While I anxiously awaited Hew's arrival, I seized the opportunity to engage in a conversation with my alter ego, hoping to unravel some of the mysteries that had unfolded before me.
"You're a succubus?" I exclaimed, taken aback by this startling revelation. I had never known this about Cala!
She let out a soft chuckle.
"Technically speaking, I do possess the heritage, but you activated it, so who is the succubus?" she clarified, a touch of amusement in her voice; then she sighed before continuing, "My great-great-grandmother was a succubus. I had no idea that her dormant heritage could be awakened. Yet, thanks to you, it has. But don't worry, it saved you, and now you have the power to save him!"
My eyes widened in sheer astonishment. This revelation completely shifted my understanding of Cala.
"Wait! You're the daughter of a demon from Hell?" I blurted out, unable to contain my surprise.
After uttering my words, I glanced around, half-expecting curious onlookers to steer clear of the peculiar sight of me engaging in a conversation with myself, essentially embodying two distinct characters. Fortunately, it was late in the night, and the pouring rain had driven away any potential witnesses from the desolate streets, sparing me from prying eyes.
She let out a resigned sigh, and I felt my shoulders involuntarily rise under her influence.
"From Ha'Des. What you refer to as Hell is actually a continent in a different world known as Ha'Des or Ha'Deimos. And right now, we find ourselves on Ter'Ra."
"You mean Terra?" I interjected, seeking clarification.
"No! Ter'Ra, the third child-world of Ra. Ha'Des is the eighth child world of Des, also known as Deimos, the god of dread and terror."
"What is this? Who fed you this nonsense?" I snorted, interrupting her.
"My mother," she replied, her voice tinged with a mix of sorrow and melancholy. "She attempted to impart her knowledge to me but was killed on a dreadful night when I was just seven. It was after her true nature as a succubus was exposed; she was killed only because she was recognized as my grandmother's daughter. But that's a story for another time. My mother always spoke of multiple interconnected worlds, bound together by mystical threads."
I let out a weary sigh, feeling the weight of disbelief settling upon me. I didn't have the luxury of indulging in these fantastical notions at the moment.
I rolled my eyes.
Couldn't her otherworldly lineage be traced back to angels, elves, dryads, or anything else? Did it have to be demons?
"What about White Flower? Why isn't she here?" I pressed.
Cala shrugged, her expression carrying a mix of uncertainty and speculation.
"She must still be in the ethereal realm where she transported both of us. Neither dead nor fully alive."
I couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. Why did things have to be so complicated and convoluted? White Flower could have effortlessly freed me from those assailants in mere moments, and she possessed the power to heal Matt with a mere flick of her wrist.
Why must it be so cumbersome? What options did I have now?
"How am I supposed to heal him as a succubus? Should I... violate him in the hospital?" I blurted out, my voice tinged with sarcasm and disbelief.
Cala chuckled, shaking her head.
"No, silly. A simple kiss would suffice. You just need to reverse the actions you took before."
Reverse the actions I took before!? I let out a heavy sigh, trying to process the perplexing situation. How on earth could I do that? I gave up on that line of thought.
"Why would White Flower do that? Putting herself and you in the ethereal world, neither dead nor alive?" - I asked.
Cala raised her hands in a gesture of exasperation.
"It was because of the predicament we found ourselves in. Remember when you wanted to terminate the contract with her? You even screamed aloud: All I want is to be back to my old life! Let us separate, and let me be free!"
She said that shaking her head and doing a decent Dolores impersonation. She then took a deep breath and continued:
"We sought out the highest specialist to separate us, but we discovered that it wasn't possible without the risk of at least of us dying. The problem was that White Flower was possessing two entities at the same time, you and me, something that shouldn't have been possible, and there was no guarantee that we wouldn't be lost in the ethereal plane during the separation. So we made the decision to wait, to bide our time."
"Wait? Wait for what?" I asked, my voice tinged with frustration.
Cala shrugged a hint of resignation in her expression.
"Wait for you to live your life. Well, it did make sense, I am the person with the highest bounty on Prom'Ethea, and White Flower is the most hunted spellcaster there. Waiting for a couple of decades, or even a century, for you to live your life and for the situation to settle seemed like a better alternative than risking our lives in an impossible separation. After we remained just the two of us, separation would become possible, and nobody would have to die."
"Prom'Ethea?" I babbled, struggling with the name.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"The fifty-fourth world of Ethea. The world where I was born."
I protested, exasperated.
"The fifty-fourth world of Ethea? That's just made up! There's no star system with fifty-four planets!"
Cala sighed, her voice tinged with a hint of frustration.
"I understand your skepticism, but it's the truth. Prom'Ethea is the world where I was born, part of a vast network of interconnected realms."
I protested, growing even more exasperated.
"You're just spouting nonsense. None of this makes any sense!"
Just then, a car horn blared nearby, catching our attention. Cala turned and saw Hew's car approaching.
"He's here!" she exclaimed, a glimmer in her eyes.
I shook my head, feeling overwhelmed.
"I don't care. I'm convinced that I'm crazy. Right now, all I need is to call my parents. I'll do it in the morning when it's a more appropriate time."
Cala's expression turned earnest as she pleaded with me.
"But what about your friend? Will you just let him die?"
I hesitated, grappling with conflicting emotions. I didn't even know for sure if he was my friend. Could any of this be real?
But if there was even a small chance that it was, could I turn my back on the opportunity to save Matt?
"I'm opting out," I finally said, my voice tinged with uncertainty. "You do what you think you need to do, but I won't be a part of it. I'll wait until morning to call my parents. I don't want to alarm them in the middle of the night."
Doubt and fear crept over me. What had I done to my own mind? I did it again! I transformed myself into... into what? An assassin and a demon? Oh my! I couldn't help but shiver.
Cala shrugged, stepping onto the street and waving at Hew's approaching car.
"Hey, Hew! Over here!" she called out, her voice filled with determination.
He parked his jeep on the side, just in front of me, and I wasted no time in swiftly climbing inside the cabin.
"Hi," I greeted him.
"Hey, Lores," he replied with a weary tone, his eyes reflecting the weight of exhaustion with deep lines etched beneath them.
"How is he?" I inquired.
"Bad," he responded, his focus on the road as he executed a U-turn on the wide street.
The car accelerated, and for a while, silence enveloped us. As the cold began to seep into my bones, I couldn't help but shiver. I hugged myself in an attempt to ward off the chill.
"You're all wet!?" he exclaimed, glancing at me again.
I shrugged.
"It's been raining for quite some time outside," Cala explained, her voice laced with a hint of irony. Then, she raised an eyebrow. "Do you happen to have any spare clothes?"
"You can take my jacket to warm up; it's on the back seat. Uh, well... I do have spare work clothes tucked under the seat behind, but those are a bit dirty from, uh, car work."
Cala wasted no time in waiting for him to finish. She deftly maneuvered between the front seats, getting on the back seat through a maneuver that I did not think I was able to do, and then located the clothes beneath it. After a quick examination, she swiftly removed my damp clothes and replaced them with the spare ones, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. She then slipped on Hew's jacket.
All done in less than a minute.
She took a satisfied breath, giving the clothes on me a brief once-over. She leaned in, planting a kiss on Hew's neck and playfully ruffling his hair. "Thanks, Hew, you're a lifesaver."
He reached over to adjust the heat settings.
"Is that better now?"
"Much better!" Cala nodded approvingly, casting a glance at the wet front seat before shrugging. She leaned against it, positioning herself to get a clearer view of Hew's face.
"So, what happened with Matt?"
"It seems there was an argument between Matt and his mother, and he left home in the evening without informing Mrs. Cutler. He rode his bicycle through town, unaware that his backlight wasn't working, according to the driver who hit him," Hew explained.
"Where was he heading?" I wondered.
"He wanted to go to your place. We had been working late into the night on some new songs, and I gave him a ride home. Then I got back and went straight to bed.
He must have been furious with his mother for not calling him when you were there.
He left me a voicemail on my phone, and I got your new number from there. I assume he wanted me to drive to your place, but since I didn't answer his call, he left on his bicycle. And then the accident happened."
He took a deep breath, his frustration evident in his voice as he continued,
"If either of us had answered his calls, maybe none of this would have happened. I'm so angry with myself! I woke up in the middle of the night and saw that he had called me. I tried calling him back, but he didn't answer. So I called their home and spoke to his mother, who had just learned about the accident moments before my call. She was in shock, thinking it was another call from the hospital. I immediately called the hospital and rushed there as fast as I could."
"I didn't answer?" I murmured, disbelief and regret flooding through me.
I picked up my phone and saw a list of missed calls from a few hours ago. I realized that I had been too preoccupied with being violated to answer his call earlier. I let the phone slip from my grasp and buried my face in my hands, overcome with anger.
"We are here! Let's go!" he said, parking the car.
I quickly stepped out of the vehicle, hurrying up behind him with my tennis shoes sloshing with each step.
The hospital we arrived at was different from the Saint-Ana Hospital, where I had recently been as Cala and healed all those wounded people. This one was known as the Brotherhood Hospital and stood amidst a cluster of gray apartment blocks, devoid of the lush green surroundings.
Thankfully, Hew was acquainted with the layout, sparing us from wasting time asking for directions, and we swiftly made our way inside.
When we finally arrived, a tense scene unfolded before our eyes as Hew's mother was engaged in a heated argument with the doctors. As I scanned the area, my gaze landed on Matt, but we remained silent, attentively listening to their exchange.
The doctors delivered a grim prognosis, stating that Matt's condition was so dire that undergoing an operation would be futile. As a result, he was currently under observation and not scheduled for surgery unless there was a significant improvement in his condition within the next few hours. They explained that if the life support machines were turned off, he would not survive. However, since he couldn't be scheduled for an operation, the doctors would soon have to make the difficult decision to disconnect the machines. Hew's mother desperately pleaded with them, urging them to keep Matt connected to the life-saving devices in the hope that he would recover enough to undergo the operation. Despite her impassioned pleas, the odds seemed stacked against her, and her chances of success appeared slim.
Cala swiftly removed my shoes and leaned in to whisper something to Hew.
"Hew, please provide cover for me. I just need a few seconds," she pleaded.
Uncertain but trusting, he watched silently as I made my way toward Matt. A wave of unease washed over me as I beheld his pallid face, my heart freezing within my chest.
There had been a sister attending to the monitors just moments ago, but she had left the room. Taking the opportunity, Cala approached Matt, pressing her lips to his and closing her eyes in concentration. The kiss was brief, but as it unfolded, I felt Matt's lips move, and he spoke my name, his voice filled with confusion. "Lores?"
Suddenly, an alarm began to blare, its shrill sound piercing the air. I opened my eyes, meeting Matt's gaze, but my vision started to blur, causing me to stumble as I fought to maintain my balance.