Runaway Devil
6

The air was cold and bitter. No demon does well in the cold, it goes against how we're made. We are forged in the pits of hell, we don't do cold. I continually took sips of my coffee, halfheartedly hoping it would help warm me. I slipped a cigarette between my lips and lit it before getting to school. Balan was alert, as always, constantly scanning the area. I let him be, just enjoying my coffee and smoke.

Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t realized that I was so close to school. I grumbled quietly and sneered, tapping my cigarette. The ash landed on my shoe, which I then tapped on the pavement. I made my way over to a bench and sat heavily. The bench was cold but not intolerable. Balan sat next to me on the ground, his head carefully placed in my lap. People looked over but knew better than to approach me. I wouldn’t say that I was intimidating, but my face left little room for bullshit. The only one who was okay with being growled at was Ben. He shuffled up to me and sat down with his arm draped across the back of the bench. He let out a fake sigh and looked to me dramatically, making a face at my cigarette. “You know that’ll kill you right?” I smirked at him and pet Balan’s head.

“I’d like to see it try,” I said with a wry smile. Ben and his friends were the only people I tolerated. They were chill, and they knew how to not annoy me, which is a skill that not many wielded. I didn’t mind their company, enjoyed it even from time to time. They thought my tattoos and piercings were cool, rather than intimidating or odd. Everyone else had already made their assumptions and had finalized their judgments.

We had tattoos in hell, but they were called inkings. They were applied with primitive methods, using a needle-like tool, and piercing the skin while depositing ink beneath it. It was a right of passage. All the warriors had some sort of ink on their person. All of them had the warrior symbol, it was a way of marking or identifying that one is a soldier. It was a label, almost like we were to be cataloged. It was Balan’s sigil. Balan was a great and powerful king who commanded over forty legions of demons. He was legendary, a war hero. When I had discovered Balan as my hound, I named him after the most powerful warhead in our history.

Mine was just under my left breast, on my ribs, over my heart. That was one that I refused to cover up. It was part of who I was, my history. I was particularly skilled with a set of crescent moon knives. They were meant to be dual-wielded and had a unique but effective tactic when used. A skilled warrior could slice through a plethora of men at once. I was trained in many other weapons, such as multiple types of swords, bow and arrow, daggers, and knives, as well as various firearms. I preferred to stick to the more traditional weapons.

“So it’s my eighteenth birthday today,” Ben mentioned as he casually looked around. I tapped my cigarette and the ash fell between my right foot and Ben’s left. Balan adjusted his head and looked up at me.

“That’s wonderful,” I said with the least amount of interest I could muster. He chuckled and looked back to me, I could see an idea in his eyes. I acted as if I didn’t, waiting for him to tell me.

“I want a tattoo, and you work at the shop on Crest and Bridal right?” I nodded, lifting an eyebrow. There was only one shop in town, and it was on Crest and Bridal, but I was sure he did his homework before presenting the question to me. The first bell rang and everybody flocked to class, some less eager to move. I looked around and nodded.

“You want to make an appointment?” He nodded, smiling to himself. He seemed excited, which is normal if you don’t have to worry about if you can afford it. I could barely afford food, let alone any more tattoos. But, that’s why it was so great being a tattoo artist with friends in the business. We can give each other tattoos, hell, I could give one to myself. There was one woman at a convention I recently went to with beautiful work all over her leg. She claimed she had gotten bored one day and just did it herself.

I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket, and as I reached for it I put my cigarette out on the armrest. There was evidence that many others thought it was a good idea too. Bethany promised to come on her motorcycle. I grinned at my phone and got up, Balan grumbling. “You can come when I start my shift to set up a consultation,” I said.

“Come on, get to class. We’re leaving at 12:30,” he looked at me questioningly. “That’s when my shift starts.” he nodded and smiled.

“Hey! Tattooed lady! What’s up?” One of Ben’s friends yelled. They all traveled together, or at least two at a time. It was like they all had a buddy system.

“Hey, Jerry,” I said, my voice tired. The last place I wanted to be was at school, and the last thing I wanted to be surrounded by was people. Balan nudged my leg and grunted, feeling my exhaustion. I smiled and knelt in front of him. He let his forehead sink into my lap and I scratched behind his ears and he whined deeply in approval. I chuckled and got up, nudging him off my leg. ”Go ahead, I’ll see you before work,” He huffed and trotted into the woods. I let him have free reign of the woods throughout the day, I knew that the confines of my apartment would not have been suitable for him.

“Did you train your dog in another language or something?” Jerry asked as the group got closer.

“Yeah,” I was not about to offer up additional information. I took a long sip from my coffee as Issac jogged over in a panic. He had curly brown hair that had been growing out, so it flopped over his forehead in a childish manner. His glasses slid down his nose as he approached.

“Did you guys know there’s a physics test today?” he asked quickly, a wild panic obvious.

With all of my morning responsibilities taken care of, I decided to spend some time outside, since the sun had come out and the temperature had risen. The secretaries eyed me strangely as I left through the front door, but none objected. I dropped my bag down on the lawn and let out a sharp, loud whistle.

Within minutes Balan was happily trotting from the woods, his tongue dangling out of his drooping mouth. I smiled and patted the ground next to me excitedly. ”Come here,” I cooed with a smile. He picked up his pace and the closer he got, the more I could see the faint smears of blood on his jowls. ”And what is that?” I asked, taking a closer examination. He sat slouched and panting, content with himself. I lifted his lips and looked at his teeth. They would probably be similar to a crocodile tooth, and same with his muscular power. Although, in his original form, he could snap a crocodile in half with a single good bite. I wedged my finger in between some of his teeth to see what he had gotten into. I found multiple types of hair and fur. I even found part of a tiny claw. ”It seems like you’ve been terrorizing the helpless woodland creatures. Snow White would be horrified,” I said with a smile, petting him behind his ears. He seemed to grin at me. I stretched out on the school’s lawn, soaking in the heat, while it was still available.

“Hey, Kara,” Jerry had his bag thrown over one of his muscular shoulders as he sauntered over to me. “Nap time?” He asked once he had effectively blocked the sun. I could hear the smile in his voice.

I grunted and cracked an eye open, “You’re blocking the sun,” I muttered. He took his time moving out of the way and sat next to me. He leaned back on his elbows as Balan watched him. His moss green shirt stretched over his broad chest as he leaned his head back.

“What’s your dog’s name?” I didn’t move from my position and my eyes remained closed.

"Balan, but you can call him Beast,” I knew that they wouldn’t be able to pronounce any words in Demon Tongue, so I never bothered to elaborate on any of them.

“Beast. That’s badass,” He nodded and smirked at Balan.

“Time,” My voice was short and authoritative. I had always wondered if I would ever be promoted in the ranks, possibly to a commanding position. It was a dangerous thought, mainly because I would have been honored.

“12:23,” He stated just as shortly. He made his voice gruff in response to my terse demand. I mentally rolled my eyes at his antics and reached above my head, arching my back, and stretched with a light groan. I could hear his heartbeat skip in his throat, and he squirmed. He deserved it, or at least I had officially convinced myself he did.

I became drowsy, and turned to the side, facing Jerry. I could feel his gaze on me, but pretended I didn’t. I napped outside often, a luxury I never had before. I reached to adjust my top, pulling it up slightly. But then I felt the grass tickle my mid-drift, and I felt Jerry’s eyes scan downward. I huffed and rolled back onto my back, bending one of my legs, so my knee was up and my foot planted on the ground.

“Ben should be meeting me soon,” I mumbled. My voice was sleepy, a bit out of character. Jerry brushed some hair out of my face and let his fingers linger. “Watch it,” I warned. At the same speed he unblocked my sun, he removed his hand.

“Am I interrupting anything?” I heard a smiling voice from above.

“Nope,” I said casually and sat up. I quickly and sloppily pet Balan’s head and stood up. Ben towered over my 5′6" stature, so I had to crane my neck to look him in the face. “Ready?” He nodded and looked around like he was looking for somebody. I raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

“Was it okay if I invited some people to come with?”

“People?” He nodded and smiled over my shoulder. I turned and saw Issac, and Jerry got up to stand with Ben. “Are they looking for some ink, or are they just for support?” I had never understood why getting a tattoo was so difficult for some people. But, I could understand someone needing support if they had to extract a holy water laced bullet from their person, though. Those were a bitch, and Dusty knew how to get one out with minimal damage to the surrounding area. I could feel my face fall into stone at the memory. I could still hear his voice telling me to be calm. I remembered growling at him in response.

Just breathe, you’re going to be fine.

I let a deep breath out and nodded. “That’s fine, but they can’t crowd my workspace,” I growled slightly. ”Balan, come.”

“Sweet,” Jerry said as Issac grinned.

“Bethany is coming to pick me up, and you guys can just follow us,” As if she had overheard her cue, Bethany rolled up noisily on her motorcycle. She stopped in front of us and revved the engine at me. I made an obscene gesture and laughed as she revved louder. I grabbed my bag and she tossed my sketchbook at me. I caught it, putting it in my bag and strapping it to my back, using all the extra clips to keep it secure. She slowly took off her helmet, probably to avoid ruining her pristine makeup. She put out her kick-stand and carefully got off her bike, which was like her baby. She took better care of it than she did herself. She stood beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“Hey girly,” She grinned at me when she saw the boys, their mouths slightly ajar, and their eyes wide. “Doesn’t take much to impress them, huh?”

I shook my head a chuckled, “You have no idea,” She laughed haughtily.

“I’ve got an extra helmet in the back if you want it.” She offered, but I usually declined. I in no way endorse a human not using a helmet on a motorcycle. I actually greatly approved of the entire protective suits. But I wasn’t a human, and I did not hold myself to the same expectations.

“Thanks but it’s nice out today,” She shrugged in a ‘suit yourself’ way.

“Come on, I ain’t got all day sugar-tits,” She swatted my ass as she sashayed back to the bike.

“When are you going to stop calling me that?”

“Never, maybe when I die, or maybe when you stop being hot. I don’t see either of those things happening anytime soon.” I rolled my eyes with a smile.

“How charming,” I said, rubbing my ass. She had tough hands, damn.

“Get that sweet ass on this bike, or we’re gonna be late,”

“If you keep spanking it then it’ll be a bruised ass,” I grumbled. She laughed, and the boys couldn’t help but smirk. I was sure they had a number of visions of us at the moment, but I was not about to open that door.

“Hey, I like the sight of a spanked ass as much as the next guy,” She wiggled her eyebrows at me with a devilsh smirk. “Are you blushing?” She almost screeched. The boys seemed to be just as interested in seeing me flustered as Bethany did.

“Oh hush,” I mumbled.

“Are you guys going to fuck or what?” Jerry said, wringing his hands, as if preparing for a show. I arched a brow at him as I mounted the bike. I looked to Bethany, who playfully nipped at my face. I looked from the boys to her, and both groups seemed on board with idea.

“Oh shut up. Let’s just get to work without anymore sexual harassment, yeah?”

“As you you wish, M’lady.” Bethany kicked the stand back up and revved the engine loudly, tearing out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.