The back office was quiet except for Mary's soft, even breathing.
She had cried herself empty and fallen asleep against his chest twenty minutes ago, curled small under the thin blanket he had tucked around her naked body.
Her head rested on the pillow he had found in a locker, one arm flung over the edge of the couch, fingers still loosely curled as if she had been holding his hand even in sleep.
The couch—her bed for the last couple of years—was clean now, Liza's magic having wiped away every trace of sweat, tears, and the thick rivers of cum that had leaked from her for hours.
Mary looked peaceful, younger, the lines of exhaustion around her eyes softened for the first time in forever. Only the faint, lingering scent of sex and the soft ache between her thighs would remind her tomorrow that it had been real.
Alex stood in the doorway for a long moment, watching her chest rise and fall.
Then he pulled on his jeans and hoodie, slipped barefoot into the main store, and checked the clock above the register.
22:51.
Four hours since he had first walked in at 19:07 with a fake "I forgot my wallet" and a pounding heart.
His two bags of groceries were still on the counter.
He opened the register, slid a $20 bill, exactly what he had on total, and closed it quietly.
The front lights were on low security mode.
The door was locked—Liza's doing. It was impressive when she could use telekinesis even through his body.
She managed to lock all door with just brain power.
The second he turned the key and pushed it open, cold night air slapped him in the face..
Cold night air rushed in.
But he didn't have time to enjoy the breeze.
"Huh?"
Someone was sitting on the cold concrete step just outside, knees drawn to chest, oversized black hoodie pulled up so far only the lower half of a pale face showed.
A girl.
Oversized black hoodie, hood up, sleeves swallowing their hands.
Tiny denim shorts riding so high the bottom curve of a plump, perfectly rounded ass cheek peeked out every time she shifted.
Long, smooth legs folded up to her chest, pale thighs marked with fading yellow bruises and fresh purple fingerprints that looked suspiciously like a hand had squeezed too hard.
She didn't look up when the door opened. Perhaps because she too busy with thoughts.
Alex paused, hand still on the handle. He thought it just a runaway girl at the beginning.
"Hey" he said softly. "Store's closing soon, but you okay out here? It's cold."
The figure tensed.
Then a voice—low, rough, furious—snapped up at him. But he confirmed, it was a girl
"Fuck off."
Alex didn't move.
"I'm serious. It's almost eleven. You shouldn't be sitting on wet concrete in shorts."
The hood shifted.
Golden eyes glared out from the shadow, sharper, angrier, rimmed red like she had been crying or hadn't slept in days.
She shot up back to her feet, slapping dust off her shorts and making her big buttocks jiggle.
"I said fuck off, creep. What are you even doing in there? The door's been locked for hours..."
Alex kept his voice calm. "I was talking to the owner. She fell asleep. I didn't want to wake her."
The girl barked a humourless laugh. "Talking. Right."
She sniffed the air and her face twisted. "You reek of sex. You think I'm stupid? She's turning into a prostitute now, huh?"
Alex's brows frowned. A random person insulting his woman and calling her a whore wouldn't normally slid off.
But his senses told him to back off.
She shook her feet around, hoodie falling back a little, revealing messy honey-brown hair and a face that looked like Mary twenty years younger—same cheekbones, same full mouth, same golden eyes now burning with dullness and exhaustion.
A bunch of bruises and marks covered that beautiful face.
"Get the hell away from me," she hissed, backing up a step. "I'm the owner's daughter, Ash. I'm sure she ran her mouth talking about me. That useless woman always brought misery whenever she puts her hand"
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Alex's stomach dropped.
Ash.
The name Mary had whispered through tears an hour ago.
Ash, who hated her.
Ash, who still lived here because there was nowhere else to go.
Ash, who turned the staff room into her bedroom. Living in the store she hated.
"Hey, don't talk about her like that" Alex patted on Ash's shoulder. She was tense as a coiled spring, vibrating under his palm like a stray cat deciding whether to bite or bolt.
"It's none of your business, creep... You wouldn't understand shit. You hit the jackpot fucking that whore—go ahead, steal all her money now, she deserves it" She tried to shove his arm away, but couldn't. He was too strong to move an inch.
"What's going on with you? Do you need help?" Although she was being a brat kid, Alex couldn't get tenser. He could see bruises on her face.
Fresh bruises bloomed across her collarbone where the hoodie had slipped.
Cigarette burns on her thigh.
Someone had hurt her—badly—and recently.
'She's getting heavily bullied. I mean... I don't usually care for human emotions, but even I can see this one is drowning. Poor thing has been alone for a long time.' The succubus commented.
As a hell creature, she stayed silent whenever a strong human emotional interaction happened. But anyone using their common sense would know that Ash, Mary's daughter, need saving.
"I don't need your fucking help! Just keep yourself away from our life."
She couldn't push his arm away—he was too strong—so she twisted, slid her body down and away like a feral animal, and bolted inside.
Past him, shoulder slamming the door open, hoodie flapping as she sprinted through the store. If she stayed one more second, either she would've cried in his arms or punched his face.
He caught one last flash of that her perfect ass bouncing in those tiny shorts before she disappeared behind the counter, and opening the door next to the manager desk room, the one where Mary was.
The flimsy plywood door to the staff room slammed.
Silence.
Then the unmistakable sound of something heavy hitting the wall, once, twice, followed by a single, gut-wrenching sob that was quickly muffled—probably into a pillow.
He could hear all those small noises after the succubus enhanced his sense.
"Huh..."
Alex stood frozen in front of the store, heart hammering. A memory hit him.
The hoodie.
The height.
The gaze in her eyes.
"The rooftop of the humanities building... It her, right?" Alex had his suspension confirmed by Liza. "Yeah, seems like her. Same figure"
The rooftop, a couple days ago.
A person in this exact oversized black hoodie standing on the ledge, toes over the edge.
He didn't say it.
He didn't dare.
Instead he just looked at both hands, palms opens. He had to do something to change everything.
Silence roamed in the empty street.
Mary asleep on the couch, finally at peace.
Ash sleepless as she curled up in her bed, body aching from bruises.
And him in the middle, the accidental bridge between a mother who had never been allowed to heal and a daughter who had never been allowed to be a child.
He closed the door softly, turned the sign back to CLOSED, and leaned his forehead against the cool glass.
Liza's voice drifted through his mind, quiet and almost gentle.
'You just inherited a family~. Two broken pieces that don't know how to fit together yet. Seems fun to get into. Good luck!'
Alex exhaled, watching his breath fog the glass.
"Yeah," he whispered to the empty store. "Good luck."