A.N: You guys are a super fucking nice. Fucking kudos to you guys. Hope you have a great day.
They stood in stunned silence. Toby and Paige were lost for words; Caleb was washed out and confused; Mona stood in a quiet rage; and Lucas sat on his bed, a terrified expression on his face.
Paige had no idea what Mona was talking about. Prior to this night, the only supernatural being she knew to exist were werewolves. First Caleb was a siphon, now Lucas was an abomination? Isn't that a Christian thing?
"Is this a Christian thing?" Paige asked. Mona whipped her head around, squinting her eyes at her Beta.
"Paige," Mona began slowly, "you're a Christian."
Paige shook her head, saying, "Nope. Just cause my Dad's a pastor, doesn't mean I am too."
"As much as I love Bible lessons," Caleb said sarcastically, glaring at the two, "I'd like to move onto this abomination thing -— And can someone get these chains off of me!"
Paige mumbled out an apology before reaching for the chains. Her hands froze above the lock.
She looked over at Lucas, asking, "Where's the key?"
Lucas looked sheepish and gestured towards the open window. Paige face-palmed. Of course he would throw it out.
"OK, it's cool, I got this." Paige muttered, gesturing from Mona to continue as she bent down.
"Anyway," Mona said, turning back to Lucas, "Answer the question, Gottesman."
Once more, the colour drained from the boy's face. Paige could see this out of the corner of her eye as she snapped the lock in half. The heavy chains slipped free and tumbled down to the carpet, landing with a soft thud.
Caleb gave a sigh of relief and rolled his shoulders, enjoying the mobility. He looked at Paige carefully, before hopping out the chair and standing beside the window… which happened to be on the other side of the room.
Paige couldn't blame him: he just found out that werewolves were real, that he was a siphon, and that his only friend is some sort of monster. Of course he'd be wary of her. Not to mention they didn't exactly hit it off when they first met. Apparently, interrogations aren't solid foundations for friendships.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lucas sounded so genuine that Paige almost believed him. However, one look at Mona's face told her he was lying. Mona always knew when someone was lying. She just did.
"Oh, really?" Mona asks, a sly look on her face as she reaches for the bestiary. She begins to flick through pages before stopping and trailing her finger down a page, asking, "So you have no idea who Malakai is?"
Lucas shakes his head quickly but Paige knew better. Judging by the way he swallowed, and the fact that he couldn't stop fiddling with his hand, she knew that the boy was hiding something. Then he begins scowling, like Mona had just insulted him.
Mona continued, not deterred in this slightest, "How about Titus?"
Lucas is visibly fuming at this point, and Paige and Toby step back, completely freaked out. Even Caleb, who has ill feelings towards Paige, gravitated towards her, seeking protection.
"Septimus?" Mona looks like she had won the lottery as she said this.
It was like watching something out of a high-budget horror film. The colour had completely drained from his face, leaving red bags under his eyes. His face begins to crack like a porcelain mask, and soon, a red sort of fog seeps through those cracks.
In a voice that was a rough as gravel, and as deep as the ocean, he asks, "Don't you know that names have power, child?"
Mona shuts the bestiary with a smirk, saying, "Ah, Septimus. A lesser spirit, as far as your kind goes."
The demon scowls, making his face crack more and for more fog to spill out. He warns her, saying, "You talk to a being over a thousand years old, child. You'll do well to show some respect."
"Or what? You'll kill me? You don't think three pureblooded werewolves could take out your host?" Mona didn't seem scared of this demon in the slightest. In fact, she acted like the demon was just any other person.
Septimus laughs, something chilling and haunting, and says, "You're quite confident for a woman."
Mona is more serious but the smirk remains, "Not for a woman: as a woman."
She looks back at Caleb, who couldn't remove his gaze from Septimus.
"To answer your question, Caleb, an abomination is someone who makes a contract with a spirit. Like your friend Lucas over here."
"What?" Paige asks. She must have fallen and hit her head on something during the test; there was no way that this was real.
Mona says, "You heard me; Lucas made a contract with a spirit."
Paige points at Septimus, who grins at her, asking, "Him? The one with the fog coming out of his face?"
Mona hums, "He's quite dramatic as you can see."
"What do you mean a contract? What did he agree to?" Toby asks, finally speaking up.
Septimus answers for her, "The boy didn't want to become afflicted with the lycanthropy that lies dormant in his veins. So he sought me out as a solution. He agreed to have his body become my host and, in return, I tainted his spirit. Using the siphon."
Silence falls over them as they realise what Septimus is talking about. They turn to Caleb, who looks slightly violated. Paige felt his pain; his only friend had used him as a means to an end. Granted, she couldn't emphasise with being used as a gateway to the supernatural world, but who does?
Mona presses on, "Contracted souls reject lycanthropy. Obviously the process must have taken some time, considering Lucas managed to summon you of all demons."
"I prefer the term spirit. But you are correct." Septimus huffs, offended, "The boy had been pestering me for months before I agreed."
Something clicks in Paige's mind. When she had confronted Lucas earlier that week about Caleb, he had mentioned something about finding a way to stop his phasing. Apparently, this is what he meant.
"There has to be more." Paige says, glaring at Septimus.
"Excuse me?"
Paige continues, "You're a demon, right? So what do you get out of this?"
Again, he scowls and chips began to fall from his face onto his lap, "First of all, the term is spirit. Secondly, my intent is harmless. I simply want immortality. Becoming a spirit and living through hosts is about as close to my goal as I can get."
Paige held up her hands, saying, "So let me get this straight: Because Lucas didn't want to be a werewolf, he made a contract with a demon, who now uses his body to live forever."
"Spirit!" He reminded her again, absolutely fuming now.
"That dumbass…" Paige mumbles, leaning back into Lucas' desk for support. As she does, her hand touches something. She looks down and sees that it was Lucas' notebook. His Chemistry notebook to be precise. Suddenly, the memory of her homework being burnt flashed into her mind. She quickly took out her phone and flips through the book, taking photos of Lucas' notes.
"Paige is right." Mona says, before turning back to the spirit, "Septimus, could we speak to Lucas now?"
"Gladly. The one with the haunted eyes was beginning to irritate me."
He and Paige glare evenly before he closes his eyes. The fog seeps back into the cracks as they close up. Colour returns to the boy's face, leaving Lucas blinking rapidly before scowling.
"If you could try not pissing off the spirit living in my body, that'd be great." His sarcastic tone was a comfort Paige didn't know she needed.
Mona yells, "Lucas! This isn't a joke. Do you know how lucky you are that you didn't make a contract with an actual demon?"
"Please. Give me some credit." The boys huffs.
"This could have been avoided Lucas. But no, you just had to be anything but a werewolf."
He's yelling too now, but with a raw voice, "Contrary to your belief, Mona, but lycanthropy is a curse not a blessing. In almost every legend about us, we've either been cursed with it as punishment or an accident. So excuse me for not wanting that kind of poison in my body."
"But you're fine with a spirit in your body, potentially eating away at your soul every time you breathe?" Mona asks.
Something, she doesn't know what, made Paige turn back to look at Caleb. Maybe it was instinct, maybe it was luck. All she knows was that she could sense that he was distressed. Sure enough, as she turned around, she found Caleb almost hyperventilating.
In the midst of their argument, Paige cuts in, "Look! You guys can argue about morality all night but can we focus on the problem here?"
She looks back at Caleb and he gives her a wary look. She just nods at him, encouraging him to say something.
He begins, all breathy and raspy, "I don't know what happened today. At least, I don't understand it. I know that I'm something called a siphon. I know that my friend is an abomination and has apparently been using me."
Caleb looks directly at Lucas when he says this. He looks away from his friend, ashamed. Caleb returns his gaze to the werewolves in front of him, "And I also know that this isn't the first time something like this has happened to me."
"This has happened before?" Mona asks.
"When I was younger, six or seven I think. This was back when…" Caleb's face darkens here, as if reliving bad memories, "When I was with my father."
Mona sighs and retrieves the bestiary once more. She opens it up before holding out her hand to Caleb.
"Give me your phone."
He does, although reluctantly and with a frown. She takes photos of each page and hands the phone back to him.
"I know nothing about your kind and you said that you don't have connections with your biological family." She says, tucking the book into her side, "But I can at least give you all the information in this book. Whatever we know about your kind is in here."
Paige yawns and looks around, before setting her gaze on the window. The low rumble of thunder and the black clouds make her realise just how long they've been there.
"Look, I've gotta go home. Mona, you and Toby are going to have to talk to Lucas' parents about… this." Paige gestures to the whole room, not exactly sure what to call the scene in front of her.
Mona waves her off, saying, "It's fine, Paige. Go home."
Paige nods thankfully before rushing out of the house. As she darts down the street, piercing through the icy wind, she realises that she has no idea how she is supposed to explain this to her Dad. This night just kept getting worse for her.
