Sunday Afternoon Part II for Blogophilia 40.4

The reason the agent of the  devil in my The Devil’s Mistress series will never again  date a vampire is because the risk of being sent to the  sweatshops of Hell is too great.

This scene explains what happened after he did date a vampire in 1930s Chicago where brisk business sent many a mobster’s soul to Mr. D’s coffers. It may not have been happy times for the citizens of the Windy City, but it was happy times for the Devil (Mr. D). I hope you enjoy this scene.

Part I is here

“So what happened? Why were you were called to his office? And tell me about Alicia the Vampire.”

“I met Alicia one night when I was walking down a dark alley on my way back from a job. It was only a space between two old tenement buildings, the bricks weathered with age, amidst fumes of cabbage, urine and drink. My ears picked up the scampering of rats, their nails clacking on the pavement. I did not anticipate seeing any mortals in this place. No sounds alerted me, but to my surprise an unique scent penetrated my awareness. I was not alone and it was not mortal.

When I felt her lips on my neck I spun around and confronted her startled face. In a husky voice she said Ohand I knew she recognized me for what I am, and not the dinner she had anticipated. She was beautiful. Black hair just up to her shoulders, straight and smooth, and full crimson lips. She wore a velvet cloak that matched her deep green eyes; as enticing  as an Hawaiian sunset. The effect dazzled even me. I cannot imagine how a mortal would have reacted.

We studied each other, though no words were spoken aloud. I turned from her and continued toward my residence. She paced beside me. We spent the rest of the night in bed testing each other, challenging, dueling, no holds barred, fought not with swords but with lips, tongues, finger tips; and teeth. When she bit me she showed me her world; of shadows and the excitement of the hunt with the triumph of the prey’s capture. It was intoxicating and addictive. I probably would have carried on seeing her if she had not sniffed me out the next night while I was working. The client had just died…”

“How did he die?”

“Shush. It is not important.”

“And I was about to send his soul on to Mr.D. It has been a busy night. Two of the families had attempted to eradicate each other causing major damage to both factions and I was anxious to get home. Admittedly, I also hoped to see Alicia again.

I felt a rush of air and all of a sudden Alicia was there, bent over, slurping and panting, her fangs dug into the mobster. It happened so fast that even I did not see her. Though it took but a moment to realise what she had wrought.

You drained him! Damn it you stupid undead, I screamed. The soul did not get out, I did not send it on and since he was dead, and not going to be turned into a vampire either, the soul got trapped in him. I accepted that the soul was lost and it was all her doing. I was furious. You have never seen me that angry and I hope you never do.”

The harshness of his words caused me to cringe within his embrace. He rubbed my back in reassurance that everything in our world was fine.

“I used what today would be called a pager, though very different, to call for a demon messenger. I told the imp to call my nearest team mate to assist me. My colleague and I had been in the same college fraternity over a century ago, with all the secret rules; one of which had been to always carry an axe. I knew what the repercussions would be so I needed a witness, and of course he would bring the axe. He arrived immediately while she was still trying to clean herself up. Naturally, the corpse was a bloody mess. Together he and I cut off her head. Such a pretty head too, but no woman mortal or not, can be allowed to interfere with my job.”

Peering at me he said, “Now do you understand?”

I tried to hide my face in the folds of his sweater and I shook my head yes.

“But,” I stammered, “I do come with you to work sometimes…”

“Yes you do. That is a weakness on my part. And I make you stay well away do I not?”

“Yeah.”

“Now you understand why I keep you at a distance; to ensure no interference with the process. So perhaps you will stop trying to cajole me to allow you a better view.”

“Yet, you said Mr. D told you that no woman would interfere with your duties.”

My lover shrugged. “He never said no one could come with me…”

“You use cell phones now. What happened to all the communication demons? Were they pink-slipped? People would just … not believe what we talk about!”

“No, we are certainly not your run of the mill couple. I have no idea what happened to them. It is not my job to know. All I know is that throughout time, by whatever means, we have always been able to communicate with Mr. D and he with us.”

“But wait a minute; the sweatshops couldn’t always have been like they are now, with computers.”

He went totally still. I looked up at him and he seemed dazed, his eyes staring ahead but seeing nothing. “You are such a librarian,” he finally said.

I couldn’t tell if he was teasing.

“To answer your question, no, the sweat shops change with the culture of the times, to coincide with peoples’ fears at that point in time and place.”

We were both silent for a while, thinking our own thoughts. The little hamster in my head raced along on his wheel trying to catch up with all that I had heard this afternoon. The day had turned out to be not as boring as I originally imagined.

“I don’t make you feel like she did, with such excitement.” I felt a bit insecure and my words were muffled.

“No. Where we travel together when we make love is more real. We are attuned to each other as if we are one. We see each other’s worlds with our minds. And your world takes me to places I always dreamed of, as I knew it would when we first met.”

I snuggled into his strong embrace.

“With Alicia, even I felt lost in her world, as if I was no more than a game to be played with and then tossed aside like a well chewed bone when she lost interest.”

He made me feel cherished and formidable. I kissed him deeply.

Hmm better not mess with his job– will get my head chopped off.

 

written for

Blogophilia 40.4 Topic: “Major Damage”

Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2pts): include a secret college rule

(Easy, 1pt): incorporate foreign sunsets