Flirting with the Devil [Shaelinn and Dreamer-]

Shaelinn · Oct 21, 2013

(Her appearance)

Blood. Blood everywhere. It resembled a canvas of a mad artist who had just spilled the color red all over his painting in a fit of creative fever. The floors were wet with the life-giving liquid, wet and slippery under her boots; Lara wondered briefly whether the vampires would clean the room later with their tongues, savoring the dinner that had come to their open arms so willingly, or if they considered eating from the floor unhygienic and employed a charwoman to take care of this mess. The mental image of a ghoulish abomination with a dirty mop, complaining about how hard it was to get a blood from that expensive Persian carpet, almost made her chuckle weakly. Certain part of her, the rational side marked by rigorous training, was capable of an amateurish self-diagnosis; she was slowly succumbing to the shock. Unfortunately, that side which still had an access to the light of reason couldn't do much, outside of being a silent spectator to Lara's nervous breakdown. They had taught her many methods how to keep herself going during traumatic situations - how to pierce through the layer of panic right to the healthy core - but that knowledge was successfully erased from her hard-drive, along with her ability to feel. Only numbness remained; numbness and a distant certitude her life would end here today.

She was crouching behind a barrel, barely breathing, her limbs going stiff from the lack of movement; every little sound seemed overwhelming to her heightened senses. Approaching footsteps - many of them, at least according to the echo - were like a rapid gunshots in her head. "Hey, pretty little miss, we know you're here! Don't be such a party pooper, come out and join our merry games. You're gonna have a time of your life!" male voice exclaimed, smug and confident. For a moment, Lara contemplated feigning death by smearing the blood all over her body and crawling under the pile of dead bodies that used to be her friends, but such an act would be foolish; her heartbeat would navigate them like a lighthouse in the darkness. Glancing down at her trembling hand, at her fingers firmly wrapped around her trusty laser gun, she suddenly understood. It was so simple. The gun had still enough delicious radioactive juice for about five shots; five separate chances to fry some random vampire's ass before kicking the bucket. Lara wouldn't degrade herself by sprawling like a pitiful worm or pleading to spare her life. Never. She served as a shield for humanity, the last line of defense to resist the enemy forces and dragging down few bastards to keep her company in the hell was a good way to go. Taking a deep breath, Lara raced from her improvised shelter to meet her fate...

She woke up disoriented and drenched in her own cold sweat; it took a few rounds of looking around to distinguish the shapes of the furniture to confirm this was indeed her apartment. The feeling of uneasiness was slowly dying out only to be replaced with shame; the same nightmare documenting the fiasco of their last mission visited her practically every night and yet, her body never failed to deliver the neatly folded package of anxiety. Who am I supposed to murder to get a calm night of undisturbed sleep for once? Should I just try out some experimental lobotomy to forget or what? Knowing from experience she wouldn't be able to drift off to the land of dreams again, Lara rolled out of her bed. She scuttled to the windows automatically to open the curtains; nothing indicated the morning would conquer its right to rule any time soon for the only light present was the artificial glow of the neon signs. The desire to strangle anyone responsible for the heinous crime of ruining London's historical architecture with flashy and obscene modernity would have entered her mind subconsciously under normal circumstances, but instead, Lara's thoughts wandered to that fateful mission.

She had managed to survive, but not because of her insane weapon skills; it turned out the freaks just needed a living messenger to get their point across. Lara possessed a great acting talent - a talent so prodigious it would make any professional green with envy - so persuading her boss she was okay and ready to continue her job merrily hadn't posed much of a complication to her. People could be deceived so easily. Keeping a straight face, not doing anything out of ordinary and occasionally rewarding some lame joke with a laugh was enough to convince them of her mental health. The veil of pretense, however, slid away once she reached her home - a place free of sympathetic stares directed at her address - and what remained underneath chilled her to the core. Lara was beginning to fear that Pandora's box had been opened; faith in their cause couldn't be restored that easily after she had witnessed how simple it was for them to massacre whole unit armed to the teeth. Humanity is playing a Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun, she thought grimly, staring at her own reflection in the window.

Pessimism or defeatism had never been an integral part of her personality, but how could they ever hope to win that endless stuggle with evolution's blatant favoritism towards those scoundrels?! Well, perhaps there is a way and maybe you'll be able to follow that path if you ever get cured out of your cowardice, whispered the annoying voice in the back of her head. Two universal responses existed for the emergency situation when your enemy gained more advanced weapons than you; you either had to transform his benefit into disadvantage through the subtle art of sabotage OR you needed to copy his style and obtain the very same instruments. And while the former was quite impossible, the latter lay within borders of reality...

The ancient book resting on her bedside table irrevocably attracted her gaze; Lara had flirted with the blasphemous notion for a while and purchased the tome about three days ago in a remote second-hand bookshop. Oh yeah, a demon companion is exactly what I need to uplift my spirit; everyone knows how gentle and good-natured those guys are. I wonder why nobody has come up with the brilliant idea of turning them into social workers in the homes for the elderly yet. Right. Summoning a demon and ripping her soul apart in the process solely to ensure it wouldn't use her ribcage as a highly avant-garde fruit bowl couldn't be nominated for the Best plan of the century award. Stupid, outlandish, potentially suicidal; those were the suitable adjectives to describe it. Just as she was about to dismiss the idea completely, the vision of blood-stained warehouse emerged in front of her inner eye, bitter aftertaste of helplessness filled her mouth again and in that moment, thirst after sweet power finally dealt a mortal blow to the logical thinking.

Clapping her hands two times to activate the light, she headed for the kitchen to get the supplies; candles, matches, and chalk. Sanity is over-rated anyway, Lara thought as she was digging through the drawers to find a knife. She gathered all the ingredients hastily, as if afraid that her resolve might vanish any second, and returned back to her bedroom. The short-haired blonde opened the old grimoire with evident disdain that would break any bibliophile's heart; her long, slender fingers browsed through the yellowed pages full of occult lore until she found a certain section. Chapter four: Book of Summoning. Alright, let's roll. The woman knelt to the ground, suddenly aware she was still dressed only in her red nightgown which didn't do much to keep the cold away, and started to draw a strange pattern full of unnatural angles according to the book. Lara wasn't delusional enough to claim being gifted when it came to anything art-related, but her excellent eye-hand coordination worked in her favor; she didn't have to be ashamed of her creation, even though it seemed slightly shabby.

The candles were swiftly arranged around the motif to correspond with the four cardinal directions; north and south, east and west. Afterwards, she stood up, her eyes glued to the crumbling pages.
"Per Adonai Elohim, Adonai Jehova," the incantation read, "Adonai Sabaoth, Metraton Ou Agla Methon, Verbum Pythonicum, Mysterium Salamandrae." Her voice, formerly quiet and somewhat choked, lost its doubts; the words were flowing naturally from her mouth as if she recited them every day. "Cenventus Sylvorum, Antra Gnomorum, Demonia Coeli God, Almonsin Gibor, Jehoshua Evam Zariathnatmik, Veni, Veni, Veni!" Lara paused, taking a moment to breathe properly. "Oh, you who dwell in the darkness of the Outer void, come forth unto Earth, once more I entreat you. Oh, you who abide beyond the Spheres of Time, hear my supplication. Griwer! Meras! Hoendi! Come, for I am both gate and key." She raised the knife; poignant pain seized her right palm as the steel bit her flesh, her blood slowly dripping into the pentagram. "With my blood I call you, with my blood I bind you. Come, come forth, I say, and roam the Earth once more!"

Dreamer- · Oct 23, 2013

There is nothing as tedious then a quick visit to Hell. It is most certainly the dullest place to be, coming in second to Heaven, of course. New arrivals and first time visitors might have a different opinion on this matter, but these were the musings of a demon named Arcadia. In her mind, the over-played screaming souls and the yapping Hell Hounds left no time for a corrupted angel to rest. There was never any silence to be had nor was there a place to obtain decent Chinese food. Any of the luxuries of life humans enjoyed were in short supply here. Not that you could blame anyone, there was a reputation to uphold. Yet, for most, it was not the place to build a summer home. Surely not just Arcadia felt this way about Hell; for most demons it was a universally agreed upon opinion that Earth was the place to be. Humans provided for much entertainment as they had a way of screwing up their own lives that not even the most deprived demon in Hell could hope to accomplish.

All of this was why Arcadia made it a habit of hers not to visit the Home Land often. She was quite good at this and had mastered evading her duties in regular check-ups. Yet, sometimes she was dragged down into the pit of despair anyway. In this case, her superiors has summoned many of her comrades to a meeting of sorts. At this moment, all of the higher ranking demons had been informed about the oncoming apocalypse, it was time for the rest to be notified as to what was going on. This gathering lasted for 20 human years. It would be impossible to tell how long it really lasted for or what it felt like to those present, because in Hell, time has a tendency to mush together and become blurred. After everything was concluded there was a certain uneasy feeling in the air, which was different from the normal mood this fire and brimstone filled pit produced. Either that, or it was all in Arcadia’s head. She didn’t want the World as we Know It to end, she enjoyed being on Earth and bidding time while messing with the humans, it gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling. Being on Earth also tended to ward away the ever present boredom Arcadia experienced with eternal life. This apocalypse business definitely put a kink in things.

Her pondering was cut short by the sudden presence of a buzzing sound in her brain. It was only a few moments till the buzzing turned into coherent syllables. Somebody was talking in Latin in her head, wait… was it Latin? The words were so soft and distance it was hard to tell the dialect. None the less, Arcadia knew what was going on and couldn’t suppress the groan that wanted to escape. She was being summoned. She was being summoned. Why in the world did this have to happen now? And to her? Before moving ahead it should probably be noted that in many cases, a demon summoning was random and plucked any one of these unsuspecting bastards roaming Hell and transported them to the mortal world. That is unless you have a certain demon in mind and knew their name; other whys any demon currently roaming Hell was fair game. In this case, it was Arcadia. Another very good reason not to linger in Hell to long except when strictly necessary. Being summoned wasn’t a choice you had, you were forced to appear where ever the summoner wanted you to, and when the summoner wanted you to. Arcadia could already feel herself being pulled into the mortal world…

A large cloud of black smoke appeared in front of Lara as she cut her palm and dribbled the blood on the pentagram. This massive cloud contorted and twisted within the confines of the markings on the floor, seeming to be unable to leave their parameter. For a few moments the smoke’s movements were erratic and violent, but started twisting into a vortex when Lara’s ritual came to an end. The spiral touched the floor and begun to evaporate from the ground up, revealing a human figure beneath. This figure was in the shape of a human female, approximately 27 years in age. When the smoke was completely gone one could make out the physical features of her face. She had dark brown hair that fell in a mixture of soft curls and waves around her face and reached about 3 inches past her shoulders. Her eyes were the same rich dark brown as her hair but seemed to look black in the poor lighting the candles produced. The woman’s skin was fair but not so pale to look pasty. Arcadia’s current attire was a pair of slacks with a white button-down shirt, covered with a grey vest. On her feet were 4 inch black heels in an effort to improve her normal height of 5’4’’.

The demon looked down to examine herself and what she was currently wearing. She noted that these must have been the last things she had on before taking that trip to Hell. What in the world was I doing? And how long was I in Hell? I hate the time differences, it makes the daily commute such a bitch. After making sure her clothing was in perfect repair she started to observe her surroundings. What dingy, rat infested hole have I been summoned to this time? A flat? That was when she suddenly remembered Lara, having hoped that on first appearance the girl would have seen the error of her ways and released her. Arcadia was not so lucky. She looked Lara over, noting her clothing, physique, and not to mention her bloody hand. Wait, blood? Arcadia looked down at the pentagram and cursed under her breath as she realized what sort of ritual had been carried out. “Are you trying to bind yourself to me?! You feebleminded human, that is an asinine idea. Whatever you wanted had better be worth ripping your soul in two.” Arcadia’s displeasure was evident, she didn’t want to be bound to this human for the foreseeable future. She was also very aware of the fact that she couldn’t do a damn thing about it, since she was trapped in the pentagram with no means of escape.

Arcadia rubbed at her temples, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts and get any and all emotions under control. In being a demon, having or even expressing emotions was not uncommon. Most of the time a demon was ruled by emotions, especially the fallen angels that felt that the rules about acting on emotion in Heaven were too harsh and restricting. Arcadia on the other hand had had no problem with those regulations mandated by Heaven about how one of their holy warriors should act. She was never partial to emotions and feelings and made it a rule to say as far away from unreasonable thinking as she could get. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, sometimes they always slipped through. “Alright, just explain to me, why am I here? What did you need?” inquired Arcadia as she looked over to the human once more, her voice sounded calm as it reverted to its normal tone. The demon was still peeved about being summoned but hoped this would be over with quickly. “I hope it was important enough to summon a demon over, because like I explained before, I do get a piece of your soul in the bargain. And, if it wasn’t made clear in that little book of yours, all sales are final,” said Arcadia was she gestured to the grimoire on the ground next to Lara. The demon thought that this was an utterly foolish idea, but if the human was going to give up a piece of her soul willingly, then who was she to argue? Plus, maybe this would provide the cure for boredom she had been searching for, and get her mind off of the on coming apocalypse.

Shaelinn · Oct 23, 2013

Slightly risen eyebrow, pupils dilated in a curious mix of suspicion and surprise, Lara's expression was practically a textbook definition of disbelief. If translated into human language, it would probably convey a message similar to "Am I lying drugged under the table in some bogged down club with a bunch of my friends taking embarrassing photos of me to publish on the internet or is this really happening?" Well, if it truly was an addictive substances induced hallucination, Lara would have to give a giant thumbs up to its overwhelming quality; the local drug lords didn't deserve that horrible reputation of unfeeling monsters as they apparently cared for their customers' comfort. Strangely, the explanation she had resorted to systematically destroying her life through rather questionable chemical cocktails seemed way more plausible to her than the possibility of the ritual actually functioning. When the God - or whatever entity responsible for stuffing humans' souls into their bodies - had been distributing noble characteristics such as faith, religious respect and affinity to occult lore, Lara had been waiting in line for extra portion of tongue-in-cheek attitude instead. The only reason for attempting to bargain with the devil for help was her emotional instability... Oh, and the great number of braincells decimated by the lack of sleep probably played its role as well.

She watched the black tornado raging in the limited area of the pentagram settle down, her icy blue eyes wide; the smoke gradually dispelled to reveal a... figure. A female figure. As a secret but devoted lover of those b-grade horror flicks with plot deep approximately like an average kiddy pool, Lara was largely disappointed. No horns, no abnormal number of limbs, no dramatic claws sprouting from her fingers, not even a differently colored skin; nobody would think twice about this woman if they bumped into her in a crowded street. The demon seemed very human and, in addition, very feminine; she belonged to the minority of individuals that Lara with her unimpressive 5'6'' didn't have to look up to. Her guest was also fairly attractive - anyone with a working pair of eyes would have to admit that - yet the blonde knew better than to judge anyone according to his appearance. Besides, drooling over a demon didn't combine well with her sense of self-respect; moral guidelines she followed were pretty loose in some aspects, but certain things didn't get any room to be discussed solely from the principle.

Hesitation wasn't a common emotion in her arsenal, yet Lara was still quite stunned and had no clue how to start the conversation; luckily, the demon solved that problem for her with kindness so typical for her kind. Many would shiver under the demon's cold stare and uncompromising words, instinctively afraid of the supreme predator as the sense of self-preservation was encoded into human DNA thoroughly. Lara, on the other hand, preached defense through attack and didn't intend to show any weakness; of course, she was abashed, but the fiend didn't have to know. Any signs of surprise disappeared from her sharp features as the mask of false tranquility concealed her feelings. "Oh well, I guess I shouldn't have expected a demon to behave like a decent being, but I did think certain customs - like greeting politely when you enter a room, for example - were more or less universal. To get the pleasantries out of the way, hello, I'm Lara Reed. Welcome to my humble home. You may call me by my first name; that, ma'am or boss, whatever suits your tastes." She folded her arms on her breasts subconsciously, forgetting her injury for a moment. "Secondly, and that is more of a personal question than anything, why would you complain about the simplicity of your task? Wouldn't it be beautiful if I told you something along the lines of Oh, my brave demon companion, my feet hurt from running around all day, go and embark on an epic journey to bring me a box of pizza? That's more than generous price for a soul, isn't it? You won't get that lucky with me, however." Lara smirked in a wicked way her former colleagues used to hate with fiery passion; finding new methods how to get under people's skin was one of her prominent hobbies, though her joking usually didn't serve to demean her targets. She was just having fun, mostly free of any malevolence, but now, with her friends dead and the situation so desperate, her voice gained an acidic tone. The demon may have been a valuable ally, yet Lara was sure as hell this wasn't a start of a moving friendship; they were still enemies, no matter what bound them together.

"My ultimate goal - the goal you'll help me to achieve in exchange for my soul - is actually very plain from ideological standpoint. Complete and utter genocide of the vampires, werewolves and other lovely creatures that think they may terrorize my race just because there's nobody to slap them on the wrist. I need your knowledge, power and guidance to achieve that..." A hint of doubts appeared in her eyes as she was studying the demon's face intently, her expression suddenly very similar to that of a buyer who had just been cheated out of his money. "You don't look like the warrior type, though. Oh please, tell me I didn't summon a demon of lust. No delicious soul for you in that case," Lara warned her. It felt... strange to talk about her soul as if it was a commodity for sale, to use it as a leverage on the demon, but somehow, she had already accepted the idea of sacrificing it for her revenge. Would she even notice the absence of something so abstract, so incorporeal? Probably not.

Dreamer- · Oct 23, 2013

If there was one thing that Arcadia was, it was observative. She was able to see any flash of emotion that crossed Lara’s face, or any tension held in her shoulders. So, with this in mind, it was fairly easy to get an idea on who this girl was, and her patterns of behavior. “Oh, I am so sorry. Do forgive me. My name is Arcadia Ezard, but feel free to call me Arcadia, Ma’am.” The demons words were dripping with sarcasm, but her face was painted with a smile as she did a little curtsy for her ‘master’. She was quick to straighten up and look over the human girl once more, amusement lighting up her eyes. What a funny little creature. So full of herself with false certainly. This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time, I should thank her later for bringing laughter back to an old demon’s heart.

Arcadia only half heard any of Lara’s next comments, she was too occupied with looking out the window of her bedroom. There were so many lights visible outside; bright neon colors surrounded everything, how horrible. Yet, it was much the same way she had left Earth 20 years ago. From here, not much had changed. There was something sad but reassuring about that prospect, at least in whatever year she was in, Arcadia wouldn’t be too far out of the loop. She had always prided herself on being more connected with technology then most other demons. There were some that still thought the light bulb was a neat idea. You wouldn’t believe the amount of denial there was when cars had been invented; the noise those metal boxes created had drove most of them batty. Those sorts of demons had a backwards way of thinking in her opinion, if you wanted to corrupt massive amounts of souls and bring them over to the Dark Side, you have to use a lot more then cookies.

The thing that snapped Arcadia’s attention back to the present was the use of the words ‘genocide’ and ‘lovely creatures’. The demon was now very focused on Lara once more, and with something a little more than her normal dead stare. A small, sly, smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth as she thought about the possibilities this scenario presented. Going after all those supernaturals? It could be fun, and if I’m lucky, even intellectually stimulating. The funny thing is, most of those guys will be gone anyway once Armageddon is over with. Might as well get a head start. “It sounds interesting, I’ll admit. But… ‘Lust Demon’? Really? You humans have reality so muddled up. There is no lust demons, only a demonic being named Lust. She is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. And, between you and me, she has a horrible taste in partners. She will literally sleep with anything.” Arcadia responded in a sort of, matter-of-fact tone of voice that was very common for her. Another habit that was characteristic of Arcadia was to talk down to people like they didn’t know a thing, and she had a tendency to be extremely vain. So, as you may have guessed, Arcadia got along with Pride swimmingly.

Lara’s next comment about her embodiment being in distinct opposition with the ‘warrior’ she had in mind made Arcadia laugh. “You could say that I’m not actually the ‘warrior’ type, no. I don’t go into vampire nests with guns blazing like you and your unit must have done.” Arcadia laughed again, and this time it wasn’t very clear if it was at Lara’s comment, or if it was at Lara herself. It was so obvious who this girl was now, especially by that ‘total destruction of all supernaturals’ comment. When Arcadia had left Earth, Supernaturals had already come out of the closest and exposed themselves. Everyone knew about them now, not just those underground organizations of hunters. Yet, even with this knowledge, no one but those hunters were raging war against the monsters, and Arcadia assumed that stand-point hadn’t changed. With this in mind, it was easy enough to tell that Lara must belong to one of those groups, going by how she held herself in a very military-like bearing, her trained ability to control her emotions (or at least hide them), and the lean muscles on her arms and legs, that in this day and age, symbolized a warrior. How Arcadia figured Lara and a unit of hers had attacked a rather large group of supernatruals would be from the fact that Arcadia was even there. Why else call a demon to help? Something must have gone wrong; all of, or most of her unit died probably, and this opened her eyes to the fact that this is a big scary world that they sure as Hell aren’t ready for. But Arcadia was taking a stab in the dark at the group of supernaturals they attacked being vampires. It was just one of the most likely answers since Vampires were one of the few supernatural species to live in groups.

Arcadia shrugged slightly and smiled at the human girl in a way that a predator would look at its prey. “Even though I am not a ‘warrior’, I still am able to fight and kill supernaturals. And I possess all of the information you require. But if that still doesn’t satisfy you, feel free to release me, hoping that I won’t kill you before leaving, and then try again to summon another one of my siblings that may not be as interested in your plan, then probably find a way to kill you anyway.” Arcadia’s voice was incredibly calm and relaxed for such a topic, and to see a woman talk about death so casually might look a bit strange. She felt as if she had gotten her point across none-the-less and looked around the room curiously. “So… where do I sleep?” This time Arcadia’s expression and tone were all seriousness, since she actually wanted to know this little bit of information. Like Hell she was going to be sleeping on the sofa for the rest of this mortal’s life.

Shaelinn · Oct 26, 2013

While the disbelief originating from the simple yet astonishing fact that she had managed to conjure a mythical being from the depths of Hell was fading away slowly, a new kind of surprise took its place; much more subtle and somewhat annoyance flavored this time. Lara's recipe to handling necessary interactions with the few people she despised was to subject the poor souls to verbal abuse so intense it should be punishable by law. Okay, habitually belittling them probably couldn't be described as a pinnacle of emotional maturity, but just like all underhanded methods, it worked in ninety percent of cases; hardly anyone dared to bother her after the sarcasm and hostility exceeded the tolerable limits... And this foolproof strategy failed hard with Arcadia, for she apparently didn't decode the Don't fuck with me message not-so-carefully hidden within her words. Lara could already tell this alliance was going to be the most hardcore endurance test of her self-control ever.

The blonde didn't really appreciate being chastised as a spoiled child, so she almost uttered some highly thought-provoking phrase like Who cares? in response to the lecture about Lust, but then the memories from that disastrous night came knocking on the door of her mind. Memories of floor littered with dead bodies, the omnipresent stench of death burning in her nose and, above all, the despair. She suppressed a shiver; the recollection was still painfully fresh and didn't exactly push the right buttons in her subconscious to trigger emotions overflowing with happiness. 'Who cares?' Really? My subordinates fucking died because of sheer ignorance; am I so eager to repeat those mistakes? "Well," Lara shrugged, "forgive me for not knowing demonic celebrities, but my human ancestry makes sneaking out to the parties in Hell particularly difficult. I feel so blessed I have someone like you at my side, Arcadia. Perhaps you can get me an official invitation this time so I can experience your culture better?" she smiled sweetly, her voice once again full of sarcasm and expression unreadable. Her body language, however, suggested a lot to those attentive enough; arms protectively folded around her chest implied a certain degree of wariness.

The metaphorical arrow shot at her former unit bounced off her mental armor harmlessly; Lara knew next to nothing about the complicated structure of demonic hierarchy, but figuring out their psychology wasn't so hard. She wouldn't grant Arcadia the pleasure of seeing her distraught and vulnerable at the mere mention of her eradicated team. There was a time and a place for mourning, for example an empty bar with a bottle of a cheap alcohol as your only companion, but certainly not her microscopic flat containing a demon waiting to feed on her misery. "Nice deduction. Sherlock would be so proud," Lara snickered. At least she thought there were no supernatural powers involved; guessing what had happened couldn't be that tricky. The organization she devoted her whole existence to, The Hunters, wasn't especially famous for their love of demons and it was clear she hadn't summoned Arcadia so they could negotiate the terms of peace between their respective races.

A shadow crossed Lara's face as she listened to Arcadia's reasoning, though the frown wasn't fearful; just pensive. The demon's evident disrespect towards her life and threats didn't faze her in the slightest, but one snippet in her little speech did strike her as odd. Maybe Lara retained an essence of naivety, but wasn't the demon supposed to be repulsed by the notion of murdering her relatives in cold blood? Their family tree was sure to be wide and connection pretty vague, but still; the blonde presumed Arcadia would be at least humiliated by having to serve a mere human in such a way. On the other hand, Lara really didn't know their traditions; the demons could very well hunt their less lucky cousins just for the hell of it or to show off their superiority. Or maybe they just perceived a wall decorated with stuffed vampire head as an embodiment of a good taste. "Deep in my heart, I'm a fairly modest girl, so I guess you'll suffice for now. If you prove to be a worthless fighter, I can still make you brew my coffee and take out the garbage," she replied, grinning like a crocodile. Lara possessed the special talent required to turn a smile into a declaration of a war. The confident smirk, however, disappeared once Arcadia asked her next question.

She hadn't planned this far ahead; honestly, matters of organization had been the last thing on her mind when she had resorted to the ritual. "Well... Unless you want to sleep on the floor, which you're free to do, I guess we can share the bed until we find some other solution," she said, trying her hardest to sound completely indifferent. Tiny tentacles of insecurity wrapped around her at the idea of having the demon so close in her most fragile state, but was there any other option? She couldn't just go to the store and buy another bed; firstly, the shops were surely closed at this hours, and secondly... Lara wasn't so poor she couldn't afford to pay for her electricity bills, but hunting the supernaturals really didn't earn her as much as you'd expect. A minimalistic appearance of her apartment confirmed it; not only was her flat small, but it also seemed to be somewhat Spartan. A bare walls without any pictures, no carpet, a single wooden table with a notebook resting on it, a bed; the only piece of furniture that reflected personality of its owner was a bookcase overflowing with obscure titles. "Just so you know, usually it's my policy not to make such offers after the first date, but since you're my favorite demon, I'll make an exception for you," she smirked, the old confidence back. "So, would you be so kind and tell me what exactly you can do? Is it like in the movies where the demons shoot laser beams from their eyes?" Lara asked, her voice sarcastic, but real interest could be sensed underneath. After all, the price for acquiring her aid was high; it should be something useful. "And if you're expecting me to release you from the pentagram before you accept my soul as a payment, well, tough luck." From what she understood, the soul acted as some sort of safeguard mechanism; Lara wasn't looking forward Arcadia devouring a part of her being, but it was still a better prospect than freeing the demon carelessly and being torn apart limb from limb as a result.

Dreamer- · Oct 26, 2013

Before this point in time, and before those 20 years in Hell, Arcadia had lived among humans from the beginning. Most of the time she had spent around them was in causing havoc and mayhem, but other times she would simply sit down and observe this head-strong and determined little species. Of course Arcadia had always been under the impression that the little apes were inferior to her and her kin, which they were, but she still enjoyed watching their behavior patterns and methods of interaction. It also didn’t slip past her notice that even without the help of any supernatural forces, Humans had the most imaginative ways of screwing up their own lives that no demon could match. All a demon really needed to do these days was light a spark of anger or hatred under a human’s ass, and that human would go through the rest of the day spreading those feelings to every person he or she met, and then those people would go out and do the same thing. It was quite beautiful actually, but over the centuries Arcadia had grown bored with watching people as everything was quick to become repetitive and compulsory. The same tricks still worked and they still brought about the same outcome; there was nothing new or original anymore. Yet, as Arcadia continued to watch Lara and her frequent change in expression, from a snarky smile to blank canvas, she started to feel a spark of curiosity ignite. This human wasn’t completely afraid of her, or curled up in a ball somewhere crying about the prospect of giving up a piece of their soul. Sure she had encountered some people where they did try and put up a show for her and acted tough, and while this might be part of the case with Lara, there was another part of this girl that truly didn’t care about splitting or soul in two or about back talking to an entity that could have killed her with a simply snap of the fingers. Arcadia didn’t know if she wanted to crush this tenacious spirit or if she wanted to keep it from being crushed. Either way it was clear to the demon that there was something about this girl that attracted her, and Arcadia wasn’t very pleased with that prospect.

Arcadia’s eyebrows arched when she was notified about the living conditions. “Ah, I see.” She looked over Lara’s shoulder and to the bed that was behind her. She hadn’t really had in mind sleeping next to the other girl either, and the idea was a bit off putting, but Arcadia just shrugged and replied, “Alright, it’ll do.” She didn’t respond to Lara’s sassy comments this time, she was still trying to wrap her head around the reality that this lady didn’t have another room with another bed. Where was she going to put all of her things? There was a common misconception about Demons wherein they didn’t have to sleep, eat, and didn’t do anything else then murder the innocent. Well, the first two are basically correct. However, because Arcadia had lived among humans for so long she had developed an affinity for certain aspects of their lifestyle, like enjoying food, sleep and crappy TV. Of course Arcadia didn’t eat as often as humans nor tended to sleep as often as humans but she had done these activities for so long that her body, when on Earth, had seemed to develop a dependence for them. This, in a demon, is regrettable; because if she went to long without either of these things, she would go through what humans call ‘withdrawal’, and for a demon it was never very pretty. As for the assumption that demons only enjoyed killing humans and making life Hell on Earth for them, this is almost completely beside the point. Most demons, like Arcadia, enjoyed certain aspects of normal human life and latched on to them. For Arcadia, it was nice cloths and the piano. Which made her think… Where was she going to fit a piano in this tiny apartment? She had already made plans to play the instrument at 3 o’clock in the morning to keep Lara up. If Arcadia was going to be comfortable for the rest of Lara’s life, and she was planning to be, this would have to be changed. “How do you feel about moving?” The question came out of Arcadia’s mouth very bluntly and in a no-nonsense kind of manor. She realized from her surroundings that Lara didn’t have a lot of money, but that was alright, since Arcadia did. She could have gone through life murdering and stealing things to get what she wanted, and sometimes she had, but she had also learned early on that money was a practical commodity to own if you didn’t want to spend your afternoons cleaning up after yourself.

Arcadia scratched the back of her head at Lara’s last comment, “Well if you want me to show you anything, that’s out of the question, little dove. Because, if you haven’t noticed, I’m trapped in this pentagram. But I suppose I could count off some of my basic abilities…” Arcadia’s brow furrowed thoughtfully as she shifted her weight to her right foot and crossed her arms. “First off, I should probably explain that being a Demon doesn’t mean you have a ton of magical powers. I can basically teleport because of what I am, and I am immortal as well. Demons have only a few basic weaknesses to speak of and we regenerate pretty quickly. As for ‘shooting laser beams out of our eyes’ and holding a ball of flame in the palm of our hands, well… No. We are not naturally created with the ability to produce those things. But if a demon so chose, and spent the time finding a willing Witch who would teach them their art, then a lot more becomes possible. I’ve done that, I actually found magic to be quite fascinating. As elements go, I deal in fire, so I can hold a ball of flame in the palm of my hand. Also, I have the ability, if I weren’t trapped in this pentagram and if I wanted to, I could throw you up against the wall and snap your neck. That is a more subtle art then working with the elements… I think it has something to do with bending shadows or something…” Arcadia’s words trailed off as she began getting lost in thought on the subject, but she was quick to come back to reality when she remembered about Lara. “As you can imagine, there is an infinite amount of possibilities, not including spells and such. And for demons, depending on what their original form is, they have other abilities and different aptitudes for certain branches of magic. For me, my original form is the reason why I am better suited to dealing with fire and why it’s harder for me to use other elements. Then again, that is probably a topic best dealt with later.” Arcadia frowned slightly in concentration as her thoughts began to wander again. “Is that enough for you to go on right now? Finally ready to get this show on the road?” She stood up straight once more and looked at Lara, waiting for her payment in return for her ‘help’.

Shaelinn · Oct 29, 2013

Lara was eyeing Arcadia intently, much like a dedicated maths professor would have observed an especially complicated equation presented to him by his most favorite student. A spark of curiosity flashed in her otherwise mostly neutral expression; the demon seemed to be a bunch of contradictions sewn together into one bizarre enigma. The little knowledge of demons planted in her head through the courtesy of fairy-tales, random action movies and horror video games from the era of her adolescence was neither validated nor disproved by meeting the legendary being in person. Certain aspects of the mythos fit her like a glove, such as Arcadia's apparent passion for drowning defenseless kittens and using the font Comic Sans, but other characteristics going hand in hand with the definition of a ghoul were simply missing. Every soldier serving in a special forces unit needed to be a quick analyst of a human behavior, mostly so they could catch the warning signs of their colleagues cracking under the pressure and react with utmost precision to minimize the harm; as such, Arcadia's discomfort at having to share a bed together didn't escape her. Either the rumors about 'insatiable lust' were rather exaggerated or I'm repulsive enough to smother even the most basic of all instincts, Lara thought sarcastically. Or maybe she just doesn't swing that way. Well, whatever her reason is, good for me! I probably won't have to sleep with a taser under my pillow. That was just a figure of speech; the presence of the high-voltage stun gun she had named Trish in an especially melodramatic mood calmed her and Lara wouldn't trade it for anything in the world... Excluding a lifetime supply of ice-cream, of course.

The question about moving came completely out of blue; the blonde couldn't have been more surprised if Arcadia had pulled out a 'Fish is a friend, not a food' transparent from her sleeve and started persuading her about advantages of a vegetarianism. There were no emotional ties established between Lara and her flat; she wasn't the one to let the reality distort through pink glasses of sentimentality. The woman considered her apartment to be a sanctuary of serenity in the middle of chaos, yes, but that didn't magically erase its defects. Lara still wondered how she hadn't developed a severe form of claustrophobia from living in such a confined space; frankly, it could trigger feelings of anxiety even in a notorious shut-in. The neighborhood also wasn't the one you'd feature in an issue of magazine Home & Living with a recommendation for young families to move there and raise their children. Not that Lara planned to become a mother any time soon, yet frequent gunshots in the middle of a night didn't exactly enhance her already disturbed sleep. "I would welcome it, but only if you come in a package deal with a trust fund. It doesn't matter how much the bankers prey upon their unsuspecting customers; committing a bank robbery is still against my principles." It wouldn't shock her if Arcadia truly suggested something outrageous like burglary as the demons probably took what they wanted without fear of consequences, but she didn't intend to engage in criminal behavior because of something as petty as her convenience and this had to be known.

A focused shimmer appeared in her icy blue eyes as Arcadia started talking about her powers; she obviously enjoyed demonstrating her intellectual superiority by lecturing her as her speech was long-winded and full of flowery details, but for now, Lara didn't mind. She had requested this information, after all. Interesting... Very interesting, indeed. With a dash of imagination, many great things could be achieved through this combo and inventiveness wasn't ingredient Lara possessed in a short supply. Few different scenarios ran through her head at once, painting different possibilities and outcomes. "Say, Arcadia, since the technology clearly isn't the key to kick the supernaturals' asses, could you perhaps sacrifice few hours of your precious time and teach me some tricks? You did mention a Witch and those are human as far as I know," Lara said in a tone suspiciously close to politeness; the sharp edge never really vanished, but she wasn't barking orders either and that was a big deal in her book. Bringing them down with their own weapons would be so, so unspeakably sweet.

"As I said before, I'm not that hard to please. Yes, take me under your wing," Lara answered in regards to their bargain, cutting her previous string of thought. For a second, embarrassing silence - silence filled only with Lara staring a hole into Arcadia - descended on the pair... And then, something in the demon's glare - anticipation? - opened her eyes suddenly. The realization that SHE was supposed to do something, not the trapped demon, set in and Lara resisted the urge to slap herself. Oh, right. I'm a certified idiot. "Just a moment. I've got some... technical difficulties," the blonde exclaimed, maintaining her poker-face dutifully, and shifted her attention back to the old grimoire. Because reading the whole damn manual beforehand is for the unpopular kids, she thought sarcastically, for some irrational reason feeling like a student who got caught cheating during the test, and sought out the formula quickly. "Okay..." Lara looked up from the brittle pages, flame of determination providing her with courage. "Zyweto, menhatoy, fabelleron. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I am hereby offering my immortal soul to the demon in exchange for her allegiance. Ysgewoth, athanatos, meweth. Taste my essence and become one with me!" Lara's last words were accompanied with a surprised gasp; the moment she finished the invocation, an invisible force squeezed the air out of her lungs with a steel fist and left her struggling for breath. The pressure pushed a flickering ball of green light out of her chest and while it didn't hurt per se, the sensation of emptiness permeating every fiber of her being was more than a little unnerving.

Dreamer- · Oct 30, 2013

The corners of Arcadia’s mouth twitched to form a small smile. It amused her to imagine herself trying to commit a bank robbery, complete with ski masks, duct tape, and guns. Although Lara was most likely imagining a different situation where Arcadia just ‘poofed’ into one of the vaults and magically took money and any of the valuables. Either way it still caused a spark of amusement to appear in Arcadia’s dark eyes. “You don’t need to worry about that, I promise not to terrorize any unsuspecting bankers out of their hard-earned cash. I have enough money to cover any expenses, and will start looking for a place to procure, tomorrow.” As the demon spoke she couldn’t keep the smile for widening and openly showing her amusement. Arcadia would not go back on her promise to Lara on this issue of money, nor would she be likely to go back on any promises she made to this human in the future… technically. Once she had absorbed Lara’s soul then a powerful bond would be created between the two women, and to a certain degree, Lara would have control over Arcadia. It is also true that Lara will no longer be in danger of Arcadia laying a finger on her, but that doesn’t mean the demon won’t think twice about finding loop holes in the human’s commands. Arcadia had a strong premonition that this relationship of theirs would turn out to be very interesting, indeed.

The courteous tone of Lara’s voice raised red flags in Arcadia’s paranoid mind. Not one time since they had started this conversation had Lara shed her snarky and sarcastic manner; hearing this dramatic change in voice felt strange to Arcadia. She had been under the impression that nothing less than a caustic remark could come out of Lara’s mouth. None the less, the demon gave a curt nod in respond to Lara’s request. “Yes, I will try teaching you some ‘tricks’, as you call them. But the product of your efforts will depend on your aptitude for the magical arts. If you are spiritually inept at matter reconfiguration then you will be able to produce next to nothing. I wouldn’t worry, though. It is very rare that a human doesn’t possess some degree of magical potential. Tell me, what is your background, do any of your family members possess spiritual abilities?” Arcadia tilted her head a fraction to the side as she examined Lara, waiting for her answer while getting to work on constructing the basic layout of what their first lesion will contain. In her mind, fighting supernaturals would take a mixture of magic and modern-day weapons. Take vampires for example, you can kill them like any normal human, but what works against you if their speed and strength, which is where magic comes in. Many techniques could be used to rectify the unequal advantages vampires have, if you were skilled and practiced in the art of using magic, that is.

Arcadia waited patiently while Lara finished the ceremony. It was almost immediately after she said the last words when Arcadia watched as the luminescent ball of green light was pushed forth from the human’s chest. The demon raised her hand as if to receive it while the floating orb traveled into the pentagram and brushed against Arcadia’s out stretched finger tips. Once the sphere of light made contact with skin it started to be absorbed by the demon’s body. As the soul entered Arcadia’s beings, through her blood stream, all of her veins seemed to glow as Lara’s essences traveled up her arm and into Arcadia’s chest. The soul was evenly distributed as it attached itself to Arcadia. There was one brilliant flash of light as the procedure came to an end, and then the light in the room returned to normal, as if nothing had changed. Arcadia felt the warmth of the new soul inside her chest as if she had just taken a shot of whiskey. The feeling was rather pleasant and Arcadia sighed with contentment. She looked at Lara and realized that the girl may be in a state of shock for a while as her body adjusted to the new feeling of emptiness. Yet, where the hole was left by the soul, would now be filled with Lara’s bond to the demon. Arcadia felt it as well and encountered an odd pull to the girl standing before her. With this connection she could feel superficial emotions radiating off of her partner and noted how strange it felt to have this sort of link with another person.

Being bonded to someone was a completely new experience for Arcadia and it was difficult for her to figure out how to react. It would take time for both girls to adjust to this new situation and act accordingly. Arcadia vanquished these thoughts from her mind and glanced down at the floor. During the final processes of absorbing the soul, the pentagram had been broken; she was now able to step out of its confines. She slowly took a step towards Lara, walking out of the chalk markings on the floor and smiled at her ‘Boss’. “Well, that was interesting, enjoyable on my end. Was it as good for you as it was for me?” Arcadia let a smirk creep across her face as she spoke her sarcastic comment. She didn’t wait for one of Lara’s snappy replies as she took a turn about the room and stretched her limbs. Being trapped in one of those pentagrams always gave you a new perspective on life, and made you thankful that you’re not trapped in a cage somewhere. Arcadia went over to the window and gazed at her surroundings, trying to figure out where and when she was. She decided that she would make a point of discussing the topic with Lara later, but at the moment, she was tired. “Do you have any pajama’s I could borrow? I wasn’t exactly packed for an overnight stay when you pulled me out of Hell,” Arcadia commented without looking away from the window, her voice had reverted to its neutral tone.

Shaelinn · Nov 2, 2013

Lara just nodded in response to Arcadia sacrificing her financial resources for the sake of their well-being; after all, moving was the demon's idea and while the young hunter had no objections to speak of, forcing her to take a second job in order to be able to pay for better living conditions would only result in a giant middle-finger from her. Why am I even surprised? She had whole centuries to gather some cash; it's only logical all her time on Earth wasn't wasted on stealing candy from innocent children and rehearsing a villainous laugh. Hell, I shouldn't be shocked if she sat on a horde of gold like an obsessive dragon. The girl bit her lip just to suppress a snicker; the mental image of Arcadia growling threateningly at anyone stupid enough to approach her treasure that went with the notion was simply too much for her to handle. Her fantasy, sometimes too active for her own good, even added small horns and reptile-like scales to Arcadia's appearance. Too bad she didn't possess an ounce of literary talent for book written on the premise of half-dragon, half-demon was sure to be a bestseller. Today's readers ate every nonsense with gusto, as long as it contained a sappy romance, misunderstood hybrids of any kind and supernatural. Their romantic fantasies weren't ruined by investigating horribly mutilated corpses - the sad products of their gory revelry - daily.

Well, that was unexpectedly simple; Lara had expected Arcadia to be a little more secretive about the sacred art. Knowledge was a precious commodity in any dimension and the demons were rather famous for slapping the top secret sticker on every triviality. The healthy distrust towards deals too good to be true that had always had a major say in her decisions caused her to doubt this sudden openness was caused by Arcadia's good heart. There had to be a catch in there somewhere... Or maybe their partnership gave her a greater power over the demon than she realized; Lara knew hurting her physically would be impossible for Arcadia after the contract's completion, but she had very loose idea about boundaries of her obedience. Would she have to listen to her every whim? Another grand theory to test out. Searching in her memory for a while, her expression thoughtful, the girl finally shrugged. "As far as I know, there's no connection to Salem in my family and sadly, nobody has ever gotten a letter from Hogwarts. I can't say for sure, though; reading the future from the crystal ball isn't something you boast about if you don't particularly wish to attract an angry crowd with torches, so... Perhaps I do have some hidden talent," she remarked, her tone of voice still devoid of sarcasm.

Lara wasn't a loyal fan of panic outbursts. Even scared out of her wits, the girl held the fear in through sheer willpower and stayed quiet. The respiration problems cease soon, but the cold feeling of hollowness spreading from her chest to her fingertips with frightening thoroughness of a deadly virus persisted. She felt strangely detached from the reality; her thoughts muddled into one giant maze of confusion as if the demon had forced a pill of valium down her throat. Staggering backwards a little, Lara leaned on the wall drunkenly, her head bent down in nausea. Her current state resembled a ship that had lost its anchor and became a plaything of the turbulent waves; just as she thought she was going to yield to the numbness, alien energy poured into her veins and connected her to the reality once again. The clouds covering her mind dissipated. The shapes around her seemed more resolute, more defined and the colors also looked somewhat brighter; she had returned, but something in her very essence had changed. The bond between them, however ambiguous, was painfully real and Lara knew she would never belong to anyone the way she belonged to Arcadia now... Yes, because she has just consumed a part of your fucking soul. That IS pretty intimate. Going even further without simultaneously delving into the joys of cannibalism would require a great amount of creativity. "Awesome experience," Lara answered with her trademark sarcastic edge."I don't get why people do drugs when this variant of self-harm is both so much more cheaper and intense." She watched her 'servant' carefully, as if she harbored a suspicion Arcadia would start systematically demolishing her flat upon being released, but thankfully, nothing like that happened.

"I guess," she uttered and moved to the drawers; rummaging through unfolded clothes, Lara pulled out a sleeveless blue nightgown. The fabric reached approximately to knees and its touch almost felt like a caress. Her wardrobes weren't overflowing with designer clothes - unlike most women, she didn't suffer from mass hysteria that forced the afflicted ones to spend their lives in an endless hunt for brands and even if she did, her money situation wouldn't allow it - but nightgowns counted as rare exceptions. Lara enjoyed the feeling of silk against her skin and she had every right to indulge in pleasures every now and then. "Here you go," she tossed it at Arcadia, suppressing a yawn. Portioning her soul out had apparently taken its toll on her for her eyelids grew heavy; insomnia probably wouldn't stick out its ugly head this night. "I hate to say it, but I'm too tired to start our training today. You know, we mortals are pretty fixated on our sleeping hours. I suggest you don't bother me during that time; unless you have a good reason to do so, like a fire breaking out in my room, then I am not going to react very positively to disturbances. Well, good night." Lara yawned, not even trying to hide it anymore, and lay in the bed; she curled up in the corner of the bed to avoid getting too close to Arcadia. Sleeping with a demon, albeit the one that couldn't really hurt her, still made her anxious. The tiredness was a kind companion, though; it didn't let her to ponder over it for too long. Her breathing soon got regular and she fell asleep... Unfortunately for Arcadia, Lara rarely slept calmly and this night wasn't different; the relatively short girl occupied much more space than anyone would have expected as she fought invisible enemies and mumbled incomprehensibly. With her voice reduced to mere whisper, nobody could distinguish enough words to re-construct the sentences coming out from her mouth. The only clear word was, perhaps surprisingly, her name. Lara. Sighing quietly, she turned around and suddenly, her face - face wet with tears - ended up in Arcadia's cleavage.

Dreamer- · Nov 4, 2013

As Arcadia gazed out the window to the empty streets below, she considered how her next couple of decades would pan out. Teaching this head-strong human girl the proper techniques in using magic would be one of the first things on her To-Do list, yet the prospect had promise to not be entirely boring, especially if the girl does turn out to be talented. Hopefully this would not be the full extent of her duties as the days continued; Arcadia certainly hadn’t expected being summoned back to Earth to help some mortal destroy all the Supernaturals. Arcadia realized there would be people back home that would defiantly look down on such a task; after all… demons had created the supernaturals in the first place. This situation also posed another issue if the demons started to question Arcadia’s loyalty to ‘the Cause’. For her sake it would be best to keep things quiet for the moment, so as not to raise the chance of getting pulled apart limb from limb by her siblings. Of course, if worse came to worse she did have a cast-iron excuse, and it was the person right next to her. Arcadia would blame Lara and then watch as the girl is killed in some animalistic fashion, all the while crippled on the ground in agonizing pain. No… that didn’t seem like the most favorable plan… looks like she would also be protecting the little maggot as well. For demons, killing off someone you had made a deal with and were bonded to was only something that happened against said demon’s will or in emergency circumstances; this is because it is an extremely painful process. In the spirit of self-preservation, Arcadia didn’t feel the need to chance it, and will live out the rest of Lara’s life as her ‘Guardian Angel’.

Arcadia looked over the women next to her and watched as Lara went through the motions of bonding with a demon. As the girl leaned against the wall for support, Arcadia felt Lara’s emotions become her own. This startled the demon and she tried her best to block any and all feedback she was getting from the human. Hopefully she was only picking up on Lara’s feelings because this connection of theirs was brand new, since Arcadia didn’t know how she felt about the fact she could sense the girl’s emotions. Maybe a little annoyed? Put off? Disconcerted? “I wonder what else will come with bonding to a human. I’ve never done this before so I have no idea what to expect… Didn’t one of my siblings explain this phenomenon to me? Oh, that’s right, I stopped listening half way through.” Arcadia sighed inwardly and looked back over to Lara to see her starting to get a grip on things. She caught the night shirt that was thrown at her and listened to Lara’s little ‘warning’ as she watched the human climb into bed and fall asleep nearly as soon as her head hit the pillow. Arcadia walked over to her side of the bed and started to strip down. She folded up her button-down shirt and pencil skirt, laid her bra on top, and left them by her heels on the ground. She slipped on Lara’s night shirt and climbed into bed with the girl.

It was funny to see Lara cling to the edge of the bed and as far away from Arcadia she could get. Yet it soon became evident that this girl was a wild sleeper, getting close to slapping Arcadia in the face a couple times. With all of this flailing going on it was difficult to get some sleep, so Arcadia settled for watching Lara and trying to pick out any words from the jumbled syllables she was spewing. She was able to discern the word ‘Lara’ coming from the girl’s mouth, which made Arcadia arch an eyebrow. “Odd… saying her own name whilst sleeping? Either this girl has some inner demons I don’t know about or she’s vainer then I am.” It carried on like this for a while and it wasn’t too long till the sunlight was starting to peak through the curtains and mix with the neon lights coming from outside. Arcadia’s attention was ripped away from the morning light when Lara shifted her body so her face was now pressed between Arcadia’s breasts. The demons initial reaction was to tense up her whole body and then push Lara out of the bed, hard. But when she placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders something made her stop and think for a moment. If she was going to chuck the girl out of bed like she was intending, it would most likely result in pain on her part if Lara did happen to get hurt. So she looked down at the girl with a frown, still very uncomfortable with the situation. "Wait… is the girl crying? Oh brother…" Then the demon’s frowned turned into a smile as she got an idea, she’d use this situation to mess with the human. “Lara, can you wake up please? I know you said to only wake you in an emergency but I think you’ve gotten yourself into an awkward position. I hope you know that I think this is very forward of you and I am a very respectable demon, I didn’t think I would be sexual harassed when I climbed into this bed… Is me being this close going to be a problem for you?” Arcadia murmured this words into Lara’s ear in a honey-sweet tone, relishing the moment when Lara would wake up and freak out, maybe even sputter some sentences in embarrassment. Wouldn’t that be adorable?

Shaelinn · Nov 6, 2013

If God truly existed and manipulated every little aspect of individual's life like some religions would want us to believe, only two things were absolutely set in stone. First, he would have to be a total Red Bull addict by now because micro-managing lives of billions people wasn't something you could take care about in five minutes and then head to the pub to drink yourself to the hangover happily, and secondly, the guy's character had probably suffered a massive damage over centuries of playing The Sims with sentient beings. Plaguing her sleep with two horrific nightmares grounded in reality during one night was just a little bit of overkill; Lara really didn't need all her failures smeared in her face in vivid colors. This concrete vision, however, differed from the previous one drastically. While the bad dream from before was so accurate in its depiction of what had happened she could shoot a documentary movie based on her nightly escapade, this one lacked all the breathtaking, gory details. They didn't have to be here in order to convey the message properly. The feelings dominated there; the sensation of loss so immense she felt like puking, the crawling dread, the cold realization nothing would ever be the same... Even though Lara would probably win a gold medal in the Olympics if there was a discipline called self-control, it wasn't so superior as to stretch its effect to the realm of sleep; the tears began to trickle down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Have you ever experienced that strange state immediately before waking up when you're still captured under the dream's influence, but some distant part of your mind is aware you're, in fact, asleep? Lara slipped into that condition the moment she felt someone's grip on her bare shoulders. Red warning lights were flashing furiously in that almost conscious corner of her mind; there was an intruder in her bedroom and based on the statistics, they probably hadn't come to throw her a surprise party. Lara opened her eyes, looking somewhat lost. Who the hell was the woman; some pervert reveling in stealing honorary citizens' clothes and then sneaking into their beds? Fortunately, Arcadia's voice pulled her back to the reality before her self-defense mechanism activated and forced her to knock the alleged trespasser's teeth out. Oh, that's right. It's just Arcadia, friendly demon next door who now owns a half of my soul. she thought as her memories fell into place like a perfect puzzle piece. That was when she realized the contents of her dream and salty traces on her face; her slightly panicked expression immediately grew into pure horror. Had she talked in her sleep? Damn, even if she hadn't, the tears said more than a thousand words would. Crap, crap, crap. Lara had never felt so naked, so vulnerable in front of someone. Listening to Arcadia's speech also didn't help matters much; her eyes went wide with surprise as the demon accused her of... what, exactly? What the hell did I do?! Her cheeks flaming with embarrassment, Lara was just seconds away from actually begging her for forgiveness, but that would go against the rules of their little game of dominance. The blonde needed to save the little dignity she had left with some smart, deep-cutting response.

"W-well, if you have a problem with me being touchy-feely, you're still welcome to sleep on the floor. I can molest whoever I want in my own bed," Lara heard herself saying in tone of a kid who had just been refused a candy. Most of the time, her quick tongue worked strictly in her favor, defeating and humiliating even the most determined enemies, but when she was really flustered, it backfired on her in the most spectacular manner... Just like now. Seriously, brain? I need to fire a witty comment at her and THIS is what you give me? Fuck you! Lara wriggled out of Arcadia's clutch swiftly as if she was a carrier of some incurable disease and deserted the bed; frankly, the demon's proximity was getting a little too much to bear for the confused girl. Turning to face the window so Arcadia couldn't see her wiping away her tears, Lara registered the sun's shy touch spreading over London. The sight would have been breath-taking, romantic even, if it weren't for the billboards offering 'colossal discount' for viagra. She toyed with the thought of leaving for work earlier just to escape the shame; the anonymity of wandering aimlessly in the dirty streets was a rather tempting concept compared to Arcadia's taunts, but she knew running away like that would count as yet another loss. No, the young hunter would have to endure it somehow... And the idea on how to do it popped up inside her head. Since the verbal beat-down hadn't gone as well as expected, Lara decided to change her strategy; re-directing Arcadia's attention to relatively safe topic was currently the best option. "Anyway, since you woke me up over such a trifle, let's make some use of the spare time before my shift starts. Now's your chance to show how talented teacher you are. Initiate me to the secrets of magic."

Dreamer- · Nov 6, 2013

Arcadia heard the slight stutter in Lara’s voice when she tried to regain her dignity, and it made Arcadia grin. She watched the girl get out of bed and felt all of the mixed emotions coming off of her, from the cold-dread that had plagued Lara during her dreams to the embarrassment she was experiencing now. It was the loveliest thing to watch as the human’s skin was flushed with red in humiliation, it caused an odd sort of pleasure to spread through the demon’s limbs. Arcadia had just decided that she enjoyed the ability to sense Lara’s emotions, particularly the ones she had caused. Yet, that swirling torrent of horror and loneliness coming off of Lara during her sleep was a bit peculiar. It caused something close to protectiveness to surge up from some unknown part of Arcadia that she had never known to exist. She supposed this came with the bond they had formed when she had consumed the human’s soul; even though Lara did have some control over Arcadia now, and the demon couldn’t harm her, Lara did belong to her. This strange little human with seemingly so many secrets was hers to toy with as she pleased, and if Arcadia had had a tail right now she would be wagging it.

To Lara’s request Arcadia got out of bed and smoothed out her sleep shirt, gazing down at the stains Lara’s tears had left. What exactly was causing this girl so much distress that she would cry? This would be something she could occupy her time with later, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Lara… What were you dreaming about?” Arcadia didn’t expect an answer to her question and was waiting for a scorching retort from her human. She picked up her clothing from the ground and started to get dressed, not seeming to be uncomfortable in front of the other woman since her mind was almost immediately on other things. “Alright, where should we start…? Oh! I know! Let’s begin with the basics, collecting energy used for carrying out a spell.” Arcadia has just buttoned the top button on her shirt when she motioned for Lara to come closer. “Now, I’m not sure if you are aware, but carrying out any spell requires a lot of concentration, especially for beginners. As you progress in your field, certain spell and practices will become elementary for you and you’ll be able to conjure up something without even batting an eye. Before any spell, we start with collecting the energy needed for carrying out said spell. Usually it is customary to collect it in-between the space of two hands. Let me demonstrate.”

Arcadia raised her hands in front of her, holding them apart and in a position that would make you think she was grasping some invisible ord. Within a few seconds a small, glowing ball of yellow light was positioned between her palms and hanging in mid-air. Arcadia looked to Lara, “This is pure energy, I’ve made it visible by concentrating in my mind where I wanted it to manifest, and imagined a small part of my own energy traveling through my body, up my arms, and out my finger tips to appear before me. Now from here, I can easily turn it into my mastered element.” With a snap of the fingers on her left hand, the light disappeared as a ball of flames jumped into the palm of the same hand. With another snap of the fingers the fire was extinguished and Arcadia’s arms were back at her sides. “Yes, the concept is as simple as it seems… if you are experienced enough. You see, all magic comes with a price, it takes your own energy to cast these spells, and if you try a difficult spell before you are ready, then the consequence is most likely death. You will know when you’ve started reaching your limit when you begin to feel faint, or your nose starts to bleed.” Arcadia licked her lips and crossed her arms loosely over her chest. “Alright, you know enough to go on, for now. How about you give it a try.” She watched the girl closely, curious to see if Lara did indeed possess some hidden talent somewhere.

Shaelinn · Nov 10, 2013

Though Lara's face revealed about as much emotion as average obsidian statue, the tension in her shoulders spoke tons about how comfortable she felt during this particular conversation. She hadn't expected Arcadia to be tactful enough to let the topic slide, but that didn't mean the demon's eagerness to stick her nose into her personal affairs was a dream come true. "My life's most prominent tragedy," she answered, searching in her wardrobe for clean clothes. The daily ritual of digging through the neatly folded fabric occupied her hands and conveniently disguised any signs of trembling. "The day I found out my parents were too poor to throw me a birthday party in Disneyland. You have no idea how traumatizing it was to have my childhood destroyed in such a brutal manner." The lie didn't deliver a heavy blow to her consciousness; Lara had absolutely no qualms about withholding the truth from someone who'd probably laugh at her mercilessly for the rest of her mortal life and maybe even longer. The cost of Arcadia's services boiled down to giving up her chance for decent afterlife; if she wished for easy access to her privacy as well, she should have included that clause in their contract beforehand. Lara did possess somewhat loose lips, but there were few topics where she drew the line and Arcadia was lucky enough to stumble upon one of those.

The component that caused women to philosophize passionately about the contents of their wardrobe and whether it was a deadly sin to combine a stripped trousers with a dotted T-shirt hadn't developed in Lara's brain. Angsting over numerous outfits in front of the mirror seemed completely pointless to her; as long as they fit her humble criteria defined by comfort, she was okay with pretty much anything. In other words, had the fashion police been empowered to enforce their law, Lara would have spent a significant portion of her lifetime behind the bars as a notorious offender. Just like always, her attire for today was chosen more or less randomly; a blue, V-shaped shaped sweater that complimented her hair color and tone of her skin and dark, close-fitting jeans. A down-to-earth combination that wouldn't insult anyone. She slipped from her nightgown like a snake out of its skin and put on the clothes quickly, averting Arcadia's gaze through the entire ordeal. Getting dressed in front of a stranger wasn't on her wishlist of erotic fantasies, but she sure as hell didn't intend to hide as an overly self-conscious teenager. My own flat has transformed into battlefield of psychological warfare. Yay! What's not to love?

As Arcadia delved into explaining the basic principles of magic, Lara immediately switched into her attentive mode; not only she embraced the change of topic with open arms, but common sense told her that not taking these matters seriously would be like asking for family unfriendly death. Hmm... Really? No weird midnight rituals, no virginal sacrifices and no hunting for suspicious ingredients such as unicorn's tears? I'm sold so far. Shaolin-esque manipulation of energy certainly didn't give her a vibe of forbidden art practiced by soulless sociopaths only; it looked like the church had decided to twist the truth once again. Not the biggest surprise here, considering they were undeniably the greatest society of compulsive liars in the mankind's history. "So I guess you can say the magic is subject to the law of conservation of energy?" she asked, observing the radiant orb in Arcadia's hand closely. How much damage could that tiny ball of light do? Lara didn't inquire out of creeping suspicion that Arcadia might demonstrate its effectiveness on her belongings. "Okay, that concept isn't difficult to grasp. Here goes nothing." Closing her eyes in order to improve her concentration, the young hunter put her hands in the same position that the demon had assumed mere moments ago and tried to squeeze out the energy from her body. Needless to say, the task itself proved to be infinitely harder than the theory. A single drop of sweat trickled down her forehead as she attempted to bend the energy according to her will; it was so frustrating. Lara sensed the strength locked away somewhere in her mind, but every time she reached after it to remove the chains and unleash the beast, it just retreated deeper into its hiding place.

Passing seconds gradually turned into minutes; most of humans would admit the defeat at this point, but her stubbornness ruled that possibility out without even considering it. Come on, Lara. Your daily quota of incompetence has been met already, no need to strive for better results. Maybe the ability to control the energy relied on imagination more than she anticipated; this thesis was basically begging for confirmation. And so Lara withdrew into her fantasy. She imagined the energy as a golden-colored, pulsating liquid flowing in her veins instead of her blood. Her heart distributed it evenly to her body with every beat; her limbs began to feel somewhat warmer, though she couldn't say whether something was truly happening or her mind was just fooling itself. The blonde didn't notice her breathing falling out of sync with her heart; it got much slower and more shallow as if someone had put her into hypnotic sleep. With the image in her head vivid, Lara let all the energy pour into the visible spectrum through her hands... And gasped aloud when the decrease of power left her weak in her knees. Somewhat bewildered, the girl opened her eyes only to see a yellowish ball of light in between her hands. Flickering and swirling around like a mini-tornado, her energy didn't really resemble Arcadia's disciplined orb at all. Corners of her mouth twitched in a smile for there was nothing quite as satisfying as picking up a new skill. "See? I told you it couldn't be so difficult. After all, you demons do it all the time..." Before she could bathe in the shine of her success further, her hands suddenly started burning with agony; acting purely on instinct, Lara threw the source of pain away... The ensuing explosion was deafening. The particles of dust mingling with tiny splinters obscured her visage and made her cough violently; her lungs itched as if she had smoked twenty cigarettes in one go. "The fuck?!" Lara cried out in surprise, completely abandoning the vocabulary of a well-behaved young lady. The mess slowly settled down to display a giant hole in the wall; well, hole in the wall and equally amazed neighbor staring right into her bedroom through the created tunnel. "Oops... Good morning, Mr. Svenson..."

Dreamer- · Nov 12, 2013

Arcadia glanced over to Lara, monitoring her body language as she spoke. It was true she was unable to see any trembling of her hands as she searched through her cloths, but the fact that she was trying to keep herself busy and facing away from the demon did not escape Arcadia’s notice. But, to be fair, there was probably nothing that Lara could do to try and dampen Arcadia’s curiosity, her interest had already been piqued. Finding out all of Lara’s dirty little secrets would be a superb game of cat and mouse, and as a bonus it concerned an area Arcadia was very willing to push her luck in. In her mind, what could possibly have happened to this girl that would make her cry in her sleep? Something was definitely tormenting this human, and it would take a Battle of Wills and no small amount of cunning to pry the answers from Lara. There was a very strong likelihood that it has something to do with the supernaturals, she was a hunter after all. Or, quite possibly, the traumatic event took place before Lara had entered the ranks, maybe something happened to her family? There was an infinite number of possibilities and they all seemed to want to be the center of Arcadia’s attention. There was only loud noise and bubbling thoughts in her mind, all of the ruckus was causing a horrible, sharp pain to pierce Arcadia’s temples. A grimace dawned her face as she restrained herself from rubbing at her temples, willing the episode to pass quickly. She was thankful when focusing on Lara’s attempt to conjure up tangible energy pushed the tirade of thoughts back into the recesses of her mind.

“That is correct, the energy can only be morphed. I suppose you could try and compare how closely magic complies with the laws of physics, but I wouldn’t suggest it. You never get any of your questions answered and you’ll find yourself going around in circles. Though, that could just be me. The theoretical tends to bore me,” Arcadia responded, considering the whole subject to be a bit dull. Maybe it was because of her age and how much she had experienced of the world, but she thought philosophers, along with most branches of science, were wasting their time. God could simply snap his fingers and turn everything upside down; what was the use trying to figure out the mysteries of the world when that world was being controlled by a pompous jackass who liked to gamble? That being said, Arcadia didn’t think she would change all that much about the world and its mediocre standards, she was just too lazy. Arcadia let out a long breath, as if she had been holding it for a while. She clasped her hands behind her back, mentally scolding herself for her knack in getting side-tracked, and watched Lara work her ‘magic’. Minutes were starting to pass before there seemed to be any head-way in Lara’s efforts, which was lucky for the human because Arcadia was close to losing what little patience she had. A swirling ball of yellow light was finally produced, but Arcadia’s lips were pressed into a thin grimace at Lara’s cocky attitude over her achievement. She almost felt like a primary school teacher in the sense she was experiencing the need to give Lara a clip ‘round the ear and tell her to concentrate.

Arcadia’s irritation was completely wiped from her face when Lara made a motion to throw the ball of undisciplined energy. Just a few moments before the explosion occurred Arcadia raised her arms to protect her face and hair from any of the splinters and chunks of dry-wall sailing through the air. As soon as everything settled, she lowered her arms to look at the gigantic hole in the wall where Lara had thrown her ball of energy, and looked upon the man that seemed like he was going to piss his pants. Arcadia let the dust settle on her shoulders and stayed completely still for a moment, face unreadable. And then she cracked. Arcadia burst out laughing, clutching at her rippling stomach muscles as they began to strain with the repetitive motion of the laughter. Small tears appeared in the corner of her eyes and she made a motion to wipe them away, only to have her eyes well up again in her wild fit of exertion. “Oh god... I was not expecting that. Bravo Lara! Seems like there might be just a ‘smidge’ of talent in you for the magical arts after all,” Arcadia’s words were slightly tainted with sarcasm but most of her statement was conveyed in good humor. When her fit of laughter had finally subsided she stood up straight and righted herself, making her normal motions to prim her clothing. She looked at Lara with a large grin, amusement lightening her dark brown eyes. “Good thing we are moving, huh?” The tone of her voice made it clear that she found Lara’s disaster to be completely hilarious. Arcadia suddenly turned her head to gaze at Mr. Svenson, “Looks like you lucked out today, pal. You get an addition to your apartment and we helped tear down that pesky wall… No need to thank us.”

The grin on Arcadia’s lips had gone and what was left was her normal, neutral expression, but she knew in her heart of hearts that she would never let Lara live this down. “We definitely need to work on your technique, Lara. The power of your energy is impressive, but it does want for some… elegance, to say the least. But, I think the training session is over for right now, didn’t you mention your shift starting soon?” She asked Lara, her head tilted slightly to one side. I wonder what this little hunter’s organization looks like now… I can’t say how long I’ve been away and I wonder if it has changed much? I have visited a few in the past, and they’ve always seemed stuffy. But it was amusing to see all of their ‘battle plans’ for annihilating the supernatural races… Arcadia grinned inwardly and thought that it could be fun to mess around with some of Lara’s comrades, drop a few, not so subtle hints about what she was and their relationship, maybe even take those moronic fools down a peg. Lara would definitely disapprove of Arcadia’s antics but that was part of the point. If she was going to help this human exact her revenge on all supernaturals, it was only fair that she got her jollies out of the deal.

Shaelinn · Nov 16, 2013

Lara folded her arms over her chest in a typical gesture disapproval; Arcadia truly had no manners. Where was her sense of humor shipped from? Property damage and possible endangering of our lives, really funny stuff.This is a serious situation, who knows how many problems could arise from... And that was when Svenson's wide-eyed surprise helped her realize the delicious absurdity of the whole scene. She tried to keep a straight face, her expression frozen in a comical mix of unwilling amusement and desperate effort to stay serious, yet the chuckles soon erupted like a volcano. The flames of glee dancing in her eyes altered her appearance beyond belief; Arcadia got a rare sneak-peek at how the girl looked when she wasn't too busy emitting waves of hostility. The shadow of suspicion cast over her face permanently vanished and for the first time, her smile seemed to be genuine, not some variant of a condescending smirk. Putting her hand over her mouth, Lara at least had the decency to try and contain her amusement, but it didn't work out much; the demon's laugh was dangerously contagious. "So-sorry," she breathed out between the giggles, "I'll pay for that. Actually, my friend here will be more than happy to cover the expenses since she apparently bathes in cash. I'm sure she'll also include some little bonus for the trauma you went through. Right, sweetie?"

The mention of another training session wiped the smile off her face and she returned to her usual, almost robotic state; while her performance was surely teeming with qualities needed for a good comedy show, it also had few things in common with a hydrogen bomb. The public would certainly complain if they found out that the person building a hydrogen bomb in their neighborhood was just a Chemistry hobbyist. Both magic and weapons of mass destruction demanded a perfectly professional attitude and Lara was going to accept the responsibility... At least partially. "Okay, I admit a bulldozer could surpass me in the elegance department, but you could have given me better instructions than just 'try it, it's gonna rock your world.' You know, it may feel natural to you, but to me, it's like... trying to fit a toothpaste back into the tub. I'm more of a technology savvy gal, so while you consider the theory inferior, it'll probably help me to understand what the hell is going on and figure out the correct course of action. Are there any books you'd recommend me for studying?" Lara couldn't quite imagine demonic scholars writing essays about thermodynamic processes during spell-casting, but she needed to know her options; even though she had laughed at her foiled attempt in the spirit of a good sportsmanship, the haywire energy actually scared her a little. It was like holding the very essence of a storm in her hand and desperately trying to keep it from eradicating everything in sight.

She stole a side-way glance at Arcadia; was bringing her right to her workplace a good idea? Probably not. Leading one of those abominations right to the heart of their resistance screamed 'betrayal' to her, but Lara hadn't gone through the pain of acquiring her demonic familiar just so the creature could polish her boots. Beating her idiotic conscience into submission, the girl simply nodded. "Yes, it starts in half an hour or so. We should get going, unless you want to stay here and spend some quality time watching holovision. Those commercials are pure art; it's a shame that some random movie interrupts them every twenty minutes or so." She grabbed her black jacket from the coat hook on the wall, threw it over her shoulder and headed outside without further word. Svenson would have to do with a mere promise of compensation. Money would keep his lips shut better than cheap excuses; there were certain things you simply couldn't explain and demolished wall belonged to that category. Lara's flat was in the fifth floor, but since using this house's infamous elevator equaled to suicide, the hunter opted for more time-consuming way through the staircase. "Just so we're clear, I don't think I can justify having a demon as my pet. It's a touchy topic between us and a great deal of grudge is involved for some unfathomable reason, so you shouldn't probably expect tons of date invitations upon revealing your exotic descent. Most of them would probably try to unbone you out of sheer habit. You'll need some cover... A sob story tragic enough for any normal person to pity you and overlook any logical mistakes in it. Vampires murdering your whole family is a timeless classic, so I suggest something similar."

The automatic door opened before them and they walked into the sun-lit street; impression of a beautiful morning was swiftly destroyed by an omnipresent stench of a decomposing garbage. Any architect worth his position would probably faint from pure terror. The buildings were so pressed against each other it would trigger a domino effect if one of them was to fall down and they all shared a unique design of a gray concrete box. Grayness seemed to be a prevalent theme there for no other colors appeared there aside from occasional graffiti masterpiece on the wall; unrecognized artists still desired to leave their message to future generations. "And while we're talking about your cover..." Lara reached into her pocket and pulled out a cellphone. "Say cheese!" Mechanical 'click' tinkled in the air while the photo was taken and Lara's slender fingers instantly dominated the keyboard just like a pianist would control piano keys. "A friend who's pretty much a computer wizard owes me a little favor. He'll be able to invent a human identity for you in no time; from now on, your name is going to be Harmony Hathaway. Arcadia sounds too esoteric and you need to be a proper English rose," Lara smirked, not-so-secretly amused at the name she had picked. Harmony. Ha! And her English teacher had scolded her she didn't understand irony. "The main rule for not blowing your cover is - and don't be surprised - avoid killing anyone, even if they drink the last cup of coffee. Murder is never an answer, unless you're dealing with the supernaturals. In that case, it is, in fact, the only reasonable answer. Don't stand out too much and mostly just observe; remember what we're doing wrong so you can tell me later. In short, behave yourself or I'll be forced to use a collar and leash on you next time," Lara threatened as they walked towards the hunters' headquarters. She navigated through the streets with casual confidence of someone who could find her way with a blindfold over her eyes. After a few minutes, they stopped in front of rather unremarkable structure; the same highly creative gray box.

Lara waved her identification card under the microchip card reader placed next to the entrance, a green light flashed through the screen and the door to the long hallway opened.
"Hey, Lara, good thing you're here so early. The boss wants to have a word with you and he didn't seem he'd like to give you a promotion, if you know what I mean," exclaimed young, excitable-looking redhead in a fashionable costume who was just passing through. "Oh," the girl exclaimed as she noticed Arcadia, "and who you might be? I hope you're not another victim of the yesterday's werewolf attack, dearie." Lara couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips; Elena brought the much-needed motherly aspect into their little company of merry violence enthusiasts, but she could be a little dense sometimes. "I believe she wouldn't have come to you in one piece if it were the case. Elena, meet Harmony, potential member of our monster-slaying family. Could you interview her for the job?"
"Sure, gladly! We need every helping hand available. Let's go to my office, Harmy - I may call you Harmy, right? Anyway, why would you like to join us?" Lara sighed inwardly and hoped Arcadia took her advice regarding murders to heart; now it was too late to declare she wouldn't fit in here and drag her home. There was nothing she desired more than spying on their interview and making sure the demon wouldn't cross some line, but her duties called her elsewhere.

Dreamer- · Nov 20, 2013

Lara looked completely different when she finally cracked a smile, it took years off of her face with all of those harsh lines gone. Something about the girl’s laugh made the corners of Arcadia’s lips curl upward, a content feeling washed over her. This reaction to her ‘partner’s’ genuine amusement was probably caused by their connection, and it made her wonder what it would feel like when Lara experienced other emotions, like fear or anger. Arcadia could only hope that Lara’s erratic human emotions would not hold to much effect over her own more strictly controlled ones. She looked over to Mr. Svenson and cocked an eyebrow, she was going to do what now? “Sure, I’ll cover any and all of the expensive. We truly are deeply apologetic for any inconvenience this may have caused you.” The words that came out of Arcadia’s mouth almost made her sound like a robot, and the tone in which she spoke them didn’t help any. It was her opinion that if Lara wanted to avoid the details of this little event getting around, then there was no better way to keep the man quite then to kill him. She didn’t feel like giving over any amount of her money to pay for the damages Lara had caused, no matter how petty the coinage. Arcadia considered this a moment, noting that she did indeed feel that this act would be a tab petulant, but what the hell she’d do it anyway, just on a whim. Besides, what Lara doesn’t know wont her hurt; at least, not in this case. She would probably return after they moved and finish the job, after taking her hard-earned money back. Oh, wait. This is entirely irrational. Who knows what family or friends this chap has. Nothing seems more suspicious then a large gaping hole in the wall, and the tenant in the next room immediately moving out the day of the crime. Well… you win some, you lose some. Arcadia sighed inwardly after the self-induced mental bashing, silently grumbling over the fact she would have to tip-toe around people now because of Lara, since her actions would now not only affect herself, but someone else. Though, did she really care all that much?

The change in the atmosphere when there was mention of another training session was very distinctive, and Arcadia turned to look at Lara to be greeted with another one of the girl’s classic stern expressions. She gathered up all of her patience and schooled her face to become impassive, not willing to let Lara get the best of her own rational mind and become annoyed. Lara was very much a child in the demon’s mind, extremely young and very inexperienced. On principal, children had always annoyed Arcadia, so why should this circumstance be any different? “Fine, I’ll get you some books to ‘study’. I know a witch who owes me a favor. She should have a grimoire or two that explain the basics of the magical arts. Though, you will not be able to learn everything you need to know from out of a book; I should know, I’ve tried. Practice makes perfect, so be prepared to conjure up another one of those mini hurricanes of yours. But next time I think we will train in a place much more… susceptible to trauma,” Arcadia uttered the last words while looking at the large hole in the wall with a small grimace on her face. She had to admit that what Lara had created was impressive and unlike anything she had ever seen an inexperienced human produce. Where had all of that wild energy come from? She did tell me that none of her family members were known for their magical potential. Is it possible that all of this just happened randomly, and Lara wasn’t graced with these powers for some unknown purpose? I’m not sure about this, either she was lying to me about her family or her family had been lying to her. Better yet, it’s just God having his fun and fucking with us because he can. It doesn’t matter, I think I now have another reason to look into this mysterious family of Lara’s…

Arcadia was quick to follow Lara out of the flat and down the five flights of stairs to pass through the automatic sliding doors and out into the crisp morning air. She inhaled deeply, watching her breath escape her lungs in the form of small hazy clouds. It was a misconception that all demons preferred the blazing inferno that had come to be known as Hell. Most of the time demons came to hate the never ending heat and proceeded to search for cooler climates to inhabit. Arcadia was no exception and very much enjoyed the chillier seasons and types of weather. She followed behind Lara, letting her cut through the busy crowds of people blocking their path. The demon scrunched up her face at being called a pet but refrained from saying anything. What did inspire a word or two was when Lara started talking about possible sob stories and her cover-up for infiltrating the little band of Hunters. “Don’t worry. I will be sure to come up with something interesting, events so horrible they will be surprised that I’m still able to walk and talk like a normal person, compared to being curled up and rotting away in a corner,” said Arcadia sarcastically, rolling her eyes for good measure even though she knew Lara wouldn’t be able to see the gesture. Humans were so easy to fool, some not as easy as others, but none the less it was all very doable. During her time on Earth Arcadia had quickly picked up her skills in acting and became an avid liar, because even her siblings could have the wool pulled over their eyes.

When Lara whipped around to snap a picture of Arcadia, it probably wasn’t the most flattering of ones because the demon had stopped suddenly and dawned a look bemusement. After the fact, Arcadia scrunched up her face and casted an accusatory glare at Lara. “Really? That’s all you could come up with? Harmony Hathaway? Your imagination is grandiose, indeed,” Arcadia snapped at Lara, the frown contorting her features into a mask of annoyance. “Oh I wouldn’t worry about me blowing my cover, dearie. I’ll be sure to stay in character the enter time I’m there. And, as an added bonus, I won’t kill anyone.” She smiled a thin lipped, razor sharp smile at Lara that didn’t reach her dead eyes, devoid of humor. At the comment about putting a collar around her neck and keeping Arcadia on a leash, the demon had to bite her tongue to keep a laugh brim-full of mirth from coming out. Ha! I think this little human needs to be put back in her place, she is getting to cocky for my taste. She is really overestimating the control she has over me. Hmm, the only one that would be put into a collar in this relationship, is Lara. Arcadia’s dark brown eyes sparked with mischief as her human turned away and lead her into another grey building. Almost immediately they both bumped into a cheery red-haired girl named Elena, and Arcadia had to fight hard to keep a pleasant smile from slipping out of place. Oh for the love of Satin, what in the world is this?! Is this supposed to be their excuse for a ‘Slayer of the Supernatural?’ Not quick on the uptake is she? Ah, humans, they never observe a thing, do they? Arcadia clasped her hands behind her back as she watched Lara leave to go visit her boss, then she turned on a heel to look at the smaller woman, this was going to be fun.

A shiver of fury ran up Arcadia’s spine and caused her muscles to twitch, but the small, innocent looking smile on her face did not faultier. “Of course you may, Elena.” She was proud of herself for not uttering the words through gritted teeth as this inferior mortal insisted on butchering her imaginary name. When Elena asked why ‘Harmony’ had wanted to join, Arcadia’s demeanor changed slightly, but just enough for the dense girl to catch on that this subject made her uncomfortable. “Welll… You see, it all started with my father,” Arcadia slowly acquired a dreamy eyed expression of someone who was getting lost in memories as she proceeded her facade. “He was a very absent father, his favorite pass-times being to drink and gamble, so he tended to completely neglect me and my siblings. Because of his neglect, we had to raise ourselves, and that didn’t go so well. One night my brother went out searching for the vampires that had been rumored to be lurking in the city we lived in. He didn’t come back for days… and when he did he wasn’t the same. Turns out he had found the nest of vampires and they took him into their ranks and changed him. The only reason he had returned to us was to bring us back to the nest to be turned as well. Everyone went with him, everyone except me,” Arcadia’s voice trembled slightly and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she continued to tell her tale. “He scorned me for this and declared I had betrayed him. But I continued to refuse because I knew what he was doing was wrong. He left, unwilling to harm me at the time, but made a point of mentioning that he wouldn’t stop trying to bring me over,” Arcadia let out a shuttered breath, dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and continued. “A few years ago I had a child, and it was then that my brother decided to appear. He threatened me again, of course I refused, and then in a fit of anger he murdered my child. We were in the kitchen at the time, and I collapsed against the counter in shock. When he pleaded for my forgiveness and wrapped his arms around me to console me, I reached behind my back and grabbed a knife I was using to made dinner with. I plunged it into his heart, he staggered backward and fell to the floor, bleeding out on the tiles… After that, I didn’t do anything, I was unresponsive to everyone and everything. No one could bring me out of the dark hole I had trapped myself in. Until… until I met Lara,” A small blush crept onto Arcadia’s cheeks as she fiddled with her hands and avoided Elena’s eye. “She found out what happened, and she helped me through it. She told me about you guys and I decided to join the cause. One of those bastards killed my child, they aren’t fit to share this world with the rest of us.” Arcadia’s voice had steadily become stronger than before, and more urgent. She now met Elena’s gaze with a determination that blazed in her eyes. Arcadia patted herself on the back for the on-the-spot creation of that sappy sob story, even getting in the implication that she and Lara were more than just ‘friends’. She realized that she could have just answered the girl’s question with a simple ‘Well, I thought killing monsters would be a great hobby’ but she really wanted these people to feel for her, and maybe even get a little attached to her fake persona. Plus, she didn’t think Elena would mind, this girl probably devoured this sort of thing.

Simon had entered on the opposite side of the hallway, a manila folder full of papers in his arms, and his head bent over as he examined the one on top. Incidentally, he almost crashed into Lara, but he looked up in time to stop himself and flash a large grin her way. “Hellooo Lara. Coming in a little early today, aren’t you?” He looked down at his watch to confirm his suspicions. He changed his course to follow her back the way he had come, keeping up with her with ease. “I’m sure you heard from Elena that the boss wants you in his offi-,“ His words were cut off as he looked over his should to gesture at the red-haired girl when he caught sight off Arcadia. Instead of finishing off his sentence, he let out a low whistle of appreciation. “Well, where did she come from? A friend of yours, Lara?” Simon looked at the shorter blonde girl with a wicked grin. Simon was 6’2’’, with creamy brown hair that framed his handsome face. His skin was a soft caramel color, and his eyes were hazel with little specks of gold. Currently, the man was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a sleek black shirt that hugged his torso. No one could say he wasn’t good-looking, but his charm was too overstated and every time he grinned his cocky grin it made normal people want to punch his face. He was exactly what he seemed, the classic douche-bag. But, to his credit, he was able to change gears rather quickly. “I was just going to drop these papers off with Trish and then I was going to go get everyone some coffee, would you like any?” His playful grin was gone in an instant to be replaced with an arched eyebrow and sincere smile.

Flirting with the Devil [Shaelinn and Dreamer-]

Shaelinn

Moon

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Shaelinn

Moon

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Shaelinn

Moon

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Shaelinn

Moon

Dreamer-

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Shaelinn

Moon

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Shaelinn

Moon

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Shaelinn

Moon

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Shaelinn

Moon

Dreamer-

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