Amber and brown leaves rustled in the cool wind. They fell to the earth when it was their turn to take the plunge, collecting in loose piles around the trunk. The skies were grey and gloomy like they were soon to bring rain. It was late afternoon, but the lack of sunlight made the Abbey appear incredibly dark.

Leora aimlessly walked through the halls of the Abbey, her mind filled with smoke. She had been doing something and going somewhere, though what and where she could not recall. Her body was warm.

Her head hurt. It wasn’t a withdrawal headache, not this time. This was the feeling of flame in her mind that she had been feeling inconsistently since she became a fledgling. The fire was searing away at more of her and she could feel it getting worse.

It had been a while since the new routine of Corvina giving Leora her drug had started. Leora had assumed that the pain in her head would have faded together with the withdrawals and nightmares, but she had been mistaken.

The flame persisted and burned ever bright.

She had brought it up to Corvina on a particularly bad day. Her concern had been that the demonic possession was still getting worse.

Her Superior assured her, however, that that was not the case. Corvina told her that it was a side effect of the Lord’s light returning to a balance inside her.

Suddenly, the memory of what she was doing prior to feeling so lost hit her. Leora had some free time before supper. She found a tome about demonic possession and its symptoms in Corvina’s study and flipped through the pages, only to find an important entry on… something. That’s where her memory ceased.

After that point she remembered only sensation. She remembered feeling her mind catch alight and how it stopped her in her tracks. She couldn’t read, she couldn’t think. Her body just burned.

Leora had tried to find anything about her condition in differing books but each time she tried to read, her head burned harder. Leora was stubborn and persistent, though, and tried until the words on the page looked like smudges she couldn’t decipher.

Whispers played over and over around her, overwhelming her senses. Even worse still, her cunt ached. Leora was in an unfortunate loop; each thought that burned fueled the ache’s fire and each pang of need caused another thought to catch flame.

It was like her body and mind were conspiring against her. Her whole body tingled with sensations never felt before, like she was developing new nerves, new feelings. The budding horns on her head sparkled with temptation. Even her skin felt like it was hyper-sensitive to the habit on her body.

It was overwhelming. When it almost became too much, she decided to leave the study to go back to her quarters. She needed to remove her clothes and give herself time to calm down. For the sensations to fade.

She had almost made it to her room when a voice, deep and alluring like Corvina’s, whispered through the halls and stopped her in her tracks.

‘Fade away, Leora.’

The words dazed her enough that she almost tripped. Her knees wanted to collapse at the need that panged between her legs, but she was determined, even though there was a part of her that wanted to listen to the voice. She took a deep breath and did her best to clear her head, taking another unsteady step toward her goal.

‘Forget.’

And she did. Leora forgot. She forgot what she was told to forget in an instant. She was left dizzy and confused, unclear of where in the Abbey she was or where she was going. The heat between her legs remained and it begged her to stop moving. To just fall to her knees and give in.

Her shoulder slammed into the wall as her footing become unsteady, her legs crossing and shaking with exertion.

‘Leora…’

The voice called to her in a sing song tone, taunting her.

She turned around and saw a tall dark shadow in the shape of a woman at the end of the hall. Leora began to let her guard down thinking it to be one of the other sisters, but it was only a temporary relief. The silhouette stretched its arms out to either side and Leora felt fear begin to take hold.

Teeth appeared in an inhuman grin where the shadow’s mouth would be. Its hands unfurled into claws that glinted in the dim lighting of the hall. The silhouette began its approach toward Leora, each step making an audible click that echoed against the bare walls.

Leora started running. The fear-induced adrenaline willed her legs into motion and carried her away from the silhouette and toward her room. She ran the short distance as fast as she could and slammed into the door to her quarters.

Her shaking hands fumbled for the handle and eventually found the cold metal. She turned it and scrambled inside, shutting the door behind her. Before the creature could open the door behind her, she locked it and exhaled in relief.

She heard a deep laugh and her reality snapped back to the hall, with the silhouette only a few feet away.

“No... I was just - I was safe. How?” Leora felt tears begin to run down her cheeks. She was paralyzed and confused. It had just been a vision, a stupid figment of her imagination. A reality she wished she was in.

Instead, Leora was here, trapped in this hall with the creature getting ever closer. She looked up at where the shadow’s eyes should have been and met with something that sent shivers down her spine.

Two eyes in the normal position for a human and two more smaller eyes below them. All four burned with an orange glow that quieted Leora’s mind. Like a deer spotted in lantern light, she stood and stared at the shadow’s eyes.

Leora reached for her crucifix and pulled it off of her neck, raising it at the shadow. “No. Stay away. I am a holy woman of the Lord God and I pray for thee to stay back, demon.” Her voice cracked in fear.

The shadow slapped the crucifix away and gripped Leora around her throat. With an inhuman strength, it picked Leora up so that her eyes were level with the otherworldly set of four and slammed her into the wall.

The impact made Leora’s ears ring and her hands fell limp to her side. She looked at the alluring eyes in front of her and managed to shut hers before it was too late.

‘Tsk, Leora. You know better than to hide from evil. Pray. You are a nun, so pray to the Lord. Over and over until he saves you from Me.’

Leora whimpered. The voice was growling in her ear - so close she could feel the demon’s breath - and yet it was also in her mind, the words echoing in her skull. In desperation she started reciting prayer, line after line, verse after verse.

The claws around her throat tightened slowly. The shadow’s free hand began tracing down Leora’s body and with the slightest pressure sliced through the fabric of Leora’s habit. Leora felt the cool air against her skin. She was filled with shame and began to scream.

The thing’s free hand quickly covered her mouth and suppressed her yell. She screamed into the hand and only muffled sounds of struggle escaped.

‘Where is your Lord, Leora? Your God is nowhere to be found when you need him most. Your prayers fell on deaf ears and your only options are scream and hope one of the other little nuns comes to help, or, give in.’

Leora struggled harder but it was hopeless. No matter how hard she screamed into the hand smothering her, how hard she tried to will her arms to move, nothing happened. The lure of giving in to the creature made Leora’s cunt twitch.

‘Judging by the smell of you, it seems like you know which you will choose. Eventually. Do not worry, child, I am patient. I have all of eternity to break that little brain of yours.’

Leora just screamed louder. The only person who called her “child” was Corvina. This thing couldn’t be her Mother Superior. Whether out of denial or sheer naïveté, Leora rejected the idea deep in her core.

‘Quiet. Open your eyes. Now.’

The command hit Leora like a ton of bricks. She tried to fight it, to not listen and keep her eyes shut tight, but it was for naught. Her eyes popped open and were immediately captured by the alluring light of her captor’s gaze. Suddenly the fight left her body and all she could feel was the flame.

‘Very good girl. You have fight in you but are quick to obey when ordered. I do so adore that in a lover.’

Leora felt the thing’s knee press between her legs and her mind erupted in sparks. She had never been touched there before, not like this. She had resisted every temptation to touch herself sinfully, for years, and it was gone in a moment. Taken from her by this thing cloaked in the darkness.

Leora let out a muffled moan, her tears streaking the dark powder she wore around her eyes.

‘You cannot hide how good it feels, girl. Not from Me. It is not breaking chastity if you climax on my knee, you know.’

If it were not for the gaze holding them in place, Leora’s eyes would have rolled back into her head. On top of the heightened sensitivity she was feeling, she was being forced into this. She couldn’t help herself.

Or at least, that’s how she justified it in her head when she started grinding.

The thing laughed at her.

‘So easy you crumble. The slightest push, a hint that you are not sinning, and you fall immediately. Did you even stop to think if I was lying? Stupid thing.’

Leora whimpered. Her hips were moving on their own and she could not stop them. She needed this. She felt the horns on her head begin to break free of her scalp.

She was sinning. Corvina had told her not to and yet she couldn’t stop.

‘Your corruption is getting worse with each thrust. You already noticed that, I am certain. Can you stop yourself before it’s too late? Let us find out together, my love.’

With the question floating in the air, Leora’s captor released her mouth. Instead of screaming, she just panted like a dog. Her eyes were filled with flame, just like the shadow’s, her eyelids fluttering from the pleasure.

‘Oh dear, it seems that you are breaking. I truly expected you to at least try and fight. You really are becoming a demon if you give in to lust this easily. Your fate shall soon be sealed.’

The thing laughed again and Leora gave an empty headed giggle in reply. Her mind was just fire and lust. The demon leaned in and kissed her, its tongue snaking into Leora’s mouth and into her throat.

The taste of it reminded her of the cursed potion. Leora’s eyes widened when she realized what was about to happen to her. She couldn’t pull away or fight, and the addict inside her didn’t even want to.

The demon was drugging her with a kiss.

She swallowed the foreign saliva without hesitation and moaned into her captor’s mouth.

‘The Lord is watching your fall, slut. Degrade yourself even further in his eyes. You cannot fight this. You are a sinner and you are going to break for Me, willingly.’

The voice was just as loud as before, despite the fact that the thing’s mouth was still against hers. The thing pressed its knee a little harder against her cunt and the delicious friction was almost all Leora needed.

‘Cum, Leora. Give in.’

Her body clenched and twitched against her captor. She screamed with pleasure as waves of heat wracked her body. Sensations she had never experienced overwhelmed her mind and broke her will.

Her eyes no longer just reflected the flames of the demon in front of her, they began burning all on their own. The shadow broke the kiss once Leora’s orgasm had subsided. The tongue retracted from her throat, hanging there in front of them for a moment. It was incredibly long and had strange ripples along its outer edges. Somehow, the creature retracted the length back into its mouth.

Leora’s tongue too hung free from her mouth in a lust-filled haze. Saliva mixed with the demon’s drug dripped from the tip and onto her exposed skin. There was nothing in Leora’s head, no shame and no thoughts. The saliva-drug began hit her bloodstream and her tired eyes began to close.

The shadow slapped her awake.

‘You do not get to fall asleep and escape this. Stay awake.’

Leora’s eyes snapped open as if she had never been tired at all. The thing released her neck and pulled away, letting her fall to the floor in a crumpled weak heap. She looked up at the shadow before her and saw something that filled her with dread.

The demon’s shadow form began to fade, revealing what was hiding beneath. A human smile hiding underneath the darkness. It was wearing a Sacred Night habit.

‘You dirtied my habit, slut. Apologize.’

Leora’s voice croaked out weakly, strained from the screams. “I - I am sorry. Please forgive me.”

The nun-shaped thing growled at her.

‘Say the words. Admit what you did, to your Lord, to me and to yourself. What are you apologizing for?’

Leora’s face was red with shame.

“I am sorry for… I - I am sorry for having an orgasm on your leg. I am sorry for filthying your holy garb.”

The shadow caressed Leora’s stinging cheek and she suddenly felt at peace. The gentle act made all the pain and shame fade into the background. It was emotional whiplash.

‘Good girl. It works better if you admit the truth, that way you cannot hide behind silly ideas and justifications.’

Leora nodded. In this state, she would agree with anything the demon told her. Her mind was scrambled and her will obliterated. The drug in her system was making it harder and harder to stay afloat.

‘You may try and atone for what you have done today. Pray or bury it deep down inside and hope that you can forget. I do not really care. The damage is done - your changing body will crave this now.’

Leora agreed. She would pray to the Lord, she would try to hide from the sin but she could feel the flames in her head already aching for more.

‘And we both know just how much of an addict you are. You will falter. Look forward to it.’

Deep down inside her, Leora knew that the shadow-nun was right. The shame she felt only added to the allure. On the outside she just bit her lip and whimpered. The demon pulled its hand away.

‘Good bye, Leora. Next time we meet, I expect you to beg.’

In an instant, the demon vanished, as if it were a figment of Leora’s imagination. Her soaked undergarments and torn habit told the truth, however. The creature was real and it left Leora weak and alone.

Unsteady and with a head filled with fog, she lifted herself to her feet by holding on to the wall. Her hands never left the handhold as she walked to her quarters, feeling aches and pains throughout her body.

She opened the door to her room and shut it behind her. Filled with dread, she shut her eyes. The vision she experienced earlier made her fearful that the room wasn’t real. The familiar smell of her sheets and the dust that filled the air was unmistakable - this was reality.

She opened her eyes and collapsed to her knees in relief. The demon was gone - for now - and she was safe.

Tears of relief and shame ran down her cheeks and she fell to her side on the cold floor, hugging her knees for comfort. She prayed to the dark as she lay there and hoped that she could still be forgiven.

Not for what had happened but for how much she was already wanting more.

. . .

Leora had heard the bells for first service ring. She had managed to stand up and strip out of her shredded habit. She looked at the crumpled pile of fabric and felt her hairs stand on end. Instead of dressing and making her way to service, Leora simply cried.

She donned her nightgown and buried herself under her covers. The bedsheets felt soft and safe.

The bell for breakfast rang and Leora’s stomach remained silent. She hadn’t eaten in ages since she skipped supper and yet couldn’t bear the thought of eating. Putting food into her body would only serve to make her sick.

And so, she remained in her room.

Bells rang for second service, third, fourth and there Leora stayed. It was only after she skipped dinner and fifth service that someone came to check on her.

A soft rapping of a fist on her door made her heart momentarily stop beating. A part of her brain lit up in fear, remembering the thing that had hurt her, and she curled into an even tighter ball.

“Go away! Please just leave me alone!” The fear was audible in her voice as she yelled at the door.

“Leora? I am just worried about you. It is just me here. Luci. Can I come in?”

The fear inside her melted away. Lucille could help her, she was the only other nun here who would understand. The shame of it held Leora back, however, and she remained silent.

“Oh Heavens, enough of this. I am coming in Leora. Please make sure you are decent.”

The door handle clicked as it turned and the door creaked open slowly. Leora saw a hesitant eye peering through the crack in the doorway, looking around and spotting Leora on her bed. Lucille then opened the door to allow herself in and shut it behind her.

“Leave me, Lucille. I am beyond saving.”

Lucille scoffed and slowly walked over to join Leora on her bed. “Oh Leora, that is ridiculous. What could you have possibly done that you are beyond saving? The Lord is always willing to forgive his children.”

Leora’s mind flashed back to the pleasure she had felt the night prior.

“No. Luci. You do not understand. I - Something awful happened. Is happening. Something is wrong with me. I am a danger to the Abbey.”

Lucille’s face turned from her usual lighthearted smile to gravely serious.

“Tell me.”

Leora sat up and wore her bedsheets like a hood to obscure the growths on her head.

“Yesterday evening I was attacked by the devil here at Sacred Night.”

Lucille burst into laughter.

“Oh Leora, you are so funny. A demon in the Abbey! Your sense of humor is so unique.”

Tears began to form at the corners of Leora’s eyes. She felt defeated.

“I knew you would not believe me…”

Lucille put a hand on Leora’s thigh. Leora felt the warmth of the other woman’s skin and flinched at the touch.

“You do seem rather tense. Let me help you, Leora.”

Leora watched as Lucille lowered herself to her knees in front of her. Lucille’s irises burned orange. She spread Leora’s legs apart - exposing her most private place - and leaned in close. Leora could feel the other woman’s breath on her cunt as she extended her tongue toward Leora.

Leora gripped Lucille’s head and forced Lucille’s tongue against her.

“Lick, slut. Worship me.”

Leora growled out the command with a confidence she had never felt before. An energy surged through her that filled her with heat, like she placed dry wood onto a bed of coal. She had never used such vulgar language but it felt good to let it out.

“Yes, Mistress.” Lucille responded monotonously, as if her mind was someplace far away. The other woman started with a lick —

Leora snapped out of her vision and yelped, pushing herself away from Lucille. Leora pulled her knees to her chest and looked to Lucille with cheeks beet red. Lucille was still sat on the bed and her eyes were clear of the orange glow.

“Another vision… Oh, God, they are getting worse.”

Lucille looked at her in concern.

“You really are spooked by something, Leora. Your cheeks are red, do you have a high temperature? I can check for you?” Lucille reached over toward Leora’s forehead and Leora leaned away from the touch.

“No! Do not - do not touch me, Lucille. Please.”

Lucille’s brow furrowed but she nodded and pulled her arm away. “Alright, Leora. I believe you.”

“Really? Why? I must seem insane to you.”

“You are using God’s name in vain, you are flushed and you have fear deep in your eyes. Tell me what happened, Leora, I will believe you.”

Leora took a deep breath to collect herself and began telling Lucille everything that had happened. Everything from the way the demon had spoke both inside and outside her head, to the way she had felt when the climax wracked her body.

The words poured out of her mouth like a flood and by the time she was finished she had to catch her breath. Lucille looked stunned. Leora feared the worst. What if Lucille ran out the room and told Corvina and the others about her delusions? She would be exiled in a heartbeat.

She beat herself up for being so forthcoming.

“Oh Leora, I am so sorry that happened to you. It sounds truly terrifying.”

Leora began to cry again. “You believe me? I slept on the floor and have not left my room all day. I feel awful that I did not attend service and —”

Lucille shushed her with a finger to her lips.

“You are rambling, Leora. Take a deep breath. In for three beats of your heart and then out for three. In and out. Can you do that?”

Leora sniffled and did exactly as Lucille told her. In for three, out for three. In for three, and out. Shockingly, it helped. She felt her racing heart and mind slow down to a steady calm.

“Good. Now. You missed a single day of service. Just one. In the grand scheme of things it does not matter. The other sisters and Mother Corvina will understand given the circumstances. The circumstances that you have been attacked by the devil.

You were raped, Leora, and how you felt during the event is not important. Demons can tempt you into things and make you think you wanted them in the first place.”

It was a surprising level of knowledge from the usually air-headed Lucille. Leora often forgot how devoted Lucille was to the Lord.

“We have wards and prayers for this sort of thing. I will prepare some for you tonight but you have to remain here until then. I fear whoever, or whatever, this demon is has its eyes set solely on you.”

Suddenly she remembered the detail of the nun habit the demon had been wearing. It was a crucial detail that could be pivotal to figuring out the identity of the demon.

“Lucille, the demon… it was wearing a Sacred Night habit. It is one of us.”

The other woman visibly tensed up at the new information.

“I see. It is far worse than I feared. I have never heard of a demon with shapeshifting powers. It indicates a strength we alone might not be able to handle. We have to consult with Mother Corvina, Leora.”

If telling Lucille about what happened was enough to scare her into silence, then Mother Corvina was on an entirely different level of fear. She trusted Corvina but what happened was too shameful.

“No. She cannot know. I do not think I would be able to handle the shame.”

Lucille took one of Leora’s hands in her own and squeezed.

“Trust in your Superior, Leora. She will do what is best for you. She will protect you.”

Leora pursed her lips and gave a small nod of approval.

“Good. You need not worry, I will speak to her for you and I will do my best to - uh - obscure the most shameful parts.” Lucille stuck out a playful tongue and smiled.

Even with all the sorrow and fear and shame Leora was feeling, the simple act was enough to make her giggle. Lucille truly knew how best to help Leora through times like these. She wiped tears from her puffy eyes and sniffled.

“Thank you, Luci. Thank you.”

She gave Leora one last squeeze.

“I am going to go and find the Sister Superior. This is urgent and we must begin preparing as soon as we can. Will you be okay while I am gone?”

“Yes. Yes, I think I will be alright. Thank you for everything.”

Lucille stood and straightened her skirt, turning to smile at Leora as she left the room. “Think nothing of it, sister. I will see you soon. Oh, before I go, it might be helpful to write out a letter to your family. It will help ground you. Maybe your sister?”

With a small wave from Lucille and the sound of the door latching, Leora was alone again. However, with Lucille on her side she felt at peace. She laid her head back down onto her pillow and listened to the birds migrating in the skies outside.

The darkness in her head had faded and it left her feeling only exhaustion. The lack of sleep had caught up to her and it began dragging her consciousness away and into the dark. The last thing on her mind as sleep claimed her was the strange parting comment from Lucille.

She didn’t have a sister.

. . .

Chimes rang and woke Leora from her sleep. The sun was rising on the Abbey and Leora felt renewed and rested. Each time the fear and shame returned she repeated the breathing exercise that Lucille had taught her the night prior. As she dressed and readied herself for the day, she wondered how the conversation with Corvina had gone.

Leora chose to believe that no news was good news and left her room for first service. When she arrived in the chapel she looked around for Lucille but saw no trace of her. All the other sisters had already assembled, and they all were whispering amongst themselves. They glanced at Leora when they thought she wasn’t looking and followed with even more hushed tones.

After a few moments, Gemma took to the pulpit and cleared her throat.

“Mother Corvina will not be attending service for the next few days. She and Lucille have left the Abbey in order to spread the word of Sacred Night and offer healing to villagers. In her stead we are to spend the time tending to the Abbey, praying, and reading. Blessed be, Sacred Night.”

With her brief announcement over, Gemma left the stage and returned to the pews. The sisters all gossiped and whispered about how lucky Lucille was, how they wished they could go on a mission with Corvina. Soon though, they all fell silent and started their morning prayers in silence.

In the void of sound, Leora was afraid. She had a deep seated feeling in her gut that something was wrong. The timing of the mission felt strange, immediately after Lucille went to speak to Corvina about what happened.

Her mind flashed back to the nightmare she had before — the vivid vision of Lucille taking a knife for Corvina with a smile on her face.

The silence of the chapel was deafening. Her heart raced and she could feel it throbbing in her head. Leora prayed, over and over, hoping it was just a nightmare and nothing more.

She prayed Lucille would be okay.