Before the Flood

“Where the Lord’s Light shines, shadows are sure to follow, biting at the heels of Holy Radiance. And as His Lightbringer, that means the shadows are my responsibility. Tell me, Sandstorm, what purpose do you serve?” spoke the Morning Star, his thousand-eyes and winged gears grinding together as the desert was bathed in a violet glow. 

Her winds and shadows spread across the deserts of western Asia, beckoning idiot humans towards her with her seductive song. She led them to the eye of the storm and let them choke on her sand, nothing to content them but the memories of their own degeneracy and wickedness. Spoke Astaroth: “I am punishment. I am consequence. I am the chaos that awaits all those who disregard the need for order.”

“What is your name, Sandstorm?” spoke the Morning Star. 

“I have no name of mine own, nor do I seek one, but I am called Astaroth by some, amongst other epithets,” she replied. Her counterparts howled in the distance, Beelzebub intermixing with the young storm Mephistopheles as together they ripped Ezion-Geber asunder, Asmodeus tempting the people of Sechem to sleep forever, and Belial making men fight over gold and silver while drowning them in sand. 

“Well then, Astaroth, tell me- do you enjoy what you do?”

Could she smile, she would have. “Very much so. The look on deviants and degenerate’s faces when I kill them for their bodily sin only makes my storm-winds blow stronger.”

“How would you like to help punish some truly wicked individuals?” Lucifer asked. “You and your friends?”

“I’m listening,” Astaroth said while another sinner was snuffed out by her storm, another pervert, another buggerer. 

“The Watchers have declared themselves lords of the Earth, led by their king, Samyaza, while his Princess speaks on his behalf for the humans and gives them gifts they are not yet ready for. My lieutenant, Lilith, has a plan for dealing with the Princess, while my general, Moloch, gathers the forces for our strike. But you and the Sandstorms… You will help me deliver a decisive blow. You will help me kill Samyaza, deliver the ultimate punishment to the ultimate traitor.”

Could she laugh with delight, she would have. “Very well. You have a deal, Samael Lucifer.”

Now

Nicole stood in the concrete lot within Wompatuck State Park, her eyes closed, breathing in and out as she felt the presence of her teammates. She’d given Heather a power-up, leading to the girl finally being able to deflect one of Gabriel’s immensely fast blows. Nicole had lobbed a sphere of Healing Light into Heather, and she concentrated on the feeling of it boring into Heather’s soul and amplifying her powers; Nicole held it, letting it echo within her as she worked to keep it active from afar.

She heard a tree uprooted from the ground and opened her eyes to find Heather snapping it in half like a dry twig and punching it into increasingly small puffs of sawdust. 

“It’s working!” Heather cried. 

“Heck yeah!” Nicole said, the smile on her face only half-fake. 

“My turn,” Debbi said, walking up to her. The rest of the team, including Sister Quinn, stood far back watching events proceed. 

“You sure it will work?” Nicole asked. “With your powers on the fritz because of…”

A moment of uncomfortable silence, dripping with shame, washed over them.

“Let’s just try it,” Debbi finally said. 

Nicole nodded. She hugged Debbi and let the glow of Pink Healing Light engulf them both. When the hug broke off, Debbi emerged fully transformed into her Magical Girl attire, golden and purple light sparking out of her. Nicole felt the spark of her Healing within Debbi, and poured her will into it, letting it bloom into a burning hearth. Debbi shot a column of golden light that turned violet the more she summoned, aiming it towards the menagerie of empty glass bottles they’d placed on the far end of the lot. They shattered on impact, and Debbi fist-pumped. 

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” she exclaimed. 

“You good for another burst?” Nicole asked. 

“Think so. Why?”

“If my powers turn your light solid… Well, you ever read Green Lantern?”

Debbi smirked. “You’re a trip, Nygaard.”

Nicole concentrated once more, her heart pounding and breathing becoming a more labored effort as she fanned the fire within Debbi once again. 

Debbi projected violet light into her hands, her brow creasing as a grunt escaped her lips. The light swirled and coalesced into a single long, flat point, until finally, a purple katana rested in Debbi hands. “Oh, hell yes,” the team’s leader grinned, wide-eyed and jubilant. “I have a lightsaber, Nicole.”

“I see that,” Nicole smiled through the headache rapidly rising inside her mind.

“I made a freaking lightsaber!”

“Technically we made it,” Nicole said. 

“You’re right, this is our baby,” Debbi nodded. 

“Don’t tell Heather that,” Nicole said. 

“Right, and I won’t tell….” Debbi trailed off again, and the guilt flared inside Nicole again, the remnants of the wrath and resentment she’d given into.   

Debbi sauntered over to a nearby log resting on the ground and slashed through it with her sword. The light-blade shattered after finishing the cleave, and Nicole fell down onto her knees and gasped as breath flooded out of her. 

“Nicole!” Debbi said, her uniform fading away as she hurried over. 

Gabriel beat her over to Nicole, appearing before Nicole’s eyes as if via jump-cut. The only trace of his movement was a thin golden sheen trailing behind him, along with a ringing sound from the contorted air. The Magical Boy offered a hand up, his long black hair and smooth bronze skin contrasting the light snowfall dancing around him as it fell from above. “You okay, Pinky Pie?” he asked, flashing those pearly-whites of his, offering a hand up. 

Nicole blushed, a magnetic pulse of lust surging through her as images of this young man naked on top of her equally naked form appeared within her mind’s eye. She clenched her jaw as the guilt that followed instantly thereafter smacked her down into a more rational state of thought. You. Have. A. Girlfriend. You. Stupid. Tart, the words rang inside her mind and drilled against the inside of her skull. “I’m fine,” she said brusquely, rising back to her feet. She looked over the very pretty man’s shoulder and shouted, “Hey Cass, get over here, I wanna try something!” 

“You sure that’s a good idea, Nicole?” Debbi said. “You’re looking wicked pale right now.”

“That’s not a bad thing- too much sun exposure is bad for the skin,” Nicole said, forcing a fresh smile onto her face. 

“Nicole-”

“Please let me do this,” Nicole said firmly. “I need the distraction right now. And frankly, so do you.”

“... Fine. Gabriel, give us some room.”

“You’re up after this,” Nicole said to him. 

“I look forward to it verily,” Gabriel said, with a steep bow and a hammy flourish of his hands before speeding out of the way. 

Nicole winced as she felt the pang of lust again shooting out from The Box and saturating her being. Stop it stop it stop it-

“What’s up, blondie?” Cass asked. 

“I wanna try amplifying the both of you simultaneously, try to combine your powers,” Nicole said. “Use your telekinesis on Debbi’s hard light constructs.”

“Ambitious,” Cass said. “I like it. You sure it’s a good idea right now?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Nicole said. “Let’s do this.”

She glomped onto both of her teammates and powered them up, and they emerged fully transformed. Nicole’s hands throbbed with electric energy, her left sensing the raging storm of Cass’ telekinesis exploding within her, desperate for escape; her right sensed the warmth of Debbi’s light powers, a campfire burning in the dead of winter. Nicole opened her palms and let the power flow into both of them, her whole body awash with Pink Light as Debbi released a column of purple light that quickly segmented and sharpened into a flurry of daggers. Debbi’s fire roared, louder and hotter and brighter than before, and Cass’ tempest of power broke free of its mortal container as the purple daggers flew like a flock of raptors toward the cleaved halves of the log and sent them flying on impact. A dozen holes were stuck into each half, and Nicole’s heart sang with pride even as her hands ached with the pain of a week’s labor. 

“Yes!” Cass and Debbi said, double high-fiving. 

They turned around, and Nicole had time to flash one more smile before the electricity fizzled out in her hands and consciousness slipped away. The pavement was cold and wet as she fell onto it face-first. All she had time to think before she passed out was, please come back, Amy. 

***

“You look good,” Winona said, running her finger over the rim of her porcelain espresso mug. 

Amy said nothing as she took a sip of her iced Americano through the straw extending from her short, square glass. They sat at a countertop table built into the window-wall of Brewed Awakenings Cafe, looking out at Hingham Square through the glass. Snow kept falling over the streets, over the Old Ship Church and the stone stairwell leading up to it, over Saint Paul’s Church and the wooden stairs that extended to it, over the rest of all the shops that were collected in the area. Brewed Awakenings was nestled onto a street corner, a single-room cafe with a dozen tables and three times as many seats atop linoleum floors and bathed in warm overhead lamps. The air smelled of coffee and chocolate, and everything was warm from the myriad heaters scattered throughout. 

Winona had made it clear she wasn’t looking for a fight, and Amy had decided to hear her out. It was beginning to dawn on her that throwing the first punch as a response to everything was not always a prudent option. As much as she wanted to. As much as she’d love to clip the wings of the Nephilim who had stalked her for years, harassed her, manipulated her, had her boyfriend use Amy like a disposable pleasure-object, tried to hurt the people Amy loved to get her to come to her side. There were civilians in the town square, mothers with baby strollers and teenagers ditching school for the day and elderly couples walking hand in hand in the falling snow. It would be a bad idea to escalate this into a fight with a damn Nephilim here and now. She couldn’t drag other people into her messes- she knew that now. She need only look at what had happened with Debbi and Astra for proof. 

“So, you are gonna say anything?” Winona said. “Or are you just gonna sit there and drink the beverage that I bought you.”

Amy put the glass down on the table. “What are you doing, Winona? What is this?”

“I was stopping you from doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous,” Winona said. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I mean why did you show up to stop me at the exact right moment,” Amy said, her fists balling as they rested on her lap. “Have you been following me again?”

“No, actually,” Winona said, running a finger through her hair. She’d cut it short, trading the chestnut-brown mane of curls for a chin-length wavy bob dyed black, messy bangs twisting over her forehead. Her eyes were brown instead of blue, the tell-tale lack of reflectivity indicating colored contacts, and she wore no makeup for the first time… Ever, at least in Amy’s recollection. A lot of small changes that added up to making her less recognizable. Or at least, unrecognizable to most people, those who didn’t have the misfortune of knowing her all too well. “Running into you today was not planned. I’ve just been hiding out here since I… You know.”

“Escaped from jail?”

“Less loudly, please?”

“Fine,” Amy said. “Why haven’t you turned yourself back in?”

“Because somebody needs to do what needs to be done to stop Astaroth,” Winona said. 

“Astra’s already been dealt with- Lilith and the other generals betrayed her and locked her in the dungeon of Pandemonium,” Amy said. “Or at least, that’s what Lilith told us.”

“And you believe a thing that monster says… Why, exactly?” Winona said, narrowing her eyes and furrowing her brow. 

“That is rich as whiskey cake coming out of your mouth,” Amy said flatly.

“That… Okay, yeah, that’s fair. I don’t really have a leg to stand on.”

“You don’t. At all.”

“Will you at least hear me out?” Winona said. “Put everything that’s happened between aside for a moment-”

“The stalking, the murder, the grooming-”

“Grooming?”

“You were trying to manipulate me into being with you starting when I was a high schooler. And you are thousands of years old,” Amy said, letting the heat of her words burn Winona. “I don’t even wanna think about how old Aidan was when you started getting your hooks into him.”

“He was eighteen,” Winona said, waving her hand as if to brush aside the issue.

“Yes, because that’s the only sketchy thing about your relationship with him, of course,” Amy said. “I’m having a wicked bad day, White, so I’ll be blunt.”

“I would expect nothing less,” Winona said, smiling affectionately. 

Amy grimaced. “I don’t know if letting you live was the right thing to do. Nicole and Cass thought so, but that was predicated on you staying in jail and not making any more noise than you already have. Your boyfriend, as much as I hate his guts, at least had the decency to stay where he was- I checked. The letters he writes Nicole every week still have the military prison as the return address-”

“He writes her every week?” Winona glared, her long, sharp nails digging dents into the counter. 

“If it helps, she doesn’t read them. She throws them out on sight-”

“She doesn’t even read them? My boyfriend writes her handwritten letters, and she doesn’t even read them?!” Winona said. “That bitch.”

Amy slapped her, the crack an immensely satisfying bit of auditory stimulus, the impact an equally satisfying tactile one. “Insult her again and this conversation is over,” Amy hissed.

Winona’s glare intensified briefly, but then fell away. “Fine. And if you must know, it’s quite simple- Astra’s generals broke into the prison last week and killed Aidan’s mother, Angela. Tried to capture Aidan and I. Only reason they didn’t is because they were called off- presumably around the time Lilith and the others decided to betray Astaroth, assuming that part is true. But even if it is, even if she’s in a cage, Astaroth is still dangerous. And I can personally tell you that Lilith is not to be trusted.”

“And why’s that?” Amy said. 

“When my father was waging his campaign of conquest, the Seraphim brought the hammer down on us hard. We were losing badly. But one day, Lilith came to my father’s camp at Mount Hermon personally to parley with him and I. She said she had a deal for us: my father would stop his campaign and surrender to Grandfather’s judgment, and I’d be spared.”

“And when you both abjectly refused, she made you pay for it?”

“No, actually. I objected at first, but my father agreed to the deal. He talked me into it, felt that he’d taken his campaign as far as it could go. He knew that he was damned, but he wanted me to… To live in God’s Light, in spite of it. So, he called off the other Watchers, brought them all back to Mount Hermon to submit themselves for judgment.”

“W-what?” Amy said, nearly choking on her drink. 

“Yeah. Surprise, surprise, that was a mistake. Once everyone was there, the rain started to fall and would. Not. Stop. Uncle Samael and Lilith were already planning their rebellion in those days, and they knew that the sacrifice of the Watchers would net an immense amount of power for their war machine. They also knew that Grandfather had already decided that the Great Flood was necessary to purge the Watchers from the Earth. So, they rounded us all up in place and… Well, I assume you’re familiar with the expression ‘shooting fish in a barrel?’”

Amy nodded, a flicker of pity lighting in her gut. 

Winona continued, “Lucifer only had a handful of angels on his side, Moloch being the main one, but he’d recruited the Sandstorms to his cause. Natural forces of wickedness and destruction that emerged in the shadows of the Light of Creation, embodying the sins of the human animal and attempting to snuff out those who gave into them. There were five of these Sandstorms-”

“And one of them was my birth mother,” Amy said, the knowledge sitting heavily atop her heart. 

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner,” Winona said. “Uncle Samael brought the Sandstorms down on Mount Hermon, all five of them at once while we all drowned. Me, though… I was a loose end. Lilith had promised to spare me from the Seraphim, and she did… By chaining me to the top of the mountain while the Floodwater washed over everything. I watched your mother murder my father while he was trying to free me, and his corpse landed on top of me as the Floodwater broke the mountain apart and washed me away.”

“Oh my God,” Amy said. 

“Yeahhhh,” Winona said. “Not a great day, as I’m sure you can imagine. Fast forward a few thousand years, and I stumble upon Lilith and Uncle Samael’s kids all trapped in a herd of swine beneath the Floodwater. Their parents had sent them after Uncle Yeshua, and they did NOTHING to save them when He exorcized them and sent them into the sea.”

“Well, they still seemed happy to be back with her,” Amy said. 

Winona’s eyes bulged. “What?”

“A whole flock of them showed up at Nicole’s house last week when we were parlaying with Lilith- they all kinda got absorbed into her shadow.”

 “That bitch!” Winona growled. 

Amy wound up another slap. 

“Lilith, not your girlfriend. God, you’re sensitive,” Winona rolled her eyes. “Demonic spirits… They’re not supposed to return to their source. If they do… They can’t come back. They just get absorbed back into their mother.”

“But… Then why would they do that?”

“Because demonic spirits are only like… Forty percent sentient. They’re partial consciousnesses- it’s why they need to possess people. You notice how you didn’t get much conversation out of the spirits that possessed objects or animals, but the ones that possessed humans were chatterboxes? It’s literally how they function. Without faculties of their own, they’re slaves to their impulses and the handful of simple emotions they can feel. Their mom, whom they’d been separated from for 2000 years, was offering them a chance not to have to worry about anything ever again. So, they took it. And that means… That means a lot of my friends are gone, and they’re not coming back.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Amy said, shock and horror festering inside her. 

“Say you believe me,” Winona said. “And that you won’t stop me from taking Lilith and Astra out, the both of them. It was only a matter of time before they turned on each other, but they’re too dangerous to be left alive. Whatever Lilith promised you, whatever alliance or peace she’s put on the table, she’ll worm her way out of it and throw you and everyone you love under the bus the instant you outlive your usefulness. And Astra… If she gets out of her cage, she won’t be thinking rational thoughts any longer. She’ll just want blood. She won’t even care whose it is. The Sandstorm doesn’t like to be trapped.”

“This is a lot to take in, Winona,” Amy said.

“I know it is, but I need you to believe me when I say that this is how I repent for what I did, for who I used to be. I know that none of you are comfortable with murder, and I respect that, so let me carry the burden for you. You shouldn’t have to dirty your hands like that.”

The implications of all that Winona said sank in, and Amy realized what was being offered: a solution. 

It felt too easy, and in her experience, that meant it probably was. It meant there was almost certainly a catch.

“Well?” Winona asked. “Are you gonna say something?”

Amy breathed a long, deep breath through her nose, then exhaled it through her mouth. “First, I need to verify your claim. You’ll come with me quietly and calmly, and you’ll let me do the talking until I say otherwise. Do we have an understanding?”

Winona gave a shallow nod, and followed when Amy stood up and led her out the door into the snow. 

***

In her dreams, Nicole saw a city under siege. Bolts of golden-white energy shelled it from the distance, while her demon was in chains on the roof of a castle sculpted from red stone. Her demon pleaded, begged, screamed, but Lilith merely watched and glared as the girl sobbed. 

“Help me,” her demon cried. “Please help me!”

“That’s enough from you!” Lilith said. “You’re talking to her right now, aren’t you? The one who did this to you? Dammit- we’ll just have to hide you somewhere she can’t see you, then!”

Her demon was unchained and led by the lash towards the center of the Castle, where an opening sat in the frozen heart of the dungeon of Pandemonium. 

Her demon was pushed inside the gap, and the gap froze over. 

Nicole woke up in the back of Abe’s station wagon, shivering, freezing, feeling the pain of her demon, feeling her demon’s cries for help ripple through the Floodwater that connected their souls. Her jaw set, and the rage within The Box exploded out with what for once seemed like just cause: a mother had betrayed her child, betrayed her word. 

She knew what she had to do. It was a simple, clear purpose: go to Hell, and rescue her demon. She could figure the rest out as she went. 

It got a lot more complicated when she looked out the back window when she saw Amy approaching with Winona at her back. 

Nothing was ever simple anymore. Being a Magical Girl wasn’t simple anymore, being a girl wasn’t simple anymore, she wasn’t simple anymore. She used to be straightforward, rational, in control, and now… Now emotions that didn’t make sense were tormenting her nonstop: anger at Amy for storming off and for her misattunement, guilt at feeling that way in the first place, violent purpose when she saw Winona, shame about what she’d almost done to Moloch and even more shame about the fact that she hadn’t done it. That she hadn’t put him down like that rabid coyote all those years ago. She hadn’t hesitated then. She hesitated with Moloch, stopped herself, spared him. She spared Winona, too- why did she want so badly to take back that decision? Had she really been keeping all this in The Box the entirety of her life up until now? And what does it say about me that it was there in the first place, and I didn’t even notice it? “Amy, what’s going on?” Nicole asked as she stepped out of the station wagon. “What’s she doing here?”

Amy paused and turned around, and Winona did the same. Winona opened her mouth, but Amy held a hand in front of it. “I ran into her while I was walking off my temper tantrum. I’m sorry for what I said, by the way, and I’d like to finish our conversation later back at our apartment. But for right now… Winona told me something about Lilith-”

“That she’s a lying monster?” Nicole said, grinding her teeth. 

“Y-yeah, actually,” Amy said, tilting her head to the side. “How’d you know-”

A golden blur rushed over, the familiar whooshing sound of Gabriel’s speed hitting them shortly thereafter. Winona vanished in the blur, only for a crashing noise to erupt behind Nicole. 

Gabriel had Winona pinned to a tree, sword drawn and getting close to the back of Winona’s neck. “WHERE IS HE?!” Gabriel screamed. He grabbed her short hair and pulled on it, then slammed her face into the trunk of the tree, over and over and over again, repeating his question time. 

An emotion she understood rippled through Nicole- shock. Perhaps cut with confusion- this was the most… Anything she’d seen out of Gabriel in the few weeks since they’d met other than nonchalant cheerfulness. 

“Gabriel, what the fuck?!” Amy said.

“What she said,” Nicole said, walking over to her girlfriend and standing next to her, mouthing, ‘I’m sorry too.’

‘We’ll talk about it later,’ Amy mouthed, then gave Nicole’s hand a squeeze. 

Nicole squeezed back and transformed, then gave Amy a power-up that caused her own transformation to sing out. Nicole willed the Healing spark to ignite in Cass and Debbi as she heard everyone else running over, up the slight incline and onto the cement path that led back to the main road. A spike of pain went through Nicole’s chest, a proverbial stake through the heart. She grunted, but concentrated on keeping the Donahue sisters’ powers active, focused on fanning their flames with her Healing. She breathed in through her nose, out through her mouth, slowly, deliberately, leaning on Amy’s shoulder to keep herself propped up. 

And Gabriel… Gabriel wouldn’t stop wailing on a woman who wasn’t fighting back.

“What fuck is happening now?!” Cass said as she stepped in front of Nicole and Amy. She extended her hands then moved them in opposite directions; Gabriel and Winona were both forced apart and shoved against different trees, then turned around to face the rest of them with a flick of Cass’ wrists. 

“Mr. Gabriel, sir, what’s going on here?” Matt asked. 

“I’d like an explanation too,” Debbi said. 

“Same,” Heather said. 

“I don’t know what’s happening anymore,” Iris said. 

“It’s a long story,” Gabriel said. “And I don’t think you’ll actually believe me when I tell you.”

“Fine then, be that way. Winona, how do you know Gabriel?” Amy said. 

Winona, trying her best to look and sound conciliatory, said, “To be honest, if I’d known he was here, I wouldn’t have come.”

“That doesn’t answer our questions,” Nicole said, grinding her teeth. 

“Is there anything I can say that would actually de-escalate this situation?” Winona asked in a flat tone. 

“The truth would be nice.”

“I’m not sure you guys want the truth,” Gabriel said. “Look, I shouldn’t have done this just now-”

“Yeah, you really shouldn’t have, idiot!” Amy snarled. “I brought Winona here to parlay! She has information about Lilith and Astra that we need.”

“You shouldn’t listen to a single thing this asshole has to say!” Gabriel snarled. 

“Even if I’m the one asking the questions?” Matt said, stepping forward, armor shimmering in the snow and chainsaw in hand. 

“Um…”

“You know something, Mr. Gabriel?” Matt said. “In the few weeks since we met, you’ve avoided telling me anything of substance about yourself, even when I asked. And that’s not an easy thing to do with me. You don’t think that’s in any way suspicious?”

“Especially when we’re supposed to ‘beware the lone dragon slayer,’” Cass added, the fury of her inner tempest nearly knocking Nicole from her feet. The Healing Light was emanating from all three Donahue sisters at once, Debbi summoning a violet katana of hard light and Amy holding a sphere of Hellfire in her free hand. The world kept spinning around Nicole, and the only things she could do to keep standing was cling to her girlfriend and focus on the villain in front of her, the one Nicole had spared, the one she had insisted deserved a chance to reform.

But she’d broken out, and she came here promising to confirm what Nicole had seen- that seemed too good to be true. And as much as she didn’t want to become the type of person who thought something seeming too good to be true meant it must be… Another part of her… 

… Another part of her thought maybe she’d made a mistake. She didn’t want it to be, but… She wondered if maybe the ugly thoughts she’d kept hidden in The Box were the ones she should be listening to. 

“Miss Nicole,” Matt said. “Could you spare one more power up, please?”

She automatically nodded yes, even as the heavy, aching pain in her chest and stomach and arms grew heavier with each passing second. Amy’s wildfire, Cass’ tempest, Debbi’s burning hearth all flooded into her as she poured her will into them. Why did I say yes to that? Part of her wondered. Another part knew the answer: because it was necessary. Maybe it’s time you start doing what’s necessary more often.

Reluctantly, she let go of Amy’s hand and summoned one more shard of Pink Healing Light. She shoved it like a shot put towards Matt, and it absorbed into his back.

A cobalt glow radiated from every inch of Matt Callahan. “Haven’t gotten enough practice at this yet, but… I’ve been observing Miss Nicole and how she channels her powers. She says she concentrates it into a single part of her body and then releases it. Like so.”

The glow coalesced around his hands, and he shot the dual beams of the Blue Light of Truth towards Winona and Gabriel.

Winona confirmed what Nicole had seen in her dream, along with some extra details about her history with Lilith and Astaroth, of what they’d done to her, of what had really happened when Lilith was reunited with the Legion. Nicole’s anger tripled with each word Winona said, the unvarnished truth all hitting her like a train as she realized she’d been lied to, manipulated. Now a mother had been allowed to kill her own children, and take another one of them hostage, because Nicole had wanted to believe in the better nature of a demon. 

And it was all her fault. 

She shouldn’t have let Lilith walk away. Shouldn’t have… 

Shouldn’t have let Moloch walk away either. 

Right now, she wasn’t even sure if she should have let Winona walk away. 

That was when the Pink Light extinguished, and the fire and wind of the Donahue girls vanished. It was all replaced by frigid cold on all sides, as if the snowfall were directed towards her specifically. It cocooned her and swallowed her up, until everything around her was ice.  

The forest was gone. Amy was gone. Her friends and her sister were all gone. 

All that was left was the chasm of ice in the frozen heart of Hell. Just Nicole and her demon, who looked at her with just as much shock and concern as Nicole felt screaming inside her.  

“Nicole,” her demon begged. “Please help me- I was wrong. I was so wrong, about my mother, about everything. Please-”

Nicole was ripped away before her demon could finish her plea, awakening back in Wompatuck to a cinnamon smelling salt wafting up her nose. It was held by Sister Quinn, who loomed over her while the others stood behind her in concern and terror. Heather was keeping Gabriel in a head-lock, while Winona was scratching her arm with an uncomfortable look on her face.

“I think it’s time for your next lesson, Nicole,” Sister Quinn said.