Exams were a nuisance. Callie was irritable and exhausted as she finished with her last exam. Everyone was going home for winter break the next day and she needed to pack all of her belongings. She made her way to the dining hall for lunch when there was a commotion at another table.
A First Year girl fell from her chair and was convulsing on the floor. Her friends surrounded her concerned as the professors rushed over. Doctor Crane was checking over her as the girl continued to writhe on the ground. The girl sat up with a big gasping breathe, making everyone step back from her.She turned and stared directly at Callie with eyes completely black. Demon eyes."Mother!" the girl shouted in a voice several octaves deeper than her own.The girl got to her feet and ran towards her, arms stretched to reach for her. Callie could barely think about running away or fighting before Nadia folded her hands together and pushed a blast of energy at the girl. It knocked backCallie had two days to prepare for the Winter Ball. She booked a hotel in Rhode Island that allowed pets and memorized the address to the Castillo home. All her belongings were packed up in a suitcase and where she went after the ball was a mystery to her. She had only ever imagined the before and the Ball but never beyond that. Getting this close had been long and arduous just for her one opportunity. The night before the Ball she tried to sleep but found herself thinking about everything that had led to this. People were dead because of her. She had left a trail of misery in her wake and she promised herself that once she got to her father it would be all over. She would disappear and it would be like she never existed. Nicholas, Aubrey, Nadia, Matthias, and Enoch would all forget her and move on with their lives. She hadn’t left any real impact. She was a passerby in their individual stories and one day they wouldn’t even remember her name.She reassu
Callie threw the strongest sleeping spell she could conjure at her father as his mouth opened to say something. His eyes closed and he collapsed face forward to the ground with a loud thud. She had to work quickly. Cloaking the two of them in shadows, she dragged his body towards the terrace at the side and to the Greenhouse on the property, adrenaline giving the strength she needed for the task.She closed the glass doors of the Greenhouse and every locking and silencing spell she knew. She reached under her skirts for the knife she strapped to the holster around her thigh. It was dark but that didn’t deter as she cut into her forearm to draw blood. She drew a circle around him and the sigils quickly.When she finished, she got to her feet and stared down at her father. He almost looked harmless when he was asleep but she knew better. She threw another spell to wake him and conjured a small fireball for illumination. His eyebrows furrowed as he blinked to consciousn
Callie woke up in a cold cell. She was still dressed in her gown and her shoes were gone. Barefoot, she got up and looked around. The cell was narrow with no windows. The only light came from the steel door that was locked shut.She recognized the sigils carved into the metal. It burned her when she tried to touch the door. Anti-demon wards. There were sigils covered into the stone walls of the cell.The room was empty save for the thin cot on the floor. She sat down as she tried to figure out a way to escape. Her magic wouldn’t work because of the wards. She was trapped.She didn’t know how long she waited in that cold cell. She huddled into herself for warmth and she was starving. She wanted water. It could’ve been days before the metal door finally opened and Head Warlock Castillo walked in carrying a tray.He closed the door behind him and placed the tray in front of her. She didn’t hesitate to grab the bowl of oatmeal and spooned it i
Callie decided that laying on that thin cot and starving to death was the way to go. It wasn’t like anyone was going to miss her. She had no family. She kept her friends at arm’s length so it would make it easier for them to forget about her.There she was alone and waiting for death. It would be better than going with the master grand plan of the universe for her. She would rather just die and suffer in whatever circle of Hell they wanted to send her to than be some piece in the apocalypse. She was on the second day of her hunger strike when Police Chief Oliveira entered her cell and brought her a bowl of soup.He placed the tray beside the cot but didn’t leave. He took a seat on the ground and waited. She stared at the wall and ignored the gnawing in her belly. She was dizzy and weak and she just wanted to close her eyes and block out the world."You need to eat," Oliveira said. "They told me you haven’t had anything in days."She didn&r
Callie knew there was no calming Nicholas down so she leaned back against her chair and asked, "How much do you know?""Enough. My dad told me you’d been lying all this time about who you were and that you used me." He leaned forward, inches from the barrier, and demanded, "Why did you do any of it?"Aubrey looked conflicted, her brown eyes moving between Callie and Nicholas. She tugged at the ends of her lavender hair. She beseeched, "We just want to know the truth, Callie."Callie shook her head. "It’s not a nice story."Nicholas scoffed, "Nice stories don’t end with somebody going to prison and people dying. Give us the truth and no more lies. I’ll know.""The details don’t matter," she retorted. "Your father was right. I lied, I stole, and I killed so I could get revenge on my own father. I sent him to Hell. And I used you because you were easy to manipulate."He should hate her. It was what he needed so she was giving
It was impossible to outrun a Hellhound for long let alone a whole pack of them but Callie was going to try. There weren’t any buildings nearby, just red sand stretching for miles. Her best bet was the Forest of Torment as she had a chance of hiding from the Hounds there. She looked over her shoulder and saw four horsemen riding down a sandy hill. The Lords of Hell had come for her. Mammon on his red horse charged forward past the Hounds. She started running faster, kicking sand out of her way. Her lungs ached even as she tried to push forward. She could hear horse hooves on the sand getting closer and she refused to give up. She could see the forest and the distinct wails from inside. She pushed her legs to move faster, the adrenaline keeping her going despite the ache in her abdomen and her thighs. She just had to get to the forest. It was the only shot she had of surviving. Her feet were inches from the dark earth of the forest before a golden net knocked
Callie had been thrown from one prison to another. While she had been in a windowless cell in the mortal realm, she had books and sweets from Oliveira to keep her occupied. The Lords of Hell only cared that she was breathing and kept her fed and locked up in her bedroom. She wondered if it was even possible to die of boredom.She couldn’t leave her room without the Hounds stalking her and making sure she didn’t try to make a run for it. There were minor demons around the castle who seemed excited about the breaking of the seals and Lucifer’s upcoming return. Word had spread through all the circles of Hell that the Great War was upon them. The Lords were busy with the remaining seals and making sure the castle was presentable for the King of Hell.She was just relieved not to have the Lords around and talking to her about conception and her damned purpose in the cosmos. Beelzebub relished in making her uncomfortable the most. She had nothing else to do but
Callie had never flown before and her landing was less than grateful. She stumbled onto the forest floor. Transforming back to her human force was an odd experience. She felt herself grow, her torso lengthening and expanding, her feathers disappearing into skin, her wings into arms. Her bones became denser and her hair grew back as a cloud of pale blonde around her head. She reacquainted herself with her old limbs before sitting up. She stared up into the canopy of trees above her and tried to map out where in the forest she was. The Forest of Torment was given its name for it gave illusions to those miserable enough to get lost inside. The forest could see deep into someone’s soul and find their worst fears and torture them with it until they either died or went insane. Most demons didn’t like to be in the forest for too long. The last time Callie had been in there she had been rushing to get to the gate and chose the forest as the best place to hide Lucifer