Succubus

Tira screamed. “I have it – hold it a moment more!” She reached up, placed the key in the lock and started it turning. There were a few clicks as the lock fought valiantly and then a massive bang as the door exploded inward. The flash of force split the door down its center. Half of the broken beams carried Diri off with them to the right, where she landed in a crumpled heap; the left fragments took most of Tira with them in the other direction. Blood from both women sprayed outward, showering Mindy, who had been knocked backwards and to the floor. Mindy crouched, and then pulled herself to her knees, visibly dazed by the explosion. Elle, still mostly hidden by the canopies, peeked into the room. Her eyes widened in disbelief at the carnage before her. Mindy’s face and arms were covered in blood, and her white nightdress was stained a deep red, almost black, with the same. She looked up through her dripping hair towards the gaping hole that now marked the entrance to the chamber. A small creature, no more than two feet tall, appeared in the opening. It bounded into the room in a half-crouch, using its arms to hasten its movements. It was red as the blood that ran down Mindy’s face, with a thin, whipping tail and a small, horned head. The creature uttered a high-pitched snarl and picked up a piece of what had once been Tira, sniffing it. A small pink tongue protruded from between delicately pointed teeth and licked the bloodied flesh. Mindy cringed at the sight of the creature’s small needle-like teeth behind its dark red lips. It took one step forward and then turned around, seemingly cowed, and moved hastily to the side. It glanced sideways then, directly into Mindy’s eyes, and laughed a high-pitched, sickly laugh. Mindy turned back towards the entrance, once more allowing her eyes to linger for only the briefest of moments on the bed where her friend remained hidden. Then she turned her face back to the door, and all her half-formed thoughts of escape vanished. There, framed by the splintered wood of the severed doorframe, stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. As their eyes met, Mindy froze, her fear and tension inexplicably gone. The lady that entered the chambers was almost as tall as a man, clad in translucent fabric that swayed gently, as if in a constant breeze, though the early morning air was deathly still. It hung loosely from her shoulders, and plunged to her naked navel. The lady’s skin was pale beyond comparison, not ashen, but almost a glowing white, which radiated beneath the light fabric of her outfit, leaving nothing to the imagination. All sense of doubt, all fears, all concerns melted away from Mindy – sloughed off like a snake sheds its skin. Surly nothing could hurt her or her friend, she thought, now that this beautiful angel was in their presence. The mysterious white lady gazed down at Mindy, and in the lady’s strange eyes Mindy saw her entire world. They were completely black - deep pools that you could drown in - and in the pools there were swirling shadows and shapes. They drew nearer and bigger as the lady approached. Beneath the eyes, blood red lips parted in a smile. As she watched the lady make her way into the room Mindy was filled with warmth and happiness she couldn’t remember ever experiencing. It was as if she was two years old again, and had fallen and scraped her knee. She looked at the mysterious woman now as she had looked at her mother then, with longing. She yearned for the lady’s embrace, to be held and looked upon lovingly. The white lady stopped in the middle of the room and spread out her arms. The gossamer fabric of her sleeves hung down and drifted lightly, brushing the floor. Mindy stood slowly, hesitated and then raced into the white lady’s embrace. The caress was tender and sweet. Mindy looked up lovingly into the dark, black, all encompassing eyes and cried. Such joy she felt, such warmth, such belonging and love. Endless, eternal… Her body felt so close and she pressed even closer to the lady’s perfect form. She felt so secure, so unabashed, so at ease and protected. The eyes that held her stare never wavered, but the eyelids widened slightly as the lady’s smile became a grin. Elle, dumbfounded by Mindy’s response, was startled and looked across the room as the little red creature, forgotten until this moment, began to chatter excitedly. The white lady’s blood red lips parted further, showing brilliantly flawless teeth, white as a fresh winter’s snow. Mindy’s mind raced with fleeting thoughts she could not seem to grasp. Elle, kneeling upon the bed, still hidden, was horrified by the seemingly mindless display of her friend, but remained where she was, fearful and helpless. “Those lips, that mouth.” Mindy said softly, as if in a dream. “What happiness I would have if they would issue to me a command.” Elle continued to watch in growing bewilderment and shock. There stood Mindy, covered in the blood of her handmaidens, embracing this most beautiful, scantily clad lady. While it should have been in some way comforting to see Mindy so at ease, it was so alien as to be disturbing, so bizarre that Elle cringed and shook with renewed terror. Elle gawked as the white lady’s embrace tightened and Mindy’s grasp appeared to loosen. Ever so slightly at first, Mindy’s back arched and her head fell, exposing her creamy white throat. Her eyes rolled back, hiding her pupils, the whites just showing from beneath her long dark lashes as they slowly fell closed. Elle could see Mindy’s face, read her expression clearly. It was at first calm and serene, but in the next moment she grimaced in torment. Still Mindy uttered not a sound, and she made no move to free herself. As Mindy’s tanned face and arms began to fall limp and turn red the little creature to the right of Elle suddenly fell silent. Slowly, Mindy’s lips parted as if she fought for breath, and then she let out an unearthly scream that shattered the keep’s eerie silence like a knife.