The Deal (Incubus Levi x Reader)

Chapter 1

You came from a long line of women with special abilities. Your family had been called many things over the centuries: witches, mediums, psychics. Yet, you didn't know if any of those terms really fit. All you knew was your abilities were isolating.

Now, you felt more alone than ever as you walked through the dark streets by yourself – the cold, winter wind whipping against your face, freezing the tears that dripped silently down your cheeks. You'd been so stupid, thinking you could finally have a love life like a normal person. But of course, as soon as you'd gotten your crush to ask you out on a date, your "gifts" just had to sweep in and ruin everything.

You'd thought it would be okay, to let him hold your bare hand across the dinner table in the fancy restaurant he'd suggested. After all, you were older now, so surely you'd have better control over your powers than you did as a child. Besides, it had been decades since someone had touched you affectionately, and you were starving for it. You wanted it to be okay.

But as soon as his skin had brushed yours, you'd been flooded with his entire past, flashing before your eyes as if you'd lived it yourself, rapidly bombarding you with all the feelings he'd experienced during each moment of it. You'd quickly snatched your hand back, squeezing your tear-filled eyes shut and trying to breathe through the sensation of being utterly overwhelmed by another person's life.

However, it was too late.

"What the hell did you do?" he'd screamed, practically jumping out of his seat, lurching away from you as if you were a pillar of fire. You'd learned from experience that the people you touched knew what had been pulled from them, and most of them didn't react well. In particular, your date knew you'd seen and felt the countless beatings from his father that had dominated his childhood.

Despite all the terrible emotions threatening to launch you into a panic attack, you'd gotten up and run out of the restaurant, hating your abilities and yourself. Because at the end of the day, this had been your fault. You'd been foolish to believe you could have a normal life.

It had been like this as far back as you could remember. When you touched someone for the first time, even accidentally, you could see their entire past and feel what they felt for each moment of it. As a child who had only a small understanding of your abilities and even less control, you couldn't stop yourself from experiencing sudden, drastic mood swings, as well as blurting out information people never told you about themselves. Needless to say, it really freaked people out when after one accidental touch, you'd start laughing euphorically, or crying hysterically, or both at the same time. They also didn't like the fact that you somehow knew their deepest secrets and private memories.

Your mother had always made you feel better afterward, telling you that you were special, you had a gift, and other people just had trouble understanding someone who was different. But when your mother suddenly died and you were thrown into a foster home, there was no one left to tell you your ability was anything but a curse. After a group of kids at school called you a freak and pelted you with rocks, you learned to hate your power. You began wearing long clothes and gloves even in summer, covering every inch of skin you possibly could, and you never got close enough to touch another person if you could help it.

This date only served as a bitter reminder of why all that was necessary, of why no one could ever love you. You were cursed to go through life with no human contact. If you tried, you'd only end up rejected, feared, and hated.

Your heels clacked against the concrete as you picked up the pace, wanting to get home quickly so you could at least cry underneath a warm blanket and not out here in the cold. You technically could've called a taxi, but you didn't want to see the driver's pity and/or disgust while you sobbed in the backseat of their car. Meanwhile, the streets of your neighborhood were mostly empty at this time of night, so you didn't have to worry about anyone seeing you.