Aftyn center, part 2
“All right, girls, listen up!” The room full of young demons snaps to attention, facing their leader, a rather Dangerous looking succubus with blue hair, long, coiled horns, and full, bat-like wings. “We have a level two situation developing top-side. The humans have hired a priest to drive us from our home. Ordinarily this would be an Academy matter, but because it affects just our dorm, the Masters have decided we should handle it ourselves. Fortunately, the humans have made a grave tactical error. Like almost all priests, this one is a man, and therefore an easy target. You know what to do, ladies. We have until dawn to—”
Near the back of the gathered demons, one raises her hand. She is rather softer looking than the rest, with a colorful kimono, faintly pink hair, and tiny yarn-like horns. “Um…?” she asks.
Their leader does not attempt to hide her aggravation. “Yes?”
“What is it that we do?”
Her peers turn to glare at her. Poison drips from Dangerous’s words. “What happens in your head while we’re in class?”
The Playful succubus looks innocent. “I try to think about the lessons! But then I think about… There was this anime I started watching, called High School DxD, and it was so much fun—”
Dangerous cuts her off. “We seduce the man. We get him to cum. We swallow his soul. He becomes our slave forever. Right, girls?”
The others make cheers of agreement. The leader continues her speech. “As I was saying, we have until dawn to stop him, or else we may be pushed out of our home. I don’t have to—”
Playful has her hand up again, “Um?”
“Yes?” asks Dangerous, full of mock sweetness.
“Um, do we really need to swallow the soul? The cum part, that’s not so bad. But souls taste SO nasty. Could we maybe just make him fall in love with us?” Playful knows she’s getting under her elder sister’s skin. That’s part of the game.
“You always swallow the soul!” hisses Dangerous. “Right, girls?”
The rest repeat the familiar phrase in an emotion-less chorus. “You always swallow the soul.”
“I’ve never swallowed a soul,” says one of the girls. If you didn’t know her, you might mistake her for an angel, with a white dress and hair and a knit cap that hides her little horns.
“That’s because you suck,” says Bratty. “Or rather, you don’t suck, and that’s the problem.” She pops a bubble with her gum to underline the point. She never misses an opportunity to sabotage her sisters.
The succubus in an orange sweater, Velma, sneaks her Angelic sister a one-armed hug. “Don’t worry,” she whispers. “You’ll get a soul eventually.”
Dangerous continues on top of them. “Like I was saying, we have until morning to corrupt this guy or drive him off. It’s night, so most of the building’s residents will be asleep. Now let’s get up there and break him.”
The Aftyn Center for Integrative Health is an all-brick edifice in the warehouse district downtown. The first and second stories are given over to medical and administrative offices. Few people know the third story comprises living quarters for the ladies who work there. Fewer still, not even the human residents, know the basement has a false wall hidden behind the boiler room that gives access to Succubus Academy’s Cursed Lemuria Dormitory for Girls. All told, it houses five human women, one cat girl, six demon women, and one male guest. Also, there is one lonely ghost girl who has lived here longer than any of them, despite being known to none.
She watches the succubi making their plans from the back of the room. She is accustomed to invisibility — to spying. She gasps. Trouble is afoot! She likes all the residents of this place. The human women are sweet and enthusiastic; the demons are catty but fun. She doesn’t want anyone to get hurt! She drifts through the wall to find her living charges. But how can she warn them when no one can see her?
Ever since the movie The Exorcist, people have expected the church to provide exorcism services. It’s not well codified in church doctrine, and hasn’t been an officially approved procedure since the middle ages. That hasn’t stopped the public from demanding them. One thing Father Eduardo impressed on you is the need to look the part.
During the day, you dress like a typical business man. To look at you, no one would know you were a member of the clergy. Tonight, you wear battle armor: the full black cassock with a holy ribbon draped around your neck, a starched white collar, and a handsome red sash. You feel silly, and it all drags the floor as you walk, but it projects “Serious Church Business” in capital letters. You wish you felt as confident as it makes you look.
You check your kit: a King James bible, crucifix, vials of holy water, some short lashes, and incense made of sandalwood. You pat them for reassurance. You can always turn to the props when you don’t know what to say next. You draw a deep breath and swing the door open.
Nurse Aftyn is there waiting for you, snoozing in a chair by the door. You try to ignore the slinky little nightgown she is wearing and focus instead on the book, Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, flopped open on her lap. She must have dozed off while reading it. It is midnight, after the ladies’ bedtime after all. You try to lift the book quietly, thinking to place it closed nearby, but Aftyn stirs at your touch. “Oh?” she says, stirring back to consciousness.
“Shhh, go back to sleep. I’ll handle everything from here,” you say with bravado you don’t feel.
“I’m ready!” she says, and snaps to a stand. The book flops to the floor with a dull thud. You try not to notice the way her soft bits swish around under the translucent gown when she moves. The lace bodice isn’t helping.
You walk together to the service elevator. Nurse Aftyn chatters along the way, speaking faster than usual. “You look super handsome in your robes! Like a big, black dress! Is it like a kilt where you’re not supposed to wear underwear beneath it?”
You clear your throat. “Um, so, I’m told you’ve encountered the succubi?”
She takes hold of your arm with both of hers, as if suddenly in need of support. “It was terrifying! I went down to the basement, and she snuck up on me! She tried to tie me up! She totally kissed me!”
“I can see why that would be scary. How did you escape?”
She bites her lip. “For some reason her knots didn’t work?” She says it like a question. “I was able to run away.”
“I’m so glad you made it out safely. Dr Rose suggested there may have been some lasting damage?”
She looks down at her feet for a moment before answering in a quiet voice. “It was a very nice kiss.”
You try to sound as confident as you can manage. “Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll take care of this problem.” You hope you will. You arrive at the elevator. “If you’d like to return to your room, I can handle things from here.”
She gives your arm a big squeeze. “Let’s do it! I will face my fears!”
You smile at this girl. She is exhibiting a bravery you’re not sure you can match. You press the B call button.
The elevator car arrives immediately, much too fast to have traveled all the way up from the ground floor. Was it already in motion? The door opens, and six young women are crowded inside. You take in the horns, the wings, the inhuman eyes in a sweep. These are not women. Your adversary has arrived!
At the same time, their attention snaps to you. They weren’t expecting this confrontation either. Your first instinct is to put yourself between them and Nurse Aftyn to protect her. You put an arm out to obstruct the doorway.
From the corner of your eye, you see one in yellow lingerie moving fast; moving toward you. You hear a loud crunch as your head jerks to one side. You sink to your knees. A bat clatters to the floor. Consciousness fades.
You wake in a room filled with white. You’re in a bed with white sheets and pillows with four posters draped with gauzy, white curtains. There is a girl curled up next to you — a woman, you correct yourself — in a revealing, lacy, white dress. She has white hair with dark highlights and a white knit cap.
“Oh, my head. What happened? Where am I?”
The woman stirs with a stretch and yawn. The feel of her body pressed against you as she shifts around is intoxicating. She speaks in a quiet, breathy voice. “Shh. It’s ok. It’s all ok. You died. I’m your angel. I’m here to take you to Heaven.” She strokes your cheek in assurance.
You bolt upright. “Dead?! No, I can’t be! I had people to protect! What’s going to happen to them?”
She rolls onto her belly and props herself up by her elbows, which calls attention to her ample cleavage. “It’s going to be all right, really. Here, let me give you a massage. That will help you relax.”
You start to panic. “I have to get out of here! I have to get back!”
The angel’s brow furrows in worry. “What’s wrong? You should just stay with me. What if I give you a little show? Will that help?” She tugs at the top of her bodice, revealing soft, full breasts, capped with black pasties, shaped like blasphemous little crosses.
“What? What are you? You’re no angel!”
A new voice calls out from somewhere behind you. “Ha! I told you he wouldn’t be fooled.”
You spring out of the bed. You note with alarm that you’ve been stripped of your cassock. You are wearing just the pair of Yoda boxer shorts you wore underneath it. Arrayed behind the headboard are the five remaining succubi, horns and wings giving away their demonic nature. They must be sisters, you think, or maybe twins. Do demons have twins?
This was all some kind of trap or test. You square up to make yourself as imposing as you can manage in boxers. “This house is protected by the word of God. You will quit this place and return to the hellfires from whence you came!”
The demon women are unconcerned with your posturing. “I told you we should tie him up,” the one with blue hair says.
The one in yellow lingerie pops a bubble with her chewing gum. “We should just take what we need from him.”
“Before you take his soul, I want some time with his ears!” says one in an orange tube top.
“Oh, me too!” answers another in a red teddy. These last two look familiar, like a couple of students who disappeared from the University campus last Fall.
You wonder why they haven’t attacked yet. They had you in their power when you were unconscious, but didn’t kill you. They must need something from you, something that requires you to be awake.
“Where is Nurse Aftyn? What have you done with her?”
The pink-haired succubus in a red kimono sidles up behind you. She strokes one ear while whispering into the other. “She’s sleeping peacefully. We would never hurt her. We love her.” You feel an odd rush sweep down from your scalp. She switches to your other ear. “We love you, too. We don’t want to hurt you, either.” She coos playfully. “What do you like? I’ll bet you like kisses.”
The dangerous looking one cracks her flogger. “These religious types always like discipline.” She crooks a finger in the waistband of your shorts. “How about it, God-boy? Do you want to be punished?” She smiles, showing off her pointed canines. She would enjoy the process.
“Oh dear,” says the ghost girl from her hiding spot in the corner. “Oh dear! What do I do?”