Haunted By The Succubus

by Michelle Dorey

  The guy doesn’t even glance at Jake. His eyes, glittering with lust wash over her as he wraps his arm around her and starts leading the way to his motorcycle parked nearby.

  I look at Jake but he’s acting weird. He kind of looks spacey and the hand holding the gun softens. It clatters onto the pavement. Before I have a chance to say anything, Preston bolts over to where Leah is. When she turns, raising her hand like a traffic cop, he comes to a dead stop, even bouncing back like he hit some kind of wall.

  Shit! It made Jake’s hand release the gun and then swatted Preston away like he was a mosquito. Whatever part of that creature that is Leah, is smothered in the evil of that entity.

  She gets on the back of the bike and the TJ guy plunges his foot down on the kick-start. It sputters, but stops. TJ’s grin fades as he tries it again, but the same thing happens. He looks down at his bike, gaping puzzlement. “What the hell?”

  Margrit brushes by me and comes to a stop next to the bike. Waves of pure platinum thread through her glowing aura, expanding and growing so dense her body is blurred. She’s doing this! Somehow she’s managed to stop that bike! “You’re not taking her,” she says to the guy.

  The Leah creature spits at Margrit and then gets off the bike.”That was a cheap trick, old woman. But you can’t hold me here.”

  The biker dude just stares at Margrit like she’s some kind of witch and then he joins Leah, stepping closer to Margrit.

  My ears start ringing, and a wave of… I don’t know... certitude or something flows over me. I leap in front of them, shielding Margrit with my body. “Astaroth! I command you to leave this girl!” Astaroth? Where did that name come from? But I don’t get a chance to think about it watching Leah.

  It has an effect! The sneer on her face is replaced with wide-eyed shock. Even a trace of fear comes through in a fleeting second before the demon recovers.

  “So, you know my name?” It sneers. “Big deal. You and this old hag can’t stop me. Me and my new boyfriend are out of here. You’ll never find me, so don’t bother trying.”

  It’s bluffing. I can tell by the way, Leah’s hand closes on Biker Guy’s’ arm pulling him back.

  “Leah? You have to fight this thing! Don’t let it control you anymore.” Preston is openly crying, again racing forward to grab his sister. “For Christ’s sake! Leah! I love you! Fight this beast! I love you Leeeeeahhhh!”

  The last comes out as a shrieking wail that goes right through my heart. And it’s somehow pierced through the possession that has Leah imprisoned. The dark, smoky aura of the entity lightens and there’s an earthy tone that’s pure Leah.

  She turns to look at Preston, the hardness in her eyes gone, replaced with confusion. This thing hijacked her so fast she wasn’t even aware of why she was here.

  Margrit joins Preston. “Leah. You’re a good person. I love you too. I love that you’re kind and generous. You won’t even hurt an insect, let alone your brother. He needs you and loves you.”

  The demon’s power is shrinking. Margrit and I both see that. Even Jake is able to emerge from whatever fugue state the thing put him in, grabbing his gun from the ground. He fires a shot in the air, then levels the pistol at TJ. “Next three are going right into you, buster.”

  The blast breaks the moment, and Leah’s face once more becomes a mask, her eyes narrow with contempt.

  TJ looks at Jake, and without another word turns and runs down the alleyway.

  There’s only the demon left, staring us down.

  TWENTY SIX

  “OHHH, JAKE! MY HERO!” the Leah-thing says. It’s trying to coo, but there’s a guttural sound in its voice, like phlegm. I’m disgusted and look over at Jake.

  His eyes are riveted on her as she steps slowly toward him. “You’re sooo strong! Sooo brave,” she says, her voice now a smoky whisper. She won’t take her eyes off him. I can practically hear the message she’s projecting, feeling her evil power ensnaring him. It reminds me of what it did to me the first time I encountered this demon. Of course she’d target him. Of the three of us, he’d be the most malleable to her will. Margrit’s an old woman, Preston’s Leah’s brother, and I already rejected Astaroth.

  Margrit takes my hand in hers and then barks out an order, staring hard at the Leah-thing. “Stop! You will leave this girl, NOW!”

  I feel the surge of power vibrating in my chest from the old woman. For a moment I’m hopeful that it will be enough. Enough to stop this hateful spirit for good.

  It pauses briefly before dismissing us and continues moving. And whatever it’s doing is working! Jake’s hand shakes and then falls to his side. Leah’s finger trails over his cheek and she smiles. “Good boy. I’ll have to make do with you. Leah always thought you were attractive, so there is that. You’ll father my child.” Her eyes are dangerous slits when she turns to us. “But first you must kill them.”

  His hand lifts and now the gun is aimed squarely at Margrit! There’s a blank look in his eyes, totally under the demon’s influence!

  “Wait! Astaroth! You wanted me, remember?” I step in front of Margrit and push Preston out of the line of fire. “I can give you what you want! A child with my gifts! Think of it! I’ll go with you. But you must leave these people alone!” My heart races and my body quakes as I do this, knowing she’s just as likely to kill me out of revenge. Hell hath no fury like a demon scorned.

  Oh my God! My life flashes before me as I wait for her to speak. Time crawls like a slug, each memory from being a toddler skinning my knee, my time with Nana, Amy learning my name and giggling every time I played peekaboo... Frames of my life play in my mind right up to the present moment. It could all end in a heartbeat.

  “No, Adam. No. Don’t do this.” Margrit’s voice sounds like it’s coming from under water, vague and inconsequential.

  This is something I have to do! No more deaths at this thing’s hands! Especially Margrit and Leah’s brother. I brought this beast here, and now it’s up to me to face the consequences.

  Leah’s hand closes over Jake’s and his arm lowers. She looks at me and glances back to Jake. “I don’t knowww…” she says, her voice a rasp. She’s smiling slyly; I can see it’s really me Astaroth wants.

  “How can I convince you?” I say.

  She tilts her head. “Beg me for favor.”

  I drop to my knees, clasping my hands before me. “Let them go. We’ll run away together and create this child.” When the Leah demon smiles, I add the coup de grace. “You were right and I was wrong. I was a fool to let Leah leave today. She’s perfect for this. Your power will be unstoppable!”

  “No way!” Preston darts out from behind me. “Leah! Please don’t do it! You can’t mate with this thing. Adam doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”

  He takes a step but then is forced to the ground, folding like a jackknife. This time, however, he howls with pain, and there’s a rivulet of blood seeping out of his nose.

  I make no move to join Margrit when she kneels at Preston’s side, trying to help him. Instead I rise and walk over to the Leah-thing.

  Oh man, it’s taken her over something fierce! A rank smell—like an overflowing sewer is emanating from every pore that’s so strong my eyes water. I swallow back the instinctive retch in my throat and smile down at her. “Let’s go. If you hurt any of them again, I won’t do this. You may like pain and suffering but I don’t.” I pause for effect and grin. “Not yet, anyway.” From the corner of my eye, I see Jake step over to help Margrit with the boy. I push down any sense of relief that this thing is actually letting them go. I must guard my thoughts around this thing.

  Leah’s fingers curl over the back of my neck and she pulls me closer. “You have a lot to learn, Adam. You’ll grow to love ultimate power. The suffering of the weak is just an added spice to savor.”

  Her lips brush mine, and I have to quickly erase the flash of squirming worms from my mind. This thing is capable of seeing my thoughts, and I must be very, very careful. But in that faint touc
h, I also felt Leah. There’s still a part of her soul in there, cowering and confused as to what’s happening. Like a kid trapped in a dark closet, I can feel the real Leah whimper.

  I pull back a little and take the thing’s hand in mine. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to get started.” Anything to make sure the others will be safe. I’ll figure it out as I go.

  She pauses, bringing me to a halt. “Just one teensy-weensy thing more.” At her scathing look, Margrit is pushed to the ground. The clunk of her head hitting the pavement reverberates through me like a knife hitting bone.

  When I look, there’s no sign of Margrit’s essence. There’s nothing there except Jake and now Preston scrambling to her. It’s all I can do not to run over as well, but instead I shrug. “Ready to go?” I say instead.

  She tugs my arm and we’re off, racing down the back street, destined for who knows where.

  TWENTY SEVEN

  “WAIT!” I gasp for breath, my heart pounding like a jackhammer, coming to a stop. We’ve been running for five minutes straight and this demon thing in Leah’s body shows no sign of wear. I have no idea where Leah-thing is leading us.

  “It’s not that much farther. Come on!” She pulls at my arm but I wave her off. The pink sundress is damp with her sweat, clinging to her thighs. This is the only thing about her that shows any sign of exertion. She’s not even chilled by the night air on her bare arms and shoulders.

  “Where are you taking me?” I can barely get the words out, bent over and gulping air. My thighs and lungs scream with pain from the race through town.

  “You seriously need to work out more, Adam. For a young guy you’re in pretty poor physical condition.” Her fingers scrape through her hair, pulling it up off her shoulders. She stretches her head from one side to the other, easing her muscles, a big grin on her face. “Now this is why I love this body. What’s not to love about a seventeen-year-old girl who exercises and eats organic?”

  When I straighten, I feel Jake’s cell phone in the back pocket of my jeans. It’s just a fleeting thought; cell phones leave an electronic trail. I hardly dare to dwell on that realization, not with this thing’s capability to read me.

  My hand drifts along the Leah-thing’s neck, and I contort my face into a leer, gazing down at her body. “How much farther? Now that I’ve agreed to do this, I want to get on with it. Where are we going?”

  Leah’s chin lifts higher, and there’s triumph in her eyes looking over at me. From just that faint touch of her skin, I get a clear sense of its cocky self-confidence.

  “Nowhere special. Not yet. There’s a motel nearby where we’ll hole up for a few days, hiding in plain sight.” Absently, she twirls a lock of hair in her fingers, trying to look cute and flirty.

  There’s no sense in reminding her of the bodies she left in her wake back in Watertown—not if I’m going to pull this off. Although I have no idea if that’s even possible. That cell phone... hmmm.

  “Let’s go, then!” I look around trying to get a sense of where I am—a street sign, anything. The area is dimly lit with only a corner store and a gas station. It’s mostly small houses with the odd vacant lot. Hard to believe there would be a motel out this way, when there’s nothing special or touristy about it.

  “My my my... You’ve certainly warmed up to my idea. In some ways taking over Leah, directing her is so much easier. Fighting you and then with that old hag interfering... it was getting soooo tiresome.” She takes the lead, glancing back over her shoulder in a pose that is supposed to be sexy.

  I won’t deny it—it was alluring. She jutted a hip and arched her back, her cotton dress clinging to every curve and valley.

  I curse my own weakness, but smile. “Yeah. It was kind of wearing me out too. I’m glad you decided to give me another chance. I mean my genes have got to be better than some biker guy.” My tone and words are so saccharin sweet, it makes my teeth ache, but this thing is a glutton for compliments.

  “Exactly! And Leah is so easy to manipulate. My plan works better this way, even if I miss out on living your experience when we actually get down to screwing. Especially since it’s your official first time. Heavy petting doesn’t count in this game.”

  The vulgar term coming out of Leah’s mouth makes it even more obscene. Which brings up another fear. I’m not sure I can go through with this when the moment of truth comes around. What will this demon do if I can’t? Performance anxiety might turn into a certain death sentence.

  I manage a small laugh. “The two of us being virgins... that makes it more perfect for you doesn’t it?” Got to keep it preoccupied in its gloating. “Hang on a minute. My shoelace is undone.” I bend quickly and make a show of tying it. When I straighten, my hand slips into my back pocket, and I click a button on the side of the phone.

  These cell phones have hidden programming to pick up on conversations. I know that’s real having experienced a plethora of ads for sunglasses when I mentioned sunglasses in a conversation. If I can say a street name, maybe I’ll leave an electronic trail for Jake to pick up on. Surely, he’s savvy enough to link his phone to his laptop.

  The demon doesn’t seem to notice what I’m doing when it continues blathering its own praises. “Virgins! Well obviously that was the way to go! I know this gig’s been done before by another, whose name I won’t mention. Just thinking about Him makes me wanna puke. But the irony is compelling, no?”

  “Fer shure! But how are we going to pay for a motel room? I’m tapped out, unless—”

  “Not to worry! I’ve got this! From now on, we’ll have whatever luxury we could ever wish for.”

  Finally, a street sign shows. I’ve been looking high and low since we came down this road. “Merrivale Motel! That’s ironic too. Merry Valley? Sounds good to me! Get it?” It’s weak, but I managed to get the road’s name out there without looking too suspicious. I hope.

  “Don’t give up the day job, Adam. There’s no chance for you in stand-up. I just hope you’re more entertaining in bed.” She shoots another suggestive smile at me, as she rubs her stomach below her belly button.

  Watching her, I’m both turned on and repulsed. Yuck.

  But I grin like a fool at her. “They say practice makes perfect. I’m all about getting in all the practice I can.”

  “That’s what I want! See? This is much more fun than resisting me, Adam. I knew you’d eventually see it my way.” The smug look on its face is anything but pretty.

  I keep trying to engage it in conversation as a deeper part of my brain tries to figure out a plan. “So you’ve tried this before, haven’t you? But this time you’re sure it will work?”

  She rolls her eyes and then points to a lighted sign a short walk away. “Yes. I picked the wrong targets, time and time again. Always some simple girl who ended up killing herself rather than carry my child.”

  “So, how’s this any different?” Poor Leah. She’d hate me saying that.

  “The times, they are a changing.” After it giggles like a hyena, it continues, “No one here would sacrifice themselves like that. It’s a me/me time you live in Adam.” She waves her hand. “No, having a child outside of marriage is no longer as big a deal as it once was.”

  I nod. Anything to keep it talking.

  It pauses before going across the road to the motel. “Whatever is left of Leah in this body will never end her life when she realizes what’s happening. And if you start getting cold feet, you know what will happen to your friends.”

  I snort. “Friends? I thought the old lady could help me defeat you. She was a fraud. I’d rather back the winning team.”

  “Exactly my point! Now you can stay here while I get our room squared away or watch and learn.”

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to learn at the hands of a master, not that charlatan old woman.”

  Her finger rises and drifts along the line of my jaw. “You’re showing more and more promise, Adam.”

  TWENTY EIGHT

  THE CLERK AT THE DESK
LOOKS UP from his cell phone when we enter the motel’s office. He does a double-take, eyeing Leah and then glancing over at me with narrow eyes. “Need to see some ID. And a credit card to rent a room. How old is she?”

  The Leah-thing steps forward, and immediately the suspicion on the guy’s face fades. “We’d like a room, preferably an end unit. You don’t need anything more from us. Understood?”

  When he nods, his double chin quivers while a bead of sweat trickles down his temple. “Shu... sure. Room twenty is free.” The bored attitude has been replaced with a blank acceptance. Even his aura, which was a pale green when we came in, dissolves into a charcoal gray similar to the one surrounding Leah.

  Leah raps the countertop. “Give me the key card then.” When he scuttles over to the drawer to get it, she continues, “If anyone asks about a young woman and dark-haired guy coming in tonight, you’ve never seen anything. Got it?”

  He nods once more and slides the card across the counter. But her hand closes on his and her nails bite into his skin so hard that he yelps.

  “I got it!”

  “Good. We may be here for a couple of days. See that we aren’t disturbed.” She snaps the key card up and then adds in a singsong voice that makes a shudder skitter through me. “Except for breakfast. You may bring that at ten tomorrow morning. Denny’s Grand Slam and lots of OJ.”