Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 41 : The Necklace

*Marcus Ciaran*

‘This isn’t the first time…’

Those words kept circling in my head as I waited with the others outside of Devins room.

She had convinced her brother to let her climb into the ambulance and head to the hospital for treatment, though he kept close to her the entire time, hovering like a bodyguard with a stoic glare on his face. Nyla, Danny and I all followed behind the ambulance, with Danny driving my car and Nyla driving Nick's truck after she had calmed down. Once we arrived at the hospital, Devin was wheeled into a small room with a window next to the door. In here a few Demon nurses walked in to check on her before a Demon Doctor followed after them.

Nick was the only one Devin kept beside her in the room during all the check up and questions, so the rest of us sat on the seats across the way, facing the large window.

“Marcus.” Danny called out to me softly after Nyla got up to go get something to drink. “Look.” He passed me his phone which showed an open text message conversation between a beat cop we knew and him.

I took the device and slowly read the words over and over again, my mind racing as I started to count the years that had passed.

The cops that showed up at the restaurant had managed to track down and find the man that had shot Devin, confirming that he had been after me, not her. He was someone that had been a fellow Cadet with Danny, Izaak and I almost immediately after High School. But halfway through our time as students, I had caught him selling drugs to some new recruits and civilians at a party. One of the people he sold to nearly Overdosed and, in an effort to protect the naive younger Cadets, I tried to talk to him. But a fight broke out and we were brought in for questioning before a panel of our instructors. So I told the truth. He was charged with a slew of other things on top of the drug charges that had been discovered afterwards and sentenced to jail a few months before the rest of our class was set to graduate.

This guy had been slowly bubbling with his hatred for me and had planned to take me out when he was finally on parole or released. And it just so happened that he had been let out a little over two weeks ago.

I groaned as I passed the phone back to Danny, feeling the weight of guilt squeeze me painfully as I stood up again.

The fact that I was behind the reason why she was shot made me feel like absolute trash and I was instantly thinking of ways to make it up to her somehow. The gift she had given me was not just unexpected, but also added to the hill of guilt and regret that was eating away at me. Because here she was, taking time out of her day to actually get me something for my birthday, even though she was clearly creating a wall between us. Yet I had let so much time pass since her own birthday and I haven’t gone out to find anything for her. And on top of that, I was why she had been hurt today, protecting me from something I should have handled myself.

I straightened up and looked at Devin through the window.

She was sitting on the side of the examination bed with her wounded arm facing the Doctor that stood close to her. At some point he started asking her questions and Devin nodded and winced as she spoke, glazing at her brother who had his back to the window. Another moment later, as I debated whether I should sit back down again or not, Devin slid off the bed and made a motion to her brother, pointing to her wounded arm. He produced a small knife from his pocket and proceeded to cut the rest of her sleeve, fully exposing her injured arm. Then, after stepping back, Devin raised her good arm and grabbed the hem of her sweater, pulling up and over her head before tossing the bloody fabric onto the bed.

I sucked in a breath when I caught sight of the winding vine of bright red flowers that snaked around her body. They seemed to start from somewhere over her left hip that was hidden by her jeans. I remembered seeing something red on her body when I had visited her apartment not that long ago. But I had only caught a glimpse of it since her back was to me. Then, those flowers climbed up in a swirling, looping motion over her soft flat stomach before shooting up and stopping between her chest, hidden under the pale gray bra she wore.

“Red Spider Lilies.” Nyla softly said, appearing next to me with a water bottle in her hand. “They’re her favorite flowers and have a special meaning of death and rebirth to her.” I stared at Nyla for a second as she continued watching her friend before looking back at Devin. “She gets a new one added to the vine everytime she survives…”

My eyes widened as I stared at the Succubus as she was being treated, my gaze following the trail of flowers over and over again, taking note of how many there were.

“When you say ‘survive’...” I started, unable to finish my question.

“Death.” Nyla breaths, looking close to tears again. “Devin has been jumped, stabbed, poisoned and forced to fight off kidnappers… “ Danny wrapped his arms around Nyla from behind her, frowning as he heard her words. “She’s fallen deathly ill a few times too. But everytime she makes it through she adds another flower. So they remind her of just how strong she is.”

“What about you?” Danny whispered, while I looked back at Devin. “You have that same flower tattooed on your hip.”

Nyla sighed and I looked back to see the tormented look that took over her eyes.

“It happened when I was really little…” She started, making Danny tense. “My cousin and I were playing and…” She shook her head, turning away as though merely talking about it was hard. “We both lost a lot of blood and nearly died then… so it serves as a reminder for me too.” Danny pulled her close and glared at the floor while he rested his cheek on the top of her head, his eyes spinning with a million things he was struggling with.

Nyla murmured something about Nick having a few smaller flowers tattooed on his back and side as well and I lost myself in my thoughts.

It pained me, to a questionable degree, that Devin had suffered through so much. She had only recently turned twenty-five, yet the vine of red flowers on her body clearly showed that she had fought her way back from the brink of death more times than any single person should. The very thought of anyone attacking her, regardless of whether they were Human or not, filled my body with a murderous rage that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I wanted to gather every single person that had dared to force her to face death. I wanted to hurt them until they begged me to stop. I wanted to send them to death's door over and over again only to keep bringing them back just so they could feel what she had felt. It was an overwhelming feeling that took over my mind almost completely.

As I stared at Devin while she was being treated, my mind spinning with rage and sorrow, my phone rang, making me jump.

Another groan left me when I saw that it was my father and I answered it as I slowly made my way towards the end of the hallway. But as I greeted the man who sounded ready to explode in a fit of rage over something I couldn’t figure out, I froze as I looked back through the window.

Nick was handing Devin back her coat after having her wound coated with a potion and bandaged. Then he pulled out a silver necklace that had been tucked away in Devins bag. The chain was long and the flat, decorative piece that hung from it swayed a bit as it caught the light of the room. The sight of the half sun that was lightly embraced by clouds instantly made my head throb and I winced as my hand dropped to my side.

That necklace… it looked so painfully familiar.

The rhythmic aching in my head began to pound as I watched Devin take the chain and gently open the loop so she could slip her head through it. The sun and clouds rested just under her chest and seemed to glow at me as my vision blurred.

“Marcus?”

I could hear Danny’s concerned voice as I dropped my phone, but it was like he was whispering to me through a tunnel.

‘Marcus, this is mommy’s old friend, Draven.’

A wispy female voice began to echo in my head as the pain drove me to my knees, making me groan louder.

‘Our family has always been a helpful friend to Demons…’

The pain spread down my neck and tears began to burn behind my closed eyes.

‘Never trust a Hunter, Marcus, they live to hurt others…’

My skull felt like it was getting ready to c***k open and a distant pained croaking sound left me as someone called for help.

‘She was my friend's only child! She has no one else fighting for her!’

I could feel the world spinning and hands helping me move even though the pain in my head numbed me to everything else.

‘My sweet boy, I’m so sorry that I can’t stay with you, but I can’t let him find you…”

I was starting to see something through the blurred abyss and could no longer feel or hear what was going on with my body, though the pain in my head still persisted.

‘Macu, Macu…’

The foggy sight of a little girl with soft brown hair took over my mind's eye as a much younger, sweeter voice reached my ears. Her back was to me and I could see that she was pulling my hand as we walked through a dimly lit hallway. A part of my mind realized that this must be a memory of mine, since my vantage point was much shorter and from what I could see of my body, I was younger.

‘Be careful!’

The scenery changed as my younger self was now running after the young girl who giggled as she ran, tripping a few times before disappearing around a corner. She looked like she was still a toddler and I knew that my younger self was running slower so she could stay ahead of me.

‘It’s ok, Little Droplet, don’t cry.’

Again, the world around me changed. This time, I was sitting on what looked like a small wooden bed with my back pressed against the wall it was next to. Looking down, I could see the top of the little girl’s head from before and could almost feel my smaller arms holding her as she sniffled and cried into my chest. I still couldn’t see her face but I could feel the ghost of my emotions as anger, sadness and helplessness settled into my mind.

‘Here, I want you to keep it.’

Another change sent a jolt of pain to my head again and I took a moment to look around myself. I was in the same room as before, only it was dark out and the small light above me cast shadows in all corners that made me nervous. The little girl was laying on the bed I stood in front of, panting and wheezing in between frightened whimpers. I could see her face now, though her eyes were squeezed shut and a soft little thump raced through my heart as I stared at her. She was sick and my concern and worry were painful as I leaned over her, unsure of how to help. My hand moved on its own a second later, pulling something out from my pocket before the shiny object was placed over her tiny clenched fist. My mind reeled as I recognized that the object I was giving her was the necklace I had just seen.

‘Keep my mommy’s charm with you until I come back, ok?’

I could feel a rush of emotions spread throughout my body as I heard my younger voice say this and the pain in my skull spiked up once again. The racing of my heartbeat felt as if it were shaking my entire body when my younger self looked up to see that the little girl was slowly fighting to open her eyes. The pain was starting to pull me under and the edges of my mind slowly turned black, forcing me away from the memory and away from the pain. But as the girl's eyes fluttered open, with the slithering blackness inching towards the center, something deep within my head shattered.

Her eyes were the eyes of a Demon, with one ring filled with a soft lavender color and the other a deeper emerald.

I knew these eyes. I’ve known these eyes nearly all my life. These eyes, this girl, as well as my memories of her and my mother were all bound together somehow. The pieces of my childhood that I had only recently noticed were missing were now being pieced together like a movie. The fragments of things that had been causing me pain were now rushing forward, overwhelming me with how much it all really was. So many memories were all forcibly locked away in the deep recesses of my mind against my will. They were all connected together, my mother, that girl and Devin, I could see that now. This was why I felt like I knew her the second I saw these eyes again after so many years.

These eyes that made me think of poison…