Chapter Text
The chime in Jude’s earpiece made him fire off the last shot wide and he scowled, rising up off the mat to tap the results screen on its stand. The prototype L98A4 rifle had been doing well – an improvement in comfort and ease of use compared to the last model – until the noise of the house chimes had disturbed his rhythm.
Jude put the rifle strap over his shoulder and took off the goggles and ear defenders to head up out of the basement in the lift. He walked slowly through the kitchen towards the door, wincing at the ache in his knee, announcing aloud that this was Mr Attaway’s residence and what business did they have with him? The response came back clear and flat through the intercom, His Majesty’s soldiers bringing official recompense as issued to all soldiers wounded in combat. Jude ran a hand through his short hair, checking the porch cameras to confirm the men were who they said they were and ordered the door open, standing in the entrance hall as two men in soldiers’ uniforms came inside, bringing a demon male with them,
Jude took a step back. The demon was barely on his feet, held there by the soldiers, the three of them damp from the rain outside. The demon wore only a thin shift and rough, black work trousers with his arms pinned behind him. A demon of the realm. Jude said nothing, only frowned. The solider on the right, slightly older with wispy, light hair and tanned skin, cleared his throat,
“Sir, can you confirm that this is 43 Devil’s Creek and that you are the owner of the property, Mr Jude H. Attaway?”
“Yeah that’s me.” Jude said. Cleared his throat.
“Sir, we were instructed to issue you with demon 538111 and to inform you that along with your normal monthly wage you will also receive expenses to cover the cost of ownership and upkeep.” He shifted under the demon’s weight, clearly uncomfortable, “If we could put him somewhere for you then we can run through the necessary legal documentation and sort out any queries you might have.” Jude frowned,
“I wasn’t aware of this.” He said. The blond man took a basic, military-issue tablet, shifting the demon’s weight slightly as he scanned the screen,
“The request was inputted by a Mr Forest E. Attaway?” He said, after several minutes and Jude’s scowl deepened.
“My brother.” He acknowledged, glancing down at the demon with his slack face and sharp eyes, fixed on him. Jude turned and headed back to the kitchen, limping slightly off his bad leg. The soldiers took that as permission to follow as they trailed after him with the muted thud of their boots and the rasping drag of the demon’s trousers against the wooden floorboards of the entrance way and then the cold stone tiles of the kitchen.
As Jude went to replace the new rifle model in its metal case on the wall, locking it with his fingerprint, the soldiers settled the demon on his knees, unlocking his cuffs and pulling off his shirt. The demon didn’t resist. Jude wasn’t sure he could have if he’d wanted to;
“Have you drugged him?” Jude said, leaning back against the kitchen counter in an attempt to take the weight off his knee. The younger soldier started, glancing at the blond one. He answered perfectly calmly,
“For the trip, it is standard procedure to give the demons something to ease their tension and make them easier to handle.” Jude grunted in return, watching in silence as the older soldier pulled out his tablet again. He looked up from it,
“I’ve just sent the contract over to your house account which outlines your rights and the demons’ standard expenses. All information about returns, replacements; everything like that is covered in there.” Jude nodded tersely, giving the soldiers a flat stare when the younger one went to lift the kneeling demon to his feet. He struggled with the weight of the demon, who was taller and broader across the shoulders than he was, turning the demon around to show Jude the demon’s bare back,
“As part of the contract,” The older soldier spoke impassively as Jude swallowed, pulling his eyes away from the marks on the demon’s skin, “we are required to inform you that this demon has had several behavioural incidents in the past and has been in need of severe reprimanding in the past.” The evidence of that was laid out in scars on the demon’s skin. Jude said nothing, “The demon is wearing a containment collar with electric controls and auto-magnetic cuffs.” The solider demonstrated by tapping on his tablet, the cuffs coming together with a snick, pulling the demon’s shoulders back and opening his chest out. The demon shifted position slightly, “He also has a tracker embedded somewhere under his skin which can be used to monitor his position on a day to day basis and also in case of escape. Do you have any questions?”
“How long is he here for?” Jude asked slowly, watching as the demon was set back on his knees, still with his back to Jude. He was shaking slightly.
“He’s legally yours until he dies or becomes useless. All the details about old age and medical care are laid out in full in the contract.”
“How long will the drug take to wear off?” Jude asked, clenching his fist as a spasm of pain shot down his calf,
“Shouldn’t be more than an hour, sir. If you have any concerns feel free to contact-” Jude interrupted him,
“When will the money come through?” The blond man smiled tightly and said,
“Your monthly pay and his expenses fund should transfer to your bank account within twenty-four hours. If they don’t, you can call customer services. The contact line is-”
“Is that all?” Jude cut him off, inwardly wincing,
“Yes, sir. We hope you have a pleasant day.” The two men turned and departed swiftly, the door closing behind them with a click. Jude groaned in pain and slid himself down to the floor as his leg gave out, trying to settle his rasping breathing. His pain medication was sat on the table in the middle of the room and after a moment, Jude ordered himself up again, struggling back to his feet, your mission, soldier, is to get to the table and take your goddamn medicine, leaning on the counter as he worked his way over there, avoiding looking at the kneeling demon.
He swallowed his two tablets dry and sat down on one of the six hard plastic chairs around the table. He only ever sat in one, the seats of the other chairs were coated in a film of dust, disturbed once a fortnight by the cleaning team his brother organised.
“Get up, will you, and put your shirt on.” Pain made Jude short tempered and it wasn’t until the demon made an effort to stagger to his feet that Jude remembered he’d been given some sort of drug, and that the demon was still cuffed. Suppressing a groan, Jude got back to his feet and went to steady the demon. Only, when he went to touch the demon’s shoulder the swaying demon flinched back and stumbled, falling against the wall in order to keep himself upright. “Steady there.” Jude muttered, taking the demon’s neatly folded shift from where the soldier had left it on the counter. It was thin and rough like sack material and Jude scowled and tossed the garment in the bin in the corner. The demon followed Jude’s movements with feverishly bright eyes, “Just stay there, alright.” Jude said, “I’ll fetch you one of mine.”
Jude limped out of the kitchen and across the corridor to his room - the whole house was open-plan and on the same level, apart from the basement which had its own lift - taking one of his shirts from the piles on the shelves of his wardrobe. As he did so, he made a list aloud of the clothes the demon would need, since he hadn’t brought any with him, ordering the house system to buy them in and have them delivered, putting it on his account. His brother offered Jude money every time he came to visit but since he’d bought Jude the house when he’d first come back from the war and still paid for its upkeep, including gardening staff, Jude refused to let him pay for anything else, insisting that the cleaning and groceries went on his account, and though physio was subsidised by the military he paid the small amount it did cost him to have his twice weekly sessions.
The medication began to kick in, dulling everything and making him drowsy, shutting out the pain somewhat, though today’s rain seemed to have seeped into his joints.
Supporting himself against the wall, Jude managed to get himself back to the kitchen. The demon was kneeling by the same bit of wall he’d fallen against, just about holding himself upright. Jude saw tension tighten his shoulder blades, his arms flexing against his cuffs and Jude frowned, directing the house system to release the auto-magnets. The demon started at the sound of Jude’s voice, bringing his arms protectively to his chest as they were released. Still holding the shirt, Jude said,
“Are you able to walk?” The demon nodded in response and shakily got to his feet, following Jude back towards his bedroom. Jude put the shirt down on the side and bent to massage his knee, wincing. The demon came in behind him, hovering at the door uncertainly. “Just have a rest. Wait until the drug wears off, alright?” The demon nodded uncertainly and Jude left him alone.
The door chimes rang a few minutes later and the house system recognised the physio’s fingerprint and let him in on Jude’s command.
“Morning Jude, how’re you doing today? Pretty wet outside.” The physio, a fit, cheerful man in his early forties put his coat over a chair and laid out the mat Jude had come to call the torture mat. The physio’s comment about the weather said that he knew Jude was in pain and Jude grunted his agreement before lowering himself down, “Alright, relax then for me, we’ll just start by doing some leg raises, a little higher and then down. Okay, good. And again for me.” The session left Jude tired and sore and he got to his feet slowly once it was over. “I’ll see you next Tuesday, then, Jude.” The physio said, pausing to look over Jude’s shoulder. Jude followed his gaze, turning to see the demon coming down the corridor towards them, still bare-chested. The physio smiled and nodded at Jude but didn’t comment, “I’ll be off then.” He said, the door shutting loudly behind him. Jude took a long breath and went to get a hot drink, watching the demon off to the side. He was taller than Jude with broad shoulders and a steady, impassive expression that made him seem both guarded and apprehensive. He was still shirtless and Jude saw him shiver,
“I left a shirt on the side for you.” Jude said curtly, “in the bedroom.” The demon looked at him for a moment before hesitantly moving back towards the bedroom. Jude frowned as the demon turned his back and he looked away, moving over to the sofas in front of the screen, flicking through the channels mindlessly until a crime drama came on, bringing his scalding coffee to his lips to take a sip.