Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (24 page)

She shrugged. “I'm thinking about it. I only met the guy once but I
guess I should at least make an appearance. I heard the whole crew was going to
be there.” A smirk came on her face and it was my turn to roll my eyes.

“Of course you'd be the one to think she can pick up a guy at a
funeral,” I muttered.

“I'm a demon, Maya. Besides, they're vulnerable at that time.”

As much as Melinda and I were alike, there were a lot of
differences. She actually embraced everything that had to do with her demon,
while I was more subtle about it. We could be so opposite.

I felt a yawn start to climb up my throat and I knew that it was
time to get some sleep. My eyes flicked to the clock.
1:30am
, which was weird because I was sure
I was down in the underworld for hours. I shook my head, not even caring.
“Alright, I'm going to sleep.” The whole Tristan thing would have to wait—as if
I had a choice.

I noticed that no one was even making the move to leave. Actually,
it seemed that everyone was busy. I could see Melinda watching Ethan while
biting down on her bottom lip. I didn’t even want to know what was going
through her head. Ethan was oblivious to this all. The photos on my wall had
grabbed his attention at some point, again.

And Daniel, do I even have to ask?

“Can you please stop looking at my boobs?” I said, crossing my arms
over my chest, where Daniel’s blue eyes had settled.

The side of his lips quirked up and he shrugged, obviously not fazed
by my catching him. “You shouldn’t wear a see-through shirt. It’s misleading.”

It wasn’t even see-through. It was white and the bra I had
underneath was black, so technically, “You're just a pervert. Can everyone
please get out of my room?”

All gazes were on me, and still no one made the move to get out. I
was going to have to force them out. “I'm going to masturbate,” I said.

“Ew.” Melinda held her palms over her ears. “That’s not something I
wanted to know.” She turned and headed out the door.

One down. Two more to go.

“As much as your sexual desires are normal, I believe this is my
exit.” Ethan vanished, leaving me with the one person who I knew wouldn’t
co-operate.

“Go away, Daniel,” I said.

“You sure you don't want a helping hand or anything?”

My hand reached out and before it could grab the pillow on my bed,
Daniel was out of my room, shutting my door quickly behind him.

I released a long sigh. The headache in my head was annoying, but
due to the fact it had no association with my demon—just the three people who
had their priorities muddled up—I could sleep in peace. And I didn’t waste any
time from letting my body fall into the comfort of my bed, embracing the
slumber that quickly came.

****

It wasn't surprising to me when Melinda forcefully woke me up later
on that morning, demanding me to fill her in on anything and everything. And
with the hatred feeling of leaving the dream I was having of Tristan and
I—doing things that should be left unsaid—I told her with the prying ears of
Daniel.

Their reactions were expected, I guess.

“Well shit, you could have fucked him.” Melinda shook her head
sympathetically. “I actually don't know why you haven't already. I wouldn't
even care that I'd kill him. That body is just—” she paused when she noticed my
arched brow, “What? I’m just saying.”

Daniel was more mature...

“Wow. I’ve never heard of an immune human, or the story of
Bethany
,” he murmured.

“Thank you.” I exclaimed. Finally someone who was taking this
seriously, unlike some people, i.e.: Melinda.

Then Daniel had to go and open his mouth again, “Which means we
should sort out our sexual tension before things get serious.”

I actually don’t know why I expected them to be serious about it.
They thought it was some miracle or something. The only thing they were
actually serious about was Tori, but both of them had taken it to wait, like
Ethan said.

“Hey, do you think this is alright?” Melinda walked into my room
with a skin tight black dress on. The dress itself was so short that if she
bent over, you would see what color her panties were, or if she was even
wearing any.

“You're going to a funeral, not to apply at a brothel.”

I had laid out a few dresses that I thought would be appropriate for
the funeral. But no matter how much I stared at the dresses, I couldn't bring
myself to even try them on.

“Fine, I'll go change.” She examined herself in my full length
mirror, running her hands over her curves. “Still, this would do great
wonders... oh well.” She brought her attention to me. “What are you wearing?”

I looked down at the dresses again. There was a nice knee length
one, a long sleeved one, and even a one shoulder one. All black, of course,
maybe a hint of white here and there. None of them appealed to me or my mood
though. “I don't know. It just doesn't feel right.”

It was safe to say I was feeling kind of guilty for Geoff's death.
It wasn't totally my fault, I know. But I kind of instigated it, so it was
semi-my-fault.

“Don't tell me you're getting the case of the guilt.” Melinda sat
down on my bed.

I sighed and leaned against my window sill. “I don't know, Mel. It
just feels weird if I go. I didn't know the guy and I practically killed him.”

“That wasn't your fault, Maya,” Melinda said, “You didn't know it
was going to happen. By the way, why did you fuck him?”

Really, she didn't catch on why I did it?

I'll give her a few seconds to get it... she will.

“Oh my God.” There it was. “You're the reason Tristan got his match
back?” Melinda had a devious look upon her, and I was kind of worried about
what she was going to say next. “Oh, Maya, this is a new level. I'm impressed.”

“Please don't be impressed,” I quickly said, “it's not exactly
something I'm proud about.” It didn’t get me anywhere but in the situation I am
in right now.

With that thought, I picked up the dresses and threw them back in my
wardrobe.

Decision made. I'm not going.

“Don't feel guilty about it. He would be alive if it wasn't for Tori
so don't beat yourself up. If anything, you should be pissed at her. Still, I
so can't believe you did that,” she laughed loudly, “for Tristan too. Oh, you
are so whipped.”

Whipped? That's a new one. “I'm not whipped,” I retorted.

“Yeah, you are.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Oh yeah?” She stood and walked slowly towards me, a challenging
look in her green eyes. “So, who always turns up to gym all the time to give
the MMA fighter some company in-between classes, also bears lunch while she’s
at it?”

“Not me.” I noticed my defensive tone instantly and Melinda wasn’t
convinced, which only caused more words to come out. “It's called generosity.”

“It's called being whipped.” She walked back towards the door, and
before she left, she decided to make a whipping motion proceeding to run out of
my room before I could throw something at her.

“Whipped!” I heard her call out and I couldn’t help but glare at the
door. Not that it did anything to me, but it could have helped and hit
her
.
How was I even associated with these people? Is there one sane person in my
life?

There was a knock on my door and I didn't need to look to know who
it was.

“So, I heard whip and I was just wondering if you were—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Daniel.”

I heard the faint sound of him scratching his head and he cleared
his throat. “You know what? I think I hear Melinda calling my name.” She
wasn’t. “Coming, Mel.” He exited the room as fast as Melinda did.

“I seriously need a new set of friends for a weekend,” I muttered,
dropping my ass down on my bed.

I could feel the weight of everything start to push against my
shoulders. From Tristan to the guilt I was having now, everything was starting
to overwhelm me.

Negativity was something succubi and incubi held deep within us. It
was something we lived on—besides sex. Guilt was something else. As much as it
is rare for us to feel remorse, I had felt it previously, with Tristan.

“Tell me right now, Maya. If you want me to leave her, I will.”

“I don’t want you to leave her.”

That was one of the days I’d love to go back to and change
everything. He had given me the chance to tell him, right there and then I
could’ve told him to leave her. I didn’t because I thought he would’ve been
happy.

But that’s not why I felt guilty.

I felt guilty because I had led him to believe that we could be
together, when in reality we couldn’t.

Before Tori, it was me and him. We were those two people that had
English together, and hung out a lot. We were practically inseparable.

Now there was a giant ocean between us. Literally.

“Are you alright?”

I snapped my head up and spotted Ethan standing beside me. When did
he get here? And how come I didn't hear him enter? “I'm seriously considering a
privacy agreement.”

I felt the bed dip beside me as he sat down. “What's wrong?”

Was I that obvious? Why does he even care? “Since when have you
showed sympathy?”

“I haven’t. So, what's up?”

“You don’t want to know,” I mumbled.

“Try me.” He turned his eyes towards mine and I watched as the green
in them darkened. There was a small wrinkle in between his eye brows and it
almost seemed like it didn’t belong there.

Did he really want to know?

“You're going to laugh,” I warned.

One brow popped up slightly and he said, “Have you ever seen me
laugh, succubus?”

Good point. I sighed. “Is it normal for a succubus to feel guilty at
some point?”

His brow moved up further and then his eyes narrowed. “You're
feeling guilt?”

I nodded.

“It's not normal for a succubus to feel that emotion.” Great, I’m a
freak. “But it could be your connection with Tristan. He could be feeling
guilty about something and it's passing through to you.”

What? “I'm feeling his emotions?”

He nodded once. “You wouldn't be feeling them all. As far as I know,
Bethany
only felt them when
Conrad was nearby, so that could be it.”

When he was nearby? Does that mean Tristan is here? Is he at my
dorm? “What do you mean by nearby?”

Ethan thought for a few seconds. “A few miles at least.”

Well there goes that thought.

“Get dressed.” The sudden movement of him getting off my bed
confused me.

“Why?” I asked.

He was opening my door when he paused, looking back to me while his
hand moved to the handle.
Oh, so now he wants to use the door
. “Because
we have a funeral to go to. Hurry up, you’ve got thirty minutes.”

“And, if I say no?” I challenged.

He seemed to find my question amusing, and for the first time, I saw
him smile as he opened my door. “I don’t take no for an answer, succubus.”

****

“You know, this whole secret agency stuff is starting to turn into
an episode of CSI.” As much as I refused to go to the funeral at first, Ethan
continued to remind me who was in charge and now, here I am, watching a funeral
that’s happening quite a distance away

“I'm not stopping you from going over there.” Ethan joined my side
on the hood of my car. He suggested that he could just transport us, but I
wasn't having it, so I gave him a little reminder of what humanity is. Not
saying that it was an easy drive though. All he could do was complain about the
roads and my car. It was like listening to a teenager moan about a bitch at
high school.

“I'm fine here, thanks.” I even got dressed. I ended up choosing the
long-sleeved fitted dress that reached below my knees. I don't know why Ethan
made me dress up, but I guess it was the least I could do.

Melinda was over there, amongst the large crowd that all came to say
goodbye to the man who touched their hearts. The more I looked at all the
mourning faces, the more I felt guilty. Ethan said it might be to do with
Tristan because I can feel his emotions, but why would Tristan feel guilty? He
didn't kill Geoff. His girlfriend did—with majority of the help from me.

Daniel didn't really see what his part in this was so he decided to
stay out of it and go out looking for his latest dose. Not sure where he was
going, but I'm positive he wouldn't be looking far.

“No Tori, hm,” Ethan said.

I didn't know what he was talking about, but the question was
answered when my eyes skimmed over the cowed, stopping at the familiar brown
hair.