Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.)

  “Listen to his heart, Maya.” She was still staring at the flame. The heartbeat played again. Th...thump. Th…thump. Th…thump. I clicked instantly that I had been listening to Tristan's heart the whole time. This time though, my ears picked up something that worried me.

  The pauses between the beats were longer.

  Bethany was right.

  Tristan was dying.

  “You don't have much time, my dear.” Tori flicked her eyes back to me, her smirk still playing on her lips. “The clock is ticking.”

  Anger took control of me. “I swear to God if you've hurt him, I will find you and I will kill you.” I couldn't give a fuck about what Rosa not wanting Tori dead. I didn't care if she was our only lead to find Cassandra. I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to kill Tori when I got the chance.

  Tori laughed. “Aw, but Maya.” The flame then grew around her wrists, the fire wrapping around her forearm like a snake. Her fist clenched, and with one look towards me the fire grew into a giant ball, wrapping around her hand. “That's exactly what I want.”

  I didn't have much of a warning—besides the fact that she was cynical—but as soon as the words passed her lips, the fire left her hand.

  And it seemed to have a target.

  Me.

  Twenty-One – People Get Crazy When Obsessed

  The fire burned as it relished every single piece of my flesh. It scorched my skin to the point of crisp and in the quick second that it took to completely take over me, I was in complete and utter pain. A million flames were licking my body, grasping tightly enough for me to suffocate. It roasted me like I was a simple piece of meat on a barbeque.

  I screamed, I knew that much. It was the last thing I heard.

  And even though the fire was excruciating, it was the only thing that woke me up.

  “Oh, thank my father, you’re awake.” Rosa's voice had become easy for me to distinguish and when I heard the sound of her feet walk quickly along the ground, my eyes flickered open, only to shut at the sudden brightness.

  “Too bright,” I mumbled.

  “Oh.” I heard her steps freeze for a brief moment. “Alright, try now.” My second attempt at opening my eyes worked fine. The flames across the edge of the ground were dimmed down which only made me wonder if they were electrical or something. “You must have been in the dark for a while, hm?”

  “Seems like it,” I muttered, pushing myself into a sitting position. “What’s going on?”

  “You were in pain, so I brought you down here.” Rosa stepped into my vision. “Tori has also made an appearance, and it is a big one.”

  Tori.

  I was on my feet in one quick motion. “I need to get out of here.” I skimmed the walls for an exit but even my mind knew that I couldn't get out of here unless Rosa sent me out, or one of her little followers took me. “Can you please let me go?”

  “I can't do that.”

  “Why not?” I turned to face her. What did she mean by she can't do that?

  “Maya, we do not know what we are dealing with, and I am not sending you up there to get in the middle of it.” Calm was the perfect word for Rosa right now. Everything about her screamed calm and everything about her being calm made me want to scream.

  “You're kidding me right?” It was safe to say that I was starting to get annoyed. “Tristan is up there getting God knows whatever that bitch is doing to him, and you don’t want me in the middle of it? I already am in the middle of it.”

  “Tristan?” Rosa suddenly gained interest and the calm state she had put herself in was gone. “She has Tristan?”

  “Yes she has Tristan, now would you please let me go?”

  “No, no.” At first I thought she was answering my question but when I saw her starting to pace around, I knew it wasn't even directed to me. “This can not be happening. How in the devil's name did she get a hold of him?”

  I wasn't entirely sure if she was talking to me. All that was coming past her lips were a bunch of murmurs, followed by her hand that was casually fidgeting in front of her. It was like she forgot I was even here, which wasn't acceptable because I didn't need her going into her own thoughts when I need to be up on Earth, finding Tristan.

  “Rosa.” My mind was at the verge of snapping at her, but remembering who she was I second thought it. “I'm trying to be really calm right now.” Each word came out with a short breath in between—my attempt at calm. “But can you please let me go, so I can find Tristan and kill Tori.” I was practically begging, and it wouldn't be too long until I was on my knees.

  She finally stopped pacing and walked in front of me. Dark eyes were wide and staring into mine like a scientist examining their latest collection. “How do you know Tori has Tristan? It just happened a few minutes ago.”

  A few minutes ago? “How is that even possible?” Why am I even having this conversation right now? “I felt the pain at least half an hour ago.”

  “The time difference between here and above is fairly short. One day there is like one hour here.”

  Well that's new.

  “How did you know?” she asked again, this time her eyes pierced into mine like a hunter.

  I wasn't entirely sure why I had the sudden feeling, but I found myself not wanting to tell her that I saw Bethany. For some reason, I felt like that was my secret for me to hold, not to tell. And as odd as it sounds, I didn't think Rosa would understand. “Ethan told me I could feel Tristan. When he's near, I can feel what he feels. I felt his pain and while I was passed out, I saw her face.” It wasn't the whole truth, but none of it was a lie. Just looking into Rosa's eyes was intimidating though. I wonder if Ethan ever had this stare.

  Speaking of, where is he?

  “Penelope.”

  “What?” I had to make sure she just said the name or if my head was starting to make things up. I got my answer when Rosa murmured her name again, and then she was back to pacing around the room. “I should have known.”

  I remembered Bethany mentioning the name and now I was curious to know more about what we're dealing with. But I needed to act like I didn't know who Penelope was, or the fact that she was Tori. “Who's Penelope?”

  “Penelope is one of the original succubi that I created after Bethany. She was not the smartest tool in the shed, but she was cunning.” I felt my hands clench into fists. It annoyed me how “smart” Tori was, how “pretty” Tori was, when all I could see was a dumb bitch.

  Geez, maybe I was more jealous than I thought.

  “I should have guessed it was her,” Rosa continued. “She was another one that hated the Conrad and Bethany relationship. She even tried to get involved.”

  “Was there anyone that didn't have a problem with them?” It seemed that these two were hated by many.

  “Penelope was jealous of the relationship because before Conrad met Bethany, Penelope met Conrad. He was hardly interested. Penelope hated that.”

  I knew her mini-story wasn't finished, but I just wanted to leave. “How can I stop her?”

  “Each succubus and incubus can access powers of every kind.” She looked solemn when she said this. “It’s accessing them that’s hard. Penelope was a quick learner but she let her power get control over her. Penelope was good at one thing and one thing only, mind games.”

  “Want to explain that a bit more?” I felt the air starting to disappear.

  God, I hope Tristan's okay. Just the thought of him hurting was enough to form some type of ache through me. Even when I was the one that hurt him, it wasn't something I liked seeing.

  “Penelope mastered the ability to make you see, feel, and hear whatever she wanted you to. When she first started, it was a celebration. But as the time moved forward, her control wore out. She eventually started killing people that she fed off, made them think they were in a fantasy land that they did not return from. It takes a human many times to die with a succubus or incubus, but with her, she could kill a victim within a few minutes.”

  She was m
ore advanced than I thought and this worried me. How could I take down a succubus that's four times my age? I had no powers other than pissing off Ethan, and causing pain through people. My worst fear was starting to become a reality and I don't even have time to come up with a plan.

  “I will send you up there, Maya.” My thoughts vanished. After scaring me, now she wants to send me up there? “I trust you can do this.” My worry must have been obvious. “But first, we need to find the location of her and Tristan. I have tried tracking her down but it seems that she is not showing up.”

  Instantly, I was confused. “How come this hadn't happened before? You seemed to be able to track her then.”

  Rosa nodded once, confirming my thoughts. “I am starting to think she wanted us to find her, to find out what she was doing. Now that she has her prize possession her guards are up.”

  Tristan was that prize possession. “Why is she doing this?”

  “Because like Cassandra, Penelope did not accept the fact that I was letting it happen.”

  I couldn't even stare Rosa in the eyes. I was watching the ground and it was a stupid idea. My mind ran to places not even I wanted to go. Penelope was hurting him. Because of me, Tristan was involved in a fucked up world.

  A world I had to get him out of.

  But where would they be? “How can we find her?”

  “When you saw her, what happened?” The first thing that came to my head was: She knows I spoke to Bethany. But when I thought about it, I gathered that it was Tori—or Penelope—that she was talking about.

  I tried to recall the memory. Even though it just happened not so long ago—it felt like it was distant and out of reach. “She popped up out of nowhere. There was fire. She told me to listen to his heartbeat.” I remembered the thumping, like it was still ringing in my ear. “It was slow. She told me to hurry. I told her I would find her. She said that's what she wanted.”

  Rosa nodded along while I talked, taking everything in. “If she wanted you to find her, then she knows that you know.”

  “Know what?” I asked.

  “Where they would be.” I felt hands on my cheeks and I was so close to Rosa's face that I could just see the outline of her pupils amongst the darkness of them. “You know Tristan more than anyone else. Where would they be?”

  Why was she asking me that? If I knew where they would be then I wouldn't be here right now.

  “Think about it, Maya. I know for a fact that they are not together, and he would not go with her willingly, so she would go to him. He knows something is up, and after this I am sure he will be positive that Tori is not who he thinks she is. Right now, only you can find him.”

  I wasn't even listening to half the things she said. I wasn't even acknowledging that Rosa knew about Tori and Tristan before me. All I could do was try to dig into my brain on the whereabouts of Tristan and... that bitch.

  Then it hit me.

  “The gym,” I murmured out-loud. It was the most obvious answer. “He always went there to think. He might've gone there.” Actually, I was pretty positive that he would've, after the conversation we had. “Do you think that's where she has him?”

  Rosa's hands slipped from my face and she shrugged. “It is a high possibility.”

  “Alright then.” I nodded, mostly in attempt to motivate myself and find the confidence that I can do this. “So that's where I'm going.”

  “Wait.”

  I was looking around for an exit again. I didn't know why I kept looking for one when I knew there wasn't any around. I looked back to Rosa and waited, this time my patience was wearing thin.

  “She can only access a human’s mind. To stop her you need to convince Tristan that everything he is seeing is not real. Once he is convinced, I will send one of my agents. I would let them go with you now but that would risk another escape on her behalf.”

  Finally, one of my questions was answered. But now another one was itching in my skull. “Where's Ethan?”

  “He said he needed to do some things so I am not sure when he will be back. Maya, before I send you back up there, you need to know something.” I was hoping it wasn't another thing that was going to make this difficult. “Don’t believe that the vision is real. Tristan may be the main one experiencing it but if you believe it, so will he. You have to not believe it for him to do the same.”

  You can't trust that it's real. That's what Bethany said to me before she... disappeared. That's what she meant.

  “What?”

  I froze. I said that last thing out-loud. Or maybe Rosa was in my head too? Hello? Nothing. Good. “Nothing.”

  She watched me for a few seconds and then nodded, taking a few steps back. “I will try be as fast as I can with sending help. And as much as you want to, try not to kill her. She may be the answer we need to find Cassandra.”

  Just the fact that I couldn't kill her just made me angry. “I hold no responsibilities for my actions.”

  “Maya,” she warned, “it can save a lot of lives if we can find Cassandra.”

  I didn't want to let her get the final call but she was right. If we can find Cassandra, this whole nightmare can end. I can move on with my life.

  But I was starting to question if I wanted Tristan a part of that or not.

  “You have to be quick. We don’t know how much time we have,” Rosa said, lacing her thin fingers around my wrist. I looked into her eyes and not only did I see concern, but I saw worry. This was the first time Rosa ever looked worried, or even something that wasn’t calm.

  It made me nervous just by looking at her.

  “What did she do?” I asked, referring to Penelope, and how Rosa said she tried to interfere with Conrad and Bethany’s relationship.

  Even though it was a change of subject, Rosa still caught on. “Before or after Bethany died?”

  “There’s more than one?”

  Rosa nodded once. “Penelope never gave up. The first time she sent Bethany to another town, telling her that if she was away from Conrad she won’t feel as much guilt as she would when she was within a mile of him. While Bethany went for a day, Penelope attempted to...” I could see Rosa trying to find the right word for what she wanted to say. “Persuade Conrad to leave Bethany. That didn’t work.”

  This sent a feel of relief through me. I was glad Conrad didn’t fall for Penelope. It kind of gave me a form of hope that maybe—just maybe—Tristan will turn around. But that's where I was starting to wishful think. Tristan actually fell for her from the beginning. He actually let her into his life.

  He went there... and everywhere else as well.

  “What about the second time?” I asked, a warily tone setting in my words, “after Bethany died.”

  Rosa was back to her emotionless face, and she shrugged. It seemed unnatural. “She did the one thing any possessive, controlling succubus would do. She killed him.”

  Twenty-Two – Chilling Shadows

  So not only did I have to worry that Tristan was going through some sort of torture, but the fact that Conrad died in Penelope's hands was enough to almost send me over the edge. She killed him. She got so frustrated that she just ended up killing him, like it was nothing.

  I guess you can feel her frustration though, going through all of that only to be completely unsatisfied in the end. It makes sense why she's here. She's trying to make amends for her past mistakes, trying to fix the fuck up that she caused.

  But it also made me wonder... was Penelope working with Cassandra the whole time, or was this all a solo mission? Also, am I calling Tori “Penelope”? I'm starting to get confused with all the double identities going on.

  And speaking of double identities, apparently I was the giving the sense that I was a victim of this...

  “Maya, I don't understand,” Melinda said.

  Oddly enough, Rosa had sent me back to the exact spot where I passed out. I didn't know how long I had been there, I didn't know how long I'd been away, but I gathered that it wasn't long when I walked back into
the arena, only to find that Daniel and Melinda were still at the bar. And after I quickly hurried to Daniel's side, asking for the keys, I've been trying to explain as much as I could to them, all while pulling them outside. They just weren’t understanding. Then again, I've only told them that I need to go to the gym because Tristan is dying and I may be the only one that can bring him back. Nothing else. It all seemed like a really long story, and I didn't have all the time to fill them in.

  “Melinda, I can't do this on my own right now,” I begged helplessly. Why can't she just understand what I'm saying and just go with it? You know, ask questions later.

  “Maya, you're not making any sense,” Daniel sighed, running a hand through his hair. “And your scent is starting to overwhelm.”

  Lucky for me, the pain hadn't fully come back, and neither did the heat. It was still there, lingering inside me, but it was bearable—except for the occasional thumping inside my skull.

  And apparently, all the anger inside me had formed a scent coming from Bethany. It was always when I was angry. It's a pretty inconvenient time.

  “Okay, so we'll try this again. You answer our questions, okay?” Melinda nodded, even though she was the one asking the question. “Okay, so tell me.” Her hands moved up to my shoulders and I felt them grip, hard. “What the fuck is going on with you tonight?”

  My teeth clenched together and my hands followed suit. I wasn't entirely sure if it was to avert the pain evolving inside me, or if I was starting to get angry at the two people in front of me. Either way, they both sent the same reaction out.

  Impatiently, I pushed Melinda's hands off my shoulder, not wanting to deal with explaining right now. “Don't worry about it.” I walked around her and held my hand out to Daniel. “I'll go by myself.” I nudged my hand forward when he wouldn't hand over the keys, and after several glares and a pretty intense staring contest, he sighed and placed them in my hand.

  I hadn't taken a single step away from them before a hand wrapped around mine, forcing me around to face Melinda. She watched me carefully, searching my face for an answer. I figured this could be my last attempt at getting her to help me. “Mel, please,” I whispered.