Emily's mind is a raging Hurricane of a lot of things that most humans would not consider ladylike. While she's consuming every piece of erotic fiction on the internet, she's also writing her own brand of all-inclusive lusty prose. Every once in awhile a weird sci-fi or paranormal story will pop out and wave its alien hands.

She's addicted to fandom as a culture, no matter what you're a fan of she supports letting a proud fangirl freak flag fly. Her special powers are accidental alliteration and consuming copious amounts of coffee.

Emily is a proud member of the Rebel Book Club, a very excited Rebel Reviewer, and staunch supporter of @ProjectReadersReact. She's very nice, and if she's ever naughty it's only because she likes the punishment.

From the Grafitti creative prompt book: Lyrical inspiration  

Inspired by the song Haunted by Evanescence ^^

#RebelCreations

Nia was being haunted by an angel, and it was driving her fucking crazy.

She knew that pull—that pull to protect and serve—was phony. That's what they did, these beings of light. They filled the soul with false hope, preyed on that feeling of emptiness and promised fulfillment.

But Nia knew a distress call when she felt it. This bitch was trying to manipulate her.

Well, she wasn't falling for it.

Except this angel was strong and very, very persistent.

It was easy to ignore, at first. Nia went about her day to day duties, whistling as she collected souls, able to drown out the niggling in her brain.

But the bitch started to sink her claws deeper, finding the cracks and crevices in Nia's psyche as she dug. It felt desperate, but it was effective.

It wasn't long before Nia started dosing herself to numb her mind. She carried the ornate metal tin with her everywhere, scooping the black powder greedily every hour and inhaling it like a swimmer coming up for air.

That threw up a few roadblocks, but the angel quickly circumvented those as well. Soon she was so deep that she planted visions like seeds in a twisted garden.

Nia would be half lidded from a dose, leaning casually against the brick wall of the laundromat, and suddenly she'd flash on red welts marring soft skin. It'd only be a second, but a second was enough for her to remember.

A second turned into thirty, of red hot metal searing flesh, ghosts of screams echoing in her ears.

Eventually, Nia was walking in a dream world. She knew on some level that she was traversing sidewalks in the city with practiced ease, but all she could see was hurt and pain and fear.

These things were not unfamiliar to her, demon though she was, but seeing it through the eyes of an angel was unsettling. Hearing those screams and whimpers as if they were coming from her own head...

Nia buried her nose in her tin, snuffling like a dog and whining when there was nothing left to dose. She ducked down a familiar alleyway that she could sense more than see at this point, obscured by an impossibly pale thigh receiving lash upon lash upon lash.

The demon dropped to her ass on the concrete, leaning back against a shitty dumpster to let out a howl of frustration.

Savemehelpmepleasehelpme

The whispers in the back of her mind grew louder, and Nia knew she had to go. There was no getting away from it at this point. This stupid fucking angel had picked her, of all entities, as her rescuer and she wasn't letting go.

She had to go find her, save her, and then force her to let go.

Or kill her. Whichever was easiest.

With that acceptance, Nia's vision cleared and she let out a deep ragged breath. The first step would be figuring out where the bitch was, and that would be easier to do if she could see the world around her.

She had to focus. If she strayed from this mission, the visions would surely return, and this taste of freedom was sweet as a virgin on her wedding day.

She got to her feet with a groan, straightening her leather jacket. She squared her shoulders and swept a hand through her ebony locks, bone straight and shaved on the left side of her head.

It wasn't long before Nia found herself rapping at a steel door behind the arcade, fist pounding into the center of the crimson triangle painted there. The peephole opened with a sharp shink and she turned her head to the left to reveal the series of triangles tattooed on her head.

The door opened, revealing a naked woman. Her chocolate skin was adorned with intricate silvery threads embedded into delicate designs. She motioned for Nia to follow her down the concrete hallway, practically gliding with grace.

The leather-clad demon couldn't help but admire the woman's ass as she sashayed ahead, soft globes bouncing with each step.

They reached the end of the hallway and the naked woman put both palms against the seemingly dead end. Her silvery body decorations pulsed with light and the wall melted away, revealing a lush room beyond.

"Love the new security." Nia strode across the threshold, plopping herself down on a soft red couch opposite the lady of the house.

"Of course you would, Nia darling." Octavia trilled out a laugh like the tinkling of bells. She crossed her long lavender legs, steel eyes fixed on her guest. "What brings my favorite demon a-knockin' today?" Her drawl always seemed out of place in contrast to her vulpine features and otherworldly glow.

"An angel got her hooks in me," the demon scowled, getting straight to the point. "I need to find her."

"An angel, huh?" The hostess stroked her long chin thoughtfully. "Odd to choose a bein' of darkness such as yourself. But I can help you, love, or more specifically, Azh can help you." Octavia motioned to her naked security guard, and the silvery woman approached, standing between them.

Nia chewed her lip as Azh reached out and set a firm hand atop the demon's head. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be pleasant.

And fuck was she right.

The silvery tendrils adorning the dark woman's skin snaked up her arm and pierced Nia's head like a thousand needles. She screamed with the force of it, the feel of wriggling all over her brain, like worms taking refuge in her skull.

It took only seconds for Azh's minions to do their job, but to her charge it felt like hours—days, even—of excruciating pain.

When the tendrils slipped from her brain and took their stationary post on the security guard's skin, Nia shuddered. She broke out in gooseflesh at the feeling of abruptly being empty once again, pitching forward as her equilibrium wavered.

Azh turned to her employer, a low hiss slipping from her lips. Nia held her temples in her hands, trying desperately to steady the aftershocks running through her.

"Ah, your angel is in Noctyl!" Octavia clapped her hands. "Thank you, Azh, if you wouldn't mind opening the door please?" She motioned to the brick wall to the right, and the naked woman nodded, pressing her palms against the cold surface.

Nia watched as she treated this wall the same as how they'd gotten into Octavia's room, and wondered briefly if this room was in a different realm than Earth.

Noctyl sure was. The demon hadn't set foot in that realm for at least two centuries, mostly because she had more than a few enemies there. Too much gambling, and dosing, and gambling while dosing.

"Any idea who's got her?" Nia asked as the wall melted away to reveal a red rock landscape beneath an emerald green sky.

"She saw a bald man with the Sigil of the Prox tattooed on his back," Octavia said, and the demon exhaled sharply, closing her eyes.

"Oh fuck me," she muttered, and turned towards the wall/door. "This is going to suck."

"With that attitude," the purple skinned hostess teased, and sidled up next to the demon.

"Kiss for good luck?" Nia looked down at her old friend, nearly a head taller than her tiny frame. Octavia giggled mischievously and reached out, twisting the demon's nipple between two fingernails.

"You don't need luck, darlin'," she said with an amused smirk as Nia grunted in shock and pain. And—who was she kidding—arousal, too.

"Thanks." She rolled her eyes and stepped through the opening, acrid air blasting her in the face as she crossed realms. "And thanks to you," she directed at Azh with a shrug, "for busting my fucking brain in half." The security guard had a ghost of a smile on her face as the door disappeared.

Nia shrugged out of her thick jacket, throwing it over her shoulder. The door had obscured the hut behind it at the bottom of a hill, one that the demon knew well.

She tugged at the hem of her white tank top and bounced from one foot to the other, psyching herself for the upcoming confrontation.

An ethereal voice seemed to wash over her, dulcet tones of haunting beauty. Was that the angel? Nia guessed the bitch must be happy that her rescue was nigh.

If, of course, she could get past Lioh. The bald asshole was on his porch, feet up, shotgun in his lap, the pinnacle of relaxation.

"That was quite the entrance, little girl," he called, and his gravelly tone made her skin crawl. He raised his hand to his nose and she flexed her fingers, instantly jealous of his dose. Fucker knew it too.

"Look, old man, I'm here for the angel in your basement," Nia demanded as she stomped down the hill, far less gracefully than she'd attempted. She wished she could strut like Azh, but it wasn't meant to be, so she'd have to be as intimidating as she could all by herself.

"My prisoner reached out to you?" Lioh didn't even have the audacity to try to look surprised. "What a coincidence."

"You could have just sent a postcard," she said bitterly. How had this bulky dick of a demon manipulated the angel in his favor anyway?

"It was kinda like a postcard." He shrugged. "A very visual one that didn't stop torturing you until you showed up at my doorstep. Far more effective than a piece of paper, no?"

"What do you want, then?" Nia cocked her head as she stopped a few feet from the porch. The shotgun wasn't a danger to her, it was just for show. Lioh was ever the showman.

"Well judging by the not-so-glazed look in your eye, you got no dose," he said with a dramatic sigh. "You came here without the one fuckin' thing you owe me, babe, so where does that leave us?"

"It leaves me with an angel clawing at my fucking brain." Nia was growing tired of his theatrics. "And you knew I wouldn't come with your shit. You going to try to kill me or what?"

"A dead demon can't provide for me." He spread his arms and grinned, a sly glint in his crimson eyes.

"This live demon isn't going to provide for you," she snarled, having no interest in providing the type of services that Lioh specialized in.

"That's a fuckin' shame, baby girl." He pouted, and then three things happened very quickly.

Nia tucked her legs under herself and rolled to the side as Lioh whipped the shotgun straight at her face, chased by an electrified wire that was his signature offense. She caught the wire in her fist and yanked, jaw clenching at the white hot pain flicking through her nerves.

He didn't expect her to retaliate this way, and fumbled headfirst down the porch steps. She leaped onto his back, straddling his muscular shoulders, and quickly looped the wire around his throat.

He immediately de-electrified it, which made it easier for her to tighten her grip, though aftershocks licked up her arm like fire. Compared to Azh's brain intrusion, though, it really wasn't all that bad.

Lioh spewed obscenities like a wildcat, kicking his legs and clawing back at her as best he could. But Nia held on as if she were riding a bull, holding the wire tighter and tighter until it bit flesh.

There was a dull squelch as she severed his head with his own weapon, the black ooze of his blood staining the dusty rock beneath.

She dropped the wire and leaped to her feet, swiping her hands against each other. She knew she only had fifteen, twenty minutes tops before he'd be back, but she couldn't help herself.

"Touchdown, motherfucker." Nia reeled back with her combat boot and punted Lioh's head clean up the hill.

Adrenaline surged through her as she turned and burst through the front door of the little hut. She'd spent so much time here, but her memories of the decor were buried under a thick haze of dose.

Nonetheless, it was a small place, and she located the basement door quickly. She put her foot through it and took the steps down two at a time.

When she reached the dirt floor, Nia fell to her knees at the glow before her. Chained to the wall with diamond shackles was an olive skinned goddess, wearing white gloves and a fine gold netting draped over her lean form.

The demon's eyes felt hot and wet for the first time in her existence, and she touched her cheeks in shock of the rivulets of tears.

"Nia, daughter of Hades, sister of demons, bringer of death," the silky voice came from everywhere and nowhere and Nia realized this being didn't have a mouth or eyes or a face why doesn't she have a face?! "Free me and be born anew as my guardian, a being of light and love and bringer of life."

Seduction at its finest. Even through these thoughts Nia's hands reached forward, pulled like magnets towards the shackles, the diamond crumbling at the demon's touch.

The angel sprang forward, covering her, entering her, and it felt like Azh's intrusion except it was her whole body her whole essence it was consuming her what was this thing this was no angel it was black and dark and wants me pulling me down—FUCK YOU—I won't go you can't take me let go of my mind you fucking bitch-

Nia stood on the sidewalk in her city, glancing around at the random bums milling about. She realized a short olive skinned woman in a light blue rain jacket was standing very close to her, and she frowned.

"Shit," she muttered as the woman looked up at her with bright, hopeful green eyes.

"That's not a very nice word," the little angel chastised, wagging her finger up at Nia with no fear whatsoever. "You're supposed to set a good example for me!"

"Ugh, honey, you picked the worst role model," Nia shook her head and started to walk away. Her long legs carried her in swift strides that the shorter woman had to jog to keep up with.

"Hey! Hey!" The blue clad sprite cried. "Can we get ice cream?!"

Nia was the guardian to an angel, and it was already driving her fucking crazy.

THE END