The next day, I felt sick while riding the bus to work. I wondered if Ra'zizi started having an influence on me again—but it couldn't be, right? I've gotten so used to her constant chatter and endless temptation that I barely realized how strange it was to have a practically naked demonic woman accompany me on bus rides. She saw that I was in a bad mood, but she didn't care. Mischievously parting her lips with her long fingernail as she sat on the opposite seat, she'd shuffle around so that her legs would part from time to time revealing to me her ever-tempting entrance. As we kept on eyeing each other in another round of this silent commuting ritual, I suddenly felt a dizziness overcome me, like a headache that struck with unexpected force. I never had particularly strong headaches, so the sensation was doubly concerning. The last thing I remembered was my hand moving to grasp my forehead as I shut my eyes, leaning forward. Then, the world stood still.

There was silence, freezing the air. Ra'zizi was gone from her seat. The bus, the people on it, all stopped moving. Everything was like in an old, yellowed photograph—including the world outside. The crowd to my left was as I remembered, ignoring each other while standing completely still. An old woman clutched her purse, looking down into its contents. A man was leaning to the side, fixing his tie. To my right, beyond the dirtied glass, I saw the cityscape as if a grainy smear in a photograph taken in motion.

The next thing I realized was that I could, in fact discern a single sound—a regular, muffled thumping. It was as if someone had plugged my ears with cotton and started banging on something. In a short moment I realized I was hearing my heart beat. That's when I felt my forehead was covered with cold sweat and I heard myself take a long, shaky breath in, trying to stay calm while on the verge of losing it. Was this...

A shrill, piercing sound of a distant horn resounded, coming from a far distance, carrying an ominous cacophony of searing echoes towards me. I jerked in my seat and started tearing up, but held back from crying. I gasped when the reality in front of me seemed to stretch like a fabric until it rended, the hole revealing a vast, desert landscape. The horizon was obscured by an ochre mist. It seemed to consume things even within a short distance. I realized I knew this atmosphere, this scenery.

There were some indiscernable pieces of metal (or what looked like metal) wreckage strewn around the desert, and they seemed to be sliding towards me, as if I the torn window was the windshield of some vehicle I was travelling in. The speed at which I was going kept on increasing, until what seemed to be a large statue, made out of wooden planks, bent wire, and torn cloth came into vision. My breakneck travel through the desert came to an instant halt, just in front of it. Looking up, I saw a bunch of misshapen, organic lumps that came together into an abominable mass of twisted flesh, skewered on top of the wreckage. I felt that feeling of saliva rushing into my mouth, the one you feel before you vomit as I comprehended the thing. Then, something squeezed my heart and I heard two voices speak out in the silence.

"You have failed me, mortal," they said in unison.

"The Lord of Hell," I said. It was him.

"I see now, I wasted my time on you," the voice reverberated in my skull. I noticed a black mist seeping out of the wreckage and swirling in the air.

"No, no, that's not true! I'm doing like you said!"

"You're not doing anything!" the scolding remark felt like a punch in the stomach.

"But- the- the landlady! I have her! She's totally a sex maniac now, she even broke in to my apartment."

"One woman? In two weeks? Pathetic," the voice responded. "I see you can't do it. I will let the demon wench have her way with you until you wither."

The fear of death has never left me since I learned of what succubuses do, but right now it was much more concrete—a speeding twenty ton truck on a course to hit me with full force.

"No! No, please! I'll do it, I'll do what you want!" I pleaded as I tried getting up.

"You will not, because you can't!" the voice snapped at me and I felt something painfully push me into the seat. "I see through you, you vermin. All your life is fear and excuses!"

"That's not..." I paused as I remembered this... thing can see inside my mind as well, if not better than me. "Well, I can change!"

"You've already shown me enough."

"No! I swear, I-" I felt something grab my tongue and staple it to the roof of my mouth, then purse my lips tightly. Another squeeze in my chest sent my heart fluttering in a frenzy - an animal beset upon by a predator. In my head, I repeated over and over, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

"It is done. I rescind my protection over you."

I went hysterical, all muscles in my body flexing as I tried to move or get a word in.

"Now, shall I take your soul, or do you want the succubus to have it?"

I felt like I could talk again. Instantly, I began pleading,

"Wait, I can get you more!"

"Wrong answer," the voice concluded, "I'll just let her take you here."

"No, please, if you let me do this," I winced, feeling the squeeze on my heart overwhelm me. "If you let me live, I'll...!"

The pain was so severe, I could no longer speak. With my thoughts, I articulated the last plea I had. I knew the demon could hear it.

The pain stopped. I looked up, sweating and crying. The brown sky seemed to part, sending beams of warm light down onto me, blinding me.

"You make an interesting offer," the voice stated and took a pause before continuing, "I'll give you time."

"Thank you," I said, covered with sweat. "Thank you, I-"

"Whatever time you have left. You're no longer safe from her," it added.

"What? Wait-"

"Do not fail."

The bizarre, ominous scene instantly disappeared. I was back on the bus, gasping for breath.

Everything was the same as before—besides my pants. I looked down and saw a stain forming on them. I felt the warmth on my skin, but it wasn't piss. I had a clear erection.

"How naughty," Ra'zizi's charming voice spoke into my ear. "I see my voice got you too excited," she giggled. I felt her mouth on my cheek and shivered. "You're spaced out, too spaced out to work," she said. "How about you skip work today and we have some fun?"

I turned to my right and saw her grinning face. She put her hand on my crotch and I already knew I was too weak to resist now. I felt dizzy again, and turning back to the interior of the bus, saw a young woman standing a few steps away. She was eyeing my crotch too, wide-eyed, covering her mouth with her hand. My face started turning beet red.

"Or how about," Ra'zizi continued, "we do it here! Oh, that would be sooo kinky!" She giggled again and pressed her breasts into my shoulder. "Look, we already have one on-looker!"

The bus stopped. It wasn't my stop, but I didn't care. I bolted out of the seat. Trying to look away from the people waiting at the stop as I stepped out, erect and with a pre-cum stain spreading on my pants, I dashed to work on foot.