A Job Gone Wrong

Listen to the music while you enjoy the read.

I never thought the job would be like this.  I so wasn’t prepared for this.  Nope, not at all.  Currently I find myself running down the hallway of an old abandoned school building.  I suddenly realized why I hated this job.  Checking my cell, I quickly press the number 1 on my speed dial.  I could only hope she would pick up.

“Yeah, Millicent here,” a woman with a deep voice says.  Her tone was calm, almost sounding bored.  I growl in my head.  At least one of us is having an easy time with this job. 

“Milly, tell me that you already have everything prepared.”  I say, completely annoyed.  Just as I turn the corner of the hallway I find myself shrieking as an arrow of ice soars past my head catching a few strands of my hair.  The arrow shatters, spraying frozen shards in every direction on contact with the moldy wall.  A few of the shards became embedded in the cracked wooden floor boards.

“You okay there, Crystal?  That didn’t sound good.”  Millicent asked nonchalantly on the other end of the line.

I roll my eyes at her stupid question.  “Oh, of course I’m okay,” I say with sarcasm lacing my voice, “A freaking pissed off skeleton tried to skewer me with an arrow made of ice.”  A chuckle escapes the voice on the other end of the conversation causing my eyes to narrow in annoyance.  She can be so freaking irritating. Millicent always got the easy job of preparing the ritual; meanwhile I’m stuck with bones here trying to kill me.

I’ve already made up my mind that this is the last time that Millicent is going to choose what jobs we actually take on.  This makes the sixth, or is it the seventh, time that we have had to deal with a demon of some kind.  I’ve kind of lost count to tell you the truth.  This time it just had to be a demon that inhabited a skeleton which of course meant that it transformed into a Lich.  Lich’s are one of the most annoying types of reanimated dead.  Until we exercised the demon from the skeleton it was impossible to destroy.

“Yep, just adding the finishing touches now.  You might want to hurry before you become rock candy.” Milly says with a burst of laughter at her clever interpretation of my precarious position as I twitch.  She did not just make that joke.  I cut the call off, throwing my phone into my backpack.

My mind goes into overdrive.  I had to think of a way to get to the gym without becoming “rock candy” as Milly put it.  Thinking about the layout of the school, I knew I was coming to a dead end.  That was not good at all.  I could take the stairs to the ground floor, but that would slow me down.  Quickly, I flick my head from left to right.  Now might be the perfect time to take a leap of faith.

I dash immediately to the right, dodging another ice arrow.  I jump through a broken window!  The wind rushes through my hair as I land squarely on my feet.  I hiss as pain shoots through my left ankle.  I try to ignore it, and take off in the direction of the old gym.  I didn’t even have time to actually cast a healing spell.  After we dealt with this demon I would do that.

Bursting through the gym doors, I see Millicent standing on the old stage.  A very large sigil is drawn on the ground.  Okay, I must say, for not having any Witch’s blood in her veins, Millicent did a very good job. I could feel the magic emanating from the sigil.

“So, does this mean we are ready?” I question her as I quickly jump up to join her on the stage.  She nods and mumbles something under her breath as she reads the lines from the book in her hands. It is an old book with a cover made from dragon hide.  My grimoire, that was given to me by my mother. I find myself listening more to the words Millicent was speaking.  

Huh, it was Infernal.  It made sense.  Enochian was risky for us to use.  Our blood didn’t react well to it, me being a witch and Millicent being a fiend.  Infernal was definitely the safest bet.

The lines of the sigil start to glow as the doors to the gym are blown off their hinges.  They crash into the bleachers with a loud bang.  The Lich stumbles into the gym only to freeze in pain.  The sound of bones crackling echo in my ear as I watch the skeleton shatter, exposing the demon that had possessed it.

“Oh, for the love of….” I say staring at the demon.  It wasn’t just any demon, but one that looked like a centipede.  I hate regular centipedes but this was even worse.  Multiple eyes were spread across its trunk.  Nope, no, Hells no!  I am not fighting that.  Centipedes are gross and nasty!

“So….” Millicent started.  I shoot her a death glare.  “…do you want to deal with this or should I?”  she finished asking.  Millicent already knew my answer.  She knew how much I hated centipedes.  At the last job, we had gotten a cheap motel room.  Turns out the place was infested with centipedes.  I had nearly cast a fire spell.  I would have probably done the world a favor burning the place down.  The only thing that stopped me was Millicent because she had no interest in paying for damages again.

“No!  No way in all the infinite Hells am I going near that thing!”  I firmly stated.  Millicent snorted at me with a smile creeping up on the edges of her face.  She takes one last look at me before walking off the stage.

“Fine, you big baby.  I will deal with this.”  By now her face was a full smirk.  Ugh, she is so irritating!  “Then we’ll meet with the client, get paid, head back home, and probably listen to Maya complain about being stuck on Earth.” She chuckles at the thought.  “You’ll also owe me a couple beers at the bar.”  Wait. Hold up. Since when did I agree to that, I think. We’re seriously going to have a talk after this job.

I also can’t help but glare at her for the big baby comment. It’s not my fault I have a fear of centipedes. Also, she’s the one that said yes to this job. It is her fault. Sometimes I wonder why we are partners.

Milly gives the centipede demon one of her infuriating smirks that never fails to consume her opponents with rage.  It is a smirk that seems to say she is infinitely better than them, relegating them to a status lower than the dirt under her combat boots.  “Well look at you, big, ugly and disgusting.”  She taunts the creature, causing me to sigh.  The centipede Demon clicks and hisses, sending chills down my spine.

There is a reason I really, really, really, hate centipedes.  They are deadly and gross.  It opens its mouth revealing rows of pointy, and deadly, razor-sharp teeth.  They go further back and probably run all the way through its body.  A thick, green liquid drips to the floor burning away the wood beneath it.

Its many legs begin to move, making me start to feel nauseous.  I can’t help but scrunch my nose up.  A gasp leaves my mouth, as the centipede Demon opens its mouth and a long thing shoots out. It reminded me of that thing mosquitoes have.  I think they call it a proboscis.  Anyway, I need to get away from this thing.

It impales Millicent through the middle of her chest.  She falls back, blood splashing against the floor. I just watch with unconcerned eyes as she lays there.  Blood begins to form a pool around her. There is a reason I normally let Milly deal with the more dangerous targets. “Enough playing dead,”  I say.  My voice has a slight edge to let her know that I am both irritated and exhausted.

“You aren’t even worried about me, are you Crystal?!”  She questions.  I roll my eyes and let out a small huff.

“Of course not.  I’m used to you pulling these types of stunts.” I place my hand on my hip.  She smiles, which turns vicious.  She grabs the proboscis with all of the strength in her arms.  It rips, sounding like fabric being torn in two.  The centipede demon gives a screech that nearly shatters my ear drums.  Black blood sprays out, coating Millicent.  She gags as she stands up with the proboscis still impaling her.

“Ugh! I think I got some in my mouth!” She says making exaggerated gagging sounds. This scene causes me to smile. That smile grows wider when she turns to look at me.

“I guess that means you won’t have to be fed tonight.” I can’t help but taunt her. Her emerald eyes widen in horror.

“What?!  That’s not funny!” She shouts. I roll my eyes, waving my hand at the still screeching demon. Millicent still had a job to finish. She sighs, shaking her head and mumbling to herself.  In a flash her foot comes flying up, hitting the huge demon hard causing it to topple.  It falls to its back wriggling in agony.

Millicent pulls the proboscis out from her chest.  She turns it, thrusting it through the demon’s head! Then she steps back as the Demon falls silent. We watch as it dissolves into black mist.  “There. Are you happy now?” She says as she looks over at me. I have a thinking look on my face.

For a minute Millicent actually looks like she is worried that I am not actually happy. But suddenly I can’t help but give a huge smile. Of course I am happy, just like every time we finally complete a job.

“Yeah, I guess you did a good job. You get to be fed when we get back to the motel.”  I tell her.  A huge smile lights up her face, prompting me to continue.  “But after you take a shower. Also stay 10 feet away from me please. You smell worse than shit!”

Millicent shot me a glare.  “Geez, thanks!” She grumbles.  I just smile at her sweetly.

Later, after we had met up with the client, we returned back to the motel.  It wasn’t a cheap motel like our last one. It wasn’t the Ritz either. Just a place to hang for a night before returning home.

I was laying on the double bed with my eyes closed just listening to the sounds of the shower running.  The demon blood on Millicent had started hardening and somehow was smelling even worse.  The shower finally stopped and a few minutes later Millicent emerged from the bathroom. She is wearing shorts and a white short sleeve shirt.  She walks over and I feel the bed dip as she climbs atop.

My eyes were open now and staring at her light red hair which appeared darker because it was still wet.  Her pixie cut was completely free of slimy, smelly, demon particles. I sit up slightly. I know what she wants.  “Let me guess, your heart is slowing down.”  I say.  She nods with a predatory look in her eyes.

I sigh, reaching over to pull a dagger from my bookbag.  It is not a traditional dagger.  It’s a ritualistic dagger, the type of dagger used when blood is required for a ritual.  It was sharp enough to cut through the nerves quickly so as not to cause a great deal, if any, pain.  I take the dagger out of its sheath to reveal the curved, crescent blade.  I drag it across my left palm, feeling the blood well up.

“There, dinner is served,” I joke. In a flash she latches on, tongue going across the wound. I wince at the sting it causes and then squirm somewhat. I was used to this. This is what being a Fiend means for Millicent. An immortal being that surpasses a vampire. Somebody who has eaten the flesh of a Demon or drinking a Demon’s blood. Unlike a vampire I know for a fact Millicent is a true immortal. She’s had her head taken off, been lit on fire, and staked through the heart. The price is she needs to keep eating Demon flesh or drinking Demon blood. Lucky for her I was a Witch.

The daughter of a woman and the Demon Queen of Vanity. All Witches are like me. A race that's the opposite of the Nephilim. And because of that; like all Fiends, Millicent is bound to me. A knight and a protector. Because drinking from a living creature with Demon blood bounds them to the person they drank blood from. I hiss as Millicent bites down, and I shoot her a glare. “Really?” I hiss. She pulls away from the palm of my hand, her mouth stained red. The smile on her face was like a cat who got the canary.

In a split second her lips connect with mine. I stare in her eyes, glaring at her as we kiss. I feel her tongue and allow it to enter my mouth. We make out for a few seconds, before she pulls away. I can still taste the metallic taste of my own blood. “Should I turn the lights off princess?” She smugly says to me. I roll my eyes for what feels like the hundredth time. 

“Hurry up,” I tell her. I channel my magic to my palm, quickly healing the cut there. It wasn’t good for twisted or broken ankles, but useful for cuts like this. Millicent gets up, and I watch with hooded eyes as she walks to turn off the lights. We weren’t going to be sleeping anytime soon.

Well, I can say we didn’t get much sleep. Both Millicent and I had rather messy hair. Bags under our eyes. It was about noon. We were standing in front of our shop/office, Witch Seekers. The sign was glowing neon with a witches hat. Hey, it did bring attention. Seekers, that was what we were. Seekers were basically, do everything for pay, type of people. But they dealt with the supernatural world.

“Well, ready to head in?” Millicent questions. It would be good to finally be back. The entire building belongs to us. It had put us in debt, but it worked well. Especially since Maya rented an apartment close by. We get the top floor though for ourselves. 

“Yeah, hopefully the next job won’t involve a Demon.” I say. I was kind of sick of them. It’s been a while since we’ve had just a job from some of our usual clients. Like Dracula or Hades. Though Dracula normally dealt with vampires; I would rather not deal with those. Anyways I guess we can say we did a good job. 

Mission accomplished…

The next job shouldn’t be too bad right? Right?!

Job Complete….

A Job Gone Wrong

~ Runehood66 (Benjamin Hood)