Devil Inside, page 34
Castor’s appearance distracted both of the Burners enough that Harley was able to easily drop her weight and slid through her opponents hold. She kicked his legs out from underneath him and pounced on him before he had a chance to recover. She slammed her fist into the side of his jaw and heard the crack of his neck bones as he fell unconscious. She looked back at Castor struggling with his Ignis and almost leapt into the fight. However, she knew that Castor wouldn’t appreciate her stealing his kill and he looked like he was handling himself well enough that she wasn’t worried that he would lose the fight.
Working quickly, Harley cut the string from the broken and stained blinds over the window. She also grabbed a dingy looking shirt that lay rumpled on the floor. She resisted the urge to drop it again when she felt just how nasty it was. It smelled of filth and bodily fluids and she held it away from her face. She used the string to tie the hands of the Ignis. She knew that it wouldn’t hold him for long, but it was better than nothing. She used her chain to secure his feet. When he was relatively unable to move Harley prodded him awake with her Bowie. She knew that Castor was still fighting with Rex behind her but she tuned them out. When the Ignis was roused enough to glare at her through flashing eyes she jabbed the tip of her knife into his throat enough to get his attention.
“If you move I’ll shove this knife so far it will cut your brain in half.”
He stopped moving and continued to give her a death stare. “I have a few questions,” she said.
“I have nothing to say to you,” he answered through clenched teeth.
“Well, if you don’t answer my questions, your death is going to be a lot more painful.”
He tried to spit at her but she was lucky enough to be able to dodge it. Her nose wrinkled in disgust. “OK,” she said, nodding. Harley picked up the disgusting shirt and held it firmly over his mouth, not caring if she also blocked his nose. She could tell that he was trying to bite her even through the cloth. She slowly pushed the knife into the Ignis’ stomach and as soon as the blade broke through the skin the Ignis began screaming. Harley had only delivered cuts and fatal stabs previously. She realized how badly the silver must be hurting him because his screams were shrill and desperate, even through the makeshift gag. Once the knife was embedded to the hilt she left it there. It wasn’t long before the burning smell that accompanied all Burners grew even stronger. All the while the demon-man that she held to the ground continued to writhe and scream.
Harley checked on Castor and Rex while she gave her Burner time to appreciate the pain that she could cause him. Castor and Rex were locked in a struggle on the floor. She could tell that Castor was still weaker than he should be, but he was slowly gaining the upper hand. She wasn’t too worried about the noise that they were making. She hadn’t heard anyone in the apartment below them and it was unlikely that anyone outside could hear them. She finally turned her attention back to the Ignis on the floor. She slowly pulled the knife out of his gut as he continued to kick and convulse. She turned and flopped down on his chest as she pulled the gag away from his mouth. Her weight would help keep him on the floor and their combined weights on top of his hands would help keep him from breaking through the thin cord she had tied him up with.
When Harley removed the gag the Burner let loose a string of profanities and curses. She laughed at him and waited for him to finish before attempting to ask him questions again. She checked on Rex and Castor’s situation again. Rex had gotten a lucky swipe in with his small pocket knife—Harley again almost came to Castor’s rescue. But Castor retaliated with a vicious high kick to the Burner’s head and Rex dropped heavily to the floor. Castor stood over the blonde demon wobbling slightly with his knife raised. Harley knew that he needed to feed and not just kill the Ignis. He had been injured and the fight had taken a lot out of him. Not to mention that he was still recovering from his Burner bite. Castor looked at her over his shoulder. He looked unsure as to what to do. When he saw Harley sitting on the Ignis watching him he looked surprised and amused.
“What are you doing?” he asked lowering his knife and turning to face her.
“Interrogating. I’m just waiting for him to realize he’s gonna have to talk sooner or later.”
“Fuck you,” the Ignis spat at her.
Realizing that she was going to have to speed things along Harley calmly held the Ignis’ head still by placing the gag over his mouth again and leaning her weight onto her hand. She knew what she was going to do and could barely believe she was doing it. It felt like she was watching it from outside her own body as her Nocte gleefully got down to business. Methodically, Harley angled the knife point first at the Burner’s eye. The blade was just millimeters away from his eyeball and she smiled when his eyes involuntarily widened as he realized what she was going to do. In one quick motion Harley stabbed the knife into the soft, gooeyness of his eye. She held it in place the best she could as she simultaneously tried to use her weight to hold him and stop his trashing and throwing her off. One hand still held the gag over his mouth.
Harley felt the laugh bubbling out of her and was at the same time appalled. The human part of her couldn’t stop from empathizing with the pain that the man must be suffering. The compassionate part of her nagged at her to remember that one wrong didn’t make another right, and the irony of the blinding of his eye wasn’t lost on her either. But the cold, brutal (Nocte?) part of her brushed this aside. She wasn’t human any more than the creature below her was. And as she held the man down and got up close and personal with him, she realized the depth of his crimes. He enjoyed hurting people and he didn’t deserve her compassion. Still, her actions left a sour taste in her mouth.
Still holding the gag she spoke into his ear, loud enough to get past the sounds of his own agony. “Are you ready to answer questions now?” She could actually hear a faint sizzling as the silver burned in the viscous fluid of his eyes.
“Yes!” was his garbled reply through the cloth she held over his mouth. “Yes!” he yelled again as loudly as the gag would allow him. She pulled the knife from his eye before she removed the gag. She shuddered at the wet sound it made. Blood and gore leaked from his ruined eye socket. She didn’t look back at Castor, but she knew that he was watching. She didn’t want to see what he thought of what she was doing.
When the Ignis had caught his breath she began her questioning.
“Where is Cutter?” The Burner looked surprised by her question and hesitated before answering. “Do you want to lose the other eye?” She raised the Bowie into his field of vision for emphasis.
“Fuck,” he gasped. “No. I don’t know where Cutter is.” She raised the knife again in question. “I swear,” he said panicking again. Blood and fluid continued to dribble over his cheek. The smell of the blood made her stomach growl and she took a deep breath, savoring the scent—much to the Burner’s horror.
“How can I find him?” The Burner thought hard for a moment, searching for some way to give her what she wanted.
“The warehouse in Queens!” he said finally. “He does a lot of business there. I don’t know when he’s going to be there again. But I’m sure that he will. It’s small, well-hidden. It’s one of the only places I know of that he does business at more than once.” The Ignis looked strained and tired. He didn’t want to answer the questions and he sagged with the knowledge that he was going to die. But, he understood that if he answered questions he would die quickly and the finality of his situation was apparent in his gravelly voice. He quickly rattled off directions on how to find the warehouse. Harley committed them to memory. A small spark of hope began growing in her chest. She had finally gotten good information. She believed what he told her. With as much pain as he was in and as scared as he was, a lie wouldn’t be easy to make up and carry through. Harley would easily pick up on the hesitation that would come from a lie.
The Ignis spoke again, trying his best to look human and not like a demon. “You can let me go, you know? I won’t hurt anyone again. I’ll just leave the city. No one would have to know.” He made the suggestion half-heartedly. He knew it wouldn’t work but he tried anyway.
Harley smiled at him. “Hey, I’m going to make it quick. Be content with that,” she shrugged.
The Ignis turned away. “Just fucking do it then.” Instead of killing him just yet she knocked him unconscious with a sharp blow to his temple with her knife. He would be out for a few minutes.
Castor was watching her as if he wasn’t sure what to make of her. He didn’t look particularly disgusted, just sad and tired. “So, why are you asking about Cutter?” he asked her softly. She forced the bit of shame she felt at her actions away. She knew how brutal it must have looked.
“It’s a long story,” she answered motioning towards the blonde on the floor behind him. “You need to feed. Just do it.”
Castor still hesitated. Harley knew how he felt. She wanted to feed on her Ignis, even though she shouldn’t really be hungry again already. He was there, right? Why not take the opportunity? Her Nocte practically sang to her. It was a scary feeling because she knew that if she fed the amazing euphoria than came along with the blood would help wash away any lingering remorse she felt. She was beginning to understand how some Nocte got carried away and couldn’t handle the power that came along with being a Nocte.
Harley knew that Castor wouldn’t feed if she didn’t as well. But, just like the Lux, she felt weird doing it in front of anyone. It was more awkward than taking your clothes off in front of a stranger. Castor still hesitated—obviously deciding which was greater: his need to feed or the desire to not have Harley see him do it.
“Well, if you don’t eat him—I’ll have him for dessert,” Harley said, finally deciding to stop pretending they weren’t both going to do this.
Harley ignored the embarrassment of committing such an act in front of someone she barely knew. She straddled her Ignis and yanked his head to the side before sinking her teeth into his neck. Even though he was already unconscious his body trembled spasmodically a few times. As she fed she knew that Castor was watching her. Eventually, the awkward feelings passed as the pleasure of the feeding carried her away. She could feel the power flow through her and it hummed across her body. Surprisingly, the feeling of being watched turned into a more erotic, voyeuristic feeling than an invasion of privacy. She could feel Castor watching her and on some level she was sure that he was enjoying it as much as she was.
When the blood ran cold Harley let the dead man’s head fall against the floor. She climbed off the man’s chest and flopped onto her butt beside him. She realized that Castor was still watching her. Blood dripped from the jagged gash that ran the length of his jaw—the result of the Burner’s lucky hit. Harley could smell his blood and her heartbeat pounded in her chest. Castor had propped Rex up in a sitting position as if he had started to feed but then gotten carried away watching Harley. The look on his face was one of fright and curiosity and discomfort…and something else. The heated, intense look that brightened his solid white eyes caused Harley’s stomach to flip flop. Castor finally shook himself free and focused his attention on the Ignis at his feet.
Castor, purposefully not looking at Harley, crouched behind the Ignis and clasped Rex’s head in his hands. He glanced at Harley briefly before taking a deep breath. Harley’s breath quickened. She knew that Levi had seen a Lux feed before, but he hadn’t given her many details. She was curious about how it was done. But even more exciting was the fact that she was getting to watch—that Castor was letting her. It was hot, she had to admit. Watching someone do something this private and it felt taboo and forbidden.
As Castor let his breath out slowly, his hands began to glow with a light that was so white it looked blue. The light was so intense that Harley nearly had to turn away. The blue light spread Castor’s hands to the Burner’s whole head and he began to convulse and make gurgling noises. It sounded painful and Harley cringed at the sounds. Mixed in with the sounds of death was something else. Faintly, Harley could make out a white noise. There was a pulsating rhythm to the static sound and Harley tried to recognize the pattern but the sound was too faint. Castor only fed for a few moments before the light went out as quickly as it turned on and with it the sound ceased as well. Castor let the Ignis fall forward and he slowly sat back to give himself a minute to get his bearings. Rex looked washed out and even more lifeless than the Ignis that lay beside where she still sat. The Ignis whose body had begun to smolder.
“Um…problem,” she said breathlessly.
“Huh,” Castor asked, looking at her still dazed.
“So, it seems that the remains from my dinner are about to burn…”
“Oh!” Castor said coming more alert. “I think it will be fine actually.”
She looked at him doubtfully while climbing to her feet. The flames had finally started to pick up and burn through the body. Smoke poured from the Burner’s nose and mouth and he started to smell even worse than he did before he died.
“I don’t think it’s a normal fire,” Castor said also climbing to his feet. “It’s like the fire feeds on their bodies. It never really seems to spread.”
“Oh,” Harley said, stepping back from the fire anyway. “I’ve never killed one inside before.”
Castor flopped down on the dirty couch. “I learned the hard way. The first time I killed one inside I panicked and kept trying to find something to put out the flames. I finally did but then couldn’t figure out how to get rid of the body. Then my mentori came in a jumped my shit for cutting up an Burner’s body and stuffing it in a garbage bag.” Harley began laughing so hard she had to sit at the stool at the breakfast bar. Castor began laughing with her.
“What happened?”
“He made me take it to the woods and burn it on myself. Believe me. It’s a lot easier to let them burn on their own. For some reason it smells a lot worse when you burn them with your own fire. And it takes longer.”
“What’s a mentori?” Harley asked catching her breath.
“My mentor. Did you not have one?”
“Kind of I guess. We don’t have a name for them I don’t think. At least none that anyone ever told me.”
“What did you call the one that trained you?”
“Asshole some days. Nya the rest of the time.” Castor looked impressed at the mention of Nya’s name, but he laughed along with Harley.
“Here is your dagger,” he held the small silver blade out handle first.
“Nah, you should probably hold onto it for a while longer.”
“I got a replacement.” He pulled out his large, bone-handled hunting knife. He let the light hit the silver blade and it glinted off wickedly.
“Fine then,” she shrugged good naturedly. “Give me my blade back. That’s a nice piece,” she nodded towards his new knife.
“Thanks. So, what is the long story?” Castor asked her.
Harley took a deep breath. “I don’t think I can go into it today. Can I tell you another day?”
Castor looked at her for several long moments. The look her gave her was unreadable but it made her squirm and her Nocte perk up again. “OK,” he said finally. “But apparently you are looking for Cutter, right?”
Harley looked at him warily. “Yes.”
“I’ve heard of Cutter. He is a nasty, nasty piece of work.”
“Yeah, I know.” Harley answered dryly but didn’t elaborate.
Castor took a deep breath. “Whatever it is, you should probably let it go.”
Harley didn’t respond. She wasn’t going to get into an argument about it. Not now. She didn’t have the energy for it. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t need to justify herself to Castor. She was sure that he was going to give her the whole “revenge won’t solve anything speech” so she brushed away his concern.
By the time they had recovered and made certain the fires from the Ignis weren’t going to burn down the whole building, night had begun to fall.
“Shit!” Castor said looking out the window. Harley joined him.
“Well, it’s not completely dark…”
“Dark enough that I already feel it.”
Harley chuckled. “Aw, don’t worry. I can walk you home.”
Castor scowled at her. “I drove here. I don’t need an escort home.” But Harley could see his eyes drooping and hear his words beginning to slur.
“Mm hmm.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll at least walk you to your car then.” Castor clenched his jaw but didn’t argue.
Chapter 31
Nearly a week later Harley found herself watching the Queens warehouse that the Ignis had told her Cutter did business from. The warehouse looked like it was usually used for storage of some kind. She could tell from outside the building exactly what was being housed there—but she was sure it wasn’t stuffed animals and candy. She had been watching the place at different times throughout the night from several blocks away. She had seen a lot of Burners coming and going but had yet to see Cutter. She didn’t bother the Burners that she saw come and go. Instead, she waited for Cutter. If she moved too soon and tried attacking or interrogating lesser Ignis, word might get back to Cutter and he would never return here. Then she would be back to square one.
Harley was moving along the rooftop of one of the buildings that she hadn’t used as a lookout yet, it was located about a block away from the warehouse. Suddenly, her Nocte picked up on a familiar scent. Castor. She knew right away that he wasn’t here. It was dark. And besides, the smell was old and lingering but it still maintained the warmth that his smell always had. The faint scent of the Lux threw her off focus and she comically spun in a circle trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Feeling very canine like, Harley followed her nose to a small electrical alcove that served the building. In between two hulking metal contraptions that she didn’t know the purpose of, Harley found the source of the scent. It was so strong he had to have rubbed himself all over the metal machines fairly recently. Either he was trying to rub a layer of skin off or he had been trying to get her attention. She put a hand over her mouth to stop the laugh that threatened to bubble out at the mental image of him rubbing himself all over the metal contraptions.
