Ugo sprung up with a perfume bottle in his hand and started dousing himself with the stuff.

“Since when did you walk around with perfume?” Zeke asked.

“Since I decided to become a real man,” he said as he continued to spray himself.

“What does that even mean?”

“I forgot to put it on this morning at school. I can’t let myself make the same mistake again.”

Zeke grimaced as he got a violent whiff of aromatic tobacco mixed in with sandalwood and vanilla. “What about the mistake of putting on too much perfume?”

“That’s a lie,” Ugo refuted, dropping the bottle—probably a lot lighter than before—back into his backpack. “There’s no such thing as too much perfume. Just like too much barbecue.”

“AJ said so.”

“AJ doesn’t count!”

Zeke slapped him across the cheek.

Ugo cranked his head back into his place, giving Zeke a look.

“I felt like she would want me to do that,” Zeke defended.

Zeke yipped as he noticed that Jill was now looking in their direction. The thunderous slap probably caught her attention. She ambled towards them.

“Jill, what’re you doing here?” Zeke asked her.

“Don’t you dare scare her off again!” Ugo said, pointing a mean finger at Zeke.

The lissom girl’s unearthly beauty was enhanced even further under the moonlight as if that was the setting it was always supposed to thrive in. But with the vitalized features went away every trace of innocence on her face and stayed only malice.

With eyes that could galvanize even the most jaded souls, she licked her lips with her sharp tongue as she focused on the boys one at a time.

The aura she fearlessly let out was daunting Zeke’s soul to its core. He could feel it. All of it. An insane amount of concentrated Black Magic energy pressed down on the purity of his essence like a barbell.

He made sure his hands were ready, moving them a bit as he held Jill’s hungry stare.

“I work for Master Gill,” she declared proudly.

Zeke dropped his guard to think. “Master Gill? Gill… wait, I’ve heard that name before.”

“The Third Born of the Fourteenth Tainted Generation of Healers, yes.”

“There’s gotta be some way to make that title shorter….” Zeke said.

Jill spread open arms and looked down on herself. “Gill helped me look more human with a spell he got help with from another Healer,” she explained, “I’m a succubus.”

“Ohhh, we know,” said Ugo and then let out his lecherous giggle.

Jill walked up to Zeke and gently pushed Ugo away. She slid her hands down Zeke’s shoulders and pressed her cheek onto his.

Sensations of arousal, fear, and confusion fought with each other inside of Zeke, rendering him unable to move or make a sound.

Jill began to sniff him, and then she retracted one hand from his body slowly and reached into her pocket. “Make sure you show up, Ezequias,” she whispered as she slithered her arm down his back and slipped something into his back pocket. She started sniffing him again and cooed. “Oh… so pure…” she crooned and then wrapped her slimy, sharp, dark red tongue around his ear. “So… untouched.”

Zeke let out a wimpy stammer. The mediocre effort did nothing to stop Jill from moving on to gently sucking his ear.

He caught Ugo scowling at them. Obviously, his brother was more jealous than concerned for his safety. Zeke was convinced that even if he was killed by this, Ugo would still be bitter and green with envy at his funeral service.

Finally, Jill let her prey go and withdrew her grotesque (depending on who you’re asking) tongue back into her small mouth and quickly transformed into her natural form. She winked at Zeke, and one of her demonic wings gave him a wave before she blasted into the milky night sky.

Without a moment to recover from the trauma, Ugo stomped up to Zeke and shoved him.

“What the heck, Zeke!”

“You think I wanted that to happen!”

Ugo stared for a bit and then kicked the streetlamp to his side. “Goddamit, the creature I wanted to meet the most just flew away! She was right by my side, and I blew it. I promised myself that I would do something when the time came.

“What do you mean by that?” Zeke arched a brow. “What were you going to do, seduce a succubus? Seducing is literally in their job description.”

“Just let me dream, man!” Ugo shook his head. “I don’t understand why she was so attracted to you instead of me.”

Zeke looked at Ugo with a nervous smile. “It’s because of my… stench.”

Ugo held his look and narrowed his eyes, going into deep analysis in his head. “Oh, I get it,” he said, nodding. “The perfume set her off. Succubi are more attracted to the natural manly musk.”

If by ‘manly musk’ he meant ‘nervous teenage boy body odor,’ then Zeke was happy to let him believe in the deduction instead of the real reason.

“Does that mean that Gill just has a bunch of succubi at his disposal?” He exchanged a look with Zeke. “Maybe, we should invite him to our medical team.”

“Gill could be one of the people who broke the Seal.”

“Okay, maybe not invite him, but keep him in close contact. You know, request some succubi to be part of our nurse staff.

“Why would we have succubi as nurses?”

“Okay, you’re right,” Ugo admitted. “That doesn’t sound right. But, per se, for special circumstances. For example, imagine there is a patient who is having problems with his penis—“

“I’m going to bed,” Zeke announced and walked towards their gate. Ugo caught up to him as he pulled the gold envelope from his back pocket. It was marked all over with demonic sigils.

“Well, this looks super cursed. We should probably—”

Ugo snatched the envelope from him and ripped it open.

“Mora!”

“You would’ve taken several hours to think about something you would’ve ended up opening anyway. I saved you time. De nada.”

They reached the gate and stopped. Ugo pulled out the long gold-speckled letter from the envelope and started reading.

“What does it say?” Zeke asked.

Ugo smirked. “It’s the invitation we’ve been waiting for. Gill wants us to spend our winter break at his retreat in the snowy mountains of Zürich. All the other Tainted Generation members are going to be there.”

Zeke’s heart started pounding. He knew it was coming, but it still felt sudden. Then, he noticed a large sigil on the back of the note.

“Looks like it is time for us to start playing spy and figure out who the other Seal breakers are,” Ugo said.

Over the wonder and trepidation that Zeke felt imagining the rest of the Tainted Generation, each with their own magic, personal philosophies, and personalities—good or bad—he could only think about one variable in the equation.

Seeing her again.

The boys crossed their front lawn with some distasteful reindeer lights keeping guard and went inside their reasonably decorated home. They greeted their parents and had dinner with them. Chicken zucchini casserole was the meal, and the conversation was helmed by Ugo’s young at heart father, Gerardo, who was adamant about reminding everybody of how in touch he is with the younger generation.

Zeke’s mother, Eldora, proud bearer of beautiful short curls, happily watched her bearded, fit husband ramble about tabloids and social media trends—neither of which Zeke nor Ugo was familiar with but didn’t have the heart to tell him.

After the meal and cleaning up, it was time to get to work.

Zeke sent a text to the Occult Doctors group chat, giving a summary of the situation, to which Naomi responded with a page worth of random emojis. Zeke feared how it’ll be when she inevitably learned about the infinite power of GIFs.

He waited alongside Ugo until they were deep into midnight. Then, Ugo drew the transportation sigil, courtesy of Esther Rosario, on their bedroom with a marker. He pushed the door open and beckoned Zeke over. “Come on, let’s go.”

In his pajamas, he clenched his doctor’s bag in hand, and with Ugo, he stepped into the Providence Infirmary of the Occult.

The welcoming smoky chamomile fragrance of the waiting room eased them into serenity. A soothing song of crackling fires played from the sconces on the white stone walls with missing plaster.

As if it were his first time walking in the medieval room, Zeke scanned the area, noting the wall hangings marked with various occult symbols and the golden wood altar at the end of the room. It had a bowl of holy water and over it was a multicolored tapestry of a three-faced sun—their expressions became more twisted and deranged going from the left to right. It was, of course, much cleaner than how they first found it, thanks to the effort of their virtuous custodian that didn’t need, or rather, ask for a salary.

AJ was in the room and on her feet near the cushionless carved sofas with her arms crossed. She wore a letterman jacket over her fleece polar bear pajamas.

Zeke locked eyes with her. Her hair was tousled but not in a ponytail which was a rarity. The bedhead look somehow suited her favorably, Zeke thought to himself.

AJ approached the two, shivering. She never did well with the cold.

“You’re just going to go?” AJ started, opening up the topic immediately. “Haven’t you guys read Agatha Christie?”

AJ had a point, as usual, Zeke realized. It sounded like a perfect plot devised by Gill to pick out Tainted Generation members one by one in an environment he was in complete control of. A mansion in the Swiss snowy mountains—walking into that and deciding to spend even a night there would be nothing short of Darwinism for whatever happens to Zeke and Ugo.

But this was one of the cases Zeke couldn’t let his anxiety take over. He had a duty.

He looked up at AJ, feeling the crick in his neck worsening—pent-up from talking with Ugo all day. “All the members of the Tainted Generation are going to be there,” Zeke said. “This’ll be our chance to get to know them all at once and gather clues on who helped break the Seals.”

There were footsteps, and the sound of them slowly increased.

The trio averted their gaze to the doorless arched frame next to the polished curved timber counter.

Naomi walked out of the frame, clothed in a spot print, long-sleeved nightdress, eyeing down at the bright white screen of a smartphone in her hand. Aside from adjusting well to the human world, she assumed her role of nurse/custodian with stride and spent her nights in the infirmary and kept it clean.

Zeke wondered how long it would take for her to realize how many union legislations they were breaking with the free labor they were getting from her.

“Naomi,” Ugo called for her attention, bringing her to a halt. “Who’re you texting?”

“I’m not texting anyone. I am reading what’s called ‘fan-fiction.’”

“Naomi, get out of there before you fall into a rabbit hole you can’t get out of,” Ugo warned.

Naomi took a seat on the sofa and announced, “Oh, and I made a friend today!”

Zeke looked at the smartphone, arched a brow, and then moved a scrupulous look over at Ugo. “So, you’re fine with that?”

“A girl needs to socialize,” Ugo said while shrugging, “I don’t regret letting her keep my phone at all.”

Zeke realized Ugo’s kind gesture masked as part of a scheme to win Naomi over had a fatal flaw regarding the male attention she’ll receive. But he decided to refrain from commenting on it and wait for Ugo’s eventual breakdown once he’s realized what he’s done.

“Someone asked for my number,” Naomi said.

“And you just gave it to them?” AJ asked brusquely. “Was it a guy?”

“Yes, it was,” Naomi answered happily.

Ugo’s smile faded like dissolving cotton candy.

“There it is,” Zeke said to himself, watching Ugo’s illusion of a perfect plan shatter before him.

Naomi’s cell made a loud ding that made her jump.

“Oh! He sent me a message,” Naomi announced, tapping at her phone.

Ugo stormed towards her and looked down at the screen. Their faces went blank.

Zeke and AJ exchanged looks.

“What?” They both asked.

Naomi curled her lip to the side. “Hm. Well, um… um….”

“There’s no other way to put it.” Ugo gave the two a stern look. “It’s a dick pic.”

“Seriously?” AJ said.

Naomi handed the cell to Ugo and moved up to AJ, confounded by recent events. “What a strange gesture…is this how human men win over the females?”

“It’s what they think wins over women,” AJ corrected.

“So, they don’t like it?”

“No.”

“Why do they keep doing it then?”

“That’s a great question.”

Ding

“Oh, he sent another,” Ugo said as he plopped down on the couch.

Ding.

“And another.”

Ding.

“Man, this dude is prolific.”

Naomi directed her big eyes at Zeke. “So… we can’t go with you?” she asked hopefully.

Zeke held her forlorn look, elated to be speaking with someone at eye-level, giving his neck a much-needed break. “No, Naomi. Tainted Generation members only. It’s best if we stick to all the conditions to avoid making anybody alert. This trip is to make connections, not enemies.”

“But Isaac is going to be there. He’s already our enemy,” said AJ as she walked back to the trestle table.

Zeke paused, half-expecting someone to bring up Violet as well. He glanced over at Ugo and was relieved he was distracted by the gallery of phallic photos being funneled into his brain. “We’re just going to try to avoid unnecessary conflict. Act as if nothing happened,” he said to AJ.

AJ crouched down on the table. “You mean, act like the guy who almost killed us all and tried to get you to help him to set a new Heaven did… nothing.”

Zeke forced a smile. “Yeah.”

“Wait… these photos aren’t all the same,” said Ugo, raising his head. “What’s this guy’s goal? Does he want Naomi to guess which one is his?

“Just block him already,” Zeke said.

“No, wait, I’m curious to see where this goes….”

Zeke gave out a sigh. “At the end of the note, there were instructions on setting up an effective hypnosis spell. It’ll make our parents believe in anything that’ll make them okay with us disappearing from the 28th and the rest of the Christmas break.”

“Gill wants you staying with him for that long?” AJ shouted as she sprung up. “I really don’t like this.”

Zeke walked up to her and brushed her shoulders. “I know you’re scared, but it’s going to be okay. Ugo and I will watch each other’s backs. Besides, if anything goes awry, we’ll text you guys or just use the sigil to return to this hospital. Easy.”

Zeke studied AJ as she looked to her side, keeping her arms crossed. She still wasn’t on board but knew there was nothing else she could say to stop it.

“I’ll miss you guys,” Naomi said. “I was hoping we could spend Christmas break together.”

As much as Zeke was looking forward to Naomi’s reaction to seeing snow for the first time, he had to hold back the urge to abort the mission. He looked over at AJ. “Please watch over Naomi and protect her from creeps like the Dick Pic Spammer.”

“Oh, I’ve been training by keeping Ugo from interacting with her as much as possible,” she said.

Ugo got up and returned the smartphone to Naomi. “Why did he have so many photos, though…?” he asked himself. “The quality of the pics was impeccable.”

Zeke and AJ looked over at him.

“I know what I said. I’m not taking it back. A good photo is a good photo.”