Nakoma

When I awoke the next day, Dica and Colt were already awake and just sitting quietly waiting for me. Despite my peaceful awakening, the two demons seemed agitated over something. But I decided not to ask.Today we would begin our search for another sin. I was just waiting on a phone call from Martha or George to give me an idea on where to head next. So while we waited, I decided breakfast would be a good idea.

The three of us sat together at a small table, eating our meals. Colt seemed… disinterested in his food, occasionally giving it a disgusted look, but he ate anyway. Dica, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself. As for me, I’ve had better, but food was food and a life of thieving taught me not to be picky. The three of us sat in silence and I feel my thoughts begin to drift off. I begin to look about the room idly, noticing that there’s not many people here today. Three sat at the bar while a few others were scattered about, sitting at tables. I overhear a conversation blooming at the table closest to ours that sparks my interest.

“Do ya recall the legend of the child banshee?” I hear the man at the table say to his companion. She shakes her head.

The man straightens up and leans across the table.

“Legend says that around these parts was a little banshee, about this tall.” The man gestures to the height of the table.

“Didn’t know banshees could have children,” the woman remarks. “But I heard that they’re borne from women who commit suicide after the loss of a child.”

“Aye,” the man solemnly nods. “But this was a child raised by banshees. It would holler and scream through the night like the rest of them. But there was something off about this one. You see that places where he screamed were cursed. Wars and storms would ravish these areas, destroying everything in its wake. Even so, some people claimed this child would come up to them and ask them to play. Despite being a banshee, it seemed like a normal kid.”

I noticed that Dica seemed just as engrossed in the tale as I was. Colt, however, was playing with his fork.

“Whatever happened to it?” She asks the man. He shrugs.

“It just vanished one day, some say that the banshees drowned it or the fairies whisked it away…”

“Whisked away by fairies… I wish…” Dica mumbles, snapping me out of the conversation.

“Dica, are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… my mother and I used to live around here.” He cracks a smile. “About two thousand years ago this was my playground.” So he was that old. Impressive!

“I had no idea you were Irish,” I say.

“Aye, sorry lass, does this help?” He retorts with a thick Irish accent. He must purposefully try to hide it.

“Yeah, Dica’s a banshee,” Colt blurts.

“I thought you were a demon,” I accuse.

“I’m half banshee,” he corrects, his Irish accent vanishing. “Let’s just say Lord Lucifer likes to sleep around with as many different things as he could. He has a book somewhere recording every one night stand he’s ever had.” I shudder at the thought. But then I realize something. Colt always refers to Lucifer as “dad” while Dica calls him “Lord Lucifer”. He fathered both of them so why was Dica so formal? Was it a respect thing?

“Hey Dica, why do you call him Lord Lucifer and not Dad?” I ask. His eyes darken immediately.

“Lord Lucifer was many things to me, but he was not my father.” His tone was cold as ice. I guess Dica didn’t really get along with his father either. I wonder why, but decide not to pry.

Since breakfast was over and paid for, I head back to the room with my two demons in tow. Once we get to the room Colt mumbles something that I can’t hear. Suddenly Dica’s head snaps over to Colt.

“What was that Colt? Care to repeat that louder?” He snarls. Colt’s eyes narrow as he repeats himself.

“Like dad would care about a whore like you!”

“I think I had too much of our father’s love,” Dica replies. To this Colt flinches.

“Don’t talk about him that way!”

“He didn’t care about you either! Only the fact that you’re his prized nephilim!”

I interrupt at this point. “Nephilim? What’s that?”

Dica grins. “They’re hybrids that can be mixed and matched between human, angels, and demons. Angel/Demon nephilim are the rarest and considered an abomination pretty much everywhere. Usually they don’t live long, but our little Colty here is almost two hundred.” He turns his grin to Colt who looks ashamed. This puts an end to their bickering for the time being, much to relief. But now I had a lot on my mind. This meant that Colt was the child of Lucifer and an angel. An eerier silence settles in the room.

“So your mother’s an angel, Colt? That’s pretty cool.” I try to cheer him up and break the silence.

Dica bursts into the conversation. “Not just any angel. Colt’s mother is the one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues, Kindness.” He pauses a moment. “Well… was one of the Virtues.”

Colt looks away, eyes saddened by the last comment. I had to admit Kindness giving birth to Envy was ironic considering the two were considered opposites. For a moment I wondered what Dica meant by “was” and then I remember. Colt’s mother was dead. The poor thing lost both of his parents. A pang of sympathy stirs in my heart though I’m not quite sure how to comfort him.

“Alright, no more arguing,” I declare. “I’m going to try to call George.” I leave the two of them alone and head downstairs.

***

I return with three possible locations for the next sin: Vienna, Quebec, and Cairo. I decided to talk it over with the demons before deciding on a location. Maybe the two of them could help me out. When I enter the room I’m greeted by a wide eyed Dica.

“Are we staying here another night, Naykoma?” he asks.

“Nakoma,” I correct him. “And no, we can leave tonight.”

“Good,” he responds.

“Why?”

His eyes bore into mine as he speaks. “This place is going to burn to the ground tonight.”

“Huh?! How could you possibly know that?!” I exclaim.

“Um, I’m a banshee, remember?” He sassily turns away from me. “I can see disaster.”

“Well we have to warn them!” I turn to go down the stairs. A hand clamps down on my shoulders.

“It won’t help, Nokoma,” he says coldly. “I’ve tried and you can’t stop disaster.” He sounded almost… guilty.

I sigh. Maybe he was right, but I had to try anyway. I give him a look and run down the stairs to find the tavern owner. I give him my warning but he only raises an eyebrow to my concerns.

“I’ll be careful, miss.”

With this he ushers me away from him, probably thinking I’m insane. I can only hope that I’ve done enough. Defeated, I trudge up the stairs and go to start packing. When I get there, Dica approaches me and gives me a knowing look and a gentle pat on the back as if he knew what had just happened. I couldn’t help but find myself believe that he was right.

“It’s okay Naykoma.”

I groan. “Nakoma. Say it with me: Nakoma.”

“Neekoma?”

“Nakoma.”

“Nokama?”

“Nakoma!”

He sighs. “How about I just call you Noki?”

“How did you get Noki from Nakoma?” I question him.

“Don’t complain, everyone goes by nicknames in Hell.”

I accept my loss and start packing. Colt helps me a little bit though it seems like he’s still upset from the fight earlier. I hope they don’t make a habit of going at each other.

“So,” I sit on a suitcase. “George says we should hit Cairo, Vienna, or Quebec. Which one do you guys think is the most likely to have one of your siblings lurking about?”

Dica shakes his head. “I doubt any of them are there. If you want my advice I say we hit Nevada.”

“Why Nevada?” I ask.

“That’s where we can find Wrath. She’s been there for years and I’m one of the few people that knows where she’s at.”

I decide to trust him. “Alright, but you better not be lying about this.”

“Do you have a better lead?”

I sigh. I suppose he was right. I was just going to have to trust him.

The three of us quickly move out and leave the building condemned to burst into flames behind us.