I can't believe this. I can't fathom any fucking part of this anymore. It's been a pretty sucky night, I couldn't really sleep and I kept jumping at every little noise I heard, thinking it could be Nick coming to take his due. But it wasn't. Not so far, at least.

So I guess it's time to talk about my Dad. Thing is, up to this day I never figured there was much to say about him at all. My father is… well. He's hardly worth mentioning. I don't even know how old he is, exactly. We never talk anymore. Hell, we never really have. I had a lot of time to think about that when I was digging up the frozen ground alongside Casimir yesterday. I eventually told him to just stand back and let me do the work. He was panting an awful lot.

"You okay? Where's all that stamina you always brag about?"

"Shut up," he muttered, leaning into his shovel for support.

I frowned. "Cas?"

"I'm fine!" he grunted. "Let's do this."

He lifted his shovel once again, but I stepped out of the hole and placed my hand on his chest, gently pushing him back. "Go get inside. Warm up and drink some water. You look like you're about to pass out."

Grumbling, he tossed the tool aside and lumbered up the steps to the porch. I continued digging for a while, but ended up having to take a break and sit down. I jumped when out of nowhere, a brown bird landed on my shoulder. It was so fat it was nearly circular, and it looked rather funny, what with its puffy feathers and the teeny-tiny beak. It took to the air again right away, flapping its itty-bitty wings like crazy in a futile effort to keep its heavy body up. It bumbled around for a moment, and I started laughing hysterically—it was simply too amusing. Blinded by tears of laughter, I didn't see the transformation, but after I'd wiped my eyes, I found a familiar tree monster towering over me.

"Holy shit," I pressed out in-between fits of giggles. "You're so great, I fucking love you!"

"Well." Aleksei bowed his head like an actor after a performance. "Did you know it was me?"

"Of course I knew it was you. If there's a bird around here, it's always you. What brings you by?"

"I saw you breaking your back there. Fiona, you saved me from an affliction that would have cost me my life; if you need something, just—" He plunged one set of claws into the ground where I'd been digging and pulled out a sizable chunk of earth. "—ask."

"Oh. Thank you. You just made that easier. And I was planning on asking you for help sometime, but I was gonna save that favor for something tricky."

"My benevolence isn't quite so fickle as that," Aleksei replied, sounding almost reproachful. "I'm not a common fairy."

"So you're saying there will be no petty favor-trading?"

"No. If you ever find yourself in need of my assistance, you will have it. That I swear."

I found myself moved by his words. For a moment, I didn't know what to say. Then, I settled on teasing. "So… I can finally make you a friendship bracelet?"

"Impertinent wench," he grunted.

"Ruin the moment, did I?"

"Utterly. That out of the way, why is it that you seem so mournful? You look plain when you cry."

I sighed. "You couldn't just keep on being nice, could you? It's about Tom Hayes. And my Dad. Turns out he probably instigated this whole mess. Cas and I, we've been… we've been trying to figure out how to go about this. You don't happen to know anything about my father, do you?"

The Leshy hummed in thought, casually wrapping his talons around the coffin sitting behind me on the porch and lifting it up as if it were a football. He unceremoniously nudged it into the hole before sweeping his paw over the heap of soil we'd piled up on the side, covering up the grave for good. "I never spoke with him. A very religious man, is he not?"

"Yes, definitely. And that's honestly one of the only things I ever really knew about him." I shrugged. "We weren't close."

"How glad I am for that! He would have steered you in a wholly different direction with all his devout ramblings. Back when your mother used to come to talk to me, she was worried his beliefs would clash with your bloodline's responsibilities. She had the right of it! She never spoke with me again after their wedding."

"Oh. I had no idea you two were friends."

"That is not the word I would have used. Anna Novak was… a fair warden to me. For that first half of her life. But that is all that ever was to it. She'd occasionally come to ask for advice, and I would provide it happily enough, but there was no bond to speak of save for this courtesy. After she was wedded, she distanced herself from the woods entirely. It was still sad to receive news of her death, though." He glanced at the ground by our feet. "And now I've buried her son. It would seem that many members of your clan find their final resting place here beneath the red meadow."

"Many?" I repeated. "Who else is there? Aside from Mom."

Aleksei's snout crinkled. What a very human expression on the face of a stag. "How much were you told? Do you know of Arkadiusz?"

"Arkadiusz…?"

"I see that further explanation is necessary. Considering your shift in responsibilities, is this something you wish to pursue?"

"I don't know. Can I… get back to you on that? Maybe? I'm definitely intrigued, but I couldn't say how much information I can handle right now."

"Understandable. I will find you when you're ready." He straightened up, his muscles groaning like bending wood. "I haven't yet had the opportunity to say so, but… having a soul suits you. You look fetching when there's life in your eyes. And if this constitutes an improvement to your quality of life, then I'm very glad for you."

"Uh… thank you. It's nice to hear that."

"Heire—Fiona, if I ever mistreated you, please—"

"We're good. And it's good to know you, it's good that you're in charge around here. Wouldn't want any other creature to be."

He looked at me for a while, his gaze completely unreadable. Whatever was going on behind those animal eyes, he wasn't intent on sharing. Huffing out a warm cloud of breath into the chilly winter air, he nodded, turned and trotted off towards the treeline. I patted down the dirt over the grave, flattening the ground with my shovel, before returning inside to check on Casimir. He was resting on the couch, looking much better than a couple minutes ago.

"How are you?"

"I'm alright. So, where… where do we go from here? Why would Dad do something like this, I don't… I don't get it. I mean, yes, he hates you, and he's always hated the woods, but I never thought he'd go and do something like this."

"No clue. Could you maybe reach out to him? Call him and put it on speaker? He doesn't have to know you're here," I suggested.

Cas nodded, readily pulling out his phone. He dialed the number and for a couple minutes, we listened to the ringtone with bated breaths. No one picked up, though.

After my little brother ended the call, I cleared my throat. "While we're both feeling extremely uncomfortable, would you care to talk about what happened with Jem?"

"Do we have to? Right now, I mean?"

"I guess not. I just think we oughta discuss it at some point. It's no good to keep that kinda thing bottled up."

He kept on dodging the question and I have up eventually. We ended up turning in pretty early, hoping to rest up. I figured maybe some extra hours of sleep would soothe my mind. Why I thought that I could finally catch a break, I'll never know.

I woke up to the sound of nails reading across a hard surface, a grating, nasty sound that had me sit up with a start. My heart pounding wildly, I glanced around frantically in an effort to make out the source of the noise, but my room was enveloped in complete and utter darkness. I swallowed, my throat bone dry.

"Who's there?" I pressed out, somehow managing to sound at least kind of intimidating. I slowly reached for the drawer in my nightstand; I keep a cross and some salt and stuff in there just in case. Also a knife, because you never know. Before my hand could reach the wooden knob, though, something kicked the underside of my bed from below. The entire frame jumped and I fell back onto my heap of pillows with a startled yelp. Flying into a panic, I tore open the drawer, my fingers closing around the handle of the combat knife in an iron grip. Hastily flicking on my bedside lamp, I pressed my back to the wall behind me, my eyes once more darting around the room. Everything was still again. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

No, of course not.

It was under the bed, it was under the fucking bed.

Summoning all my courage, I leaned over the side of the bed to peek into the pitch-black space underneath it. My breath caught in my throat when I found gleaming eyes staring back at me. Before I could react, a large hand reached out from below, red fingers with blackened talons gripping and entangling themselves in my long hair, grabbing but not pulling. For a moment, I was frozen in place as the eyes that held my gaze moved closer, revealing the face they were set in.

"Boo."

All my pent-up fear escaped me in one long, deep sigh. "I should have fucking known."

Nick rolled out from under my bed and sat up in one fluent motion, smirking widely. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

"Yes, you did. Though I'm surprised you've got nothing better to do, considering who you are."

He smiled thinly. "I've always time to prove a point."

"Point being?" I asked in sharp exasperation.

"You really ought to be more respectful. Have I given you the impression that you have nothing to fear from me?"

"Look, it's not that I'm not afraid of you. Honestly, Nick, you terrify me. You are a being whose true form exceeds comprehension, you command hell itself… You're a goddamn nightmare. And not the kind I like." I rolled my shoulders, wincing at the crack they produced. "But I'm just so, so exhausted."

Nick's features softened. He looked upon me with kind eyes, an expression that would have likely put me at ease coming from literally anybody else. "Aww," he cooed, tilting his head. "I'm sorry to hear that. You do look awfully tired." He extended his hand as if he wanted to touch my face, but I batted it away as soon as it got close. He didn't comment on it, dropping his arm with his deceptively tender gaze still trained on me. "Let me mend it then," he said. "I might present you with some options you'd like to consider."

"Could you please just tell me what you want from me? I've no nerve for any more bullshit right now."

His lips twitched, almost giving in to a display of fury but not quite. "Fair enough."

"Cool. Let's go downstairs and talk this out in the kitchen."

"Let's not. Let's stay here."

"This is kind of my personal space," I argued.

"Oh, I know."

I groaned. "Alright. Bring it."

Nick grinned, rising to his feet and sitting down at the foot of my bed. "This property of yours is special. I'll admit that I'm not all-powerful, and your land, well… I have little to no influence here. Back when the black mill was still inhabited and being used, I had the Hettmanns tell me what was going on here from time to time, but with Jacek having taken his place at my side, even the last one of my worshippers has left this place. This puts you into an interesting position. Your land is neither mine nor…" He paused, rolling his lips together.

"God's?" I suggested.

He nodded, brows furrowing.

"You've trouble saying that, eh?"

"Maybe. I'm out of my comfort zone here. No matter. The creatures here are unholy, but not under my rule, the ground is impure but not tainted… it's difficult. There's no higher or lower power pulling the strings here. This place is… unclaimed territory. Which is why I believe that a certain being chose it as its resting place."

"A certain being?" I echoed. "What kind of being?"

"A powerful one. If you think that I exceed comprehension, then you couldn't even begin to understand the one I'm looking for. It's a creature that wasn't made by the divine hand. I do not know how it came into being, if it was ever birthed… perhaps it simply is. I could not describe it to you in any words that you would fathom. But I have been searching for it for a long, long time."

"Why?"

"I need to consume it. I need it within me. I need to be one with it. This thing, this creature… it could help me turn the tide."

"Turn the tide?" I repeated. "Do you mean—"

"Exactly what you think I mean." Nick's smile grew, now looking like it could split his face. "And since you hold some semblance of authority here, I want you to locate it for me." He drew closer. "You're shaking, Fiona. This do anything to wake you up?"

"I don't want to help you," I gritted out. "I don't wanna do this."

"Why? Cuz you're so devout all of a sudden? Please." He let out a derisive snort. "You haven't been to church since your father dragged you there nearly two decades ago. You are vain, lustful, lazy… Do I really need to go on? All this sounds to me like you've very much picked a side. You prefer chaos over order. You're not a pure little dove, Miss Novak, and no amount of pristine white gowns is gonna change that. Besides…" He trailed off, and I squeaked when his eyes turned an inky black, his skin paled and his hair curled atop his head. "I do have something you want."

"Stop that," I hissed. Dread mixed with nausea as I saw him take on Jacek's features. "Change back!"

"Calm down, it's all good! Hey, I promised I'd give him back. I've thought about it, and seriously, I wouldn't mind you two hooking up again. Do you have any idea how powerful that boy is? How powerful you could be? If you two had a kid, it'd be splendid."

I let out an incredulous laugh. "And you'd eat that too, would ya?"

He shrugged. "Nothing personal. It's all about the might."

I shuddered, face scrunching up. "I think this isn't a conversation I wanna be having."

"Well, then I guess that's just a discussion for another day." He stood up, wiping the corner of his mouth. "My request is clear, though? Find me this sleeping being and tell me where it rests. I'll be in touch, so don't stress out over contacting me. I expect results soon, but not quite so soon that you'll lose more sleep over it." The Devil grinned, reaching out to tip my chin up. "Rest assured, I never ask for more than people can give. I take care of mine."

"I'm not yours!" I shouted.

But he had already disappeared into thin air.

X

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

Part 18

Part 19

Part 20

Part 22