Chapter 3

The mermaid girl looked at Cyra with a deep gaze, trying to understand her motives. Not many people viewed her as a living being, let alone show interest in her. And yet here was this one, who was strangely mesmerized in her.

She nodded to the girl.

"Go for it."

Her agreement was all that Cyra needed before her hands moved all over her solitary fin appendage, making Nita smile.

"It's so scaly..."

Nita's smile drooped at her comment and she withdrew her fish form.

"I know. Not the most beautiful thing to show off is it?"

Cyra watched her retract the form and resort to her human legs with a bit of guilt. She didn't bother removing her hand and instead felt for her human skin.

"It still feels like I'm touching those scales...but that must be my imagination."

Nita nodded, a little embarrassed at being looked all over and folded back her legs. Cyra understood and pulled her hand back.

"Or maybe you're a monster too, with heightened senses."

That made Cyra's eyes widen but she said nothing. Wanting to avoid as much as she could about revealing her nature but seeing the expectant face of the mermaid girl she relented.

Looking away, she grabbed a fistful of dirt. "I'm a succubus."

She felt Nita stiffen.

"The witch's daughter? Is that you?"

Cyra nodded.

For Nita a wave of relief washed over, knowing she was in the presence of a similar reject, she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, whatever you are or whoever you may be, I'm not bothered by that. You can rest easy."

Cyra raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Huh, that's probably the nicest thing someone has said to me in a while. How come I've never seen you at school? Or the town?"

Nita's face sported a serious look, and she clutched her legs to her chest rocking back and forth.

"I ran away from home. I just couldn't stand my closest people turning weird around me. I didn't ask to be turned into this and yet I feel like I'm to blame."

In some aspect Cyra understood but she didn't want to prod. She had just met her after all.

"Do you live here all alone?" Cyra asked changing the topic.

Nita nodded. "Yeah...my presence seems to ward of most monsters here. Plus it removes most chances of human interactions."

Oh good, Cyra thought. At least she's aware of that much.

"You could come to my place..."

"I can?" The mermaid girl's eyes twinkled at the prospect.

It would be in many ways a betrayal, as Cyra wanted to test out if her old man acted the same towards her, with someone else present. But she also didn't want to remain alone for no reason than her own self pity.

"Of course. I'm an only child, without many friends to speak of so I always welcome another company."

That's a lie but whatever.

"Then I'll definitely make a stop there. Say you wanna maybe try the waters..."

Nita extended her right leg and pointed to the lake with her toes,

"You've got demon skin after all, if you're really a succubus, so I think you can tolerate the cold and damp."

"Maybe next time. I gotta go now."

"Oh you're leaving..." The mermaid girl looked disappointed.

"Tch..I'll be back later. Like I'm definitely not gonna let my only one new friend rot alone in the woods."

Cyra saw Nita nod her head and stare into the lake, while she stood and made her way out of the clearing back to the road. A gentle smile of happiness playing on her lips.

She was quite cute there...

***~★~***

The school was anything but a place of learning. Cyra viewed it more as a place for containment of the uncontrollable powers of their kind.

It also meant the thanks of the other townsfolk who were rid of their erratic behaviors for at least a good couple of hours.

Cyra had half a mind to throw a tantrum and a dance on the middle of the fog covered road, clearly from her brief encounter with the jalpari girl but decided against it lest she be rammed by a vehicle.

Stupid...stupid...forgot to bring my phone..arrgh..

She didn't want to go back so she silently skipped steps on the pavement, next to the half open shops of the long road that led to the center of the town.

The main highways stood behind her school building which meant endless hours of gazing if the fog wasn't too strong. All in all the entire school's geography seemed out of place to her.

She looked at the gathering groups of teenagers with jealousy. Some laughing, some enjoying the silent morning. Everyone with someone.

She was finally here. The place of dread.

The large gate stood open in front of her, inside of which were the medium sized buildings all of the same colors.

On the outside, just shy of the gates Cyra spotted trouble. She could only make a rough outline from the dense fog but she was pretty sure it was a group who were always hellbent on torturing her soul to damnation.

A guy leaning on the walls saw her and smirked before the rest of them followed his gaze to where she was.

Cyra put her head down but gave a frustrated sigh when she felt herself surrounded.

"You wanna do this in front of everyone or we go somewhere that the likes of you deserves.."

The voice was definitely one of her senior's. A powerful human. With several demon heads in both his own name and his family's. She didn't bother remembering his name.

POW....KICK.....POW....

Cyra sat on her legs almost breaking from the multiple impacts. She was close to seeing stars but she also knew this was nothing compared to what her dad meted out to her.

"Oi! Scream bitch."

Cyra's attempt to do that resulted in a weird shriek which brought out a chortle of laughter. The wardens whistle jolted the gathering crowd and they began to disperse.

"Shit...we ain't done with you yet...." The one who spoke bent to where she was and whispered, "not till you've paid for what you're mom did."

She felt herself pant against the ground before she heard footsteps from behind her, till a shadow pulled up next to her and she strained to look at who it might be.

Ugh just my luck, why did he have to be here?

"You lasted longer than you usually do. Need help?"

"Go away."

"You know, this would be much easier if you actually fought back, that would also help me understand you better." The shadow behind her spoke again.

"I'm not your fucking lab rat."

Cyra dusted herself while looking up at the boy, who seemed worried before immediately changing back to his usual posture of curiosity. His name was Rishabh and ever since he had got to know about her being a succubus, he had been an annoyance.

He always sported a mess of ruffled hair which had never felt the touch of a comb, a bright face filled with wit and a pair of glasses that rocked his nerdy self. And yet he behaved anything like one.

While Cyra understood the appeal of hiding oneself behind their hair, she couldn't understand anything about this strange boy. But in all honesty, despite all his taunts and playful jibes of wanting to experiment on her, he was one of the few who seemed decent to her in some ways, despite knowing who she was.

"Come on...it's better sitting in than here."

Rishabh extended his hand to her, which Cyra grabbed onto with a pouty face and stood up. They were the last few to enter the school, after which the warden blew the final whistle and closed off the gates.