Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 39 : Lessons and Gifts

The following day I met up with Marcus, Sam, Izaak and little Mari outside the Village to help them along through the many steps required for admission through the gates. Signing up the young Elf for lessons to control her power was also needed as well as parental lessons for Sam and Izaak so they could better understand their daughter. It was also here, while waiting for all their paperwork to be filed for a family pass, that Sam suddenly bolted from the group to spill her breakfast into a garbage bin. And while she took her time breathing through it all and rinsing her mouth out with a water bottle, Izaak sheepishly revealed that she was pregnant.

This explained their extreme panic and worry that had been eating away at them for weeks before I even transferred into the precinct. And why Izaak was so painfully quiet around me during those first few cases we worked together. He was unsure about Demons and feared what he didn’t understand like most Humans. But when things started happening to his daughter that medicine wasn’t fixing, and his wife's surprise pregnancy, that all was too much and he turned a blind eye to such an obvious possibility.

He did apologize about being too stupid to overlook the truth that was affecting his daughter. And he asked if there was a chance that their second baby was going to inherit the same genes. They both smiled when I explained that Human parents who have their first child turn out to be a Demon, typically have a 95% chance of every other child turning out like the eldest.

I walked along with them as they toured the different buildings within the Village and smiled at their awe and surprise. My pride as a Matron grew while yet another family complimented the little town I had worked hard for. And I even boasted a little about some upcoming projects that had been announced and what each building was responsible for. I did get a little embarrassed though, hearing Marcus’ comments on the Matron throughout the tour. And though I fought against it, my chest fluttered to hear my Match support and approve of my work.

Near the end of the tour I guided them all into the Community Center where I had an older, talented Demon waiting for us.

Her name was Arley and she was the Elf Doctor that had looked after Manda during her first pregnancy check-up. She was one of the few Elves that live within the Village and was also the most knowledgeable about her race. I had called her that morning before meeting with everyone to ask for her help in understanding the young Elf’s powers. So, after introducing her and explaining why she was in my classroom, I sat back on one of the student seats and watched Arley and Mari.

The older Elf kneeled down and softly introduced herself to Mari who looked much more relaxed than she had been when meeting me. This didn’t surprise me since the instinct that allowed us to recognize our own kind was something deeply ingrained in us. So even baby Demons would react differently between someone of their own race and a Demon one of another.

“Your Mommy and Daddy tell me that you can do something pretty special.” Arley stated, smiling when Mari nodded. “I can do special things too, would you like to see?” Again, Mari nodded and I watched as Arley sat back in front of the young Elf and raised her hands up between them, palms up.

Elves were a talented race that almost always had gifts surrounding the mind in some way. And Arley, like a few of her kids and grandkids, was a very strong Telekinetic.

Sam and Izaak gasped as the loose, unoccupied chairs as well as a few untouched notebooks, pencils and markers started to rise into the air. The curtains lining the windows to our right began to dance even though all the windows were closed and the hanging lights swayed above our heads, making soft squeaking sounds. Another second later and Mari started giggling as her feet were lifted off the ground, her pigtails floating over her shoulders and the fuzzy ends of her winter coat flapped open too. Arley smiled as the young Elf climbed up into the air along with the spinning, floating objects and soon started to move her hands to guide the flying child across the room.

Sam smiled as she watched her daughter laugh and spin around and Izaak looked on in amazement. Arley kept the little Demon afloat for a few more minutes before she began to lower each object gently to its rightful place again. Then, as Izaak stood up and smiled at his little girl, Arley swept her hands in his direction, guiding the still floating child into her fathers arms with another bout of giggles.

Once Mari relaxed again, rejoining Arley in the front of the classroom, the tone turned into a more serious one and Sam and Izaak tensed as they continued to watch.

“Now.” Arley started, smiling softly at Mari and taking little hands in hers. “Would it be ok to show me what you can do?” Mari looked hesitant, staring at her boots before turning to glance at her parents. “It’s ok.” Arley told her, nodding to the worried couple. “I’m here to help you learn how to use your gifts. I’m just like you, right? And I can help you and your Mommy and Daddy understand what you can do so it never hurts you again.” The little girl stayed silent for a few more seconds, seeming to think through Arleys words before she nodded.

“I need a happy thing.” Mari told her, looking around the room for something.

“A happy thing?” Questioned the older Elf, glancing at her parents for the answer.

“Yeah.” The little girl said, nodding as she looked around the room some more. “I need to touch somefin that feels happy.”

Something seemed to click in Arley’s head because she got up from the floor and moved towards her purse, fishing through it for a moment. A small bracelet was pulled out and the older Elf rejoined Mari who was staring at the object in her hands curiously. I looked at the object too and wondered who it belonged to, noting how it was much too small to belong to an adult and had just a single little metal charm hanging from the end of it.

“Let’s try this.” Arley said, raising the bracelet to little Mari who placed a hand over it.

I tensed a little when Mari gasped loudly, her eyes fluttering closed and her mouth opening and closing as though she were speaking without sound. A little smile curled both their lips as Arley too closed her eyes with her as they stood there, both holding the bracelet while the seconds ticked by. Sam looked so nervous and Izaak seemed to struggle in his seat, looking like he wanted to snatch up his little girl at any second. But when Arley exhaled loudly, still smiling with the glistening of tears in her eyes as they opened, they both relaxed a little.

Mari dropped her hand from the bracelet and Arley quickly hugged the Elf as her tiny body began to sag. Izaak jumped up then and scooped up his little girl with Sam hovering close by. Marcus and I neared them as well and I helped the older Demon back to her feet while she clutched the bracelet to her chest, still smiling.

“You have a very talented child.” She muttered, staring down at the sleeping little girl. “Her ability is so clear and powerful… it felt like I was back in time…” Arley took a deep breath and held it, taking a moment to compose herself before looking at all of us. “She has the power of Psychometry, or Token-Object-Reading as some call it.” She raised the small bracelet in her hand and gazed at it fondly while she spoke. “This means that she can see, relive and vividly recount the memories that are trapped within inanimate objects. But, because she is so young and small, her body wasn’t able to handle such strong emotions and memories rushing through her, which is why she was suffering so strongly afterwards.” Sam and Izaak relaxed a lot more as they looked at the still sleeping child, their worry fading with each word spoken by the elder Elf. “The best way to help her learn control, and to protect her from feeling any negative effects from her power, is to have someone else hold on or touch the object she’s reading, like I did. This will allow the person seeing the memories with her to share in the weight of the memory so it doesn’t all fall on her alone.” Arley reached out and tucked a little lock of hair behind the young Elf’s ear, smiling when Mari smiled a bit. “She’ll still feel drained and sleepy after using her power, but it won’t hurt her like it did in the past..

After a few more explanations we all said our goodbyes and thank yous to Arley who needed to clock in for work. And by the time we all neared a small restaurant for lunch, little Mari slowly stirred, waking fully just as we were seated.

The rest of the day and even some of the following day was spent teaching bits and pieces to Sam and Izaak who were eager to learn more about Demons and Elves in particular. And Sam even asked me all sorts of questions about the Elementary Schools within the Village for Mari. She wanted her daughter to spend some time around kids like her so she didn’t feel alienated or different around the Human kids at the School she was thinking of applying to. This helped me relax even more since I had explained to them that Mari’s eyes were soon going to change and gain their secondary ring soon since her powers have already awakened in her.

The next day at work Izaak began to act like a whole other person, smiling, joking and laughing loudly throughout the precinct. He talked to Marcus and Danny about how it felt to ‘see’ through a memory with his daughter and even boasted about how amazing his little girl was.

It made me smile to see a Human parent so proudly and warmly accept their child no matter how different they were compared to other kids. His smile and the way he so casually tossed in the fact that his children were Demons seemed to stun those around him at first but he shrugged it off as nothing and went on his way. The next few days passed by with him continuing to be an attentive listener during my short lessons and he even joined Danny in dragging me out of my cave so I would join them all for lunch. The trio would continue to ask me questions about Demons and our many differences to Humans while we ate, which made it so much more difficult to draw a damned line between myself and them.

Especially when I was near Marcus.

“I just realized…” Danny started, having just finished his chinese food, now leaning forward on his desk pointing at me and Marcus. “You two aren’t a full four years apart.”

Izaak hummed in agreement as he drank his soda, setting it aside while I looked at all of them questioningly.

“That’s right!” Izaak pointed to me with a smile, making me raise my brow at him. “Your birthday was on the fourteenth.” I nodded, still not understanding what they were talking about. “And your birthday is tomorrow!” My eyes widened as he moved his finger to point at Marcus who was finishing his own bowl of food. “So you’re three years and eleven months apart since you share the same birth-month.”

I stiffened, my eyes locked on Marcus who was amused by his friend's random discovery.

“Tomorrow’s your birthday?” I muttered, feeling like I was choking on my rice.

Seeing Marcus nod made my heart clench and my stomach burst into frantic flutters again, feeling stupidly giddy at learning something important about him. Yet another part of me was anxious at having discovered this information at all.

Because learning more about each other meant the Bond would grow even more.

I didn’t want that, yet I did. I was split with the urge to smile at having the chance to go out and look for something to give him, while also wishing I could somehow go back in time and never learn this information. I shouldn’t care about it at all, if only for his safety and mine. I shouldn’t care about any little detail that I’ve learned about this man that haunts my dreams and leaves a scorching need between my legs that nearly consumes me. So what if we’ve grown close enough to joke and approach each other for any little reason. So what if I’ve memorized the way he takes his coffee, the food he prefers to order or the little habits and ticks he has when he’s deep in thought. So what if his gaze alone makes me lose focus on everything around me, if his voice rings in my head like a catchy song that refuses to leave, that I’ve learned what each tattoo on his arm represents to him, or that he so clearly wants to be closer to me… So what if his damned birthday is just twelve days away from mine…

It doesn’t–shouldn’t matter.

“Since it’s a workday,” Izaak started, breaking me out of my own dark cloud. “We were thinking of taking this guy out for dinner after work tomorrow, just us and our dates.” Danny chuckled a bit, looking at Marcus with a weird expression that made Marcus toss sauce packets at his face. “And we were hoping you would like to join us.”

I blinked a few times, looking over at Danny who nodded eagerly and softly mentioned that Nyla was going with him. I then looked back to Izaak when he added that Sam and Mari were joining them as well. Finally, I glanced at Marcus and felt a thick, heavy and warm shiver spill down my back when I caught the eager and almost hopeful gleam in his steele gray eyes.

“I…” I swallowed hard, feeling so very conflicted and desperate as I dug through my mind for a decent excuse. “Um… I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable…” I pathetically muttered, tearing my eyes away from all of them and blankly staring at the last of my food.

“C’mon!” Danny called out, sounding a little upset. “Nyla’s gonna be there, how can you make her uncomfortable?”

“Sam and Mari would really like it if you joined us.” Izaak added, sounding a little more paternal. “They want to thank you some more for everything you’ve done for us.”

I felt overwhelming pressure to just agree. And it wasn’t just coming from them. My own chest was thumping hard in my ears with that little eager piece of me that wanted to join them. But the reasonable and cautious part of me was still there, screaming at me to get away as it shoved images of Anthony’s torn body into the center of my mind.

“Devin.” Marcus’ voice was a little softer than the others and when I looked back at him my stomach dropped painfully, no longer seeing the happy, hopeful glow on his face. “You can bring your brother with you, if you want.” I relaxed a little as I thought of my brother being there, keeping me sane. “But I would really like it if you came with us tomorrow.”

I took a moment to think it all through, running through my head anything that needed to be taken care of that I could possibly use as an excuse to avoid going.

But the triplets were getting ready to leave soon since their vacation time was nearing the end and they were handling all of their preparations and plans. And the Council meeting was a fair distance away, so I wouldn’t need to step away from something small like this to plan things for it. Nothing was wrong or urgent in my duties as Matron, and my snails-pace legal fight to adopt Casey was still in its processing phase, so I wasn’t physically needed. My projects were flowing well and the funds for the Village were solidifying and becoming independent from my support. Which all meant that there was nothing, absolutely nothing that would force me to step away from celebrating Marcus’ birthday with his friends. Nothing that would help me feel less guilty and distressed from turning away this man’s invitation. And the very thought of lying made my stomach churn and a little pit of self-hate opened up in front of me, threatening to chew me up and spit me out.

“Okay.” I finally answered, swallowing hard once more when he smiled back at me softly and nodded, seeming completely pleased and more relaxed than he had a second ago.

Fuck me. I thought, wondering a full second later if I had made the right choice.