Chapter 4

Could this get any fucking better? I whooped joyfully as I shot through the air like a comet, turning, rolling, diving, and climbing. I was exultant over the pure freedom. I flew higher than the clouds and stared down at the world. I saw lights everywhere, creating a blanket of illumination except in sparse areas. I saw cars and people.

A sudden shift in my perception caused me to focus on the immortal spectrums and see ‘them’, too. Other energy beings not of human origin, some living, others ... not. Some demonic and some ... something else (and very unnerving to me). I saw creatures flying beneath and above me, their speed not so ephemeral. I was thrilled to be so in tune and oblivious to everything around me—until I collided—with a Timeless one.

I was stunned as I slammed into its vast form. I was like a fishing bobber colliding with an aircraft carrier! I will never know why I didn’t cease to exist, but rather than being drawn into it and devoured, I bounced off. Maybe it wasn’t hungry enough for a tiny little plankton like me. Still, its touch was a psychic blow to my brain, and I drifted, senseless as it swept by, so close. A deep, foreboding fear gripped me, and I curled into a fetal position, hugging myself until its presence passed. Only then did I realize it was aware of my tiny spark the whole time. I felt a shockwave of emotion and sensed it was neither apologetic nor angry. Just annoyed.

Shaken, I quickly descended until I was soaring just over the treetops. I let my mind wander, considering everything that had happened in the past year. A fucking year! I was a 19-year-old college student with a full-ride cheerleading scholarship. The only daughter of wealthy (boring) parents eager to have me out of the house. How did I feel about being dead and away from my friends and family? A year marinating in BFE had cooked away any apathy or sorrow because I didn’t give a shit!

My other spectrum senses detected a disturbance in the Force, and I let my curiosity get the best of me. I sniffed around, following the sound and commotion of an epic demon throwdown, eventually coming upon a captivating sight. It was a battle between unlikely foes. A monstrous demon was embroiled in a furious struggle against the slight form of a succubus. I assumed the mature Cubi was contending with an ancient, yet she held her own as she drew wave after wave of demonic life force from the big baddy—and without any contact!

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

Don’t get me wrong, I hate bullies, 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 tangle with a beast like that. But I couldn’t pry my eyes away. Even if she won, there was no way she could absorb all that energy—could she? My knowledge of demons was 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. Staying out of it was the wisest option. Better to mind my own fucking business. Yep.

So, I did the exact opposite. Like a fool, I darted forward and committed the worst injustice to demon-kind. I yanked her tail! I knew instantly I was dead ... well, deader than I already was. She spun on me furiously, hissing like a ... spitting mad succubus! Oh, she was pissed, 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 too. I felt a little sick as it chewed and smacked. Deciding 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 was frozen, held by its gaze as if encased in carbonite (damn—another Star Wars reference). I couldn’t escape. It continued to chew as it regarded me, and I continued to be ... frozen. I’d definitely have peed myself if possible.

‘Why didst thou intervene, little one?’

Its voice was barely a thought, but rang my bell enough to shake me from my frozen state. I clasped my head painfully and stammered, “I ... I didn’t really mean to intervene so rudely..., sir? It’s just that I um ... don’t like Cubis that much, so...” I smiled sheepishly. “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 my hands in my lap and shrugging like Tinkerbell. “Well then ... I’m glad I could help.”

The monstrous entity continued looking at me expressionlessly. I glanced over my shoulder. “Can ... I ... go? Now?” I asked hesitantly.

‘Thou art of Sebastian’s get.’

My face probably revealed my opinion of that fucker! If not, my sudden hiss did.

‘Yet thou are apart from his kind.’ It seemed curious. ’How, one wonders?’

“How should I know?” I pouted. “I 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 under a microscope.

“A freak, you mean.”