Carol sipped her coffee and pulled up her phone’s screen to read the morning news. She couldn’t help but grimace as she saw her reflection in the black screen. Everyone told her she was aging gracefully, but aging gracefully was still… aging. She looked at the hint of crow’s feet in the corner of her eyes and scowled. She’d found a grey hair the other night too, a harbinger of more to come…

Stop that, she told herself, you are HOT you are a COUGAR! You are… thirty...

“Happy birthday to me,” she muttered as she opened her phone, viewing the notifications.

There was a knock on the door, and she sighed and got up to answer it.

“Good morning Miss Adams!” James said with a smile. “I’m here with your rent check! You can call it your birthday present.”

“Come in!” she said with a kind smile, “I just made breakfast, you need to eat something! You’re skin and bone!”

James was one of her favorite tenants, living in the basement apartment below her own house, the two of them saw each other more than most of the other renters did. Something about the young student just lit up her nurturing instincts. He was a scrawny boy in his sophomore year of study, with straw-blonde hair a shy attitude made worse by the fact that he’d evidently moved across several states for study and had few friends or family nearby.

“Well,” James said with a smile, “okay, I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He sat down and started serving himself, filling a plate with bacon and fried potatoes. He knew she always cooked “too much” breakfast on days he’d be by to drop the rent off, and he appreciated the gesture.

Miss Adams herself, or Carol as she vainly insisted he call her, was certainly easy on the eyes too. She had a curly mop of brown hair and a curvy body that haunted his fantasies. His mouth went dry as she tipped her coffee mug back, slurping up the dregs and exposing those massive breasts. He blinked and forced himself to look back down at his breakfast.

She’s so nice to you, he thought angrily at himself, and you’re always perving on her. He shook his head slightly, finishing his meal.

“If you’re not doing anything today, there’s a new girl moving in to the unit a few doors down,” Carol said with a smile, “a big strong guy like you might help her with her stuff.”

He snorted; big strong guy like me? yeah right.

Still, he wanted to be friendly, “Sure,” he said with a smile, “I’ll stop by and ask if they need any help.”

She smiled pleasantly as he left, you really should try to date more James, she thought to herself. For a moment she indulged the fantasy of taking him out on a date herself, complete with ending back at her place… She giggled, you’re way too old for him.

With a sigh she put the dishes away, thinking over the things she had to do that morning. Her rental units were fairly low maintenance, she almost exclusively rented to students like James who weren’t here for the college party life. That gave her plenty of time for her real passion, witchcraft.

With a hum she stepped up the stairs to the house’s attic. She felt a slight buzz as she passed through the wards of protection, and the wooden passage creaked as she entered her laboratory.

“Happy birthday granny,” a smug female voice called as she walked in. With a scowl Carol turned to see the red skinned demoness, Asmodea, lounging on a couch at the far end of the wall. The demon was using her long tail to scroll through a smartphone while she held it in her hand, and casually chewing pink bubble gum with an occasional *pop*.

“Be nice,” Carol said, hefting a squirt bottle of holy water.

Asmodea gulped, “I mean uh, happy birthday, you’re aging like wine!”

“That’s better,” Carol muttered, placing it back on the table while she walked over to her cauldron. “You’re my familiar now, I expect you to be polite, courteous, and most importantly not evil!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Asmodea muttered, going back to her phone, I’ll corrupt your ass so bad they’ll be calling you the wicked witch of the apartment complex, the demon assured herself. Still, despite her thoughts, the witch had proven more resilient to her attempts than she’d expected. “Out of curiosity, you ever think about just letting me go?” Asmodea asked, “getting a familiar a little more your speed?”

“After all the trouble I went through to catch you?” Carol laughed, “look, a succubus wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for my first familiar, but I couldn’t let you just keep going on a rampage through those frat houses. You’re much better off sealed up here in the attic.”

“Hey, everyone was having a great time,” Asmodea protested, “until someone showed up with that super soaker full of holy water…”

“Enough,” Carol snapped, “Asmodea, your mistress commands you, assist me at the potions table.”

“You can just say come over here,” the demon muttered, standing up and joining her. “So, what are we brewing up today? Magical wrinkle cream?”

“Thirty isn’t old!” Carol protested. She paused, thinking a moment, “out of curiosity, would you happen to know a youth or vitality potion?” She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice.

“Oh yeah,” Asmodea laughed, “it’s one of the most common ones that witches brew up.” She gazed around the laboratory a moment, “yeah, looks like you’ve got pretty much everything you need here, let’s get started.”

…

Mary Hopkins crossed her arms, looking angrily at her parents as the last of her things were carried into the apartment. As an Acolyte of The Order, she’d spent most of her life in their hidden mountain base, only straying out into the world at large for training and missions. Until now anyway… her parents were insistent that she had to live here in the mundane world, that it was important that she learn to “function,” whatever that meant…

Her parents were dressed in civilian clothes, button up shirts and jeans, Mary had defiantly worn her brown leather jacket over a white tunic, along with a well-tailored pair of pants that hide multiple knives and other weapons. She’d have liked to wear a full set of armor, and maybe her broadsword or crossbow, but her father had put his foot down on that one…

“I still don’t understand what you expect me to do here,” she said bitterly, crossing her arms.

“You will go to classes,” her mother explained, “you will meet people! You will be friendly!”

“Pfft,” Mary waved dismissively, “these sheep don’t know the terror that waits in the night mother, you cannot expect me to take their mundane concerns seriously!”

“See, talking like that is exactly what I mean,” her dad said, rolling his eyes, “clearly we pushed you way too far into the order’s disciplines, you will attend this university for at least one semester, and I expect good grades, a social circle, maybe a boyfriend-“

“Father,” Mary gasped, “to abandon my divine calling in order to fraternize with the opposite sex would be-“

“What every other member of the Order does,” Her father said with a chuckle, “Goodbye Mary.”

With that her parents got into their car, closing the doors and driving away. Mary sighed, looking at the prison of normality she’d been forced into.

It’s only for one semester, she reasoned, then I can move back in to my quarters at the fortress and-“

“Hi!” a male voice said from behind her. Reflexively Mary’s arms came up over her head, grabbing the stranger’s arm and twirling easily, bringing him to the ground as she knelt over him.

James grunted as his back hit the ground with a thud, he looked up at the girl, wide eyed. She had dark, almost black hair, and her blue eyes were lit up as she pinned him, her lithe form alive and tense. Mary blinked, blushing as she realized what she’d done. She mumbled an apology, then helped the stranger up.

“Uh, sorry if I surprised you,” James muttered, still a bit stunned.

“It’s okay,” the girl muttered, straightening her jacket. “I uh… I’m really into self-defense.”

“I can see that,” James said, impressed, “uh, I’m James. I saw you moving in and thought I’d come give you a hand?”

“Oh,” Mary said dismissively, “I’ve already finished moving my things in.” She pushed the door to her apartment open, revealing a sparse room with a mattress sitting on the ground, a laptop computer, and a few yet to be unpacked cardboard boxes.

“I see,” James said uncertainly. “Minimalist, I like it.”

“Asceticism sharpens the mind and body,” Mary replied. She turned to regard him, “I’m Mary,” she said, holding a hand out.

“James,” he said, wincing at her strong grip as he shook her hand. “So, are you from around here or you from out of state like me?”

“Out of state,” she said, “I’ve been studying at a… religious institution until now and I wanted to try something new.”

“Oh, cool,” James said. He noticed her outfit for the first time, it seemed odd, like something you’d wear to the renaissance fair? He decided not to question it, he wasn’t exactly a fashion guru himself, as his faded anime convention shirt could attest.

“Well, I live in the basement unit over there,” he pointed to a two-story home at the edge of the complex, “it’s right under the landlady’s house actually, she’s pretty nice. Anyways, you want me to show you around the complex?”

Mary thought it over, mother and father do want me to fraternize with the uninitiated… and this one does have a pleasing face, in spite of his lack of fortitude…

“Sure,” she said with a forced smile.

…

“And there we go,” Asmodea said with a smile as the second cauldron stopped bubbling “standard youth and vitality potions!”

“Two potions?” Carol asked curiously.

“Yeah, this one is a little more complicated than just brew and drink,” Asmodea explained, “first, you take this one.” She pointed to the now still pink mixture.

Carol grabbed a nearby goblet, scooping it in to the cauldron and drawing out a cupful of the potion. She sniffed it a moment and grimaced, it had a sour, pungent odor. She hesitated, glancing at the demon, who gave her a thumbs up. Her familiar couldn’t knowingly take any action to harm her, or disobey direct commands, but that still left plenty of wiggle room for… mischief.

Asmodea seemed to guess her thoughts and rolled her eyes, “it’s not going to hurt you! It’s a very standard youth and vitality ritual, witches have been using it for centuries.”

“Very well,” Carol muttered, and with that she drank it down, feeling the oily mixture seem to slide down her throat. She grimaced, fighting a gag, then finally coughing as it seemed to settle in her stomach. “What now?” she rasped, steadying herself, “I drink the next one?”

“Oh no,” Asmodea said, “that one goes to your target.”

She frowned, “my target?”

“Yeah,” Asmodea said with a grin, “you give this to a guy you like, or who likes you, and then you’ll slowly drain him and-“

Carol sighed angrily, “I should have known better than to take your advice,” she muttered, “this is a curse, isn’t it?”

“Well, for whoever drinks the other potion, sure,” Asmodea said with a shrug, “but it’ll make you super hot, I guarantee it!”

“What part of no evil don’t you understand?” Carol asked, exasperated.

“Like the whole concept I guess,” Asmodea said, “but whatever, if you don’t want to use it, it’s no skin off my tail.”

“I’m going to dump this down the drain,” she muttered, hefting the second cauldron, sloshing the yellow mixture inside.

“If you don’t want anyone being exposed to that stuff you probably shouldn’t do that,” Asmodea said.

She sighed, “what’s the proper way to dispose of this stuff then?”

“Stick it somewhere cold and it’ll eventually go inert,” Asmodea said, “seems like a waste of a good potion though.”

“Will the fridge work?” Carol asked.

Asmodea shrugged, “probably.”

“Well, there’s a milk jug in there that’s almost empty anyways,” Carol muttered. She sighed, angry over a morning wasted.

…

James walked back to his apartment, having spent most of the afternoon showing Mary around the complex. She was… odd, but maybe that was just nerves from moving someplace new? She seemed really into true crime stuff too, she’d asked a lot of questions about weird disappearances or murders, and he could tell she was disappointed when he told her that nothing like that ever happened around here.

He frowned as he noticed a large package on Miss Adam’s doorstep. He diverted from the steps leading down to the basement, hefting it up with a grunt. He rang the doorbell, and a moment later his landlady opened the door.

“Hi Miss Adams,” he said, holding the package, “I saw a delivery person left this, and I know how much you hate having your packages left out.”

“Oh, thank you James!” she said sweetly. She reached to take it from him, but he just grunted and hefted it away.

“It’s uh, kind of heavy,” he muttered, “do you have a place you want it?”

“Just bring it into the kitchen!” she said, opening the door wider and gesturing for him to follow her, “and stop calling me Miss Adams! You’ve lived here for a year now; you don’t need to be so formal!” At her direction he hefted the box into the kitchen with a grunt.

“What’s in this thing?” he muttered, panting a moment as his arms ached. I really need to start hitting the gym or something…

“Just some decorative rocks for the garden,” she said with a smile. Decorative rocks with runes of protection… “I’m going to go get some scissors to open this box up, why don’t you get yourself a drink? Help yourself.”

She hummed softly as she walked to her office, sauntering her wide hips and drawing James’ eyes. He felt something stir within himself, and fought it off. With a sigh he went to the cupboard and got himself a glass. He opened the refrigerator, deciding to spoil himself with a bit of cola or maybe juice. His eyes lingered on an unlabeled gallon jug of a yellow liquid. Lemonade maybe? With a shrug he took it out and poured himself a glass.

“Okay, let’s see if they got my order right,” Carol said sweetly, brandishing the scissors as she returned to the kitchen. She froze when she saw the jug of potion on the table, and James finishing a glass of it. “O-Oh you drank the-“

“Is this homemade lemonade? He asked, licking his lips, “it’s a little sour, like it needs a little more sugar…”

“S-Sugar, right,” she repeated, oh god what have I done? “Uh, hey James, why don’t you just… wait here a moment.”

He frowned, “sure, everything okay?”

“I need to… check the smoke detector in your apartment! It’s not safe to go down there, just stay here!”

He watched as his panicked landlady raced out of the kitchen. James just shrugged and went to the faucet, hoping a glass of water would wash the taste of that “lemonade” out of his mouth.

“Asmodea!” Carol said, bounding into the attic, “the potion! How does it work!?”

The succubus had been reading a magazine, and was startled enough by the witch’s entrance that she stumbled off the couch. With a grumble she stood back up, regarding Carol and then smirking ater panicked expression.

“Oooh, someone used the curse!” she said teasingly, “who’d you pick? A cute mailman? Pizza delivery guy?”

“For your information it was the boy who lives downstairs, and it was an accident!” Carol hissed, “what does it do, and how do I cancel it?”

“It sucks him dry and makes you stunningly beautiful,” Asmodea said. “Didn’t we go over this?”

Carol gulped, imagining James rapidly aging, shriveling away and then collapsing into dust. She gave a whimper, almost falling to her knees.

“Oh relax,” Asmodea said, “look, he’ll get smaller, you’ll get prettier, it’s not so bad.”

She paused, “s-smaller?”

“Well yeah, as his physical presence is drained and converted into youth, beauty, and vitality, he gets smaller,” Asmodea said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Any time he has a lustful thought about you, or thinks of you during the moment of his pleasure, it’ll happen…”

Carol blinked, “s-so you’re saying that this curse, it’s only going to take effect if James has a lustful thought about… me?”

“Yes,” Asmodea giggled, “it’s a delightfully cruel hex, the target gets smaller the more they are consumed by their lust for the witch, and as she gets more beautiful he’s entranced even further in a vicious cycle!”

“Well, we have nothing to worry about,” Carol chuckled, “James would never be interested in me like that.”

“Uh, look, as a demon it’s kind of my thing to make fun of your insecurities and all, but…” Asmodea bit her lip, trying to think of how to word it, “you uh, might be surprised.”

Carol just rolled her eyes, “please, I’m ten years older than him, and with his cute looks he’s probably got girls throwing themselves at him.”

…

James checked his phone, Miss Adams, Carol, had been gone an awfully long time. He sighed and looked around, his eyes lingered on some photos held to the fridge by magnets. One in particular caught his eye, and his throat went dry as he saw the smiling form of Miss Ad- Carol, in a bikini at a beach.

He got up from the table, taking a closer look. In the skimpy swimwear his landlady’s ample assets were visible in full, those massive breasts, and a wide plump backside that he could imagine burying him like an avalanche.

…

“Well,” Carol sighed, “that’s one crisis averted, I guess we should-“ she gasped as her whole body tingled. The air seemed to shimmer, and she struggled to stay steady on her feet as a wave of lust came over her.

“Wow,” Asmodea mused, “yep, no way he’s into you, no way at all.” The succubus snapped her fingers, and a hand mirror appeared in her hand. She handed to Carol, who took it shakily.

“Oh wow,” she said, looking at her face in awe. She ran her hands over her skin, small imperfections had disappeared, wrinkles at the corners of her eyes had flattened, and everything her fingers touched was soft and smooth.

“That’s just the beginning,” Asmodea said. “Seriously, you’re going to look so great by the time you’re done sucking all his essence out.”

“James!” she said in panic. She fled the attic, stomping down the stairs and peeling back into the kitchen.

The sudden appearance of his landlady startled him, and he felt suddenly guilty for looking at her vacation photo. He blinked as she rapidly closed the distance between them, was she always that tall?

Heels, he reassured himself she just put on some heels… He stared at her another moment, fighting the urge to let his jaw drop. Her face looked… radiant, did she put on makeup? He wondered; she couldn’t have had time…

“H-Hey Carol,” he stammered, looking up at a landlady that was now a few inches taller than him, “did you replace the smoke detector?”

“Uh, yeah,” She said, looking down at him in awe. “Listen, James, I’ve got a lot to get done…”

“Right,” he said, “I’ll get out of your hair.” He turned to leave, stumbling slightly. He paused, looking down with a frown. His pantlegs were hanging low, and his shoes felt loose too…

Carol watched him go, trying to ignore the feeling of lust building in her as the now shorter man walked away. His helpless form was suddenly so enticing, she wanted to just pin him to the ground and give him a rough kiss, then take him right there on the floor! She breathed out slowly, forcing herself to calm down.

It’s the spell, she reasoned, it’s probably drawing us to one another…

She hurried back up to the attic, where a chuckling Asmodea was waiting.

“Well?” The demon asked.

“He’s definitely a few inches shorter,” she muttered, “I don’t think he noticed.” She fought a girlish giggle, “I can’t believe he’s thinking about me like that though…”

“Okay cougartown, let’s focus up here,” Asmodea said, with a smug smirk, “are you one hundred percent sure you don’t want to just shrink this guy away to nothing and make yourself a supermodel?”

“YES!” Carol said indignantly.

“Fine,” Asmodea said, crossing her arms angrily, “well, I’ve got no idea how to cancel this once it’s started, so we’re going to need to do some research. Roughly how much time do you think we have?”

“Er… I’m not sure I follow,” Carol said uncertainly.

“Let me spell it out for you,” Asmodea said with a sigh, “this guy is going to shrink every time he has dirty thoughts about you, right?”

“Right,” Carol said, nodding.

“So how often do you think that would be?” the demon continued, “like, was that just a fluke downstairs, does this guy have lots of prime tail chasing him and he won’t think about you again, what am I working with here Carol?”

“Well, he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Carol said, biting her lip nervously, “and he doesn’t seem to go on a lot of dates…”

“Okay, what does he like to do?” Asmodea said, gesturing for more info, “is he at the club a lot? Maybe he’s a gym rat?”

“No, he’s pretty small, I don’t think he works out,” Carol giggled, “he’s very into some science fiction series, something with an emperor I think?”

“Okay, that could tell us a lot,” Asmodea said eagerly, “was it Star Wars? If he’s into that he’s practically a normal well-adjusted guy.”

“No, it wasn’t that,” Carol said, trying to remember.

“Dune maybe?” Asmodea said hopefully, “a little more obscure, but not totally outside the realm of-“

“No,” Carol muttered, “it was the one with the little plastic figurines, war-something. He brings them home from the store and paints them. It’s actually pretty neat!”

Asmodea’s face fell, “Oh Lucifer… Well Carol, buckle up, because we do not have a lot of time. This guy sounds like some kind of super nerd and he’s probably going to jack off to you as soon as he gets home!”

Her eyes went wide, “Y-You really think he would-“

“Carol, he lost a couple inches just talking to you for a few minutes,” the demon poked her roughly in the chest, “now, we’ve got a nerdy, single guy with a crush on his older landlady, do you know what nerdy single guys do at the end of the day?”

“W-What?” Carol stammered.

“They jerk off!” Asmodea laughed, “now again, my opinion is that you should just let this happen, if you really like the guy, we can get a hamster cage to keep him in, a lot of witches liked to keep their victims as pets once they’d sucked them mostly dry, they’re pretty cute and-“

“No!” Carol said angrily, “We’re going to find a way to fix this before he gets that small!”

…

James looked down at his freshly painted miniatures and sighed happily, now that is a good way to spend a free evening, he thought to himself. He got up from his table and flopped on his bed, trying to think of something to kill time. All of his school assignments were done, and he wasn’t quite in the mood to hop on his PC for gaming just yet. His eyes lingered on a bottle of lotion by the bed, and he felt something stir in him as he remembered how radiant Miss Adams, Carol, had looked. He’d always had a thing for her, but today she’d looked better than she ever had before.

With a shrug he reached for the lotion and box of tissues

…

“I’m still not finding anything,” Asmodea said, flipping through a spellbook casually, “we could call someone downstairs, but most hellbound demons won’t tell you shit without some souls to trade, and we don’t exactly have any spare ones laying around.”

“Keep looking!” Carol said. She sighed and tried to focus on the Latin translation of a grimoire on protection from curses.

She gasped suddenly, dropping the book as the same tingle from earlier washed over her body. A fire lit in her loins, and she fell to her knees and groaned as an orgasm rocked her body. She suddenly had an image of James, his face contorted in pleasure, she was standing over him, no, towering over him! He was a toy in her hand, a miniscule plaything in her power, a worshipper of her divine beauty!

“YES!” she hissed loudly, letting the waves of pleasure wash over her.

“Oh damn,” Asmodea laughed, “looks like your nerd got done playing with his dolls and decided to play with something else.”

“H-he doesn’t play with dolls, they’re miniatures,” Carol said weakly, forcing herself back to her feet. She panted a moment, steadying herself against a table.

“Whoa,” Asmodea said, taking a look at the witch, “you clean up good!” She reached for the mirror again, handing it to Carol.

“Whoa,” Carol echoed, looking at herself. Her hair was silky and thick, shining in the light, her breasts seemed to defy gravity, and her cheekbones seemed more defined. She was beginning to look like someone people might stop to look at on the street, like a news anchor, or a model…

“You’re taller,” Asmodea said, looking up at her thoughtfully. The two were usually the same height, around 5’ 5”, but now Carol had a few inches on her. “Your boy must like to look up at girls.”

“What do you mean?” Carol asked, still looking over her new appearance in awe.

“The beautification, for lack of a better word, is guided by the tastes of your victim,” Asmodea explained. “He likes ‘em busty and tall? You’re going to get busty and tall.”

“S-So how do you think he’s doing?” she asked nervously.

Asmodea shrugged, “I’m guessing that, given how good you look, there’s no way he hasn’t noticed it.”

…

“What the fuck?” James whispered in shock, the third time in as many seconds. His clothes were hanging off him, and the bed seemed larger somehow? He slid off it and let his feet hit the floor, stunned at how high his mattress was.

There was a knock at the door, and, in a daze, he walked towards it. He stumbled, realizing that his pants had fallen down, and he numbly reached for them, holding them up as he turned the doorknob.

His eyes went wide as he looked up at the statuesque figure of his landlady. If Carol had looked good before, now she was like something out of a fantasy, with enormous breasts that jutted out at him, creating a deep valley of cleavage that was almost at eye level. Blinking in awe, he let his gaze drift down, her hips had a deeper curve, giving her a decidedly hourglass shape.

“Hi James,” she said weakly, looking down at him with a small smile, “I just... wanted to check in, are you… okay?”

“I-I,” he stammered, “I don’t know…” He looked down at his clothing, hanging off him loosely, then up at his landlady, who towered over him where they’d stood eye to eye that morning. “Miss Ada- Carol, something really weird is happening!”

“Oh dear,” she murmured. She reached out and pulled him into a hug, and he grunted as his face was buried in her massive chest. She held her hand against the back of his head, hoping to comfort him, “James, it’s going to be okay, do you hear me?”

She released him and he stumbled backwards, almost dropping his pants again, “I’m smaller,” he whispered, “is this a thing that happens?” His eyes widened, “I think I need to go to a doctor!”

“No!” Carol said a little too quickly, “Uh… that is to say…” she thought quickly, looking at his confused expression. “If you go to a doctor for shrinking… they’ll probably want to send you to a government lab!”

“Just like E.T.” James breathed fearfully.

“Exactly!” Carol said, seizing on it, “why don’t you just… sleep on it! Then we can figure out what to do about it tomorrow, maybe it’ll just go back to normal?” Maybe I’ll have a fix by then…

“Uh, okay,” he muttered, “I think… I think I’m just going to go lay down then…”

…

“How’s he taking it?” The demon asked, giggling as Carol stormed into the kitchen.

“I think he’s calmed down a little,” she said, sitting down at the table with a huff, “I gave him a hug and sent him to bed.”

“You gave him a hug?” Asmodea laughed, “you are just digging the hole deeper, you probably shoved his face right into those bazookas!” she gestured at Carol’s expansive chest.

“Well, he’s already… relieved himself for today,” Carol said, crossing her arms, “so that should buy us some time.”

Asmodea was quiet a moment, “you uh, don’t have a lot of experience with men, do you Carol?”

She was quiet a moment, not wanting to admit that the demon was right. Asmodea just giggled at her, fighting the urge to break into full laughter.

“Okay, so what do you suggest?” Carol asked angrily.

“Okay, so just hear me out,” Asmodea began, “three words, cursed chastity cage, I run down there, slip it on him, bing bang boom, our problems are over!”

“Absolutely not!” Carol said angrily “we’ve already cursed him once; I’m not going to put some… unholy sex toy on his dingaling!”

“But-“

“I said no!” Carol said, slamming her palm down on the table.

“Fine, whatever, I want him to shrink,” Asmodea said, rolling her eyes, “maybe once you’re a perfect twelve out of ten and he’s your little pet you’ll finally realize how much it kicks ass to be evil!”

“I’m never going evil!” Carol snapped, “I’m a good witch and you are going to be a good demon for as long as you’re bound to me!”

“Gotcha boss,” Asmodea said with a smirk, “well, in the spirit of helpfulness, I feel I must tell you that I don’t think there’s a way to cancel this curse.”

“That’s okay,” Carol said with a sigh, running her fingers through her now perfect and luscious hair, “we just need to… figure out a management strategy, then we can fix it on the back end.” She gave a smile that looked way more confident than she felt, “as long as there aren’t any unseen variables, I think we can make this work!”

…

Mary grimaced as she waited for the bust stop. She was being forced to attend classes at this university, officially her cover story was that she was a history major. She scoffed at the prospect, she knew the real histories, the hidden histories! These people probably didn’t even know which one of the founding fathers was a vampire…

“Morning Mary,” James said hesitantly, joining her at the bus stop. He grunted as he hefted a much heavier backpack.

“Good morning James,” she said, eyes narrowing, “you seem… different.” She walked up to him, looming over him slightly as she looked down at his shorter stature. “You are… smaller,” she said.

“Uh, no,” he muttered, “I’m just… not feeling well?”

The truth was he was terrified. James had taken some time to think over his condition, and he’d realized his landlady was probably right, this wasn’t a problem the medical field could help him with. Somehow, magic was real, and it was affecting him. He was going to campus, but he would be skipping classes today. Instead, he intended to spend some time in the school’s library, researching myths, legends, local history… anything that might give him a lead on what was happening to him, or how to fix it.

Mary was quiet a moment, “Yes, not feeling well,” she muttered, “I think I feel a little ill myself.”

She sprinted back towards her apartment, and James blinked in surprise, watching her go.

“Weird girl,” he muttered. He wasn’t that small to cause a weird reaction like that, was he? Yet, he thought bitterly. No, can’t get stuck in that mindset, this is probably an easy fix, he assured himself. It had to be, right? Magic, or whatever this was, it was probably like your first computer virus, super scary, but no big deal once you knew how to deal with it.

…

Mary eagerly pulled out her crystal ball, chanting the sacred spell to instantly contact her parents. The crystal was filled with static for a moment, then her mother and father appeared.

“Mother,” she said, grinning, “father, I-“

“Aren’t you supposed to be in classes?” Her father asked in a tired voice.

“Father, I believe I have uncovered evidence of witchcraft, heresy, and possibly mutation!” she said eagerly.

“Mary,” her mother said with a sigh, “that is one of the quietest towns in North America, we chose it specifically so you would be forced to interact with the world in a normal setting.”

“B-But-“ Mary stammered, “I’m a member of the Order, on a holy mission to-“

“All that Order training will never amount to anything if you can’t walk among the rest of the human race,” her mother said with an exasperated sigh.

“But what if I did find a witch?” She whined, “would I still have to go to classes?”

“YES!” both of her parents said at once.

“Balancing your duty to protect the world with your everyday life is critical to success in this life,” her mother said, “and by the way, we gave you a cell phone, call us on that next time!”

“The crystal ball is for magical emergencies only,” her father said sternly. “Now, if there is a witch, do what you’ve got to do, but for now, go to your classes and try to enjoy yourself! You’re only in college once.”

“Thankfully,” she muttered, watching the crystal ball fuzz out.

Mother and father’s lack of dedication troubles me, she thought angrily, I may be on my own against whatever vile agent of chaos lurks in this apartment complex… She stroked her chin in thought, James… he’s the key here. She smiled, maybe she’d find something fun to do around the college campus after all.