Water Nymph

by Edmund Hughes

  “I’m sorry,” whispered Ryoko. “I know I haven’t been keeping up with my duties as your maid, sir. I’ve been… so tired recently.”

  “It’s okay,” said Jack. “Really, Ryoko. It is. I want you to be healthy and well-rested more than I want the mansion’s window blinds dusted and the hallways we barely ever use swept clean again.”

  She gave him a weak smile and shook her head. It was more than just cleaning. Jack had been forced to take on cooking duties for himself, though occasionally Mira helped out. Ryoko was barely spending an hour or two outside of her room each day. It was worrying, especially considering the other aspects of their situation. He told himself that she was just sick or feeling under the weather, but couldn’t avoid the nagging suspicion that it was something more than just that.

  “At least… I can still help you with this.” Ryoko brought a hand up to her neck and blushed slightly. She looked like a shy schoolgirl, offering to hold her crush’s hand in public. If only the reality were that wholesome.

  “I already fed off you this afternoon,” said Jack. “I can wait until the morning. Besides, you would need to take the potion.”

  The only thing that allowed Jack to feed off Ryoko so freely was a special anti-enthrallment potion that nullified most of the negative effects of his bite. He’d been buying his supply from Palmer in Katie’s absence after carefully explaining to the reclusive alchemist the exact details of the specific recipe. Still, Jack was beginning to wonder if the potion was as much of a solution as they were assuming it to be.

  “I already took it,” said Ryoko. “I take it regularly, every few hours. So you never have to worry about whether it’s okay to bite me or not.”

  She shifted closer to him on the bed. There was a strange look in her eyes, a mixture of hope, anticipation, and something almost akin to lust.

  “I can wait, Ryoko,” said Jack. “Really, it’s okay.”

  She let the sheet drop. Her breasts were small, but unbelievably cute, and she thrust them into view, still blushing.

  “Ryoko…” Jack trailed off as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around him. She gave him a sleepy, soft kiss, and pressed her naked body against his. He was still shamefully aroused from Mira’s teasing, and it was enough to get the better of his judgement.

  He pulled his shirt off, followed by his jeans and boxers. Ryoko rested back on her elbows, pulling the sheet back slowly, as though embarrassed to reveal herself to him completely. Her seduction was the polar opposite of Mira’s, laced with uncertainty and almost accidental.

  Jack kissed her deeply, letting his hands slide across her breasts, then down lower. Ryoko nuzzled her cheek against his and turned her head to the side. She wanted him to bite her, and at that moment, Jack just couldn’t resist.

  He sank his fangs into her at the same instant he entered her, drinking her blood as they both felt the hot, wet crush of the sexual contact. Ryoko let out a whimpering, ecstatic moan as Jack began to move and to drink. It was intimacy at its most dominant. She’d given him everything she had to offer, and Jack was lost in the pleasure of it.

  It almost didn’t seem fair. Jack had been in Ryoko’s position once before, when he’d still been human and on the receiving end of Mira’s bite during their first sexual encounter. Sex with a vampire was an experience that stuck with someone, blanching the color from regular, non-supernatural encounters.

  Ryoko writhed underneath him as Jack moved against her. She was naked, defenseless, and so seemingly innocent. He knew enough about Ryoko’s past to know that she had her own demons to deal with, but in that moment, she truly did have her guard down. And she’d lowered it to let a monster fuck her senseless.

  Jack pushed into her with a rhythmic, mechanical intensity. It was more than just the afterglow of him feeding off her. More than just the fact that they were both young, naked, and horny. He cared for Ryoko. He loved her. Hearing her moan and react to him and tasting her kisses was like a rolling snowball of aphrodisiacs. Especially after how fatigued she’d been the past few days.

  Ryoko gave him a deep kiss and then shuddered, leaning her forehead against his and balling her fists against his back. Jack groped one of her buttocks with his hand and thrust his shaft as deep as it would go, bottoming out inside of her.

  She was trying to hold in her noises, but they still managed to slip out. It was ridiculously hot. Ryoko, prim and proper, being taken by her dominant employer and trying to keep her pleasure contained even in the throes of ecstasy.

  Jack felt himself reaching full speed and pushed himself faster still. Their bodies were making lewd slapping sounds as they smashed together, but he barely noticed over the rushing hum of their pleasure. He heard Ryoko gasp and felt her tense up. He was right there too, and with one final, full-strength thrust, he found his release. She held herself against him, and he cradled her, basking in what the two of them shared.

  They both lay together in her small, servant-sized bed afterward. Ryoko was breathing heavily, a little sweaty, and she had a glow about her. She rested her head on Jack’s shoulder and ran her hand through his hair.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  She was thanking him. It was the epitome of everything that he’d found off about their relationship over the past few days. She was thanking him for drinking her blood and using her for his pleasure, as though he was the one doing her a favor.

  “Ryoko…” He squeezed her hand, wishing he could find the words for what he was feeling.

  He’d thought a few times about what might have happened between them if he’d never been turned into a vampire to begin with. Maybe he’d still have pursued a relationship with her, and maybe she would have been receptive to it. They might have had a chance at a normal life together, with simpler power dynamics, the possibility of marriage or even kids.

  The thought of kids reminded him of his parents, his father, and what he’d found in that casket. Jack closed his eyes and sighed, wishing his life wasn’t so complicated.

  “What’s wrong?” whispered Ryoko.

  “You mentioned once that my grandfather kept a journal,” said Jack. “Do you know where it is?”

  “Of course,” she said. “It’s in his room. In the drawer underneath his desk.”

  Jack nodded and reluctantly slipped out of the warm bed. He started getting dressed and could feel Ryoko’s eyes lingering on him as he did.

  “Do you think…” She cleared her throat, sounding embarrassed, and a little unsure. “Do you think you’ll need to feed again in the morning?”

  Her voice was a little shaky, as though she was trying to keep the hope and longing from slipping into her tone. Jack felt suddenly disgusted with himself.

  “Maybe,” he said. “We’re going to the beach tomorrow, by the way. I think the fresh air will do all of us some good.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Peter’s room still felt lived in, or rather as though a bit of his presence and shadow remained preserved in time. It was the room of an old man, neat and clean, with everything in place. There was a simple bed, desk, and wardrobe. No TV. No computer.

  Jack found the journals easily enough. They were in one of Peter’s desk drawers, as Ryoko had said. The desk had the smell of a concentrated version of a library when he opened it, dusty and untouched.

  His grandfather had kept several journals throughout his life, though at a glance, Jack suspected that he’d picked up and dropped the habit intermittently. The covers of each one didn’t match, suggesting he’d bought them all at different times. Jack felt his hopes dimming, but they flared back to life when he spotted a journal with the year he was looking for scribbled across the spine.

  He held the old book in his hands for several seconds, just staring at the cover. There was a reason why he’d never come looking for his grandfather’s journals before. Jack remembered only bits and pieces of his childhood, and though it was hard for him to admit to himself, there was obviously a reason for that beyond the trauma of his parents’ de
aths. Once he knew what it was, it wasn’t as though he could give that knowledge back.

  It was always better to know than to not know, he told himself. Again and again. Until he sort of believed it.

  Jack took a deliberately slow breath and flipped the journal open, bracing himself for what was to come.

  He noticed something almost immediately as he read through the first few pages. His grandfather’s journal was a rather mundane account of the domestic happenings of the mansion. It was dry, boring, and there was almost no mention or even the vaguest suggestion of any magic.

  Back when she’d still been on the island, Katie had once mentioned to him that she’d taken Peter’s spell books out of the mansion shortly after he’d died, given how dangerously illuminating they might be in the wrong hands. Jack chewed his lip, wondering if she’d also taken the unedited account of the part of his grandfather’s life that he was searching for.

  Still, there was an odd, slightly voyeuristic quality to what he currently had in his hands. Peter had recorded the daily events of his life in the mansion, extending to include the activities and movements of James and Andrea, his parents; Tamera, Katie’s mom; and, of course, Jack and Katie. They felt almost like the notes a thorough private investigator might take on an open-ended case.

  He skipped ahead a little, knowing that he wouldn’t have time to read through the entire journal. His fingers caught against a section of the book where a few pages had been removed from the spine. A chill went through him as he read the date at the top of the page and realized that it was exactly what he was looking for.

  There wasn’t much there. The pages containing the days directly after the car accident had been clipped out of the book, and what was left only added up to a few scribbled sentences in forlorn handwriting.

  “James has always been a selfish man. But now, I begin to realize that I am, too. I should have kept Andrea away from him.”

  That was all that was written prior to the section that had been removed. It wasn’t relevant to what Jack was looking for, but he still felt an odd prickling up the back of his neck as he considered the words. His father, a selfish man? And what had Peter meant by how he should have kept Jack’s mother away?

  He turned his attention to the other page, the first written after the section that had been removed. It was also the last page in the journal with any writing on it whatsoever. Jack could only read from where the writing picked back up in an ongoing sentence, but it was still enough to pique his interest.

  “… and Adana were true to their word. And by Christ, I almost wish they’d been lying. I’m so sorry, Jack. I hope I live for long enough to one day give you a proper explanation.”

  Jack exhaled through his teeth, trying not to let his frustration run all over him. How hard would it have been for Peter to pick up the fucking phone on his eighteenth birthday, or whenever he would have deemed the knowledge appropriate for him to share? Granted, that might have been what the old man was planning, and he had just reached the end of his line first.

  Adana. The name was new information, and it was something to go off, albeit a shot in the dark. Jack closed the journal and headed back to his room to sleep.

  ***

  He was hungry when he woke up the next morning. As in actually hungry, with a rumbling stomach and an irritable disposition. It was just after sunrise, and though Jack didn’t expect Ryoko to be up on the job, he was still disappointed when he found the kitchen empty.

  Or near empty. Mira was there, still dressed in her too-small nightgown and in the middle of rummaging through one of the cupboards.

  “That’s so nice of you,” said Jack. “Really, I appreciate it.”

  Mira glanced over her shoulder at him. Her arms had been reaching up to one of the cupboards, and it left half her butt exposed underneath the hem of the gown. She smiled and slowly turned around to face him, holding his gaze in a manner that made the kitchen feel far smaller than it actually was.

  “Good morning, Jack,” she said, sweetly. “What is it that I’ve done to catch your fancy? Do you like me in this outfit, perhaps?”

  “Making breakfast,” said Jack. “The waffles are in the freezer, but I’d be alright with cereal, too.”

  Mira rolled her eyes at him.

  “I’m not your maid, sweet Jack,” she purred. “I’m your broodmother.”

  “You’re my gardener,” he said. “And former broodmother. But I guess your point still stands.”

  He sighed and made his way over to the fridge, feeling more crestfallen over having to fend for himself than he probably should have. He’d gotten into the habit of taking Ryoko for granted. She’d grown to be a huge part of his life, taking care of his needs in so many different ways.

  There was no milk, but someone had left the empty jug in the fridge. Jack was about to point out the blasphemy of the act to Mira, the obvious culprit, when he felt her pull him into a soft hug from behind.

  “Perhaps I could fix you breakfast this morning,” she whispered. “Would you like it in bed?”

  Jack let out a pleased sigh as he felt one of her hands sliding across his stomach, then even lower.

  “Only if it comes with no strings attached,” he said. “I’m not interested in striking a deal with the devil on an empty stomach.”

  “The devil…” Mira laughed. “I suppose I am trying to get you to give in to temptation. Though what I ask for would be such a small price, considering what I have to offer, don’t you think?”

  Her hand slipped into his boxers, and Jack could feel her endowments pressing against his back. It felt incredible, and he let her fingers and palm do their thing for a couple of seconds, wishing he could take it further.

  “Mr. Masterson?”

  Ryoko’s voice was quiet, and a little shaky, and it instantly brought Jack back to reality. He pulled away from Mira and her ongoing seduction and cleared his throat.

  “Ryoko,” he said, blushing a little. “Good morning. I wasn’t sure if you’d be up yet or not.”

  Ryoko looked tired and bedraggled, despite having changed into her maid uniform. She was frowning slightly, though it was directed more at the floor than at Jack or Mira.

  “I can make breakfast,” she said, almost a whisper. “Sir.”

  Jack winced. He’d learned over the past few weeks that whenever Ryoko stopped using his name, it meant that she’d withdrawn from him. Oftentimes, there was no obvious trigger for it. She usually didn’t mind when Mira teased Jack in front of her, but he couldn’t imagine what else he’d done that morning that might have put her in an insecure mood.

  “Only if you feel up to it,” said Jack. “I can make frozen waffles for myself.”

  “For yourself, and for me,” said Mira.

  Jack rolled his eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh.

  “I think I’m going to let you fend for yourself,” he said.

  Ryoko kept standing where she was for a few more seconds, saying nothing and not looking at anyone. She almost glanced in Jack’s direction, and then gave a deep bow.

  “Sir,” she said in a small voice. She turned around and started to head back toward the servant’s chambers. Jack followed her.

  “Hey,” he said. “Ryoko. Are you okay?”

  They stood in the hallway outside her room, out of sight and earshot from Mira. Ryoko finally met his gaze. She looked fragile, more so than he’d ever seen her before.

  “Is this about how Mira was hugging me when you came out?” asked Jack.

  Ryoko shook her head.

  “No, it isn’t,” she said. “Really. I’m sorry, sir. You don’t have to mind me.”

  “Jack,” he said. “Come on, Ryoko.” He gave her fingers a squeeze. “Talk to me. Please.”

  Jack pulled her a little closer to him, resting his hand on her shoulder. Ryoko’s eyes darted across his mouth, and she ran her thumb across the spot on her neck where Jack usually fed.

  “I… took the potion this morning,” she said. “Are
you… feeling like you need to feed at all, sir?”

  Jack’s insides twisted as he listened to her tone of voice. Ryoko’s face was scarlet from how hard she was blushing. She was offering to let him bite her, but he got the distinct sense that she was the one who wanted it most. And that was more than a little worrying.

  “I’m fine, Ryoko,” he said. “And I think you will be too, once we get to the beach.”

  “I… was going to work around the house,” mumbled Ryoko. “I wasn’t planning on going out.”

  “I insist,” said Jack. “Trust me. This will be good for you.”

  He pulled her into a tight hug and tried to ignore the way she tilted her head to give him easy access to her neck, if he so wanted it. The beach was what she needed. Not his fangs.

  CHAPTER 6

  Lestaron Island was not well-known for its beaches, but the allure and effects of tourism money pouring in had been slowly changing that fact. Jack drove the mansion’s car, with Ryoko in the front seat and Mira in the back, alongside Lesser Town’s boardwalk.

  It was a beautiful summer day, and a significant number of people were out and about. Several food trucks and snack shacks already boasted long lines of men and women in their swimsuits with money in hand. Jack had his window down, and the smell of cotton candy, ice cream, and fried dough wafted in on the breeze.

  The beach itself was crowded, though not overly so. A group of teenagers were in the middle of a heated volleyball match, and the beachgoers who’d set up towels on either side of it were wary of the sand being accidentally kicked their way.

  A female lifeguard stood atop a fifteen-foot-high tower, tanned and tired and wearing a dark pair of sunglasses. Further down the beach, a paddle board rental station seemed to be all but ignored, and Jack wondered if it was due to prohibitive pricing or just bad luck.