Thanks goes out to laconic edge for beta-ing this for me.

"Allison, dear."

Allison looked up from her book at Erica's grinning face. That smile was probably not a good sign, and she could only hope whatever she was happy about, wouldn't be painful. She gave the woman an expectant look. "Yes?"

"Well, I'm thinking it's time to continue your training."

"Are you finally going to teach me how to make that cool dream world?"

"You wish. No, I'm actually going to teach you something you'll actually use in the future." Allison gave her a look of disbelief. Erica rolled her eyes and continued on, "You need to learn how to survive on your own."

"What do you mean?"

Erica didn't answer her, but merely smiled. This was going to be painful wasn't it?

"Let's do this outside. Don't want to damage anything in the house."

While she didn't trust Erica at all, she knew that while it might be painful, it would be for her own good if nothing else. So she went out of the house with Erica on her heels. Allison turned towards Erica when they came to the patio overlooking the huge yard and pool. What did she -

Snap.

Before her mind could even process the action, Erica grabbed her arm and broke it over her knee by her elbow. Allison screamed. The pain was sharp and black spots littered her vision.

"Why the f-fuck did y-you - "

"Feel your pain. Let it fill you as if you're not you. Then, think of every bad memory you have ever had."

Allison couldn't think with her broken arm hanging like a snapped tree branch much less distant herself from the pain. "I c-can't," she said, voice shaking, teeth clenched.

"We'll be here all night then." Erica sat down in one of her designer chairs. "Don't worry. We have ample time to practice this. It'll be good for you."

Allison couldn't see how, but didn't question it. The pain felt overwhelming, like it had infected other parts of her body as well. But she had been through worse and this was nothing compared to the day she turned.

She breathed in deeply, focusing her mind. She could do it. She could.

And she did.

As her eyes fluttered open, Allison's mouth tasted of cotton and her neck was twisted in a painfully uncomfortable position. Wait - where was she? She lifted her head and looked around. She was...in a cave. The opening was large with jagged rock lining where she could see and stalagmites protruded from the floor.

How could she of - ?

And then it came back to her. The ocean. The events from yesterday. She winced from the almost impossibility of it. She was in a cave now. Oh great; more things for her to figure out. And her hunger was coming back full force. It rippled up the length of her body, pushing past where she thought hunger could be felt at.

And then her dream came back to the forefront of her mind.

Allison picked her shaking body off the soggy ground and looked out the cave's opening to find the ocean at low tide. Land was nowhere to be seen. Allison bit her thumb in frustration.

She would have to feed off herself wouldn't she? God, she hated feeding off herself; no wonder she hadn't thought of it before. And it had also been a year or two since then. But she needed to do it anyways. Allison took a deep breath before sitting on the ground and closing her eyes.

Briefly, her thoughts turned to Erica, wondering if they had tried to get her to capture Allison. She doubted it, knowing how Erica was, but still.

No, she'd think about it later. Right now she needed to feed.

Exhaling, she took her arm in her hand, cringing slightly knowing what she'd have to do, and snapped the bone in two. Allison screamed. The pain was akin to acid soaking on her bone, but she had to suck it up.

Allison reached out, distancing herself from reality, before dwelling on every bad memory she could think of. Her parents' death came barreling back, and she could feel her magical core filling up quickly. Not moving a muscle while the process was happening, Allison wanted to scream and rage at her predicament but she knew it wouldn't help. When it was done, Allison let out a breath of relief.

Finally.

Now she just had to figure out how to get back to Los Angeles. When she did, there would be no mercy to that succubus bitch. She would destroy her and any that stood in the way of freedom. If the Hale syndicate wanted to bring her on trial, she'd have to bring them down too, because Allison was no victim and no one could make her one either. Even if it took bringing down all of L.A., she'd do it, with a smile on her face even.

Reaching into her core to speed up healing, she jumped into the ocean and let her powers out seeking a town outside of L.A., and swam towards it.

She was so far away but could still practically taste victory on her tongue.

When finally arriving on shore, the sun was just setting. Few people were on the beach, and the ones that were, were human. It came as no surprise. This town was outside of L.A., but far enough to avoid the edge of the demon territory. With war brewing, humans stayed as far away as they could while enjoying the luxuries they were allowed.

Her eyes scanned the beach further to look for a target. While she had just fed herself, she didn't know how long her energy would last. Feeding from herself did not give her as much juice as she would like. Really, only filling her gas tank up a little less than the halfway mark.

A couple lay stretched out on their towels some ways away on her right, and the other humans were either doing the same or in the ocean. None of them were alone. Maybe if she went further on the beach someone would be?

She sure hoped so. Allison could feel the hunger, barely there, but its head still nipped at her chest.

Walking further to the left, she caught sight of a lone boy sleeping on the beach. He appeared to be around her age with short brown hair and moles scattered on his face; he looked innocent in his dorky and retro 80s swim trunks, but still handsome, so much so that she was almost tempted to walk away. Instead, Allison shook her head and steeled herself.

"Hey," she said while shaking him awake. She probably looked a mess but doubted he would see too much of her in the already dying light. Plus, while she was no succubus, all demons had some sort of charm.

His eyes fluttered open to reveal brown irises with irritated red where whites should be. Tiredness, she assumed. "W-what?"

"Oh I just thought I should wake you before the sun goes completely down. You never know what might happen to you in the dark." Allison paused and then added for irony's sake, "Demons could get you."

The more she talked, the more alert he became. He sat up, back straightening, and mind sharpening.

"Who are you?"

He seemed smart and would probably notice things that were amiss. Allison would have to tread carefully.

"Well my name is Karen. Nice to meet you." She held out her hand with a huge smile on her face. Power ached beneath her chest to be let out but she held most of it back, only letting some lure the boy to her. She watched as his shoulders relaxed slightly to the responding tendrils of power, no doubt corrupting his mind. "You fell asleep on the beach and I know I would hate if someone didn't wake me up."

He relaxed even further and smiled up at her. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

"So," she said after a beat of silence, "have you been tired lately or something?"

"You can tell?" He rubbed the back of his neck before standing up. "Well...yeah. Stuff has been...busy. I guess."

The boy sounded nervous and flustered. His cheeks had turned scarlet and it strangely complimented his moley face. He was more cute awake than he was asleep, and he seemed so nice. Guilt tried to worm its way into her chest.

No. There would be none of that right now. Her first priority was feeding and survival; her conscious shouldn't have anything to do with it.

They talked some more as she continued to pump him full of persuasive energy while acting as sweetly as she could. Allison batted her eyes and made it seem as if she hung off of his every word while leaning in close and touching his arm. It wasn't long before he was eating out of her palm and she convinced him to leave with her. His smile was smug and triumphant, as he let out some horrible pick-up line, and she smiled and nodded as any desirable girl would.

They walked towards what she assumed to be his car, growing antsy. She was so hungry. The boy continued to stare back at her and grinned, and she reflexively smiled back. If she could eat him right now, completely devour him, she would, but the view of the beach hadn't disappeared yet.

It was another few minutes before it did, and she was surprised at how far his car was from the beach. It was great for her, but didn't the boy have any self-preservation?

He turned back to her eventually and gave her another smile before saying, "It's only a little ways away. Sorry. When I came here, all of the spots closer to the beach were full."

She smiled back, and gave a shrug. "No it's fine. I understand."

"Cool." They continued to walk forward until a green beat-up jeep came into view. "My ride," he said, pointing. She could practically see a dog's tail wagging behind him. Crap, why did she have to think of him like a dog? Now it would be harder to kill him. Erica's face and words invaded her mind.

'There's no going back for the person you feed off of...'

The boy would never be the same again. As much as she didn't want to kill him, what would happen if she let him live? Would it be more merciful to just end his life so his suffering was minimal?

She bit her lip. It was time now, wasn't it?

"Hey," she said, before grabbing a hold of his shoulder. "I really want to kiss you right now. Can I?"

His eyes grew wide like an innocent baby deer's before he nodded slowly. He probably didn't know what to say. Understandable. It was unlikely that he'd seen a demon before, and while she was not vain Allison knew she was a pretty girl. Any remaining guilt was stabbed by the sharp pangs of hunger.

She pressed her lips to his, gentle and soft, contrary to the chaos of her tongue. Her arms wrapped around him before nails dug into his skin, as all of his memories came to her. She directed all of the bad ones to the forefront of his mind. His suffering was great, she realized, and so she decided to not feed off his death as well. She had more than enough.

But for some reason, she couldn't stop right there.

His scent was just the right amount of everything, and his energy tasted savory on her tongue. Before she knew it, she could feel his death at the surface. She needed to stop feeding. Now. Allison separated herself from the boy's lip and energy.

"Sorry," she whispered. He probably couldn't hear, but the thought counted to her. Allison gently laid his body on the ground even as his body spasmed in her hands. She hated leaving him on withdrawal but what else could she do? Leaving him somewhere more visible would soothe her consciousness, but she could also be seen and taken; they would know where she was and that just wasn't a good option. Allison sighed in defeat.

She wasn't going to kill him; she was going to leave him here. She hoped that someone came soon. Allison grabbed the keys from his pocket, hopped in his car and drove off.

As Stiles faded from the forefront of her mind, Lydia's face replaced it. Rage filled her and the need for revenge gripped her like hunger. But even with her strong determination, she was aware that she didn't know how to proceed. Where was she even driving to? She couldn't go back to Erica and her house, and she certainly couldn't look for Lydia in L.A. Then, where would she go?

Then it hit her: Kira.

Allison smirked, knowing how awkward it would be, seeing as they haven't talked in years, but she couldn't think of anyone else.

She let out tendrils of magic to locate Kira and grimaced at the distance. She wasn't even on the west coast? That didn't surprise her as Kira was an assassin, but it would be risky going so far. Yet, outside of Erica... she had no other friends. It was sad to say but true.

To Washington D.C. it was, then. She grimaced once more, knowing it was where the humans' headquarters were, but there was nothing that could be done. Allison let out a breath before gripping the wheel tighter. She would get help from Kira, exact her revenge on Lydia, and then clear her name. No pressure, right?

When Kira heard the news about Allison, it made her stumble and almost botch an assassination attempt on one of the corrupt demons on capitol hill. The man - Sam she was sure his name was - thankfully didn't notice, and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

"They're looking for her but they somehow can't find her." Kira gripped her sniper rifle in her hands and took aim. "They suspect it's the work of an illegal device that someone from the old order put in - "

She fired and his head exploded like a watermelon. His companion, a human Indian woman, let out a scream and Kira quickly left.

They got Allison instead of Erica? Fucking hell. Kira needed to find her and fast. Just what was happening in L.A.? Did she really miss so much in just a few weeks?

Gritting her teeth, she pulled out the crystal that was companion to what was inside of Allison. Just using a little magic to graze across the top of it was enough to tell Kira where Allison was, and she was not pleased.

Allison was heading away from California, and most likely towards her.

Fuck. Then she needed to be faster than the council. Kira only knew what would happen to her if they found her and uncovered the Bionem that she and Erica put into Allison. They would all be in trouble if that happened.

She needed to find Allison now. Before anyone else did.