Then he saw her, a young woman stumbling down the street. Her long hair and clothes were dishevelled. She walked past him, her hands reaching out to keep herself from falling.

He walked quietly behind her and kept his gaze down. There was no need for unnecessary conversation this early in the morning. But her gait was uncertain, her feet unsteady.

A simple question would do, he thought.

“Miss?”

She turned and glared at him and he felt a quick shiver on his neck. Her eyes were bright and slightly glazed. A line of mascara smudged on one side of her nose. Cheeks slightly flushed.

“Miss, your skirt is torn, are you all right?”

She reached up to brush her long hair back from her face and then looked down to smooth her skirt. She looked up and smiled.

I remember the first time an incubus came to me in my sleep. I was 12 and that morning, Sister Martha had given me a telling off in Catechism class.

Girls! The road to hell is paved with stones, sharp thorns and demons. Waiting for you by the side of the road, she tittered, her spindly arms waving about. But the road to heaven is paved with roses and angels singing in a chorus, welcoming you to join Our Lord Jesus. She smiled and crossed herself, her eyes gazing upwards.

Our Standard Six Catechism class of twenty girls clad in navy-blue pinafores suddenly grew hushed. Susan Tan, who was seated next to me, looked like she was going to cry. Undeterred, I stuck my hand up and stood up to ask.

Sister Martha, how do you know that the road to hell is paved with stones and demons?

There was a loud giggle from the back, and someone went Shhhh! Sister Martha glared out of her thick, black spectacles and her beady eyes squinting in anger.

Well, Delonix, it says in the Bible that when you die, you will be presented with a choice. If you have been good, then you will go to heaven, but if you have been bad…

I interrupted her. All eyes were on me now.

What do you mean by bad?

Sister Martha now stood in front of me. I could see tufts of nostril hairs and the cheap plastic from her badly-fitted dentures.

Dear girl, if you lie and cheat and steal, then you know where you are going!

Susan Tan was in tears now and looked at me in terror. She grabbed my hand and shook her head.

But, what if you’re just a little bad?

More giggles. Another loud Shhhh!

Sister Martha smoothed down her starched cream habit, glared at me and screeched, much like a witch, I thought. She even had a hooked nose.

Even if you are just a little bad, you will still go to hell!