A restless night was followed by the sweltering heat in your room that morning. You knew New Orleans was hot, but it was never this bad. Maybe your AC was broken, but that would have to wait, you had some strong words for the students in the assembly that morning.
You were almost late as it took you half an hour to find your underwear. Your drawer was totally empty, and you knew that you had just done your laundry. It was eventually found in a box under your bed, in a place where you didn’t put it.
////
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” you started, glaring at the students in front of you. “Might I remind you that breaking into staff offices and stealing things is forbidden. The materials in my office are dangerous and not something to be messed with. You never know what you could awaken, as the ladies learned yesterday. If this happens again, you will immediately be expelled. We’re extremely lucky that I was on campus yesterday to deal with the issue,” you finished with a sigh. You didn’t want to think about what that demon might have done, or what he was capable of. That salt circle was not going to contain him for long at all.
You watched the students file out after Cordelia had also said her strong words, worrying about the feeling of dread that hadn’t left you since yesterday.
////
You made your way to your first class of the day, the sound of your heels echoing through the halls. You stopped in your tracks, double checking the mirror you just passed. You thought you saw something looming over you. When you looked again, nothing was there.
You must have been seeing things, your subconscious playing off recent events. You shook your head and entered the classroom.
“Good morning class,” you greeted, putting a smile on your face.
“Today, we will be going over protection and safety while summoning. It’s the first thing I taught you, but it seems that we need a refresher. You will be getting quizzed at the end of next week so please do pay attention and come see me during my office hours for any help and clarification,“ you explained.
The class groaned at the mention of a quiz. You paid them no mind while you looked for the PowerPoint. Your brows furrowed, the file wouldn’t open, the dialogue box stating the file had been ‘corrupted’. You checked the backup on your USB, that too came up as corrupted.
You slammed the laptop shut, getting out of your seat towards the large white board. “Unfortunately, were having some technical difficulties so we’ll be using the board.”
The class flew by, the lunch bell signalling it was time to pack up. You hoped that they had retained this useful information this time around. You locked the door behind you, heading to the staff room for lunch.
////
“Queenie how was your trip to LA?” you asked, the staff nodding in agreement.
“It was good, I really enjoyed myself. We should all go at some point.” She turned to Mallory, “thanks by the way for suggesting I don’t go to the Cortez. The concierge at the hotel I stayed at had nothing but horror stories so thanks for saving me the money,” she laughed. Mallory only smiled; she had seemed vexed since last night. You’d try to catch her later.
“Of course, you had a good time,” Madison interrupted, “I did give you the perfect itinerary.”
The room chuckled in response. You hadn’t known Madison from before her stint in hell, but you had been told that she had changed a lot. You didn’t mind her company; she had the most entertaining stories to tell.
You bit into your apple, distracted by the conversation before you spat it out, the whole room looking at you. It tasted rancid. When you looked down, the apple was rotten on the inside.
“What the fuck?”
The whole room looked surprised. You gagged and threw the apple in the bin, heading to the sink to wash your mouth out.
“The whole fruit bowl is rotten,” said Zoe, picking up a squishy piece of fruit.
“Weren’t they just picked this morning?” you asked.
Mallory nodded in response.
As the room erupted into conversation, you thought you heard a deep chuckle to the right of you, your ear beginning to itch again. When you looked, no one was there. It couldn’t have been Kyle; he was on the other side of the room with Zoe and Madison.
You took a deep breath, the taste of the rotten apple still lingering in your mouth.
Thank god it was the weekend.
////
You caught Mallory just after dinner.
“hey… are you alright Mal? You seem a little out of it today.”
She sighed before speaking, “It’s just … that creature yesterday threw me off a little. I wasn’t expecting to see him… I mean… it. Yeah, I mean it, ever.”
You nodded at her reply. “That’s perfectly normal. The living are never supposed to be within the vicinity of demons like that. It was incomprehensibly powerful. If it had been here any longer, the whole school would have felt the same, just by him standing there.”
You held her hand, placing a little pouch in it, “This is a tea mix that should sooth the feeling of dread that’s lingering around. You can keep whatever’s left over under your pillow, it should help you sleep.”
She gripped your hand tighter, “Y/N? How did the kids end up summoning him? Are you sure he’s gone? If he’s as powerful as you say, how do you know that breaking the circle was enough?”
You held both of her hands now, making eye contact with her, “to answer your first question, I still don’t know how the students managed to do it, but I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. The demon world is dangerous and scary, but they too have rules to follow, just like us. That answers your second question, the rules in place are rarely broken by demons or those that summon them. There may be a few exceptions. But I don’t think there’s any exceptional circumstances in this case. Unless it was like… the prince of hell, or like had some unfinished business, there’s no reason for it to stay. I mean, we don’t even know its name.” you laughed.
Mallory just gave you a tight-lipped smile, nodding and letting go of your hands. “Thanks for this, I think it’ll really help.”
“Have a good night Mal,” you waved, “And sweet dreams too,” with the final word, you walked towards your room.
You didn’t notice the grinning face in the mirror behind you.
////
You let out a happy sigh as the warm water hit you. A hot shower is what you needed after these hectic two days. You took your time to massage the shampoo into your scalp, before rinsing it and applying your conditioner. Rolling you shoulders in the warm water. You moved your hands to massage your neck and shoulders, trying to ease the tension that you felt. You stopped and your eyes shot open. It felt as if another pair of hands was on you, mimicking your movements. You slowly let go of your skin, hoping that it was the water pressure, but the sensation continued when you put your hands down. You wanted to panic, but the phantom hands seemed to hit just the right spot, causing you to groan in appreciation. It was difficult not to let the sensation fully take over you, but you snapped out of it as you felt the ‘hand’ move down your spine. You yelped at the feeling, quickly turning the water off and grabbing your towel.
You tried to calm your breathing, going to wipe the mirror. But in the corner, a little ‘666’ was written into the steam. You furiously wiped it away.
Maybe the years of handling demons was finally getting to you, you thought to yourself. You walked into your bedroom, it felt freezing compared to the bathroom. You quickly put on your clothes and crawled into bed. You didn’t even dry your hair, having enough of mirrors for one day. You cocooned yourself in your blanket, the warmth lulling you to sleep. Before you shut your eyes, you felt like you were being touched again. It felt as if a finger was trailing from the back of your right ear, down your neck. You changed over to your right side, finally stopping the sensation.
You curled up tried to sleep, wishing that you had one of those little pouches under your own pillow.
