Ari felt pent up. Firstly, the nightmares were getting far more intense. It had been a solid six months in the Hotel, and she had read every book in the library, had explored every part of the Hotel, and had learned to hang out with everyone at the Hotel…Everyone, except him.

Alastor was always busy, but Ari was trying to avoid him. He made her uncomfortable in ways that weren't normal for her. She felt a tingling everywhere when they were near, and the old voice within would advise caution. It still didn't trust him after the first night. Despite her discomfort around Alastor, Canis advised her not to leave the Hotel (being a Grimm and wandering Hell apparently wasn't safe). However, Ari felt herself go to reach for her violin every time she thought of Alastor. She growled; only her ex, Sid made her want to do that!

It made her angry, it made her livid! She didn't…She didn't dare! She looked to her dusty Stradivarius, and sighed. Maybe she should. She grabbed it and dusted it off lovingly. It had been a half year time since she had touched it. She checked it for warping, and finally, she dusted and rosined the bow. She rested the instrument in the crook in her shoulder and assumed position to play. She drew the strings to a Nightwish song : The Crow, the Owl, and the Dove. As she played the soft song, her sweet, melancholic alto rang out in tandem with the strings' weeping. She lightly covered the parts about the pride of the crow, the cold wisdom of the owl, and then, she had barely ended the part about the dove and its innocent love, when she barely heard the door open.

She ignored it. It had been far too long without playing. She let the violin trill as she sang out next,

A swan of white, she came to me

The lake mirrored her beauty sweet

I kissed her neck, adored her grace

But needed nothing she could give….

She sang out the rest and her violin trilled happily, Ari herself dancing. She missed this way too much. As she swayed, she was barely privy to another dancing with her, and a light tenor sang with her voice. She felt her brow raise, but she still kept going. She had no clue who was joining her in song. As she came to an end, she and the violin went a bit depressed. She barely let the end Beauty nor rest, give me truth instead….. when the sound of applause sounded close to her. She almost let the violin screech in her shock. She ceased the violin and saw the familiar red streak dance around as Alastor took in her body and the violin. She tensed. Alastor said with an eclectic tone,

"Well done! You convey emotion wonderfully! And your voice! I-" He suddenly recognized what he was doing, and a flush crossed his face.

He gripped his radio staff and whisked out of the room with a quickened "Pardon me!" He was trailed by a loud clunking noise. Ari felt so confused. What was with the Radio Demon!? She sighed and put her violin down, only to note the book that landed in her room. She raised a brow. What in the seven Hells…? She picked up the book, and it suddenly opened on its own.

She felt the hum of the power coming off of the book and began to burn itself into her arms. At first, she went to drop the book in absolute pain, but suddenly the pain became…pleasant, inviting even. She stopped and looked into the book. It was written in red (Ari had to speculate it was blood by the smell) and began to read.

Days passed of practice and reading, and Ari began to seriously try what the book was telling her to do. Apparently, it was a grimoire that belonged to Alastor (one of the many) and was used for shadow magic and pyromancy. Why it was revealing this pertinent information wasn't clear to Ari, but she held out her hand. Focus on your soul and make it manifest….the voice within the book hissed softly. She did, and after a hot second, blue and white fire came into her hands. She willed it away, and a surprised laugh escaped her throat.

She focused on the shadows, and they manifested to her call. She couldn't believe it! She….She could do this! However, she looked down at the grimoire. She needed to return it to Alastor…But she was terrified to. She sighed. She may not feel comfortable around Alastor or his reaction, but she couldn't keep it. She picked up the book, who as she went to Alastor's office, stated her with a soft tone, Don't reveal that you know my contents….They may save you later.

Save me later? Ari asked back mentally.

As she drew to the office door the book went silent. Ari didn't press the book's reasons, but she sighed as she noticed it was empty. So, she quickly put the book on the desk and bolted out.


The summer came and Solstice drew closer, and Ari quietly began to sneak out to practice her magic. After all, if Canis or Alastor discovered she knew magic….She shuddered thinking about it. However, one day was all her stalker needed to finally set his master's plan into motion. And that day finally arrived. Right on Summer Solstice day.

Ari was running through the shadows, a childlike happiness filling her face as she continued. She had never felt this power before, and her shadow use was increasing in strength as well as her pyromancy. She even learned through her shapeshifting that she could change into a crow and a cat! This power was amazing! However, as she neared the park, a dart hit her, and Ari cried out as the sharp sudden pain drew her out of the shadows, which collapsed around her.

She went to stand up, only to feel a white-hot pain fill her as she weakly almost crumbled again. The German accent of her hunter, and the plague mask's shadow loomed over her face. She weakly struggled, and his voice tutted,

"Now, now Mein Mädchen…The neurotoxin won't ease until you stop struggling. But, I must inquire…" Leaning into her and Ari nearly retching at his stink of death, he asked, "Where did you learn magic, Mein Mädchen?"

Ari felt the muscle twitch from the first time she shape-shifted, and howled in pain as the third and last form she had begun to make itself known. The Doctor's needle like grin grew daggerlike as she twitched and convulsed. He backed away as her final change began to shred out of Ari's body. Her hair grew longer, and her body developed black, silky and long fur. Her hands and claws lengthened and sharpened as Ari developed ears and a snout. Her body muscled like a wolf's, and finally the Church Grimm's real form surfaced with a violent and eerie howl. The doctor laughed maniacally. He crooned as the wolf snarled angrily,

"Mein Mädchen! You ARE the perfect specimen! Exactly what I need!"

Ari reared on her hind quarters and went to shred the doctor's body, the neurotoxin violently screamed in her veins, and the Black Dog howled in pain. A few mangy, and mangled looking hounds appeared near the doctor, their feral and violent snarls shredding the air. Ari's silver eyes narrowed in bloodlust, but she knew if she were to escape, she had to run. Her mind overran by pain and primitive rage, she foolishly stood her ground as the hounds circled her. The doctor pointed at her, and said with a manic smile,

"Sic 'em!"

The hounds lunged, and Ari knew she had no choice. She had to fight. A hound lunged and bit her in the neck, which she clawed into its ribs with blood streaking her fingers as she flung the yelping and crying beast into the streets to bleed out. The other two hesitated, but as one went for her neck, the other went for her ankles. She bit the throat of the lunging hound, which let out a choked howl of pain before slipping into death in Ari's jaws which were oozing with red. The doctor watched with a shrewd and calculated observation. The last hound was incinerated by Ari summoning blue and white fire to burn the rabid dog into oblivion. The hound's howls and yelps of pain filled the air, along with the acrid smell of burning flesh.

"Wonderful display my dear! But now, the show must come to an end." The doctor said jovially.

His mask made a soft noise and another dart from the beak of his mask hit Ari in the neck as she made a lunge for the doctor. Filing her body with another dose, Ari snarled in agony as the doctor began to hoist her up over his shoulder. She finally was rendered paralyzed, and suddenly the bestial growls started forming words. She snapped angrily,

"You bastard! What did you do to me!?"

"Ahh, you can talk in this state! How delightful! Now, we have to depart my dear!" the Doctor sweetly tutted.

Ari couldn't struggle, and she had tried. She even felt her vocal cords shut down as the neurotoxin crept in and rendered her silent. The doctor hummed pleasantly as they went underground, Ari taking in her surroundings as she remembered key parts (in case she really escaped) and felt the doctor strap her to an operating table. Ari felt another needle inject into her neck, and the neurotoxin negated painfully in her system. She yelped and fought the restraints. They only tightened, and Ari lost the shift and turned back into the human form.

"What the fuck do you want with me!?" Ari demanded.

She struggled and suddenly felt a pulse of energy. She grimaced; unlike the energy she had felt the days of studying Alastor's grimoire, this felt archaic, and frighteningly familiar. Like the energy she felt in the nightmares. She looked at the doctor with terror mixed into rage on her face. She snarled out in a start,

"Once I get off of this table, I'm going to-!"

"Oh, struggle all you wish! It will never let you go." The doctor crooned.

Ari went to demand what he was talking about, when a low, guttural moan filled the air as a ominous, violet light loomed from the floor. Ari caught sight of it and struggled to see the source of this light. Much to her shock, it was a circle lined with unrecognizable gore and reeked of ash. She panicked and looked back at the doctor's dagger-sharp smile. Feeling a terror she only felt in childhood nightmares, she demanded,

"What in the actual fuck are you!?"

The doctor laughed in a manic tone. Pulling his plague mask and robes off, Ari went pale. Had she been able, she would've vomited at the sight before her. The doctor was a study of stitches and skin patches of all variety. Stitches held together parts of random demons to make a mangled jigsaw puzzle of a body. He said softly,

"See my dear? Only a very special kind of body can hold my master's essence! And that would be you, my dear."

Taking a knife from behind him, he knicked Ari's palm, just enough to let three drops of blood hit the circle. As if it was waiting for this exact moment, the circle rumbled with power. Ari, now realizing the danger she was in began to violently slash at the restraints. Black billowing smoke emitted from the circle, and began to ease through the cut. The doctor purred as his body began to collapse onto itself,

"It won't be long my dear…."

The stitches were violently ripped from his body, and the smoke easing into the wound began to burn and render her veins black. The last sound escaping the desiccating corpse was a shrill and triumphant cackle. Ari, somehow in a fit of horror, broke the restraints and weakly bolted. Backtracking from her memory, which was fading fast from this foreign influence, she ran out into the streets, and bolted to the nearest building she could find. But throughout Hell, a low, rumbling groan grew louder and louder with every step Ari took to the building.


Lucifer was on his way to the Hotel when he heard the primal nad eldritch roar fill his ears. He snarled at his driver to step on it. Within minutes, the Hotel was in sight. Realizing they were working on a tight time table, he bolted into the Hotel and with a rumble yell, he said urgently,

"CANIS!"

"Aye, my lord?" Canis appeared suddenly.

Lucifer looked terrified, as if Armageddon itself had stepped from the shadows. Canis raised a brow at his master's reactions. Lucifer snarled, his eyes going black and red from the sheer primal fear he had only felt once,

"WHERE IS THE GRIMM!?"

"Up in her room, my lord. Why?" Canis asked with some concern.

Lucifer raged as he flew upstairs, Canis following quickly behind him. Surprisingly, Alastor was at Ari's door, when a purely demonic Lucifer lunged for it. Alastor backed off, but a inquisitive grin lined his face as Canis ripped the door from its hinges. Alastor asked Canis,

"What is going—" Canis suddenly snapped at Alastor, "WHERE IS SHE!?"

"DAMNED IF I KNOW! SHE WAS IN HERE THIS MORNING!" Alastor raged back.

Suddenly Hell shook again, and Alastor felt his heart sink, like the day he died. He looked around, and screams began to fill the area. Canis panicked in horror. Lucifer only uttered one phrase when Alastor went to demand what was going on,

"In the beginning, there was darkness….."

Canis' eyes widened in terror. Alastor looked confused, until he remembered the quote Genesis opened with. Even Alastor looked nervous now. Lucifer, restraining himself barely added with a grim tone,

"That darkness however…was inhabited. It was none too pleased when it was banished by the light. Now it's awake, and it wishes to extinguish everything, and restore everything to what it was!"

"What does Ari have to do with this?!" Alastor asked with a quirked brow.

"She is its ideal vessel…We need to find her.." As they look out the window, and see Hell crack from the tremors, Lucifer added, "Before it's too late."