A Demon in your Mind

The Land of the Gods

Bucky and the woman emerged from the blue cloud of smoke to find themselves kneeling in a forest in front of a small house made of stone. Bucky looked around, "What happened?" He asked gruffly, the woman sighed, "We are in the land of the gods, you idiot." Bucky stood and looked around, "Where?" The woman didn't answer, Bucky grumbled, "This wasn't a part of the deal." The woman scoffed, "Yes it was. You just didn't ask for details. Typical short sighted meat bag."

Bucky turned to her, "So I have to spend a year here with a demon?" The woman struggled to stand, ignoring Bucky as she did. Bucky noticed her shackles were gone. When she finally managed to stand up she slowly made her way to the stone hut. Bucky reluctantly followed, the lesser succubus opened the door, inside there was a fire going in the fireplace in the far right, there was a tinderbox on the mantle, a stack of thick feather beds, blankets and pillows already set up on a wooden bed frame in the far left corner, two chests in the closest left corner, and rows of stone shelves in the closest right corner. On the stone shelves were baskets filled with fruits, breads, caskets of water and wine, vegetables, and dried meats. As well as a few earthen pots and dishware.

Bucky looked around the inside of the hut as the woman dropped herself heavily onto the bed. "Seriously?" He asked, a hint of apprehension in his tone. The woman groaned from where she laid on the bed, the large purple bruise on her side had grown a little darker in hue, "Yes. This is where the Fates intend for us to spend the next 365 excruciating days."

Bucky crossed his arms, "Okay demon, you said we were in the land of the gods. What does that mean exactly?" The woman forced herself into a sitting position, she was still weak from the lack of feeding, but shot him an annoyed glare, "The land of the gods is a realm parallel to the land of mortals. We occupy the same space without actually occupying the same space. I don't expect you to understand."

He reached for his phone only to find his pocket was empty. He groaned in frustration and exited the hut. The woman laid back down and touched the charm, the chain had shrunk when he attached it to her, acting more like a collar than a necklace now. It was going to be a long year.

Bucky had walked a dozen or so yards from the hut and sat on a fallen log, he rubbed his face with his hands, hoping he would wake up from whatever nightmare this was. But when he removed his hands, he found, he was still in the large clearing in the midst of the strange woods. Something in the air felt different, almost as though he could tell they weren't really on earth anymore. It was the same off feeling he felt when they had all entered the club.

After a while he returned to the hut to find the woman, now dressed in a short black backless dress, kneeling beside the fire, a fresh stack of firewood and kindling was placed in neat piles beside the fireplace. He crossed his arms, "So we have to spend a whole year, in this little stone shack, sharing the same bed?" The woman turned to him, and weakly nodded.

Bucky was a little annoyed that she would be so close to him while he slept, he wondered what would happen when another nightmare reared it's ugly head. Then he cleared his throat, "Demon." The succubus sighed heavily, "Human." Bucky motioned to around the stone building, "How is it that all this was ready? How did those women know?"

The winged woman braced against the wall and stood, "There are many things about my world that you wouldn't be able to understand. And I am certainly not explaining it all to you." She spat the last word and rolled her eyes. Bucky groaned, "So you are going to leave me in the dark then?" The woman nodded, "You chose to be an ignorant ass. So you can stay an ignorant ass."

Bucky leaned against the wall, "You had better be glad part of the deal was I can't harm you demon. Otherwise I would ring your neck right here." The succubus glared at him, "This is all you and your friends fault! I was only trying to survive." Bucky stood straight up again, "You didn't have to be there in the first place!"