Succubus Pt. 02

The inscription is an invitation.

'The bond between us is affirmed by the invitation of the willing.'

I do not understand it, but I know it is true.

I have been searching for the separation between our worlds. It has taken me ten years to get this far. And now I know it is all real, tangible. I will decipher this mystery and gain the riches brought by true power.

I took a breath.

The separation between our worlds.

There was another world.

The white circle, the metallic smell. Had Olivia and I found the separation between the two?

I thought of the voice, the way it had been beside me but not beside me. The way it felt though I couldn't see anything beyond my own reality.

Abigail was looking for the same thing I was. A way to the other side, the place beyond our reality. But what did she mean by invitation?

I closed the book and stood up.

Delilah came around the corner like she had sensed that I had a question or had moved or both. She looked at me and smiled. "I cannot answer all your questions." She shook her head like she knew I had thousands.

I was practically vibrating with excitement. I wanted to know everything. I was suddenly confident, less afraid. "Who was the she you mentioned earlier?" The question tumbled out, I didn't even realize it was the question I wanted to ask first.

"I call her The Lady." Delilah sighed, and her eyes wandered over the ceiling, like the Lady was somewhere nearby.

"Where is she?" I wondered if it was the same entity from my dream.

Delilah glanced at the books and grinned. "You're going to find her, I know it." She looked into my eyes. "But you still have much to learn," she pointed at the books.

I sat back down, and she disappeared around the corner again.

I opened the journal toward the middle and started reading.

I have translated more of the symbols along the artifact. It reads like a riddle, but it says that I am to keep the artifact close, that it is the key. But the key to what? And why does the object affect me in such a strange way. It's odd. I don't wish to be away from it.

I flipped a few pages ahead. I had to know what was going to happen next.

Last evening, I slept with the artifact in my bed. My first experiment is to take the translation literally. The effects were quite unexpected. I had the most amazing dream, a sexual dream so real, when I awoke I was not surprised by the fluids I had soaked the mattress in.

The dream was the most real I have ever experienced, yet I could not see my partner, and I cannot remember the details. It is as if everything is enveloped by a fog.

I closed the book. Her experience was just like mine. The dream was almost identical. I opened the cover looking for a year but there was none.

The book was impossibly old, but the experience was just like mine. How was that possible? And how, out of all the books in the place, had Delilah led me to this one? And who was The Lady? Was it the being in the book?

I licked my lips. God, I was thirsty. I took a deep gulp of the water. It was cold and almost sweet. I refilled the glass and took another long sip. It was so refreshing.

I looked around. It was all still so hard to believe. I mean, two days ago I would've told you it was impossible. But now, not only had I seen it, I had been a part of it. I had felt it, the strength and power, the way magic moved.

An invitation. I thought of how Abigail had translated the symbols along her artifact. An invitation. Who was she inviting? What was she inviting?

The library was so quiet.

I listened for Delilah, but I couldn't hear her. I wondered if the bookstore was magical like in the movies and fantasy books where a place was made of magic. It seemed like I was the only one there, like maybe even Delilah only arrived if I moved, like she appeared from another place.

I stared down at the journal.

"Delilah," I said the word softly, like I knew she was nearby, waiting.

She stepped out of a row right at my elbow and I jumped.

"Scared you," the older woman chuckled, and I noticed the kind wrinkles around her eyes.

I laughed too.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath relishing the feeling of her power. Just being near her felt like your soul was getting a hug. It felt sublime.

It was fascinating.

I looked at my watch. It was almost time to leave. Where had the hours gone?

"I want to take these two." I pointed at the two on the table.

Her eyes widened, and she reached out and touched my shoulder.

Suddenly, we were standing in front of a plain, wooden desk. The two books I had had with me at the table were on top of the desk. Just like that. Just that fast.

Boop.

Delilah pulled out a drawer on the desk and pulled out a piece of paper.

I will need you to sign this.

I took the paper and turned it around. It was a form, just a few lines.

I the undersigned do take full responsibility for the books in my care. From the moment of this signature, all consequences for actions caused by the books from this point forward until the book is returned are mine and mine alone.

I looked at Delilah.

She held a silver needle up. "Prick your finger with this."

"Prick my finger?" I took the needle between my fingertips. It was silver, nothing fancy, it looked like the needle my mom used when she sowed a button back on something. "Blood magic?" I asked.

Delilah nodded and then wrinkled her face a little. "Kind of sort of?" She said.

I touched my finger on the point and pushed until it bit, just a little. A drop of blood appeared, and Delilah pointed to the bottom of the page. "Anywhere there is fine."

I touched the page and felt a little tingle. More magic.

My eyes fell back to the words all consequences for actions caused. That scared me. I thought of Delilah's earlier words -- cause and effect.

This was what she had been talking about.

I picked up the books and put them in my book bag.

"You should probably go," Delilah said. "I will see you again soon, Abi."

I opened my mouth to say something but suddenly I was somewhere else.

I gasped. The motion had been imperceptible, but my brain somehow knew I was moving vast distances instantaneously. It was like it was being forced to experience the magic without any understanding of what it was doing or how to control it. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I wanted to giggle and cry.

I felt a little blush of warmth below my navel.

I looked around. I was at the train stop where I had gotten off earlier.

What was happening to me? How many years had I laughed at Olivia for believing in magic? How many years had I tried to convince her that it was nonsense?

And now...I looked around. Now I was in the middle of it.

Things had advanced quickly.

The train doors opened, and I wound my way through the cars until I found a corner seat with a little table. I sat down and looked around.

There were two other women in the car along with a man in a business suit. Everyone was sitting toward the front of the car which left me the back corner to myself, at least for now.

The world slipped by in a blur of colors past the window.

I looked at the other people in the car. The women were both staring at their phones. I could see earbuds in the gentleman's ears and he was staring down at his tablet, reading something.

I pulled out the journal and opened it to the first page again. I read how the university professor who discovered had purchased it from a stall in a bazaar. He didn't know why he had purchased it, only that he knew it was important and powerful.

He then reached out to Abigail and had the box sent by ship along with a note explaining how he had obtained it and his observations on its condition and power.

The world passed by outside and I imagined the story of the artifact Abigail had translated. I wondered if she ever found the woman from her dream. I tingled with excitement. I was so anxious to read more.

This was the beginning of my journey. I held the little journal in my hands and smiled. Would my journey be like Abigail's? What had she learned? Who had she become?

I looked around the train. The men and women around me were oblivious. They had no idea, no inkling. Staring at their phones or listening to music and watching the world go by, they had no idea that there was such a thing as magic and that it could give a person power, real power.

I thought of Olivia and Katie. Was it right or wrong to cast a spell like we did? Did it matter? It still seemed impossible that it worked, that we had cast a spell.

But that was what excited me more than anything else. I wanted power like that. I wanted to find out where it came from. I wanted to find out how to control it.

I opened the book again and thumbed to a new page.

It is difficult to describe without sounding like madness has taken my mind, but the artifact calls to me. It toys with me. While I am away, doing anything else, all I can think about is the way it feels when I am near it.

When I touch it, there is a warmth that seems to move through my body. I am filled with desire and find that I spend hours with it, pleasing it, trying to please her.

I don't know what is happening.