What Crawls Below

12 § One Witch, Two Witch

As if this were a totally normal housecall, Raziel rang the doorbell.

On the other hand, Cyrus's fight-or-flight instincts were kicking in. The day had dragged on and the only place he wanted to be was a bed, preferably at least a few miles away from Tuesday's aunt. And what was the point of trying this anyhow? It seemed like a longshot.

Before Cyrus could think of a way to convince Raziel they should turn back, the door opened. In less than a second, the bright expectant expression on the woman's face morphed into shock, and then anger. "You're not welcome here," she said, pointing a finger at Cyrus like it could double as a knife. Turning to the demon beside him, her expression only grew more agitated.

"Oh, Jesus," she whispered.

"Not even close," Raziel said, no hint of concern on his own face. He nudged the door open and in her shock, she let him past. Cyrus had no choice but to follow him inside, although he tried to shoot her his most apologetic look. "Truly sorry to barge in like this, but we've got a cosmic level problem on our hands here and I think you're just the person we need to help--" he cut off with raised eyebrows.

She gave Raziel a malice-filled glare, and Cyrus noticed her hand twitching down into the pocket of her apron. He tensed, fearing the worst, but this only caused Raziel to laugh.

"Aw, c'mon, doll. That's a myth, salt isn't going to hurt me--why don't you save yourself some dignity and just humor me here?"

"My soul cannot be tainted without my permission," she retorted, crossing her arms, "and I refuse to consort with the likes of you."

Raziel clucked his tongue. "You're really only dragging this out. I'm not leaving until we have a proper discussion." Hearing Cyrus's concern of what she might do in retaliation, Raziel half-turned his head towards him and added, "Nah kid, she may be a witch but it doesn't make her any less human."

"That's derogatory," the woman hissed.

"Maybe if we were on a first name basis this could be a whole lot friendlier."

Looking between the two of her uninvited visitors, she exhaled sharply. "Alright, my name is Mary--but don't bother telling me yours. I don't need or want to know." She wrung her hands together, and Cyrus had a feeling if she had her way, they'd be around his neck. "What is it exactly you think I can do?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be quite agreeable to it--you seem to have a similar aversion to his, ah, 'bad karma'."

"Gods help me," she whispered bitterly. This only earned yet another laugh from Raziel, and Mary looked back to him sharply. "Your beliefs do not cancel my own."

Raziel simply folded his own arms across his chest, awaiting an answer. Cyrus stood off to the side, still fighting the urge to bolt; it was like being in the middle of a stand-off between lions.

"Would you rather this little rascal continue being his dark and twisted self?" Raziel murmured, all humor leaving his tone. "I know you've noticed that niece of yours isn't totally normal either, and believe it or not I'm trying to keep her from going down a similar path."

The mention of Tuesday brought an even harsher bite to Mary's tone. "I don't want him anywhere near my home or niece."

"She makes him more human, and besides, you can't keep them separated for long." Raziel's voice dropped, lacking any emotion as if he were commenting on the weather or something else equally trivial. "This kind of thing...it always comes back."

That seemed to crack a bit of Mary's resolve and she wavered, unspeaking for a moment before her expression hardened again. "So, what I'm hearing is, Tuesday helps him--but what is he doing for her?"