The ride in Neo's silver Mcclaran drew more attention than Nyx needed on a hungover Sunday morning.

Lustful eyes from the most beautiful people she had ever seen followed a trail behind the man sitting in the driver's seat. His relaxed posture and casual sideglances were a turn-on if ever she saw one. He had showered and changed before they left and was sporting tailored black pants and a relaxed black dress shirt. Sleeves rolled to reveal deliciously toned forearms adorned with a well-polished Rolex. 

Dear God, he's so hot. I haven't had good sex in so long- Oh my God, Nyx, shut up! She groaned and buried her head in her hands when a sexy chuckle sounded beside her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't know, I only had one drink, but I feel so terrible. What the hell is in those green things your bar makes."

"Devils juice. It's fairly strong."

"Yeah, well, I didn't feel anything from it at first, but now I have a major headache." She groaned again at the morning sun peaked over the horizon and stabbed a tendril of light directly into her eyes.

"Fascinating. Did your friend have one of these drinks, too?"

"Yeah, she's the one who gave it to me."

"That would explain the blackout in a bush," he murmured. "That's our strongest drink. Not for the faint of heart."

Nyx sat quietly staring at her manicured nails, realising she had lost the pinky one at some point in the night's adventure. "Ah, shit! I just got these done."

Neo didn't respond for a few minutes until they reached the apartment block she had dialled into his GPS and pulled over. Nyx went to open the door when she found it was locked. Before she had the chance to panic, Neo got out, rounded the car and opened the door for her. His well-placed hand gave her enough support to climb from the lowered vehicle.

"Thank you," she whispered, still clasping his warm hands. Their size engulfed her own, and she gulped, looking into his eyes. In the daylight, they looked completely black, and the pupil was impossible to find. She realised she was staring and gently detached herself from him, noticing her ability wasn't working again. What the hell is happening to me? "Do you believe in souls?"

The question seemed to take the man opposite her by surprise. A wry smile twisted his lips. "I suppose you could say my job depends on them."

Nyx's face twisted slightly. "Huh? Actually, never mind. I can't talk about it anyway."

"Your curse?"

"What?"

A grouchy, garbled voice needled in her ear from the apartment's front doors.
"Nyxie! You bitch. I can't believe you ran off last night! Some weird demonic chic had to take me home!"

Selene looked worse for wear, her mascara still tracking down her cheeks and smearing across her neck, but her snarkiness was regretfully intact.

"You left me, Selene. I looked everywhere for you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, no thanks to you. And where did you spend your night then, huh? With the evil guy from the club?" her tone shifted from jokey to accusing within moments.

"He's standing right here, Selene. And yes, he, um, he looked after me and helped find you."

Her face twisted into an ugly scowl. "I don't care if he hears me. He's evil. Do you hear me? E. V. I. L."

Nyx turned, prepared to muster an apology, but Neo's hardened gaze gave her pause. His eyes raked across Selene's flushed face, and his brows lifted slightly as if he found something of interest.

"I'm glad you're home safe, Miss Araceli. Miss Knight, would you still like that breakfast? "

After sensing the animosity from her friend, she frowned and nodded at him.

"Let me change first."

Neo nodded and returned to the car after one last scrutinising look at Selene, dialling a number on his phone to make a call.

Nyx sighed and pushed past her friend, who resumed her screeching the moment they entered the lobby doors. "Are you seriously going to spend more time with him? Why won't you listen to me? I have a radar for this kind of thing. You're being so selfish right now after everything I've done for you. You're going to leave me again?"

Nyx's blood began to boil as she entered the elevator and punched their floor number. Six.

"I promised myself I would never drink like that again. Why didn't you stop me after that neon crap?"

One.

"Why did I even agree to this night. Who even likes clubs anyway?"

Two.

"You know, I hardly recognise you anymore." Selene's puppy brown eyes turned a menacing black under the dull lighting.

Three.

"The old Nyx would never ditch her friend to spend a night with a guy." 

Four.

"A disgusting, evil, dickhead of a guy at that!" Her mouth twisted into a sickening sneer.

Five.

"I don't even want to see you today. I think you should go. Yes, go. Actually, maybe you should move out. Lease it up next month anyway."

Six.

Nyx's head pounded, blood whooshing painfully in her ears when the elevator opened to their floor. She stabbed her keys into the apartment door, furiously kicking it open when it took two tries to turn the faulty knob far enough. Selenes prattling continued, and the sliver of decency Nyx had finally snapped.

"You know what, Selene? Just shut up! Seriously, shut up! I don't know what's come over you, and I'm gonna assume it's the hangover talking, but you're really starting to piss me off!"

Without another word, Nyx gathered a simple outfit of baggy jeans and a spaghetti strap crop top and locked herself in the bathroom as Selene pounded on it, yelling profanities. She showered and changed lightning-fast, quickly moisturising and applying a tinted sunscreen to look less dead. Her lash perm from the week before was a lifesaver, and she only needed the slightest blush achieved from high blood pressure at Selene's pitchy screeches. Throwing on fluffy socks and house slippers, Nyx steeled herself and wrenched the bathroom door back open. 

Selene was so close that she almost toppled through it, the veins in her forehead throbbing. "Where are you going? You can't seriously be leaving with him! He's a -"

Nyx screamed and slammed her palms against her ears as she barged through the door past her friend. 

Ex-friend, apparently.

Just as Nyx was about to fetch her keys, Selenes hand wrapped around her wrist and squeezed. Nyx turned and latched her hand on top, and a sickening image of Selene's soul appeared in her mind. A tar-coated, slimy leech appeared to be undulating at the centre of her soul. The surrounding patchy white and greys looked dull and tired. "What the hell is that?"

Despite the fury at her friend, she reached her essence into her body and tore the slug creature off her. Immediately the brightness returned to Selene's soul, and a physical black slime poured from her mouth, dropping on the wooden floors with a hiss. Nyx held back a scream, quickly stomping on the wriggling creature. It disappeared in a yellow fog, and nothing remained but a blackened scorch mark and the scent of eggs.

The moment the sludge dissipated, Selene returned to normal. She stared open-mouthed at her friend as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean-"

"Selene. Just leave it okay."

"But I don't know why I said any of that stuff-"

Nyx groaned, running a hand through her copper waves. "I don't have time for this."

"What was that thing?" Selene's quivering voice gave Nyx pause.

"You saw it too?"

Selene laughed humourlessly. "It came out of my freaking mouth. Of course I saw it!"

"I-I-I It was-s a-a. Goddammit! I can't tell you; honestly, I'm not even sure. I have to go, okay. You should leave here. Pack your stuff and go to your family's place or something. Neo's waiting for me."

Selene baulked. "Oh what, so you're on a first-name basis now? That is totally not his name."

Nyx stormed from the room with Selene trailing behind. "Wait, I'm sorry. He's just-"

"Selene!" Nyx's reprimand sent a shiver down the woman's spine. "If you didn't mean anything you said before I took out that thing, then why are you still going on about him?"

It was Selene's turn to stutter. "I- I can't tell you that either... It's just something I saw. Something I see."

"Whatever." Nyx walked into the elevator for what she hoped was the last time that day and didn't look back. 

A/N

Hmm, what was that thing and who put it there? Is this breakfast date a good idea or not? Hope you like the title- I've been picking the wildest dialogue I can find lol. Don't forget to vote ;) 

K <3