“What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more! Oh, Baby don’t hurt me…don’t hurt me, no more!” 18 year old Frankie Twinsin cried, standing in the mini kitchen of the city apartment in which she, her sister, and their unusual roommate.

Dressed in a navy mini skirt, barely long enough to cover what lay beneath, twirling around her thighs as she moved, and a light blue dress shirt with navy bow tie tied neatly around her neck, Frankie hummed the lyrics to her recent favorite song, having heard it on the radio as she got dressed for school. She was a senior in high school, and making lunch for herself and her sister as she danced to the sound of her own voice, sometimes making up words as she went along, spinning on her white stocking feet.

“Oh, I don’t know why you’re a bear. A gave you my love, but you ate my hair. So what is right? And what is wrong? Gimme a sign, or go smoke a bong!” Frankie screamed as she chucked a jello fruit cup into her lunchbox. Her long brown hair fell in neat waves down her back, hardly a piece out of place, even though her violent movements made it seem impossible. Her brown eyes glowed joyously as she gave a final spin as the song ended, did a head bob, and jumped onto the counter.

“THANK YOU NEW YORK!” She hollered.

“Ugh…please keep quiet…I’m trying to get some beauty rest…” A furry something said on the banister running along the edge of the counter where Frankie stood. Frankie turned her head and stuck her tongue out at the ancient cat, George.

“Yeah. You should probably keep sleeping then.” Frankie replied, hopping off the counter and running off down the hall before the cat could hiss a violent reply. George simply rolled his green eyes as he heaved himself to his feet, and waddled into Frankie’s bedroom, which was located next to the kitchen, and bury himself beneath her pillows. Maybe even leave a nasty little surprise there for that night…

Frankie slid down the hardwood floor like a skateboarder, sliding with ease, until she got to the doorway at the end of the hall and burst through.

“OOOOOH GEEEENNNNYYY!” Frankie hollered, poised in the doorway with her hand on the door. Genny’s room was a mess. Clothes littered the floor (some of which didn’t look like her own) and her computer desk near one of the windows was covered with papers and books. Her poor laptop looked like it was choking on paper, smothered beneath the junk. The queen sized bed she had had since she was 15 was pushed against one side of the wall, a mountain of blankets and pillows, and the possibility of even more junk buried beneath. Frankie crept to the bed, and heard the gentle squeak of something small near the foot of the bed. Being careful, Frankie stuck her hands in, and searched for the squeaking something, and when she found it, pulled it out.

“Furby!” Frankie cooed. She was holding a tiny grey mouse, its ears enormous, and its nose quivering as it looked up at her.

“Put me back in! It’s cold!” the mouse called Furby squeaked. Frankie shook her head, heading over to the little cage Genny had near her closet. She put the little creature inside.

“You can’t keep sleeping there Furb! Genny is gonna squish you!” Frankie said, setting Furby into the cage and patting the top of it. Furby gave her a dirty look.

“Miss Genny would never do that!”

“George could find you.”

“Mr. George is madly in love with me. He won’t!” Furby squealed indignantly. Frankie sighed.

“Furby how many times do I have to explain to you…” Frankie started. Then stopped. Explaining the theories of the intermix of species to a mouse was just a waste of time.

“Just be careful, okay?” Frankie said. Furby nodded, and curled into the Christmas sock Genny had given her as a bed, and disappeared all the way to the toe. Frankie turned her attention back to the bed.

“Genny! Genni-face-ular! Wake up! WAKE UP!” Frankie cried. She picked up a random shoe and chucked into the mess of bed. There was a series of groans, and Frankie’s eyes widened.

“AH! GENNY! YOU BROUGHT SOMEONE HOME?! EW! GET OUT OF BED YOU’RE GONNA BE LATE FOR WORK!” Frankie screamed as she galloped out the door.

“I’M TAKING THE JEEP!” Frankie screamed as she grabbed her backpack and lunchbox, and raced out the door.

For a moment, there was no movement from the bed, then another groan, and some mumbling. A boy stuck his head out, hair thick and black, and eyes drowsy with sleep and confusion.

“Eh…Jaymee get off…” The boy, who was actually a girl…grumbled. There was more mumbling from beside her, and she shoved at the person in the bed.

“Jaymeeeeee!” She squealed as another body enveloped hers and sucked her back down into the blankets.

“Jaymee stop spooning with me!” Genny cried.

“But I dun wanna…”

“Get off. Why are you in my bed?!” Genny demanded.

“Cuzz…Mark came home with me last night…” Jaymee mumbled. Genny groaned, and dropped her head onto the pillows. She yanked the blankets off the two of them, and Jaymee was revealed. Her transy of a roommate was really a beauty to behold, which was ironic, considering she was a he. Jaymee was a boy with a distinct liking for boys, and the fashion of females. She had thick black hair, longer than Gennys, and big blue eyes. Because of her looks, Jaymee hooked boys easily. It was just convincing them that they really shouldn’t mind the fact that she had a bigger package than themselves that was the tricky part.

“Is he still here?”

“He passed out. I didn’t think it was fair he should wake up and be scared to death by the sight of me.” Jaymee replied, running her fingers through her hair in attempt to get it out of her face.

“And I get to be the lucky contestant who gets scared?” Genny asked, sitting up.

“Always Genniface. Always.” Jaymee replied, closing her eyes again. Genny rolled her eyes and struggled out of the mess of blankets.

“Did Frankie leave?” Genny asked, wiggling out of the blankets finally, and hopping onto the carpeted floor.

“Uh…I dunno…” Jaymee replied. She glanced over at her roommate, who was dressed in a tight tank top and boy shorts. Her hair was cut incredibly short. Her almost flat chest didn’t help matters either. Genny was always being mistaken for a boy. Not that she cared. Genny hardly paid attention to the boys at the college in which they attended. She concerned herself more with the academic portions of the school. Jaymee rolled over so she faced the window, away from Genny.

“You’re such a lesbian.” Jaymee grumbled.

“Excuse me? Look who’s talking, you wanna-be-woman.”

“God hates me, so he gave me a dick.”

“I’m sorry.” Genny said, trying to keep from laughing. She grabbed a pair of jeans from her dresser, and picked out a top and jacket to wear work.

Genny’s day consisted of going to work at almost 6 in the morning. She spent most of the morning there, until about 10, when she went over to Franklin university, where she was currently attending school to become a doctor. She spent about 3 to four hours there, had lunch, then went back to work for another hour. Then she went back to school, attended some of her other classes, then again went back to work. By the time she got to work that third time, Frankie was done with classes, and worked part time with Genny. Genny had no idea what Jaymee was doing when she wasn’t in school, or with the Twinsin sisters, but she was sure it involved men. And lots of them.

Most of the guys at Franklin knew Jaymee as a girl. Jaymee was not anywhere close to a normal girl, however. She wasn't even a girl, though she referred to herself as one and told her friends to do the same. Jaymee was the most successful transvestite Genny had ever seen. She got more dates than Genny did at Franklin, and next to none of them ever found out her little secret (which generally resided somewhere between her abs and thighs). However, the ones that did find out had the habit of never speaking to her again. Jaymee spent many nights up until midnight with Genny, crying over some hot guy who she had thought was her 'ultimate'.

Then, when she and Jaymee had finished downing a new pint of Ben and Jerry’s, she finished up her homework, and crashed, starting all over again the next day. She never gave herself time to even stop and take a breath. Not that she wanted to. Cuzz stopping with her hectic ritual usually meant she had time to think. And thinking was bad, in her opinion.

It had been almost 3 years since she had moved out of her parents house. Almost three years since she had been on the street she called her home. 3 years since she had been in love. 3 years since she had seen him.

Of course she thought of him all the time. He was in every blonde she saw. Every green eyed cutey. Every guy that growled the word ‘fuck.’

Damiez had been someone she always looked up to. And now he was gone.

And of course, when there was thoughts of Damiez, there was thoughts of her last boyfriend. The first guy she had ever thought there would be a possibility of starting something really grand. He had been her first, and though it made her feel like a clingy virgin, Genny missed him terribly. He hadn’t disappeared like Damiez had. Kyle had left in a different way. After her mother had walked in on the two of them, Genny had been forbidden to ever see him, and of course, Kyle was polite about the entire thing, and swiftly accepted Ellen’s hatred of him, and had him and the others in the house across the street leave. She hadn’t heard from her beloved friends in nearly 3 years. And it always left an ache in her heart to know that they probably had forgotten all about her, Frankie, and Damiez.

Genny stepped into the shower then, ignoring Jaymee’s protest about wanting a shower first, and how she could see Genny’s naked ass, and quickly lathered up the soap. She tried to concentrate on what it was she was going to be doing that day, but it was hard. She felt tired, and especially lonely this morning, even though she had woken up with someone in her bed. It never stopped hurting, even though she could dull her pain by ignoring it.

After her shower, Genny quickly jumped into her clothes. She was thankful to see the lunch Frankie had made her, and grabbed the white lab coat she had hanging on the hook next to her bedroom door.

“I’m heading to work Jaymee!” Genny cried. Jaymee was in the shower now, moving at an exceptionally slow pace. She grunted back a reply, so Genny threw on her shoes, and headed out the door.

0-0-0-0

Frankie shifted through the contents of her backpack, humming to the song playing through her light pink IPOD, searching for her student I.D. Because she attended an inter-city private school, student I.D. tags were required, and with just her luck, she had driven all the way to the train station without it.

“Damn damn. Double damn.” Frankie grumbled. Unable to find it, she straightened, hooking the messenger bag back onto her shoulders, and sighed heavily, looking up at the large clock hanging above her head. She about 5 minutes before her train came. She went back to humming, and glanced around.

She had been coming to the train station every day since switching schools. She had switched schools because she had moved in with her sister after a horrific fight had broken out between Genny and their mother. It was fight Frankie never wanted to reflect on ever again. She blamed herself constantly for it too. She had been a mere freshmen, and already she was cuddling with men too old for her. Genny had taken the hit for that one, and in the end, Genny had moved out. Frankie and George, of course, moved with her. They wouldn’t live without their sister. Their parents weren’t even home anymore. So Genny was like her guardian.

Now that Frankie was eighteen, however, she was sure that she could go out and live on her own. But she didn’t feel the need to quite yet. She watched her sister, looked up to her. She wanted to be just like her.

Frankie looked up as the screech of train wheels alerted her to the fact that the train had arrived. She glanced down the length of train station as the train squeaked to a stop, and the doors opened.

And then she saw him.

He was standing at the end of the line. Holding a book in one hand, and a bag in the other. He was wearing a black hoody, the hood pulled up over his head, long tendrils of black hair sticking out from inside. His face was hidden. His pants were as black as the rest of him, tight around his legs. Frankie could feel her heart stop, her breath cease to exist.

Its not sunny out…so it makes sense. Was her first initial reaction to the sight of him. Then she started to move down the length of train towards the platform from which he stood. She ignored the other passengers, giving her weird looks as she pushed past them to get down the length of train. The train then began to whistle, and she remembered she had to CATCH the train, so she quickly dived into a compartment and stood near the door until the doors closed, and the train started up again. He had definitely gotten onto the train. He had gotten on when she had. He was about 3 compartments down. Frankie moved through the first compartment with ease. There was hardly anybody in the one she was in. She got to the sliding door that led into the next compartment, and she pushed through it.

The next compartment was a little bit more crowded than the first one had been. Frankie had to muscle her way past people standing in the middle of the aisle. She got to the other side several moments later, and then burst through the door and into the last and final compartment, where she believed him to be.

The train screeched to a halt then, causing her to flail violently and land hard against one of the bars positioned in the middle of the aisle. She leaned against it heavily as the train doors opened, and people in the compartment around her filed out. She looked up when she remembered why she had been rushing to get up here, and watched with wide eyes as he stepped out of the compartment, followed several more people. The compartment doors shut behind them with a click so final, Frankie was sure her heart had stopped.

“Jay…JAY!”

0-0-0-0

“Doctor…thank you so much…You have no idea how much this means to us…” Genny looked up as she realized the woman beside her was speaking to her. She was thick bodied, taller than Genny (in fact, there was quite a lot of people taller than her..), with thick blonde hair, streaked with black stripes, and dressed in a tan trench-coat type jacket with a maroon skirt peeking out beneath it. Her tan panty-hose and black flats finished the ensemble. Her face was that of pure relief. Genny smiled brightly.

“Oh no need to thank me Mrs. Stin. You’re husband was a saint the entire operation.” Genny explained. The woman looked even more relieved.

“Yep. He’ll be back on his paws in no time.” Genny added. Mrs. Stin laughed.

“Can I see him? Is he well enough to have visitors?” Mrs. Stin asked, clutching her dark brown purse tightly. Genny nodded.

“You have to keep quiet though. We don’t want to excite him too much.” Genny added, marking something on the clipboard she held before moving out of the doorway so Mrs. Stin could step inside. She moved past Genny, and rushed to her husband’s bedside, who lay facing the door on his side. He smiled brightly as soon as she stepped in, his mustache quivering as he talked, and the giant dog ears on his head rising significantly. Genny watched the happy reunion with a smile, before heading down the hallway back towards the front desk, where her secretary, Tracy, sat.

Tracy was a skinny ice demon with a knack for typing exceptionally fast. Her skin a dark navy color, her eyes a brilliant sapphire blue, the demon smiled up at Genny as she came in and stuck the manila folder marked with a yellow sticker into the proper file cabinet.

“How’s Mr. Stin doing?” Tracy asked casually, a wireless headset attached to her pointed ear. She pulled the mouthpiece down away from her lips so she could talk. Genny sighed.

“Doing better. Remember that bump he said he got when he fell off the ladder? And Mrs. Stin thought it was a tumor?”

“Yeah?”

“It was just that. A bump. Seriously if the Stin’s come in here one more time complaining about cancer or the fumes in the air…or global warming or something, I’m gonna send them to the other guys.” Genny grumbled, making Tracy laugh.

Genny of course, wasn’t any ordinary doctor. She was going to school to become a normal doctor, sure, but her real job consisted of healing sick demons/vampires/werewolves/witches or whatever else decided to come in. It was a big job, considering she was the only doctor there that seemed to actually know what she was doing. It didn’t take a scientist to save a sick supernatural phenomenon, but it sure did take guts. Especially if one screwed up on the job. Then you had angry demonic family members on your ass.

The other guys that Genny referred to, was the more evil of the two magical departments. The one where she worked, worked on the development of ways to keep magical beings and humans co-existing. The place helped with employment, new arrivals, the sick, the poor, the dying, and the ones trying to leave. They had law as well. If a creature didn’t obey the laws, they were sent back to wherever they came from, whether it be heaven, hell, the past, the future, a dingy dark apartment, or even someone’s dreams.

Then there were the others. They called themselves the slayers. They didn’t believe in the co-existence of magical beings and humans. Witches were the only ones allowed, because they were technically humans. The other beings had to be exterminated.

It was these types of people that made Genny’s job hard. The slayers had hit lists. They murdered as many as 15 werewolves in one sitting. People came in all the time, hurt and near death because of these people. It irked Genny to no end.

“Genny?” Genny jolted back out of her thoughts then when Tracy’s voice wafted into her ears. She turned to look at her.

“Yes?” Genny asked, blinking back her before thoughts. Tracy’s face held deep concern, the mouthpiece back in place across her lips.

“New arrival.” Tracy murmured. Genny nodded and quickly hurried out of the office.

“Where’s it at?” Genny called as she rushed down the hall. Tracy leaned out of the office window.

“SOUTH SIDE!” She yelled. Genny waved as she disappeared with a pop of blue light.

--

Three floors down, Genny was waiting at the south entrance as the plain looking ambulance moved backwards towards where she stood, beeping a warning as it backed. She stood with her arms crossed across her chest, her hair moving slightly in the cold city breeze. The building behind her was tall, about 7 stories high, made of steel and shimmering windows. It looked like any another office building, but those who worked inside, or had been inside, knew better.

The ambulance stopped, and the two tough looking paramedics jumped out of the front seats, and nodded at her as they moved to open the back doors of the vehicle. Genny didn’t envy them one bit. Their job had to be hardest job out of everyone’s that worked there. They dealt with the terrified creatures that lost control/were wounded/murdered etc. etc. on a daily basis. They had to be tough.

They opened the back doors, and Genny could see the black bottom of the new arrivals boots. An IV was lowered out after the stretcher, and Genny saw immediately the violent aura around the creature, labeling it a demon.

“What happened?” She asked, when she saw the blood coating the victim’s torso, arms, and legs. The face was battered up pretty badly as well.

“Accident. Riding a bike…least we think it was a bike. It’s too battered up to tell. Hit a semi head on.” The taller of the two medics, a fire demon named Trek, said. He had long auburn haired tied back into a ponytail, and thick muscular tree-trunks for arms. He lowered the wheels of the stretcher down so it could be transformed into a gurney easily. Genny grabbed the handle closest to hers and started backwards, wheeling the victim towards the entrance.

“Yikes. Okay thanks a lot you guys. Get that bike, would you? I don’t want the police finding something peculiar.” Genny asked. The other medic, a handsome dark skinned werewolf, named Kacey, smiled.

“We already got some of the chopper boys to get it.” Kacey explained. Genny smiled and nodded.

“Thanks guys. See you later!” Genny cried, and with some force, made the stretcher with her new patient and herself, disappear.

--

“Wow buddy. You really did a number on yourself, didn’t you?” Genny murmured as she eased the paper mouth mask over her lips. Hovering several inches off the operating table, Genny’s new patient lay straight as a board, as naked as the day he was born. Well…he had a sheet covering his bottom half. Genny snapped a pair of latex gloves onto her hands, and quickly dug through one of the shelves loaded with medical supplies, and began pulling out different sized stitches. She snatched a sterilized needle from the tray filled with alcohol, and set it down on the tray floating beside the table.

Humming as she went, Genny lowered the body of the demon back onto the table, and bent low into one of the lower shelves to retrieve the antiseptic, and the cleaning solution.

“Is it my birthday?” A voice said behind her. Genny jolted and stood up straight.

“What the-“ Turning around completely, Genny saw she was still alone in the room. Well, with the body of the demon, but he was still unconscious. He didn’t even seem to be breathing.

“I must be hearing things.” She muttered, then turned back around to retrieve the last of the gauze.

“Yeah, and I must be dreaming. Cuzz damn.”

“Okay REALLY-“ Genny started, spinning around again. Once again, she was faced with nothing. She put her hands on her hips.

“Is there someone else here?” She demanded, looking all around for any signs of life. There was none, so she sighed, and went over to the motionless demon. She prepared the needle and medical stitches, and then picked up a large piece of gauze. She carefully began to wipe the blood clean off the clotting wounds, and then replaced the dirty gauze with fresh ones.

Once the wounds were clean, she picked up the needle and carefully began to stitch the larger wounds closed. Once those were closed, she bandaged the smaller wounds with bandages, and then moved up to his face. She cleaned majority of the blood free from his face, then stitched up a cut she found above his eyebrow. His face seemed not too badly as beaten up as she had thought. His eyebrows were dark, his eyelashes long and pressed against his cheeks. His face was long and handsome, and his lips full and gorgeous. They held the smallest of smirks, even in his sleep. Genny found herself memorized. She held the sides of his face as she stared down at him, standing behind his head.

“If your gonna kiss me, then just do it. I don’t mind.” Genny started as the head suddenly moved. The lips moving as he spoke, and green eyes springing open. Genny gave a scream as she started, and fell back, crashing into the little tray that was positioned behind the table. She fell to the floor with a thump, hitting her head on the floor, knocking the wind out of chest, and slightly dazing her.

“Oh damn! Hey are you okay?!” The demon cried, struggling to sit up, tearing the IV out of his arm, and jumping off the table. He rushed to her side, struggling to hold the sheet up around his hips, while picking her up easily with one hand. Genny could only groan as he set her down on the table.

Her vision swam for a moment, as she tried to focus on the fluorescent lights above her. The demon leaned over her, holding the sides of her face in a way that she herself had just done moments before.

“If I had known you would fall for me THIS hard, I would have waited.” The demon said with a smirk. Genny groaned again, and finally her eyes focused on him. Her brown orbs widened to their full capacity, and she gasped.

“D-damiez…?!”

“Huh?” The demon blinked down at her, confusion written all over his face. His hair was darker than the said blonde demon, but his eyes were a glistening emerald. He was the same, yet not. Genny felt her head swimming again, and she groaned, trying to shield the bright lights out of her eyes.

“Damiez?” She demanded. The demon still looked confused. Then it seemed to click, and he blinked again.

“No. I’m Damien. Damiez’s brother.” Genny stared.

“D-D-D-Damien?”

“Yes. His twin brother.” Damien explained. Genny could feel the blood in her head pounding, bringing on the worst migraine she was sure she had ever felt in her life.

“D-Damien?”

“Uh huh…honey do you need me to get someone? You look really pale…” Damien said, touching her forehead.

“N-no…I’m alright. I’ll be okay…I just need…” Her head slumped against the cold metal of the table, and her eyes closed. Damien cocked his head to one side.

“Umm…Doctor?” He asked. He, of course, didn’t get a reply.

“Damn. HEY SOMEBOOODY!”

0-0-0-0

A soft knock sounded on the door and Jaymee looked up from her Anne Rice novel over at Frankie, who lay on her stomach, ankles kicking above her back, studying for a Chemistry Test she would take the next day. Jaymee's eyes followed the sound again, and then locked on Frankie. She opened her mouth to speak.

"It's your door." Frankie said calmly before Jaymee had time to ask her question. She shrugged and slapped the book closed, jumping up from the couch and coasting on the floor in her hot pink bunny slippers to their front door.

She opened it and stared for a moment, before leaning her head in Frankie's direction.

"Francesca, dear?"

"What?"

"Did we order a strapping young man with long hair and sweet eyes?"

The brunette smirked back at her, casually leaning against the door frame with his head cocked in the direction of a lovely ass draped over his shoulder. Genny.

"What color eyes?"

"Green."

"Hmm… What color hair?"

"Ooh… musky brown, I'd call it." She offered, smiling back at the handsome man who so carelessly had thrown her friend over one shoulder. She fought the urge to take her from him.

"Nope. Can't say as we did." Frankie said, disappointment in her voice. Jaymee rolled her eyes, plotting.

"Not even one with nothing around his cute little waist but a thong?"

Frankie was at her side faster than she could have spelt the word 'horny'. She looked over the stranger and frowned at Jaymee.

"That was a mean trick." She said, crossing her arms and turning back to the man on their doorstep.

"So, why is Genny literally head-over-heels on you, lovey?" Jaymee asked, not moving aside for him to come into their home, and not offering to take Genny from his arms.

"Well… some people fall for me. And fall hard." He said playing along with her. Jaymee smiled. "She just couldn't seem to get back up, again."

"Should we believe him?" Jaymee asked Frankie, her tone obsolete.

"Why not? Like he dressed some random girl he killed in Genny's clothes and threw her over his shoulder to break into our house? I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but neither of us is that beautiful."

They moved aside for him to come into the living room, and he gently bestowed her on the couch where the two girls had been seated.

"I beg to differ." he said scandalously eyeing the two girls as Frankie shut the door to the night. She rolled her eyes and returned her ear buds to her ears.

"I have studying to do." She said, scooping up her notebook, pencil in hand, and making a B Line for her bedroom.

"Frankie's a bookworm." Jaymee said, nodding in what could have been construed as sarcasm, but what he chose to believe was pride. "So, who are you, tall, dark, and handsome?" He smiled at her genuinely.

"Just a friend. Name's Damien."

"Uh huh…." There was a pause, in which Jaymee took the time to take in Genny's appearance. She didn't look rattled or disoriented in any way. She looked next to fine, aside from the fact she was unconscious. "When you say a friend… do you mean of Genny, or me, or both?"

Damien came closer to her now, his front brushing hers lightly, startling her.

"I'm whatever you want me to be." He said, completely debonair. Being a boy herself, she saw through the test.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He was leaning closer to her now. Close enough to kiss her if he wanted to. She knew he wanted to. She wanted him to. But she knew better.

"That sounds like something a hooker would say."

The comment caught him completely off guard. His mouth hung open at his failed attempt for a moment, and Jaymee wasted no time moving from his clutches and laying a hand on Genny's forehead.

"Hmm. She doesn't have a fever… what exactly happened?"

He regained composure in time that would have made a Nascar Driver jealous, and cleared his throat, prepared.

"Well, I was hit by a car, and her associates wheeled me into her operating room. I was unconscious. When I woke up, she was above me. She and my brother are very close, and it was the first time I had ever met her in person, but I've really known her all my life. She saw my face, it must have reminded her of my brother, and passed out. So, I read her thoughts and took her here."

Jaymee worked at The Department for Inhuman Solutions along side Genny as another new resident. She was training along side Genny to become something of an assistant in to the other realm. She had long been fascinated with the 'others' in their world, never doubting their existence, though strangely never being presented with a reason not to. She generally worked on the nights that Genny had off because of the scheduling complications of their superiors, but she knew all about demons and other supposedly 'hell-born' creatures that resided inside its walls from time to time. She fell in love with every single one of them, instantly.

"I see. So then… what are you?" She asked boldly. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What am I?"

"You know, what kind of demon are you?" He looked surprised at her knowledge at first and then seemed to understand with her connection to Genny.

"I am what is known as a Lion Demon to my people." He said. Jaymee thought for a moment, trying to recapture some knowledge of the type. She vaguely remembered reading context on the forlorn royalty of the lions, but she wondered if her mind was substituting words again. She felt a familiar tugging in her chest, and backed away from the demon cautiously.

"Well. It's late. I have an early class tomorrow morning. My room is this one, Frankie's is down the hall, and Genny's is off of the kitchen and dining room. You can crash here on the couch."

She saw his suggestive look down at Genny and bent over the back of the couch to scoop up her friend.

"Let me rephrase that. You can crash here on the couch alone."

He made a fake pout at her, and she shook her head, fumbling with her best friend as she tried to muster up enough strength to lift her and carry her to her room.

"Here, I'll help you." He offered, brushing her arm with his hand. Her chest pulled painfully away from the gesture, and she winced, the adrenalin allowing her to pick her friend up in one swoop, and she gathered her in her arms awkwardly.

"It's okay. I'm stronger than I look." She said, the pounding in her head and chest not going unnoticed.

"Okay. Well… I guess this is goodnight." He said, looking around the little room at the knick-knacks and favors and unfolding the blanket from the back of the couch.

"Right. See you tomorrow morning." Jaymee said, turning from him and walking through the kitchen to Genny's room. She turned down the bedspread and folded Genny inside its warm sheets before flipping the light switch down and cutting a clear path for her own bedroom.

When she was safe behind the heavy oak door, she twisted the lock into place and reached underneath her shirt collar for the token she wore around her neck. She held it in view and stared momentarily at its swirling purple depths, its color like a storm brewing. She felt it pulse in her hand like a newly beating heart. She closed her fingers around it and let her eyes follow suite.

"Oh, Jaymes… what does this mean?" She said aloud, her legs going lax as she slid to the floor unceremoniously, her knees drawn to her chest, and felt a dream pricking the outskirts of her mind. She willed herself to sleep, with dim visions of the demon in the next room, and the overwhelming tremors deep within her own body coaxing her into a state of mind over body she couldn't escape from.

0-0-0-0

The long winded crack of the whip struck him hard in the back and his cry echoed like nothing else in the cavernous wastelands of Hell. In the distance, his brother smiled, he knew. Watching him. Loving this. Utterly tormenting him.

The black masked peon of Darian dragged his arm out dexterously behind his body and rotated his wrist to give the hit more range before bringing it back down upon his bare back with ease. Damiez hissed a sinewy howl that would have only satisfied his greedy brother more.

Darian watched as his brother held his emotions in check, his long naked torso bent forward over the wielding stool, his head down. His black wings were folded down over his strong sides, crimson rivers of blood seeping from between the feathers like pools of mud between cherry stones, running down his back and dripping sadistically to the floor beneath his crossed legs. Darian's lips curled into an evil sneer as the whip came down on his brother's back once more. He sat on his thrown, his eyes glazed over with blood lust over the product of his brother's insolence. He only hoped that one day the boy would learn to accept his fate: under himself.

"Have you had enough, boy?" He asked, his words dripping with disdain like the blood from Damiez's back.

When no answer rose, he nodded towards his personal servant to strike his brother once more, a good, hard one to the back. Blood flew into the air freely, boundless, and speckles of it landed on the cold, vast floor around him. He cast a glance down at his ring, its glowing red ruby angry with the offering a drop of blood had provided to its depths. He raised it to his eye level to observe the obscenity, and turned to his servant.

"Ten more. And if he's as messy as before, double it." He said, sending his brother yet another look of disgust.

"You will soon learn, Damiez… you disrespect me, you disrespect all of Hell. You disrespect Hell, and what have you to live for? You are nothing. You are no one. You will abide by my command… or you will suffer."

"I'll live out an eternity of suffering before I ever look upon you with anything but malice," came the softness of lingering intolerance from his brother, shivering on the ground. Darian only shook his head and pushed his crown higher on his brow.

"Ten." He said again, before exiting the chamber. The door closed behind his proud back, tearing another of Damiez's soul-splitting screeches in two.