The Succubus
Snap, crunch and crack the twigs under Jonathan's feet rang out in the forest, may be a little too loud for his liking. After all, he wasn't proud of his actions in fact to him they were quite shameful. Even though he was surely alone in this dap overgrown forest the thought of someone seeing him here filled him with dread. His resolve was already sealed, so pushing his thoughts aside he redoubled his speed to quicken his arrival and lessen his chances of being noticed.
But why did Jonathan make his way to this isolated forest? It wasn't by any means beautiful, it was rather plain, or maybe ordinary one would say for a forest, flat and thick with trees, maybe a bit greener than most but that was it. No, it wasn't the forest that had his attention rather what it held inside it. In Jonathan's village there was a rumour, a very salacious and some would say vulgar rumour that there was a kind of succubus in this forest.
Now not for a second did Jonathan believe that there was a demon that prayed on a man's life forces and would bed them in a trick to steal it from him. No that was a dream thought up by the sexually repressed church leaders in his community. No doubt part of some bizarre fetish to have sex one last time before they died.
No, this 'Succubus' as the drunks in the only pub in town called it was more likely just a prostitute. It made sense after all the village was deeply religious and saw such a thing as repulsive and something to be weeded out. So, in Jonathan's mind, it only made sense that someone like that would conduct their business in isolation, away from the puritanical rabble that would both shame the woman, yet behind closed doors take part in her services, after all, if no one goes there how do so many people know about her?
But why would Jonathan come out into a forest the people in his village avoid, looking for a prostitute that he by the conventions of his belief despise? Jonathan was lonely, he believed he was too ugly, too repulsive for any of the women in his village to love him let alone touch him. However, Jonathan wasn't these things, he was by the measures of his village quite normal, in fact, thanks to his job as a labourer he managed to cultivate a body that was quite fit which help enhance his appearance.
No Jonathan's unpopularity was thanks to his personality, he didn't have a sense of humour, nor was he very charismatic. He tended to keep his thoughts only inside his head never really speaking to anyone outside his friend group. To the women in the village, he was a tasteless chocolate with nice wrapping.
Perhaps if Jonathan had just opened up to those around him and worked on expressing himself, he wouldn't be in the middle of an empty forest looking for a mythical demon to comfort him.
It was beginning to get late, and the forest was slowly darkening, with the lack of light the cold was beginning to creep in, pushing Jonathan to return to the village and give up this desperate attempt to gratify himself. When in the darkening light of the forest he caught a glimpse of a small light floating in-between the trees. Getting a little closer to better see what was the source of the light, he realised it was coming from a small neglected cottage.
"This must be it," thought Jonathan as he hurriedly opened the small garden gate and entered into the tiny yard surrounding the derelict home. If Jonathan hadn't been in such a rush and was operating with all the blood in his brain. He would have noticed that not all was as it should be. Like the fact the gate and the fence were practically falling over, the garden was overgrown with weeds and the few vegetable plants were rotting away. Not to mention the house itself was practically leaning to one side. If someone lived here, they were not trying to keep their home habitable.
Jonathan went to knock on the door to announce his presents to whoever was inside, but before his excitably shaky knuckles could hit the door. It slowly creaked open. Again, if Jonathan was in his right mind not off with his imagination of what the night would entail, he would have noticed the loud creaking of the door. It was struggling to open from the warped door frame, scraping and screaming as the force on the other side ripped it out of its jammed position.
"Hello sorry to..." Jonathan started but there was no one on the other side of the door. Confused he entered the dim dwelling. At first the smell of wet air and mould hit his nose, making him cough heavily. Snapping him out of his self-imposed trance, he was quickly reconsidering being there, he suddenly only wanted to leave, when a second smell grabbed him heart and soul.
As the unidentifiably sweet smell worked its way up his nose, Jonathan felt his inhibitions float away, his heart began pounding in his chest and this fierce excitement came over him. He became blind to the rest of the house and began searching for something, he didn't have a clear idea of what it was he was looking for, but he knew he would know what it was the second he found it.
He ignored the rotting furniture, the thick dust covered benches, the colony of mushrooms growing in the kitchen, the blood-soaked into the wooden floorboards, the pieces of random bones snapping under his feet, he didn't even take notice of the human skull he tripped over. There was only one thing he wanted, and nothing would stop him from finding it.
Then there it was, the thing that was driving him to find it, the thing flaring his passion. It was peeking out from a doorway for a staircase that seemed to go under the house. It was the purest image of beauty at that moment to Jonathan. With its crimson red skin, long purple hair, and a single blue horn protruding from its head.
If Johnathan was in his right mind, he would see this unnatural thing poorly masquerading as a human for what it was. But thanks to the sweet smell in the air all he could think of was how much he wanted this creature. His eye's scanned over all the parts of this thing's body he could see. It's ample chest, thin waist and shapely lower half. The only clothing it deemed to wear where two of the thinnest pieces of cloth that were just opaque enough for him to not see the details of this thing's womanly features beneath. As this thing began to move towards him slowly, delicately and carefully it jingled with all the pieces of gold and gems it had decorated itself with.
Jonathan's mind began to fill with all the greedy thoughts of what he would do to this thing, and it appeared that this thing wanted him to do it to her. On her face was a seductive smile, eye's full of lust commanding him to reach out and take her. He would and the two embraced pulling each other in tight. Johnathan held her close, closer than any woman had been to him. As happiness like Jonathan had never felt came over him, he looked down to the small creature in his arms. She seemed so bright, that it was almost like she was producing light in her smile as she surveyed him. Actually, light was coming from her, this allowed Jonathan to see that something was dragging behind her. It looked like a massive tail like her bottom half was like that of a snake.
Before he could comprehend why this vision of his desire didn't have legs, Johnathan felt this crushing pressure around his waist. This woman, this thing, this whatever's strength was vastly greater than what something of its size was capable of. Struggling, trying to pull himself out from this thing’s grip Johnathan slammed his elbow down on its head over and over again. On his last attempt he accidentally brought his arm down on her massive horn ripping if flesh open. Johnathan was no longer under the spell of the sweet scent of the house, now his chest was pounding for a different reason. His body was shaking, his sweat was cold and there was a voice screaming in his head to run, to run and never stop.
Gripping his now throbbing arm trying to stop too much of his blood from escaping, he began to beg the be let go and tears started to wet his face. The creature's face took on a different meaning it's bright red face wasn't the seductive smile and inviting eyes of an enchantress anymore, rather the ugly greedy grin of a predator with eyes of writhing hunger.
The second their eye’s met Johnathan was torn from his feet as he and his partner were pulled through the doorway it had come from. Down the stairs, they flew so fast Johnathan's feet barely touched the edges of the steps. Slamming against the wall at the base of the stairwell, breaking a few bones in the process, the only saving grace being the crushing pressure around his waist disappeared as he was thrown into the darkness landing head first on the cold stone floor.
Rolling himself over Johnathan pulled himself to a sitting position in incredible pain, but he had to push through it if he was going to survive. Something was broken, actually many things were broken warm blood was slowly coating his body, but Johnathan was focused on adjusting his eyes to the darkness. His thoughts were if he knew where that thing was, he might be able to still make it out of the house and return to his village.
As his eye's slowly adapted to the darkness and with the help of the dim light from his former lover Johnathan could make out the room he was in. All hopes of escaping this place left him, his body broken and the size of the obstacle in front of him, something inside him disappeared. He scrambled backwards a leftover primal instinct of his body to try and prolong its existence a little longer. Heart now practically exploding in his chest, Johnathan was now wailing incoherently, screaming so loud and violent that it tricked his throat into vomiting the little contents of his stomach up.
Before him, lithely lit by its lure, was a massive monstrous combination of nightmarish anatomy. A fat toad-like body of faded red, polluted with thick veins and solid warts, it's back a forest of grotesque fleshy toadstools seeping a sickly-sweet mist that smelt all too familiar. From behind Jonathan caught a glimpse of his former lover mockingly laughing at him as it rose to light its true face as part of this horror's long writhing tail.
In shock, unable to scream any more Jonathan took in the true face of the one he was not too long ago desperate to find. Unlike the rest of the body, the head was devoid of skin, shaped like an oversized warped human skull with giant bulbous eyes straining in hunger staring at Johnathan. Its Jaw cracked open with a loud snap like the bones were being used for the first time in a long while. A garden of large, jagged teeth bloomed before their new guest, followed closely by the suffocating smell of decay.
Johnathan now practically catatonic with fear could only sit, hiccupping trying to make noise as we watch the twisted teasing reveal of his death play out before him. From the creatures, mouth slithered out the long-forked tongue of a lying snake. As it came down to greet Jonathan, he had no strength left to fight, his heart was shutting down, the edges of his vision faded to black, all he wanted now was to sleep. Up the tongue lifted him in a firm warm embrace, the kind Jonathan longed for, as it placed him gently upon the bed of its jaw.
Snap, crunch and crack, the bones in the creature's mouth rang out in the cottage may be a little too loudly for its liking. After all what if someone were to hear it?