"Hello Miss Ten-"
"Don't 'miss' me! You know why we're talking right now, don't you?" she clicked the pen quite aggressively.
"I uh... I suppose-"
"Look, I've had enough of reminding you to obey the tenant rules. First you don't keep your windows clean, and now all this noise in the middle of the night?" she said, angry, but somehow sounding satisfied, probably by the fact my face must have looked very embarrassed.
"I'm sorry about the noise, mi-... I mean Suzanne."

Requesting to be referred to by first name while showing no courtesy was her main calling card. I don't know why she did it. I could feel her green eyes trying to bore a hole in me as she pursed her lips.
"Going shopping, huh?" she inquired.
"I... I uh yes..."
"You'd better make sure your doors and windows are squeaky clean" she emphasized "today", as if there was any difference between that and tomorrow. "And if I hear another noise..." she let her voice hang for a while as she shot me a condescending look. Not wishinig to anger her any further I just nodded and said "Okay".
"Can't believe we rent out to people like..." she sighed and her tightly-fitting jacked seemed to move precariously over her torso. "You..."
"I promise I won't make any more disturbances," I stated as matter-of-factly as I could. Anything to get out. She raised one of her eyebrows, pursed her mouth and clicked the pen down without releasing the button.
"You'd better," she said and released the button, which somehow made the pen click in a particularly irritating manner. Then she turned on her foot and strolled away in a confident strut, swinging her hips in a distinctive fashion of a self-assured office woman.

After losing sight of her I felt I could breathe normally again.

On my way back, carrying the groceries in one hand along a familiar neighborhood route, I took out my phone and decided to read up on succubi. It was strange to think, but I actually didn't know anything about them. I knew that they looked sexy, I guess. Passing through a narrow street that stayed empty through most of the days, I scanned articles about mythology.

"... Succubi are known to become attached to their hosts," I read and felt intrigued. Attached how? "and unless sent back or contained keep a bond with them throughout the possession."
"Possession?" I thought. It didn't seem like the one I'd expect from movies.
"The relationship with the succubus," I paused and swallowed my saliva loudly. "Relationship?" I kept reading attentively, "is marked by patterns of increasing exhaustion of the victim's energy. After repeatedly draining the host of their vital powers through persistent sexual contact, the succubus eventually renders the victim incapable of functioning and-"

"Enjoying your lecture?" I heard a voice speak in a whisper, directly into my ear. Before I realized it was the succubus's voice, the sound startled me so much I dropped the phone. It hit the pavement and the screen cracked. I swore under my breath and kept on looking around, but that voice must have come from nowhere - no sight of any demon around. Was I hallucinating?

Muttering more curses at the cracked screen, I shoved the phone into my jeans' pocket and went back home.
"Hey, thanks," Izzie said with a slight smile. "Hope it wasn't too much of a bother."
"N-no, I was gonna go anyway..." I replied, cursing myself in my mind for stuttering at the first sentence.
She looked through the bag while standing at her door to make sure everything was there.
"Back to your own then?" she asked, still looking down.
"H-huh?"
She turned her head up to look at me. "You do spend a lot of time in that apartment. Don't you ever go out?"
"Umm..."
"... Do you do anything on weekends?"

She must have meant it in a casual way, I told myself. I was sure that's how it was supposed to sound, but the words themselves got my back sweating all of a sudden.

"Huh? Yes, I mean no, this weeken- I- I..." my thoughts were racing. No, it's not possible. But if... Quick, what would sound good? "Think, think," I urged myself.

A sound of my phone ringing interrupted us.

"Hello?"
"Hey Matt," I recognized the voice even though the cracked screen obscured the caller name. It was my sister. "How's my brother doing?"
"I'm... fine, thanks."
"Listen, I'm going to be in town, around Friday or so? I thought I'd come and see you, you know, hang out for a short while."
"Ah... sure..." I replied half-heartedly. I and my sister never really got along. It wasn't that we fought, it's just she felt like she had more talent than I could, and less time for people without it.
"I'll come with a friend, so no need to organize anything, we'll just drop by and be on our way, okay?"
"Okay... Have a- have a safe trip," I replied without conviction.
"Sure, see you soon!"

I turned to respond to Izzie, who was still waiting in the doorway.
"Looks like my sister is visiting, so no dice with going anywhere or- uh- I mean-"
"Hm?"
"Aahh, no, nothing... I mean... unless you... wanted..."
"Oh, I wondered if you could help me with something..."

I'm sure it was just a regular "oh" of understanding. My mind, however, wanted - unconsciously - for it to be a sigh of slight disappointment, as if she wanted to hang out.

"Well, alright, hope you two have a good time. Guess I might see her?"
"Yeah... Maybe..."

Soon after and I could go back to my apartment to try and collect my thoughts. Izzie wore those sports clothes so often, I wished she knew how distracting it was to see her toned mid-section when trying to piece together responses.

I felt more motivated than usual to cook something. The thoughts about the demon kept on swirling in my head. As I was waiting for the pot of water to boil, I remembered I had the video of the summoning. It must have used up the rest of space on my phone. My finger hovered over the play button when I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hello there," it spoke with the same seductiveness I remembered. "Are you busy?"
"Oh, y-you're back?!" I replied, slightly startled. The voice once again didn't seem like it was coming from a specific place, but was rather all around me. "So I guess you are interested in more?" I smiled sleazily. "I'm preparing dinner."
"Will it take long?" the voice asked. I wanted to reply while viewing the video, its existence now piquing my curiosity, but when my thumb moved again, the voice sounded more insistent. "I'm so bored without you..."
"Uh, it will be twenty minutes or so," I replied.
"How about we get you doing something... together... with me... during those twenty minutes...?" the succubus portioned out the sentence. I swear I could feel something like a touch on my cheek, but no hands were to be seen.
"It will just be a moment," I replied with a smirk and pressed play. This must be what it feels like to have your girlfriend nag you for sex, I told myself in my mind, too drunk on the feeling to realize I had no clue.
"Are you kidding with me now?" she sounded very disappointed. "I'm waiting for you to come to me and you're playing with your phone?"
I suddenly got nervous. The voice was distressed, and the emotion was quite infectious. I thought she'd be here physically if she wanted sex, but I couldn't see the succubus anywhere. "Waiting? But I can't see you!"
"And you're not gonna look for me? Maybe I should just go then..."
"N-no! Don't go!"

I tried keeping my eyes on the video, but the voice seemed to move closer to my ears.
"No? Let's hear about what you want to do to me then..."
"Uh..." I felt suddenly shy. "It would help if I could see you, why can't you show yourself?"
"You're not... ready enough..." the voice said with a tinge of playfulness. "I feel like you shouldn't get to feast your eyes when you're not excited for me..."
"Uh-huh... You know," it just dawned on me then that I haven't asked that yet, "I feel kind of silly not knowing your name."
A silence suddenly filled the kitchen. I could hear the water in the pot start bubbling up.
"Hello...?" I asked into the air.
"What do you think?"
"Sorry?"
"Let's pick a name for me," she said with a tone of playful excitement.
"I...", I was really at a loss.
"Anne? Bridgitte? ... Isabella?"
Hearing Izzie's name gave me slight goosebumps.
"I can't decide."
"I thought you liked Isabella?"
I didn't respond.
"Would you like to play a game..." she said and I could feel something stroke my chin. "A starter, before we get to the main course?"
"I uh... sure," I replied and actually chuckled when I realized I fantasized about that too. "You're reading my mind, aren't you?"
An innocent-sounding giggle came back. "How about you hurry up and find out what I can do for yourself?"

I felt a rush. My head felt lighter as the memories of our previous encounter bubbled up back into my imagination. I knew where this was going.