Other Places 3: Detours (17 page)

That
didn't get explained, since the Cellephant couldn't get that
she
was
just as crazy as the rest of them. Very few managed to take that last step.
Other
people were crazy, and did the wrong thing, but the blinders were firmly on,
when it came to themselves, right?

He
just took her back to the summit and acted like he didn't understand people
either. There was a time when he really wouldn't have gotten it at all. The day
before, in fact.

Now...

Well,
things weren't any more comfortable, but he was starting to make sense of the
world around him. Little things were falling into place, that he hadn't known
about before. Rules and even morals, seemed different, and like they were, part
of the time, simply meant to control people.

He
could opt out though, Zack knew.

If
it was in his own interest.

The
trick there would be in doing that, but making his own interests also be the
best thing for those around him, at the same time.

That
part, no doubt, would be a bit harder.

Two
hours later, Zack was back in his book store, watching people trickle in,
mainly to head off to the back with different hot women. It was a bit more like
a whore house than a place to find information and stories, but that was the
Alede way, after all. He could get after them for it, if he wanted, but that
wouldn't change them. Not really. They were, in the end, what they always were.

Succubi.

So,
he and Madeline actually worked in the store, which meant, when the virtual
explosion happened, he was right there to witness the thing.

"Fuck
you! I'll kill you!" The voice was
far
too girlish to be taken
seriously, at first, until Zack noticed the bubbling space around the tiny
female form. The adult man that she was about to kill, well he seemed to miss
that part all together.

How
another Greater Demon had managed to work into his shop without being seen, he
didn't really know, but he got the basic idea rapidly enough. She was, if she
was a female at all, which he knew
might
be in doubt, tiny and very
cute. Not hot, really, but like a thirteen year old girl that was real, and
wearing glasses for more than just show. Her skin was
flawless,
and her
bust line was modest, really. An A cup, if Zack had that kind of thing right.

Of
course the Human man, who looked to be pushing forty, had no business grabbing
her ass in a book store at all, which was why, clearly, he was about to die.
Zack was of two minds on the issue. On the one hand, even with his emotions
being well and truly shut down, he didn't really want a body cluttering up his
space. It would mean police involvement, and after batting their Chief around
the day before, that might not go to well. Or, well, it probably
would
,
after he went to the station and anally raped the woman into submission, but it
would still be a pain to deal with.

On
the other, no matter how old the Demon actually was, she
looked
like a
little girl. A slightly nerdy one. Cute, in a wholesome way, but not like she
was at the store trawling for a good time. Not in any way, shape or form. She
didn't even have visible make-up on.

The
man jumped back, his hands going out defensively, a smile coming across his
lips.

"Oops,
sorry, I thought you were someone else." It was so clear he didn't really
mean it that Zack just walked up and pointed at the man, who had tattoos on his
knuckles in blue ink. Prison tats. Even someone that had lived as sheltered a
life as he had got that one.

"Sir,
I'm going to have to ask you to leave, now." It was, he decided, all the
warning he was going to give the man. After all, he was being a creep.

That
meant two things, first the little girl looking Greater Demon crossed her arms
and nodded, as if vindicated, and the man...

Started
doing his own cussing.

"Fuck
that bitch. What are you going to do, call the cops? If I want to grab a little
tail, no punk ass like you is going to tell me not to." He was gearing up
to start a fight, so Zack shrugged.

And
hit the man, right in the solar plexus. Then, as he gasped, since something had
clearly broken deep inside from the impact, Zack locked his right hand and arm
behind the man, and walked him carefully backward toward the node, going
through the carved owl door. The little girl followed along, as if she knew
exactly what was happening, and when he got to the node, ready to step through
with the other man, she took his arm and hopped a bit, so that they all ended
up in the purple land with two moons.

The
man still wasn't able to stand up straight, but the girl, who had nice black
hair, and slightly Asian features, whistled a bit.

"This
is not too shabby. I don't think I've ever been here myself, before. Macrovian
lands?" Her voice was clear, but less worked up now.

Zack
looked at her, feeling a little bit blank.

"You
know, I've never tried to find out. It's a good place to hide bodies though.
There are some predators here that appreciate the extra meat, I think. Do you
want to just leave him or should we kill him first, do you think? Or, you said
you
were going to?" It was cold, and sounded that way, but whoever this girl
was, Zack didn't think he really wanted to fight her. After all, she walked
around looking like a child. No one weak did that.

Not
if they could help it. It marked you as a target, as the pervy man next to them
was showing pretty clearly.

The
girl seemed happy enough to be asked. Like Zack was being particularly polite
to her.

"Well,"
she said cutely, clearly trying to sell the act, which had to be for Zack,
since the other man wasn't paying proper attention to detail yet. "I
could
give him what he wants, and service him."

Zack
didn't particularly want to see her do that, he decided, since it would
possibly be very different than what the man wanted at all, but everything
inside him screamed that he needed to not get in her way. That, given
everything, would be a mistake.

Instead
he shrugged.

"He
did mention liking punks. Do you think he secretly wants to be treated that
way?"

The
man groaned a little, especially when the tiny female thing that he'd tried to
feel up pushed him down, face first into the loamy, deep purple soil. Then, mightily,
the kid sighed.

"I
don't have the right equipment for that, I'm afraid. Do you want to do
it?" She reached out and touched the front of his pants, her hand rubbing
a little, as if to start something.

The
only thing he was certain of about her at that moment was that she wasn't
Xenses. The ripples in space were all wrong for that. She was, also, incredibly
old.

Zack
shook his head.

"No.
I'm dealing with some things right now and that wouldn't help at all. Really,
if you want to play that way with me, you'll need to look about ten years older
yourself. Stay a female too, for now?" He grinned though and snorted a
bit. "On the good side, it really isn't you, it's me. What can I say, I'm
young and delicate that way." He glanced at her as she pushed her wire
frame glasses up. They were big, but did distort her eyes a little as they
moved, meaning real lenses. Considering she could have had perfect vision if she
wanted, that showed dedication to the role, didn't it?

He
spread his hands a bit.

"Oh,
I'm Zack. Hartley. Called the Line Walker, by some." He didn't know if
she'd give a name or anything, but the tiny form actually curtsied a bit,
holding her skirt out a little.

"Ann.
No last name. Like Madonna, only not a dried up old scant with several venereal
diseases. I've been called many things, but right now most know me as The
Rotted. I have a gift with things once dead. I came to see if you wanted
anything. Well, here, let me show you my trick, since you already showed me
yours." She touched the front of his trousers again, but then kicked the
downed man hard. It was a stomp, really, and her little shoe struck right over
his heart, on the back, stopping it.

With
a few more gasps, the man died.

"This
part will take a bit. It always does. We could hurry it up, but it messes the
body up and the dead don't heal easily, without using magic, and I really don't
want to bother with this one. He should have kept his greasy paws to himself.
Or at least asked if I wanted the attention. It's not like I would have said
no." There was a giggle with the words, and she twisted her right foot,
the tiny tennis shoe, which was red over the toes and orange for the rest of
it, as if she hadn't just killed the creep in front of them.

After
a bit she leaned in, her hand touching the dead head, lightly. Zack got the
flow of power, but not exactly how it was being done. It was a complex thing
that spoke of vast learning, at least compared to what he understood about the
universe.

After
a second, there was a deep breath from the man, who still had his face in the
soil. Then without any fanfare at all, he stood up, and looked around.

"Where
am I?"

The
girl waved up at him, using only the tips of her fingers. Then she gestured
around at the purple world they were in. Land, really, Zack thought. It was
part of the world that he'd always known, just a very different part of it. One
with two moons. Because, sure, that had been covered in home school, hadn't it?

"He
has to do whatever I tell him to now. I have to add power though, every few
days, or he'll stop working. He's smart, not like a zombie or anything. Pretty
neat, huh?" She asked it as if expecting him to praise her for the effort.

So
he nodded.

"Yeah.
That's actually really good. Complex. So, what do you think I need?"

The
girl looked at him suddenly, her face going angry, but she didn't snap at him,
just pulling the power out of the man, and then, as Zack watched, his remaining
life force, which showed where she got her name from. The decay that came was
hard and fast. Wet too. There was no turning to dust for the guy, just a damp
pool on the ground. Even the bones went with it.

Then
she giggled again, because that seemed sane and healthy. Which was no doubt her
point. With a name like The Rotted, she probably wasn't on the good guys' side
of things, was she? No, this little Demon went to market, and her basket of
sanity was all empty.

She
grinned, clearly having been reading his mind.

"Oh,
you're
one to talk, Line Walker. The pot is definitely speaking out of
turn there, to a good kettle like myself, too." Ann didn't really move
much then, just waving at him. As if that meant anything at all. Then she
reached for the front of his pants again, rubbing. It wasn't all that fun at
all, he realized, even as he started to respond a tiny bit.

It
wasn't her looks either, but the fact that she was staring in his eyes, looking
for signs of discomfort. As if teasing him were a game?

Or
a test.

He
kept everything locked down, including his biological functions, then, even as
she kept after him. Since she clearly was a perv, too.

She
nodded.

"You
get bored after a while, and try new things. It will happen to you too, sooner
or later. Probably sooner, since you're about as apathetic as one of us ever
gets. Even the goody-goods tend to have more emotional range. I don't mean what
you're shutting out right now either, just you, all the time. You should work
on that, because right now you seem a little bland. If you have to be a crazy
piece of shit, at least be an interesting one, right? Anyway, you asked a
question. What do I think you need?"

There
was a long pause, and she moved closer to him, her tiny hands touching his hips
on either side.

"Protection,
bitch
. Here, grab my belt loop and follow me around..." Shaking her
head she let her eyes roll, playfully. "No, sorry, seriously, you need
friends. The ones you have aren't treating you right at all. Look at the
Mistress of Souls... Trying to make you her slave like that! Notice how when I
come to chat, I show you neat tricks and offer to suck you off, even if you
don't want to right now. What does she do for you? Tries to make you think she
was going to enslave you, so that you remember all that horrible stuff. She
didn't even try to really make it right after that, did she? 'I know, I've been
bad. I'll make it up to you.' She won't even let her
mom
bang you, so
what do you think she's going to pay you with? You don't do slaves, or,
clearly, kids, so what does she have? You don't even care about money that
much. She
should
have offered you her ass, but no, Polly Priss there is
too good for that, isn't she? You can have my ass though, if you want. Or, I
can do yours, if that's your thing. I'll even look older for you. I am, you
know. Old. Ancient and dry, like the dust of the desert. But what I think
you
need are some real friends." She stepped back then, smiling. "What do
you say? Me love you long time..."

She
pushed her glasses back up then. It was disturbing, but that was, no doubt,
part of her charm.

"Well,
I'm not turning friends away this week. What does that mean to you? Being
someone's friend?" Because he wasn't making any deals bargains with The
Rotted, if he had a choice. It just wasn't happening.

"Oh,
you know, sleep-overs, and doing each other's nails and hair. Dishing about
boys. Or girls. Or if you want, livestock, since
I
don't judge like some
people might. If you get into minor trouble, I'll give you advice, and maybe
even the other way around. You can help me out, if I need quick travel places,
and I'll help you with any dead you need brought back. That kind of thing. It
will be all sweet and nice, don't you think?" The scary part was that she
actually sounded sincere.

Like
she really meant it.

"All
right. We can be friends, but no tricks, or using it to spy. At least for
anyone else. I mean, we can't really help that kind of thing, for ourselves,
can we? But no setting me up for bad things, and if you want to have sex you
have to look at least twenty. Probably stay a woman for now too. Are you, by
the way?" He meant a girl, but didn't have to explain that, since Greater
Demons, even the crazy ones, tended to be smart, didn't they?