Vicarious

by Jon F. Merz

  Her fingers reaching down traced the outline of his penis through his shorts.

  He moaned, feeling himself grow harder by the second.

  And when she freed him, the cold air only made him more eager to feel her surround him.

  “Steve,” she said hoarsely.

  He lay on top of her, kissing his way down her stomach, licking at a small deposit of water by her navel, tasting the outline of her stomach muscles. He moved down more at last coming to the tuft of light brown hair above her mound.

  His nose brushed by it as he opened his mouth and kissed her down there, again softly at first.

  Lauren moaned and let her hands find the back of his head. She pulled him onto her moistness entirely.

  Curran let his tongue slip inside.

  And Lauren let herself fall over the edge of ecstasy.

  ***

  Jesus Christ, it’s colder than hell out here, thought Kwon.

  He stood appraising the locale. Where should he relieve himself?

  The closest neighbor had a few shrubs he could stand behind. But they’d only conceal him halfway. He needed a stand of trees or something big like that to hide himself in.

  Not that he expected anyone to be awake. Around three o’clock in the morning most humans would be at their deepest levels of sleep. He doubted very much anyone would be awake and looking out their windows.

  But he glanced around again, just to be sure.

  What about demons? Did they sleep, too?

  Darius’ house had a huge grove of oaks next door. Some of the branches still had leaves on them, too. The safety of their thick trunks seemed to beckon him.

  Almost poetic justice, thought Kwon with a grin as he trotted across the street.

  Almost.

  ***

  On the bed, Lauren lost count of how many was they’d lain on top of each other. She wrapped her legs around Curran, never wanting the incredible sensations she felt to end.

  He looked down into her eyes from somewhere high above, thrusting himself into her. She cried out involuntarily as she felt herself building once again to orgasm.

  His eyes dripped lust and love into her own.

  She pulled him down, kissing him, licking him, urging him on.

  ***

  The stream of piss waned to a mere dribble, steam rising from the hot jet of yellow. Kwon sighed.

  Thank God, he thought.

  The wind roared around him. Cold flooded his body.

  What th-?

  Another gust of wind tore up the ground around him. Dirt flew in his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He slid his penis back inside his pants and tugged up the zipper. Time to get back to the warmth of his car.

  He wiped his eyes.

  And saw someone standing before him.

  Oh crap.

  Darius.

  “Enjoying yourself?”

  Kwon bent his knees slightly. He was closer than he should have been able to get. Almost in range for a kick. How did he get so close to me without me hearing him?

  He shifted his body weight back slightly. He could arc a kick up fast now.

  If he needed to.

  Kwon smiled. “Just out for a quick relief.”

  “Did Curran leave you here all alone?” He clucked twice. “That’s a shame.”

  Kwon felt adrenaline begin to drip into his bloodstream. His respirations came faster. He still doesn’t look like a demon, he decided.

  Darius smiled. “I don’t do I?” He backed up and let the ambient glow from the sodium bulbs down the street backlight him. “Well, I can change that.”

  He reads minds-? Kwon frowned, but already forgot about it as Darius began to change.

  And the horror of what he truly was began to show.

  ***

  Curran grunted, thrusting harder now in a rapid succession.

  Lauren broke the kiss, gasping for breath.

  Sucking wind.

  She gritted her teeth, lolled her head back against the damp sheets underneath them, felt her body tense and go liquid heat between her legs.

  Curran didn’t stop.

  He kept thrusting himself into her.

  Hilting at every advance.

  His eyes rolled back.

  His body stiffened.

  And then Lauren felt the sudden explosion of his own moisture deep inside her walls, heard him crying softly, whispering her name as they both tumbled falling falling falling into orgasm.

  ***

  The demon stood before him, its stench bubbling off him in waves that made Kwon want to retch and gag like never before.

  He held his hands up.

  So this was how it would be.

  Kwon looked beyond the hulking mass before him at the cop car. His mouth opened to shout but at the same time, a giant roar of wind erupted around him, drowning out his shout.

  Kwon tried twice more and each time, the winds drowned out his shouts.

  He wouldn’t get any help from the police.

  Kwon shifted into a fighting stance. The change came over him as easily as he drew a breath. Years of hard training had tuned his instincts well.

  But he’d never fought a demon before.

  The demon’s voice rumbled out of its cavernous chest, a growling guttural tongue filled with disgust. “As if you could harm me, mortal.”

  Kwon let his rage fill him. “I won’t die easily.”

  “But you will die.” It moved then, so fast, that Kwon barely had a chance to register it. A single misshapen claw reached out across the darkness and found his left forearm. Thick-yellowed nails scored his flesh, drawing blood. Kwon could smell the abrupt snap of copper tang in the air.

  My blood, he thought.

  He ducked and came inside, lashing out with a front kick at the juncture of the demon’s legs. Did demons have balls, he wondered as the kick sank into the crotch.

  Apparently not. It did little to affect him.

  A throaty laugh filled the air. “Pitiful.”

  Kwon redoubled his attack, launching a roundhouse kick that he used to wind momentum up and then arc a back spinning hook kick that landed his heel flush on the side of the demon’s mouth. A sharp crack sounded and a bit of gore shot out of the demon’s mouth.

  A tooth?

  Kwon grinned. There! He’d managed to score a hit.

  But the demon merely moved closer, arms dragging on the ground until they shot out straight at Kwon.

  Too many, he thought. He blocked the right but the left landed hard in his solar plexus. Wind rushed out of him. He gasped.

  Retched as the foul smell swept over him.

  Felt one of the demon’s hands lift him up into the air. Branches above him scraped at his head. Kwon struggled to kick and punch his way free as the demon’s fingers closed around his midsection.

  Kwon’s thoughts came at him fast now. How big were his fingers that they could wrap around his midsection? He couldn’t fathom it.

  The demon laughed.

  And brought Kwon’s face close to its own. Kwon tried to pull away. He could see the grimy teeth that looked like they were rotting out of their bloody stumps. The mouth suddenly seemed enormous.

  The demon brought him eye level and considered him. “Your time is now at an end, mortal.”

  Kwon kicked out again, catching him in the mouth. He felt a tooth bite through the fabric of his jeans and into the soft flesh of his foot. He screamed.

  Prayed it would be enough to wake someone – anyone up.

  “They will not awaken.” The demon pulled him closer. “And neither will you. Ever again.”

  Kwon felt himself hoisted skyward again. There was a rush and then his stomach exploded as the demon’s claws bore their way into his intestines, shredding and disemboweling him in an awful rush of blood, feces, and organs.

  Kwon screamed once more.

  But only for a moment.

  Chapter Thirty-Two
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br />   Curran watched the sunlight filter through the white lace curtains in the small bedroom where he and Lauren had shared a blissful few hours of passion. Outside the window, the winds had died down. The branches had stopped beating against the glass.

  And nestled in the crook of his arm, Lauren slept. She breathed easily, the warmth of her body radiating out from her. Each time she breathed, Curran could feel the hairs along his arms lift and fall in time to the rise and fall of her chest.

  He sighed.

  Content at last.

  He risked a look down at the beauty next to him. Everything about her seemed so incredibly perfect. Curran squeezed her into him a bit more. What have I don to be this lucky?

  He grinned. If Kwon could see me now. I owe that guy a drink. Hell, I’ll buy a round for everyone.

  Curran’s eyes felt drawn to the sun dawning outside. It seemed like this was the first morning in over a week that he’d woken up to something besides rain and wind. It wasn’t, of course, but the abundance of wind and cold and rain had almost drowned out his memories of warm weather.

  Not today. The sunlight spoke of promise. A new beginning.

  Curran nodded, mostly to himself. It was a new day. And it was time to make sure that the beauty of the sun had a chance to shine on earth for a long time to come.

  That meant dealing with the Soul Eater.

  His jaw hardened.

  His muscles flexed a bit.

  Time to take care of Darius.

  Lauren shifted, feeling his small motions. She turned over, her breasts brushing against his skin. Curran’s nerves responded by firing off a volley of impulses. Not all of them went to his brain.

  She smiled. Aware. “Good morning.”

  He kissed her on the lips. “Hi.”

  She came up on his chest, burying her face in his neck. He felt her hair and the warmth of her hands. He hugged her.

  “Some night.”

  Curran nodded. “That might be the biggest understatement of the century.”

  “The century just started. There’s still time to find a new winner.” She glanced at the clock. “It’s past seven?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Didn’t you say you were going to relieve Kwon at seven?”

  “I did. But I’m not concerned about the time.”

  She lifted herself up, breasts draped over him. “No?”

  Curran stared. “It was his idea that I come over here last night. I asked him if he minded me getting over there a little later today. He didn’t.”

  Lauren’s hands found their way around his neck. She pulled his chin up so their eyes met. “I like a man who looks at me when he’s talking.”

  Curran smiled. “You didn’t exactly make it easy to choose.”

  Her hands snaked down his chest, tracing useless patterns in his hair. A few inches lower and she smiled. “I guess I did make it hard on you.”

  Curran closed his eyes. “This is the best morning of my life.”

  She kissed him on his neck, fingers still busy elsewhere. “Compliments at such an early hour?”

  “It seemed appropriate.”

  She moved off to his side, suddenly breaking the physicality of the moment. He glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Did I do something?”

  She shook her head. “No.” She turned toward the windows. “Sun. At last.”

  “Nice to see it again, huh?”

  She sat up and moved to the edge of the bed. “This isn’t exactly how I pictured spending my time in the house of a priest.”

  “Well, I certainly feel reborn.” Curran eased out of bed and began sliding into his clothes.

  Lauren glanced at him. “Don’t make light of the situation, Steve.”

  “I’m not.” He sat down next to her. “Lauren, I had an absolutely incredible time with you. If it was up to me, I’d spend every moment of my life with you like that.”

  She tried to smile but it didn’t take. “I suppose we can’t live our lives that selfishly, huh?”

  Curran frowned. “Sure seems like everyone else does on this planet.”

  “Maybe that’s the problem.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe everyone else spends far too much time worrying about themselves when we all ought to be spending some time looking after other people. Isn’t that why we’re in such trouble?”

  “You think this can be tied back to the Soul Eater?”

  “Why not?” She frowned. “It’s because most of society could give a damn less about anyone besides their own self-interests that evil springs up in the first place. If we could reorient the way people think. Get them to consider the lives of others, not just their own – maybe we could make a real big difference.”

  “That’s a pretty huge task.”

  She nodded. “Just another item for my list.”

  “Your list?”

  “I’ve got a list of things I want to accomplish at some point in my life.”

  Curran slid his shirt on. “That must be some kind of list.”

  Lauren started dressing. Curran couldn’t help himself. His eyes stayed glued to her. The way she bent over to slid her panties on, the way she carefully eased her breasts into her bra, the way the turtleneck came on first followed by a pair of jeans. All of it seemed so…incredible.

  She stopped and turned suddenly. “Oh my God.”

  “What?”

  “Today.”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s been forty-eight hours, Steve. Sister McDewey will be planning to let the Cardinal know about the Soul Eater’s presence. We have to get to the demon first!”

  Crap. The last thing Curran wanted was Church involvement. Not now. Not when things seemed to be going so well with Lauren.

  “Can we stall them anymore?”

  Lauren shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll head over to the school and see what I can do.”

  “I’ll drop you off, okay?”

  She nodded. “We can grab breakfast on the way.”

  Curran slid his holster onto his belt. “Let me call Kwon.” He reached for his cell phone but at that minute, the phone began buzzing against the wooden nightstand. Curran hit the talk button.

  “Yeah?”

  He listened for thirty seconds. His stomach dropped like a cinder block dumped off a skyscraper.

  Breathing became difficult.

  He could see Lauren looking at him. Concern had already scored her face.

  Curran hung up the phone.

  “Steve?”

  Breathe.

  God.

  No.

  “Steve?”

  No.

  He looked at her. His eyes felt hot. They stung. “Lauren…”

  “What is it?”

  “Kwon.”

  She shook her head, already pulling away. “No.”

  He nodded. “He’s…dead.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Curran stared down at the sheet covering his best friend for a long time. Above him, a dark charcoal ooze settled across the sky, drowning out the earlier sunlight. Curran sighed and knelt down on the bumpy cold ground.

  It shouldn’t have gone down like this, he thought. Not for someone like Kwon. Not for my friend.

  He sighed again feeling like all the weight of the universe had settled on his lungs. But no matter how much he exhaled, he’d never be free from it.

  He turned the sheet down to just below Kwon’s neck.

  His friend’s eyes stared up at him from behind the wall of death. Curran didn’t turn the sheet down any more. He’d already been told there wasn’t much to see beyond the ghastly damage that had been wrought on Kwon’s lower torso.

  Curran looked up in the direction of Darius’ house. There was no doubt in his mind who’d killed Kwon. But trying to explain that to the two Chestnut Hill cops on duty woul
d be fruitless. After all, according to them, it didn’t even look like whoever had killed Kwon had been human, such was the damage.

  If Curran told them they were sitting outside the home of a demon, he didn’t think it would go down all that well. Not to mention how fast it would spread back to headquarters.

  He shook his head. No. This was going to have to be played differently.

  By a new set of rules.

  Lauren stood close by, shifting from foot to foot. Nervous. Sad. She hadn’t known Kwon like Curran did, but he knew she felt bad for his loss.

  He lifted the sheet back over Kwon’s face and let the crime scene folks get back to work. He wandered over to Lauren.

  “I’m so sorry, Steve.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Darius did it.”

  Curran looked away. “Dammit, he was a good man. More than that. He was my friend.”

  “His death doesn’t undo any of that, Steve.”

  “Yeah, but it sure as hell didn’t matter on bit to the man upstairs either. Why did Kwon have to die? Why did he have to be the one who got killed by this freak? He was a good man. He didn’t deserve this. I got him into it. I should be lying on that grass instead of him. But I’m not.” He punched his hand. “I’m not.”

  Lauren placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t go beating yourself up about this, Steve. We need to focus on what’s happened here. How we can stop Darius now.”

  He turned around. “All we’ve been doing is focusing on this damned asshole. All I’ve done is chase that miserable scumbag from one end of this country to the other. I tried to give him up – put him behind me - and what happens? He comes here. He kills my best friend.”

  “He brought us together,” said Lauren quietly.

  Curran lit a cigarette and sucked hard on the butt. “You saying some good comes out of every evil?”

  “Something like that.”

  Curran frowned. “I understand the sentiment, but I just can’t accept it right now. Kwon oughta be alive, dammit. And he’s not.”