Miracle

Pt. 19

Lily was at her shift at work, on her lunch break with Emily, who complained about not seeing her for a few weeks. In Lily's defense, a lot had happened in the past few weeks — such as finding out a whole other magical world existed right in front of everyone's eyes, yet no one but her knew of it. At least she didn't have to worry as much about being taken; the necklace around her neck gave her some security, enough for her to be able to sleep at night. But it's not like she could just tell Emily about her magical excursions.

Emily would probably freak out. No, this was definitely something she felt she couldn't tell her friends about, so she had to lie, saying her mom was sick and she was taking time looking over her.
Lily popped a Lay's potato chip into her mouth. "Girl, when did you get that? I thought you were scared of needles," Emily said, pointing her green fingernail at the vibrant red mark on the side of Lily's neck.

Lily reached up a hand, running her fingers over it as she took a sip of her Pepsi. The crescent-shaped mark hadn't faded since the night of her birthday; it was a complete mystery to Lily how it ended up on her skin. But she couldn't tell Emily it just magically showed up. "Um, I got it after I left you guys on my birthday... um, as I was driving home, I saw that a little tattoo shop was open and... yeah, I got it. Do you like it?" Now, Lily would never say she was a good liar, but she did take four years of theater in high school. So she was pretty good at telling a lie and having people believe her.

"Wow, Li, that's so spontaneous for you! The red color really shows up brightly on your skin. I like it," Emily said before taking a bite of her ham sandwich.
Lily let out a sigh. She hated lying to her friend like this, but what other option did she really have? Lily did at least let her know she was kinda seeing someone, if you could count what she and Alex had as dating.

"Is it the same guy you went on a date with last year? Girl, I thought he ghosted you! Have y'all been dating this whole time... that's crazy!" They both shared a laugh. It was crazy because, under normal circumstances, Lily definitely would have told them if she was dating someone "So, when do we get to finally see this mystery man?" Oh no, Lily didn't think this far ahead.

Of course, they would want to meet him — they were her best friends — but would Alex even be allowed to meet them? Would he get in more trouble for seeing them? God, she wished she would have kept her mouth shut.
As she was having her internal breakdown, Emily was watching her, her eyebrow raised. "Um, Li? We don't have to meet him yet if you're not ready."
Lily let out a breath, shaking her head. "No... no, I'm sure he would love to meet you guys one day."

Emily nodded as her phone on the table beeped. She picked it up, looking over the screen, smiling. "Husband just let me know he's getting home early from the fire department. You know what that means?" she winked at Lily, who laughed. Thomas was a good man for Emily; he was a firefighter, and they were like the perfect couple.

Emily stood up, throwing her trash in the trash can. "While the kids are away, the adults will play! Bye, Lil! I'll text you later." Lily really didn't blame Emily for wanting to go now. It's not everyday that you can drop your four-year-old daughter off at their in-laws for the weekend so you can have some freaky-deaky on the living room couch with your husband. Waving her off, Emily blew Lily a kiss before she climbed into her Jeep. Standing up, Lily threw her trash away before walking around the corner back to the planetarium.

*****

The old demon's office reeked of brimstone and stale blood. In front of him, a shimmering, swirling portal glowed ominously, revealing a glimpse of a bedroom balcony with sliding glass doors. Inside, someone was sleeping on a bed, an orange cat curled peacefully on top of them.
"Go now, Jinx, and bring her back to me unharmed," the old demon snarled, his voice like gravel.

The purple-skinned demoness, Jinx, turned her head, looking up at him. His towering height easily dwarfed her. "I'll try my best, sir."
He glared down at her, making her want to disappear into the floor itself. "Don't try... DO IT, or DON'T come back at all! You'll only be welcomed by your own death," he said intensely, grinding his razor-sharp teeth together.

She swallowed hard, nodding her head. She knew she shouldn't have taken this job in the first place, but the rubies were just too great. She could live off them for years if she succeeded; she wouldn't have to struggle to pay for food or wonder where to live. She would have enough rubies to do everything she wanted.

She stepped through the portal. It shimmered and closed behind her, leaving her on the cold balcony. She used her sharp nails to unlock the sliding glass door, slowly pushing it open. Making her way over to the sleeping body, she looked over the human's features: black hair spread out all over her brown skin, a light snore escaping her lips. Jinx didn't understand why her boss would want this human so much, but then again, it wasn't really her job to know.

Just as she was about to grab the girl's arm, the orange cat lying on top of her suddenly popped up, hissing loudly. It swatted Jinx's hand aside with its claws, tearing at her skin. Jinx bared her teeth at the stupid animal, a low growl rumbling in her chest. The cat, unfazed, flicked its tail directly over the human's face.

Lily startled, then her eyes flew open. She screamed as she saw the terrifying purple demoness standing over her. Jinx quickly tried to grab her. As soon as her hand touched Lily's skin, a searing pain shot through Jinx's palm. It burned intensely, forcing her to quickly pull it away. Lily, propelled by pure adrenaline, jumped off her bed and scrambled into her living room.

Jinx groaned, clutching her hand. The purple skin of her palm was already starting to blister and smoke faintly. "Fuck!" she yelled, momentarily forgetting the pain. She chased after Lily into the living room. Lily was at her front door, her hand on the knob, about to open it, when Jinx rushed over and slammed it closed.

Jinx lunged, grabbing Lily with her other hand, holding on tightly despite the lingering burn from her first attempt. Lily screamed, struggling. Jinx, distracted by the pain in her blistering palm, threw Lily to the ground. In that critical second, Momo, previously a housecat, transformed. He grew rapidly, his fur rippling, his body expanding, until he was a colossal nine feet tall, his orange fur glowing faintly in the dim light. He let out a ferocious growl and swatted Jinx hard with his massive paw, sending her flying against the far wall.

Lily sat on the floor, in shock, watching as the purple demon slammed into the wall, leaving a dent, then stood back up, dusting herself off as if it were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
"Are you okay, beautiful? I got you," she suddenly heard Alex say beside her, helping her to her feet. He appeared from thin air but she wasn't complaining He gently wiped some of her blood from her cheek.

Jinx smiled deadly at them, a chilling, triumphant glint in her eyes, before pointing a finger at Lily. "I'll be back for you. Just you wait." With a guttural hiss, she conjured a swirling, dark portal beside her, and with one last glare at Lily, she stepped through it, disappearing from sight.

Reappearing moments later in the forest by a stream, Jinx wiped off some of the black blood from under her nose with the back of her hand. "It looks like I'm going to need a little more help than I thought. It's time to pay a visit to Valentine." She stood, her form dissolving into shadow as she made her way deeper into the dark, whispering forest.