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Pestilence
When Callie was thirteen, she met the infamous Baba Yaga, a great demon known for feeding on the souls and flesh of children. Baba Yaga told her that fear brought out the best flavors in a child before consuming them. The nightmare demon, Batibat, shared the same view and tortured her victims by making them live out their worst fears in their sleep before killing them. Both were generous enough to teach her how to know a person’s greatest fear.
It would be easiest to get into a person’s mind in their sleep as it was when they had the least defenses. Getting into Trish’s room would be easy. It was her familiar that would be the problem. It would sense her before she could even get near the bed.Finn didn’t seem to have any reservations about killing another familiar. He offered to kill and eat the rat but Callie was too scared of him getting caught. The punishment for a rogue familiar was death and she didn’t want to lose him. She would have toRelated chapters
Simmer Leaven
Batibat taught her how to cloak herself in shadows. It only really worked at night and in dark places but it was all she needed to sneak into Trish’s room that night. Thankfully, Trish’s roommate didn’t have a familiar but Callie threw a sleeping spell at the other girl in case she was a light sleeper. She threw another one at Trish as Batibat had been very clear that victims waking up mid-nightmare made trapping them again harder.Plunging into somebody’s mind was like falling off a chasm and into a sea of memories. She spent hours going through significant memories and memorizing details. Trish’s mind unconsciously tried to fight back, hiding the worst memories, but Callie chased them down and broke down her mental barriers until she could see. Finnegan had been right that Trish was insecure.The girl was scared of losing Nicholas. She had done a lot of things to get his attention and to retain it. She was more callous than Callie would&rsqu
Simmer Apostle
Cloaking herself in shadows had become habitual. She entered Nicholas in his room. Bishop perked up as he sensed her first. Familiars were wary of her though none were aggressive. It took Aubrey’s cat a while to warm up to her.She uncloaked herself and stepped into the light. Nicholas turned and nearly jumped at the sight of her. “Callie! What are you doing here?”“I’m on a sugar run." She opened her bag and pulled out the box of chocolate pies. "This war between your girlfriend and my roommate is ridiculous."He went to her and accepted the box. He smiled at it before opening the box and taking out a pie. He tore open the foil wrapping hurriedly and bit into the pie. He closed his eyes in bliss as he chewed."Should I leave you two alone?" she quipped.As if remembering she was still there, he opened his eyes and smiled sheepishly and offered, "Want one?""Sure."She took a pie from the box and unwrapped the fo
Simmer Gluttony
Nicholas seemed to have a secret desire to catch a cold because he was up on the roof again. She nearly slipped on the way up but Nicholas leaned down and pulled her up the rest of the way. She huffed as she took a seat beside him and she handed him the box of those chocolate-filled cookies shaped like bear heads. He offered her the box and she took one of the cookies. She preferred the ones filled with white chocolate but these were still good."How is Bree?" he asked."You're the only one that calls her that.""I've known her since she was a baby. She will always be 'Bree' to me.""She told me your families are close.""Understatement. Our moms are best friends and our dads studied Magical Law together in university," he explained. "We have vacations, Christmas, and birthday parties together. The Parks are family.""And Aubrey is like your sister.""Little sister who sneaks me snacks." He frowned as he bit into another cookie. "And tells me that
Simmer Fallible
Callie did not have the luxury of time like she did with Trish. She didn’t bother looking into his memories and started weaving a nightmare. She was at the lacrosse field. Matthias was about to throw the winning shot but he was tackled by three players to the ground. The ball fell to the ground before it was scooped up by Nicholas who threw the ball at the net, the other team’s goalie unable to catch it. The buzzer rang out as the game ended. The crowd went wild, cheering Nicholas’s name. His teammates ran to him, raising him up as they carried him like a king away from the field.Matthias got to his feet. The crowd followed after the team until he was alone on the field. He looked devastated. Callie twisted her fingers, not bothering with finesse. A hand touched him on the shoulder and he turned around to find Trish. She smiled at him. He returned it with relief. There was somebody there for him. He dipped down to kiss her but she put her ha
Simmer Temperance
Inducing nightmares didn’t work out like Callie wanted so it was time for Plan B. She learned how to brew potions from Morgan le Fay and she had a recipe for a strong love potion. She could’ve given a Nicholas the potion but she thought it was too cruel. She didn’t want Nicholas Castillo pining after her like some tragic lovesick hero.The love potion would be too strong to give him at full dose. She would need to dilute the potion. She was going for mild attraction. And this would be all over by Yule.There was a snag. She was a decent brewer but substituting ingredients or adjusting measurements was not her forte. She didn’t want to ask help from her Potions professor as they would surely recognize the ingredients and what she was going to brew. The brewing, use, and distribution of love potions were banned ten years ago and she didn’t have time to break herself out of prison.Not all hope was lost. Aubrey had a natural talent for potio
Simmer Testimony
All people could talk about was what happened at the lacrosse game. Matthias had spent the night in the Medical Bay being treated for the potion in his system. Nobody knew how he ended up with a love potion that hadn’t been seen in use since the Middle Ages and their school physician had to call the hospital for a specialist. The cure was a diluted hate potion that seemed to work because Matthias was having breakfast at the dining hall.He kept his head down and didn’t interact with his friends. It looked awkward at their table. Trish sat the furthest away from him. Nicholas sat beside his girlfriend and was very interested in his scrambled eggs.Rumors were spreading and they were getting more and more outrageous."They said that Trish was the one to slip Matthias the love potion. That she bought it off some dark witch at a flea market," Nadia told them. "They said that Trish had been having an affair with Matthias for years.""That’s ridiculou
Simmer Prophet
Callie didn’t care for Divination class. She didn’t have an interest in tea leaf readings and crystal balls. Clairvoyance was an inherent gift and couldn’t be learned by those that didn’t have it. She thought the class was a waste of time.She was usually paired with Aubrey but due to a rising case of Black Cat flu there were an uneven number of students and Professor Goode paired her up with the seer boy in class. He was blind as all seers were and had his familiar, an Australian Shepherd, as his guide dog. His familiar stared at her warily.He was lanky like most boys in their year with golden skin and close-cropped dark curls. He waited by his table as she came over and took the seat across from him. He smiled at her directly. "Hi. I’m Enoch.""Callie.""The new girl from England." He began shuffling his tarot deck with ease from practice. "You have that pretty hair."She touched her dyed brown hair subconsciously. "And how w
Simmer Incense
Callie dressed warmly in her black coat. It was getting colder as autumn began to fell away and winter crept closer. The Samhain celebrations were going to be held in a clearing in the woods. The way from the school building to the clearing was lit by torches even with the full moon.She followed her classmates as they all walked towards the clearing. It was filled with people, parents and children, mingling and surrounding the tables of food. Familiars were allowed to go to the celebrations with the caveat that they behave. Finnegan stuck by her side as he snuck covetous looks at the meat pies.The parents arrived in the late afternoon and Aubrey introduced Callie to her parents. The Parks were friendly and invited her to spend Samhain with them since she was going to be alone. She found Aubrey and Nadia sharing a mug of chicken pot pie. "You have to try the food, Callie," her roommate said. "The table at the left of the bonfire has all the best pies. You have to ge
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