Succubus

Chapter 15: The Only Cool Middle Schooler

June's car died a mile from school. The day still had to start so she got out and walked the rest of the way. On the way she lamented that she did not have the guts to set her car on fire.

While walking June found that she'd fallen into step with someone. It was a boy heading toward Bridgeton middle school. He looked vaguely familiar, but so did everyone in Bridgeton.

June found herself unable to stop stealing glances. He wore glasses, but his hair fell perfectly around them. His skin was smoother than it should have been at that age. Even the way he was dressed looked as though several professionals had weighed in. June wondered if he was a commercial actor, then she felt old for not thinking of an influencer first.

The boy caught her staring and smiled. June's gaze snapped forward. She felt her cheeks redden, but she blamed it on the fall wind. Somewhere in her mind she was kicking herself. Why was she acting like a girl again? Last summer's round of blind dating should have sanded away any of those feelings.

"Tough morning?" the boy asked.

"That obvious?" June responded.

"I had a bad day yesterday, but now it's behind me. I'm sure things will turn around for you."

The back of June's brain was saying how dumb of a line that was. Somehow though, she felt better. She was facing an afternoon calling mechanics, but right then the walk felt peaceful and the day was full of opportunities.

"What's your name?" June asked.

"I'm Charles," the boy said.

They parted in front of the high school. Charles wondered if he'd make as much of a stir as Tara had.

The previous night Charles had gone to bed unhappy. He couldn't get the image of Tara levitating above the town out of his mind. When he finally fell asleep he had strange dreams about football players trampling him until he was part of the floor.

Then the dream had changed. He was in a dark room filled with neon lights. All around him were crunchy laser sounds coming out of old speakers. Charles was wearing a vest covered with glowing lights and he was holding a ray gun. It was a laser tag arena.

All of Charles's unhappiness melted away. He was surrounded by the smell of cherry soda and hot pizza. Other kids with vague faces rushed around the arena, but none of them could out maneuver Charles. He moved like a sleeper agent who'd just heard the magic word.

Charles's vest suddenly flashed and vibrated. Someone had managed to land a shot. Charles turned around to see who had the balls. Standing across the arena was a tall dark haired man in his mid twenties. His sharp teeth glowed in the black lights.

Charles rolled to the left to put himself behind cover. He peeked his head out to take a shot at the challenger, but the challenger was gone. Charle's vest vibrated again. The challenger was on top of the box Charles had been hiding behind.

"Nice shooting," the man said.

Charles suddenly had the feeling that this wasn't an ordinary dream.

"I'm Erlik. Sometimes I take girls on dates to places like this to see if they'll dump me."

"What?" Charles said.

"No one has yet." Erlik dropped off the box and sat across from Charles. The techno music had stopped. All the other people had vanished. They were alone in a quiet neon room.

"So, why are you unhappy?" Erlik asked.

Charles was beginning to not like Erlik. He hated when adults assumed they could read him like a book. "What makes you think I'm unhappy?"

"I wouldn't be here otherwise. The ritual seeks out unhappy people looking for a deal to change their life."

"Well you're wasting your time. I'm doing fine." Charles stomped off to look for someone else to shoot. When his vest flashed and vibrated again he almost wanted to scream.

Erlik spun his gun on one finger. "What's her name?" Erlik asked.

Charles wore his confusion on his face.

"Your problem, what's her name?"

Charles turned to storm off, but the arena had shrunk while his back was turned. He was face to face with a wall.

Charles moped back over to where Erlik was. "Tara," he sighed.

"My problem is named Vine. She's loose in your town somewhere and I need to find her before our mom comes home."

Charles snorted. "Before your mom comes home? How old are you?"

Erlik shot Charles again. "When you go outside how often do you see heads planted on spikes?"

Charles was not expecting that question, so it took a moment to get out an answer. "Never?"

"If you want to keep it that way you'll help me out."

"I still don't understand how I'd be helping."

"I just need to borrow your body for a bit. I'll find my sister and then get her out of your town, quick and painless."

"So you take over my body?"

"Not exactly."

The dream shifted until Erlik and Charles were sitting across each other in a restaurant booth. Sitting in front of them were two boxes of pizza. Erlik explained souls being pizza and boxes being bodies. Charles understood, but the explanation made him hungry.

"So besides not meeting your scary mom, what's in it for me?" Charles asked.

"If you let me ride shotgun I'll help you with your girl problems."

"You can do that?"

"It's in my blood. My dad was the best at seducing mortals, and I've been getting pretty good at it too."

Charles imagined his day tomorrow. He'd finally be equipped to sweep Tera off her feet. They could go to the dance together and stay up late. Charles's mom would finally stop teasing him about growing up. He'd become an overnight legend at Bridgeton middle school. They might even carve his name into a tree or a bench for future generations to admire.

"You've got a deal," Charles said. He went in for a handshake like his dad had taught him.

"This deal has a more old-fashioned seal," Erlik said.

Before Charles could ask for clarification the temperature dropped. The air became so dry that Charles got a headache. His hands began to look red around the knuckles. Finally, one of the knuckles split open and a drop of blood ran down his finger. Erlik caught the drop of blood on the end of his fork and put it in his mouth.

Erlik raised a hand and cut off all of Charles's questions. "I don't like cutting people, so this is how I get blood," he said.

Charles's vest vibrated again, but this time Erlik hadn't pulled the trigger. The faceless kids were back. Charles was so busy trying to out skill them that he didn't notice when Erlik vanished. He played laser tag until he woke up.