Kiss of the Succubus Ch. 02

"No, Ellie last saw her around eight," Tracy said. "Three hours later she checked again and Catherine was gone."

"Let me in her room," Grace said.

Tracy unlocked Catherine's room and Grace went inside. An open pair of handcuffs lay on the floor, and the door showed no signs of forced entry. Grace checked the bars on the window. They remained solid and sturdy.

"Damn it, where the hell did she go?"

Grace hurried down the hallway. She passed by an officer guarding the door to the stairwell and headed up to the next floor.

"Grace!"

It was Joe's voice. Detective Pratt hurried up the stairs.

"How'd I know you'd get here first?" Joe asked sardonically.

"I think she's still in the building," Grace said.

"Did you check the-"

Joe was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. The detectives hurried up the stairs, with their guns drawn and ready. They found George Buttrey lying on the landing to the next floor- in a puddle of his own blood. Grace gasped when she saw one of his eyes hanging from its socket. His other eye lay on the floor.

"THAT BITCH! THAT BITCH SCRATCHED OUT MY EYES!" George screamed.

Grace's jaw dropped open, and she covered her open mouth with her hand.

"Whe- where did she go?" Grace said, stammering.

"I DIDN'T FUCKING SEE HER, YOU CUNT!" George screamed. He writhed around, soaking his scrubs in blood and clutching his bloody eye sockets with his hands.

Joe took out his phone.

"We need an ambulance! Tell them to get up here to the fifth floor, now!"

"She can't have gone far! Stay here with him," Grace said.

George screamed and wailed, as he writhed around on the blood-soaked floor.

Grace hurried up the stairs. It seemed counter-intuitive for Catherine to go upstairs rather than down, but she did want to avoid the police. Grace spotted a drop of blood on the next landing and knew Catherine was not far off.

Grace arrived at the top floor, and stopped. Following a hunch, Grace went through a door marked "roof access." She was hit by a gust of cool winter air as she stepped outside. The door slammed behind her, leaving her in near darkness apart from the moonlight.

She spotted something lying nearby. It looked to be a gold chain, lying across from the doorway. Grace ignored it and continued searching the rooftop, sensing what she was searching for was nearby.

Grace almost didn't recognize her. Her hair, which had been mostly black just a few months before, was ghost white. Her powerful stature had diminished into an exhausted slump. She stood at the ledge, staring at the flashing sirens below.

"Stop right there, Catherine!" Grace shouted. She trained her Glock on the withered old woman; ready to fire the second Catherine gave her an excuse.

Catherine slowly turned to face the detective. Grace gasped when saw the toll her time in Havenswood had taken. Varicose veins snaked up her legs, which were barely covered by the flimsy gown the facility provided her. Her hands were little more than skin and bones. Wrinkles lined her face, disclosing her advanced age for the first time in decades.

"She wasn't a virgin," Catherine said, shaking her head. "It has to be virgin blood. Or it won't work. That damn whore lied to me!"

"Move away from the ledge, Catherine!" Grace commanded.

"Or what?" Catherine asked.

Grace paused, realizing Catherine had the upper hand, however insignificant it was. Catherine simply breathed in the cool air.

"He's going to find you, you know," Catherine said. "Lukas likes his privacy. If you keep coming after him, he's going to come after you."

"Unless I find him first," Grace said firmly.

Catherine gave just a hint of a chuckle.

"You might. But it will cost you everything," Catherine said, knowingly. "Your career. Your marriage. Your home. Even your daughters."

Grace arched her eyebrow.

"My daughters?" Grace asked, curiously.

"Yes. Kayla, and the one inside of you right now."

Grace backed away a step.

"I'm not pregnant," Grace said.

"You're not far along," Catherine said. "But you are. And if you care about your childrens' lives, you'll leave Luke alone."

"Not a chance," Grace said. Catherine smirked, almost as if she'd been hoping Grace would ignore her warning.

"DON'T MOVE!" Joe shouted. He hurried across the rooftop and stopped next to Grace, training his gun on Catherine. His arrival didn't alarm Catherine in the slightest.

"Well detectives, I think it's time I said farewell," Catherine said mournfully, turning to face the ledge. She raised her arms like wings; with George's blood still dripping from her fingernails. "I do hope you'll consider my warning, Harker?"

"DO NOT JUMP!" Grace screamed. "DO NOT JU-"

Catherine closed her eyes, and let her body gently fall forward. Grace and Joe rushed to the ledge. Catherine was already on the pavement by the time they saw her. She lay lifelessly on the walkway as a pool of blood grew around her.

"Damn it! You okay?" Joe asked.

"Yeah," Grace said, holstering her weapon. Joe hurried downstairs, and Grace followed.

She reached the roof access door, and stopped. Lying in front of the door was the gold chain she'd noticed before. Curious, she picked it up. She could see a brass key attached to the chain, with the emblem of a skull on the handle. Grace stuffed the key in her pocket to log into evidence.

Catherine was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:12am. Grace sighed and slumped to the ground as she watched the paramedics drape a cloth over Catherine's body.

Joe leaned against the wall next to where Grace sat. He popped a cigarette in his mouth and lit the end.

"Hell of a way to close a case, huh?" Joe asked. The paramedics slammed the ambulance doors shut.

"I could think of worse ways," Grace said.

* * * * *

Grace arrived home hours later. She crept into the house quietly to avoid waking her family. She could hear Ted snoring peacefully in the master bedroom, so she let herself into the bathroom and softly shut the door.

As Grace emptied her pockets onto the bathroom counter, she realized she still had the brass key she picked up from the hospital rooftop. She'd completely forgotten to log that into evidence.

Cursing quietly, she vowed to turn it in the following day and pray the captain would be understanding.

Her encounter with Catherine had rattled her. Not just because she'd killed herself, but what she'd said to her before. Grace should have known better than to let Catherine get inside her head, but she made a stop at a 24-hour drug store to be certain.

Grace removed the pregnancy test from her shopping bag, which she'd hidden inside her jacket in case Ted was awake. She knew it was crazy. She knew there was no way, even if she was pregnant, that Catherine could accurately know that. But she also knew she'd been feeling ill lately, had cramps, a slight weight gain, and her period was overdue. All of those things could have been because of stress or lack of sleep, but there was no harm in testing.

Grace dropped her pants and sat on the toilet, and urinated onto the strip. She could feel her heart pounding; somehow she found herself dreading the result. When she finished, she tapped the strip onto the toilet seat, and waited patiently for the result. While she waited, she looked at the brass key that lay on the counter top. The red eyes stared back at her knowingly. The key looked old, expertly crafted, possibly a valuable antique- and it gave her the willies. Grace stuffed it into the top drawer and shut it tightly.

When five minutes had passed, Grace examined the strip. Negative. Grace let out a nervous chuckle and tossed the strip into the trash. She crumpled the box and decided to tell no one about this. She couldn't afford to appear unstable again. Not while she was on a case this important.

Content with the pregnancy test's answer, Grace stripped out of her clothes and turned on the shower. The ceiling lights flickered momentarily. Grace grabbed her silver wedding band and pulled it from her finger, and found it would not budge. She considered perhaps if her weight gain was to continue she would need to get it re-sized.

Deciding to leave the band on, Grace stepped into the shower and basked in the warm spray. The water washed across her body and soothed her nerves.

The lights flickered once again, and suddenly the room went dark.

"Damn it," Grace whispered, and wondered if she kept a spare flashlight in the cabinet. She was about to check when a candle resting on the bathroom shelf suddenly ignited. Grace looked around the room, confused. There was nothing that could have lit the candle, which now illuminated the room with a dim glow.

Grace.

Grace heard her name, not with her ears, but in her mind.

"Who's there?" Grace called out, her voice cracking.

All she could hear was the spray of water splashing into the tub. She grabbed the shower curtain nervously. She was nearly about to exit the tub when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

Grace squealed, and turned to face her intruder. There was a man, a naked man, standing in the shower with her. He stared at her and smiled wickedly.

There was no mistaking who this man was. Dark eyes, narrow brows, he was the same man Grace had been tracking and investigating for the past three months.

"Hello, Grace," Lukas said.

Grace felt her heart come to a standstill. Lukas stepped towards her. He did not flinch when the water sprayed him in the face. He stepped through the stream until he was mere inches away from her.

"Oh my-" Grace began, but was at a loss for words. This man was Lukas Balko, no doubt. But Lukas Balko was ninety-eight years old. The man standing before her looked exactly as Lukas did- in the 1940s.

He was strong, solid and muscular. His abs were toned and well defined. She could see a scar on his chest; it looked as though a crucifix had been branded onto his pectoral muscle. She didn't dare look down, but through the corner of her eye, in the dim light of the candle, she could see the silhouette of his penis, long and thick, hanging between his legs.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Grace," Lukas said.

"You're... you're-" It took a moment for Grace to register the magnitude of how much danger she was in. She opened her mouth to scream, but Lukas placed his finger to her lips.

"Shh. You don't want to wake your family. I didn't come here to hurt them."

Grace trembled.

"What- do you want from me?" she stammered.

Lukas chuckled.

"Grace. You know who I am. You know what I do."

He was right. She knew exactly why he was here. The images of Gabby Becket's and Riley Pierson's crime scene photos flashed in her mind. Their twisted, naked bodies sprawled across the floor. Brutal scratches in their skin. Semen leaking from their orifices. And their blood drained from their bodies.

Grace knew exactly why Lukas was here. He intended to rape and murder her, and leave her bloodless body for her husband to find.

"No! Please don't!" Grace cried, shaking. Years as a detective, and here she was reduced to a blubbering mess when actually confronted by a monster. She wondered if the coroner would know how frightened she was when he examined her corpse tomorrow.

"Grace. Please," Lukas said. "If you care for your family's lives, you'll remain quiet and obedient. And let me-" he placed his hands on Grace's hips, "-do what I do."

Grace's body trembled within Lukas' grasp.

"Do not worry," Lukas said. "They will sleep soundly, the best sleep they've ever had. And they will discover your body in the morning, when I'm long gone. This will happen, if you submit to me, and let me do what I do. Will you do that for me, Grace?"

Grace felt her heart race as she looked up to meet his gaze. He was strong, far too strong for her to overpower him. The autopsy photos of Gabby Becket and Riley Pierson flashed in her head once again. They were not weak women. Both were athletic, healthy and young, yet Lukas had raped and sodomized both women before he'd murdered them, and drained every drop of blood from their bodies. Now, he intended to do the same to her. And to protect her family, Grace was going to let him. She looked Lukas in the eye and nodded.

His penis swelled with excitement at this. He loved the complacent, submissive expression on a victim's face when she accepted her fate. It was almost as enjoyable as the act itself.

"Good. Now, on your knees," Lukas said.

Grace knelt down, bringing herself eye-level to Lukas' penis. It was large, much larger than her husband's was, and uncircumcised. She grabbed the penis, and marveled briefly at the size, before pressing the tip to her lips.

She sucked it, slowly but briefly, before Lukas spoke.

"All the way in, Grace."

Grace paused, tentatively, before sliding the erect member all the way into her mouth. She licked the head and sucked the shaft as she always did, but reluctantly, for the good of her family.

Lukas moaned, basking in the erotic touch of Grace's lips. Precum seeped from his penis and onto her tongue. It tasted like her father's semen, foul and rancid, but Grace continued on anyway. This wasn't the first time she had subjected herself to rape to protect a loved one, but at least it would be the last.

She sucked him for several long minutes. She hoped he would cum soon, and dreaded it just the same. Lukas then stopped her, and removed his swollen phallus from her mouth.

"Rise," he commanded.

Grace wiped her lips with the back of her hand, and rose to her feet to face her tormentor. He leaned in close to her, so she could feel his cold breath on her neck.

Surrender to me. Give me your soul. Give me everything.

Grace felt her body go limp. He grabbed her by the hip with one hand, and her shoulder with the other. He held her against the shower wall and stepped towards her.

Tears poured from her eyes as she felt Lukas move into her. He penetrated her vagina quickly and fully, leaving her gasping at the sudden violation of her body. He rubbed against her viciously, like a wild beast devouring its prey. Grace let out a cry of despair, which led Luke to silence her with a quick hand across her mouth.

"Quiet now, quiet now," Lukas whispered. "You must endure this. You'll be in Hell with the other girls soon enough."

He treated Grace to a vision. She could see dozens of naked women being consumed by fire. They screamed and wailed, writhing about on the burning ground, as fire licked their flesh and filled their bodies with eternal agony. She recognized Gabby, and Riley, and many, many others.

Soon, Grace, soon.

Lukas ended the vision, and brought Grace back to reality, the reality of being savagely raped. Grace sobbed, and begged for mercy. Her cries fell on deaf ears. Lukas was in full beast mode, devouring his prey and savoring her flavor. Grace could do nothing but endure it.

"Stop!" Grace begged. "Please stop, please!"

"Never," Lukas said with glee. He continued to thrust inside her, growing more and more excited the more Grace sobbed. She cried until she could cry no more. It was only after she went silent that Lukas finally withdrew, and stared at her hungrily.

"Turn around," he said.

Obediently, Grace did as he asked.

"Bend over."

Grace nodded. Not even her father had ever raped her this way, but with Lukas, Grace knew it was inevitable. She rested her forehead against the shower wall and stuck out her bottom for Lukas to claim.

It didn't hurt as much as she expected. He slid inside her with relative ease. But when he began to thrust, the discomfort was near unbearable. Grace squeezed her palms against the shower wall and prayed he would finish quickly.

Lukas grabbed Grace's hips, and massaged her buttocks as he rubbed his member between them. He could have ejaculated any time he wished, but held back. Her pitiful crying, her squirms of discomfort, all of it prolonged his enjoyment and intensified his pleasure. He wished he could do this to her forever. When he got her to Hell, he promised himself he would.

His excitement reached a crescendo, and he exploded inside her anus. Grace could feel his cool cream fill her rectum, and she let out a relieved sigh in the midst of her tears. Lukas withdrew his penis, letting some of his aftercum dribble down her thigh. Grace stood up, but felt Lukas' arms pull her towards him.

"It's time," Lukas said. Grace felt hope seep from her body, as Lukas placed his lips to her neck. "It's time to say goodbye to this world, Grace. You will be very useful to me in the next."

She tried to think. She tried to summon a way to fight him, or stop him, but she was empty-handed and in the beast's grasp, and she could not fathom a way out. Lukas sprouted a set of fangs, and Grace felt a shock wave through her heart. She struggled to escape her imminent doom, but Lukas held onto her firmly, and sank his fangs into her throat.

Grace went still. She could feel her blood leaving her body; she could feel Lukas sucking it from her, like a vortex absorbing her soul. Her strength diminished with every passing second, until she could no longer stand, but simply hang in Lukas' grasp.

Feeling as though she was not long for the world, Grace took a final gasp of air, and readied herself for death.

No, she decided.

Not yet.

With all of her might, she raised her arms. They felt like they were made of cinder blocks, but Grace lifted them up. She grabbed Lukas' arm with her right hand, and pulled with all of her remaining strength.

His arm did not budge. It was as if he was a statue and she were a flea, powerless to budge him. Grace pulled hard, but what remained of her strength gave out. The more blood of hers he drank, the stronger his grasp became. Grace grabbed him one last time, first with her right hand, then her left.

Her silver wedding band hissed as it touched Lukas' skin, and he let out an inhuman howl. He immediately released his grasp, dropping Grace into the tub. She used her limp arms to break her fall, but was too weak to pull herself up again. Reaching behind her, Grace grabbed Lukas' ankle, and he screamed again, and leaped from the tub.

"You little bitch!" Lukas hissed. He stared down at Grace threateningly, hunching like an animal.

Grace clutched her neck with her right hand, desperately trying to keep the remainder of her blood inside her, and grabbed the tub rim with her left. Lukas backed away when he saw the silver ring come near him.

"I'll tear off your hand!" Lukas cried, his voice hoarse and demonic.

The bathroom door burst open, and Ted Harker stood in the doorframe wielding Grace's Glock. His jaw dropped at the sight of the naked man in his bathroom with blood dripping from his lips, and of his wife with blood gushing from her throat.

Lukas hissed at Ted. Trembling, Ted aimed his gun, but did not fire. His hands shook. His finger was on the trigger, but he could not pull it. Lukas simply leered at him menacingly. He turned his attention to Grace, dismissing Ted's presence as a mere distraction.

"You'll pay for this, you bitch!" Lukas screamed at the cowering Grace. "Everyone you love will pay!"

Lukas charged out of the bathroom, knocking Ted to the floor as he did, and galloped away like a feral horse. The subsequent sound of smashing glass made evident that Lukas had escaped out the Harkers' living room window.

A loud cry came from Kayla's bedroom, prompting Grace to pull herself up from the sticky puddle where she lay. She only caught a glimpse of the massive pool of blood beneath her, that coated the entire bottom of the bathtub with a bright red glow, when she passed into unconsciousness.

* * * * *