13 October 2012
I rummaged in the debris of my display cabinet until I finally found what I was looking for; an ancient, huge tome, the title 'Bestiarum Daemn' imprinted in faded gold leaf on the cover. I threw the book down in the kitchen counter and started flicking through, looking for the particular species of daemon we had released. Theo stood up, wiping blood from his hands on his muscular thighs, and stood alongside me, peering at the book. His face was serious and the air of cocky self-assuredness had faded completely.
"I didn't know," Theo mumbled. I stared at him, but he refused to make eye contact; he remained firmly fixed on the text.
"I tried to warn you," I replied with a sigh, "but you mortals always think you know better."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he said, finally meeting my gaze. His green eyes seemed to burn into mine and I felt a flicker of something within that I hadn't felt in an age; a lustful longing for the arms of a man. I pushed the feelings away as I felt a blush creep in to my cheeks.
"Prove it," I said, "and help me kill this...thing."
"You want to kill it?" Theo seemed surprised.
"What?" I retorted "Did you expect me to keep it as a pet or something?"
"No, I mean...I didn't think you would care." He shrugged and tousled his messy brown hair. "I thought something, I mean someone, like you would be pleased to see daemons causing chaos."
"Believe it or not," I snapped, "we are not all murderous monsters. Maybe once, yes, I would have revelled in the destruction and death such a being would create. And I probably would have helped it. But I've spent a long time in the company of mortals and I've come to appreciate them and the finer points of humanity. Like poetry, art and music. And chocolate," I smiled at my own humour, but it seemed lost on Theo. "Daemons know no such things and I have no desire to see this planet overrun with mindless beasts. Plus, I really like this neighbourhood."
"Overrun?" Theo questioned. "There's only one, isn't there?"
"For now," I answered, "but once it has devoured enough souls it will doubtless start work on some sort of portal. Cacodaemons are nothing, if not predictable. And they like to party with friends. A-hah." I jabbed the book with my index finger, "I was right, it was a Cacodaemon."
"I've heard of them," Theo said, studying the faded diagram, "but I've never seen one before. It says here...that silver weapons and fire work pretty well against them."
"You read Latin? I'm impressed," I said.
"It's sort of necessary, doing this job," Theo replied. "And I know exactly where we can get a supply of silver weapons."
Trick Or Treat - Part Five • Opuss № I