Chapter 2

The next evening, Jared chose not to sleep, but partake in one of his favorite activities.

Alone in his castle high in the Andes mountains of Peru, Jared sat by the dying light of a flickering fire in the Great Hall. The armchair, cushioned with velvet, resembled a throne more than an easy resting place, but the chair accommodated his beastly form. Most of all, the openings in the back allowed his tail to drape just right.

The same tail gave an occasional twitch now and then as he chatted online with a fellow bird lover who lived in Florida.

If Otherworlders, the paranormal magick beings who walked this earth as he did, knew his secret hobby, they might laugh. Worse, powerful Others who envied him could use it to kill him and steal his magick.

Jared had no desire to tempt them. He was already cursed to look like a grotesque beast. Each day inched him closer to being purely evil.

Embracing the darkness and turning his soul over to the Dark Lord seemed easy, but he'd have to surrender this hobby and his friendship with Rockstar00. During the lonely nights, Rockstar was the only one who could yank him from his depression and spark his interest.

"What did you see today?" he queried.

"Not much. Typical backyard birds. The Passerina ciris are back, though. Love those painted buntings. The males are colorful."

A pause and then, "You?"

He considered. Seemed like bragging, but he wanted to impress. "Rupicola peruvianus."

Several question marks followed.

Jared chuckled and typed. "The Andean cock-of-the-rock."

He liked the name. It made him chuckle every time he said it aloud. But they had a system – scientific names of the birds before using the common name.

"What does it look like?"

Jared flexed his claws. Difficult to type fast with these protrusions, though he'd filed them down earlier. The curse made them grow back to their usual three inches.

He spoke into the microphone instead. "It was a male. Astonishing crimson color, with black wings. The crest is round and its face resembles…"

"A penis?"

Playful emoticon of an eggplant and wink followed. He grinned. The bird's elongated and rounded head did resemble a cock, but he wanted to keep the convo free of sexual suggestions. Being an incubus demon, he kept shop talk and hobbies separate.

"It's bulbous, but distinct. National bird of Peru and rather large and chunky. I saw it in a cloud forest at the tree line."

Jared did not explain how he saw it at tree line. He would materialize wherever he wished, and today he wanted to see a unique bird to share his adventure with Rockstar00.

"Mating habits?"

He spoke into the microphone. "Quite unique. The colorful males make these porcine noises while they dance around and jump up and down."

"They squeal like pigs?" This followed by several laughing emoticons.

He grinned again. "While they dance. I suppose their females find it attractive, though I daresay it's the male's bright plumage that does the trick to find a mate."

"Sounds like the guys I've seen in class when they're trying to find answers to the exam questions."

He laughed aloud, the sound echoing deep and guttural in the cavernous hall. "How are your exams going?"

A brief line of text about her studies and how this time of night was the quietest to study, but she resumed talking about the cock-of-the-rock.

"It sounds like a lovely bird. Did you shoot it?" she asked.

Jared reeled back. Shoot it? All these weeks while he'd enjoyed chatting with her online, wistfully hoping they might meet in person someday, wondering if she would be as delightful as her convos, and now this?

Had he stumbled upon a woman with a penchant for violence? A perv, as the wizard Xavier's daughter called them.

"Why would I shoot something so majestic?"

A smiley face, and then, "I mean, shoot it with a camera." Then followed by sad faces. "I would never kill birds. You don't think I'm like that, do you?"

Sighing, he typed back, for using the microphone led to auto correct disasters at times. "My bad. No, I do not. I'm afraid I am not quite familiar with the vernacular you use at times."

"Sorry. I keep forgetting you're in Peru and you don't know American slang."

Jared paused in responding. Flirting was even more foreign to him. Seduction, no. He was expert on that particular art. But the risk of flirtation might be worth it.

"Perhaps you could teach me some time… in person. A lesson on American slang so I do not screw up again."

Another smiley face and several grinning devil faces. He reeled back a minute, wondering if she discerned his true nature, then realized Rockstar00 flirted back. Good thing Sonia had taught him a few things about emoticons. She might be only six, but she was damned smart with a cell phone.

Finally, she typed back, "I would love that, if you could come to Florida. Peru is too far for me."

Heart drumming, he felt an unknown thrill of excitement. Meet in person? He could fly to Florida, not the trad way, but dematerialize in the vicinity of her college… but the meeting had to take place during the day. He wouldn't risk a night meeting. A simple chat over chai tea in a coffee house, time flying and next thing, the clock struck midnight and…

Pausing over another response, he tapped a claw against one of his curved horns the way he imagined Rockstar00 would tap a Number 2 pencil against her temple while thinking of an answer to one of the endless exams she had in college. At least he knew her approximate age.

What did she look like? During the endless nights when he wasn't chatting with her online, he imagined her as a plain, but earnest woman, with spectacles perhaps, a long thin nose like the beak of a wading bird, maybe the Eudocimus albus, and short brown hair. Jared knew he liked to imagine her that way because it meant few men would be inclined to date her and he didn't want her dating, didn't want her starting relationships with them and eventually forgetting him, leaving him to the cold and lonely nights when it seemed the entire world had forgotten him and he was doomed to spend his life isolated in this castle, only dark thoughts for company…

"Whatcha doing Jared?"

The young, cheerful voice startled him. Jared sat up straight, typed a quick "Sorry, have to run. Good luck with your exams." He clicked off the tablet and set it aside.

"Sonia." Frowning, he shook his head at the blonde girl. Sonia was six, precocious and famous for escaping from her immortal parents, Xavier and Ciara.

"It's long past your bedtime and your father would kill me if he knew you were here visiting."

"He might toss a crystal or two at you, but he wouldn't kill you." Sonia bounced over to him, wearing pajamas decorated with dancing snakes. "He wouldn't kill me either, but he would yell."

"Why are you here, pumpkin?"

"I couldn't sleep. I know you never sleep, either so thought I'd visit and we could play the balloon game."

Before he could utter a word, several dozen colorful balloons floated in the air, conjured by a wave of Sonia's hand. Jared sighed. He was stuck now. Bad timing, for he'd hoped to flirt further with Rockstar00. Oh well.

Only Sonia and Rockstar00 kept him from the brink of crossing over to embrace evil. The thought of something bad happening to either one made him hesitate. Worse, what if he were the one who harmed them? Lured them into a trap formed by the bonds of friendship and then ordered by the Dark Lord to destroy them?

I can never let that happen.

Sonia leaned on the edge of his gilded armrest, firelight dancing in her blue eyes. "So, who were you chatting with online?"

Though he intended to keep his online friend a secret, he trusted the little girl, the only living being he did trust. He told her about Rockstar00.

"Cool." Sonia produced a slim cell phone and began scrolling. "Is she on YouTube or Tiktok?"

"I doubt it." Though in his scrolling through Tiktok late at night when he wasn't on the birding group online, he perused only cooking vids and the occasional posting by a lower-level demon who liked to post professional vids of his pet Corgi, Mr. Wiggle Butt, and Wiggle Butt's naughty exploits.

Hellhounds had nothing on Mr. Wiggle Butt.

Holding out her phone, Sonia pointed to the screen. "Easy to find her. She doesn't have a lot of vids, but some nice ones of birds."

Taking the phone into his claws, he examined the video, hoping for her voice, perhaps a glimpse of his friend. But no, the vids were only of the backyard birds she admired, and the wading birds she'd seen in Florida's wetlands. No narration either, only text.

Jared handed back the phone, careful not to let his claws touch the girl's soft fingers. He didn't like letting his ugly body having the slightest physical contact with Sonia, though she was never afraid of him. Still, she was sweet, innocent and he was, well, a nasty beast.

Sonia waved a hand and her phone vanished. "C'mon, let's play!"

She ran to the hall's far side and tossed a balloon at him, then conjured a pointed stick. Jared heaved himself off the chair and batted the balloon back with the tip of his forked tail. It burst.

"Sonia, one, Jared zip!" she called out.

Jared batted another balloon at Sonia, who squealed with delight and bounced it back with the tip of her stick.

But the curse dragged at him more and more, coaxing him down into the darkness of evil, his thoughts growing more despondent and dangerous. He was running out of time. In three weeks, if he didn't find his soul mate to profess her undying love to him while he looked like a child's nightmare, he'd be cursed to remain like this forever.

Not that he believed in soul mates.

Not really.