Living Proof (Tyler G Book 2)

by P. S. Power

  No, if someone had told him that Lucy was going to be a bit overprotective, he might have bought that one. It didn't seem to fit with the idea of being a Greater Demon, but that wasn't how he'd known her. She'd been there for him, and been the only parent that he'd ever known. So that part of things kind of seemed to fit pretty nicely. Of course she'd be a bit helicopter like. After all, her kid had gone out into the world on his own finally.

  As it stood, he was kind of worried about her. Not that having him around had been any kind of help to her really. He'd vacuumed and tried to keep the dishes done up, but that wasn't some vast service on his part.

  Thinking about everything that had taken place in the last few weeks as he got back into the store, just in time to meet Hildegard for dinner, he understood that it was about more than him. Lucy wasn't there to make sure he ate his veggies after all. He didn't need to eat.

  So it was about The Storm, if not some other Greater Demon. Maybe even a totally different threat than that. After all, she was ancient. Thousands of years old, from what he'd heard. Not that they'd really talked a lot, since she'd finally admitted to him that he was an animated corpse and not a real boy.

  Just thinking about that left him starving suddenly. Except that it wasn't a real thing. A hunger for the flesh of the girl next to him. She was large and healthy looking. Dorky looking too, from a distance. Like a girl that wasn't all that bright, and didn't bother with makeup.

  She looked delicious however. Not as much as a Human would have, he didn't think, which was kind of interesting to realize. Instead of letting his mind linger on that thought, he grabbed her hand lightly, letting it go after a few seconds.

  "Hey! You made it. Let's get some food?"

  It was a cafe, but there were a decent amount of choices to be had and Palma, who was always there it seemed, at least during the day, took their orders as they stood at the front counter.

  "I'll bring those out, dears. Why don't you both have a seat? It won't be but a moment." The orders were mainly sandwiches, though he'd ordered onion rings with his. Hildegard settled into one of the iron chairs comfortably, looking around for a bit.

  "This is a good place. It smells nice. Clean, and like food. We should come and use it more, but the Chief doesn't want us to be too close to Zack. He's a friend of mine. I used to help him, before he became a demon." Her eyes held his for a moment, and then closed slowly. "He was a Greater Demon all along, but at first he didn't know it. I can't see the difference. He's not an evil man. Even when he killed that boy, it was only to keep the peace and make sure that justice came with a firm hand. It is hard to think of him as being a warrior, being so tiny like he is."

  She went silent, since the guy was a bit bigger than he was. Ty got that one and smiled.

  "I'm not a warrior. I just sell books and make phone calls."

  The woman nodded. She didn't seem too old, but it was hard to tell age, what with her being so different.

  "True. A good being that has fought to protect his own. Those of many Nations, as you call us. Lars has written the ballad of Tyler the Human. It tells of how you fought the dead, and living, without thought for who they were. It might be one of the lesson songs of my people some day. The story of what it means to be as you are. We don't have a name for it in my language. A hero that acts for all." She sounded almost proud about that.

  He shrugged.

  "So, no pressure to live up to that for you? Is that what you're telling me?"

  That one didn't have to be explained. She understood his meaning.

  "Much pressing. That is the point of such songs and tales. To push people to be more than they are. Isn't that the Human way as well? You load your lives with examples of how to live, and watch them daily, in your homes. Television. It is filled with wisdom, if you are willing to see it. I did not get that at first, since it is a Human thing, but over time I have found it there. The trick was seeing how you people work in negative so often. Showing what not to do, or how to live, rather than only focusing on the right way."

  They chatted about that for a bit, until, sooner than he would have figured, Palma had the table loaded with food. It was mainly for his new friend, since he didn't need to eat really. He would have to go to the bathroom though, part way through his shift if he had too much. By being a bit more modest with the portions he'd be able to wait.

  It was wonderful. Everything was perfect.

  When they were done the large girl looked at the side rooms wistfully and shook her big head.

  "We should go and have sex. That is what you do at the end of a date, isn't it?" She looked at him frankly enough that he could tell she wasn't kidding.

  For a half second, he nearly panicked, not really having been thinking that way, but then he nodded. They had about half an hour until his shift started after all. Plus, how often did you get to have sex with what was essentially a really well groomed Bigfoot?

  "That's right. You don't have to, but we could. In fact, I think there's a room left open?"

  She stood, walking that way quickly enough that it was kind of obvious. Being a gentleman, as well as curious, he followed along behind her.

  It was, he realized, interesting. She didn't kiss a lot, keeping herself to other things mainly, which were different in pattern than what a Human woman would have liked. She wasn't brutal, but not too gentle either, which meant they both managed to have fun by the time he had to go and actually get some things done. At the end she held him for a minute.

  "This was a good date. We must do this again. Perhaps in a few weeks? Sooner than that and it will be dating, which means marriage? I don't want to marry a Human. It would be too hard to explain back home. Sex is easier." Then she patted him on the back, hard enough to rock him a bit, and left. Leaving him to clean up. Not that they'd made a mess, but there was an aesthetic to the whole thing.

  When he came out he found Madeline standing there, smiling at him like a comic book villain.

  "Ooohhh. Lucky. I've been wanting to try one of them out for years. What was it like? Details, I want to know."

  Instead of answering he laughed a little and went to clock in. Then he started working on the store. It was Monday night, so no order was coming in, which meant the new Bat was there when he was done. Not that he was telling her anything.

  On the fun side, Ginger finally showed up, just walking into the place, seeming pleased.

  "There you are! Eve told me that you've been roped into fixing California for us? That's going to be fun. Hi!" She didn't seem to really know Madeline, or at least didn't run over to hug her or anything like that. In fact he was the one hugged. The girl sniffed him though, and then sighed.

  "Someone was getting lucky."

  Madeline smiled then, nodding hugely.

  "Hildegard, the Trollienkeine? She doesn't want to date him. I think she was setting up a booty call arrangement. So, what happened in Cali? I was out of the loop for a few weeks."

  Ginger didn't seem upset about him having sex with another girl, which given what Eve had said kind of made sense. She didn't care about sex at all, for herself. Why should she be concerned about what he did with other people, as long as it didn't impact their relationship?

  "A monumental fuck up, is what happened. It was a Christian protest group, going after the Vampires, because so far we've left them all alive and unharmed when they've done things like that. It wasn't even really them, since an anarchist group joined them for the thing, and started beating a cashier. That doesn't even make sense, does it? I mean, those groups don't run in the same circles, most days."

  It was a point that jumped out at him too. Why would they even be talking? Christians could be judgmental, and even violent, if they were fringe cult types. Most of them were just like anyone else. Deluded into thinking they were right and everyone else was wrong.

  Not that he wasn't the same way, but his ideas were his, which made him blind to the idea of being that incorrect from a totally different direction. Lucy had ta
ught him that lesson a long time before, while he was in school.

  It suddenly occurred to him that she might have mentioned a few things that most parents didn't really go over with their kids.

  Ginger went on, her face looking a bit upset. Like she was going to rip someone a new asshole, to be honest. Her eyes were normal, a light color that wasn't exactly blue, or green, more of a mix of both. Her fangs were still put away too. She still looked pissed, just like a normal girl.

  "So the Council is sending Eve in to find who did it. That, and fix the place up. The Vampires there were screwing things up big time, and got in with organized crime. She killed most of them, but that means there really isn't anyone there that can fix things. We don't have a Master Vampire that can go and stay there. Not full time. We're, Eve and I, are too young for it. Even Barb is. She's been a Vampire for over fifty years, but that's young for one of us. Oh... Speaking of youthful charm, Tyler..." She stopped talking, and looked between him and Maddy.

  After a bit he smiled at her, and gave her hand a squeeze.

  That got her to go on.

  "I... Lenore is coming into town, next week. We're meeting with my parents? I sort of told them that you'd be there. My boyfriend, so..." She seemed nervous about that.

  "Cool. Not nerve wracking at all, either. Not in the slightest. Nope. I'm perfectly fine." He tried to look like he was about to wet himself in fear, but didn't really feel it. He wouldn't, until he walked up to their front door. Then it would come he bet.

  "You'll come? I wasn't sure. I know we said we were going out, but then I've barely seen you. Work, for both of us, but it isn't like there aren't a lot of women around here."

  The Bat in front of him nodded.

  "That's a point. This is work time. For you. So I'll just have to take your girlfriend into the back and... I have a break..." She looked at Ginger longingly, but the Vampire shook her head.

  "Sorry. Some other time? I have to get to Yoghurt World. It's just Eve and I right now, since everyone else has been called into an emergency session. There's a bit of a problem in Mexico. I guess one of the cartels has been taken over by a bunch of us and the Mexican government decided that means the Vampires were always behind all their problems? It's a bit of a mess, but it will work out." Then, leaning in and going up on tiptoe a bit the girl kissed him. Gently, and on the lips, but well enough the Shifter next to them sighed.

  "I need to find someone full time. Calley is lucky, having you two. I'd get in on that too, but you know, Aunt. That would be gross."

  Which was correct. He was open minded, but that kind of thing seemed a little off to him still. Sort of like how it would be wrong for Sally to sleep with him, since she was actually Lucy in disguise. If that was right and the Trickster wasn't just being tricky, which, given the name, could be possible.

  After Ginger left he and Madeline worked the main floor, which did start to pick up after a bit, like it had on the other occasions when Sally showed up. Sure enough, an hour in, the hot soccer mom with red hair was there, looking ready to do her part as far as entertaining went. For a moment he felt bad about that. His mom, Lucy, had never even had a date as far as he'd known.

  Now she was smutting it up, just to watch him. Then, after a moment he shrugged. There had to be a thousand ways she could have done the same thing, so maybe she was just trying to enjoy herself? That was fair. It wasn't like he hadn't been doing the same thing. If with fewer people.

  When she walked up he waved.

  "Hey mom. Come to watch me again?"

  He was behind the counter, but looked right at her. Really, even if it wasn't a trick he kind of thought she might pretend not to know what he meant. Instead she waved at the paper in front of him. His sex extortion list.

  "Zack told on me? He said he wouldn't. Or was it The Technician? That bitch is... Well, not that bad, all things being told, but it's a bit inconvenient. I just worry, that's all. Are you feeling well? Everything is going all right?" Her pretty face didn't change, but the mannerisms did. Suddenly she became Lucy. The one that he'd always know.

  Even if she did look totally different the whole time.

  "Riley, The Trickster. I picked up a shift for him earlier, so he could buy a house. For someone else. It saved the world. Not that he mentioned that part until after. Still, it turns out that running the Fun Zone isn't that hard. He just told me about what you were doing, since I didn't need to be tricked into things. Part of my payment?"

  Instead of getting mad, which Lucy almost never did, she seemed impressed.

  "Really now? Few can navigate that sort well. So, since you found out, I can get in on one of the good rooms? You wouldn't want your mom screwing strange men on the hard backroom floor tile, would you?" She tried to make herself seem pitiful and abused over the whole thing. Complete with big eyes and a sad face.

  Put that way it was true enough, but he shook his head. His initial impulse was to demand she go away, and not do that kind of thing. The place was packed, and it left him feeling uneasy, because most of the men and women that had come in wanted to fuck her. Then, even if she wasn't an Alede, she wasn't Human either. Trying to make her play by those rules wasn't going to work very well.

  "First come, first serve. If you want one of the good rooms you should come and make an arrangement ahead of time. Rent the space out for the night? Bribes and bargains woman. Bribes and bargains!" That would have to be with Zack, but saying it got a laugh.

  "I'm very proud of you, Tyler. You know that, right?"

  A man, who was standing behind her reached out and grabbed her ass then. He held it too. She didn't jump, but did turn and give him an annoyed look.

  "Seriously? You can't wait your turn? I'm on the list. Sally. Now, take your hands off my backside, or I'll make you eat them." It was said gently, not screamed or even blurted, but the guy didn't seem to be getting the idea.

  "I just want you to be proud of me, too. Is that too much to ask?" He said it like an asshole might, mocking and making fun of Ty. It got him to stare at the guy, who was, he realized, one of the football players from his old school.

  Rick.

  If he had a last name, Ty didn't know it. The guy was cute, but like that all the time. A major prick.

  Tyler just nodded, looked at the hands on his mom's behind, and tried to relax. It wasn't his place to tell people what, or who, to do. It was really annoying however, which Zack and Hiram both seemed to understand when they came out to help with the sales desk. Hiram looked ready to fight, just watching what was happening, which was strange. People felt up the Alede all day long. Heck, Hiram did it. They liked it.

  Still the instant that Sally had indicated she wasn't wild about the contact for some reason, the mood of the room shifted. In fact, it was about to become violent, he noticed.

  Tyler also understood that nothing he did in particular was going to stop it from happening. Rick was, always and possibly foremost in his life, a jerk. If Ty tried to save him, the guy wouldn't have pulled back and listened to him. Honestly, the only thing he could think of to save the guy was to attack him well enough that the others didn't have to.

  He nearly did it, walking around the counter. Then... Stopped. It just wasn't his job to save a person that didn't want the help. Especially if it meant going up against Greater Demons.

  Plus the fucker was still feeling up his mother. Sure, it was easy to see how a person not related to her might think of that as fun, but it wasn't a thing he wanted to defend. When he got to the man, Tyler just shrugged.

  "Get out. Don't come back. If you don't leave, right now, we'll call the police. She asked you not to touch her right now, and you're still doing it. So... Which do you want? To leave, or sit the night out in a cell?" Not that he'd get to live that long.

  Rather than turn to hit him, or threaten to fight. He let go of Sally and smiled.

  "Hey, I was just playing. I didn't mean anything by it."

  Ty shook his head.

  "Fine. You still h
ave to leave and not come back. You aren't wanted here. Go."

  "Fuck you." The kid, his own age, more or less, did try to bluster, puffing up his muscular chest and stretching upward in an almost comical fashion. As if they were going to decide this by seeing who was bigger. It was funny, so he laughed, and pointed at the front of the store.

  "You have ten seconds to be gone. I'm not warning you again." He tried to look steely and tough, but probably didn't get there.

  Rick flipped him off. Then left.

  Sally smiled at him, and patted his arm. Collecting all the information that he'd ever had.

  "See, I have good reason to be proud. Thank you, dear. Now, let's get back to the fun part of the evening?"

  It took work to ignore her for the rest of the night. Mainly because she kept stopping to chat with him between visits with her new friends. Even worse, that got all the other Alede to do the same, and since Kait wasn't around, being off work already, they were all spraying the room with lust. That meant he was awkwardly trying to think of anything except that every twenty minutes when Sally walked over to him.

  Finally, after six hours of that, people cleared out. It was only midnight, but the flow of bodies cut off like a tap, with only a few stragglers being left. At first he didn't get it, until Rupert and Vivian ran in, both with heavy and complicated looking firearms in their hands. Things large enough to require both hands to carry.

  Rupert called out what was happening, in a strange stage whisper.

  "We got a call that said an attack is possibly incoming. Bomb threat. We're evacuating. The police are on their way, but we need to get the customers out of here." He looked uneasy about that, but Ty just nodded and clapped his hands.

  "All right, everyone that isn't immortal get out of here! Bomb threat. Be careful and head out now. Come on, everyone move!"

  Zack added his voice to the suggestion. After a bit, Sally came over, her face more plain and normal now. Younger looking too. Instead of early twenties soccer mom, she looked like a fourteen year old Asian schoolgirl. Dressed the same way as before though, if shorter by a good bit.