Kiss of the Succubus Ch. 02

She dreamed she was at her grandparents' cottage. She looked to be around ten, her sister a few years younger, as they played in the backyard. Grace ran to the cliff side, looking down at the waves crashing against the shoreline several dozen feet below. She was careful; her grandmother warned her about getting to close to the edge to the cliff, but the beauty of the crashing waves from this distance was too great for Grace not to look.

"Grace! Nora! Dinner!" her grandmother shouted from the kitchen window.

Grace and Nora hurried back to the house, racing each other as they had so many times before. Grace arrived at the doorstep first, as she always did when Nora didn't have a head start.

Grace opened the front door to see her grandfather seated in the easy chair. He smiled at the girls as they walked inside, while he cut a small block of wood into the shape of a soldier with his pocketknife. Grace and Nora ran to the kitchen where their grandmother set dinner onto the table.

It was one of the few places where Grace was genuinely happy. Here she felt loved, and protected. Being at the cottage meant one thing: her father was in jail. Grace and Nora came here every time Ed Dwyer was in lockup.

A dark cloud approached ominously from the ocean.

"Storm's coming," her grandmother said, shutting the window. "You girls might have to stay in tonight."

Grace didn't mind. The storm would pass.

Here, she was safe.

* * * * *

Grace awoke, and heard a heart monitor spike as she did. A breathing tube was in her nose, and an IV was in her arm. Grace looked around the room to see flowers on the windowsill, and a "How are you feeling?" pain chart posted on the wall of this unfamiliar room. She felt little pain incidentally, but instead found she was extremely groggy.

Grace could hear someone to her right. She turned to see who it was, but the bandage on her neck prevented her from moving her head.

Whoever it was knew she was awake, and walked to her bedside.

"Hey there, sunshine!" Nora said.

Grace broke into a full smile.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, incredulously. She cringed at the raspy sound of her voice. It hurt to talk, but she was too happy to remain silent.

"A girl's got to look out for her big sister," Nora said. "How ya feeling?"

Nora squeezed Grace's hand and gave her a smile.

"Like I got hit by a train," Grace said. She had to think for a moment why she was here.

Sensing her confusion, Nora replied, "You were attacked. Stabbed in the neck, twice. You lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, I had some to spare."

Grace noticed a sticker reading "Be nice to me. I gave blood today" on Nora's blouse. She also noticed Nora was wearing a pencil skirt and high heels.

"Did you just get off work?" Grace asked.

Nora chuckled. "Like, four hours ago. I was hoping I'd be here when you woke up."

Grace was grateful she was. She looked around the room; trying to take in everything at once and feeling exhausted as she did.

"Where's Ted?"

"Down the hall, sleeping. He's been up all night. His parents are watching Kayla."

Grace breathed a sigh of relief.

"Will you let him know I'm awake?" Grace asked.

Nora nodded.

As she stepped out of the room, Grace looked at her hands, and found, to her horror, her wedding band was gone.

"Oh my God," Grace panicked. "Where is it? WHERE IS IT?"

A nurse entered Grace's room, and smiled as she saw Grace was awake.

"We were worried about you!" the nurse said.

"Where's my wedding ring?" Grace demanded.

The nurse stopped.

"The doctors had to remove it. Whenever a patient is brought in, we-"

"Give it back! I need it!" Grace cried. She was in near hysterics.

The nurse hurried over to the far end of the hospital room and opened the top drawer. She removed a clear plastic zip lock bag and handed it to Grace.

"I'm sorry. The doctors were unable to remove it, so they had to break it," the nurse said.

Grace examined the plastic bag to find her silver wedding band broken in two pieces.

"No-" Grace stared up at the nurse, pleadingly. The nurse shook her head sadly.

Grace removed the broken ring from the bag and squeezed both pieces in her palm.

"The doctor would like to speak with you," the nurse said, consolingly. Grace nodded to let her know she was ready to hear from him.

The doctor arrived, accompanied by Nora and Ted. Ted rushed to Grace's side and took her hand.

"You gave us quite a scare," the doctor said, smiling. His shiny bald head glowed in the dimly lit hospital room.

"How long was I out?" Grace asked.

"Two days," the doctor said. "You suffered severe blood loss. Fortunately you got some donations, and we were able to save the baby as well."

"What?" Grace asked.

The doctor looked at Ted.

"We weren't sure if you knew," the doctor said. "You're pregnant. Just a few weeks along. Hopefully too early for any damage to the baby."

"Oh my God," Grace said. "It's a girl, isn't it?"

The doctor shook his head.

"Too soon to tell. For now I want you to get some rest. When you're feeling up for it your partner wants to ask you some questions."

The heart monitor spiked. Thousands of thoughts poured through Grace's head. A baby. She was going to have a baby. The news was a shock, and yet it wasn't. Somehow she knew. Catherine. Catherine had known. How could Catherine...

The doctor left, and Nora raced over and gave Grace a warm hug.

"Congratulations!" Nora squealed.

Ted had tears in his eyes as he gave Grace a long kiss on her lips. He stopped, only to see Grace looking back at him, terrified.

"Ted," Grace began, "what are we going to do?"

* * * * *

The hospital had a playground just outside the rear entrance. After taking a few days to rest, Grace was able to walk down to the park to watch Kayla play while she spoke to Detective Pratt. Joe took a seat on the park bench next to his recovering partner.

"We confirmed it was Balko," Joe said. "The DNA he left on you, it matched him at near a hundred percent."

Grace stared off into the sky.

"It was him. I'm sure of it," she said.

Joe flipped through a few papers in the folder he carried.

"There's just one thing though," Joe said. "Your husband said he saw a young guy. Late twenties. But Balko is ninety-eight according to our file. How the hell is that possible?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Grace said. She took a sip of coffee as she watched Kayla scurry across the playground. Kayla tripped, prompting Grace to jump in panic until she saw Kayla climb to her feet and continue running.

"Try me," Joe said.

Grace looked Joe in the eye.

"Balko can assume the form of his younger self. My husband aimed a gun at him and it didn't even phase him. The only thing that hurt him was when I touched him with my wedding ring. The silver- I think it burned him. That's why he ran away."

Joe stared back at Grace.

"I'm supposed to put this in my report?" he asked.

Grace sneered at the accusation. Joe sighed.

"Look, you were bleeding pretty bad at the time. Do you suppose it's possible- you imagined some of what happened?"

"Ask my husband if I imagined it," Grace said.

"I did. He thinks the guy was on drugs. He guessed bath salts."

"I can only tell you what I saw," Grace said.

Grace couldn't blame Joe for having trouble accepting her story, but it hurt her all the same. Her memory of Lukas biting her neck and sucking her blood was ingrained in her memory; and she did not accept the possibility she'd merely imagined that. Until she could get proof, Grace saw no use in trying to convince Joe of what she already knew. Lukas was a living demon.

"You know, I've had this theory," Joe said. "What if we got it wrong? That the guy we're chasing isn't Lukas Balko? Maybe some guy who lived with him, a family relative? It would be easier to explain than a centenarian raping all those women."

Grace shook her head mournfully.

"It was him, Joe. I saw his eyes."

Joe sighed, and slapped his folder on his lap.

"Okay, if you say so."

"Uncle Joe, will you give me a push?" Kayla shouted, sitting on the swing set.

Joe looked at Grace.

"Go for it," Grace said, smiling.

"Sure kiddo!" Joe said. He ran towards the swing set and gave Kayla a mighty push, sending her soaring into air and swinging back again. As Joe pushed Kayla again, Ted approached the bench, and sat down next to his wife.

"You tell her about the baby yet?" Ted asked.

"Soon," Grace said.

* * * * *

Going home didn't feel like going home. Grace didn't feel safe in her own house. The entire ride back from the hospital, Grace found herself remembering the Beckets' home. How Dylan and Jaclyn had mounted a cross in every room of their house. She remembered the broken window in Jaclyn's bedroom. It was when Ted pulled into the driveway and Grace saw the broken front window of her own home that it all came together.

Dylan and Jaclyn had been attacked by Balko. They'd fought him off somehow, only to die soon afterward at the hands of his sister. But they'd found a way to keep him out of their home.

Grace made a trip to the local Christian community store and stocked up on wooden crosses and holy water, and got her wedding band repaired and re-sized to fit her new pregnancy-sized fingers. When Lukas came back, and she was sure he would try, she would be prepared.

Ted walked in the front door to see Grace nailing a cross to the wall of the house and guffawed.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Grace turned to her husband and sneered.

"Clearly I can't count on my husband to keep fucks out of my house."

Grace swung the hammer and missed, and slammed it down against her thumb.

"God damn it!" Grace squealed.

Ted stormed out of the room. Grace dropped her hammer, and grabbed her swollen thumb painfully. She shouldn't have said that, she knew it, but when everyone including her own husband had dismissed her, she could only contain her temper so much.

She hurried to the bathroom to grab a bandage. She felt a sense of unease walking into the bathroom again. There was still a faint orange tint in the bathtub that she would need to scrub out when she got the chance.

She opened the top drawer, grabbed a bandage, and wrapped it around her thumb. It was then that she remembered the key. The one she'd found on the roof of the hospital when Catherine jumped. Grace remembered she had brought it home, and placed in the top drawer.

Grace looked in the drawer again, only to find the key was gone. She searched every drawer, and the pockets of the pants she wore that night, but found no trace of it. Had Balko taken it? Or perhaps the police took it when examining the scene? Grace made a mental note to inquire the next time she went to work.

With a cross mounted in very room, and a glass of holy water on every windowsill, Grace felt a shade safer. Praying her new home security system would even be effective; Grace checked and double-checked the cross she'd mounted in Kayla's room. No doubt Balko would come after her, if he couldn't have Grace. She placed a small silver-plated cross necklace around her daughter's neck, and prayed that would keep the young toddler safe.

For now, all she could do was wait.

* * * * *

A month passed, and Balko had yet to exact vengeance on the Harker family. While Grace took this to mean her home defense was effective, Ted was more of the opinion Balko was biding his time. Both he and Grace slept better knowing Grace's sidearm was not far from her bedside, but only Grace feared the gun was not the weapon that would help them. She kept her silver wedding band on at all times, even when she showered and slept, waiting for Balko to strike.

Ted crept into Grace's office one night, unsurprised to find that once again she was on her laptop, scouring the Internet for clues to Lukas Balko's whereabouts. He rested his hands on Grace's shoulders. She flinched momentarily, then relaxed after recognizing her husband.

"Sorry," Ted said. "Any luck?"

"Nada," Grace said. She rubbed the side of her neck where her twin scabs were gradually healing.

Ted kissed Grace on her cheek, and slowly ran his palms down her sides.

"Ted, no!" Grace snapped. She grabbed his hands and pulled them from her.

"What the hell, Grace!" Ted snapped. "It's been a month! What's it going to take to get my wife back?"

Grace spun around in her chair shot a glare at her husband.

"I was raped, Ted!" Grace snapped. "That bastard was going to-" she trailed off, breaking into tears.

Ted stared out the window.

"I know. It was a month ago, and you won't get counseling, you won't talk to me about it, you won't-"

"It doesn't work!" Grace shouted. "I got counseling when I was a kid. It didn't help me then; it won't help me now. This is just something I have to deal with!"

In spite of her husband's, and Joe's insistence, Grace had put off getting any professional help after her attack. The hours she'd wasted as a teenager, struggling to make her therapist understand what it was like being abused by her father left her more angry than comforted.

Being a detective was the only therapy that worked for Grace. Using her wits to track down criminal scum and slapping handcuffs on them did more good for her mental health than all the hours talking with a shrink ever had. If her family and friends could understand this, Grace wondered if that would be enough to make her all right again. She would never know.

"What am I supposed to do?" her husband asked. "How can I help you?"

"You can stay out of my way," Grace said. "Things will get better. I promise."

Ted snorted.

"I'm going to the gym."

He slammed the door on his way out.

* * * * *

The Harper Hills Fitness Center was open twenty-four hours a day, but after ten p.m. on weekdays there were few patrons. The parking lot was empty save for a bus when Ted pulled up. He grabbed his gym bag and headed inside.

The facility was equipped with a gym, pool, and an outdoor track behind the building. It looked as though the San Amaury University women's swim team was practicing in the pool, leaving the gym empty.

Ted made his way into the locker room where he quickly changed into a T-shirt and shorts and stashed his gym bag into a locker. He slammed the locker shut, and winced as the sound echoed throughout the locker room.

He was glad he was alone. If he stayed around Grace any longer, he would have said something he would have regretted. Instead he would take his anger out on the exercise machines.

Ted started on a chest press machine. He took a seat, grabbed the handlebars, and pushed them forward. Steadily, and repeatedly, he pushed the bars forward and backward, lifting the heavy weight behind him.

He was a few lifts into his set when he noticed he wasn't alone in the gym. A few rows in front of him, a young woman ran on a treadmill. She wore a black tank top and yoga pants, and had her brown hair tied into a ponytail.

Ted watched her as she ran. Her ass- she filled out her yoga pants so nicely with her round, firm ass; bounced pleasantly with each step she took while her ponytail bobbed up and down. He found himself imagining how her ass would feel cupped in his hands- if he could only run his palms across her cheeks and squeeze them.

He would squeeze them together, pull them apart, and rub them up and down. He loved to touch his wife's ass this way while she lay on top of him while they made love. But this woman's bottom was just a little bigger, and a little curvier; it would be such a pleasure to explore something new after four years of marriage, especially when the intimacy had been a bit lacking as of late.

Ted got up and moved to a different machine to get a better view of the running babe. The excitement of watching her ass move about kept him exercising longer than he'd normally be able. He thought he might have topped his best time, but he hadn't been keeping track on account of being distracted.

The woman stopped the treadmill and hopped off. In a stunning display, the woman peeled off her tank top, revealing a tight sports bra underneath. Panting, she carried her tank top in her hand and made her way down the aisle to the elliptical machine.

For the briefest moment, their eyes met. The woman shot him a smile, a warm, sweet smile. It made Ted's heart skip. Her breasts were large, at least a D cup, perhaps more. Her sports bra didn't quite contain the massive mammaries, as quite a bit of cleavage peeked out the top. Ted certainly wouldn't have minded if the woman had elected to dispense with the bra as well.

As his energy gradually wore down, Ted lifted extra hard, hoping to impress his sexy gym companion, but the woman had already averted her gaze. He continued anyway, hoping she might look his way before he wore out.

Several lifts later, Ted was finally feeling the strong burning sensation in his arms and decided to take a rest. He stole another glance at the exercising lady, admiring her ass as well as her firm muscular thighs. With her energy, Ted was certain she had to be a wildcat between the sheets. She definitely knew how to keep her body looking good.

As it was, she was not the only woman in the gym who knew how to look good; the swim team was finally making their way out of the pool. Ted took a swig from his water bottle as he casually watched through the window at the assortment of blondes, brunettes, and a few redheads climbing out of the water, drenched in their uniform blue and white one-pieces. Their wet swimsuits clung to their curvy figures tightly, while their bare legs glowed under the bright fluorescent lights.

If Ted were a few years younger, and not married, he would definitely have been in there getting phone numbers. Instead, he simply watched; his college days long behind him.

It was then that he realized he was sporting a rather sizable erection. His shorts did not conceal it well. The bathing beauties were making their way to the locker room and unable to see him, and the yoga pants babe was still exercising, but Ted felt it necessary to be wary in any case.

He headed outside, and hit the track, running as quickly as he could.

All of his frustration came out in one long burst of energy, sending him storming down the well-lit but empty track under the starlight. He ran lap after lap, reflecting on the gorgeous women parading into the locker room where their bathing suits would soon be removed.

Between them and the yoga pants babe, and the lack of privacy at home, Ted found himself seriously considering masturbating in the gym locker room. His erection was not going to go away on its own tonight. Even after a long run the adrenaline rush would stay with him. He would have to do it. The alternative would be lying awake in bed next to his unresponsive wife for the rest of the night, and being exhausted in the morning.

With his mind made up, Ted headed back inside. The gym and pool were both empty, so Ted would have the locker room to himself. He could do it in the shower. Perhaps he would be able to overhear the women through the ventilation shaft and stroke himself to the sound of their laughter while they showered. Ted smiled to himself at the thought.

Before he made his way into the men's locker room, Ted grabbed a cup of complimentary decaf provided by the gym. There wasn't much left in the vat. He squeezed the very last of the warm liquid into a paper cup and headed into the locker room, taking small sips as he went.

Ted quickly stripped and stuffed his clothes into his locker, while leaving his coffee on the bench. He still had a semi-erection, and determined he would take care of business before washing himself off and heading home.