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redknight3996 · 4 years

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The Demon Lord’s Generals 5

Chapter 5 - The Albino Arachnid

Act 1: A Little White Spider

Bleakclaw Mountain had a reputation in the Dark Lands. Plenty of mountains did, because mountains were where dungeon cores absolutely loved to plant themselves, but Bleakclaw was well known for playing host to one of the deadliest dungeons on the entire continent, one that had spread throughout the entire mountain and acted with a shocking lethality towards any daring enough to venture in.

Even some of the strongest adventurers in the land were wary to enter the brutal dungeon, and for fear of wandering monsters, there were no settlements at all living on the mountain’s vast surface.

And for those living within Bleakclaw, it was no less dangerous.

After a particularly strong adventurer–powerful, daring, and far too stupid for her own good–had managed to outright cripple the core–splitting a chunk off of its surface, to the point it almost resembled a crescent moon–the monsters of the mountain had turned on each other. What were once conjured beasts and beings working in tandem, set in their own areas and operating with a single-minded intelligence to drive out and massacre those who would seek their creator’s treasure, devolved into a vicious bloodbath unlike any other.

Even the bloodiest of wars could scarcely compare to the pure insanity of over ten thousand monsters, once connected and even protective of one another, erupting into brutal violence without reason or pause. By the time the initial slaughter subsided, the mountain’s population had been quite literally decimated, and Bleakclaw became an ever more savage place, home to beasts seeking only to kill and survive.

However, the creatures still formed by the broken core weren't completely mindless, and they still saw the benefits of allying with those similar to them, once the slaughter settled. So, to ensure their survival, the various beasts banded together and Bleakclaw Mountain found itself host to several groups, all seeking to survive above all else.

And yet, even if the weak were to band together, they were still weak. And weakness was unacceptable when faced with the strong.

Such were the thoughts of one spider as they devoured their recent spoils: a simple crimson lizard that had been too slow to run. The spider, like many other beasts within the mountain, had been born at the same time as a number of others. Formed by the great core with its siblings–a cluster easily numbering fifty–who it was meant to fight alongside, because they were all weak.

Low-level, some would say; the type of monster that had little worth on their own, but could be dangerous when in large packs. And their brood certainly did well for themselves, in the short time they all lived, leaping and swarming over other beasts, then bringing them down with their potent venom. They were dangerous enough that they seemed fine, like they could survive the vile place they had the misfortune to be born in.

That is, until they were all killed by a large, feathered snake, with eyes that pierced their bodies and a ghastly beak that crushed them in seconds. All besides one.

The small, white spider didn't know why they survived, out of all their other siblings; whether it was luck or skill, they were able to escape the jaws of the snake while everyone else died horribly. And as they hid in the shadows, somehow just barely concealed from the massive beast’s cruel eyes, only one emotion filled the spider as they watched the larger creature feast on their siblings.

Hatred.

Not at the deaths of their siblings, but at their own weakness. They’d failed, completely and utterly, when they were so certain, from the very moment they'd climbed from their egg and seen all the other spiders had been blue in comparison to their white coloration, that they’d been a special being. Red-eyed and white, standing out from the yellow-eyed, blue crowd. Someone of importance, a leader to their brood.

And yet, there they were, cowering in terror until the snake finished its feast and left once again. Ever since then, the spider had been very conscious of where they really were in the order of their world. How so many other creatures stood above them in strength.

In that moment, the spider’s fangs plunged in deep to the half-eaten lizard, their natural corrosives further liquifying its melted insides. It had taken some time, but they’d learned to ambush beasts on their own, and at that moment, now that they’d felt at least some assurance, some further understanding of where they were in their world, they made a promise to themself.

They would never die. Not to anything.

Nothing would ever hold power over the spider again.

And she made sure nothing within Bleakclaw ever would.

So, she fought. Whether it be face to face, or attacking from the shadows, the spider continued to fight those that would see her dead to fill their bellies and grew stronger with every life she claimed. There were a great many beasts to slaughter, from the repulsive serpents–smaller than the abomination that murdered her kin–to large, razor-backed rats and ashen salamanders burning with dark flames.

However, as she butchered those irritating beasts, she began to notice that her meals were no longer satisfying. The beasts she found were getting smaller, even though they seemed to be the same as they ever were...did the core crack again? Was someone foolish enough to venture into its domain?

…

An odd hunger struck her at the moment.

At the time of her creation, the spider was filled with knowledge. Knowledge of what the core was and what to protect the core from. The source of life within her homeland needed to be protected from invaders, this she knew.

And then she realized something. Not once had she actually fought someone from outside the mountain. Not once had she eaten someone from outside the mountain. And she dearly wanted to.

And, with what she would later learn was a grin, the spider rushed to where she knew the core was, high up in the great heights of Bleakclaw, the innate location forever ingrained inside her mind. It was certainly a long and treacherous trek from her home down towards the peak of the mountain, but she was amazing so there really wasn’t a problem in the slightest. She could also climb up walls, so the steepness really wasn’t a problem, and she could easily avoid some of the more dangerous monsters in the passageways.

However, as she peeked in from one of the holes meant for her type of creature to sneak around–to ambush those seeking the core’s powers–disappointment filled her as she found nothing��huh, did the core get smaller?

Her many eyes blinked in unified confusion, before she immediately skittered back into the annoyingly cramped passage when the core’s guardian shifted below its pedestal. For the briefest moment, there was a sound of skittering claws and a flash of massive eyes in the darkness, before the smaller mound’s great shell settled once more, wrapped around the immense body the pedestal rested on top of.

The spider watched, still and careful, then moved back into the passageway. She had promised she would never die to anything within the mountain, and that included the most dangerous beast within its depths. So for now, she retreated. But one day…

Still, that new reminder of how weak she was rankled at her immensely, so she went out and killed some more snakes. She utterly despised the repulsive, wriggling things and they tasted delicious, so she’d often track down a nest to wipe out when she was feeling agitated. Such was life.

And that life continued as it did until her outer layer began to shed and she abruptly realized that of course the stupid beasts she’d eaten weren’t getting smaller, she was getting bigger! Ugh, she felt stupid the when she finally figured it out. And by that point, the usual snake nests were too small for her to even enjoy destroying. But then she noticed the very familiar feathers of a certain serpent in its den, and she had a sudden, devious, cruel urge.

Where once she leapt and pinned her prey, her newer, larger, stronger form came with the lovely ability to form a thread. A sticky thread, made for trapping, born from an innate magic she had evolved to gain! And with that new gift, she sealed up its den. Every single entrance it could hope to escape from was covered in layer after layer. It was a long work to complete, but oh so satisfying as she heard its panic. Its eyes couldn’t touch her now.

She busied herself with other hunts in the meantime–learning to trap and bind the even larger King Rats and Sledgeheads–before eventually returning to the now entirely dehydrated and starved basilisk. Its dying eyes may have stung, but they could no longer kill, and tasted divine.

It was almost a shame that she couldn't finish it all, but at least she had a new den, much larger than her last one, and as the strongest, she clearly deserved the biggest den, so this would be a nice stepping stone until then. Hm, would killing the guardian make her the new one? She didn't particularly care for the role, but it was meant for the strongest…

And so, with that in mind, she continued to kill and grow stronger, making her way through the mountain, and seeking stronger opponents, before returning to her den, always covering the entrances with web. As strong as she was, she wasn't foolish enough to think she could survive an ambush while asleep.

And this way she would usually find herself greeted by a morning snack, even if it was a small morsel of something weak and dumb. Thankfully, there never seemed to be an end to the idiotic creatures spawned by the core.

Yet one day, something happened; in what appeared to be yet another day of feasting, she felt something enter her territory. Something different. Something very different.

Rushing back to where her den was, she found the various traps that she had placed were destroyed. Odd. She’d grown accustomed to some of the smarter creatures managing to foil one or two of her traps, but never all of them. Feeling her hunger grow, she grinned–in a sense; her face at the time was not one that expressed joy easily, but a “grin” was the closest approximation as her fangs flared in anticipation–slowly stalking into her den where her trapped food awaited.

However, while her eyes feasted on them, her body paused. Not out of fear, but of confusion. These things weren't like any of the creatures she knew about, and they were so different, so alien, so lacking in connection that the core, the mountain, couldn't have made them.

Some were short, others were tall, there was something resembling fur on some, and others had scales similar to a salamander. And they were all speaking in something she didn't understand, and not all the same thing. When talking with one another, it seemed to be one thing, but if anyone said anything quietly, as if to themselves, it was completely different.

And this group of new creatures…intrigued her, enough for her to not attack and kill them immediately. So she followed them, studying their movements and actions as she did. Though she refrained from getting too close as it seemed whenever she tried to approach, one of the small ones would whip around and look, their eyes darting to and fro with suspicion, yet never alighting on her specifically.

They were observant, that much was true, these invaders. And they were invaders, the things she had the inherent knowledge she was meant to eliminate for the core’s sake, but it was a muted instinct by this point; she could ignore it easily as she carefully tracked them through the winding caves that served as her territory. There were other monsters about: the amalgamated rats connected by their tails with a crowned King at their head, the rockish-reptiles with plated heads, and the occasional larger, emerald snake or burning salamander, but the invaders made short work of them, often using strategy and displaying a keen insight into how each beast should be dealt with. Seeing them, and how they worked...it was almost alluring.

So the spider stalked her interests far further than she normally would go. Her den was one of the lowest points on the mountain, so it was interesting exploring upward with this strange group, particularly since they left a great deal of corpses in their wake. Corpses of beasts she hadn’t yet encountered, monsters of the upper levels. So, at points, typically when they had left the rooms they slayed the monsters in, the spider would drop from the ceiling, and have a snack. Or a meal. Some were more filling than others, and the spider was getting quite hungry in the group’s presence, so the situation worked quite well for her all around, up until it didn’t.

It wasn’t through any fault of her own, no; the rooms did get more hazardous than the spider had expected, that was true, but she navigated them well enough anyhow and it wasn’t as though slippery or acidic walls were too much of a bother. She was still stealthy enough to avoid getting noticed by the invaders, even if she had to hide under some corpses once or twice.

No, the excursion ended when the group ran into an enemy they could not beat on the Ogre Floor. To elaborate, the floor where ogres–bipedal monsters loosely resembling the taller invaders, yet in a far more brutish, warped, primitive way; gray-toned, possessing small, lumpish horns and mouths full of crooked fangs and tusks, and wearing core-made loincloths and wielding core-made clubs, hatchets, and cleavers–were the most prominent monster species.

Those were not what ultimately ended the invaders’ trek though. No, that was The Peeler.

The Peeler was the “boss” of the floor. Nowhere near as mighty and vast as the core’s guardian, but far more brutish and fearsome than the ogres the group had already found difficulty with. The spider didn't know it at the time, but The Peeler was more akin to the trolls found even higher up the mountain, if more like a unique variant. Almost like her, in that sense. Though instead of possessing a beautiful, luxurious alabaster carapace, the large, lean biped was an ugly, mottled red, its face distended into a long snout filled with crooked fangs.

It was rather gangly as well, with long arms and narrow, triple-jointed legs, ending in paws that clicked against the stone floors as it walked. The spider would later learn that The Peeler was more canine in appearance than the typical simian troll–and would further learn that trolls could vary remarkably in appearance depending on their environment, with some even appearing porcine or cervine–though its long, stringy, matted hair threw that comparison into doubt. It did lack the horns other trolls possessed, yet made up for that lack in the sheer bevy of carving knives it had strapped across its body. The belts it wore were its only clothing; it was an unsightly beast, though the spider could not deny its skill with the two sickles it carried as its primary weapons.

It was too much for the invaders to handle, though they did have the handicap of multiple fights wearing them down, as well as the disadvantage in an unfamiliar territory. They also seemed immensely disturbed by the flayed ogre carcasses The Peeler had hung up as decoration and occasional snack food. Such was Bleakclaw, and the invaders were not ready.

With sickles in hand, The Peeler attacked the group as soon as they entered its den, leaping across the room and rapidly slashing at them before they could even begin to fight back. It was incredible that none died–at least not in the mountain anyhow–with how many deep gashes The Peeler left on them. They did manage some struggle, yet soon enough, the leader seemed to come to a decision and barked out something to everyone, and a few moments later, all the invaders vanished, probably because of the crystals they’d suddenly pulled from their clothes.

That didn’t stop The Peeler though, who continued to wildly thrash even after they left. It took some time for it to finally realize its prey was gone, and even longer for it to fully calm down and stop wildly snapping at the air. Once it settled down, The Peeler walked over to a bag that had fallen on the floor–the straps had been cut mid-battle so it was left behind by the group. Tearing the bag open, it began to look through everything in it, most likely searching for food.

How foolish; after all, there was food right there. For the spider, at least.

She truly was the master of stealth, for the stupid brute didn’t notice her presence in the slightest before she leapt onto its back and drove her fangs deep into its neck. The Peeler managed a strangled, distorted yelp before her forelegs stabbed through its shoulders and snapped its arms back with two sharp cracks. She still made sure to bind the broken arms with her webs though, even as her prey sank to the floor, her venom coursing through its veins.

It was a lucky day for her all around; not only did she get a fantastic meal that sent the most wonderful surge of energy through her growing body, but she had a new den full of new prey! Oh, and some weird bag, which she carefully prodded with a foreleg in case of ambush. By what, she wasn’t sure, but it belonged to an invader which meant it was an invader. If a strange one.

Could items be invaders? Probably. Still, she’d eaten her fill and successfully started webbing her new den, so now she had this bag to focus on. And whatever weird things were inside it, including more bags and strange, fluttery things, with covers and bindings that she would later learn meant they were books.

She also learned much sooner that books didn't taste good. Really, nothing the invader’s bags had tasted good. The worst was the strange container she decided to try from one smaller bag. It had a liquid in it, and the exterior seemed crunchy like a lesser bug’s carapace, so she gave it a try. Later in life, she learned that it was glass.

At the time, she had glass in her mouth, and it hurt worse as she tried to spit it out, spilling a red liquid with it that she was concerned was her blood before her wounds suddenly healed. So the item wounded her, then healed her. A terrible invention, clearly, and she threw that bag against the wall in a fit of pique.

The bag then exploded. She stared at the scorch mark, then at the glass still on her floor. She very carefully claimed her remaining bags, moved away from the glass, and began sorting her newfound loot away from the dangerous material.

There wasn’t anything especially interesting in the remaining bags; just a few knives and weird fabrics. So the spider did the most logical thing with her new collection of books and made a proper bed for herself in her new den. Their hard surfaces felt quite nice on her carapace and she slept well.

And when she woke up, she could read.

Well, not quite. When she woke up, she’d somehow become smart enough to realize the strange symbols on the books were words and not just vague scribblings. How that happened, she had no idea, but it was obviously because she was amazing, so she didn’t question it.

Now she just needed to know how to decipher the things she now realized were letters, and so the spider had her first quest, which she solved in at a remarkable pace because, again, she was amazing, and very easily figured out that the best way to further develop her brain, which had obviously grown with the rest of her body after she ate The Peeler. Oh, right, she’d also molted again and was a great deal bigger. About the size of that basilisk she’d eaten so very long ago–in “outside terms”, she was about the size of a wild boar, instead of the “large dog”-size she was previously.

Point was! She was remarkably intelligent, and she knew how to raise that intelligence further by eating more and more powerful monsters!

So up she went, to the higher floors, and began putting her talents to very good use. Even with her increasing size, she remained exceptionally agile and her threads gave her a strong advantage over the more unobservant beasts. Ogres and trolls, idiots that they were, were remarkably easy to catch, and quite filling too. The issue came with the simple fact that they were remarkably stupid too, and didn’t really help in terms of gaining brainpower.

Realistically speaking, the spider should have had no chance of learning to read in her current situation. She had no capability to understand the local language, she didn’t know what the Dark Land alphabet was, and she barely had context for what most words would mean even if she did know how to read. If she had some type of tutor or even a dictionary, she might have a slight chance, but neither of those were readily available, so it was a lost cause from the start, and she really should have admitted that.

But that would mean quitting, and the spider was nothing if not the most stubborn creature Bleakclaw Mountain had ever birthed. She would learn how to read, and she would gain that power from the mountain by any means necessary! The mountain would provide, and she would feast from its bounty!

And the mountain did provide, eventually, at Bleakclaw’s penultimate floor. So about one floor above the troll floor, which was above the centipede floor, which was above the skull-ape floor, which was above the sickle-claw floor–which was technically more of a blade floor in general–that was right above her den, otherwise known as the ogre floor. So it took a bit of trekking, but that didn’t matter because stubbornness had won the day once again!

It was on that floor, filled with its oddly glowy insignias along the darker, bluish stones, silver lined carpets and tapestries, and strange tubes and beakers and vials that bubbled with potions of varying types that she found exactly what she was looking for! Brainfood!

Not literally, no, though the uzia did look a little brainlike? In the right lighting. She later learned they were more like flying jellyfish, what with their mushroom-like caps and drifting tentacles.

What made the air-jellies stand out from sea-jellies though was their more solid structure, made up of a single, floating cap and about eight semi-translucent tentacles dangling down from their center. Their caps could vary in color, but one thing consistent about them was that they had about four sensory organs attached to the sides of their caps. Fully formed, humanoid sensory organs, to be specific.

Specifically humanoid too. The spider found two variants of the uzia species up on the Arcane Floor, as she decided to call it: Eyezia and Earzia. Or Watchers and Listeners, if one wanted to be unoriginal. Technically the species in general were also called “Sentries” for their utility as dungeon security systems, but she didn’t know that at the time, nor did she really care either. Anyhow, the Eyezia, as she so aptly called them, were the red air-jellies, with four eyes lining the sides of their cap, while the Earzia were blue and had four ears instead. Round, human-like ears. It was weird. They were weird.

Tasty though, if tricky to properly pin down. The Eyezia were great at spotting approaching threats and then firing fiery eye-beams at them, while the Earzia would get all electrified if they detected someone approaching. But the spider was undeterred and a master of stealth, so she gradually managed to pin down one and drink its spicy brain juices. Intelligence juices? They didn’t exactly have brains…

Regardless, the spider had SUCCEEDED in her mission! It was a successful quest! She had gained intelligence! She knew, because she could suddenly tell the tapestries around her were actually warning signs, telling of darker horrors awaiting and that there was no return beyond this point! Which was silly, because she clearly could return and did so very easily so she could retrieve her books and finally figure out what the words inside meant. Though not without a little practice with all the writings scrawled on the walls about some secret artistry she didn’t have context for, so she really didn’t feel like bothering.

And the very first book she read was a riveting one too!

She didn't exactly know what exactly it was at the time, but it seemed to tell the tale about a pair of adventurers who were forced to work together, fighting alongside one another and growing closer all the while. While she was interested in what was going to happen, as well as wondering who had transcribed these events like this, one line in particular caught her attention.

"We're stronger together, right?"

...She didn't know why, but that line made her think. The reason she had strived to become this strong in the first place was because her brood had died, but would that have changed if one had survived?

Or maybe if she had teamed up with one of the other arachnids from her floor. Would someone like the Peeler be a good companion?

No matter. She was alone now; she gained her strength on her own, and nothing would stop her until she reached her goal. With that in mind, she prepared herself, knowing that one way or another, the battle to decide the strongest in Bleakclaw would happen the next day.

And that preparation involved reading some more! Partially because she really liked the relationship between the two protagonists, and partially because she wanted to figure out how they did things like making fire with their hands. Sure, the uzia had lasers, but this seemed to imply more creatures could learn things like that, and that made her very curious.

Unfortunately, her first book didn’t exactly get into mechanics, instead focusing on adventure and, as she read further, a deep romance that made her shiver in delight. Still, that wasn’t immediately useful, so she went onto the next book. And the next. And the one after that.

The next day, she blinked awake on her pile of books, her eyes pressed close to one involving the forbidden romance between a cambion–which were like humans, which were apparently a type of biped called “apefolk”, but with partial demon blood, and demons were apparently weird horned bipeds from a different “planet” or something? She didn’t quite get it, but the books said that’s how things were–and an angel, which were weird winged bipeds from another entirely different planet. She didn’t quite get why the romance was forbidden, but both ladies sounded incredibly cute and she couldn’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy reading about them, to the degree that she’d call the particular books in that series her favorites.

And, in honor of her favorite, the spider chose her name. She decided she needed one after reading about so many named beings, so she did something very simple and named herself after the angel with pure white feathers from the lovely novel: Ikariel. Though she decided to drop the “Ik” part. She didn’t want to be wholly unoriginal, and it was her name, she reserved the right to make it look however she wanted!

Thus it was Ariel, the white spider of Bleakclaw, who made her way to the core room, stepping proudly through the halls with the surety of her purpose. Though she did snag a few uzia on the way for a meal. One shouldn’t have a grand battle of destiny on an empty stomach.

So it was a satiated Ariel that strode through the grand round door leading into the core room, which slid into the wall with a rough rumble, waking the great beast inside before she could even set the slightest trap. But no matter, her strength would be more than enough to handle the monster of the mountain.

And what a great beast it was. Its massive body rested in the center of the circular room, directly under the great cage set in the ceiling that held the mountain’s broken core, whose dim light combined with green torches to illuminate the crags of the Colossus’s shell.

The Stone Branch Colossus consisted of two parts: 1, an utterly massive mound, similar to the shell of a tortoise, thick with stone scales lined with ancient carvings, and 2, eight “heads” extending off of long “necks”, all resembling massive, skittering centipedes. Each beast of blood-red stone rose at the interruption to their deep slumber, the chattering and clattering of their massive mandibles filling the air with disturbing echoes, booming through the room as they twisted up and around, their legs darting as they turned as one to glare down at Ariel with pitch-black eyes.

Then the Colossus paused in sudden confusion; one head, its antenna set above its mandibles and curling from its face in a pseudo-mustache, loomed forward and stared down at her, tilting as it examined the unexpected invader. The boss of the mountain didn’t have lesser monsters invade its dominion, so it clearly thought, because that went against all known natural orders. Unfortunately for it, Ariel was a defier of stupid expectations!

A thick stream of webbing shot from her mouth and stuck quick to the mustachioed “branch” as her forelegs dug deep into the floor, giving her the leverage she needed to pull it straight to the ground with a loud crash, echoed by its surprised shriek. Then she was moving, leaping free of the floor and flipping over its head, pulling webbing over its eyes as she retreated along its back, pulling the webbing tighter as its legs struggled to find purchase on the floor and the other heads finally recognized the threat in their midst, two lurching forward to crush her with their massive mandibles when she darted back further, letting them slam both into the main head’s spine, but also the trailing blanket of webbing she was leaving with both her mouth and forelegs.

There were more shocked shrieks as she leapt again, immediately fixing both heads to the main branch’s back as rapidly as she could, their flailing struggles only tangling them further as she rushed along the underbelly of the right head. By then, the other branches of the Colossus had begun extending across the room, recognizing the threat of her threads and moving out of their reach, though that was easily the stupidest thing they could’ve done. It left her free reign to web up the legs of the branch she was under, and she was completely blocked from any ranged attacks she might have to face from the heads. Of which, she wasn’t entirely sure they had, but there were potentials there.

The further point that made them stupid was the simple fact that they were all attached to one single point. So once she got to the mound at the center, she promptly started webbing up the “entrances” the branches she’d already captured were extending from, before moving to the next one, earning a panicked shriek from it as it twisted around and lunged right for her. Which was still a stupid move because she immediately leapt back and pinned it down with multiple webs, then leapt again when another head tried to capitalized on her “distraction” and wound up slamming straight into its fellow branch, earning yelps from both of them before she landed and promptly started webbing the two together, then leapt once again as one of the slightly smarter heads ripped one of the stalactites from the ceiling with its pincers and threw it straight at her.

Slightly smarter, since it managed to smash two of its fellow branches straight against their mound in a rough *CRACK* that echoed through the room. Ariel capitalized on its mistake though and promptly began skittering up its belly, pinning its legs down as they tried to stab at her and dodging as the remaining heads began tearing more crags from the ceiling and even the central mound to fling at her. They didn’t have the best aim, but one did manage to get a lucky shot right on target. Well, towards the target. While Ariel was right on its fellow branch’s head.

She leapt to the ceiling right as a massive rock crashed straight into the head in question, smashing its shell to pulp and sending it crashing to the floor in a pained squeal, where it was promptly stuck due to all the webs binding it already. Which left two branches to go, one of which let out a shriek of fury and immediately skittered up to the ceiling where she was, its black eyes glittering with hatred. Ariel couldn’t help but feel her fangs flare at the sight, a giddy feeling overcoming her at its clear fury, before it charged straight for her, extending far further than its fellows and attempting to crush her between its jaws.

However, Ariel was far smaller and more maneuverable than the colossal centipede, and each snap of its jaws was easy to dance around, her grip kept on the ceiling and its crags in complete defiance of gravity while it smashed through stone after stone, heedless of the rocks it was raining down on the rest of its body.

Eventually though, the dance had to come to an end, and Ariel ducked straight below the branch’s final lunges, its jaws clamping shut mere inches above her body, its “chin” just barely brushing the top of her carapace. And then she jumped.

She jumped as hard as she could, directly under the centipede’s head, and smashed straight into its jaw. Normally, such a move would not be particularly effective, but there were a few factors in play. Namely that the stupid bug had extended itself past the point it could actually control most of its movements–removing the leverage it would normally have to raise up like a snake–and the simple fact that they were both still on the ceiling. So when she smashed into its head, she had the full force of gravity on her side, and both of them fell fast.

Well, the centipede fell fast. Ariel had a convenient balloon of webbing for herself to drift down with. Quite easily formed, really. The branch had no such thing though, and its back smashed hard on the top of its own mound, a pained shriek sounded out with the shattering of its shell. Then Ariel landed straight on top of it again and promptly webbed up its head to silence said shrieking. Nice and neat, just the way she liked it.

Though that did leave one more head. And some careful investigation let her discover that it had taken the opposite route of its fellow branch, and actually retreated deep inside its mound, much like a cowering turtle. Though it had the audacity to let out a smug chirp when it saw her, confident in its complete inability to be harmed while in its solid den. So she just webbed up the entrance and left that one as it was, its smug chirping quickly morphing into enraged shrieking, much like most of its fellows.

And with that, Ariel had won. She’d conquered the greatest beast in the mountain and pinned it down in every conceivable way. She’d succeeded where no one else ever had! She, Ariel the spider, a minuscule creature most would consider barely worthy of notice, had conquered Bleakclaw Mountain!!

And it was a very satisfied spider indeed that walked to the front of the Stone Branch Colossus, its main branch still pinned to the floor with two more atop it. The brute shrieked as she approached, struggling even though it was as pinned as it could possibly be, and only stilled when she jabbed one foreleg directly against its eye. Not deep enough to pierce, but enough to command its attention.

Because Ariel had realized something. Yes, she could kill and eat this great beast. She easily could. She’d won, she’d beaten it, it was hers to do with as she wanted. But then it wouldn’t be around. This was the mightiest creature in the mountain–before her, of course–and there was a value in that. A value in not simply killing and eating it, but in dominating it.

And her foreleg slowly shifted, twisting into a clawed hand that gripped the beast as she stood taller and stronger than ever before, a wide grin spreading across her newly formed face as Ariel the Arachne spoke her very first word: “Mine.”

After all, they would be stronger together.

Act 2: A True Queen

Bleakclaw Mountain had a new ruler, and she was very set on making sure every part of the mountain knew precisely that fact. Starting with its core, which she plucked from its perch with ease.

The instant she did, she felt something akin to massive bells ringing in her mind as the cracked core panicked at the sudden contact, but she immediately forced that all down as she clamped it between her newly formed hands. “MINE.”

There was a stutter, then the dimly glowing core settled, still emanating fear as she carried it down from the ceiling, where the Stone Branch Colossus glared balefully at her, one of its heads even daring to shriek a warning to handle the core with care.

“Silence!” She glared straight back at the Colossus, which flinched then settled back, one head chittering mutinously before she turned her four newly formed eyes straight to it and it immediately retreated back to the mound, yiping an apology. “Your place, under me. All under me!

“Core.” She held her creator up to her eyes as her legs touched the floor, glaring deep into its pulsing amber depths, its cracks casting shades of black across its surface. “Is under me. I am Ariel. I am Queen! Core is mine! Mountain is MINE!”

The core shuddered, then she felt another sense in her mind. Acceptance. And then she smiled and petted her core, placing it closer to her chitinous chest. “Good. Monsters are mine. Make still, want food.”

More affirmative. “Also, no perch. Too far. Stay with…” She looked up at the Colossus, frowning at its lack of a proper name. Which felt interesting. Having lips was interesting. Still, things needed names, and “Stone Branch Colossus” wasn’t a proper one. Nor was “core”.

She wracked her brain for a few names, then nodded as two came to her from her books. “Peter.”

Peter flickered, their surface glowing with confusion as Ariel nodded to them, then glanced up at the Colossus. “Elliot.”

All Elliot’s heads blinked in unison, then began staring amongst each other before the mustachioed head leaned forward and chittered a question. “Yes, you are all Elliot. Why would you get many names? You are one creature.”

Another chitter. “Yes you are. Your heads are not separate.”

A nearby head shrieked in reproach and she glared straight at him. “Yes, you are. No, actually, now you are Bitch.”

There was a shriek of offense, Elliot chittered again and she scowled. “I decide names. That is Bitch. Rest are Elliot.” Then again, she might need to refer to the heads separately...Ariel stuffed Peter under her armpit and pointed at Elliot with her free hand. “Elliot, Bitch, Luca, Kymani, Jaren, Tyson, Noah, Zaeed.”

Now how to tell them apart? Elliot was easy, he had the mustache… “You need hats.”

She looked to Peter. “You need a hat too.”

Hats weren’t something she could easily find in the dungeon, but she did give it a try, after placing Peter atop Elliot’s mound and instructing him and the rest of him to protect her primary food source. She felt a brief tinge of offense from Peter at the designation, but she quelled that rebellion with another sharp glare. She was getting very good at those; likely due to her new eyes.

Now to find hats. Though, truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure what a hat was. All she knew was that the books said hats were something that goes on the head. A garment of some description. Pirates wore them? There wasn't anything like that in the bags she got from the invaders…maybe other things had been left behind by other invaders elsewhere? With that thought in mind, she walked out of the cavern and made her way down the mountain.

As was expected, no creatures attempted to get in her way, cowering at the sight of the rightful ruler of the mountain. At one point, she pondered just grabbing some of the smaller creatures and making them sit atop the heads of her vassals to be their hats. The uzia could be nice? Though the tendrils were likely too dangerous...Rats might make good hats, the words did rhyme.

However, before she could fully explore the merits of rat-based hattery, her search paid off for her as she found a number of creatures that she could most assuredly take from. Invaders.

“-this is the furthest anyone made it in years, right? No one gets past the red troll on the sixth floor, but here we are!” one of them, a male wearing black and reeking of death explained to his companions as he led the way through the halls, “So turning back now would be foolhardy! And I, Sir Ambrose–”

She didn’t bother to listen to the rest of his words. The language was interesting enough, but she had more important matters on the mind as she glanced over all of the invaders present. All bipeds, two small pointy-eared green ones, two large tusked gray ones, the pale leader and a yellow-green one at about the same height as him that was wearing robes and had a bag, like that one invader that had all those books, so that was the one Ariel wanted most.

However, she was smarter than just jumping right in the middle of a group of invaders, so she did the far more logical thing of following behind them, snatching the ones at the rear with webs and yanking them up to the ceiling and moving forward until she had six bound, struggling invaders pinned properly.

She took their bags and weapons first, obviously, looking through the former and generally tossing the latter around because she really didn’t care. Said bags had things in them, so she secured them over her shoulders and then began searching the invaders more thoroughly. When they started struggling too much, usually when she began divesting them of their garments, she just pinched their noses shut until they stopped moving, then went back to what she was doing, though “Ambrose” seemed oddly fine with the lack of air, so she slammed his head against the ceiling a few times. Soon enough, she had a decent amount of “loot” consisting of various stuff and things, at which point she stored her valuables in her newfound bags, carried the unconscious invaders back to the entrance on her back, snagged a snake along the way to snack on, and deposited the lot outside again.

On a different day, she might’ve marveled at the wonders of the outside world; the glimmering sun up in the cloudy sky, the birds hooting and cawing in the trees, the soft babble of a blackwater river forming a pseudo moat around the mountain, etc, but that day was not one of those days. She was more interested in her new stuff, so she just tossed the invaders to the ground, then prodded one of them with a foreleg until it woke up.

The small thing squealed in its gag and tried inching away from her, so she pressed firmly on its chest to keep it in place. “Bring more stuff.”

Its eyes went wide as she spoke, but Ariel had better things to focus on now that her message was received and strolled back into her mountain to figure out what, precisely, she’d managed to find. And what among those things counted as hats.

Luckily, she had Elliot to figure that part out. Less luckily, he didn’t know what a hat was either, though he was willing to give it a try as his various centipedes began exploring her gathered loot. Out of all the things she had on her, only a few were actually worn on someone’s head, so she had a decent guess that the odd, round black thing she’d found on Ambrose’s head counted as a hat. And it fit perfectly on Peter, so that’s where that one went.

Eventually all of them had a hat on, except for Bitch, because he didn't deserve one. Sure, none of the hats actually resembled the hat Peter had and were mostly made up of loot that was large enough to fit properly in between or over their antennae, but it was the thought that counted.

Regardless, with that settled, she began to ponder just what to do. Food would, of course, come first, but now that she was the queen, what would come next? Hm…

Glancing over at Elliot, a thought crossed her mind. Working together would make them stronger, and as the stronger of the two, it was up to her to get them up to her level, so that he in turn would make her stronger. With that in mind, she grabbed her favorite book, and walked up to the colossus.

“Down,” she commanded, gesturing to the floor.

Elliot blinked at her for a moment, then did so, causing the cloth draped over his head to shift slightly. Once he was properly lowered, Ariel climbed on top of him, then settled on the...shawl It was probably a shawl, now that she thought about it, which was fine, since that was also headwear. Regardless, she settled in and started to read aloud, drawing the attention of Elliot’s other heads, who started settling in around her to listen as she regaled them with the best story she’d ever read.

And thus, a routine was established.

She would read to the heads, Peter would provide them with food, and whenever any intruders came, she would take anything she wanted from them. It was simple and easy, really. Elliot appreciated the reading, she gained new books from those she robbed, and Peter was getting better at manifesting naturally fatter rats and snakes varieties, which were delightfully tasty. The core even started branching out into other scrumptious monstrosities, once she brought them a proper set of cookbooks she took from some invader with aspirations of chefhood.

Why said chef aspirant decided to come to the deadliest dungeon in the Dark Lands as unknown to Ariel, though she did have to admit, her home had dropped severely in lethality. Sure, there were still monsters, but the ones she kept around were more intended to be lures, ways of enticing the invaders in deeper so she could properly isolate and divest them. The invaders were apparently hearing rumors of the glorious queen of Bleakclaw, so she had to get more creative in how she dealt with them.

And she was being very smart about it too. She took great pains not to kill the silly oafs traipsing about her dominion, all so they’d tell tales of her dominion and bring in more seeking great treasures. One didn’t just kill the cattle that brought them milk, to use an analogy she knew of; it was why she kept Peter around, after all.

That, and a slight fondness for her creator. In a way, the core was like a parent. A genderless, semi-inanimate parent that initially had no care in the slightest about whether she lived or died, but a parent nonetheless, and a parent should be treasured, so long as they actually benefited their child. Or, more accurately, benefited Ariel.

And Elliot, to a lesser extent. She had a fondness for him too, though in the sense that a younger sister may be fond of an elder brother several centuries older than her that also tried to kill her when they first met. In fairness, she did attack first, but the point was, he’d become her closest friend and confidant within the mountain, and thus she rewarded him with better hats and more treasures, which the invaders continued to bring.

Sure, they tended to just bring weaponry and clothing, but those were still treasures, and she had a fondness for the other knicknacks they carried with them. She’d also made a practice of at least leaving the undergarments of those who brought books, as a sort of encouragement for those outside to bring more of those; if they brought something instructional, or just a book from a series she liked, she’d even let them keep the rest of their clothing. No weapons, those were hers, and she’d amassed quite a pile. She had the vague impulse to melt them all down and make a throne from the metals, but that seemed too impractical. She couldn’t really fit on a throne made for bipeds, so she’d need a lot more swords…

Ariel sighed, pouting at her reflection in her full-length mirror. A birthday gift she’d gained from Peter, who apparently knew what day she was actually born. It was a nice gesture, one she felt she had to reciprocate at some point, but then she didn’t know what day Peter was specifically “born” on. Neither did Elliot when she asked him, and the core seemed smug about her lack of knowledge, so she wasn’t asking them, the stupid orb…

She continued to pout, then started to feel her cheeks, huffing at the image mimicking her. Her upper body was so...soft. It felt weird. Sure, the rest of her body wasn’t exactly a hardened shell like Elliot’s, but there was a strong difference between chitin and skin. It moved differently too; when she was younger, her body moved through its internal fluids, moving to give her limbs movement. Moving to move, to be redundant. But now she had muscles? And an internal skeleton?? It was weird! Really weird!

Though she was beautiful, she had to admit that. She smiled then, and nearly shivered at the delightful feeling there. The way her lips peeled back and bared her sharp white teeth sent an odd rush through her. How was it that the act of smiling made her feel happy? It was weird. Quite weird.

And yet, every part of her body felt natural. The way her two arms–arms, not legs–bent and flexed, the fingers on her hands, the sharpened claws at their ends, the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, her hair–Ha! Her hair! No longer was her hair merely spread across her body, now it fell from her head! Long and white, the same ivory tone as the rest of her body, falling all the way down her back and reaching her thorax; it’d grown out, ever since she first gained her new body. She never cut it, that would be silly. A queen needed to look regal.

Besides, Kymani showed a surprising talent with hair brushing. His forelegs were quite dextrous; perhaps she should have him braid it? Maybe if she had the proper materials…

Ariel pursed her lips, then smiled again. It was decided. She’d go out and find a “hairdresser”. One should probably wander into Bleakclaw at some point. Or maybe she could find one? She didn’t go outside the mountain, except to toss out the invaders she robbed, so she didn’t quite know where to find someone like that...Though she did have options if she wanted to…

So it was decided! Again! And with that decision, she turned and promptly pulled one of her dresses from the makeshift rack she had made some time ago. She’d become quite the handy arachne–not just because she now had hands–due to some helpful books that described things like how to assemble furniture, how to sew, and how to skin various animals. As such, she now had a number of amenities in her own personal quarters, formed at her request by Peter, and a number of lovely gowns to go with them.

Without informing Elliot or Peter her plans, she immediately went off, going to the exit of the mountains in search of a hairdresser. Where one would be found, she wasn't sure, but she was sure that it would be easy enough for someone like her.

After all, she did let several invaders out without harming any of them, so clearly they owed her. Though she did have to say, the light from the sun was quite harsh today; good thing she also brought one of her many hats. It was one of her heavier hats, wide-brimmed and woven from her own silk, but that just meant that it would better protect her from the sun. Walking through the fields past Bleakclaw’s moat, she made her way towards a single direction, assured in her decision that she would find people soon enough.

And she did, eventually. More specifically, she found a town. She’d later learn the town was named Mountainshade, for its close proximity to her home, but at the moment, she was more interested in the people and less in the town itself. Sure, it was a nice town, composed of stone and woods and tiles and walls that criss-crossed through its streets due to its status as the former lair of a long dead lord, and it was also technically the first town she’d ever been in, but she had better things to focus on than history she didn’t know.

Like people! Though the first people she saw immediately ran away in obvious panic. So that was something. What made it more awkward was the fact that they seemed to be the town’s guardians, so...No matter, that merely meant her ability to traverse the town would go unhindered. And it was still quite the cute town, mostly composed of black stone that reminded her of home.

“You.” She pointed to one of the peasants nearby, who was pressed up against the wall, out of her path. Most of the peasants seemed to be out of her path, in fact. In a way, she almost felt like the queen in her royal procession back in–Ah, no, focusing. “Are you a hairdresser?”

“...N-No? Uh...s-s-sorry.”

Useless then. “Point me to one.”

“...A-Ah, uh, th-th-there’s a barber-”

“I did not ask for a barber.” She walked closer to the...human? Brown skin, black hair, rounded ears, bearded...either a human or a dwarf…She didn’t know heights, precisely, but he was smaller than her. “Point me to the hairdresser.”

“R-R-Right, s-s-sorry milady! A-Ah, u-u-uh-” He glanced around, looking to other townsfolk for some type of hint–

“You’re an arachne.”

Ariel paused, then turned to the source of the voice behind her. Then stared. And stared. And continued to stare. And stared some more.

The radiant beauty waited for her with a simple smile, her golden eyes meeting Ariel’s with ease despite the height difference between them. Her ears were pointed. So. Not a human? “Are you human?”

“Mostly,” the beauty replied, continuing to smile. There was such an ease to her stance, no rigidity, no tension, simply calm, collected interest. Interest in Ariel? That…

“I see.” She didn’t, not quite...well, people of different races could interbreed, so...Yes, of course, the beauty had to come from...from some other type of person. Something divine, certainly. She was too bright not to be.

Ariel could see it so easily. The color that pulsed just under her skin, the sheer well of power there, shimmering obviously through the crimson robe she wore...Plague and Blood and Thirst, intertwined and glowing so very bright...

And Ariel abruptly remembered that there were protocols and manners and things she should be doing when meeting someone of such obviously royal bearing and so she turned fully to face the beauty and smiled and curtsied, gripping the silks of her skirt as delicately as she could as she bowed her head. “I am Ariel, Queen of Bleakclaw.”

“Greetings to you, oh Queen of Bleakclaw,” the beauty replied as she bowed in return. A short, respectful bow, but not a deep one. That meant...something? Were they meant to be equals? “I am Countess Claire Valondrac of Blekhon, and it’s my sincere pleasure to meet you!”

A count? “You are a vampire?” Ariel paused, then looked up. The sun was up. That was the sun, right? Yes, it was, so…

“Nope! Again, mostly human. Human enough to be considered more human than not,” Valondrac explained as she straightened, still smiling. She had a very nice smile. "I just happen to hold the title of a count."

"Right…is there something you need?"

"You, actually."

Her heart thumped. "...H-Huh?"

"I came here to see the queen of Bleakclaw, and since that’s you, that means I came here to see you."

"O-Oh, I see. Well, if that is the case, then give me whatever offerings you have. Otherwise, show me to a hairdresser."

Valondrac shook her head, still smiling her pretty smile. "My apologies, I didn’t bring any offerings. I can, however, offer tea if you’re willing to talk with me."

"...Tea?" Hm. Yes, that was something from the book she had never been able to have. Peter was able to make tea leaves, but none of them knew how to make that into tea. And it was quite common for a queen to drink tea, right? So, obviously, she should drink some for the first time in her life.

"Very well, I shall have this tea," Ariel, keeping her voice calm to not appear too eager, acquiesced, then gestured for the countess to lead the way.

Smiling, the countess turned, leading Ariel away from the village, and as they walked, the arachne noticed that some flamboyant fool was going about the town, seemingly trying to calm the villagers. Oddly pale, that one, much whiter than most of the humans. Humans?

"Those were humans, correct?”

“Probably,” Valondrac agreed without hesitation, “I doubt any of them would have orcish blood this far out. You might see some people with that closer to the larger cities, where the caravans tend to travel, but out here in the boonies? Nope. I’d consider potential goblin heritage, but they also tend to stick to cities, and Bleakclaw acts as a decent deterrent to most people looking to settle somewhere nearby.”

“Hm. Fascinating.” It actually was. She was learning so much! Though what would be a good follow-up question? “So why is that village there?”

“You can attribute that to human stubbornness. Did you know there’s a saying on the subject? ‘Goblins can live anywhere because they adapt to their surroundings. Humans can live anywhere because they force their surroundings to adapt to them.’ I’m sure there’s a simpler version than that, but that’s how I heard it. Anyhow, people will live where it feels safe and there’s potential to thrive, and while Bleakclaw does deter some people, it also draws others looking for adventure.” Valondrac grinned back at her and Ariel felt her heart thump again. “Essentially, what you have here is a town perfect for fleecing suckers looking to strike it rich by conquering the unconquerable mountain.”

Ariel stood straighter and tilted her head back in an “imperious” manner, like the books said to do. “Unconquerable to lesser fools, perhaps, yet here I stand, the conqueror of the once unconquered mountain.”

“Yup yup, I can see you’re quite the majestic conqueror too.” Ariel’s face went hot right as Valondrac turned again, leading her towards some sort of house on wheels–Carriage! That was a carriage, she knew what a carriage was. It was a little ways outside the village too, out near the plains surrounding, waiting there with some sort of attendant. “Which brings me to my main point of coming to you today. The subject of conquering, rulership, and all those types of fiddly things that go into how nations work. Mainly because I’m aiming to conquer every nation.”

Ariel could believe it. Looking at Valondrac, she could see how it could be possible. Ariel had conquered her home mountain so how hard could it be to keep going with that? Just keep doing what she did until all the “nations” were hers, simple. That being said.

"And are you aiming to conquer Bleakclaw as well?"

"And what would you do if I said yes?" Grinning, Valondrac’s eyes seemed to sharpen as she looked up at Ariel. Crossing her arms, Ariel glared back.

"I would have to show you how I conquered Bleakclaw in the first place."

"Is that so-" As the tension grew, both paused as they heard a loud rumbling that made Bleakclaw itself seem to shake. And as they both looked over at the mountain, they saw its peak burst apart as a familiar sight let out a guttural screech and immediately raced down the mountain, aiming directly at the two.

Which was probably bad, because the village was in Elliot’s way.

“Is that a colossus?” Valondrac didn’t seem bothered though, more interested.

“A stone branch colossus, yes,” Ariel replied, smiling at her advantage in knowledge, “That would be my brother, Elliot. And the rest of my brother, Luca, Kymani, Jaren, Tyson, Noah, Zaeed, and Bitch.”

“And he wears top hats?”

Ariel beamed proudly. “I made them for him.” Aside from Jaren’s hat, since he preferred wearing a shield instead like a sort of cap.

“Fascinating. Is he going to stop?”

“Probably not. I didn’t realize he could even move. Well, I know his branches can move, but I didn’t think his mound could.” The massive legs jutting from Elliot’s central body were certainly new. They actually reminded Ariel a bit of her own, with how they were shaped, and she could faintly see Peter glowing on his pedestal in the middle of said mound. Also, there was a great deal of panicked screaming coming from the town.

“Great, good to know, can you get him to stop?”

“Probably. Why?”

“If he doesn’t stop, the town gets flattened. Though it might anyhow, considering that landslide…” Valondrac frowned, then...sprouted wings. Huh.

“...Are you an angel?”

“No, different thing. Do you want me to carry you, or can you make it over there yourself?”

Ariel blinked. “...Carry me?”

“Alright, but this’ll take some maneuvering.” Ariel blinked again, then most definitely did not squeak when Valondrac hopped on her back and wrapped her arms around her upper waist.

“Eep-W-What are-” Then they were both flying and Ariel felt her face burning again as she was outright carried over the village before she was set down, surprisingly gently, in front of the village gates again. Which still had no guards in front of it. Were they ever coming back? No, no, more important matters to address, like the fact that Valondrac’s chest had been right up against her back and that–

“Alright, this’ll be interesting,” Valondrac muttered as she hopped off and walked in front of Ariel, focused right on the approaching landslide and enraged colossus. She took a deep breath, planted one foot firmly on the ground, set her arms out, palms down, then rose them like she was lifting–

A massive set of earthen walls erupted from the ground in front of her, blocking every last chunk of stone in its tracks in an immense explosion of dust, Elliot’s surprised shrieking sounding out through all the noise. Then Ariel suddenly felt Valondrac’s hand in hers, setting her face alight again, when she was suddenly yanked then pushed forward, in front of Valondrac.

“Landslide handled, please tell your brother I’m not an issue.”

Ariel blinked once again, then looked back at Valondrac with wide eyes. The human(??) stared back, her gaze now distinctly unamused. “...H-Hm. Before I do-” Her eyes sharpened into a glare and Ariel reflexively gulped. Just...not exactly out of fear. It was a different emotion. “-...W-Why, precisely, were you looking for me in the first place?”

“Oh, that.” She relaxed. “Two reasons, really. One, I wanted to find out more about the ‘white arachne of Bleakclaw’. You’ve made a name for yourself, and if you turned out to be amicable to the idea, I was going to ask if you wanted to join my armies in conquering the world.”

“...As your subordinate?” Ariel felt a very weird sensation right then and there. For some reason...the idea appealed?

“Subordinate, partner, nominal ally who I can trust to watch my back, whichever. I like finding interesting people and bringing them to my side. I can’t exactly rule the world all on my own, can I? It’s a big place, and I need some people to help.”

“...We’re stronger together…” Ariel echoed, barely even noticing Elliot’s heads poking over the wall and chattering amongst himself as he tried to figure out what was going on.

Valondrac beamed. She had a lovely smile. “Exactly! Oh, and as for reason two, how would you like to be in charge of your own coterie, completely leaderless and ripe for the taking?”

“...What?”

Act 3: The Darling of the Woodcourt Coterie

“Okay, so quick refresher before we get there,” Claire began, clapping her hands together as she sat cross-legged on the cushion laid out for her, her lovely black hair blowing slightly in the breeze as they moved through the plains and marshes the outside world seemed to consist of.

“I understand the basics just fine,” Ariel retorted, sitting on a cushion of her own. Which consisted of extending her legs far enough to let her abdomen rest on the cushion, which had been brought by Claire’s oddly pale servant, who was named Jonathan. Claire left him behind to guard that town from any other curious monsters that may come from Bleakclaw, so Ariel was having a nice trip without any potential interruptions. “There are other spiders like me out in the world–” Though none quite as gorgeously alabaster, from what she had heard. “–and they have their own little societies, and this one needs a new queen.”

“Yeah yeah, you definitely do get the basics there, but that’s still just the basics, and the members of the coterie will have annoying things like ‘expectations’ and ‘protocols’ that we should at least play along with if you really do want to help me with this.”

“Of course I do, having a sudden increase in minions would be beneficial to me too–” And there was, admittedly, a part of her that was intrigued by the prospect of meeting others of her kind again. “–but are constant ‘refreshers’ really necessary?”

Elliot raised his head and glanced back at them, chittering a reprimand that got Ariel to scowl at the potential interruption she completely disregarded because she didn’t think he’d comment. “I’m not being obtuse! I just don’t see the point here! I’ll come in, beat the biggest one, and the rest will fall in line!”

“...Right, we do need to talk more. Because that’s just...super wrong.”

Ariel frowned, then huffed, just a tad annoyed. This trip was supposed to be more...well not romantic, but at least fun.

As for the trip itself, she and Claire were traveling in style to the “Wood Court”, the dominion of some sort of group called the Woodcourt Coterie. There’d been a few mentions of such things in Ariel’s book collection, but mostly in the context of merchant groups, so she really didn’t see why they were such a big deal. Oh, and the “in style” part referred to the fact that they were traveling on Elliot’s back.

He’d been more than happy to calm down and hear Claire out once it was explained that she hadn’t abducted Ariel from the mountain or attempted to kill her, as Peter assumed when they apparently detected Ariel’s...reactions. Which wasn’t her fault, really it was theirs for assuming, but she did give a slight apology for just up and leaving without telling them a thing. Then she had to back away immediately because Elliot tried to nuzzle her and there was no way she was showing that kind of weakness in front of her crush–In front of her potential partner in conquest.

“Fine. Then regale me with the history of my people.”

Claire snorted, an utterly adorable noise. “Fine fine, you got it. Now, you know better than anyone that dungeons have a tendency to spawn monsters, ranging from the minuscule to the gigantic.” She rapped her knuckles on Elliot’s shell for emphasis while Peter pinged with pride, a smug aura emanating from the core that Ariel frowned at. “Some cores tend to find specializations too, things they become especially good at creating in a sort of ‘theme’, which leads to things like ‘gold dungeons’ that lure in travelers with shiny treasure and rob them of everything they’re worth or ‘slime dungeons’, which are essentially just filled with the most basic, squishy, and adorable of monsters in existence. They develop their own biomes, find specific niches, all that.

“Here’s the thing though. If you have a type of...well, whether a core counts as an object or a being depends on who you ask, but things that create life have a tendency to wind up not knowing exactly what they’re doing, especially when they mix and match things in an attempt to create more effective protectors. It’s why you’ll see things like chimeras wandering out in the world.”

“And what, pray tell, does this have to do with arachnes?” Ariel demanded, getting impatient. Sure, Claire’s voice was nice, but she didn’t like being lectured.

“Right, my bad, I get wordy sometimes. To sum it up, the main theory for why your people exist as they do is ‘a dungeon did it’. Take a natural predator like a spider and boost its size while rearranging its internal systems to make a viable guardian and you get giant spiders. Now, as for your intelligence, that’s a harder one to figure out. Random mutation could be the cause, or it could be that cores figured out intelligent monsters were better guardians. We have evidence for either in the form of the myrmidons from Olafiba and the beol of Skiritaba, along with other ‘apocrit’ races, but aranae, the collective name for intelligent species of giant spiders, are weird. Amazing, but weird.”

Ariel tried not to preen at being called amazing. “And what makes us so amazing to you?”

Claire’s face twitched, almost like she stopped herself from laughing. “G-Good question. So, aranae have a few quirks that separate them from the other...I’m not sure if there’s even a collective term here...arthropodic races? I suppose? Anyhow, aranae are something of a mystery, because no one’s sure how long they’ve actually been around. We have records of giant spiders dating back thousands of years, but we don’t know how many were intelligent because there are so many conflicting accounts and legends there. What we know for sure is that aranae suddenly rose up around three thousand years ago, at the start of the current era and actually turned out to be a huge counter force to the vampiric nobility of Inrapaba, overwhelming longstanding power structures that were just starting to reform themselves after the fall of Parzeli.”

“Who?”

“Not important at the moment, I can explain that jackass later. Point is, it turns out giant spiders beat vampires in most direct conflicts, especially when it comes to a vampire going up against an arachne, the ‘natural queens’ of the aranae race. Like you.”

Like her. “Like me.”

“Exactly. Now, the ‘natural queen’ thing is another one of those amazing slash weird points, where specifically the females of the aranae race are capable of metamorphosing into shapes like yours when some specific requirements are met. I don’t know the exact details, books can only tell you so much and aranae lore is filled with nonsensical fear mongering from arachnophobes, but most give mention to arachne having a natural ‘soul of authority’ that makes them naturally trend towards leadership roles in hierarchical structures. As such, most large groups of aranae will have an arachne at their head, and some, such as the coteries, have multiple, usually with their own hierarchical structure among them.”

“Hm. So why doesn’t the ‘wood court’ have one?”

“Conflict, mostly. Coteries are different from traditional noble structures in that they’re more like large scale guilds, with an emphasis on the production and selling of goods and amenities to obtain economic powers. See, while aranae have been involved in multiple wars of conquest and whatnot, often joining up with or even becoming Demon Lords in their drives for wealth and power, but that’s not exactly sustainable for any sort of society, particularly when one actually wants to take advantage of other races’ unique talents and not just have their own ‘queendom of webs’ where they and their kin rule over basically empty wastelands due to overhunting and-”

“You’re rambling again.”

Claire blinked, blushed, and cleared her throat, not noticing how Ariel had to actively resist fawning over how adorable she was. “Right. Anyhow, the long and short of it is that they decided to focus on using things like their ability to produce silk and surprising talents at domesticating monsters to form ‘business societies’, with them at the top. So now Inrapaba has two types of aristocracy, one that asserts itself through divine privilege and another that uses economic influence.”

“Truly fascinating, Countess Valondrac. However, you still didn’t explain why the Woodcourt doesn’t have a leader.”

“...Mmph.” She looked quite cute when she pouted too. “From what I know, the old president of the coterie, Lady Abigail Leicester, died of an illness without any heirs. The lumber-focused coterie took some hits with a combination of Demon Lord Orast drawing in some of their members decades ago, and then the more recent Demon Lord Irascagan actively killed a few of their ranking members during his own ascension. Add in at least one other coterie poaching some talent, and they’ve been on a severe downswing that I, in my very magnanimous way, have offered to help them out of.”

“Which is why I am here.”

“Precisely! They want a new queen, you’re a new queen, you want minions, they’re natural minions, I want an ally, I help you out, everyone wins!”

Ariel nodded and stood from her cushion. “Understood. Let’s be off then.”

With that, she promptly hopped from Elliot’s back and strolled towards the sprawling lumberyard as Claire let out an impressed noise behind her. “Woah. I didn’t even notice we stopped.”

Ariel sniffed, affecting an air of noble composure as she walked through the cleared plain, drawing the eyes of a startlingly diverse mix of workers. Mostly a mix of aranae, who seemed to be of the brown and black speckled variety, and green and gray bipeds, the former of which were smaller–which probably made them goblins–while the latter stood taller than Claire and nearly at the same height as Ariel, which meant they had to be orcs. That, or goliaths, but goliaths supposedly had pale skin tones and lacked tusks, so she doubted that.

The lumberyard was surprisingly open too, though that may be owed to the large boars she saw they were using as draft animals, pulling carts of logs and whatnot. The rough, spine covered animals did exude an aura of menace she was used to seeing from some of Bleakclaw’s residents, though they noticeably shrunk back when she turned her gaze on them.

None of them mattered though. Not the workers pausing to stare, not the sawmills casting chips of wood in the air nor the windmills creaking ominously in the wind, and certainly not the beasts of burden hitched to carts full of uncut logs or finished planks. What mattered was the immense manor she saw towards the center of the yard, where webs spread through the large columns supporting its tilted roof, centered by a gazebo-esque dome cocooned in webbing.

In other words, the type of manor the nobles from her novels had, almost exactly as she pictured. Though this one had more aranae walking across it, which just made it better in her opinion.

And one was approaching her as she walked towards it, a small, black and brown speckled male wearing a deep green overcoat and matching bowler hat. His black eyes examined her for a moment, then he had the gall to turn his gaze towards Claire. “Countess Valondrac. I see you have returned.”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” Claire smiled though, then pressed a hand to her chest while raising the other towards Ariel as she gave a shallow bow. “May I present to you the Queen of Bleakclaw Mountain, Ariel. Ariel, this is Edmond Rowlatt, one of the upper managers of the coterie.”

“Queen eh? Hm.” His pedipalps flared, radiating audacious displeasure as he turned his gaze back to her. “Quite the pale one, isn’t she?”

“I am a guest on your lands,” Ariel sniped back, scowling.

“Guest, eh? A guest, bringing monsters.” He glared over at Elliot, whose heads were looking around curiously at the workers watching him warily. “You realize this could very well count as an invasion of our territory, Countess Valondrac.”

Ariel stepped forward, scowling deeper. “You are not speaking to her, you are speaking to me! I am here because you seek a queen. I am a queen. Here is your solution, right in front of you.”

Edmond sniffed, dismissive. “You’re a dungeon-born beast, no true queen–”

He squealed as she drove a leg down on his head, pushing him into the dirt. “WHAT WAS THAT?!”

“GYAH! G-GET OFF! Y-YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE-”

“I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M DOING! YOU DARE TRY TO DISMISS ME!? YOU SPEAK TO ME AS IF I AM A BEAST!?”

She caught the web shot at her and yanked the idiot aranae that spat it off his feet, gripping him by the face as he shrieked in panic. She snapped her gaze towards him and he quelled in her hand before she raised her hand, looking at the other workers around. There were some orcs and goblins holding crossbows and some aranae in wide-brimmed, high-crowned plains hats and blue coats were aiming at her with glowing balls of fiery darkness in between their pedipalps.

Claire was frowning. Elliot seemed tense. Neither moved as Ariel let her gaze drift over every last idiot in the yard.

“Let the boss go, freak,” one of the spiders snarled, only to immediately quail as Ariel glared straight at him.

“Freak? Freak. You think I’m a freak? Are you stupid? Are you a fucking moron? Can none of you recognize beauty when it’s right in front of you?! You think I’m some idiot beast wandering in here, throwing her weight around? No.” She promptly chucked the spider in her grip over her shoulder, letting him land with a squeak and obvious panic as he scurried away. “I want you to understand this. I am your new queen. You want one, don’t you? So let me ask, why are you so absolutely stupid to reject what gift arrives right in front of you?”

“...You’re some random white arachne that’s stepping on our boss.”

“AND IS HE REALLY WORTHY OF BEING YOUR BOSS IF I CAN DO THIS!?” She pressed harder for emphasis, earning a strange noise from Edmond that made his workers stare at him oddly for some reason.

“...I mean, he’s not our top boss.”

“And who would that be?”

“Me, young miss.”

Ariel paused, then looked back at the manor, and at the very, very large aranae now standing over her. He wasn’t exactly Elliot’s size, but he was large and felt old. Unlike the rest, the black spider in front of her was flecked with gray instead of brown, and he wore a number of monocles over some of his aged eyes. He also had a very lovely top hat, and an equally nice black coat.

She nodded to him, inclining her head enough to show respect but not even a hint of deference. “Greetings, elder one. I am Ariel, Queen of Bleakclaw. I request knowledge of your name.”

The elder’s fangs flared in surprise, before he nodded respectfully back. “I am Bartram Leicester-Rowlatt, husband to my late Abigail, may the Miser rest her soul, and acting President of the Woodcourt Coterie. If I may apologize, it seems my son has acted with haste in his attitudes towards you, your majesty.”

“He did.” Ariel didn’t smile yet, nor remove her tarsus from Edmond’s head. She liked the proper use of her title and clear respect here, but she was taking things seriously. “Why doesn’t he share your surname?”

“It is a tradition, your majesty, for the arachne of a coterie to take a spouse from amongst her noble followers. Of the children produced from their union, only those of our race who become arachne retain the royal name, while all others instead retake the noble name.”

“And you are satisfied with this arrangement?”

“Of course, your majesty. One must know where one stands in life. To be royal is different from being noble which is different from being servile. Similarly, one must be aware of their suitability for their positions. You wove that dress yourself, did you not?”

She frowned. He was going somewhere with this that she didn’t like. “I did.”

“It is lovely. The hats your companion wears are quite spiffy as well. You would do well as a garment maker, should you focus your talents that way. You clearly would do well as a fighter as well, judging by your command over such a grand monster.” He nodded to Elliot, who preened, some heads chittering modestly while others acted smug. “Yet you lack the knowledge of aranae culture. We, if you would pardon the cliché, weave a tangled web of etiquette and political intrigue as we maintain our power and authority in a land with very mixed opinions towards our kind. You stand out already with your alabaster radiance. Would you be satisfied with being branded an ignorant nouveau riche if you were to walk amongst our competitors?”

“Of course not! That’s why I’ll bring one of you with me to tell me what those idiots will be going on about! I can read up on the rest in the meantime. You do have books on the subject, don’t you?”

Bartram blinked. “Your majesty, that would be...Having one of us follow you–”

“Royals have attendants for social events and interpreters when dealing with foreign powers. I have no experience with this society, thus I am a foreign power. You will interpret, and you will do your job right so I don’t look like an idiot, got it?”

“I-Now-My word, you-Are you truly this arrogant?? Young lady, we are talking about–”

Ariel stepped on his head too. Simply lifted a leg and slammed it down on his head, driving him into the dirt too amid panicked cries of “BOSS!” from the peons around.

“We are talking about how I am your queen now, so you will be doing as I say and working for my advancement in this society. ‘We are stronger together’, and that means I am stronger when you help me properly! And in turn, I’ll fix this ramshackle stupidity you’ve apparently let your coterie fall into. Am I understood?”

“Gh-Y-Yes m-m-mistress!” came the immediate reply, Bartram’s legs twitching with the effort of keeping himself in place. By now, Edmond was just making some odd keening noise.

“Good. Now, we’ll also be moving operations closer to my home. Bleakclaw is much better situated than this weird field place. We can keep it as an outpost as I expand my territory. You’ll also be delivering information on the other coteries so we can work on getting them on our side and removing any forces that are active threats to us.”

“O-O-Of c-c-course, m-m-mistress!”

“Further, we will be allying with the Countess Valondrac posthaste, and I will be in discussions with her on how exactly that alliance shall be progressing, understood?”

“N-Nhhooh, h-h-harder…”

She frowned, ignoring the collective “what” she heard sound out around her, and stepped down harder on Bartram’s head. “Understood?”

“Y-Y-Yes! Y-Yes, y-y-yes, o-of c-course, m-mistress! A-Anything you desire!”

“Good.” And she finally let the two shaking spiders up, before turning her crimson gaze on the rest of the peons watching, all of them stiffening to attention as she glared. “Well? Do you want a prize? GET BACK TO WORK!”

They all immediately darted off, some outright dropping their weapons as they went. Which was stupid, those were valuable. Also, one crossbow went off and wound up smashing one of the manor’s windows.

“...” Ariel turned back to Bartram, then noted one of his own monocles was visibly broken. “I’ll replace that later.”

“A-A-Ah, o-of course. Thank you, m-my most generous mistress…” Still shaking, the larger aranae turned back to the manor with an oddly eager energy in his step. He must’ve really been happy to get a new queen.

And Edmond was also there, staring up at her. “What?”

“...a-ah, n-n-nothing, m-mistress. I’ll, uh...I’ll get back to it.” He scurried off too, which left her alone with Claire, who Ariel turned towards with a wide grin, clapping her hands together.

“Well that went fantastically! As I said, all I have to do is make them obey properly and know their place! A success all around!”

“...” Claire gave her a weird looking smile, nodded, and gave her a thumbs up. For some reason, Elliot sighed behind her, but Ariel didn’t care about that, because she had so many new things to get caught up on!

And catch up she did, as she improved, grew in power, and worked alongside her many new minions to gradually expand their businesses and operations. She discovered a rather impressive talent for management and sabotage, working amid a truly tangled web of politics and economics to build herself up higher and higher, though it would take a very long time to elaborate on every last maneuver and scheme she put together to ensure all the other arachne in power knew just who they were dealing with.

Thus the small white spider of Bleakclaw Mountain became Lady Ariel Leicester, Darling President of the Woodcourt Coterie, ruler of Bleakclaw Manor–built right on top of the ruined mountain–and the newest ally of the woman she loved.

#writing #fantasy #fiction #my writing #dlg #spiders #arachnes #centipedes #ogres #trolls #dungeons #monsters #aranae #long post #very long

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5hfanfiction · 7 years

Text

You Make Me Feel Alive

Lauren has spent her entire life hunting down ghosts and sending them back through the veil. It’s her duty.

Camila doesn’t exactly have a heartbeat and sometimes she finds herself accidentally drifting through the bathroom door.

It’s complicated.

The Veil, the boarder between life and death has shifted releasing masses of ghosts, spirits, and super natural entities into the world. Nearly 75 years later thousands of supernatural forces have been returned back behind the veil, but still, many remain.

Lauren Jauregui, like most of the millennials, trained her whole life to become a ghost hunter. All ghosts were bad, they haunted for fun and they tormented innocent beings; they were devils or “Spooks” as they call them. They needed to be sent back through the veil to the afterlife where they belonged…..or at least that’s what Lauren’s been taught.

Of course, then she meets Camila.

“Dammit! The EMF stopped beeping. The Spook is gone.”

Lauren glances up at her coworker and best friend, Dinah. Dinah’s long blond hair is tied back in a ponytail, a headlamp strapped across her forehead, and her face turned into a frustrated scowl. Like Lauren, they both wear similar uniforms; army green, tight fitted cargo pants with too many pockets, a thin long-sleeved t shirt tucked into a bulky belt that held all sorts of ghost hunting supplies, heavy brown hiking boots, and black gloves that were cut off mid finger.

Dinah dims her headlamp before turning in the direction of Lauren so that she doesn’t blind the girl. “I really thought we had that damn spook.” She grunts, pushing the small EMF device into its specified place on her belt.

Lauren nods, breathing out a small sigh of relief. “It’s okay Dinah, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of others.”

Dinah nods, but huffs immediately after. “But we have been following this one for nearly a mile!” Dinah moves to go in the direction she came from, squeezing past Lauren in the tight space.

They had been in the process of tracking down one of the seemingly endless amounts of spooks dotted across the world. The spook had led them to a small tunnel leading underground to where there seemed to be an entire maze of connecting tunnels. They had been walking deeper into the earth for nearly two hours now; following the small beeping of their EMF machine into the darkness while their hands got colder and their headlamps were the only sources of light. Lauren is pretty sure that the inside of her nose is coated with a thin layer of dust by now and each breath tickles.

Dinah turns her lamp back to full blast and Lauren gets a glimpse her footprints in the jagged dirt floor as well as how cramped the tunnel really was. She guesses that the tunnel is maybe six feet high, but there had been some parts where Dinah and her were forced to duck as they walked to avoid hitting the ceiling. Width wise, she would see only a foot or so wider than her body. She is really glad that she isn’t claustrophobic because otherwise she would probably be freaking out right now.

“You seem awfully calm about the fact that we are who knows how far underground and we didn’t even get the spook.” Dinah comments as she walks slightly in front of Lauren.

Lauren bites her lip. “I’m frustrated, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. We can’t just call the ghosts to us you know.” She lies easily.

“Well technically, we can. We would just need one of the Magnets to do so.” She counters with a joking tone although she isn’t wrong in the slightest. Magnets are the terms for the people trained to summon ghosts to a specific area, almost like a ghost magnet, hence the name. Summoning ghosts can be very dangerous however, and rarely do ghost hunters ever use that option because it’s very hard to control and sometimes you end up with more than just spooks and there is always a possibility that you call ghosts that have already been returned back behind the veil instead of those that have escaped and you just have to return them all over again. Anyways, many reasons why Magnets aren’t usually a good idea.

Lauren snorts. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah but still, you look, I don’t know…almost relieved?” Dinah glances back at Lauren with questioning eyes, tripping over an uneven patch of dirt and instantly forcing her attention back in front of her.

“What?” Lauren says a little too loudly. Her voice echoes through the tunnels at a higher pitch than normal. She cringes a bit and calms her voice. “I am not relieved.” She argues.

Dinah shrugs. “I’m just saying. It hasn’t been the first time you seem less than unwilling to do your job.”

“Dinah what are you talking about? That’s crazy.” Lauren huffs, she silently thanks the tunnel for its lack of light because otherwise Dinah might noticed the small layer of sweat that breaks out nervously on her skin or the fact that her eyes seem to look a bit panicky.

“Yeah,” Dinah ducks as they pass an area that slants downwards making the ceiling height maybe five feet and some change. “The other week when I was walking you home, my EMF starting going off and normally you are the first to pull out your equipment and track the spook down, but you just brushed it off saying you were tired and it could wait….and a few days ago I swear you were deliberately slowing us down where you, Mani, and I were following a hoard of the damn things! By the time we got there half of them had left the area.” She waves her arms around in emphasis and curses when she smacks her fingers against a large rock jutting from the side of the dirt wall.

Lauren gulps a bit because her accusations weren’t wrong. “Okay first of all, I actually was really tired the first time, we had already been up nearly all night helping Ally cleanse her uncles house. Secondly, I wasn’t trying to slow you down and we still got like six spooks.” Lauren defends herself.

Dinah sighs, dimming her lamp as the opening appears a few hundred feet or so in front of them, enough to see some light. “I just worry about you. You used to live solely for hunting down the spooks, you were the best in our year and now it just seems like you don’t care as much. These ghosts are a problem Laur, and it’s our job to get rid of them.”

“Yeah I know.” Lauren answers back vaguely.

Dinah stops and turns towards Lauren, blinking a bit at the brightness from Lauren’s lamp. Lauren turns it down. “Spooks are horrible, terrible creatures Lauren. They literally came from hell.”

Lauren nods in response but she can’t help but bite her lip a bite and ask a brave question. “Are…are all of them bad?” She says quietly, glad that her and Dinah are here alone.

Dinah looks shocked by the question, but she sees genuine confusion in her friend’s eyes and she too let’s herself actually think about it. “I’m…I’m not sure but either way, they don’t belong here. There is a reason they died Laur, whether or not they are bad.” Dinah pauses, realizing that they really shouldn’t be having this conversation. “But I haven’t ever met a good one, they all scream and terrorize.” She feels the need to add the last part.

Lauren let’s out a breath but nods. Dinah’s right, they did die for a reason, but what if that reason was because they were born at the wrong time? What if the reason is so that they can come back now? What if the reason is because they just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and maybe this is their second chance?

There are just too many what if’s.

Lauren presses the key into her door, twisting the small metal object with a little extra force. The door creaks open revealing Lauren’s two bedroom apartment, opening into her living room, a small but tidy area that currently holds a few large bookshelves, and old record player that she isn’t really supposed to have, a couch, and two armchairs. She hears a small jingling sound and looks down to see her cat, Vince trotting over and rubbing his face into her leg. She smiles a bit, unclasping her tool belt from around her waist and dropping it onto her kitchen counter.

“Camila?!” She calls not too loudly, but loud enough that all the spaces in her apartment would be able to hear it. “I’m home!”

Lauren pulls off her boots and reaches down to pet Vince. Most people own either a cat or a dog now days because of their ghost infestation. If you have a pet in your house not only do spooks tend to stay away, but the pets can sense their presence so that you know if your house has some sort of supernatural presence lurking around and you can get rid of it before it does any harm.

“Hey buddy, did Camila feed you?” She scratches underneath the cat’s neck and walks over to the pantry where she keeps his food. Sure enough Camila has already feed the cat, and way too much at that. She shakes her head. “Sorry Vince, no more for you.”

The cat gives her an unimpressed look and makes his way out of the room disappointedly.

Lauren chuckles, realizing she has yet to hear back from Camila. “Camila? Are you here?”

Lauren walks slowly down the hallway until she reaches her bedroom. The door is shut, but Lauren can tell the light is on from the crack underneath the door. She presses the door open and smiles when she sees Camila sitting on the bed with earbuds stuck in her ears. Her head bobs up and down a bit to the music and she scribbles into the journal Lauren bought her a few weeks ago. Vince jumps onto the bed and walks over, laying down on Camila’s crossed-legged lap. Camila smiles and runs her hands over his fur.

Camila looks so effortlessly beautiful. Her bottom lip is clenched between her teeth in thought and her eyebrows are furrowed, leaving a long crease across her forehead. Her long brown hair falls over one side of her face, the other side tucked carelessly behind her ear. Her skin is a bit pale, but that’s normal for Camila.

Lauren waves her hands to gain the girl’s attention and when she does Camila looks up with a bright smile on her face. She immediately moves to get up and greet the green eyed girl; Vince is pushed off her lap and his tail puffs at the loss of comfort and Camila completely forgets about the headphones connected to her phone, yanking them from her ears as she stands up.

“Ow.” She whines, pressing on her ear for a second before focusing back on Lauren and breaking into a grin once again. She clambers onto Lauren, pulling her into a tight hug –one of her supposedly famous koala hugs- and nuzzling her face into Lauren’s chest. “Lo!” She squeals happily.

Lauren can’t help but smile back, wrapping her arms around the girl. “Hey Camz.”

“I missed you.” Camila murmurs, finally pulling away. “You were gone forever.”

Lauren laughs. “You saw me this morning.”

Camila gives her a look and moves back towards Lauren’s bed.

“Fine, I missed you too.” Lauren submits easily.

Camila resumes her position, this time with a large smile on her face, pulling the headphones from her ipod and letting the music play quietly for the both of them to hear. She pats the spot next to her, signaling Lauren to join them. Lauren complies, leaning back against the bedframe. “How was work?” Camila asks although the topic makes her uncomfortable. She still wants Lauren to be able to talk about it.

Lauren sighs, frowning a bit. “Dinah and I have been out all day. Normani went with Ally to help some guy who has some sort of….what did you say was the correct term for the ones that harass people?” She looks to Camila for help.

“A poltergeist.” She answers knowing exactly what Lauren was talking about despite her vague description.

“Yeah some guy had a poltergeist in his house so they went to take care of that which meant Dinah and I had to go out and hunt all day and since we covered some of the nearby neighborhoods last week, we went to the factories today. We caught one, he was definitely one of the bad ones.” Lauren clarifies too make sure Camila knows.

“A devil.” Camila corrects with an added nod to show she was listening.

“Yeah a devil sorry,” Lauren gives the girl a small smile before the frown comes back and she continues. “We followed something into the tunnels but I don’t think it was bad. It seemed more like it was running from us than anything. I felt bad.”

Camila nods, noticing how stressed Lauren looks and moves to grab Lauren’s hand and give it a squeeze. Lauren squeezes back. “I think Dinah’s catching on. She confronted me about how my head doesn’t seem to be in the game anymore or something. I…I asked her if she thinks that all spooks are bad and she said that she didn’t know but that she thinks they are dead for a reason and that they should that way.” Camila’s face turns away and Lauren tugs at their connected hands to bring her attention back. “I agree with her, I think people die for a reason.”

Camila frowns and Lauren can see her lip quiver a bit. Camila turns her gaze back down to the bed, she isn’t exactly sure how the whole human emotions thing works seeing as she isn’t really human, not completely, but she knows that Lauren’s statement hurt. She whispers in a shaky voice, “You think I should be dead?”

Lauren shakes her head, realizing how she must have just sounded. “No! No, not at all! I said you died for a reason, not that you should stay dead.” She quickly corrects although it doesn’t seem to sound much better because Camila bites her wobbling lip to hold it still.

“I don’t…. u…understand?” She whimpers, trying her best to stay calm until Lauren explains herself. She looks so confused and hurt and just sad and Lauren feels bad for approaching this the way she did.

Lauren tucks a strand of hair back behind Camila’s ear from where it fell, leaving her hand to rest on the girl’s cheek as she explains. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. You definitely died for a reason, I know you won’t tell me exactly how yet, but for whatever reason, you died. But here you are now and I can’t help but feel like the reason you died is because you were born at the wrong time.”

Lauren pauses to take a breath and Camila waits patiently although Lauren is confusing her so much and she really just wants to know the answer before she breaks down in tears for possibly no reason.

“Correct me if I’m in the wrong for thinking this way, but I think we were meant to meet Camila. You were born way before you were supposed to and so you had to die so that we could exist at the same time, you had to come back without having aged…..with you still living. Does that make sense?” Lauren looks up to Camila’s soft eyes and Camila gives the girl a watery smile.

“Fuck Laur, you could have just started out with the sappy part before freaking my out like that. I think my heart nearly stopped beating…..Again.” She wipes the tears from her eyes and chuckles a bit at her attempt at a joke.

Lauren shoots her an apologetic smile. “Sorry Camz.”

Camila waves her off, reaching for Lauren’s hand once more as she finishes wiping the salty drops from her face. She sniffs first before she begins slowly playing with Lauren’s fingers. “I…I think we were definitely meant to meet but I’m…. not exactly….living?” Camila keeps her gaze on their entertained hands as she rubs at a small scar over Lauren’s knuckle.

“You aren’t exactly dead either.” Lauren counters half serious and half joking.

Camila manages to smile a bit because it’s true, she wasn’t dead either. “I know. Listen, what I’m trying to say is that I…I want to be here with you more than anything. These past few months being with you have been amazing. Better than nearly any memory I can remember from my old life and definitely better than my sixty or so years in hell.” She pauses to smile affectionately at Lauren.

“But?” Lauren asks, knowing that was where this was leading.

“But the big fact is that even though I’m here…I’m not fully here and I don’t know if I ever will be.” Camila sighs, her smile from earlier turns into a dejected frown.

“Camz-“

“Lo, I…. I know what you are going to say, that having me in my current form is enough for you and I appreciate that, but there are some major flaws with your statement; One being that thousands of people all over the world are searching for people like me to send back behind the veil, Two being that you are in fact one of those people, and Three…..” Camila branches off, rubbing at Lauren’s fingers nervously.

“What Camz?”

“Somethings different.” Camila states vaguely and yet the statement brings uncomfortable chills all over Lauren’s body.

“What do you mean?” Lauren asks, she thinks she has an idea but she isn’t sure.

“I’m not fully living…. We already clarified that, but lately it’s….I don’t know, more noticeable.”

Lauren furrows her brows as she looks at Camila. Right now, she looks human; fully present. Sure, her skin is a bit pale and her hands are kinda cold and maybe her heart beat is a few dozen beats per minutes less than it should be, but she is there and her heart does pump blood through her veins.

Unfortunately she isn’t always so lively. Sometimes her skin is cold to the touch, so cold in fact that if you felt her, you would definitely think she was dead….well really dead. Some days, her body flickers in and out like a glitch in the videos games Camila had played as a kid. Some days she fades from full color to dull black and white, almost like a shadow in the background.

The side effects from slipping out of the veil have always existed; there have been times when Camila has accidentally sat down and fallen directly through the chair and Lauren, after freaking out for a second, had burst out laughing. Lauren remembers once when she and Camila were cuddling on the couch and suddenly Camila’s body had turned ice cold for almost an hour. They have always been there, but something tells Lauren that this time is more serious.

“More noticeable?” Lauren squeaks out nervously.

Camila nods. She looks so serious in the moment. “The veil is still open Lo.” Camila comments and although it sounds random, Lauren knows she will tie it into their conversation somehow. She nods in acknowledgment and pulls Camila to lean into her body comfortably. Camila complies, nuzzling her cheek against Lauren’s chest and running her fingers lightly across Lauren’s arm. “A lot of people think that it closed after the ghosts swarmed in, but it didn’t. I can feel it.”

Lauren raises her eyebrows and looks down at the girl. “What do you mean?”

Camila takes a deep breath, watching her fingers graze Lauren’s perfect skin with her eyes. “A long time ago the veil slipped and it allowed thousands of ghosts to pass into the living world, you know that much. But then they just assumed that it closed back up. That’s not true.”

“What is it really?” Lauren asks softly. Vince jumps onto the bed and cuddles against Camila, Lauren manages to smile at the irony that she bought the cat to ward off ghosts and yet here Vince is cuddled into Camila’s lap.

“Think of it as Tectonic plates.” Camila states. “The pressure from the other side becomes too much so the plates shift and release an earth quake- or in this case a mass of ghosts- but then you have all the aftershocks that follow, more ghosts still passed through after the veil shifted because it moved, it open Lo. It’s not in the same place anymore and to this day it still isn’t fully closed. Ghosts are still coming in and out, just in smaller amounts and less frequently. The veil is still shifting.” Camila’s fingers pause over Lauren’s skin for a second.

“And when you leave the other side, when you pass through the veil, it’s like you are attached to a leash that stretches all the way back to the veil. It’s the part of you that’s still dead, one end resting somewhere behind the veil and the other wrapped in knots around your heartstrings. Tethered to death. I think Laur, there is only so far you can stray; only so far the leash can stretch.” Camila’s voice gets soft and Lauren sees where she is going with this now.

“Only so long you can be tethered to both.” Lauren finishes in a half statement and half question sort of way.

Camila nods, breathing out heavily and resuming the patterns on Lauren’s arm. “I want to stay here with you Laur, but I am so so scared that I won’t be able to.” Her voice cracks slightly and Lauren pulls the girl closer to her chest. Camila is cool to the touch, but not quite cold and definitely not uncomfortably. Instead, it contrasts perfectly to Lauren’s abnormally warm temperatures.

Lauren shakes her head. “I want you here Camz.”

“I know.”

There is a small silence as Camila listens to the steady beat of Lauren’s heart beneath her ear. Lauren runs her fingers through Camila’s dark locks slowly, her other hand resting on Vince. Camila’s heart beats maybe once for every five or six of Lauren’s heart beats and Camila thinks that together they make a beautiful melody of different tempos.

“You think there is only so long a ghost can be tethered to both life and death?” Lauren clarifies.

Camila nods. “Sometimes I feel more alive than dead and sometimes….”

Lauren nods in understanding. “Eventually you think that the ghosts fade away? But the reason they are still here is because more are still coming through the veil, just in lesser and amounts?”

Camila shrugs. “Something along those lines.”

Lauren sighs, pulling Camila impossibly closer into her body and touching her in any innocent way that she can. She closes her eyes and allows herself to listen to Camila’s small breaths and to feel the way Camila’s fingertips still brush across her skin with the gentlest of touches. She rests her chin on Camila’s head, breathing the smell of her shampoo.

They stay like that until the light outside fades to dark and the room around them changes to dark blue and grey. Shadows cast along the bedroom and the only movement has been their rising and falling chests along with Vince who had gotten his nightly adrenaline and had probably gone off to search for small bugs or mice somewhere outside.

Lauren can tell that Camila is starting to fall asleep because the drawings on her arms are getting lazy and heavier and then they stop all together. Except they don’t just stop, they disappear. Camila disappears. Her body vanishes from Lauren’s body, sending chills over her skin at the loss of comfort. Her eyes fly open in a panic just in time to see Camila flicker back into view.

The weight returns to Lauren’s body and Camila turns slowly from black and white to color. Camila takes in a deep breath, the feeling of flickering out like a flame always leaves her deprived of oxygen- like the wind had been knocked from her chest- and feeling as if the little warmth she has is stolen from her body.

Camila’s heart is beating a bit faster against Lauren’s chest but it’s nothing compared to how fast Lauren’s is beating. The girl hesitantly clutches Camila back into her body, slightly tighter than before. “Was that….” Lauren’s voice is shaky.

Camila hums, her eyes wide open and staring into the darkness in a sort of fear. “Sometimes the veil yanks at the leash.”

Lauren gulps, balling her fists into Camila’s shirt and pressing her face into Camila’s messy hair. She needed Camila here, she just didn’t know how to keep her.

“Laur are you even listening?” Lauren looks up guiltily with an apologetic glance on her face.

She lets out a sigh, shaking her head. “I’m sorry Mani, what was that?”

Normani, one of her other coworkers and good friends gives her one of her thousands of salty expressions. “I can’t believe I just talked to myself for legit fifteen minutes.” She huffs, taking a seat next to Lauren. “What was the last thing you remember me talking about?”

Lauren nods, not really hearing the girl’s question. She can’t get her mind off of Camila. She can’t seem to forget the terrifying feeling of Camila just vanishing in thin air. For a few mere seconds, she just ceased to exist and even though it was a small amount of time, Lauren doesn’t think she can live in a world without Camila, not anymore.

It’s been a few days since they had their talk and although Camila has mostly been ruled by her more human side, there had been one day when Lauren woke up shivering because Camila’s body next to her was ice cold and another time when Camila, in a half asleep state, had walked straight through the bathroom door.

It scared Lauren. Camila just seems so real, possibly the only real thing in her life and yet….. at the same time she is the only thing that isn’t.

Lauren has been staying up late every night trying to think of some sort of solution with no luck. They have ways to eliminate ghosts from their world and they have ways to pull ghosts into their world, but they don’t have ways to give ghosts permanent living bodies.

“Lauren!” Normani yells next to Lauren’s ear.

Lauren blinks away her thoughts and sighs, resting her head on her hands. “I know I zoned out again and I’m sorry.”

Normani flashes yet another face at Lauren and groans. “What’s with you anyways?”

“I…Nothing.” Lauren mumbles from where her face hides in a mess of arms.

“Nothing my ass. I won’t pester you about it but whatever it is you better get you shit together. We are supposed to have a giant wave of spooks sometime this month to deal with and if you think that having your head floating around all the way behind the veil is a good idea than you are dead wrong.” She comments bluntly, standing up from her seat next to Lauren and walking over to the large room that holds their equipment.

“Yeah I know. I’ll get it together…. What about the spooks? We are supposed to have a big group of them?” Lauren lifts her head from her arms and raises a brow at the girl who is in the connected room.

“The seer says she has been feeling a cluster moving in our direction for a while now and well, I guess it’s coming kinda soon.” Normani yells back from the other room.

A big group? That’s strange, spooks don’t usually travel in groups. If you happen to find a group it’s because something supernatural lead them all coincidentally to the same spot but a large mass of spooks traveling together, in the same directions is practically unheard of. She makes note to ask Camila about it later.

Normani walks back out of the room with her belt strapped around her waist in a way that somehow makes the bulky equipment holder look somewhat stylish. Lauren smirks and shakes her head playfully. Normani laughs, “What?”

“Only you can make these gross clothes look good.” Lauren comments, pointing at the way that the army green cargo pants hug Normani’s curves and how the gloves that look dorky on Lauren make Mani look like a badass.

Normani smiles, looking down at her outfit and shrugging. “I actually like our uniforms. I think they make us look like sexy badasses. I mean have you seen Dinah in it her…..” Normani’s eyes widen and she coughs. “I mean or Ally. Ally looks really good in it too and I mean have you looked in the mirror lately?” She covers herself up and Lauren just raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah sure. What were you saying about Dinah?” Lauren teases as Normani’s cheeks turn red.

“I….” The EMF around her waist begins beeping loudly to single that there was a supernatural presence nearby and Normani grabs the machine, pressing at the buttons.

Normally, EMF devices can only sense supernatural creatures within the vicinity, but since the opening of the veil, they’ve done a lot of research to upgrade our technology so that the device can stretch way further. If the being is a really powerful one it can sometimes stretch a few miles away. Some of them even have a sort of compass to point in the direction of the ghost while the more professional ones contain a GPS system to point in specific locations. “Saved by the spook.” Lauren chuckles as she begins pulling on her gear. “Where at?”

Normani shakes her head, her cheeks still a bit red. “Hmm, looks to be a few blocks away, down by the old high school.”

Lauren nods. “Okay let’s go.”

She prays that whatever it is, it actually deserves what’s coming to it, ever since she met Camila and learned about the different kinds of ghosts, she often finds dread swirling in her stomach as they follow the trails to the creatures.

They head down the street in a sprint. The streets are almost always empty now days and the few people that do travel during the day use the modern subway stations that run along the roads. Lauren and Normani stop in front of the high school, breathing heavily. Lauren remembers her grandmother telling her that this was the high school she had attended back before the veil opened but no one has set foot in it in years. High schools were a common place for spooks to lurk because of the amount of time and memories the ghosts had spent there when they were living.

Lauren stands back as Normani kicks open the door, releasing a cloud of dust from beneath her foot as the door bursts open. She shakes out her foot a bit in pain, cursing under her breath while Lauren coughs and waves the dust away from her face.

“You ready?” Lauren asks the dark skinned girl.

“Sure.” Normani mutters, limping her first few steps before the pain goes away and she is walking normally again. “Damn that hurt.” She groans.

Lauren chuckles. “This is why we need Dinah hear, that girl has perfected breaking open doors in any way possible. Well and because you know, you’re mood would improve quite a-“

“Shut the fuck up and focus on the reason we’re here Laur. You are pushing it.” Normani huffs.

Lauren smiles but obeys. They walk into the school, the light from the doorway reflecting all the way down the hall on the linoleum tiles. Some of the lockers lining the walls hang open, old papers are crumpled on the ground, there are large clumps of graffiti are spray painted on the walls. Lauren tries to picture normal teenagers going to school here and worrying about things like homework but it’s really hard to do when there are long shadows stretching along the walls and giant painted letters spell out ‘monsters from hell’ along the lockers.

“Can you ever imagine kids actually just going to school here?” Normani seems to read her mind.

Lauren shakes her head. Neither she nor Normani had attended school, that is, not counting the years of training to be a ghost hunter and the few years of basic education consisting of learning about the veil, how to read, write, speak and mathematics. “I’d like to hope it was in better shape at the time.” Lauren jokes as she walks through a large clump of cobwebs with a disgusted look on her face.

Normani snorts. “Me too, I mean, I don’t even want to know what this is.” She points to a large green-brown puddle leaking from the old bathrooms and fakes a gag.

Lauren scrunches her nose and hurries past the puddle. “Let me guess, it’s in the basement?”

“Typical spook.” Normani confirms.

Lauren looks for the nearest basement entrance and when she finds the wooden door hanging off its hinges, she tugs it to the ground effortlessly. Normani rolls her eyes. “Of course you get the easy one.”

Lauren smirks. “Shush.” She leads the way down the staircase, the little amount of light from the entrance down the hall is fading quickly and Lauren takes a second to pull her headlamp from her belt and place the beaming light on her forehead.

Normani does the same and they makes their way down the creaky stairs. When they reach the bottom, Normani’s EMF is beeping slow and long and they can hear small mumbles of whatever language the ghost is speaking. Normani signals for Lauren to go left while she goes right. Lauren nods.

She walks past a few stacks of old wooden school desks and down the long hallways. She can still hear Normani’s EMF due to the lack of noise in the dead silent basement. She takes small steps in order to keep her boots from making loud clunking noises. She reaches a long hallway full of doors and knowing that most ghosts can fade through solid objects she doesn’t bother skipping the ones with closed doors. She checks them all, peeking into the rooms with her headlamp.

Turns out Normani finds the ghost first, a loud, “Lauren!” Sounding from the other side of the large basement.

“Coming Mani!” She yells back.

She sprints back in the direction she came from, then passes the stair case going in the right direction this time. She had hoped she would be the one to find it, just in case this ghost wasn’t a devil and instead was something like Camila; innocent and just caught up in the whole thing.

She nearly runs right past Normani, she doesn’t see the girl hiding flat against one of the walls. Normani grabs her as Lauren runs and tugs her against the wall as well. Lauren nearly let’s out a small yelp but Normani covers her hand with her mouth and Lauren calms down at the feeling of Normani’s cut off gloves. Normani removes her hand and points down the hall to where the spook sits, or should Lauren says spooks. There are multiple, all moaning and making an awful lot of noise, pushing over old desks and staring at the walls.

Lauren gasps, counting at least four. She observes them, from what she can see they are thankfully all spooks….or devils as Camila says they are called. Their eyes are sunken deep into their skulls, most of them an endless black color but a few of the more sickly looking ones have eyes that almost glow red. Lauren nearly sighs in relief. She didn’t have to kill any innocent souls today, just the ones that actually deserve to go back to hell.

“Let’s corner them. You come from the back and I’ll come from the front and distract them. We can each take two.” Normani whispers.

Lauren nods, creeping her way around piles of broken desks and large metal pillars that hold up the ceiling. From across the hoard of spooks she can see Normani doing the same thing. They reach the point where Lauren is crouched directly behind the moaning creatures and Normani right in front, a fraction of her body peeking out from behind one of the pillars. She lifts a can of gasoline from her belt and gives Lauren a smile.

Lauren nods.

Normani steps out into the open, immediately gaining the attention of each of the spooks. They turn to look at her, releasing horrid screams. She wastes no time in spraying the creatures with the gasoline, drenching the first one- that had begun to charge at her- immediately. Lauren takes this as her que, pulling out her own gasoline weapon and spraying the first spook she comes in contact with. It screams as the baggy clothes that cover its body is weighed down underneath the weight and claws at its face as the liquid gets into his eyes and mouth.

She hears the small ‘shwttttt’ of Normani’s signature matches being stroked against one of the pillars and a wave of heat hits Lauren’s back as one of the spooks bursts into flames, turning grey and white before vanishing back behind the veil. The blue tipped match falls to the floor.

There are a few ways to get rid of the ghosts, but burning them is the quickest and easiest way to do so. Most hunters use lighters because they are a bit more dependable and easier to access, but Normani, being Normani likes to add her twist to things, hence her signature, blue-tipped matches. She says it’s something about the sound it makes that’s satisfying and the way she can leave the dead match on the ground to mark her territory. Lauren thinks it’s way badass, but she herself sticks to her black lighter.

Lauren’s gasoline-drenched spook swings out its arms in her direction and she kicks it towards Normani.

Shwttttt. Another match falls to the ground.

Normani smiles proudly, turning to her next victim. Lauren wastes no time backhanding an approaching spook with the covered part of her hand, the black leather of her glove smacking the sharp cheek of her next victim. She can hear another piercing scream behind her as Normani does something similar to her own attacker. The room lights up again behind Lauren, turning a bright orange is the spook goes up in flames and then disappears. They haven’t really determined why exactly the spooks disappear when they are killed but Camila assumes it’s the dead part of them, like they are just yanking back behind the Veil. They aren’t living enough to leave a solid body. It makes sense.

Lauren catches movement in the corner of her eye.

She looks over to see another ghost, temporarily forgetting about her current attacker. She notices the pale skin and the floppy hair and lanky limbs, but her eyes meet a dark blue color instead of sunken black and she immediately knows that the ghost is not a spook, just one of the ones who got caught in the mix. The ghost looks scared, pressing his body into the wall with shaking fingers and trembling lips. Camila flashes across her mind.

“Lauren!” Normani’s voice yells loudly.

Lauren suddenly remembers that she is still in a fight with one of the spooks but it’s too late. He tackles Lauren to the ground, forcing Lauren’s head to smack into the concrete floors of the basement. Her vision goes dizzy for a millisecond and she feels her body go ice cold as the spook gets a hold of her wrists.

Normani is quick to spray the spook with her gasoline and what doesn’t hit the spook showers Lauren as well. Lauren grunts and manages to kick the spook off just as she hears another match being lit. It flies over her body, landing on the spook a foot or two away and his body bursts into flames just like the rest of them. The spook reaches out, tugging painfully at Lauren’s ankle and twisting it in the wrong direction in any effort to keep himself tied to the living world. Lauren yelps in pain and kicks his hand off as he turns to grey and disappears.

Lauren groans in pain, letting her eyes close for a second as her head throbs and her ankle burns. “Jesus Christ Laur, what were you thinking?” Normani hurries over, crouching by her friend. “A few more seconds and he could have easily possessed you, ya know.”

“I know Mani, I know.” Lauren huffs, reopening her eyes and looking into Normani’s worried ones. She slowly sits up, her head filling with waves of dizziness. “I just… I got distracted.” Lauren’s eyes glance over at the ghost and she immediately regrets it because Normani follows her gaze.

The ghost is still there and she whimpers as they make eye contact. Normani stands up quickly, pulling out her box of matches and the gasoline. Lauren watches as even more fear takes over the small ghosts features, she almost seems to hide behind her long mane of messy hair.

Lauren chokes on the air in her throat, stumbling to her feet despite the pain in her ankle and the nausea from her dizziness. “Mani no!” Lauren practically falls forward, holding onto Normani for support and the dark skinned girl is forced to stop in order to keep her injured friend from falling.

“Laur what the fuck. Get off of me, we missed one!” Normani tries to shake Lauren off but it only ends up with her dropping the can of gasoline and the cap breaks off making it unusable. “Great! Way to go Laur.” She huffs, finally pulling Lauren’s arms from around her body and instead holding the girl up with a single hand underneath Lauren’s armpit.

“You can’t send him back! He’s innocent!” Lauren yells, heaving heavily.

Normani’s eyebrows shoot up. “What do you mean she’s innocent?!” Normani yells. “He’s a fucking spook Lauren. They possess people and throw things and harass! They are the furthest thing from innocent!” She let’s go of Lauren and the girl falls back, grabbing onto one of the pillars for support. She begins walking towards the spook again. “You can still burn without gas…..” She mutters.

Lauren feels sick as she watches the look on Normani’s face. It was a look Lauren had once worn many times herself. The look of pride after getting rid of some of the world’s evil. Saving lives. Doing good. The thrill of fighting. She knew it all. It was exhilarating to kill the spooks, but this time it wasn’t a spook. Normani didn’t know any better, but Lauren knew it all. Camila had explained the whole thing to her.

“Normani please! Just listen to me!” She pleaded.

Normani noticed the desperate tone in her best friend’s voice and turned, only half way so that she could still watch the whimpering ghost from the corner of her eye. “What Laur?” She asked harshly.

“That one isn’t like the others.” Lauren started.

Normani rolls her eyes, “Laur I’m sorry, but you are insane-“

“No Mani just look at it. His eyes, they are bright blue… not black and not red. Look how his skin has a bit more color and Mani… she isn’t screaming, she isn’t attacking, she is just….shaking. In fear.” Lauren hurries to give as much evidence as she can.

Normani turns to the creature, cocking her head to the side in confusion as she looks. “That…that doesn’t mean anything Laur. He is still a ghost… a spook.” Normani argues.

The ghost whimpers a bit more, his eyes frantically switching between Normani and Lauren.

“Normani not all of them are bad. Some of them are just caught up in the whole mess. They just accidentally slipped through the veil. Please, just look at him.” Lauren tries again.

Normani does look at him and she does notice that maybe his eyes lack the evil depths that spooks normally have and maybe Lauren is right about the boy not attacking, he trembles against the wall instead, but they haven’t ever encountered a good ghost before. In fact Normani hasn’t ever even heard of a good ghost. “What do you mean a good ghost?” She asks with a growl, not letting her eyes leave the creature against the wall.

“Think about it, when the veil shifted, it just spilled open. Not every person that dies is evil. There are some who just… fell out with no intention of hurting or harassing or doing any harm. They are just here trying to get by.” Lauren forces her body to lean off of the pole. Her ankle is no doubt swelling around her foot and spots flash in front of her eyes from the pain in the back of her head. “Just leave it be.”

Normani clenches her teeth in though. Lauren did have a point, it made sense, but she also had no proof. “Laur I can’t just leave this thing here. It’s our job to get rid of the spooks.”

Lauren shakes her head, causing the edges of her vision to turn black. “No, this isn’t a spook. It’s just a ghost. A dead soul brought back to life.”

“Laur…” Normani warns, striking the match against one of the broken desks piled all around her. A small orange glow illuminates the room and Lauren feels sick to her stomach. Oh shit…she is sick to her stomach. She stumbles a bit on her feet, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor. Her vision sparkles in front of her eyes like a kaleidoscope and feels her body tip over backwards.

Lauren’s body in bobbing up and down, her face lifting up before smashing into soft skin over and over. She groans, feeling a terrible throb in the back of her head and spreading throughout the rest of her skull. Her ankle hurts too, but she notices that she isn’t putting any pressure on it; she’s being carried. She groans again as her ankle bumps against something warm.

“Laur?” Normani’s voice sounds from somewhere next to her head.

Lauren forces her eyes open. “Hmmm?”

“Oh my god, you’re up.” Normani breaths out in relief.

“Ugh what happened?” Lauren murmurs, still very much out of it. Her head continues to bob up and down against what she now identifies as Normani’s shoulder.

“Pretty sure you have a concussion from smacking your head into the ground. There isn’t any blood but I felt a pretty big bump and you threw up and then passed out.” Normani informs.

Lauren closes her eyes again. She vaguely remembers that. She lifts her head a bit, ignoring how she feels like a bobble head and how the effort it takes to do so nearly makes her want to pass out again. She looks around and notices that it’s she is riding on Normani’s back; piggy back style. “Where are we going?” She murmurs.

She forces herself to look at her surroundings.

“I’m taking you home, you need some ice on your head and to lay down.” Normani huffs a bit and readjusts her position under Lauren’s legs. “Also we should definitely do something about your ankle because last time I checked it was bigger than a softball.” Normani tries to joke a bit but there was a serious mood set in their conversation.

Lauren notices that it’s dark out and she wonders how late it is. Camila will have been worried that she isn’t home yet, probably pacing across the living room, waiting for the familiar sound of Lauren’s keys outside of the door. And- Oh fuck! Camila.

“You really don’t have to take me home Mani, you can just drop me off.” She feels panic rising in her voice as the reach her building and Normani begins up the stairs to the apartment.

“Laur you are absolutely crazy if you think I am going to leave you alone in this state.” Normani snorts.

“But I won’t be alone.” Lauren comments before realizing that’s the whole reason she doesn’t want Normani there. Yeah, she’s a bit out of it. “I mean I’ll have Vince.” She covers.

Normani shakes her head and lifts Lauren a bit higher again. “Laur, you are literally so out of it right now. Vince isn’t going to do shit. Just stop talking and let me help you.” Lauren sticks out her hand to push open the doors to the apartment building while Normani carries them into the lobby. The man at the desk gives them a curious look but goes back to whatever it is he was doing. Normani looks at the stairs with a groan. “You owe me so much.” She grumbles.

“Let me help you.” Lauren mocks back at her, imitating Normani’s voice and the words she had said just a few seconds before.

Normani walks a little too close to the wall and Lauren’s ankle hits the railing. She yelps in pain. “Oops.” She grumbles sarcastically.

“I hate you.” Lauren mutters. She can feel the anxiety growing in her chest as they get closer to her room. They reach the second floor and then they are walking down the hallway. Normani stops in front of Lauren’s door. “You can uh leave now.” Lauren tries again though she knows Normani already has her mind set and staying.

“Keys Laur.” Normani demands.

Lauren sighs. She doesn’t know if she can physically handle this right now. She nods, looking around Normani’s belt. Good, Normani didn’t bother to bring her broken can of gas. Lauren looks for the blue package of matches, she finds them sticking out from the pocket in Normani’s belt. She reaches for her keys, brushing past Normani’s belt and sliding the matches into her sleeve, pulling it off as her clumsy concussed movements. “Sorry.” She mumbles a bit before moving to her own belt to grab her keys and slip the matches into her own pocket.

Lauren holds out the keys with clenched teeth. Normani reaches to grab them and Lauren pulls them away a bit. “Mani-“ She sighs. “I have to ask you something first.”

Normani looks confused and concerned. “What Laur? Do you feel okay? Or I mean, worse than you should?”

Lauren shakes her head. “That’s not it. Did you…Did you kill that ghost? Back in the school.”

Normani closes her eyes, letting out a breath. “No I didn’t.” She breathes out in a low voice.

“Why?” Lauren continues.

“I was going to but you passed out and I kinda had to pick between injured friend and possible spook.” Normani answers honestly and Lauren is a bit disappointed because that’s not the reason she wanted.

“You don’t believe me? About the good ghosts?” Lauren questions.

Normani bites at her lip, readjusting Lauren again. “I don’t know Laur, I mean it makes sense but you have no proof. I’ve never heard of a ghost that wasn’t bad.”

“So if I had proof you would believe me?”

“Lauren you are kinda getting really heavy can we just go in and-“

Lauren cuts her off. “Answer me Mani. If I had proof would you believe me.”

Normani sighs. “I…I don’t know Lauren. Maybe, yes, no…..yes?” She sounds unsure but sticks with the answer.

Lauren nods, handing the girl the keys to her house. “Please don’t freak out.” She mutters.

“What?” Normani mumbles as she pushes in the key and opens the door.

The living room is empty which surprises Lauren since she figures Camila would have been pacing in front of the door. She finds herself feeling a bit grateful for the lack of Camila’s presence though because Normani has enough time to set Lauren down on the couch with a huff before footsteps sound coming out of the hallway.

Camila appears from arch that separates the living room and the hallway, she is coming nearly full sprint, a look of relief and worry present on her features. She has her long, untamed hair loose, letting it fall around her pale skin. She is wearing leggings and one of Lauren’s large bed time shirts as well as long mismatched socks. Lauren thinks she looks adorable.

“Lo?!” She calls as she runs into the room. She spots Normani and her socks skid on the wooden floor as she stops, her face turns slightly terrified and she freezes in her spot.

Normani growls as Camila appears, taking a defensive step back and moving to grab the matches from her pocket… except they aren’t in her pocket. “Lauren what the fuck did you do with my matches?” She hisses, not letting her hard gaze leave Camila even for a second.

Lauren watches Normani cautiously. “Normani, you said that if I had proof-“

“What is that thing doing in your house?” Normani interrupts with a demanding tone, still keeping her eyes locked on Camila like a lion with its prey. Camila doesn’t move a single muscle, even her breathing looks stiff, like she is trying not to do so.

Lauren sighs, her head is pounding and her ankle is aching and she doesn’t want to have to deal with this right now, but she knows she has to because if she just gives into the pain and stands back, Normani will be attacking Camila and Camila won’t attack back. She couldn’t hurt a fly. “Mani, she is not a thing. She is a girl. Her name is Camila.” She introduces.

“You named her?!” Normani hisses, narrowing her eyes at Camila who clenches her fist to try and hide the shaking of her hands. “She is a fucking ghost Lauren!”

“She already had a name, I didn’t give her it. And yeah, she is a ghost but listen to me! She isn’t bad. She doesn’t haunt or possess or harass or do anything even remotely evil!” Lauren argues. She raises her voice to get her point across and her head pounds a bit more forcefully. She curses a bit at the pain. Normani doesn’t even acknowledge the sound but Camila does and she glances ever so slightly in Lauren’s direction with worry dotted in her terrified expression.

“Lo?” She squeaks worriedly.

“I-“ Lauren starts.

“Don’t fucking talk!” Normani shuts Camila up instantly, the girl clamping her mouth shut as her eyes go wide.

“Mani stop it. I promise you she is harmless.” Lauren scolds, rubbing a bit at the back of her head.

“Lauren, I know you say she is but I haven’t ever heard of a friendly ghost before, let alone seen one. I’m going to need more proof.” Normani breaks eye contact for just a second to glance around the room, she looks to Lauren’s fireplace, knowing that most people tend to keep either a match or a lighter near fireplaces.

“Normani!” Lauren pleads as Normani spots a red lighter resting on the mantle of the stone fireplace. Normani presses her thumb across the metal and a few sparks fly before a steady flame floats along the opening. Camila flinches, her eyes wide with fear.

She steps towards Camila and the ghost takes as many steps away as she can until she is backed into the wall with only a few feet from Normani and herself, the flame between them. Lauren tries to stand up in panic but she is pretty sure she dislocated her ankle because the second she tries to place any pressure on it, she stumbles and barely catches herself with the palms of her hands against her dusty wooden floors.

The sound causes Normani to turn and glance at Lauren with a conflicted gaze. Camila takes the chance to blow out the lighter. She knows Normani can easily light it again, but it was getting awfully close to her face and any time she can gain, she needs.

“Lauren what are you doing?” Normani asks in a strained and frustrated voice. “You are hurt for God’s sake and she is a fucking spook.”

Lauren grimaces in pain and it takes everything Camila has not to run and help her back into the couch. “Please listen to me Mani when I tell you she isn’t bad!” Lauren practically begs.

Normani closes her eyes, clenching her fist around the lighter. “Lauren you can’t ask me to believe you when I have no reason to.”

“I can give you proof! I promise Mani just… just I can answer your questions!” Lauren cries out as Normani unclenches her fist and sparks the lighter again, turning back to Camila.

Camila lets out a small whimper as Normani turns back to her, raising the flame right in front of Camila’s face. The orange glow gives more color to Camila’s skin and for a second, Normani doesn’t see a ghost. Camila’s eyes were dark brown, and although a bit faded, they still had color. She blinks the thought away, stepping closer still.

Camila squints her eyes shut. She can feel the heat from the small flame on her cheeks and she can smell the gas coming out of the lighter in order to fuel it. “Laur….” Camila’s voice comes out small and scared.

“Normani please!” Lauren yells from her spot on the floor, with tears in her eyes.

Normani shakes her head slowly, raising the flame towards Camila’s hair. She knows without gasoline it will be harder to burn the girl, but hair easily catches on fire so hopefully it will be enough. Small tears escape from Camila’s eyes and Normani doesn’t think she has ever seen a ghost with the capability to cry.

She moves the flame to Camila’s hair and right before it touches the brown locks, she stops and looks down.

Vince had wandered out of the bedroom due to all the commotion. He waltzed right over to the corner where Normani and Camila were standing, ignoring Lauren’s emotional and borderline sobbing pleas. And he rubs against Camila’s legs.

Camila sees Normani’s second of distraction and she blows the flame out once again as it falls a bit to where her hair is milliseconds later.

“What the fuck…” Normani’s voice comes out as a whisper.

Vince starts purring, happily rubbing against Camila’s legs; completely unaware to the danger that the girl was in. He didn’t care. All he wanted was affection. Cats were weird like that, they wanted affection at all the wrong times.

Normani’s hand slowly falls to her side, the lighter clenched within it. She watches Vince curiously. “But….But….” Normani can’t seem to grasp the concept.

In these ages, people got pets strictly for one reason. To sense ghosts. Animals had some sort of further sense that allowed them to detect evil presences, even the ones humans couldn’t see. They were house protectors and often used within the ghost hunting industry.

And yet, here Vince stands, rubbing against Camila as if she was covered in catnip.

Normani wants to say that Vince is broken and that maybe Vince himself is some sort of animal ghost, even though they were unheard of; she can’t say that though. She has seen Vince in action back when Normani, Lauren and the rest of their team lived in the training dorms. Somehow a ghost had made its way into their school bathroom and Normani remembers very vividly how Vince began growling; hackles raised and teeth bared. He had been a kitten at the time, but the sight was still scary.

“Thank you Vince.” Lauren breathes a sigh of relief from her spot on the floor, wiping at her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Is that enough proof for you Mani?” She says louder so that she can hear.

Normani blinks and shakes her head. “He…” She can’t seem to find words.

“Likes her? Yeah he seems to like her more than me most of the time. Like I said Mani, she is harmless.” Lauren sounds bitter, but nobody can blame her, after all her best friend almost killed her other, better, best friend.

Normani sighs, letting the lighter fall to the floor. She doesn’t make eye contact with Camila when she talks. “I…I’m sorry.” Normani’s voice is shaky and disbelieving. She walks as if in a daze, towards Lauren’s sofa chair that sits across from the couch and next to the large windows.

Camila let’s out the large breath that she had been holding in fear, a few tears falling from her eyes. She leans down to give Vince a nice pet. “I could kiss you right now.” She tells the grey cat. She gives him a final scratch under the chin before hurrying over to Lauren.

Lauren reaches out and Camila wastes no time dropping to her knees and embracing the girl. Camila can’t help but sob into Lauren’s shirt and Lauren clings, not sobbing, but equally shaken up. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.” Camila mumbles repeatedly into Lauren’s shirt at her near death experience. Well near second-death experience.

Lauren rubs the girl’s back. “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

Camila forces herself to stop when she is reminded that Lauren is injured and that they are embraced on the dirty floor. She pulls away from the girl, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and taking in a shaky breath. “Im okay.” She repeats and reassures.

Lauren nods and wincing in pain when she pulls away from Camila and knocks her ankle against the leg of her coffee table. Camila bites her lip worriedly. “Laur what happened? What hurts?” She helps Lauren to her feet, letting Lauren lean all the wait in her left side into her. She helps the girl sit back on the couch.

“It’s no big deal.” She excuses. Camila gives her a look that states she doesn’t believe her. “My ankle and my head.” Lauren finally mutter.

Camila nods, hurrying out of the room and into the kitchen. Lauren let’s her head rest back against the couch as it throbs endlessly. She only opens her eyes when she hears Camila’s soft footsteps returning. Camila has an armful of stuff that she sets on the floor before examining Lauren. She reaches down to pick up a water bottle and a bottle of painkillers. She unscrews the lid, handing the bottle to Lauren before pouring a few of the white colored pills into her palm. She transfers the pills from her hand to Lauren’s and watches as the girl takes a few sips of water and swallows them.

Lauren hands the water back to Camila after drinking about half and Camila sets it back on the floor. “Let me see your head.” Camila instructs.

Lauren leans forward a bit and Camila files through Lauren’s thick hair with gentle hands until she reaches the bump at the back of her head. Camila winces a bit. “Laur please tell me what happened.” Lauren groans as Camila’s fingers press a bit too hard; well really they weren’t hard bit the skin was sensitive.

“I was fighting a group of spooks…the evil ones.” She adds the last part to clarify.

“Devils?” Camila supplies.

“Yeah devils. Anyways Mani and I were fighting a big group of them and I got distracted by… I saw another good one Camz. Like you.” Lauren lifts her head to look at Camila and the girl gives her a soft look.

Camila reaches down to grab a bag of frozen peas (they were out of ice packs) and she wraps a thin clothe around it before handing it to Lauren. “Hold this against your head please.”

Lauren does as she’s told, continuing. “I’ve never seen another one. Only you so I guess it…. Surprised me. I wasn’t watching the devil and he tackled me to the ground and I smacked my head into the concrete.” She cringes at the memory; Camila does too.

“By the looks of it, you have a concussion, but I can’t be sure just by the outside.” Camila runs a thumb over Lauren’s cheek with concerned eyes.

Lauren nods a bit but stops when it makes her head hurt more. “I’m pretty sure I do…..I kinda threw up all over the floor.” She makes a disgusted face at herself.

Camila’s concern grows. “Well now I’m positive that you do. Do you… Are you nauseous right now?”

Lauren closes her eyes, their living room light suddenly feeling very bright. “No, just throbbing.”

Camila notices her discomfort and moves to turn on a few lamps that are much dimmer before turning out the light. “Is that better?”

“Yeah, thanks Camz.” Lauren closes her eyes anyways.

“Then what?” Camila asks, kneeling down to look at Lauren’s ankle.

“Normani knocked him off before he could do anything but he grabbed onto my ankle and pulled at it really hard before she lit him up.” Lauren grumbled. “It feels out of place.”

Camila nods. “I think it’s dislocated.” She rests her hands along Lauren’s leg and foot. “This is going to hurt.”

Lauren nods. “I figured.” She clenches her teeth in preparation as Camila pops it back into place. Lauren lets out a muffled scream, since she had not allowed her mouth to open. Normani shifts from the corner of the room where she sits in the forest green sofa chair. Lauren had forgotten about the girl until now.

Camila grabs a pillow from off the couch and carefully lifts Lauren’s foot onto it, elevating her ankle. “I’m sorry baby.” She says in a pained voice. She hated to see Lauren hurting.

Lauren dismisses her with a wave, reaching out for the water bottle and taking a few more sips. Camila wraps another frozen bag of something or other in thin clothe and this time places it over Lauren’s injured ankle.

“That’s about all I can do.” Camila apologizes. “How much does it hurt? On a scale?”

Lauren takes a few deep breaths to evaluate herself before muttering, “Around a 7 maybe? My head feels a little better with the ice and I’m sure the pain killers will kick in soon.”

Camila nods, returning the rest of her items in the kitchen before taking a hesitant seat next to Lauren and grabbing the girl’s hand not only to comfort herself after her traumatizing experience with Normani, but to give Lauren something to focus on other than her pain.

The room is enveloped in silence for a few minutes; Lauren resting her head on the back of the couch with closed eyes, Camila brushing her fingers over Lauren’s knuckles and sneaking nervous glances in Normani’s direction, and Normani staring at the floor, clearly stuck in her head.

Camila clears her throat, but her voice is still shaky when she speaks. “Y…you can ask any questions that you want to, I will try to answer them the best I can.” Camila squeaks.

Normani’s head shoots up as she realizes she is being addressed. She stares at Camila for a bit, her stone cold eyes piercing Camila’s soul…. Well maybe Camila’s half-soul, they still aren’t entirely sure how the whole thing works.

“How long have you been here?” Normani finally asks into the silence. The dim lamps that provide the only light cast shadows in Norman’s corner and make her look more intimidating than Camila already thinks she is. Camila gulps.

“Do you mean with Lauren or like… in the living world?” Camila’s voice is quiet with fear and although Lauren’s eyes are closed, she is listening intently and she squeezes Camila’s hand to give the girl some strength.

“Both.” Normani’s voice was cold.

Camila nods. “I met Lauren maybe three or so months back and I’ve been living here about the same. As for the real world, I fell through about a year ago come October.”

Normani shakes her head. “That’s impossible. The veil only opened 75 years ago.”

“That’s what everyone thinks. That it opened and released a bunch of ghosts before closing back up. It’s still open, it has been since.” Camila tried to explain it without sounding like a know-it-all; the last thing she wanted was for Normani to hate her even more.

“Explain.” Normani demands.

“I explained this to Lauren as kinda like an earth quake. The plates shift and an opening is created, releasing masses of ghosts at one time right? But earth quakes have aftershocks and although they aren’t as powerful they still shake the earth. In other words. The veil is still open and it will be until someone figures out how to close it but large masses aren’t passing through anymore, just small groups here and there.” Camila explains.

“So how come they haven’t outnumbered us yet? If they are coming through continuously and we aren’t getting rid of all of them, how come their numbers are decreasing instead of increasing?” Normani sounds a bit less harsh and more curious now than before. She sounds genuinely interested in the information Camila has.

Camila manages a small smile at the thought and she feels Lauren squeeze at her hand again, this time in a sort of praise. “I don’t know the answer to that in a factual form, but I have a theory.” Normani nods to signal for her to share the theory. “Well there is a reason we are still ghosts. It’s not like we fell through the veil and back into our living forms.”

Normani raises a brow at Camila. “What are you getting at?”

Camila holds up a finger to signal for her to wait and Normani gives Camila an inpatient glare that makes her hurry a bit faster. “We are still attached to the veil, not completely living but not completely dead. This is the part where I’m sorta guessing.” She warns before continuing. “There is only so long a person can stand with one leg in the living and one leg behind the veil. My theory is, the reason the numbers are decreasing, is because with the addition of you sending the ghosts back behind the veil, they are also fading back by themselves.”

“They are fading faster than they are coming.” Normani nods, it makes sense in some completely confusing way.

“Not enough that they will all go back, not as long as the veil is open, but enough that the ghost population is lessening.” Camila adjusts her position a bit and Lauren leans her head into Camila’s shoulder.

Normani eyes them, but continues talking on subject. “So how long do you think it takes before they fade?”

Camila shrugs a bit and Lauren groans from her place on Camila’s shoulder. “Sorry.” Camila apologizes before addressing Normani’s question. “I don’t know how long exactly but I would say maybe a few years? I would assume that it varies. Some ghostly entities are more….powerful than others and they might be able to stay amongst the living longer whereas the weaker ones or more peaceful ones fade faster.” She gulps a bit at that and Lauren opens her eyes to give her a worried glance. Camila forces a smile at Lauren. “I think that’s why it’s rare to encounter the peaceful ghosts, because at this point most of them have faded except for the newer ones coming in.”

Normani seems to understand Lauren’s concern now. “So you?” She doesn’t have to finish.

Camila bites her lip and nods a bit. “I don’t know how long, but sometimes…..” She doesn’t finish.

“It’s okay Camz.” Lauren whispers.

Camila nods. “Let’s not think about that right now. Any other questions?” She dismisses and Lauren sighs, leaning her head back against Camila’s shoulder and pressing the icepack to her head with the hand that is not occupied by Camila’s.

“Is there, I mean do all of them fade or is there a sort of loop hole?” Normani wonders aloud.

“I think, I mean I’ve heard of it being done but I’ve never actually seen or anything. Some of the more powerful ghosts can possess people and live through their life force. Most of them only have enough power to do it temporarily because the life force fights back, but if you happen to encounter a really powerful one, they can do it permanently. Some can even switch from body to body, draining the life force and then transferring to a new one but…. They have to be really bad, we usually refer to them as demons, but there are all different types so the term is kinda vague. The devils, or as you guys call them, the spooks, are normally not powerful enough to do that. If they manage to possess you, although unpleasant and harming to your body, they won’t be able to keep you for long and you will probably live.” Camila bites her lip as she talks about the unpleasant truth.

Normani has on a disgusted face. “Oh, well that’s reassuring.”

Camila chuckles a bit. “Sorry, I know, it’s not exactly pleasant information but…”

“I asked for it.” Normani finishes.

Camila nods. “Yeah, you asked for it.”

“How did you die?” Normani asks and Camila tenses a bit underneath Lauren.

“I…Uh…” Camila gulps nervously.

“You don’t have to answer that Camz.” Lauren reassures.

Normani raises an eyebrow.

Camila shakes her head. “I want….Laur I need her to trust me and hiding things, even something as personal as this isn’t going to help.” Camila sighs.

Normani looks confused at the girl’s honestly, that doesn’t mean she isn’t still curious. Camila glances in Normani’s direction with a sad look on her face.

“It’s hard for me to talk about.” She excuses. “Just give me a minute.”

Normani nods, allowing the girl to do so.

“Are you sure Camz?” Lauren looks up worriedly. “I mean you haven’t ever talked about it, let alone to a stranger.”

Camila breaths out deeply. “I know Laur, but you didn’t need to know to trust me. Normani needs to see that even if I am half dead, I’m also half human. She needs to see that I’m not a monster so she can disassociate me with the term. It’s time.”

Normani is surprised by how correct Camila is. She needs to hear this. Lauren gives the girl a light kiss on the cheek, switching their hands so that she is the one rubbing Camila’s knuckles instead of the other way around.

“I…It was back in the early 2000’s I think just a few years before the 2010’s. I was born in Cuba, but at the time it wasn’t all that safe to live there and most of the country lived in poverty so my mother and I immigrated to the U.S. where I was raised in Miami, Florida. My father couldn’t come with us because we didn’t have enough money. He joined us a few years later but he could never find work and he wasn’t able to get a VISA. I’m not really sure what happened to him, he became bitter I guess. He liked to blame me for him not being able to come and for him not being able to afford a VISA.” Camila was hoping that the girls understood the terms she was using, knowing that they were both born nearly a century later and into a world full of ghosts and little relation to the world Camila knew.

Lauren gave her a smile to show the she understood; she had learned about most of this stuff in history class along with Normani and the rest of their generation. They never attended high school, but they were taught history so that if the ghost problem was ever terminated, they would be fit to teach the next generation and hopefully re-civilize everything.

Camila smiled softly before continuing. “Most families these days are different from back then. Now days you guys rarely have more than one child and you are raised more so in the training facilities than anything else, but back then, it was completely different. Families mostly revolved around love and loyalty and togetherness. It was more common to have siblings than not and there was a sort of loving feel to everything. I don’t even know if there is a way to describe it.” Camila smiles at the thought.

“Anyways, things were going well for a while and my father found a job and my mother had a baby. Her name was Sofia, she was my pride and joy. An eleven year age gap between us, but it didn’t seem to matter at the time because I was perfectly okay with just having a baby sister. Big brown eyes and a carbon copy of what my father what have looked like if he were a girl. Absolutely adorable.” Camila’s eyes glistened a bit.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but can you maybe get to the point?” Normani spoke not in a harsh tone, but more in a confused tone. Camila had to remind herself that the girl didn’t really understand the concept of family simply because of her upbringing. She didn’t understand the importunateness of family.

Camila nods and Lauren shoots the brown skinned girl a glare.

“It’s okay.” Camila dismissed Lauren’s glare. “My father lost his job again a few years later and once again he needed someone to blame and he turned to me. He started drinking a lot and coming home late at night. He would…..” Camila takes a few deep breaths. “He would beat me, usually with a belt, across the back.”

Lauren frowns deeply as she stares at Camila. Camila pretends to ignore Lauren so she doesn’t have to look in those eyes and end up crying like she knew she would. Lauren catches Camila subconsciously pushing the hand Lauren isn’t holding beneath her shirt and Lauren assumes she is brushing her fingers over old belt scars. The thought that anyone would hurt Camila, especially in her living form, makes Lauren feel sick.

“My mother knew about it but there wasn’t much she could do seeing as my father was much bigger and stronger than all of us combined. She mostly just tried her best to keep Sofi out of it; she was so little at the time and we tried out best to keep her as far away as we could from it, well as far away as you can get living under the same roof and all. We mostly managed but we couldn’t stop her from hearing everything. She used to get really bad anxiety to the point where the only thing that would calm her down was this stuff animal she had, a stitch plushy of sorts.” Despite Camila’s sadness, she managed to chuckle at the realization that neither Lauren nor Normani knew who stitch was. “A character from a movie.” She explained to the confused faces.

They both nodded. “Oh.”

“It got so bad that my mother had planned out an escape of sorts and we were to move in with an aunt who lived in California. We packed what we could while my father was out drinking at the bar but he came home earlier than planned, just as we were pulling from the driveway he was coming in through the back door. Of course, Sofia started hyperventilating a bit like she did nearly every time she saw our father and in our rush we had forgotten her plushy in the living room. So I volunteered to sneak in to get it.” Camila had tears rolling down her cheeks now and Lauren sat up and wiped a few with her thumb.

It didn’t really help because more instantly followed and Lauren let out a sad sigh. “You never got it did you?”

Camila shook her head. “He caught me as I was creeping back out of the living room and to say he was furious was an understatement. It was clear what we were doing, all of our stuff was gone. He didn’t even bother to untie his belt, just going straight to…straight to….” Camila choked back a sob. “He beat me to death. I think my mother and sister called the cops and got away but you know…. I obviously wasn’t there to know.”

Normani was staring at the ground again, sadness taking over her features. Lauren had tears in her eyes as well, and after a minute or two they rolled down her cheeks in large drops. Camila was crying too, but she stayed silent, wiping at her face everything now and then.

“I’m so sorry.” Normani’s voice surprised Camila.

Camila nods. “It’s okay I’ve had a lot of time to think about everything, I mean that was nearly a century ago after all and there isn’t much to do behind the veil.”

Lauren shook her head. “It’s not something that you should be okay with. That’s… heartbreaking.” She sniffled.

Camila gave the girl a sad smile, wiping some tears from her green eyes. “Yes it was, but I’ve made peace with it.”

Normani stood up from her spot, startling both of the girls. She walked over to Camila, letting out a heavy breath. “I…You’ve earned my trust Camila. I’m sorry for trying to kill you earlier just I didn’t know.”

Camila nods understandingly. “It’s okay Normani.”

The girl looks relieved that Camila doesn’t have any hard feelings. “It might take me a while to get comfortable with you but if it’s okay, we can be friends.” Normani holds out her hand hesitantly.

Camila smiles. She grabs Normani’s hand and shakes it in one swift motion. “If you’ll take me.”

Normani was the friend Lauren was most worried about when the time came that she found out about Camila and once the girl ended being fine with it (well maybe not fine, but she wasn’t trying to burn Camila back to hell anymore so that was good) Lauren felt relieved that they gotten the hardest one over with.

After that, Dinah and Ally were easy (comparatively at least). Sure Dinah had freaked out a bit at first but Normani had told the girl everything Camila and Lauren had told her and if Mani was fine with it, then why shouldn’t Dinah be? Dinah had always been a softie anyways, not that she didn’t kill spooks any time that she needed too, but she had always secretly felt a little bit bad.

Ally was, as expected, the easiest of the three to except the concept of Camila and good ghosts. She wasn’t even a hunter in the first place, purely because she didn’t really have the heart to kill, even if the beings were technically already dead.

Instead Ally was what they call a Cleanser. She had been trained to cleanse haunted areas of spooks and try to remove spooks from the victims that have been possessed.

So once all of Lauren’s friends/co-workers knew about the girl, it was a lot easier not having to try and hide Camila all the time. Camila was especially grateful after remembering the time that Dinah had come over and Camila had to hide in the closet for nearly five hours before the girl left. She was lucky that Lauren had a walk-in closet and not some claustrophobic dent with shelves.

Now, she could roam the house freely anytime on of the girls came over. Sure, Mani was still a bit uncomfortable with the idea but Lauren had explained to Camila that Mani was very set in her ways and disciplined in the practice much more than any of the others because her father had been one of the people to train their team, so Camila understood. And yeah, sometimes her hand went through the chip bowl while the girls all played cards and Dinah would be on the verge of freaking out, but the point is that they were all in the same room. The living and the undead.

One might say they had a sort of harmony.

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry Vince please don’t hate me!” Camila whines loudly and Lauren immediately turns her eyes to the girl in concern.

Lauren bites her lip worriedly as she watches Camila fade out a bit, like she had that one night, only a bit lesser. Her body turns a bit black and white and Vince, who she had been holding, falls to the floor. He uses his cat reflexes to land on his feet, but his tail waves back and forth angrily as he hurries away from Camila.

“I didn’t mean to drop you! You just fell through my arms.” She huffs, looking distressed.

She shivers a bit, wrapping her arms around her body as the color returns to her features. Lauren walks over to the girl from the kitchen with a frown on her features. As she gets closer she can see that Camila’s lips are a bit blue and her whole body is covered with chills. Once she sees that Camila’s form is solid enough again, she places her hand on Camila’s skin. It’s ice cold. Camila leans into Lauren’s touch, grabbing Lauren’s other hand and placing it on her cheek.

“Camz, are you okay?” Lauren rubs her hand across Camila’s arm, watching as the chills start to go away, the little hairs returning to their normal state.

Camila nods, letting out a large breath. “Yeah, you know that happens sometimes.”

Lauren nods. She does know, since that night that it happened on their bed it has happened quite a few times. “I know it happens, but this is like the third time today and well…..”

“It’s never been this often?” Camila finishes.

Lauren nods, removing her hand from Camila’s cheek and grabbing the girl’s cold fingers instead. “Yeah.”

Camila smiles at their intertwined fingers. “I’m sure it’s nothing Lauren.” She manages to sound like she is one hundred percent okay and Lauren sighs in relief. “I mean I’m a ghost. I’m expected to do some cool ghost-y shit.” She jokes.

Lauren giggles fill the room, signaling that she had been successful at cheering the girl up. “Yeah right, you are the lamest ghost I’ve ever met.” Lauren teases.

Camila pouts adorably. “Hey you take that back. I can….I can do cool stuff.”

Lauren chuckles. “Yeah right Camz.”

Camila drops Lauren’s hand and crosses her arms, her pout still full-fledged. “Would you rather I throw things around the house and reek the smell of death?” She counters.

Lauren scrunches her face in disgust. “Ew, no thanks. I think I like my Camzi just the way she is.”

“That’s what I thought.” Camila blushes at the sentence. Lauren had just called Camila hers.

“Come here.” Lauren opens her arms, smiling down at the girl with softly tinted, pink cheeks. One perk about naturally being so pale and half-alive, her blood isn’t all that warm so even when she blushes, it’s not too noticeable.

Camila doesn’t hesitate to walk into Lauren’s arms, leaning her head against Lauren’s soft chest. She feels so safe and so alive in Lauren’s arms.

They stay there for a while. At this point, Camila doubts that the two girls even know what a quick hug is. They always end up hugging for longer than is comfortable for most people, except to them, it is comfortable. Lauren’s heartbeat blends with Camila’s uneven one, making a beat like the type of music that used to be popular back when Camila was alive the first time. They have always been rather comfortable around each other.

Well not always, the first time they met Camila had been frightened for her life and Lauren had been on the brink of killing the small ghost wandering Lauren’s neglected guest room. Of course, Lauren had luckily noticed Camila’s differences almost immediately; like how the girl had whimpered quietly in fear, unlike all the loud screams and moans and throaty growls that the spooks like to make and how her eyes were filled with tears and emotions and how they were like brown earthy soil rather than dark blood red. That day, they definitely did not treat each other with affection.

In fact, Lauren had promptly kicked Camila out into the night, no caring about all the possible hunters that could’ve found her or the pouring rain coming down from the thick grey clouds.

It wasn’t until a few days later as Lauren was drunkenly walking home (her, Mani, and Ally had stumbled across an old beer factory during one of their hunts and definitely took it too far) that Lauren had run into Camila again and actually acted civil to each other. If we are being honestly Camila had always been civil and really Lauren had been the mean one, but Camila was a ghost, so could you blame her?

After that night, Camila had led a shit faced Lauren home and put her to bed, something that no ghost had ever done before. It was something so human, that Lauren really had no choice except to abandon all harsh feelings towards the girl.

That’s when the affection started and it never really stopped. If anything, it intensified. Camila didn’t even bother trying to settle in Lauren’s guest bedroom. Instead, the girl turned their long hugs into longer, more cuddling types and promptly moved into Lauren’s bed. And of course, the soft touches and the hand holding wasn’t too far behind.

Camila knows it’s the way that they have always been, however she knows that somewhere, it stems from some sort of deeper feelings.

They don’t talk about those though. Camila isn’t sure how exactly being dead affects things like that and well the fact that she isn’t fully alive in the first place forced her to stop all thoughts of her and Lauren right there. She assumes Lauren thinks the same.

She can’t deny that she is attracted to Lauren and she thinks that she feels something way deeper than just affection for the girl, but again, Camila is partly dead and things like that are a bit touchy. She can’t ever be with Lauren is she isn’t ever fully alive and even then, she doesn’t know if Lauren feels the same about Camila as Camila does for her.

On top of that, there is a looming sense of dread that always seems to hang over them. Camila can feel it, Lauren can see it. Camila lately has been feeling slightly more dead than alive and even if it’s a sensitive subject that only brings fear and anxiety, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s happening. Camila is fading and she isn’t sure how long she has left.

They pull away after about a minute. Camila feels all warmed up again, or at least, she feels back to her normal half dead temperature which is good enough for her.

Lauren doesn’t bring up Camila’s looming death again that day. Not even when the girl fades again for a few seconds while she and Lauren are making dinner.

The knife she was using to cut veggies clatters to the floor in a deafening clang. Camila picks it back up once her body turns solid again. They kitchen stays silent all throughout dinner.

“Camz!” Lauren laughed loudly, trying to push the girl off of her body with little success. She was way too weak in her laughing state to put in much effort. Camila knew this and ignored the girl’s squeal, instead she continued tickling Lauren relentlessly, moving her fingers across the girl’s ribs like she was playing the piano. “St…stop!” Lauren barely managed to form any sort of coherent sentence.

Camila really would stop, except that well, Lauren’s face looks so freaking adorable scrunched up like that and her laugh is possibly the cutest laugh in the entire world so she definitely doesn’t want to stop. Not any time soon anyways. She smiles with her tongue placed between her teeth. “I don’t think so Laur!”

“Pl…please! I’m go…gonna p…pee my pants!” Lauren gets out between laughs.

Camila laughs, removing her fingers from Lauren’s ribs brushing some lose hair from the girl’s face. She is currently straddling Lauren, although it’s in possibly the most innocent way possible, in fact neither of the girls even noticed the position they were in. “Better Lo?” The nickname slips out easily and naturally.

Lauren breathes heavily, trying to regain her breath and with on hand she reaches to her eyes to wipe some tears that had escaped. “Much.” She hums, smiling when Camila’s fingers brush across her cheek.

Camila let’s her body lower until she is laying on top of Lauren, her head resting in the crook of Lauren’s neck. Lauren moves her fingers to run up and down Camila’s back, sending chills up the girl’s spine. “You know, I used to get into tickle fights with my little sister all of the time.” She shares softly, moving to trace the freckles dotting Lauren’s shoulder and arm like a game of connect the dots. Today had been a good day for her, she felt so alive.

“Sofi?” Lauren breathes.

Camila smiles. “Yeah Sofi.”

“I wish I could see pictures of her.” Lauren mutters softly and her breath tickles the top of Camila’s head.

Camila pokes affectionately at a specific freckle on Lauren’s shoulder that is almost like two freckles overlapping each other. “Me too. Let’s see, she definitely would have died by now. I don’t know where all of our pictures would be.”

Lauren nods in understanding. “Back in Miami?” She wonders.

“I don’t know. We were on our way to California before I died, so my family could have gone there or maybe since my dad was definitely arrested, they ended up staying in Miami…..” Camila stops slowly and though Lauren can’t see her face, she knows that by the tone and Camila’s voice and the pause of her fingers over her freckles, Camila has just thought of something.

“What is it Camz?” She asks softly, wrapping her arms around Camila after a few minutes of drawing circles on her back.

Camila turns her head so she is looking up at Lauren from on top of the girl’s chest. “I was just…I don’t know where I’m buried Laur.” She has her brows furrowed and Lauren copies the act as the question begins circling in her head.

“Wow, I never thought about that before.” She admits. Camila hums, still thinking. “You are sure they would have buried you? No cremation or anything?”

“I don’t see why they would have. My mother was very set on the idea of burials. She likes that the headstones serve as a sort of monument of remembrance. Or she liked more like.” Camila corrects herself.

Lauren leans down to give the girl a quick kiss on the forehead. “So you have no idea?”

Camila shakes her head. “I would guess that they buried me in Miami where I was born and raised rather than pay for my body to be flown all the way to somewhere I’ve never been. My grandmother was buried in a quiet little cemetery just outside of Miami with this little river running through it. Her grave was directly under this old willow tree. Maybe they would have buried me there.” Camila thinks out loud.

The room goes silent for a minute before Lauren sighs a bit and looks down at the girl laying on top of her. “Camz?” She questions although Lauren already has Camila’s full attention. She always has Camila’s full attention, even when she doesn’t realize it.

Camila looks up to meet sparkling green eyes. “Yeah Lo?”

“Is…Is dying scary?” Lauren wonders, hoping she isn’t pushing it. She hopes that Camila has had enough time to come to terms with her death while behind the Veil.

Camila gives Lauren a small smile. “I mean, my death wasn’t exactly….ideal. I was scared out of my mind. My father was the last sight I saw. I had always hoped that the last thing I saw before death was something better….my little sister, my mother, the love of my life….maybe future children. I’m not sure, but definitely not the angry face of my father.” She pauses and Lauren can tell she is picturing the scene in her head so she brushes her fingers down Camila’s hair to bring her back to the present.

Camila swallows, her eyes refocusing on Lauren. “The actual dying part isn’t scary. I never saw that light that everyone talks about, it was more like falling asleep. When your thoughts are still fully present but they start to get a bit blurry and those waves of darkness sort of wash over your vision. It’s not a scary dark, more like a comforting type. And then you wake up like you had taken a nap or something except you aren’t there anymore. You can feel the difference between being a living, breathing person and a ghost.” She explains softly.

Lauren pictures how she falls asleep each night; slowly losing her concentration and becoming less aware of everything that is happening at the moment until she wakes up the next morning, not even remembering exactly when or how she had fallen asleep. It doesn’t sound scary, but she has to admit that it doesn’t sound like she thought either. “What do you mean you can feel the difference?”

Camila sighs, not sadly or annoyed or anything, but simply just in thought as she thinks. “Well right now is a bit different because I’m in the living world, but I feel a bit detached. My body doesn’t feel heavy like it should, it feels like when you are swimming.” She tries to explain the unexplainable to someone who has never felt what she has and is finding it to be very difficult. “You can feel your whole body right? But the weight is different. Your body isn’t as heavy when you are in water.”

Lauren nods to show she knows what she means. “I get what you mean.”

Camila continues. “And I’m not sure where I stand on the emotions part. Emotions are a human thing for the most part and I know I feel things because….well because I can feel them. But I’m not sure to what extent or how strong they are because technically dead people should be able to feel anything. Do you get what I mean?”

“It’s confusing but I think so.” Lauren says as she watched Camila’s face while she talks. Camila takes continuous pauses to chew at her lip in thought before her eyes go all wide as she thinks of new topics or new ways to describe things. Camila constantly entrances Lauren, although Lauren does wish that it were a happier topic.

“I don’t really feel physical pain either.” Camila comments and Lauren raises her eyebrows.

“Really? Like if I were to punch you right now, it wouldn’t hurt?” Lauren wonders.

Camila smiles. “Go ahead and try it.” She pulls up her sleeve to give Lauren an open spot on her shoulder to hit.

Lauren is a bit hesitant but Camila isn’t going to feel it so she eventually pulls back her fist and lands a decent hit to the exposed skin. Camila scrunches her face in pain and grabs at the area. “Owww!” She whines.

Lauren instantly breaks into a worried face and begins spouting apologies. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry Camz I didn’t really mean to hurt you I just….”

Camila giggles adorably. “Lo, babe, I’m kidding. It didn’t hurt. You didn’t hurt me.” She brushes her thumb over Lauren’s creased eyebrows and the girl pouts as she realizes Camila had only been teasing. Her cheeks also turn a bit red because well, Camila called her babe.

“Camz! That’s not funny….” She whines. “I thought I actually hurt you.”

Camila pouts back at the girl and lifts her head a bit to look at Lauren properly. “Aw Lo, I’m sorry. Forgive me?” She asks gently.

Lauren shakes her head. “No, that was mean.”

Camila props herself up on either side of Lauren’s head so that she is leaning over the girl. “Please? Forgive me?” She tries again, giving the girl puppy eyes.

Lauren knows if she opens her mouth it will say yes so she shakes her head instead. “No.” She squeaks.

Camila lowers herself until her lips are almost touching Lauren’s. “Forgive me?” Camila whispers and Lauren can feel Camila’s breath on her own lips and her eyes go wide. She stays silent, watching Camila’s lips with her eyes. They look so plump and perfect. Camila touches their lips, not enough to call a kiss, but enough that Lauren can feel her pink skin on her own. “Please?” Camila adds some pressure and suddenly, they are kissing.

It’s quick and chaste, barely a peck, but it was a kiss. Camila pulls back, waiting for a response and Lauren can only nod her head and let out a small squeak. Camila smiles affectionately at the girl before resuming her position with her head on her chest. She can feel Lauren’s heart pounding beneath her ear and if their positions were reserves, Lauren would be able to hear hers as well.

After a few minutes of silence, Camila moves her eyes to look at Lauren, who is already looking at her. “You remember what I said earlier about what I wanted to see when I died?”

Lauren nods.

“If you were the last thing I saw, It would be perfect.” She states.

“Damn Walz, you’re seriously old.” Dinah cringes a bit and Camila pretends to look offended.

“Okay first of all, most of that time I was even actually alive so I don’t think it counts, secondly if it does count then you should respect your elders, and thirdly, why Walz?” Camila counts on her fingers as she lists her responses.

“Because ghosts are supposed to like live in the walls and shit.” Dinah states like it’s obvious, as she props her legs up on Lauren’s coffee table.

“Have you ever actually see a ghost in the walls?” Normani asks as she takes a seat next to Dinah on the couch, she leans a bit closer than is normal and Dinah’s eyes go a bit wider as Normani’s skin makes direct contact with her own and Normani rests her hand a bit high on Dinah’s thigh.

Dinah visibly swallows and takes a minute before answering. Camila rolls her eyes at the obvious sexual tension between the two. “Well I mean, no, but that’s why I said supposed. They should, but they don’t.”

“There was a poltergeist hiding in the walls of this old lady’s house one time.” Ally contributes as she walks in the room with Lauren. The two girls are holding an old projector that Lauren had found out on patrol earlier that morning. Lauren hadn’t known what it was because electronics that weren’t meant to be of some supernatural use were very rare, but Camila knew and with a little improvising, they had managed to find some old films to play, most of which were educational films left at the school.

“No one asked you Ally.” Normani groans, having thought that she had made her point.

Ally sticks out her tongue and turns off the lights in Lauren’s living room. They had moved all of the furnisher, which wasn’t much, away from one of the walls, leaving it completely blank so that they could show their movie on it.

“Anyways,” Dinah starts after she had recovered from Normani’s touch. “The original point was, that you are old as fuck.”

Camila groans, she thought she had successfully avoided that. “Again Dinah, it doesn’t count because I wasn’t living for most of that time. “Really I’m like…..” She counts in her head for a minute before deciding. “18 I think because I think since I passed through the veil I’ve been aging again. I was 17 when I died though.”

“You age in the living world even though you aren’t completely living?” Normani asks curiously. She moves her hand across Dinah’s leg as she reaches for the popcorn on the table. Dinah’s breath hitches and Camila pretends not to notice because she really wishes she hadn’t.

“Well yeah, because time exists in the living world so I age no matter my state of being. I’m not a vampire you know.” She rolls her eyes playfully.

Normani chuckles. “I was just asking.” She defends, leaning back and Dinah sighs in relief when her hand goes with her.

“So how old are you really?” Ally wonders.

“18.” Camila answers, knowing that’s not what Ally was asking. Ally gives her a look and Camila corrects her answer. “Okay so like 116 give or take a few.” She admits.

“Damn.” Normani comments.

Lauren’s eyes go wide. “Wait, it’s been that long? You were behind the Veil for…” She thinks for a second. “98 years?”

Camila nods. “Around that, yeah.”

“Holy fuck. Lauren I didn’t know you were into older girls.” Normani teases.

Dinah smirks. “So you haven’t had sex in 98 years? Jesus Christ.”

Camila’s cheeks go red. “Actually, in 116 years because I’ve never….” She doesn’t finish the sentence, instead rubbing the back of her neck.

“Oh my god, she’s a hundred and sixteen year old virgin.” Normani exclaims. “That has to be a new record or something!”

Camila blushes a deeper red and Lauren scowls at the girls for making Camila feel embarrassed. “Guys shut up.”

Dinah waves Lauren off. “Hear that Lo? You’re gonna be breaking records when you finally get your fingers into-“

Ally’s eyes go wide and she slaps Dinah’s arm. “That is enough Dinah Jane!” She scolds.

“Yeah Dinah! You’re one to talk, it’s obvious you haven’t ever had sex either. I’ve seen Mani practically groping you in your seat since the moment she sat down. At least Camila has more self-control.” Lauren smirks, eyeing the chocolate covered hand that is resting way too far on Dinah’s leg.

Ally notices and groans. “Oh my god!” She gets out her Holy water that she always carries for when she goes to do cleansings and begins sprinkling it across the girls. “Y’all need to be cleansed!” She teases with a loud laugh as Dinah and Normani try and shield themselves from the water dripping over their heads.

Camila hurries to scramble off of the couch, moving across the room and holding her head a bit. Lauren notices and hurries to the girl’s side worriedly. “What’s wrong Camz?” Camila shakes her head a bit and points to the holy water.

Well duh, it is made to keep away ghosts after all and Camila happens to be a ghost. Lauren shakes her head, grabbing the metal flask of holy water from Ally and throwing it in the other direction. “Ally! Camila is a ghost remember! You can’t go pouring holy water around her, it will mess with her head!”

Ally’s eyes go wide in realization and she immediately looks guilty. “Oh my gosh Mila, I’m so sorry I forgot. It’s just you look and act so normal I…I forgot.” She apologizes.

Camila rubs at her head a bit. The Holy water made it hard for her to focus, hence why the Cleansers use it to protect locations and people because it makes it harder for ghosts to possess anyone or haunt a specific place when they can’t concentrate. When she can finally get her head to focus, she forces a small smile. “It’s okay Ally, you didn’t mean to.” She cringes a bit as her head goes fuzzy once again and Lauren frowns next to the girl, not quite sure what to do.

“Can you guys try to wash off the Holy Water?” Lauren asks Normani and Dinah and they instantly agree, hating to see Camila in such a state.

Ally continues to apologize and eventually there isn’t enough Holy Water left to really do anything and Camila can get her thoughts back again. She tells Ally over and over that it’s okay and once they are all washed up, they all take their seats somewhere in the living room to watch their movie. It’s a documentary about the ocean and its wonders, but movies are such a rarity that all of them are entranced by their make shift screen.

Camila finds herself cuddling into Lauren, seeking warmth as her body suddenly goes ice cold. It doesn’t really phase her anymore when her body gets drained of its heat because of how frequently it has been occurring, but it’s still uncomfortable and she still gets chills every time. Lauren sneaks a few worried glances in her direction and places in arm around her shoulder. Dinah moves her legs away from Camila’s body as her toes start to become cold. She can tell everyone around her has noticed, but no one says anything.

When they movie finishes an hour later, she is still just as cold as before and if possible, her skin is paler than usual. Ally hugs her a bit longer before she leaves but it doesn’t really help. When Camila reaches for the door handle her hand goes through the doorknob and she curses as her body fades to black and white, dropping the bowl of popcorn her other hand had been holding.

Her body reappears and the bowl makes a loud, taunting noise as it rolls around on the floor. It’s the only noise in the room. Lauren picks up the bowl, biting at her bottom lip and doing her best not to let Camila catch her concerned expression. Camila tries to turn the doorknob again, breathing in a deep breath to replenish her body with oxygen. It works this time and she holds open the door for Normani, Dinah, and Ally as they leave.

Her body temperature doesn’t return. Not throughout the night as her and Lauren cuddle on their bed. Not when Lauren is forced to wake up in the early hours of the morning and get a few more blankets because cuddling with Camila is just making her cold. Not when they both wake up the next morning and cook breakfast. It happens sometime the next afternoon and Camila feels like she can finally breath again at the feeling.

Lauren doesn’t say it, but the large exhale of relief is enough to let Camila know that the girl was thinking the same thing as Camila was.

She is fading pretty fucking fast and they were both worried that Camila would be ice cold forever.

Camila stays completely silent as she walks the empty streets.

Lauren was out with the rest of the girls working on some poltergeist and a few spooks that had been terrorizing a nearby neighborhood. She had told Camila she would be back before she woke up, but little did Lauren know, Camila never went to sleep. She couldn’t. She could feel herself fading and she could feel herself going fast.

There were some days where she would just wake up, ice cold and so pale that she might as well have walked out of an old black and white movie. The whole day she just felt off. Her heart beat less, she was constantly trying to catch her breath, and sometimes she felt weightless, like her body was the furthest thing from solid and living.

She of course, said nothing to Lauren. She didn’t want the girl to worry. She could tell that Lauren noticed and worried all on her own, but Camila tried her best to play if off like it was much better than it really was.

She was terrified that if she went to bed one night, she would never wake up the next morning. And she was angry, because she was fading so quickly and so soon in comparison to everything she had ever observed. To her knowledge, ghosts didn’t start fading until at least a little bit after a year, and those were the extremely weak ones that didn’t even want to be here in the first place. Camila had hoped that she was strong enough to at least last two years, maybe a bit more before getting to this point of fading, and yet, here she is at a year and a half, standing on death’s door.

It was frustrating and she couldn’t do anything about it…..and yet, she couldn’t help but feel like something was off. Something other than the obvious.

Lately, she had been feeling a sort of pull. Something tugging at her like she was attached to a string and the hand at the other side was drawing her closer. Sometimes she didn’t feel it at all, but lately, it had been a lot more present. She thought about following the pull and allowing her body to see where it ends up, but that would mean leaving Lauren and she didn’t know how much time they had left. Of course, it could also be a trap, like a Magnet trying to summon ghosts to kill and she really didn’t want that.

So yeah, there have been a few things that have just felt off and Camila isn’t sure what it was.

There was one thing she kept coming back to, a few days ago Dinah had been telling the other girls that a spook that she had tracked down had faded in and out when Dinah had tried to light the thing on fire and although it was possible for that ghost to be fading as well, it brought an idea to Camila’s mind.

What if she wasn’t the only one feeling something off?

She had asked the other girl’s if they felt anything, but to them, everything had been normal. She assumed that maybe it was different since none of them are paranormal, so she had asked Ally. The girl wasn’t a ghost, but she had at least some sort of supernatural abilities being a cleanser and all, but to her disappointment, Ally said she hadn’t felt anything either. It’s not like Camila had any ghosts she could ask, so she just assumed it was just her….that is until Dinah had said that.

Maybe other ghosts were feeling it too.

So here she is, sneaking away into the night where she knows there are always ghosts hanging around. She really should have told Lauren what she was doing, just in case she ran into trouble, but she didn’t want the girl to worry. If Camila starting telling the green eyed girl that she had been feeling rather dead lately and wasn’t sleeping because she was afraid she wasn’t going to wake up, the chances that Lauren wouldn’t freak out were extremely low.

So she didn’t tell her. She didn’t tell anyone.

She makes her way to the old high school. She knew from Lauren and from experience that ghosts love to hang out at the schools. Back when Camila was alive, people used to actually attend schools like these almost every day for the majority of the day so it makes sense that ghosts will come back to places that they used to spend so much time in. They must be full of memories.

She walks down the long hallway, her feet gently clicking against the linoleum flooring. She had never been a big fan of school back when she attended. She was always too busy worrying about her mother back at home and whether or not her father was going to be in a good mood or not when she got home or whether or not the long scars running down her back were showing beneath her clothes.

Plus she hated chemistry with a burning passion. Who even likes that?

She looked at all the open lockers as she walked, she managed to smile a bit as she found one full of heart shaped papers covered in faded writing. Love notes. How cute.

She made it to one of the large staircases that led downstairs and followed it, being careful to test the steps before putting her full weight on them. She wasn’t quite sure how the whole being partly dead thing worked with injuries but she didn’t really want to find out either. When she got to the bottom she followed her ghostly instinct, moving across the hard, orange carpet until she reached the history room. Ironic that the old history room served as a sort of hangout among the ghost world.

Ghosts just loved to reminisce on the time of their living. Of course, it’s a bit different when the majority of these ghosts are devils and demons rather than ones like her just here for a quick walk down memory lane. Even so, the room had a few ghosts in it.

She found a nice spot to sit and watched them. She knew they wouldn’t attack if she came near, being a ghost as well, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to go near them either. She would much rather keep her distance. The devils and demons always smelled of death and made terrible noises and expelled horrible waves of negative energy. She hated it. She had enough experience being around them and wasn’t too keen with the idea of doing it some more.

She observed as one of the ghosts began trashing the room and throwing things around. She identified him as a poltergeist. She watched as he ripped the whiteboard from the wall and ripped old papers into shreds. It seemed kind of pointless to her but whatever floats his boat she supposes.

She watched for a few hours and when she was sure that she must be the only one feeling something, suddenly it happened. She felt her body fade and turn ice cold again, she lost all feeling in her body and she struggled to breathe like the wind had gotten knocked from her chest. When she felt her body come back, she looked around seeing the other ghosts doing the exact same thing.

Then she felt that pull again and the other ghosts suddenly began to leave. Camila assumes if she followed the pull she would be walking along with them.

So it wasn’t just her. Well this definitely changes things. She was fading, that much she can’t do anything about, but so was every other ghost. Something bigger was happening, something way bigger than herself.

It was something to do with the Veil, she could feel it.

“You remember that large group that we’ve been tracking?” Normani asks Lauren as the four living friends pull on their gear.

They had gotten called into work for some sort of emergency despite the fact that it was barely four in the morning.

Lauren nods, pulling her gloves over her fingers before starting to work on her hair. “You think they are here?”

Normani nods. “I was talking to one of the other groups who are tracking the paranormal activity aka the group as it comes and they said it was going to be any day now. That was two days ago.”

“Well it makes sense. We normally aren’t called in for emergencies.” Dinah wipes some sleep from her eyes and stretches. One of her boots comes untied and she groans.

“It’s supposed to be something really powerful, especially for them to be traveling in groups like they are. That’s not normal.” Ally comments, clicking on her belt that has her equipment; it’s slightly different from the rest of the girls’ seeing as she won’t be doing any hunting. She is there strictly for emergencies and to help any possible civilians who get caught up in the mess.

“Maybe they will be good ones, like Camila.” Lauren tries to think positively rather than getting all nervous.

Dinah snorts. “Yeah right, you heard the girl. The more powerful ones are bad news. What did she call them? Demons?”

Normani nods. “Yeah the normal spooks are devils, the evil ones with a lot of power are the demons and the ones that distinctly harass are the poltergeists.”

“Ohh you been studying Manibear?” Ally teases.

Normani slaps the girl on the shoulder. “It’s good information to have. I like to be correct.”

“What is she called then? Since you know, she is good and all.” Dinah questions.

“I think she is just a ghost. I haven’t really asked about terminology for things that we haven’t really seen and/or don’t kill.” Lauren points out.

“Hmm interesting.” Ally hums. “Have you talked to her about this group? Does she have any ideas as to why they are coming here and why they are traveling in a group?”

Lauren nodded. “I did talk to her about it, although she isn’t quite sure why. She had a few guesses.”

“What is she thinking?” Dinah wonders.

“Well, she says that ghosts hardly ever migrate so the only reason she can think of is if one of our Magnets is calling them there.” Lauren shares as she thinks to the conversation that Camila and she had.

“Why would they do that?” Normani wonders.

Lauren shrugs. “Either for some unknown reason or they are being possessed by a demon of sorts. At least that’s what Camila says. She told me she’s been feeling sort of pulled towards something but unlike most ghosts, she has something to distract her or hold her down.” Lauren blushes a bit as Ally coos at the last part and Dinah makes loud kissing noises.

“You guys are cute.” Ally admits. “Probably the weirdest relationship I’ve ever seen, but cute none the less.”

Lauren shakes her head. “We aren’t together.”

All of the girls look surprised. “You aren’t?” Is chorused around the room.

Lauren shakes her head. “Nope.”

“Well why the hell not?” Dinah exclaims. “It’s obvious you two have feelings for each other.”

“What? No we….I mean…..We don’t have feelings for each other.” Lauren huffs in denial.

Ally snorts. “Oh yeah and there isn’t about three layers of sexual tension between Normani and Dinah either.” She says sarcastically. Dinah shoots Normani a wink and Normani bites her bottom lip slightly suggestively. Ally shakes her head at the pair. “Point proven.” She decides.

Lauren sighs. “Look, I don’t know if Camila has feelings for me or if I have feelings for her. We haven’t ever talked about it and I don’t think that we ever will. She isn’t even fully alive and I don’t know about you, but I haven’t ever heard of a person dating a ghost before.” Lauren points out.

“We hadn’t heard about a good ghost before either but look where we are.” Normani counters and Lauren groans loudly.

“Guys seriously, Camila, she…..she isn’t feeling her best lately and until we figure out how to stop her from fading, there is a slight chance that she might just…disappear. We can’t afford to get all lovey-dovey just for everything to fall apart and both end up with broken hearts.” Lauren raises her voice and crosses her arms over her chest.

Ally gives her a sympathetic look. “I get that Laur, I do, but Camila out of everyone should know never to take anything for granted. You guys have time now and it’s obvious you both are smitten by each other. You should tell her before it’s too late.”

Lauren shakes her head. “No, you guys don’t understand. Normani doesn’t have to worry about Dinah suddenly being nonexistent and Ally you don’t even have a significant other.” She points out, sounding sad and frustrated.

Dinah raises her hands in surrender. “Okay, no need to get heated Laur, It was just a suggestion. I know we don’t really understand and we probably never will and for that I am sorry, but I promise we will try our hardest to help you figure things out.”

Lauren manages a tight smile. “Thank you guys that would mean a lot.”

The girls head out in a quick jog, Normani’s EMF beeps regularly as they get closer and closer to the large area that is currently overflowing with paranormal energy.

The sun has yet to rise, but it isn’t really black in the sky either. It’s like blue grey color, enough that the girls don’t need their headlamps as they run through the mostly abandoned neighborhoods and piles of rubble that used to be office buildings. They slow to a walk when they start to get closer and they all check their equipment to make sure everything is working well. Mani pulls out her matches and counts them, Dinah and Lauren double check their lighters and make sure they have extras in case the gas inside runs out.

“I’m still mad that they didn’t let me use a flamethrower.” Dinah grumbles.

Lauren snorts a bit at the memory. Dinah had spent months trying to convince the trainers to let her have a flame thrower and finally, they allowed her to take one on one of their smaller missions. Turns out not only is the thing heavy as fuck, but it really doesn’t have much control either. On the bright side, she practically incinerated the whole group of spooks within seconds, but on the other, she also caught the building on fire and all of the girls had to evacuate and watch as the building burned to the ground. Luckily it had been abandoned and no one was hurt.

“I don’t think they will ever let you use one again.” Lauren tells the girl.

Dinah huffs. “You burn down a building once and they use all trust in you.”

“I’m glad they won’t let you, it might have been a building the first time, but the second time I’m sure it would have been us.” Normani teases.

Dinah rolls her eyes and Ally, who is now holding her own EMF stops a bit in front of them. “It’s just around the corner of those buildings.” She informs.

Lauren looks to the building. They used to be tall skyscrapers full of offices and conference rooms, but seeing as they don’t use those buildings anymore, most of them have fallen into rubble or have boarded up windows and broken glass. These ones are no different. They block the view of their destination, but even from hear, Lauren can feel a lot of negative energy.

By the looks from her companions’ faces she can tell they feel it too. Dinah shakes out her fingers a bit as if the negativity will fly off of her body. “Man, it makes me feel all dirty and angry and shit.” She comments.

They all nod in agreement.

They reach the corner and as soon as the round the buildings, they are met with what they assume hell would look like. They know that it doesn’t really look like anything though because that’s what Camila told them, but this is what hell is imagined to look like.

A large area has been cleared out and in the center there is a giant ring of fire, sitting in the middle, a middle aged woman with greying hair sits cross-legged, her lips moving as if she is chanting something, although none of the girls are close enough to hear her over the roaring flames. She must be the Magnet that Camila predicted would be here.

Lauren had thought that when summoning ghosts you surrounded yourself in a circle of candles but considering the slight wind and size of the circle, she needed more than just some measly candles, hence the ring of fire. Smoke floating around the air in thick puffs all around the area and now that the sun was starting to rise a bit, they could see the dark cloud in the sky that was being formed.

There were hundreds of spooks surrounding the whole area; demons, devils….Lauren even saw some of the poltergeists floating around breaking the few windows from the buildings that weren’t already broken and scaring the birds that had made nests on the roofs. Never in her life has Lauren seen so many ghosts at one place.

Many of them stood just outside the ring of fire, screaming and moaning loudly, seemingly trying to reach the center where the woman sat and chanted. They sounded like zombies and looked like vampires; pale with bright red eyes that have sunken too far into their skulls.

“Holy hell.” Normani breathes loudly from Lauren’s left. Lauren can only nod with her mouth slightly open.

Dinah shakes her head. “The largest group we’ve ever taken was maybe a little over a dozen.” Dinah thinks allowed. “How many do you think are here?”

Ally chews her lip nervously. “Uhm, it can’t be more than….150? Right?”

“There’s probably more coming.” Normani assumes.

“Okay so let’s stick with 200.” Dinah decides. “Y’all think I shouldn’t have brought the flame thrower now?” She smirks.

“Shut the fuck up Dinah, now is not the time to be acting like a smartass.” Lauren comments, although it was kinda nice that they could all still joke at a time like this.

Dinah shrugs. “Well between the four of us, we have four gallons of gasoline, six lighters, 400 matches, a few EMF machines, and….what is it that you have Ally?”

Ally looks down at her belt. “Just the usually necessities for cleansing. Mostly a lot of salt and holy water.”

Dinah nods. “Right, and some salt water.”

Normani cringes. “We are gonna need some more fire.”

There is a loud noise and suddenly all of the ghosts are screaming and groaning even more, the poltergeists are throwing around large chunks of concrete and any remaining birds are flying away in panic. The ground starts to shake a bit and all of the ghosts move closer to the fire, desperately trying to get inside the circle. Some get to close and burn themselves, others decide that running through the flames is worth it to get to the center and they disappear beneath the red and yellow flames.

None of the girls have ever seen the ghosts like this, not even the few times they had actually hired a magnet to summon a group of ghosts in order to exterminate. The ghosts had come, but they had merely hovered around the circle of candles before the girls had killed them. These ghosts were trying to break through the barrier!

“What are they doing?” Normani wonders aloud.

No one answers but it dawns on everyone that maybe, this girl isn’t trying to summon the ghosts. Maybe she isn’t even a magnet. Lauren bites her lip, debating on whether or not she should try something. She figures either way they will have to show themselves eventually so she stands up and walks into the open, right where all the ghosts could easily see her.

“Lauren! What the hell are you doing!? Get back here!” She hears yelling behind her, except it’s too late. She is exposed.

The ghosts don’t do anything. They don’t even acknowledge her existence. The focus solely on the chanting woman in the middle of the ring of fire. Some even push past her like she is one of them. The girls behind her gasp and she turns and walks back to them possibly more confused than before. “They are trying to stop the woman from doing….whatever it is that they are doing. They don’t even care about our presence.” Lauren mutters to the girls as she takes a seat on a large chunk of concrete next to her team.

“What the actual fuck is going on.” Dinah groans, joining Lauren on the concrete.

Everyone just shakes their heads because no one has a clue. The ground is still shaking, though it’s not violent, just slightly concerning. A new rumbling joins the noise and the girls look up to see those giant black clouds from the smoke joined by new clouds, real ones, just as thick and black as the first ones. Except these ones are rumbling and shooting volts of electricity at the ground every once and a while and even from here they can see the giant mass of rain that falls from it. It’s heading there way.

“Sometimes I wonder if God is just like, hmm everything is already going to shit, we might as well give them everything at once.” Dinah mumbles.

Normani chuckles a bit and nods. “It’s true. Whenever something bad happens, there is always some massive storm or force of Mother Nature that just has to join in.”

“That is if there even is a god.” Ally adds, they did live in a world where ghosts had literally escaped from hell after all.

Lauren nods along, looking from the cloud to the circle before putting the pieces together. “Shit.” She mutters.

The girls all look to her in concern. “What?” Normani is the first to ask.

“The fire. Last time I checked rain puts out fire.” Lauren stresses.

All of the girls clench their teeth. What would happen if that fire went out? The ghosts would be able to get the woman, but would it be a bad thing? The girl might be the one summoning all of these ghosts here in the first place….but then again, she might not be. What was she trying to accomplish? Why were the ghosts freaking out so much?

“Lo!” A familiar voice calls out from the large crowd of ghosts.

Lauren turns around so fast she practically gives herself whiplash. “C…Camz? What the fuck are you doing here I thought…”

Camila reaches the group, breathing heavily and shaking her head. She doesn’t look very good, her skin is so pale that it almost looks a bit green, her eyes have dark circles surrounding the fading brown and her voice is a bit scratchy. Lauren knows that the girl hasn’t been sleeping much lately, but by the looks of it, Camila has been up all night. “Lo, I’m sorry but please be quiet. This is important.” Lauren, seeing the seriousness in Camila’s voice nods and closes her mouth. “She isn’t summoning them.” Camila states immediately.

“What is she doing then?” Dinah wonders, they all watch the raincloud from the corners of their eyes as it gets closer and closer.

Camila turns to look at what they are staring at and a look of dread washes over her features. “You know how I kinda felt drawn here? It’s not because she is summoning the ghosts, she has been pumping that spot full of supernatural energy.” Camila points to the ring of fire. “For a long time now, but lately there has been so much that it has been drawing in other supernatural beings.”

“So what is she doing though?” Normani discretely tells Camila to get to the point.

“I don’t know how, but…I think…I think she is closing the veil.” Camila chews on her lip.

Everyone’s jaws drop as the stare at the ghost. “What? How do you know that?” Lauren is the first to break the silence….well as silent as it can get with the ground shaking and the sky roaring and hundreds of screaming ghosts in the background.

“Lately I’ve been feeling way more dead than alive and I assumed it just because I was starting to fade but then I remembering how Dinah was telling me about that spook she was fighting the other day that sort of flickered in and out similar to the way I did. It’s possible we are both fading at the same time, but one night when you guys were cleansing some house or other, I went down to one of the high school basements. There are always ghosts down there and I watched them. Same thing.”

Lauren looks concerned and slightly hurt about this information. “You went out without telling me?”

Camila shoots Lauren an apologetic smile. “I didn’t want you to worry, not until I had enough evidence to support my theory. I’m sorry.” Lauren frowns but nods and allows Camila to continue her story. “So anyways then I started to be drawn to this area and I never went because I thought it was just someone trying to summer ghosts so that they could kill them or something. But this morning the pull was stronger and I realized, it might have been pulling me here, but this isn’t what’s pulling me.”

Everyone gives her a confused look. “What’s pulling you then?”

“The Veil. The Veil is pulling back.” Camila furrowed her brows as the storm gets closer. “Then I thought about it. I stick with my theory of fading ghosts, I’ve seen it happen. I can feel it happening, but it shouldn’t be happening to me so soon. I’ve only been here for a year and a half and even the weakest ghosts can manage to stay here for at least a year. I would like to think I’m slightly stronger than that. I should be able to manage at least two years right?” She kinda starts talking to herself and Lauren grabs her hand to focus her back on the subject.

“Camz.” She urges.

Camila swallows. “Sorry. So I allowed myself to come here this morning, just a bit after you guys were called into work. She isn’t summoning them, I can feel it. Those ghosts can feel it. The Veil can feel it. She is closing the Veil.” She finishes.

The girls all shake their head in disbelief. They had been waiting there entire lives to figure out how to close the Veil and now this mysterious woman does it all by herself. “So you mean, this ghost thing, it might all be over?” Ally asks. She more than anyone else dreams of finally having a normal life. As normal as her life can get that is.

Camila nods. “That’s the problem. You see that ring of fire?” She points in its direction. They all nods.

“That’s the only thing keeping the ghosts from getting her and stopping this whole thing. Without that circle they will kill her.” Camila then points to the storm that is nearly above them. “And that storm is going to…”

Put out the fire. She doesn’t need to finish, they all put the pieces together.

“So what you are saying is we need to stop them from getting to her when that fire goes out?” Normani assumes.

Camila nods. “We need to make sure she succeeds. The ghosts, they don’t belong here. They have killed so many innocent people and caused so much mayhem. You guys don’t know any different but your grandparents? Myself? We know different because we lived here before and this is not how life is supposed to be. We have to close the Veil, she has to close the Veil.”

“Okay so we help the girl open the Veil. Who the hell is she?” Dinah asks.

“I’ve only heard rumors from behind the Veil. There isn’t anything proving that it was real, but all of the claims point that it is-“

“Just get on with it.” Normani urges, watching as the cloud movies closer.

“Right. There was a rumor of how the Veil opened. A family of Necromancers.” Camila starts. When she sees confused looks she explains. “A Necromancer is someone who practices bringing people back from the dead. It’s like witchcraft but specifically on the border between life and death. So the story is that this family, generation after generation, has this ability. They are the Necromancers. One of them passed away a few years before the Veil was opened and somehow she used her magic to keep her powers even through death. She learned how to communicate with her family even from beyond the Veil. She used to always do these weird spell things, her witchcraft. She was doing on the day that the Veil opened.”

“So the ghosts, they think she opened it?” Lauren asks softly.

Camila nods. “Supposedly, if you have someone from each side, one in the living and one behind the Veil, each doing the spell, you can open it. I always thought it was a rumor and that the Veil just shifted like I told you but the more I thought about it, I’m sure that’s what she is doing.”

“So someone is on the other side of the Veil doing this too?” Ally questions.

Camila nods. “I think so.”

“So she is the Necromancer? Did she open it too?” Dinah points at the chanting woman.

“She looks too young to have opened it, but I assume maybe the generation before her and now she is left to close it. Or try to close it I guess.” Camila nods her head.

“Jesus Christ, everything just got a thousand times more complicated.” Normani growls.

“Listen, I know it’s weird but that cloud is about two minutes from dousing out her entire fire and she still has a while to go before she is done so we have to hurry.” Camila breathes out nervously.

They all nod, trying to pull themselves together. “How do we know when she is done?” Dinah asks.

“Feel the ground shaking?” Camila asks although she knows they all can. They nod anyways. “It’s going to get worse, and when she is done, the ground is going to open up and suck up every ghost that’s currently living on earth.”

The whole group goes quiet. “Oh.” Dinah mutters. “Just that.” It’s sort of sarcastic but no one laughs. No one laughs because she had said every single ghost on earth and well, Camila herself was a ghost.

Lauren’s lip wobbles a bit and everyone’s faces go solemn. Camila shakes her head. “Not now. Now we have to help the Necromancer.”

They all nod, because they know it’s true, but they have all grown to love Camila and knowing that if they succeed it will mean her demise makes them slightly less willing to do so, but they have to. They have to close the Veil.

The ground shakes so hard that Lauren is having difficultly staying on her feet. Camila falls next to her, thick clumps of wet hair hang in front of her face as she looks up at Lauren. The rain is pouring over them, ghosts everywhere trying to get past them to the Necromancer behind them. Ally stands a few feet away, right next to the chanting woman, pouring her salt water all over the girl as a means of protection. It makes it harder for the ghosts to possess her. Thunder rumbles and the ground makes a loud booming noise again, Ally falls onto her butt.

There is so much going on, and yet in that moment it feels like it’s just Camila and Lauren. Camila and her hands and knees, soaking wet, looking so sadly into Lauren’s eyes. Lauren stands above her, wet hair sticking to her face and next, her gasoline bottle in one hand and drenched lighter in the other, water drips over her eyes and Ghosts run all around her, but she keeps the eye contact.

“The gasoline!” Camila yells and somehow her voice carries to Lauren’s ears, despite all the rumbling, banging, and screaming going on around her.

Lauren looks at her can confusedly and then back at Camila. Camila points at the ground, covered with a few layers of water and then Lauren gets what she means. The water will put out the fire, but if the water is full of gasoline, it will burn. Camila wants her to light everything in flames. Because of the amount of water and then ratio to gasoline, it will only burn in one bright flash before it will be over powered, but that’s all they will need to take out as many ghosts as they can. One big wave of flames.

It’s obvious that it is the only way that they will be able to last the last few minutes of this girl’s chanting. They are immensely overpowered right now by ghosts and in a few more seconds, they will have the Necromancer and she will be dead and the Veil will stay open possibly forever.

Lauren nods, pulling the cap from her bottle and allowing the liquid to spill into the large mass of puddles. She looks up, knowing exactly what this means and she doesn’t want to do it.

Camila gives her a soft teary smile as if to say. If you don’t do it now, I’ll only be sucked into the earth a few minutes later. Lauren knows she has to do this, but looking into Camila’s brown eyes, she isn’t sure if she can. Camila sighs deeply. “Lauren do it!” She yells.

Lauren shakes her head, pressing her thumb against the small switch on the lighter. She can’t, but she knows she has to.

She gives Camila one last glance and she swears that Camila’s tears are streaming down her face along with the rain. Camila smiles sadly. She reaches a hand to Lauren’s face as she stands. She brushes some dark strands of her away from her cheeks with a loving smile and then she kisses Lauren, soft and passionately. She pours every feeling she has for Lauren into the kiss, she hopes it is enough. “Remember about the last thing that I see before I die. I got my wish Lo ,I love you.” She murmurs as she pulls away.

Lauren doesn’t have time to say it back because then she is being pushed away and she stumbles in the opposite direction from Camila and Camila has the lighter pressed between her fingers. Camila moves the flame to the ground and everything goes bright red and orange.

Lauren is forced to close her eyes as a wave of heat washes over everything. She can feel the hair and her arms, legs, and back singe off but she couldn’t care less about that right now. All she can hear is Camila’s voice in her head and her lips pressed against her own.

The ground erupts in flames that spread along the whole mass of ghosts, they light up one by one, disappearing in angry screams and loud bangs. Then the fire is gone, overpowered by the pouring rain. There are still a few ghosts left, around twenty or so, but it’s nothing compared to the two hundred from earlier.

Camila isn’t one of them.

She checks for Ally and she finds the girl pulling her head out from behind her hands, the Necromancer perfectly fine next to her. Ally has a few small burns on her arms just like Lauren, but she is fine. She turns to find Dinah and Normani, spotting Normani covered in the small burns, but standing up and lighting up on of the few remaining ghosts like they hadn’t just almost been blown up. Dinah isn’t too far away. She is pushing her mop of wet hair from her face and pulling herself up from the ground. She looks tired and burnt and Lauren thinks one of her eyebrows is gone, but she is alive.

She doesn’t see Camila anywhere.

The ground shakes more causing all four of the girls to fall once more and this time there is a loud ripping noise and Lauren feels the ground opening beneath her feet. She rolls away as far as she can as any remaining ghost begins screaming as they are dragged be some invisible force into the deep hole. Ghosts start appearing out of nowhere, dropping into the hole with terrible, ear piercing screams.

It continues for nearly an hour until everything goes silent. It’s still raining, Lauren can feel it, but the thunder has stopped and the ground is no longer shaking. The ghosts are no more and a few feet away the Necromancer lays unconscious. Or dead. Lauren really can’t tell.

She pulls herself shakily to her feet. The five of them are the only people in the whole vicinity and yet the name rips from her lips anyways. “Camila!” She yells.

She knows she won’t get an answer.

Camila is gone.

A/N: You can read on my Wattpad @DinahFantasy where i may or may not be posting a part two. Thanks for the read!

#UPDATE #one shot #AU #camren #angst drama #action adventure #humour #romance fluff #scifi supernatural fantasy #submission #You Make Me Feel Alive

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