My Demon Succubus - Pt. 07

What is Luka's secret?

Part 7

I slid the velvet curtain aside and left the confessional. The other booth looked unoccupied but I knew that it was anything but so and wondered if this was the first time that Anne-Marie had used it as a private masturbation chamber.

"I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did," Luka giggled as I stepped out of the church and headed home.

"Cat got the cream?" I asked.

"You could say that," she replied. "Such a naughty clergy girl. You should have seen her thoughts, enough to make me blush. I'm quite looking forward to Sunday but right now I want a nice hot bath, a glass of wine and some music. Beethoven I think, he always was one of my favourites, in this world and the next."

Luka was a girl after my own heart. A bath seemed perfect and so I hurried home listening to Luka's amusing stories about pastors, nuns and Jesuit priests. I opened the front door and immediately started running the water. I made a detour into the kitchen to pour a large glass of red wine and throwing caution (and my waistline) to the wind, grabbed a bar of chocolate from the fridge before relaxing in the sudsy water.

"You know," Luka said after a moment of quiet contemplation, "you can feel me as much as I can feel you if you want to try."

"You don't mind," I asked, "it's not an invasion of privacy?"

"Of course not, you're part of me now just as much as I'm part of you," she said. "I want you to know how I feel... how I feel about you."

Suddenly she seemed like a vulnerable little girl again and so I gently reached inside. At first, there was nothing -- a cavernous black void - but as I probed deeper I sensed the presence of another being. A girl sat at the centre of a domed structure hugging her knees. I felt her fear and a racing pulse. Softly I approached and sat down beside her.

"Hi Luka," I said gently.

My heart melted as the little girl nuzzled into me.

"Hi there," she replied in a small voice, "I bet you didn't expect this?"

"No," I replied. "You were different when I first met you, older."

"I have many forms," she said, "but this is my true form. This is the little girl that was taken by Imra, the shaman. He raped me and murdered me. He then cursed my dead body to wander the spirit world so that I could not come back to haunt him. I've never found peace since, until now."

I put an arm around her trembling shoulders and she clung to me.

"I've been so scared all my life," she whispered. "Every host has wanted to destroy me, exorcise me. Some have even committed suicide to get rid of me, banishing me back to the nether plane. I am not a powerful demon, Luke, so any number of the devil's host could consume me and assimilate my powers if they found me. I've spent my whole life running, never at peace."

"I will never let anyone or anything harm you," I said.

"I know, and that's why I love you."

The words hung in the air.

Did Luka just say that she loved me?

I didn't even know that a demon was capable of love, but thinking about it, why not? And was I falling in love with her?

"My true name is Anya'Arp Krieth, but I like the name Luka. Safer that way."

"You told me your true name?

But I thought you said that I could enslave you, make you my thrall if you revealed your true name. I could kick you out."

"If you're going to kick me out, then I want you to do it now, Luke. I don't think I could bear it if you did it next week, or next month or even next year."

"To tell the truth I quite like having you around," I said nonchalantly. "It's kind of cool having someone in their head to chat to. A sex goddess -- what's not to like?"

"A demon sex goddess, thank you," Luka said, emphasising the word demon.

She had transformed back into the raven-haired beauty that I had first met -- strong and powerful and confident.

"You know I've tormented hosts for lesser infractions," she laughed, "but you, my love, I could never hurt. I fear your making me quite human."

She kissed me -- not the ravenous kiss of a demon -- but a delicate kiss -- our lips barely touching. I kissed her back and she sank into my arms.

"Hold me, Luke."

I wrapped my arms around her until the pace of her fluttering pulse slowed and as it did, the shadows lifted to reveal an enormous crystalline dome.

"I come here when I'm scared," she said. "Demons are afraid of crystal, but I've always quite liked it."

"And this is inside my head?" I wondered.

"It's a construction, your construction to be precise. You seem to subconsciously know what I need." She paused for a moment, and then continued, "You know, I knew you were the one as soon as I saw you walking down that lane. That's why I gave you the hour, no time for me to find another host if you said 'No'. You see, I didn't want anyone else if I couldn't have you. Do you believe in love at first sight, Luke?"

"Yes," I said, "I believe it's possible."

She took my head in her hands and looked into my eyes. I felt her within me, deeper and more connected than I had ever felt her before, and rather than railing against it, I allowed her in.

"I invite you in Luka, go wherever you need to go," I whispered.

She delved deeper and deeper as if searching for something, I do not know what. Long forgotten memories surfaced and then an image of a young woman flickered and stabilised.

"Who is she?" I asked.

"Your mother," Luka said. "She loved you more than anything else in the world, but she knew she couldn't keep you. She wanted you to have a chance at life and she couldn't give you that."

There was silence as I tried to understand this. She loved me? But she gave me away for a chance at a better life?

"She was 14 Luke. She couldn't keep you. Not back then."

Tears welled in my eyes. Oh God, had I spent my whole life hating the only person who had ever loved me? No, not the only person, I had Luka now, and she had given me this gift.

Luka held me just as I had held her and when I had stopped sobbing she said, "The bath's cold. It's time to go to bed my sweetheart."

***

Do you like Luka - do you think that she's evil or more human than most of us? let me know in the comments.