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Something is very wrong.
The day has been going so very well, until now. I woke up between Ike and Vox; I had breakfast with them. I played with Nah and volunteered to take them for a walk; I had to go to the cell store anyway, so I could buy a phone for Box. Everything had been fine .
But it’s not, now. Something is very wrong , now. I had felt it from the moment I had walked into the store, and my eyes locked with him.
Him .
The mirror demon.
He’s dressed up in a suit, talking to some kind of associate - or more like berating them. He had a stern look on his face, but once again, I could tell through the gaps that it was the demon, not Vox. A stray bit of hair out of place, a misplaced speck in his eye. He stops berating the associate the moment I see him, and we stare at each other. Knowing. Testing.
“. . . I’m going for a smoke break. Don’t burn down the store while I’m gone,” he says, before walking past me - more like shuffling past, given how he nearly runs into my shoulder - and out the store.
I had Nah tied up outside. What would happen if I left the two of them alone for longer than it took for him to have a smoke?!
“Can I help you with any-”
“No, no; I have to talk to your boss anyway,” I wave off. I turn away and pull out my phone, sending a quick text to Shoto. Meet me by Wayward Cell’s. Found the mirror demon again. I’m with Nah. Will be careful .
I put away my phone and step outside. Nah is sitting by a street sign across from the demon. Vox - no, the demon - is glaring at them. He is, indeed, having a smoke though - no excuse for him to dodge inside. I watch as he pulls the cigarette from his mouth and blows out the smoke in Nah’s direction.
Nah growls .
Well, good to know Nah had a sense of this demon, too.
I pretend to walk by casually, though it’s nothing more than a ruse as I let my magic connect with the demon. I don’t have to turn to hear the office Vox stamp out his cigarette and follow me; he has no choice. Nah trots next to me, staying close. I lead the demon into a nearby alley and down as far as we can go, before I turn and shove my arm against his neck, bracing him against the wall.
The demon coughs, then grins, his eyes alighting red. “We just keep running into each other , don’t we?”
“I used to think I was a magnet for fucks like you,” I leer at him. “Turns out I’m just a pretty handy demon tamer with a knack of finding the same damn demon again and again. What are you doing here?”
“Trying to run a store, thanks.”
“No. I mean, how did you manage to disobey my orders? I thought I commanded you not to take on Vox’s shape again.”
He chuckles. “You’re clearly stronger than you were last time, little kitten, with your claws all out. But I’m afraid this time, I was summoned by somebody much stronger than you. Not to mention,” He lifts his chin. “I like this form. It intimidates people. At least, most of them.”
“Yeah, and the rest are trying to get in your pants, I get it,” I say. “Who summoned you?”
“It would be a pity to spoil that for you, wouldn’t it?”
I knee him in the groin and step back, letting him gasp and fall to his knees. Turns out his body’s more human than I thought. I get on my guard and lift my fists to block my face from him, just in case. “I said , who summoned you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he coughs before getting back to his feet, cracking his knuckles and straightening his tie. “Now, if that’s all you’re going to bother to ask me-”
I reach forward and into his mind. “ Who summo -”
He grabs my wrist and twists. My body twists with it, and suddenly I’m being shoved against the wall. I feel the demon press his chest to my back, briefly - then I feel his disgusting tongue lick a stripe up the side of my face.
“Oh, so we’re playing dirty now, are we?” he asks. I shudder; the cooling spit on my face makes me want to vomit. Still, I twist my arm out of his grasp, crying out as I do, before shoving him back and calling out.
“NAH!”
Nah howls and leaps on him. The demon shouts as he’s pinned down to the ground, and I survey the damage to my wrist as Nah growls in his face. Not broken - probably sprained though. I grimace and look up as I hear footsteps running down the alley. Then, I see Shoto’s face.
“I got here as quickly as I-” Shoto stops and goes wide-eyed the moment he sees it. “That’s the same fucking mirror demon I killed last time!”
“Apparently he got summoned by someone - or something,” I add. The demon hisses.
“Wouldn’t you like to kno-”
Shoto is immediately kneeling down, knife out, pressed to the demon’s throat. He goes quiet. I step forward and reach into the demon’s mind again, dragging the information out through its mouth.
I order, one more time, “Tell me who summoned you.”
He sneers.
“The chatting demon. Kindred .”
“Kindred?” my eyes go wide, and I step back. “No. Oh, no. How ?”
“What is it?” Shoto looks up at me. I shake my head and gesture to the demon still pinned beneath Nah. Shoto takes the cue and slashes the demon through the neck. It dissolves into pitch blackness, sinking into the ground. Then, Shoto stands. “What’s wrong, Tanaka?”
“Kindred was the name of the demon who possessed me all that time ago!” I grab at my head. “How is it back?! Vox dispelled it!”
“It must’ve possessed a summoner, if it’s able to bring back mirror demons like that one,” Shoto says. “We need to find it, and fast - before it can do any damage. How did you run into this one, anyhow?”
“I just . . . I just needed a cell phone,” I say, half-defeated already. “I don’t know how it knew. Maybe- maybe it was just dumb luck?”
“Nothing with demons is dumb luck,” Shoto says. “Maybe it was scouting for Kindred - maybe it was trying to get information. You said you found it at Wayward Cell’s?”
“Yeah- that’s where . . .” my eyes go wide. “ Shit . That’s where I get my phone. What if it was monitoring my calls? Or worse - what if it knows my address?!”
“We need to get back to your apartment and check things out,” Shoto frowns. “Vox will have it protected, but now more than ever, those protections need strengthening.”
“Protections?”
“Vox is a smart demon - he’ll have put up wards to keep out threats, especially after your incident with Kindred,” Shoto adds. He looks to the end of the alley - it’s empty - and then he holds a hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s get you home before something drastic happens.”