The Succubus In My Closet

Chapter 6: A Succubus's Feelings

When he unlocked his front door and eased it open, bracing himself for chaos, he found an unexpected scene of tranquil domesticity.

Pearl was curled up sideways in his recliner, still wearing the hoodie and pants he had given her yesterday. When the door opened, her head snapped towards the entrance, and a radiant smile bloomed across her porcelain face.

“Erick,” she said, hopping down from the chair with effortless agility. “You returned.”

“I did,” Erick said, leaning back against the closed door to catch his breath. The apartment smelled faintly of his usual laundry detergent mixed with her lingering, intoxicating scent of vanilla and crushed lilies.

“Do you want me to do anything for you?” Pearl asked, her head slightly bowed.

“No, not even,” Erick replied quickly.

The idea of using someone to do his chores felt wrong, let alone an immature succubus who thought serving him was the only way to avoid returning back to the Nethers. He could not bring himself to look at her directly. Deep down, he felt a pang of guilt gnaw at his heart. Pearl was oblivious to the fact that the master she had sworn to serve was already seeking a way to dispose of her.

***

It was more difficult than Erick had anticipated. Rather than drive her away, he found himself drawing closer to Pearl as the days progressed.

Erick set strict boundaries: he strictly forbade Pearl from stepping outside into the hallway or going near the windows without the blinds drawn. The world of men was dangerous, and an undocumented, violet-eyed woman living off-grid would raise immediate red flags.

Pearl accepted the rule without complaint. In fact, she treated the single-bedroom apartment like a vast, magical paradise where everything was subject to her curiosity.

Erick introduced her to television. She thought it was an advanced crystal mirror with a sophisticated wand (the remote), which gave her a satisfactory sense of power once she knew how it worked. Within a couple of weeks, she had developed a borderline obsession with culinary channels. Erick was patient enough to teach her how to use the cooker, oven and microwave. He could not help laughing when Pearl marveled at ‘the box that breathes ice’.

Using Erick’s modest pantry, she taught herself how to chop vegetables, simmer stews, and bake bread, moving around the kitchen with child-like enthusiasm. Half of what she made could be classified as poison, but she presented everything to Erick with a proud face when he returned home after work. He attempted to eat what might have been a scrambled egg one time and ended up paying a lot of visits to the bathroom. Erick made it a habit to teach her how to cook in person afterwards.

Pearl was eager to learn. She behaved as if she had been granted a second chance at life, and she evolved at a rate that almost terrified Erick. He also noticed a few habits that firmly took root during the three-week course that they had stayed together.

The first was her manner of speaking. When Pearl was confident and happy, she addressed him simply as Erick. But when she was nervous or frightened, she addressed him as Master. There were times when Erick did not feel like talking and would retreat into his mind. Pearl often mistook this as a sign of anger and thought that she had done something wrong. When this happened, she retreated into his closet and stayed there until he came searching for her.

Erick had assured her several times that she did not have to retreat into the shadows because of him, but after finding her several times in the closet, he realized that it was not just a safe haven for her; she used it to ground herself when the world felt too overwhelming. In the end, Erick bought a pair of headphones and downloaded his favorite playlists in his old tablet. He taught Pearl how to use it so she could play whenever the silence in her haven felt too loud.

“Pearl,” he started one night, when the succubus was engrossed in a 90s romance movie called Paradise Blues.

“Yes?” she answered, blushing when Erick noticed her teary eyes.

“If you had the chance to be something else,” he hesitated, “I mean, if you got the chance to be with someone other than me without consequence, would you be keen to that idea?”

Pearl shifted uneasily. She misinterpreted the nature of the question, after all, she was not a typical woman.

“Hypothetically speaking,” Erick added, noticing how uncomfortable Pearl seemed with answering the question. “If there was a better home, where you could do more than just… You know what, forget I asked…”

“Erick,” Pearl said, moving closer to hold his hands in hers. She felt warm. Her eyes sought his, her golden pupils melting into her purple irises in a way that always hypnotized Erick. “I do not desire to be with someone else. Please do not ask of this again. The only way I can leave you is if you tell me to.”

“But is that what you want?” Erick pressed, feeling his insecurities melt with the warmth of Pearl’s touch.

Pearl looked down at their joined hands. Then she looked back into his eyes, her expression sincere.

“My kind exists to fulfill raw desire. That is how we survive. But here,” she smiled brightly, her eyes sparkly with tears, “I do not live because of lust. I live because you have a heartbeat, and it’s the most beautiful thing that I have come to know. You see me as Pearl, not just something to play with when you feel lonely.”

She lifted Erick’s hand and placed his palm over her bosom. He could feel her pulse beneath her soft, warm skin.

“I have a heart too, Erick. And it beats for you.”

Erick felt his cheeks burn.

“You’re watching too much romance,” he mumbled.

Pearl chuckled. She snuggled into Erick’s personal space and draped his arm over her shoulder, leaning back to resume watching her movie.

“I am living it,” she said.