Chapter Text
In a certain lavish house, lived a human girl.
It was no loving home with warm meals and welcoming atmosphere, full of life and peace, nor was it a place where one could sit comfortably on the best chairs and couches money could buy, it was the Blight manor...which meant dread, coldness, hostility and the general sense of unease.
The massive doors into the manor were flanked by terrifying statues, gargoyles...creeping out even the most hardened visitors.
Behind them laid a grand staircase, connecting the floor of servants to the living spaces of the manor's inhabitants.
In these halls, servants and other helpers moved around like busy ants, caring for things where they were needed, preparing dinner, tea or just performing maintenance.
In this manor..lived the Blights.
Their immense wealth rivaled only by their infamous heartlessness and greed.
Our girl was of such a family...a Blight, the seventeen years of her life were hard, lonely and full of pain.
Her generosity and compassion becoming atrophied like an unused muscle, they were things she would like to exercise, but couldn't out of fear of her mother finding out.
So now, almost as cold as the rest of her home, Amity Blight blinked, her alarm screaming its obnoxious tune on her nightstand.
It was time to wake up and face the world again.
Amity shut her alarm down, wishing with all her might that she could just sleep in..for once in her life..but she knew that was a pipe dream.
Never to be allowed...so it would never happen.
She rubbed her eyes, trying to get sleep..or maybe tears from her latest nightmare out of them.
Until a small meow interrupted her morning misery, making her smile, even if only a little..Ghost...her cat, he was laying next to her bed, as always.
She did not know why Odalia let her have a cat...but she would probably go insane years ago if she did not have him.
Amity slowly got out of bed, heading to the bathroom, scathing his ears on her way past him.
It was ironic in a way, or maybe fitting, her getting nightmares...she lived in a nightmare every day, so getting them at night..well, for stuff she did...was forced to do...it was fitting.
Arriving in the bathroom she looked in the mirror seeing her haunting reflection.
Sunken eyes, with deep dark circles under them, her pale skin only adding to the contrast.
She was awake till 2 AM last night, getting some work done.which is probably while she looked this good today...
Most of the time she did not manage to finish until 4 AM...so there was something positive..yay..
Amity splashed her face with cold water, checking the time on her phone.
'At least I have time to shower today..' she thought with relief.
And then promptly entered the shower.
Most morning she slept through her first alarm out of sheer exhaustion..
Half an hour later, after her shower and a truly disgusting amount of makeup, to hide her face and appear...'presentable'..she stood in her walk-in closet, putting on her school uniform.
It was 6:30 AM, with half an hour to spare until school started.
For normal students...
But Amity, the perfect student body president she was, needed to be at school at 7...mistakes and missed deadlines...those were not permitted for her.
With goodbye scratches to Ghost, she swiftly ran down the stairs, ignoring the manor staff as she went and they in turn ignored her...only giving her short nods as she passed by them.
They would never dare to do this in the presence of anyone else in the family...but with Amity, they knew she preferred if they acted like she wasn't there.
Amity grabbed two apples from a bowl on the counter and swiftly headed to the main doors, soon speed walking across the lawn.
Almost against her will she felt herself sigh in relief, no mother, father, or twins...it was a good morning everything considered.
In her heart, Amity felt a pang of pain as she thought of the twins..her older siblings..
A year or so back, when both of them turned 18..the twins tried to leave, run away from this awful house and family and get away from it all..Amity did not blame them one bit...but their mother, Odalia Blight was ready for their every move, cutting out all financial support and freezing their accounts, pulling the rug from under them both, letting them fall face first on the pavement.
The twins resisted, tried to make their own living, not succumb to their mother..but with none to help them and no experienced in living without their wealth..or maybe she should say the Blight wealth, they could not keep a job, having no idea how to be a cashier or a server...or anything less sophisticated than a manager, they could not afford an apartment and could not handle their finances, in half a year they both came back...homeless at that point..and their desperation finally winning over.
Amity still had nightmares from the expression on her mother's face, when Odalia saw them standing outside the manor gate, dirty, broken...returning to her clutches.
She let them stand there for hours, in the cold biting wind, before finally letting them in.
And from that moment, Amity lost all hope....every single bit of it.
Her 'siblings' now worked for the Blight corporation.
But Amity no longer recognised them, granted they were never super nice to her...or close in any way, but in the past she would catch Emira looking at her with genuine sorrow, like that one time in middle school after someone posted the contents of her private diary all over school walls and Edric would sometimes talk to her to cheer her up...bringing her snacks she wasn't supposed to have and talking about things that weighed heavily on both their shoulders.
Not anymore...now the twins felt like empty husks of her siblings.
Emira was as short and hostile with people as Odalia herself.
While Edric was simply there, with an empty look in his eyes...living...while not really alive as he once used to be..
Amity got out of the manor grounds, the outside gate now safely behind her and got into her car.
Wordlessly the driver took off, heading to Hexside, straightening her posture and preparing her fake indifferent expression.
It was nearly 3 PM, when Amity took a break and shed her mask, willing with all of her might to remain calm as she sat, locked in the school bathroom stall.
Amity was rubbing her temples, trying to get her emotions under control.
There were several people on the school council...at least in theory they were.
Skana, being the treasurer, who got her job since Odalia insisted Amity give it to her...who mostly watched videos on her phone.
Cat, being the secretary, who got her job since Odalia insisted Amity give it to her...who was always talking to everyone who would listen about some bs.
Amelia, being the historian, who got her job since Odalia insisted Amity give it to her...who was like a shadow to Amity's vice president.
Boscha, her truly horrific ex and student council vice president, who..you guessed it..got her job since Odalia insisted Amity give it to her..
Boscha was downright hurting the council's progress, creating more trouble everywhere she went and actively encouraging everyone to be lazy..often ditching the meetings altogether and dragging other members with her.
Amity knew why Boscha was doing it...what was her real goal..
In the past, when Amity could no longer take being with Boscha, she broke up with her using the excuse of being too busy to maintain a relationship..so now...Boscha was making sure she was just that and more.
Amity took a deep breath, emerging from the bathroom stall and marching into the hallway.
Right now, she was in the middle of club inspections.
A vice president's duty..which Amity hated with all her heart.
With her mother on the school governors board, the rules for clubs were strict..nonsensical even...
But Amity had to follow them, enforce them..
'No please, don't take our club room...we just like to play board games together...why should we need to have a 'worthwhile' endeavor, or form of research, as a result of our activity...'
'But...why is it an issue if one of the members has worse grades then the school average..'
'Why are you doing this to us?'
'Don't you have any emotions?'
Amity stopped, thanking every deity she knew that the hallway was empty, someone seeing her hesitating would be an issue..
'Don’t you dare cry!' she warned herself, she could not ruin her makeup now...Amity had no way of reapplying it.
She composed herself again..
One more club...just one more...
'I really hope there is nothing wrong with the occult club...'
Thinking about it...it was kinda surprising they managed to fit into the 'form of research' to stay a club, but that particular club was done by Boscha in the past..and Amity did not really have the energy to investigate..
She would have to deal with any issue now, if they were any.
Amity stood in front of the doors, reading the small sign next to the doors, her poor heart hammering in her chest.
*Matt Tholomule*
*Augustus Porter*
*Hunter Wittebane*
*Willow Park*
Willow...Park...
Amity felt like leaving, couldn't she just walk away...this one time..
She heard four muffled voices on the other side of the doors.
All members were inside..which meant Willow was inside as well..
She could leave and she was going to..
Confronting Willow would be too much, she could not do it..
Amity half turned away, when something red caught her eye...a small blinking dot..a camera, positioned right down the hallway.
...
She couldn't leave...if she did, her mother would find out...everyone in school knew that if they found something about her, they should go to Boscha to trade it for cash... and Boscha would then move the message along and once it reached Odalia's ears, there would be hell to pay and if she knew her mother, most of it would not be aimed at her.
Turning back to the doors Amity swiftly knocked, opening the doors in the very next second...
'Amity, a Blight does not wait to be invited in.....only peasants do that..are you a peasant?'
"Student council! This is a surprise inspection!"
All four teens in the room froze, their gaze shifting in her direction.
Amity could see Willow's eyes widen in surprise...and then shift into cold indifference.
While one of the boys, Hunter, unless she was mistaken, moved closer to Willow, partly shielding her from Amity's view.
For a second Amity was completely stunned by the gesture.
'So Willow has a...'
The mixture of emotions in her stomach got worse at the realization.
...
'I wish you luck Willow...he looks like a really nice guy, to stand in the way of a Blight, an ice queen and the heartless student body president...that takes courage most of the students do not have...' thought Amity, knowing she would never say any of this out-loud.
Still she could not help but feel a sting of jealousy.
'I wish I had someone who would stand up for me..'
"I am here to make sure you are complying with all the school's regulations," said Amity shortly, thankfully managing to keep her mask up, despite the storm raging inside her.
"Oh I see..."
Amity looked away from Willow..who was trying to wrestle her boyfriend out of the way and looked at...what was his name...Porter?
"That is a start Mister Porter, this academy does not accept any people with disabilities.."
The younger boy took a half step away, looking like she hit him across the face with her icy tone, but Amity was now fully concentrating on her checklist, ignoring him.
"For your grades.."
With that Amity started, making her way through the check list as fast as humanly possible...everything was going well, thankfully..
Until she arrived at the 'Contraband' section...
Amity looked around, scanning the shaves and items lying around...her gaze landing on a book sitting on the windowsill...
'No library mark on the cover..'
*Contraband is any object, which does not belong to the school and was not previously cataloged as essential to the learning process, with the exception of items with personal permission from the member of the governing board, all such items are to be taken..and destroyed without delay.*
Amity felt like cursing out-loud.
'Maybe I could just...'
...
'When has that ever ended well....'
"Mr.Porter," Amity walked across the room and picked the book up....the tome was rather heavy, bound in black leather, looking ancient..
"Would you care to explain what is a book, not belonging to the school library, doing here?"
"Oh...OH, yes that, I brought that in a few days ago, it supposed to be some kind of old occult book about demon summoning!" explained Augustus, suddenly visibly excited.
Amity just stared at him...'Oh...he does not know the rules.' she realized.
She just looked at the younger boy, who was now ranting about the book she would be forced to take and then throw into the incinerator, its age, supposed magical attributes.
"It is said that the book can be opened only by someone truly desperate, as those are the only people demons respond to, that is why none of us.."
"Mr.Porter!" interrupted Amity forcefully.
"You seem unaware of the fact that all things which weren't approved by the school are considered contraband...and are to be confiscated and..."
The boy's eyes widened in fear, his gaze going to the book in her hand.
....
"are to be held by the student council until I, the president, decide to return them."
'I am stupid and I will regret doing this...'
"B.ut...that book is...I have to return it..you can't just..." started Augustus, stammering.
But Amity did not let him speak...she was risking probably a fair few diners by doing this much already..
"I will overlook this from your side and not penalize you for bringing in contraband, as it is your first offense...thank you for your time," said Amity and started walking to the doors, the book in hand.
Porter halfheartedly tried to stand in her way, but thankfully the remaining guy stopped him.
Amity walked out of the room, closing the doors behind her and speed walking to the 'student leadership room' or her office, as she called it in her head, needing to get away as fast as possible.
She felt like a train just ran her over...her feelings even more turbulent than before, the book feeling like an enormous burden in her arms...
Without knocking she opened the doors to her office, finding it empty...
Amity sighed..
It wasn't like she expected someone to work and do anything to help her...not by this point at least...but she could not help but feel hurt every time.
Her thoughts strayed to Boscha for just a second..
At times she was playing with the idea of Boscha being genuinely hurt by their break up, that she did this out of 'love' somehow...but this...leaving everything to her to exhaust her..conspiring with Odalia whenever she got the chance, the look of satisfaction whenever Amity had to walk away to a corner to just breath.
If it was love, then Amity did not want a spec of Boscha's 'love'..
Amity looked at the book, hesitating on what to do with it now, she had to take it home with her, someone could find it here, she had no illusion about privacy, Boscha surely went thru everything here at her leisure, Amity put the book in her bag...and got to work...sadly the treasury would not check itself.
It was after 8 PM when Amity arrived home, her bag heavy as she still carried the book...
Amity felt like sprinting to her room, just to limit the amount of time she was exposed to the hallway and possible encounter with her mother or siblings...but she knew that if three out of four members of her family saw her, she would have even more problems if she was seen running.
"Mittens.."
Amity froze, looking up to see her brother's face.
His eyes looked empty..and Amity had to suppress the need to flip her bag to the front and use it as a shield.
"Where have you been? " he asked coldly, “Mom and Emira were looking for you earlier."
The monotone way he spoke in was so off putting Amity could not help but shiver.
"I was at school.." she peeped, feeling like a terrified little girl.
"School ended hours ago, Where.Have.You.Been?" asked Edric, taking a step closer.
"I am sorry..I..I really was at school, no..nobody helps me with my work as the council body president.."
Edric just...stared at her..unmoving.
Amity felt sweat running down her forehead.
Until suddenly, she felt him passing by her...not looking at her, continuing somewhere deeper into the manor.
Amity felt the tears threatening to burst, abandoning any and all decorum she run for her room, getting there without an issue and locking the door behind her...
She collapsed, sliding down, leaning against the now locked doors...
How the hell did things end like this....How and...why...what did she ever do..
*Meeeeoooow..*
Amity rubbed her face, for the moment distracted from her spiraling, feeling her disgusting makeup give...thankfully Ghost did not care about makeup..
Or at least she did not think Ghost cared..you never knew with a cat....everything was..pawsible..
She got up, dragging her bag behind her.
Amity had to feed her, taking care of Ghost was all on her...staff was forbidden from interacting with her cat in any way...
She did not know why she was allowed to have her in the first place...maybe Ghost was a chip for her mom to control her with...she could not really take anything from her, if Amity had nothing..
But honestly, she couldn't care less right now.
Going through her routine, feed Ghost, get rid of the make up, Amity collapsed on the ground, soon feeling the only friendly being she knew rubbing her face against her leg.
*Purrrrrr*
Amity hiccuped, taking several deep breaths to calm herself, she was getting emotional just from the little affection she was getting from her cat...
Heavily..and wishing she could just continue laying here, she got up to her feet, collecting her bag from the floor, she emptied its insides on the table, stopping at the enormous book.
'An occult book on how to summon a demon huh....maybe I could ask for a better life, or maybe like a true friend or something..'
Her curiosity getting the better of her, Amity tugged on the cover, opening the book, scanning the first page..
Surprisingly the ancient looking book was in English.
Amity skipped a few pages, scanning the words written inside.
'The ritual rite, demon contracts....' read Amity, as she listed in the book.
She smiled...it was a very well made scam she had to admit, the book being in English was a dead giveaway tho...
However...
Amity scanned the rather simple instruction for the most basic of 'summoning rituals'.
She had everything needed for this 'ritual'.
...
Maybe...would her mother endorse this...certainly not..and that was a big plus...maybe Amity could summon like a cute demon girl right into her room to distract her from the woes of her daily life.
Amity could not help but grin..
She needed to do something other than study...she felt like her head might pop if she tried to do more school work now.
Trying to summon a demon would be...unorthodox way to pass the time...but everything should be tried at least once right?
Half an hour later, Amity was slowly but surely starting to regret her choice of a nighttime activity..she just finished with the 'ritual circle'.
And she managed to gather all the reacquired ingredients.
Feathers...
Fur of a living being..'Thank you for your sacrifice/gift Ghost.'
A favorite earthy book...weird..but easy..
Gold...while that one might have been difficult for some, it was as simple as borrowing one of the ball spoons from the kitchen, an easy task at this time of night. For some reason, unless she was really loud, she never saw anyone from her family members after like 10PM.
And lastly, blood...which was the point of her current hesitation...
Should she truly just pick herself with a needle for a make-believe demon summoning...??
Was she really that stupid..
Amity starting to lean toward the, let's clean this all up and just watch Netflix...when..
'It's probably gonna eat away at me if I don't do it..I have everything else..'
With reckless abandon she pinned her hand, closely looking as a few drops of blood dropped into its place...
'Ohhh and the incantation...'
Amity leaned over the book, reading through the summoning phrase.
She took a deep breath, thankfully she knew a thing or two about Latin...so she could pronounce this stuff correctly...just for authenticity of course.
"Invoco te daemonium ab inferis, caput verbi mei, et vocationem meam exaudi....."
...
...
Slowly, Amity let out a sigh...why was she nervous again?
It wasn't like anything..
"QUI INFERNUM QUAERUNT INVENTIENT!!"
It felt as if the very foundation of the world shook, as the ghastly voice reverberated thru Amity's skull.
The circle ran hot with fire, as a pillar of black and red energy formed in the middle.
Amity blinked..it was as if someone...
As suddenly as it came, the fire was gone....leaving her room shrouded in thick smoke.
But she could still see a figure standing in the dark, an outline of wings…
Emerging from the darkness and stepping into the light cast by her measly lamp, Amity saw olive skin, brown unnaturally shining eyes, wings and horns..
There was a demoness in her room...
'Ups...'