The same thing it always does - Demons, Classes, and Taylor.

You wake up after four hours, determined to make headway on your various problems. Fortunately, as it was Saturday, you didn't have much in the way of work to do - you could feel free to dedicate your full day to your fledgling demonology research. You had Comparative Religion in the afternoon, but you didn't know whether there was really a need for that anymore - you weren't learning anything, and the situation with Ashley was complicated. If you could get out of this safely, you didn't need to keep the class and it might have a new teacher regardless; if not, Ashley clearly had plans for you, and would probably just give you an automatic A regardless.

Oh, and you still had a TA to track down, but... That could wait until Sunday, right? Better to take advantage of this freedom to get some real research in. Grabbing a bowl full of dry cereal, you sit in front of your laptop and get to work.

Demons: Fact and Fiction.

An Investigation Into the Capabilities of Supernatural Creatures.

Killing Satan's Bitches.

Laws and Guidelines for Bargaining with Infernal Patrons.

By noon, you had gotten a fairly well-rounded set of sources... Including some Fanatic resources that practically fell into your lap, and which still left you glancing nervously at your router. You still didn't know how accurate any of these were, but... Of the sources you'd crossreferenced, three of these were frequently cited by other texts in their respective domains, and had the fewest contradictions with the other sources you'd skimmed. The last, Demons: Fact and Fiction were put out by demon worshippers themselves; being put out by demons themselves (functionally), you'd expect that it wouldn't have any mistakes or lies, merely glossing over unflattering details and failing to mention details like why you shouldn't sell your soul.

And the conclusion you'd come to after reading these books, especially Laws and Guidelines was... You were kind of screwed. Arguably from the start, but especially after you'd struck a bargain with Ashley without due caution. She'd threatened you into upholding your end, but that was, apparently, the nice option - Fate would enforce demonic bargains on its own, forcing chance to railroad you into fulfilling your obligations, and inspiring misfortune should you persist in defiance. And if you somehow managed to break it altogether, Satan would send enforcers after you both, making a grisly example of you to other would-be bargainers and of her to demons who would let their bargainers get away with this.

Fortunately, the text confirmed that demons were bound by their word, except by the express consent of both parties; if you could somehow make it through the week, you were free, and ensured her lasting protection. It seemed like pretty long odds, but you had trafficked with a demon. Myth had these things being unfair for a reason, and succubae were apparently notorious for being the worst to bargain with - their very presence was distracting and they were creatures of manipulation, twisting your words so that you promised things that you'd never meant to agree to. Basically, you'd stumbled into this game without a plan, on Impossible mode, and it was purely by Ashley's benevolence that you had an out at all. It could have been far worse.

You could have, for instance, promised her your soul, which Laws and Guidelines was very clear that you should never, ever do outside of great need or grand desires; the text you'd found referenced books that you couldn't find, but apparently it gave the holder of the soul "some sway" over the "shell", and the very act of going without a soul was apparently deeply "corruptive". If you were driven by base desires like **** in a hopeless situation, or boundless lusts like wanting a forest of meat and lake of wine, the bargain could maybe work out... But otherwise, the bargainer would inevitably find their fulfillment twisted into something empty and meaningless. You wonder for a moment about the implications for Elizabeth; she was toying with selling her soul for beauty, but would that fall under "grand desires"? Perhaps her motives mattered here - if she wanted to be a wanton slut, it'd probably go swimmingly for her, but she hadn't struck you as that vapid.

But that aside, Demons: Fact and Fiction and An Investigation into the Capabilities of Supernatural Creatures both agreed that a turnaround here would be difficult. Just how screwed you were depended on whether Ms. Devlin was a lesser succubus or a greater, but... Either way, you'd dramatically underestimated just how dangerous she was.

Demons: Fact and Fiction downplayed the dangers, but reading between the lines, it was alarming enough on its own. Succubae possessed supernatural charisma that made their words appealing to even the hardest of hearts, something you'd experienced firsthand. Strong conviction and distance could protect a mind from a lesser succubae, but a greater could have you cutting your own throat with an offhand remark. Contrary to your earlier understanding, these "sex demons" were also pretty damned scary physically; though weaker than many other demons, they were still supernaturally agile and strong enough to break a human's neck with a bit of effort. Setting aside the fact that they could fly, and could shape their fingers into sharp claws. Because apparently, you'd never even seen Ashley's real body; they were potent illusionists who could make themselves or a room look like whatever they damned well pleased. Which explained her office, now that you think about it.

An Investigation into the Capabilities of Supernatural Creatures just made things worse, as it went into nitty-gritty rather more, and wasn't concerned with hiding how dangerous succubae were. Apparently, succubae weren't just charismatic; so long as you lusted for them, they could actually twist your thoughts into agreeing with them. It was less effective on straight women like yourself, but so long as you had lust in your heart, they could eventually twist that to their own ends - usually, starting by ensuring those lusts would grow, giving them more power to work with. Prolonged contact just gave them more time to tweak your thoughts to perfection. And apparently, succubae fluids had some kind of metaphysical implications that they hadn't quite worked out yet - but they did know that it made your body more sensitive and your thoughts more preoccupied with sex, amongst other things. You thought back to how you'd talked to Taylor in the last couple of days, and realized to your modest horror that you were likely already showing the symptoms of that exposure. They didn't know how long any of this lasted for, either - and the research team in question had been quietly bought up by a think tank associated with demon worshippers, so you probably weren't going to get an answer out of them.

The only way to avoid being manipulated by succubae was to avoid succubae, period. And you'd pretty much broken that cardinal rule, and had **** but to continue breaking it, lest Satan's Enforcers track you down.

Which brought you to the last text... Killing Satan's Bitches. It seemed to have a lot of good advice in it, but it was... Not very subtle. And you were left wondering at times as to whether certain portions were based more on dubious personal experience rather than proper research; it claimed, for example, that you should avoid looking into a succubae's eyes to avoid being bewitched. But your own experience and the scientific journal both confirmed that eye contact was pretty irrelevant.

Still, it did hold some promising leads. Religious symbols were supposed to repel a succubae's influence, which was backed up by how Laws and Guidelines instructed you to remove such symbols prior to a summoning. Taking them into Ashley's office would be tantamount to declaring war, but you could keep some around the dorm. Killing was pretty stringent upon what type of religious symbol you had to use (plain cross only, no crucifixes, and they were attracted to the Virgin Mary), but... Frankly, that seemed pretty sketchy. Laws and Guidelines went out of its way to mention that any Abrahamic iconography would be a grave offense, and even certain Eastern symbols and Pagan rites. Putting up a bunch of crosses might not go over well these days, but burning some sage would probably be easy enough.

If it came to down to it... Killing Ashley would probably be easy enough if you could bring herself to do it. While there were a lot of demons who needed exotic methods to deal with, succubae weren't one of them; a shot to the head from a sufficiently strong gun at close enough range would do the trick. Your deal with her only demanded you do what she asked, and offered her no protection; killing her wouldn't be breaking your bargain. It was a radical option, one you didn't want to consider, but... If you ever got ****, having an out would be reassuring.

But it might not come down to that. Apparently, there were two other solutions you could pursue; first, an order of divinely inspired lawyers who could challenge the validity of any demonic contract, no matter how ironclad it seemed. The book didn't include a phone number, but did offer a series of clues for getting in touch. It honestly sounded to perfect to be true; a way out of this without anyone dying because of your stupid mistake, and perfectly legal.

Second... Apparently, seizing a succubae's tail was supposed to disempower her, and allow you to demand a single boon from her. With how intimate you'd been with Ashley, seizing her tail shouldn't be a problem for you; the only difficulty would be in remaining sane long enough to remember the plan, and making sure that you words weren't twisted when you requested your bargain dissolved and protection ensured. Maybe if you chugged some Myrrh oil first or something, it could help?

...All in all, you felt a lot more confident than you did this morning. You knew the contours of your problem now, and you had clear leads to pursue. Ashley had meant to keep twisting your head through your lusts until you were her dog, but if you held out, you were free - she had promised you her protection, and the keys to destroy her. And if you ever felt yourself threatened beyond that, you had two solid solutions - either get the angelic lawyers involved, or grab her tail.

You're closing the last PDF when a knock on the door signals the end of your musings.