Succubus

I kissed Jules goodnight, and neither one of us had to say a thing out loud. We loved each other; we knew we would see each other soon. We were both so blissful.

With one more, quick, final kiss, I squeezed Jules’ hand, and she disappeared into the light socket. We’d already discussed things earlier: Jules wanted to give me time alone with Oona, to exchange seeds together.

In the meantime, she was going to start working on basic plans for our wedding. We’d decided we wanted to do everything ourselves, and she already had an eye on someone to design her dress. We had even started daydreaming together about moving to a new, bigger apartment, maybe even getting a dog…

I was over the moon, in a total daze. I had never felt so close to Juliet, we were able to share this connection that was so intimate-

*crash*

What the fuck? Hastily, I pulled some sweatpants on and headed down the hallway at a fast clip.

I found Femme and Crow getting into it a lot more roughly than usual, and spotted Oona crying in the corner. “Stop that! What’s going on?”

I moved to Oona, putting my arm around her to comfort her, and she started sobbing into my shoulder. Femme rolled off of Crow and stalked away, holding her tail straight up and shooting him the stink eye. “Crow dumb!”

I looked at Crow, who, miraculously, didn’t have much to say for himself. He just stared at Oona suspiciously, who was starting to calm a bit. “Babe, what happened?”

She shook her head, “The Dark One came to reward me-“

I looked around quickly, incredulous. “-Satan? Was here?”

Oona nodded. “My Lord was very pleased by our novel undertakings. He, he offered me…” She extended her hand, and in her palm lay a small, wrapped chocolate. It looked delicious, but I wasn’t a moron.

“Oona, honey, why did Satan give you a chocolate? Is it… a magic candy?” I eyeballed the little treat distrustfully.

Again, Oona nodded. “It’s supposed to make you believe you love me.”

I snorted. “But I already know that. What’s even the point?” Oona looked at me, her eyes watering again. “Hey, hey, it’s ok. You want me to eat the chocolate? Sure, I’ll eat-“

She snatched it away from me. “-No! I’ll not manipulate you! I just don’t know how to-“

Femme pointed at Crow with her paw and shouted, “-See! Crow dumb!”

I looked at Crow, who slinked away a bit before finally turning to respond. “So, I admit, Femme and I both saw the exchange. I thought we should not trust Oona to do the right thing and cast off such an item. Seems I was mistaken. Hmph. Apologies, then.” Crow started grooming himself, trying to hide his wounded pride.

I turned back to Oona, irritated with Crow but trying not to let it distract me. “How to what? Shouldn’t I just eat it? Won’t it just enhance the chances that the seed will work? What’s the harm, anyway?”

Oona shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I don’t care to learn what the harm might be. I just wasn’t sure how to dispose of it safely.”

There was a silence as each of us thought the situation through. I thought it was imprudent to throw the damned thing away, it seemed like it could only help. But Oona was deeply troubled by the idea of its involvement, and I decided to respect her decision.

Eventually, Femme sat up suddenly. “Pan.”

Cook it? That seemed like a really bad idea, who knew what aerosolized, satanic, magical chocolate would do to everyone… “I don’t think-“

Crow piped up, “Of course! Put it in a bag containing our waste! No creature will want to eat it then!”

Oona wasn’t sure, and I wrinkled my nose at the idea of magical, poopy chocolate. Just as I was about to cave, for lack of a better idea, Grampy and Penemue both came toppling out of the kitchen.

“It’s called personal space for a reason, you barbarian!” Penemue was rounding the corner, dusting himself off.

Grampy came following after him shortly. “Touch bubble my behind, get over yourself!”

Oona simply extended the hand containing the chocolate at them both. Penemue was the first to speak. “Indeed, though fecal contamination would help, you have to fear for the effect that could be had, should it dissolve and enter the municipal water system.”

Grampy nodded reluctantly. “He’s right. It would be most secure in a locked crypt or safe of some sort.”

I groaned, “I don’t have a bloody crypt handy, the closest thing I have is the laundry room! Come on, guys!”

They faced one another, and after a moment, Grampy nodded. Penemue turned to Oona and I. “I will take it from you, for safekeeping. In the wrong hands, you could end up with thousands of besotted worshipers.”

Oona handed Penemue the small candy, and I could sense her repulsion at the idea. “Thank you, both of you.”

Crow pipped up, “Perhaps you could add some waste to it, in its secure space? Just in case.”

Sebastian appeared to be considering it, but Penemue was definitely revolted by the idea. “Containment shall be sufficient. I have the perfect area for such items.”

I goggled at him. “You have an evil crypt?”

He rolled his eyes, as Grampy laughed. “No! I have a heavily fortified, protected storage unit! Goodness sakes!” With no further ado, my supernatural ancestors headed back towards the kitchen, bickering as they went.

I still hadn’t quite wrapped my head around them. Were they always watching? Always? How long had they been doing that?

I turned to Oona, “So? Are you ready? For the seed?”

She was reluctant for some reason. “If it’s all the same, can we wait until after midnight?”

I sensed her bashfulness at the request. “Sure, but why?”

She grinned as she blushed. “I thought it would be nice to have a different anniversary on which to celebrate. To have a day just for us?”

I took both of Oona’s hands in mind. “That’s perfect. Wish I’d thought of it myself.”

In truth, I could sense the real reason. Oona wanted to spare me the pain of potential failure for as long as possible, to spend as much joyful time with me as she could. Well, soon enough, I'd prove her wrong. At least I desperately hoped I would.

Notes