Incubus (American Horror AU 4)

Chapter 1

Springtime in New Orleans was always warm, but the beaches seemed even hotter. The sand was hot enough to burn sensitive soles and stubby toes, but at the shoreline, where it was damp and compact, a trail of large and small footprints could be seen. The weather was beautiful, but no one was there sunbathing or swimming in the clear ocean water whose waves crashed against the shore with soft abandon. The sky was clear and azure, and the sun was high, shining and golden, illuminating the only four people on the beach-Chase, his wife Misty, and their two young daughters.

"Daddy, put me down," the younger daughter said in her small, petite-sounding voice. "I wanna go to the water."

"But you gonna get your dress all wet," her mother said. "You sure?"

"Yeah!" The little girl gave an excited squeal as her father struggled to set her back on her feet.

Once he did, he looked down at her and smiled grandly at her. The little girl he had been holding in his arms was Amy, his youngest daughter. His other daughter, Clara, had been walking between him and her mother, but his youngest was his focus at that moment. Chase could remember holding her the day she was born, light-colored wisps of hair on her head with large, sparkling eyes, cooing as she was swaddled in a baby pink blanket-now, she was five and would only keep blossoming in beauty as she grew older. Like her mother, she had curling, voluminous blonde hair that framed her exquisitely heart-shaped face well as it cascaded down her shoulders and blew in the sea breeze. Her eyes were, without a doubt, the focal point of her face-large, round, and vibrantly blue with full, black lashes framing them and giving her a cherubic look even as she squinted from the sun's rays.

"Alright, Amy," Chase told his daughter light-heartedly. "You can go play."

As the fair-haired little girl ran rapidly toward the water, both he and Misty smiled before sitting down on the sand to watch their older daughter join her little sister. Clara, at age eight, was not as spectacular in appearance as her younger sister but she was still beautiful in a mysterious way. With long, dark brown hair that was almost raven black, she was the most distinct in her immediate family. However, her face reminded Chase and Misty, along with most others, of a fine china doll with her smooth, white skin and full, light pink lips with a distinct cupid's bow on the upper. She was wearing denim Bermuda shorts with a blue and white-striped scoop neck t-shirt, holding her sandals in her hand before setting them down next to her parents seated on the hot, scorching sand.

"Are you gonna go with your sister?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, ma," she said, sprinting over toward where the waves were crashing and her little blonde sister sloshed her small hands in the blue-green salt water. "INCOMING!"

Chase and his wife shared a moment of laughter as they watched their daughters stand in the water and slosh their hands in its sheer coolness; after a few seconds, he turned his face to look at his wife. The two had been married for nine years; most people around them had the mindset that married couples lost interest in each other, but Chase knew in his heart that he would love Misty forever and forever be by her side as her loyal husband and best friend. To him, she was somewhat ethereal and fairy-like, attuned with nature and down-to-earth like no other person he had ever known. Her curly fair hair, once adorned by black feathers, was pulled back stylishly with a silver dream catcher-styled clip. Her outfit consisted of a black maxi half-skirt that went to her knees and a top that was a loose-fitting, royal purple camisole that accentuated her figure nicely. Layered necklaces, her signature accessory besides bohemian-styled bangles, hung from her neck and were at different styles and lengths. He could see that her clear, kind blue eyes focused on their daughters and the gentle wash of the shore their small feet were immersed into. He took this chance to give her sudden peck on the cheek and wrap his arms around her, pulling her close and inhaling her sweet, earthy patchouli and myrrh perfume.