Hello beasties, miss me? Well I'm back and its time for another chapter of my Duke x reader story, and boy oh boy will this chapter be a doozy! (Its mainly going to focus on Missi's P.O.V) And pay attention to this chapter, because your author-chan is hoping to do a little something clever... (*wink wink*) Or not too clever, because I'm kind of a disaster..... But hope you enjoy the story, anyway! 

Missi's P.O.V

Y/N stumbled a little as she tried to keep up with the long-legged vampire, making Missi smirk a little despite herself. There was no way with her normal sized-legs that her former friend would be able to keep up with.... 

Him. The mere thought of the man who made her what she was contorted her features into a scowl. God, the mere thought of him still caused her insides to be drenched in cold rage. How she hated that man, the man who'd destroyed her life as she knew it, who'd tortured, who'd teased........

The man who'd made her experience one of the..... no, THE WORST evening of her entire life.... and now, she'd thoroughly humiliated him, reduced to nothing but a powerless shell of a man who'd all but cowered at her feet when she'd thrown him out of his own lair......

God, victory had never tasted sweeter.

From where she sat on the velvet chair, she watched the two vampires turn around the castle, somewhere out of the line of her sight, whether to gather along the entrance or not, she couldn't really say . When it was clear they wouldn't be coming back anytime soon, she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief.  Let them do what they wanted, she thought scornfully, they're not my problem anymore. Y/n was nothing more than a traitorous bitch with a nasty temperament, and Duke was nothing more than a bastard. Abet one who only thought with his libido.

Let them murder each other, roast alive in the sun, be devoured by werewolves or goblins, take off their clothes and screw each other, turn into daisies, whatever! She really didn't give much thought anymore 

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

If those two had any sense they wouldn't come back..... any time this century.

The presense inside her mind, known as "Lilith", also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as well.....

Oh yeah, there was that. over a year ago when Missi had first picked up the staff that fateful night, something... no someone, yes someone had entered her mind, changing the frightened girl into the strong, powerful vampiress she was now. Most would say that she had been possessed by this "Lilith", that she was some sort of malicious force bent on Missi's destruction.... After all, when Harry kept hearing that voice in the later volumes of Harry Potter; it had turned out to be Voldemort, or in other cases the main character had somehow gotten a demon or some other sort of nasty thing inside their cerebellum, or a mark of a deranged mind; a factor in the character slowly but surely slipping into the realm of insanity......

But the thing was, Missi was sure that Lilith meant no harm to her. Her presence in her mind was a comfort to the lonely girl, and in return Lilith had helped make her strong, leaving the terrified tomboy she was behind in the past where she belonged. Because of Lilith she had learned what she could really be capable of, who she could really be.....

Not a shy girl who was as unpolished and as plain as a rice-cooker, not the girl who'd been dubbed "the mouse" at her school because of a little sound she made when startled, not the lonely girl who read novels about lives she could never live and romances she'd not in any way get to experience...... No, Missi was something more, something new and improved......

A sorceress, powerful and strong, a self-made woman who answers to no man or beast on earth....

And sure, Lilith could be harsh and to be honest, a bitch at times(as expected of a villainess), but underneath all of that, Missi could detect that she really wanted what was best for Missi, even if Lilith would probably never admit it aloud. The voice inside her head was a haughty thing to be sure, doling out admonishments as much as her praise and adorable little pet names.

And then there was what Lilith whispered inside Missi's mind, the words of encouragement that kept her (mostly) sane when she practiced her magic with the cane, guiding her through long nights of research, and always, always, whispering of how wonderful Missi was, of what she could become...

"After all, you remind me of myself when I was your age dearie....." Missi whispered, quoting the words that Lilith had told her so often, with a hint of sadness in her voice. Missi suspected it had to do with Lilith's history with Duke, although Lilith always told her that she'd tell her everything in time......

But secretly, Missi was beginning to wonder WHEN exactly Lilith would reveal all Missi was wondering about, what happened between her and Duke, why Lilith had called Duke her "fiancée" all of once before she'd corrected herself, and..... and..... For the unlife of her, she couldn't remember what else she wanted to ask. Maybe the strain of the past little while had finally gotten to her.

Guess she'd have to put her trust into her mentor and hope for the best..... After all, putting her trust in Lilith had allowed her to come this far....

Missi leaned back in the chair. After a moment a realization dawned on her, making her sit up straighter. 

No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't not here, not now, please, please, please, please.....

If Y/n and Duke were gone, then she was alone, and those things came back when she was alone, the crawling things, the scuttling things in the dark..... The things would come, searching for her warmth(or whatever little warmth her body possessed), looking to burrow their way into her flesh, to gnaw her bones.... God, she could hear them now, crawling, crawling, crawling in the walls......

Despite herself she let out a low giggle, the sound echoing through the empty room.

Oh god

It's so so quiet here

The silence is sipping into my head

She got up from the chair, mind already whirling. Maybe the things wouldn't come this time, right? Maybe she'd be finally free from their influence..... They wouldn't be able to bite or scratch at her any more with their claws, rend her flesh with their sharp little fangs......

If those beasts LEFT her ALONE, she'd be fine, everything would be perfect, all hunky-dory...... heh, hunky-dory. That really was a funny sort of word, if you took a moment to think about it....

When monsters are loud

They're really quite delightful

She was in the main hall now, in front of those huge windows.... She didn't remember opening the door to the sitting room, or turning down any of the necessary passageways to get to this place.....

It was the sight of her fight, not even an hour ago. The crevasse still jagged and dangerous looking, the candles of the pentagram melted down to mere wxy nubs, 

How did she get here? She was in the sitting room mere moments ago, so how did she get all the way from there to the other fucking side of the castle?

Damn memory slips. They really were a bitch, espechially when your mind wasn't in the most tip-top shape to begin with.....

It's the silent ones that kill you

So please watch out

With a snap of her fingers, Missi was transported away from the place, not wanting to stir up any more troublesome memories than she already was. After all, she told herself, she was so done with those two, they weren't worth her time anymore....

Then the scuttling. From right behind her, on the heels of her black velveteen heeled boots. God, she could hear their disgusting jabbering and babbling from right behind her. She tried to not let her disgust show. God, they really were horrid little things, scuttling on their multiple pairs of legs, oozing and sulking about, their roughly furry bodies brushing up against the ground, their multiple pairs of eyeballs making unpleasantly wet sounds as they blinked, gibbering in a language she could not comprehend....

Such nasty little beasts indeed.

We had a monster ball

And they all came out to play

Whirling around, she came face to face with....

The beast. But wasn't there more than one before? Did the rest disappear? Were they still here, ready to crack into her skin and corrupt her soul even further? It was larger than most, so maybe it wouldn't be able to crawl down her throat this time to make itself at home.... But then again, if it was bigger, it'd be able to swallow her in one gulp, large enough so she'd slide right down its yawning maw like a candy.....

No matter. With a sweep of her violet skirts, Missi curtsied to the monster, keeping a normal expression. After all, you should never let them see your fear.... That was when they'd strike and they'd bite you, nibble nibble upon your soul, nibble, nibble, nibble, nibble, nibble... She'd learned that the hard way the first time. 

The monster bowed to her, the tip of its fuzzy, coal-black head scraping the floor........

They were dressed to the nines

in their scary monster ways

But just as the beast was about to devour her, Missi swung the staff out into the beast, and it crumbled into hundreds of baby monsters which quickly scuttled off.

We had gizzard tea

And lizard skin

And baby legs

and rolled around merrily

and spilled our fluids

With a leap, Missi landed effortlessly in the dungeon. Why on earth had she even considered doing something like that, something so spur of the moment?

Honestly, she just felt compelled to do it, a nagging little itch that wormed its way into the very center of her mind, whispering its sweet, siren call to her.... and obediently, Missi gave into her momentary flight of fancy.

At least she was able to land gracefully....

God it was so fun!

Missi could have sworn that another voice spoke along with hers, one low and horrible, much different from Lilith's musical lilting tones, one that belonged to someone much older and more terrible.....

But that was ridiculous, she'd know if someone else was inside her head, wouldn't she? After all, she was powerful enough to constantly keep back the creatures, so what thing would even dare make its home inside her head(other than Lilith), with out her knowing about it? After all, Missi WOULD immediately know.......

Wouldn't she?

At the end of the night, we bowed

and said: "Good eating"

Missi could have sworn that there was a shadow that belonged to the charming vampire that followed her, and she waltzed with it, before sucking it up into the cane upon Lilith's word. Or, at least she THOUGHT she heard Lilith say so.....

That bastard! He'd caused her so much suffering so much pain, tormented and broken her soul into a thousand pieces, ruined her life...... And she'd still beaten him, taken his can, killed him, brought him back from the realm of the dead, and thrown him out of his own castle....

She'd defeated the real thing, what was a pesky shadow to someone like her?

And they spilled into the night

Slithering and creeping

She happily walked off before finding herself somewhere else, again. God, her memory was such a blank to why she'd gotten here, and for what purpose, stupid memory slips, getting more and more annoying....

At least she hadn't blacked out again and woken up to find an entire room trashed, like that one particularly unfortunate time when she'd shut herself up in her bedchambers to research the resurrection incantation......

Lost in her reverie, she almost didn't hear the sound of frantic sawing from above, the beasts hard at work once more......

I close my doors and hit the lights

And sighed into the frightful night

The chandeliers were creaking

An unsteady creak reached Missi's ears and she leapt out of the way, just in time before the chandelier smashed down, right in the spot she'd been standing mere moments before, suggesting a potentially fatal encounter if the massive crystalline thing had actually made contact.....

Such naughty little beasts they were! Always playing tricks on her......

Ah oooh!

My little toms were peeking

Of course it was all in her head, it didn't really crash, it's all your head, all in my head, all in my head... It was just the naughty little beasts, always messing with her

Well, Missi wouldn't give them the satisfaction of getting to her! 

Everything was fine, Minoise hadn't turned into a pale giant version of his adorable self, the beasts weren't scuttling around within the walls, everything was fine, everything was hunky-dory(heh.)......

Oh god, what's that?

Could it be my little black cat

Could it be my shadow playing tricks

Could it be my flighty candlesticks

After all it was the nature of these beasts in the dark, they were clever hiding everywhere(they're everywhere), turning out to be just her shadow(Not my shadow), or her faithful cat Minoise, but really they were playing tricks on her, they were screwing with her....(Yes that's it) It had to be(unless they are lying in wait to kill you).... It just had to be(they're going to crawl into your eyes and lay their eggs in your sockets....)......

It's time for my body to go to bed

But who will tend to my dear head

The night will soothe its deadly ways

into the realm of the insane

That picture there.... Yes it was him! He must be gone! For what he did to us..... But when Missi moved to destroy the picture, it was just Edgar Allen Poe, not him.... But she could have sworn it was him, smirking at her, looking at her(STOP LOOKING AT ME)...... 

Nevermore, Nevermore.....

I lift my covers up

And I close my little eyes

And I listen to the night

With its silent screams and cries

Of course, sleep was practically impossible, due to the fact that there was HIS shadow over her, trying to grab her, tear her, rip her..... He wanted to POSESS her, like a collectable teacup or a china doll, but she wouldn't be his, she belonged to no one, nobody, not a single bloody beast, nobody, noooo boodyyyyy....

And when she did manage to catch more than a couple winks of sleep...... Oh.... The nightmares would come. They'd come, whether Missi invited them into her head or not, no matter how many times she clutched her staff to her chest, no matter the spell.......

Oh, the things she'd see! 

Y/n's sister dressed as a knockoff Joan Jett, eyes completely scraped out of her skull, nothing but empty sockets staring into her soul as s/n smiles, and unloads a stake into Missi's heart........

A pale haired woman giving birth to two twins, only one of them ended up devouring the other one, biting its tiny baby fangs into the other's soft little neck.....

Y/n in a white gown, something a bride would wear, walking through the darkened woodland towards the glow of a bonfire as the snowy bridal gown slowly turned black....

Worms, ants, maggots, burrowing and feasting, spoiling her tender flesh, eating her alive until she was nothing but a pile of smoothed-over bones....

The boy who'd confessed he had a crush on her, than broken her heart, calling her beautiful, even as Missi smashed his pretty face into a bloody mess of bone and sinew with her Twilight book....

Roasting alive in the sun, the skin flaking off her body in long crispy strips, her hair falling out in clumps, a sharp pain in her chest....

Hanging shadows, the groans of women long since dead, filling her bedroom......

The cane, ever present, a towering effigy that only seemed to grow more massive, blinding her with the light shining from its ruby chip eyes....

But when she fell out of bed, it wasn't there anymore, leaving her panting and frightened, the covers drawn up nearly to her neck as she scanned the room in a panicked state, searching for any sign that her was there, if he was hiding in the shadows, it he was waiting there.....

I went to sleep and woke to find

I was being eaten

Oh yeah, and there was that. The little bastards liked to try and devour her from time to time, sinking their teeth into her pale flesh, teeth that never left any mark, at least none visible to the naked eye... And as expected, they usually came after her just before she awoke, sinking their teeth into the flesh of her thighs, the soles of her feet, her breasts, her temples......

Which  wouldn't be so bad....

Actually, this felt kind of.... nice. Who knew that being devoured could feel ever so comfortable? It kinda tickled. Maybe being devoured wasn't so bad after all-

Wait, she couldn't be devoured now, she had ever so much to do, she was far too busy to be eaten, and besides, those little beasts were so uncouth.....

Missi wouldn't allow herself to be eaten alive by just ANYONE, a girl had to have standards.....

Except....

With a burst of strength(aided by Lilith), Missi managed to get the beasts off of her, and with a swish of her skirts, shooed them away. Obedient, the beasts dispersed, gibbering as they did so.

Good. Maybe that'd teach those nasty little beasts she was

I never gave permission

With that, she went on her way, but a whoosh made her stop dead in her tracks. Was it Minoise? One of the beasts? Something else? Whatever it was, it was long gone, leaving the empty hall far behind her.....

Thankfully nothing came out.

Ah good old fashioned paranoia, now available in Missi 2.0! Complete with Vampirism, and sorcery! Now with customizable insanity!

Voices in her head sold separately.....

Those silent little demons and their silent little ways

Its the silent ones that kill you and the little ones that rage

The big ones  will hound you and the big ones will pound you

God, what was happening to her? Was she actually going crazy? Or was this all in her head? Crazy! Sane! Crazy! Sane..... HaHAHAHAHAHA.......

But at the moment Missi didn't care......

But the germs get in you and eat you inside out

Inside out

Inside out

They'll eat you inside out

Which wouldn't be so bad except they eat you inside out

Without her noticing, the beasts were creeping up on her again, but Missi was too far gone at that point to really care.... Lost in a realm of madness, she was completely was ignorant of the steadily advancing swarms of the beasts, drawing ever closer to her.....

Which wouldn't be so bad

Except they don't ask for permission

They just get inside you and set upon their mission

Oh god, they were here, they could sense her fear, her madness, her pain.... They'd swarm her, transform her, corrupt her even further, oh go ohgodohgod.....

Her terrified mind whirling, Missi struggled to find a way out, but the creatures swarmed ever closer....

Or better than that

They'll get into your veins

and seep into your bloodstream

Which causes a lot of pain

They grabbed her, their sticky tendrils holding her in place, until they began to swarm her and engulf her..... And begin their assault on the fortress that was her body, burrowing under her gown, crawling inside every opening, underneath her nails......

Or better than that they'll make you go insane

If the little bugger slimes reach into your brain

Or better than that in your soul they'll lurk

A place to worship they've become your church

They were there, crawling, crawling, inside her muscles and bones, polluting her, defiling her.... It hurt, it hurt, it hurts so bad, make it stop, make it stopmakeitstop......

She could feel them doing their dark work on her, making wings sprout from her back, her teeth lengthening and smile widening to make space for her now knife-length teeth.... Her wrists bleeding black as she tore them to ribbons, her skin hardening like diamond.....

And then, through out all the pain, a single, pleading word echoing in her mind from a woman who sounded for the first time, scared.

Let her go!

Without realizing what she was doing or the fact that Lilith herself had uttered it, Missi threw the staff out of her grasp. It was one of the first, and practically one of the only times Lilith had actually taken control of her body, but Missi was in no position to complain, she was almost too far consumed in that moments, the beasts(whether there or not) devouring her from the inside.....

It landed a few feet away from her, landing on the floor with a dull thud. The sound, however dull, echoed all through the castle, shaking Missi down to her tortured core as she slowly came unto herself, the creatures leaving her, vanishing like puffs of smoke....

Gasping for breath, Missi shakily looked at her hands.

Her human hands. Throwing the staff away, it had made her human again, something she hadn't been sure she was in forever. Sure, she'd suspected that the reason she'd turned in the first place was connected to the cane, but she'd never actually tested the hypothesis..... until now. And the ruby glow coming from the eyes was gone, revealing it wasn't ruby that made up the eyes of the bat, just ordinary chips of black glass....

The monsters were gone. The paranoia gone. The anger, and all the other nasty things? Gone.

But there was a painful lack of something, no someone in her mind. It was lonely inside there, some familiar, comforting presence lacking......

Lilith wasn't there. The thought weighed heavily down on Missi's chest. The one person who made her feel like something other than a nerdy bookworm, who showed her how to become strong, who taught her magic, kept her sane,  who called her dearie....

Was gone.

Missi missed her most of all and it was an ache upon her chest like no other. It was loss, heavy and all consuming, 

With one last look at the staff, a though came to her, all her own.

"I can't stay here." She whispered, the words settling over her like a choking fog.

And with that, she turned down the hall, leaving the staff's dull eyes behind her.

In a kind of zombie-like daze, she dragged her feet through the elegant halls, hardly looking up. Why should she care anymore about this place? There was nothing here for her anymore besides despair and isolation, nothing even worth staying for.....

Lilith had always advised her against dragging her feet,  saying it was unladylike, but now....

She wouldn't do that anymore, Lilith wouldn't be there for her anymore. Missi was well and truly alone now, no friends, no family, no pets, nothing....... She felt like nothing.

And Lilith..... she'd never hear Lilith's smooth tones, her comforting words.....

Ever again.

She had lost two friends now, probably for good. A tear trickled down her face, and she wiped it away instinctively, holding back a sob.

It'd be better for everyone if she just left. Walked out of this castle, never came back.....

She stopped briefly in the hallway to grab her old back pack, then continued on, feeling its familiar weight on her shoulders. She was now in the hall where she and y/n had entered over a year ago, where they'd encountered Duke, and their lengthy night had begun.....

 Reaching into her dress pocket, she pulled out a scrunchie and tied her brown, limp hair back in her old style. A nagging at the back of her mind compared this to a story she once read about a young man turning into a cockroach, only in her case, she had gone from a powerful sorceress, back to the "mouse" once more, nothing special, nothing worth any second glance........

The front hall looked slightly blurry, she realized with a sinking feeling. Whoopie, my farsightedness is back, she though miserably, and she put back on her old glasses.

Vampiric vision, one of the things she took for granted before, and now, it was gone. Now old, far-sighted Missi was back with a vengeance, ready to begin the long, monotonous trek back to....

To what exactly? Her family probably thought she'd died in the time she'd been gone, all of her classmates were a year ahead of her by now, life would have gone on, leaving poor Missi far behind in its wake.....

If she didn't belong in this castle, or back in town, then where did a broken girl like her really belong?

Nowhere, maybe......

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally reached the front door, the place where it had all began over a year ago.  Had it only been a single year? For Missi, it felt like an eternity, a strange dream she was just beginning to awake from, something that seemed so fantastical, so unlikely, so much like something she'd read about in a novel.....

Missi lifted the latch, and was just about to step outside....

When out of the corner of her eye, she spied something that made her pause.

It was Duke and Y/n. They were back, and....... arguing. Or at least y/n was. Duke seemed to be more fixated on a piece of paper now clutched in one of his pallid hands......

The sight of the tall vampire and her former friend caused Missi's eyes to narrow with rage. HOW DARE THEY. This was all THEIR fault.

Y/n had betrayed her, Duke had ruined her life, THEY had made her like this........

If she left, it would be what they wanted, they'd laugh at her, call her a stupid bookworm like everyone else did..... She'd be weak, a cowards, just shy little Missi; running away like a scared little mouse.....

She wouldn't let that happen, ever again.

With renewed purpose, she strode back to where the cane lay. Once she picked it up in her hand, she felt the change go over her, turning her from weak human into vampire. The power, the strength filling every part of her body from the roots of her hair to the soles of her feet was awash in the heady rush of power.......

 The presence of Lilith filled her mind once more, making Missi shiver with a sick thrill. Her mentor was back, her one, true friend...... The only friend she'd ever need, the one who'd always be loyal to her, no matter what.....

Inside out

Inside out

They'll eat you inside out

Which wouldn't be so bad except they eat you inside out

No it wouldn't be so bad

She tossed the remnants of her human life aside, the backpack, the scrunchie, the glasses, finally feeling free again. Those belonged to another girl, not a vampire who had no need of silly human attachments, memories of a life that was no longer hers to live......

She would never go back to being the scared bookworm ever again. Never again. She'd be powerful, she'd be free, she'd be......

A sorceress, mistress of darkness,  strong and true.

As for the insanity and everything else that came with the staff? The visions, the nightmares, the loss of time?

 All little speed bumps in the road to what she wanted. When she was powerful, she could endure any storm, any affliction, it was all just steps in the grand scheme to get what she truly wanted:

Revenge.

With her power and Lilith by her side, she could do anything.....

Except they eat you inside out

Inside out

Inside out

They'll eat you inside out

Which wouldn't be so bad but they leave you inside out

Inside out?

The power that washed over her like a wave on the shore felt so right, why had she ever wanted to leave this? Why had she ever wished to go back to her human life where she 

Then she willed it to dissipate for the moment. She had work to do, starting with getting those two off her rightful property..... If she had to create another song and dance routine to kick their asses, then so be it.....

She opened the door, unsure of what to expect....

Nothing. Hm. Maybe those two did have some sense after all, if they had vanished so quickly before she 

Then, something brushed up against her boot. Looking down, she spied a flyer, maybe a poster, one that you'd typically see hanging on the side of a bus stop or and abandoned building.

It showed a man and woman, dressed to the nines, dancing together in the moonlight, the woman being dipped gracefully by her partner, her dress nearly scraping the floor, gazing lovingly up at the man who held her in his arms.....

The flyer had a few additions in red ink added to it which simply read: BRB get ready for the showdown....

Oh, so they wanted a showdown did they? Missi's face curved into a smile, and inside her mind, she could practically hear Lilith smiling too.

Well, if they wanted a showdown, they'd get one.....

Well beasties I'm finally done this chapter! Hope you liked it!

Now how about that beasties, it seems like Lilith might not be as bad as she seems, and that there might be more than one voice in Missi's head....

But what will come of the showdown?

Well your guess is as good as mine beasties, but it's probably going to be good!

Anyway, I'll leave you for now to draw your own conclusions to what I've written about Missi, Lilith, and the Other(That's what I'm calling it until specified), and I'll see you wonderful beasties soon!