my mother so... full of energy. Before all of this, she never did much-- I mean, she wasn't lazy or anything, she was just in constant pain and hated doing anything physical, but up there she was singing her heart out without a single ounce of control. She looked like she could do it forever. Her voice became rougher as she sang, but still beautifully... precise. It sounded like every note was in its proper place, even if its place was somewhere unusual.