Dark Love

Part 53

"What a shitty day." Saera sighed, staring up at the demon who was about to eat her. It's horns was covered with mud, but she knew beneath it was a metal like substance. That just like it's skin was unique to only hell. Saera tilted her head to the side to better study the demon staring right back at her. Her gaze ran over him appreciatively. "Now that's some leather worth having," she told the demon. "What do you say about my skinning you after I kill you?" She offered the demon a feral grin, she hoped was encouraging and then turned heel and ran.

Hopefully, it would follow. There was no way she would be dragging it's carcass over to the Mansion unless it arrived there on its two feet. The demon was huge.

Her knifes fisted tightly in her hands, Saera took of at a hard run, unsure of the speeds the demon spotted. "Come on you big lug!" She hollered out behind her not wanting to lose her momentum to check matters out. Luckily, she didn't. The heavy stomping feet easily closed in the distance between them. She knew simply running would never work, twisting her body at an angle, she tossed a knife at it then tumbled and rolled out of its way as her knife clattered uselessly to the floor and the demon lumbered past.

"Fuck!" Saera was up and running again, just as the demon did an about turn coming after her. She ran up to a building, took two steps up its wall and launched off it to slam into the demon. Her hands fisted over its smooth skin, nails scraping to secure her perch but it decided to help her out. It's claw like hands closing in to catch hold of her. What would he do? Kill her? Or just start eating her? Saera didn't know. She tightened her clasp on her knife and reached for what she hoped would be a more penetratetable part of his skin and lunged it at strange folds at its neck.

Gurgling sounds left it's gaping lips. The beast went down with a slam taking her with it, thankfully lying on top. She clambered off with haste, ripping the seat of her pants on a claw as she did. Heaving a relived breath, Saera stared down at the beast she'd felled with stunned disbelief. She had been largely winging it. Saera stared at the dead demon incredulously, unable to process that she'd done it.

She looked at the bulk of the beast then hauled out her phone. A quick call later and her mother was standing there as shocked beside her.

"You're right, hon. That leather's got to be worth something." Massey said, referencing a part of Saera's babbling over the phone.

"Er.. yeah." She wasn't even sure she recalled what she'd said to her. "We need to get it back."

"Leave that to me, hon. Here take my hand."

A second later and they, beast and all had morphed over to the mansion. Massey could do stuff like that being a trained professional, muck like the princes. Transportation in this way took a lot out of the witch or wizard.

"We should get to it then." Saera nodded at the beast, reaching down to haul out her knife. She'd left the other to the pair behind. Saera turned to look back at her regretfully. But was too tired to make the hike back for it. "Before the skin toughens up." She could go back for her knife later, if she still had the we energy.

"I'll get my cleaving tools." Massey turned to go into the house.

"You want to do it out here? In the front lawn?"

"It's not as if we are a regular at receiving guests, darling. I am not lugging that in doors." Massey turned away with a dismissive nod.

Rolling her shoulders back to work out the kinks Saera bent in forward and got stuck right into it. She hacked and hawwed with her knife, working the skin off a section at a time. Massey  got stuck in on the other end and together, they worked their way through. Skinning the demon and then disemboweling it. Massey went back in for large jars and the organs were cleaned and stuck into preserves. A large open fire was built over the unusable remains and the skin stretched out above it to smoke it dry.

Tired and wavering on their feet, Massey murmured a chant that would keep the foregoing just right to slowly smoke the skin dry enough to be turned into leather. The metalic scent of copper and other hellish fumes coated the air and everything around them.

Saera wrinkled her nose on a sniff. She eyed the dawning sun and knew she had to be going soon. "I might as well just shower and head back now. Classes would begin in another three hours."

"Do you want a lift to the academy?" Massey offered to use her powers to take her there. Saera shook her head eyeing her aunt's wobbly frame, shaking with fatigue. She knew her own was just as bad. Working with a demon that large had taken a lot out of them both physically and magically.

"I'll call an uber."

"At this hour?"

Saera simply shrugged. Uber or taxi, it didn't matter.

"Okay honey." Massey shuffled over to her on tired limbs her drawing her bloodied niece in a tired hug. "I'm going to clean up then sleep in. Call me if you need me." She bussed a kiss to her cheek and turned to take slow lumbered steps in. Saera simply followed suit.

An hour of rigorous scrubbing later and she was in a taxi, scrunching her nose on the scent of demon blood that wouldn't quite leave her nostrils no matter how much she'd scrubbed. She rested a redolent face to peer out the taxi indie through bloodshot eyes as the taxi groomed it's way heading back to the Academy.