Walking through rooms that held museum quality artwork, Lisa pondered what she should do next. Mitch (damn it was strange calling him that) had told Lucifer that not even the minions could find them, and if that were true it meant she had some time to recoup and try to figure out a few things.
Then there was the undeniable attraction she felt for old both of the men (yeah, she realized that she was using that term in the widest sense possible). Being alone in this big old mansion with one of the sexiest men she had ever laid eyes on, even if he was technically the reason she was dead, or almost dead, or whatever the fuck she was, could be a very interesting proposition. And one she would no doubt enjoy.
Sneaking a glance at him, she noticed that Mitch was more relaxed than she had ever seen him. But of course, she had only seen him when he was doing one or another of his jobs, and never at home. He always looked good, but now, with his hair tousled and his shirt open at the neck, he looked down right yummy.
She grinned as the blush rose up in his cheeks again. It was fun messing with him, although the whole reading her mind thing would get old quick, it served to ease the tension she was feeling. She knew it couldn’t last, but what the hell, enjoy while one could.
“So”, Mitch spoke softly, almost as though she would bolt at the sound of his voice, “are you hungry? I’ve got a very well stocked pantry and I actually know how to cook.”
She grinned at the hint of pride in his voice when he said he could cook, but what difference did it make to her, she was tied to a very strict, very gross diet that she hated. It was doubtful that he had a carcass in his pantry, although being Death and all, he might.
“Come on into the kitchen. I could use a cup of coffee and there is a lot that we need to discuss.” Mitch didn’t wait for her to follow, he just turned and headed toward down the hall to the left.
Shaking her head at the audacity of the male sex, she hurried behind him. If they actually had stuff to talk about she wanted a cup of coffee to keep her focused. Turning the corner she stopped dead in her tracks, before her was the most ornate and beautiful kitchen she had ever seen. Even magazine failed to portray this kind of beauty.
Taking it all in, she slowly stepped into the room. Mitch was at the counter adding a coffee pod to some kind of expensive looking coffee maker. She had never seen such a contraption, the only coffee maker she had ever used was an old, beat up Mr. Coffee and it had seen better days. The gleaming mountain of steel that Mitch stood before began to omit the delicious scent of fresh coffee drawing Lisa deeper in the kitchen.
“Have a seat.” Mitch spoke without turning, “I’ll just be a moment.”
Lisa giggled at the proper way he spoke. She wasn’t used to hearing him use such proper English, he usually sounded like every other cab driver in the city, brash and a little under educated. Now he sounded like an English professor not a cab driver. She sat down and looked his direction, once again she became distracted by his perfect, tight ass. The things she could do….
“Stop it!” Mitch sounded annoyed. “We don’t have time for that right now, not to mention that I am a living being, not a display for you to fantasize about.”
Turning around with two cups of coffee in hand, he sat one down in front of Lisa and scooted the sugar her way. Opening the stainless steel refrigerator, he grabbed two different flavors of creamer and sat them down next to the sugar.
“Help yourself”, he said. “I have to check on something really quickly, but I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for her to reply, Mitch left the room, his footsteps echoing in the large kitchen.
Reaching for the creamer, Lisa realized that she was actually relaxed. Stirring the coffee with one long fingernail, she gazed at her reflection in the stainless steel door. There was something different about her appearance, she wasn’t sure what it was and at the moment it didn’t seem that important, but it was there and she had noticed it. Taking a sip of her coffee, she turned her head slightly to the left then to the right, noticing every detail of her slightly distorted reflection.
The sound of Mitch’s footsteps brought her to the present, turning to watch him enter the kitchen she was astounded by what she saw. Mitch had shed his ‘work clothes’ as he called them and donned a pair of thin, cotton pajama bottoms. His shirt was gone and in its place was a thin cotton robe that matched the pajama bottoms perfectly. The robe was open at the chest, barely held closed by a long, thin piece of matching cord that served as a belt. On his feet was a pair of camo house shoes, their laces untied and the strings hanging off to the sides.
He stopped just as he entered the kitchen. It was obvious that she had been checking him out, and he seemed to be enjoying it for a change, although the touch of red on his cheeks told her he was still slightly shy around her. Tilting his head, he made his eyes big and stuck out his tongue. As she dissolved into laughter, he walked to the counter and took a seat, his large hand reaching for his coffee.
He watched her, his brown eyes solemn, as she fought to get control of herself. She was more tired than she realized and that made it difficult to control her laughter, but with one final gust of mirth, she finally settled down.
“Feel better?” His voice was as smooth as butter. “Sometimes we just need to laugh at the absurdity of life.”
Sitting across from her, he toyed with is coffee cup. She could tell he had something on his mind, but wasn’t quite ready to discuss it.
“So”, she said, “are you going to clue me in on what the fuck has been going on?”
She could tell that her question had stunned him. He was hoping to ease into this conversation, but she wasn’t about to allow that to happen, too much shit had taken place for her to be patient any longer than necessary.
Mitch fidgeted in his chair. He wasn’t sure where to start, so he just sighed, took a sip of his cooling coffee and began.
“Well, I guess the easiest way to explain would to just answer your questions. Go for it, ask me anything.” He knew he wasn’t ready for this, but she wasn’t about to let it go.
Lisa just stared at him. She couldn’t believe it was going to be this easy, there had to be a catch. If he knew what was going on then he had to be involved in it to some extent, she just didn’t know what that extent was.
“Okay, well”, she stuttered, “how long have I been missing? I mean, I was missing, right?”
“Yeah, you were missing. No one had seen or heard from you since you went for that bogus interview over a week ago. Fred had been blowing up your phone, but you never answered, I stopped by Hell Inc. and was told that you left a few hours after you got there, which was bullshit and I knew it. Anyway”, he took another sip of the coffee, grimaced and got up to refresh it, “when Fred caught up with me, you’d been missing three days, that was last Monday.”
Fiddling around with the coffee maker, Mitch fell silent. He expected her to blow up, Lisa was well known for her white hot temper. Her calm silent acceptance was almost frightening. It wasn’t like she could hurt him or anything, but she could make his home, and his life, a battle ground. Although he had already started on that path when he blew off Lucifer and Fred. There would be a price to pay for that particular impulse.
Returning to the table, he reached for her cup to refresh her coffee. She grabbed his wrist in a strong, angry grip.
“Sit down and talk to me”, she demanded. “This is my life we’re discussing and I want you to be straight with me.”
Sighing again, he took his seat. This was going to be more difficult than he had assumed.
“Here’s the deal. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to stay calm. Let me finish and then you can ask questions. Deal?” He stuck out his hand. Sparks flew when she grasp it in her warm palm. Refusing to let her hand go, he turned it slightly, looking for the telltale signs of the darkened skin those of her kind couldn’t hide.
“Do you notice how pink your skin is?” He asked, watching her face for the realization to dawn. “Have you noticed anything since you walked out of that building?”
Instead of giving her time to answer, he dug his thumbnail into the soft, tender skin of her thumb. A bead of bright, red blood welled to the top. She jerked, attempting to pull away from the pain when it hit her.
She could feel pain. She hadn’t felt pain in a couple of decades, and now she could actually feel pain. And there was blood, red blood. Ghouls didn’t bleed often, it was difficult for the thick, black goo that clogged their veins to seep to the surface. Usually if they sustained an injury it caused a flap or a chunk of reanimated meat to flap around, but bleed. Nope, not something that happened when you were technically dead.
But then again, that whole damn panties thing that she had going on with Lucifer wasn’t normal for a dead girl either. Damp was NOT a friend to a dead creature, it lead to mold, mildew and, ewwww, fungus.
Crotch fungus was not a girl’s best friend.
Mitch prepared himself for a freak out. He figured she wouldn’t be able to handle being a living, well sort of living, creature again. He expected crying, screaming, hysteria. What he didn’t expect was laughter.
It began as a quiet giggle, just a quick escape of air released through the nose, then it grew to a storm of guffaws. Rolling, belling shaking, tear rolling laughter.
The tears rolling down her cheek were the last straw, she reached up a hand and captured one on the tip of her finger before she slowly sank to the floor.
‘Well, hell’, he thought. ‘I guess I should have expected that, she has been known to faint at the drop of a hat and this was more of a boulder from the sky than a hat from a hook.’
Kneeling beside her, he gently ran a thumb across her blood red, moist lips. She was even more beautiful now than she had been that fateful day when he lured her to her death. He wondered if he would ever forgive her.
Shaking his head, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the floor. He carried her gently out of the room, heading for the nice, soft bed he had made up especially for her. There would be no more talking tonight, he would sit by her side and watch over her as she finally rested. Maybe tomorrow would bring a respite from the insanity that had become both of their existence.
i am truly hoooked on this story. hanging on its every word
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