The Succubus

The Succubus

The door opened to reveal a tall figure, actually a silhouette of a young woman of twenty-five or so. Her fiery red hair streamed down her long black gown. Her face was long and gaunt. Her most appealing feature was her hauntingly beautiful green eyes. One could almost become entranced by staring into them. She carefully gazed icily at those gathered in the room before her. Slowly, she raised her arms while simultaneously a tremendous boom of thunder shattered the silence.

The room was filled with laughter. A voice called out,

“Okay Sandra, that’s enough of your witchcraft. Come in and join the party.”

As Sandra entered the room, she noticed her fiancé, Richard, talking to Julie, her best friend. Sandra had just been thinking how lucky she was to be engaged to such a wonderful, handsome man. Her thoughts quickly vanished as she heard Richard saying,

“Julie, the color of your dress matches your eyes perfectly. You really look beautiful tonight.”

With cheeks turning slightly pink, Julie replied,

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Sandra’s mouth fell agape. Her thoughts were racing, fueled by pure jealousy.

“How dare he even look at another woman.”

But she knew Richard would never be unfaithful to her. She quickly assumed that Julie was undoubtedly enticing him. Sandra knew that she would never have trusted Julie with him without her presence. But then again, Sandra had wrongly presumed that Julie was so different from the others. But no, she had just been boldly confronted with just how wrong she was.

“They are all alike, always trying to steal my Richard from me. Now I understand why she pretends to be my friend. To get --”

But those thoughts were interrupted with Julie approaching her:

“You should enjoy this conversation, Sandra. John was telling us about a paper that he wrote on mental telepathy.”

Sandra injected an overly sweet voice:

“Oh, really? Tell me about it, John,”

John explained:

“Well, I was talking about the powers of the mind. If a person wishes to take over and control another person’s mind, it can be done! It takes a person with some telepathic powers, though, to do it. The other person must also have faith in these powers. One person can even go as far as convincing another person to do some dreadful things to others or even possibly to themselves. That seems impossible and ludicrous, but my research has uncovered compelling evidence of these occurrences. I’ll send you a copy of my paper. My psych professor was quite impressed.”

Sandra’s eyes began to flash. A sinister plan was slowly inching its way into her mind. She wondered if this was possible and whether she was capable of such powers of the mind. Wasn’t it just the other day that Julie had asked her to read her tarot cards? Hadn’t Sandra foreseen the long-awaited letter from Julie’s brother stationed somewhere in the Middle East? For a great while, neither Julie nor her family had received word from him. They had become extremely anxious about his safety. While reading Julie’s cards, Sandra predicted that a letter would be received within a few days. Sandra comforted Julie by saying that the cards said that he was indeed safe. And didn’t Julie receive such a letter the following week saying that her brother had been on a mission and had been unable to communicate. Surely, this proved to Julie that Sandra did have some power. Julie most definitely believed in her.

Sandra was suddenly startled out of her deep reverie by an incessant tugging at her sleeve. It was Richard trying to get her attention.

“Oh, Richard! I was just thinking about some silliness that John is researching. Are you ready to leave?”

There was very little conversation between Sandra and her beloved Richard on the way home. Richard seemed distracted, but she wasn’t worried about what he was thinking. She was thinking of something more important – yes, much more important.

The next morning, Julie drove over to Sandra’s house to help her pin the hem on her wedding dress. Of course, Julie was Sandra’s maid of honor. They had known each other since kindergarten. Julie could still remember that miserable first day of school when she was so frightened and too shy to make friends. But it was Sandra who had stayed by her side and comforted her as only another six-year-old can do. She knew on that first day that Sandra was special and adopted her as her very closest friend from that day forward. Richard and Sandra had often included her in their plans, but she was definitely the third wheel when they were all together. Now, Julie was feeling a sense of desolation as she realized she might be losing her lifelong friend and constant companion. She knew that Sandra would not be there for her as she had in the past. Julie knew she had to push these thoughts from her mind and told herself that things would work out some sort of way. Didn’t she find Sandra when she needed her most?

Julie was running late to meet up with Sandra and realized when she arrived that Sandra’s elevator was out of service. And since Sandra lived on the top floor, she would have to make the climb up 6 flights of stairs. And she had already run three miles earlier in the morning. What she wouldn’t do for Sandra! She was quite exhausted by the time she entered the apartment. Sandra, being the impatient type, had already started the pinning process. Julie had never seen her that exuberant, talking incessantly about the wedding details. Trying to slow her down a bit, Julie calmly suggested that Sandra try the dress on.

Sandra hurriedly slipped the lace and pearl encrusted dress on. Looking at herself in the mirror, she remarked,

“Oh my! Julie, can you imagine the look on everyone’s face when they see me walking down the aisle in this amazing dress!”

She began to walk slowly to and from the mirror, preening as only she could do.

“What are you doing?” inquired Julie.

“Well, Julie, I am just practicing for my walk down the aisle. I’m nervous already thinking of so many eyes focused all on me!”

“Why should you be nervous about something that isn’t ever going to happen,” remarked Julie with an ice-cold tone that Sandra had never heard before, ever.

Sandra stood there, stunned. Tears rushed into those green eyes and streamed down her now pallid cheeks. Her words were choked: “Wh-what do you mean – no wedding?! This is one of your bad jokes, right?!”

Julie stared fiercely into Sandra’s eyes.

“There isn’t going to be a wedding. You will never marry Richard. Richard is gone.”

Sandra turned savagely toward Julie and began to shake her violently.

“What are you saying? You have always been jealous of me. I knew that you were secretly in love with him. What have YOU done? I bet you would even rather have him dead than married to me!”

Sandra was becoming more hostile and began to advance menacingly toward her lifelong friend. Julie was unnervingly silent. She fixed her gaze on Sandra but began to slowly step back further and further, until she reached the window that had been opened to allow the cool breeze to flow in on a splendid, blue-sky day.

It was then that Sandra seemed to regain some of her composure and began to speak in a strong steady voice.

“My will is stronger than yours, Julie. Look below you. We are sixty feet above the pavement. Your life is miserable and always has been. I WILL marry Richard and YOU will have no one. Why don’t you end all the anguish and wretchedness that you have suffered through all these years? JUMP – JUMP! Do it, Julie. You will be at peace finally.”

Julie turned slowly with eerie quietness to look at the ground below. With her back to Sandra, she calmly said,

“Look at your phone, Sandra. Check your messages from your beloved Richard.”

Sandra rushed to the table as Julie stood over her shoulder watching Sandra read the message from Richard. It was brief and to the point. Richard was not in love with her and probably never had been. He realized he had fallen under her witchlike spell after peering into what he had to admit was the most divinely green eyes he had ever seen. But it was over. And he hoped they could put all this behind them and that she would be able to let go of him. He knew that this would be hard for her, and he asked that she not become combative and vengeful as that he was aware of how badly her past relationships had ended.

Sandra felt desperate. Her past certainly did involve “difficult” breakups where she had given her best efforts to ruin the lives of those who betrayed her. But this was not going to happen this time. She would get Richard back and then ensure that he would never attempt to leave her again. But she had to deal with Julie first as she began to understand the depth of the power that Julie held. Sandra turned to confront Julie:

“You knew this was going to happen. You never warned me. You wished this. YOU enchanted him. I should have recognized your powers. Obviously stronger than mine! You are the witch!”

A faint sardonic smile slipped across Julie’s face, and she began to speak slowly with a bewitching, enchanting tone:

“Yes, Sandra, you are correct. I have always been more powerful than you. How do you think you became my friend so long ago? I was a miserable, crying child. Whatever would have attracted you to me! Sure, sympathy at first, but that would not have been enough to maintain this friendship all these years.”

Julie was moving slowly toward her in a way that was more chilling and terrifying than Sandra could grasp. Sandra was now the one backing up until she reached the window. And then Julie spoke:

“Richard is gone. You have nothing to live for. Your life ended when Richard dumped you. As you said, we are sixty feet up. It will be quick and the pain you are now feeling will be gone. JUMP - JUMP! Do it, Sandra. You will be at peace finally.”

A shrill scream carried throughout the air. Julie felt a faint breeze blowing through the open window. Silently, she closed it and drew the curtains. With a serenity not ever felt in her life, Julie left the dismal apartment and descended the stairs. There, waiting for her, was her beloved Richard.