Jennifer was, of course, still hot on Mary Shaw's trail.
"Stop running! We just want you to make a doll!"
Mary Shaw was a vengeful spirit, and even lugging around a doll the size of a kid, she moved wickedly fast.
But Jennifer's physical stats were off the charts these days, so she stuck to Mary Shaw like glue, not giving her a chance to shake her off.
Good thing it was three or four in the morning, and the small-town streets were dead empty. If anyone saw a floating doll with a woman sprinting after it, they'd probably have a heart attack.
After what felt like forever, Jennifer realized she'd chased Mary Shaw out of the city and into the suburbs. That put her on high alert.
Right then, Mary Shaw finally stopped and turned to face her.
"About time you stopped! Why are you running? I told you, we mean no harm!"
Mary Shaw gave Jennifer a cold stare. This dead witch clearly wasn't the type to trust anyone easily.
"Whether you mean harm or not isn't up to you. I'll decide that for myself."
Seeing a chance to negotiate, Jennifer jumped in to persuade her.
"Ms. Mary Shaw, we really don't mean any harm! I'm actually part of the Witches' Coven, just like you. We found you through the Coven's records and just need your help with something!"
Jennifer was stretching the truth a bit. The four Apocalypse girls were Coven members, and she was kind of an outer-circle member, so it wasn't a total lie.
"The Witches' Coven?"
The name of an organization she hadn't heard in ages made Mary Shaw pause.
But then her face twisted with rage.
"That damn Witches' Coven!"
Jennifer froze. She hadn't expected flashing the Coven card to backfire like that.
According to the Coven's records, Mary Shaw had cut ties with them after graduating from witch school.
Something must've happened during her time there to make her hate the Coven so much.
The Ouija board said Mary Shaw made it in 1885, so this old lady had been out of witch school for over a century.
Back in those days, witch schools were pretty brutal. Things like corporal punishment or bullying probably weren't uncommon.
In fact, the Coven and its school only started cleaning up their act after Ophelina possessed Fiona. In that sense, Lilith's daughter did the Coven a solid.
This put Jennifer in a tough spot.
She'd hoped to use the Coven connection to build some trust, but instead, she'd pissed Mary Shaw off even more.
Before Jennifer could say anything else, Mary Shaw made her move.
The doll, Billy, floated up from her hands and shot toward Jennifer like a missile.
Still trying to talk her down, Jennifer dodged instead of fighting back.
If Roy were here, he'd probably tell her to knock Mary Shaw out first and then try negotiating—way more effective.
But as Jennifer sidestepped Billy's charge, something sliced her face.
She looked and saw long, thin claws sprouting from Billy's arms. Those claws were what cut her.
Jennifer was livid.
As a woman, she was super protective of her face—most women are.
Even if her witch powers could heal the scratch without a trace, it didn't cool her anger.
"You're asking for it!"
A surge of raw power exploded from Jennifer, sending the airborne Billy flying back several yards.
Fueled by rage, Jennifer transformed into her demon form for the first time.
Her height shot up to nearly six and a half feet, her skin turned purple, curved ram-like horns sprouted from her head, a heart-tipped tail extended from her lower back, and classic bat wings unfurled behind her.
It was clearly her first time shifting—her clothes tore apart from the sudden growth, leaving her stark naked.
Instinctively, Jennifer covered herself to keep from flashing the world.
Luckily, Mary Shaw was too stunned to attack, or Jennifer would've been a sitting duck.
After facing Roy, a guy with monster-level stats who shrugged off her banshee wail, and now this half-demon girl, Mary Shaw was starting to think she should've checked her horoscope before leaving the house. Why was she running into such terrifying freaks today?
As Mary Shaw snapped out of it and summoned Billy back to make another run for it, Jennifer, prompted by Lilith, remembered she was a witch. She conjured a long dress with magic to cover herself up.
"Still trying to run? You're done!"
It was Jennifer's first time in demon form, and she couldn't rein in her darker emotions. Her fury needed an outlet.
Flapping her bat wings, Jennifer's speed spiked, and she dove straight for Mary Shaw.
Mary Shaw's heart sank. She turned and unleashed a second banshee wail.
"Ahh—!"
The banshee wail was advanced witchcraft, rooted in Celtic myths about a banshee whose scream foretold death.
Legend said anyone who heard a banshee's cry in the wild would die within days, no exceptions.
A Celtic witch studied the banshee's scream and developed the banshee wail spell.
Its core effect was mimicking the banshee's cry to force a person's soul out of their body—since, for most people, a soul leaving the body meant death.
Like when Carrie's soul left her body, she was lost in a haze. If not for her witch friends, she might've missed her chance to return.
The reason the banshee wail was rarely used, despite its power, was that mimicking the banshee's cry was insanely hard on the vocal cords.
Luckily, Mary Shaw was a master ventriloquist, able to mimic all kinds of sounds.
Hit point-blank by the banshee wail, Jennifer slammed into an invisible wall, frozen mid-air, her soul starting to detach.
Fortunately, she had another soul inside her.
Mary Shaw saw Jennifer's eyes roll back and knew she'd landed the hit.
But before she could catch her breath, Jennifer's eyes cleared, and her vibe shifted completely.
In the next instant, Mary Shaw felt Jennifer's hand, charged with psychic energy, clamp around her throat.
"Got you at last!"
"You're a dual-soul?! Damn you, let me go!"
Mary Shaw felt like she'd seen more bizarre crap today than in her entire afterlife.
First, a guy with monster stats. Then a girl with strong demon blood. Now a dual-soul half-demon.
At this point, if someone told her angels were about to show up, she'd believe it.
Being a spirit, the chokehold didn't stop her from cursing.
"Shut it, you old hag! Keep talking, and I'll eat your soul!"
Lilith wasn't exactly known for her patience—she only played nice around Roy.
And demons could devour human souls. It was a hell-exclusive leveling trick, though not very efficient.
Most human souls weren't high-quality enough.
That's why demons loved tempting pure souls—those were top-tier. Fallen souls were meh, unless they were so depraved they had Satan's face tattooed on their back.
Mary Shaw clammed up. She still had her revenge to finish and wasn't ready to vanish for good.
This Lilith version of Jennifer was a whole different beast. Pissing her off now might actually be the end.
"Jennifer, get back here!"
Lilith called out to Jennifer's drifting soul but got no response.
She turned and saw a young man standing nearby, holding Jennifer's soul in his hand.
"You!"
Lilith narrowed her eyes. The guy was Jack Schneider.
Mary Shaw spotted him and immediately shouted.
"Save me! I'll do whatever you want!"
Lilith's gaze flicked between Mary Shaw and Jack's soul, and it clicked.
"So that's how it is. You're the one pulling the strings!"
Based on Lilith's read of Roy's strength, even a rampaging Carrie wouldn't take him long to handle.
But it had been half an hour, and Roy still hadn't shown up. Something was clearly holding him up.
Lilith hadn't seen the FEAR ambush, but she could guess it was some serious trouble.
Jack Schneider's face still had that sunny, handsome, boy-next-door charm, but Lilith had already pegged him as a scheming snake.
"Lovely lady, how about a deal? I give you this girl's soul, and you hand over Ms. Mary Shaw's soul. Win-win, right?"
Lilith's eyes narrowed. She had to get Jennifer's soul back.
Roy never said it outright, but Jennifer and Nidi held a special place in his heart, followed by Heather and Penny.
That's why those four had gone through the bloodline fusion ritual first, while the others were still waiting.
If Jennifer got hurt on Lilith's watch, Roy might literally tear her apart.
But she couldn't let Jack know she cared too much, or he'd have her cornered.
So Lilith played it cool, acting like she didn't give a damn.
"You want that soul? Take it. Saves me the trouble—I'll have this body all to myself."
Jack's smile froze, but he quickly caught on. Lilith was bluffing.
And that's when she struck.
Lilith blew a soft breath toward Jack, and his spot was instantly enveloped in a cloud of pink mist.
It was the same desire magic Jennifer had used before, taught by Lilith herself—and Lilith's version was way stronger.
"Should be handled, right?"
Lilith smirked, confident. Her desire mist wasn't something you just shook off. Only a handful of people in the world could resist it.
As she stepped toward the pink mist, she suddenly heard music—a music box, bright and cheerful.
But in the dead of night, out in the creepy suburbs, it was straight-up eerie.
Lots of music's like that. Nursery rhymes and light tunes turn sinister when the setting's wrong.
And this music box's sound was coming from inside the pink mist.
Lilith's guard went up, and she stopped in her tracks.
The mist cleared, and Jack and Jennifer's soul were gone. All that was left was a music box on the ground, its crank still turning.
Where'd they go?
Lilith extended her senses, trying to track Jack.
Then the music box finished playing, and the crank stopped.
But a second later, the crank started reversing, and the music began playing backward.
The tune was already creepy, but reversed, it was nightmare fuel—perfect for a hellish soundtrack.
The grating sound tortured Lilith's ears. She was about to crush the box with her mind.
Then, at the music box's spot, a little girl in a ballerina outfit appeared.
And her face was so terrifying, even Lilith, who'd seen it all, felt a chill.
(Straight out of The Cabin in the Woods.)
Even ancient monsters with abstract looks couldn't compare to this face.
Monsters are monsters—you don't expect much, so their weirdness doesn't faze you.
But a ballerina girl is supposed to be cute. A face full of jagged, circular teeth? That contrast was pure terror.
There's a theory called the uncanny valley.
Humans tend to like robots or creatures that vaguely resemble them, like round robots or pets with human-like expressions.
But when something looks too human, just shy of perfect, it triggers disgust and unease.
That's exactly what Lilith was feeling right now.