1.

I wanted to stay away from school. Lucian would be there and I wanted to avoid him in every way possible. Whatever that dream… Thing… Was, I didn’t want to experience it again. The only problem was that I couldn’t stay home. Mom would get a phone call at work if I wasn’t at school, and seeing as the principal knew I was magic, he wouldn’t take any kind excuse for tardiness, so despite my feelings on the matter, I needed to go to school.

Gabby was waiting for me outside the house. I was plenty pleased about her outfit, a bright orange top that clung to her like a second skin and a pair of shorts that looked painted on. Her eyes brightened up when I walked outside, which put me a little at ease. I gave her a kiss and a brief fondle before the bus arrived.

Luckily, Lucian wasn't on the bus, so hopefully he didn't live anywhere near us. I was hoping that my worry over him wouldn't overtake most of my day. The make-out session on the bus wasn’t making me as wet as I wanted it to thanks to that bastard.

“What's up?” Gabby asked, taking her hand out of my panties.

I sighed. “Just… A lot.”

“Hey, tell me. Is it something about yesterday?”

I nodded. “Yeah, this guy named Lucian. He knows… Everything, and he wants to out me as a sorceress if I don't do what he says. Amy’s sorceress friend said that was no big deal, reality warping could just fix that, but I’m still… Nervous, y’know?”

She had a look on her face that said I’d just spoken every one of those words at the same time. “Whoa,” she said. “I never knew dating a sorceress would be this cool.”

I rolled my eyes. “There was nothing cool about when he tried to come after me in a weird psychic dimension.”

“What did he try to do.”

“Kiss me. Force himself on me. Mind rape me, I guess.”

“Holy shit, you're going to point his guy out to me so that I can beat the shit out of him as soon as we get to school.”

I sighed. “Assuming that’ll even do anything.” I snuggled up against her. “It’s so sweet and dom of you to offer to protect lil’ ol’ me.”

She pressed her finger to my lips. “Shush. Just get in the mood.”

2.

Whenever I noticed Mikaela, she seemed kind of odd. I considered asking her what was up, but I also wanted to keep my guard up in case Lucian just appeared out of nowhere. If not for his ability to send me into a magic dimension, I’d consider myself safe, but even being in public wasn't a security mechanism.

I walked into class and sat down next to Terry, who was busy writing something. Probably some kind of love letter to Mikaela, or something corny like that. It was kinda funny how cliche a couple they seemed to be considering one was a guy possessed by a succubus.

“You look stressed,” he said. “Some sorta magic thing?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He laughed. “Sounds like a pain in the ass.”

“Does Mikaela havta deal with this sorta stuff?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Not really. I mean, there's a succubi/magical girl war going down that she's gotta avoid, but that hasn't been a problem yet.”

I blinked. “Okay, one of these days, I’mma need to know what the fuck’s going on with succubi and magical girls.”

He smirked. “I’m sorta in the middle of it and I don’t know exactly what's going on there.”

The rest of the class filed into the classroom and took their seats. The teacher walked in but something… Strange, seemed to float around her. She didn’t go through her normal routine, she just walked in and got started with a lesson that didn’t seem to carry on from yesterday.

And then there was the fact that she was quite often focusing on me.

I knew something had to be wrong about that, but the only thing I could think of was Lucian possessing her, or shapeshifting, or something, and neither of those explanations seemed right. Ms. Bailey was clearly still Ms. Bailey, but there was something off about her.

I made up my mind right then and there: After class, I was going Lucian hunting.

3.

I couldn't find him at all. I talked to the people I’d seen him with yesterday, they hadn’t seen him. I talked to his first period teacher, he didn't know where the dick was. I even talked to a girl his friends said was stalking him, she said he hadn't left his house that morning at all. Apparently, simply hadn't come to school.

But I did get his home address.

I slipped a note in Gabby’s locker not to wait up for me after school, then snuck out between classes. Thanks to the principal transferring my grades over from Kenneth to Kendra, I was already doing well grade-wise, so I didn’t have to worry about anything there. Honestly, this was the first time I’d ever skipped school, and it was the second day of the school year.

The address was a good mile and a half away from the school. I recognized the area because it was where Amy and her family used to live before they moved upstate. It was a nice neighborhood, which didn't surprise me since Lucian didn't look like he lived in a dirthole neighborhood.

His house was dark red, which clashed with the plain blues, greens and whites of all the other houses nearby. His yard was full of shrubs and flower gardens. If not for having fought him magically, I’d assume he was the most normal person on the planet. Then again, maybe the yard was his mom’s domain. Assuming he had a mom.

I walked up onto the porch and knocked on the door, but no one opened it. I reached for the doorknob, turned it, giant sarcastic surprise that it was unlocked. I opened the door and walked inside.

The lights were all off. I was starting to wish I’d brought a flashlight. I felt my way from the door to what I thought might have been a countertop. There was nothing on the countertop, so I didn't knock anything down, thank God.

From the countertop, I felt my way to what I knew for certain was the stair railing. I managed to climb the stairs without incident and found myself on the slightly better lit second floor. There was light coming from a single open door, but it didn’t look like either a lamp or sunlight. I was worried I was actually about to find Lucian, now.

I walked over to that one open door and peered inside. Lucian was there, alright, sitting in a pentagram carved into the floor. He was sitting cross-legged, his hands held out, palm upward, his eyes closed. Meditating was the best way to describe it, honestly. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Looking at him in front of me, I finally asked myself what the hell I’d even do now. I was alone in a room with a man who actually knew how to use magic, whereas I was powerful and didn’t know what the hell I was doing at all. What the fuck was wrong with me and why had I even done this?

And then Lucian smiled. “I’ve been expecting you.”

4.

He still didn't open his eyes. He didn't stand up. He didn't even shift his posture in any way. It was actually disturbing. I would have run, if not for that damned feeling of being stuck.

So I stood there, unmoving, completely scared out of my fucking mind. I was a damn moron for letting myself get into this situation, I should have just stayed at school. If I ended up dead, it would be because I was goddam stupid.

Finally, he opened his eyes. “Sorry about the mess downstairs. Haven't really spent time here since I was a kid.” He stood up. “My mom died when I was little, which was what drive me out of the house. Drove me to look for my dad.”

“Do I really need to know any of this?” I asked.

He nodded. “Full disclosure, a helpful part of any sort of deal, like the one we’re about to make where you say you’ll free my dad from his prison.”

“I won't. I don't know or care who your dad is, if he's in a magic prison, he's there for a reason.”

He smiled wider. “Dad didn't meet me until a couple years ago. My mom was a one night stand for him, but she knew who - and more importantly what - he was. When he did meet me, he was ashamed of me because I was half-breed scum to him. When I found out he was in prison, I made up my mind how exactly I’d prove myself to him.”

I laughed. “You mean all this is just an effort to get daddy to love you?” I would have doubled over if not for the You-Can’t-Move thing. “That’s pathetic.”

He grabbed my chin. “When your father is the King of Darkness, you do what you can to get him to love you.”

I managed to move for a second. His magic hold on me must have been based on concentration, and me insulting him broke it for just that little moment. Regardless, I asked, “Whaddya mean?”

He let go of me. “A little over six months ago, my dad was put in a prison by a girl much like you, much powerful magic. She wasn't a sorceress, in fact, I don't know what she was. Don’t know who she was, either, all I know is that she’s one of the only people who could do it, and you’re one of the only ones who can reverse it.” He grabbed my arm and squeezed. It wasn’t painful, it was sort of gentle, like he was actually considering asking me politely or something. “That’s why I need you.”

“Who is your dad?”

He let go of my arm. “Did ‘King of Darkness’ say nothing to you? My father is Satan himself.”

5.

He sat down on a chair I hadn't noticed earlier, but that didn't mean anything. He looked like he hadn’t just dropped a crazy bomb on my lap. How the hell had he just said that with a straight face?!

I still couldn't move, but that was the least of my worries. If what he was saying was true, then he wanted me to free the Devil from a magic prison that apparently some girl like me put him in. Whoever this girl was, I now had an immense amount of respect for her.

If Lucian thought that telling me his dad was Satan would make me want to help him more, he was a goddamn idiot.

“Y’see, magic prisons are unique,” he said, “one person is the lock, another is the key, and the key is chosen at random. It took me some time to figure out who they key was to my dad’s prison, but once you changed, it became clear as day.” He leaned forward in his chair. “And lucky us, we don’t need to know who the lock is.”

I shook my head. “I won’t help you. You reveal who I am, there’s a reality warper who can just erase that knowledge from people’s heads.”

He was still smiling, that bastard. “Reality warpers are so… Inefficient. Changes to reality always leave lingering memories, making it easier and easier to get people to believe each time they have to re-learn the information.” He snapped his fingers and the room changed completely from a chaotic mess with a pentagram on the floor to a clean room with a pristine floor. “Besides, I’ve got some experience with reality myself.”

Of course he did… “I won’t help you. If your dad really is Satan - assuming I even believe that - I’m not helping you let him out.”

He stood up and walked over to me. “I don't think you understand, sweetheart, there are no choices here. I will use you to free my father. You’re the key, and the key exists to be used.”

“Go fuck yourself!” Either he’d decided to let me move, or my shouting at him surprised him. Or, hell, maybe it was me, what with all that magic inside me and such. Either way, I could move and I was happy about it. “You won’t be using me for anything!”

And then fire spat from my hand.

Judging by the look of sheer surprise on his face, I could tell that one came from me. I tried to create the stream of fire a second time, and surprisingly managed it, just by thinking fire. I wondered if most magic was this easy.

Just about when I was beginning to get the hang of controlling the fire stream, it ran out entirely, and I suddenly felt exhausted. I collapsed on the floor and crawled slowly away from the door. Maybe causing a fire wasn’t the best idea. Smoke started to spill into the hallway.

That belief increased two-fold when the fire spread out of Lucian’s bedroom into the hallway. I tried to get to my feet, but fell down again. I couldn’t see Lucian, and hopefully I never did again, but my first priority was getting the fuck out of that house. I couldn’t stand, so I crawled for the stairs. The room beside the bedroom burst into flame as well, I could tell from the gap under the door. The smoke was starting to get worse.

I managed to make it to the stairs, then rolled my way down them. Hitting every step on the way down wasn’t something I enjoyed, but it got me away from the smoke and the fire. I tried to stand again, but the weakness combined with the pain of falling down the stairs made that pretty much impossible. I needed to crawl again. The door was just across the room, straight ahead, I didn’t need to crawl far.

I finally realized what Lucian had meant about the mess. I hadn’t seen it when I came in, but there were shittons of toys all over the floor, like a kid had been playing there and just left everything. He’d also said that he hadn’t been here since he was little. Maybe these were his toys.

About halfway between the stairs and the door I crawled up to… A boot. And beside that was another boot. I reached up and found pant legs. I could barely see, thanks to the smoke spilling downstairs, but I could tell there was someone in front of me. With my luck, it’d be Lucian.

Then the lights came on and I saw a guy in his 30s wearing a red shirt and black pants with suspenders. His hands were in his pockets and he looked very bored. His hair was parted on the left, and his eyes were almost pure steel.

“Well,” he said, “what have we here?”

He reached down and lifted me to my feet, patted the dust and ash off of me, then moved me to the side. He kicked toys out of his way and walked upstairs like a man on a mission. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t think of who.

The smoke in the house began to… Move backwards, almost sucking itself back upstairs to the second floor. It didn’t take long for the light from the fire to die down, too. What the hell? I almost wanted to go up there and find out what the hell was happening, but then I realized that Lucian might still be up there, so I stayed where I was.

About five minutes and a lot of doors being kicked in later, the guy in the red shirt came back down the stairs, and he didn’t look happy at all. “Where’s Lucian?”

“I… Um…”

“Don’t get any ideas here,” he said as he walked closer, “now, I’m gonna ask you again, and I’d like a straight answer. Where… Is… Lucian?”

“Idon’tknow,” I said, compounding all three words into one somehow. I didn’t know I could even talk that fast.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and then sat down on the stairs. “You don’t know. At all?” I shook my head. “Well then. I reckon that puts him at a pretty good advantage, and me at a right nice disadvantage.”

I rubbed at my arm. “Ooooooooooooookay…”

He stood up. “What was your business here, anyway?”

I looked down at the floor. “He was threatening me, so I came to stop him.”

“Threatening? Are you his father’s key?”

I nodded. “That’s what he said.”

He looked like he was about to punch the wall. “That just isn’t good. I’ll have to tell the Boss about this.” He walked over to me and grabbed me by the arm. “You need to come with me, little lady.”

“Uh… Why?”

“What? Did you just ask me ‘why’?”

I nodded.

“Do you even understand what’s going on here? You know who Lucian is, right?”

I nodded again.

“Then ‘why’ shouldn’t even be a question, you need to be kept safe.” He pulled me out of the house, where a small crowd was starting to gather. And a fire truck was rolling up. “Well, that was unexpected.” He pulled me back inside and shut the door. “I guess we’ll just go upstairs from here.”

“Um… Upstairs?”

He closed his eyes. “Get ready, little lady, you’re about to see somethin’ lotsa people don’t get to see until the end.”

Now I was starting to get confused. “What?”

He smiled, and then all I saw was white.

6.

When I could finally see again, the house we’d been standing in was replaced by something that looked insanely like an office building. People were coming to and fro, carrying papers or answering phones, all of them dressed… Well, a lot of them were wearing robes, some of them street clothes. There was a really, really weird mix of styles.

The guy that brought me here walked over to what looked like a reception desk and talk to a woman sitting there. I just stood exactly where I was and took the whole thing in. I was “upstairs”, whatever that meant. Nothing about this seemed to make any sort of sense. I never felt the need to go home more than I did now.

A British voice asked, “What the bloody hell are you doing here, human?” I spun around and saw somebody who looked somewhere between one and five years older than me, wearing a robe, arms folded over his chest. He didn’t look happy in any way.

“Um…” I stammered out, “hu-he… Brought me here…” I pointed to the guy in the red shirt.

The Brit rolled his eyes. “That sod’s always bringing humans up here.” He came closer to me and poked me between my breasts. “Don’t go where you’re not allowed, and for the love of the Boss, don’t cause any problems.”

“Hadraniel!” a woman’s voice called from somewhere. I looked in the direction he looked and saw a freakishly tall woman with horns poking out of her head. She was smiling and waving him over. “She’s here!”

The Brit sighed. “Of fucking course.” He took a flask out from under his robe and took a long gulp of whatever was in it. “Whatever Jubril brought you here for, it had better be something important.” After that, he walked over to the horned woman, then they left.

If I understood what had just happened, I might not have been so freaked out.

Red Shirt walked back over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Alright, little lady, since you came into contact with Lucian, you’ve gotta meet the Boss.”

“The boss?”

He shook his head. “Big ‘B’, darlin’.”