The old wizard grinned. "I thought you'd be interested. I did some checking up, and
Alecto is a real piece of work. Her real name is Francine West..."
"FRANCINE?!" Eva fell back on the couch, laughing, her legs kicking helplessly. After a few
moments, she lay helpless, gasping for breath. "Oh...my...Francine...God..."
"Heh, I thought that would make her seem less intimidating. Yeah, she has some talent,
but her most notable ability is being a Grade-A bitch. However, her evil nature caught the
attention of an old enemy of mine...Vincent LeSang."
Sitting up, Eva looked at the old man incredulously. "Vinnie the Blood? You're joking, he
really calls himself that?"
"What's worse, that's his real name! Vince...heh, Vinnie, I like that better...Vinnie always
thought 'power names' were undignified. Anyways, Vinnie was a two-bit sorcerer who got
himself bit by a vampire, which had the side effect of giving him useful powers."
"Wait...he's a vampire too! Oh this is too much!"
"Well don't dismiss him, he's very dangerous, and not just because he's a bloodsucker.
Vinnie makes pacts with demons for power. And Alecto is his apprentice, so she probably
does the same."
"So...that's how she controls Scylla?"
Merlin sighed. "I wish it was that simple. It's a Compulsion spell, that's true, but I'm
afraid spells like that only work if you have feelings for the caster in the first place. Your
friend Scylla actually loves Alecto, which is why the spell has such a strong hold on her."
Eva paled, and the old wizard was saddened by the pain in her eyes. His words were like a
knife to the young girl's heart. She hung her head in her hands and wept once more.
This time there were no words he could utter to make her feel at peace.
He was about to leave the room, to give her some peace, when she spoke. Her voice was
low and dangerous...he'd dealt with demon lords in his time, and he still shivered at
hearing such a cold tone coming from a young girl.
"I want them to suffer."
He turned and looked at her. The tears were gone, though her eyes were still red. He
could tell she was serious.
"Alecto put a hex on you. Nothing she could control, it just made you stand out like a
beacon to demonic entities. One noticed you, a trickster demoness I've dealt with before.
She followed you to the park, and when she saw Bobby, she switched his ring for the Ring
of De-Age. Normally the ring I gave him couldn't be removed, but trickster demons are
pretty sly. I'll handle her, she's not really evil, and she violated my contract with
Bobby..and made off with the ring."
"And Vinnie?"
"It'll be my pleasure to hand that second-rate mosquito his ass. I'm leaving Alecto...and
Scylla, to you."
She nodded. "I don't want to hurt Scy...she betrayed me, but I still love her. But she does
need to be punished."
"What do you want to do to them?"
"What are my options?"