THEN

Amy found Debbi huddled in the corner of the girl’s locker room, tears in her eyes, her hair in tatters on the floor. She was a mess, her makeup running down her face, her hands trembling. Amy had walked into the locker room to change for cheerleading practice to find a word graffitied onto her locker, a four letter one she was all too used to. That wasn’t the issue- the issue was when she’d found ‘slut jr’ painted onto Debbi’s locker and heard a sobbing sound from the far end. 

“Who did this to you?” Amy said, suspecting she already knew the answer. 

“S-Serena,” Debbi murmured. 

Amy clenched her jaw, balled her fists, and turned around. 

“Wait!” Debbi cried out. “Please don’t. C-can we please just go home? I don’t want… I don’t want this to-”

“This has to stop,” Amy said. “I’m one thing. You though, you’re off limits. Go to the car. This won’t take long.”

She marched out of the locker room, onto the field where the football team and the cheerleaders practiced on opposite ends. Serena Blanchard, who’d been Debbi’s main competitor for captain that year and ultimately won the race, who’d made Amy’s life a living hell since they’d started high school together four years erstwhile, stood in her uniform looking pristine and perfect with her long raven hair and petite figure and expertly applied makeup, giggling with her cohorts. An angry, warm, magnetic pulse went through Amy as her eyes locked onto her, and she walked up before Serena could react. 

She buried her fist in Serena’s perfect face, the cheer captain shrieking as Amy’s punch connected with her right eyeball. 

Amy didn’t get greedy. She wanted to, oh did she ever want to make Serena as ugly on the outside as she was on the inside, but she decided to call it there and walk away. 

She made it all the way to the parking lot before the coach caught up with her and started reaming her out right there and then. Behind her, Debbi sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, but in spite of it all, Amy had a smirk on her face she wasn’t nearly as ashamed of as she wished she was. 

She walked away from the encounter suspended from the cheer squad for the entirety of the first semester. At first, she’d thought it was worth it, if that was the only consequence she would face. But as she drove home, and Debbi glared at her, didn’t speak to her for a week, came home from cheer practice each day looking more and more dead inside, screamed at her and told her what a selfish bitch she was for making this about herself again, Amy realized that emphatically was not the case.

NOW

Amy groaned in frustration and tapped her foot on the ground of Wompatuck State Park as Debbi struggled to use her powers. Their entire group, with the addition of Sister Quinn- out of Habit, for once, and clad in a black overcoat and blue jeans- was gathered in a cleared out concrete patch in the forest with an empty two-story cement building in the center. It used to be a munitions storage facility during the second World War, but nothing explosive resided there anymore. Save for perhaps Amy’s own temper. 

Amy wore cutoff jean shorts and a yellow tank top, in contrast to everyone else being buttoned and bundled up. She knew why she could stand the cold, even if she didn’t like it. She supposed it was one aspect of her… Condition that she didn’t hate. 

The sky was clear, and the sun was shining in spite of the bitterly cold air. Amy, Debbi, and Cass were gathered in one section of the concrete, while Nicole and Iris were on the other end with Sister Quinn, and Heather and Matt and Gabriel stood in the middle. 

Debbi had spent the last ten minutes attempting to conjure light, while Amy had spent just as long working to weave a shadow. Cass was having marginally more luck moving around rocks, but not to nearly her normal levels of telekinetic prowess. 

“Okay, maybe if I try transforming,” Debbi said. 

“Worth a shot,” Amy monotoned. 

Cass gave a shallow nod and looked like she wanted to shrivel up. She’d been over the moon a few nights earlier at her birthday party, but that was then, and this was now. Now, the three Donahue sisters stood in the cold with their powers seemingly unable to work.

Debbi went awash with purple light, but it petered out within an instant and she remained in her civies. “The fuck?” she said. 

Amy wrinkled her brow, and started to wonder… She’d seen Nicole and Iris have massive power ups when they were getting along, when they’d come to understand each other better as sisters and put aside their grievances. It stood to reason that the opposite might be true. 

Especially given how Amy and Debbi had left things last night. 

Debbi had told the family about the Astra of it all over dinner. Dad had been furious, same with Jason and Richard, while Mom and Timothy had been more understanding if also not thrilled. Damian was too young to understand what any of it really meant. And Cass… 

Cass had said, “It’s okay, you did what you thought was right. You made a mistake, but I forgive you.”

Amy had nearly spat out her drink when she’d heard that. 

She and Debbi had barely spoken to each other since that happened. 

And now… 

Now they were paying the price for it. 

Fuck, Amy thought. One of us is gonna have to be the bigger woman here. Dammit. 

She thought about what Debbi had done, letting that monster near their home. Even once was too much- she didn’t want Astra anywhere near them, anywhere near her life. Her family. Every time she got close, terror rippled through Amy, the distinct possibility that the life she had wasn’t one she deserved, was one that could be ripped away from her. That the Light of God wasn’t for a hideous creature such as herself. 

Cass tried to transform as well, and Amy reached for the Light herself. Both came up short. 

“So,” Cass finally said, “We gonna talk about this, or are we gonna stand here shivering and having performance anxiety all day?”

“I suppose we could try getting a booster from Nicole,” Debbi said. 

“I suppose,” Amy said. 

Cass, standing in between her two older sisters, darted her eyes back and forth, her mouth hanging open. “Seriously?” 

“What?” Amy said, flinching when she realized Debbi had said it at the exact same time in the exact same tone. 

“This!” Cass said. “You two idiots have been glowering at each other since last night, and now our powers aren’t working. There’s no way that’s a coincidence!” 

“So?” Amy and Debbi both said at once again. Dammit. 

“So, we need to hash this out so we can get to work!” Cass said. 

Debbi sighed deeply. “You’re right. You are. I… Look, Amy, I am sorry for what I did, and I am sorry for not telling you.”

“I forgive you,” Amy said, the words tumbling around her mouth and throat like sharp gravel, images exploding inside her mind of Astra breaking into their house in the night and stealing Amy away while she slept and leaving everyone else dead in her wake. 

“Do you?” Debbi asked. 

***

“So, the first thing I’d like to see is a demonstration of Iris’ power,” Sister Quinn said. 

Nicole nodded. It was strange seeing Sister Quinn in civilian attire, stranger still to get full access to her for once. That hardly ever happened. 

Iris stood next to her, bundled up in one of mom’s light red scarves and Monica’s baby blue down jacket, her hands visibly shaking inside her mittens. Nicole had to stop herself from giggling when she looked at her- a month ago and Iris had hated anything remotely feminine, disdain it with protestations both auditory and tactile. Now, however, she was just desperate for clothes that fit her tiny frame, which mostly meant Mom and Monica’s stuff. Occasionally their stuff from several years ago- Mom had sent Nicole a picture of Iris in Monica’s old footy pajamas last night, one of Iris not looking at the camera and another of her mortified and lunging for the phone. 

She hoped her family was getting settled in. The soon-to-be Cardinal Roberts had put the Nygaards up in a hotel while the Archdiocese sorted out housing for them, and Iris and Monica’s school was sending out early copies of the semester’s final exams due to half the student body being too traumatized from the incident last week to attend another half-month’s worth of classes. Dad and Father… Bishop Gonzalez were driving back up to Manchester today to retrieve The Sunshower, while Mom was interviewing for a teaching job at a Catholic high school in Boston. With her distinguished resume and a recommendation from an ArchBishop, she was likely to get the job, and hopefully, Iris and Monica would be able to start attending classes there in the New Year. 

It was an adjustment, to be sure- Nicole loved her family more than anything, save for the Good Lord, but she hadn’t exactly expected them to follow her to Boston any time soon. This would make things easier in some ways- namely the training. 

Still, a part of Nicole was worried. She’d never had the best sense of judgment whenever her family was in danger. She nearly damned herself because of it. 

She breathed in deep through her nose. One day at a time. 

“I’m not really clear on how this will help us understand what’s g-g-going on with Nicole and this whole fluffwater business,” Iris said. 

“Floodwater, dear,” Sister Quinn. “And we’ve seen that you two wield similar powers that are metaphysically connected based on your respective emotional states. Nicole’s emergence from the Floodwater triggered a massive spike in both your powers. So, I’d like to see what happens when your abilities interact more directly. Iris, if you could please direct your attention to that derelict building to your right.”

Iris turned her head, and Nicole followed her gaze. The building used to have weapons in it, possibly bombs. Wasn’t there a risk of reconstituting those if Iris used her powers on them? 

“You want me to fix it?” Iris said, channeling Hot Pink Light into her hands. 

“Yes please, dear.”

“I dunno about this- isn’t there a risk with that kind of building?” Nicole said. 

“Sis,” Iris said, “I’m here, and I’m in this now. There’s gonna be risks no matter what.”

“She’s right, Nicole. Now, while she does that, I want you to heal her, to see how it affects her abilities,” Sister Quinn said. 

Nicole nodded, swallowing her apprehension. She channeled her own powers, sending them towards Iris as a beam of Healing Light while Iris pressed her hands to the ground. The Reconstituting Light flowed into the ground and rippled like water over to the derelict hangar, and the building went awash with Hot Pink. Nicole’s Pastel Pink Healing Light poured into Iris, and Nicole felt the building stitching itself back together. She felt granules of glass and cement rising from the ground and being plucked from thin air and patching the shattered windows and cracked foundation of the building. She felt Iris’ exhaustion rising up from deep within her and threatening to drag her into unconsciousness, like Nicole’s own powers had done the first few times she’d used them. It was a hunger for sleep that Nicole’s healing kept at bay, levees holding back a destructive tide. Slowly, the building restored itself, and Iris’ exhaustion became Nicole’s own as she kept them both aloft. 

When the light faded, the derelict building wasn’t just restored, it was like it was brand new. There was even a coat of green paint on it, and the roof had been completely re-tiled. And Iris… Iris still looked exhausted, but she hadn’t passed out this time. 

She sat on the ground, and Nicole sat with her, drinking in deep breaths. 

In spite of how tired she was, a bright smile erupted on Nicole’s face as she clapped her hands together rapidly. “Eeeee!!!! That was so great, Iris! Look what you did! That was amazing! I’m so so so proud of you, sis!”

Iris smiled weakly. “Thanks, Nicole.”

“Okay!” Sister Quinn said with a clap of her own. “By the look of it, Iris’ power is less Reconstitution and more Restoration, up to and including the reversal of entropy. When amplified by Nicole’s Healing, it escalates beyond that into making something better than it was before.”

“I can certainly get behind that being my power,” Iris said dryly. 

“And our powers are linked in general, I take it?” Nicole asked. 

“I’m inclined to say yes. Since you two are sisters, and your powers are complimentary, there’s a degree to which your respective emotional states will affect each other’s ability to use those powers,” Sister Quinn said. “Iris, your powers didn’t start to activate until you came to Boston last month to apologize to Nicole- is that correct?” 

Iris nodded, an ashamed look creeping onto her face. Oh, poor girl was still torturing herself about all that… 

Shouldn’t she be, though, a voice whispered from inside The Box. She hurt you, hurt your family- she deserves to be wracked with guilt over that. That’s how Penitence works, right?

Nicole buried the thought, shoved it back into The Box. Iris had repented. Nicole had no right to keep judging her. She’d done that with Amy, and it had led nowhere good, only kept her from realizing she was in love. 

“And Nicole,” Sister Quinn said. “Correct me if I’m wrong- even if I seldom am- but before you and your sister made peace, your powers were vastly less stable. You blacked out far more often, yes?”

“I mean, yeah,” Nicole said, getting up from the ground even though her head was still spinning and stars were dancing before her eyes. She extended a handed to Iris, who accepted it as she rose. “But I figured that was more because I was overworking myself.”

“That was almost certainly part of it,” Sister Quinn said. “Surely though you’ve noticed how much more consistent your powers have gotten since the two of you reconciled?”

“I definitely pass out less often,” Nicole said. “The only time I have in the past month has been when I was fighting Moloch, and that was because of the Floodwater.”

“Exactly,” Sister Quinn said. “Essentially, there are two forces pulling your soul- and thus your powers- in opposite directions. One is forgiveness, which grants you further strength and endurance. The other is sin, which pulls you towards the Floodwater.”

“Is this a thing that happens to everyone or is this a me-specific thing for some reason?” Nicole asked. 

“Everyone struggles with those forces, Nicole,” Sister Quinn said. “But your powers, and the unusual way they interact with your teammates’ powers, is different from the others. It connects you with them on a profound level. When you Heal someone, it drains your energy. Do you feel their pain?”

“Not their pain, no,” Nicole said, looking up at the sky as clouds began to creep over the distant sun. “But their… Their struggles. When Iris was fixing this building just now, I felt like I was helping her stitch it back together, helping her turn back a clock on it and make it the way it was before. And it was like I was running up and down the basketball court at full speed trying to keep up with her.”

“And Iris, how do you feel?” Sister Quinn asked. 

“Weird,” Iris said. “Feels like… Like I’ve been lifting weights with icepacks strapped to my arms.”

“You lift weights?” Nicole asked. 

“I… Made a few attempts at it,” Iris said. “Suppose I’ll have to start over on that.”

“Fair enough,” Nicole said. 

“It was interesting- when you were supercharging my powers, I almost got this… vision of what the building used to be like,” Iris said. “Not a picture, though. An… Idea of what it was supposed to be like. And I could see it gradually becoming that idea, more and more until it fully lined up. Hey, you don’t think that means there’s live ammo in there now, right?” 

Nicole blinked. “Let’s go check on that.”

“Yes, let’s,” Sister Quinn said as they all went inside. 

There was, in fact, live ammo in there.

***

Heather took a blow to the ribs before she could blink. It hurt, but part of her was just glad she could feel it. “Again,” Heather said. 

“You sure?” Gabriel said. He reappeared in a blur, having thrown the punch with his heightened speed. Heather needed to improve her reflexes if she wanted to prevent what happened with Astra from ever happening again. That meant being able to take on opponents who were stronger, faster, tougher than her. 

“Matt, back me up here?” Heather said. 

“Um,” Matt said, “If she says she’s sure, she’s sure.”

She’d called her parents first thing when she’d gotten home last night. They were okay, her brothers and sisters were okay, there hadn’t been any demon sightings in Connecticut in over three years. Everything was fine. 

Except it wasn’t. Heather had told her parents about Nicole’s family relocating, how the Church was helping them do it, and tried to convince them of the idea’s merits. Her father had flatly said no, said that the Hanazawa Brewery had been in Hartford since the 1970s and wasn’t moving to another state any time soon, even if they could manage that logistically. 

They didn’t understand. Heather hadn’t told them what happened, about Astra breaking her spine, about the incident at the Donahue house, about Debbi’s role in it, about Astra being Amy’s mother. There was a lot they didn’t know. There was a lot they wouldn’t understand. It terrified her, how much of her life was now completely foreign to her own family. 

She didn’t know what else she could do to convince them. She probably couldn’t convince them. So, the only way to deal with it was to get stronger, strong enough that nothing like this would happen again. 

Gabriel backed up a dozen yards, and called out, “You ready?” 

“As I’ll ever be!” Heather yelled. 

Gabriel took a step forward and then vanished into a golden blur, Heather’s eyes trying to keep track of the trail of light. She heard the patter of sneakers pounding on the concrete ground of the lot, counted to five, saw a glimmer of the trail going to her left. 

She raised an arm to deflect. 

Too slow. Gabriel’s fist lightly collided with her shoulder. 

Heather grunted. Even light contact hurt when you were moving at Gabriel’s speed. 

“You sure you wanna keep doing this?” Gabriel asked. 

“It’s fine. Nicole can heal me, so it doesn’t matter,” Heather said.

Matt and Gabriel both shot each other a side-eyed glance that spoke volumes. 

“Come on, lads, again!” Heather said, clapping her hands together, ignoring the fire of apprehension their wordless exchange stoked in her chest.

Gabriel backed up and charged again, but Heather took the blow regardless of her preparation when she heard Debbi and Amy screaming at each other. 

***

“You always do this!” Debbi shouted. 

“Do what?” Amy said, hands on her hips. She tried to ignore Cass face-palming as she backed away from the two of them.

“When I fuck up, you come down on me like a ton of bricks in the most passive-aggressive way possible, but when you fuck up, it’s fine because you were doing it for the family!”

“I never said that,” Amy said. 

“It is plain on your face, Amanda,” Debbi said. “This is why I didn’t tell you.”

“If you had told me, I wouldn’t be mad!” 

Amy planted her feet, tried to ignore Heather and Matt and Gabriel coming over and flanking Cass (who just looked miserable). It got harder to ignore when Nicole rushed over as well, her brow creased and her lips trembling with concern. 

“If I told you, we both know what would have happened,” Debbi said. 

“And what’s that?” Amy glared.

“You’d have gone out looking for a fight and tried to beat Astra into submission, probably getting yourself killed in the process-”

“She wouldn’t kill me,” Amy said weakly. 

“She tried to kill Dad,” Debbi pointed out. 

“Well… I wouldn’t have… I wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t what, Amanda?” Debbi said. 

“I wouldn’t do that again,” Amy half-whispered. “I’m… I’m not that person anymore. I’m different.”

“Are you?” Debbi said. 

Amy’s words turned into a low gasp, and she broke off eye-contact and looked over to Nicole. Her girlfriend wore a look of pity on her face. 

The others… Shared her look. 

Fuck. 

She’d done it again. 

“I… I’m sorry,” Amy said, guilt tearing through her insides like a woodchipper. “I’m… I need to get some space. I’m sorry.”

She turned around and walked away, head down, feeling her teammates watching her as she walked on the main road out of the forest. Fuck fuck fuck what is wrong with me fuck fuck fuck why do I always do this?!

***

Nicole started to move forward, aiming to go after Amy, but Cass put a hand over her chest. “Let her walk it off. She needs to cool down.”

Nicole moved her arm aside and chased after Amy regardless. She wasn’t gonna let her be alone right now, especially with Winona and Heaven knew what else on the loose. “Iris, tell Mom and Dad I’ll be late for dinner tonight, okay?”

“Will do!” her sister called after her. 

“Amy!” Nicole called as she ran to catch up with her girlfriend. “Amy, wait!” 

You want to be strong for her, don’t you? The memory broke free of The Box, laced with pain and sorrow. That’s what Victoria had said to Nicole, that day on the beach. She’d said Patrick was the same way. That Nicole… Had that energy to her, that masculinity still. Part of her that bristled at the notion, at the idea that she had to be the protector. She wanted Amy to be okay, but she didn’t want to be forced into the masculine role. Amy was going through so much- wanting to be there for her was second-nature to Nicole. She pressed the resentment back into The Box, ignoring Victoria’s words, ignoring the pain she felt with each step. I can be the protector, and I can still be feminine, she thought. I don’t have to be anything I don’t want to be, and neither does Amy. I just want to be there for her. That’s all.

Amy didn’t stop, didn’t say anything, but also did nothing to object to Nicole coming with her. She simply stared at the ground and kept putting one foot in front of the other. 

“Amy, please talk to me,” Nicole said. They walked up a slanted cement trail onto the wide main road of the park, flanked by barren trees on both sides. More and more clouds were drifting by above them, slowly blotting out the sun. 

“I… I don’t deserve you,” Amy said. 

“Don’t say that,” Nicole said. 

“No, I mean that,” Amy said. “You’re so perfect, and I-”

“I’m really not perfect,” Nicole said, the festering feeling creeping out of The Box once more. 

“Bullshit you’re not. You’re this saintly, patient, endlessly forgiving and empathetic beauty. You keep trying to protect me, like it’s all second nature to you.”

You want to be strong for her, don’t you? The echo of the words stung inside her skull, while bitter resentment began to scream out of The Box. Nicole pushed it back- she didn’t need this right now, shouldn’t be feeling this right now. She wanted to be there for her, wanted to be… Wanted to be strong for her. Dysphoria rippled through her as she realized that. “Amy-”

Amy continued, “And I’m just… I’m just a selfish asshole who’s not even human.”

“Amy, of course you’re human,” Nicole said, flares of irritation shooting out of The Box, harder and harder to ignore. Maybe I am a protector, but you don’t need to act like I’m some kind of saint as an excuse to put yourself down.

“I’m half sex monster, Nicole,” Amy said. “I’m a… I’m a freak. I’m disgusting. And I ruin everything I touch-”

“Amy, stop talking like that, please,” Nicole said, putting a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the gnawing sensation in her gut. “You’re one of God’s children and He loves you.”

Amy sighed. “See, this is what I mean- you just automatically know how to say the right thing, do the right thing, even when I’m being a stupid brat. This is why I don’t deserve you- you should be with someone as perfect as you.”

The flares coming out of The Box grew brighter, hotter, more rapid. Dysphoria fueled the fires that resentment started, of being put on a pedestal and not allowed to be anything other than a protector. Of not being allowed to be anything other than a man-

No, no, she doesn’t see you that way, Nicole reminded herself, hoping cold rationality would snuff out the proverbial flames. She’s just in pain. And you need to be there for her. You need to be a-

Nicole didn’t let herself finish that thought. She didn’t want to. But memories echoed within her, of when she’d killed that coyote, of when she’d almost killed Moloch, because her instincts told her to protect what she cared about. And when she looked at that instinct, everything she’d been taught screamed ‘that’s what a man does.’

Nicole grimaced. “I’m not perfect, Amy. I keep a lot of ugly thoughts inside.”

“I know you do, I’ve seen that,” Amy said. “But you’re a lot better at it than I am. I mean, shit, you even try to look for the best in Winona and Lilith and probably Astra too if you got the chance. I know you want to make peace with Lilith, try to stop the War in Hell. But to be honest with you- I don’t. I just wanna let the bastards all die because they’re not human, but then when I think that, I remember what I am, and I just want to go down there and rot with them.”

Even if I am a protector, you don’t need to make it this hard, came a new thought, tumbling from the The Box, hissed in a serpentine whisper. Nicole narrowed her eyes. “Babe, this is starting to get into serious self-pity territory.”

“I… Fuck. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” Nicole forced herself to say, her eyes widening again. 

“Just like that?” Amy said, her face half hope and half agony.

“Just like that,” Nicole said. A simple, irrefutable fact cooled the flames of dysphoria and resentment and anger within her, helped silence the hateful thoughts inside The Box: “I love you, remember?”

Amy paused, even stopped walking where she stood on the main road. The sky had finished clouding over, and a biting chill moved into the air. 

Nicole blinked. Amy’s silence loosed more of The Box’s contents- fear and despair and dread and self-loathing, all needles into the skin of her heart. “Amy… Do you not love me back?”

Amy looked at her, gulped audibly, then said, “Not yet. I think I’m getting there, but… Nicole, we’ve only known each other two months, we’ve only been dating for half that time. We’ve already moved so damn fast, I don’t know if I can… If I can let myself cross that threshold yet.”

Fury shot out of The Box, and Nicole clenched her fists. “I see.”

“Nicole-”

“Don’t,” Nicole said, folding her arms across her chest. I do all this for her and- no, no, that’s entitlement. But she puts me up on a pedestal, makes me into the protector, and treats me like I’m perfect and yet she says she doesn’t… No, no that’s hubris. But even still… Even still, it’s what I feel. Everything in The Box is what I keep sealed away. Maybe she needs to see it, so she can really see me. Maybe I’m allowed to be angry sometimes. “Just don’t. I’d only move Heaven and Earth for you, but fine, sure, you’re not in love with me yet.”

“Please don’t react like this,” Amy said, her own eyes narrowing. 

“Why, because it gets in the way of your image of me as this perfect, beautiful, all-forgiving saint?” Nicole said, her eyebrows arching. 

“No, because it just comes off as childish and entitled-”

“Well maybe I am childish and entitled,” Nicole said, the words escaping her mouth before she could stop them. “Maybe sometimes that’s who I am. Maybe that’s a part of me, and I kept it locked away before I met you, before I knew who I really was, but now it’s out there. Maybe it’s time I started accepting that.”

“Nicole-”

“I’m not perfect, Amy,” Nicole snapped. “And I think that’s the crux of it right there- you don’t see me as a real person with flaws and failings, you see me as this untouchable paragon that you keep up on a pedestal and who will protect you no matter what, the best of both worlds-”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Amy said. “That is not what we were talking about-”

“Why? Because it’s not about you?” Nicole snapped. 

Guilt exploded inside her as soon as she said it, and tears fell from Amy’s eyes as the verbal blow landed. 

“I,” Nicole said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that-”

“It’s fine,” Amy said. “You’re only human.”

“So are you.”

“I wish that was true,” Amy said. “I’ll see you at home.”

Amy started walking away again, and this time, Nicole didn’t follow. She turned around and went back to the lot where the rest of the team was training, the fires of dysphoria and resentment and anger burning hotter than ever before. “You were right,” Nicole said to Cass. “She needs some space.”

***

Amy walked and walked through the town of Hingham, past a dairy farm, through a covered bridge, past a high school she’d competed at back in her cheerleading days, through the town center, down a steep hill that led into the town square. A snowflake tumbled down from above and melted with a hot sizzle on her bare skin, and soon, a flurry of snow came from above. It all steamed and sang on her skin, the Hellfire she held at bay begging for release in spite of her impotence. 

In a small brick building she saw a flower shop, saw a bundle of snapdragons in a blue vase in the window. She remembered Lilith’s method of summoning her and remembered that her birth mother was allegedly in a cage. 

She needed answers. About Lilith and her true motives, about her mother and what had happened to her, about herself and what she was and what it all meant for the life she wanted to live. It all stretched out before her, the hideous possibilities of ruining Nicole, of outliving her and any children they might have, of never being able to love her back because of her lustful nature and moral rigidity; of a world where Pandemonium loomed in the sky above and blotted out the sun; of a world where demons roamed freely and blood and ashes and chaos consumed everything. 

She needed answers.

She went into the shop, went over to the snapdragons, and reached for them. 

Someone caught her hand by the wrist before she could touch the flowers. 

“Hello, Amy,” Winona said. “We need to talk.”