Chapter 4

Could this get any fucking better? I screeched with joy as I shot through the air like a comet. Turning, rolling, diving and climbing. I was exultant over the pure freedom of it all. I flew higher than the clouds and stared down at the world below. I could see the lights everywhere, creating a blanket of illumination except in sparse unpopulated areas. I saw cars moving about and people walking.

A sudden shift in my perception caused me to focus on the immortal spectrums and I began seeing ‘them’ too. Other creatures of energy not of human origin, some living, others ... not. Some demonic and some ... something else entirely (and very unnerving to me). I saw creatures flying beneath me and above, their speed not so ephemeral now. I was thrilled to be so in tune and yet oblivious to everything around me.

Then I suffered a mid-air collision ... with a Time-less one. I was stunned as I bumped into its vast form. It was like a fishing bobber colliding with an aircraft carrier! Why I didn’t cease to exist, I will never know, but—rather than being drawn into it and devoured—I just ... bounced off. Maybe it wasn’t hungry enough for a tiny little plankton like me. Still its touch was like a psychic blow to my brain and I lay there senseless as it swept by, so very close. A deep foreboding fear gripped me and I curled into a fetal position, hugging myself until its immense presence passed by. Only then did I realize that it was very much aware of my tiny little spark the whole time. I felt a shockwave of emotion crash into me and I could sense that it was neither apologetic nor angry. Just annoyed.

Shaken, I quickly descended until I was soaring just over the tree tops. I let my mind wander as I considered everything that had happened in the past ... year. A fucking year! Back then I was a 19-year-old college student with a full-ride cheerleading scholarship. The only daughter of well-to-do (boring) parents who were only too happy to have me out of the house. How did I feel about being dead and away from all my friends and family? I suspect that a year of simmering in BFE had cooked away any apathy or sorrow because, truth-be-told, I didn’t give a shit!

My other spectrum senses detected a disturbance in the Force, and I let my curiosity (once more) get the best of me. I sniffed around following the sound and commotion of an epic demonic thrown-down, eventually coming upon a captivating sight. It was a battle between the most unlikely foes. A demon of monstrous proportions was fighting furiously against the slight form of a succubus. I assumed that the mature Cubi was contending with an ancient, yet she clearly held her own as she drew wave after wave of demonic life force from the big baddy—and she was doing it without any contact!

I felt the incredible forces at play as they struggled to destroy each other. The demon swung a deadly tail about, trying to impale his tiny prey with its terrible barbed tip. Each flap of its massive wings sent a blast of astral energy about like a maelstrom. Still the tiny humanoid figured darted about, flapping her own wings and flicking her own tail about as she fought back. It seemed uncanny that the Cubi would ever prevail against so mighty a foe but, as far as I could tell, the flow of energy was one-way and she was growing stronger with every second.

Now don’t get me wrong, I hate bullies as much as the next guy, but if it were any other scenario, I would have turned and fled like my tail was on fire. Ain’t no way I would ever tangle with a beast like that. But I couldn’t pry my eyes away. Even if she were to win there was simply no way she could absorb all that energy—could she? Sadly, my knowledge of demons was even less than Cubis but, given one or the other, I already knew how I felt about her kind. I nervously chewed on a nail as I watched the fight continue. Staying out of it was the wisest option for me. Better to just go on and mind my own fucking business. Yep.

So, I did the exact opposite. Like a fool, I darted forward and committed the most grievous injustice one can cause to Demon-kind. I yanked her tail! I knew the instant I did it, I was dead ... well, deader than I already was. She spun on me furiously, hissing like a ... spitting mad succubus! Oh, she was pissed to the highest degree of pisstivity! And then she was dead.

That brief distraction was all the demon needed to thrust its sharpened spear-like tail through her chest, snatch her from behind and bite her head off. Not just her head but her arms and tits as well. I felt a little sick as it chewed and smacked. Deciding that now might be a good time to get the fuck out of Dodge, I backed away carefully while it stuffed the remainder of the corpse into its giant maw. Then it turned to face me as it continued chewing, regarding me with huge malevolent orbs that protruded from the side of its massive head.

Uh oh...

I found myself frozen. I was held by its gaze as if I were encased in carbonite (damn—another Star Wars reference). I couldn’t have escaped if I wanted to. It continued to chew as it regarded me and I continued to be ... frozen. I most definitely would’ve peed myself if it were possible.

’Why didst thou intervene, little one?’

Its voice was no more than a thought but it rang my bell enough to shake me from my frozen state. I clasped my head painfully and stammered, “I ... I, um, didn’t really mean to intervene so rudely ... sir? It’s just that I um ... don’t really like Cubis that much, so...” I smiled sheepishly in desperation. “I’m sorry for ruining your sport.”

’Tis of no moment. Nor was it sport on my part,’ it spoke more softly, ’indeed I found myself sore pressed ere thine timely distraction.’

I blushed gripping both my hands in my lap and shrugging like Tinkerbell. “Well then ... I’m glad I could be of help.”

The monstrous entity continued looking at me without the slightest expression. I glanced briefly over my shoulder. “Can ... I ... go? Now?” I asked hesitantly.

’Thou art of Sebastian’s get.’

The face I made probably gave away my opinion of that fucker! If not, my sudden hiss certainly did.

’Yet thou are apart from his kind,’ it seemed curious, ’how one wonders?’

“How should I know?” I pouted, “I only woke up to this...” I rubbed my hands down my naked torso and hips, “less than a day ago.”

’Indeed. Thou art an anomaly most curious.’ I felt as if I were under a microscope.