Midnight

Chapter Four

When they returned to The Greasy Rat Aldrich, Cassius and a girl with long pink hair who was wearing a black and white maid uniform were waiting for them. Mary was busy looking after the needs of her customers. Aldrich waved them over.

"These are the people I was talking about." Aldrich said to the pink haired girl." Cora wasn't entirely sure that a demon counted as a person but she wasn't sure if mentioning that would be appropriate. "Cora, Lexie, meet Dawn. I appear to have acquired the services of a maid."

"It's nice to meet you." Dawn said. "Master has been kind enough to employ me after the unfortunate demise of my previous employer."

"I have been unable to make her stop calling me that." Aldrich said.

"I was lucky to meet Master after returning from the other side." Dawn said. "I had started thinking that I would never find another employer."

"So she's who you went to meet." Lexie said.

Lexie and Cora then introduced Desmond to the group.

"We're all here now." Cassius said. "I'm assuming that you explained the situation to Desmond as we did to Dawn."

"We did." Cora said.

"Good." Cassius said. "Then I don't need to explain why we're here. And since Desmond came with you like Dawn came with us I can question both of you here and compare your experiences."

Dawn's story ended up being pretty much the same as Desmond's. She also had no idea what had killed her and had woken up on the coroner's table as well. In both cases it had been decided that they had only appeared to be dead and the cause was determined to likely be a toxin of some kind from an insect bite. It seemed that in both cases not much investigation had taken place and people were content to have come up with an explanation and move on. Even with two such cases happening in such a short time span. Dawn's death had happened only a day after Desmond's.

Both Dawn and Desmond were adamant that they had indeed died and saw the other side. Both also insisted that they knew how they would return to the other side but neither would share this information and neither could explain how they knew.

Without Cassius to confirm that both had actually died and were not supposed to be among the living Cora would have been inclined to believe that they had not actually been dead. The experts opinions on their cases seemed plausible enough. But with the testimony of an angel of death that something was wrong...

As far as Cora was aware nothing like this had happened before. For the natural cycle of death to be disrupted and altered like it had been was something she would have considered impossible before.

"Unfortunately." Cassius said. "I don't have any answers for you. I was actually hoping that you could tell me something."

Desmond looked disappointed but recovered quickly.

"I would still like to talk with you anyway." Desmond said. "Privately."

Cassius looked at him for a moment before responding. "Fine, if you insist." He said.

"I would like that as well." Dawn said. "I have a feeling that I can tell you things that I shouldn't tell anyone else. Not even Master."

Dawn looked at Aldrich with an apologetic expression.

Desmond looked like he agreed with what Dawn had said. Perhaps there were things they could only share with an angel of death. It would make sense for the to be rules about something like that. Cora herself had rules she had to obey. Not many but there were some. She wasn't bound by the multitude of restrictions that an angel like Cassius was. Cora wondered what it would be like to be on the other side.

Cassius left with Desmond and Dawn and Aldrich said he had important matters to deal with before leaving as well. That left Cora with Lexie and Mary and Mary was still busy.

"By the way." Cora said. "Why is this place called The Greasy Rat? That's an odd name isn't it?"

"Maybe that's what the mystery meat is." Lexie said.

"Is it good rat?" Cora asked.

"I was joking." Lexie said. "You're weird."

"Good weird?" Cora asked.

"Maybe." Lexie said. "We'll see."

A girl with short black hair cut in the style known as a pixie cut wearing a black leather jacket and black jeans with a belt with thick metal spikes on it sat next to Cora. She appeared to be in her early twenties, had pale skin like an albino and green eyes that turned to Cora with a look of curiosity and something else. What that something else was Cora didn't know. She found her eyes drawn to the girl's mouth and her black lipstick. Her nails were also painted black.

"Hey." The girl said. "I'm Marsha. I haven't seen you here before. What brings a pretty girl like you to a place like this?"

"Does that line ever work?" Lexie asked and glared at Marsha.

"I wasn't talking to you." Marsha said.

"Hey." Cora said. "I'm Cora. I just recently got here. The city I mean. I haven't been to city like this before."

"A pretty name for a pretty girl." Marsha said. "I could give you a tour of the city if you want. The best tour of New Orleans you can get. I promise you won't be disappointed."

"And would that tour end at your place?" Lexie asked. "I wasn't aware that it had historical value."

"No one has ever left my place unsatisfied." Marsha said, still looking at Cora, and winked.

"Do you two know each other?" Cora asked.

"Unfortunately." Lexie said. "She's one of my many sisters. The most annoying one."

"Then she's also a-"

"Succubus." Marsha said. "Yes I am. And what are you beautiful?"

"This one has no self control." Lexie said. "Or pride."

"That's amusing coming from you." Marsha said. "Do I look like a haughty angel to you? Also sister dearest pride is not our sin. You should know that. Another one of the seven governs our nature."

"A demon." Cora said. "I'm a demon. And I've found this age quite delightful. No one has asked about my eyes, ran away from me screaming or tried to rile up a mob to hunt me or burn me on a pyre. It's been quite nice. I didn't think such a thing could ever be possible."

"That's just New Orleans darling." Marsha said. "Don't count on it outside the city. Recent years have left Orleans with a tolerance for the supernatural. I wouldn't exactly say that we're wanted here but they won't try to exterminate us and they even treat us with pleasant manners. But in the end tolerance is all that it is. A lot of them don't even pay special attention to us anymore. They've gotten used to the new normal I guess. And somehow the information hasn't spread. In this day and age I have no idea how that's possible."

Marsha studied Cora's eyes for a long moment with intensity that made the demon blush.

"I should have known." She said. "That explains the eyes. I'm becoming as bad as the local humans. I see a pretty gal with red eyes and don't even think that humans don't have eyes like that. Really I should have recognised you for what you are. Maybe there's something in the water that makes us not pay attention. Not fully at least. But in my defence you are unusual for your kind. Not in a bad way. Don't misunderstand. I've never known a demon to blush so prettily."

"Do you ever stop?" Lexie asked. "That's enough flirting."

"So about that tour." Marsha said, ignoring Lexie. "Are you interested?"

"Sure." Cora said. "That sounds fun. I could use a local guide. I want to see more of the city."

"Excellent." Marsha said. "I know all the best places to go."

"Are you sure about this Cora?" Lexie asked.

"I am." Cora said.

"Fine." Lexie said. "I won't tell you what to do. You can look after yourself. Unusual or not a succubus is no match for a demon. I'm not foolish enough to imagine that you need protection."

"Of course not." Marsha said. "We are both girls."