Imp

by Debra Dunbar

  “I haven’t actually gone through yet, but I was able to activate it.”

  “So what do you have in mind?” Az tried to act casual, but she was thrilled. A gate! Maybe she would be the first of her group to walk among the humans, to Own one, to get killed by an angel. Well, hopefully not that last one.

  “They always have a guardian, and I’m not sure where this gate comes out, so we’ll need to assume a nondescript form to sneak through. After we get through, we can look for something else to Own.”

  “A human,” Az bounced in her excitement. “I want to Own a human.”

  “Maybe. If we can find one and catch it. And if we don’t get killed by the angels first.”

  Getting killed was a good possibility. The angels guarded the gates and routinely took out demons who passed through. Each time they changed form, used energy, or Owned, there was a chance an angel would sense them and come running. Or flying. And then they’d be dead. Returning to Hel through the gate was equally hazardous.

  “Are you game?” Dar asked.

  “Oh hell yes!” Az began to gather in the energy that surrounded them and convert it into raw energy to store inside her. The other side was dry as a desert, with no energy at all. A demon could convert it directly, but it would take a huge amount of matter and a lot of time to get any decent supply. It was easier to store up before attempting the trip. Not that she needed much for such a short stay. Just enough to heal some small wounds, and maybe do a couple form conversions.

  By the time they stood before the gate, Az had stored a decent amount of energy. She wasn’t really sure that she’d need this much; they were only going to be there for a few hours. It was better to be on the safe side, though.

  “Do you see it?” Dar whispered, as though the angel could hear him from the other side.

  “Yeah,” she whispered back.

  A lot of demons couldn’t see the gates. This one was a faint shimmer in the air, like a rectangle of prismatic light dancing before her. So pretty. She put out a hand, and Dar batted it down.

  “Don’t. If you activate it before we’re ready, the angel will have enough time to prepare and grab us.”

  She nodded. Not that it mattered. She was sure she couldn’t activate the gate. She was just an imp, practically a Low.

  Dar changed his form and became a small furry animal with a naked tail and little clawed feet. His eyes were still beady, but black instead of red. She was amused to see his snout looked exactly the same. Just smaller than the one he normally wore.

  She changed her form with a flash, and scuttled over to the gate. She was tiny, and not particularly fast. She’d want to be as close as possible to dart through when Dar activated it. Dar stood on his two hind legs and put his hands over his eyes in disbelief. She didn’t care what he thought. This insect shape was cool. Very sturdy and hard to kill, and actually kind of smart in a sneaky, sly way. And they were everywhere, easily overlooked, common and unremarkable.

  Dar activated the gate with his paw, and Az went through first, as they had planned. The gate was very shallow and in an instant she found herself scooting through hard dirt with a dusty surface. Looking for something to shelter her from view, she made her way over to a tall, rock-like structure and crawled along the edge. There was some kind of folded lump ahead. Fabric? It was hard to tell when she was this size. Looking up as she crawled, she saw a being in the fabric. Was it a human? Humans were supposed to look like ugly elves, without the pointed ears. They were slower, and easier to catch. It looked like a human, but something seemed wrong. Something about its skin, the way it was structured, the faint glow. A hand reached down inches from her and she scuttled into a crack in the wall to hide. Safe.

  From her little crack, she looked back at the gate. The shimmer was there, but she couldn’t see Dar’s rodent form at all. Had he made it though? Where had he gone? She did see lots of what had to have been humans walking around. Some were pushing carts, one was walking alongside a four-legged furry animal. They were almost entirely covered in fabric. The humans fascinated her, and she longed to Own one, but held back, cautious. This strange creature just outside the wall scared her.

  Opting to get away from the scary being, she wiggled through the crack in the wall and found herself inside a building. Hugging the edges of the rooms, she made her way out the back, across a roadway and into yet another building, safely away from the scary human. Looking around, she realized that this building was occupied.

  A human sat at a table, with less fabric on than the ones in the street. He had sparse, yellowish hair around his ears and at the back of his head, but the top was only freckled flesh. His skin folded up on his face, and his eyes looked at a book on the table. He seemed elsewhere, as if only his body was here in the room.

  Crossing the open expanse of the floor and pausing next to a table leg, she watched the man. He looked rather easy to catch, right here at a table. She could Own him. Her first human Own. The thought filled her with excitement. His leg was right there, just a few feet from her. She could scuttle right over and take him, hopefully before he stepped on her.

  She took a few steps and paused. It seemed kind of weird to Own while in the form of an insect. With the lower life forms she Owned, she had just grabbed them and it was over in a flash. This was a human though. There should be some ceremony about the process. Maybe she should scare him first? Or talk to him? If she changed form to scare him, though, she’d need to Own him fast and get out, before an angel sensed her.

  In a flash, she’d converted into the bipedal, wingless shape she used at classes. She could dash out from under the table and jump on him. Or perhaps make a frightening noise and chase him down. Or sneak around behind him and bite his head. Whatever she decided, it needed to be quick because it was very cramped hunched up under this piece of furniture.

  Rising dramatically, she smacked her head on the underside of the table. The man turned his head toward her as she crawled from under before extending to her full height. He didn’t look very frightened. In fact, he gestured to a chair beside him and made some noises in a language she didn’t understand. Why wasn’t he afraid? Perplexed, she sat in the chair.

  The man continued to speak to her. Az just watched him, unsure what to do. Should she just Own him? Leave? She probably couldn’t walk out looking like she did. What a mess. She’d expected him to run around screaming while she chased him and tortured him, before devouring his life essence and Owning his soul. She hadn’t expected him to invite her to sit and have a very one-sided conversation with her.

  The man stopped talking. He reached out a hand toward her, and laid it on the table, palm up. His hand was pink underneath, the skin tighter against the muscles and bone than the skin on his face. His nails were short and clean.

  Az put her hand on top, engulfing the human one in her scaled one. Smooth and soft. Slowly she sent tendrils of her energy into the hand, snaking it up along his arm and throughout his body. He smiled as she took him, ripping him right from each cell and pulling him within. Her first human Own. It was surreal. Were all humans this easy to Own? Durfts were more difficult than this.

  With a pop, she’d assumed his form, grabbing from her store of raw energy and using the man’s genetic signature to create an exact duplicate of him. It was cold; every draft hit the tender, sensitive skin causing it to extend upward in strange little bumps. No wonder the humans she saw had worn so much fabric. She stripped the corpse, putting the clothing over her wrinkled, sagging skin. Still cold. Luckily she found more fabric in a wooden box. After a few more layers, her skin felt a reasonable temperature. Finally warm, she stuffed the man’s body into the box. There. Now time to get out before an angel showed up.

  Outside was different on two legs. Less dusty, and it seemed smaller. The humans ignored her as she wandered down the street. Where was Dar? Was he still as a rodent? Would he recognize her? A man paused and put a hand on her arm. Oh shit. What was she supposed to do?

  “Guten T
ag, Herr Schmidt. Es ist wirklich schön heute, nict wahr?”

  Az felt panicked. What were these people saying? The man said another phrase, and Az felt something click within her. The Owned man. She had access to his memories.

  “It’s so good to see you. I’m glad you’re feeling better. Would you like a drink? I know everyone will be glad to see you.”

  She understood the words he was saying, but none of it made sense. Drink? Were they going to wander down to a stream for some water? Did he mean wine, like what the elves supposedly had?

  “Yes. A drink. Better,” she croaked out, hoping that adequately answered his question.

  The man took her arm and led her toward a door, slowing his steps to time with hers. It was then that she realized that her legs weren’t moving properly. They were stiff, and hurt when she tried to force them more than a short distance. Well, this sucked. The other male human didn’t seem to be designed this way. Hers must be broken in some fashion.

  “Look who’s come to join us,” the man announced. The other humans in the room turned around and made cheerful comments of welcome. There was a chair, and she sank gratefully into it. Yes, this human was definitely broken. Figures. Her first time here, her first human Own, and she’d managed to grab one that could barely move.

  The table felt strange as she ran her hands over it. Every little grain in the wood, each nick and gouge. Human skin was thin, delicate, with nerve endings everywhere. Such detailed sensation. Az sent her personal energy deep into each cell, extending herself as far as she could into the flesh until she was as deep as an actual human. Wow, the table was amazing. Both hands, every finger caressed it. This guy might not be the fastest human ever, but he was still the most amazing being she’d ever Owned.

  “Herr Schmidt, it’s so good to see you out.”

  The words came from a soft, higher pitched voice that belonged to a rounded body. Female? Az reached out a hand and placed it against the narrowest portion of the human, feeling the roughness of the cloth and the soft give of flesh underneath. Slowly she moved her hand downward, feeling the firmness of bone beneath the fabric and flesh. The woman took Az’s hand in her own, removing it from her body and placing it back on the table. Gently she squeezed, and Az squeezed back.

  “I’ll get you a drink.” The woman’s voice quavered, full of sympathy and sorrow. Az saw the sadness in her eyes as the woman squeezed her hand once more, before letting go and walking away.

  Suddenly it all hit. The Owned man’s memories, triggered by the woman’s hand and kind words, came flooding out to her.

  Blond hair, shaken free from braids, cascading around a laughing, round face. So soft in his hands, like silk. That laughing face ,suddenly intent as it turned to him, raising soft lips to his for a kiss.

  His finger tracing her sleeping face, soft and smooth. Crinkles around the eyes and an upturned lip. His finger sliding down her neck, and lower to where the sunshine from the window spilled in a stripe across a rounded bosom.

  Exhausted, triumphant smile, and a crying baby, wrinkled and red. So happy. So very happy.

  A tiny box of wood and black draped everywhere. No more smiles. Tears. So much pain.

  Flowers in a vase. Sunlight across the table. Tired lines in a face. Loving. Concerned.

  A figure in a bed with labored breath. Hands clutching the sheets, afraid. So afraid. Eyes with pain and fear. Blood and gasping. Then peace. Peace for her. Pain for him. Tracing a finger across a wrinkled face to the lips that will never smile again.

  Stinging wet flowed down Az’s face, blurring her vision. Fuck, these memories hurt. This human was broken, and not just physically. She felt like she was dying. The pain was worse than being boiled in oil, worse than having limbs torn off.

  “I’m dying. It hurts. It’s killing me,” she told the young woman who sat a drink on the table.

  “Oh, oh,” the woman said, running her hand across Az’s shoulder as she slumped back over the table. “I know it hurts. We all miss her. But she was sick for so long. She’s in peace now, with no more pain.”

  Az forced down the man’s sorrow. His wife had died. People died. Everyone died. Why did this human have such agony over it? She had to get a grip here, or this man’s memories, his emotions, would overwhelm her.

  Quickly Az drank down the beverage, and bolted from the building. Tried to bolt. The human’s body didn’t move very fast. At the door, she nearly bumped into that scary woman she’d seen on the street. Az froze for a second, afraid. Here she was, with every speck of her personal energy, her spirit self, driven deeply into this human flesh. So vulnerable. The scary woman paused, frowning slightly as she looked at the old man. Az shuffled as quickly as the broken, aching legs could go, out the door, out of town and into the woods. If only she could find a swamp, she could hide from the scary woman and find Dar. There was no swamp, but she found a nice grove of pine trees where she could rest the stiff body on the soft ground. The pine needles were soft, somewhat sticky with sap, but a comfort to the human’s aching joints. Az dozed off, dreaming of soft blond hair and the touch of skin. So beautiful, so happy. It was a strange dream, full of unfamiliar emotions. Would it always be this way after Owning a human? Would she ever get used to the intensity of their lives? Halfway between sleep and wake, she heard a crack of a broken branch, the crunch of leaves. It had to be Dar. No one else made that much noise.

  “Az?” a voice whispered.

  “Here,” she whispered back.

  Crawling from the trees, she sat painfully, and saw a strong, dark haired man.

  “Wow, where’d you find him? He looks pretty sturdy.” She motioned to herself. “The one I got seems to be broken.”

  “Fuck Az, could you find any human more ancient and crippled to Own? What a lousy choice. We’ve got to get you a better human.”

  The thought of a second human Own was very appealing.

  “This guy was right there. I didn’t have to chase him or anything, and he didn’t scream or put up a fight. I couldn’t exactly pass up the opportunity, you know?”

  “Greedy Az.” Dar shook his head. “Are you going to Own each and every human you can put your hands on? You’ll have every sick, crazy, deformed human ever born if you go about it like that. For once in your life, be a bit more discerning, will you?”

  Jerk. He did have a point though. “Fine. I’ll get a healthy one next time.”

  “Come on. It’s a couple of miles to the next town. It’s bigger, and you can probably find a decent human there.”

  Az looked up at the sky. The sun seemed lower. “Shouldn’t we get back? I can get another human next time.”

  “I’m not going back to brag about our first trip through the gate, our first human Owns, only to have you break out that monstrosity. We’ll get laughed at. Az, you have a hard enough time getting anyone to respect you. Don’t go back without a reasonable human Own. Trust me.”

  He was right. And she was a little nervous about going back with that scary woman hanging around the gate.

  “Dar, how are we going to get back? Sneaking in is one thing. How can we activate the gate and get through without being noticed?”

  He looked at her intently, examined her human form. “That is the worst human I’ve ever seen, but you are perfect in your form,” he said grudgingly. “You were perfect as the bug too. You practically crawled right up that guardian’s leg and she didn’t recognize you. I think this might be the one thing you’re actually good at, Az. Beyond eating stuff, that is.”

  Az caught her breath. She knew something was funny about that woman, but a guardian? A chill ran through her as she remembered walking right past it at the doorway, how it had looked at her and walked on. Luck was still a willing mistress if she’d managed to dodge that one.

  “Having a convincing human form isn’t going to help me the minute one of us activates the gate,” she told him. “And how are you going to get through?”

  She examined him carefully. He didn’t quite look
human. Something about the eyes, and the way he moved his limbs. And especially the way he kept twitching his nose around. It must drive him nuts not to have his former sense of smell. Humans had horrible noses.

  Dar looked guilty. It was kind of funny. Demons didn’t do guilt normally.

  “Since your form is better, you would need to distract the gate guardian, lure her away from the gate. Then I can activate it and go through, and hold it for you while you get there.”

  “You brought me along as bait, didn’t you?” Az wasn’t mad. This was actually a very clever idea. She’d need to remember it for the future.

  Dar nodded, kicking a foot at the ground. “Not just bait. I really wanted you along, Az. You’re. . . you’re kinda fun, actually.”

  Awkward. Az shook her head and rose stiffly to her feet. “Come on, let’s get moving.”

  It took forever to go those “couple of miles”. The sun sank down over the horizon, coloring the sky a brilliant orange that reminded Az of her scales. The light faded to gray, then black. They walked side by side in the dark, their path barely illuminated by a sliver of a moon. Human eyesight sucked at night, and they both stumbled on the dirt road.

  “Where the fuck is this town?” she complained. “We should have gotten there by now.”

  “We would have been there by now if you could do more than hobble at a snail’s pace,” Dar snapped back. “That human is so fucking old he can barely move.”

  “I hate walking places. I wish we could just fly there.”

  “Humans don’t fly, you idiot. They walk. Or ride horses.”

  “Then I wish I had a horse to ride.”

  Dar snorted. “Horses hate demons. You wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near one. If you want to ride a horse, you’ll need to make a deal with the elves for one of theirs.”

  Elves. They looked so amazing, riding their horses through the forest. One more reason to hang out with them.