Lessons of Darkness

Yet as the book warns me she likes to prey on those who are wanting. Well, she may very well have a field day with me. However she may underestimate me. The best way to manipulate someone is by finding out what they desire and then to play to that desire. She may think I want comfort, acceptance and support. I was raised to not even think of those things. Instead I was raised to accept what I have with no hope of ever obtaining anything better, only doing what was dictated by forces greater than me. She's about to come face to face with the type of acceptance that the aforementioned lifestyle breeds.

That's not entirely true though, I do want something, namely her. I want to experience her, see how she tries to worm her way inside me, so that I could know her. Know the seduction game she plays on weak willed persons and what she promises. See what she represents. And learn how she reacts when her usual tricks do not get the desired results. What comes next? And that is when I hold my domain over her, at least show her that my fortitude does not invite her influence.

I will then extract her power from her, through examining and learning its source. Not by actually taking it from her. With her subdued for the time being, or not actively trying to seduce me, I will study what she has to offer beyond all her wiles and corruption. Find an equal footing in which I can learn from her and maybe she can learn from me if she so chooses. Curb this foul temptress and have her utter her secrets into the palm of my hand.

So wish me luck as I head into the basement with my book. It seems like that room has more of a potential to be a gateway to other worldly beings than any other place if last week was any indication. I will be inviting evil into my home, just straight up opening the door to it and inviting it on to my couch. Or whatever "evil" really means in a land once subjugated by puritans. A force that could not coexist with the morals of the modern world without lowering them. A being that would need to lessen the standards regarding the mores that exist here if it were to have any hope of surviving. So its seduction and desecration would just be a survival mechanism, nothing to get resentful about.

My only hope would be to be... upstanding is the wrong word, something more akin to integrity without the moral connotations that come with it. If I subscribed to the church doctrine of morality well I very well wouldn't be summoning a demon would I? Like being steadfast without all the stubbornness that implies. Perhaps I don't know the right vocab word or the English language has let me down. Whatever the term may be I have to give it just enough of an opening without letting it know the opening is just a ruse on my part.

It would be a push and pull between the two of us with her giving me something to lure me to her fishing line and me giving her enough that she thinks I'm hook, line and sinker. And then at the end of it all we tally up who has gotten the most and decide who's the winner. So down to the basement I go. I get my book out and say my first incantation.

"Cubavit lamia exaudi me," I begin. Something seems to crackle in the air. Like the sound of a type of electricity I have yet to bear witness to. An energy is flowing into the world the likes of which I have never seen. Hopefully the foundations of this reality will remain steady.

"Ego vocare te venerunt trans maria daemonibus inita." That does it. The weather, the pressure, the atmosphere, whatever you want to call it, in the room starts going a bit haywire. I feel a heaviness brought down on me solely by the increased weight of the air in the room. As if I have found myself several feet deep in the ocean without the surrounding water to accompany it. Partner that up with chills and the whooshing of the air that now surrounds me and you've got a recipe for wanting to turn back.

Still, there is no running for me. Not when I've come this far. Not when there's still so much to do and especially not when the fate of my life hangs in the balance of my perseverance. "Testari volui tua," I continue as the lights darken and then flicker in and out of existence. No way is this a problem with the wiring or the circuit breaker. No, this is the bidding of centrifugal force of the spectral kind. Something being brought in from another world.

A portal, or whatever it is, is opening right in front of me. I think it may have more dimensions than my eyes are used to, it's growing, throbbing, then shrinking and imploding. All in ways that the English language does not quite have the right terms for. I'm coming face to face with something greater than myself, a sight to humble the soul. Though superciliousness was never something I had in loads in before this, the sight of such demonstration makes me even more cognizant of my insignificant place in the universe. Now time to add a little bit more significance to my life by being among the rare to survive the next words spoken.

"Nam ut inveniam te in pace," and then comes the fireworks, or whatever you want to call the indescribable explosion of color that surrounds me. Colors that seem to exist simultaneously in front, behind, all around and in me invade my personal space. Sounds that would make a monk react with alarm whoosh from every corner of the room and directly into my headspace. However I must stand assured in the face of such peril. Running will only ensure my annihilation at this point. I must stand up with all the poise I can muster and stare directly into the spectacle that's unfolding no matter how overwhelmed my senses are.

I've said the words, I've unleashed the being that's about to come at me. All there is to do is to face the consequences of my action with neither fear nor revulsion. Do my best to make it out of a dangerous situation in which the feelings that usually power my survival mode must remain unchecked. Skepticism must remain though as there's no way that whatever arrives can survive in my presence without trying to corrupt me.

This would be a battle of my sanctity and what it actually means in response to inordinate pleasure, laxed judgement, empathy of pain and all the things that would cause a man to abandon his virtues if he could just feel more of it. The need or want for such nice sensations would be my downfall if I let them overwhelm me. They could be the thing that she sinks her teeth into and sucks my essence into her belly as my body just helplessly watches in an anesthetized state.

She will have something to lure me, I must be prepared but not worried about whatever unknown tactics she has in store for me. Which, judging by the fact that something is manifesting through all the noise and the chroma, I'm about to find out. A being that can provide me with all that the modern day church cannot emerges inside this very room. The wantings of my flesh already have become even more enticed in her mere presence, even if her actual corporeality is suspect.

Taking the basic form of what we consider to be a human lady, she appears. Legs, feet, arms, hands, head, torso, breasts, butt and whatever the demon equivalent of a vagina is. All unclothed I might add in case you thought that demons do in fact shop at Hot Topic. What has been added beyond the basic human image are the flames. Flames that pulse through her like waves, rippling through her bodice in waves of purple and red, somehow blending together seamlessly in their overlapping layers.

The visage of a human girl fades in and out of her between the ever changing flames of her. The skin many men long for is exhibited in brief spurts to further tempt the helpless. Temptation is the name of the game and she's intent on giving men a good reason to be tempted. Everything they've ever felt was denied to them lay in her. The beauty, the connection, the grace, the ability to be vulnerable, the acceptance, all of those could be theirs if they just lay their guard down for her. But then that's when the trap will be sprung, isn't it?

She steps toward me. I find her heat is like an inverse flame. Instead of one that seeks to warm the surrounding area this one is pointed inside, as if sucking up all the heat that she naturally produces. All I can feel is the tail end of the blaze, giving me a beyond human warmth but not one that stings to the touch. Yet it's enticing, being with her in a carnal manner would be like being in a well heated jacuzzi that you get to fuck.

What to say to an immortal demon, one that has lived more than a million times over me? There's no hope of impressing her, she knows everything that's under the sun. All that's left to do is surprise her, by being just a bit different than what she's expecting. Make myself a prize specimen, one that she wants to lure a bit more than the rest. One she would be more willing to wade into risky waters to catch. And that's how I'll turn the tables on her and leave here with my own fruit of knowledge. Time for me to rob her blind while she's staring directly at me, the con is on.

"Thank you for granting me an audience," I say in a perversely formal tone.

"The pleasure's all mine, or at least it better be," she says luridly yet impetuously. She's thrown down the gauntlet so to speak, I better measure up to it.

"So for what purpose have you summoned me for anyhow?" She asks. She can't start out too friendly or else she'll give her own game away. She has to start out above it all so that I'm under the impression she doesn't care. Make me feel like she doesn't even have an endgame that she's manipulating me toward.

Most people probably come to her to feel a sensation. I have to differentiate myself a little from them if I'm going to pique her curiosity. Curiosity does a mighty fine job of keeping someone in another's good grace.

"I beseech thee in hopes that I may grant guidance from ye," I reply. Going a little overboard on the diction there, but how else are you supposed to talk to a demon? This type of conversing is not something that's taught in home schooling. Anyways guidance is probably a little more variety for her. Not many people coming to her with learning in mind. I don't know how facial reactions work for demons but I think I color her surprised.

"Guidance, in what matter can I chaperon you through?" She asks.

"I would like your help in living an elated life."

"Elated? Any more detail than just a one word description?"

"I want to go beyond the bounds of so called normal life. I want to feel something transcendent. If you could show me how to move above the bounds of the monotony and drudgery that constitutes our existence I'd... I'd forever be in your favor." Already showing my allegiance to her, making her mistakenly believe that this will be an easy victory for her.

Smiling now that she's recognized her favorite type of mark, naïve yet eager, she lets out a false sense of cordiality. There's such a satisfying journey in corrupting the innocent, it really takes one to that furthest reaches of the spectrum. Moving someone from the highest peaks of benevolence and dragging them all the way down until only their basest emotions show through. The beastliness that evolution hasn't completely done away with will be all that remains.

Urges born out of self-regard is what she can identify with in a person. She wants to make sure that the person standing across from her shares in her abandonment of the common good that makes societies whole. Yet you can't have two such beings in the same pad, so that's why she'll be the first to strike once her molding of me is complete.

She'll rob me of my being and keep me as part of her growing collection. Giving me fits and bits of mindless pleasure to feed off of. In this state I, along with the rest of those who she has ensnared, will be oddly enough beings she can connect to, or at the very least understand. We would be boiled down to our basest without any veneer of respectability to disguise ourselves with. That would give her some beings that can keep her grounded once she returns to whatever dark ether she resides in.

"You want to go above and beyond, huh? I think the two of us are going to get along fine. But first, we got to start from the ground up. So with that in mind please allow me to ask you if you wouldn't mind removing the garments you are currently wearing."

"Do I have to?" I ask, mostly to hide my intentions for just a little longer. It would only be normal if someone were to have the body insecurity and reticence I'm currently displaying, anything else could possibly be a cause for alarm for her. And seeing as I'm probably going to be sending up some major red flags it'll do to keep her calm, at least for now.

"I'm a demon, I got no use for dick sizes. Drop your drawers before I get bored and leave you here all unelated. Now go, demon knows best, off with your clothes."

An ultimatum it is then, fair enough. So, with a nervousness that comes from bigger issues than baring myself before a demon, I reach for my shirt. I don't know a whole lot about the conviction of modern church but I know enough to know it demonizes the nakedness of man. Demonization creates inhibitions, inhibitions creates anxiety, anxiety creates the want of the release she's promising. The church has only itself to blame in this case for leading a sinner to damnation, really leading the horse to the water so to speak. It only provided judgement to cast on the longings that lead people to sin, not the cure for them.

The longings are in full effect within me as I strip off my clothes. And that's ok, I understand why they're going off the fritz. She represents something I'm probably not going to find in the material world, a force of pure sensuous energy that can overwhelm me into a narcoleptic bliss. However, I don't think I'm letting my compulsions get in the driver's seat for this sojourn. Might cause a wreckage if they do. My goal is not to be overwhelmed by her but to learn from her.

But I guess I can't start the learning process with my clothes on so here I go. With only my underwear left on I take the requisite second to do one final breath before I make it out of the right end of do or die. There and done, I got it all hanging out for her quite literally. If you think that a man who spends most of his time as a shut-in in his family's ancient manor is rocking a six pack, well then you don't read signs very well do you? Still, I'm thin in all the right places without being skeletal. There are worse bodies than mine.

"Well like I said I don't have any use for size but if I did I would be pleased." Probably a pre-packaged compliment. I bet she says that to all the guys whose souls she wants to trap for all eternity. Really gets a guy at his basest, which is exactly where she wants him.

"So, now what?" I ask.

"First things first, it's so rare I get to indulge in purely physical pleasures," she says as she steps closer and closer to me. I guess demons aren't the ask for permission type, not that I would've denied her, because without a further word I find her lips on mine.

A kiss, the kind that... Well I don't have a wealth of experience to draw upon to compare it to, living alone in an isolated manor doesn't really give one ample opportunity with the ladies. Sufficeth to say that I'm in uncharted territory.

Anyway her lips feel warm, much warmer than what I could expect from a human. I already described the irregular heat she gives off, needless to say it works in my favor here. Giving me a warmth that crisps the feeling in my mouth and lips but doesn't go so far as to burn. She perfectly positions her lips against mine in a way that only a being deeply learned in the craft can. Yes, it is obvious that any human partner would fall by the wayside in comparison to her. She really makes one want to fly a little too close to the sun.

Oh god, she's really leaning in now. Her arms wrap around me, not necessitating anything on my part. I just get to experience as she goes full throttle on my lips. Kissing, sucking, tonguing, all you could ever want on those two pleasure centers she's doing them to me. All without me having to return the favor.

Fuck I think I may be a little drunk on her. Like drunk on her being. It makes sense because the act of kissing her is feeling a little akin to the act of drinking her. I put my lips around her and absorb part of her essence and man is it delicious. Getting that bliss that comes without a care in the world straight into my system. Mindless pleasure can be a self-sustaining force if one is not careful. So note to self: be more careful. If I'm not she might prove to be too great a temptation. Keep my eyes on the prize.

And so I motion a bit back as if to let go. Can't let her keep doing this to me or else she might really get me beyond temptation. She lets go too, making sure my sense of fear is not doing exactly what it should be doing. We stand there for a second

"Looks like you're both a grower and a shower," she says, pointing at my now hard dick. She's handy with a compliment this one.

"Thanks," I say.

"Well that about ends in it for the pleasures my body can doll out in the purely physical sense, unless you just want a handjob or something like that."

"... I wouldn't say no," I reply, playing the part.

"Ah come off it, where would be the fun in that for me? Much better if I show you the pleasures of the ethereal. Your physical body won't be a match for what I have in store for you."

"Well I kind of need it to live."

"I can shuffle off your mortal coil for just a bit. Don't worry, your body will just be fine."

"I can come back though, right?"

"...If you want."

Well then I better think of a reason to come back because she sure is going to do her best to convince me otherwise. So here's where the battle really begins and I'm going up against her on her home turf. I'm at a disadvantage I know, but sometimes even a bad hand can win if one just plays it right.

So following in the footsteps of many a fool before me, under the presumptuous belief that I can diverge from their path somehow, I agree to her terms. Smiling, she puts her hands on my shoulders and then I feel the vibrations. Within me of course, nothing to do with the room this time around. I guess it's all part of the process of separating the soul from the body. Don't want to get my alarm up, I got some inkling of a plan that I don't want to bail out on just yet. I may end up in her clutches just yet, it's part of the risk I take. But I still pray I make my way back to my body with a newfound awareness intact. A trip through darkness with the hope somehow being that I would come out even lighter than when I entered.

And here it comes. A strange sensation, the likes of which I have never felt before. Both a disappearance and an entry into a world that I have never known. I'm lifted from my body with all my physical senses being left behind but something ineffable taking their place. A new knowing that I may never get a full handle on replaces the faculties I once relied on to make my way through the world. There's a visual component, an audio component, maybe more.

All I know for sure is that I can make out my actual body in a somnambulant trance. Standing upright but the functions that normally keep it like that are at a loss. Frozen in place in a manner that only the stories of ancient mysticism could provide an accurate depiction of. One hell of way of being on the outside looking in.

So I... turn? Face? Look at? Whatever my new form is capable of doing in its attempts to point its attention to a particular area. In any case no matter what the right word is, I'm focusing on Lilith. She just smiles as if she knows that the game has already been won and now she's just partaking in a victory lap. My dear the game has only just begun.