Later that night, after the sun had just started peeking over the horizon, Scott was tossing and turning in bed. He had put everything away, and the bell sat upright on his bedside table. His foot still hurt like Hell, but he had wrapped it up with a pack of ice. The Zhaos had left his backyard a long time ago, and he doubted they had seen anything, despite what Charlie had said.

Rolling on his side, he stared out his window. He couldn't see Nic's window from here, but he was pretty sure the light wasn't on in it anymore. What he could see, though, was the treehouse.

Hey.

Scott nearly jumped. The succubus's voice had just rung out, but, it wasn't like she was talking. It was like the sound of reading: confined within his head, but still audible in his mind.

You really need to chill out, you know?

"How..." Scott murmured, freezing in place. "How are you doing that?"

I'm communicating with you through your mind. I figured you would've caught on to that.

Slowly, Scott crept out of bed. He limped to his window, trying to see if he could see the succubus inside the treehouse.

What got you so scared? I don't bite, 'less you like that.

"This..." Scott spoke under his breath, which the succubus could hear somehow. He undid the twisting bolts that kept his window shut and opened it up, leaning out of it. He still couldn't see her. "This is crazy. I never expected it to work!"

Then why'd you do it, huh?

"I was curious!" he threw his hands in the air. "I don't know!"

Did you want it to work?

"I mean, I..." Scott stopped himself, squeezing his hands together tightly. "I'm an idiot... why'd I do this?"

Good question. I was just about to ask you that myself.

When Scott didn't answer, she kept on talking.

I've been summoned lots of times for lots of reasons. Most of the time, someone just wants to have fun for a night. Other times, they want it for a few nights. Or, if they're so inclined, they want to borrow my magic, or learn the art from me. Tell me, what was inside your head when you were preparing for the ritual?

"I was... I was just doing it for science."

There was a pause.

I won't judge you if it was for sex, y'know.

Scott sighed, hanging his head. "Well, that was part of it..."

There we go. Well, if you want it, come and get it.

That made Scott... sweaty.

"I don't know now." he said, straightening himself. "I don't know if I can trust you."

Ah... why is that?

"I don't know, 'cause you're a demon from Hell?" Scott said it as if it were obvious. He heard dismissive laughter inside his head.

Oh, you're too cute. And, let me guess, that makes me "bad?" Or "evil?"

"Well, yeah."

Listen, kid. Those ideas all come from that stupid Bible you humans have. Angels wrote it, and they hate our guts. It's biased. Us demons are just like anybody else - both good and bad.

Scott blinked. "Wait wait wait. Back up. Angels?"

The succubus sighed.

Angels exist, demons exist, Heaven exists, Hell exists, they're entirely separate from Earth. God doesn't exist, Satan doesn't either. You don't go to Hell when you die, or Heaven, or any of that, it's made up. Does that cover all the bases?

"Well..." The voice in his head interrupted him.

Listen, telepathy is annoying to do. Come back and let's talk in person. And don't spaz out this time, okay?

Scott tapped his finger on the windowsill as he weighed his options in his head.

"Okay." he said, finally.

Wonderful! I can't wait to see you.

"Wait!"

Hmm?

"You.. you never told me your name."

Lynnira.

"Okay... I'm Scott."

See ya', Scott.

Scott shut his window, then turned around to get his jacket. To his surprise, Mona was sitting on his desk chair, watching him while eating a lollipop.

"Why are you talking to yourself?" she asked. There was genuine concern in her voice.

"Because..." Scott grabbed his coat from where he had left it on the floor. "Because I've gone insane."

"Oh, okay." with that, Mona got up and excused herself.

glenn-fletcher

Sorry for how short this chapter was. It was originally part of the last chapter, but I felt it was getting too conversation-y. So, I split it off into this. Tell me if the purple is hard to read for the telepathy color, I used it because I couldn't think of any other way to separate their words. If I just did regular italics, it'd be too similar to Scott's inner dialogue from other chapters.