Chapter 13

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏

°. ⋆༺♱༻⋆. °

“I’m sorry for being late, Lils. But I was so fucking hungry. And it scared me. What if I ceased to recognise you and I developed an appetite for you? I had to come prepared. So, yes, as you can probably tell, I broke my promise and I fed.”

I nodded slowly, taking her words in. “Who?”

“Colin Gray. From our English class.”

I recognised the name. I vaguely remembered the guy. He had called Jennifer cute once and he seemed smitten with her. Then again, who didn’t?

“Why him?” I asked.

“Because he asked me out on a date,” she said simply, “even though I believe I have made it crystal clear that I am taken by my beautiful girlfriend.” With that, she gave my hand a small squeeze that briefly made all of my concerns vanish.

“Okay…” I muttered, “but what made him stand out, as opposed to all those other dickheads who have asked you out before?”

“Well, I suppose his confidence. And I know that every guy is cocky, especially when he is asking a girl out. But he… he was confident in a gentle way. Shy, almost.”

“Confident and shy? How does that make any sense?”

Jennifer chuckled. “Yeah, perhaps ‘confident’ is not the right word. But he seemed… entitled. As if his shyness just had to make me melt and say ‘oooh he’s sooo not like those other guys who keep bothering me. I should tooootally suck his dick.’ Like, bitch please. That method won’t work, either.”

I laughed at that. It felt like a weight was being lifted off my chest at Jennifer’s humour. She was so… raw. She had no filter. I absolutely loved that about her. But I knew that she had to continue her story.

“Anyways, I agreed to go out with him. And before you say something…” she shot me a warning look, as if sensing the words threatening to spill from my lips, “obviously I did not mean it. I was not at all curious. And I was not planning on killing him, either. I was just… frustrated. And I felt like playing. It’s like… I keep flipping off the crude guys, the loud guys, the arrogant guys. But never the gentle ones. At the end of the day, though, they all have the same intentions. I have heard the way that Colin speaks about me. I am not a fool. I have seen the way he looks at me. He is just like the rest of them. Same text, different font. Why should I take pity on him? Why shouldn’t I flip him off, too?”

I understood where Jennifer was coming from. But killing him… I couldn’t quite wrap my head around that. It felt a little too far.

“So I gave him a false address and basically lured him into this abandoned building. He was so terrified, it was delicious. It spurred me on. Before I knew it, I was on top of him, and, well…” Jennifer simply shrugged her shoulders, as though she was not essentially admitting to murder.

“Jen, don’t you think… you went too far?” I asked hesitantly. I was curious to see just how far-gone my girlfriend was.

Jennifer scoffed. “I’ll tell you one thing about us succubi, Lils. We feed on sexual energy. Do the math. If the guy hadn’t been sexually aroused, there wouldn’t have been an essence for me to feed on. But, obviously, he was, despite his fear. Men make it too easy.”

“You promised you would control it. You would find another way.” I reminded her firmly.

Jennifer shook her head, disappointed. “You don’t get it, Lils, even though I have explained it to you numerous times…” she clicked her tongue, “what will I do with you?”

“Perhaps try to keep a promise?” I shot back defiantly.

“Oh, please,” Jennifer scoffed, “try putting yourself in my shoes. You would not survive a day. I have to sustain myself somehow. I am a sex demon for a reason. I can only feed on that sort of energy. And, like I said, men make it too easy. Especially around me.”

“Because you are the most relevant person ever.” I found myself blurting out those bitter words without second thought.

Jennifer’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Excuse me?“

“Come on, Jen,” I scoffed, “as your girlfriend, it’s basically my duty to be honest with you. I have tried to understand you. I know it may not seem like it, but I have. Obviously I will never know what it is like but you would be wrong to imply that I haven’t made an effort. Most people would bolt, or call the cops. I haven’t. Why do you think that is? Because I trust you. And all I wanted was a bit of trust and honesty on your behalf, too. But, clearly, that is too much to ask of you.”

“Again, Lilith, you stand mistaken. I have trusted you and I have been honest with you. Do you think it was easy for me to confess my true nature? That takes guts. I highly doubt that anyone could admit such a thing but I did. Because of you Lils. Because I love you.”

Because I love you.

“You… You love me?” I stammered, “Jennifer, how can you say that?”

“How can I say that? Because I feel it in my heart. I know it’s true. And I thought you’d feel similarly. Guess I was a fool.”

Jennifer shook her head, getting up.

I grabbed her hand and dragged her back down on the rock. “Jen, no, listen.”

I evaluated my feelings. Did I love Jennifer? Sure, I felt strongly towards her. But was it love? Did it have to be? It’s not an emotion that can be forced, after all. For me, it was too early in our relationship to determine whether I had such strong feelings. It would take a while for them to grow. I felt a lot for Jennifer… just not love. Not yet, at least.

And I had lectured her about being honest just moments ago. So I owed it to her to be honest then. “I do not love you.” I hoped it hadn’t sounded harsh, rejecting. It was not my intention. “But my feelings for you grow every day. Perhaps one day, I will love you. But does it really have to be now?”

I thought I had sounded reasonable enough.

Clearly, Jennifer disagreed. She got up indignantly and her eyes glowered with that same, terrifying yellow glint as before.

“Are you seriously asking me that?! Yes, Lils, it has to be now. Don’t you understand? Love is not some plant! It doesn’t need time to grow. It is either there or it is not. And, clearly, it’s not there for you.”

“No, Jen, it’s not like that!” I shouted defensively. “It is only that, while I care deeply for you, I am not sure it is love.”

“Well, then, who’s sure, Lils?” Jennifer hissed, “you’re just like a male. Emotionally unavailable, and yet you act as if you are ready for a relationship and you drag me down with you.”

The accusation was so ridiculous that I ended up laughing. “What? How can you even make that comparison, Jen? I am not emotionally unavailable. I just don’t rush my feelings. And, at least, I am honest with you. I could lie and tell you I love you. But I haven’t done that. And that is because I care. Which is just as important. You, with your alleged love, on the other hand, have done nothing to show any signs of affection or understanding whatsoever.”

Jennifer sat down next to me, so close that I could feel the anger reverberating off her. “Wow. Just wow, Lils. ‘My alleged love’. I have done nothing to prove it, you claim. But that is just not true, is it?” Her voice dripped with a sarcasm that I detested.

“Prove me wrong,” I challenged, meeting her gaze defiantly.

“Well, Lils,” she smiled that chilling smile of hers, “I got rid of a guy that was trying to get in the way of our relationship. And I’m willing to do that to every obstacle that dares to come our way. No one will hurt you, or us, Lilith. If that is not love, I don’t know what is.”

“I do,” I lifted my chin, “and I can assure you that this is not it.”

“Oh, you do?” Jennifer mocked, “and here I thought you felt no love towards me. Suddenly, you’re an expert?”

“I never claimed to be an expert,” I said calmly, “but I know for a fact that what you just described is not love. It is obsession. Love is a healthy feeling—obsession isn’t.”

Jennifer opened her mouth to speak but I brought a finger to my lips, silencing her. “Let me finish. I understand that your gesture was also fueled by a hunger that you cannot control. I cannot possibly blame you for that. But you do have control in how you react to people’s advances. You didn’t have to go for Colin. Sure, he had a crush on you, but that doesn’t mean that he would go out of his way to ruin our relationship. And, even if he did, there are better ways to deal with that. What’s next, Jennifer? Are you also going to kill my father if, say, he refuses to let us stay up late?”

“Perhaps I will.”

I wanted to believe that she was joking. But, as I looked into her yellow eyes, I could tell that she was dead serious.

“Jennifer…” I said slowly, a hint of a warning in my voice, “you can’t just say stuff like that.”

“Oh, I know,” she replied, almost playfully, “but it is just so fun, seeing you all jumpy. Don’t worry, Lils. I won’t kill your precious daddy. I will, however, eliminate everyone who tries to take me from you. And if that includes your father, so be it.”

“And if it includes me?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. What if I tell you, right now, that your behavior is inexcusable? What if I refuse to keep tolerating this?”

“Tolerating? I thought we agreed that I only do things within reason. Besides, Lils… Don’t lie to yourself. I have seen the way your face beams when we are together. You admire me. Especially because of who I am.”

I faltered. She was not wrong. I found it… impressive how she was so dangerous, so dark… Straight out of a mythology book like those Mrs. Jenkins read to us in English class.

But this was no fictional story. This was my life. How could I possibly be with someone who was a danger to my father? Or anyone else I dared show affection to?

“This ends now.” I got up to leave.

“NOOO!”

The shriek that Jennifer let out was entirely inhumane. When I span to face her, her face had contorted into something completely demonic.

She bared her fangs, approaching me slowly. Her lips lifted into a smirk even worse than the previous one.

She did not look like Jennifer Check. She looked like a girl possessed.

“I cannot let you leave, Lils,” she muttered, her voice hoarse and nearly unrecognisable.

And with that, she lunged.