Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 13 : Demon Volunteer

I woke up much earlier than I wanted to the next day, dressing quickly and grabbing a bottle of water and a poptart as I raced out my front door.

The drive to my destination was a bit longer than normal since I was aiming for the outskirts of the city, nearing nothing but forest and away from the big buildings and crowds of Seattle. Soon I stopped at a massive gated lot that housed many large buildings and required ID to get through the one and only entrance. The security guards were both Demons who recognized me and smiled as I was waved through.

Slowly, I drove past a large park on the right side of the road and a gas station on the left side. The first few buildings I passed were an information office, financial, grant and scholarship support office and women's health clinic that specializes in Demons. A pediatric clinic and general health offices were next followed by a smaller road that led to a lake in the middle of the entire piece of land. A few daycares, elementary schools and middle schools were scattered around here as well, and in the very back was one of the larger buildings that held three different floors. This was the Community Center for Demons and always held all manner of classes for Demons of all ages.

This entire gated acreage lot was nicknamed the Demon Village, and it had also been a project that my father had started but never really got to finish. Even the Patron before me that stood in my fathers place before I was found struggled to get it on its feet. My father was only able to conceive the idea and begin the blueprints, while the patron before me was able to break ground on a pair of buildings and the fence that went around it all. Though his problem was that he came from a smaller Demon family that didn’t have much in the name of financial backing. But me? I was the sole heir to the Venenum family fortune that boasted not only in monetary power but influence as well. At least, among other Demons in power and the Royal family too.

My ancestors were one of the richest Demons that had been left trapped here when the Portals first closed all those centuries ago. And they made even more money as time went on, so I had nothing to worry about in this aspect. Of course, I didn’t know anything of this growing up and worked my ass off until my dad’s old friend had found me and dumped all of these facts on me. It had been a strange transition for me at the time and I felt extremely overwhelmed by it all when it first happened. But after a while, I went back to my fathers grave and thanked him for having the foresight to name his friend as the custodian of my inheritance. I also cursed him a bit since I had been left in the dark about everything that I had needed to learn about being Matron. But I got over that pretty quickly.

“Devin!”

I had just stepped out of my car and was about to close the door when a familiar voice called my name.

“Casey!” I shouted, turning to face a beautiful young girl with long golden blonde hair.

She crashed into me and I quickly squeezed her tight, smiling into her hair as the sound of more running feet echoed towards me.

“She’s here!”

Kicking my car door closed, I held Casey to my body with one arm and beamed at the swarm of Demon children stepping out of the Community Center doors. They all varied in age and race and had a multitude of combinations mixed into their eyes.

“Alright, alright.” I called out, smiling when they slowly quieted down. “Let’s get back inside, it’s still pretty cold out.”

I herded the children into the building and nodded to the receptionists that welcomed me in. I chatted and tried my best to answer and respond to all of the little ones around me but so many of them were talking over each other and I would just end up laughing to myself. Our little mob soon reached the second floor landing and I guided them towards the last door in the left hallway. Here was where I would occasionally come in to teach a few Demon children and adults how to play the harp, though my lessons had been cut short thanks to my erratic hours at work.

“I’ll play with you little ones after class, ok?” I said, giggling a bit as the younger kids pouted and slowly went back down stairs to their own classes. “Take your seats and get warmed up.” I told the older ones, giving out hugs here and there before making my way towards my own seat.

I spent a little over an hour here practicing with my instrument, going around and helping my students and taking a break to talk about anything they wanted. I caught up on some gossip from the teenagers and was happy to hear that a Demon family was now expecting another baby, making my student eager to become a big sister. I also took this time to answer any questions that these young Demons had about themselves, their powers and anything else Demon related. I encouraged them as much as I could to ask me anything that they felt was too personal to bring up with parents. And thankfully, with many of the young Demons, their trust in me that I had worked hard to create gave them the comfort to speak up. So almost another hour was spent just having small conversations here and there about all kinds of Demon races and their differences.

A class exclusively about these things was highly valued here in the Community Center and something I tossed a lot of money into as well. The reason for this was because there were far too many cases where a Demon was born into a Human family thanks to dormant genes. Mixing with Humans has this effect, and sadly, being born from Human parents has its own struggles. One of the biggest ones being the eyes.

Demon children born from Human parents are always born with Human eyes because their Demon DNA is still asleep within them. It’s only when they hit puberty that their eyes change and they start to manifest their powers and get a feel for their Demonic side. So, to help those that never got the chance to learn anything about themselves, I’ve ensured that these classes in particular are well funded and completely free. Of course, this also helps those of us that were born Demon and had the lucky chance to learn about what makes us different from Humans. Even looking around now I could see so many Demon children whose families needed to take a course or two because they never really learned about any of the other races.

Like the sweet little Fairy who was born into a Shifter family because her great-great grandmother on her mothers side was Fay. Or the Vampire twins whose Sorcerer, single dad didn’t know he had blood drinking ancestors.

Dormant Demon genes can get passed down in all kinds of ways and end up surprising people.

“Are you going to take the kids to the park again?”

I turned and smiled at Casey as she stepped closer to me, waving at a few friends after class ended.

“Yeah.” I answered, grabbing my bag and linking my arm through hers. “I could use a bit of exercise before I check on the schools and the orphanage.”

She followed me out and told me about her day as we went, peeking into classes and waving at a few students and teachers that noticed me. We then met up with a few more teenagers that had just walked out of a different class and I soon had a gang of volunteers ready to play with a bunch of kids. Though, most of the teens were older siblings to the kiddos we were getting from the daycare, so it was more of an obligation than a willing sacrifice on their part.

Once we neared the large park closest to the Daycare I smiled and greeted the four Demon women that ran it. A second later I dropped to my knees and was knocked on my ass when a swarm of little kids raced towards me. Laughter, smiles and happy squeals surrounded me and I caught a glimpse of Casey and the other teenagers who were grinning as they watched me. I needed their help after a minute to get back to my feet since the younger toddlers kept trying to climb onto me, their little limbs and fingers clinging to me tightly. And not even a second after I got to my feet passed before the slightly older kids from the Community Center joined our massive group. Parents, Guardians and other relatives gathered too and it soon looked like we were hosting a large block party or festival of some kind.

The mob slowly thinned out after a few minutes and the last remaining children left around me were either from the large orphanage that is near the Lake, or had parents who worked long hours.

For lunch I ordered a mass of pizzas and soda for the kids and exerted so much energy running around playing with them. The toddlers were tucked in for a nap when the pizza arrived and we all sat on the grass talking and eating happily. A few kids were picked up while we ate and I had some pleasant conversations with their parents before they left. And whenever I spoke to them and answered questions, Casey stood close by smiling widely.

Casey was born a Succubus like me, and also had one Human and one Demon parent. But her situation was completely different than mine had been. Her mother was a Succubus that had fallen in love with a Human, married and had her. But thanks to a drunk driver, her mother passed away when Casey was only ten and her father shut down due to the grief. He hadn’t gone to the extreme of shutting everyone out like my own mother had, but he was emotionally numb to everything for a few years after his wife’s death. Then, around the time that Casey had turned thirteen, when her body was beginning to change, her father began to change too.

Since then, she has been under my protection and was the only Demon that didn’t work for me that knew who I really was.

“Isn’t it weird for you?” Casey asked me as we slowly made our way towards the elementary school. “They’re asking questions about the matron and her work… but they don’t know that they’re talking TO the Matron.” She giggled and shook her head, peeking up at me with a big smile. “I get that you do it all for safety but it’s a little funny to me that you’re like a superhero. Living two lives with two different names.” She skipped ahead and opened the door for me, still chuckling with her eyes twinkling full of amusement. “You even have powers!”

She followed me around through all my checks of the different buildings and waited for me to finish talking to the people running each one. She would tease and call me Lieutenant, which is what all of these people think I am. A Lieutenant of the Matron that reports back to her, like Nyla and Nick. Casey also decided to name herself my Captain around the time we first met and would tell me all kinds of things about other kids and their families. She would even have a couple little ones to talk to her too, which made me laugh. It amazed her how many random topics a little kid could bounce back and forth from in one conversation.

“Devin…” She called out at one point, making me turn back as we made our way back to the Community Center.

My smile dropped when I noticed that she was stiff and staring at her phone, that bright light in her eyes going dark when she glanced up at me.

“I… My dad is here…” She swallowed hard and forced a smile, gripping her phone hard. “He’s right outside the gate.”

I moved closer and pulled her to me, hugging her tightly before letting go.

“Just a bit longer.” I told her, looking into her eyes and trying to smile. “I’m doing everything I can to get you out of there, ok? I promise Cas.” She nodded, smiling for a second.

I stood still as I watched her walk away, feeling every instinct in my gut twist painfully, knowing what I was letting her walk back to. Knowing that I was still fighting for my right to take her to keep her safe. Knowing how things could end thanks to the slow moving gears of the Humans that were on the side of her father. They deemed him a great parent and refused to see things from my point of view, brushing off Casey’s need for a Succubus mentor/Guardian.

There was no evidence pointing to neglect or abuse of any kind towards Casey, and her words weren’t being taken seriously since her dad’s never touched her. The Humans fighting against me just labeled Casey as a rebellious child entering puberty, painting her father as an innocent saint who was doing his best with his Demon child.

No one thought it was strange that he would constantly talk about how Casey looked like her mom. Or how he would make her wear her mothers old clothes, jewelry and make-up. To them, it was just seen as a man caring for his child and keeping his wife’s memory alive.

But I wasn’t going to stop until I had that sweet girl under my roof and her name changed to my own. I was going to fight for however long it took for Casey Tackle to be added into my family's registry as my adopted sister, just like Nick did for me.