Mimi's Demons

Chapter 57: A Bitty Murder

 "Why didn't Mimi go back home?"

The demon looked up from the tablet. The glow of the screen brought out the hollows beneath his green eyes. Funny, to think a demon could be sleep deprived.

"She never said," he said, looking back down at the tablet. "Had lots of nightmares about it, though. Lots of fear." There was a certain pitch to the way the demon mentioned her fear, high in the back of his throat and not quite steady.

Duke gritted his teeth. Stupid demon probably didn't even stop to wonder why himself.

"Did her mother abuse her?" Duke asked. "Her step father? Anyone?"

"Nope, though neglect is a form of abuse, I suppose." The demon clicked off the tablet and turned his attention back to Duke. "And the one time someone tried to molest her I took care of it before he could."

Duke's sharp mine pulled up Mimi's off hand mentions of stuffed animals and 'slinky demons.'

"Tell me about it." Duke dragged a chair from an open doorway and sat down on it backwards so he could rest his arms on the back.

"What's to tell? I took care of it."

"Yes, and you 'taking care' of something holds so much weight. Tell me."

The demon scowled at him. "Some creep lured Mimi into his car and took her home. She called me, though, and gave me some of her blood so I could deal with him."

"Details."

"His apartment reeked of jizz?"

Duke glowered. He really had no patience for this today. Maybe he should just shoot him and get it over with.

The demon's eyes flickered over Duke's face.

"What happened?"

"The same thing that's been happening," said Duke. "Mimi's traumatized. She's unwell. She had a panic attack and threw up everything she's eaten since she was three because of it."

Honrye's green eyes shivered. "You got her a doctor, right? I mean—you can now, that's why I brought you, I couldn't get a doctor for her then when she ate bad stuff or—or got a cold."

"A doctor for the mind is a bit tricky to find when there's a requirement to believe in a little girl who can see demons," Duke said dryly.

"But all kinds of people exist, don't they?"

Duke just looked at him. Hard. A shot to the foot usually hurt the most. There were a lot of pain sensors in the hands and feet. But did that count for demons?

The demon shifted, crossing his legs and clutching his hands in the hollow of his lap.

"I found her in the bathroom where he'd taken her because she'd peed herself. He didn't want to do anything with her while she was—he compromised to not strip her himself and left her be for long enough for her to cut herself. I took her blood and killed him."

Duke flinched. "In front of her?"

The kid tilted his head. "Yeah? You think I was going to wait? What if her blood wore off?"

Duke just looked at him. He couldn't believe this demon, who acted like he knew so much, especially about how humans ticked, could be so stupid. Maybe Duke was the stupid one to hope that, because the kid wasn't human, he wouldn't be as stupid.

"Stop looking at me like that," the demon growled.

"I'll look at you however I damn want." Duke growled. He pinched the bridge of his nose hard enough to hurt. "No wonder she didn't want to go home."