Shadow Demon Pt. 07

Sarah stood naked in front of her bedroom window, watching the cars and trucks silently move through the streets of Winsome Bay. From this height, the cars appeared to have lost their individuality under the shroud of night, appearing as solid snakes of moving red and white light slithering in-between buildings. Even the buildings themselves had a slight bestial look to them; The random lights left illuminated in the windows of the concrete towers, were reminiscent of many yellow eyes watching her from the darkness.

A large masculine hand slid across Sarah's exposed belly, and gently pulled her into contact with the man standing behind her, distracting her from her thoughts of the city. Sarah could feel the warm muscle of the man's abs and chest against her back, accompanied by the heat of his manhood awakening to rest against her inner thigh. The man pecked at her neck with gentle kisses. Like a drug, the kisses seemed to melt the tension from Sarah's body. She rolled her head back in response, exposing more of her neck to the man, and let out a husky laugh of relaxed pleasure.

Sarah turned to face the stranger, biting her lower lip as she drank in the sight.

The man was tall and handsome, with a strong jaw, sandy-blonde hair, and a calming smile that showed his polished white teeth. Between his legs was a cock that had an unspoken promise of being for Sarah and Sarah alone.

Sarah touched his face and leaned in to kiss his full lips. She needed to stand on her toes to reach his mouth. The kiss was soft at first, but she soon needed more. In her desire, Sarah pushed her tongue past his lips, and explored his mouth, eager for the man to respond in kind. His mouth tasted of tropical fruit, sweet and exotic. The size of the man's mouth seemed odd though, like it was somehow larger than it should have been. Her tongue danced with the man's, but she never touched his teeth, as if they were out of reach. When Sarah did manage to accidently brush against the man's teeth, they were revealed to be razor sharp and immediately cut her.

Sarah yelped and pulled away from the man, putting her hand to her mouth. She could taste the coppery flavor of blood on her tongue.

Confused, Sarah looked up at the once handsome man to find Endo staring down at her, smiling wolfishly with his many rows of shark-like teeth.

"I apologize for the interruption, but I wanted to speak with you." Endo said.

Sarah spit the blood from her mouth and looked around her, realizing that she now stood in Endo's study. The blood she spat was almost invisible on the room's crimson carpeting.

"What have I said about entering my dreams, Endo?" Sarah asked, frustrated that the outlet for her arousal had vanished. She wanted that man; she wanted him to fill her, and to ride him until she collapsed on top of him.

"You would have woken long before you had the chance to mount the male." Endo stated.

"Something I'd prefer to experience for myself, thank you. At the very least, I would have liked the dream would have remained a dream, not some nightmare. You may think your beautiful, but you're not on my to-do list." said Sarah.

Endo chuckled. "I have pleasured mortals in ways you can't even imagine, my Vessel. You should consider yourself too lucky to have such a resource at hand." Endo said confidently.

"Thanks, but I think I'll stick with my humans." Sarah said with a tight smile. "It's a whole different kink if I start fucking demons."

"Suit yourself. I only make you aware of your... options." Said Endo, slyly.

"Of course, my options." Sarah said with a tight smile and an over-exaggerated nod. She shook her head, desperately wanting to change the topic. "Anyway, what's so important that you felt the need to invade my dream?" she asked.

"Ah yes, I was considering the words of Vincent Ward. He spoke of recognizing the mortals he acquired the souls from as past business associates of his father's. We should find out who sired Vincent Ward, and inquire who these business associates are from that man." Said Endo.

Sarah walked around Endo and sat on the edge of his desk, crossing her legs. "Well, if he's part of the Ward family I'm thinking of, we won't have to look too hard. James Ward is one of the richest men in town, he owns and runs Ward Industries. Honestly, with that much power, it's hard to imagine that he isn't a crime leader." Said Sarah

"If this man is one of the faction leaders, he is then your target?" asked Endo.

Sarah considered that. Endo was right, if James Ward was the leader of one of the criminal empires, he just made it to the top of Sarah's hit-list.

"I think the CEO of Ward Industries is due for early retirement." Said Sarah.

Endo teeth showed in a grin.

Sarah managed to eliminate one of the faction leaders before. Last year, Ewan Kemp was Winsome Bay's biggest cocaine and sex trafficker. She got Kemp, but it was close, and nearly cost Sarah her life. She'd been reckless and cocky that night, and Kemp and his men took full advantage of it. Her assault was turned into an ambush. Kemp allowed himself to be cornered, while his men flanked Sarah and shot her from behind. They laughed at her as she lay wounded on the floor under them, and they would have done even more had Endo not intervened. She doesn't remember much of what happened, but the screams of horror and agony still resonated with her. She would have died from her injuries that night, if Endo hadn't taken her into the Void.

The Void was either a dimension where demons are from, or someplace they created. It is place of pure darkness, a paradise for demons, yet extremely dangerous. Although dangerous, the Void was the only place Endo could have taken Sarah to heal her injuries. Her demon side could heal cuts and bruises while she slept, but organ damage and bullet holes were something a nap couldn't fix. Maybe it was the perfect darkness or some mystical energies of the Void, but the Void empowered the demon part of Sarah's soul to heal her body's wounds at incredible speeds; Provided, that she wasn't eaten by another demon while being there. The demons of the Void constantly consumed one another for power. It was a never-ending struggle for power that Sarah noted, had many similarities to the criminal underworld of Winsome Bay.

It still took six days for Sarah to recover in the Void, and in that time, everything Sarah fought for by killing Kemp was undone. Someone had replaced Ewan Kemp and the cocaine and sex trade in Winsome Bay resumed. The new faction leader unknown.

Sarah wasn't going to make the same mistakes with Ward. She wasn't just going to just eliminate James Ward; she was going to destroy his entire empire, leaving only a smoking ruin behind, and destroy anyone who dared to dig in the ashes.

"Ward Industries was where we acquired the material for that outfit of yours. We've gotten in before, it should not prove difficult to infiltrate the building again." Continued Endo, his gaze distancing and his hand going to his chin, as he likely pondered a scheme to attack the head of Ward Industries.

Sarah laughed. "That place was a fortress, with barely a sliver of shadow to move through, we only got in last time because I bribed a guard $500,000 to look the other way when I got spotted; Not to mention what I had to do to for the scientist." said Sarah, exasperated.

"If you had just dispatched them as I suggested, we wouldn't be having this argument." Said Endo in a casual tone.

"The guards were innocent. We've been over this." Said Sarah strictly.

Endo made a dismissive gesture with his hand and turned to the opposite end of the room, as if to walk away. "Irrelevant. Our plan will be to attack this James Ward at night and learn what he knows about his business associates." Endo stated.

"Nope, I've got a gala tonight." Sarah said, examining her fingernails.

Endo spun back to face her in an instant, his eyes dangerously narrowing. Sarah grinned mischievously, while not looking away from her nails.

"Don't look at me like that, I've got a personal life you know." Sarah said in a playfully hurt tone. "Besides, James Ward will be at the gala. It's his daughter's fundraiser after all. He'll have to walk on stage and show everyone there how much money his big bad weapons company gives to charity." She continued.

Endo relaxed a little, then smiled. "Your going to seduce him?" he asked.

"No, I'm not going to seduce him." Sarah said giving Endo a hard look. "I've got better things to do then suck on old man balls. We'll just grab him on his way out after the event, rough him up, then you can jump in his head and find out who made the souls. That way I still get a night off, you still get to play scary demon." She continued.

"That plan is... acceptable." Said Endo forcefully.

"Good, I'm glad you agree." Sarah said cheerfully, jumping off the desk. She couldn't let Endo or herself kill Ward yet. She needed time to find everyone involve with Ward and deconstruct his organization from the bottom up.

Sarah was about to walk away from Endo, when she remembered the paint from last night. She crossed her arms over herself and was starting to wish she had clothes on. The thought of having a weakness made her shiver. "Hey, Endo. One of the men last night got me with some kind of glowstick juice, it took my shadow form right off. Have you ever heard of anything like that?" She asked.

Endo appeared to think on it for a moment. "To my recent knowledge no mortal has employed the use of a chemical light against demon kind, although...". Endo said, then broke off to move towards one of the bookshelves, pulling out a volume appearing to be written in ancient Greek or Roman, and began flipping through the pages.

Endo was a demon that, if what he says is true, has been alive since before humans ever walked the earth. To maintain a perfect recollection of all his knowledge, Endo created what some people would call a mind palace. Essentially, it's an imaginary room in someone's mind that people use to store information and memories. Although, Endo's mind palace was far more real than a human could hope to accomplish. His mind palace was a literal place existing as a sort of pocket dimension in his head, one in which he transcribed all his memories into the seeming infinite texts lining the walls of his study.

"I witnessed a lesser demon destroyed by a variation of Greek fire during the twelfth century, soon after being exercised by the-" Endo suddenly looked up from the book at Sarah. The intensity of his gaze made her slightly uncomfortable, and she averted her eyes. Endo slithered over to her and grabbed her shoulders, his towering height of nine feet making Sarah feel small. He asked her "Did you recognize the man that attacked you last night?".

Sarah pushed away from Endo, stepping back to distance herself from the demon. "No, I've never seen him before." Sarah said.

Endo grabbed Sarah's arm and pulled her back to him. "What was he wearing, did he have any scars?" he asked, the volume of his voice rising.

Sarah pulled her arm, trying to free herself from Endo's leathery fingers. "Endo, let go!" She growled, anger touching her voice.

Endo's grasp tightened. "Describe the man." He said, his voice deafening.

"Fuck, Jesus Endo. He just looked like he was military or something." Sarah said. She'd never seen Endo like this. He was always cold, calculating, and often arrogant. Most of the time she thought he was incapable of emotion, besides anger, but she assumed that he often faked the emotion, just to scare people.

"What of scars?" Endo said.

"Look, Endo. I didn't strip the guy, he didn't have any scars that I could see, just a tattoo. Now, let go of my arm." Sarah said, tugging her arm in his grasp.

Endo looked at his hand holding her arm, then released her.

Sarah stepped away from Endo and rubbed at her arm. "Don't ever touch me like that again." Said Sarah, trying to put as much intimidation in her voice as possible. If she had any effect on him, it didn't show. Endo was looking at the ground, ignoring her, his eyes shifting side to side as he was calculating something, then they narrowed.

Endo looked back to Sarah and said, "Tell me of the tattoo.".

Sarah looked at him hard, debating as to whether she should just ignore his question. She hoped her face didn't show any fear, but she was trembling. If Endo wanted to harm her, she'd be dead. It wasn't super comforting, but at least it was a fact that reminded her that she wasn't in any danger. She made a long, slightly shaken sigh and said, "Nothing crazy, just a sun overlooking a rain cloud, or maybe a puddle.".

Endo turned and slithered over to his desk, opening a drawer and pulling out an ornate sword. He brought it to Sarah and showed her the hilt. "The symbol you described, was it this one?" He asked.

Sarah examined the hilt and saw the symbol she described engraved at both the top and bottom of the hilt. "Yea, that's the one." She said.

Endo inhaled deeply, then let out a low snarl. "It's time we move to a new location. I suppose it's only a matter of time before we run into the Order if they are stationed in this city." Endo said.

"What!? We can't leave Winsome Bay. I can't leave Winsome Bay. Our whole contract is for you to help me fix this city." Sarah stated. "What's the Order and why would it matter if they're in the city? I thought you were the big bad demon. Since when are you scared of mortals?" She asked, annoyed but also a little worried at Endo's reaction.

"I do not fear mortals!" Endo shouted. His pride obviously poked by Sarah's comment. He closed his eyes, thinking. "It is just in my better interest to operate beyond the proximity of the Order. They would prove to be an inconvenience."

"Who are they?" Sarah asked, the memory of man with the tattoo playing in her mind. The man had specifically called her a demon. She thought it was intended as an insult, but if there was a faction that knew about demons and had developed weapons to combat them... It was a humbling thought. "You turned me into a demon, doesn't that mean I have the right to know about some group that knows about demons and is trying to kill us?" she asked. "I mean, aren't I supposed to protect you from threats during the day. It would make my job easier if I knew that I'd have to look out for some army guys intentionally trying to cover me in paint."

"I suppose that as partially demon, you may be entitled to information regarding the Order." Endo said slowly. Endo turned back to his desk and placed the sword back inside. He then reached for a large book forty feet above him on the bookshelf behind his desk. The shelf contained thousands of books and was easily five or eight stories tall. Although the book Endo reached for was beyond his reach, the volume jumped off the shelf and glided into Endo's hand, as if an invisible librarian handed it to him. He placed the large book on his desk, sat down in his bowl-like chair, and began to flip through the book's pages. "I will review my knowledge regarding the Order. If they are somehow related to the harvest of demon souls, it would be most troubling. In the meantime, I would suggest that you avoid army men with paint, as you called them. That will be all for now my Vessel."

Sarah woke up to her face still partially buried in her pillow. When she opened her eyes, one of them was assaulted by a ray of morning sunlight stabbing at her eye through the window. She rolled her face back into her pillow to avoid it. "Well, this week just got busy." She mumbled into her pillow.