Devil Love

Sean was a deeply depressed young man in his early twenties just hoping for the pain to stop. Therapy was too expensive. The meds made him zombie-like. His family and friends did not understand. He put on a brave façade of forced optimism every day. However, he decided that this night was the night to end it all.

He brushed back his wavy brown hair and stared at the ceiling in his room. His baggy shirt swallowed his skinny frame and his athletic shorts were loosely hanging on. He rolled over on his bed to stare at a collage of photos from high school to now. He stared at the photos of him holding up medals for cross country and soccer. He didn’t notice it at first, but he realized how dead behind the eyes he was in every single one of them.

“Was I always this sad,” Sean thought to himself. “Even with my only girlfriend back then I still looked dead and unhappy. Why am I always sad? Was it because of mom dying? Was it because of dad drinking himself to death years after the fact? Or was it something in me all along? It’ll be better if I just end it here… Going nowhere anyway.”

Sean sat up and looked at his phone’s wallpaper background. It was of his black cat. The cat was sleeping happily on a pile of clothes in the corner of the small bedroom.

“He’s the only thing giving me love right now,” Sean said quietly.

He stood up and walked over to his desk and turned off his PC. He went towards the bathroom with its blinding, fluorescent lights. He stared at himself in the mirror noting the bags underneath his empty eyes. He forced a smile and then dropped it as soon as it came. He dipped his head down and cried softly. His right hand gripped the granite countertop tightly as his arm veins bulged for a moment.

“It’s all over because of you. Just get out of everyone’s way,” Sean whimpered to himself. “Just chug that bottle down and go to sleep. Your email message to your friends will explain all. Just hit send right before bed.”

There was a bottle of prescribed hydro-codeine pills filled to the brim. He lied to his doctor about persistent joint pain from years of dealing with sprained ankles. He was actually in constant physical pain due to the wear and tear of college soccer, but Sean had recently quit the team for “personal reasons.” Some of his teammates tried to ask him why, but Sean replied with a shrug and stayed silent.

“Just… Open the bottle… Why can’t you do it? It’s easy! Just do it,” Sean yelled at himself. “COME ON! You can do it… Just… Just… I CAN’T! FUCK!”

Sean punched the mirror cracking it severely as his right knuckles were sliced open. He cursed at himself and cried for a few minutes before he washed his hands and bandaged himself. His cat woke up for a moment , looked at Sean, shook its head, and immediately went back to sleep ignoring Sean’s pain.

He limped over to his desk and sat down slamming his forehead into the table a few times. He felt something leather and firm. He lifted his head scratching a red mark and noticed a black, leather bound book laying in front of him.

Sean thought, “Right. I picked up from the free book nook outside during my walk home. Maybe I should read it.”

The book was whimsically drawn and illustrated as an instruction manual on summoning certain types of demons for a multitude of reasons. For some reason – probably due to the overly detailed artwork of naked succubi and incubi, Sean stumbled onto the page about tempter and seduction demons. He stared for a long time at an illustration of one nude succubus kissing a severed head whilst twisting her left nipple sensually. Sean was enamored by her overall cuteness and weirdly playful design despite the horrific subject matter. The writing was surprisingly jovial and flowery. Sean thought this was weird and figured it was supposed to be am “edgy” book some try hard writer wrote up.

He read a few pages and ended on a note about there being one instance in history of a human and succubus falling in love. The man wanted to die and stole a ritual book from a druid. He read a random page in Latin and thus the succubus was brought forth before him. Instead of outright torturing the man, the succubus smelled him realizing his suffering in his heart and mind. For the succubus felt the same and yearned for understanding in a cruel world in hell. Both bonded over this and had a torrid, secret relationship in the mortal world. It was a short relationship resulting in the man being burned at the stake and the succubus being dragged away to hell by demon hounds sent, supposedly, by Lucifer himself.

The more he read about the love between the man and the succubus the more it ached at Sean’s heart.

“I’m alone and a fictional medieval asshole gets to fall in love with a succubus,” Sean whispered to himself. “Hmm? The page on how to summon one? Read aloud and drop three specs of blood at center of page inside the square… Wait 5 minutes and then one shall appear either through a circle in the ground (if drawn already in salt) or randomly within a few meters of you. Be aware of that... Depends on which Succubus responds. Could be one that likes to tease. Could be one that likes to kill and then perform necrophilia. Could also be one that will draw out the pain for its own pleasure… Yada. Yada… In doing so, understand that this will eventually end your life once and for all. Once summon, there is no turning back… Yada. Yada… Curse on the soul. Soul belongs to devil now if succubus so chooses. They always choose to take your soul. They will lie for the fun of it convincingly. Some play the long game and may romance you for the fun of it… End of life… I get it. I want to end things anyway. Won’t work because it’s bullshit anyway. Might as well have fun.”

Sean read the 20 bullet points of lines in Latin slowly. Once finished, he reopened his bandaged hand to drip blood onto the page. He got a little impatient and smeared his fist into the square in the page. He put a 5 minute timer on his phone and waited. He rolled his eyes and scratched his belly button. 5 minutes passed and nothing happened.

He disappointedly looked at the bare floor in the room and thought, “Figured it was bullshit. Bathroom and then bed. Kill yourself tomorrow.”

He got up to pee and did his business. After he flushed and pulled his underwear back up, he heard his cat hiss and run out of his room. The cat was looking at his bed initially and ran off like a speeding bullet. The door slammed shut and a shallow laugh was heard.

Sean nervously looked over towards his bed. He saw two, glowing yellow eyes peer back at him from his dark room. Goosebumps peppered violently across his body. His muscles tensed. A cold sweat started to form on the back of his neck. His breath became shallow and distant as an unnerving coldness swept over him.

The blinds were partially open letting the moonlight show the outline of a figure crouched on his bed. For a brief second, the outline of wispy tail with a triangle tip flicked across the blinds making a tapping noise. Short horns began to slowly form as a red mist flowed into the bathroom enveloping Sean’s ankles.

Sean was frozen in shock and fear. He could not move to save his life. He screamed internally to move, but his body refused. There was a playful giggle like that of a mischievous schoolgirl echoing in his mind. The shadowy figure stood up from his bed and began to almost float towards Sean despite there being very light footsteps. As the light of the bathroom began to show, the succubus made her presence known.

She was 6 feet tall, bright red skin, enchanting gold eyes, long-silky purple hair with bangs, two small crimson horns peaked on the corners of her forehead, and an overall athletic figure with magnifying, perky breasts barely held back in a thin bikini made of human flesh. She wore fishnet stockings with blue, arm length gloves made of silk. She had a playful and unsettling smile hiding razor sharp teeth with a very long, forked-tongue creeping out the side of her mouth like a snake. Her wispy tail was that of a cat’s tail constantly moving and pointing upwards. Overall, she was gorgeous and intimidating and she knew it.

She stood one inch above Sean and looked at him with curious eyes. She had a lot of life behind her gold eyes and she looked at Sean curiously. She caressed his cheek as her clawed, fingernails pierced through the tips of her gloves leaving white lines on his face. She sniffed him with her short, nose and smiled upon smelling something that confused Sean.

She giggled in a sultry voice, “Oh! It’s going to be this type of encounter? This smell is different. Can’t tell if fear, piss, or… What is this one?”

“Wh – What? What are you?”

“Oh honey,” she said sassily as her left hand lifted him up in the air as she grabbed his throat. “You should know? You read the book, right? You know about others?”

“Only the page about temptation and seduction demons.”

“Really,” she said with disappointment. “Don’t tell me you did this on a whim and are now realizing demons exists? Because this is throwing off my whole game plan here.”

Sean looked at her confused and was mostly amazed at how, despite being held in the air by the neck, he felt no pain. She put him down and grabbed him smelling him intensely.

Sean asked, “What is it that I smell like to you?”

“Give me a bit,” she said sternly. “Trying to… This scent I know I smelt once before but… Reminds me of a long time ago where… Was it mother who smelled this first?”

“Come again?”

“HUSH! I’m concentrating,” she said with venom as her voice suddenly changed from soft and sultry to baritone and demonic.

She sniffed his neck and then his left eye. Her forked-tongue licked the bottom of his eyes and she was silent. Sean wanted to say something, but could not find the courage to do so. He looked around wondering what to do. She put her pointed ears to his chest and a quiet gasp came out from her.

She picked up Sean and hugged him tightly much to his confusion as he felt his life being squeezed out of him. She patted his head and hummed a sweet tune to him. Sean was still confused as he wheezed out for her to let go for a second.

He asked sincerely, “Are you… Okay? Did I do…”

“I’m so sorry,” she said cutting him off and hugging him tightly again. “It’s okay. I now know what that smell is. I think I know why you summoned me…. There. There.”

It was strange how her voice became suddenly tender and empathetic. Sean wondered if this was a messed up dream and his subconscious was secretly telling him to live despite his suicidal thoughts.

He asked, “Um… Sorry to bother and sorry if this is making things harder for you. Um… Am I going to die or what is going to happen?”

“Sigh… Let’s just,” her voice drifted for a moment. “Just talk to me for now… God damnit! I still have empathy!”