To My Darkside

7

Waning: Violence, slight gore

Three months later...

Page exhaled deeply as she pulled into her driveway, having just dropped Quill and Rudd off at their respective jobs. She was looking forward to a day of relaxation. Stepping out of the car, she was about to head inside when the growl of an approaching engine caught her attention.

A sleek black motorcycle cruised down the street and pulled into her driveway. The rider halted, turned off the engine, and removed their helmet to reveal—

"Rykel?" Page couldn't mask her surprise. "Well, look at you, all decked out with a hotass motorcycle! Working hard, huh?"

Rykel grinned, tucking the helmet under her arm and smoothing her disheveled hair. "Yeah, it's pretty awesome, right? I landed a gig as a remote journalist. It's just an internship for now, until we pass the necessary qualifications for the more significant stuff. Then Kura and I will be full-fledged remote journalists."

"Oh, that's great! What kind of projects are you both working on?" Page asked as they headed inside.

"Mostly small assignments here and there. We gather information, take photos, write articles, and submit everything to our boss, who then decides if it's ready for publication."

"So, how's the pay?" Page inquired as they made their way to her room.

Rykel shrugged just as Kuragari materialized in a swirl of ethereal tendrils. "It's not great, but it's something."

"Work sucks," Kuragari grumbled, standing on all fours beside her. "We hardly have time for fun anymore."

"Welcome to adulthood," Rykel sighed, patting the demon's head. She glanced around the house. "Where are Quill and Rudd?"

"They're at work," Page replied with a smile.

"Oh, what do they do?"

"They're trying their hand at becoming music influencers. Apparently, Rudd has real talent and is teaching Quill the ropes," Page explained.

"I had no idea Rudd was into music, let alone skilled at it," Rykel said with a laugh. "Good for them. I hope they crank out some hits."

"Oh, how's your aunt? I haven't heard from her in a while," Page wondered.

"Oh, she's great," Rykel grinned. "She's working days now. She's actually a professor at IU right now, teaching science and all that."

"Well that's great that she's working days," Page smiled. "Night shift was really doing a number on her."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"So, how have things been between you and Kura lately? Relationship-wise, I mean," Page asked.

With a mischievous grin, Kura replied, "We fucked last night."

"That's not something Page needs to hear, buddy," Rykel said, blushing and shooing the demon away. "But, unsurprisingly, I discovered that Kura is a huge fan of horror movies. We've seen all the Alien movies, Saw, The Terrifier, and Scream franchises."

"I get a kick out of gory films," the demon growled, licking its teeth almost hungrily. "They're so... satisfying."

Page raised an eyebrow. "Leave it to a demon to find something to admire in a horror movie villain."

"Yeah, we've got a whole list lined up. Next, we're diving into all three of the Venom movies," Rykel said, pulling something out of her pocket. Page leaned in to get a closer look.