FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"_Well_sir, with our cheapest package, that still gets you more than fifty channels provided by the basic cable service and access to pay-per-view programming, along with special deals on premium services like HBO and Starz."

Jessie wiggled her pen between her fingers and bounced her hoof on the carpet beneath her chair.Part of the fur on her wristwas stained blue from the ink of another pen she had snapped in half an hour earlier.

"Well sir, the service is only $149dollars for a year's package, and that includes...No, sir, that doesn't include tax as it's different in each state we provide...I'm sorry sir, I don't know that...I apologize, sir, but that's the price of our cheapest service package....Well,the service offers full access to The Weather Channel as well as other premium news outlets not available...Yes sir, Fox News is available on our service...I'm sorry, what was that? Sir? Mr. Abernathy?"

Jessie'ssmooth, cheery telephone voice dipped down into hergruff,natural smoker's voice.

"Fucker." She growled before slamming the phone down. Clicking the pen tip out, she scribbled a line of text next to the name and number she'd written down on a notepad in front of her.

555-7028 Paul Abernathy: stab in kidneys and leave in the woods to bleed out

The thought put a damper on her frustration asshe set the pen next to the pad andlookedat the other names she'd written over the course of the day.

555-1794 Samantha Perkins: break arms, throw down an empty well

555-5854 Hugh Mitchell: feet first into wood chipper

555-9858 Alana Brooks: wrap in barbed wire, drown in salt bath

555-7796 Jin Hong-Yun: bought basic package with free trial HBO

Jessie chewed on the end of her pen and ran up the list of her own personal anger-management exercise.It reminded her whythe paper-shredder had been a good investment.

She stretched in her chair, bouncing one of her legs after it had fallen asleep, and checked the clock. At 5pm, Jessie had been there roughly seven hours and still had another one left before her shift was up.Fortunately for her 5pm, just like 4pm, 3pm, 2pm, 1pm, and 12pm, was time for a cigarette break. Tossing on her jacket, she patted her pocket to make sure her wrinkled packet of Black & Milds were still there, thenshuffled to the exit with her black Zippo in hand, clicking it open and shut with a metallic scraping sound.

Outside, Jessie listened for the sizzling of paper and dried tobacco before taking a long, satisfying drag on the cigarette like the first breath of air after being underwater for a long time. The taste tickled the back of her throat and she felt it on her tongue as she exhaled a plume of smoke in the air, butthe smell reminded her of brimstone, something she'd found herself craving since the birth of her triplets. She didn'twant tothink too much about that detail, but it probably had something to do with their father.

After flicking ash onto the blacktop of the parking lot and watching the sun set over the highway, Jessie's peace was broken by the angry buzzing of her phone in her pocket and she instantly regretted not leaving it on her desk inside. Her job forced her to talk on the phone most of the day, soshe wasn't happy to do it on her own time. But once Jessie glanced at the caller ID, she quickly answered the call and tucked the phone beneath her long, low-hanging ear.

"Hey Hazel," Jessie said, pausing to suck on her cigarette. "What's going on?" The question wasn't conversational.

"Jessie? Holy fuck, Jessie," said Hazel (who called herself 'Azazel' during her and Jessie's high-school goth days). She sniffed into the phone, her voice trembling. "Jessie, you gotta come home. The kids...they...they're..."

"What?" Jessie took the cigarette out of her mouth. "What?! What's wrong with the kids!?"

"I don't know but...they're...they're doing_things that I...Jessie, please come home, I can't take this anymore._"

"Oh fucking grow a pair, Hazel," Jessie growled, angry that the girl would scare her like that. "I told you they did some weird shit, didn't I? They're four."

"I thought you meant like they'd play with dolls_or something! Not...Not like this...one of them...He's...he started crawling..._"

"Is Keith on the goddamn ceiling again?" Jessie said, rolling her eyes. "Get the stepladder! It's not like he's on there that hard, just take him the fuck down."

"Jessie, I'm serious. I can't do this anymore. I can't handle this. I wanna go home."

"I'm at work, Hazel, I can't come home yet. I'm off in like an hour, can you-"

"NO." Hazel shouted. "I can't take this, Jessie."

"Yeah yeah yeah, you already said that," Jessie grumbled, rolling her eyes and putting out her cigarette on the side of her hoof. She checked the time on her phone and sighed, long and deep to make sure that Hazel heard it. "I'll see if I can dip out early, okay?"

"Please hurry," Hazel whispered. "I don't know if I can-" From the other side of the phone, Jessie could hear a faint pounding, followed by the very distinct sound of a child speaking backwards. "Oh god. They found me."

"Where are you?" Jessie asked, switching her phone to the other ear.

"I'm in the bathroom. In the bathtub," Hazel whimpered. "I had to g-get away...These kids...they...they aren't..."

From over the phone, Jessie heard a young boy's voice speak.

"Miss Hazel! Come out! I wanna show you my _ C O L L E C T I O N _."

"Oh my god..."

"Get out of the bathroom! What are you doing!?" Jessie shouted into the phone. "They might get into something, you're supposed to be fucking watching them, aren't-" With a beep, the call was ended from the other side. Jessie sighed again and swore before dropping her phone back into her pocketand going back inside.

Her hooves thudded on the floor as she approached her supervisor'scubicle. Jessie knocked on the side of it, as if she couldn't just look over the chest-high wall and see Anton sitting there with her own two eyes. Thesquat lemurturned up toward Jessie, his big glasses making his eyes seem to take up half of his face.

"Hey Anton, I just got a call from my sitter," Jessie said wearily, thumbing toward the door. "She uhh...she's gotta dip out early, so I need to go in a few minutes. There's nobody else I can call to look after the triplets."

Anton blinked at her before turning to his computer. He always looked surprised and mildly afraid whenever someone spoke to him.

"Did you make any sales?" he asked. Jessie balled up the fist her supervisor couldn't see. The little weirdo obviously didn't have any kids.

"Uh, yeah. I got a deluxe package sold to a guy-"

"So just one?" Anton interrupted.

"...Well like, just one for today."Jessie shrugged. "It's a slow market, yknow? Especially this time of year."

"But we do have quotas, Jessica," Anton scolded her. Jessie was ready to rip a chunk of fur out of the lemurfor using her full name.She'd been there a year and a half longer than hehad and knew that the quotas didn't mean shit.

"Then I'll make up for it next time. I know what I'm doing," Jessie said, reassuringly.

"I'd feel better if you came in early tomorrow-"

"Can't. Day off. Triplets have a doctor's visit. Can't get around it." Jessie made sure to repeat the word 'triplets' whenever she got the chance to emphasize that she was not only a single mother, but a single mother of three, dealt to her by the cruel hand of fate. Guilt went a long way with theyounger managers.

Anton paused, glancing at his computer again as if he could Google the right response, then looked back up at her and nodded curtly, his glasses nearly sliding off his face.

"All right," he said. "But I expect you to do your best to make up for the lost time."

"Aye-aye, cap'n," Jessie said with a salute. Before leaving, she paused and pointed to the plastic pen in Anton's hand. "Hey, can I have your pen?"

"Um...I...Sure?" The lemur cocked his head in confusion before handing it over.

"Thanks, bossman," Jessie winked, twirling the pen in her finger as she walked away, her tail flapping happily as she headed toward the exit. She held it up to the light on the way out. She knew there were at least a few voodoo rituals that could be done with an owned object, freely given, but couldn't remember them off the top of her head. Regardless, she'd probably need to pick up a chicken neck or liver for most of them.

* * * * *

Jessie'sbattered SUV rumbled into the driveway and lightly touched the door of the garage before she hopped out of it, knocking a few empty energy drink cans onto the ground. Her hooves clopped loudly up the driveway as she fished out her house key. But the moment before she stepped up to the front door, it swung open, casing a light over the darkened front lawn. Hazel, the skinny hedgehog with a septum piercing, sprinted from the house and leapt over the shrubberies before falling in a heap on the grass.

"Hazel, what the hell?" Jessie said, shaking her head. Hazel flopped onto her back and pointed to the door while backing away.

"No more," she stammered as she stood shakily to her feet and ran toward her car. "No more!"

"For fuck's sake, they're_four_!" Jessie shouted after her.

"They aren't...they're not...it's not natural..."Hazel fumbled for her keys and dropped them. Jessie rolled her eyes, noting that in the average horror movie, Hazel probably would have been killed at least three times by then.

"They're just kids!Get a fucking grip on-"

Before Jessie could finish, Hazel had already slammed the door shut, started the car, and sped out of the cul-de-sac, her car blasting what Jessie recognized as South of Heaven by Slayer. She impotently gave the departing car the finger before shuffling inside.

"Hey guys!" Jessie called out, hanging her keys on a hook next to the door. "I'm home early! C'mon out!"

She tossed her jacket onto the couch and stood in the middle of the room, listening to the silence. Her ear twitched at a shuffle coming from behind her. Turning, she saw a shadow scuttle along the wall like a spider, then vanish into a darkened corner.

"Well if nobody is going to say hello," Jessie said out loud, "then I guess_all the SpongeBob mac & cheese will be all for _me."At this, she heard a scraping sound from the ceiling, directly behind her head, then followed by a low moan and a series of insect-like clicks. She waited,tapping her hoof on the carpet as the sound grew louder, faster, and closer.

Jessie spun aroundjust as the black shape on the wall pounced.Opening her arms, she caught it out of the air into her chest like a football, but staggered back from the incredible force. One Jessie staggered back into the light, the shape in her arms revealed itself as a small, stubby armed goat boy with jet-black fur and two white nubs of developing horns on top of his head.He was laughing and squealing hysterically, kicking wildly in Jessie's arms.

"You think you can sneak up on me, huh?" Jessie snaked her hand up between Keith's legs and tickled his stomach beneath his shirt, sending him into hysterics that put tears in his eyes. When she stopped, the little goat blinked up at her with rich, blue eyesthat made her heart melt all over again.

"Keith, baby, you _can't_do stuff on the walls when I'm not home," Jessie said as she lowered the squirming little kid to the carpet. "You scared Hazel! She thought you were going to get hurt."

"But I wasn't!"Keith said defensively, stomping his hoof on the carpet. "I just wanted to show her it! But she wouldn't_watch_!"

"Well...thenI think she's jealous she can't do it, too. That's all,"Jessie shrugged as she scratched behind Keith's floppy ear. "So don't do it when she's around because it'll make her feel bad, okay?"

"Okay..." Keith said, chewing on a finger. "Mama, can we have SpongeBob mac and cheese?"

"I don't know..." Jessie said, folding her arms and looking away. "I_really_wanted some...and I was only going to make it if you guys were good."

"We were!" Keith pleaded. "We were good! Mama! Please!"

"_MAMA!"_Shouted a second voice from the stairs. Hopping down two at a time, the second of the three triplets, John, ran full-tilt across the living room with a pillow in one hand. He was nearly identical to his brother, but with brown eyes and white splotches of fur all overhis body, including one acrosshis facethat resembled a white mask. Instead of his normal clothes, he wore one of Jessie's old t-shirts thatonly barely cleared the floor and looked like a short robe.

"Were you guys nice to Hazel?" Jessie asked, raising an eyebrow at John. He stopped dead in the middle of the floor and stared wide-eyed up at his mother. After a long pause, he looked down at his hooves and nodded.

"We were nice but she wouldn't play with us!" Keith said, hopping in place frustratedlyas if Hazel had committed the most heinous of offenses.

"But you two play too rough sometimes," Jessie sighed. She squatted down to their level and clapped her hands on the two little kid's shoulders. "It's okay when it's with each other, but a lot of people aren't going to understand the way you play."

"It's John's fault." Keith mumbled.

"No it isn't!"John shouted back at Keith. They likely would have started headbutting one another if Jessie hadn't held them in place.

"Stop it," Jessie said in a deep voice, gripping their shoulders tighter. "It doesn't matter who's fault it was. You _can't_play with the babysitters the way you play with each other. Understand?"

"...Yeeeaaahhh..." said the two kids in unison. Keith wrung his hands in his shirt and added. "It wasn't John's fault. I told him to do it."

"Do what?" Jessie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Show Hazel a trick..."John said, guiltily.

"Well, _I_wanna see your trick," Jessie said, encouragingly. John's expression brightened and he looked up from his hooves to Jessie with a smile.

"Okay!" He said, backing up a few feet. John cleared his throat and closed his eyes, silently counting to ten as his lips moved.

When John opened his eyes, they were a solid black, standing out against the white fur of his face like two bottomless holes. He continued to mumble under his breath, but in a strange language that sounded like Latin, but older. A thick, tar-like substance began to leak from his eyes and dribble onto the ground, black tears staining the carpet. The little goat stopped mumbling and opened his mouth, revealing another dark abyss behind his teeth. He continued to open his mouth wider and wider and wider, like a snake dislocating its jaw, until John was bent completely parallel to the ground, his arms dangling limply and fingers brushing against the carpet. Shadows of red-eyed snakes and locust began falling from his open mouth and slithering across the ground.

"That's awesome!" Jessie laughed, clapping her hands as she watched the shadow-snakes slither around her hooves. "That's_really_cool, buddy."

John snapped out of his chance and dropped onto his back, his eyes and mouth clearing and the black tears and animals disappearing in a black mist. He wiped his eyes and grinned excitedly at his mother.

"Don't do that too much, though. It'll hurt your back and then you'll have to sit in a wheelchair when you're older," Jessie warned as she pointed at John. With a grunt, she braced her hands on her knees and pushed herself upright. "Where's your brother?"

"Right here!" Keith said, pointing at John with a barely-contained snicker.

"Oh 'ha-ha', I mean your other one. Where's Neal?"

"He's in our room," John said, shrugging. "He didn't wanna play."

"He's a baby," Keith said, folding his arms in frustration.

"Hey, he's not a baby," Jessie snapped. "He just doesn't like to play rough like you guys do. Don't pick on him if he doesn't want to play. Promise?" The two of them looked away guiltily and didn't answer. "Promise?" Jessie repeated.

"Okay..." Keith said. John just nodded.

"Good. He's your brother. You should love him, even if he's different." Jessie pulled Keith, who was closest, toward her and kissed him between his horns. "Just like I do."

Jessie slid her hand up the railing while two out of the three triplets followed along behind her. At the top of the stairs, all three doors were shut, but the triplets' room on the right had a sliver of light coming from beneath it. Jessie knocked with the back of her knuckle, didn't hear anything, then slowly turned the knob and inched open the door.

The room featured a bunk bed against the left wall and a smaller, single bed against the right wall; both were messy as evidence they'd been recently jumped on. In the middle of the room, a small shape beneath a blue blanket sat on the floor and quietlycolored on a stack of printer paper with a pack of fat crayons scattered across the carpet. Jessie approached quietly and sat on her knees next to the blanket, looking over to see what was being drawn. She pinched the edge of the blanket and pulled it back, revealing her third son, Neal, beneath it. He more closely resembled Jessie, with mostly white fur with splotchy brown spots, but with one exception. As Neal turned to look up at his mother, he blinked with two wide eyes, the left one hazel like Jessie's, but the right a solid, crimson red.

"Hey baby," Jessie cooed, leaking over and pecking Neal between the horns. The little goat didn't answer, but instead looked up at Jessie for a long time before turning back to his drawings. Keith and John crept in silently behind them and sat on their bed, playfully shoving one another in what would inevitably turn into a fight with only a few minutes' worth of escalation. "You have a good night?"

"Yeah," Neal said quietly, shrugging under his blanket. "I wanted to color stuff." He was deliberately drawing a triangle on the page in his lap, gripping the fat crayon with his entire fist.

"I like your coloring," Jessie said. "Can I see?"

Neal didn't answer, but leaned over and instead passed a stack of drawings to her.Most of them were drawings of things he could have easily seen out the window: the sidewalk, trees, the sun, clouds, a car, the house. He'd drawn a picture of Hazel with a smile she definitely didn't have most of the time. He'd drawn more than a few pictures of himself and Jessie together, his two brothers conspicuously absent. There was a distance between Neal and the other two, but Jessie didn't really know what to do about it. Maybe it would get better in time.

Lower in the stack weremore strange, abstract drawings. Shapes, colors, lines, andforms that seemed more deliberate than doodles. The looked like crude drafts of the kind of paintings Jessie could find in a modern art museum, the kind people liked to 'Ooh' and 'Aah' at without knowing what they were looking at.

"What are these?" she asked Neal. The little goat glanced at them, then shrugged.

"They're how I feel," he said, his mouth barely moving. Jessie blinked at the unexpected answer before taking a closer look. The colors all seemed to go together in a sort of harmony she didn't enough about art to understand, but she got the impression the shapes were isolated, as if moving away from one another. Filing the thought away for later, she continued tolook at the drawings until she came to a series of pictures Neal had drawn of himself and a small bunny girl she'd never seen before.

"Who is this?" she asked, pointing to the girl.

"...Angela," Neal said without explanation. Jessie sighed. It was another one of these.

"When did you see Angela, sweetie?" she asked, stroking Neal's head. He didn't answer at first, instead filling the silence by scratching lines of brown crayon onto the paper in his lap.

"...Tonight," he said, quietly. "And on Tuesday. When I'm alone." He shifted uncomfortably on the floor and continued, "Her daddy pushed her down the stairs a long time ago and told her mommy she fell. She tried to tell the truth,but they couldn't see her anymore."

"I'm sorry, baby," Jessie sighed. "Do you want me to get some candles and make Angela go away?"

"...No."

"No?" Jessie blinked. "You don't?"

"She's sad," Neal nodded to himself. "I don't want her to be sad. I think talking will make her feel better."

"That's..." Jessie paused, glancing away. In the past, when Neal had attracted spirits, he'd always come runningto her andbegging her to get rid of them. "That's really sweet of you, Neal. You don't have to do that, though. The reason-"

She was interrupted by a crash, making her jump and drop Neal's drawings to the floor. Whipping her head around fast enough to make her piercings jingle, Jessie glared at John and Keith, who had been taking turns jumping from their top bunk to the dresser.

"Hey!" she barked. "What did I tell you about that!?"

"Sorry..." The two brothers mumbled in unison before climbing down and sitting on the bottom bunk. Jessie rolled her eyes and turned to pick up Neal's fallen drawings. On the bottom of the pile, by itself, was page nearly completely colored in with black and red crayon. On it, a figure Jessie instantly recognized as herself was standing silhouetted in the middle of a blood-red circle, with the rest of the page in black. Before she could even ask, Neal snatched the page out of her hand and quickly stuffed it in the pile with the others.

"That one's private," he snapped, running off with his hands full of is pile of drawings and throwing them beneath his bed. He kicked the fallen papers beneath the bed with his small hoof before staring up at Jessie, panting and wringing his hands together.

"That's okay, you don't need to show me if you don't want to," she said, making a mental note to go through his drawings later on. With a grunt, she pushed herself upright and dusted crayon shavings from the fur of her knees. Pausing, she realized the eyes of all three of her triplets were watching her expectantly. She chuckled, then pointed to the bathroom in the middle of the hall and said, "Go wash your hands and I'll get dinner started."

Keith and John gasped excitedly before scrambling off the bed and pushing past one another into the bathroom. As they burst inside, a throaty, deep, hellish roar of infernal power told Jessie that Keith hadgotten there first. She walked over to the corner of the room and took Neal's hand in hers, his other thumb finding its way into his mouth as he stared up at her with his wide, mismatched eyes.

"You want macaroni and cheese tonight?" Jessie asked. Neal's eyes seemed to sparkle at the suggestion and he nodded wordlessly while sucking on his thumb. She smiled and led him downstairs behind his two rambunctiousbrothers, hoping he would eventually grow out of the thumb-sucking.

Three boxes of pasta, three bags of cheese powder, a stick of butter, and a cup of milk later, Jessie carried three bowls of store-bought macaroni and cheese to the table, balancing them while recalling her days as a waitress, and set them in front of her excited sons.

"I had to mix the SpongeBob ones with regular ones," Jessie shrugged while wiping her hands on her work shirt. The way the three kids tore into their dinner, they didn't seem to care.

Before she sat down, Jessie flipped through the pile of mail on the counter, tossing most of the junk in the garbage. The only two items of note were a large box next to the sink and a winkled envelope from the County Detention Center. She started with the note first, as she was more or less certain what it was.

"Dearest __Jessica," the letter began, "I hope things are finding you well._ I wish I could say the same,_ thoughI am in high spirits considering my situation at present. The prison seems to have a well-stocked library and I am refreshing my knowledge on the more esoteric texts that reside here (though I can find little other than the King James translations, to my disappointment). I hope that you and your sons are living easily with the money from our settlement. Though a court of law would be too small-minded of an institution to understand the process of their conception, I believe my punishment be fitting of the crime and my guilt is, therefore, resolved. However, Jessica, I come to you asking yet again for your help. The nature of my release is measured in dollar signs than atonement in our backward society, and though I am fully prepared to accept my crimes against you, they will not release me from their system until I have crossed their palms, as it were. I am writing to you, Jessie, to ask for a small donation of-"

With a scowl, Jessie rolled her eyes and balled up Bernie's elegantly scribbled letter before throwing it in the trash. She moved on next to the box, which was heavier than it looked. With a grunt, she carried it over to the counter and used a steak knife to cut it open. Inside, on top of a pile, was a letter in very familiar handwriting. Jessie pulled it free and flipped open the folded notebook paper.

"Jessie, found some of your old baby toys in the attic and thought the triplets might like them. Even if not, they were taking up space and needed to be cleaned out. Still waiting to meet the father. Give them kisses from Grandma. Love, Mom."

Taking the layer of bubble wrap from the top of the box, Jessie's eyes widened as she was overcome with a wave of nostalgia. Faded, rainbow-colored toys from her childhood filled the box to the brim, from her stuffed dolls to her Legos and everything in between. A grin blossomed on her face as she dug into the cardboard box and pulled out a stuffed goat toy she was given as a baby. More than a few macabre games of occultsacrifices and witch hangings had centered around the doll when Jessie had gone though her 'dark phase' as a little girl, but it looked enough like herself that Jessie couldn't help but grow attached to it.

"Hey guys," Jessie said, hefting the box off the counter and setting it next to the kitchen table. "Look what grandma sent." At the mention of their grandmother, the triplets instantly dropped their forks and dropped to the floor to dig through the box eagerly. Their enthusiasm came to an abrupt halt as they began pulling out pink dolls, stuffed toys, clothes covered in flowers and bright colors, and the rest of Jessie's girlhood toys.

"What do you think?" Jessie asked, already sensing the gifts weren't going over well.

"They're okay..." Neal said, pinching the hair of a doll.

"They're for girls though," Keith scowled as he dropped the toys in the box and climbed back into his seat.

"I don't like girls," John said, copying his brother's grumpy frown.

"Well guys, these were some of my toys when I was a kid," Jessie explained, crouching next to the box and digging through it with one hand. "So I guess I'm a girl."

"You're not a girl, you're a mom," Keith said with a mouthful of macaroni, kicking his legs. He was evidently proud of his logical deduction.

"I like this one," Neal said quietly as he picked up a soft, small stuffed fox in a dress. He held it in his arms gently as he climbed up into his seat to finish his meal. Jessie sighed as she picked up the box of toys and carried them across the room to a hall closet to move out of the way. She felt oddly sad to be putting the nostalgic toys away, wishing her sons took more to them so she could pass on the things she'd enjoyed as a little girl. Of course, the more she thought about it, the more far-fetched it seemed for a set of male brothers to be too excited about their mother's old toys.

Pushing the box into the closet with her hoof, Jessie shut the door and left to make herself a plate of macaroni before her ravenous sons ate all of it.

* * * * *

"'He wafts his hat and the lunar dome of his skull passes palely under the lamps and he swings about and takes possession of one of the fiddles and he pirouettes and makes a pass, two passes, dancing and fiddling all at once. His feet are light and nimble. He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.'"

Jessie sighed and closed the well-worn book in her hands, resting it on her chest while John and Keith sat near her feet on her larger bed. Neal, who had fallen asleep first, was curled in a ball beneath his mother's arm, his face tucked into her side. John and Keith were still awake, but were fighting the urge to pass out.

"You guys ready for bed?" Jessie asked, softly.

The two brothers blinked at her blearily. At the same time, John shook his head while Keith yawned and nodded his.

"I'm....not tired....." John protested, flopping onto his side and yawning while kicking his hooves in the air.

"Well it's two against three, buddy," Jessie said, nudging Neal awake while shuffling to the end of the bed. She held Keith and Neal's hands as she walked them to their bedroom, the eternally energetic John hopping along in front. While his brothers tended to wind down in the evenings, John's energy was boundless as long as he was standing, but the instant his head hit the pillow, he lost consciousness.

"Alright, go on to bed," Jessie said, prompting her triplets to their beds. Keith sleepily climbed to the top bunk while John leapt onto the bottom. Neal, who looked sleepy enough to collapse, staggered toward his bed across the room while rubbing his eye with his fist. "Now, I'm gonna take you guys out of school a little early tomorrow for the doctor, remember? He might want to give you a shot or take some blood, so can you guys be brave for me?"

"I think so..." John mumbled, anxiously. Jessie crossed the room and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him.

"Do you remember when you put your hand on the stove last year?" Jessie asked. "Well, it's gonna hurt even less than that did."

"But that didn't hurt me at all," John protested. Jessie blinked, remembering the circumstance.

"Uh...right." She paused. In the silence, the two of them heard the snuffled breathing of Keith above them, who was already asleep. "Well, it won't be bad. I promise. Now go on to bed."

"Okay..." John mumbled as he crawled beneath his covers. When Jessie leaned over to kiss him on the top of his head, he was awake, but the moment she pulled away, he was already asleep. Standing, she stretched out her knees and crossed the room to check on Neal. He was the only triplet still awake and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. While Jessie had watched all three of her babies grow up together, Neal seemed to have an older quality to him than his brothers.

"Hey baby," Jessie said, kneeling and resting her arms on the bed. "You okay?"

Neal turned to his mother, staring at her with his mismatched eyes. He wrung his blanket in his hands and bit his lip before speaking quietly.

"Mommy? Where's...where's daddy?"

Jessie sighed, knowing that the question would come up eventually. She wished the answer was as easy as 'he left me' or 'he died.'

"Why are you asking?" Jessie said, trying to deflect the question as she reached out and cradled his tiny head in her hand.

"Kids at school were asking..." Neal said, quietly. "And I didn't know where he was...and I couldn't answer."

Jessie frowned, sitting back on her knees and drumming her fingers on the bed, trying to work out the best explanation for her her son.

"Your dad is...far away," Jessie said, vaguely. "And...well, I'm sorry baby, but I don't know if he'll be coming back. I don't know if you'd want to meet him anyway."

"I already did," Neal said.

Jessie paused, her mouth hanging open. Cocking her head to the side, she leaned in closer to Neal with an intense look in her eyes that he easily matched.

"When did you meet your dad, Neal?" she asked.

"When he talked to me," the little goat said. "I could hear him, but he was far away and didn't tell me where he was."

"What did he tell you, baby?" Jessie asked, an old fire of anger burning down in her chest.

"He said...that he was watching you," Neal said, his voice barely a whisper. "That he could...see you with my eye."

Jessie recalled the drawing Neal had drawn, the red circle with her in the center.

"I'm sorry he told you that, baby," Jessie sighed. "Your daddy...well, he thinks he's a lot scarier than he actually is. And he'll never, ever hurt you. I promise." She paused, then barely shifted her attention and spoke directly into Neal's red eye. "I promise."

"I know," Neal nodded. "I'm not scared."

"Good," Jessie smirked. "Neither am I."

She stood and pecked Neal between the buds of his horns before he turned over and shut his eyes to sleep. Crossing the room, she stooped to flip on their nightlight next to the doorway before turning off the overhead light and shutting the door.

Downstairs, Jessie fished out her battered back of cigarettes from her purse, poured herself a glass of scotch, then opened the window behind the kitchen table. Sitting in the chair next to the window, she knocked ash behind the bushes beneath the sill and nursed her drink. She normally spent the time watching TV or browsing the internet during her nightly alone time, but that night, Jessie tapped her hoof on the tile floor and stared outside into the night, lost in thought.

She'd conceived and birthed half-demon triplets five years ago after her encounter with their father. Jessie had no illusions about the demon, knowing that he'd be watching her somehow, but the thought of doing it through the conduit of her gentle, soft-spoken son enraged her. She sucked on her cigarette like she was furious at it, knocking the long line of ash into the bushes.

Jessie was tired. Things tended to go wrong all at once, she found. She'd fought and nagged for enough time to get the next day off for the kids' doctor's appointment, but she couldn't keep doing it every day to watch after them. The three had run off five babysitters in all. In truth, Hazel was Jessie's last resort, who she thought would be tough enough to be up to the task of watching after her odd children. Most surprisingly of all, Jessie was unexpectedly happy as a mother. She loved her boys deeply and would dote on them constantly if she could. Her sons weren't bad; Jessie knew that for a fact. But how could she suspect anyone to look after a set of triplets that could crawl on the walls, speak dead languages, walk through flames, and talk to ghosts?

As Jessie put out the butt of her cigarette in a cup on the table, she had an idea.

It didn't come to her immediately. Like bubbles rising to the surface of a deep pool, the idea surged up gradually, taking shape the longer she pondered on it, before it suddenly burst to life. Jessie threw back the rest of her scotch and swallowed it as she left the kitchen to retrieve her keys from their hook next to the front door. One of the keys was thick, old, and made of a rusted metal, and was one she hadn't used since before the triplets were born.

Across the room, the television sat on top of an antique shelf with a locked set of doors beneath it. Using the key, she opened the thick wooden doors and reached into the darkness to remove a large stack of heavy books that looked far older than even the antique shelf. Jessie blew the layer of dust off them before carrying them to the kitchen table and setting them down. They were thick enough to make the table creak beneath their weight, bound in flaking leather with rivets in the front where jewels might have been set hundreds of years ago. The books were valuable enough to be sold for thousands, but rare enough that it would be harder to find a collector who even knew what they were.

Pouring herself another glass of scotch, Jessie carried it and a notepad and pen to the kitchen table. She cracked open the thickest tome, flipping through pages of text, drawings of skulls and bones and blood, of incantations and instructions for doing dark, horrible things, annotated by hand-written notes of occultists and sorcerers from hundreds of years ago, in addition to Jessie's own scribblings from high school.

She was up until nearly three in the morning putting her plan together and had burned completely through her pack of cigarettes. By the end, Jessie re-red her notes and smiled devilishly, her tail flapping happily. If she could pull it off, she could solve all her problems in one night, in the way only she knew how, and get something for herself out of it in the process.

* * * * *

The day began the instant the kids were on the bus to school. Jessie bought another pack of cigarettes from the gas station down the road, and left for her errands, following a very strange shopping list. Candles, rosaries, holy water, purified salt, herbs and roots and ground plants that not even the women who owned the new-age store knew they had in stock. A dead chicken, livers, iron nails, sage, incense, chalk, matches, milk, SpongeBob macaroni and cheese, and a very sharp, very old knife from Jessie's safety-deposit box.

With her groceries and supplies, Jessie picked up the triplets for their doctor's appointment, bought them McDonald's as a reward for being brave for their shots. At home, she took the rest of the day to play with the three of them in the backyard and up and down the street to make sure all three of them were tired enough to go to bed early that night. Once they were tucked into bed and sound asleep, Jessie poured herself a cup of coffee, carried her bags of groceries into the basement, and locked herself inside to work.

Following the instructions of her books, Jessie traced out the circle in the middle of the basement floor with the chalk, marking runes on the inside before drawing an intricate sigil around them and leaving an empty space in the center of the circle. At each point the sigil intersected with the circle, Jessie placed a candle, making sure to press them to the ground so they wouldn't fall over. Then, with the bag of salt, she poured it over every chalk marking in an unbroken line until the floor was covered in it. With a match, Jessie lit the flame and mumbled an incantation to herself as she followed the circle and lit each candle.

At last, careful not to break the line of salt, Jessie set the small bowl of blood in the center of the circle, stretching her fingers beneath the bandage on her left hand while making sure it was still tight. Taking a moment to breathe, she picked up one of the books and turned off the light, the basement lit only by the flickering orange light of the candles. She wrapped charms and pendants around her horns and drew runes into her fur with paint on the end of her finger, checking over her notes from the night before to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

She was ready.

"Gigim Xul," Jessie began in a low voice, reading down the book. She paused. Nothing happened. It was a good sign. "Salmu Alal. Ganzer." At the last word, the candles flickered, as if being disturbed by a light wind, but each flame leaned toward the center of the circle. She heard the ceramic bowl in the center tink against the concrete floor. The blood in it should have just started to boil.

Jessie continued to read, not unaware of the similarities to the incantations Bernie had spoken almost six years ago. The difference was that Jessie actually knew what they were for and added in more specific incantations. As she spoke, she raised her voice, as if calling out for someone far away. As she did, the candles around the circle began to flicker and sputter, dancing wildly and growing higher over time, dribbling wax into the salt beneath them. The bowl in the center of the circle was rattling violently, the blood reaching a boil inside of it. Jessie could feel the wild fluctuations in hot and cold in the air around her, feel the wind blowing through her fur from nowhere, feel the air being drawn to the center of the circle. The dirt and dust of the basement began to slide toward the circle, sliding between Jessie's hooves.

There was creaking sound, like old wood bending in a storm, and a crack like stone being broken. Jessie didn't even blink, instead staring down at the dimly lit book and reading the incantation exactly as she memorized it. A dull roar came from nowhere, like a storm. The light around the candles seemed to darken, the walls of the basement disappearing into void. Jessie could feel a pull drawing her into the circle, but planted her hooves firmly on the ground and scowled. She shut the book and held it to her side as she recited the end of the incantation, the air growing hot and crackling like electricity.

She gripped the old knife in her hand, staring into the circle with an intense fury. Kneeling to the concrete floor, she set the book down and held the handle with both hands, raising it high above her head.

"GE-NAM-MA-DA!" Jessie screamed, plunging the blade into the floor, where it sank through the hard concrete effortlessly.

A sudden rush of air and heat exploded from the center of the circle, pushing everything in the room back. Jessie even skidded a few feet over the concrete, but crouched low enough to keep from being knocked over. The candle flames grew high enough to lick the low ceiling, leaving a pattern of scorch marks against the wood like a constellation. The cup of blood shattered, spilling its bubbling and boiling contents to the floor, where it sank into the earth like acid eating through Styrofoam. Suddenly, there was a great suction as all the air rushed toward the center of the circle, like a vacuum suddenly suddenly being opened, before the opening between dimensions shut and left the basement in still silence.

There was a huge, black, monstrous shape sitting cross-legged in the center of the circle. Its horns were long enough to scrape against the ceiling, its hooves shining like obsidian, its long arms held out with the words 'SOLVE' and 'COAGULA' carved into its forearms. Slowly, it raised its head, opening its blood-red eyes just as a pentacle burned from its forehead. It smiled, rolling out its long, pale tongue and spoke.

"J_eeeeessssssssssssssie..."_ it hissed with a thousand voices mingling with its own.

Jessie didn't answer at first. She glanced down at the integrity of the salt circle, then fished out a cigarette she'd tucked into her waistband. She lit it with the same black matches she'd lit the candles with, and blew out a plume of smoke in the creature's direction.

"Baphomet," Jessie nodded in the demon's direction, folding her arms and speaking through the cigarette hanging from her lips. "How's Hell?"

"Dull and empty," Baphomet hissed, its black fur rippling. It cocked its head and smiled again. "It would be far more lively with you there, my little whore."

"I'm good, thanks," Jessie sniffed, knocking ashes onto the floor. "I'd rather not put up with the commute, yknow?"

"You look well, harlot," Baphomet continued, leering at Jessie with its enormous eyes. "A lesser woman would have likelydied while pushing out my bastards. Though I can't say I'm not disappointed you survived the ordeal."

"Medicine's improved since the last time you showed up on Earth to get your rocks off," Jessie said. She paused to drag on her cigarette. As she did, she walked confidently up to the salt circle, staring up into the demon's face. She blew the smoke into Baphomet's face defiantly before knocking ash into the circle. "And don't call my kids 'bastards.'"

"Our kids, Jessie..._Our _kids..." Baphomet chuckled, leaning down to look her in the eye. Jessie didn't blink. "Don't deny it...you were begging for my cock to ravage you, soaking up my seed like the good little whore you are. There's no more perfect vessel than a willing one, after all."

"I did what I had to," Jessie said, defiantly. "Lucky for those idiot summoners you were more interested in a fuck than a murder." She looked Baphomet up and down and chuckled while dragging on her cigarette. "I guess men from Hell aren't that different from the ones here, huh?"

"I am not a man," Baphomet growled. "I am a force of nature."

"Sure thing, tough guy," Jessie said, reaching out to pat the side of the demon's cheek patronizingly before turning her back on him. Baphomet bristled, the glow of flames rumbling from behind its teeth.

"You have to wonder, Jessie," Baphomet said as it stood up to its full height, the ceiling seeming to rise higher to accommodate it. It stepped forward, its hoof grinding against the floor. "What do I want this time? A fuck? Or a murder..."

As the demon took another step, its leg froze on the threshold of the salt circle. It stepped back and grumbled in frustration as it tried to leave the circle. Jessie, who already knew what was happening, took her time with her cigarette before glancing over her shoulder.

"Ohhhhh... Oh, how embarrassing for you," she jeered, grinning from ear-to-ear at the struggling demon. "You thought this was fucking amateur hour again, didn't you? You thought I didn't know how to make a half-decent binding circle, didn't you? That right, big guy?"

"Arrogance," Baphomet rumbled, crouching to its haunches like a spider on the edge of the circle, but not an inch beyond it. "Arrogance at something a thousand sorcerers have done before you, little witch. Pride will be the death of you."

"Maybe," Jessie said as she took out her cigarette and carefully rested it on the edge of a nearby cardboard box, careful to leave the ember smoldering in the air. "But if I can embarrass you enough times, maybe it'll be worth it."

"And leave my spawn without their mother?" Baphomet grinned with yellowing teeth. "Let the devils you seeinside Keith and John to run rampant? Abandon poor, timid little Neal to a harsh world that will never truly accept him?"

Jessie didn't answer. Instead, she stepped into the middle of the basement and began to remove her shirt with her free hands. Even the demon was puzzled, watching her curiously in the dim light of the red candles. She untied her dark hair, letting it fall to her shoulders, and unfastened her bra, tossing it to the corner of the room and freeing her breasts. Jessie breathed a sigh of relief and stretched her torso while unbuttoning her pants and dropping them in a pile around her hooves. She wore nothing but a pair of black panties and black stockings pulled up to her thighs, with her charms and piercings still danging on her head. Blushing slightly in the darkness, Jessie pulled her underwear a little higher up her waist.

Baphomet roared in laughter, its voice rumbling through the foundation of the house.

"Now THIS is the Jessie I remember! The DELIGHTFUL little whore you-"

"QUIET!" Jessie barked at the demon, who surprised even itself by snapping its mouth closed. "The kids are asleep."

Jessie walked across the room to the corner she had piled her grocery bags from the day before. From a brown paper bag, larger than the others, she removed the freshly dead chicken she'd bought and an object wrapped in old leather and bound with string. Baphomet watched silently as Jessie knelt on the floor, facing away from the circle, and unwrapped the leather to reveal another dagger. It was shorter than the first, with a chipped stone blade and a handle wrapped tightly in twine. Small bones were tied into it, some dangling freely beneath, with a bubble of yellow amber set into the pommel. After laying them next to one another, Jessie fished out a folded piece of paper with her own handwriting on it, and held it up to the light to read from it.

"Vesta...Vesta..." Jessie whispered under her breath. She muttered quietly a few lines of incantations in a language different from the one she'd summoned Baphomet with. After a few seconds, she removed her cell phone from one of the bags along with a cheap, battery-powered speaker. Plugging it into her phone, she scrolled through her music files and played a track of rhythmic, tribal drumbeats that echoed out unexpectedly loud in the basement. Jessie shut her eyes and continued to mumble incantations while swaying to the drums in a trance. Her breasts bounced and bobbed on her chest, her long ears dangling behind her as she leaned her head back toward the ceiling.

Jessie's mumbling grew louder, her breath growing hotter as she panted. Her body felt feverish and needy, an ache building between her legs as her nipples stiffened. She paused her incantations to moan uncontrollably, sliding her hands over her breasts and resting them over her stomach. Jessie gasped, her breath hissing through her clenched teeth as she writhed and swayed as the drums grew faster. She mumbled faster and harder, speaking in a language she didn't know but understood perfectly.

Finally, without opening her eyes, Jessie reached down and grabbed the white chicken by its neck and the dagger with her other hand. In a single motion, as if she'd done it a thousand times, she sliced open the chicken's neck, nearly decapitating it. She dropped the knife to the ground and leaned back while turning the chicken upside down, drenching her fur in its blood, squeezing its body until bloody feathers came off between her fingers. She gasped and moaned and writhed, feeling a ripple of heat pulse through her body as the chicken's blood stained her body and dribbled onto the basement floor. When the chicken's body was drained, she dropped it to the floor and slid her hands over her stomach, as if working it in.

With a gasp, Jessie suddenly opened her eyes in the darkness. She flipped onto her hands and knees and climbed back to her hooves, wobbling slightly. Her body felt limp and loose, like she could tie herself in a knot if she wanted to. She stared at Baphomet, who watched her with amusement at what she'd do next.

"Impressive, Jessie..." it said. "I didn't know you had it in you..."

"Quiet," Jessie breathed, pointing at the demon commandingly, her other hand pulling at her panties uncomfortably as she rubbed her thighs together. "Y-You know...that isn't just a binding circle, don't you?"

Baphomet said nothing, but glowered in frustration. It had known the instant Jessie had summoned it. The circle she had drawn had two purposes: to bind the summoned demon and to demand a service from it. Though demons had immense power and influence over the mortal world, they were bound by rules in a way far stricter than any living being. In the same way Baphomet was incapable of leaving the unbroken circle, it was physically incapable of refusing the command of its summoner.

"I do," Baphomet glared. "What is it you want?"

Jessie shakily picked up her half-finished cigarette and took a drag on it while rubbing her fingers between her legs. She was already wet. Crossing the room, her hooves clicking softly against the floor, she stood directly below Baphomet and looked up at it with a hard glare on her face.

"I want another baby," Jessie said, blowing smoke from her nose. "A daughter."

Baphomet blinked, its mouth falling open in shock. It hadn't been surprised by anything in hundreds of years, but Jessie's command was enough to send it reeling. After a moment of surprise, the demon's mouth cracked open in a smile much wider than its own face and roared in laughter, stepping back into the circle and cackling madly while Jessie glared at it.

"Let no one say, in either of our worlds, that you aren't fucking entertaining, Jessie Bell." Baphomet crouched on its haunches, cocking its head to the side and gesturing crudely between its legs. " __Was taking your virginity not enough to you? You wanted to drag me all the way from the depths of Hell just so I could RUIN you again? To fuck another of my bastards into you?_ To plug your sweet little cunt with my-_"

"Oh go fuck yourself, dude," Jessie interrupted, cigarette. Reaching behind her head, she unwound a necklace of beads from around one of her horns and held it out toward the demon, a wooden cross hanging from the end. It was a rosary. "This isn't about you."

Jessie spoke out a string of Latin, which she'd apparently memorized, as she dangled the rosary from her right hand and continued to touch herself with her left. Baphomet felt a burning, tight sensation around its neck and both wrists. As it looked down to investigate, a powerful force yanked backward, dragging the demon off its hooves and slamming it to the ground in the center of the circle. It roared and screamed impotently, catching the glimpse of chains binding it to the floor. It pulled against them impotently, the red-hot metal burning into its flesh.

Fearlessly, Jessie stepped over the line and into the binding circle. What a moment ago had been a wooden rosary in her right hand had become the end of a red chain that lead to the collar around Baphomet's neck. She wrapped it around her hand like a leash and tugged sharply, just to let the demon know who was on the other end of it.

"Thousands of years old," Jessie taunted, standing with a wide stance above the demon, her fingers working into her pussy as she panted, the blood beginning to dry on her fur, "and you don't know a fucking thing about pleasing a woman, do you?"

She sat on Baphomet's stomach, thumbing aside her panties and shivvering as her burning sex hit the air. Unexpectedly, the demon's fur was oddly soft and comfortable on her sensitive pussy. It growled up at her, fire flaring in its nostrils, before it gasped as Jessie reached back and slid a hand down the length of its semi-hard cock.

"You're a good lay," Jessie said, stroking the hot length of the demon's hardening erection. "But a shitty lover. And an even worse father." As she tugged on the demon's leash, she began to grind into the demons stomach, feeling its soft, ash-black fur tickle her clit. It seemed to enjoy the way Jessie was playing with its cock, panting through its nostrils. She slid her hand down its shaft and gripped a hold of its heavy balls possessively. The demon made what sounded like a whimper and squirmed, but she felt its cock pulse and harden in pleasure.

"Here's the thing," Jessie said, taking advantage of her moment of clarity to gloat, "I love my kids. They're the best thing that every happened to me, even if getting fucked by _you_was one of the worst."

"You enjoyed it at the time..." Baphomet interrupted. Jessie glared and tugged hard on the demon's leash. It made another high-pitched noise, its cock twitching. Jessie paused, blinking to herself. Was it enjoying this?

"The point is," Jessie continued, "I love my babies. And I want another one. But not like last time." She pulled up on the chain as she stood, stepping back a few feet as she looked down a the demon's red, throbbing erection just inches below her. She felt her body aching as the potent fertility magic primed her for sex. "This time, I want it on my terms."

Jessie pulled aside her panties and sank down onto the demon's cock, feeling it push her apart inch by inch as she sat on it. It pierced into her like a knife through butter and she grunted in pleasure as she felt it nestle deep inside of her. Baphomet, too, groaned and shuddered in pleasure as Jessie wrapped herself around its cock. Once it was as far inside as it could go, Jessie sat forward, leaning over slightly to rest her knees on Baphomet's stomach while its cock throbbed inside of her.

"Ahhhh...fuck..." Jessie hissed, clenching the chain in her fist while gripping a handful of the demon's fur. "F-fuck...you're so big..." After a moment of enjoying the feeling a real dick inside of her, rather than one of her toys, she glanced up at the demon's face and its needy expression.

"Is...is this what you want?" Jessie teased. She clenched her vaginal muscles and slid up and down on top of Baphomet's erection, agonizingly slow. The demon clenched its teeth, nodding silently. Jessie chuckled to herself, then stopped. "If I...If I knew it was this easy to shut you up, I would have done this earlier."

Jessie threw her hair back and sat up, sinking the demon's cock a little deeper into her as she sat hip-to-hip with it. Baphomet growled and clawed at the ground in frustration before Jessie gripped the chain with both hands and yanked it, hard. The demon choked on its leash for a moment before coughing and becoming docile again, pulling impotently at its restraints.

"Here's what's gonna happen, big guy," Jessie said, fighting against her own arousal to keep her words commanding and powerful. "This is about what I want. And what I want is to ride you as long as I feel like. You cum when I tell you to cum, understand?" Baphomet nodded eagerly, gyrating its hips in need. "Good...And you better give me a daughter this time. Or else I'll banish you back to Hell. And I know the difference between a banishment and an unbinding."

Jessie switched the chain to her left hand, careful not to pull on the bandage, and braced her right hand behind her, on the demon's thigh. Finally, with as much a relief to her as it was to Baphomet, she began to fuck it. She started slow, careful to ease out what she was capable of fitting inside without hurting herself. It turns out it was a lot. While at first the demon's infernal cock stretched her out too far, as she rode it for longer and longer, the more she got used to it and started to enjoy the twinge of pain as it slammed deep inside her. She leaned back as far as she could, panting as she braced her hand against the demon and bounced up and down on top of its cock.

Her tits bounced heavily on her chest, having grown since her first pregnancy, her hips permanently widened from the birth. The changes proved to be a blessing in disguise, as she was able to ride Baphomet longer and harder than she would have before. After minutes of being lost in her own mind to the oblivion of sexual bliss, she felt the demon's hard erection stiffen and throb inside of her. The instant she recognized the sensation, she stopped fucking and snapped open her eyes. She yanked back on the chain, pulling Baphomet's face up to face her.

"Did I tell you to cum yet?" Jessie screamed in rage. "Did I? Don't you fucking dare!"

Baphomet shook its head, staring up at Jessie helplessly.

"I'm not done yet!" Jessie growled. She let slack into the chain and began to ride its cock again, slowing down to enjoy every inch of flesh against hers. She didn't know how long the fertility magic would last, but it would be enough time for her to fully enjoy taking what she wanted from the demon.

Jessie fucked herself on Baphomet for what felt like hours, but was likely not even ten minutes worth of time. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and she panted, the wet sounds of sex loud enough to echo around the basement, her panties utterly ruined. She'd already climaxed twice and wanted to make it to a third. She was getting sore, but the heat inside her womb was burning as hard as ever. She could feel herself opening, invitingly, to whatever seed was planted inside her.

"Do it..." Jessie panted, clenching her teeth. She took a deep breath, yanked on the chain one last time, and screamed "DO IT!"

At the moment of command, Baphomet's cock stiffened before firing off searingly hot cum straight up into Jessie's body, bathing her womb in it. She shuddered and gasped as her third orgasm shook through her body, feeling the demon's excess cum leak from her sex. She pressed her hand against her stomach, as if she could feel herself being impregnated, and shuddered again as every nerve ending in her body exploded with pleasure.

She sat limply atop the demon's softening erection, panting and moaning as she came back to her senses. Jessie still gripped the chain in her hand, but it limply dangled from her fingers, as if she'd nearly forgotten about it. Gingerly, she sat forward and braced a hand against Baphomet's stomach, pushing herself off its cock. Pearly white semen dripped from her ruined sex and onto its black fur. Jessie turned and staggered away, scuffing salt against her hoof. Her left hand let go of the red chain, where it hit the floor as a wooden rosary.

Baphomet felt the pressure release from its neck and arms and sat up. It glared at Jessie from across the room, completely humiliated, but would never admit how much it enjoyed it.

"There," the demon growled. "Now release me."

Jessie didn't answer. Instead, she put her shirt back on and fished her pack of cigarettes out of her pants pocket. She lit it, took a long drag, then exhaled a plume of smoke in the air with a satisfying sigh. Holding the cigarette between her lips, she dropped her pants to the floor and put her hands on her hips as she smirked at the angry Baphomet.

"No."

The demon bristled, no longer amused at Jessie's arrogance. It stood up at its full height and glared down at the smug goat.

"You will release me," Baphomet threatened, "or I will rend the flesh from your bones, Jessica Bell."

"Killing me won't do anything," Jessie said, leaning against the boxes against the wall and fiddling with her cigarette. "Because I couldn't unbind you, even if I wanted to."

"Explain," Baphomet commanded, balling its fists.

"So basically," Jessie said, patronizingly slow, "summoning a powerful demon runs the risk of them simply killing whoever they're bound to."

"I know," Baphomet said, frustratedly. "By your blood I am bound and by your blood I will be released."

"Oh, whoever said that was my blood?" Jessie said, grinning like she'd been waiting all night to say it.

Holding out her left arm, she tugged on the bandage and let it fall to the ground, holding out her uncut palm for the demon to see.

"The kids were so brave about getting their shots at the doctor's today," Jessie said, beaming manically at the centuries-old demon. "I made sure to buy them extra ice cream when I had to draw their blood when we got home." She paused to drag on her cigarette and knock the ash to the floor. "So yeah, they're about five, maybe five and a half right now. I don't think they teach demonology in first grade these days, so they probably don't know how to release you anyway."

Jessie brought her cigarette back to her lips, but burst into a fit of laughter instead of smoking it and cackled to Baphomet's angry face.

"Stupid whore," Baphomet roared. "I'll have your little bastards' heads on pikes before sunrise."

"Maybe that'd scare me," Jessie grinned, "if I didn't already know that demons can't harm their own blood." She stepped across the room and turned off the drumbeat on her phone before disconnecting it. "To be honest with you, I can't really afford a babysitter these days. Three boys are a lot of work, yknow? So I figured that, if the kids can't release you and you can't kill them to release yourself...might as well just stick around to help me raise our darling triplets." Jessie smoked the last of her cigarette before dropping it to the floor and putting it out with her hoof. "That doesn't sound like that bad a deal, does it?"

"FUCKING WHORE!" Baphomet screamed. "CONNIVING BITCH!"

"None of that around the boys," Jessie said. "Keith learned the word 'ass' last month and it was a fight to stop him from shouting it at everybody at the supermarket."

"Arrogant cunt..." The demon growled. Baphomet took a step forward, then looked down to find its hoof had left the circle. It smiled, a yellow-white grin in the darkness. Jessie had accidentally tripped and skidded salt across the floor, smudging the line of the binding circle.

"Jessssiiiie..." Baphomet sang as it crossed the room toward her, its fingers hooked into claws. "You broke the circle Jessie..."

"I did?" Jessie asked. She shrugged. "Oops."

"There's nothing stopping me from killing you, little whore," the demon jeered. It seemed to burn with unseen, black fire as it approached and loomed over Jessie.

"Guess not," Jessie said, flatly as she cocked her head and stared up at Baphomet.

The demon hesitated for only a second before roaring and lashing out at the little goat's neck to tear her throat out before she could say anything else.

Instead, Baphomet's enormous, powerful hand stopped just an inch away from Jessie's neck and couldn't move any closer.

"Guess I don't need a pregnancy test anymore, huh?" Jessie smirked, patting her stomach. "I figured your little swimmers were faster than a mortals, but the voodoo was some extra insurance." She turned her back on the demon and strode toward the basement steps, happily rubbing her lower stomach. "So you've got about nine months now before you can kill me. Sounds pretty fair to me."

"I'LL RIP YOUR HEART FROM YOUR CHEST," the demon roared, thrashing around at the air helplessly. "I'LL CRUSH YOUR SKULL IN MY FIST. YOU'LL BEG FOR DEATH BY THE TIME I'M DONE WITH YOU, WHORE."

"Don't be like that, 'daddy,'" Jessie said, kneeling on the stairs with a smirk. "Just think of it as 'child support.'" She stood and stretched, her shirt riding up over her stomach just enough for fur to peek out, while yawning long and loud. "I'm gonna take a shower and get some shut-eye. Then you can meet the kids in the morning after I tell them the good news about their little sister." She leaned back and drummed her fingers against her stomach. "I'm thinking...Joan. Joan Jett Bell. Keep with the theme, yknow?"

Jessie flipped off the basement light and skipped happily up the stairs, leaving the demon to rage and scream and roar in impotence while she thought of the best way to introduce the boys to the idea of a new baby in the house.