Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (21 page)

Rosa
stepped away from the rest of the
group and walked up to me in the center. You know you're in trouble when you're
in the middle of the group and you’re practically being stared down. And I know
I shouldn't have spoken so commandingly to
Rosa
.

We made eye contact, and in that eye contact she told me that she
was the one in charge, not the other way around. “I know you have a lot of
questions, Ms. Simmons,” she said, walking a circle around me, “and I will
answer them as much as I can.” She stopped in front of me and a small smile
appeared on her lips. “It’s such an extraordinary thing.”

What is she talking about? “Can you answer my question?” Her smile
faltered slightly and I was quick to correct myself. “Please?”

“Alright.” She nodded once and held her hand out, in which the
male—who had kidnapped me two years ago—pulled out something that looked
similar to an iPad, and put it in her hand. So these people don’t knock, but
they used twenty first century technology.

“Bruce here has been following Tori for the past few days. This was
recently taken, about a few hours ago.” So bald man had a name—Bruce—I'm going
to remember that. Bruce ‘
the kidnapper
’. What did that make Ethan? Intruder?
Creeper?

We'll find out one for him eventually.

Rosa
turned the tablet around for me to see
and I stared at the picture. It was definitely Tori. I could spot those fake
hair extensions from a mile away. She hovered over a male she would have just
drained in an alley or something. I had to look closely to make sure it wasn't Tristan,
and when I was satisfied, I shrugged. “So, she's finally feeding on her own.
Why am I staring at this?”

“Because, Maya.” She moved the tablet out of my vision and flicked
through several more photos until she stopped on another one. “This was taken a
couple of hours before.”

She showed me another photo. It was at a different place. It was a
different male. But still the same Tori. At least I knew why she was showing me
this. “She's feeding twice a day? That's a bit much don't you think?” I only
needed a dose every couple of weeks. This one is going around like a
prostitute. Not even I was this bad when I first started.

“Exactly. The first male died within minutes. The second male was
lucky. Bruce was able to scare Tori off before she killed him. She must have
sensed Bruce from quite a distance. Tori is feeding more than the average new
succubus which means only one thing.” She passed the tablet back to
Bruce
the kidnapper
, and he went back to join the remainder of the group. “She is
more advanced than we think.”

Great, not only is Tori invading my personal life, she's also
invading my secret life with her shit. “Okay, so what, do we kill her?” I was
so up for just removing her from the face of the planet. “Send her to the
underworld? I'm more for the first idea though but I guess I can alternate.”

“What exactly has Tori done to you to make you hate her, Maya?”
Rosa
asked curiously

She stole Tristan from me.
“Nothing. I
just don't like her. Do I need a reason?”

“The connection to the human boy,” she murmured more to herself, but
it wasn't going to stop me from getting into defensive mode.

“I'm not falling for Tristan.”

“I didn't say anything about falling.” Her smile grew smug. “Or
mentioning his name for that matter.”

“Well...” I tried to come up with a reliable come-back, but nada was
going on in my head. “I'm not.”

She turned her head away from me and to the group behind her—that
were just casually standing there, like they did it every day. “You are
dismissed, leave Maya and I alone. Ethan, you stay.” She turned back to me.
“Maya, let me tell you a story.”

The group vanished from behind her, only leaving Ethan who had taken
a spot on the right side of me, by the wall.

I hesitated. She wanted to tell me a story? “I'm not really a
bedtime story type of girl. I grew out of that when my parents refused to read
them to me.”

Rosa
let out a short laugh. “Please, take a
seat.”

Take a seat? And where was I going to take a—oh. A chair had
appeared out of nowhere and sat beside me. I knew for a fact that it wasn't there
before. And just because of that, I was almost worried that I was seeing
things.

Another chair sat across from the one I was supposed to sit on, and
I couldn’t help but notice that there was no seat for Ethan. I kind of felt
like gloating about it, but I refrained. He can do things that I’m not prepared
to be the victim of.

Once I sat down—all while making sure the chair didn’t disappear as
fast as it appeared—
Rosa
sat
across from me and said, “Maya, tell me. What do you know about the history of
the succubi and incubi?”

This was an easy question. “Nothing, just that we're life sucking
bitches, thanks to Google.”

“Ah, you took my advice. Well, yes, that is partially true if I do
say so myself.” She fluffed out the bottom of her dress and flattened away the
imaginary crinkles. “But no. The original succubus was created by the devil
himself. That succubus was given the power to create more succubi and incubi,
and she did. Eventually there were five of both succubi and incubi. That was
enough, at the time. The first creation though was a young woman named
Bethany
, who was just as powerful as her
creator. Oh how
Bethany
was a
great succubus, one to look up to. Then one day, everything went downhill for
every succubus and incubus in that town.”

Considering I didn’t want to hear this story before, I found myself
becoming intrigued by the second. “What happened?”

Rosa
paused long enough that the silence
was killing me, and by the time the words came out, I was almost on the floor.

“She fell for a human.”

April 13th - 14th 1878

Bethany
moved her lips from the man
underneath her. He was being a very devious character tonight, and he wasn't
having any of the fun
Bethany
would usually put on him.

“Conrad, my love,” she murmured, resisting the urge to sigh against
his perfectly soft lips, “I must go. I have some things I have to get done.”

There was low groan from the throat of Conrad and
Bethany
was sure that his hands
tightened on her hips the slightest. A sign of his non-liking to see her go.
There was no one inside the house except for them, and that was how they liked
it. The mansion rested on the outskirts of town, obscured by a seat of trees
for privacy. It was perfect.

Meeting Conrad was one of the unexpected events that came into
Bethany
’s life. At first, she was
in denial by her feelings. Now she can’t seem to get enough of the human. Plus,
he seemed to always surprise her.

Generosity had to be her favorite thing about the man. The way he
never let a day go by without putting a smile on someone’s face—especially
children. He loved being around them in the mornings, watching them be devious
amongst the crowds. And whenever Conrad had the chance, he always managed to
hand over gifts for them and the homeless.

He would do anything he could, as long as it led to happiness.

That’s how
Bethany
knew Conrad was the one—her soul mate.

The one she made immune to her demonology.

“Must you go so soon?” Conrad murmured, burying his face into the
midst of her dark brown hair. He loved touching her hair, looking into her dark
hazel eyes, taking in the sweet scent of her aroma while trailing his fingers
over the softness of her skin. It was like heaven to him.

Bethany smiled at his movements, running her own fingers through his
light brown hair. “As much as I would love to stay and pleasure you, I do have
to leave. There are some things I must do. I promise to be back tomorrow.”

He sighed—knowing full well what she was doing—and pressed his lips
down on the skin of her shoulder. “I shall be here waiting,
Bethany
.”

Bethany
moved her head so her lips
hovered over his. “You are too good for me.” It sent guilt through her, knowing
what she was leaving Conrad to do. She needed to fulfill the demoness inside
her. Conrad could not do that. The day she tainted his soul with her own was
the day she knew she couldn't take his energy from him. It was a risk they were
both willing to take. And in the end, it was all worth it.

But there were still limits every now and then.

“You know I love you, Conrad.” She could not resist but lightly
brush her nose against his. “Whatever I do, I am always thinking about you.”

“Bethany Judith Smith,” he whispered. Smooth hands cradled her
cheeks, the pads of his thumbs rubbing soothing circles along her cheeks. “I
love you, and I trust you with every inch of me. I want you alive, and this is
how I get to keep you. Never will I regret the decisions I have made.”

Bethany’s lips pulled up into a grin, his words sending the now
familiar light feeling through her—also called 'butterflies'. She had learned
this from him. “I can not wait to come back and be in your arms again.”

Suddenly,
Bethany
was on her back, Conrad’s lips hovering over her own, except he was
smirking. “When you return, we are not leaving this bed.”

Determination showed in his brown eyes. The thought of staying in
his bed almost distracted her from what she was doing, but the demon inside her
wasn’t going to make her fully forget.

“I am looking forward to it,” she whispered, leaning forward to
press a soft kiss on the side of his mouth. “I will see you soon, my love.”

Leaving him was hard. It wasn't what she wanted to do, and going to
sleep with another man sickened her. But she needed to survive—to stay
alive—and keep her demon happy.

A happy demon meant a happy
Bethany
.

****

The next morning felt like a typical morning in the house. And it
was. Before sleep took over her,
Bethany
had a disagreement with her older sister, Cassandra, a normal
occurrence in the Smith mansion.

Cassandra didn't understand the affection that Bethany had with
Conrad, the way they felt for one another. Cassandra treated it like it was a
disgrace. And
Bethany
could understand her sister’s point of view, but Conrad was
different. It saddened
Bethany
to know that her own sister would never approve.

Bethany
walked around the family
mansion. Her parents had passed on over five years ago, leaving everything for
Bethany and Cassandra to look after.

There was an off feeling in the air when
Bethany
walked down the large
staircase. The house creaked slightly under her feet. The trees outside the
window swayed with the breeze while an overcast of clouds lingered in the sky,
making it seem like it was more the evening than the morning.

“Cassandra?”
Bethany
called out, her voice echoing, but yet no reply came.
Bethany
wondered if her sister was
still angry with her and had decided to leave for the day. There was nothing
Bethany
could do. She wanted to
talk to Cassandra more, help her understand, but it looks like that won't be
happening today.

She straightened out the non-existent crinkles on her dress,
reaching for one of the apples from the collection she picked. She bit into the
juicy fruit and savored the sweet flavor. This apple was much better than what
she had to do last night. The man she found at a nearby tavern was dirty, but
his soul was enough for the demon, even if it was only a little bit.

No matter how many times she tried, the thought of doing these
things to Conrad killed her. As much as he denied it, she knew it bothered him.
No matter how many ideas ran through her head,
Bethany
could never find out the perfect solution. She was actually
starting to think that there wasn’t going to be one.

Once the apple was finished and the core was disposed of,
Bethany
made her way through the
small woods outside her house and over the cobblestone bridge. She planned an
early visit to see Conrad, missing the sound of his voice.

The walk to his mansion wasn't a very long one, but with every step
Bethany
took, it felt like a long
journey. And that was odd for her. There was even an off feeling starting to
settle in the pit of her stomach. She furrowed her brows as she reached the
cobblestone bridge—the one that she had to cross and then she would be mere
minutes from the warmth of her lover. But something was wrong. This time of the
morning was usually when everyone would come out and get everything done, yet
there was no one around.