Spark

     The heat was almost unbearable, beating down on them as they tried to hurry everyone out of the section. Fire ate at the books on the polished redwood shelves with a harsh crackling sound. The fire had spread quickly with dry books for fuel. Some of the books let out ear piercing shrieks as the flames devoured them, revealing their magical nature.

   Sam helped a younger girl up after she tripped on an overturned chair. She pushed the girl along in front of her, finally getting out of the burning section. She hoped they could close it off before it spread even further. Bending over she rested her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Her blood pounded in her ears so loudly she almost didn't hear when Veritie spoke.

   “We have to do something,” she said.

   “There's not much we can do,” Sam replied, straightening up. A wave of heat washed over her and Veritie floated back further from the fire. “Hopefully it'll burn itself off, once they shut the section.”

   But Veritie was already shaking her head. “Does that look like a normal fire to you? There's no smoke, even though it's burning hundreds of books.”

   Sam's stomach twisted. “Since when do you even care? I've never seen you so caught up in something.” It came out harsher then she meant, fueled by fear. Verities back stiffened and she glared at Sam. “Well even if it is magical what could we do?”

   There was a condescending tone to her voice when Veritie spoke, “well I think magic might do the trick.” She turned, facing Sam. She leaned forward till their noses almost touched, hands locked behind her back.     “And you have magic.”

Stepping back Sam shook her head. “I have enough magic to light a candle, which the is opposite of what we want right now,” she babbled, “besides there are people more qualified, like the head librarian, or even-”

   “The whole library will burn,” Veritie interrupted. Then she leaned back, tucking her heels up under herself, as if she were sitting on a couch. “But with my help you could put this blaze out in a second.” She tilted her head to the side, as if thinking, then corrected herself. “If you could find the source, that is.”

   Sam looked around to see if anyone was coming to help. The only people she saw were people still fleeing. The fire was spreading faster then she would have thought, tearing through the charms against fire like they didn't exist. Turning back to Veritie she forced the fear back. “How?”

   A catlike grin spread across Verities face. “Ask.”

   Sams mind raced. Ask what? Ask for the power to put the flames out? Ask for Veritie to do it? For what? She blurted out of the first thing that came to mind, not even processing the words before the were out of her mouth. “Help me.”

   Veritie laughed. “Good enough.”

   There was a moment when it seemed like everything dimmed, except for Verities gold eyes, which blazed like miniature suns. “Channel your magic through the pendent and cast your spell,” her voice like thousands of silver bells compelling and harmonious. “My magic will be yours.”

   The light returned, and with it the searing heat. Sam cast about for a spell that would help her, gripping it and casting without thinking. Using the ember stone she cloaked herself in a protection spell that shimmered gold against the heat. If she had tried that normally it would have drained her dry.

   She didn't hesitate now, plunging into the burning wing without a thought. Veritie followed behind, practically glowing. A bookself fell in front of them with a crash, almost knocking Sam to the ground.

   “There!” Veritie pointed to a small point of stationary fire. “Use a void spell!”

   But Sam didn't know any spells like that but she knew how fire worked. She could use that, right? Her panic fueled her as she cast a wind spell around the fire spark, holding it in a globe of air. At first it expanded, the fired growing, but after a moment Sam drew the oxygen out of the air, the fire dying almost instantly.

   Sam fell back with a gasp, leaning on a table and trying to catch her breath. Next to her Veritie clucked her tongue. “That was stupid,” she said, “You weren't thinking like a witch, you were thinking like a scientist. You have a lot to learn.”

   Sam wanted to point out that she had everything to learn, because she had never needed magic before, but her lack of breath kept her from doing so. Finally she was able to lower herself to the ground without
collapsing outright. She had a feeling her days of a calm life were over.

Red hot

    Sam woke late on Sunday, the only day she had off that week. It was late afternoon and the warm sun was red against her eyelids. She rolled over with a groan, not wanting to get up just yet. Rolling over she awoke fully as a throbbing pain shot across her palm at the movement.

   Swiftly sitting up Sam flicked on her desk lamp with her good hand to get a better look. Opening her palm she was shocked to find what looked like a knife wound across her palm, scabbed over but bleeding where the scabbing had cracked. Looking around Sam found a few spots of blood on the carpet next to her bed, but that was all. There was no blood on her or her bed.

   There was a necklace under her lamp and she picked it up. It wasn't hers, and it was definitely magic from the way it glowed. It looked like and ember from a fire, shimmering from orange to red to gold as if it were giving off heat.

   “That's a gift,” Veritie chirped from where she floated in the middle of the room. Her legs were crossed and she was propping her head up with her hands, elbows resting on her knees. “You've been sleeping forever,” she complained, flicking her long tapered ears. “There's nothing to do when you're asleep.”

   Sam just shook her head, tiredness returning. “Was the bloody cut a gift too?”

   Veritie just wrinkled her nose, looking disinterested. “Don't be stupid,” she finally said, turning her head and giving Sam a side-eyed look. “I just needed some blood to make the gift.”

   There was a long silence in which Sam tried to figure out if there was something else to the necklace or if Veritie just didn't realize taking blood from someone, especially when they're sleeping, was rude. Or maybe she did know and just didn't care. Finally she decided she just didn't care and looked over at Veritie, who had been looking more and more put off by the second.

   She was hunched over, face flushed a darker pink. Angled away she wasn't even looking at Sam anymore, instead focusing on the door. Sam sighed, slipping the leather string the pendant was on over her head before falling back against her pillow.

   Closing her eyes she pulled her covers back up around her. “Thanks, Veritie,” Sam finally said, “I really like it.”

   Across the room a smile spread across Verities face, her golden eyes shining a little brighter. She turned to say something and found Sam fast asleep. Pursing her lips she uncrossed her legs and leaned back to float horizontally.

   She supposed she could let Sam sleep a little bit longer. But only if they got to go to movies later.

Full of... (sunday scribbling prompt)

        Sam ducked her head as she moved along the hall. Even in college she couldn't make herself look at the people around her. She watched their legs move past, admired their shoes, and continued on. She got to her class and sat down in the back, away from the bigger groups of students. Her nose wrinkled in distaste when someone sat too close for her liking.

   Of course most of that had to do with the fact that every thought they had was clear as day to her. It was hard to like someone when all they thought about was your chest.

   Dark brown hair drifted into her line of vision, distracting her. She was sick of it, really. It was all Verities fault. Up until she showed up everything about Sam's life had been normal. Her sister was a witch of decent power and her mother worked with non-sentient monsters. Her mother had a great career and being a witch opened many doors. Sam was perfectly content with only being able to light a candle, that's how it was for most people.

   But then a spell in a house over and gone awry and Vetitie showed up in Sam's room. And wouldn't leave. At first she thought she was hallucinating, because no one else could see the summoned woman. How would someone with such little power be able to see something her obviously stronger sister couldn't?

Apparently her.

   Sam often had to resist the urge to glare at the woman walking beside her. Or at least pretending to. She never bothered to move aside as people moved though her. Sam had her appearance pretty much memorized by now, a result of staring at Veritie too long while trying to wish her away. Futile, but a way to pass the time. And who knows, maybe one day it will work.

   Veritie was very different from Sam. Where Sam was average height and lilth, Veritie was tall and voluptuous, all curves. Her skin is a dusky pink, almost like sunset, and her eyes are wide and gold under sculpted eyebrows of dark black. Her hair the color of a ravens wing, long and wild, hanging over her shoulders and held in many messy braids hanging among free hair. The only truly odd thing about her were the spiraling horns that curved from her skull like those of a ram. They were the same color as her skin, though they slowly darkened to a deep orange.

   Even among sentient monsters horns were an rarity. They were most common in demons, or, as Veritie herself was, Succubi and Incubi.

   Which made her all the more annoying to Sam, who really didn't want to know every filthy thought the people around her had. But Veritie just wouldn't leave. Sometimes she even showed up as a physical person, and Sam often suspected these times came after Veritie had... fed.

   Those were the worst times, because the thoughts always got worse. It was on one of those days that Sam lost her temper and spoke up.

   “I'm done with hearing everyone's thoughts,” Sam snapped, squaring up to Veritie. The taller woman blinked, looking startled. Then she laughed. Sam couldn't help but think it sounded loud, less like a ladies tinkling laugh, more like the huge brass bells that overwhelmed.

   “You should have just said,” Veritie chuckled. “You really must learn to speak up. I suppose that's why I'm here though, to help with that,” she managed to sound very put upon, even though she was there completely by choice.

   Sam rolled her eyes and walked away, at first not noticing the silence. No overly-loud thoughts assaulted her, no vile words and daydreams made her cringe. It felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders.

   “You're an awful person,” Sam said heavily, knowing Veritie was already back at her side.

   Veritie sniffed, turning up her nose. “Of course I am, I wouldn't be a Succubus if I wasn't would I?” She leaned down though, angling to get a better look at Sam's face. “But I like you.” She said it with finality.

   A sigh passed Sam's lips. Veritie always said that. As if it explained everything. Veritie didn't love her, that's not what she meant. She always made her preference for men clear. Sam had to suppose it meant she was Verities friend.

   What ever that meant to a Succubus.

  

(I kind of got carried away with this)