Part 16

“How the fuck am I doing this?!” Eve screeched.

“How the fuck is she doing that?!” I screeched in pretty much the exact same tone of voice.

It took Allie a second to compose herself, but she finally asked, “Um… Is… Can she do that just because this realm is connected to the human world and the mansion is manipulated by magical girl energy?”

Lilith shook her head. “No, these realms, though connected, can’t interact like that. Abigail or I couldn’t walk out into the human world without hosts, succubi are nothing but energy in a way. We have no true physical form, only what form the magicks give us when we’re not possessing anyone.” To demonstrate, she put her arm through the doorway between worlds. For a moment, it was as if her arm had been cleanly severed at elbow level, it looked disturbing and painful, even though I didn’t think she actually felt pain because of it (I really didn’t know). “Evelyn being in the human world… This has never happened before.”

“Mom, how is this happening to me?!” Eve screamed.

Abbie asked, “Is it possible… Was she bonded to Mikaela for so long that when Aunt Florence started draining us, Evie really did become human?”

Lilith rubbed at her chin. “I don’t see any other possibilities. She has been bonded to one host longer than any other succubus aside from Florence.”

“Wait, can succubi becoming human actually happen?” Allie asked.

“It’s never happened before, but this isn’t a situation that’s happened in my lifetime.”

“What am I gonna do now?!” Eve was hysterical. I walked over to her and put my arms around her for comfort. It felt kinda strange to actually hug her, but I wouldn’t stop for anything. The last few weeks, she’s basically been a second sister to me, and she needed this hug.

“Whatever it is, I’ll be there to help,” I told her.

“Me, too,” Allie said, encompassing the both of us in another hug. “Well, except for when I’m at school, ‘cause, y’know, school.”

From the other end of the hall, I heard Lilith call, “Evelyn, please come here.” Eve reluctantly slipped out from under the hugs and walked over to the doorway. She and her mom stood there for a long while looking at one another, neither one moving or speaking.

Finally, Eve said, “Mom… What do I do now?”

Lilith smiled, a warm yet sad smile. “You have what you wanted, now.”

“I… Guess? I don’t know if I wanted to be human, I just didn’t want all the sex.”

“No, Evelyn… Eve… You needed this. I could see that when you met me at the mall. You’ve become more than the sex demon you were born as, and I can’t say I’m not proud of you. You deserve the life you’ve earned.”

Eve sort of bounced nervously. “But… What did I do to deserve this?”

I walked up to her. “You’ve greatly improved my life, and you helped bring peace to the succubi and the magical girls! Don’tcha think that would be what ya did?”

She seemed to consider it, then said, “But if it weren’t for me, you’d still be --”

I cut her off. “I’d still be Mike Cross, an average guy with a few friends I barely hang out with and may have at some point lost my sister to a war I never knew about. Now, that war is over, I’m closer to my friends than I used to be and I have a boyfriend who loves the shit outta me. Explain why I’d ever want to go back to being who I was when I can be who I am now. Sure, there were bumps in the road, like that guy trying to rape me at the movies and your sister locking me inside my own head, but I’m… I’m better this way.”

I meant every word of that, too. Sure, at first this all seemed like a crazy roller coaster that I didn’t agree to get on, but as time’s gone on, I felt more and more comfortable this way. Eve had gone from being an annoyance to being… Like another sister to me.

Eve looked down at her feet (I did too, realizing for the first time she was wearing raised sandals) and sort of nervously rubbed one foot against the other. She then looked back up at me and asked, “You really… You feel that way?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“You really think of me as a sister?”

“Well, we’ve sorta lived together the last few weeks and…” I trailed off. I hadn’t said that I think of her as a sister. “Can you still hear my thoughts?!”

I think so.

“How do you still hear my thoughts?!”

Lilith chuckled a little. “You two have clearly gotten so close your bond can’t be broken. That’s a unique thing, even I haven’t bonded with a host so strongly, and I’ve bonded with more than a few hosts I remain friends with.”

Allie was suddenly behind me. “Girls, I’m not trying to rush everybody here, but Mikey has school tomorrow and we’re gonna need to figure out Eve’s fake history before that.”

Eve looked confused. “My what?”

“Look, you’re gonna need somewhere to live, and that’s probably our house, which means Mom won’t just let you lounge around doing nothing. You’ll need to go to school, too.”

“I havta go to school?”

I put my arm around her shoulder. “Be lucky, you can just mentally copy me, I had to actually learn this stuff. Just make sure you don’t copy me exactly, screw some stuff up.”

Eve looked nervous still, then turned to her mom. “So, I should do this? I should go be Eve the high school girl?”

Lilith smiled. “If you don’t, I’ll have to ground you, and you know how much harder it’ll be to lock you in your room.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, Mom could never do that with Allie and I, so she eventually gave up. It made trying to sneak out much less interesting.”

Lilith cleared her throat. “Alright, ladies, it’s time for you to leave. If there’s one thing I’ll not have, it’s my daughter shirking her new responsibility as a human.” before she closed the doorway, she added, “Do the best you can, sweetheart.”

Eve whispered, “I will, Mom,” but the door was already closed.

She heard you, I said in my mind.

I know.

***

I nearly fell on my bed and considered just going to sleep right then and there, but instead, I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked for texts from anybody. Just one from Terry that I would ignore until after a short nap, whereupon I would call him instead. I got lucky that the only part of my phone that suffered any damage when I fell earlier was the outer case, not the phone itself. Still meant I needed a new case, though.

It seemed strange that I was laying in bed without Eve’s thoughts in my head turning to masturbation or outright calling Terry to ask him for sex, even though we could still talk psychically. She promised to keep herself outta my head so long as we were at home, though I figured if Terry and I were ever doing something here, she’d probably make damn sure to watch or listen or whatever the hell it would be she’d be doing mentally.

I pulled the covers over me and hugged my pillow to my head. Dear god, I needed sleep. I couldn’t believe how tired I was. Probably an effect of everything that had happened, from being trapped inside my own head, to meeting Lilith and Adelaide to whatever having my life force sapped out of me meant. Maybe I’d sleep through tomorrow and forget most of today.

That was a distinct possibility until Eve jumped into bed with me.

“Quick, I need help setting my bed up!” she squealed.

I groaned. “Why now?”

“C’mon, hurry! Your mom said you had to!”

God, she was in hyper mode or some shit. I sat up and saw her sitting there, an innocent, almost sad-cat-eyes look on her face. I could even imagine a cat’s tail swaying from side to side behind her. If only it were true and I didn’t havta take her to school…

But, back to reality. “Okay, fine. Is Allie still here to help?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

I sighed. “Goddamnit. Well, whatever. It’s a bed and it’s in pieces. We can bring it up ourselves.”

She had a smirk on her face. “Why don’tcha call Terry?”

I open-palm whacked her on the nose. “No. I used to be a guy, I can put a bed together.”

“But you have a boyfriend who can do it!”

“And he would gladly do it, but I’m too tired to say no if he would ask for anything else.”

Her smirk had become a full-blown smile. “Why would you?”

I glared. “Sixteen is too young to be a mom.”

“But you don’t havta worry about me anymore! I can even find my own boyfriend now!”

“Well, duh, you’re not sharing with me!”

As if he’d been summoned by magic book or some shit, Terry knocked on the door and walked in. “I believe you said my name. And who said I was against sharing?”

I rolled my eyes. “No threesomes with me involved!”

Eve whispered, “But they’re really fun!”

I simply glared.

Terry just chuckled. “In all seriousness, I hear the former succubus princess needs a bed built, and your mom called me to help.”

The eye-rolling was back. I shouted, “Mom! Stop calling my boyfriend to do stuff I can do!”

From downstairs, Mom shouted back, “You’re dating for a reason, just accept it!”

I sighed again. “You’re helping put the bed together, not doing it on your own.”

He half raised his hands like he was surrendering. “I fully agree, ma’am, don’t misjudge my intentions.”

I got out of bed, walked over to him and smacked him on the head. “Don’t you ma’am me, douchebag. It’s honey, sweetie, or Mikey.”

He smiled. “No problem, babe.”

***

An hour and a half later, the bed was finished and covered in pink frills and fluffy pillows that pretty much contrasted the still-boyish-except-the-pillows look to my bed. People couldn’t exactly mistake us for brother and sister, or anything, but my bed didn’t really clue anybody in about me at all.

Terry of course did like ninety percent of the work, because he wouldn’t let me, because he thought I was doing it wrong. I’d put my own bed together, I knew how to put a fucking bed together. Also, he was being too adorably masculine to let me do something physical. Cute, but way too demeaning at the same time. Thankfully, he promised never to do it again and was just teasing me.

Eve crashed on her bed and rolled around in the covers. “You have no idea how good it feels to have a bed that’s all mine!” she said, almost sounding on the verge of climax. “I’ve fucked and slept in a ton of beds, but mostly hotels and never one that was mine.”

Terry calmly took a step closer to my bed. “Well, don’t… Um… Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Does he know how innuendo-y he phrased that? Eve asked, which made me laugh. Dammit, she’d had too much influence on me.

“What?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you later, baby, don’t worry.”

“That just worries me even more.”

I pulled him onto the bed beside me, but I didn’t crawl on top of him or anything. Instead, I wrapped my arms around him and.leaned close for a kiss. “Just shut your yap and kiss me,” I said, in as close to a seductive voice as I could manage (which wasn’t hard at all). He didn’t say anything, simply obliged. He pressed his lips into mine and slid his tongue in my mouth shortly after.

The urge to do more than simply kiss was strong, no doubt because my body was still predominantly built for sex, even if the succubus urges were gone. No, this was pure me, pure teenage hormones mixed with a little bit of what was left of the succubus urges. The difference this time is that I could control this urge. Still, I was very tempted to rip both our clothes off and at least cuddle with him naked.

And then I remembered Eve was still in the room.

I pulled away from Terry. “Hey, Eve, can you, um…”

She flipped me the bird. “Bed here, comfort here. You wanna fuck, you do it with me in here or in Allie’s room.”

Stupid mental link.

Terry laughed. “Actually, sweetie, I’ve got a better idea.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

***

His idea was ice cream. I wanted naked Terry up against naked me, and he wanted ice cream. If he wasn’t so goddamn adorable, this would have pissed me off. But instead, I just accepted it. It was a blisteringly hot day, even at eleven at night.

However, the best part was it was just me and him. Sure, Eve was there in my head, still, and Allie was somewhere talking to some boy she was considering going out with named… Henry, or Harry, or something. But the two of us were just sitting there, looking out at the sky, on a park bench, eating ice cream.

I thought back to when I was still a guy, which was barely two weeks ago and felt like a fucking lifetime. Neither of us had considered back then that we’d be dating now. Or that I’d be a girl. Or that being the host to the succubus princess would bring about peace between two magical groups that had been feuding for over a hundred years. Life seemed so much more… Boring back then. I know it hadn’t seemed that way at the time, but things had changed far too much in such a short span of time.

Holy shit, that was the first time I’d really put any thought into everything that had happened (though I’d probably said that a dozen times). I had just accepted it all, no muss, no fuss. And now, here I was, curled up next to my best friend, my boyfriend, eating ice cream in the park with him. It was so absurdly romantic I’d expect it in one of those stupid rom-coms that Allie liked to watch.

(Honestly, my life the past few weeks could be a rom-com.)

Terry said, “This is nice.”

I looked at him and smirked. “Nice? It’s fucking sweltering out here and we’re eating very quickly melting ice cream cones.”

“Yeah, but it’s just us. When was the last time it was just us?”

I took a big bite of ice cream. “Um… I was a boy then.”

“Exactly. This is the first time we’ve been able to just be boyfriend and girlfriend without Eve in your head or Allie somewhere nearby.”

I snuggled closer to him. “Well, Eve’s still technically here.”

“Huh?”

“We still have a mental connection. She still knows what I’m thinking. I don’t know if she knows what I’m seeing or doing or anything, though. And she promised to stay out of our night together.”

“And you’re sure she’s holding on to that promise?”

“Not one single bit.”

He laughed. “Well, either way, she’s not here.”

“Right.” He was right in a manner of speaking, and she hadn’t broken her promise just yet, so, the evening was going just plain great.

I finished my ice cream and just nestled up against him, basking in the pure simplicity of the moment.

***

“Hurry up, Eve!” I shouted at the bathroom door. I had to pee and she was still in the fucking shower. And she wasn’t helping by bringing up mental images of waterfalls and peaceful rivers. She was taking far to much an advantage of this damn connection.

“I’ll be out in a minute!” she called back.

“You said that an hour ago! We’re gonna run out of hot water!” good thing I took a shower last night. Without Terry, though I couldn’t deny the urge to have him come in. Eve was probably enjoying the fantasizing I did and how hard it was to cover up the moaning.

Mom walked over to me and knocked on the door. “Eve, sweetie, hurry up.”

“Okay!” she yelled, and suddenly the water was being turned off.

I glared at Mom, who just shrugged and smiled. “It’s a mom gift. You’ll have it when you’re a mom.”

I was about to say something about that, but then the bathroom door opened and Eve sauntered out, towel wrapped around her with a smirk on her face. Just you try to say something, I told her.

Bite me, I had to listen to her. She’s got Mom powers!

I was then just about to duck into the bathroom, but Mom got in there before me. Dammit…

Thirty minutes later after I’d managed to finally pee, I poked through my closet. I still wasn’t comfortable with most of my clothes, but that was quickly subsiding. The tank tops all showed too much cleavage, but I was used to that now. I was used to guys staring at my boobs now. Honestly, even though I had a boyfriend I had no intentions of cheating on, getting stared at was sometimes kinda fun. No doubt Eve’s influence on me.

I grabbed a pink one that had cheetah spots all over it. The spaghetti straps barely covered my bra straps, but that was pretty much every tank top I had. Hopefully the heat would start to die down soon, and I could wear more tee-shirts. Heat waves were great when you were completely comfortable with your body, but when you were self-conscious and nervous about it, they were nothing but attention drawing annoyances.

Eve squeezed past me and grabbed one of those short denim skirts that Mindy forced me to buy a few days ago. “You need to wear this,” she said.

“Uh, no.”

“Yes. Wear it and a pair of long socks, you’ll look adorable.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why don’t you wear it?”

She held it against me, I assume checking to see how I’d look in it. “Because, Terry got you ice cream last night. He treated you, now it’s your turn to treat him by wearing something sexy and revealing. And then wear the long socks - or stockings or tights, both good options - to keep the modesty you don’t want to lose by wearing such a short skirt.”

I blinked a moment, then said, “I shouldn’t even consider entertaining that idea. Terry loves me for who I am, not how I dress!”

She flashed a smirk. “Trust me, I may not have had a legitimate boyfriend as long as you have, but boys always want their girl to show off for them. Terry will appreciate the view, just like every other guy, and maybe the two of you will do a little more than cuddling tonight when he takes you to the movies.”

I grabbed the skirt from her hands. “You promised.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but you never said anything about your mom being able to tell me.”

“When did Mom tell you?”

“Just before you got to the table this morning for breakfast.”

Goddamnit. Of course Mom would betray me like that. I sighed. “Fine, I guess I’ll wear the skirt. Not like it’s the first one I’ve ever worn. But I’m doing this under protest and I demand that you not try to influence anything else I do today.”

Eve nodded. “Yep. I’ll be busy trying to snag my own boyfriend. On that subject, is what’shisname available?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’shisname? Who are you talking about?”

“That… Dammit… That guy from the lake party. The one who knew Loki.”

“Gerry? I dunno. Maybe. I have a boyfriend, I don’t keep up on who’s single or not.”

She grabbed a similar skirt and a tee shirt that didn’t cover her stomach. “Well, whatever. Even if he is taken, there’s gotta be a guy for me somewhere in school. Hopefully, I can find the same kind of relationship you’ve got with Terry. I want a guy who cares about me and wants me around.”

“You want legitimate love, not fuck-love?”

“Yeah.”

After getting the skirt on, I sat down on my bed and pulled on a pair of long socks. I had to admit, knee socks and a denim skirt did make my legs look great. Maybe wearing this skirt at school wouldn’t be the horrifying mess I was afraid it would be. “You know you can’t just get into a meaningful relationship overnight, right?”

She pulled the shirt down over her head. Her bra was just as obvious as mine, even though her bra straps weren’t out there for everyone to see. “Duh, but it starts somewhere, and that’s with presenting myself as Evelyn Cross, Mikaela’s long-lost twin sister who just moved to town to get close to her family.”

I sighed. “How Allie thought that will work is beyond me, but I guess it’s probably been a true story at some point. With any luck, nobody’ll question it.”

“We’ll be fine!”

“Right, I’ll believe that when I see it.”

***

The principal looked over Eve’s file and occasionally glanced up from it at Eve or at me. He didn’t seem overly impressed with what he was reading. Finally, he set the file down and asked, “Are you possessed or a sorceress or a magical girl or something else?”

Eve and I both asked, “What?”

He sighed. “Miss Cross,” he was looking at me when he said that, “your sister - your real sister, Allison - was a magical girl who battled a succubus right here in my school. Yes, I know about magical creatures, and I’m really, really not comfortable with how many of you keep popping up here.” He looked over at Eve. “So tell me, Evelyn, what are you?”

Eve asked, “Would you believe me if I said I was a succubus who turned into a human and I’m not magical at all anymore?”

He sat there for a moment and looked like he was about to yawn. “Whatever,” he finally said, “just don’t go around telling people you’re her long-lost twin sister, most people here are smart enough not to believe that.”

Did this just work? Eve asked.

Don’t ask me, I’m still confused.

“Um, yes, sir,” Eve said.

The both of us stood up. Eve made it to the door before I did, because I glanced back at the principal and wondered just what the hell he’d seen Allie do to a succubus last year. After that, I followed Eve back out into the hallway.

***

“Okay, I’m ready for my first day of high school!” Eve exclaimed, a little bit more loudly than I wanted her to. Thankfully, nobody was around to hear it.

“It’s really your second day,” I said as I took a sip of soda from my Mountain Dew bottle, “but your first day was as me.”

“Exactly, that’s why this is my first day, and I’m excited!”

“You really shouldn’t be,” Mindy said, suddenly arriving from out of nowhere. “But, now that there’s two big-titted redheads from the Cross household in school, the place can be a little more lively.”

I smacked her on the back of the head. “Don’t draw attention to us.”

“Why not? It’s cool!” She turned to Eve. “Are you into guys or girls? Please tell me girls!”

Eve shook her head. “Sorry. Dicks over chicks for me.”

“Fuck. It’s really hard to find girls to get with in this town. Especially since Gabby and Kendra are the only other dykes I know of here and they’re dating.”

Terry rounded the corner and saw us. “Well, there’s a buncha girls over here,” he said with a smirk on his face, “and one ‘em’s my girlfriend.” He asked Eve, “Can I borrow Mikey, I have some appreciation to her give her.”

I wrapped my arms around him. “Um, you ask me if you can borrow me. Eve is not her step-sister’s keeper.”

Eve laughed. “Yeah, you two go spend whatever time you need. And she’s only dressed like that because I pointed the outfit out!” After that, she and Mindy both turned and made their way to the cafeteria.

Terry put his hands on my waist and smiled. “You do look hot.”

“Shut it,” I said, “I don’t want Eve to have the satisfaction.” I kissed him on the cheek. “Other than this personal display of affection, was there something you wanted?”

He kissed me on the cheek. “There was, actually. Do you like Chinese food?”

“What?”

“Well, I kinda wanna take you to dinner before the movie, and this new Chinese place opened up across the street from the theater.”

“I’ve never had Chinese food.”

“Good, neither have I, let’s give it a try.”

I sighed. “Fine, what are you taking me to see, anyway?”

“I haven’t decided if it’s The Nut Job 2 or Mother. Or, if all else fails, Logan Lucky is still in theaters.”

“Haven’t you seen that like four times already?”

“Yeah, but not with you.”

I don’t know if he was trying to be sweet, but it worked. I hugged myself closer to him. “Well, how about we see that?”

“Not The Nut Job 2?”

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“Some animated movie.”

“Logan Lucky, babe.”

He chuckled. “Fine with me.”

Thanks to the movie talk, my mind drifted back to my thoughts from last night. I pulled away a bit. “Do you think our life these past few weeks could be a rom-com?”

“Why are you asking this?”

“Something I thought about last night.”

He rubbed at his chin. “Well, I guess it could. Silly shit thanks to Eve, us falling for each other, I think our life kinda is a rom-com.”

“Yeah, and Eve, Allie and I had the requisite amount of drama with the whole succubus/magical girl war that we ended.”

He smiled. “Since we fell in love, I guess we could probably skip the mandatory mid-movie break-up part.”

“Obviously.”

“And all good rom-coms end with a kiss and look toward a happy future, right?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“You’re the girl?”

I sighed. “I don’t see why not.”

He hugged me closer and pressed his lips to mine. And I was ready for the happy future part.