Page 18 of Demon's Prey
One man tripped and fell to the ground. Kurse used that as an opportunity to crush him with his foot, his bones cracking like a roaring fire. Kurse’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“Oh yes!” He yelled at his opponents. The bear had his teeth barred and was lunging toward Kurse’s chest, then landed successfully on his torso. The bear's fangs ripped back and forth at his scales, causing a few more to fall like paper from his body.
Kurse grabbed the bear with his fists, taking more scales with him. He roared in his face and launched him into next week. Kurse heard a loud thud as the bear landed on top of some building miles away.
Only one man remained, so Kurse decided to let him live. He held onto his arm and hurried away while Kurse cackled.
But his chest and shoulder burned, his sensitive skin exposed to the world. He touched his meaty flesh and cringed. There must be some source of first aid nearby.
Kurse hobbled, his legs slightly bruised, to the nearest store he could find. One with bold red letters appealed to him most. He bent over and made his way inside.
The man behind the counter shot backward, startled.
Kurse shook his hand in front of his face. “Don’t worry, I have survived! Do you have any first aid sources here?”
The man pointed to the back of the store. Kurse looked, then turned back to him. He removed the paper currency from his loincloth. It was caked in flesh and blood.
“Do you also have ice cream?”
The man nodded and pointed toward a large freezer. There was a rainbow of colors for him to choose from.
Kurse grinned, drool dropping thickly to the floor. That should make Faith happy.
After buying Band-Aids and four containers of ice cream, Kurse made his way back to Faith. He hoped that she wouldn’t be too worried about the blood coating his scales. Battles were a part of being a demon, and it was something she had to get used to.
Ice cream dripped over his fingers and arms as he made his way up the elevator. He felt like he was finally getting the hang of that thing. He knocked on the door before noticing that it was left slightly ajar.
Kurse pushed it open softly with his foot. “Faith? Hello, Faith? It’s me, Kurse.”
Kurse heard nothing. He brought the ice cream inside and placed them in the freezer. He licked his sticky fingers and noticed how the coffee table and couch had been flipped upside down. He was pretty sure that he hadn’t done that. So who had?
He entered her bedroom. The chair was also knocked over. Her purse was laying open on the floor.
Kurse cursed himself as he moved his neck too quickly, straining the area of the removed scale on his shoulder. He would heal soon, but he had to find Faith in the meantime.
10
FAITH
Faith heard the door shut, assuming the Kurse had left. She could finally relax. Yet, she felt like she couldn’t contain the frustration within her. She stood up quickly, smacking the chair to the floor. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
“FUCK!” Faith screamed into the room. She felt some of her anger leak out of her. She went into the living room and grabbed the coffee table. She flipped it upside down, relishing in the crashing sound. She was starting to realize how great Kurse felt when he broke things.
She hadn’t felt so healthy in so long.
This time, faith went for the couch, roughly tossing it to the side. She yelled out once more before feeling her phone vibrate against her leg. She huffed and grabbed it out of her pocket.
It was a text from her informant. “I’ve got something for you now, Faith. Do you want to meet me tonight?”
Faith looked around her apartment, suddenly feeling embarrassed by what she had done. But it felt good to get some anger out. Then her adrenaline was pumping.
She replied to him hastily. He immediately responded with an address just out on Long Island. She grabbed her keys and headed for her car, completely forgetting to lock the door.
It took her a bit over half an hour to reach her destination. She placed her phone back into her pocket as she glared at the abandoned gray building. Her informant usually didn’t ask her to come out this far, but perhaps what he had was incredibly volatile. Faith reminded herself to trust her instincts, and she climbed out of the car.
She crept into the factory slowly. The ceiling was high and flashed shattered lights, with bits and scraps of remnants from a company long ago gone out of business.
“Hello?” Faith called out. Her voice echoed in the large room.
