Flirting with Sin Ch. 01

"Kill your father? You're asking a Demon Hunter to murder a member of the priesthood on behalf of a demon?"

"I am," she said, smiling wide. "His church is a wicked place, Trevorrr. Didn't Markus tell you? I saw it with my own eyes. Satyrs in robes. Blood sacrifices, rites performed under the pretense of holy worship. My mother was killed in this place, Trevor. Her murderers were the demons, not her."

"Was your mother truly a demon? That paladin said she was a nun. How can that be?"

"Mother..." Alison sighed wistfully, her gaze drifted to the ground. "Yes, she was a nun. We used to live in the convent together, with the other Sisters. I don't know how she came to be there... it was before I was born. But I do know why they kept her."

Oh, I could venture a guess. A demoness, harbored within the cloistered halls of the Sisters' nunnery, treated as one of their own. It wasn't because they believed she belonged there, a bride of the Lord; Alison's mother was valuable as a guinea pig for what might be effective against the forces of the Inferno.

"Mother was kind. Selfless. Always putting others before herself. She knew what she was, but I don't believe she saw herself as the thing the priests called her--a demon. She never referred to herself as one, nor would she let anyone call me that. In her eyes, we were no different from men. Children of the Lord."

Alison looked at me with dewy eyes as she spoke. Her voice shook. "They let us stay, let us live among men, so long as... so long as she would...!"

Crucifixes and burning flesh.

Blessed water and screams of agony.

As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Holy fire and searing light had stricken Felicity's skin more times than Alison cared to remember, I could see it in her sorrowful gaze. I was no stranger to it, I'd watched it burn away demonic flesh affixed to innocent hosts and dissolve corruption that crept into the city again and again.

"They tortured her, Trevor. She said... said she did it because it would help protect us. That the priests could use what they learned from her to protect the city. That they only did what they thought would help them understand those... like her." Alison grit her teeth, her words were low with resentment. "But that's not all they did. No, there was a man who went much further, who relished in her pain. And without him, I wouldn't be here."

The cat demoness balled her paws into fists and scowled at the ground.

"I hated him. Mother would get scared when he was around, and she'd lie to me and tell me it would be alright, but I knew what he did to her. Even when I was so little, I knew. That man, he would look at me and have the gall to call me his daughter. He never saw me that way. I was only ever a mistake--and something new to run his little experiments on, if he ever got the chance.

"There was a man who stood up for us, a paladin who tried to incriminate that man for his rapes and his abuse. But nothing stuck. Mother was a demon, so nothing they did to her was too cruel or too evil. No, instead they punished the paladin for getting in the way!" Alison reeled at her own recollection, like she could hardly believe it herself. "He... he tried to stop that man when he was torturing her, hurting her, and they--they made him leave the Church!"

Markus. Ex-communicated for interfering with the work of exorcists and the inquisition, I imagine was the official judgment. He should be so lucky they didn't cut off his hands or worse.

Pragmatically, I could understand. Even if she were a supposedly benevolent hellspawn, what is her suffering against the potential to save countless lives? But for the Lord's light to be used in such a cruel way beggars belief.

"After he was gone, it was like they thought nothing could touch them. So they kept coming to take mother away more and more often. Then, one day, they did something so terrible to her she couldn't take it. She lost control of herself and she gave them what they deserved. She tore them apart. All except for him, who ran away like a fat stinking rat..." Alison's words mixed with a deep growl. "They had her killed, Trevor. They cut off her head. They took my mother from me."

The demoness stared at her open paw. "I wasn't like mother," she said mournfully, "so they tossed me away into an orphanage and forgot me. But now..."

I grunted. Demons are all two-faced liars. This could merely be a trick to get me to lower my guard, but in that case, she would have no reason to lead me to an out-of-sight alleyway and feed me this farce. Alison's failure to gut her father was likely due to some sort of hellish force he had enshrouded himself in rather than her humanity getting the better of her. She may truly have needed my help, but to bet on this predator's heart would be suicidal; even now, looking into those emerald gemstones in her face, I could see that I was little more to her than a squirming mouse.

"The paladin told me about your mother. Most people with that kind of heritage are demons from birth. The Church deems them an aberration and puts them to death. If I had to guess, something was suppressing your demonic traits so you could lead a normal life."

"A normal life?" she hissed. "I was weak, frail, and afraid before! My 'normal' was fetching coffee for old rich perverts, slaving away on sales reports and hoping nobody would follow me home that night! Look at me, Trevor!"

The demoness stripped off her robe. Her pale, slender form was lit violet by the holograms overhead and her muscular limbs and toned abdominals were accented by patches of fur flowing over her body in sinfully alluring patterns. I gasped as the blood rushed away from my head.

"Look! I am strong, and beautiful, and free! My mother gave me a gift! I will never go back to my life before. Never!" she shouted, stretching out her arms and standing tall to display her flawless body in all its glory, the rolling lights of shifting advertisements cast on her white canvas.

"You're a danger to yourself and everyone around you. You won't stop at your father. You'll find an excuse to eat another person, and then another. I can't let you run free." I rose the barrel of the magnum to her breast. "No more games, Alison. I have to put you down."

"Maybe I didn't have to kill that man, maybe," she said, running her prickly tongue over her lips. Her eyes locked with mine and her ears stood straight up. "But I couldn't control myself. You don't know what it's like, Trevorrrr. When there's a big, juicy morsel right in front of you, squirming in fear."

Alison took a step toward me, hunger in her eyes.

"And when they smell as good as you do..."

The demoness was in the air. A silver bullet left the magnum's chamber. I wasn't sure which happened first. I leapt backward as the crushing weight of her muscles, her poise and her claws slammed into the ground next to me, snarls and fangs just behind them. Painted across her features was an expression somewhere between a wicked grin and the glare of a wild animal seeking its prey.

Alison swiped at me, her claws meeting the sword with an ear-shattering clang. Again her deadly nails sought my flesh and struck only steel, the alley filling with the sounds of metal clashing with claw. There on all fours in front of me, her back muscles taut and her fangs dripping with saliva, she stared up at me like I was a Christmas present waiting to be ripped open.

"Must I beg? Please kill him for me, Trevorrr. I'll do something special for you. I know what you waaaant," she purred, her tail rolling rhythmically back and forth. "The way you're looking at me is so prrrecious. Do I scare you? Are you afraid?"

I felt the blade pulsing in my hand like it was sharing my heartbeat. Waves of anger pushed into my head; it was trying to assert its will on me. In-between breaths I could all but hear its whispers, forced into my head and invading my thoughts. Kill her. Paint me with her blood. Scatter her guts.

She slunk towards me, crawling so close to the ground her breasts were touching the concrete. I glanced quickly behind--brick wall. Alison grinned wide; her limbs tensed. She was getting ready to pounce.

"You don't have to be afraid of meeee, Trevor. Just hold still..."

With a shout, I brought the blade and all the might I had to bear down upon her. Alison roared, meeting the blade with both sets of claws. My legs quaked beneath the force of the blow; the blade shattered into a hundred pieces and scattered all over the alleyway.

"Goddamnit," I muttered, gripping the hilt in white-knuckled frustration.

Alison snickered and stood up straight. She strut toward me, swinging her hips, tossing her hair. The cat-demon's tongue rolled in a great circle around her open mouth, finishing with a wink. I held the gun steady and fired, once--gunsmoke filled my vision, my hand shook, but she merely moved her head and it missed her. Twice--she pirouetted gracefully to the side, smiling at me all the while.

"Trevorrr. I won't hurt you if you stay still and do what I say, like a good boy," she mewled teasingly.

Just as she was about to descend on me, a small chunk of steel came flying from down the alley and struck her in the back of the head.

"Myaa!" she yowled in pain. "Who is there?!"

Then came another chunk, a shard of shattered sharpened steel, flying toward her sternum. She swat it away with her claw, but then there was another and another. An armada of floating shards were poised overhead--Alison's mouth fell open as they all came raining down at her at once.

Diving, dodging and darting around the alley, Alison narrowly avoided the shards. Bits of concrete broke away from the alley as they struck the ground like bullets. The demon bounced off the brick walls, kicking and leaping her away up, spinning and swatting away the shards as she climbed. She fell before me and backflipped away from a hail of shards hurtling toward her head.

Countless shattered bits of the sword dislodged themselves from the walls and the ground and floated eerily toward me, moving past Alison. We stood there in confused silence as they fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle in front of me, each piece perfectly lining up with the others until they reformed the shape of the blade. The hilt pulled itself upward, yanking my arm with it, and lined up with the steel to reattach itself. It shined terribly in the dark; there was not a single imperfection or dent in the metal like it had been newly forged.

Alison bared her fangs and hissed furiously.

"That little knife won't protect you from me, Trevor!" she growled, slamming her paws into the ground.

With a roar and a great leap she came at me, her claws splayed, poised to shred me into a million pieces. The blade crashed against them and again broke into shards which threw themselves at her body. Alison dove deftly out of the way and rolled through a pile of trash; the shards each chunked into the ground before flying back to the blade to rejoin.

Clang! The blade split into pieces as she tore at me again, but she did not relent. In a flurry of slashes, she cut through my robe and sunk her claws into my side. Teeth clenched, I grunted in agony and tried to leap away, but her claws clung to my robe; she yanked me toward her and dove to the ground, her limbs clutching me tight like a trap sprung.

Alison's big green eyes stared into me with hunger and fury. Her maw opened wide, those razor-sharp fangs set to rip out my throat. Before she could come down on me, there was a series of sickening thumps, metal meeting flesh--the broken shards sunk into her back one after another. She went limp, weakly meowing on top of me.

As I tried to push the demoness off of me and reclaim freedom, her eyes snapped open. She mewled weakly.

"Trevor..." she cried, moving her face close to mine.

Her prickly tongue snaked from her mouth and ran up my neck, my jawline, my cheek. She pressed her plush lips against mine, she forced my mouth open and stroked my tongue with her stabbing spines. It was painful, yet she was too weak to try and hurt me with it. Up and down she kissed me, mewling and whining, her claws sunk into my clothes to ensure I couldn't move.

"Please help me. I can't... I can't do it myself. Please," she begged in-between kisses and rough, jagged strokes of her tongue.

I grabbed the back of her head, eliciting a confused trill, and I pulled her into a deep kiss. Sinful and indulgent, I pushed my tongue down her throat, tasted her wild breath. I ran my hands down the tight muscles of her back and grabbed a handful of her behind. She gasped, mewling pathetically as pleasure mixed with pain.

"Trevor... Trevor...!" she cried, grinding her lower half against me.

In the midst of her heated cries she didn't notice as I reached into my pocket and grabbed the lump of metal waiting there. The shards dislodged themselves from her back and scattered the alley around us until they reformed again. She rose and sat on my groin, rocking her hips back and forth, her purrs so loud I could feel them vibrating her entire body.

Then, all at once as she let out a pleased sigh and her cheeks were flushed a rosy red, I pushed myself up and slammed the cross into her chest.

An ear splitting scream filled the alley. Alison howled in agony, tearing at my robe and my back. I heard her skin sizzling and bubbling beneath the rosary. Tears welled up in her eyes; she stared up at me pleading wordlessly for mercy. There would be none.

Above me, I heard the cawing of a bird.

"Mister Trevooooor!"

A flash of gold feathers filled my vision as the wind was kicked up all around me. A woman with flowing blonde and white locks--a head of shining feathers, suspending her in the air as the strands 'flapped' up and down--dressed in one of my spare robes. She beamed at me as I took notice of her looking like a cloistered nun.

"Voh?! I told you to--"

The wind was violently ejected from my body; in the distraction Alison kicked me several feet. I crashed into the brick wall lining the alley and crumbled in a heap on the ground, the rosary falling next to me.

Snarling and grasping the cross-shaped burn on her chest, Alison glared death into me. She leapt onto her paws and yowled, bits of saliva flying from her mouth.

"I'm going to the chapel, Trevor! If you don't want every last Church servant I see to die, you will follow me! You will kill him!"

Alison primed her legs and sprung high into the air. She bound off the walls of the alley until she kicked herself up to the roof where she sat on her paws and watched me. Those green eyes glimmered in the dark above, the black outline of her tail swishing back and forth.

"Scary cat-woman!" Voh cawed. "Did she hurt you? Are you alright?"

Shuu'Vohsa touched down next to me and traced her fingers over the tears in my robe, worried coos coming from her lips all the while. Her hands came away bloody.

"Ohh! Oh no!" she squawked. "Mister Trevor! You are hurt!"

"I'm fine, Voh, I just--grrhhk!"

I tried to stand up, but the gash in my side where Alison's claws dug into me sent a terrible pain screaming through my core. I fell back to the concrete, groaning.

Voh hopped from one talon to the other, panicking. "I can help! I can help! Just hold still!"

With shaking fingers, the songstress undid the buttons on my robe, revealing my blood-soaked undershirt. She rolled it up to reveal a nasty tear--if Alison's claws had dug any deeper my intestines would lie splayed all over the alleyway.

Shuu'Vohsa stretched out her hair, like two living tendrils of blonde feathers, and wrapped it around my abdomen.

"I know a song! A song that can help!" She put a finger to her chin and looked doubtful for a moment. "Oh, but it is meant to heat up mens' blood so that they cannot think of anything but lust. But, but! It should help you!"

"How is that going to--"

Ignoring me, Voh became swept up in a chorus of cheery tweets. The songstress's hair was tight around my body applying pressure to the wound. The song itself was slow and sultry; Voh stared into my eyes as she sang. My body quickly became hot, like steam was rising from my stomach to my head and blowing out my ears.

"Come, careless boy... I will hie thee away... All of your worries, your troubles, shall fade..."

I felt my pulse everywhere. My toes, my arms, my neck. I felt it in my ears, and I swear I could feel it in my nails and hair. The blood was boiling hot in my veins and I was sweating bullets. Voh squeezed tight on my midsection; I felt like at any moment I'd melt right out of my clothes.

When she finished singing and pulled her wings away--now covered in blood--I ran my hands over my abdomen to find the gash had been scabbed over. If I moved wrong it would open up again, but the pain had significantly waned.

"How did...?" I mumbled in confusion.

"Your blood got hot!" she chirped. "My mother always told me it is your life force, so I should drink it to be strong. So I thought, uhm, thought that if I made it pump real fast, you would get better."

I gave her a cold look. "How many times have you drank a man's blood?"

"Ahh, err--only a few times! And, and, only when they offered it to me!" she stammered, shrinking under my gaze.

Truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. For a brief moment I wondered if Shuu'Vohsa's mother had read scripture to her.

I just shook my head. Looking up to Alison's perch, she was still there staring down at me. In her emerald glare I could sense what it was she wanted. Despite being at each other's throats only moments ago, still she expected me to go along with her murderous game.

If I wanted to get this rosary around her neck I'd have to play at going along with it.

"Voh," I called to the bird-girl and gestured to my raised right arm.

The songstress let out a peep and soared to my arm, gripping it with her talons to stand on me. She squat down on her chicken legs so we were face-to-face.

"Listen. I'm going to follow that cat up there," I said, looking up at Alison. Voh's gaze followed. "I want you to come with me, but stay covered up in your robe and don't tell anyone your name. Nobody can know you're a songstress."

Voh nodded, beaming like an excited child. "I will be the quietest, secretest songstress you've ever seen!" She announced it loud enough for the entire street nearby to hear.

"Just stay next to me," I commanded. "She's dangerous and she's taking us to a bad place. There'll be blood before this is over. Can I rely on you?"

Shuu'Vohsa locked eyes with me. "Do not be afraid. I am here with you! I will not let you get hurt again." Brimming with confidence, it was hard to doubt her even if I knew deep down I would be protecting her, not the other way around.

I gathered up Alison's discarded robe from the alley and looked up at her. Silently we came to an understanding; she leapt off from the roof to another nearby building, stopping to wait for me with those leering green eyes. I let Shuu'Vohsa down, stuffed her hair into the collar of the robe--to which she loudly protested--and followed after the demon cat.

XII: A Demon's Pilgrimage

Alison leapt from building to building and waited for us to follow at each stop, the shadow of a great cat outstretched over the sidewalk with each jump. Shuu'Vohsa's talons clicked and scraped against the asphalt as we gave chase, the cat demon affording us little time to rest between buildings.

The domed off section of the city was behind us and so were the holographic adverts and the streets filled with people shopping and heading to and from work. The further we went, the fewer people we saw. A small mercy.