Succubus Tear (Triune promise)

by Andreas Wiesemann

  Almost on cue, Cain’s phone sounded with a wake-up alarm. He clicked it off and looked to Stella. “Why would you be worried about a ‘kill on sight’ order?”

  Stella’s mouth worked for a few moments and spoke with a chaotic voice. “Cain, someone framed us both for murder.”

  All weariness flushed out of Cain on the wave of adrenaline that poured through his body. “Stella, did anyone try to contact you through the radio, or your phone?”

  “Yes, but I’m out of range to send a signal. And I turned my phone off after you went to sleep.” She shook her head. “I-I…don’t want to think about what would happen if I turned it on.”

  Cain strode to the window and glanced out to the street. “What the hell? Where are all the cops, anyway?”

  “Don’t be stupid. Why would they bother to come to your apartment? They think we are on the north side of the city. That’s where all the murders happened.”

  Cain turned to the TV and pressed the “power” button.

  The news cast showed a bulletin for him and Stella. He could barely hear the details of the supposed murders he committed. But as soon as the TV showed their faces, he committed them to memory.

  A college student, Marlene.

  A soldier on leave, Brian.

  A homeless man, Thomas.

  Cain turned off the TV and stood in front of Stella. “Decide now. Are you going to risk your life by turning yourself in, or are you going to run? I have an idea of what is going on, but I can’t explain myself to you until much later. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  Stella shifted her gaze into Cain’s eyes.

  “Let’s go.”

  “Right. Grab a bag and some of Al’bah’s clothes. Leave your cell, your watch, radio, and your car keys behind.” He looked out the windows again—still nothing. The streets were empty and dark. Either it’s a trap, or I finally ran into some good luck.

  Cain looked up and noticed Stella had finished packing and had thrown her belongings on the table. He took his and Stella’s phone and removed the battery. He then pried them both open with a penknife and removed the circuit boards and pulled a small silver tab from each. A covert battery. Thought so.

  “Let’s go.” They dashed out the apartment and down the stairs. Stella looked longingly at her coupe convertible that they were leaving behind, but went on without a sound. As they approached a corner, they heard the sound of a loud diesel engine. Cain looked around the corner and saw a garbage truck that was making its way through the neighborhood. “There,” Cain said, pointing at it.

  “What? The garbage truck?”

  “When it stops and the two riding on the side get off, I’ll boost you to the top and follow.” He looked Stella in the eye. “You’ve got to get up there before they notice you.”

  Stella shook her head. “We will be noticed anyway on the top of there.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. It’s still dark,” Cain said, turning his attention back to the truck. “You got a better idea?”

  Stella looked as though she was going to say something, but she shook her head.

  As they snuck in front of the truck’s route, Cain fiddled with a bag that was nearby on the sidewalk and went back to Stella. “Ready?”

  Stella nodded.

  The truck stopped and the two men got off and walked over to the two cans and a bag that was by the street that Cain did something to.

  Favoring speed over silence, Cain and Stella made their way to the back. Cain boosted Stella to the top and heaved his duffel up, and with a small bit of climbing, Cain got on top as well.

  “The hell?” one of the men exclaimed.

  Cain glanced over the truck and grinned. There on the street was the bag split open with five hundred dollars’ worth of ten-dollar bills spilled over the sidewalk. The men’s attention was fully on the money; even the driver came out to join in the mad grab.

  “How can you think this fast on your feet?” Stella hissed.

  Cain shrugged. “Are you kidding me? Money is the ultimate distraction and doggy treat. There’s no telling what tricks you can teach a man for a buck.”

  Not long afterward, they saw police cruisers rush their way in the direction of Cain’s apartment. No lights, no sirens. After a few moments, Cain drew his gun out of his jacket pocket.

  “What the hell are you going to do with that?” Stella hissed as she grabbed his arm.

  Cain scoffed, “We need to get deeper in the city, and I need this ride.”

  Stella rolled her eyes. “Do that, and we give the police a really big lead. Those men won’t just sit by as we take this truck, and I will not be guilty of the murders I am accused of! I’ll handle this!”

  Stella swung over the side of the truck and mounted the street and flashed her badge to the bewildered men on the truck. “Police business. I need this truck to assist the other cars you just saw.”

  The men were still grinning as they got off the truck, and Stella got in. Cain quickly re-attached the battery to his phone and waited. After a moment Stella shouted to Cain up on top.

  “Where to?”

  Cain handed her Walter Stratton’s card just as his phone rang.

  “You saw?”

  “Fuck yeah. Why is your phone on, Cain-sama?”

  “I knew you’d call. Charlie, you know me, okay?”

  A sigh sounded. “Yeah, this ain’t you. Look, hide your phone, turn yourself in. I’ll get you outta this mess.”

  Cain forcibly bit his hand to keep from crying. Charlie’s loyalty was something else. “It won’t work this time. Stella told me. Look, Charlie, you already know, okay? I’ma get off now.”

  “The river gave us life, Cain-sama.”

  “The river gave us life.”

  `

  Chapter 34

  Reunited

  “A mortal is more likely to fail, if you give it your permission.”

  —Taint

  Stella eyed the garage security shutters Cain was inspecting. He seemed to smell the air for some reason; his eyes were closed, and his lips kept muttering something. By this time, dispatch for the garbage truck knew that something was wrong, and the authorities were now looking for it as well as her and Cain.

  “C’mon! Hurry it up, would ya?” Stella shouted to him from the open window.

  Cain glanced at Stella and quickly got back into the cab. “There,” he said as he pointed to the security gate.

  “What? You want me to smash the gate down?”

  Cain nodded. “Al’bah is somewhere beyond that gate.”

  “How do you even know that?”

  Cain turned his cold glare to Stella. “I’m sorry, let’s just wait here until the people in the building open it up for us.” He sighed and shivered slightly. “Look, you were right, there is a reason why I am singled out, and why Al’bah was missing. But it’s not the reason you think. I don’t need to remind you that with the entire city looking for us, time isn’t a luxury.”

  Stella turned back to look at the gate blocking her way. “Fine!” She seethed and gunned the gas.

  The shutters fell with an unimpressive smacking noise, and Cain jumped out and rounded a corner before Stella even stopped the truck. The section of the garage behind the shutters was the sort one might consider typical to those of privilege. It had raised sidewalks, key-activated elevators, and named parking spaces with generous room to avoid door dings. Most of the cars parked there were exotics, well above her annual salary several times over. Stella rounded a corner in time to see Cain sprint toward a cage that was almost out of sight in the garage.

  What the hell is a cage doing in a private garage? What kind of law firm is this?

  Stella sighed and rolled her eyes as she watched Cain grasp the bars. Even from this distance, Stella could see a heavy chain securing the door of the cage in place. She rummaged through the makeshift toolbox expecting to find at best a hacksaw, or maybe a crowbar.

  “Bolt cutters?” She took the cutters with her as she hurried towa
rd Cain, wondering why on Earth garbage men would have bolt cutters in their truck.

  The cage shone dully under the harsh fluorescent lights, an asymmetrical and hastily welded construct of steel bars. No, not steel. A stamp indicated: “Samson cold iron forge.”

  Why the hell would anyone use iron for— Stella gasped upon seeing a huddled figure in the cage.

  Oh my God, she is so beautiful!

  There, sleeping upon the cold, hard concrete, was a woman wrapped up in what seemed to be a large piece of brown leather. Stella handed Cain the bolt cutters and stared upon Al’bah’s face, overcome with a strange longing. It was an emotion that felt alien to her. It was like heat from a fire. Neither the heat nor the emotion was her own, but she sensed it for some reason, and with it came the feeling of immense love Al’bah had for Cain—a vibe that just couldn’t be denied.

  Cain handed the bolt cutters back to her, pushed the door open, and rushed to Al’bah’s side and started to gently shake her awake, calling her name with a pained voice.

  “Al’bah.”

  Al’bah moaned lightly.

  “Al’bah.”

  Slowly Al’bah started to open her eyes. They were a startling purple-blue. She blinked for several moments with a confused look on her face. As soon as her eyes fixed on Cain, they flooded with awareness and she sat up.

  “CAIN!” she shrieked, grabbing onto him with a ferocity that looked painful.

  Stella gathered the bolt cutters and chains, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. The sounds coming from Al’bah were of joy, relief, and a desperate longing.

  I can’t believe that I thought she was the one behind all this.

  “Al’bah, shhh, we need to get out of here right now. C’mon, we—”

  “Cain! I am so sorry! We are in danger! Someone is going to kill you!”

  Al’bah’s statement shocked Stella back to reality. They had already spent too much time on this reunion, with the police seeking to take their lives. “Look, as much as I am for teary reunions, we need to get moving right now!” Stella said as she tossed the bolt cutters and chains aside. “That security gate we smashed with the truck is bound to have set off an alarm.”

  Al’bah’s frantic eyes darted between her and Cain. “Cain? Why is—”

  “Al’bah, please,” Cain said, locking his eyes to hers. “This is not what you think! You are right; we are in danger. I need you to get up!” Cain pulled Al’bah to her feet.

  Stella’s jaw dropped as she could see that what she thought was a sheet of brown leather was, in fact, a large pair of wings. Her mind was shocked, but what happened next made her believe that she had gone mad. Al’bah’s brown wings suddenly started to be drawn into her body, and they were gone in seconds.

  With a shaking hand Stella pointed at Al’bah, who seemed to be angry and ashamed at the same time. “Cain! What the hell? She has wings!”

  Cain had a careful neutral expression.

  “Stella, I—”

  The moment was interrupted by an elevator chime that drew everyone’s attention. The door slid open with a slow rumble, and a tall man dressed in an expensive suit walked out with a thermos smelling of coffee in his hand. He took a sip and exhaled softly.

  “Walter Stratton!” Cain said with a look of fury on his face.

  “Mister Lamentson! And Miss Fullson! How lovely! Well, Mister Lamentson, have you reconsidered my firm’s offer? Perhaps we can have our rescheduled appointment right now.” He took another sip and moved his arm to stop the elevator from closing. The silence was interrupted by the chime of the elevator again, almost sounding annoyed at being held on the garage floor.

  “We’d be glad to include Miss Fullson in our offer, you know, so both of you could go free in time for lunch,” he added with a grin.

  Stella noticed a chill settle into Cain’s eyes. She knew those eyes; it was the look a sniper gets before he pulls the trigger. The look a killer got before he took a life. Stella already was moving to stop Cain, when Shane’s statement rang in her mind.

  “That boy is all of six foot four, and two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle.”

  Cain had the advantage of weighing more than twice her weight, and almost stood a full foot taller. If she employed her martial tactics to disable or disarm Cain, he was still just as likely to hit Walter at this range. So, she did the only thing she could think of—

  Cain grabbed his revolver from his jacket and brought it to bear—

  “No! Damn you, Cain!” Stella cried out, reacting purely on instinct honed to perfection by her training in law enforcement, and seized the barrel of his gun, forcing it away from Walter. A thunderclap sounded in the garage, amplified by the confined space and from the depths of the garage; several car alarms took the cue and cried out in a blaring chorus.

  Walter looked at his thermos that was now upon the floor gurgling coffee on the concrete. “Pity,” he said, seeming rather unimpressed, and stepped back into the elevator that chimed merrily as the doors closed.

  Cain yanked the gun free from Stella and looked at her with an expression of unrivaled fury. “Damn me? You stupid pig! You have no idea! God damn it all!” he said as he turned away and holstered his revolver.

  Stella watched as Cain turned his back and holstered his gun. Seized by desperation, she started to draw her own gun, entertaining notions of turning him in and begging for mercy before the courts.

  However, before she could even fully rest her hand on her weapon, another hand closed over hers.

  “Who are you to what is mine!” Al’bah hissed.

  Stella froze in horror; Al’bah’s eyes were huge, jet-black with a single red ember burning in the center. Her breath reeked of rotting meat and blood. Her mouth sported broken and jagged fangs that dripped with a vile, thick yellow substance.

  The chilling moment was broken by, Cain though.

  “Both of you! C’mon!”

  Stella watched dumbfounded as Al’bah’s face instantly returned to normal without even a transitory flicker. She moaned softly and turned to Cain with tears sparkling in her eyes. Again her emotions spilled over to Stella like heat from a bonfire. Her chilling Demonic fury vanished, replaced by unsurpassed desire. An alien sensation of emotions washed over her senses, making her feel the love Al’bah felt. For Al’bah, the entire world fell away, leaving behind only Cain.

  And God, did she love him.

  Stella shook her head, clearing out the alien sensations, allowing reality to come back. And with it, the crushing frantic despair on how the hell they were going to get out of this mess.

  Chapter 35

  Why Do You Tremble?

  “I think that’s the last time I make a hostage out of a lady who’s spoken for.”

  —Walter Stratton

  “You stupid pig! You have no idea! God damn it all!”

  Now what? Cain wailed in his head as he strode toward the exit. The car alarms, the police bulletin, his entire life was falling apart right in front of his eyes. And for what? For what, Goddammit? He turned back to the girls who hadn’t moved.

  “Both of you, c’mon.”

  The city streets had a bit more traffic now. The city was waking up to its normal schedule, taking part in their own little world while his was falling apart. Cain kept his face forward, not even looking back to see if Stella or Al’bah was following him. He rounded a corner and saw exactly what he wanted.

  There on a corner was a coffee cart just starting to serve its morning rush. Cain walked up to it and reconnected the circuit board of his cell phone to its battery. He deftly slipped it in a purse of a lady standing in line and flagged a taxi that just dropped someone off. He opened the door and turned around to see Stella looking impressed, and Al’bah looking angry.

  “Ladies first,” he said, gesturing to the open door.

  Stella got in first and was about to sit down in the middle seat of the minivan when Al’bah pushed her to the back seat and scooted in the middle seat herself. Before Cain c
ould even move or say anything, Al’bah grabbed his shirt to have him sit next to her.

  “Hey buddy, where to?” the cabbie said with a wide, gap-toothed grin.

  “The South End Harbor,” Cain said, handing him a twenty. “More where that came from if you get outta the city main before the rush really gets bad.”

  “No shit?” The cabbie increased his speed, just barely making a yellow.

  “Yeah and, uh, might I use your cell? I think I lost mine.”

  “Cost ya.”

  “Nothing in life is free,” Cain admitted, and handed him another twenty and started on his desperate plan.

  “Cain?” Al’bah whispered.

  “Not now, I’m busy,” Cain muttered.

  “Dammit,” Stella huffed. “What the hell is—”

  “Shut up!” Cain hissed and continued to dig his fingers in the borrowed cell phone.

  ***

  “Bye, thanks,” Cain said, giving the cabbie his fare. He looked at the boats that were on and around the docks.

  “Cain, why does she have some of the clothes you bought for me?” Al’bah said in a sad voice.

  Cain didn’t even turn around, desperate to keep moving, hoping that an opportunity would present itself that would allow him to get out of this mess.

  There! A fishing trawler that has definitely seen better days sat a small distance from the harbor. Obviously the captain couldn’t afford dock space, and might be more receptive to a bribe than most others would.

  Cain turned back to glance at both Al’bah and Stella. “Okay, listen, I got one chance to get out of here. I need you two to stay here, and be quiet.”

  Al’bah stepped close and clutched Cain to her. “My Bond, are you lost to me? Why does your heart tremble? Why do you despair? Why do you speak only for yourself?”

  She sniffed and cupped his face and said with tears sparkling in her eyes, “Why do you speak at me? Why will you not speak to me?”

  “Al’bah,” Cain said through gritted teeth, “my life is in danger, and you’re worried about—” Cain took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. “You’re worried about despair? You’re worried about how I talk?”