Curran reached the house in Brighton forty minutes after he got off the phone with Kwon. Showered and shaved, he stepped from his car, looking up at the brick and wood building. Shadows from the closest trees hung over the gables like angry vultures.
He hadn’t felt this nervous since his first date back in junior high school.
It’s not too late, part of him thought. We could turn around, go home, and get a few more hours of sack time. A little extra sleep would certainly be good for him.
He took a breath of cold pre-dawn air and shuddered. No more running away from it, he decided.
He took the steps two at a time and rang the buzzer outside the door.
It clicked two minutes later. Her voice didn’t sound sleepy. “Yes?”
“Lauren. It’s Steve.”
“Steve?”
“Yeah.”
“But I thought — what do you want?”
“I need to see you. Can I come in?”
She paused. “Hold on.”
Curran stood waiting and a minute later the door buzzed open.
Kwon sat in his car tapping in time to the beat on the radio. His cell phone was glued to his ear. The phone on the other end rang and rang and rang.
And finally picked up.
Kwon sat up straighter. “Yeah, hi. Can I put a request in? Thanks. How about some Def Leppard? Send it out to Kwon. Working the graveyard shift in Chestnut Hill. Thanks."
He disconnected the phone and leaned back. Outside his car and above him, the sky seemed suddenly darker, as if all the black of night had been drawn over this particular section of the city. Kwon had difficulty determining where the sky ended and the shadowy groves of trees that lined the street began.
Always darkest just before the light, he thought with a grin.
I wonder who coined that term?
He started to think about it but then his request came up and he soon lost himself in the steady drumbeat of his favorite song.
Oblivious to the outside world.
And one of the shadows that started moving.
Curran stood outside of the interior door.
It opened.
Lauren stood there, hair dripping wet. Beads of water coated her exposed shoulders and neck. She was wrapped in a big terrycloth towel that ended just above her knees. Curran thought she looked amazing.
She smiled. “Good morning.”
“Hi.”
She stepped back. “Come in.”
Curran entered and saw how immaculate the house was. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find in a priest’s home. A tall thin hall table contained mail in a neat pile. Keys lay next to it. A small lamp with a rice paper shade was on, casting a soft glow over the entranceway. Curran saw wet footsteps drying on the hardwood floors.
He nodded toward the interior. “You were in the shower. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep after I spoke to you.”
Curran nodded. He shifted from foot to foot. “Where’s Father Jim?”
“He had to go out of town tonight. Unexpectedly. I’m here alone.”
“You should have called me. You shouldn’t be alone. Not with that guy Darius doing what he’s doing.”
She leaned against the doorway, seemingly oblivious to the cool air. “Well, you’re here now.”
“Yeah.”
Lauren frowned. “Steve, are you all right?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah. I’m okay. Why?”
“Because you’re here about four hours too soon.”
“Yeah.” Curran nodded. “I am. I had to see you.”
She smiled. “You’ve seen me.”
Curran grinned. “You look great.”
“I’m in a towel, Steve. I’m dripping wet.”
“The look suits you.”
She shifted now. “Steve, I really need to get dried off — “
But the words stopped coming from her mouth because Curran had suddenly grabbed her and planted his mouth on her, kissing her for the first time.
Kwon shivered. A gust of wind rocked his car a little. It swayed from side to side and then settled back down again.
He thought about turning the engine over and getting a little heat. He didn’t want to do that too soon and risk waking up the cops further down the street.
I can’t sit here and freeze, though, he thought.
A cold breeze wafted in through his vents as another gust rocked the car. Kwon felt the cold air crawl over him, tickling the hairs on his arms. The breeze wafted up his back, teasing his hair.
Kwon’s teeth chattered.
“Damn, it’s cold in here.”
If it kept getting colder, he’d have to take a leak soon.
Another breeze caught the car in its grasp.
Kwon slapped his arms against his upper body and finally frowned. “Freak it.” He reached and turned the keys in the ignition. The Nissan turned over and instantly, a surge of hot air billowed out of the vents.
Kwon smiled.
Let the cold try to get him now, he thought.
“Steve,” said Lauren when he finally broke the seal.
“Don’t say anything,” he said. “I’ve wanted that for too long.”
She stared at him.
Curran took her face in his hands, cupping the back of her head and kissing her again. She moved into his arms, pressing herself into his body.
Curran tasted the fresh scent of shower on her. He traced his mouth down her neck, kissing and lapping up the water beading on her skin.
She sighed.
Moaned.
He moved up toward her lips again. Kissing and nuzzling.
She lapped at his mouth with her tongue. Tentative at first, then stronger as she relaxed.
Curran felt her almost drop into him. Her lips moved back toward his ear, whispering kissing and softly licking his skin.
Curran let his fingers dance down the back of her neck, rubbing her shoulders through the towel. She moaned again, pressing her leg in between his, feeling the pulsing hardness of his excitement.
She licked his neck again.
Curran kissed her neck, pulled her back away from him, looked into her eyes.
“I love you,” he said, his voice a thick velvet whisper in the predawn dark.
Even though the hot air had stilled the urgings of his bladder, Kwon knew it was time to pay heed to nature’s demands. He zipped up his coat and made sure his interior light wouldn’t turn on when he exited the car.
He unlocked the door.
His hand grasped the door release and he slid out into the cold night air. It enveloped him.
Absolutely.
As he walked away from his car, the shadows drew back and then encircled him, almost like a giant mouth about to enjoy an early breakfast.
The towel slid off as if it hadn’t even been there.
They walked, tripped, stumbled back toward the bedroom, Curran almost landing on top of Lauren as they hit the sheets.
Curran could smell the sweat she must have woken up in.
She kissed him hard, her tongue invading his mouth, searching for his own and then entwining itself around it as their juices swirled.
Her hands fumbled further south, searching his belt buckle and then struggling to get it undone. Curran kept kissing her.
She got his snap undone.
Then the fly.
In the hushed frenzy of their passion, the zipper coming undone sounded loud. They both smiled and then continued.
Curran kicked off his shoes.
Lauren ripped his pants off.
He knelt down, seeing her breasts heave as she sat there tugging at the waistband of his jockey shorts. He bent his mouth over the nipple of her left breast, suckled it, licking her areola softly. She arched her back and pulled him onto her breast then moved his head to the right one.
Her fingers reaching down traced the outline of his penis through his shorts.
He moaned, feeling himself grow harder by the second.
And when she freed him, the cold air only made him more eager to feel her surround him.
“Steve,” she said hoarsely.
He lay on top of her, kissing his way down her stomach, licking at a small deposit of water by her navel, tasting the outline of her stomach muscles. He moved down more at last coming to the tuft of light brown hair above her mound.
His nose brushed by it as he opened his mouth and kissed her down there, again softly at first.
Lauren moaned and let her hands find the back of his head. She pulled him onto her moistness entirely.
Curran let his tongue slip inside.
And Lauren let herself fall over the edge of ecstasy.
Jesus Christ, it’s colder than hell out here, thought Kwon.
He stood appraising the locale. Where should he relieve himself?
The closest neighbor had a few shrubs he could stand behind. But they’d only conceal him halfway. He needed a stand of trees or something big like that to hide himself in.
Not that he expected anyone to be awake. Around three o’clock in the morning most humans would be at their deepest levels of sleep. He doubted very much anyone would be awake and looking out their windows.
But he glanced around again, just to be sure.
What about demons? Did they sleep, too?
Darius’ house had a huge grove of oaks next door. Some of the branches still had leaves on them, too. The safety of their thick trunks seemed to beckon him.
Almost poetic justice, thought Kwon with a grin as he trotted across the street.
Almost.
On the bed, Lauren lost count of how many was they’d lain on top of each other. She wrapped her legs around Curran, never wanting the incredible sensations she felt to end.
He looked down into her eyes from somewhere high above, thrusting himself into her. She cried out involuntarily as she felt herself building once again to orgasm.
His eyes dripped lust and love into her own.
She pulled him down, kissing him, licking him, urging him on.
The stream of piss waned to a mere dribble, steam rising from the hot jet of yellow. Kwon sighed.
Thank God, he thought.
The wind roared around him. Cold flooded his body.
What th-?
Another gust of wind tore up the ground around him. Dirt flew in his eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He slid his penis back inside his pants and tugged up the zipper. Time to get back to the warmth of his car.
He wiped his eyes.
And saw someone standing before him.
Oh crap.
Darius.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Kwon bent his knees slightly. He was closer than he should have been able to get. Almost in range for a kick. How did he get so close to me without me hearing him?
He shifted his body weight back slightly. He could arc a kick up fast now.
If he needed to.
Kwon smiled. “Just out for a quick relief.”
“Did Curran leave you here all alone?” He clucked twice. “That’s a shame.”
Kwon felt adrenaline begin to drip into his bloodstream. His respirations came faster. He still doesn’t look like a demon, he decided.
Darius smiled. “I don’t do I?” He backed up and let the ambient glow from the sodium bulbs down the street backlight him. “Well, I can change that.”
He reads minds-? Kwon frowned, but already forgot about it as Darius began to change.
And the horror of what he truly was began to show.
Curran grunted, thrusting harder now in a rapid succession.
Lauren broke the kiss, gasping for breath.
Sucking wind.
She gritted her teeth, lolled her head back against the damp sheets underneath them, felt her body tense and go liquid heat between her legs.
Curran didn’t stop.
He kept thrusting himself into her.
Hilting at every advance.
His eyes rolled back.
His body stiffened.
And then Lauren felt the sudden explosion of his own moisture deep inside her walls, heard him crying softly, whispering her name as they both tumbled falling falling falling into orgasm.
The demon stood before him, its stench bubbling off him in waves that made Kwon want to retch and gag like never before.
He held his hands up.
So this was how it would be.
Kwon looked beyond the hulking mass before him at the cop car. His mouth opened to shout but at the same time, a giant roar of wind erupted around him, drowning out his shout.
Kwon tried twice more and each time, the winds drowned out his shouts.
He wouldn’t get any help from the police.
Kwon shifted into a fighting stance. The change came over him as easily as he drew a breath. Years of hard training had tuned his instincts well.
But he’d never fought a demon before.
The demon’s voice rumbled out of its cavernous chest, a growling guttural tongue filled with disgust. “As if you could harm me, mortal.”
Kwon let his rage fill him. “I won’t die easily.”
“But you will die.” It moved then, so fast, that Kwon barely had a chance to register it. A single misshapen claw reached out across the darkness and found his left forearm. Thick-yellowed nails scored his flesh, drawing blood. Kwon could smell the abrupt snap of copper tang in the air.
My blood, he thought.
He ducked and came inside, lashing out with a front kick at the juncture of the demon’s legs. Did demons have balls, he wondered as the kick sank into the crotch.
Apparently not. It did little to affect him.
A throaty laugh filled the air. “Pitiful.”
Kwon redoubled his attack, launching a roundhouse kick that he used to wind momentum up and then arc a back spinning hook kick that landed his heel flush on the side of the demon’s mouth. A sharp crack sounded and a bit of gore shot out of the demon’s mouth.
A tooth?
Kwon grinned. There! He’d managed to score a hit.
But the demon merely moved closer, arms dragging on the ground until they shot out straight at Kwon.
Too many, he thought. He blocked the right but the left landed hard in his solar plexus. Wind rushed out of him. He gasped.
Retched as the foul smell swept over him.
Felt one of the demon’s hands lift him up into the air. Branches above him scraped at his head. Kwon struggled to kick and punch his way free as the demon’s fingers closed around his midsection.
Kwon’s thoughts came at him fast now. How big were his fingers that they could wrap around his midsection? He couldn’t fathom it.
The demon laughed.
And brought Kwon’s face close to its own. Kwon tried to pull away. He could see the grimy teeth that looked like they were rotting out of their bloody stumps. The mouth suddenly seemed enormous.
The demon brought him eye level and considered him. “Your time is now at an end, mortal.”
Kwon kicked out again, catching him in the mouth. He felt a tooth bite through the fabric of his jeans and into the soft flesh of his foot. He screamed.
Prayed it would be enough to wake someone — anyone up.
“They will not awaken.” The demon pulled him closer. “And neither will you. Ever again.”
Kwon felt himself hoisted skyward again. There was a rush and then his stomach exploded as the demon’s claws bore their way into his intestines, shredding and disemboweling him in an awful rush of blood, feces, and organs.
Kwon screamed once more.
But only for a moment.