"Let's get a disguise," Juny takes the lead into the forest, leaning us to a lonesome mud puddle, she dunks her hands into the mud and picks some up, so it drips through her fingers, "I could never really explain – until now – but this magic inside me, is deep in my blood. I know it. Without reading it or learning. It's just a part of me. When we cover our faces with this – every inch except your eyes, we will be invisible. As long as we do it to each other. Geraldine. Selene, come closer."

"Let's get started then," I smirk and Geraldine is still wincing with all the sounds, certainly amplified until her brain adjusts to the new sense.

"...I love your voices, girls," Geraldine says quietly, blushing with excitement and love, "And my voice sounds so weird."

I watch as Juny steps forward to paint Geraldine's face in mud, while I take a moment to survey our surroundings.

"It's fine, Gerry. Where should we go, Selene, once we are invisible?" Juny asks.

"Into the forest, as deep as we can go, we'll trek all night," I say, as it's already late afternoon.

"What about roads?" Geraldine asks, worried, "Shouldn't we find a road?"

"We don't need roads, we need help, we need our Lycans," I don't mean to say it so sultry, but I can't help sounding like that. It's just how I sound without trying. And the idea of finding those Lycans who called us by name... it excites me.

"...you want the three strange beasts who did not take us to hell that night...?" Juny sounds excited too, "You are right Selene – they did not take us... when they could have. We could ask them for help. But how do we call them?"

"I think they will come to us," I touch my chest, over my heart, "...and we will call to them if we have to."

"Speaking in the dark will attract all manner of monsters, including the ones back there," Geraldine lowers her voice and looks around us, worried they are probably stalking us to make sure we don't stray too far, but soon it wouldn't matter, because soon we would literally vanish. Gerry's face is now covered in mud and it's my turn.

I step toward Juny's mud-covered-hands and she smears it across my forehead and cheeks, rubbing it in.

"We just need them to hear us – we have no one else to help, we are no longer safe in the facility, in mortal hands, so we can't go back there," as I say it, Juny and Gerry are in instant agreement.

When my face is covered, Gerry and I pick up a handful of mud each and paint Juny's face together.

"Why did the devil choose us?" Gerry asks.

"I think I know why," I answer, maybe unexpectedly, but it makes sense to me, now that a curse is lifted, after the contact with demon blood.

"I think I know too," Juny smiles, "We're smokin' hot."

"I was thinking, we're insane...ly... hot?" I laugh.

"That dog back there wanted to eat you up, Selene," Geraldine speaks of Onyx, "But we are not sluts like those three whores. Their minds were bent. Carmen, and the Queen and Princess. For the Lycans."

"I noticed that too," I agree, "They've been marked by them, is my guess. They're enslaved for eternity to those dogs. So let's be careful when asking for help to the ones who were kind to us."

"Careful not to take in those long johns," Juny purses her lips.

"...oh I noticed them too," Geraldine bites her lip.

"In Onyx's own words to his whores – let's go for a walk," I pick up their muddy hands and we walk into the forest together – now vanishing from sight with our magic.

****

Midnight

We find the deepest, darkest, blackest part of the forest.

We are all tired, our feet ache and we are hungry, but more than those needs – is a desire in our blood to escape the promise of hell. We had enough terrors in our dreams.

Juny and Geraldine and I felt the same desperation.

But for now we needed to find allies.

We needed to separate into an arrow, calling to our demons.

The Lycans who were first sent to take us, did not fulfill their duty.

They refused the devil.

What might. What courage. Would consume a demon to betray his Master?

I wanted to find out why we were favoured over Lucifer himself.

I can't see a god damn thing as I walk through these thick dense shadows, hugging everything around me and causing me to walk blindly.

It is the perfect place to summon a demon.

"...Oni...?" I call his name, a mere whisper in the dark.

A few steps into the encroaching pitch back, I get a heavy dark scent flooding over me, up my nose and into my brain.

Already? That easy, huh?

"Oni?" I ask at a more normal volume, "Is that you... my beast?" I try to be bold as my feet sink into a wet muddy print in the ground, I instinctively look to the right.

There I see his red eyes, a source of light – blazing hot embers.

This lonely Lycan was entirely different from the ones we saw in the pack – or the leader Onyx.

This one is a loner by choice.

I hold his eye, up so high – a massive giant, but his eye does not hold mine.

He cannot see me, he has only heard my voice.

"It's me, I can speak," I whisper again, and his eyes hover over where my voice sounds, "Remember? S...e...l...e...n...e. Selene. You are beautifully huge and terrifying, Oni. I remember you. I didn't forget you."

In that moment, a rustle of the leaves lets a slither of the moon through.

I watch as Oni takes a step forward, his claws swiping through the air in front of my nose.

He almost takes a chunk out of my face accidentally.

Before he slashes me as he looks for me, I quickly lunge into his torso and place my hands on his abdominals, standing flush with him.

"Careful," I laugh, even as Oni snarls because I've touched him so suddenly and abruptly. Oni bares his teeth as he glares down at nothing – still unable to see me, "Let me take off my disguise, and then I may ask you a favour?" I grab the towel off my shoulders and use it to rub the dried and caked mud off my face. When it's cleared off, Oni can finally see me in the dark.

Oni stops baring his teeth when I place my hand on his abs again, trying to keep our connection alive and calm. I did not want this to blow out of control.

"Why did you summon me? Why did you say my name?" Oni asks me, confused and unable to comprehend why.

"I need your help, can you help me?" as I ask for it, Oni suddenly smiles with all his crescent moon fangs, amused.

"What with?" he is eager to help me. I think.

"We need to be hidden – and I had a feeling, you'd have a place to hide us," I admit, "Just a feeling, Oni, inside me," I step back away from him, giving us a bit of personal space. I run my hands through my long black hair, letting it billow out behind me, hoping to appear seductive. If I can appear attractive, that can only help my chances of getting his favour again tonight, "Oh, and," my tongue presses to the roof of my mouth as I look him over, "Favours don't come with a price tag. So you'll help me for free right?" I make sure that is a clear condition.

"You want me. To help you. For free, out of the goodness of my soulless Fate," Oni tilts his head to the side, showing all his teeth, in a displeased snarl, as he leans down to show some of his displeasure, biting the words into the air, "That's. Cute!"

The bitten words snap the air so hard it whips across my cheeks and makes me lose an edge to my confidence.

I pissed him off big time. Shit.

As I stumble back a step or two, I murmur, "So you do have somewhere to hide us, yes? You don't deny it, beast."

Oni ignores me and starts to walk around me. Circling me, his eyes run over my bathing suit, while I hold the towel to my stomach.

"The blood on your arms – who's blood?" Oni asks.

"Do you know Onyx?" I ask.

Oni immediately stops pacing – and any favourable light in his eyes dims considerably.

"...you know that fuck...?" Oni whispers.

"Just met him, contact with his blood gave me my tongue back, so I can talk," I smirk, while Oni's lips slowly turn up with an idea.

In a split second he's picking up my arm by the elbow and dragging me deeper into the forest.

"Hey, don't be so rough!" I yell out, because Oni is jerking me so fast along the ground that I keep losing my balance and he ends up dragging my feet.

I don't know his plan – until I feel the ice cold bite of river water.

He's tossed me into the shallows, coming with me to hold me under.

I fight back, scared Oni is going to drown me.

However, he only holds me under a few seconds then hauls me out. His Lycan bladed claw snags into the front of my bathers and rips the material down the middle, freeing my breasts. I scream in defiance, but he uses the ripped material to rub and wipe it along the bloody hand prints on my forearms. I had dropped the towel the moment he started to drag me – he could have used that damn it!

As soon as the blood is cleared off my skin... the power in my throat, in my tongue, with my lips – is tightly stored away in a heavy curse I cannot break.

Without demon blood?

I am speechless. Again!

Fuck. Oni was too quick to use it against me.

I cross my arms over my chest, wet, freezing and disturbed, I glare at Oni, who stands ankle deep in the freezing water with me, admiring the view.

"Who said you need to talk, huh, bitch?" Oni asks, "You're perfect like this. A silent, hot witch."

I uncurl one hand from under my armpit, and I choose to flip him the bird, over trying to keep warm.

Oni and I both hear howling on the wind. Low demonic undertones, not a wolf – but co-ordinating Lycans closing in from afar.

Oh, no. Fuck!

Regrettably I have no choice. I swiftly step forward and with my hand I grab one of his claws.

Don't. Leave. Me. Here.

Save. Me.

I hope he can read the desperation in my eyes.

"You want a favour for free, Selene?" Oni drawls over me. I nod, and he explains, generously, "One. Free. Favour," I can't help but smirk, so he does have a kind side? Yes, "I'm only helping, bitch, because you had the cheek to ask me with such disrespect – so you have my complete and utter attention... for your foolish idea to use a Lycan," Oni raises his claw out of my hand, and touches it to my forehead. The tip is so sharp it could break my skin, but I stay still, so it doesn't. Oni gently takes his claw away, pleased by how still and calmly I hold myself, "As for your friends – they're with Arma and Amon, my brothers," I nod, "You know, do you?" Oni asks, "So you planned this," I nod again, "I love that you planned to call on us – when all you had to do was nothing. We were coming for you anyway. We decided," I raise a brow, oh really? "That's right, bitch, I don't mind doing a favour for some pretty innocent I favour. But you already knew that, didn't you, witch? You have a third eye; a knowing."

I press my finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet already.

Oni snarls, unbelieving that I'd tell him to shush, but he turns anyway and he expects me to follow.

I quickly do so, keeping in time with his strides by running behind him – breasts bouncing – but there was nothing I could do about the broken swim suit.

As I'm following him, Oni reaches behind a tree, and of all things – pulls out a mirror.

Turning it to me, he commands, "Get in."

It's a simple request.

I stop apprehensively before the mirror, being held by a drooling demonic wolf-man who was agreeing to help me for free.

How could this be a trap?

To be fair, there was no way this couldn't be a trap.

But it was a door – and I'd dare say this door didn't lead to hell and the devil... and anything was better than hell.

I look to Oni for reassurance, my hand reaching for the mirror, but my feet are hesitant to make the move.

"Step in, Selene," Oni is more calm and reassuring, "I'm not requiring a payment from you because tonight I'll be busy ripping into Onyx – we don't fucking share. Now take what I offer, witch."

I don't trust him, but I trust in me, Juny and Gerry.

I can sense them behind me.

When I check for my Luna Witches– they are being escorted out of the forest toward me, by their two Lycans, Amon and Arma.

Juny and Gerry are also looking forlorn and wet from being thrown into the river, with the blood cleaned off their hands.

We check each other's eyes, and we're in agreement.

Anything was better than hell.

So I turn back to the mirror held by Oni.

And I don't think further.

I walk through my own reflection.

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♾ Pétur Ben — Svarthamar (Crystal✝Angel Remix)