Death and the Maiden

Nina

Needing just a little more time Nina decided to use the cubical for its intended purpose. Afterwards she cleaned herself up as much as possible but still felt dirty at soul level. She decided to visit a clinic on the way home and get some information on STDs, as well as the morning after pill. True Billy never got to finish, (thank God and every Angel out there,) but she had heard enough stories about how a single sperm was all it took, that she wasn’t going to take the chance.

Knowing she couldn’t put it off any longer she washed her hands for the third time and dried them on a paper towel, before using the same towel to cover the door handle as she left. Propping the door open with her foot she wadded up the paper and tossed it over into the bin.

“Nothing but net,” she muttered to herself as she let the door swing closed behind her.

She stopped in the open doorway of the research lab and looked around the large room. There was nothing out of the ordinary, only the three co-workers she knew and barely got along with. With a slight shake of her head she went and sat down at her desk and unlocked the computer screen.

The words blinked up.

“You can’t hide from me.”

If Callum had expected them to scare her he was disappointed as she stared at them calmly.

Suddenly she felt a presence. It wasn’t so much behind her as through her. The owner of the voice was back.

“Did you have fun with your little friend?” he asked.

“Why did you do that to me?” she asked internally as she sat ridged in her chair, her hands fisted as they pressed down on top of her thighs.

“Maybe I thought you needed a bit of fun.”

“Bullshit.”

“Language Nina, but you are right, I did it because I could.” She could hear the laughter in the voice.

She gritted her teeth and focused her eyes on the flashing curser on the computer screen, determined it wasn’t going to force her to do anything again.

“Oh did he leave you unsatisfied? I could help you out there if you want, won’t take but a minute.”

She felt a compulsion to rub her hand down between her legs and clenched her fist tighter still, her nails biting into her palms.

“No,” she said out loud.

“Something wrong Miss McNeill?” Mr Cooper asked from across the room.

“Not at all, sorry to disturb you,” Nina said in as normal a voice as she could manage. She attached a tight smile to the end of the words flicking her eyes at the man across from her before fixing them again on the curser.

“I know what you are,” she said to the voice inside.

“Oh really? Do tell?” The voice sounded amused by her attempt at control.

“A spirit released from that urn,” she looked now at the piece that was sitting toward the back of her desk.

The voice laughed loudly in her head. “No you are wrong there, so wrong.”

“I’m sure you are, I never heard you before it arrived,” she countered.

The voice seemed to huff before speaking again.

“You remember the curtain? How it kept opening, and how small things seemed to move around your room? Medication going missing? All that happened before the urn arrived.”

She search her memory frantically, it was right. Damn she had been so sure.

“You are a spirit, or a demon?” She didn’t mean it to be a question, but she was thinking on the fly now. “You sure as hell aren’t a part of me!”

“Interesting choice of words there, although I quite like the sound of being a demon. Your very own Devil maybe. You want to dance with the Devil Nina?”