Really Strange Stuff - Ch.33 - Cornered (Patreon)

=::= Callie's PoV =::=

Things seemed to be going pretty good, once we got inside the house.

When we first pulled up in front of the place and saw the situation we all thought our plan wasn't going to work. We'd been expecting some kind of big rowdy college party, with dozens of students coming and going while the festivities spilled out onto the front lawn and into the backyard. We thought it would be easy for the three of us to slip in unnoticed and get lost in the crowd.

Instead we found a fairly quiet affair, where it seemed like the guests were all good friends with the hosts. We watched from across the street while new arrivals knocked at the door then were greeted by the residents before being allowed in.

Serenity and Bailey started talking about heading back to the hotel and coming up with some other plan, but I wanted to give it a shot. Instead of trying to sneak in I suggested we should just be up front and honest with whoever came to the door. Tell them the truth and see what happened, was my suggestion. I figured the worst they'd do was ask us to leave. After all we were already there and put the effort into our costumes, so it couldn't hurt to try. And I was right.

The door was opened by a pink-haired girl who was even shorter than me. She was in costume, although I didn't know who she was supposed to be. She obviously didn't recognize us either, but I introduced my girlfriends and myself as paranormal researchers, and explained that we were investigating some demon sightings. I also mentioned that Kate told us about the party, which is why the three of us were in costume.

It turned out the girl was Amber Dubois, and she agreed to let us join the party as long as we promised not to record anything inside the house. She even offered us all some drinks.

We were just starting to discuss how she and her housemates all came up with such incredibly realistic costumes when the demonic coed showed up in a catgirl outfit, then got all worked up about something. I wasn't even sure why she was so upset, until I realized she was actually looking at someone behind us. So of course my girlfriends and I all turned around to see who it was.

Up until that moment, I thought demons were small and cute and fluffy like Kaylee Holt, with all her floofy fox tails. Or they were young mysterious college coeds with horns and a tail and sometimes wings, like Mara or her twin sister Mira.

I was dead wrong.

Stalking towards my girlfriends and I was an actual honest-to-goddess demon, and she was nothing like Kaylee or Mara. This was the real deal, and she looked as angry as she was scary.

The demon was at least nine feet tall, with huge black leathery wings and a ten foot long spade-tipped tail that flicked back and forth behind her in irritation. Her iridescent skin was a shimmering royal blue, while her eyes were bottomless pits of inky blackness. Her lips were black too, along with her long unkempt messy hair, while the two stubby horns that protruded from her forehead were a lighter blue. Her long muscular legs ended in razor sharp animal claws rather than feet, and even her jet-black fingernails looked dangerously sharp.

The fact that she was stark naked was a surprise, but that only made her seem even more dangerous. Like she was too powerful for mere clothes to contain her, or something like that.

My eyes widened and I gulped while my ears folded back and my tail puffed up and tucked itself down between my legs. I was vaguely aware of a couple other guests freaking out in the background, and I realized there were probably a few normal humans here who didn't know anything about the supernatural. That only made the situation feel even more tense though, because the ones who weren't freaking out definitely outnumbered those of us who were seeing a real actual serious demon for the very first time.

As the huge angry blue demon stalked towards my girlfriends and I she reached out and guided both Mara and Amber out of the way to either side, so the the two of them ended up behind her. And as soon as they were clear the demon's wings unfurled to either side, which had the effect of corralling my girlfriends and I. We were backed into a corner of the small dining area, blocked off and isolated from the rest of the house, including the exits.

That also revealed just how big the demon's wings really were, considering there was barely enough room for them to open even halfway. I figured they had to be over twenty feet across if she opened them up fully.

"Who are you?!" the demon woman demanded in a low dangerous growl. Her black bottomless eyes seemed to focus on me as she continued, "What are you? Why are you here?!"

I was still clutching my baton in one hand and my drink in the other, but both hands started shaking as I tried to reply. "C-Callie Wilson ma'am. Th-these are my girlfriends, Serenity Varela and B-Bailey Hoffman. We're paranormal researchers. We c-came to investigate some d-demon sightings..."

Unfortunately she didn't seem to like my answers. The giant demon took another step closer as her expression grew even more threatening. And in that same low dangerous growl she demanded, "What. Are. You!"

I didn't know what else to tell her, or what it was she wanted to know. All I could think was that we were probably about to die, but at least we were going to go out doing what we loved. I just hoped it wouldn't hurt too much. Then Sere spoke up next to me.

"We're Disciples of the Goddess of Chaos," the tall brave ravenette nervously answered the demon's question, as she slowly raised up her golf club.

It wasn't a threatening gesture though. It looked more like a defensive thing, as Sere held her sacred nine-iron across her chest as if her holy artefact would protect her from the angry demon. And I realized she was right.

So I did the same thing with my baton. I positioned my magical-girl sceptre so it crossed my chest directly over my heart and added, "All three of us carry our goddess's blessing."

"Cassandra be praised," Bails mumbled quietly as she moved her holy staff of lacrosse to bring the net part up in front of her chest.

Then with all three of us focused on Kid Chaos and the holy relics we were holding, my girlfriends and I whispered some silent prayers to Cassandra.

The big blue angry demon was still glaring at the three of us, but she must have sensed something. Maybe she recognized the magic in our enchanted tools, or maybe she realized we were telling the truth about being disciples. She might have even understood that we were under divine protection.

Whatever it was, she actually took two steps back, and as soon as some space opened up between her and us it was filled with glowing swirling light. That faded a moment later to reveal the Goddess of Chaos herself, standing before us and shielding my girlfriends and I from the angry demon.

Cassandra's back was to us since she was facing the danger, but she didn't sound upset or even the least bit worried when she spoke. Instead she seemed almost friendly as she greeted the big blue demon woman, "Hello Lily, it's nice to see you again. How have you been?"

We couldn't see the expression on our young goddess's face, but the demon looked surprised and confused.

"You?!" she frowned. "You're no goddess. You're -"

"I'm both," Cassandra interrupted. "But if you need me to prove myself..."

A moment later we felt it. Just like back in Willow Park when we met her for the first time, She revealed Her divine nature. That sense of power and awe and wonder wasn't just affecting us either, I was positive everyone else in the house felt it too.

The big blue demon definitely noticed it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she mumbled, "That's impossible. How?!"

"It's complicated," the Goddess of Chaos replied calmly. Then the feeling of Her divine power faded as she continued, "I apologize if my disciples' presence alarmed you. I promise they mean no harm, to you or your family. They really are reporters, here to investigate demon sightings. And thanks to one of your daughters, there's been a lot of those sightings around here lately."

Just like that the demon's expression and demeanour completely shifted. Her wings folded up and her shoulders slumped as she sighed, "Mara."

"Sorry mater," the demonic coed cringed.

The blonde twenty-something woman in the witch costume was there too, next to the young demon. She slipped an arm around Mara's shoulders as if to protect or comfort the girl, but her attention was actually on the big blue demon.

"Lily honey? You're scaring some of the guests. Perhaps you could put your costume back on?" she suggested.

The big blue demon's eyes widened as she glanced over her shoulder, then she actually cringed almost as much as Mara. A moment later her form rippled and changed, as she became the thirty-ish year old woman in the vampire costume we'd seen earlier.

My girlfriends and I kept completely silent through all that. We were still standing with our backs against the wall, just watching and listening to what was going on. In fact I was practically holding my breath, although with our goddess here it seemed like we probably weren't about to die after all.

Then as if she was talking to herself Cassandra commented quietly, "Maybe we should have a costume too? We don't want to be the only one here who's not dressed up."

She was in the same sort of outfit she'd had every time we'd seen her, which mainly consisted of an oversized hoodie ontop of something casual. Except at that moment two small swirls of light appeared around her, one above her head and the other behind her lower back. When the light faded our goddess had a pair of tall fuzzy rabbit ears sticking up above her messy brown hair, while a little cotton-ball tail stuck out through a gap in the back of her clothing.

"There," she said to herself. "Now we blend in."

The statement seemed almost ridiculous in a way, considering she'd appeared in a column of light, faced down a big angry demon twice her size, then magically added a pair of bunny ears ontop of her head. In literally any other situation any one of those things would have made her stand out a lot. Even now, it seemed like half the party-goers were staring at her in shock. The other half continued to stare at the demon that was disguised as a ravenette vampire.

With her 'costume' in place Cassandra's attention returned to that demoness, "So Lily, it seems like your situation has changed somewhat in the last two years? When we first met you were reluctant to work with us, you said you preferred to remain in the shadows and operate in secret. I don't suppose you'd be willing to reconsider?"

"I'm not just talking about helping trans people," our goddess added. "Although that's still one of our top priorities."

The vampire-demon sounded wary as she asked, "What other goals are you working on? And who's 'we', who else are you working with?"

Kid Chaos smiled as she turned and gestured to my girlfriends and I, "There's my disciples of course. Bailey Callie and Serenity are all very media-savvy, they run two popular streaming channels and have a large following of viewers and supporters."

"You already know my sister Nina," the goddess continued. "My girlfriend Kaylee and my cousin Sasha are involved as well, and a sorceress named Willow. I've also got two more goddesses working with me, and one of them has her high priestess and her angel on the team. Plus I can call on a couple more angels and a number of other supernaturals, including werewolfs and witches and a couple shape-shifters if needed."

Having our goddess introduce us as part of her team left my ears and tail all standing up tall and proud, while the gentle rumble of purring started deep in my chest. Same with Sere, while Bails' tail began to wag.

Meanwhile Lily remained cautious as she asked, "And your goals? What are all you people trying to achieve?"

Cassandra replied with a little shrug, "I want to destroy the status-quo. I want to bring magic back to the world. I want to normalize the supernatural, so demons like yourself and your family can be yourselves without fear of repercussion. I want werewolfs and witches and fae to all be able to come out of hiding. I want everyone to be accepted as equals, regardless of species, race, skin colour, sexual orientation, or gender identity."

"Yeah!" the demonic coed suddenly exclaimed. "That's what I've been talking about! Supernatural pride! No more hiding what we are! That's why I've started leaving my horns and tail visible at college, so people can see the real me!"

Our goddess smiled to her, "You must be Mara. I've heard a little about you from your mothers."

The demon-turned-catgirl raised an eyebrow while her ears folded back and her tail twitched from side to side. She sounded kind of cocky as she asked, "Oh yeah? Which ones? I've got four moms, you know."

"I met Lily once before," Cassandra replied calmly. "And I know Emma rather well. I've been meeting with her for the past two years."

Mara didn't seem too impressed about our goddess knowing the scary demon woman. But when Kid Chaos mentioned the other name the demon girl's eyes widened and she cringed again. Which left me wondering just how terrifying this Emma must be, if she was that much scarier than the nine-foot-tall angry blue demon. Whatever she was, I couldn't help thinking maybe that was one supernatural encounter my girlfriends and I could do without.

At that point the attractive blonde witch woman who'd been standing beside Mara took a step forward. One of her arms slipped around Lily's waist as she addressed the rest of us, "As interesting as all of this is, I think perhaps we should continue this conversation another time?"

"Some of our guests are mundane humans," she added quietly, "And until tonight they were blissfully unaware of the supernatural."

Cassandra nodded, "Of course. I take it you're one of the other mothers Mara hinted at?"

"This is my wife Eva," Lily stated as she wrapped one of her arms around the blonde's shoulders. "And she's right. We'll continue this conversation some other time."

Mara's feline ears were standing up tall and her tail swished back and forth behind her as she asked, "Does tomorrow work for you?"

When it looked like Lily was about to complain the demon girl insisted, "I want in on this!"

"I've already got a bunch of supernatural pride stickers," she added with a grin.

That led to several quiet groans from a few of Mara's housemates, and both Lily and Eva as well. Cassandra was smiling though. And in that moment I suddenly decided to speak up.

"Sounds good to me," I responded. "Like Mara said, let's all meet up tomorrow and figure this stuff out."

A moment later I grimaced when everyone was suddenly staring at me. For all my experience as a reporter and a podcaster, I wasn't actually used to having a live audience.

I pushed through the awkwardness and added, "It seems like Team Chaos and Team Demon have at least a few things in common, right? So let's do it. Let's meet up, talk it over, and see how we can all start working together."

** note: incase you're wondering about the chapter numbers, we've had a last minute change of plans & renumbered the 'interludes' as normal chapters. sorry for any confusion! **