Monster High: Season of the Witch

Birds of a Feather

"An hour was just an estimate. How long the magic lasts depends on how much power you expend. That's witchcraft 101! Don't you know anything?" Astar snapped.

"Of course I don't! My aunts hardly taught me any magic! Funny, I thought you knew. Didn't you and your mom keep tabs on me before you showed up?"

Astar didn't respond to that accusation.

Instead, he stood and stomped over to Beatrix, getting in her face, "I think you're forgetting who I am. I'm not one of your silly aunts. I'm here to hone your abilities. Let this be a lesson: don't run off after using me to learn a spell."

"I didn't trust you to help us get past the fence!" Beatrix argued. She knew she was being stubborn, but she couldn't stop herself from shifting the blame.

"You two need to be quiet! People will know we're hiding in here!" Jackson shushed them.

Astar lowered his voice. "Going past the fence is my job, not yours. The whole reason I'm at this school is to keep you from getting kicked out."

"How noble of you," Beatrix huffed.

"Yes. It is noble of me. Not a single vampire has messed with you since I got here."

"You may be a good bodyguard, but you suck at everything else," Beatrix said. "You've been here for months watching the perimeter. How come you never crossed paths with those horsemen?"

Astar looked thrown.

Before he could say anything, Beatrix asked, "What happened to that first Reaper you squared off with? Did you see his face? Find out who he was? Tell me what happened!"

"I scared him off. You don't need to worry about him anymore," Astar said, a bit too casually for how dire the situation was.

"So there's still two killers lurking in the woods," Beatrix pressed.

Astar's yellow eyes flicked around, as if looking for an escape from the conversation. "I'm telling you, I beat him up. He'll be too chicken to come back."

Beatrix wasn't convinced. "Why are you acting so suspicious? You beat up a seven-foot-tall Reaper and now there's nothing to worry about? You can't be serious."

"If you're thinking of going back into the woods—don't," Astar said. "I could barely hold him off. It's too dangerous to face one of them again. Unless..."

The room fell quiet as Beatrix awaited his next words.

"... unless you bind yourself to me permanently," Astar said.

Beatrix stared at him, speechless.

"If you sign your soul over to me, a Reaper can't collect it. An official devil contract will make you immortal. That way, you can investigate, confront the horsemen, whatever you want to do out there."

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hall outside Astar's dorm, steadily approaching, but the sound barely registered with Beatrix.

She glowered at the devil. "Oh ya? Then why did the Reapers ignore me earlier?"

Beatrix noticed Astar's expression change, a subtle sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.

Jackson tilted his head, lost. "They ignored you?"

Beatrix turned to Jackson. "The first Reaper rode right by me to get to you and Autumn, and I bet the second one would've done the same! They weren't interested in my soul."

"Maybe your temporary contract with Astar's already protecting you?" Jackson thought aloud.

"What? I... I don't have a claim on your soul yet," Astar wavered. "Not officially. You're as vulnerable to Reapers as anyone else..."

The approaching footsteps grew louder.

"Stop lying! You're trying to make me think handing my soul over to you is the only way to deal with those Death entities!" Beatrix scoffed. "I bet a permanent contract with you won't change a thing."

Jackson attempted to get a word in. "I don't get it. Why would the Reapers leave you alone if you're not officially bound to Astar—"

"You're making a lot of assumptions, Bee!" Astar shouted over him.

"Why haven't you exposed those murderers? Why are you playing mind games with me? Is claiming my soul all you care about?" Beatrix rattled off, seeing red. "You're such a snake!"

"Wow, the pot calling the kettle black!" Astar said, his dark eyebrows scrunching together.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You risked your friends' safety for what? To prove a point. To prove you can handle everything alone. You only think of yourself and how things affect you," Astar spat. "You don't actually care about the monsters here. You care about getting ahead, gaining power. You and I are birds of a feather."

Beatrix stopped. The devil knew exactly which buttons to push to trigger her insecurities.

She did have something to prove: she wanted to surpass her aunts' beliefs about her. She knew she was destined for more than a typical witch. At least, she hoped she was.

More often than not, she was selfishly motivated.

"You don't care about any of the monsters here, Astar?" Autumn spoke up. She was still resting against the foot of his bed.

Everyone looked at the scarecrow.

Beatrix realized that Astar had, in fact, implied that he didn't care about anyone at Monster High.

A strong hand thudded at the door.

"Uh, shouldn't we answer that?" Jackson asked.

"I didn't mean..." Astar's eyes softened as he spoke to Autumn. "I... I care about you."

Autumn's lip quivered. "But not anyone else?" she asked. "What about Jackson? Frankie? Abbey? Toralei? You don't care about them getting killed?"

The devil looked very torn. He said nothing.

Another hard thud at the door. "Astar! I know you're in there!" said a deep voice from out in the hallway.

"Autumn, Jackson, we're leaving," Beatrix said.

Astar took hold of Beatrix's wrist. "Wait—"

Beatrix winced. Although his grasp wasn't tight, her damaged skin swelled with pain. "Agh! Let go!"

Before she could free herself from him, the door slammed open.

Grey stormed into the room. With a powerful shove, he sent Astar stumbling back.

Beatrix, Jackson, and Autumn jolted away, startled by the sudden violence.

Grey grabbed the devil by the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Get off her."