Succubus

Chapter Eighteen

The pain seemed to last forever. It was not something you could get used to. At times, the fire seemed to get hotter. I would scream, hoping someone would come and help me. Kill me. Anything. Eventually, though, the pain started to fade. It was an extremely slow process. The pain started to fade slowly. Draining from the tips of my fingers, the tips of my toes. Going up now... my fists were free and I could clench them. My ankles were free and I could flex my feet. My knees were free and I could start moving a bit more. As the pain started to fade, I started to try to understand what had happened.

There was someone beside me. She never spoke. She didn't touch me. She never moved. I became aware of her a while ago when the pain was still so bad. She sat to my left, quite close. I was lying on the floor. The air was a taste of ironish like blood, cologne, leather, denim, cotton and lush lilies. The lily smell came from her, I was certain of that.

Her breathing was slow and even. She never spoke but she breathed. Once or twice, she had sighed and I wondered why. But she never spoke.

Occasionally, I would hear small movement. Her fingers brushing her hair back. Brushing the dust off her clothes.

I could hear other things as time went on. Cars driving past the house. The telephone ringing. It rang twice a day. I had no choice but to let it ring. My someone left it too. She never responded when the phone rang. The neighbours. I heard them going into their houses or coming out. I heard them talking sometimes to other people. I had never actually met them.

The pain faded from my heart and that's when I realised something. My heart was no longer beating. I opened my eyes.

The ceiling needed a new coat of paint. My eyes took this all in, the cracks in the ceiling that my human eyes would have easily missed. I could see every single filament in the lit light bulb above us. The light didn't hurt my eyes. I could hear its soft humming.

To my right was a bed. My bed. I recognised the sheets. It smelt freshly clean, I remembered doing the washing at some point previous to this.

To my left was the desk. Sitting on my chair was Analisse. Her beauty was astonishing to a human's eyes. She was the most gorgeous girl I had ever met. But now... Something had changed. She was still beautiful but there was not a big impression on me as there once had been. She smiled sadly.

"The succubus does not exist to be seduced by the incubus. The incubus will not be attracted to the succubus and vice versa." Her voice was still a tinkling bell to me. Beautiful.

"What's happened to me?" I asked. My voice too had changed. It was still deep and rough but not as rough as it had once been. Weird. Analisse fidgeted with a piece of her hair.

"You're a vampire. Or an incubus."

"Where's Cordelio?"

"She's left town. I've stayed only to see you through the worst of this. There's more to come."

"More?" I raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"There is much to tell you. You need to learn how to hunt. And you need to learn your charms. Now you are an incubus... You will seduce mortal women. You need to exercise control over this power."

"How long have I been... Out?"

"Five days." I blinked in horror.

"I've been out nearly a whole week?"

"Cordelio wasn't aiming to change you into a vampire. She was aiming to kill you and she was succeeding. She was draining you of your blood. Vampire transformations differ according to how much venom and blood is in your body. You had more venom than blood and not enough blood to pump the venom around your body. It's a slow process but you pulled through." She smiled. Her face was sad.

"Why are you sad?"

"Because I didn't want this to happen. It's so rare something like this happens and now it has... I wish it hadn't and I regret it. I'm sorry for what happened to you, Kylo. You didn't deserve any of this. I just wanted the challenge and I guess Cordelio did too."

"It's in your natures I guess... And I'm just as much to blame as you..." Analisse shook her head. I decided now would be a good time to sit up. I did so slowly. I was fine. No pain. I examined my hands. My hands still looked the same. The fingernails had grown a tiny bit so they were not stubs anymore. I was still wearing my sweats. All around me, the carpet was coated in my blood. My sweats were too. Analisse looked like she had just entered the room with not a hair out of place. The leather smell came from her, she was wearing a leather jacket and black denim shorts.

"You're not to blame. Being seduced by a vampire... It's impossible to control that feeling especially with the added gifts."

"Will I have those gifts?"

"Maybe. I don't know. But first things first... You need to see yourself," Analisse stood up. The movement was fluid. She held out a perfect hand. I hesitated. She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "I can't hurt you anymore." I took her hand. She pulled me up but I didn't need the support. I got up with a fluid movement too. There was no thought put into the process. She kept hold of my hand as we walked to the bathroom. I had a full-length mirror in there. The walk was small but I took in EVERYTHING in my surroundings. The scents that had never been there before, each individual scent of the house. The sights that human eyes would miss so easily. Small cracks in the paintwork. The dust fragments in the carpet.

Analisse placed me in front of the mirror and I gasped.

I was... Changed. But I was still there. My hair was still the curly messy mop it had always been. My skin colour was still the inheritance of my parents, milk chocolate tones. But my eyelashes were a little longer, my eyes more changed, my lips less fuller, my eyebrows more toned, my face more structured and less puppy fat. My body was a little taller maybe... My athletic weight still the same. The worst part of it all was the colour of my eyes. Normally chocolate brown. Now they were pure jet black.

"Oh. My. God. What the fuck?" Analisse winced at my response.

"It fades to your original colour eventually. It's just the reaction of the change. Don't panic."

"How long is eventually?" I growled, spinning round to face her. She bit her lip.

"A week or so?" I relaxed.

"That's not so bad." She slumped in relief. Just then the phone rang. Analisse tensed again.

"I haven't answered it. I wouldn't know what to say." She whispered. I hesitated.

"It'll have to wait. I've got much to learn." Analisse relaxed.

 "You do."