Night Crawler Series #1

[12:03 AM - Somewhere Between Realms] 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐏.𝐎.𝐕 Okay Seraphina. Focus. Seduce. Siphon. Vanish. I hovered above the mortal realm, tail twitching nervously. My black notebook - charm-protected and Hell-stamped - floated beside me, listing my mission: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 #1442: 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬- 22, gym rat, ghosted 7 girls in 3 months. Prime candidate for soul extraction. 𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥: 𝐑𝒊𝒑𝒆 "Right. Declan. Not complicated," I muttered. "Definitely not complicated." One clean descent. One soul siphon. A little toe-curling, a bit of moaning, a signature in blood - and I'd be back home by 12:15. I took a deep breath and dove toward his dorm window. Wings flared for balance, tail snapping behind me like a whip. Everything should have gone smoothly....until I smacked into the wrong window. CRACK. Glass cracked. Magic fizzled. My teleportation sigil sputtered like an old blender. Short-circuiting in the rain. Sparks flew. And I landed in a completely different room-with socks hanging off a fan, manga on the desk, and someone snoring under a blanket printed with... dinosaurs? I crashed into the room with the elegance of a falling anvil, landing squarely on a pile of laundry. The scent of socks and instant noodles hit my nose all at once. "Ugh. This is not the stench of damnation. This is... college?" Pumikit-saglit ako, tapos tumingin sa paligid. Mga nagkalat na papel, energy drinks na hindi man lang nabuksan, isang tore ng manga sa tabi ng mesa, at bentilador sa sahig na tinadtadan ng medyas-that looked like an altar to laziness. Isang mahabang hilik ang umalingawngaw mula sa kama. I squinted. The guy was definitely not Declan-no bulging muscles, no smirk of arrogance. Just a mop of messy hair, a blanket covered in dinosaur prints, and the peaceful sleep of someone who hadn't checked their deadlines in days. "This isn't Declan," I whispered, eyes widening. I turned to leave. One teleport out and I'd be back in Hell's dispatch center before anyone noticed. Pero bago pa ako makalabas, gumalaw na ang lalaking nasa kama. Then he sat up. Then he screamed. I screamed back. "WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM?" he yelled, clutching a phone and flinging a half-empty bottle of water at me. "WHY ARE YOU AWAKE?" I shouted, wings flaring as I stumbled over a plush Pikachu. "Because someone just CRASHED through my WINDOW?!" "Relax, it's not like I shattered the laws of physics on purpose." We stared at each other. He was wearing mismatched socks, a crumpled hoodie, at 'yung itsura niya? Para talagang kakagaling lang sa giyera. I was glowing faintly pink, surrounded by wisps of brimstone, holding a trident. He blinked. "What are you? Are you... cosplaying?" I looked at him. Blinked once. Twice. Then turned slowly to my notebook, which was now flashing red. Dali-dali kong binuklat ang notebook. 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐧 ??? 𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑: 𝐒oul 𝐈mprint 𝐌ismatch "Oh Hell," I whispered. Bakit error ang nakalagay? Did I just-? No. No way. This can't be happening. Oh. My. Underworld. Wrong human. Wrong room. Wrong soul. And judging by the faintly glowing red thread between my hand and his chest? Also... Bonded. The guy slowly lowered his pillow-turned-shield. "Uhh... what's happening?" He looked at me, a bit terrified but... not totally scared. More like, "I'm 90% confused, 10% ready to accept weirdness." I sighed. Locked eyes with him. "I think I just accidentally soul-linked with you." "...Oh. Cool. Can I go back to sleep?" [12:07 AM - Same Room, Mild Panic] Tuluyan nang nawala ang antok ni Elias. He was fully awake. He tried. He really did. But there's only so much relaxing you can do when a literal demon girl is pacing your bedroom muttering about nether law violations and possibly getting demoted to "succubus call center duty." "I knew this would happen," I grumbled. "The moment I let my tail get distracted. One wrong flick and-boom-wrong soul. Stuck in a binding contract. Great. Just great." Elias, now fully awake and sipping cold instant coffee from a cracked mug, blinked at her. "Sooo... what now?" Napatigil siya sa paglalakad. "Anong ibig mong sabihin 'so what now'? We're bonded. Soul-linked. Hex-threaded." Itinuro ko ang bahagyang kumikislap na pulang sinulid na nag-uugnay sa aming dalawa. "Hindi basta-basta nawawala 'to. It's a celestial signature." "...Can I still go to class tomorrow?" Tinitigan ko ito na parang tinubuan ng sungay. "Seryoso ka? Are you not grasping the gravity of this situation?" "Ma'am, I haven't grasped gravity since Physics 102." Napahinga ako ng malalim. "Grabe. Sinasabi nila magulo ang mga tao, pero ikaw? You're a different breed- No panic. No questions. Wala ka bang instincts for self-preservation?" "Hey, anong akala mo sa akin aso? May breed-breed kapang nalalaman." Napahinto ako. Tapos napabuntong-hininga ulit. "Fine. Whatever alignment you are, you need to help me fix this." "Fix what exactly? The soul link?" "Yes. There's a ritual. I need ingredients. Time. Moonlight. Consent forms." "You lost me at moonlight." I shoved the notebook at him. "Here. Read page twelve." Elias took the floating journal. The page was scrawled in blood-red ink: Emergency Reversal Protocol: Unintentional Soul Linkage 1. Refrain from kissing. 2. No shared dreams. 3. Absolutely avoid spontaneous musical duets. He raised an eyebrow. "This reads like a cursed fanfic." I blushed-actually blushed. "That's just the summarized version. Hell HR makes everything user-friendly now." Elias smirked. "So... kissing would make it worse?" "Don't even joke about that. It might cause a permanent merge." "Good to know," he said, sipping his coffee. [12:30 AM - Elias's POV] I didn't know what was more surprising-that demons apparently had bureaucracies or that I somehow found this entire situation kind of... interesting. Sure, there was a flaming sigil in the middle of my carpet, and I might be stuck in an ancient soul contract, but hey. It was 12:30 AM. My midterm was over. And the girl currently stress-eating marshmallows on my beanbag chair had wings. WINGS. "Are you seriously not panicking?" she asked. I shrugged. "I mean, you're not trying to kill me. And you brought snacks." "I manifested those out of spite." "Well, it's working." She huffed and looked away. Her tail was swishing slower now. Less panic, more sulk. "What's your name again?" I asked. "Seraphina. Third Circle. Temp-level Succubus. Field-certified. Somewhat cursed." "Elias. Undeclared major. Probably over-caffeinated. Somewhat cursed, too." A / N: I know there are still rough patches in this chapter - grammar, clarity, details I still need to flesh out - but this has been living rent-free in my head since December 4, 2024 or way back, and I f inally wrote Chapter 1 today on June 17, 2025. Trial and error, baby. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading. 🖤