Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 5 : Final Blessings

It was late when we returned to the station and the three men quickly went over to the evidence locker to examine the new items that were brought in. I, on the other hand, went outside and down the street to the largest morgue in the city. It took in not only bodies for the cases worked on by detectives, but also the nearest hospital and local families.

But of course, I had to struggle a bit to even see the bodies I was there to see.

The Humans working the front desk couldn’t believe that a Demon worked for the precinct and asked to see my credentials multiple times before they tried to call someone. I was beginning to get really irritated when the doors pinged behind me and in walked the Team Lead, Marcus.

“Why are you still waiting here? You left almost an hour ago.” He asked, making the two employees behind the desk freeze.

“Guess they didn’t get the memo that a Demon was hired to work with cops.” I muttered, snatching my I.D back. “Maybe you’ll have better luck than me, being Human and all.”

His face soured at my words and he stared down at the two women who flinched when they looked at him.

“Take us to the victims of our active case.” He demanded, making me smile a bit when they nearly tripped over themselves trying to do as he said.

I followed him as one of them led us deeper into the building, holding the door open to one of the rooms to the right so we could walk in.

“Um… are you sure, Detective?” She asked meekly, eyeing me while she stayed by the door.

“She is the new D.I.L, Mrs. Kern.” He told her, making my eyes go wide as he continued. “She has full authority to enter this building when helping in an active case. If you have a problem with that, then find someone else to run the front desk for you. Because I won’t allow anyone to stop her or others on my team from doing their jobs. Am I understood?”

The woman looked so embarrassed and hurt by his tone that she bowed her head, nodding sadly before walking away, closing the door as she left.

“Wow.” I breathed out, raising a brow at him as he turned to look at me. “Didn’t see you as the type to shut down a woman that was clearly into you so sharply like that.”

“Into me?” He asked, shaking his head. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, please don’t tell me you don’t see it?” I choked out, struggling not to laugh at the irony of the situation. “Please don’t tell me you’re the type that’s ignorant to the way the opposite s*x views you? That’s just too much.” He chuckled and shook his head, seeming amused by my words. “Honestly! A guy like you? All tatted up, filled with muscle and hot to the point of burning? Seriously?” I turned away from him then and focused on the metal slabs that held bodies near the left corner of the room. “That’s just sad.”

“That woman is married.” He called out, still laughing softly. “With kids.”

“Doesn’t stop her from being into you.” I absently told him, slipping on another pair of gloves while I looked closer at the other three women that lay before me.

They were indeed all blonde, just like the one I saw today, but there wasn’t much else that they had similar physically. They were all different heights and ages, with one being fresh out of high school, another a college student and the third a young mother of three. Their bodies were different too, not anywhere near the same build as each other at all. And the flowers that were dug into the skin like a toddlers terrible drawing were also different. The first was an orchid, the second a water lily and the third was a sunflower. I could see their names and other minor information about them scribbled onto the clipboard that hung from the side of their shiny metal beds, my heart clenching at the massive loss of life.

My people were already struggling to survive as it was and our population was dwindling too much, why did more Demons have to be ripped away from this world?

I shook myself off my dark thoughts and took a deep breath in, needing to focus on the task at hand. I pulled out the same little square of thin paper from before and proceeded to do the same thing I did to the woman from today. And each and every test came out with a strong and positive sign that all three women were in fact Nymphs.

“C’mere.” I waved at the Team Lead, passing him one of the vials I had just popped open for him to smell. “Their elemental connection to the flower they could turn into is still very strong even though it's been weeks since their passing.”

He nodded as he smelled each vial, handing them back to me so I could seal them back up again.

“I didn’t think it would be that strong.” I laughed a bit, watching as he rubbed his nose to rid himself of the overwhelming scents.

“That’s true, but it’s the fastest way to prove that they are Demons.” I looked back over at the women before me, frowning as a thought crossed my mind. “I don’t mean to sound jaded or anything, Detective, but… I think a Human is killing these Nymphs.”

“Why do you say that?” He asked, stepping around the slab near us so we were across from each other.

“Well, other Demons, no matter the race, would’ve gone about it in a different way than just simply cutting them up like this.” I waved at the covered mid-section of each woman, fighting back a grimace at the image of their torn open torsos. “Nymphs are one of the most defenseless races among Demons and if it was simple revenge or hatred, these women would’ve been found in ways that would reflect that… but this… this isn’t something we would do.” I could feel my brows knit as I spoke and my heart twisted at the amount of pain these women must have gone through. “To me, this looks like the actions of an obsessive Human man that’s taking out his anger on Nymphs that look like the object of his anger.”

“That could be a possible scenario.” He agreed, stunning me yet again. “But how would you be able to confirm that? There were no witnesses and the families of these women aren’t talking to us at all.”

I nodded, sighing as a new problem came to the surface that only I could help out with.

“Sorry, but Demons are different from Humans when it comes to grief.” I explained, nodding to an older man that was dressed like the coroner as he slowly walked into the room. “You being a Human and not knowing what to do or say after they lost their loved one is going to keep them from talking to you until their grief is gone. Which of course, will take a long time.”

“Why is that?” The Team Lead asked, making me want to laugh a bit when the older gentleman stopped walking and stared at me, clearly waiting to hear my answer as well. “Wouldn’t they want to help catch the person behind their loved ones death?”

“Yes, of course they do.” I told them, suddenly feeling like a teacher. “But Demons feel things differently than Humans do. Our emotions are nearly three times as strong compared to Humans so things like loss, sadness, grief and anger tend to consume us and sometimes even make us sick and weak.” They both looked shocked by this information but nodded for me to continue. “So the best thing that you can do to get a Demon family to talk to you as well as prevent them from drowning in their dark emotions is by giving them a token of their loved one.”

“A token?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, pulling out another small white ribbon and tying it around a little lock of hair from the woman closest to me. “Depending on the race of Demon, certain things could be expected, like the fangs of the deceased if the victim is a Vampire, or the claws of a Shifter. But since it’s a Nymph, the best thing you can give their family is a lock of their hair wrapped in white.” I lifted the plastic vial I finished with and smiled, showing them that I had also placed the initials of the victim on the side of it. “Having a token helps the family work through their grief and gives them a reason for them to speak to you, regardless of what you are. As long as you respect their loved ones body, provide it with the proper care for their final Blessings and hand them a small token that they can keep, they’ll answer any and all questions you may have.”

“I am grateful that you have brought it up.” The older man said, smiling as he approached me while I did the same to the next woman’s hair. “I had heard from my Granddaughter that a Demon was now working at the precinct, and I would love to pick your brain about how your people honor your dead.” I blinked a few times while I stared at this older man, slowly extending my hand to shake the one he offered. “I’m Dr. Kern, though most people here just call me Pops.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” I smiled back warmly, feeling a rush of emotions hit me as I saw nothing but sincerity in the gray-haired man's eyes. “I’m Devin Venenum.”

“Ah!” The Doctor smiled, chuckling a bit as he continued to hold my hand. “I forget just how unique your people's names are.”

I raised a brow at him, feeling even more surprised, “You know what my name means?”

“Of course!” He proudly answered, making me think of a thinner Santa Claus when he smiled even wider. “Devin is sometimes used to mean ‘Divine’ and your surname is the Latin word for ‘poison’.”

“Well color me surprised Pops.” I told him, leaning in to hug him a little. “I didn’t think anyone, especially not a Human, would know what my last name means.”

I then spent the next hour talking to the jolly older man about how important death was to us Demons.

We all believed in reincarnation and in the respect one should have for our physical vessel that protects our Souls as we go about our lives. So granting a Demons final Blessings before their funeral or before they’re cremated was crucial.

Dr. Kern took notes as I told him that after he finishes with the autopsy of our latest victim, that each Nymph needed to be lightly coated in an essential oil that represented their flower. Normally, when it came to any Demon, the scent of the oil didn’t matter, but since we knew that they were Nymphs, choosing their flower was the best option. Their eyes would then need to be wrapped with a white cloth to allow their final moments of life to remain with their Soul. It didn’t matter that they had died such gruesome deaths, because those moments aren’t always the last thing that one sees or thinks about before they die. And when the womens families came to gather their loved ones, I told the Dr. that it would help them if he joined in their final chants while the body was covered in a black silk cloth. The chants themselves always varied depending on the family and the race of Demon, but it almost always had something to do with a Latin Blessing over their dead, the family saying their last good-byes or a wish that each family member makes for their loved ones Soul.

“I didn’t expect things to be so complicated.”

I was now on my way back to the station with the Team lead walking next to me, the sky now growing dark as the sun slowly hid away in the horizon.

“Complicated?” I asked him, looking at him from the corner of my eyes. “Aren’t Human deaths just as complicated though?”

“Not really.” He chuckled a bit, seeming lost in thought before he spoke again. “It just seems like a lot of things could go wrong and there’s so many steps that you have to do to respect your dead and allow them that final rest.” He shrugged before looking at me, slowing down as we neared our building. “It just seems like a lot to me.”

“That’s because what you consider normal isn’t the same as MY normal.” We stopped walking for a bit and I tilted my head to look at him better, seeing so much confusion in his steele gray eyes. “Your people always forget that we aren’t like you, even though we physically share a lot of the same traits. We come from a completely different world and basically everything about us won’t ever fit into your little box of acceptance. We aren’t Human… no matter how much your people try to make us conform and behave like you, we won’t ever be Human.”

We stared at each other in silence as I felt like something else needed to be said, but my mind was on overdrive.

I was stunned that I had said all of those things to this man that I had just met. And I was even more shocked that some part of me was starting to hope for something that I couldn’t quite figure out yet. I couldn’t lie and say that I didn’t want to trust him, because I definitely did. This Marcus Ciaran appeared to be a good person, and though a bit blunt and cold, he hasn’t done or said anything against me for being what I am. But he also hasn’t stopped his friends and team members from acting and saying things to me that clearly meant to push me away. So that part of me that wanted to trust was struggling.

And then there was the physical response I was fighting against.

He was absolutely my type of man, both physically and personality wise, at least with what I’ve seen so far. But when I had lifted the invisible veil that shielded my eyes from seeing every strand of relationships that’s attached to a person, I could clearly see the deep red thread of romance that vanished into his chest. It was weaker than I expected, and almost transparent, but still there. Meaning that he was either falling out of love with someone, or falling in love, so any attempts I made to aim for even one night with this hunk were quickly crushed.

So again, why did I say the things I just said to this man?

Why try to explain not just myself, but all Demons in general to someone I had spent a mere few hours with?

Why do I feel like I wanted to truly trust him, even though I didn’t really know anything about him yet?

And why the hell was I feeling such strong emotions towards him that were confusing and overwhelming?

It was almost as if I had been reconnected with something from long ago. Something that I had lost or forgotten about. Something that filled me with a sense of comfort and safety and made my fingers twitch towards the thin metal charm that hung from my neck.

Who are you Marcus Ciaran, and why are you making me feel this way?