Caleb goes for a walk….
FAIR WARNING:
Before reading about one of Caleb’s walks one evening, be sure you’re not going to be upset by some dark stuff. So ends the warning.
Metropolis, DE
Outskirts of Suicide Slum
10:36 PM, EST.
Caleb’s been walking for almost twenty minutes now, just taking in some fresh air and allowing his mind to wander. With how crowded the apartment has grown over the last year, it’s really the only quite, personal time he gets when he’s not in Cape May. Usually he doesn’t go anywhere near the bad part of town, but tonight he wants to see if maybe Trevor’s up for a game of pool.
If the street was just a little more crowded, he might not have noticed. Even now, he has to stop and focus on it to be sure he hasn’t made some mistake. One of the hookers on the corner by the cheap motel has no soul.
That doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a demon, Caleb rations. She could just be a hollow. Objectively, there just isn’t sufficient information on which to base any concrete determinations. Soon enough Caleb realizes that three of the four hookers are not so subtly distancing themselves from him. Maybe they think he’s a cop - maybe they see he look on his face and think he’s crazy. It doesn’t matter, though, because the only hooker Caleb is interested in is in the middle of haggling over price with a client.
The negotiations must not have been that complicated, as in only a few seconds the pair head off towards the motel.
“Dammit,” Caleb mutters before turning back along his original route, and continuing his walk. Street crime - especially petty street crime - isn’t really his thing. Besides, she might not be a demon, and the client may be in no greater danger than possibly contracting an STD, assuming he’s stupid enough to not use a condom. Though he’s soliciting the services of a corner prostitute, so there’s really nothing one can take for granted.
Then he thinks about that thought once more.
…so there’s really nothing one can take for granted. “Bloody hell," he groans before stopping, and again turning to face the mysterious woman without a soul. He closes his eyes and concentrates in her direction, hoping to maybe feel something to help him determine if she’s a demon, or just a hollow. Statistically, the odds of two hollows living in any one city, even one as large as Metropolis, are almost astronomical, but anything is possible…
So why is he feeling a slight degree of magic emanating from the woman without a soul? Maybe she’s just a hollow who uses simple charms to earn more money? No, he decides. One, if she were that smart and capable, she’s be fetching higher prices than a street walker. Two, she’s already quite attractive, so there’d be no need to augment how she’s perceived through such convoluted means. Is it possible? Yes. Likely? No. And with a sigh, he continues watching until he sees the pair enter their hotel room, and then continues walking along his previous route. He ducks into the very first alley way he comes to, draws in some power from the various pedestrians still on the street, and uses it to teleport to behind the motel in question.
He looks around the alley he appears in, and finds that the only person there is a homeless man, who’s sitting there, mouth hung open in awe at the man who just appeared out of thin air. Uncomfortably, Caleb smiles and waves slightly, before approaching the rather scared man, and handing him a handful of twenty dollar bills from the petty cash always on him.
“You didn’t see that,” Caleb says as he hands over the money. The bum nods as a huge smile comes over his face. He proceeds to thank Caleb a few times, and then runs off. With a sigh Caleb watches him leave before returning his attention to the motel before him, and closes his eyes as to better concentrate on the souls he feels in the various rooms. Only one occupied room is occupied by merely one soul, and with some concentration he determines that said lone soul is accompanied by a faint, yet separate, trace of magic. Bingo - that’s the room. He walks up to that section of the wall when he begins to feel the one soul in that room grow slightly and steadily more faint - the tell tail sign of a Succubus in action.
Without hesitation Caleb draws his gun, draws in a small trace of power from the souls of the pair in the next room, and uses it to phase through the wall, and into the room where the Succubus is at work. Low and behold he sees her, wearing nothing but a tube top, and straddling a pale, tense, half naked man.
Leveling the gun at the woman “Get off of him,” Caleb commands.
“Who the hell?” She asks as she turns her head, utterly surprised to see the armed man in the room with them. Her client has a similar reaction, quickly up on his elbows, and staring in utter disbelief at Caleb.
“Get. Off. Of. Him.” Caleb cocks the hammer back, just to add some emphasis to the instruction. “Now.” With a look of shock, the woman complies, rolling off of her client and pulling the covers of the bed up over her lower regions. “Go home,” Caleb adds, with a look at the man on the bed. He looks a little hesitant, but isn’t willing to argue with the gun wielding, potentially unstable man in the room with him. He gets up, grabs his pants, and is still tightening his belt as he runs from the hotel room.
“So now what?” The hooker asks in her sweetest voice. “You looking for a free ride, sug?” She reaches to the desk right next to the bed, and casually lights herself a cigarette. “So, you gonna stand there all day, or are you gonna shoot me?”
“I think we both know that this couldn’t hurt you,” Caleb acknowledges as he lowers the gun. “You’re a demon.”
“So?” She asks, still not all that worried about the intruder. “So are you. I can smell it.”
“So, a hooker? For, uh … for someone who steals souls through sexual intercourse, this .. this must have been a perfectly natural profession to immerse yourself in.”
“Oh, come now, sug. I don’t think you barged in here to ask me about my life story.” She takes a long drag of her cigarette, before butting it out on the ash tray on the table next to the bed. The rolls over onto her side, and regards Caleb for a time. “I don’t know how you got your soul, but since you’re a demon, it’d be safe from me.” A coy smile to accompany the lie.
“Don’t,” Caleb instructs as he holds up a finger to stop her.
“Oh?” She asks with feined surprise. “Come, now.” Slowly she stands, and moves with a fluid grace that one would expect from a ballet dancer. It’s all a part of the package - to make the demons as seductive as possible. “I can tell what you crave just by looking at you.” She stops a short distance from Caleb, who is still standing perfectly still. Then, he watches with confusion as her form changes. She grows shorter, thinner, and more familiar until she settles into her final form - that of Corrine Bertrand.
The sight of her in that form makes Caleb uneasy, and just a little red. “Don’t be bashful, baby,” he says in a perfect imitation of Corrine’s voice. “When we’re not on the dream realm, we can assume any form we wish.” She circles Caleb, gently dragging her index finger across his tense neck as she does, before settling in front of him, and slowly grinding her hind end against him. “I can be anything you want me to be, do anything you want me to do.” She continues to press herself against him as he allows her head to fall back against his chest. “And you won’t even have to say anything. I know all your fantasies just by looking at you. It could be fun, babe.”
Honestly, yes, Caleb is tempted. Rather so, in fact. He’s missed Corrine’s touch for quite some time. But after a moment of temptation he decides against it, and lets out a long, frustrated sigh, and then answers her as simply as he can. “Or, alternatively…” And in one quick motion, he had his hands on either side of her head, and twists in opposite directions, snapping her neck in an instant. Her body hits the floor with a thud, and lays there completely motionless. After a few seconds it reverts to it’s natural form, that of a comely brunette, with pointed ears, large black pupils, a pointed tail protruding from the small of her back, and bat-like wings.
It is at about this time that the though dawns on Caleb that he’s been unemployed for months now, and is, in fact, in a cheap motel room with a dead hooker. This is definitely not where I thought I’d be when I was thirty three, he notes with some amusement. Trevor or Amelia, maybe, but not me.
Still, this isn’t the time to stop and be amused. He has to move quickly to dispose of the corpse - preferably without being spotted. He leans down draws in the remnants of the magic that used to power it’s various abilities, and uses it to teleport them both out of the room. They wind up alone in the middle of a desert in the American south west, where Caleb takes a few minutes to mystically set her body on fire, before using the last of her siphoned power to teleport himself back to civilization, where he siphons enough power to teleport the rest of the way back home.
Although he hasn’t really gotten himself dirty, Caleb finds that he desperately wants a shower. A long, hot shower…
Before reading about one of Caleb’s walks one evening, be sure you’re not going to be upset by some dark stuff. So ends the warning.
Metropolis, DE
Outskirts of Suicide Slum
10:36 PM, EST.
Caleb’s been walking for almost twenty minutes now, just taking in some fresh air and allowing his mind to wander. With how crowded the apartment has grown over the last year, it’s really the only quite, personal time he gets when he’s not in Cape May. Usually he doesn’t go anywhere near the bad part of town, but tonight he wants to see if maybe Trevor’s up for a game of pool.
If the street was just a little more crowded, he might not have noticed. Even now, he has to stop and focus on it to be sure he hasn’t made some mistake. One of the hookers on the corner by the cheap motel has no soul.
That doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a demon, Caleb rations. She could just be a hollow. Objectively, there just isn’t sufficient information on which to base any concrete determinations. Soon enough Caleb realizes that three of the four hookers are not so subtly distancing themselves from him. Maybe they think he’s a cop - maybe they see he look on his face and think he’s crazy. It doesn’t matter, though, because the only hooker Caleb is interested in is in the middle of haggling over price with a client.
The negotiations must not have been that complicated, as in only a few seconds the pair head off towards the motel.
“Dammit,” Caleb mutters before turning back along his original route, and continuing his walk. Street crime - especially petty street crime - isn’t really his thing. Besides, she might not be a demon, and the client may be in no greater danger than possibly contracting an STD, assuming he’s stupid enough to not use a condom. Though he’s soliciting the services of a corner prostitute, so there’s really nothing one can take for granted.
Then he thinks about that thought once more.
…so there’s really nothing one can take for granted. “Bloody hell," he groans before stopping, and again turning to face the mysterious woman without a soul. He closes his eyes and concentrates in her direction, hoping to maybe feel something to help him determine if she’s a demon, or just a hollow. Statistically, the odds of two hollows living in any one city, even one as large as Metropolis, are almost astronomical, but anything is possible…
So why is he feeling a slight degree of magic emanating from the woman without a soul? Maybe she’s just a hollow who uses simple charms to earn more money? No, he decides. One, if she were that smart and capable, she’s be fetching higher prices than a street walker. Two, she’s already quite attractive, so there’d be no need to augment how she’s perceived through such convoluted means. Is it possible? Yes. Likely? No. And with a sigh, he continues watching until he sees the pair enter their hotel room, and then continues walking along his previous route. He ducks into the very first alley way he comes to, draws in some power from the various pedestrians still on the street, and uses it to teleport to behind the motel in question.
He looks around the alley he appears in, and finds that the only person there is a homeless man, who’s sitting there, mouth hung open in awe at the man who just appeared out of thin air. Uncomfortably, Caleb smiles and waves slightly, before approaching the rather scared man, and handing him a handful of twenty dollar bills from the petty cash always on him.
“You didn’t see that,” Caleb says as he hands over the money. The bum nods as a huge smile comes over his face. He proceeds to thank Caleb a few times, and then runs off. With a sigh Caleb watches him leave before returning his attention to the motel before him, and closes his eyes as to better concentrate on the souls he feels in the various rooms. Only one occupied room is occupied by merely one soul, and with some concentration he determines that said lone soul is accompanied by a faint, yet separate, trace of magic. Bingo - that’s the room. He walks up to that section of the wall when he begins to feel the one soul in that room grow slightly and steadily more faint - the tell tail sign of a Succubus in action.
Without hesitation Caleb draws his gun, draws in a small trace of power from the souls of the pair in the next room, and uses it to phase through the wall, and into the room where the Succubus is at work. Low and behold he sees her, wearing nothing but a tube top, and straddling a pale, tense, half naked man.
Leveling the gun at the woman “Get off of him,” Caleb commands.
“Who the hell?” She asks as she turns her head, utterly surprised to see the armed man in the room with them. Her client has a similar reaction, quickly up on his elbows, and staring in utter disbelief at Caleb.
“Get. Off. Of. Him.” Caleb cocks the hammer back, just to add some emphasis to the instruction. “Now.” With a look of shock, the woman complies, rolling off of her client and pulling the covers of the bed up over her lower regions. “Go home,” Caleb adds, with a look at the man on the bed. He looks a little hesitant, but isn’t willing to argue with the gun wielding, potentially unstable man in the room with him. He gets up, grabs his pants, and is still tightening his belt as he runs from the hotel room.
“So now what?” The hooker asks in her sweetest voice. “You looking for a free ride, sug?” She reaches to the desk right next to the bed, and casually lights herself a cigarette. “So, you gonna stand there all day, or are you gonna shoot me?”
“I think we both know that this couldn’t hurt you,” Caleb acknowledges as he lowers the gun. “You’re a demon.”
“So?” She asks, still not all that worried about the intruder. “So are you. I can smell it.”
“So, a hooker? For, uh … for someone who steals souls through sexual intercourse, this .. this must have been a perfectly natural profession to immerse yourself in.”
“Oh, come now, sug. I don’t think you barged in here to ask me about my life story.” She takes a long drag of her cigarette, before butting it out on the ash tray on the table next to the bed. The rolls over onto her side, and regards Caleb for a time. “I don’t know how you got your soul, but since you’re a demon, it’d be safe from me.” A coy smile to accompany the lie.
“Don’t,” Caleb instructs as he holds up a finger to stop her.
“Oh?” She asks with feined surprise. “Come, now.” Slowly she stands, and moves with a fluid grace that one would expect from a ballet dancer. It’s all a part of the package - to make the demons as seductive as possible. “I can tell what you crave just by looking at you.” She stops a short distance from Caleb, who is still standing perfectly still. Then, he watches with confusion as her form changes. She grows shorter, thinner, and more familiar until she settles into her final form - that of Corrine Bertrand.
The sight of her in that form makes Caleb uneasy, and just a little red. “Don’t be bashful, baby,” he says in a perfect imitation of Corrine’s voice. “When we’re not on the dream realm, we can assume any form we wish.” She circles Caleb, gently dragging her index finger across his tense neck as she does, before settling in front of him, and slowly grinding her hind end against him. “I can be anything you want me to be, do anything you want me to do.” She continues to press herself against him as he allows her head to fall back against his chest. “And you won’t even have to say anything. I know all your fantasies just by looking at you. It could be fun, babe.”
Honestly, yes, Caleb is tempted. Rather so, in fact. He’s missed Corrine’s touch for quite some time. But after a moment of temptation he decides against it, and lets out a long, frustrated sigh, and then answers her as simply as he can. “Or, alternatively…” And in one quick motion, he had his hands on either side of her head, and twists in opposite directions, snapping her neck in an instant. Her body hits the floor with a thud, and lays there completely motionless. After a few seconds it reverts to it’s natural form, that of a comely brunette, with pointed ears, large black pupils, a pointed tail protruding from the small of her back, and bat-like wings.
It is at about this time that the though dawns on Caleb that he’s been unemployed for months now, and is, in fact, in a cheap motel room with a dead hooker. This is definitely not where I thought I’d be when I was thirty three, he notes with some amusement. Trevor or Amelia, maybe, but not me.
Still, this isn’t the time to stop and be amused. He has to move quickly to dispose of the corpse - preferably without being spotted. He leans down draws in the remnants of the magic that used to power it’s various abilities, and uses it to teleport them both out of the room. They wind up alone in the middle of a desert in the American south west, where Caleb takes a few minutes to mystically set her body on fire, before using the last of her siphoned power to teleport himself back to civilization, where he siphons enough power to teleport the rest of the way back home.
Although he hasn’t really gotten himself dirty, Caleb finds that he desperately wants a shower. A long, hot shower…