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Episode 13 - part 3
Episode 13 – part 3


Throughout the journey, Buffy tries to emulate Vhesthine, with a modicum of success. At least enough that the vampires don't notice. Though she does balk when Vhesthine starts using her hand down there. Not that the vampires seem to notice, as they are all joking about breaking them in. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Buffy is aware that most girls her apparent age would probably be starting to feel anxious.

After a short drive, they pull into an abandoned underground carpark. As they do, the vampire in the front passenger seat turns around, "We're here ladies."
With a vapid expression, Vhesthine smiles, "When do we get our money?"
The vampire leers, "At the end of the party luscious."
Vhesthine nudges Buffy, "See, I told you it was easy money. We just do what we love, and they pay us in cash rather than drinks. Sorry, she's a bit shy."
As the two of them are roughly pulled out of the car, Buffy growls, "I hate crowds."
The vampire holding her leans down and whispers in her ear, "Don't worry love, we'll loosen you right up once we get upstairs."

Fighting the urge to snap the vampires neck, Buffy allows herself to be led to a lift. From the lift, they're led to a small apartment with a metal bar lock on the outside, "Be good girls, the party starts in a couple of hours."

As the door slams shut, and the bar drives home, Buffy looks around at the room that has seven or eight other women in varying states of distress. Brightly, she asks the room, "So, who's for Pizza?"
From the far end of the room, a woman with bad tracks on her arms looks up sourly, "Don't bother trying to make the mood better. We all know the score, we knew it when we tried to get out. Don't bother with the window either, we're on the 9th​ floor. Only thing out there is a quick and painful death."
"And nobodies jumped yet?"
The woman shakes her head, "Look at them, they're so strung out they wouldn't feel it if you kicked them. If you want to join them, the shit's in the bedroom."
"What about you?"
"I went cold turkey when I got pregnant, babe's sleeping at home. Least I hope he is."
Vhesthine asks, "How did they get you then?"
"Girls got to eat, that takes money and there's only one thing I know now."

Buffy and Vhesthine share a glance, before Vhesthine asks, "Do you want to take the chance?"
Buffy sighs, "She has a baby."
Vhesthine grimaces, "Yeah, that does change things." Looking back at the woman who is looking at them like they're cuckoo she adds, "If we could get you out of here safely, would you be able to do two things for us?"
The woman gives a bitter laugh, "What ya going to do, batter down the door? Some o the girls tried that earlier before they started on the shit."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Not like that. But say we could. Would we be able to use your place for the next week, and would you allow me to feed on you?"
The woman starts laughing, "Now I know you're taking the piss. But yeah, sure. If you can get me out of here safely, you can crash at my place for a week. And take a nibble at my neck."
Vhesthine smiles, "Don't worry, I'm a succubus, not a vampire. Buffy, would you do the honours?"
"Now I know you're shitting me. Ain't no way a demon would be stuck here waiting to be food. An my name's Suzy."

As Buffy opens the window and looks down and around, Vhesthine smiles, "Vhesthine. What do you think Buffy?"
"Hmm, there's a tiered building just over there, but it might be better to go for the low-rise across the street, and then use a fire escape. I'm just checking to see if this is the only place with a light on."
Suzy chuckles, "It's the only apartment without blacked out windows, worked outside it often enough. That's East 6th​ Street right there. You've got Crocker Street to the left, and San Pedro to the right."

Buffy nods before hoisting Suzy over a shoulder with a Squeal, "Vhesthine, wait till I get back so I have somewhere to target this first time."
Vhesthine nods, and moves to the window when Buffy void jumps out into thin air, to the accompanying scream from Suzy. In four consecutive jumps, she appears to run through mid-air to land on the four story building, and set Suzy down gently.
As she's recovering her void energy, Suzy collapses to the roof, "Shit, y'ain't kidding. Well, a deal's a deal, and I'll be happy to have a few more days with Denzell."
Buffy smiles at Suzy before she void slings back to the apartment, "I hope you have more than a few days with your baby."
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Dawn fidgets in the hotel room, her eyes glancing to the TV that looks like it came from the 80's in the corner. Looking at the place, it probably did. For the first hour after Buffy and Vhesthine left, Dawn dutifully knelt in front of the door, but to one side, with her bow held loosely on her knees. Since then, she's checked her phone every few minutes and had to force herself to put it down, as she knows the rules about hotels and vampires.

It's not like you can get away with not knowing them with the Slayer as your sister. Standing up she walks over to the TV and turns it on with a loud clunk, followed by the whine of the tube warming up as a couple of women kissing appears on the screen. Quickly changing the channel, Dawn quickly gets frustrated with the fact the remote only has an up and down channel change button, and that there's too many channels with naked adults.
Once she finds Cartoon Network, she settles down to watch it, until someone touches her on the shoulder. Stifling a scream, she rolls to one side and brings up her dagger in a ready stance, only to stop when she sees the girl looking at her, confused.
Elaena smiles brightly, an effect that just highlights how bad her condition is, as her bright smiling eyes contrast with their sunken nature, and her hollow cheeks, "Hi, I'm Elaena, who are you?"
Dawn lowers her dagger, "I'm Dawn, I guess I'm your new sister?"
Elaena cocks her head in a move that makes it look like it's going to fall off, "Are you a succubus too?"
Dawn shakes her head as she sheaths her dagger, "No, not at the moment. I'm human."
Elaena looks down, "Oh, my bearer told me to stay human and live until she came back."
"Did she come back?"
Elaena shakes her head, "I don't remember. I used to remember more, but the headaches stole them away when I met that nice couple. They were human, and I was very hungry. I remember them feeding me, but it didn't help. Neither did kisses, they just caused headaches that made me forget stuff. I don't know why, but kisses are important."
Tears form in Dawn's eyes, and the TV remote clatters to the floor, as she walks forward and pulls Elaena into a hug, "You poor thing, we feed through kissing. And other stuff, but I'm not old enough for that stuff yet. Buffy and Vhesthine are out getting you food now."
Elaena leans back to look at Dawn, "Is Vhesthine the nice lady who kissed me and made it better?"
"Sort of. They said you're not better yet, and they're out hunting right now. Um, sorry for not guarding you properly."
Elaena looks around Dawn as the TV lets out the sound of gunshots, "What's that?"
Dawn looks over her shoulder, "That's a Bugs Bunny cartoon with Elmer Fudd trying to catch Bugs or Daffy."
"What's a cartoon?"
"Um, it's where they draw the program rather than filming people acting it. You can do the same with a pad of paper."
Doubtfully, Elaena says, "Ok. Why did the gun just come out of the tree?"
Dawn smiles, "Because it's a cartoon, so it's not limited to the way things work in the real world. How comes you know what a gun is, but not a cartoon?"
Elaena smiles, "The nice couple had a couple of shot guns, and a rifle, they use for hunting. My mother didn't use a gun for hunting though."
Dawn nods, "Humans have to eat food, it's inconvenient. But I guess we can store it for longer than essence can be stored."
"Essence?"
"It's what Vhesthine calls the stuff succubae live off."

From there, the two of them settle in to watch cartoons, until Dawn jumps when her phone rings loudly. Scrambling across the room, she picks it up and answers it, "Hello?"
"Dawn, I'm outside with someone we rescued, open the door."
Dawn yelps, "I was on guard, honest!"
Vhesthine's voice sounds amused, "Dawn, you're awake and alert, that's all we expected from you."
Dawn sags as she goes to open the door, "Oh… Well, um, I've been watching cartoons with Elaena for a while too."
Vhesthine hangs up and kisses Dawn on the forehead, "Dawn, it's fine. You're 15, we don't expect you to behave like a seasoned PI or police officer."
Elaena looks around, "You're the nice lady that kissed me and made it better. Can I have another kiss please?"
Vhesthine steps out of the way to reveal Suzy, "This is Suzy, she lives around…"
Suzy says, "8 blocks away."
Vhesthine nods, "And she is willing to put us up for a week. Dawn, grab our bags and your bow. Elaena, come here, it's not much, but it should keep you going for a little bit. Don't wear yourself out."

It doesn't take the four of them long to drive to Suzy's home. Whey they are led up 3 flights of bare concrete stairs, littered with rubbish. The hallway to her apartment has peeling paint on the walls, with many suspiciously yellow spots, and an overwhelming smell of ammonia from those spots. Almost as soon as they enter the hallway, the sound of a baby crying fills the air, and Suzy breaks into a jog down to her door.

As the other three follow her into the apartment, they stop to take in the sight of a cheap tenement, that was obviously furbished before Suzy moved in. There's a large yellow patch on the ceiling above the kitchenette, and the doors to the cabinets are so warped by water damage where the chipboard has swollen and split the veneer. On the coffee table is a large, cheap, candle with a broken needle and syringe sticking out of the top. Next to it is an ashtray full of butts, and a pouch of tobacco and papers next to it.

Suzy comes out of the bedroom nursing a baby and looks where everyone's looking, "Yeah, the candle. I was four months pregnant when I did that a year ago. A local 'midwife' told me about foetal addiction, and how my baby could be born addicted to that shit if I didn't knock it off. It took me two weeks, and that stupid pamphlet staring at me. But one night I decided that I was going to be a better mother than mine was. That's when I did that, I poured the last of my stash in the wax too. I'm getting better with the smoking too, but it's still hard."
Suzy looks up at Vhesthine, "How are we going to do whatever you need to do?"
Vhesthine smiles gently, "Finish nursing your child, then we'll want to use your bed. I'm going to need to feed deeply, so you may feel tired afterwards. If you have the details, order a stack of pizzas before we start, and I'll pay for them. You should then eat as much of one as you can, as it will help you recover your essence."

Suzy nods and heads over to a cracked, cream coloured, handset on the wall by the door, before dialling the number by heart. When she turns back around to see Vhesthine in her succubus form, she almost screams. Only the credit card she's holding in her fingers stops that from happening.

Elaena looks at Vhesthine and whispers, "Are you my bearer?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "No child, I am your matriarch though. Let me just finish this order and I'll make sure you can be fed. Can you return to your natural form?"
Elaena shakes her head, "I don't remember how."
Vhesthine smiles sadly as she adds some drinks and a few more pizzas to the order, before using her credit card.

While she's doing that, Suzy hands Dawn the baby and shows her how to hold him, while glancing back at Vhesthine's wings and tail. 20 minutes later, she stumbles out of her bedroom with a silly grin on her face and flops down on the couch between Dawn and Elaena, "Fuck that was some good shit. I ain't never thought I could be gay, but damn she makes it hard not to be."
Vhesthine smiles at Suzy as she comes out herself, "We don't usually go for women, because it's harder than men. Elaena, it's time for your feed."

Suzy shakes her head as Vhesthine feeds Elaena, "I wonder if that's any good?"
Dawn nods wistfully, "It's better than anything you've ever tasted. I still wish I was a succubus, the world is so different to them."
Suzy nods, "Y'all probably right. But I bet they have their own share of problems that makes eating food like us look like a decent trade off."
Dawn nods, "There are some, the biggest one is how easy it is to accidentally kill someone while feeding."

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Buffy jumps slightly as her phone starts to ring and vibrate, pulling it out of her bra, she looks at it accusingly before realising it's Vhesthine. Stabbing the answer button, she says, "Hi, how did things go? Sure, give me a sec."

A moment later, Buffy is carefully hoarding a pizza while Vhesthine tells her about her trip. The other two pizzas, well at the smell of food, all of the women who weren't comatose descended on the pizzas and demolished them within seconds of them being put down.

It's probably around 9pm when there's a clanking at the door, and then a couple of vampires with metal baseball bats walk in, "Right girls, it's time for the entertainment. Everyone that's awake, up you get, it's time for you to dance for your freedom."

Buffy tries to mimic the meek and dead-eyed look that all of the other girls, even Vhesthine, have. She really does. However, she can't help looking around at the exits and placement of the vampires as they're led up a floor, where they've knocked the adjoining walls of the apartments out to make one large room with key walls left for structural support and privacy. Or at the large trestle table that the comatose girls are being laid out on, in pleasing positions. It's not the worst situation she's ever been in, but it is probably the worst situation where she's so lightly armed.

"You, the one that's looking around." Buffy turns to look at the speaker, a heavy set white Vampire decorated in gold chains and wearing a smart black suit. He walks across the front of the girls and sits, wide legged, on a throne, "Come here, you look like fun."
Buffy looks around in case he's talking to one of the other girls before she steps forward with a deliberate sway to her gait, making her dress swish provocatively. When she's standing in front of him, the Vampire smiles, "Kneel."
With the click of a gun behind her, Buffy does as requested, and kneels, her eyes still darting around the room.
The vampire laughs, "You've got spunk girl. Girls, I am Rocky and you are here as entertainment. If you are still alive at midnight, then you get to go home, all safe and sound. All you have to do is keep us entertained after our dreary board meeting." He reaches down and caresses Buffy's cheek, "This one will show you one way you could do that. Unzip it!" Buffy looks at his pants and carefully unzips them, "Now suck it."
A shiver of revulsion runs through Buffy as she reaches out her left hand to cradle the member she's just released. That's when she looks up at Rocky and smiles while she activates the Guardian Shell, before releasing a void beam from her left hand as she stands up, causing Rocky to fall into dust, "Actually, I think you're a little too small for me. Especially now."

Spinning around, she laughs as the armed vampires empty their clips into her shield while it's still establishing itself, the kinetic energy from each shot being added to the shield until a purple flash ripples across it, and the last few bullets leave purple ripples in the air.
With the void beam raking over the heads of everyone that ducked at the sound of gunfire she addresses the room, "Now Gentlemen, would all the vampires who want to survive the week please stand by the back wall. All the girls who want to survive, stand by the tables, and take cover. Everyone else, let's dance."

As Buffy somersaults into the middle of the room, the girls scream and follow Vhesthine as she runs over to the trestle table, and starts pulling the unconscious girls off the table, before turning each segment over to hide behind.

A couple of the vampires do go and sit down by the back wall, however, most of them either attack the mad woman who is laughing and dancing in the centre of the room, her dagger twirling wildly. Or they head for the easier targets, only to be faced with Vhesthine and her dagger, and protected by the same shield as the other girls.

After several minutes of frantic fighting, where Buffy has needed to use her healing and shielding powers more than once, along with the void snare to prevent some vampires from taking the women hostage. Buffy is surrounded by piles of dust and screaming vampires.

As she methodically goes around and cuts their arms and legs off at the elbow and knee, she looks up at Vhesthine, "Do you think these will be enough?"
Vhesthine looks at them critically, "If we keep them alive, then they should be."
Buffy smiles broadly, "Oh good, I don't have to learn to socialise. Do you think you could find that other succubus?"
Vhesthine nods, "I should be able to, why?"
One of the less drugged girls looks over the table, "Um, can we go now?"
Buffy looks at the woman, "Not yet. We just need to find someone who can look out for you. Vhesthine… Tell her that she's got a new commune to look after, as she's their matriarch."
Vhesthine looks offended, "Buffy, it doesn't work like that."
Buffy looks at Vhesthine with a slightly disappointed look, "Then maybe it should. Especially here and now. If we do nothing, then another Rocky will be here inside a month, I guarantee it. If we make these women honourary succubae, then together they can control their own destiny. And you never know, they might look up someone who will help them transition, and become a real commune."
Vhesthine tries to meet Buffy's gaze, "Buffy, I… I'll go and find her."

As Vhesthine slumps down the stairs, Buffy looks at the woman who spoke up, "Hey, do you want to help me with these, as I need to make sure they can't hurt anyone while they're still alive."
The woman ducks down behind the table, "This is just a bad trip, this is just a bad trip. Everything will be normal in the morning."
"Sorry kid, but no it won't. I think that whatever drugs you took earlier are already wearing off."

Buffy is finished dismembering the vampires who didn't stand against the back wall. The ones who did, and stayed there, all two of them, stare at the professional, and methodical way the slip of a girl is removing limbs. The one on the left asks, "Um, can we move yet?"
Buffy looks over, "No, your new boss isn't here yet."
"Um, who are you if you're not the new boss?"
Buffy smiles, "I'm the Slayer, decided to take a vacation from Sunnydale."
Both vampires look at each other, before pressing themselves into the wall.
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It doesn't take long for Vhesthine to return with the succubus in tow, a succubus who looks very grumpy.
"Hey, your girl pulled me out of my hunt at knife point. What gives?"
Buffy stands up and walks over to the succubus, before kissing her and pushing some of her essence into her kiss, "There, hunt's finished."
The succubus stumbles back with a moan, "Damn you, you can't just spring that on a girl. I ain't no fledgling."
Buffy smiles, "Then stop behaving like one, and I'll stop treating you like one."
The succubus looks up at Vhesthine, "Hey, you're a matriarch, ain't you supposed to be protecting me or something?"
Vhesthine looks at Buffy, "We will be having words about cultural norms later. Either way, I'm not your matriarch, as you made that clear earlier."
Buffy shakes her head, "Congratulations, you are now the matriarch of your very own commune. The women behind you are your family. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee over there are your heavies. Rocky's dead, and your job is to stop there being a power vacuum."
The succubus looks alarmed, "No, you can't do that. I'm not cut out for that shit, and I ain't dealing with the big three."
Buffy looks at her critically, "If not you, then who? We're only here for a week, and then we're gone. None of these girls have the power to stand alone. So who would you trust to take Rocky's position in this part of the city?"
The succubus shakes her head as she backs towards the stairs, and into Vhesthine, "No, no, no no, no. You are not doing this to me. I left because I didn't want to get into this shit."
Buffy stalks forward, "Listen to me fledgling, you think I asked for this? You think I asked to be the Slayer? You think I asked to be Tenno? You think they asked to be here? No, none of us did. But we are here, and all we can do is make the best of it. Now, fledgling, should I take your spade and show the world how young you are forever?"
Vhesthine hisses, but the other succubus launches herself at Buffy, her human disguise falling away, "I will kill you before I allow you to do that."
With a practiced move, Buffy grabs an outstretched hand, places the other hand on her pelvis and turns her over her head to land on her back.
"You couldn't come close to stopping me." Buffy grasps her tail, "So, what will it be. Are you a succubus, or are you a fledgling that runs away from all her problems?"
The succubus tries to prevent Buffy's knife hand from moving towards her tail, but eventually she shouts, "I'll do it, I'll do it. Fine, you win."
Buffy nods and stands up smoothly, "Good. I won't say 'you won't regret it' because you will. We all do, but you'll be able to be proud of yourself. Teach your girls your ways, your traditions, and your laws. You never know, some of them may want to become succubus themselves. There's magic for that, you know. If they do, vampires are great for training. As if you eat too much, a little blood and they're right as rain the next night."
The succubus looks surprised, "Wait, really?"
Buffy nods, "They don't have souls, so they only die when the demonic energy inside them runs out. It's how I learnt how not to kill people."
The succubus looks at the two vampires speculatively, "Well now, that puts a different spin on things."
Buffy nods, and points a thumb over her shoulder, "We'll be here for a week, especially now we have a decent food supply. Those are ours by the way. While we're here, you've got my number if you need any help. Otherwise, you can always call for advice. Anyway, I think my job tomorrow is going to be checking at the hospitals for out of date blood. Need to keep them alive and healthy until Elaena is better. Anyway, we both need to feed before we head off, and I get my impromptu lesson on cultural awareness."
 
Episode 14 - part 1
Episode 14 – part 1


As Dawn walks into Magic Box Anya looks up with a smile, "Hey Dawn…" her face drops as Elaena walks in after her, "…and you brought the baby home wrecker with you."
Dawn stiffens, before losing her temper, "Anya! What have you got against Elaena?"
Anya looks at Dawn scornfully, "Do you have any idea how many women have been scorned because of them, and their predations? I have seen thousands of victims of their philandering ways."
"Do you realise that Succubae are monogamous?"
Anya straight out laughs, "No they're not. They hunt husbands and try to seduce them away from their wives."
"What? Like Vhesthine's done to Xander? Oh, wait, she's never even looked at Xander because you're both friends."
Anya sneers, "I've seen the way she moves around Xander. I'm just lucky that he doesn't have a wandering eye."
"Anya! She always moves like that! Come on Elaena, I can see we're not welcome here."
Elaena shakes her head, "It's ok, we can stay here."
Dawn shakes her head, and opens the door to leave, "I just wish Anya knew what it was like to be a succubus."
Elaena nods as she follows Dawn through the door, "Me too."

As the door swings closed, Anya looks at the table behind the partition shelves, "Halfrek, no, we're friends. Please don't do that to me."
From the table comes Halfrek's voice, "Wish granted."
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Jonathan looks up at the ceiling from Buffy's couch in blissful heaven, "Man am I glad I didn't get involved with that mind control orb thingy."
Buffy looks up from her paperwork, "What mind control orb thingy?"
"Hmm, oh, it was month or so ago, before you went to LA, and before the demon eggs thing. They killed someone, and then tricked me into helping them try and persuade you that you killed them."
Buffy's eyes widen, "Wait, you summoned those demons?"
Jonathan nods, "Yeah, I left as soon as I found out what they were doing."

Buffy thumps the desk, "Jonathan, that's something we should have known when you first started coming round."
Jonathan whines, "But I was going to warn you about your pamphlet, and it would have come up then I'm sure. But then you started talking about sex, and went to LA for a week. And, well…"
Buffy sighs, "You've been coming around to help feed Vhesthine for a few weeks. Thank you for that by the way."
Jonathan waves his hand weakly, "It's fine. I actually had a couple of girls start talking to me at the arcade last week."

Xander opens the front door, and closes it in a panic, "Buffy! Are Willow or Tara around?"
Buffy looks concerned, "No, they're going on a date before Willow's apprenticeship starts. What's wrong?"
Xander wipes his face with his hands, "It's Anya, she's insatiable, but she always seems so unsatisfied afterwards. I can't keep up! On top of that, she's off her food."
Buffy sighs, "How long has this been going on?"
"Since Wednesday. But Buffy, I think it's something serious as she didn't even shout at me when I left for work this morning."
"Xander, why would she shout at you?"
Xander mumbles, "I glued her favourite bullet to the inside of her panties, and charmed them to be unremovable for six hours."
Jonathan shakes his head, "Hey, not cool man. Even I know not to do that."
Xander holds his hands up, "Hey, how we spice up our sex lives is none of your business. Buffy, you need to do something, I can't even go to the Magic Box on my lunch break as she pulled me downstairs and wouldn't let me go until I was already late."
Buffy puts her head in her elbow on the desk and theatrically sobs, "Ok Xander, why don't you both come to dinner tonight? Vhesthine went out to the park with Dawn and Elaena to meet Suzy and her baby, now they've moved into Vhesthine's apartment."
Xander winces, "Um, can we do another night? When Vhesthine's not here?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No Xander, as Vhesthine's one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to magic. Razial is the most knowledgeable, but his help doesn't come cheap. I don't know what Anya has against Vhesthine, but this isn't the sort of thing that should just wait."
Xander sighs, "At least tell me you'll be there." Buffy mumbles something, "Sorry, what was that?"
Buffy looks away, "It's my turn to hunt, so I'm going to be late."
"Buffy! Are you picking up guys? What about Vhesthine?"
"Look, it's not like that. For us, sex doesn't mean anything. Neither does kissing outside being a show of affection. It's all about essence, and we need to ensure that Elaena is well fed, as she needs to forget how to feed until she's ready to learn how to do it properly."

Xander starts, "Wait, what?"
"Xander, she almost killed Clem when he popped around for some company now Spike's dead. If we don't get it under control now, then when she gets closer to adulthood she won't be able to control herself, and she'll feed on anything she can kiss."
"Not that, the whole sex doesn't mean anything."
Buffy shrugs, "What? It's like a good back massage that comes with expectations. Honestly, I'd rather just pay for the massage and forgo the expectations. It also means I don't have to be around too many people."
"Buffy, what does hunting entail?"
"Mmm? Oh, when it's my turn I usually do my patrol and then go and sit in the Bronze drinking orange juice until a guy tries to chat me up. If I get there around 6 it's usually not to busy on a Saturday, and if I'm lucky I won't even have to dance before someone uses a cheesy pickup line. The last couple of weeks I've been done by 8pm. But the first week I was there till midnight. Let me tell you that there's nothing quite so bad as being around that many people with pounding music going on, and all your brain wants to do is pretend that you're about to be slaughtered. I'm just glad that Vhesthine was there to keep me grounded."
Xander frowns, "How comes we didn't see you?"
Buffy shrugs, "Because you weren't looking for Buffy in a super short party dress with lots of sparkles. You were looking for Buffy wearing steel toecaps and an attitude to match."
"So, wait, why isn't Vhesthine going this week then?"
Buffy looks at Xander patiently, "Because it's not fair to put all of that on one person. I hate it, it makes me super uncomfortable, and Suzy will be there for emotional support. But I have to do this on my own." Mumbling she adds, "And I don't want to start therapy, and if I can't do this on my own, then I promised I would." More loudly, Buffy asks, "Jonathan, will you be around for dinner?"
Jonathan looks up from where he'd just dozed off on the couch, "Huh, what? Oh, no. A girl has a 1st​ edition VHS of Star Wars, and I'm going to help her move it to DVD. Then we plan to watch Han Solo shoot first."

Buffy smiles, "Good for you. Oh, look, these bills won't pay themselves."
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Sam looks at the array of photos on the desk as her mind tries to join it together with something she heard recently. Across from her are Agents Howes and Jones from the FBI Homicide division. Leaning against the back wall is Riley, who's looking bored.
Howes shakes his head, "Honestly, we thought this was just some crazy copycat trophy killer. But you're telling us it's a demon?"
Sam nods, "Looks like it, as there's no sign of any tool use in the removal of the head. But there are signs of claws breaking the skin here, here, and here. The head was then torn off and discarded. While a bear could do that, they wouldn't then only eat the intestines. No, if it was a bear, you'd expect to see gnawing on other fatty parts of the body. There's just something about these that makes me think it's been described to me before, or I read it somewhere."
Riley sighs, "Sam, just look at your notes. You know it will be there somewhere." Stepping away from the wall he adds, "What's worrying me more, is that 5 years ago, these became more common on the east side of the Rocky's, and were slowly moving west. Except, now they've stepped up in frequency, and seem to be making their way to the southwest of the USA."

The other three all look at the map on the wall and swear.
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Buffy pensively looks at the door to the Bronze, and the rope queue guide that the bouncers are already starting to set up. Checking her phone she grimaces as she realises that Suzy went in almost an hour ago now.
Setting her shoulders, she starts to walk towards the door, only for someone to brush past her on the way in. Someone who will never know how close they were to having their neck broken, as Buffy manages to stop herself inches away from their neck.
Shivering, she turns back to the other side of the street, trying to control her breathing. This repeats itself over the evening, until, just before closing, a vampire attacks her from inside the alleyway she's been hiding in.

When Suzy comes out with a plastic cup holding the last of her mocktail, she finds Buffy desperately kissing the vampire, who's neck is obviously broken, while trying to elicit a reaction.
Suzy stands there for a long moment as her brain slowly processes just what it's seeing, as the person beneath her isn't making any moves to get away.
Once she's digested what she's seeing she calls out, "Buffy?"
Buffy lifts her head for a moment, "Just a little bit longer, I think I'm almost there."
The vampire takes the opportunity to say, with a hint of hysteria in his voice, "Help me! She's insane."
Suzy chuckles, "Buffy, his neck's broken. I don't think he can feel what you're doing."
When Buffy sits back, a contemplative look on her face, the Vampire's eyes look to Suzy, "Hey, aren't you acting a bit blasé for this?"
Suzy shrugs, "I was a whore in LA for years, and Buffy saved me and my baby from being lunch when I tried to get out. Now the area is being run by a succubus with vampire's working as her heavies to ensure the girls aren't mistreated by the Johns. My weird shit'O'meter has been maxed out for a while now. At least I'm still clean though. What about you, I thought you'd be more distraught."
The vampire's lips quirk, "Well sorry about not being able to feel anything below my neck. I'd laugh, but I can't breath hard enough for that."

There's a loud crack as Buffy sets the vampires neck back into position. Then she sits back on her heels and watches the vampire, who says, "Look lady, I appreciate you doing that, I really do. But could you drag me behind that dumpster over there, that way I won't die before my neck heals."
Suzy laughs and grabs the vampires legs before beginning to pull, "Buffy, face it, you need to just give him a pamphlet and call it a night. Nobody's going to think any less of you because of this."
Buffy whines as she pulls a pamphlet out of her purse, "But I can do this. I don't need therapy."
The vampire rolls his eyes to look at Buffy, "Hell yes you do. You've just spent an hour trying to jerk me off with a broken neck. Jeeze, if disabled people get you off, just head to the paraplegics ward at the hospital. They may even pay you for it."
Both Buffy and Suzy look at him, "Shut up."
 
Episode 14 - part 2
Chapter Thirty-Three: Episode 14 – part 2


Vhesthine looks up from the cooking as she hears the front door open. A moment later she stiffens as the scent of an unknow succubus wafts through the house, "Dawn, can you take over stirring the meat, I just need to see who's arrived."
Three paces through the kitchen door, she freezes as she recognises Xander standing next to a succubus that looks a lot like Anya. With an aggressive hiss in her voice she asks, "Xander, to what do we owe your pleasure? And who's your guest?"
Xander scuffs the floor with one foot, "We, um, that is Anya, needs your help."
Vhesthine follows Xander's hand to the succubus standing next to him, "You're Anya!?"
Anya nods and grabs Xanders arm, "Come on, I told you she wouldn't help."
Vhesthine narrows her eyes, "Help with what?"
Xander puts his arm around Anya's shoulders to prevent her from leaving, "Anya was turned into a succubus by Halfrek, and she won't stop jumping me. Buffy said you were our best hope for…"
Vhesthine sighs and turns back to the kitchen, "Come on through to the kitchen, and when was the last time you fed?"
Anya huffs, "I choked down a cheeseburger for lunch."
Slowly, Vhesthine turns back around, "That's human food, and not what I asked. I asked when you last fed."
Xander shrugs uncomfortably, "We had sex before we left to come here?"
Anya angrily adds, "Isn't that how you feed? Seducing men and having your way with them?"
Vhesthine stalks towards Anya, "Listen to me you little whelp, we do not seduce men away from their wives. They do that all by themselves. We feed on essence, not sex. That we includes you now. So, unless you want to slowly starve, I suggest you shelve your unwarranted dislike of myself and my family. Otherwise, you can just leave and take your chances out there. Then, when you go feral, Buffy will have to kill you."
Anya shakes her head, "I won't go feral."
Vhesthine growls, "Yes you will. You'll get so hungry that you can't stop yourself from pulling essence from people and demons. And you don't have a chip that stops you from feeding from humans like Elaena does. That means a simple kiss will be enough for you to rip all of the essence from a human, or Xander, leaving them to die. Then, drunk on the feeling of taking in essence you'll sleep for a week before waking up ravenous and looking for someone else you can take it from."
The click of Anya's heel hitting the front door makes Vhesthine realise she's been poking her in the chest with a finger, and her human disguise has dropped.
Stepping back Vhesthine shakes her head, "If you think it's easy being a succubus, you are about to find out how wrong you are. The only thing that might save your relationship is Xander isn't human. Simply speaking, it means he might be able to learn to share essence with you, not just have it taken or given. But I've already killed Buffy multiple times without meaning too. If he's a stronger type of demon than you, he may be strong enough to stop you from feeding from him. Oh, and welcome to almost the lowest rung of demon kind. Where almost everything else is stronger than you."
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Elaena grabs Dawn's arm, "Why is the Matriarch so angry?"
Dawn shakes her head as she stirs the meat with the other hand, "I don't think she is, I think it's frustration. What does your nose say?"
Elaena shakes her head, "I don't know, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Remember what Buffy says? Don't be sorry, learn to do better. I think it's frustration, because I remember Vhesthine telling me point blank about the dangers of being a succubus. That was before Rack kidnapped me."
"Maybe we should go and help."
Dawn raps the spoon on the side of the pan as she thinks for a moment, "El, do you think you could feed Anya?"
Elaena shakes her head and softly says, "I don't want to, I only want to do that with you."
Dawn nods, "I don't really want you to do it with her either, as it feels like something we should keep to ourselves. I just thought it might be a way to show just how far you've come since you became my sister."
Vhestine coughs loudly from the doorway, "When were you going to inform us, your guardians, about this?"
Dawn and Elaena both freeze and turn a deep crimson in embarrassment.
Vhesthine sighs, "Elaena, I'm proud of you. But Buffy and I will be talking to the two of you about your experimentation. In the mean time, will you go and get your file. Dawn please set the table, we have guests."
Anya and Xander both share a glance with each other, and Xander raises a hand, "Sorry to be the only non-succubus in the house, but what's going on?"
Vhesthine walks over to the stove, "Xander, Anya, take a seat. Dawn, I think this would sound better coming from you."
Dawn swallows hard, "Wouldn't it be better coming from you or Buffy?"
Vhesthine looks over her shoulder, "At this point, I think they need to hear from someone who hasn't changed."
"But Tara lives here, she could do it."
"She could, but she's never been a succubus, and she's out on a date with Willow."
Uncomfortably, Dawn puts out three small bowls, one each for Vhestine, Elaena, and Anya, along with three plates. As she grabs the silverware she flushes red again, "Um, you know how humans are able to tell good and bad food by the way it tastes, and have preferences based on the five basic tatstes?"
Xander shakes his head with disgust, "That's not quite true of me anymore. Sugar and carbs barely taste of anything anymore, not even twinkies."
Dawn nods vehemently, "Oh yes, I wasted a chocolate dipped triple chocolate donut with sprinkles on it. Oh, that was just before you two came in and smelt like raspberry ripple sunday." Dawn flushes again, "Yeah, erm, emotions smell and taste like food really. Some, like fear, can add a little spice if there's something positive to go with it, but loathing and depression, they don't go well with anything."
Vhesthine sighs, "Dawn, I think you're avoiding the subject."
Dawn quickly ducks her head down as she mumbles, "The only thing that feels better than feeding from someone is being fed voluntarily, and it's even better when you're sharing with each other. Um, part of that is because you're not putting in the work to pull essence out of someone else."
Vhesthine smiles, "You did well there Dawn, could you get some napkins from upstairs please?"
Dawn flees the kitchen as Elaena asks, "Aren't the napkins in the drawer over there?"
Vhesthine smiles as she turns off the cooker, "They are, but I was giving Dawn a chance to recover her composure. Now take your seat as I'm about to serve up."
At the table, Anya and Xander both look at each other uncomfortably as Vhesthine puts a few serving bowls of food on the table. By the time she's finished, Dawn has made it back to the table with a handfull of unironed napkins, "Here you go."
Vhesthine smiles, "Thank you Dawn. Elaena, dinner time."
Elaena looks up with a smile as Vhesthine leans down to kiss her full on the mouth. As the kiss drags on, and Elaena mewls in pleasure, it's only Dawn staring at Anya that stops her from saying anything about the scene.
As she sits back at the table, Vhesthine dabs her lips with the napkin, "Sorry about that, I needed to feed Elaena, help yourselves to food. Which is the same thing someone will need to do for you until you work out what's happening and start to draw on essence yourself. Once you've done that, then you'll be ready to learn to hunt. If we were in our home hell as your Matriarch, I'd capture a human the first few times, and prepare them for you so that you can learn to smell when their essence is breaking free. This is also when you'd learn how to feed your own essence to someone else, as that's one of the core skills needed to tip a mortal over the edge and lose control of their essence."
Anya wrinkles her nose in disgust, "Does that mean I have to have… sex… with them?"
Vhesthine sighs, "Anya, we feed on essence not sex. In fact, the sharing of essence is what constitutes sex for you now. If you get really into it you can even get pregnant. Which is why Buffy and I will be having a talk with the two young ladies here. What matters is that your victim is having some sort of euphoric high so that their essence is easy to draw on. Next time you watch a football match, keep an eye on the cheerleaders. At least one of them is likely to be a succubus. They'll be the one giving the football player a full mouth kiss when they score a touchdown, and are celebrating. Catching a mortal as they've just got a promotion, beaten an arcade game, or they've completed a hard workout are other ways to discretely feed too. It's just that sex is the easiest and most consistent method of feeding."
Xander looks up from his food with panic stricken eyes, "You know, this is really good, what did you put in it?"
Vhesthine smiles indulgently at Xander as she lifts her own small bowl to smell it, "Fragrant herbs and spices. It takes a lot of effort to make something that we can stomach and isn't overpowering to humans, but learning to do so makes it much easier to blend in. Anya, if I didn't think you'd kill her out of hand, or draw the wrong sort of attention, I'd send you to Charlyss as soon as you know how to feed, as she already has a stable of vampires you could safely learn to feed on. As it stands, I don't think I could trust you not to kill her and all the girls she protects."
Xander puts his fingers in his ears, "La La La, I'm not listening."
Vhesthine pinches her nose, "Remind me, he is supposed to be closer to 20 than 10 years old isn't he?"
Anya squirms in her seat even as she slaps Xander on the arm, "Xander, behave."
Cheeks flaming, Dawn mumbles, "Maybe you should wait until Buffy comes home with Suzy, as I bet you're going to have to feed anyway."
Vhesthine nods, "That a good idea Dawn, and I'm sure that Anya already has enough to think about as it is."
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A few days later, Buffy stand outside the local VA hospital. In one hand she has her new Army ID and in the other Vhesthine is providing a comforting hand.
"Hey, it will be ok. You let off your excess void energy already and you're going to be amongst people who are suffering the same way you are."
Buffy starts to shake, "But what if I can't."
Vhesthine strokes Buffy's arm with her spare hand, "Then you come back next week. If that still doesn't work, you'll have some one on one sessions with a psychologist."
"Will you be here with me?"
Vhesthine nods, "I'll be with you until the meeting starts, then I'll be just outside. Remember, this isn't supposed to be a therapy group, it's a support group."
Nodding to herself, Buffy sets her jaw and walks into the hospital. It takes the two of them nearly 20 minutes to find the right room, but when they do they find it's already got a few people sitting inside with their backs facing a wall.
As soon as Buffy's eyes have finished noting the people in the room, they flick around the walls and ceiling noting the crash and yoga mats, the stacked chairs in one corner, and all the egress points and possible hiding places, beyond the door they've just come in through and the fire exit.
At the far end of the room a man that's missing a foot says, "You're a bit young to be here ain't cha?"
Buffy looks the man in the eyes as she says, "It's not the age, it's the mileage."
The man snorts, "Ya got that right. Call me Dozer."
Vhesthine lets go of Buffy's arm as Buffy walks over to grab a yoga mat. While she's doing that, Vhesthine asks, "Name or Callsign?"
Dozer looks Vhesthine up and down, "I guess you're the newbie then. We tend to use callsigns here, it helps with talking about shit."
Vhesthine shakes her head and points to Buffy, "Not me, I'm just the girlfriend. BunnyGirl is the vet, I'm just here to make sure she doesn't kill anyone."
Dozer nods and looks at Buffy, "Where you with the local lot a few years ago?"
Buffy unrolls her mat and nods, "I was, though I didn't stop when they were disbanded."
Dozer winces and another man walks in to the room and looks around, "Hey Dozer, is Mercury coming?"
Dozer shakes his head, "Not this week, he's got an appointment for his hand." He looks over at Vhesthine, "Sorry Miss, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave as I'm about to start the session."
Buffy tenses up as Vhesthine nods, "Ok, I'll be right outside if you need me BunnyGirl."
As the new arrival looks at Buffy he sneers, "Are we really baby sitting now? Jeez Dozer, you'd have thought they'd have sent kids that young to kindergarten."
"Maverick!" Dozer barks, "This is your only reminder that this is a mutual support group, if you can't get that through the shit you call a brain you'll be banned from this support group."
"But Dozer…"
"But nothing, Maverick, BunnyGirl signed up voluntarily, which is more than I can say of you. Or do you really want to go to the Oregon retreat?"
Maverick slumps, "Really, you're going to pull that card?"
Dozer nods, "Damn straight I am, I'd rather have her here now than later when it's court mandated. Now grab a seat or get out." Dozer looks at Buffy, "Sorry about that BunnyGirl."
Buffy nods, "It's fine, I'm only here because I promised Vhe…"
Dozer holds up his hand, "Let me stop you there. No real names in this room. I've got your details in my office same as I've got the details of the others. Though there's more black on your records than I'm used to." Maverick stiffens in surprise as he's picking up a chair, "However, everyone in this room has the clearance to hear 'fictionalised' accounts of what you've been through. By which I mean made up names, places, and absolutely no dates what so ever. Now I know you saw one of the regular psych's yesterday, but later in the session we'll be doing a brief introduction along with why we're all here. First though we usually have a recap of how we've been doing since last week."
Buffy tenses again as Maverick carries his chair past her before sitting with a clear view of everyone else, "Um, sure, I've never done this before."
Dozer nods, "I'm not surprised. Anyway, I'll start next will be Nobody, then Minute - pronounced both ways, and finally Maverick." He indicates the two men that are between him and Buffy, before pointing at Maverick.
After each man either nods or waves when uses their call sign, Dozer continues, "I had a good week this week, I only had one flashback and that was at the beach with my kid. I also managed two nights sleep without drinking."
Nobody nods as his voice comes out in a rasping tone, as though he doesn't get much practice speaking, "I was able to sit on a park bench for an hour on Saturday. I even said hi to the old lady that sat down on the other end of the bench."
Dozer smiles, "Well done, that's great progress. Minute?"
Minute sits there for a long time before softly saying, "I went to a 7/11 with one of the nurses and bought some snacks without hurting any civilians."
Dozer nods, "How did you feel after that?"
Minute looks down, "Relieved."
"That's good. Maverick?"
Maverick crosses his arms, "You already know how my week went."
Dozer shakes his head, "No I don't, and you already know that. I know some of what happened."
Maverick throws his hands in the air, "Fine, I broke the arm of one of the security guys after he went for his gun and then I was sedated, Happy?"
Dozer looks at Maverick levelly, "Maverick, this is about what you achieved last week, not about how you failed."
Maverick slumps down, "Fine, I only broke the guys arm, I was pulling back when they sedated me."
Dozer nods, "Better, but I'd rather you focused more on the things you did well rather than where you felt like you failed."
At the brief pause, Buffy speaks up, "Does buying a burger at peak time without any of my friends around count?"
As Maverick starts to splutter, Dozer nods, "For you, yes it would. But as you didn't have any goals to work on it doesn't count this week. As we have a new member, we're going to have an introduction round. When it's your turn I want you to start with your callsign, then give a 30 second description of the operation you're most proud of, followed by the operation you're least proud of. If you feel up to it after that, you can give a brief description of why you're here. Again, I'll start."
"I'm Dozer, and my proudest moment is when I assassinated a warlord and found 20 living children in their basement. My least proud moment is where I rigged a bomb in a gang vehicle, only to find out they were using a school as their base. I'm here because I'm the group leader, and I've been in your shoes."
Nobody sighs, "I'm Nobody and my proudest moment was preventing a foreign agent from reaching a defector. My least proud moment was the same mission as I accidentally killed the defector when they tried to hug me once we reached the USA. I'm here because I'm afraid that I'll do that again."
Buffy winces as Minute speaks up, "I'm Minute, and my proudest moment was bringing a terrorist cell that targeted girls schools to justice. My least proud moment is when I failed to spot a suicide bomber before they got into a mall. I'm here because I have PTSD and I'm not safe to be amongst civilians."
Buffy looks at the floor, after a moment she decides not to change the names of Orokin system stuff as if they recognise it, it means she's not alone. Looking back up at the group she says, "I'm BunnyGirl, and I guess my proudest moment is the first time I successfully acted as both bait and containment on an infested Corpus ship. My… faction was able to save 15 people who weren't infected. I guess my least proud moment is when I infiltrated a Grineer science installation and destroyed research that could have saved billions of lives, and assassinated the lead scientist." She grimaces, "I'm here because I can't handle being around more than a few strangers at a time. I've been told I probably have PTSD."
Maverick shouts, "Bullshit, there's no way you could have done that without us knowing about it."
In a firm voice Dozer says, "Maverick, I have one word for you. Initiative."
Maverick slumps back in his chair, "Really? You had to go there?"
"It's your turn Maverick."
In a small voice, Maverick says, "I'm Maverick, and my proudest moment is when I joined the army, it's all downhill from there. My least proud moment was slaughtering a group of kids while pumped up on whatever shit the eggheads gave me. I'd rather not go into why I'm here, but I will say that it's to do with that shit."
Dozer nods, "Ok everyone, grab a crashmat as it's time to burn off some energy before we do some control training with the pads. BunnyGirl, everyone in this group has been so highly trained that the wrong sort of contact can have lethal results. So the middle half an hour of the session is all about learning how to bring your trained reactions under control. In the last half an hour we'll be talking about techniques we can use to prevent us from falling into a flashback and ways of dealing with our anxiety."
Buffy nods as she walks over to grab a crashmat. Just after she's grabbed one, someone touches her elbow from behind, and the next thing she knows there's a series of loud cracks and she's broken Maverick's wrist and four of his ribs with the follow up kick.
Quickly letting go of the wrist, she scoots to one side and activates squad healing, "Um, sorry, I can fix that."
As she says that, Dozer finishes crossing the room to the fire exit, and lifts a flap to press an button. Seconds later the half a dozen orderlies push their way into the room with padded shields and medical gear.


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Roselyn gingerly props herself up on an elbow as Tazin lies back on his pillow with a satisfied grin on his face. As she does, she thinks back to the brief conversation she had with Dawn at Buffy's birthday party.
Swallowing hard, she licks her lips before saying, "Tazin."
Tazin smiles at Roselyn, "Yes dear?"
"Um, do you remember I got home very early the other week?"
Tazin nods, "I do, I'm glad you know me so well."
"Well, just before I left work, I asked Razial if I could learn magic."
Tazin chuckles, "I bet the answer was no."
Roselyn nods, "Right. But he also offered to turn me into a succubus if I signed a contract to continue doing what I do now, for the next 50 years."
Tazin tries to look angry, "Are you saying you're breaking up with me?"
Roselyn shakes her head vehemently and pushes herself painfully to lay on his chest, "No, not at all. I love you. I asked if he could change you too, and he said he could for an additional 25 years." Putting a finger to Tazin's lips she continues, "Tazin, I asked because I love you. We both know that one of them is going to catch your scent at some point, and no matter how much we run, eventually we're going to run out of luck. I, just think that an uncertain life together is better than an uncertain death together. You've also seen Buffy and Vhesthine together, do they really look like the sort of thing everyone says they are?"
Tazin shakes his head, "Buffy's the Slayer."
Roselyn shakes her head, "I've managed to talk to Dawn a few times since then, and she says that succubi are monogamous, but only with other succubi." She swallows hard, "It would be a big change, but I'd do it for you. I… Just think about it, please."
Tazin lets his head sink into the pillow with a sigh, "Why did you take so long to tell me?"
Roselyn looks uncomfortable as she says, "Honestly, because the idea scares me. I mean, I love you, and adapting to your needs was hard. But I'm still human, but…"
Tazin pulls Roselyn in closer and kisses her on the forehead, "I have to admit that I never believed I'd ever live this long, or be able to experience love."
Roselyn nods, "I bet humanity surprised you too."
Tazin shakes his head, "Not at all, as all I knew was that humanity wasn't my own people."
 
Episode 14 - part 3
Chapter One Episode 14 - part 3

"Halfrek, please turn me back."
Halfrek snorts at the pleading Anya, "Anya, you know the rules. Probably better than I do, given all the paperwork you had to fill out."
"Oh, come on, please. Do you have any idea how mortifying it is that I can only get off when Buffy or Vhesthine are feeding me?"
Halfrek's eyes sparkle with suppressed mirth, "Then maybe you should be a better student. I know I'm learning a lot about succubi from this."
Anya stamps her foot and freezes as the bell to the shop tinkles and a group of young men walk in. A moment later Anya twitches as a decadent smell starts to reach her nose, making her start to feel warm. As she looks up, she watches as the men are looking at some of the fertility statutes, and occasionally one or other of them glance over in her direction.
A few minutes later, Anya finds herself unbuttoning the top button of her blouse in an attempt to help with how hot she's feeling. It is with some alarm that Anya realises that by doing that, the absolutely delectable smell in the store has just increased in intensity, as though she's just opened the oven with a fresh baked loaf of bread, or a perfectly done chicken, in it.
Glancing at the clock, she tries to casually pick up the phone and dial Buffy's house, but succeeds in only fumbling the handset once as she dials.
When Vhesthine answers the phone, Anya almost puts the phone down there and then, only for a rush of heat to pool down below. Cupping her hand over the mouth piece, Anya softly pants, "Vhesthine… I need help. There are some men in the store and…"
Anya can hear the change in the silence on the other end shift from hostile to understanding. After a long couple of seconds Vhesthine says, "I'll be there I a few minutes. Don't go anywhere alone with any of them until I arrive."
Anya licks her lips as one of the men struts over to the counter, "Um, I'll try."
As she hangs up, the guy looks her up and down as he undresses her with his eyes. Putting one of the green jade fertility statutes on the counter he says, "Afternoon. You wouldn't happen to have one of these in blue or purple jade would you?"
Anya glances at the door to the basement before pulling her eyes down to the stock book, "Um, let me check if," as her stomach rumbles she turns to one side and leans down to pull the book out, "if we, that is they specifically came in different colours."
Across the counter the man leans on the counter to the sound of wolf whistles from his friends.
As she's standing up, the sparkle of her engagement ring catches Anya's eye and she swallows hard as her hunger wars with her preconceptions and rising hunger. Settling on a middle ground, Anya ends up making sure that her engagement ring is prominently displayed on the book as she makes a show of looking through the book for the shipment of statues.
While she's sliding her ring finger down the itemised list of deliveries, the man on the counter smiles at her, "Hey, do you fancy getting a drink after this?"
Anya shakes her head reluctantly, "No, sorry, my boyfriend is picking me up when I close up here."
The man gently runs a single finger across the back of Anya's hand, "Come on, you could close up early and we could have a little fun with plenty of time for you to get back."
Anya shakes her head and, with a herculean effort, ignores her desire to say yes or take him downstairs, "No, thank you."
As she's starting to run out of book to look through, as well as willpower, the bell to the door rings and Anya glances up to see the short Chinese woman that is Vhesthine walk in. As Vhesthine sniffs and shakes her head, Anya mutters "Thank the goddess." More loudly she calls out, "Vhesthine, sorry about this, would you mind looking after the counter while I check the store room."
Vhesthine pauses mid-step for a moment, before she nods and confidently walks over to the counter. Once she's on the same side as Anya, she pulls the younger girl into a hug and mutters, "Of course I can, take your time and I'll see what I can do to clear the air."
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As Anya runs for the door, Vhesthine smiles at the young man at the counter, "I'm sorry for the delay sir, we weren't expecting a rush today. While Anya is checking the stock is there anything else I can help you with?"
The man just looks her up and down, "Do you have any information on fertility rituals?"
Vhesthine glances at the door briefly before looking back at the man, "Hmm, you could try The Rites of Eleusis by Aleister Crowley, specifically the Venus rite."
Grabbing a pad of paper she spells out a name in block capitals, both in full and phonetically, "In act 3, if you replace the name Hathor with this name you will get everything you could possibly have asked for."
The man glances at the name for a moment, "Do you know which book I can find the rite in?"
Vhesthine smiles, "The Rites of Eleusis by Aleister Crowley, it should be on the shelves."
One of the man's friends quickly finds the book and brings it over to the counter while flicking through it. With a glance up and down Vhesthine's body, the new man pauses at the rite, "What do we do if we don't have a Venus?"
Vhesthine waves her hand, "Oh, don't worry about that. Just leave the throne empty and your Venus will arrive. That will be $123.99."
The man gasps and looks at the back of the book, "Hey! The ticket says it's only $50, what gives?"
Vhesthine gives one of her business smiles, "The rest is for the name. Unless of course you just want to recite a play for the masses." A movement almost faster than the eye can see, has the piece of paper back in her hands.
The group of men all chat together for a moment before pulling out money together. With a smile, Vhesthine rings up the total and writes out a different name on another note, "Here you go gentlemen. Remember, if you treat your Venus right, she'll treat you right…"
With plenty of back slapping, the men all leave the shop with the book and the note.
From the reading table, Halfrek smirks, "That was positively evil."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Not at all. Evil would have been ensnaring them all and taking them down into the basement to be devoured by myself and Anya. This is giving them enough rope to hang themselves with. Now, before I go and speak with Anya, I'm going to give you a single warning. With the state that Anya's in, I'm going to have to involve Buffy in her role as the Slayer."
As Vhesthine is opening the door, Halfrek says, "I only granted a wish."
Vhesthine arches an eyebrow, "And what was the wish?"
Halfrek shrugs, "'I just wish Anya knew what it was like to be a succubus.' I didn't even have to screw with it, as it wrote itself."
Vhesthine sighs, "Just, keep an eye on the store while I look after Anya."
As Vhesthine slips through the door, Halfrek sighs and slumps around to the staff side of the counter.
As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, the sound of crying reaches Vhesthine's ears. With a sigh she allows her human form to fade away. Eventually she finds Anya sitting on a crate with a box of tissues next to her.
For several seconds Vhesthine watches the young succubus and how much she's struggling with what just happened. For a moment she pictures Dawn or Elaena facing the same group of men in a few short years time.
"Have you come to gloat?" Anya's upset voice jolts Vhesthine out of her thoughts.
Vhesthine shakes her head as she sits on the crate on the other side of the tissue box and wraps a wing around Anya, "Not at all. I was just picturing Dawn and Elaena in your position. It's not your fault you know. What happened upstairs that is. I could smell the trail of lust when I was walking to the shop. I think they came from the arcade."
Anya shakes her head, "I'm turning into a sex starved nymphomaniac."
Vhesthine sighs, "Anya, you seem to be doing your best to push me away from you while I'm trying to help. I know there's a lot of self loathing in there, but you're not a nymphomanic, or sex starved. What you are is a young succubus who doesn't even know the basics of how to feed, let alone hunt or survive. You're also not even a person that I would have ever pegged as a prospective, as you're innocent in all the wrong ways."
Anya asks with some heat in her voice, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I know you've picked Dawn up from school before, so some homework for you. What do you think of the girls that wear short skirts and tube tops? Also what do you think of prostitutes? Once you've answered that, you'll need to start thinking about why you think like that. Give it to me on two sides of letter paper. After that I'll have Suzy talk to you. Thinking about it, maybe you should give Suzy a job here as she'd have been able to deal with those men before you used most of the essence I fed you earlier."
Anya looks at Vhesthine speechlessly, so Vhesthine pulls her into a close contact hug, "Anya, they are our prey and your body already knows that. The fact I could still smell the trail of lust outside tells me that they were already looking for someone young and pretty. If you were an experienced succubus then the five of them would have been no trouble to handle, but you can't even feel your own essence yet, let alone control it. If you'd been alone in the shop, or you'd gone downstairs alone, it's likely that one of them would have followed you. You'd have fed and killed them, and then the other four would have killed you. Quite possibly after raping you, and yes we can be raped, as rape isn't about sex, it's about power. In that respect you did exactly the right thing in not giving in to your instincts."
Anya shakes her head in disbelief, "What? You're praising me for not being a slut?"
Vhesthine sighs, "I wish you wouldn't use that word for us, as we're certainly not sluts. Is a lion a slut for going after antelope? No, neither are we for going after men and the occasional woman. If you were a prospective, then I'd be grooming you in how to present yourself, some of the minor spells that succubus use, and also tainting you with the magic of our realm in the hells. Once you were far enough along, I'd start feeding you essence the way I'm feeding Dawn and you'd eventually get to the point where you can feed yourself. As part of that you'd start to get younger, though that only really applies to the older humans, as we naturally live for almost 1,000 years. Eventually, the taint from my hell would be great enough that you'd change into a succubus or die. By that point you would already know the awkward basics."
Anya weakly leans into Vhesthine's side, "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you need to know if you're going to understand what it's like to be a succubus. That's what the wording of the wish was, and you're never going to understand with the way we were going about things. That, and Buffy has been a bad influence on me."
"Bad influence how?"
Bluntly Vhesthine says, "You're still alive, same as Elaena is still alive despite being beyond what even a full tribe would have been able to easily save. We are nearly the weakest of all the sentient demons that exist. Some of the animalistic demons like the Shark demon that was after Spike, are weaker over all, but physically they're still stronger than we are. The only advantage we have is in our magic, and that's something most succubi on our home plane never have the chance to learn. If I hadn't found my life partner in Buffy, then I'd have killed both of you out of hand because you're a liability. Either because you'd draw in hunters, or worse, because you'd attract incubus."
Anya shakes her head, "Aren't incubus just male succubus?"
Vhesthine shakes her head and spits, "Incubus," before carrying on, "are a parasitic species of demon. They feed more or less the same way we do, however where we live in families and communes, they capture a single succubus and forcibly starve and drain them until they are weak enough that they can't resist being impregnated. Suffice to say that the child ends up killing the succubus. The important part is how they find a succubus, and that is by constantly letting out low levels of lust like a pheromone to us. An untrained, or weak, succubus will automatically respond to that by releasing some of our essence. We do this to make it easier to entice prey and make it easier to feed. That's what you were doing upstairs. I've had to start both Dawn and Elaena on the exercises they need in order to learn how to control their own reflexive use of essence, as we know of at least one incubus that knows we exist. You may have heard of Rack."
Anya frowns, "Isn't that the black magic dealer that Willow went to?"
Vhesthine nods, "Though it's more like she was taken to him, rather than going willingly knowing what he was." Carefully picking up a tissue, she wipes Anya's eyes, "Are you feeling better now?"
Anya gives a series of small nods, "I think so."
Vhesthine gives Anya a kiss on her forehead, "Then, if you'll accept me, I'll be your matriarch while you're a succubus. A matriarch is the head of a group of families, and a group of those is called a commune. If you accept me as your matriarch then I'll be responsible for teaching you the ins and outs of our commune and the skills you need to survive."
Anya shakes her head, "I can't do this. All I wanted to do was pull that guy down here and… I don't even know what I wanted to do to him."
"That's what I'd be here for, to teach you and explain what you're feeling. Pretty much what I've been doing already, but less grudgingly and more proactively. Essentially, you'd become part of my extended family if you accept."
Anya barks a laugh, "God, what a choice. Eventually go insane and become everything I hated, before being killed. Or embrace it, and what? I don't know if I ever told you, but I was once the vengeance demon of scorned women. Now look at me."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Even more reason to learn how to be a succubus. We're living in the mortal world, not in my home plane. Here we can afford to be choosy about who we hunt, and once you've learnt to control your own essence, and not let it spread out unconsciously, you'll be able to pick your prey and avoid people that are in relationships. Which reminds me, before we go upstairs I can give you a little essence now, but not enough for a full feeding, or even to replace what you lost."
Anya hangs her head as her body flushes with heat at the idea of being fed. "Goddess, this is worse than becoming human was."
Vhesthine pulls Anya in tighter, "Anya, were you ever human before?"
Anya nods, "I was human before I cursed my oaf of a husband."
"Then that's why. You're no longer at all human. You're close enough for humans to adapt fairly easily. But our needs and instincts aren't human needs and instincts."
Anya blows her nose one last time, "I'm going to have to accept you as my matriarch aren't I."
Vhesthine shrugs, "You don't have to, but it would make our lives much easier."
Anya sags, "I accept then."
Vhesthine smiles and tips Anya's head up so that she can feed her some essence. Once she's finished, she smiles, "Then the first thing you should do is phone Xander and tell him you're going to be late home. If you're starting to unconsciously let out your essence around humans, then he's going to be in danger with how hungry you are."
Anya looks askance at Vhesthine, "What?"
"Anya, I can feel how hungry you are. If you kissed him then there's a chance you could just drain him of essence right there. If he's strong enough to resist you, then there's a risk that you'll kill yourself trying to make him give it up. On the other hand, you can come to the office tonight and help Dawn and Elaena with stuff before we drop them at home after work. Then we'll go and meet up with Buffy on the northern leg of her patrol. At which point she'll let a vamp drain her, and I can start teaching you how to hunt." Vhesthine raises a finger, "No sex needed at this point, I'll make sure they're ready for you to feed. Sex isn't needed in order to feed, as I believe I've mentioned before. Just that they are in a moment of euphoric release. Sex is just the most reliable method of achieving that for human men. Come on, I need to get the kids from school and you need to take over from Halfrek. Oh, and I'm going to tell Buffy the wording of the wish and who granted it."
Anya shakes her head, "No, don't. Halfrek's a friend, and she… there are rules."
"Anya, that doesn't matter. Halfrek was given a pamphlet at Buffy's birthday party, but she hasn't come to us to let us know what she did, and that has led directly to the harm you've been suffering since then."
Bitterly, Anya says, "How would knowing that have changed anything?"
Gently, Vhesthine explains, "To start with, I'd have reacted with less hostility when you both came to me for help. I'd have also started out with explaining how mortals can become succubi, along with more history on our culture and why we do some of the things we do."
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Tara wakes up from a dream of her other self with a scream. Beside her Willow pushes herself into a sitting position and looks around for any threats.
A moment later Buffy and Vhesthine have both pushed through the door as Tara starts to calm down.
Willow is the first one to ask, "Tara, what happened?"
Tara puts her hand to her chest, "I just met Buffy, and she was young. Like Elaena's age young."
Willow shakes her head, "You mean you were dreaming of Buffy?"
Buffy chuckles, "No, she means she met me. The younger me that fell into the void portal. Have I ever mentioned that Eternalism sucks?"
 
Episode 14 - part 4
Episode 14 - part 4

Buffy's sitting at a paper strewn desk she's co-opted at the back of the workshop. In front of her is a 1/4 inch thick steel toroid mounted on a hand cranked spindle. From the inside of the metal stretches a long enamelled copper wire that passes in front of the faintly glowing surface of her emitter.
Making one last fraction of a turn, Buffy carefully moves the emitter to the top edge of the toroid where the other end of the wire is sticking out. Then she move it away and touches a button on a naked circuit board, before very carefully moving the emitter to touch the toroid a couple of degrees around the toroid from where the wire is sticking out. That done she gives the toroid a sharp twist so that the wire now pokes perpendicular to the surface of the toroid of metal and copper exactly 1/4 of an inch away from the lead in wire.
With her other hand she unmounts the emitter and waves it over the point the wire is joined to the steel. Then, much more casually, she increases the intensity of the emitter and runs it over the entire surface of the toroid.
Taking some wire cutters, she trims off the copper wire to leave six inches of slack, and carefully scrapes the enamel off of both ends. Attaching an ohm meter to the exposed ends, she compares the resistance to her notes before jumping up from the desk. "Mercury's mines I've done it!"
Joe, one of the day workers, looks over from the lathe he's prepping, "What have you done lass?"
Brandishing the toroid like a crucifix, Buffy turns to face Joe, "I've finished my first focusing coil. Well, hopefully anyway. It's the first one that is returning the right resistance."
Joe shakes his head and returns to his work. With a sigh, Buffy puts the coil on the desk before going to find some UV epoxy.
Almost an hour later, and three attempts at centring the emitter inside the coil so that the crystal is not only just the right distance ahead of the coil, but also within tolerances of dead centre of the middle of the toroid.
With a smile, she wires the coil up directly to the mains side of the power supply she's using, and mounts the entire assembly onto a lighting clamp. Flicking the power sees the emitter light up with a cone of light that extends to a point nearly an inch long, rather than the defuse area it used to be.
After making a couple of adjustments to the circuit board, Buffy smiles as she takes a sheet of paper and moves it to the point of the cone until it starts to become invisible. Pulling the paper away, she pulls out a pair of precision calipers and measures the size of the hole.
"1/8th of an inch. Not bad for a hand wound coil."
After turning up the output on the emitter, and running the test with the paper once more, Buffy frowns, "Damn, 1/4 inch at two inches long. I'm going to have to make a second toroid by hand, aren't I."
From a safe distance behind her, a man's voice says, "Millie told me you've achieved something. How's it going?"
Buffy turns her chair round, "Oh, hey Mike. I've finished my first focusing coil. This one makes it safe to turn the emitter up to higher power levels."
Mike looks at the steel toroid curiously, "So, why couldn't you just use an off the shelf copper coil?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure, but this is the way I was taught to make them. Something to do with the way the magnetic fields behave when the coil is embedded in steel compared to if there's an airgap or any air bubbles at all really. There might have also been something about the way that the copper and steel intersect because of the construction method allowing it to affect the physical effect produced by the emitter. We only studied this for a few weeks as a practical part of our history lessons. After that, well I wasn't exactly given a choice about what to do after that, and once I did have a choice most Orokin knowledge was lost to the annals of time."
Mike nods thoughtfully before saying, "I know you've still got an hour before your shift, but could you meet me in my office, and bring your stuff."
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Buffy frown deepens when she opens the door to the managers office and spots both Mike and Razial waiting for her.
At the sound of the door clicking closed behind her Mike looks up and beckons her over. "Buffy, take a seat."
Curiously, Buffy sits down and her eyes widen in surprise as she spots the gem that used to sit on top of the original phase beam generator. "Um, you wanted to see me?"
Razial indicates towards Mike with a hand, who nods, "Yes. Now you've finished making something with your emitter, Razial and I have a proposition for you. You are probably unaware of this, but there is a reward out for the return of this stone. A quite substantial reward, but nothing life changing if you were to cash it in yourself. Before we get into the idea, I'd first like to ask you a few questions about how your emitter works in it's current setup, is that ok?"
Buffy shrugs and nods, "Sure?"
Mike nods, "From what we've seen with your previous attempts at making the coil, at the end you just wave the emitter over the whole thing at the end. Why is that?"
"Oh, um, that's to set the dimensional resonance to the current dimension. It has to be done, otherwise there's a risk of the components drifting out of sync orthogonal to the current dimension and breaking down into energy, in the form of electromagnetic radiation."
Mike nods, "Ok, so if I remember your explanation correctly, the way your finished machine would work is by using multiple emitters to precisely change the, dimensional shift, by 45 degrees opposite to each other? Meaning that the two parts would become permeable to each other?"
Buffy nods, "It's what I was doing manually with just the emitter."
"Is that still true now?"
"It is, though with the first toroid finished the emitter is now safe at higher wattages. As the toroid will ensure that the effect is pointed in a cone away from the toroid. Though I'd need to do some tests to see how much power the emitter can take before it starts widening again. But at the moment, at it's activation wattage, it produces a cone that's one inch long and 1/8th of an inch in diameter at the edge of the effect, increasing the power so that it's two inches long produces a 1/4 inch diameter effect. Given that the emitter itself is 3/8ths of an inch in diameter that's not very good."
Mike shakes his head, "That's where you're wrong. If the length of the effect is constant and we attach this to a lathe or a mill, then you've just revolutionised subtractive manufacturing. Especially if you can remove the taper so that it is a parallel beam. I'm making an assumption here, as I'm assuming that you can set one depth to one orientation and another to the opposite orientation. Hell, that's just off the top of our heads for things that would save us hundreds of man hours a year. If you could make it a variable diameter beam rather than a cone, then it would do the job of a press drill. Even better, it would be safer for everyone as lumps of metal are easier to deal with than shavings."
Razial takes over, "Our proposal is quite simple. We would like to use the reward from returning this gem as your contribution to a new research company. Mike and I would contribute an equal amount to startup of the company. The first thing the company would do is patent your emitter, the coils, and then the finished single stage device. Those things would all be done in your personal name, and any licensing deals would see you paid 1% of the sale price of every device sold once you've got something that is polished. The remaining startup money would be used to rent out the empty unit next door where you'll be able to work on your own things as well as working out how to make the devices that Mike just outlined.
"Once the company gets enough money built up, we'll buy an industrial robot and have you build an attachment for it, unless someone else does that first. Our initial business plan puts us at being able to hire dedicated scientists after 3 years, and in house manufacturing in 5."
Buffy looks shocked, "Um, can I think about this, as it's sort of sudden. I mean, I just wanted to be able to make some things from home."
Mike nods, "Take your time, the offer isn't going away any time soon. I'll put your stuff in the safe."
Buffy nods and stumbles out of the office, before collapsing on one of the chairs in the reception.
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Vhestine smiles as the doorbell goes, "I'll get it."
Buffy looks up from the couch where Dawn and Elaena are both cuddled in beside her while they watch Sunday afternoon cartoons. "Are we expecting anyone?"
Vhestine just saunters towards the door, her smile widening at the increased smell of lust from Buffy as her hips sway.
As she opens the door she smiles widely at Anya and Xander, "Come in, you're a little early so I hope you don't mind watching some cartoons."
Xander shrugs, "Not like I don't watch them at home."
Anya looks uncomfortable as she asks, "Are we expecting anyone else?"
Vhestine nods as she closes the door behind them, "Suzie will be here soon."
From the couch, Buffy asks, "What's going on?"
"We're having a long overdue talk about succubus reproduction and how it differs from human reproduction."
Buffy blanches, "Right, well I'll leave you to it then."
Vhestine smiles and saunters over to the couch before sitting in Buffy's lap, "Oh no you don't. We are mated remember, and you need to know about this just in case."
Buffy gives Vhesthine a quick exchange, "Just in case?"
"We want to have children one day."
Dawn covers her ears, "I don't want to know this, la la la la la."
Anya leans up to kiss Xander, "I don't know, I think babies would be nice. Once we're both ready for them." As Xander starts to look skittish, she adds, "Xander honey, we are taking things at your pace remember."
Buffy tickles Dawn in the side with one finger as she asks, "Have you been able to get past your intimacy problems yet?"
Anya purrs, "Oh yes, my big strong Thricewise really knows how to make me work for it."
"How about you Xander, how are you dealing with the fact Anya's going to have to practice hunting soon?"
Xander loses control of his human form and possessively pulls Anya closer to him with his tentacles. "Anya is mine."
Vhesthine and Buffy share a glance, and Vhesthine asks, "Xander, is your species monogamous?"
Xander nods, "We are."
"And are you mated?" Xander nods, "Well, remember, Succubus are also monogamous. But we don't reproduce the same way you do. If you don't want her to starve if she remains a succubus once she really understands what it means to be a succubus, then you need to understand that. That's why you're here after all. To understand how we reproduce."
Once Suzy's arrived with her baby, Vhesthine turns off the TV and grabs a chair from the dining room. "I'm sure all of you are familiar with the mechanics of human pregnancy, even if only in a technical sense. In that respect, the same thing is true for Succubi, same as giving birth. How we become pregnant is very different from humans. To start with we don't have periods the way human women do. I don't know if we ovulate, as we don't exactly have the level of society to examine those things. However, where in humans it requires the male to climax. For Succubi it happens when our essence merges while we're sharing essence. It doesn't always happen, otherwise I'd be pregnant right now. But that the bare bones of it. What I want to teach you all is how to recognise the signs of merging, and how to avoid it. Like human climaxes, you won't be able to avoid it all the time, only abstaining from that level of sharing will do that. But you should be able to do it well enough that the risk of accidental pregnancy is low. Dawn, Elaena, this means you…"
 
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