Succubus Happens

Chapter Five

Werewolf. Wendigo. Vampire. I must have misheard him. That can be the only explanation right now. He can’t be serious. There must be some kind of mistake. I can’t be a vampire. Vampires are…they don’t exist. Right? Wrong. Obviously very wrong. Before tonight, I wouldn’t have believed that werewolves existed either. But they do. Oh my god.

“Is this true?” I ask him. “I’m a vampire?’

“Hate to break it to ya, kid,” Jake says. “But yes.”

“But vampires are undead, right? They not alive?”

“The fiction that you know about vampires…about any supernatural creature out there, is wrong. No one knows the truth about us. It’s not safe for anyone to know the truth, Daphne. We’ve gotta keep it locked tight.”

‘So everything I know about vampires…”

“Not even close to the truth. You’re got a lot of training ahead of you.”

I blanch. “Training? What are you talking about?’

“You’ve gotta learn how to be a vampire.”

“What does that mean?”

“How to hunt, feed, and survive.”

“Hunt?” The word comes out on a squeak. “Like you do once a month? When you make your kills? Oh god, I’m gonna be sick.”

“You don’t actually have kill anyone, Daphne,” Jake says.

“So, what, you just do it for the fun of it?” I ask him, horrified.

He narrows his eyes at me. “I’ve never actually killed anyone. Human, I mean. I’ve snagged a buck or two, but that’s animals. That’s hunting. Humans were going to kill it eventually, anyway. I just beat them to it.”

“So I don’t need to kill.”

“No.”

“I can still be me?”

“The only person that can make you change is yourself, Daphne. No one else. You decide who you want to be.”

“Fine. I don’t want to be a vampire.”

“First off, that’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Jake says scowling. “And secondly, why not?”

I look at the door of the cabin. Carter still hasn’t come back in and I know it’s because of me. He doesn’t want to be near me. I wonder if he’s left me now.

“You know why,” I answer quietly.

He nods and follows my gaze. “He’s still out there, you know. If you wanted to go and talk to him.

“Even if I do, he probably wants nothing to do with me. You saw how he stormed out of here when he found out about me. I’m surprised you haven’t done the same yet.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you, Daphne,” he says. “You can’t help who you are. And just because you’re a vampire, that doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to be like the other vampires we’ve crossed paths with. You’re still going to be you.”

“Then why did he leave?”

“It’s shocking news to find out the girl you like is your natural enemy.”

I turn my head fast when I hear that. “Vampires and werewolves are natural enemies?”

“What literature do you read?” Jake asks me. “Who doesn’t know that vampires and werewolves are always at odds? That’s, like, the only thing that’s true.”

I blush. “Sorry, that’s not really what I meant,” I say. “Or the question I wanted to ask.”

Jake grins. “I know what you wanted to ask me. And if you really want the truth, you’re going to have to ask him yourself.”

“If he wants to talk to me he shouldn’t have walked out the way he did.”

“You have to realize something about my brother. He’s kind of a child,” he says. “I may be the youngest twin, but I’m definitely the smartest.”

“Can you try to be serious right now?” I ask him. “This is important to me.”

“Okay, I’m sorry,” he says. “But I’m serious. One of you has to be the mature one in the relationship.”

“It’s hardly a relationship,” I scoff.

“Well, it won’t even be a friendship if you keep this up.”

I know that he’s right. And I know that Carter and I need to talk this out…we need to figure out what’s going on with the two of us. If this news means we’re not going to be friends, I’d rather know.

“Fine,” I tell him. “But don’t think this makes you right about everything.”

“I’ve yet to be proven wrong.”

I let out a breath before going outside. I see Carter sitting in the bed of his truck with his legs hanging over the back. I approach him slowly, making sure to keep my distance. I don’t know how much space I’m supposed to give a werewolf.

“Hey,” I say. “Can we talk?”

He looks up and offers a smile. “Yeah,” he says. “Come on up.”

I bite my lip as I climb into the truck and face him. “So you lied to me.”

“Lied?”

“You told me that you didn’t have a mortal enemy.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yeah,” I say, running my hands down my legs, trying to warm myself up. It’s cold out here.

“I didn’t think that you would be a vampire.”

“So you thought it would be okay to lie to me?”

Carter sighs. “It was not supposed to happen like this.”

“I hope you didn’t think that I was going to be a werewolf and that everything was going to be fine and dandy or something.”

"No, I'm not that gullible," Carter sighs. "I just hoped that the only thing we had to worry about was Alex. And now we've got this."

"If you don't want, we don't have to have anything," I say. His tone is offending me and I really don't want to be here anymore. He's making me feel like I'm the burden he told me I wasn't. I climb out of the truck and shake my head. "I'm sorry to be such a burden to you."

I turn and head back to the cabin.

"What are you talking about?" He asks.

I turn to face him. "You're really asking me that question right now?" I ask him.

He hops out of the truck and walks toward me. I throw up my hands and turn for the cabin again. This time he follows me.

"You don't have to worry about me being a vampire, Carter," I say. "Because it's not going to be your problem. I'm not your problem anymore. So now you don't have to deal with this."

I enter the cabin and Jake is on his feet, looking between the two of us. I ignore his questioning stare and enter the back bedroom so that I can change into my skirt again. Carter is still following me, so I close the door and quickly change.

"Daphne, what are you doing?"

"I'm going home," I tell him, finishing and opening the door. I walk past him. He is too stunned to stop me. "You don't have to worry about it anymore."

"Not worry?" He scoffs. "It's the middle of the night and nowhere, how do you think you're going to get home?"

"I don't know," I tell him. "But it's gotta be better than you looking at me the way you are."

“How am I looking at you?”

I stop and meet his eyes, shrugging. "I thought you were different. But you're like everyone else."

I look over at Jake and offer him a small smile. "Thanks for the answers."

I slip on my shoes and head outside into the cold air. Carter is right. I don't know where I'm going or even which direction to start in. But I have to go somewhere. Anywhere.

The door of the cabin closes and a moment later, Carter has fallen into step with me, putting his jacket over my shoulders again. "Seriously, Daph," he says. "What's gotten into you?"

I sniff and I realize then that I had been crying. Great. As if tonight hadn’t been trying enough. "You don't know what it felt like when you ran out, Carter. You found of the truth about me and then you left."

"It was surprising."

"But then you made me feel like I was a burden. Like I was causing you more stress than I was worth."

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”

I don’t say anything.

“I’m saying it’s not going to be easy, our relationship.”

I stop and stare at him. “What do you mean?”

“This entire town prides itself on tradition. If they find out that a werewolf has feelings for a vampire, they’re going to riot.”

I feel myself blushing. “Feelings?” I repeat.

Carter smiles. “Yeah, feelings,” he says nervously. “Is that okay?’

“Yeah,” I tell him. “I think I can live with that.”

“Good,” he says, reaching out to hold my hand.

We stop walking and I look up at him. “What is Aurelia going to say?”

“My grandmother may be old, but she’s open-minded. I highly doubt she’s going to have a problem with you being a vampire.”

“What about you? Do you have a problem with it?”

“Definitely not,” he says.

☽

We spend Saturday at the cabin so I call my mom and tell her that I’ll be spending the day with friends and getting acquainted with the town. She believes the lie and I am grateful. I have Carter and Jake tell me as much as they can without breaking any more rules. It’s overwhelming to hear all of the stories and secrets. It’s even crazier hearing the truth about some of the creatures that exist in North Grove. Every piece of fiction I thought I knew, is wrong. Learning everything there is to know is going to be exhausting.

Sunday comes too early, and I am woken by Carter whispering my name in my ear. Having him so close to me still scares me because of how much I like him. But I don’t want him to keep his distance either. I groan and open one eye to peek at him.

“Why?”

Carter smirks. “We’ve gotta go see Granny,” he tells me.

“Why?” I repeat. “I thought you said Monday.”

“Aurelia is an early riser,” he says. “And she’s a busy woman. She’s got a lot of people coming to see her. We have to go now or we won’t be able to sit down with her.”

Answers. We can get more answers. I sit up. “Yes good,” I say. “Can I borrow more of Kate’s clothes?”

“Go for it,” he says. “I’ve already showered, so the bathroom is all yours.”

I look around, surprised to see that we’re alone. “And Jake?”

“He already left and is on his way.”

“Any particular reason?”

“He’s gone to distract Aurelia so that we have an opportunity to get to her. Which means you have to hurry.”

“Okay deal,” I say, getting to my feet.

I grab another outfit of Kate’s before going to the bathroom. I brush my teeth thoroughly before stepping into the shower. I finish in record time and throw my wet hair into a ponytail. I find Carter on the couch. He looks up as I enter.

“You ready to go?” I ask.

He nods and we head out to his truck. We’re both silent as we start the drive back to the main part of town. The cabin is definitely secluded. I turn to look at Carter as the reality dawns on me. “You guys come here during the full moon don’t you?”

Carter glances at me with a half-smile on his lips. “I was wondering when you’d figure that out.”

“Is it outside of the town limits?”

“Not quite,” he says. “If we had continued further east then we’d hit the border.”

“Can you leave whenever you want?”

“No.”

“Why is that? Is it like a fortress?”

“It’s more like a protection spell. To protect us from the outside world and to protect the outside world from us.”

“Why do you need protection from the outside world? Don’t you have all of the power?”

“Humans don’t know we exist and if they did, there’d be madness. We’d rather they didn’t know about us at all. We don’t want to cause any problems. We just want to survive.”

“But what about—”

“We’ve let the wolves and the other creatures out one night a year since before I was even born. Before I was even thought of. It’s tradition.”

“Traditions can be changed.”

“Not in this town.”

I look out of the window. “Traditionally werewolves and vampires aren’t meant to be together.”

I feel him looking at me. “That’s totally different.”

“How, though? That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

He sighs. “Daphne.”

I look over at him. “What?”

“Do you like me?”

“What kind of a question is that?”

“Just answer it.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but nod. “Yes,” I say. “I like you.”

“Good. I like you, too.”

His reply makes me smile.

“So what?”

“So we’re going to be fine.”

“We’re not even a thing yet, Carter,” I say. “Fine is a relative term.”

Carter looks behind him before pulling to the side of the road. He’s out of the truck before I can even speak.

“What are you doing?”

He opens my door and reaches over to undo my belt. My breath catches in my throat. “Can you just shut up for once?” he asks.

“What—?”

His hands are on my face and his lips are on mine before I can even get my words out. I take a breath and his scent infiltrates my senses. All I can think about is the way my body is responding to his. I grab fistfuls of his shirt and pull him into the cab with me, kissing him hungrily. He groans and it sets my skin on fire and then just like that it’s gone.

He’s pulled away from me and is out of the truck again, gasping for air. I lean against the frame of the truck, trying to catch my breath.

“What…was…that?” I ask him.

My eyes fly open when I hear him laughing. He’s grinning at me.

“What?”

He takes a deep breath. “That…was probably the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

I feel a sense of pride and am unable to contain the smile. “Really?”

“Really,” he says coming toward me. He kisses my forehead.

“So are we a thing now?” I ask.

Carter grins. “You’re damn right we’re a thing.”

☽

Aurelia is already waiting for us when we show up. She’s got breakfast set up in the backyard and I feel so out of place. I look at Carter as we head toward the table where both Aurelia and Jake are sitting.

“Should I be worried?” I whisper.

“I don’t think so,” he says.

“But you’re not positive?”

“I’ve never been in this situation before,” he says. “This is new territory.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

“We’re going to be fine.”

“There’s that word again,” I mumble.

Carter just grins as he leans over the table to kiss Aurelia’s cheek.

“Granny,” Carter says before pulling out a chair for me.

Wow. Southern hospitality. I thank him as I sit down and look over at Aurelia.

“Thank you for seeing us today,” I tell her.

Aurelia glances at Jake, who is avoiding her gaze. “I didn’t really have much of a choice,” she says, smiling. I wonder exactly how Jake distracted her. “But I don’t mind. How are you doing, Daphne? Really.”

“I’m a bit overwhelmed.”

“I don’t blame you,” Aurelia laughs. “This is going to be a big change for you. Everything you were before…is gone.”

“That doesn’t actually help,” I say. “I’m still kind of panicking.”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “Would you like any tea?”

“Tea?” I repeat.

“It’s sweetened, if that helps,” she says. “The recipe has been in the family for years.”

I look at Carter, who nods to encourage me. “Sure,” I say. “Thank you.”

“Okay then,” Aurelia says as she pours me a cup of tea.  “I’m sure you have plenty of questions. What would you like to start off with?”

“Um,” I say slowly. “My first question…how is the town going to handle this?”

“This being what?”

“Me and Carter.”

“What about you and Carter?” Aurelia smiles slightly.

She’s testing me. She wants me to say it. I bite my lip.

“Are you involved?” she asks.

“Maybe.”

“Yes,” Carter says at the same time.

I look at him. “You want to be involved?” I ask.

“Don’t you?” Carter sounds surprised. He’s probably remembering that kiss. Great. Now so am I.

I look back at Aurelia. “Yes, we’re involved.”

Aurelia’s smile grows. “The town won’t have a problem.”

The news surprises me. “Are you sure? I mean, I know that vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies, so I want to know how we should handle it.”

Aurelia looks confused. “Vampires and werewolves are enemies…” she pauses. “But why does that matter?”

I look at Jake and then back at Aurelia. “Because I’m a vampire.”

Aurelia looks stunned. “You are?” she asks. “This is news to me.”

Now I’m confused. “But Jake said that I was a vampire.”

Aurelia raises a brow as she looks at her grandson and smacks him in the back of the head. “Who said you could go around labeling people?”

“I thought I was right!” he defends himself quickly. So much for never being proven wrong.

“You and that eidetic memory of yours are going to get you into trouble.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, looking down.

I look at Carter, who’s watching his grandmother. “So what does that mean?” Carter asks. “What is Daphne?”

“We’ll get to that,” she says. “Jake, what gave you the idea that she was a vampire?”

“Well, she knocked Alex on his ass,” Jake says.

“Language.”

“Sorry. Also, she said she could feel heartbeats.”

Now Aurelia turns to me. “What does he mean?”

I blush. I didn’t think I’d have to tell her about almost kissing her grandson. Even if we are involved. “Well, the other night, Carter and I…we were about to kiss,” I swallow. “And I felt his heartbeat. It resonated within me.”

Aurelia takes a sip of tea and leans back in her chair. “Well, you’re definitely not a vampire, so you don’t have to worry about the town being against your union.”

Carter reaches out and squeezes my hand. “That’s good, at least, right?”

I nod. “Yeah,” I say. “But that still begs the question of what kind of creature I am.”

Aurelia meets my eyes. “You are what’s called a succubus. I haven’t actually seen one in years, so the information we have is fairly outdated. However, most of it should still be applicable to you.”

I stare at her in shock. Succubus. That can’t mean what I think it does, right? “I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ve heard the term before, but can you give me a little more information?’

“Of course,” she says. “A succubus is a creature that feeds on energy. Plainly speaking, it feeds on s****l energy. On lust.”

My eyes widen as my blush returns. “Oh.”

“Yes,” she says. “As a succubus, your power is to allure to people so that you can feed.”

“Feed?” I repeat. “Do I…do I kill?”

“If you have control over your powers when you’re in any type of intimate situation then you won’t kill. You’ll learn how to take only what you need to keep your energy up.”

“How do I use my power?” I ask her. “To allure, I mean.”

Aurelia shakes her head. “That power is always on,” she says. “There’s no turning it off.”

The words dawn on me and I realize what she’s saying to me. I realize what it means to be a succubus. “So I’m attractive to everyone then?”

Aurelia seems to get my meaning, and her gaze softens. “Yes.”

“Oh,” I whisper. I pull my hand from Carter’s. He’s been awfully quiet throughout all of this.

“That explains a lot,” Jake says, interrupting the silence. “People have been acting weird since you showed up. I thought it was just because you were new.”

“Thanks, Jake,” I say sarcastically. “That really helps.”

“What?” he asks. “I’m just being honest.”

“You may be the smart one,” Carter says. “But sometimes you just need to shut up.”

I close my eyes and take a breath. “I need some air,” I say, pushing my seat back.

“Daphne, we’re outside,” Carter says, standing with me.

The southern hospitality seemed sweet earlier, but what does it even mean now? He probably can’t even help it. I can’t even look at him. “I need different air.”