1. SUCCUBUS

She has the evidence of evil in her mouth...

She is the pawn... She is the pain... She is the rape... She is the vessel through which a grievous evil enters the world and comes upon man. She appears feminine and beautiful, but she has been deformed... Distorted by her owner. She has learned to draw in her male victims by broadcasting a psychic ruse of helplessness... Of vulnerability... And so sensing, the natural protective instinct of the male is aroused. Once sighted, she presents the illusion of a perfect balance between seductive evil and sweet innocence; a combination that breeds an almost irresistible attraction in him and ensures she is never wanting for prey. Although there is a palpable nuance of something not quite right about her which earnestly warns him of peril, the warning goes unheeded. Knowing she has obtained what her frigid and callous heart craves most, she meticulously lays her tender trap, setting out the finest of her counterfeit gifts... The ones she knows will hold him fast and lull him into a sleep state until his mind is deceived enough that he remains in her clutches of his own volition and believes that he needs her in order to live.

On the day of reckoning, when she has had him under her sinistral spell for a time, he catches a glimpse of her true form and calls her out in a moment of lucidity. Upon being discovered, she strikes with cold precision and ruthless fury at his point of greatest weakness...his unguarded heart. Kiss turns to gnaw... Tender to raw... Trust to betrayal, love to indifference and sex to affliction. Taken by surprise and without his familiar defenses, he suffers the full impact of her assault and is completely paralyzed by the event... Unable to strike back or raise his hands to protect himself. If she is dead on her mark, he has been so groomed and conditioned for this that he will uncharacteristically display gratitude and assist her as she hacks away at his dwindling life force. She can do no other than to follow her unnatural instinct... To bleed him... To drain him of all he has and all he is through detachment and devaluation, then leave him hanging in suspension as a final means of torture and punishment for his recognition of her true form.

Afterwards, she seems almost unaware... Unaffected by her despicable and reprehensible actions... Indifferent to the great damage and suffering she has inflicted upon her host. Because her ignorance is intrinsic and her emotions retarded, she is shielded from any semblance of remorse. She revises the details of the event in her dark mind, recasts herself as the victim of unspeakable abuses and justifies herself to her own satisfaction. This spontaneous mechanism allows her to shamelessly embark upon the next desperate pursuit of yet another unknowing dupe whose sole use is to temporarily satiate her gnawing hunger and eternal emptiness. And this cycle continues until such time as is appointed for her to be held accountable for her crimes.

For he who endures her despoilment, the utter mess she leaves behind and the seeds of hatred sown in the gaping heart wound may or may not be worth the price of survival. Her poison input, warped perception and defilement of his flesh will have disrupted his own discernment such that for a time he will have to live as though he were in a mirror... Appearing to despise that which he loves and appearing to love that which he despises. If he is able to grasp this paradox and put in an exhausting amount of effort, there is a good possibility that he will recover - though not without deep and lasting scars to remind him of his folly.