Chapter 8: True Demon Power!

Briar was done with subtlety.

For weeks now, she’d been trying every little trick in her devilish arsenal to push Cassie away. She’d tried making her life uncomfortable, setting her up with disastrous dates, and even convincing herself she was getting better at pretending to not have feelings for the human. But nothing worked.

Cassie just kept… existing in a way that made it impossible for Briar to stay detached. The human was always so kind, so patient, so… understanding. She wasn’t afraid of Briar. She didn’t hate her for being a demon. In fact, Cassie seemed to genuinely care.

And that… was the problem.

Briar’s latest plan was a bold one—a grand gesture to prove once and for all that she was no ordinary girlfriend. She was a demon. A creature of darkness.

Her goal was simple: scare Cassie. Send her running for the hills, terrified of the fact that she was dating a demon. After all, it worked in the stories, right? Humans always ran away screaming when faced with the supernatural.

Cassie, on the other hand, was not supposed to find any of it endearing.

Briar stood in the center of the apartment, her expression fierce and dark. The air around her hummed with power as she prepared herself. She had the dramatic monologue down perfectly in her mind. Cassie was working on her computer in the living room, completely unaware of the impending chaos.

The demon took a deep breath, then threw her arms wide, channeling her energy.

“I AM A CREATURE OF THE NIGHT! A BEING OF UNSPEAKABLE DARKNESS, FEARED BY MORTALS AND GODS ALIKE!” she shouted, her voice booming through the room.

Cassie blinked up from her screen, clearly startled. “What are you doing?” she asked, sounding more confused than afraid.

But Briar wasn’t done. She threw her head back and let out a dramatic, maniacal laugh. The kind that would make villains proud. “I WILL DESTROY YOU! NO ONE CAN ESCAPE MY WRATH!”

The apartment’s lights flickered, then dimmed. Briar snapped her fingers, and a swirl of black smoke rose from the floor, coiling around the room like a living thing. Cassie’s chair creaked as she slowly stood, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Are you okay, Briar?” Cassie asked, still not quite grasping the gravity of the situation.

Briar ignored her, now fully embracing her villainous persona. She raised both hands above her head and began chanting in a demonic tongue. The walls started to tremble, then to shimmer, the paint warping and twisting as if alive.

“BEHOLD THE TRUE POWER OF A DEMON! THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT WILL FLOW THROUGH THIS VERY APARTMENT!” Briar cried, her eyes glowing with an eerie, red light.

She snapped her fingers again, and the walls bled. Red liquid oozed from the cracks in the drywall, dripping down in thick, viscous streams.

Cassie gasped, stumbling backward. “Whoa! Wait, wait, wait... is that blood?!”

“Yes!” Briar declared triumphantly. “BLOOD!”

Cassie seemed to recoil, but instead of fear, a huge grin spread across her face. “That’s so cool!” she said. “I didn’t know you could do that!”

Briar’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”

Cassie clapped excitedly. “No, seriously! That’s amazing! I mean, I don't want to live in a house of blood, but—” She pointed at the walls with a grin. “You could make this part of a Halloween decoration! Like a haunted house vibe!”

Briar froze, completely thrown off by the casual praise. She had expected Cassie to scream, to run for the door in terror. Instead, she was clapping?

That wasn’t the response she was looking for.

“Cassie…” Briar said, her voice faltering for a split second. “I’m… I’m supposed to scare you.”

“I know,” Cassie said, still grinning. “And you did! But like… this is honestly just impressive.” She stepped closer to Briar, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

Briar’s jaw dropped. “Teach you…? You want to learn how to summon blood from the walls?”

Cassie nodded eagerly, already pulling out her phone. “Yeah, and the whole glowing eyes thing. I can’t believe you can do that! Can we, like, take a class on demon magic together?”

Briar was speechless. She had failed. Completely and utterly failed. Instead of running in fear, Cassie thought it was the coolest thing ever.

She had worked so hard on her dark, terrifying persona, and all she got was… adoration?

“This is a disaster,” Briar muttered, rubbing her temples. She wasn’t sure if she was more frustrated or embarrassed.

And then, just as she thought things couldn’t get worse, she decided to take her performance to the next level. She closed her eyes, focusing all her energy, determined to float and show off her true demonic might. She had to end this in style.

With a dramatic flourish, Briar hovered off the floor, her body rising a few feet above the ground, her red eyes glowing brighter than ever. She crossed her arms, eyes narrowed in smug satisfaction.

“FEEL THE WEIGHT OF MY DARKNESS, CASSANDRA! BEHOLD THE TRUE POWER OF THE DEMON LORD!”

Cassie gasped. “Oh my god, you’re floating! That’s so rad! How high can you go?”

Briar grinned, pushing her floating higher, aiming for the ceiling. But as she got more excited about her own theatrics, she forgot the most important detail.

She wasn’t paying attention to her own magic.

With a loud thud, Briar crashed straight into the floor. Her body hit the ground with a solid impact, the dramatic aura vanishing instantly, and her glowing eyes dimming.

Cassie blinked in stunned silence for a moment. Then, she burst into laughter. “Briar! You just fell from the sky!”

Briar groaned, clutching her head as she lay on the floor, humiliated beyond belief. “It was supposed to be… epic…”

Cassie knelt down beside her, still giggling. “Epic? You fell like a rock, but I think it’s still pretty cool. And honestly, it’s kind of endearing how flustered you get when things don’t go perfectly.”

Briar didn’t know whether to scream or cry. She had tried so hard to be the terrifying demon she was supposed to be. But instead, Cassie was just… amused.

Cassie reached down and helped Briar to her feet. “Honestly, Briar, I think you’re way more cute when you’re trying to be all evil.”

Briar blinked at her, utterly defeated. “You’re… you’re kidding me.”

But Cassie’s smile was warm, her eyes full of affection. “No, really. You’ve got this whole dark and mysterious thing going for you, but… I think it’s the silly side that makes you even more lovable.”

Briar groaned, burying her face in her hands. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go.”

“Maybe not,” Cassie said, “but I like it this way.”

And as Briar looked up at Cassie’s genuinely affectionate expression, she couldn’t help but sigh in defeat.

She had failed. But somehow, Cassie had won. Again.