Part 14 – A new dawn?

{Ithelyn}

“What- What do you mean!?” I could only stare at Alice in confusion. “What is that even supposed to mean?”

“It’s simple, really.” Alice -or whoever this was - said with a sweet smile. “Your familiar has been destroyed; their essence has become mine but still I will starve if I remain in this world and therefore I wish to enter a contract with you.”

The smile, however beautiful it was, never reached her eyes… ‘Her eyes… by the gods…’ I couldn’t help but stare at the three baleful yellow things. There was no trace of the bright-eyed girl from a few days ago. Her gaze was piercing and analytic, I could almost feel the latent cruelty they exuded. Where had the Alice I knew gone? It was as if, over the course of the last few days, all kindness had been sucked from her and replaced by cold uncaring spite.

“We- You-” I began unsure how to word this. “This isn’t what I wanted! I wanted us to be friends and perhaps even a bit more, but this? I’m not even sure what this is!”

“Ithelyn, my dear sweet Ithelyn.” The being in my friend's guise said while coming closer. “I know what you truly want. Not a friend, not even a girlfriend. No. You want a slave, someone that is adores you, loves you… worships you~.”

“Wha- NO! That isn’t…” My face flushed at the thought of it. “That is just a character I play when I am embarrassed!”

“Hahaha~,” There was nothing kind about her laugh, it was mean, almost hurtful even. “We both know that isn’t true. You are what you are... and especially what you are becoming. I can smell it on you. You’re infected but oh, there is power in you. Mingling and mixing with the curse… But, oh well, I doubt you care. After all, you’re a kind and nice person that would never be intrigued by violence and pain.”

Her words were spiteful and cruel but at the same time, they sparked something in me. Why should I be a nice person? If she was right I was already changing far beyond what could be fixed… perhaps it was time to embrace this side of me instead of keeping it locked away.

A sudden cold touch on my cheek made me recoil. This thing wearing Alice was looking at me with a decidedly different expression.

“Ithelyn…” Shocked I had to realize that she sounded just like before the incident.

“Don’t you want me anymore? I am still your dear, sweet Alice… I could always be here for you.” For a second her appearance changed back to the girl I had fallen for.

“And on the inside, I will always be your devoted slave… I am willing to do that for you. Hide my true self in the deepest reaches of my soul… Give you back the awkward, cute girlfriend that you wanted. With no trace of my true existence. All that it takes is a contract… and you can play with dumb, little Alice…”

“I- No- But-… By the Gods and all the Hells, Alice if you are truly still in there I am sorry for doing this.”

If this was the only way to get my friend back then so be it.

“You have a deal… demon.”

. . . . .

{Alice}

“By the hells… my head!” I could barely stomach the nausea when I woke up. Confused I looked around the room. I was in a hospital and Lyn was sitting next to me? “Lyn? What’s going on? Fudge… how did I get here? Why am I…

Before my thoughts could get any more jumbled up, Lyn interrupted me.

“Alice, it’s alright. How are you feeling?”

“I… uhm… yes, I am Alice… I think. Mostly a bit confused? Where am I and how did I get here?” My gaze wandered around the room before falling on to my own body. My eye grew wide in confusion and fear. “And what the Flying Fuck happened to my legs!?”

Utterly horrified I looked at the strange and twisted things in place of where my lower legs used to be. I wasn’t even sure how to describe this shit! It was as if someone had taken a sick ostrich and sawed off it’s legs to put in place of mine!

“This- This can’t be real! This is a joke! Yes! Just some weird prank!”

“Alice!”

“No, no, no!” I was already about to scratch the scaly covering off of my shins when I instead notice the claws that had replaced my finger nails. “What the… No! This literally can’t be happening!”

“Alice, it’s alright!” Ithelyn strong hands grabbed me by the shoulders. “Calm down. Being a changeling isn’t the end of the world you know? Everything is going to be fine!”

I just looked at her in disbelieve, did she really not understand the kind of mess I was in now?

“Nothing is going to be fine, Lyn! You don’t understand!”

“I do Alice, and I am here for you.”

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“No, you do not! A Dutrar can not become a changeling! Ever! It is literally supposed to be impossible!”

“Wait…” She looked at me unsure.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ugh! Of course, nobody would know!” I sighed, finally being able to calm down a bit. “My ancestors made a pact with a powerful Demon… a very powerful one.”

“That doesn’t sound good…”

“It really isn’t. The pact was sealed in a time when my family was hunted and in desperate need of power. No true-born Dutrar was ever going to have to deal with the ill effects of Miasma exposure. But in turn, once a witch's time on this world was over she would immediately fall and join the demon in the hells, as his servants, and as his… concubines.”

“That is… truly fucked up!” Despite her words, the way she licked her lips made me shiver. “How come nobody knows about this?”

“Well… I always guessed that some people would probably know but somehow it never spilled to the populous. Perhaps it has something to do with the original deal? Contracts that run for so many generations tend to become strange and twisted.”

“Wait.” Lyn suddenly called out. “You’re saying Demon contracts can change over time?”

“Eh, kind of? Not in the way you probably think. Anyway, I think that is not very important right now! Considering that I am apparently a changeling even though that should be impossible!”

“Sorry.” Lyn smiled at me. "You're right, I was just thinking about something…”

What could she possibly be thinking about in such a situation? I had the feeling that she was only half listening to what I was saying and instead was looking for something else the entire time… My concern quickly grew when she next spoke.

“Say, Alice.” She began while studying my face. “Do you feel… any different then before the accident?”

I could only look at her in disbelieve.

“Well, duh! I can’t feel my gods’ damned legs! And I have a horrible head ache! Not to mention that my field of vision is all kinds of wrong! Of course I feel different, I’m a fucking freak!”

Gripped by frustration I tried pushing myself off the bed only for Ithelyn to immediately push me back into the pillows.

“What are you doing? I need to get up!” I tried shrugging her off, but it was like trying to move a mountain. Just how much did she work out!?

“Please, Alice. Stop struggling. I am really trying to keep myself constrained, and right now you are making that incredibly difficult!”

I watched in both horror and fascination as her iris turned a deep scarlet shade of red and her jaws clenched so tightly that I could hear her muscles protest. Almost immediately I froze up, like a deer caught in the headlights. I had seen this reaction before, not in person but in a reference book of my mother’s collection. It had been about a horrible sickness called Strigaria, but which was colloquially known under the moniker “Witches Blood Curse”.

“You were that customer... the hooded woman I saw conversing with my mother a month ago, that was you?”

“I...” Ithelyn seemed taken aback but her steel like grip didn’t loosen. Instead something seemed to cross her mind, something like recognition and her face became hard, the red of her iris spreading out over the entire eye. Still she pressed me into the pillows, her hot breath tickling my exposed skin.

“Indeed. Just like I had not realised who you were until you told me your name. And now I have to wonder, so many strange and unlikely meetings since then... the book shop, the car, the train, the fact that we go to the same school now... had your creator not shown up like that...”

Lyn’s hands clenched around my wrists like shackles but I barely noticed, too focused was I on her face that came ever closer to mine. Slowly she put her lips to my ear and whispered.

“Tell me the truth, how long has this been going on? Were you send to spy on me? Is Alice even real, or is it all just an elaborate charade to you, demon?!”

I was confused, what, by the hells, was she talking about? But before I could come up with an answer, I was thrown for another loop when my mouth started speaking on its own.

“Nobody ordered me to spy on you. And yes, I am Alice and Alice is me, she is part of the whole that makes me. The only one I have ever served is you, my Mistress.”

Lyn stared at me and I could only stare back, the confusion on both our faces quite evident. As the red of her eyes retreated a faint smile crossed her lips.

“Thank the Gods... I was so worried!”

She leaned even closer this time I was sure it was to kiss me. Her soft lips barely touched mine before I rammed my head full force into her nose!

“Fuck you!”

I used the shock of the moment to wrench free my hand and immediately punched her in the solar plexus.

“Screw you, Lyn!” I screamed her way, already crawling towards the door.

“You shouldn’t have fucking done that! You’re such a fucking Bitch! Twenty-one years I managed to avoid this shit, and now you show up and you actually fucking bind me! Fuck you, fuck you, Fuck You!”

I didn’t even bother to look back, if she truly wanted me to return there wasn’t actually anything that I could do. After being halfway towards the door I was so angry that I gave up on crawling entirely. With a frustrated caw I shifted into my bird form... only to immediately fall to the ground twitching in pain. Tiny needles seemed to be lancing through my flesh, never before had I actually felt pain like this. The agony was so bad that my body expanded right back to my humanoid form. Still shaking and twitching I curled up into a ball, desperately waiting for this horror to be over. Tears streamed down my face and an occasional pathetic caw accompanied my sobbing. Why was this happening to me? How could my life become even worse than before? Ithelyn must have come closer at some point because I could feel a light touch on my back; almost instantly my anger came back.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Despite still being shaken by the ordeal I whipped around to glare at her, yet my anger didn’t hold up for long.

“I’m... sorry.” Lyn’s expression was like that of a beaten puppy. “I didn’t want any of this to happen but it was the only way to get you back! I- She- We made a pact so that I could still be friends with you, despite your... condition. Please you have to trust me!”

“What condition?” I looked at her inquisitive. “Tell me, or you or I will leave.”

“I... I shouldn’t tell you, it was supposed to be nothing to worry about...” She was actually fidgeting in place, clearly adverse to talking.

“Ithelyn Dawnstar.” I fixed her with my most upset glare. “Tell me right now, or I swear to Hecate, bound to you or not, you will never see me again!”

“Alice... I just don’t know how to make you believe me!”

“Give it a fucking try, will you?”

“You’re... well, you’re not a Witch. You never were, you’re just a soul starved Demon born into this world forced to take a human form.” Everything about her body language seemed pained but genuine, she truly believed what she was saying.

“Ha... hahahaha!” I fell to the ground laughing at the top of my lungs. “Oh hells... you know, this actually explains a whole lot. I mean how could I not connect the dots before? I’m a demon pretending to be Witch! Of course!”

The unhinged smile on my face froze as I sat up and looked at Lyn with a deadpan expression.

“You are joking... right?!”