I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling while my mind wandered through the events of the past few days. The weekend had finally arrived - our chance to visit Earth, my Earth.

Yesterday's letter to Lilith felt necessary, given how protective she'd been lately. I couldn't risk her finding out about our trip from someone else and showing up unannounced. Her response came almost immediately, packed with maternal advice about staying safe and keeping a low profile.

"What about this one?" Aria's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned to see her experimenting with different glamour forms in front of our mirror. Her current appearance showed a tall brunette with striking green eyes.

"Something about it looks familiar," I said, tilting my head. The nagging sensation that I'd seen that exact face before wouldn't leave me.

"Really?" She spun around, examining herself from different angles. "I just made it up."

I shook my head, pushing the thought aside. "I'm probably overthinking it. But those clothes won't work."

She looked down at her revealing outfit. "What's wrong with them?"

"We need to blend in. Try something more casual - jeans and a t-shirt maybe."

While Aria rummaged through her wardrobe, my thoughts drifted to more pressing concerns. What would I find when we got there? The question of my original body's fate sent an uncomfortable chill down my spine. For all I knew, it could be dead already.

"Is this better?" Aria held up a more modest outfit.

I forced myself to focus on the present. "Much better. We want to avoid drawing attention."

But the gnawing uncertainty about my former body remained, making my stomach twist with nervous energy. If something had happened to it...

"You're doing that brooding thing again," Aria noted, pulling on the new clothes.

"Just thinking about the trip," I replied, which wasn't entirely untrue. I just couldn't tell her exactly what aspects of it were weighing on my mind.

I spotted Isabella waiting by the transport gate, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised at our approach. Her glamour had transformed her into a pale blonde with ice-blue eyes that somehow retained their otherworldly intensity.

"Took you long enough," she said, tapping her foot against the black marble floor.

"Blame Aria. She couldn't settle on a look." I gestured at our friend, who was still adjusting her glamoured brown hair.

Aria huffed, running fingers through the illusory strands. "Looks are important! We need to blend in perfectly."

"She's right about that," Isabella nodded, then smirked. "But perhaps deciding on an appearance the night before would have been more efficient."

"Not you too!" Aria threw her hands up in exasperation.

I stepped between them before the friendly bickering could continue. "We should probably get moving anyway. The gate won't stay open forever."

"True enough," Isabella conceded.

"Finally," Aria sighed dramatically.

We approached the gate's guardian, a burly demon with obsidian skin and curved horns who lounged against the arch's base. His crimson eyes flickered over us with bored disinterest.

"Five souls each," he drawled, holding out a clawed hand.

I retrieved the coins from my ring, trying not to think about the trapped souls within them as I counted out fifteen. Though I noticed paying in souls didn't bother me as much as before.

The demon pocketed them with practiced efficiency. "Wait for the current group to clear through. Then the gate's yours."

We stood back, watching a cluster of lesser demons pass through the shimmering portal. The runes along the arch pulsed with each traveler, casting dancing shadows across the plaza's polished floor.

"Remember the plan," I whispered to my companions. "We have to be careful, keep our glamours up at all times, and don't draw attention."

"Yes, mother," Aria teased, but her usual playfulness was tempered by focus.

Isabella merely nodded, her eyes fixed on the gate with predatory intensity.

When the last demon vanished through the portal, we stepped forward. My hands trembled slightly as I input the coordinates I'd memorized from my research - the sequence that should lead us to Earth-5a, to London, to my home.

The runes flared brighter as they accepted each number, until the portal's surface rippled like disturbed mercury. I double-checked the final digits, acutely aware of my friends' anticipation.

"Ready?" I asked, though I wasn't sure if I was asking them or myself.

"Born ready," Aria chirped.

"Let's not waste more time," Isabella added.

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and stepped through. The familiar sensation of reality twisting around me made my stomach lurch. For a heart-stopping moment, everything went black.

The portal spat us out into a dimly lit alleyway. My eyes adjusted quickly, taking in the brick walls covered in graffiti. A massive spray-painted design dominated one wall - an arch identical to the transport gate we'd just used.

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"Well, at least we know how to get back," Isabella said, brushing off her glamoured business attire.

Aria wrinkled her nose at a nearby dumpster. "Couldn't it have dropped us somewhere nicer?"

I peered toward the alley's entrance where sunlight streamed in. The main street beyond bustled with activity - people walking briskly past, cars honking, the general chaos of city life. No one spared a glance down our dingy arrival point.

A ripple in the air behind us announced another arrival. A man in a crisp suit materialized and strode past.

"Excuse me, ladies," he muttered, adjusting his tie as he headed for the street.

I watched him go, unsure whether he was truly human. Our own glamours made us appear perfectly mortal, after all. There was no way to tell who else might be hiding supernatural features.

"Should we follow?" Aria asked, already moving toward the alley's exit.

Isabella shrugged. "Might as well. Standing here won't accomplish anything."

We emerged onto the sidewalk, joining the flow of pedestrians. The familiar sights and sounds of London surrounded us - red double-decker buses, the distant chime of Big Ben, tourists snapping photos.

I watched the crowds flow around us, marveling at how different everything felt through my enhanced senses. The cacophony of heartbeats created an intricate rhythm beneath the surface noise of traffic and conversation. Each person's unique scent drifted past - perfumes, sweat, desire, fear, excitement all mingling together in a complex tapestry.

Then reality hit me. "Wait," I said, stopping abruptly. "We don't have any money. At least, not the kind we can use here."

I thought of the soul coins in my ring, but those wouldn't exactly work at a coffee shop.

Aria laughed, linking her arm through mine. "Oh sweetie, that's not a problem at all."

"Indeed," Isabella's smile turned predatory as she watched the crowds passing by. "There are plenty of generous mortals who'd be happy to... assist three lovely ladies such as ourselves."

My stomach dropped as I realized what they were suggesting. They planned to use their succubus charms to acquire whatever they needed from unsuspecting humans.

I watched Aria's face light up as another sleek car cruised past us. Her eyes followed its movements with childlike wonder.

"How does it move without magic? There's no mana flow at all!" She whispered, tugging at my sleeve.

Isabella maintained her composed demeanor, but I caught her staring intently at a teenager's smartphone as we passed by a bus stop. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she tried to make sense of the technology.

"Remember to act natural," I murmured to Aria, who was now gawking at an electronic billboard. "We don't want to draw attention."

"Right, right." She straightened her posture but couldn't quite hide her excitement. "It's just... everything here is so different! Even New London used runic engines and flux crystals for their machines."

We continued down the busy street, with me pretending to share their amazement while secretly feeling a deep familiarity with everything around us. Every corner we turned brought back memories of my life as Liam.

"Look!" Aria suddenly grabbed both our arms. "What's that giant clock tower?"

I followed her pointing finger to Big Ben rising above the buildings ahead of us. Even Isabella's careful mask slipped for a moment as she took in the iconic landmark.

"That's perfect," I said, seizing the opportunity. "Why don't we split up and explore? We can cover more ground that way, find some interesting spots. Meet back here in three hours?"

"Under the giant clock?" Aria asked.

"Yes, that works." Isabella nodded. "We can share what we've discovered and decide where to spend our time."

They agreed readily enough, and we parted ways at the next intersection. Once they were out of sight, I turned down a familiar street. My old apartment wasn't far - just a fifteen-minute walk from here. Finally, I could investigate what happened to my original body.

My heart pounded as I approached the familiar brick building. Everything looked exactly as I remembered - the same weathered steps, the crooked mailboxes, even Mrs. Peterson's half-dead potted plant by the entrance.

The climb to the third floor felt surreal in this new body. My heels clicked against the worn stairs, each step bringing me closer to answers. When I reached my old apartment door, I froze. The brass numbers - 3B - stared back at me, unchanged.

I raised my hand and knocked, the sound echoing in the empty hallway. Silence answered.

"Hello?" I called out, knocking again more firmly. Still nothing. No shuffling footsteps, no voice calling "just a minute." The apartment seemed deserted.

I bit my lip, considering my options. Breaking in wasn't ideal - someone might see me. Then I remembered the spare key I'd hidden after getting locked out once too often.

Not under the doormat - I wasn't that predictable. Instead, I reached up to the top of the doorframe, feeling along the narrow ledge until my fingers found the loose piece of wood. With careful pressure, it popped free, revealing the small cavity behind it.

Relief flooded through me as my fingers touched cold metal. The key was still there, right where I'd left it. I pulled it out, brushing off the dust. At least something remained constant in this bizarre situation.

I slipped the key into the lock, the familiar motion feeling strange with my more delicate fingers. The mechanism clicked and the door swung open with its characteristic squeak.

The sight that greeted me stopped me in my tracks. My apartment - but not as I'd left it. The usual clutter was gone, replaced by an almost surgical cleanliness. My belongings were still there, but meticulously organized. The stack of engineering textbooks sat perfectly aligned on the shelf instead of scattered across the coffee table. Even my collection of video games stood in alphabetical order.

"What happened here?" I whispered, running a finger along the spotless kitchen counter. No dust. Someone had been here recently.

I opened the fridge, finding it completely empty and scrubbed clean. The same story in the cupboards - bare shelves that smelled faintly of cleaning products.

Moving through the apartment, I noticed more oddities. My clothes were still in the closet, but pressed and arranged by color. The bathroom gleamed. Even the grout between the tiles looked freshly scrubbed.

This level of cleaning wasn't my style at all. Could it have been Faith? She always complained about my housekeeping habits when we were together. Maybe she'd come by after... whatever had happened to me.

But where was my body? If Lily - or whatever was inhabiting my original form - had been here, there should be signs of someone living in the space. This felt more like someone had cleaned up and closed shop.

I'd need to ask around. Mrs. Peterson next door was the building gossip - she'd know if anything unusual had happened. Or maybe I could track down Faith, though that conversation would be complicated in this form.

The sound of metal scraping against metal froze me in place. Someone was turning the door handle.

The door creaked open, and my enhanced demon senses picked up soft muttering before I could even see who entered.

"Could've sworn I locked it last time..." a familiar voice drifted in. My heart stopped. Faith.

I stood frozen in the kitchen as she stepped inside, her brown skin glowing in the afternoon light streaming through the windows. She hadn't noticed me yet, too busy fumbling with her keys.

"Two months, Liam. Two whole months," she muttered, dropping her bag by the door. "Where the hell did you go?"

Two months? The revelation hit me like a punch to the gut. I'd been so caught up in survival and adapting to this body that I hadn't even thought about how much time had passed.

"The neighbours haven't seen you. Your work hasn't heard from you." Faith moved through the apartment, straightening things that were already perfectly aligned. "Your phone's disconnected. It's like you just... vanished."

My enhanced hearing caught every word, even as her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I shouldn't even care anymore. We broke up. But..." She sighed, running her hand along the spotless kitchen counter. "I just want to know you're okay. Maybe fix things..."

I pressed myself against the wall, mind racing. Two months of my life were unaccounted for. If I was here in Lily's body, where was my original body? Where was the real Lily?

Faith's footsteps drew closer to the kitchen. In seconds, she would turn the corner and find a strange woman standing in her ex-boyfriend's apartment.

There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

Her footsteps stopped just around the corner.