KJ stared at the chalk circle on his basement floor with a mixture of boredom and skepticism. The fifteen-year-old adjusted his glasses, pushing them back up the bridge of his nose as he double-checked the symbols against the dusty grimoire he'd found in his grandmother's attic. Everything looked right, which was honestly disappointing, he'd been hoping to find a mistake that would give him an excuse to abandon this ridiculous project.

  "This is so stupid," he muttered, scrolling through TikTok on his phone with one hand while halfheartedly lighting the black candles he'd arranged around the circle. The wax dripped onto the concrete floor as he positioned them at the five points of the pentagram.

  It had started as a dare from his friends during lunch period. Dylan had found some "authentic" demon summoning ritual online, and naturally, they'd all turned to KJ, the quiet, skeptical one to try it out.

  "What's the worst that could happen?" Jordan had teased. "You waste twenty bucks on candles?"

  KJ sighed and placed his phone on the workbench. The Latin incantation stared back at him from the grimoire's yellowed pages. The basement was silent except for the occasional creak from the old house above and the soft hissing of the candles.

  "Might as well get this over with," he said to the empty room. "Not like anything's going to happen anyway."

  He cleared his throat and began to read, his voice echoing off the concrete walls.

  "Venite ad me, princeps tenebrarum. Audio vocem meam et apparet. Lilixia, tertius potentissimus infernum, ego te invoco!"

  The Latin felt clumsy on his tongue, and he was pretty sure his pronunciation was terrible. He waited for a moment, feeling ridiculous.

  Nothing happened.

  "Well, that was anticlimactic," KJ said, reaching for his phone to text his friends that the dare was completed. "Guess demons don't—"

  The candles suddenly flared up, their flames shooting toward the ceiling. The temperature in the basement plummeted, and KJ's breath formed clouds in front of his face. The chalk lines of the pentagram began to glow with a deep crimson light, pulsing like a heartbeat.

  "What the hell?" KJ stumbled backward, knocking over a stack of storage boxes. His heart hammered in his chest as the center of the circle seemed to tear open, revealing a swirling vortex of darkness.

  From within the void emerged a figure, rising slowly like a dancer in a music video. First came two delicate hands with sharp, pointed nails, then arms, shoulders, and finally, a head crowned with flowing black hair streaked with purple highlights. The figure stepped fully into the basement, and the portal snapped shut behind her.

  She was tall—around 5'9"—with curves that made KJ's teenage brain short-circuit. Her skin had a subtle crimson undertone that seemed to pulse with life, and small horns curled elegantly from her temples. When she opened her eyes, they were molten gold with vertical pupils that fixed immediately on KJ.

  "OMG!" she squealed, her voice surprisingly bubbly and excited. "You actually did it! This is totes amazeballs!"

  KJ's mouth fell open. This wasn't what he had expected from a demon, especially not one that was supposedly the third most powerful being in Hell.

  "You... you're real?" he managed to squeak out.

  "Duh!" Lilixia giggled, stepping out of the circle with a casual disregard for the supposedly binding magic. She twirled around, taking in the basement surroundings. "This place is, like, super cute! In a human-dwelling-without-tortured-souls kinda way."

  She bounced over to KJ, who was frozen in place, and invaded his personal space immediately, examining him with childlike curiosity.

  "You're so tiny!" she exclaimed, ruffling his hair. "How old are you anyway, cutie?"

  "F-fifteen," KJ stammered, trying to process that an actual demon. A extremely attractive demon, was standing in his basement, touching his hair.

  "Fifteen? That's like, baby-human age! Oh my stars, you summoned me by accident, didn't you?" Her golden eyes widened in delight. "That is absolutely adorbs! Most humans who try to summon me are, like, crusty old warlocks trying to gain power or whatever."

  KJ backed away until he hit the wall. "I didn't think it would work! It was just a dare from my friends!"

  "A dare?" Lilixia clapped her hands together, causing a small tremor to shake the house. "Oops, sorry 'bout that," she said, lowering her voice. "Sometimes I forget to tone down my powers. But that's so cute! A dare! I haven't been summoned for something so innocent in, like, forever!"

  She flopped down on an old couch in the corner, her wings—which KJ hadn't even noticed before—briefly extending before disappearing into her back, leaving only faint markings behind.

  "So..." she twirled a strand of her obsidian hair around one finger. "What're we gonna do now that I'm here? Wanna cause some chaos? Destroy your enemies? Ooh, we could make your school principal do the chicken dance during an assembly!"

  KJ's brain finally caught up with reality. "Wait, I need to send you back. My parents will be home in an hour, and I can't have a demon hanging out in the basement!"

  "Send me back?" Lilixia's lower lip quivered dramatically. "But I just got here! And Hell is sooooo boring right now. Nothing but paperwork and soul processing. Do you know how many souls need to be cataloged each day? It's like, millions!"

  She bounced up from the couch and was suddenly right in front of KJ again. "Let me stay! Just for a little bit? Pretty please? I promise I'll be good! Well, good-ish. I am a demon, after all."

  KJ felt a headache coming on. "This can't be happening. Demons aren't real. You're not real."

  Lilixia raised an eyebrow and snapped her fingers. The gravity in the room reversed, and KJ found himself floating toward the ceiling.

  "Not real, huh?" she giggled as she floated upward to join him, completely at ease in the altered gravity. With another snap, they both settled gently back to the floor.

  "Okay," KJ said weakly. "You're real. But I still need to send you back."

  "You don't even know how," Lilixia pointed out, examining the grimoire with a casual glance. "This book is missing the banishing ritual. Typical human negligence."

  KJ felt panic rising in his chest. "Then how do I—"

  "Relax, silly! I can leave whenever I want. I'm not some low-level imp that gets trapped by chalk circles. I'm Lilixia, The Sovereign Chaos, Grand Archduke of Hell!" She struck a dramatic pose, then immediately ruined it by giggling. "But I don't wanna go yet. I haven't been to Earth in like, forever! At least show me around first?"

  Before KJ could respond, they heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway overhead.

  "That's my mom!" KJ hissed. "She's home early! You have to hide!"

  "Hide? Or I could just look human?" Lilixia suggested, and with a shimmer of magic, her appearance changed. The horns disappeared, her eyes became a normal hazel color, and her outfit transformed from whatever impossible fabric it had been into jeans and a purple hoodie. "Ta-da! Totally normal human girl!"

  KJ stared at her transformation. "That's... actually pretty good. But how am I going to explain who you are?"

  "New study partner?" Lilixia offered helpfully. "Or ooh! Exchange student! I've always wanted to pretend to be from... where's a place humans come from? France? Is France still a thing?"

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs leading to the basement.

  "KJ? Are you down there?" his mother called.

  Lilixia gave him a thumbs up and a wink. KJ closed his eyes briefly, already imagining the disaster that was about to unfold. When he opened them again, Lilixia was hastily kicking the candles under the couch and dusting away the chalk marks with her foot.

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  "Yeah, Mom, I'm here!" KJ called back, his voice cracking. "Just, uh, hanging out with a... friend."

  As his mother's footsteps grew closer, KJ realized his life had just gotten infinitely more complicated. Somehow, he had accidentally summoned one of Hell's most powerful beings, and now she was about to meet his mother while pretending to be an exchange student from France.

  And judging by the mischievous grin on Lilixia's face, this was just the beginning of his problems.

  The basement door swung open, and KJ's mother descended the stairs with a reusable grocery bag in each hand. Her curious gaze immediately landed on the purple-haired girl standing next to her son.

  "Oh! I didn't realize you had company, KJ," she said, setting the bags down on the workbench. "Hi there, I'm Linda."

  KJ opened his mouth to attempt an introduction, but Lilixia was already bouncing forward, hand extended enthusiastically.

  "Bonjour! Je m'appelle Lily!" she exclaimed with a flawless French accent. "I am ze exchange student! So very pleased to make your acquaintance!"

  KJ winced. Lilixia had gone from zero to stereotypical French caricature in two seconds flat.

  His mother blinked in surprise. "Exchange student? I don't recall you mentioning—"

  "It was, um, very last minute," KJ interjected, shooting Lilixia a look. "The program coordinator called today. They had a... scheduling mix-up?"

  "Oui!" Lilixia nodded vigorously. "My 'ost family, zey 'ad to cancel! Emergency appendix removal! Très tragique!"

  "That's terrible," Linda said sympathetically. "But I don't understand why they contacted you?"

  KJ's mind raced for an explanation. "They, uh, called the school, and Mr. Peterson remembered I did that volunteer thing last summer, so..."

  "And now I am 'ere!" Lilixia finished, throwing her arms wide and nearly knocking over a lamp. "Just for a few days, until zey find me a new family. I promise I will be no trouble!"

  Linda studied them both, her expression skeptical. KJ held his breath, certain his mother would see through the ridiculous lie. Instead, her face softened.

  "Well, any friend of KJ's is welcome here. Though I wish we'd had some notice to prepare the guest room." She turned to KJ. "You'll need to clear out those boxes of your old stuff."

  KJ exhaled in relief. "Yeah, sure. No problem."

  "Merci beaucoup, Madame!" Lilixia clapped her hands together, thankfully without causing an earthquake this time. "You are most generous!"

  Linda smiled. "I'll go start dinner. Why don't you help KJ clear some space in the guest room? And KJ, what's that smell down here? It smells like candle wax."

  "School project," he answered too quickly. "About, uh, colonial lighting methods."

  His mother raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. "Well, come up soon. Dinner in thirty."

  As soon as the basement door closed, KJ collapsed onto the couch, head in his hands. "That was close."

  Lilixia dropped onto the cushion beside him, bouncing slightly. "I think it went super well! Your mom is totes adorbs!"

  "You can drop the French accent now," KJ muttered.

  "Oh thank goodness," Lilixia said, her voice returning to its bubbly American cadence. "I was running out of French words anyway. I only know like, croissant, baguette, and omelette du fromage."

  KJ stared at her. "What am I supposed to do with you? You can't stay here!"

  "Why not?" Lilixia pouted. "C'mon, it'll be fun! I've always wanted to experience human high school! Is it like in the movies? Do you have cliques and prom and cafeteria food fights?"

  "No, it's boring and normal, and—wait." KJ's eyes widened in horror. "You are NOT coming to school with me."

  Lilixia's golden eyes briefly flashed through her human disguise. "But I've already established my cover story! And your mom thinks I'm an exchange student, so I've gotta do exchange student stuff!"

  KJ groaned. "This is a nightmare."

  "Nope! If this was a nightmare, there'd be way more spiders. And everyone would be naked. That's how human nightmares usually work, right?" She paused. "Actually, the naked part is more like human stress dreams. Nightmares have the teeth falling out thing."

  "You're not helping," KJ sighed, standing up. "We should go upstairs before my mom gets suspicious."

  As they climbed the stairs, Lilixia whispered excitedly, "This is gonna be the best vacation ever! I haven't been to Earth since the 1980s. Do humans still do cocaine and listen to Duran Duran?"

  "What? No!" KJ hissed back. "And please, try to act normal during dinner!"

  "Define normal," Lilixia said with a grin that was not at all reassuring.

  Dinner was going surprisingly well, all things considered. KJ's father had arrived home and accepted the exchange student story with minimal questions—he was too tired from work to probe deeply. Lilixia had managed to keep her demonic nature hidden, though KJ noticed she had particular difficulty with the silverware, holding her fork like she'd never seen one before.

  "So, Lily," KJ's father asked between bites of lasagna, "what part of France are you from?"

  KJ tensed, realizing they hadn't prepared for this obvious question.

  "Oh, I am from a tiny village called..." her eyes darted to KJ's glass, "Evian-les-Bains! Very obscure. Very... watery."

  "Isn't that where the bottled water comes from?" his mother asked.

  "Precisely! My father is... water bottle factory manager. Very important man in Evian. Everyone knows him. 'Ah, zere goes Monsieur Water Bottle,' zey say."

  KJ nearly choked on his food. Lilixia shot him an impressed look, clearly proud of her improvisation.

  "And what subjects are you studying at school, Lily?" his father continued.

  "Oh, ze usual. Mathematics, literature, demons—I mean, dimensions! Geometry dimensions!" She recovered with a bright smile. "I am very fond of triangles."

  KJ quickly changed the subject. "Hey, did you guys hear about that new movie coming out?"

  The conversation drifted to safer topics, and KJ started to relax. Maybe they could pull this off for a few days until he figured out how to convince Lilixia to return to Hell.

  Then, just as his mother was serving dessert—a homemade apple pie—KJ's younger sister Emma burst through the front door.

  "Sorry I'm late! Dance practice ran over," the twelve-year-old announced, dropping her backpack by the door. She froze when she noticed the extra person at the table. "Who's that?"

  "This is Lily, an exchange student from France who'll be staying with us for a few days," their mother explained.

  Emma's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Her hair is purple."

  "It's very fashionable in France," Lilixia said, noticeably dropping the accent.

  Emma slid into her chair, still staring. "You don't look French."

  "Emma, don't be rude," their father admonished.

  "It's quite alright," Lilixia said cheerfully. "I get that a lot. My grandmother was actually from..." she glanced at a fruit bowl on the table, "Banana Republic."

  KJ's father frowned. "Isn't that a clothing store?"

  "Named after the country!" Lilixia said confidently. "Very small. Near Portugal. Or possibly Wyoming."

  KJ kicked her under the table.

  "I think I've heard of it," his father said uncertainly, and KJ silently thanked whatever cosmic forces had blessed his family with below-average geography knowledge.

  Emma wasn't so easily distracted. She squinted at Lilixia. "Your eyes look weird."

  "Emma!" their mother scolded.

  "What? They're like, yellowy. And her pupils look different."

  KJ felt his heart racing. Lilixia's disguise must be slipping.

  Lilixia laughed nervously. "Oh, zese? Just colored contacts! Very popular with ze French teens. For ze fashion!"

  "They're cool," Emma decided. "Can I get some?"

  "Absolutely not," their father said firmly.

  After dessert, KJ volunteered to help Lilixia settle into the guest room, desperate to get her away from his too-observant sister. As they hauled boxes out of the small bedroom, he whispered urgently, "Your eyes were showing! You need to maintain your disguise better."

  "Sorry!" Lilixia whispered back. "It's harder than it looks! Human forms are so constrictive. How do you stand having only two eyes?"

  KJ paused, box in hand. "How many do you usually have?"

  "Depends on the day and my mood," she replied with a shrug. "Usually somewhere between five and seventeen."

  "Seventeen eyes?" KJ hissed. "Where do you even put them all?"

  "Oh, you know, around." She waved vaguely at her body. "Some are in dimensions you can't perceive anyway, so don't worry about it."

  KJ set down the box and rubbed his temples. "Look, we need to establish some ground rules if you're staying here."

  Lilixia plopped down on the newly cleared bed, bouncing lightly. "Ooh, I love rules! Especially breaking them!"

  "That's exactly what I'm worried about," KJ sighed. "First rule: no powers. No reality manipulation, no gravity reversal, no chaos... whatever. Nothing supernatural."

  "That's gonna be sooooo hard," she whined. "My powers sometimes just happen when I get excited! It's like asking you not to breathe!"

  "Second rule," KJ continued, ignoring her complaint, "no telling anyone what you really are. Not my friends, not my family, no one."

  "Duh! I'm not stupid," Lilixia rolled her eyes. "I know the drill. Last time a human city found out what I was, there was a whole thing with pitchforks and torches. Salem was not my finest moment."

  KJ's eyes widened. "You caused the Salem Witch Trials?"

  "Not on purpose!" she protested. "I just wanted to try those cute little Puritan bonnets. How was I supposed to know humans would freak out when I accidentally turned one guy into a newt? He got better... eventually."

  KJ decided not to pursue that line of questioning. "Third rule: you have to go back to Hell in one week. Maximum."

  Lilixia's face fell. "One week? But that's so short! There's so much I want to do! Mall shopping! High school drama! Prom!"

  "Prom is in spring. It's October."

  "Halloween!" she gasped, eyes lighting up. "We can celebrate Halloween together! It's my favorite human holiday! All those adorable mortals dressing up as demons and monsters, thinking they look scary. It's totes hilarious!"

  "Fine," KJ conceded. "You can stay until Halloween. That's three weeks. Then you go back."

  Lilixia bounced up and hugged him tightly, too tightly. KJ felt his ribs protest.

  "Can't... breathe..." he wheezed.

  "Oops!" She released him immediately. "Sorry! Super strength is hard to dial down. But thank you! This is gonna be the best three weeks ever!"

  As KJ gasped for air, he couldn't help feeling like he'd just made a terrible mistake. Lilixia, one of Hell's most powerful demons, was now going to be living in his house, attending his school, and participating in Halloween festivities.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Emma peeked in, her suspicious gaze moving between KJ and Lilixia.

  "Mom says lights out in an hour," she announced. Then, still staring at Lilixia, she added, "I know you're not really French."

  Before either could respond, she closed the door and disappeared down the hall.

  Lilixia turned to KJ with a worried expression. "Is your sister always that perceptive?"

  KJ nodded grimly. "She's like a tiny detective. Nothing gets past her."

  "Well then," Lilixia said, cracking her knuckles dramatically, "looks like I need to up my human game!" She paused. "Actually, I just realized… I don't know how to sleep like a human. Do you lie down and close all your eyes at once, or is there a sequence?"

  KJ stared at her, suddenly realizing this was going to be the longest three weeks of his life.

  Created by Figures

  Published by Veilbound Press

  A Davison of Veilbound Media Group