The Daily Life Of A Worn-Out Cop and An Abandoned Demon Kid, Chapter 1 - That Fateful Night

I walked outside the police station. My eyes and shoulders drooped as I walked down a small set of stairs leading to a dark, cold alleyway. The faint, yellow light of the building gave a small amount of illumination to the back of the building. I descended down the cold, hard stairs and sat down - exhausted. It was already well into the night. 

We had just finished with the briefing about an upcoming human/demon trafficking operation bust. We'd been following this group for about two months now but we never really got any hard evidence we could use for some sort of arrest warrant. However, just recently in fact - we finally got one of our guys to sneak in on their whole operation about a week ago, if I remember correctly. Now we're just waiting for some physical evidence so we could storm in. 

From the looks of it though, it's gonna happen about three months from now, this group's been careful. Really careful. That should apply to us too - from the data we gathered from our spies, a big part of their numbers have powers. The head honcho of the operation still hasn't quite been identified but there seems to be a large possibility that they may have powers as well but we don't know what type of power they'll have. 

Though this was a collaboration from different stations, we were still afraid. Tensions were rising, especially with the newbies knowing this could be a dangerous mission.    

I stared blankly at the star filled sky ...and let out a small sigh of exhaustion.

"Haaah, what a mess...."   

It's been a damn long day, huh?  

I pulled out a lighter from my pocket, a relatively small rectangular lighter with a lid that helps if it's a bit windy. I tend to keep it on me just in case I need to smoke a quick cig, quite convenient if i'll be honest. 

I pulled out a box of cigar from a small pocket from the inside of my jacket. My body trembled in anticipation of the nicotine. Hands in a cold sweat.

I've picked up this addiction only recently, about a month ago. It's bad for my health, I know that much... but the feeling of your brain being flooded with dopamine makes it way too exciting. It clouds my brain, even if for just a few minutes. Forces you to catch your breath. Helps me forget all the shit I have to deal with. This addiction will get me killed, I know that much. 

"Hmph, like this job ain't gonna do me in first..." 

I mutter to myself.

I pushed down on the back of the small metal lid, the cold bite of steel stinging my thumb. A small, warm flame sparked from the lighter, breaking through the silent darkness of the tight, suffocating alleyway. 

I put a stick of cigar in my mouth and put the lighter closer to my face. My body slightly shaking in anticipation of that small rush of dopamine. As I was about to light the small cigar, l...  noticed from the corner of my eye, a small demon kid staring at me. 

"What's wrong kid? Do I have something on my face?" 

I asked, cigarette still in my mouth. 

The kid looked intently at my cigar 

"food? food! food!".

I swiftly pulled my cigar away and removed it from my mouth hiding it from the kid. 

"No, not food."

The kid moved away slightly and curled up.

(Hmn…)

Their stomach violently grumbled, breaking the sharp, eerie silence of the alleyway.

My attention quickly shifted on the small kid right beside me. 

Hmn.... now that I've gotten a better look at them they definitely look like they're homeless. 

Upon closer inspection, the kid was very small and looked ghastly - their long, black hair was unwashed and messy. The small clothes they wore were worn out and they were barefooted. From their clothes and appearance the kid looked like a girl, sounded like one too. 

(...I can't just ignore this kid's state can I?) 

I stared at the kid with a blank expression as I pondered to myself.

No, that'd be too harsh - even for me.

From the loud grumbling of her stomach, the kid probably hasn't eaten in days. 

…

...

...…

(Well... It's not like it'd hurt to help them, right?)

"Hey kid, stay here and wait for me alright?"

The kid nodded. 

"You promise...?" 

"pro... mi..se." 

After hearing that, I got up and walked inside the police station - The bright lights inside providing some elumination to the darkness filled streets. 

I went back to our meeting room, sitting on the large plastic table was an open pizza box with only two remaining slices inside. 

We decided to order some pizza as it was quite late into the night and a lot of the staff were getting hungry. I was offered some of course but... I didn't eat my part of the pizza - I didn't really feel comfortable sitting in with other people. Oh well, I suppose it's useful for this situation.

I made my way back to the alleyway, the kid was curled up anxiously on the foot of the cold, concrete stairs of the backdoor. The place I told her to wait. 

(Huh, suprised that promise wasn't broken...) 

Though I probably should've escorted her inside, huh?

Oh well.

I walked down the stairs and sat down next to the kid then offered the slices of pizza to them - it was room temperature now but it's still edible. 

"Here kid, food."

The anxious, saddened expression of the kid dissappeared in an instance and with it - a large, childish and innocent smile was on their face as they took the pizza slices with blissful joy.

(That seems to have made them happy...) 

"So... where are your parents?" 

I asked and the kid looked at me confusingly while still noming away at the pizza slices I gave them.

(?)

Maybe they didn't understand me? Do… they know what the word "parent" means? 

"Uhm.... mama papa where?" 

I asked and in an instance the large smile on her face quickly shifted to the look of sadness. 

"people in black go in house, mama papa tell me run, i now lost.... i not know where mama papa is" 

The kid started to tear up. I gave her a pat on the back to comfort them.

"There, there."

It's a possible targeted kidnapping case from the story, it is a surprisingly common event in demon-race based suburban neighborhoods and due to the general discrimination against them, most cases go unnoticed and unsolved.

Just as the kid seemed to start calming down, rain suddenly started violently pouring in.

(What am I gonna do with this kid.... Not like I can just leave them out here. Well I could, but I would be an even worse person if I do. I might need someone else for this... ) 

I don't have enough know how to tackle this by myself.

"Wait here kid, I'll be right back." 

I took my jacket off and gave it to the kid, then wandered back into the station. 

I looked inside to see if anyone I knew was still in the building - the warm, yellow lightbulbs gave a distinct yet familiar buzzing noise, their color tainting the cold white hallways. I wandered through the desolate white building, searching for anyone I was at least acquainted with. I passed some people but they weren't familiar. Plus, it felt uncomfortable looking into another person's face.

"Hmn... This is quite a conundrum, huh?"

It seemed like everyone had somehow left, everyone I knew, anyways. Not like that was a long list but whatever...

(I'd prefer not bringing people I don't know into this....) 

Everyone from my station had left. I was never really the type to feel comfortable to approach people.

(Though... S h e  might still be around.)

There was one person that may still be around and I'd be lucky to bet that they're doing some paperwork. 

I moved to the main office of the station, just past the main entrance. There were few people there and everyone looked mostly unfamiliar, all but one. 

Near the table stood someone I knew a lot. She had dark red hair tied up in a bun - wearing a long, brown trench coat with a turtle neck underneath alongside brown leather boots and dark, noticeable bags under her eyes... It was the chief. 

The only one that remained from my station was the chief, she was packing her bag after what I presume was getting some paperwork done. 

She suddenly noticed me and waved.

"Oh, you're still here? Everyone from our station left long ago. I suggest you do the same, rain's still relatively weak for now."

 "Oh yeah, uh... I'm about to head off but I found somethin over here could you uh- come with me?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well… just follow me okay?" 

"Hmn...?"

She shot me a look of suspicion. I turned around and started walking towards the back door. 

"Hey Chester… care to explain what you mean by just follow me?" 

"As I said, just follow me." 

"Well, isn't that helpful..." 

She was suspicious of me but still chose to (somewhat reluctantly and confusingly) follow me as we walked to the backdoor. 

As we arrived at the back door of the station, she shot me an even more suspicious look. 

"Chester, you're making a woman follow you in a dark alleyway at night....? I mean, wow - I didn't take it you were into this sort of stuff-" 

"Vera, I have more interest on garbage cans than I do on you." 

"So you have a garbage can fetish now?-" 

"*Sigh* Screw you, you knew what I meant." 

I replied, monotonely

"Haha! Ah... You're too easy - you know that?~"

(Really, this girl...) 

"Look, it's just down the stairs here - so you either follow me here or not." 

"Alright - fine, fine. I'll follow you."

I descended down the small set of stairs and got back to the kid. Looks like they're done eating the pizza slices I gave them. 

"Hey kid, I'm back." 

The kid looked up at me and seemed to be at ease.

"Ah… so this is whatcha wanted me to see, huh?"

Vera said in a shocked but understanding manner.

"Yeah, looks like they got their parents taken away... What do you think should we do?" 

"Well first of all, do we have any clue on who kidnapped their parents or where they're at?"

"Hmn... none I've heard from the kid." 

"Mn... Well...- we can have a search party out to look for her parents but that would be a lot of paperwork and quite honestly that be a pain in the a- butt to do Actually, wait do you at least know the kid's name? You've been calling them "The kid" this entire time." 

"No, I don't."

Vera shot me a look of disappointment. 

"Oh cmon, don't look at me like that."

"Heh." 

She suddenly knelt down in front of the kid and got something inside her trench coat.

It was some sort of wallet? She opened the wallet and pointed it towards the kid. 

"Hey sweetie, mind telling me your name, I'm a police officer so you can trust me." 

"uh uh i dont know i forget name" 

The kid seemed to have forgotten their name....? 

"Well... That's not good... Oh geez, now I've probably gotta do some searching in our database- Chester, I hope you know I'll 100% be putting you on that duty-"

"*Sigh* Yeah, Yeah- 'Course I do, Not like you're the Chief of Police at our station or anything.."

"Wooooowwww, the AUDACITY-"

(Fair is Fair, Vera. Fair is Fair.)

Vera looked at me with tired, disappointed eyes.

(Well, her eyes are always tired-)

"Alright, sweetie - do you have any ids?" 

"in house..."

"Could you tell me where that is?" 

"i dont know i lost..." 

Vera stood up and faced towards me with a defeated look. 

She scratched the back of her neck tiredly.

"Well, af of now at least - have no way of identifying her so we can't really do much..." 

"Well we could send her to an orphanage-"

"There aren't any in this city or anywhere near here, nor do we really have any facilities to house homeless kids..." 

"You're kidding me, right?" 

"I wish I was. Certainly would make this a heck of a lot easier... unfortunately, here's a lot of discrimination against the homeless around here-" 

Me and Vera were stuck. 

…

….

...

"Well… It's not like we could take the kid home like some doll-" 

After those words left my mouth an awkward silence suddenly grew. 

Vera quickly shifted her eyes upon me.

"So you know how you've always been good at taking care of kids right-" 

"Hell no-" 

I quickly tried to shut down that idea. 

"Well we can't just leave her out here, can we?"

"Yeah- no, we can't. But I don't wanna take her in - you do it!" 

"You've got a better place to stay at, Chester" 

"What the- You really think my place is a good place for a kid to stay?" 

"Well my place isn't any better, is it? Cmon I'll make you my special sweet buttered tofu if you do~" 

Well she's not wrong, I've gone to the chief's place quite a few times and trust me, that place ain't suitable for kids - let alone a demon one. I really don't want to house a kid at my place but it's not like I could call someone else.... 

Tch. Hate it when Vera's correct.

"AUGHHHH fine, but that better be some damn good tofu!" 

"Hehe" 

Vera smiled with a large, shit-eating grin.

The kid was bobbing her head around, she seemed to have been dazing off. I snapped her back to reality and pulled out my badge. 

"We are police, We search for your mama and papa, you stay with me - alright?"

The kid started smiling, it seems like she was happy that the police were now looking for her parents. 

I took the kid's hands and we made our way to the parking lot with a large, clear umbrella. 

"Well I'll be going now, stay safe chief." 

"You too, Chester. Don't go abandoning the kid now, alright?" 

"Do I really look like the type to do that sorta thing?"

"Well.."

Vera started bobbing her head back and forth in hesitation

"Can I seriously just slap you ONE time, just one-"

"Nope- Alright, bye now, see you!"

Vera started hurriedly walking to her car

"Alright, bye - stay safe-"

I said my goodbye to the chief and made our way towards my car. 

It's a black electric car that's about 5 years old now - from what I've heard, this may have been quite expensive about 2 decades ago but now it's cheaper than a gas one.

I opened my car doors and before I got in I checked the back seat just to make sure nobody was there. It was empty, the kid got into the passenger seat. I double checked the locks of the car, along with any possible interferences and we drove off. 

The kid bobbed her head around and waved her feet while we were driving, she was relatively quiet and probably lost in thought. She didn't really talk. I decided to put on some music as we drove through the night filled roads.

"[~Lord give me one more chance~]"

After about ten minutes of driving we had started to approach the main city, the meeting was hosted in a more low-end area. 

"w-woah…."

The bright, blinding, neon lights of the city could be seen from miles away. It glew with radiance and an odd sense of tranquillity.

I looked at the kid and she had a massive smile on her face - bigger than the one while she was eating pizza. 

"bright! bright!" 

She said with a huge smile on her face. 

"Yes kid, bright." 

(Hmn, I shouldn't get attached to this kid. Not like they'll be staying with me for long-)

As we entered the main city the kid was looking outside the car with sparkle filled eyes, immersed in the beautiful, radiant lights of the city. 

(Though, I suppose it's nice to know there's still some innocence left in this world…) 

After a while of looking outside, the kid's stomach had started to grumble again. 

"Hungry?" 

I asked. The kid nodded. 

"Okay, we'll get you some food then."

I parked next to a 24/7 convenience store, I got out of the car first - making sure the area was safe before the kid quickly followed suit. I walked towards the shining lights of the store, the sound of my shoes grinding against asphalt were the only sounds in the desolate parking lot. I gave the kids some oversized slippers before walking out. A little jingle played as the store's clear, automatic doors opened.

I stepped inside, holding the kid's hand as they followed beside me - I immediately felt the suspicious gaze of the worker at the counter. Not like I could blame them though, a man walking into a store with a small demon kid that looked ragged? I'd bet my left kidney that that's a kidnapping situation. 

Well I guess I'd lose it in this situation, but still. The store was relatively nice and tidy, the floors were well kept and the windows were clean. The AC was cold but not freezing. 

I knelt down to the kid's height. 

"Go pick out what you want, I'll follow you okay?" 

The kid nodded with a smile and started to wander around the store, I followed behind them and made sure to always keep them in my line of sight. 

The kid wandered around the store and stopped at the sandwich section. 

"Do you want?" 

The kid nodded. 

"Which one?" 

The kid took a long pause and pointed at the egg sandwich, the blt sandwich and the ham sandwich. 

(It's a good thing I get paid a lot more than I spend alone cuz this kid's gonna put a hole in my wallet otherwise...) 

"Okay, I'll get you those"

I got one of each of the sandwiches and grabbed one chicken sandwich for myself. I held the kid's hand again and started to head to the counter. 

There was only one person at the counter, they looked young - about 15~16 years oldish, they wore a white and blue uniform and looked at me with an extremely suspicious gaze.

I put my items on the counter and the store clerk started to scan them slowly. He's trying to remember my attire and details, good move.

Still so sceptical, hope that attitude sticks with them. 

I pulled out my wallet from my right pocket as the clerk was scanning my items.

"Your total will be 10 quiros, sir. "

I opened my wallet and made sure my police identification card was able to be seen. The clerk's suspicious gaze faded and I handed them the 10 quiros. 

"Here's your receipt." 

The clerk hands me my receipt and my items in a small paper bag. I grabbed the receipt and started to leave the store. 

"It's good that you're skeptical, buster - keep that about yourself." 

A small tip as I walked out. 

We hopped back in my car and the kid started happily eating her sandwich. 

After about fifteen minutes of driving through the night-light filled city, we arrived at my apartment complex - a huge, red, brick building with none of the lights from the other apartments were on - it's probably extremely late at night now. 

I parked in the parking lot and held the kid's hand as we made our way to my apartment. When we got to my door, I checked to see if the piece of tape I stuck between my door and its frame was still like I left it. 

Good, it's still there. 

It's a small trick I learnt to make sure nobody snuck into my house, call me paranoid but I'd rather be safe than sorry. After I confirmed that it was okay to go in, we went into my apartment. It wasn't really anything special, just your normal apartment with a small living room, a bed, a tv, a small kitchen and a bathroom, the floors were made of white tiles and the walls were secure. Though, it was quite a bit messy.

"Make yourself at home, kid." 

The kid started to explore her new home. 

As the kid explored - I set up a mattress and put it on the floor, I'll let the kid sleep on the bed tonight. I should probably get her to bathe but I don't have any clothes suitable for kids. I'll make a run to the closest store that sells clothes tomorrow. 

When I was done putting up the mattress I called the kid. I cleaned up as much as I could and called the kid over.

"Kid! It's time to sleep, come over here." 

The kid ran to me, I patted the bed.

"This is where you sleep, okay?" 

The kid nodded and got on the bed. I grabbed some clothes and got changed in the bathroom. After I went out, the kid was still on the bed. I double checked all the electrical sockets and gas and shut off the lights. 

"I'm staying over here, okay?" 

I said to the kid as I sat on my mattress. We both laid down and went to sleep. 

…

…..

....

.....

Or… I was supposed to. Even after this long day, I still didn't quite feel sleepy - though - I was still tired, this problem has been happening this past couple of weeks. I laid in bed as I tried to sleep - silence and darkness of the night enveloped my worn out body. I stayed in this state for about an hour, after that I'd just decided to do something else so that I might be able to go to sleep. 

I quietly forced my tired body to rise from the mattress, got my phone and walked to my patio. There weren't any other residents awake at this hour so my complex was empty. A cold breeze filled the air of the night as silence filled my ears. I ringed up a certain mischievous and workaholic girl. 

She's the only one in my contacts that I know would be awake in this hour and one that I usually talk to. After a bit of ringing she'd finally picked up.

 "Hey hey, Chester - lemme guess, can't sleep tonight?" 

"Yeah... and let me guess, you're doing some paperwork aren't you?" 

"You know me well!"

"Course I do, Vera - We've known each other since the academy." 

Though she may be a little... Hard sometimes, Vera is still one of my closest friends. Ever since we became friends with each other since the academy we've always had each other's back, for some reason - she hasn't abandoned me, really mysterious that one. 

Because of that, I consider her someone I could trust - though that's not something I'd say to her in person, mostly because she'd smile at me with a stupid shit-eating grin and tease me about it. 

"Oh yeah, have you heard about that new hero group?" 

"The one with the new hi-tech stuff? Yeah, I have - they've got good team work but they really need to work on their individual strength. They're too weak otherwise-"

"I know right?! That's what I've been saying!- *Huff* Really, I don't know why nobody else understands this shit-"  

Me and Vera talked as the night passed, the cold night breeze blew and not a single thought about the time or other people entered our minds - It was nice to uwind over the phone for a few minutes. 

"Did you hear about the new aquarium built lately? Oh cmon, We should totally go!" 

"Well I'm open on wednesday next week, we could go then." 

"Hmn, holon let me check my schedule here....." 

"If you say you're gonna do paperwork that day, I'm gonna fucking slap you." 

"Uhhhh-"

"Just do them some other time, Vera." 

"But I have to do them!"

"No you don't, you goddamn workaholic - I know you most probably don't."

"I hate it when you're right...." 

"Same goes from me to you-"

Silence grew as we tried to find other things to talk about.

"Oh yeah, what happened to that kid - you didn't abandon her in the streets did you?" 

"Oi, again - I'm not that bad of a person! The kid is inside sleepi-" 

Suddenly, the sound of crying rung through my ear. 

"OH SH- I'LL HAVE TO TALK LATER, VERA" 

"Alright, see y-"

I quickly dropped the call and rushed inside, slamming open the patio door. I heard loud crying from the  bed, the kid was awake and crying. 

"mama..... papa..." 

I quickly rushed to the kid, comforting them as their crying got louder.

"Shh don't worry, It's gonna be fine - It's gonna be fine." 

I said as I hugged and comforted her. 

(Poor kid.....)

After a few minutes of crying she'd seemed to calm down and fell asleep. I stayed awake watching over her until I drifted off to the night as well.