“What?” Selene only had time to turn around.

Multiple arrows flew across the air but they all hit a wall made from tiled floor. 

“Who still uses a crossbow in this time and age?” squeaked Selene as she moved to Zea. She squatted down and took one of Zea’s arms.

“A hunter. Leave me. I don’t think you can fare well against her,” said Zea. She had used her vampiric night vision and was confused to see the hunter who was just beyond the entrance. “It’s Corrine….”

“She’s a hunter?” said Selene in surprise. “Ugh, it all makes sense.” Selene slung Zea’s arm across her shoulder. “I thought she just had a massive crush on you.” 

“Surrender both of you and I may spare the witch!” threaten Corrine.

Zea watched Selene struggling to lift her up. “Just undo what you have done to me. I will fight the hunter if only my body can move again.”

“And you shall but I need to position you first,” said Selene. She grunted as she managed to move Zea to a cracked section of the floor from their earlier battle. “You don’t look like it, but you’re heavy as fuck!” she cursed.

“Just leave me,” repeated Zea. She saw Corrine stepped into the room, cocking a bolt into the crossbow.

“I would but I need a bait,” said Selene as she took out a vial of pink liquid.

Zea eyed the vial. “What is that?” she asked as she watched Selene pop out the cork top of the vial and took a sniff.

“Malcrium Magee’s Surreptitious Miraculous,” said Selene out loud.

Zea frowned. “That’s just a string of nonsensical words,” she said.

“Tincture. It’s the name, nerd,” said Selene as she rolled her eyes.

Zea who felt really stupid. “Oh, sorry,” she apologized.

Selene suddenly leaned forward and kissed Zea on the lips. Zea’s eyes opened wide, but closed as she settled into the kiss. She wasn’t sure if this was some new trend among college students, but she felt awkward as Selene’s tongue glided over the roof of her mouth a few times. 

At that moment Selene pulled back from Zea, a thick, thorned vine slammed into the tiled wall like a baseball bat. Pieces of the tiles pelted Selene and Zea. Corrine stood in their view, a hand on a crossbow and the other hand holding the thorned vine. 

Corrine pointed her crossbow at Selene. “Drop it,” she demanded. 

“As you wish,” said Selene. She lifted her arms up as if to surrender but let the pink vial drop from her hands. 

The vial crashed into the ground, breaking apart and letting the pink liquid spill out and into the cracked floor. Corrine’s vine then moved by itself and wrapped around Zea’s body. Zea ignored the pain as the thrones bit into her arms and legs.

“Ah, you’re a grace. That’s rare for your type to be outside of the Vatican’s City,” commented Selene. She watched the vines contract and pulled Zea to Corrine. “That wasn’t necessary, y’know. I immobilized her already.”

“I don’t trust you, Selene,” said Corrine. “For all I know you and her have been working together to summon Pazuzu.”

“From The Exorcist?” asked Selene, trying to hide her inappropriate giggle. 

“No, Pazuzu the ancient Summerian demon,” corrected Zea. She had read it in passing in a book from an ancient vampire library in France. 

“Wow, you are still a nerd even at this moment,” said Selene under her breath.

Zea didn’t respond and instead couldn’t help but stare at Selene. Why was the witch so...beautiful? She always thought Selene was before, but at this moment, the witch was more noticeable. Like making her heart race noticeable.

“I swear that movie got it all wrong how actual exorcism works,” sighed Corrine as she placed the tip of her crossbow next to Zea’s head. “But enough! Return what you have stolen or I will take out your lover’s head. My bolts are blessed.”

Zea eyes widen. She wanted to say she was not Selene’s lover but her mouth refused to obey. Instead, she blushed. What is going on with her? She hadn’t felt like an idiot, young, lovestruck fool for over two hundred years.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Selene. She winked at Zea, but was still addressing Corrine. “However, I can see you won’t believe me so I might as well ask what did I steal?”

“The pages from the Grand Grimoire that are locked in the Vatican's vault,” said Corrine. She pressed the tip of her cocked bolt in her crossbow against Zea’s temple.

Zea flinched away as her skin smoked from the bolt tip.

“I am not joking,” said Corrine gravely at Selene.

“Whoa, that's something I don’t do,” said Selene. “Every witch, well maybe not all, knows not to use a grimoire made of human flesh. Especially the Grand Grimoire, which by the way has printed copies that anybody can get since the early nineteenth century. Isn’t that right, Zea?”

Zea found herself again not responding and still staring at Selene. For the eternal life of her, she couldn’t peel her eyes away from the witch. 

“Those have been sanitized,” answered Corrine as if it was so obvious. She lifted an eyebrow and curiously looked at Zea. “You’re acting weird. Really weird.”

“She can’t help but be impress by me,” smiled Selene.

Zea felt the back of her neck heat up. 

Corrine narrowed her eyes at Zea. “You’re charmed? Why?”

“Zea, honey, kill the hunter for me,” commanded Selene.

Corrine had only blinked before the vines that had wrapped around Zea split apart in an explosion of green and red. She flung backward by a force she didn’t even register until she hit the ground. Her crossbow flung away and she felt all the air in her lungs expelled out in one giant oof. 

Despite that, Corrine was still able to maintain her consciousness. She took a big breath and out of instinct she uttered one word: opsero.

Zea’s fang sunk into the flesh of something green. She looked down to see there was a vine that had sprouted out from under the hunter’s clothes and blocked her from sinking her fangs into the hunter’s neck. Her light blue eyes then met with Corrine’s hazel eyes that were both surprised and horrified looking at her. 

Then came the taste. A very bitter taste. Zea retracted her fangs and spitted out the disgusting plant juice coating her mouth. 

“What is that?” Zea retched.

Corrine couldn’t move with Zea on top of her and the vampire held her arms down. So she did the next best thing. She uttered another word and her new vine thickened and hardened all the while slapping Zea away with a mighty whack! 

The hunter only saw Zea for a split second in the air about to hit the floor before the vampire disappeared.

“Damn, you’re fast--,” Corrine felt a rush of air before her vision finally caught up. Her vines reacted much faster than her and had blocked a punch from Zea. She could see pieces of her vines fly away but she knew they would grow and re-harden quickly.

Once again, Zea disappeared. 

Corrine, through gritted teeth, uttered another word. Her vines wrapped her body in a kind of pseudo armor. Where the vines weren’t touching her skin, razor sharp thorns popped out. If she couldn’t hurt Zea because of the vampire's ridiculous speed, she would let the vampire come to her.

The hunter looked wildly around for Zea before her sight caught Selene finishing up a rune drawn in the air.

“She makes a really good bait,” winked Selene.

Corrine's eyes went wide at the realization. She looked down and she was standing where Selene had dropped that potion earlier. She desperately moved to write a counter rune, but she could already feel it from her feet.  Her legs petrified. Then her body. Then her arms and finally, squeezing her eyes for the final petrification that would make her a statue permanently--

Zea suddenly appeared and dropped next to Corrine, landing forward with her head to the side. 

The hunter opened her eyes to find that the vampire had also been petrified save for her neck and head.

“Drat, only had enough for three fourths of the body for both of you,” said Selene.

Zea, facing the witch, lifted her head using her neck muscles to watch Selene swaggered to them while dusting her hands like she did a job well done.

“Was this necessary?” growled Zea. 

Selene tapped Zea’s mostly stoned body with her foot.  “The petrification?”

“I said I needed bait. Unfortunately that means you get caught up too,” shrugged Selene. 

“And the charm?” spat Zea. She realized what Selene did during their kiss was not a trend. The witch had traced a rune under the roof of her mouth! That seemed unnecessary. “I  am not going to kill you at all. You didn’t need to charm me if that was what stopped you from undoing whatever you did to me.”

“I was not intending to but I needed your body to obey me, okay? If you recall, nerd, we were under attack and I had paralyzed you.” said Selene as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Then she spoke to herself but Zea could still hear. “By the Moon Goddess, why did you lead me to her?”

“So you two aren’t a couple?” asked Corrine, who had been observing. 

“No. We are unfortunately not a couple,” smiled Selene. 

Zea felt herself blush again. “How long does this charm last?” she asked.

“Uh, should have worn off by now. Why?” asked Selene.

“Nothing,” said Zea. She let her head rest on the floor, finally feeling the toil of her charmed body having forced her to move that fast. She then heard a gutteral sound that she was sure was coming from the hunter.

“I see,” said Corrine. “Intelligent of you to lace that tincture to mute me. My tongue refuses to move to say an incantation.”

“Thank you,” said Selene. Then she tapped her chin. “Now that we are all not trying to kill each other,” she nudged her chin at Zea, “can we all agree that none of us have been murdering people for body parts?” Then she turned to Corrine,  “And also not summoning an ancient demon?”

Zea nodded as well as Corrine.

Selene took a deep breath. “I am pretty sure that whoever is collecting these body parts is using it to summon this Pazuzu.” She eyerolled. “It’s pretty obvious, granted if you, Corrine, is speaking the truth.”

“I am but, “ Corrine looked past Selene and to a shattered window. The moon was full. “Damn. It's beginning.”

Zea watched, puzzled seeing Selene whipped around and looked at the moon wide eyed. Then Selene rushed to a corner of the room. “What’s beginning? What’s going on, Selene?” she asked. “It’s just the moon.” 

“It’s not supposed to be full. Not at this time,” said Corrine gravely. “Pazuzu summoning is imminent. If we do not stop this, the world will end!”

Selene sprinted back with a few vials in her hands. She knelt beside Zea. She poured one of the vials over Zea before following it up with another vial. The petrification had started to disappear but Zea could still not move. 

“I don’t know how much time we have left and I have a feeling we will need you to stop this. Will you help us?“ asked Selene.  

She bit one of her fingers hard. “This should restore you.” 

Zea suppressed her instinct to latch onto Selene’s finger that hovered over her lips. Blood started appearing out from the wounded finger, but not enough to drip down yet.  “Only if you promise me to never charm me again,” she said. 

Selene hesitated but nodded. “I can’t again anyways. It's one time only that particular potion.”

Zea couldn’t tell if that was a lie but she was in no position to say no. She lifted her head up and sucked the blood off of Selene’s finger. The blood gave her life. It also gave her the needed energy for her to pull the witch down and sunk her fangs into that bare neck.

Selene gasped.

Zea pulled away from the witch’s neck, wiping blood from her lips. “I call that even for telling Professor Anderson that I copied my own homework,” she said.

Selene, pressing her neck wound from Zea’s bite, narrowed her eyes. “Letting you know,  what I gave you makes you bald. So yes, we are even, nerd.”

“What?” Now it was Zea’s turn to gasp.

Corrine cleared her throat. “Hi, I am still here. Are you two done flirting in what is possibly the beginning of the end of the world?”  A thorned vine had slithered away from the pair.

Zea saw that Corrine’s petrification had disappeared and she didn’t recall Selene giving the hunter anything. How did the hunter free herself?

“You’re smart too. You’re vines can do runes,” said Selene, impressed. She pursed her lips. 

Corrine nodded. “Thank you.”

A piercing  howl followed by a chorus of howls.

“Wolves?” Selene observed.

Zea growled. “No, werewolves. Hide!”

Four werewolves came crashing into the room. Zea bared her fangs as she rushed at the fastest one breaking away from his pack. She twirled around a slash from his claw.

The shirt had been shredded but the few strands that clung off the werewolf black furred chest still had his officer’s badge. She read the name. The werewolf was Officer Brown. 

Officer Brown lurched at Zea, trying to get her but she twirled around again only to face another werewolf but this one was red furred. She was trapped between two werewolves.

“Zea!” Selene shouted at her. “Catch!”

Somersaulting across the room was Zea’s sword. Timing it perfectly, Zea exploded from the balls of her feet to plant a foot on the red werewolf’s chest. Carrying her momentum, she pushed off into a backflip, caught her sword and twisted in such a way that her arm made an arc through Officer Brown’s neck.

She landed at the same time Officer’s Brown’s head landed on the ground. She faced the red werewolf again. They held each other’s gaze but it won’t be for long. 

For the span of time of an eyeblink, Zea disappeared.  The red werewolf then heard a swish of metal cutting through flesh before they suddenly gurgled and blood spurted from their neck. They fell backward in a heavy thud when Zea reappeared.

Zea was huffing and her sword bloody.  She didn’t drink enough of Selene’s blood to do that again, but she couldn’t let up. She quickly turned her attention to the remaining two werewolves, but where were they?

Near the entrance was Corrine. She held an end to a thorny vine that unwrapped to expose a grey werewolf filled with softball sized puncture wounds. The grey werewolf with their tongue sticking out and eyeballs rolled back, fell forward. The hunter pointed behind Zea.

Zea turned around to see a dead white werewolf, it’s head sizzling from the bolt sticking out of its head. Selene still had the hunter’s crossbow aimed. “I know who’s the murderer,” she grinned at Selene.

“So do I,” winked Selene. She pointed her crossbow at the head of Officer Brown that had returned back to a human. “That bitch wanted to give me a ticket for ditching class early today.” She then nudged her chin at Corrine. “Do you have more bolts? We have to kill our math professor.”