“Disgusting,” Al’bah said, shaking her head. “I know that it may look well, but it is a deception of sorts. Here, try this.” She set the bread down and broke off a piece from her first batch that was baked with the roast. “Bread, broken to nourish. To give life. From the life that was given to the Earth by the Creator,” she said and fed it to Cain.
“Delicious, yes?”
Cain grinned at Al’bah’s happy face as he chewed.
It was.
Chapter 13
Setting the Trap
“Justice is all I care about.”
—Stella Fullson
“Mister Stratton, what can I do for you?”
“Chief Turnovits,” Walter acknowledged, taking his hand in a firm shake. “It has been a while since we have seen each other.” He sighed and looked around the sumptuous office that still could appear so Spartan and all business. A simple wood desk acquired at Goodwill with matching chairs bought on his own payroll, recycled carpet donated from the country club. And most impressive was his small personal library, again purchased on his own. “Last time we met, you were a captain. Now look at you, chief of police.”
Chief Turnovits shrugged, but his bearing spoke volumes of being nervous. His glance jittered between the window and the door. “Yes, well, my promotion was years ago. I recall you being there, actually.”
Walter nodded and gestured to the chair opposite his desk. “But I didn’t get the chance to congratulate you. May I?”
“Of course, where are my manners? Please, sit.”
Walter sat down and pulled out a hastily drawn portrait. “Do you know this woman? I believe she is in this precinct.”
“Yeah, I know this one. She’s a rookie named Stella Fullson.”
Walter grinned, blessing yet another of Jeannette’s many talents. “I have a favor to ask of you. I want her promoted to detective, today.”
Turnovits frowned. “Today? This is highly irregular.”
Walter shrugged. “If it makes you feel better we can…look at her record. I am sure she will be more than worthy,” he said with a slight emphasis, giving the chief all the implied threat he needed.
“Um, sure. Why not?” He tapped for a moment on the computer and read. His eyebrows rose the more he read. “Wow, yeah…why not? Even the most shifty media snoops couldn’t argue with a promotion like this.”
Now Walter was intrigued. “May I?”
“Be my guest,” he said as he turned around the screen.
Indeed, Stella’s record was absolutely impressive. She often took down more criminals in a quarter than some officers did in four. All her work involved violent fields of law enforcement that also required a sharp mind. She had recommendations from nearly every superior and quite a few from the DEA and the FBI. She even had the educational requirements needed for such a promotion.
“So, it’s settled then?”
“Yes. No trouble at all.”
“Good, right now then.”
Chief Turnovits opened his mouth and closed it. “Now? I don’t even know where she is right now. Don’t worry, you have my word.”
Walter sighed, eased back into his chair, and crossed his arms.
“Or we can do this now.” And he was on the phone.
Walter stood and moved to one of the darker corners of the personal library and waited. Only a few minutes passed when a knock sounded at the door.
“Officer Fullson, reporting as requested.”
“Come in.”
Walter grinned slightly, taking in the short, young woman in police blue as she took one precise step in, closed the door with a delicate, feminine motion, and then stood at military attention in front of the chief’s desk.
“Officer Fullson, you and your record have been called to my attention.”
“Sir?” Stella said with a soft expression of confusion.
“Yes, take a bow, Detective Fullson. Well done,” the chief said and placed a new badge on the desk. “I know it is a generic one, but we’ll get one made special soon enough.”
Stella lost her military composure; even a strand of pale blonde hair fell out of place and in front of her face. “I—what?”
“Are you that surprised? I’ve just been looking at your record. You have the chutzpah, the recommendations, and even the education. I mean, you do want to be promoted, don’t you?”
Stella’s posture softened; she now looked more like a lady than a police officer. “I—sir, I don’t understand. It’s one thing to tell me that I will be promoted with the fall of the new fiscal year. But to have this now? Like this?” Her face lifted from the untouched badge to her superior. “This seems fishy…I don’t like it,” she said, her stance now stronger.
Yes, I can see why she was in my vision. There is a sense of destiny about her.
The chief shrugged. “I have need of a new detective, and you’re it. At the very least, try out the new job, see if you like it. And when the new fiscal year falls, and you don’t want the promotion, let me know. I’m sure I can find someone less qualified, but more eager. But until then, I expect you to be the professional your record says you are. New duties, new dress code, new everything.”
Stella took the badge and grimaced slightly at the harsh tone her boss took. “I, um, thank you, sir. My apologies, sir.”
Chief Turnovits shrugged. “Dismissed.”
Stella gave a curt nod and turned to the door. She was just about through when Chief Turnovits called out again, “And Stella?”
“Sir?”
The Chief smiled. “Congratulations.”
Stella smiled; her vivid white teeth sparkled, as did her pale blue eyes. “Thank you, sir.”
Once the door closed, Chief Turnovits let out a big sigh of relief. “Damn, one would think she was going to refuse the promotion at the point of a gun.”
“She’s going to investigate you, you know.”
The chief’s face went pale and quickly flushed red. “You wouldn’t be telling me this without a reason.”
Walter nodded. “Oh don’t worry, she won’t find anything. But don’t think that this favor makes us even. After all, someone has to keep your newest detective off your back.”
Chief Turnovits nodded. “Have a good week, Mister Stratton.”
Walter passed by a smiling Stella Fullson, excitedly speaking to a few of her friends.
“Girly girl, we’re taking you out! This calls for celebration!”
“Yeah, I know this guy you should meet. C’mon, it’ll be fun!”
He slipped by and went straight to his parked SUV.
“All is well, no?”
Walter nodded. “Yes. Good work on the sketch, by the way. The chief recognized her right away.”
Jeannette smiled at the compliment, started the SUV, and pulled out into the road. “What e’z the next step?”
Walter grinned. “The trap is built. All we need to do is set it, and let the weakness of humanity do the rest.”
Chapter 14
Works of Adoration
“This has to be one of Taint’s tricks! A human; The Creators favored creation, wishes a spiritual companion?”
—Succubus
Al’bah’s heart melted, seeing Cain smile as he ate the bread she made for him. Oh, Cain, do you not see that I made this just for you? Do you not see that I love you? She returned to the final attentions needed to finish the meal she was preparing to serve to her Bond. Al’bah grinned to herself, basking in the confusion Cain felt from her making his favorite: roast beef.
She inhaled deeply through her nose and glanced at his confused eyes and scrunched brow. How can I not know that you desire roast beef? Indeed, Cain’s scent always carried a faint aroma of the savory dish. Perhaps the scent was too faint for other humans to smell, but it was unmistakable for her. At last, everything was finished; even the stench of spiritual energies of everyone else but herself and Cain were ebbing away. She sighed deeply, her heart rejoicing from the harmony as she consumed the last trace
of the remaining spiritual garbage, replacing it with beauty, her own spiritual signature, and a more refined version of Cain’s.
She frowned at the table Cain was getting ready, and turned to him. “I want us to share this, but not there. Let us sit together here,” she said, pointing to the spot next to the coffee table.
“What? You mean on the floor?”
“Yes, I do mean on the floor.”
“Why?”
Al’bah stifled a sigh of exasperation. How could God’s favored creation be so ignorant of spiritual matters? Did Cain not know that the most intimate of meals humans ever shared were the fruits of the garden? Did he not know that Adam and Eve ate standing side by side? Not only side by side, but with their bodies touching?
“Cain, tables and chairs are things. They get in the way of you and I sharing a meal together. It is a connection that is important. It is—” Al’bah stopped. Cain’s attention was drifting away from her explanations that were admittedly inadequate. “Cain, please. Sit down, join me,” Al’bah said as she set the bread down with a pitcher of water.
Cain had an uncomfortable expression on his face but sat down all the same.
“Ah, better,” she purred. “I shall retrieve the rest of my works.”
Al’bah set Cain’s cutting board on the coffee table. Upon it were the steamed vegetables, two large baked potatoes, various extras, and the roast beef. The meal had an intimate feel. And she could sense Cain slightly letting his guard down for her, revealing a hint of who he really was.
Oh, how his pride guarded his weakness. How desperately he sought after self-sovereignty. For all the strength Cain had, his soul was mistrustful and so weary. She wondered if it was his desperation which drove him to seek one such as her. To think, mistake or no, that a human would name a Demono as his Al’bah!
Such miracles. She sighed to herself as she cut his portions with blinding fast motions that Cain did not notice.
“Here, my Bond,” she said, holding out a glass of the water she had prepared.
“Hold up, I wanna get my whiskey,” Cain said as he started to get up, but Al’bah held onto his arm until he made eye contact.
“You are so thirsty,” she said, letting go and holding out the water infused with cucumber. “Would you believe me if I told you this is better?” Cain looked slightly irritated and slightly pleased as he started to reach for the glass Al’bah held.
Why does he reach for the glass? Al’bah pushed her wings forward to prevent Cain from touching the glass. “Drink, my Bond,” Al’bah murmured. “Let me hold the glass.”
Cain looked a bit confused and then leaned over, allowing Al’bah to hold the cup as he drank.
Al’bah sighed in ecstasy as he drank, reveling in the supreme satisfaction of her Bond accepting her works with a heart full of gratitude. “And your favorite? How does it taste?” she asked, holding out his fork with a morsel ready.
Cain reached for the fork and was blocked, this time by Al’bah’s free hand. “Oh, yeah,” he said, and waited with his mouth open.
Al’bah bit her tongue to prevent from laughing, and she quickly fed her Bond the morsel. “Well? Does the taste please you?” she asked, dabbing a cloth to his lips.
Cain chewed happily and smiled again, making her feel so satisfied, so complete. “I don’t think I ever had roast beef this good.”
“For you, my precious Bond,” Al’bah breathed as she broke one of the small loaves of bread and handed it to him.
“How did you know my favorite food was roast beef?”
Al’bah grinned as she chewed on the savory meat herself. “Would you allow me to keep that a secret? Or does your curiosity overwhelm you?”
“I, well, I—” Cain accepted another morsel Al’bah held out for him. “Okay, you can keep it a secret,” he said with a wink.
“I am happy,” Al’bah said, refilling Cain’s cup and holding it out again.
“What made you think of cucumber in water?” Cain asked and accepted another morsel.
“It is appropriate, do you not think so?” Al’bah wished she could explain how she knew. But alas, there were no words to carry the telling or the meaning behind such knowledge. She could only do her best and hope that Cain did not get too impatient with her.
Cain fished out a cucumber slice from the glass and ate it. “Yeah, but I’d never have thought of it.” He looked up to the fridge and back to Al’bah. “I think I want juice. What about you?”
“What is juice?” Al’bah asked, a little miffed that Cain’s attention drifted from her devotions to him.
Cain got up and returned with a box that said “pineapple” on it. He opened it up and handed it to Al’bah, who closed her eyes as she took in its scent.
“Foul! I do not understand how you can consume such unnatural substances.” She eased closer to Cain and caressed his shoulders and neck. “For the short time I have been in this realm, so many humans smell of unnatural substances. It poisons the flesh, and as time presses upon life, it will poison the mind as well.” Al’bah settled into her Bond’s lap and looked up at him with beseeching eyes.
“Do you not see that? Will you allow me to feed you? Would you give me what I need to bring health back to your life, and make you whole?”
“I—I suppose so.”
Such awkward emotions within his heart. He is unaware of his own worth—how odd. “Good,” she purred and took a piece of bread for herself, resuming her place across from her Bond. Oh, how I wish I did not have to trick him! How I wish I could just ask for a portion of his soul! Should I do so? Would he understand? Would he believe me if I told him it is the only way to make him whole?
Al’bah pushed away her misgivings, resolving to do everything in her power to keep him alive; if Cain died, she would die with him, though her justification did little to make her feel better from using such devious double-speak.
“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Cain said as Al’bah held out another morsel.
“Cain, I am not your equal!” Al’bah said with adoration. “You are above the Angels. I am unworthy of you choosing me. I—” Her words caught in her throat, and her vision blurred with tears. “Cain, you chose me. This, I could never repay.”
“Well, what about me feeding you as well?”
Al’bah’s jaw dropped along with the fork she held. “Tel-Yun-Yui-Ta-Mei?” Shock filled her; she would have never suspected Cain would ever offer. That he would—
“Um, what did you say?” Cain said, breaking her shock.
She lowered her eyes. “You—you s-see me worthy of s-such a gesture?” Al’bah stammered. What will this mean? What—what have I done to be so blessed?
Cain held her cup and offered it. “Of course. Why do you think you wouldn’t be?”
Al’bah looked between the offered cup and Cain’s face. His offer is sincere! Al’bah could barely believe what was happening. Cain now willingly offered himself to her! She felt the presence of his soul draw near, and it was beautiful. She closed her eyes and placed her hands around Cain’s face as she drank. She sighed and wiped her eyes and answered his question.
“Because of who I am, our Bond, and so much more.”
“You know that reminds me of something I’d like to talk about,” Cain said, gently declining another bite of food from her fork. “I think it would be best for me to focus my questions on you first, then about our Bond, then perhaps other things.”
“Truly? This is what you want? This is your will?”
“Yes, it is.”
Al’bah nodded. “You give your word to me so readily. I am amazed.”
“My word?”
Al’bah smiled. “Yes, you have given me your word. Thus, I shall answer your questions that concern myself, then our Bond, and then other things.” Al’bah closed her eyes and sighed deeply. His questions are not going to be easy. He has so little faith. “I sense you already have a question in mind.”
Cain nodded. “Yes, you told me you are a Demono
, that you are not one with God. Why? What happened?”
Al’bah flinched, as if his words were a physical attack. She knew his questions would drag the harshness of her past, and yet she was still so unprepared. “Cain, though you say your questions will concern me first, your first question is far-reaching and has many spheres of influence and—” She stopped speaking as a horrible despair filled her awareness. She took several deep breaths, trying not to wail or scream. A memory flashed before all her senses; she could feel heavy manacles on her limbs and the sting of bitter tears pouring from her eyes and onto her face. An enormous weight of guilt and shame weighted upon her, and she started to fall! No! She must not fall! She must—
Al’bah shook her head as the vision fell apart, and she breathed deeply again. “I do not know. None of my kind nor the Demons know. When a creation rebels or defies God, they are separated from God. Thus, my race are Demono.”
She raised her eyes to Cain. Oh, how jealous she felt! How unworthy Cain was of his—
No! I will not give myself to pride! I am Bound to him! I love him. Al’bah reached out and touched his face, gently running her fingers through his hair.
“Your race is separated from God. But you and your race are given a clear and absolute path to be saved from the sins of your forbearer. The way for restoration for me and my own is obscured in forgetfulness.”
Al’bah lowered her head and spoke quietly, “As for Taint, and the entirety of corruption, they are the Demons, and Angels who sided with Lucifer. I do not know the way to restoration for them, even if it could exist, nor do I care. Their sin is known—they defied God! They took arms against He that created all.”
“Really? Then why do Demons—”
Al’bah gasped and held up her hand. Was her Bond truly going to break his word? Did he not know how dangerous this was? “Cain, please,” Al’bah whispered, bringing her hands to a begging gesture. “Keep your word to me.”
“But, I mean—”
“Please, Cain. Please, I would never control your will. But you are acting contrary to your word that you gave me.”
Succubus Tear (Triune promise) Page 9