The Succubus's Silver Ch. 02

The half-succubus smacked the door again, putting more emphasis on her pleading. "Please! Help!" She stepped back from the door to check the stairs like she was expecting someone to come. Chi turned and slapped the doorframe of one of the other apartments trying to diffuse her force along the wall so as not to actually be heard inside.

"Come on, come on. . . .work with me, hero."

Chi spun just in time to see the light in Tanya's peep hole darken, like someone was checking what was going on. She pounced on the advantage, whimpering and slapping the door again. Another quick check of the empty stairs and she leaned towards the door. "Please let me in, please, please, please. I jus- just need a phone!"

And the door opened.

Tanya- sweet young girl peeked around the door.

There was no chain on it.

Chinnamani surged in with her infernal strength, doing her best to look pathetic and kicked the door shut behind her, sliding down beside the woman in a fit of crying. She'd be damned if she was going to give this up now. "P- please, c- can I use your phone? Please?"

Tanya looked about ready to try and kick her home invader out but then seemed to think better of it, checking the hall through her peep hole and, to Chi's surprise, locking the door. She watched for several seconds, heedless to the real danger behind her.

The apartment was dark with only the hall light on and the flickering of a some low budget sci-fi movie playing on the flatscreen in the living room. Chi hadn't seen the movie before, she noted. The place was pretty sparsely decorated with a simple couch and a tasteful arrangement of silver lamps here and there.

Chi's body itched, a smoldering ember that seemed to emanate from within her instead of the coin's usual method of compulsion- she saw the crucifix over the door way just as Tanya turned to regard her. Didn't it figure.

Too late now, though.

"Are you okay?" Tanya said quietly as she crouched down, pulling her night shirt tight. She reached up to touch Chi's 'wound' and offer the touch of any compassionate person. The first needle of guilt dug into Chi- then it struck Tanya what'd happened. Recognition flickered in her blue eyes. "You-"

"Fraid so," Chinnamani dropped her Glamour entirely and surged forward, grabbing the woman by the shoulder and looping around her, hand over her mouth. Crushing her palm into the teeth that tried to bite. There was no contest, though, Chi was too strong and too used to this kind of crap- she shoved the girl down, held her hands over her lower back and slid the police grade zip ties on. "Work with me here and we'll make this quick."

Tanya thrashed and whimpered. Chi hauled her up with an arm around her waist- she dumped the secretary on the couch still holding her hand over her mouth. "Listen carefully, I'm not gonna repeat this: tell me what I want to know and I leave here and you go back to trading tequila shots out of each others asses or whatever it is you do with Mark. Don't tell me what I want to know and I'm going to make our time together deeply unpleasant.

"Hell, I might drink your beer, eat your snacks and leave your shower drain clogged trying to get this shit off my skin." Chi eased her hand from the woman's mouth, holding her gaze firmly. Tanya's gaze kept flicking up to her horns- not unexpected really- but eventually she looked Chi full on.

"W- w- what-"

"Well I'm not with Girl Scouts of America, now am I?"

She blinked, uncomprehending.

"Joke. That was a joke. Oh, come on, tell me this is the first time you've been died up and held at gun point." Chi smiled at the woman's quick processing of the implied threat. Tanya became much more docile and shrunk back, lowering her gaze. It was a total lie, of course, Chi'd left the gun back in the car, but the horns had probably won her some points on the 'unexpected behavior' scale.

Tanya swallowed. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Should I? Probably not- think of this as a learning opportunity." Chi pushed her back and hopped up to her full size, just tall enough to look down at her captive. "Do you stop to consider that not everyone you try to help is worthy of it?"

At the mention of her name the woman blanched. The air of fear thickened, savory and warm, tempting Chi with every breath she took.

"This is where I point out that I don't want to be here all night. Faster you help me out, the better!" Chinnamani leaned forward, smiling a toothy grin to accent her canines. Tanya's aura shrunk even more. "I asked you a question."

"I- I-" She eased back away from Chi.

Chi lowered her voice, following her all the way to the back of the couch. "I. Asked you. A question." her voice was cool and calm.

"H- H-"

"Boring." Chinnamani danced back and turned the TV off. "It's like watching the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey- great for scene setting, but not terribly fun to sit through a second time! So, let's cut the foreplay and get to the good parts, huh? I'm going to ask you a few simple questions and the sooner you answer me the sooner we all go back to our lives. "Where does Mark live, Tanya?"

She whimpered.

"One demerit!" Chi strode back into the hall towards the kitchen. "Don't get to three, I'd hate to see that happen." She cracked open the fridge. "Wine cooler. . . .pale ale? And I'm the heathen." She stole one of the beers before returning to find Tanya on her feet near the TV stand.

She had her cell phone in her hand, eyes wide as dinner plates, staring at Chi.

"Go ahead," Chi crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, sipping the beer. She flexed her wings back against her hoodie just for emphasis. "Just think really carefully what you're gonna tell the cops. I mean, what: a demon came and held me hostage? Neither of us are gonna win that one." Another casual sip. "You look like an idiot and I'm no closer to finding Mark."

They held each others gaze for a moment, Tanya's eyes roamed Chinnamani's form. She clutched her phone. "W- why him?"

Chi shrugged. "I've been nothing but honest up to this point because I wanted to give you the benefit of basic respect." She took a sip. "See, Mark isn't exactly in his wife's good graces- she thinks he's banging you so she sent me to find out what was going on and get that damned car back. . .

"Now for what you get out of this," Chinnamani strode over and grabbed the phone. The screen was waiting for a password. Figured. "Is a life lesson." She tossed the phone back on the stand and sat Tanya down. "Seems like he's kind of a piece of crap- or at least enough of one to warrant some pretty heavy intervention."

Tanya muttered, "he said his wife was a mean witch. I didn't think he meant it like this."

Chi had been half way into a sip, she laughed and sputtered. She tried to regain her composure, but couldn't help herself. "Pretty sure she thinks as highly of herself too, but no that's not how this works. Look, I'm just after the car. I'm not going to hurt him, I'm not going to hurt you unless I really have to."

For just a moment she looked about ready to rebel, but then she looked at Chinnamani. "He's not a bad man-"

"I don't care what he's like. The faster I get done with this, the faster I get on with my life. Look, I promise you, mine's the only blood that's going to get spilled."

She squinted. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I haven't hurt you, have I?" Chi sipped her beer. "Janet's a bitch, but she just wants the car back. I don't kill people, I don't go around stealing souls and shit- I'm the lamest of the demons."

"But- but you are a demon."

"Could be worse," Chinnamani touched Tanya's cheek- she recoiled and Chi grabbed her by the shirt, yanking her close. "I could do whatever I want to you right now and every part of me is telling me to- it's the human part of me that keeps me from acting on it but I have my limits. Unless you want to find them, I really suggest you tell me where I find that chunk of metal."

Tanya whimpered and tried to draw back. Chi pulled her closer and she flashed her canines again, settling mere inches from her face. "Well?"

"E- H- He lives in the Village."

"Village- like what, East Syracuse?"

"Yeah. . ." Tanya recited an address by memory.

Chi groaned. "You fucking kidding me? That was a joke!" She eyed the woman. "Got any proof to back it up?"

"N- no?"

"Then why would I believe you, hm?"

Tanya sighed. "J- you want the car, right? Then you go away? I have no reason to lie to you."

"Mmm. . ." She was technically right, Chi supposed. Well, it was a lead if nothing else. Chi dampened her fingers with some beer and wiped the blood clean from her face simultaneously rebuilding her Glamour to hide her horns. "So if I come back here, you know we're going to have this conversation again, you know we're going to have it out in a different way, right?"

Tanya nodded with mock coyness. She was going to call the cops the moment Chi left. Or thought she would.

That was fine with Chinnamani. "Turn around," she said as she produced the box cutter.

After cutting off her restraints and packing them away Chi immediately drank of the woman's fear and unease, like a glutton she savored that particular flavor of concern that only came about when someone cared for another who was being threatened. In doing so, she learned what she needed to know; the girl cared for this man.

Maybe even loved him.

Tanya blinked a few times and looked at her with fresh eyes, as if the last few minutes had never happened she was all piss and vinegar with a new kind of fear. "Who the hell're you?!"

Chi raised the bottle and giggled, "Haayyy. Come on, don't look at me like that- we were gonna play spin the bottle!"

"Wh-" confusion and worry warped her features, she checked her own breath looking for alcohol and finding none, turned her suspicion to her visitor. "Get the hell out-"

"Come onnnnn, I thought Todd was gonna be here and we were gon' have . . .a threesome. Or something. I got drunk for this, you can't kick me out!"

"I don't know who the hell Todd is, but you got the wrong apartment-"

"Wait!" Chi blinked at her. "Waitttttt hey! I know you!"

"Huh?"

"You're Internet famous!" she giggled and prodded Tanya "Yeeeah, didn't I see you on Fail Army in one of those videos? Mom must be so proud!"

"Get the fuck out of my house."

#

Chinnamani hoofed it back to her car and dumped her gear, rubbing furiously at her skin to rid herself of the itching from the coin and the religious 'taint' of the apartment. Even fifteen minutes later it burned, but it was a small price to pay for a lead. . .

So close to her quarry, she could almost taste her freedom.

It tasted like cheap pilsner beer stolen from a middle class secretary.