The Incubus
Chapter 3: Natalie
I left her alone and decided to make MYSELF some breakfast, all the better to think with. Once an incubus was ‘in town’ so to speak, they rarely left without being fully sated. They came and went in shadows, at night, right before dawn. And they're not around for wine and roses and bit of cuddling. They're there to dominate, to injure, to control. To own. There had to be a way to snare him without putting up someone for bait. My mind shot to Liz and I quickly shut it down.
I didn’t have long to ponder my plan before the girl started screaming. I jumped from my chair and just barely beat Abe to her room. She was sitting in the corner, holding her knees close to her chest, her face ghost white.
”He’s here,” she said, her voice cracking. “He came to get me. You said I was safe.”
”You are safe,” Abe said, wrapping his arms around her. Nothing is more comforting than slimy gray green fish arms holding you tightly. She did relax a bit though, falling against Abe's chest. I broke up the moment and picked the girl up, placing her back in the bed.
”What do you mean he’s back? You saw him here? The…man…”
”Not a man. Not a man at all…a ghost or a…” she looked at me and then looked away, towards Abe, towards the door.
”A demon?” I finished it for her to spare her the awkward moment.
Abe prepared a light sedative injection and jabbed it into her arm when she wasn't looking. She barely flinched.
”I promise you’re safe. Get some rest. We’ll keep watch…” I realized I didn’t know. “What’s your name?”
The medication started to take hold and her eyelids fluttered, ”Natalie,” she said, and then she fell asleep.
”I don’t get it Abe,” I said, as we searched through books in the library. “The only incubi I’ve known were hooked on virgins. Fresh meat and all that shit. Why would this one come back for more?”
Abe shrugged and continued thumbing through files. I scratched my head with my left hand and took a swig of coffee, wishing it were something just a bit stronger. I still needed that beer I was craving the night before. The door swung open and Liz strolled in and took a seat.
”We got the results from the tests back and she looks fine, HB,” she said. “No traces of anything left behind, no residue, and just for fun we checked for HUMAN evidence. No fingerprints or anything.” Then, as an afterthought she added, “And we know she’s not pregnant.”
”And how is that?” I asked, leaning forward, never one to let her get away with her smugness. Instead of backing down, she leaned forward, mirroring my posture and grinned,
”Because she has her period.”
I jumped back and walked across the room. “Holy cats, Liz. Take it easy.”
”Don’t worry Hellboy,” Abe said, snickering, “you can’t catch it."
They were both having a grand old time.
”Knock it off,” I said, taking a second to clear my head and put some puzzle pieces together. “This presents something interesting. Come on Mr. Limpett, wrap up that ugly mug of yours, we’re heading back to the churchyard.”
The church was on the edge of a small forest, one of those suburban forests, where they don’t want to chop down EVERY tree, because then they can’t name the subdivision Shady Groves or whatever. There was a sandy brick, two story, box like apartment complex on the other side of the clump of trees, I suppose Natalie lived there. Reminded me of a prison. A prison where YOU pay to stay there. A muddy path and a weak bridge over a tiny creek made a nice passage back and forth from the church.
"What are you thinking HB?" Abe said, picking his way across the churchyard, avoiding dogshit and puddles from the rain the night before.
"I'm thinking the reason she's still being pursued is that she was never caught."
I sauntered over to the place where we'd found her and crouched close to the ground. A glint of black caught my eye. Then another. Petrified rabbit shit? I picked up one of the black beads. Beads. There ahead of me in the grass, broken and scattered was the answer to my question. I gathered up the remains of the rosary and showed them to Abe.
She fought him off. He freaked out when she got near the church AND had the rosary. They fought over it."
"So he never got to her," Abe said. "That's a relief."
"Not really," I said, making my way to the car. "She won the battle, not the war."