Imp, Part 1

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A beleagered and underpaid clerk by day, Lyla is doing the thankless work of at least three people at her job. By night she is an aspiring witch. Well, kind of. She's only ever read about spells and rituals until now, as she decides to summon and bind an imp to her service to help with her staggering workload. At first the summoning ritual seems to yield nothing...until, that is, her belly swells and she unexpectedly births her newly indentured demonic servant from the portal now rooted within her womb. Contains: demonic pregnancies, birth, eventual multiples, lactation, magical shenanigans. Idea by Chel.

-

Lyla sighed as she shuffled into her cluttered little house that evening.

Though her shift was supposed to end at five, the twenty-five-year-old routinely got home at 9 PM, or later. She worked as a clerk at a law office and was expected to do the work of three people on her own. She had encouraged her boss to hire more clerks on numerous occasions, but he never bothered. It was cheaper to just have Lyla do it all.

As a result, Lyla was exhausted. Every day, and every moment. She knew she should have quit, but the prospects of finding another job as a clerk in her town just weren’t optimistic.

And so, she suffered. There weren’t many other options. Except…

Shortly after plopping down on her couch, arms still laden with files, Lyla’s gaze drifted. It trailed over the shelf across from her and to the thick, aged spell book housed there. She used to pore and obsess over the tome in years past, tracing her fingers over the rough, gilded lettering, as she fantasized.

She remembered the small, simplistic spells she had managed to achieve: Levitating a droplet of water. Summoning a small beam of light.

Lyla shoved the file folders off her lap as she shrugged her satchel off her shoulder. She then got up and went toward her shelf, lifting the spell book with the utmost care. She flipped through the worn pages, biting her lip. There had to be something…something that could make life just a tiny bit easier.

Before Lyla knew it, an hour had passed as she fervidly studied the spells written out on the pages. She knew it was crazy, but she thought she could make this work. What if she combined a summoning spell with an imp lure?

In all of Lyla’s readings on magical beings, imps were characterized as the perfect servants. They were ferociously loyal, exceedingly competent, and their only purpose was to serve their masters.

Lyla knew that it was a long shot, but if she could actually summon an imp — well, it would be a dream come true. Her life would improve in more ways than she could count. And her job would become a non-issue.

Lyla quickly went about preparing the spell and creating the potion. The ingredients were surprisingly easy to acquire, even on short notice: seven spiders, one cracked nutmeg, a pinch of beetle powder, a clump of lemongrass... The list went on.

The only ingredient that posed a problem was the last one: a pickled toe.

For a moment, Lyla frowned and thought it over, but then an idea came to her. She hurried into her bedroom, where she rummaged in her junk drawer. Eventually she came upon an old childhood relic she had forgotten to get rid of.

A rabbit’s foot keychain.

Lyla huffed at the crassness. It was hard to believe that these had once been popular with kids. Well, it might serve as a decent substitute. She couldn’t imagine where she would find an actual pickled toe at this hour (or at all).

She returned to the kitchen, and the large pot she had boiling on the stove. The liquid was a brownish green color and smelled truly awful. Lyla dropped the rabbit-foot inside and was surprised when the liquid glowed bright purple for a moment, then faded to brownish green again. Unfortunately, it still smelled bad.

It was getting late – it was now or never.

The potion was done, and Lyla was pretty sure that she had the spell memorized. She turned off the stove and poured some of the potion into a coffee mug (in substitute for a goblet). She then returned to the living room, where she had earlier managed to shove her furniture against the walls and scrawled some runes in chalk on the wooden floor. Lyla stood in the center of her writings.

She took a generous gulp of the potion. It tasted abysmal, but she managed not to retch. She then recited the sentence-long spell, letting the words flow off her tongue. She stammered slightly towards the end, indecisive about the pronunciation of the final character. She took another swig of the potion, and it was done.

A gentle breeze caressed her. And then, nothing.

Lyla opened her eyes and blinked around. Everything seemed the same. She put down the mug and shuffled about the house a little, peeking into her bedroom, checking behind her living room shelf, and under the coffee table. No imp to be found.

Lyla sighed, shaking her head. Well, she had known it was a long shot. More so recreation and fantasy than anything productive or meaningful. Which wasn’t wrong in itself, entertaining herself a bit with this magic thing, but a glance at the clock made Lyla want to cry. It was 11 PM and she hadn’t even started her work for the night.

She hurried about to gather her files. She shoved her couch back into place, not caring that it was crooked now. She left the rest of her items and furniture against the walls, deciding that she would rearrange that later.

Lyla made camp on the couch and got to work, reviewing files, sorting contracts, and revising proposals. She got up only to make herself coffee, and at one point to order takeout. She knew she was running on empty, but she kept pushing. She just had to finish, then she could go to bed.

But even two cups of coffee and a carton of chicken lo mein were no match for Lyla’s fatigue. Her vision started to blur. Finally, she sank back and fell asleep.

-

Lyla couldn’t quite figure out what had awoken her. She rubbed her eyes as she became aware of that fact that she was slumped on her squishy old living room couch, covered in papers. A few lights were on, but the windows were dark. It was 4 AM, the clock revealed, from its place over the TV stand.

Lyla shifted, wanting to head to bed, but she felt terribly uncomfortable.

“Nnnghhh…” There was a strange twinge in her core. Lyla shoved the papers off her and blinked down at herself, a bit befuddled that in this position her dress looked like…

She tried to smooth it out, and –

Lyla froze, her hands cradling the warmth of…

“What the hell,” she whispered, her other hand joining in to cup the prominent, rounded curve of her belly. Lyla scrambled back as though to get away from the mound. But it followed as she nearly fell off the couch. The thing was attached to her. She slid her hands up beneath the skirts of her dress, feeling the bare, swollen flesh on her abdomen. Her stomach was huge! What the hell had happened!?

Her dress buttons were straining, tight flesh peeking through. With shaking fingers, Lyla slowly undid them, allowing the mound to protrude entirely out of the previously-loose dress. She looked as though she was eight months pregnant.

Lyla tried to think clearly, but nothing was making sense. This had to be some medical emergency. She shifted, her face twisting at the weirdness, discomfort, and heaviness of her body. She had to call an ambulance!

Lyla gripped the arm of the couch, heaving herself to her feet with a groan. Her eyes squeezed shut as pressure bubbled inside of her, her mouth opening wide as she clutched her stomach. “Ohhhh…”

It was getting tighter, somehow.

The mound shivered and nudged forward, growing. This just couldn’t be possible!

Lyla hunched forward, gripping it. She felt a weird pop; a small release of tension. Then there was a splattering of fluid.

Lyla whimpered, looking down between her feet at a puddle of bright purple fluid, some of it still trickling down.

Was this the spell!?

“No, no, no,” she moaned, struggling to breathe as her belly heaved, waves of heat and tension rolling through it, and then pain joining in.

This just wasn’t possible! The spell had nothing to do with pregnancy. But then, what was inside of her? What was she about to give birth to!?

“Errrgghhh!” Lyla groaned as a contraction brought her to her knees. It was all happening so fast.

She was flushed and sweaty, breathing in harsh puffs of air, struggling to bear the accumulating pain and pressure, as something shoved harshly through her being. She could feel her groin tightening – it was already crowning!

“Nnnghhh…nnooooo!” she protested, arching, struggling.

And then something fell to the floor. The whole process couldn’t have been more than ten minutes long.

Lyla crawled a few inches then dropped to the ground, gasping for breath, her thighs smeared in glowing purple fluid. She turned to the side to look at the thing fidgeting on the ground behind her. The thing that had come out of her.

It resembled a baby but had rust-colored skin and sharp little claws – horns as well. Lyla stared in morbid fascination as it twitched and fidgeted with jerky movements until it had made its way up to all fours. Now it was wiping off its own blood and mucus with its chubby little hands, far stronger and more capable than a baby should have been.

It was…an imp.

Maybe it was the fatigue, or the exertion of her rapid pregnancy and birth, but Lyla’s psyche couldn’t handle anymore. Eyes rolling upwards, she passed out.

-

Lyla became vaguely aware of the fact that she was being dragged by the ankles, her back sliding against her bedroom carpet. She felt drunk as she forced her eyelids open, then blinked until the room came into focus.

She gave a shriek at the sight of the creature that was dragging her. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since she had given birth to the imp, but now it resembled a toddler, if a bit wiry and pointier.

The imp dropped her ankles and turned to bear its sharp teeth, growling a bit. Lyla was stunned to notice that the creature was without gender. It just had a smooth, humanoid body, with red-brown skin and big black eyes.

Then the imp took her ankles again and resumed dragging, as Lyla wailed in protest.

But they didn’t go much farther. The imp brought her to a sort of nest on the floor, comprised of sheets, pillows, cushions, towels, clothing, and other miscellaneous things. The creature tucked her in as Lyla blinked owlishly.

“Um..th-thank you?” Lyla managed, gingerly.

The imp grinned its fangs. Or maybe that was its default expression.

Was she this thing’s…mother? No. More likely, she was its…master. Yes. The summoning process hadn’t been ideal, but it seemed the spell had worked!

She had successfully summoned an imp, like a proper witch. Lyla had manifested her very own magical creature. A servant.

She got up from the “nest,” stumbling a bit. “Er…what should I call you?” she asked the imp.

The creature simply stared at her. Wow, this thing grew fast. Though small in stature, barely reaching her hips, the imp was already starting to look like a teenager by then.

“Impy,” Lyla decided. Yes, that’s what she would call him.

The imp gave no reaction.

Lyla looked down at herself, at her half-open dress, now baggy and stretched from her little ordeal earlier. She held it closed as she clumsily made her way back into the living room. She went to the couch and started looking for her phone in the cushions. But then she paused, straightening up and peering around.

The living room was tidy, her furniture was no longer shoved against the walls. All her odd items and trinkets had been arranged on one of the shelves. Even her work files were now piled neatly on the coffee table. She lifted the top folder, flipping it open and scanning it.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. Impy had completed her work!

She briefly wondered how the imp knew English, and how to write, as it had only been born a couple hours ago. But that didn’t matter. Lyla couldn’t help the hysterical little laugh that came up her throat. This was a dream come true. She fell back across the couch, happier than she had been in ages. She thought of all the ways her life was going to improve with the aid of her strange little mystical servant.

By the doorway, Impy watched her looking unimpressed, and quite impish.

And through the window, the first glimmers of sunlight tinged the sky.

-

Lyla hummed as she filed some paperwork at the office that day, feeling energized despite having gotten little sleep the night before. She was making mental lists of all the tasks she could get Impy to do for her. When she had left her house, the devilish creature had been busily reorganizing her closet. Lyla had left the mop out, and she suspected that she would be going home to sparkling clean floors!

She wasn’t even upset when she was asked to stay late at work again. It wouldn’t be too bad now that she was going home to a clean house. Additionally, she could give Impy any work she had to take home with her. The creature was truly a lifesaver, and she had only known it for less than 24-hours!

“Mmgghhh,” Lyla grunted, in discomfort this time. She folded her arms over her bloated stomach as it gave another embarrassing gurgle.

Her coworker, Reese, threw her an odd look as he covered his earpiece. “Everything all right, Ly?”

“Great,” Lyla assured as she forced a smile.

Still looking dubious, Reese returned to his call. Her smile falling, Lyla clutched her stomach as she made her way to the bathroom. Clearly, her lunch wasn’t agreeing with her…

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