***
Heinrich awoke, his entire body in pain, and then the pain stabbed like a knife between his legs, and he cried out for his father. He smothered his cry, remembering the Succubus. No one came.
He managed to get to his feet and staggered through the cavern, blood running down his thighs, a horrible, burning agony filling his groin.
I can’t…I’ll bleed to death. He leaned against the wall with one hand while pressing against the gaping wound below his pelvis with the other. He lurched against the wall and fell to the rough stones.
Just stay here. Rest.
He closed his eyes, and moments later started awake with spasm of fear.
I’m going to die if I don’t get to the Blood.
He tore off his shirt and pushed it against the wound. He cried out from the pain, and then stopped, listening.
He heard nothing.
The corridors downward were endless. Heinrich took the turns by instinct, vaguely aware, through the buzzing white noise in his head and burning pain, that if he took the wrong turn, he wouldn’t have time to turn around.
At the end, he was crawling. He bumped his head against wood and looked up in surprise at the heavy door of the storeroom. With a cry of relief and pain, he pushed his way inside.
He collapsed on the floor, staring up at the bottles of Succubus Blood. They were impossibly high.
I’m going to die, just inches from deliverance.
He might have given up then, but a distant shout somehow penetrated the tunnels, reaching his ears. Heinrich realized that it was Gasper’s last breath. His father had sacrificed himself to save his only son.
Heinrich wrenched himself onto the table, jostling it and sending the knives clattering to the floor. One stabbed into his foot, but he barely noticed.
He reached desperately for the row of jars, but the more extended he got, the dizzier he became. His vision narrowed. He was falling. He clutched at the nearest jar, knocking several to the floor. There were sickening thuds and cracks as the ancient stone crumbled, splattering him with Succubae blood. A stray drop landed in his mouth.
That single drop saved his life. The Blood exploded in his mouth and shot down his throat. The warmth spread through his innards and sparked his heart. He took a deep gasp of air and realized that he’d almost stopped breathing.
The splattered Blood burned where it landed on his face and chest. His dizziness faded; his vision opened up. He lay on the floor feeling the Blood flow through him, down to his feet. Blood was pooled beneath his face, and he lapped it up.
Finally, he was able to sit up. He frantically licked the blood spatter from his hands and arms, and the tingling strengthened him.
Not enough, not enough!
He slapped at the mess of sludgy blood on the stone floor, scooping it into his mouth. It coursed through his limbs and torso, up his neck into his head and down to his groin. It all came back, and he was whole.
Heinrich lay panting in the dim cavern, relief flooding him.
And as he lay there, his cock grew hard. In his panic, he’d gone too far. She was calling him. The pain was still a vivid memory, but it was being erased by desire.
He grabbed one of the knives strewn about the floor. He shuddered, for it was a dull one, but he didn’t have time. Not giving himself enough time to think, he cut deeply. This time, he didn’t faint. Of the jars that had fallen onto the floor, only one was whole. He gathered it up with trembling hands and took a drink, enough to heal the wound but not enough to regrow his manhood.
He stood up, then sat heavily in the chair. It seemed to him that he could sense the Succubus seeking him, but he was now invisible to her. He glanced at the Blood on the wall, counting the containers. The rows of jars were diminished from what his father had first shown him.
Heinrich put his head in his hands and groaned. As much as he hated it, as much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t help but feel a new appreciation for his forebears—and for his father. They had done their duty thousands of times, tens of thousands of times, all as a sacrifice for mankind.
He understood now. The Cutting was necessary.
Heinrich vowed at that moment to kill the Daughters of Lilith or return them to the caves, where they would be buried so deep they could never emerge to plague mankind again.
Now all he had to do was figure a way out of the caverns.
Chapter 8
Downtown Bend is getting too damn busy, Cary thought.
He was in a foul mood after circling the block several times, searching for a parking spot. He finally gave up and shelled out five bucks for the local parking garage. He strolled into Starbucks twenty minutes late to find himself confronted by an irritable Serena.
“You’re late,” she snapped. “I’m on my second cup already.”
The dark circles under her eyes testified to her lack of sleep, and her hair wasn’t perfectly groomed, as it had been the night before. Even with the frown, though, she seemed less uptight and more approachable than she had before.
She was a beautiful woman. Cary liked what he saw, even if he was younger than her by almost a decade. He wondered how she would act in a more intimate setting. He had an active imagination in that realm. As he ordered his coffee, he also imagined how the baristas would be in bed.
After he’d gotten his coffee, he returned to Serena’s table and laid the newspaper in front of her. A photo of a massive black bear dominated the front page. A trio of deputies with huge grins surrounded creature, their rifles propped on their shoulders. It had taken eight shots to bring the huge animal down.
She tugged the paper nearer to have a closer look. “I didn’t know you had bears that big around here,” she said.
“We don’t,” Cary said, snagging the seat across from her. “Weird, huh?”
“Her blood…” Serena began. Her voice trailed off, and she looked as though she regretted saying anything.
“What’s that?” Cary asked, watching her intently.
“It is said,” Serena said reluctantly, “that the blood of a …that her blood…has powers of rejuvenation.”
“The blood of…what?” he asked. “You were going to say something else.”
She looked into his eyes, as if weighing a decision. Then she said, “Why don’t you tell me your story first? You said you saw something in Suzanne. I’d like to hear about that.”
Cary grimaced into his coffee cup for a long moment. There was no way to explain it convincingly, except to tell her the full story. He drew in a deep breath and looked around at all the people sitting nearby who couldn’t help but overhear him. They would think he was crazy.
“Not here,” he said, standing up.
***
Cary led Serena a couple blocks farther into downtown, into a comic book store on the corner that sold used books.
“Hey, Dudley,” Cary called out.
The bearded owner waved back. There were a couple of battered armchairs amongst the equally battered books. They sat down, knees nearly touching, and Serena turned to him expectantly. Cary could scarcely believe he’d taken her to a comic shop. He decided to tell her everything and not to hold back, even the crazy stuff.
Maybe she’ll believe me, he thought. After all, she’s the one talking about blood.
“I met Suzanne at a party,” he began. “A kegger in the woods…”
“A kegger?” Serena asked.
“An outdoor party with kegs of beer,” Cary said. “Gets pretty loud and rowdy. Maybe it’s a Western thing.”
I’m rambling, he thought. I don’t really want to remember.
“Anyway, there was a bonfire, and people dancing to loud music. And there, in the middle of it all, was Doug, good old studious Doug, laughing and having a good time. I gotta tell you, that was pretty cool, something I thought I’d never see.
“Doug was my best friend, so at first I was happy that a cute girl—a really cute girl!—was paying attention to him. He was always a little shy. I figured it w
as about time some girl noticed him. So when Doug went off in search of more beer, I sat next to her, planning to thank her, to congratulate her on her good taste…”
He broke off, growing cold at the memory of the look she’d given him.
***
Cathy was beautiful in the firelight, so when she turned and looked at Cary like he’d crawled out from under a rock, he was stunned. Her eyes were cold, which was bad enough, but they also seemed ancient, and evil.
He looked away and gulped down some beer. When he turned back, a transformation had occurred. Suzanne was suddenly glad to see him.
“You’re Cary, aren’t you?” she said, her voice full and throaty, with a hint of hoarseness that was endearing somehow. “Doug pointed you out.”
“Yeah, Doug’s a good guy,” he said.
“He is, isn’t he? I can’t believe no one has snatched him up yet.”
“I’ve always wondered the same thing,” he said, warming up to her. The coldness in her eyes when she’d first looked at him was forgotten as they chatted.
And then it happened.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you,” she gushed, turning her entire attention on him, ignoring all the playful antics around them, the people dancing around the fire, the music blasting from car radios. Nothing mattered to her but him, because he was Doug’s friend, but more—he was oh, so interesting himself.
He felt himself getting an erection. He felt an instant, overwhelming attraction to this girl—no, this woman.
Cary was still embarrassed that he’d almost succumbed to her charms. When Doug later accused Cary of coming on to her, he’d flushed, because it was half true. The truth was, she came on to him—but he responded.
***
“I’m not very proud of what I did,” Cary said, coming back to the present. “What I almost did that night.”
“Go on,” Serena said.
“I…it was really strange…” He paused, unwilling to look Serena in the eyes, struggling with the darkness of his thoughts. How could he explain the enormous attraction he’d felt at that moment?
“Up until then, I’d only seen Suzanne from a distance. She didn’t seem all that special. But she was so beautiful in the firelight, like an angel or movie star or…a Goddess. I wanted to take her hand and lead her off into the darkness. I could tell she wanted it and I wanted it, and that’s all that mattered.”
He finally dared to look into Serena’s eyes. She was calm, accepting. “You’re straight male, and she’s…Suzanne,” Serena said. “Believe me, you had a normal reaction.”
Cary must have had a strange expression on his face, because she reached out and squeezed his arm, not unkindly. “Just tell the story, Cary. I’m not judging you.”
He began again, haltingly at first, then gradually picking up speed, until the words spilled out of him. Serena said little, waiting, listening with a grave look on her face, nodding occasionally.
***
Suzanne looked over his shoulder, making sure Doug wasn’t near. It was a cold, calculating gaze. That moment was enough for Cary to realize she was playing him. Oh, she was good, she was really good, but it was her overreaching charm that gave her away. That and what she revealed in her rare, unguarded moments.
She was a snake, or something worse. And she had her fangs in his best friend.
He and Doug had become best friends because of their love of books, but that’s where the commonalities ended. While Doug was raised in a nice middle-class family, Cary had been raised by a horror show of a family: meth heads and casual criminals, the eternal underclass, forever mired by their own stupid short-term decisions. He’d vowed to break away, to be different.
To his credit, Doug had never looked down on him.
Unlike his friend, Cary knew when someone was trying to pull something over on him. Doug never had drug-addicted family members cheat and lie to him, trying to con one more dollar out of him. Cary recognized all the signs.
Suzanne seemed to sense his disillusion, and damned if she didn’t almost hiss at him. All her features were the same—the blue eyes, the black hair, the high cheekbones—but they became alien somehow, inhuman. Cary reared back, nearly falling off the log.
Doug returned at that moment. He stared down at his friend, puzzled. He handed a red plastic cup full of beer to Suzanne. She was laughing as if Cary had done something silly.
Cary rose and walked silently away as if nothing had happened, too shocked by what he’d seen to speak of it. He spent the rest of the evening staying out of sight, debating with himself about whether he should tell Doug.
He bided his time, waiting until Suzanne slipped away to relieve herself before finding the courage to approach his best friend. He told Doug what had happened. “Let’s get out of her before she comes back,” he finished.
Doug’s face turned bright red. Cary thought for a moment that his friend was going to slug him.
“She told me you came on to her,” Doug said.
“No,” Cary protested. “She came on to me!”
“I thought she was imagining it,” Doug shouted, “but it’s true, isn’t it? You’re jealous!”
“Doug…listen to me. She’s lying.”
“I thought you were my friend, Cary,” Doug snarled. “Get away from me.”
Cary watched from a distance when Doug left the party with Suzanne. He thought he’d have a chance later to get him alone, to convince him.
He never saw his best friend again.
***
“When he died, I had already lost him,” Cary finished. He was staring out the store window, not really seeing the pedestrians, but looking somewhere inside himself.
Serena didn’t say anything at first. Cary was still embarrassed. It sounded so stupid, as if he was such a horny guy that all it took was a little come-on from a pretty girl and he was ready to betray his friend.
“You didn’t tell me the whole story, did you?” Serena finally said, her voice very quiet.
“What do you mean?” he asked, knowing exactly what she meant.
“When you described her transformation, you stumbled over your words. That isn’t everything you saw, is it?”
There was a long silence. “You won’t believe me,” he said.
“Try me,” she said flatly.
“All right, but I warned you…” He took a deep breath. “Her face changed. Her blue eyes were cold, devoid of light. Her high cheekbones were sharp, her nose long and hooked. Her hair…it was as if her hair turned into snakes, her tongue became forked, and her eyes were like a cat’s. I…I think I hated her so much at the moment that I imagined her to be a Medusa.”
He looked Serena in the eyes, expecting to see derision or disappointment. She simply nodded. “Medusa may be one of her personas. Her hair isn’t really comprised of snakes, but it moves. No, I believe you. What you saw was the dark heart of a Succubus.”
Cary frowned. She’d already used the term Succubus, but he wasn’t sure he understood it. “She comes into your room at night and steals your breath, right?”
Serena’s laughter was a pleasure to his ears, even bringing a smile to his face. Despite the serious tone of the conversation, Cary’s heart lifted. He had a feeling she didn’t laugh much. The laughter changed her whole face.
“Stealing breath…that’s what they tell children, because they can’t very well tell the truth,” she said. She glanced furtively around and lowered her voice. “A Succubus steals your life force by way of sex, Cary.”
He stared at her, wondering if he was supposed to laugh. Nope, she was dead serious.
“Shit,” he said.
“Yeah,” she answered. “Pretty much.”
He took a long sip of coffee, though it was almost cold by then. He barely noticed. “Then I killed my best friend, because I was too cowardly to warn him.”
“You tried,” Serena said softly. She reached out and put her hand on his. “He wouldn’t have believed you. She had her hooks into him too deep.�
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His gaze dropped to the tabletop, and he finally nodded. “How do you know all this?” he asked.
“I’ve been researching her for a long time. Some of it may be guesses, but I’ve found that the more horrible it is, the more likely it is to be true.”
“What will she do now?”
“She’ll be searching for a man. Any man who will have her.”
“What the hell? Half the guys in town would fuck her.” Cary paused, then said, “Pardon my language, but that’s the way she works.”
Serena nodded. “Thankfully, it’s not simply a matter of…fucking,” she said. She looked around as if she expected kids to be lurking near the comic racks. All she saw was a guy who looked like a banker.
“Don’t worry, they’ve heard that word in here before,” Cary assured her.
Serena continued. “She prefers her victims totally besotted with her. That they give up their very essence, knowing deep in their hearts what will happen. She wants not just love, but rapture. And even with the easiest of prey, that takes time.”
“What makes you think she’s still here?” Cary asked. “Why wouldn’t she move on to another town?”
“She moves around, but usually only after a kill. I think the wandering is as much out of habit as anything. She doesn’t really believe she’s in danger.” Serena sighed and gave an eloquent shrug. “She’s probably safer these days than in medieval or ancient times. They at least believed in supernatural creatures, unlike now.” Serena shook her head and was silent for a moment. Then a bitter smile came over her face, and she stared out the window at the colorful trees against the blue sky. “I looked her in the eye and promised to get her. She just laughed.”
“That’s good, then,” Cary said. “If she’s still here, we have a chance.”
“She could be anywhere, but I’m hoping she’s too weak to leave Bend,” Serena said. “She will have changed her name. She can pretend to be a teenager, or a middle-aged spinster; whatever gets her close to her prey.”
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