THE first thing Neve understood when she came back to herself was the more than distressing feeling of someone’s ass on her stomach. As her whole body started to feel again, she realized that someone was lying on top of her.

A strangled noise arose from her throat as she thrashed about, panic growing in her stomach. The person fell off of her, groaning as their body hit the ground with a thud.

Neve stood on shaky legs, staring down at the person. Angelica. She slowly brought her eyes up to glance around.

They were in an open area, but trees were close by, a forest on either side. It was hard to tell at first, but she was stepping on rocklike, almost charcoal soil, yellow grass trying to thrive in certain spots on the ground. Dead leaves scattered around the bare trees, shrubs and bushes shriveled.

Thoroughly perplexed, Neve stumbled back, right into waiting arms. She recoiled, but the arms wrapped around her arms and midsection.

“Let go of me!” Neve flailed about and lost her balance. While she was skinny, so, it seemed, was the person holding her—probably Alice—so her weight took both of them down.

She cried out when her face hit the ground, pain lancing through her like a knife. She could barely bring herself to get off the ground, but that wasn’t the case for Alice. Said girl lunged at her, and Neve rolled across the dirt, hissing each time her left shoulder hit the ground. Her head spun, heart hammering against her chest. It was a few seconds before her vision cleared, but that was all it took. Alice’s hand came down on her face, slamming her head down.

Neve squeezed her eyes shut against the shock and the pain—good God, the pain—hands gripping her head as it throbbed in a cadence. Feet shuffled next to her, and she kicked her legs out.

But she didn’t connect with anything.

Cold hands pressed on her cheeks, and there came that feeling again, that uncomfortable, aching feeling that rang throughout her body. And if her head hadn’t been hurting before, it sure was now. She struggled not to scream, breath coming in labored gasps as white burst behind her eyes.

Everything felt wrong, so fucking wrong. It took everything in her not to rip her hair out with how it felt.

Then she was moving.

She didn’t know how, considering that it had been almost impossible for her to move only seconds before. But she was moving, even if she didn’t feel very in control. She could still see, but beyond that… nothing. Her body flipped her and Alice over so that Alice was on the ground, and she was strangling her.

She was strangling her.

Alice clawed at Neve’s fingers, and Neve could vaguely feel the pain, feel the blood drip down her fingertips.

Feel her hands constrict around Alice’s throat.

Neve knew if she had control of her body, she would’ve been screaming. What was she doing? Why was her body doing this? As hard as she tried to take back control of her body, nothing prevailed. She was powerless.

Then she was yanked off Alice, facing an outraged Angelica.

“You fucking psychopath!” Neve’s body dodged Angelica’s fist, and suddenly she was in control of herself again.

She back away, holding her hands up in surrender and trying to ignore the bleeding scratches on her fingers.

How much had Alice suffered in those moments she was being strangled?

It was hard to sound reasonable as she said, “Wait, Angelica, I can… I can explain! Please, just calm—”

“Calm down?” Angelica stopped only inches away from Neve, sharp eyes wide in disgust. “You’re literally insane.” Neve couldn’t bring herself to restrain Angelica as she gripped her collar.

Not even when she slammed their foreheads together.

Neve was kind of sick of getting knocked out. Whether it be from pain or stress or whatever the hell had been forced on her in the last few days, it really had to stop.

But at least she was still alive.

She’d fully expected Angelica to kill her. The revulsion and deep hatred in her eyes was something Neve was very familiar with, and it made her want to run away.

Not like she could do that, anyway. Bendy twigs covered in leaves wrapped around her body. She was sure if she were really that desperate, she could get out of them, but every move she made had the branches cutting into her arms, so she stayed put for the time being. From what she could tell, she was in some sort of cave, the opening showered in a strangely dim light. Her back pressed against something soft—most likely the wall, and it might’ve been covered or something. Her skin crawled.

A figure stepped into the opening, and because of the way the light hit it, she couldn’t see their face until they stepped closer.

Alice.

Neve immediately felt the urge to apologize to her but shut her mouth. How could she apologize for strangling her? Saying sorry wouldn't cut it, groveling at her feet wouldn't cut it... nothing would. She'd almost ended this girl's life—well, as far as she could tell, it had probably been The Obscurity in control of her body at the time, but why in the world would Alice believe that? She herself barely could.

She leaned back as Alice came closer. Then her eyes widened. Alice’s neck was clear of blemishes, not even a fingerprint visible. How was that possible? Neve was sure that her fingers had been this close to crushing her throat, and Alice didn’t even have a mark on her neck. She was glad that Alice was fine, but it didn’t make any sense.

Alice crouched in front of her. “Disappointed that your attempt at murder hasn’t done anything?”

“No, no, I’m just…” Neve trailed off, narrowing her eyes at Alice’s accusation. “I didn’t try to kill you!”

“Really? Because I distinctly remember you strangling me…”

“That’s not… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to.” Neve wanted to facepalm at how ridiculous she sounded.

The smile dropped off Alice’s face. “Right. I’m sure it was an honest mistake.”

It was then that Neve’s guilt ebbed away, replaced with disbelief. “Funny how you’re angry when you and Angelica are the ones who attacked me first.” Saying these words ignited her temper. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Alice scoffed. "I refuse to have a battle of morals with the likes of a demon!"

Neve was ready to snap back, but then really comprehended what she'd said. "What do you mean 'demon'?"

"Are you such an idiot that you don't know your own species?"

"Literally, what are you on about?"

"Don't try to lie to me. Why else would you go to the Netherworld?"

Neve just stared at her.

Alice huffed. "For a demon, your act is pretty convincing... but not convincing enough. A demon can't be human, no matter how hard it tries."

"Are you really not hearing how insane you sound right now?" Neve said. She was having a hard time listening to Alice due to, one, her outlandish claims and, two, her slowly numbing arms.

Alice's face flushed, fists clenched at her sides. "We'll see where this ploy gets you when you're facing judgment in Nirvana."

Neve blinked at her.

Alice spun in the direction of the cave opening, stalking off with a mutter of "Fucking demons."

Okay then...