Daughter of Damnation Ch. 2

2000

Powerful, radiant beams of sunlight cascaded down from the sky, sparkling and dancing across the waters of Lake Michigan. The sun had only recently risen, lighting up the surface of the water before reflecting up towards the city of Chicago. Its residents were no doubt thanking the heavens for the lack of foul weather today, completely unaware that yesterday’s freak storm had itself been a divine creation.

The light poured through windows across the city, illuminating bedrooms and living rooms, conference rooms and office spaces, pools and greenhouses. Of the thousands of buildings that found themselves revealed by this divine light of creation, none was more receptive than the recently finished Park Tower; a 70-story skyscraper filled primarily with luxury condominiums. On its top floor, on the second floor of its most extravagant condo, slept perhaps the single most important entity in the entire city, if not the entire country.

Ironically, the heavenly rays of the sun were prevented from reaching them due to a series of thick, heavy curtains. The Archangel Zadkiel had slept fitfully all night, and had yet to open their eyes following yesterday’s ordeal.

Although, the event had only happened yesterday from Evelyn’s point of view. She’d been alive long enough to know that, from the Archangel’s perspective, it had likely taken an amount of time impossible to measure by mortal standards.

Trying to imagine what Zadkiel might have felt caused Evelyn to shudder, and she instead turned her attention back to the stove in front of her. Two large frying pans and a griddle held an assortment of eggs, sausage, bacon, red pepper, and onion, all crackling and sizzling as they cooked. Behind her, a state-of-the-art espresso machine hissed and whistled as it toiled away, and Evelyn’s tail reached back to help finish the process. This continued for several minutes more, the food slowly nearing completion as the sun crept ever higher above the horizon. She took a deep breath, inhaling the smells of the kitchen with a smile on her face, when she heard the sounds of someone shuffling in the hallway.

To her right, she watched as the freshly constructed body of the immaculate Archangel Zadkiel stumbled into view. Their clothes seemed to have shifted overnight, coming loose and revealing their spectacularly perfect torso as they struggled to stay standing.

They had terrible bedhead.

More importantly, however, they were also reaching towards Evelyn, impossibly vibrant energies of Creation swarming around their fingers as they prepared a second attempt at erasure.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Evelyn flipped over a piece of bacon, not bothering to look at Zadkiel.

“You cannot threaten me! Your existence is a stain on this planet, Hellspawn, and we shall ensure you never see the light of day again!” Zadkiel shouted. They attempted to release their magic when familiar, impossible chains sprang from the aether to choke out their abilities. They fell to the floor, gasping and writhing in pain as their magic harmlessly dissipated.

With a halfhearted shrug, Evelyn stepped over Zadkiel before grabbing two plates from the cabinet above him. “Told you so. You’re lucky I bribed the contractor into giving me fireproof floors, or I’d be very cross right now.”

“We… will not suffer… your impudence!” the Archangel gasped, their words stilted and forced.

“Yeah yeah, the light of Heaven will sear my existence from reality, I know the drill.” Evelyn’s tail wrapped around the nearby stool, pulling it close so it stood next to Zadkiel. “If you’re finished with your little light show, how about you take a seat and suffer through some breakfast.”

Zadkiel crawled to their hands and knees, then gripped the side of the stool as they tried to force themselves to their feet. “You would insult us with this mortal sustenance? We are above such trivialities!”

After piling food onto both the plates, Evelyn slid one in front of her angelic house guest. She bit a piece of bacon in half before moving to the espresso machine to start serving their drinks. “Oh c'mon, my cooking's not that bad.”

Now hunched over the stool, sweat pooled on Zadkiel’s brow. “You twist our meaning and mock our plight, Hellspawn. Our form requires no such nourishment.”

“Correction, your previous form didn’t need food.” Evelyn slid a steaming cup of coffee over to Zadkiel, then looked him in the eyes for the first time this morning. “You’ll soon find that this body is far more frail. If you don’t eat, you’ll be dead within a day or two.”

“You speak as if you understand our situation, Hellspawn, and we will not tolerate such blasphemy!” Zadkiel’s face slowly grew more pale as they reached for the counter. They inadvertently knocked the stool to the ground, their eyes wide as they propped themselves up on their elbows. They now stared directly at the plate of food Evelyn had prepared, and she saw their nose twitch. They paused, the fresh smell of breakfast filling their senses, then they looked up towards Evelyn once more. “This… what lies fill this plate? Are you trying to poison us?”

A delicate laugh passed Evelyn’s lips as she set her coffee down. “Please. If I wanted you dead, why not kill you when I first found you? Or while you slept in my guest room? Look at it this way, if you eat, you might regain enough strength to rend me asunder.”

Conflict filled Zadkiel’s face, their eyebrows furrowed as their eyes darted back and forth across the plate of food in front of them. They opened their mouth as if to speak, but instead their tongue raced across their lips as they leaned closer to the food. Looking at their hand, they grit their teeth as they summoned the strength to lift it. Pale, trembling fingers reached for a link of sausage, gripping it with such force that it broke into pieces in their palm. Undeterred, they raised the food to their mouth and bit down, their eyes wide in surprise as they tasted for the first time in their life. The flavor seemed to change their mind, and their hesitance gave way to desperation as they began sampling everything else on the plate.

Their inexperience with their form grew even more obvious as they ate. While most of the food made it to their mouth, scraps of sausage and bacon soon clung to their chin, occasionally falling to the counter. Evelyn briefly looked at the silverware next to the plate, laughing quietly to herself as she watched the Archangel eat. It only took a few minutes before they’d finished, at which point they began licking their fingers and pulling crumbs from their chin into their mouth.

“I had no idea Archangels were such messy eaters,” Evelyn said with a chuckle. She tossed a napkin across the counter, adding “Here, clean yourself up.”

Zadkiel looked up, color already returning to their face, before hesitantly grabbing the napkin and wringing it in their hands. Once finished, they cleaned their face next, and their eyes fell to the cup of coffee in front of them. “What is this?”

“It’s coffee, it’ll help wake you up,” Evelyn said. She turned her eyes back to her own breakfast, carefully expanding her senses to pull excess heat from the coffee. Remembering how messy they’d been with the food, she added “It’s a liquid, you drink it. Just be careful when you pick it up, it might spill.”

Silence filled the room as Zadkiel reached for their drink. Though their hands weren’t shaking as much anymore, their control still seemed finite, and several drops of coffee hit the counter, intermingling with the scraps of breakfast that the Archangel had yet to clean up. Their nose twitched again, and finally they brought the cup to their lips. The drink passed into their mouth and appeared to give them trouble. They briefly coughed, spraying drops of coffee in front of them, before summoning the strength to swallow it down. Just as before, their eyes went wide in surprise, and they tilted the cup towards them again. In a manner of minutes, they’d completely finished their drink, and they set the mug down.

“What is this ‘coffee’ made of?” Zadkiel asked bluntly.

“The blood of virgins, usually. I like to kidnap my victims from the Mediterranean, Sicily if possible. Exposure to all that sea salt gives them a delightful profile,” Evelyn said, holding back a smile.

The Archangel’s face, which had briefly taken on a healthy, tanned shade, paled immediately as they listened to Evelyn’s story. They leapt to their feet, kicking the stool on the floor even further away as they slammed their fists against the counter. “We KNEW this was a trap! You seek to defile us at our weakest, and this affront shall be your last!”

Before they attempted to tug at the strings of Creation once more, Evelyn burst out laughing. She set down her own mug as she shook with delight, eventually wiping away a tear before turning to face Zadkiel again. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, I was joking. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

“You… you mock us still! Our panties are doing no such bunching!” Zadkiel protested.

Unfortunately for the Archangel, his statement inspired another, even more raucous fit of laughter in Evelyn. She doubled over her half-eaten plate of breakfast, gasping for air as she replayed their words over and over, amazed that she’d gotten such an esteemed figure to utter such a sentence. This continued for another minute before a shrill noise filled the kitchen, pulling both Evelyn and Zadkiel back to reality.

The sounds of a child crying.

Evelyn’s laughter immediately vanished, and Zadkiel’s face twisted in righteous fury as they spoke. “What have you done to her?!”

“I’ve kept her safe, Zadkiel. Don’t you dare insinuate that I would ever harm a child,” Evelyn said, her words barbed with bitter purpose. “She just woke up, and she needs to eat. You’re still weak, let me get her for you.”

Zadkiel’s eyes began to glow with Enochian energy, and when they spoke even the light of the sun bent to their will. “YOU SHALL NOT SULLY HER VISAGE WITH YOUR FILTHY HANDS, DEMON!” Despite their earlier weakness, they forced themselves to stand tall and began walking towards the crying child in the other room.

Watching them stumble, Evelyn began following close behind. It took longer than she would have liked to reach the closest guest bedroom, and when they arrived, she quickly moved to the window to open the curtains. Although the sun did not directly touch this room, its presence filled the space nonetheless. Soft daylight illuminated every corner of the space, which until last night had been completely empty. Now, an extravagant crib sat against the far corner, a multicolored mobile gently circling above it. Several large stacks of baby formula sat next to the crib and, beside them, a recently assembled stroller with a detachable carrier. Further stacks of supplies, diapers and blankets, plush animals and cleaning cloths, all sat at the ready.

The Archangel ignored all of them, instead standing over the crib and gently reaching inside to pick up the fretful child. They held her close, their body’s previous weakness nowhere to be seen as they treated the infant like she was the most important thing in existence.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Zadkiel whispered. “We’re here, we won’t let anything happen to you.”

The child continued to cry, her discomfort growing despite the Archangel’s attempts to soothe her. Seemingly at a loss for words, they turned to Evelyn. The hatred in their face was palpable, and it only became more obvious as they began to speak, but the rage failed to mask the desperation underneath. “How do we help her?”

Evelyn walked over to the stack of baby formula, pulling out a bottle and getting it ready. “She needs to eat. You’ll need to hold her still and feed her, there’s a chair behind you.”

Looking behind themselves, Zadkiel saw the plush rocking chair and hesitated.

“If you don’t, I will,” Evelyn said, her tone soft but serious. No doubt the Archangel took this as a threat, as they quickly moved to sit in the chair. Holding the child in the crook of their arms, they reluctantly accepted the bottle of formula from Evelyn, holding it aloft in entirely the wrong position.

“How does this work?” the Archangel asked, defeated.

With a beleaguered sigh, Evelyn walked over to the crib and gingerly picked up the fuzzy bunny that had previously been lying next to the child. She conjured an illusory rocking chair of her own, followed by a bottle of formula, then sat down. With a deep breath, and a pointed glare towards Zadkiel, she began rocking back and forth, holding the illusory bottle to the bunny’s mouth.

Despite their hesitance, the shrill crying of the baby soon broke down Zadkiel’s resolve. They mimicked Evelyn’s actions, turning the bottle around and bringing it to the child’s mouth, at which point she eagerly began drinking. With the baby no longer crying, the tension in Zadkiel’s shoulders began to vanish, and they carefully leaned further back in the rocking chair. The Archangel took a deep breath of their own, a smile slowly appearing on their face as the formula in the bottle began to disappear. As they continued breathing, rocking back and forth in the chair, the sunlight in the room began bending towards the Archangel, then away, repeating the motion in time with their relaxed breathing.

Evelyn bit her tongue, hugging the bunny close as she watched Zadkiel nurse the baby. A familiar pain in the pit of her stomach resurfaced, and she asked a question she already knew the answer to. “She’s yours, isn’t she?”

Zadkiel turned their head to Evelyn, their peaceful smile briefly breaking. “We owe you nothing, Hellspawn. You will get no information from us.”

“It has to be, if they kicked you out of Heaven,” Evelyn whispered, half to herself. “But they wouldn’t care if you’d shared the experience with another of your kind, as strange as that would be. Knowing what they did to you… her mother has to be human. Which would make your child a Nephilim.”

Despite their best efforts to hide a reaction, Zadkiel had little experience inhabiting a mortal body, and the look on their face told Evelyn everything she needed to know.

“Why here? Why now?” Evelyn asked. “A being of your power, you could have chosen anywhere on the planet.”

More silence. The baby cooed softly as she continued drinking, and again the Archangel glared at Evelyn. “I do not care for your tricks, Hellspawn. You are an affront to nature, a creature of lies and tyranny, and I will not humor your attempts to sway me from my faith in the Lord, my God.”

“Fine, you want to play hardball? You want to know what’s really happening here?” Evelyn’s voice grew more intense, though she kept her tone in check for fear of disturbing the child. “If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you in your sleep. If I wanted to heighten my own power by consuming the soul of an Archangel, I would have taken it already.”

Zadkiel scoffed. “Ha! We see you for what you truly are, Demon. As a succubus, you would need to engage in sexual relations with us before such an opportunity would present itself. No doubt your faux hospitality is meant to weaken our resolve to make that happen.”

“You don’t see shit, Zadkiel. I am no mere succubus, I am Evelyn, Lilith’s firstborn.” The Archangel’s eyes widened as Evelyn continued speaking. “True, it is significantly easier to take souls when I’m indulging in sexual fantasy, but the depths of my power cannot be restrained by such trivial limitations. I could have stolen your soul a thousand times over while you slept, no intercourse or dreamwalking needed. For that matter, I could have done the same to your child too, yet you both live. Why? In your infinite wisdom, please enlighten me as to why you’re still alive.”

“We…” Zadkiel faltered, briefly looking down at their child as she neared the end of the bottle. “We cannot say at this time, but I need not explain your own motives to you. Demons are the font of all evil, and there are no ends to the cruelty you wish to inflict on the world. Surely you’re planning something even more sinister that we cannot yet comprehend due to our weakened state.”

“I don’t care what you think of me, Zadkiel. Nothing I say or do will change your mind; we both know that.” Evelyn stood, dispelling the illusory chair and bottle, though she continued to cradle the plush bunny. “I’m not here to ask for permission, and I will not ask for forgiveness when all is said and done. You’re helpless, Archangel. Had I not intervened, a half dozen clandestine organizations would be fighting each other for the chance to enslave you; I have no doubt they’re on the hunt as we speak. Whether you think this a blessing or a curse, you are not their prisoner; you’re mine.”

Evelyn turned towards Zadkiel again, narrowing her eyes as she attempted to berate them into making the right decision. “I need to move you, to get you out of here, and I’m offering you the chance to influence what I do with you, Zadkiel. You can choose to fight me on this, and I fully expect you to, but remember that your actions no longer reflect just on yourself.” To make her point crystal clear, Evelyn looked down at the Archangel’s child as she finished speaking.

As the baby finished drinking, she began to whine and squirm in Zadkiel’s arms. They looked over to Evelyn, who wordlessly lifted the plush bunny to face her shoulder. She then gently rocked the bunny back and forth, softly patting its back as she urged Zadkiel to do the same.

The next few minutes passed in silence, the baby quickly falling asleep once more as Zadkiel continued to soothe her. Before long, they sighed and began to whisper.

“There is a bastion, a safe place, watched over by an acquaintance of ours. So fortified are its walls that none of my kind would be able to find it, and even should they discover a way, it would be impossible for them to breach its protections. That very nature precluded us from directing our fall there, so we instead chose a location near a planar rift. If we were at such a location, even in our diminished form, we could transport ourselves to the realm of Wild and Fae, where this bastion resides.”

“Ah, the University.”

“That is our understanding, yes.”

“Well, I’m sorry to say this, but you must have gotten your timelines mixed up,” Evelyn said, rubbing the back of the bunny. “That rift was sealed by human witches centuries ago. It’s an extraordinary piece of work that many of my foul brethren have been seeking to undermine for ages. Not only is its strength beyond your current form, but even if it weren’t, pushing through would give Hell a direct route to the surface.”

Zadkiel gasped. “But… you lie! This cannot be true! You dare question the wisdom of an Archangel?!”

Instead of responding, Evelyn simply watched. This wasn’t a conversation to be won, or an idea that needed to be hammered away at. It was Zadkiel’s job to accept their situation. She watched their expression closely, the anger that permeated their face, and the thousand different ways it broke as time stretched on. Hate gave way to fear, then to panic. Their breathing grew erratic, and they whispered calmly only for the sake of their child.

“T-they will find us if we linger. Every moment we spend on Earth exponentially heightens the chance of them detecting us.” They looked at Evelyn, their eyes asking a question they would never voice directly.

“If you’re trying to get to the Wilds, I know of another rift,” Evelyn muttered.

“Where?”

“Across the country, there is a place of abundance that is protected by the local human government. They claim it’s protected so as to preserve the beauty of the landscape, as well as the ecological significance, but there are other reasons. Above all else, they’re aware that the secret of the land’s beauty is because it overlaps with the Wilds.”

“Then you will take us there, Hellspawn,” Zadkiel demanded. “What is this place called?”

Evelyn sighed, beginning to formulate a plan in her head. “Yellowstone. We need to take you to Yellowstone.”

—

1938

Delicate, dazzling beams of sunlight drifted down from above, narrowly dodging the thick blanket of clouds that covered nearly the entire sky. The sun had risen hours ago, its thin rays of warmth gently landing on thousands of snowdrifts that covered the city of Chicago. Residents woke with tentative curiosity in their hearts, both fascinated by the strange weather but also concerned by the speed at which it had set upon them yesterday.

Snow and frost covered windows across the city, barricaded alleyways and sidewalks, smothered cars and bicycles, and completely eliminated the morning traffic. Of the millions of citizens in the city, however, none were more affected than the residents of the makeshift Grant Park encampment, huddled together in a desperate fight for survival in a collection of shoddy, hastily constructed shacks that hadn’t completely held up against the horrid snowstorm. Several would-be houses had collapsed entirely; the occupants saved from serious harm only due to the pitiful weight and thickness of their roofs. Among the hundreds of citizens that called this encampment home, none were more shaken by the bone-deep cold than the newly arrived house guest of Vicente Calderón.

Evelyn was no stranger to sleep, she’d feigned it thousands of times and sometimes indulged in it legitimately for amusement, but she’d never before needed it. Now, for the first time in her life, she woke following a night of fitful rest. Powdery snow fell through cracks in the ceiling, floating across the still air before landing on Evelyn’s cheek and melting instantly.

A groan passed her lips, followed by a trembling shiver, and she reached for the twin blankets that sat atop her. She pulled them close, bringing her knees to her chest in an attempt to fend off the cold, when she heard a voice speak up from behind her.

“Miss Lamour? Are you awake?”

Lamour? Right, I gave myself a surname.

Memories of last night returned. Accursed chains that bound her abilities, restricting her true form and forcing her to ask the local peasants for help. Being carried to this dump, this ramshackle neighborhood built of discarded scraps, before being tossed aside in an insignificant hovel.

The words of the man behind her sounded familiar; he must be the same person that carried her here previously. He had an accent that clashed with the expected local dialect, and Evelyn again matched her words to his in an attempt to win him over. She attempted to sit up, hoping to flaunt her body in an attempt to seduce him and restore her power, but instead her body shook with pain and weakness as she turned to face the other person in the shack.

“I-I… yes, Mr. Calderón, I am,” she managed to mutter.

“Now, none of that, y’hear?” the man said, stepping closer before kneeling next to Evelyn. “Like I told you last night, you can call me Vince. Though I’d forgive you if you didn’t remember that conversation, you were practically on death’s door when I found you.”

Vince carefully pushed a hand behind Evelyn’s shoulder, lifting her up slowly. “It looked worse than it was. I’m fine, I promise,” Evelyn said.

“Are you kidding? Doc said he’d never seen such a high fever before!”

“I told you, I run warm.” Evelyn winced as she tried to lean forward, finally relenting and falling back into Vince’s lap.

“And I told you, no one runs that warm,” Vince said with a smile. He reached to the side and grabbed a small aluminum can, then turned back to Evelyn. “Here, I’ve got some food for you. Are you strong enough to eat?”

Evelyn nodded slowly, and Vince tilted the contents of the can into her mouth. She didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the cold, barely salted slop that she found waiting for her. A collection of thin, watery broth, cheap processed meat, and a few tiny vegetables slid into her mouth, and she forced herself to swallow it down despite its offensive profile. When Vince lowered the can, she coughed heavily before clearing her throat. “What… what was that?”

“Why, that was the highest quality Hoover Stew you’ll find this side of the Mississippi!” Vince said, forcing a smile. “Homemade by the finest chefs in the neighborhood.”

“It’s… delightful,” Evelyn said, gritting her teeth.

“Something tells me you’re new to this life, aren’t you?” he asked, gently setting the can down. “I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at me, at this place. I know it ain’t much, but… it’s not nothing. Once you’re feeling up for it, I’ll show you around. I know times are tough, but there’s still a lot of heart ‘round here. You just have to know where to look.”

Despite her silent protests, Evelyn could feel a bit of strength returning now that she’d eaten. How did that make sense? Food was nothing but a luxury, an indulgence that served no purpose but flaunting one’s power or ingratiating one’s self with the locals. No demon ever needed to eat, least of all a demon of her status. The very thought of needing mortal food to sustain herself was sickening, but she wasn’t about to spoil her own chances of survival by arguing with the reality of her situation.

Come to think of it, the hunger she’d just briefly sated brought to light a different issue. She’d been nearly completely drained of her power in her struggle to avoid being cast out of Hell, yet no part of her was demanding the sexual subjugation of this human. Her body was designed to crave sex, and this urge grew exponentially harder to resist as her power dwindled, so where were those urges now?

Perhaps better to get a lay of the land now, while she had a moment of clarity. For some reason, she didn’t need to hunt for souls at the moment, and it would be in her best interest to take advantage of that opportunity.

“I’m feeling quite well, actually,” Evelyn said, leaning forward. “Perhaps you could show me around now?”

Make him feel helpful, keep him close. When those urges return, it will be easy to suck him dry. In a dump like this, surely no one will miss him.

“Really? Well, if you insist. Before we go anywhere, however, I must request that you dress yourself. A nightgown like that is hardly a fitting outfit for the season, though it’s not my place to ask why you were wandering the streets in such clothing.” Now that she could sit up on her own, Vince left her side and gestured to an article of clothing on the ground nearby. “Good clothing is worth its weight in gold these days, so this is the best I could find for you on such short notice. It’s menswear, and I apologize for that, but it’s tough and it’ll fend off the cold better than any of the dresses we have at the ready. I’ll be waiting just outside the door, and you just come on out when you’re ready. Or holler if you need anything, I suppose.”

With a hearty laugh, Vince opened the front door and stepped outside, a stiff cold breeze briefly entering the shack. Once again shivering from exposure to the weather, Evelyn quickly crawled over to the clothing and began dressing herself.

As her nightgown was but an illusion, she was able to destroy it completely simply by gripping the side and tugging at it. Now completely nude, she briefly examined her tight, curvy body for signs of damage. Thankfully, her form appeared as flawless as ever, but the chill of winter cut her contemplation short. She thought about attempting to conjure warm underwear for herself, even holding out a hand to test her connection to her inner fire, but ultimately she decided against the idea. With no understanding of what magic had been used to bind her abilities, it was in her best interest to continue blending in with the locals.

She grabbed the pile of clothing and started unfolding it, expecting to find at least a shirt and pants. Instead, she found it was a single item: a pair of thick, brown coveralls. The bottom half resembled simple wool pants, while the top half had a button-up front flanked by two breast pockets and thick, notched lapels.

After stepping into the coveralls, she found a pair of boots sitting at the foot of where she’d slept. Inside them she found two mismatched socks, one with a threadbare sole, the other a threadbare heel. The footwear she’d been given were clearly work boots, both thick with hardened toes, and they were also mismatched. In fact, after slipping them both on, Evelyn realized they weren’t even the same size. The left boot hugged her foot much more tightly than the right boot, and she compensated by switching the thinner sock to her left foot.

Her first instinct was to leave the top few buttons of her top open, to provide onlookers with a generous look at her impressive cleavage, but the snow gathering in the corners of the shack forced her to reconsider.

For all I know, these accursed chains might prevent me from feeding anyways.

Even without exposing herself, she still believed that she made the outfit look significantly more attractive than it truly was. Her irresistible curves were nearly impossible to hide, despite the coverall’s best attempts, and her long legs fit the lengthy pants quite nicely. Now fully dressed, Evelyn took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the outside. She wasn’t looking forward to facing the world in her current state, but she needed to gather more information before she could formulate an escape plan.

Stepping outside, the bright sunlight forced her to squint as she began to look around. Without manual control over her pupils, she was forced to let them adjust on their own.

Look at me, I’m basically a fucking human.

Evelyn raised a hand to her face, blocking out the sun, and her vision evened out just as Vince turned to look at her. The expression on his face was all too familiar; he clearly found her attractive, although she didn’t catch his eyes wandering as much as she expected. “Well I’ll be. I never expected such a bland outfit to look so fashionable, but I stand corrected. How does everything feel?”

Evelyn briefly tapped the toes of both her boots on the ground. “The shoes are mismatched.”

Vince laughed. “Yeah, I wrestled with that for a while. The only other option was to give you two left shoes, and I thought this would be the lesser of two evils. See, Mayor Donovan, he… well, you’ll see when you meet him. C’mon, let me show you around!”

He offered a hand to Evelyn, who internally flinched at the thought of needing assistance, but then remembered her situation. Humans liked to feel helpful, this would only serve her in the long run. Taking his hand, she stepped closer until she was holding onto the crook of his arm for support, and they began wandering the dilapidated neighborhood.

“Welcome, fine lady, to the crowded streets of Chicago’s very own Hooverville! The lovely home behind you, where you spent the night, is mine! I live at 14 Hard Times Avenue, and I’m blessed with a wonderful view of the lake each morning.” Vince spoke with an upbeat attitude and cheerful bravado quite at odds with the reality of his situation, though his energetic demeanor failed to hide the chill gripping his body. He accentuated his words by pointing to a large piece of thin, broken wood that stood at the corner of a nearby shack, pretending it was a street sign. True to Vince’s word, it was appropriately labeled “Hard Time Avenue.” Another piece of wood, hastily tied to the side of the sign, read “Prosperity Road.”

As they walked, they passed dozens of other poorly constructed encampments and hovels, all made of different scraps of materials. Turning down Prosperity Road, Vince continued talking while smiling and waving at all his neighbors. “This here is Freddie, he used to be a factory worker until they got fired for trying to unionize. Floyd, next to him, had his house repossessed when the stock market went kaput, but he’s a damn fine cobbler, if you’ll pardon my language.”

Evelyn nodded politely to everyone she met, fighting back her urge to scowl in disgust at the crude appearance of the neighborhood and its occupants.

The next house they found had recently collapsed, no doubt from the surprise earthquake that had heralded Evelyn’s arrival. A black woman sat on a pile of wood nearby, attempting to style her hair while holding up a broken mirror roughly the size of her palm.

“This here is Claire, she’s got the steadiest job of all of us, though I hardly see what all the fuss is about,” Vince said with a cheeky smile.

“Oh, piss off, Vincey!” Claire said, her voice deeper than Evelyn had expected. “You’re just jealous I’ve actually got a reliable paycheck. And that you can’t afford my company!”

Everyone within earshot laughed, and within seconds Claire had risen to her feet to affectionately give Vince a hug and kisses on his cheeks. They briefly whispered to each other, though with Evelyn’s natural talents suppressed, she was unable to hear what they said. When Vince turned back to continue the tour, he leaned close to Evelyn and whispered “Claire’s near the sweetest dame I’ve ever met, but keep quiet about her if you ever find yourself in proper company. And if you ever hear the fuzz asking around for Samuel Moser, that’s her. You make sure you give one of us a warning so we can keep her safe.”

That particular revelation caught Evelyn by surprise. This neighborhood was not at all what she’d expected, though she blamed her lack of insight on those infernal chains choking out her true abilities.

The next place they visited was a small collection of stumps, crates, and boxes that had been arranged around an empty oil drum. Old pieces of newspaper and a few scraps of wood sat inside the drum, burning away and providing the only real warmth Evelyn had felt since waking up. Thankfully, Vince let her rest for a moment, and he struck up a conversation with other residents that were crowded nearby.

“What’s the news, Stevie?”

“It’s absurd, that’s what it is!” Stevie said. He was wearing blue denim overalls and a tattered undershirt, both of which had been caked in thick, black powder. He held a newspaper out and began reading from the front page. “Listen to this: ‘Hitler Assumes Army Command: Fuehrer Adolf Hitler tonight personally assumed command of Germany’s vast defense forces in a sweeping military and diplomatic shakeup that recalled the Nazi ambassadors from Italy, Japan, and Austria. Hitler took the title of “Chief of National Defense.”’ Chief of National Defense! Can you believe that! First he denounces Versailles with that damned military conscription three years back, and now he’s in direct control? And the brits are just letting him get away with it!”

Another disheveled man in coveralls grunted in vague agreement before spitting into a small can. “Ach, those yellow bellies don’t got what it takes. What’r’you gonna do about it, Stevie? You gonna march over their yourself and smack some sense into them?”

“If I can see it, there’s no way those ivory tower types over in Parliament can’t! Bunch of rotten, good-for-nothing…” Stevie threw the paper down in disgust, then cut off his sentence when he looked up at Evelyn. “Now, hold on a minute, who’ve we got here? Vince, you ol’ dog, you finally moving on?”

Vince laughed. “Now, it’s not like that. This here’s Evelyn Lamour, I found her lost in last night’s storm on my way back from that gig of mine. You be on your best behavior, alright? I’ll have Donovan throw you out if I hear you’ve been inhospitable.”

“Inhospitable?! To such a lovely lady? Why, I never!” Stevie stood up and pulled his tattered hat off his head, holding it to his chest before bowing down. “Miss Lamour, I humbly welcome you to our quaint little refuge. You are truly a beacon in these shining times, and when you get tired of ol’ Vince here, I’ll be more than happy to—”

Stevie’s words were cut off when a thick snowball collided with his shoulder, breaking his attempt at cordiality. “Hey! I saw that!” Looking over at a pack of young men, Stevie broke off running and chased them away. Everyone still crowded around the fire laughed as he gave chase, and Evelyn found herself sharing in the moment. After all, she needed to ingratiate herself with everyone to have a chance at blending in.

This place isn’t anything like I expected. It’ll be far too obvious if I feed from anyone here, but at the same time… I’m sure Nyssa’s on the hunt. There’s no way she would look for me in such a dump. Maybe they can be my smokescreen.

“Doc still at his place?” Vince asked, changing the topic as he addressed everyone else.

A few men grumbled affirmatively, and Vince gestured further down the street. Getting the hint, Evelyn briefly released her hold on Vince’s arm and tried to lead the way, only to quickly lose her balance. It only took a second for Vince to move to her side, holding her arm to keep her steady as she fought to stand up straight again.

This accursed form!

Evelyn grit her teeth before quickly adopting her previous, sweet demeanor. “Thank you, Vince. I don’t know where I’d be without you!”

“I try to avoid those kinds of what-if scenarios, myself. C’mon, let’s get you back to Doc’s and have him take another look at you. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees you up and walking around already!”

It only took a few minutes to find Doc’s house, which appeared to be a thrown-together collection of plywood and sheets that approximated a field clinic. Several makeshift beds strewn across the space made Evelyn think of similar scenes she’d stalked during the Great War, though with far less polish and a complete absence of gunpowder. A taller man with thick, mangy hair knelt beside a smaller, unconscious man, checking his pulse before whispering something to a nearby lady who seemed quite concerned. They nodded at each other, then Doc turned his head when Vince cleared his throat.

“Vince! And the fair Miss Lamour? Who gave you permission to be up and about? I told you, Vince, lots of water and bed rest to get the fever down. You’re going to make her collapse again! C’mere, sit down.” Doc gestured at a nearby pile of plywood and gestured for Evelyn to join him.

“It’s not Vince’s fault, I requested a tour of the place. I’m feeling quite well, actually, just a bit weak following that ordeal last night.”

Doc sat in front of her, holding her wrist to take her pulse before asking her to perform a series of basic tests with him. He checked her vision, her temperature, all sorts of insultingly basic human procedures, and Evelyn reluctantly let him think he knew what he was talking about.

“Well, I can’t say I understand it, but I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. If I hadn’t seen you last night, I’d swear you were in perfect health. You said you’re still feeling a bit weak?” Evelyn nodded. After a brief pause, Doc stood up, walked over to a small chest in the back of the clinic, and grabbed a small bundle of cloth. When he brought it back, he opened it up to reveal a small piece of bread. “Here, some extra food should keep you going.”

Vince gasped. “Doc, you can’t keep giving away your own—”

“Oh hush. I didn’t make it through the Great War just to start forsaking those in need afterwards. You remember Capone’s soup kitchen he opened all those years ago? God, I miss that place. Damned bureaucrats always sticking their nose in other people’s business… Anyways, you eat up, young lady, and take it easy the rest of the day. If I see you up and walking around again later, I’ll have some rather unkind words for you.”

Young Lady? Ha! You have no idea how ancient my power is, idiot.

After nodding in appreciation, Evelyn eagerly bit off a piece of the bread. Compared to the terrible strew she’d eaten earlier, it wasn’t half bad, though it still paled in comparison to all the human food Evelyn had tasted in the past. Once she’d finished it, and rested for a few more minutes, she found that the extra food again made her feel stronger. She hated that her current form needed sustenance to keep itself going, though it was hard to ignore the fact that food was currently easier to obtain than souls, especially given the unusually close community she’d stumbled into.

Together with Vince, she spent the rest of the afternoon lazily exploring bits of pieces of the ramshackle community they called the Grant Park Hooverville. She met dozens of other humans, all in various states of distress, and all living in poor approximations of houses. Eventually, however, her current form began to protest all the activity, and they were forced to retire back towards Vince’s house.

As they walked, she began to contemplate if it would be worth seducing her host tonight. She would need to test to abilities eventually, and even a scrap of proper nourishment would no doubt help her recover faster, but Vince had been frustratingly polite all day. His hands never wandered, his eyes never lingered on anything but her eyes, and he spoke with absolute politeness at all times. With her ability to read attraction currently chained up, Evelyn was forced to read his intentions manually, and it truly seemed like he just wanted to be a kind host.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a group of children appeared in the street, all being corralled by an elderly woman in a thick, flowing dress. The kids, of which there were around six or seven, were all incredibly enthusiastic, their incessant chatter overpowering the idle conversation that had permeated the encampment up until then. One child in particular, a small girl in a blue polka-dot dress, gasped in delight when she saw Vince, and immediately ran over to him.

“Daddy!!” the girl shouted, jumping into Vince’s arms. As she did, Evelyn noticed the girl was carrying a small toy; specifically, a plush bunny rabbit that had seen so much love its features were heavily tattered and discolored.

“Rosie!” Vince said, a massive smile lighting up his face. “How’s my sweet little girl? Did you have fun on your field trip?”

Vince lifted Rosie up, holding her tight as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Guess what! Guess what! I got to ride in a real car! It was all like ‘brrvrrvv’ and it was loud and bouncy but it was so fun!!”

The child’s laughter mixed together with Vince’s as he waved to the elderly woman, who nodded in approval. Rosie continued rattling off things she’d done on her recent excursion, almost all of which Evelyn had little understanding of. Her skill set very rarely overlapped with children, and as such, she’d never found it productive to bother learning the games they played or the things they liked.

When they finally made it back to Vince’s home, the sun had already started to set, and Rosie’s excitement was starting to wane. Although it took much longer than Evelyn would have expected, the child eventually turned her attention to Evelyn and asked “Daddy, who’s the pretty lady?”

“Rosie, this is Evelyn. She got lost in that big storm we had last night, and I helped keep her safe. She’s probably going to be staying with us for a little bit, okay?”

Evelyn feigned a smile as she looked down at the child. “It’s nice to meet you, Rosie.”

Rosie smiled up at her and kept talking. “Evlin. Evevin. Evelive. Daddy, that’s a hard name.”

With a warm smile, Vince said “How about you call her Auntie Ev. Can you say that?”

Taking great care to exaggerate the open vowel at the beginning of the first word, Rosie said “Aunt. Auntie. Ev. Auntie. Ev. That works! It’s good to meet you, Auntie Ev!” She had only just finished mastering the nickname when she yawned, a great big thing that threatened to infect Evelyn as well.

Vince opened the door to the home and ducked inside. “C’mon, Rosie, how about we get some sleep for the night. We’re going to give Auntie Ev the good blanket, is that okay?”

Rosie nodded slowly, her eyes closed and her head resting against Vince’s shoulder. Once they were inside, Vince gently laid her down on his bed, again balling up his jacket to serve as a pillow. It took a few minutes for him to help Rosie settle in, and they quietly talked with each other for a few minutes more, but soon she’d fallen asleep, hugging her plush bunny close to her chest as she slept.

On the other side of the shack, hardly more than a few feet away, Evelyn was attempting to understand her own sleeping situation. Vince wandered close, handing out the thicker of the two blanks, as he spoke up.

“Is it alright if I take one of the blankets tonight?” he asked, holding the thinner of the two.

“Um, yes, that’ll be alright,” Evelyn whispered, her eyes darting over to Rosie. “I was unaware you had a daughter.”

Vince smiled. “Guess it slipped my mind, sorry about that. It’s not often I get to welcome people to the neighborhood. I hope she’s not too much for you, she can get wrapped up in her own little world at times.”

“You said she was on a… field trip?” Evelyn asked, still trying to learn more about the customs here.

“Yeah, me and a bunch of other parents pooled some money to buy a little excursion for the kids. It took nearly a week of cutting back on rations to save up, but seeing the look on her face… I only wish I could do it more often.”

Evelyn cocked her head, trying to rationalize the situation. “Why let her indulge while you starve? Surely it would make more sense to put the money to better use.”

“Maybe,” Vince said with a shrug. He sat down on the floor along with Evelyn, who was still attempting to make her spot somewhat comfortable. “It’s not enough to just survive. Sure, maybe I’d be less hungry, but this trip meant the world to her. There are so few reasons to be happy right now, and getting a chance to ride around in a car with some real food is a memory that will keep her going for months. She told me they got ice cream, can you believe that?”

Vince paused, looking over to Rosie with another smile on her face. “She’s so much like her mother at times, she had such a sweet tooth. I’ll bet Rosie enjoyed that ice cream more than the car ride.”

Pulling her shoes off, Evelyn began massaging the soles of her feet, which still protested the mismatched sizes of the boots. “I take it her mother isn’t around anymore?”

After a quiet sigh, one that shook with emotion, Vince shook his head. “No. She got sick a few years back. We couldn’t afford the medicine we needed and, in the end… well, I’m sure you don’t want to hear that. Just try to get some sleep, alright? If you want to find another place tomorrow, now that Rosie’s back, I’ll understand.”

Before Evelyn could say anything else, Rosie began shivering over in her bed. Vince stood up and moved closer, lying beside her and pulling her close to keep them both warm under their tiny, threadbare blanket.

Evelyn, with the thicker of the two blankets, struggled to get comfortable. She’d had Vince’s jacket as a pillow last night, whereas now she was attempting to use the boots she’d been given. They were hard and bulky, and Evelyn again cursed the chains that held her in such a fragile form. She reviewed everything she knew about this place and its inhabitants, trying to find people she might exploit to better her situation, but she had trouble understanding what drove them.

They have nothing. They’re nobodies, forgotten by the world, living off the scraps of society. Why are they so cheerful?

On the other side of the shack, despite the two of them huddling together, Evelyn heard Vince and Rosie both shivering. It lessened over time, presumably as they shared each others’ body heat, but it never vanished entirely. Evelyn’s own body shivered too, a feeling that infuriated her, but she had no choice other than to push through the misery. Before long, despite the horrendous living quarters and the bulky, mismatched shoes that served as her pillow, she managed to fall asleep.