Chapter 35

Brandi backed up against the corner of the room. She’d outrun the demon for as long as she could, but - unable to find an empty classroom - she had finally been caught.

The Protector had been unwilling to bring her foe into another occupied classroom - too much blood had been shed already, and there was no way that she could anyone else witness what she’d been forced to. She couldn’t risk losing another innocent.

She just couldn’t.

Harry realized he had her trapped, and his cruel leer grew as he slowly approached her.

“Well well well,” he said. “Nowhere to run, is there?”

Before Brandi could respond, try desperately to talk her way out of the predicament she’d put herself in, Harry blinked twice in confusion.

“Uh...”

To her surprise, he backed up slightly, his freakishly attractive body shifting from an aggressive stance to a more neutral, confused one.

“ ... oh, god,” he said, looking down at his finger-blades. “Oh no ... what have I done?”

Brandi didn’t have time to work out what he was talking about. Seizing the opportunity, she ducked around him, and began running as fast as she could towards the counsellor office, even as Harry fell to his knees and began to weep.

As she ran through the hallways, she noticed that - for the most part - the sex had stopped. People were standing up, just as dazed as the blade-monster had been, questioning their nudity and the sheer amount of fluids they were coated in.

But she didn’t stop. She kept running, chest aching with each bounce, towards the once-hexed water cooler, towards the counsellor’s office.

Even a few rooms away she could hear it, the frustrated wail of the demon. But it wasn’t until she reached the shattered doorway that she understood what he was saying.

“Why??“ he bellowed, sweeping one enormous demon limb across his desk, sending stacks of paper flying. “Why didn’t it work??“

Lily and Niles were huddled, naked, in the corner of the room. As Mr. Foster threw his tempter tantrum, they were working together to seal the rift that the demon had been drawing power from earlier.

“I made you the Protector,” he shouted, pointing an accusing demonic finger at Brandi’s friend. “And then I knocked you up - I did everything I should have done!”

A smile slowly spread across Lily’s face, and she turned to face the angry counsellor.

“Sorry,” she said with a smirk. “Not quite.”

“What do you mean?” he said, leaning towards the teenage girl, trying - and failing - to intimidate her.

“You came inside me, but you didn’t get me pregnant. I’m afraid that my friend Greg took care of that the other day.”

Something about Nicolette’s pregnancy obsession had struck a chord in Lily, and in her last visit to the owner of the sex store, she’d managed to convince him to break some of his rules, and fuck her bareback. Until the demon’s attempt to impregnate her, she hadn’t been sure it had stuck.

She was going to be the first Protector to have a child. Her heart glowed with pride.

“Sorry,” Brandi said, immediately drawing the demon’s attention. “Better luck next time.”

“You!” he bellowed, and lunged towards her. “If I can get you pregnant, I can still complete the ritual...”

“Not today,” Niles said, and with a final wave of his hand, the seal was closed.

“Not ever,” Brandi said, striding towards the demon. Before he could even act to defend himself, she’d leapt onto his desk and kicked him in the chest.

Brandi was back in complete control, and her kick was powerful and precise. Mr. Foster opened his mouth in horror, but before he could even say anything he stumbled backwards, tripping outside the door of his office.

The group watched in awe as the demon who had been responsible for such powerful changes in their lives dissolved into a thousand screaming pieces. Each piece burst into flame, and the smoke from the small flames evaporated immediately.

The two Protectors and their Mentor watched, stunned, and Brandi turned to Niles.

“He’s gone?”

“Outside of his office, he didn’t have enough power to sustain himself in the Mortal Realm. He’s gone.”

“Wow,” Lily said, staring at the spot where Mr. Foster had disappeared. “He managed to do so much damage in just one week...”

“He sure did,” Niles said grimly. “And now it’s our job to start cleaning it up.”

He glanced at the two teenage girls in front of him, and a slight blush appeared on his face.

“But, uh, perhaps we should all get some clothes on first.”

The next few weeks were hard on everyone. The discovery that Mr. Foster’s physical changes were permanent shocked everyone, but it paled compared to the death of Brandi’s mother.

“Is there some way we can bring her back?” Nicolette asked for the fifteenth time that month, feeling as though Mrs. Winter’s death was directly her fault, a punishment for her jealousy and attempt at revenge.

“I’m afraid not,” Niles said, pushing his glasses back. Aside from Brandi, he’d been hit hardest by Kristine’s death - for days after he’d learned what had happened, he’d been inconsolable. He’d gone home, released Rita, and spent the next few hours sobbing onto her surprisingly sympathetic shoulders.

Even after regaining her freedom, she’d decided to stick around. His treatment of her had awakened a spark in the demon girl, and she was curious to see how much of his deviant behavior had been implanted by Mr. Foster, and how much of it had simply been hiding beneath the surface.

“Magic doesn’t work like that,” Rita added, one arm casually wrapped around Niles’ waist.

Brandi wasn’t happy about the demon’s presence in their lives, but she knew everyone was still adjusting, and so she hadn’t made an issue of it. Every time the demon glanced her way, she felt a pang of hatred; she knew the two of them would eventually come to a head.