Red hair flows wildly in the hurricane. Soft, freckled hands cradle a swollen belly. Eyes of steel regard the view from the rooftop. Stars. Lights. Darkness.

She turns, her face much older, and fine lines crease in the corner of her mouth and eyes. She is weathered from the coming storm.

"My baby," she croons.

*

"Mother?" Nyx jolted awake in the back of her family car, saliva dribbling down her chin.

"Yeah, baby?" Kathryn questioned from the front, twisting her head to see her daughter's red face and tired eyes. "Are you okay?"

Daniel turned his eyes briefly from the road to check on Nyx. "You look all flushed, Button. You okay?"

Nyx cleared her throat and wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Yeah, dad, I'm fine. Sorry, I just passed out. It's been a busy few weeks."

"And that's why we insisted you come on this camping trip with us. You need some wilderness to escape in. We've lived in the city for far too long. And after that patient of yours died..."

"Stop, mum. I can't. Just don't." Her throat burned, and she pressed against her eyes, trying to rid the images of Iris' lifeless body.

The funeral was busy. Full of people she had never seen visiting at the hospital. Nyx stood at the back like a family secret as people read eulogies of a 'better place' and 'no more suffering.' A scream nestled in her chest, and she left before terrifying everyone.

"Sorry, baby. I didn't mean to upset you." Kathryn patted her knee and smiled sadly. "We're almost there."

After losing Iris, Nyx stopped caring about hiding from the demons. Emry wasn't terrible, and she didn't think being used to hurt the Demon King that probably killed her friend was that bad anymore.

So, let them find me.

A few potholes in the road rattled her teeth. "Dad. Do you want me to drive?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and laughed. "We'll be there in a minute."

They pulled up to a large gravel lot with a few other cars scattered along the roadside. Piling out, they gathered their hiking packs and tents before heading up the trail. "Just before we lose service, I'm gonna let Selene know where we are. We should be back tomorrow afternoon, right?"

Daniel smiled. "Look at you being the responsible one. No wonder you're the best nurse in the city."

"Dad," Nyx groaned before pressing send. "Alright, let's go."

The trail was steep and winding, but the view would be worth it. The trio had camped along the track many times through Nyx's childhood, and each step deeper felt like she was returning home. 

Halfway along, they ate some sandwiches and smiled at a couple of hikers who passed them heading down the path. Nerves tickled Nyx's spine as she wondered if their smiles were genuine or hid malicious intent. I shouldn't have said yes to this freaking trip. She fought off Demons on their own, but chances were she'd be ambushed and overpowered by a horde.

After a few isolated hours without spying another soul, they reached the first site. "Shall we camp down here, Hunny? Or do you want to go higher?"

Kathryn leaned from foot to foot. "Let's go to the next plateau. Then we can be near the falls."

Daniel and Nyx smiled as memories of swimming in the waterhole and splashing beneath the falls returned to them.

"That sounds like a great idea."

After another hour, they arrived. The clearing was empty, and Nyx could hear the gentle swishing of the falls in the distance.

"Nyx set up her tent in record time and stared at her parents, slowly putting their larger lodging up, giggling like school children. "I'm going to go ahead and check out the waterfall. You come when you're done, okay?"

Kathryn pulled a face. "Are you sure?"

Nyx looked between her parent's flushed faces and scoffed. "More than sure. I don't need to see what is about to happen next."

Daniel rolled his eyes and pulled his wife into his arms, dipping her back like a princess. "You mean like this?" he asked, raining kisses across Kathryn's cheeks and head.

"Uh, yeah. Laters..." She took her smaller bag with her phone, swimwear and a towel, which would be useless to her. The falls are probably freezing right now. The last thing I need is to be attacked by a demon after catching hypothermia. 

After twenty minutes of trudging through the overgrown path, she smiled at the sight before her. The falls looked untouched by human activity. No footprints or rubbish like she was used to in the city. The water dropped from a plateau two stories above where she stood, and a small rocky waterhole framed its raining waters. A stream trailed down the hill in the distance and into a creek. 

Nyx squatted beside the water and trailed her fingers through its coolness. It was freezing, as she expected, and she quickly dried her hand on her tights. Birdsong and insects sang around her head, and she closed her eyes, letting the tears fall. She hoped her parents wouldn't arrive for a while so she wouldn't have to explain why she was sobbing in the bush. 

Iris. Her first loss. There would be many more in her profession, but it didn't stop the pain. While she had been her patient, Nyx quickly enjoyed the woman's company. She was her friend. She just couldn't understand why Neo would come to claim her. The glimpses she got of Iris' soul were normal. A little patchy, but mostly good. Why would she go to hell? After five minutes, her streaming eyes dried up as nature soothed her bones. Her breaths felt smoother in her lungs until a twig snapped nearby. Her head whipped to the right, but there was nothing unusual. A bird, maybe?

A jolt travelled down her spine, and she shuddered. Not a bird. At that moment, there was no sound at all.

"Dad-" her tentative call was silenced by a sudden force against the back of her head. The pressure didn't release, and she tumbled forward, face-first into the icy waters of the falls. "No-" Her screams were swallowed by the frozen liquid as it poured into her mouth and up her nose.

Drown.

I'm going to drown.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she writhed and swung her arms to hit her attacker. Instead, she felt a rigid body and kicked, her head twisting against the knotted fingers in her hair. Her lungs started burning far quicker than she expected and the desperate urge to inhale clutched her. 

No. 

In a moment of clarity, she twisted her arm behind her head and latched onto the hand there. Its soul was rotten, and she pushed her light into it as spots appeared in her vision and hypoxia set in. She screamed as she released the human soul into the demon body and thrust her hands against the muddy creekbed. The pressure above her lessened enough for her to take a desperate breath and twist in the attacker's grip. She landed a bone-shattering kick to their shin thanks to her hiking boots, and the she-demon fell, clutching her chest. "What have you done to me?" she screeched.

"You tried to kill me!" Nyx sputtered, still spitting water and debris from her mouth. She shuffled away from the keening witch, eyes darting in terror. Are there more?

"He didn't tell me this would happen," she growled, brown eyes locking on Nyx's drenched face.

"Who? Who sent you?" Nyx was surprised at the authority in her voice. It's the adrenaline.

"The- "

"Get out of here, now. Before I tear out your heart."

Nyx gaped at the intruder and watched as the female darted into the trees, still wailing like a banshee.

Neo stood blocking the path, yet his aura made it seem like he was hovering above her shaking form.

"Are you going to turn every demon in Hells into a human?"

Neo scowled down at her, and she returned the look straight back.

"Convenient you interrupt the moment she was about to disclose your identity," she spat. The water on her cheeks dried from the heated fury she emanated.

"What are you talking about?" Neo's genuine confusion stumped her, and she shook her head.

"It doesn't even matter. You've done plenty of things to make me hate you. So why are you even here?"

"I-" he disappeared in the cloud of smoke just as Daniel and Kathryn rounded the bend to the falls.

"Are you okay, Button? Why are you all wet?"

Nyx opened and closed her mouth dumbfounded. Is everyone just interrupting at the worst possible moment these days?

"Ugh, jeez, smells like rotten eggs over here. Did you fart, Daniel?" Kathryn covered her nose and smiled with her shirt as Nyx got to her feet.

"I got hot. I'm gonna go take a nap." She stomped past her parents and wrung out her hair as they looked on with furrowed brows. 

*
A/N
The drama continues! Will these two ever get a chance to talk?!