I remember this story, it was a children's tale. A city was plagued by rats, so along came this guy with a magical flute, and played a tune that made them follow him, until he lead them way out of town. It kind of felt like this. I was walking triumphantly down the street, a bunch of young women hanging onto me, a larger group following behind. People passing us by would turn their heads to look, and Eris coudln't stop smiling and chuckling as she documented the march. While as a group we did stand out among the normally-dressed, having them surround me made it easier for me to go unnoticed—I reminded myself of this to stay optimistic. Ra'zizi sometimes went ahead of us, skipping and twirling around, waltzing through the pedestrian crossings and stopping to gesture at me to come closer with her finger. Not to tempt luck, I tried my best to avoid the main streets, but it was impossible to not look conspicuous with such an entourage, especially when trying to crowd into a bus that was taking convention goers back to the train station before heading to my place.

"Thanks for bringing spare tickets for them," I said to Eris while we stepped in, my followers rushing to fill the space with frilly fabric.

"No problem, no problem at all," Eris said and smirked.

I leaned in.

"Still no sign of her?" I whispered.

"No, I checked around, haven't seen her anywhere," she replied. "Must be waiting at your usual spots."

"Can you I count on you?" I asked and saw Eris look up at me with trusting, joyful eyes.

"... All the way," she responded and blushed, then looked away, smiling.

I surely hoped so. The bus took us across town without too many stops after the station, but it was still about half an hour's worth of travel. During all this time, the girls around me took opportunity of the limited space, and the more endowed ones tried to rub themselves against me, some even pushing each other away just to stand closer. Never before had I smelled such a mixture of flowery perfume. Whenever Ra'zizi took the liberty of touching one of them, they'd give a surprised yelp and blush or giggle. I took it all in with pleasure.

The weather had gotten worse, and by the time we got to around a few blocks away from my apartment, droplets of rain began falling from the low-hanging clouds. Walking in a similar fashion, we took a roundabout route, approaching the apartment complex from the side entrance, hoping to not attract too much attention. Eris went ahead, checking before giving us a sign to continue. By the time I was opening the door to my place, the inconsistent drizzle started turning into heavy rain.

"Welcome, all!"

"Oh my, that is a large group!"

"Hmmph... the building code doesn't allow for gatherings this big."

Theodora, Stephanie and Suzanne had been waiting for me, and greeted us at the doorstep. Theodora had her habit on, Stephanie seemed to be wearing her skimpiest office outfit yet, skirt not even reaching to the bottom of her buttocks, and Suzanne wore some truly extravagant black leather and heavy eyeliner. I figured they'd be helpful in managing the event and entertaining our guests—Suzanne and Stephie of course said yes, and I was lucky they managed to find Theodora and rely the request. You could barely see it, but their gazes all seemed a bit absent for most of the time, lighting up when they looked at me.

"It sure is good to be back," I said and turned to my guests. "Ladies, let's get you out of that rain. Anyone up for some tea-time demon summoner talk?"

The excited gasps and squeals ensured me that it would be a very fruitful event.

The trio helped the group get comfortable, or as comfortable as almost two dozen people could be when crammed into a living room of a one-to-two persons apartment. Whatever amount of tea or teacups we had wasn't enough, but nobody seemed to mind. Jacket already off, I was sitting down in the middle of my couch, surrounded by women who eagerly waited for me to touch their hand, stroke their cheek or pat their head. Ra'zizi would hover around, grabbing a feel or having a lick of one body or another with a salacious smirk.

"Do we have all the guests we need?" she whispered into my ear.

I decided to humor her. "I'm pretty sure we do," I whispered back.

"We could use more," she said and grinned. Always greedy, I thought.

"Is it true?" my attention was stolen when an auburn-haired beauty with a button nose and a fluffy skirt sitting right by me suddenly asked, fluttering her eyelashes when I looked at her, "That when you are with a succubus your... stamina... grows?"

"Well," I said, sliding my hand along her delicate jawline, "why don't I show you girls in practice?"

A stream of excited giggling followed. When I looked up, I saw Eris, standing a few steps away from us, filming with utmost concentration. She gave me a victory sign when I nodded at her. I leaned in towards the fluffy skirt girl, her eyes half-closed and mouth opening for a kiss.

Three loud bangs sounded from my door. The girls' chatter slowly died down as we all turned our heads. Six more bangs, even more persistent, followed. My guests and co-hosts started whispering to each other while I got off the couch. Eris looked up from her camera at me, and we exchanged worried looks. I stepped into the dark hallway and she followed. Cautiously, I started approaching the door, more than a dozen paces away.

"Matthew McNowdy!" I heard a stern yell from the other side, and I prayed I was mistaken about the voice. "Matthew McNowdy! This is the police! Open the door!"

It was Natasha. She would alternate between banging and yelling. A low rumble of thunder sounded in the background.

I barely made another couple of cautious steps before she added, "We have a warrant for your arrest! Open the door!"

Looking to my side, I saw the dumbfounded, wide-eyed Eris. She was holding her phone out to me in a trembling hand. I saw she was trying to diall the emergency services, but the display announced "no service". She kept staring at me with a confused look. I pulled out my own phone, and noticed the same.

"What do we do?" she mouthed voicelessly.

I shrugged and gestured at everyone to stay quiet. Slowly, I walked up to Eris.

"There's a chance they don't know anyone's inside," I whispered. "So if we keep quiet-"

Eris gasped and I looked where she was looking. Natasha peeped through the kitchen window, into the darkness inside, and we both crouched in the dark. There was no telling if she saw us. My head was pounding, my breathing was uneven, cold sweat dripping down my back. If she got in, it was over.

"Please... help me..." I said to no one in particular, asking whatever providence still cared about me for help.

Suddenly, the dooknob started moving, but the door was locked. A few seconds later, something heavy slammed into it, time and again, eventually forcing it open, stopped only by the chain. Before Eris and I could exchange glances once more, Natasha started reaching around to unchain it. The only thing I could think of doing was to simply hold the door until we can call for help. Without thinking, I got up and rushed towards it, but after just a couple of steps, she kicked the door in, breaking the chain. We faced each other, almost at the opposite ends of the corridor. Before I finished making another step towards her, she raised the gun she was holding at me.

"Freeze!" she yelled with that characteritic, obedience-commanding tone of a police officer. "Hands up where I can see them!"

I put my hands up slowly, trying to meet the detective's gaze, but the lights were so dim, I could barely make out her facial features. Natasha began flicking the light switch at the entrance with her left hand, but no matter how many times she tried, darkness prevailed.

"You, get back!" she yelled at Eris, who stood dumbfounded next to me.

A few women inside the living room had started peeking outside, into the corridor. Natasha almost immediately screamed at them, too.

"Stay there! Stay in the room!"

After taking a pause to angrily and unsuccessfully flick the light switch off and on again, she turned her attention back to me.

"I said freeze!"

"I'm not moving," I assured her.

"Shut up, get on your knees!" she yelled in response. When I hesitated, she took a step forward. "Now!"

Slowly, without lifting my eyes off the shaking detective, I got down, only to hear another command.

"Hands behind your head!" she burst out, before turning her attention back to Eris. "You! Put that phone down! Back into the room!"

"I'm... filming this..." Eris responded shyly.

"Wait... It's you!" Natasha seemed to now remember. "You, get on your knees now!"

"What for?" Eris asked, confused.

"For being an accomplice in obstruction of justice," Natasha replied harshly. "Don't think I forgot about the metro. Get. Down. Now!"

I heard some quiet shuffling from behind me.

"And put that phone down!" Natasha demanded, inching closer and closer towards us, glancing to the side while moving past the kitchen door.

I should have been shaking, but in fact once more I felt a sense of being watched over, of being on the right track. I did my best to resist the impulse, but it was for naught.

"It's fine," I said to detective Rellin. "Must have been hard for you-"

"Matt!" Eris shushed me.

"I said shut up! Don't talk unless I ask!" Natasha yelled and started closing in. "How many people are in there?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me! How many people are in that room!?"

Natasha glanced towards the door, and by her sour face I figured my fans started slowly peeking out of the living room again.

"What's going on in here?" I heard Suzanne ask.

"What...? One, two, three..." the detective began to quickly count heads, before snapping back. "... the fuck...? I said get back! Police! I'm conducting an arrest!"

Eris must have moved too much, because she quickly turned to her, making her yelp in fear.

"God damn it! Don't move! Lie down!"

While Eris attempted to fulfill the paradoxical request, Natasha reached out towards her belt, took a step behind me, and I heard metal clacking.

"Get down," she commanded, and in a second I felt a cold pressure on my wrists. She twisted my arms forcing my head to the ground. I couldn't believe this is how it would end.

"Matthew McNowdy, you are under arrest for the suspected attempt to-"

A loud, clanging noise came from the kitchen. Natasha stopped in an instant, and we all looked in the same direction. She had her gun pointed at the kitchen entrance, and in the low light, I saw her hand trembling a bit while she slowly approached it. I shuffled a bit on my knees from the discomfort, and she snapped back at me.

"Don't! Don't even think about it!" she yelled, and I think I heard Eris sob.

Natasha was quickly glancing back to the kitchen, then at us. "Stay... where you are!" she commanded.

"H-hello?" I heard Ra'zizi's high-pitched voice.

I heard a gasp from behind me and saw Natasha turn around immediately to the kitchen.

Ra'zizi awkwardly waddled out, curling her wings and tail behind her, hiding the horns under her bangs. She was wearing a frilly little one-piece night gown and froze still, trembling, when the detective pointed the gun at her. Natasha quickly pointed it down and the two looked at each other, stupefied.

"W-who are you?" Ra'zizi asked, looking up at her with a voice close to breaking.

The detective opened and closed her mouth for a few moments. Glancing sideways at me, she crouched to be at Ra'zizi's eye level.

"I'm Natasha, I'm a police detective! What's your name, sweetie?" her voice quickly turned endearing, but every few words she would look in my direction, gun still vaguely pointed at us.

"... I'm Ra'zizi," Ra'zizi said.

I heard a thunder outside, this time much closer. In whatever little light shone on the two in an instant, I saw Natasha smiling at the succubus, in an attempt to comfort her. Ra'zizi's tail perked up a tiny bit behind her back.

"Oh, that's a lovely name!" she said.

With my mind rushing, it was only at that point that I realized—Natasha could see her. Ra'zizi was visible to someone else than me. I turned my head and whispered to Eris.

"Can you-"

"See her?"

"Yes."

"Is... is that her?" her voice was very shaky.

"Yes..." I confirmed.

"... H-h-holy ssshit!" Eris exclaimed in a breathy, hushed tone, and began fumbling for her phone again.

Natasha looked towards us and Eris immediately went quiet again.

"Where are your parents, Ra'zizi?" she asked the succubus.

"They're... far away," Ra'zizi said.

"Then... what are you doing here?"

"I'm... playing..."

"Playing?" Natasha tilted her head. "With who?" she asked her with a most pleasant, inviting tone.

Ra'zizi looked and pointed at me with a faint smile.

"Matt," she said.

"With Matt?" Natasha repeated, turning her head towards me, and I could physically feel her piercing gaze burn my skin.

"Hehe, yea... We've been playing for weeks..." Ra'zizi added, turning side to side, with her index finger innocently at her lips. "He lets me see how he plays with others, and then... lets me play with him..." she giggled and looked down.

Natasha kept on staring at me with a furious glint in her eye, but her face remained calm.

"Would you like to pl-" Ra'zizi began, but detective Rellin cut her off.

"Listen, Ra'zizi," she turned to her, forcing a smile. "You're a very brave little girl, and I need your help, okay?"

"O-okay..." the succubus anxiously stepped in place.

Natasha grabbed her hand and brought it up to under her chin.

"I need to you to go outside, and look for the nearest adult you can find. Bang on every neighbor's doors if you have to, and tell them to call the police here, and wait with them, okay? Don't stop until they call."

"I thought you were the police?"

"Yes," Natasha said, glancing at me, "but I will need more help. Can you do that for me, sweetie?"

"... Okay..." Ra'zizi slowly nodded.

"Great, now go, quick!" Natasha patted her on the shoulder.

Ra'zizi trotted behind her and went out the door. As soon as she was gone, Natasha ominously rose from her crouch and walked up to me.

"I swear, this isn't what you think," I said.

"Get up," she replied.

"... What for?" I asked.

"I said get up!!!" she bellowed and pointing the gun at me again.

Slowly, I started shuffling my legs, trying to kneel before I could get up. With the cuffs on, it was more difficult and way more painful than I expected. When I managed to finally get back on my knees and look at her, I saw the cold stare once more—the scowl was clear, even with the dimmed light. Her hands were shaking while she stood just a few steps away, holding the gun pointed at my head.

"That girl... Can't possibly be older than thirteen," she said, lips trembing while she tried to keep her voice steady.

I heard some footsteps behind me, and when I glanced back to my right, I saw Suzanne, Theodora, and a few others looking on from the living room

"I said get the fuck back!" detective Rellin yelled at them, but they still stood there, dumbfounded. Turning my head again, I saw the detective shake her head and look straight down at me.

"I know how this will sound... but... I assure you, she's way, way older," I tried to sound as calm as I could. My heart was beating so hard, I could barely hear myself speak. Natasha didn't seem convinced, as I saw her hands shaking ever so stronge while she bit her lip. I looked her straight in the eyes, expecting to see fury, but I realized it was mixed with fear and incredulity.

"You're on camera!" Eris announced.

Behind me, the women started filtering out of the living room to look at her. Over what felt like an eternity, she kept slowly shaking her head, sweating profusely while her hands wavered. Eventually, amid numerous gasps by my guests, she put the gun back down and holstered it.

"No..." she muttered to herself.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but as she walked behind me to drag me up onto my feet, I knew deep down that I was probably as good as dead.

"Can I call my lawyer?" I said, getting back up, feeling her pull on the collar of my shirt, "His name is G-"

In a swift moment, I was pushed onto the wall, without a chance to put my hands first. It knocked the air out of me, but as I tried breathing in again, two short jabs under my ribs pushed it out again. Turning, I suffered another blow when Natasha elbowed me in the stomach, and stepped on my foot while I tumbled back.

"Hey!" I heard Stephie call.

"Stop!" Eris yelled. "Stop that!"

I yelped out in pain and, back against the wall, saw Natasha holding me by my shirt. She brought her face close enough for me to see the reddened veins in her eyes.

"No lawyer will help you... But you know what? Death would be too good for you," she muttered through clenched teeth. She turned to Eris, "You, put the phone down, and lie with your hands behind your head!" As soon as I merely shuffled, she turned back to me, and slammed me once more against the wall. "Don't you f-"

"Let him go!" Eris shouted, and got up, ready to jump on Natasha.

"Stand back!" the detective yelled, letting go of me, looking like she was about to tackle her too.

"Miss detective?" I heard a faint girly voice behind Natasha. Looking to my side, I saw a hint of a wing.

Startled, Natasha started turning around to Ra'zizi.

"Ra'zizi? I told you to wait outsi-"

Before she could finish turning, an immense force grabbed her in a blur and pushed her onto the wall on the opposite side. Making a loud, dull thud upon collision, detective Rellin stumbled down and gasped for air.

"What are you doing with my toy?" Ra'zizi inquired.

"What the-"

Before she could scramble back up, Ra'zizi swiped her off her feet with her tail. Natasha groaned when the petite succubus pushed her with one hand against the wall next to me, grabbing her neck.

"The hell?! Ra'zizi, stop it!!!" she commanded with a raspy voice. Struggling against a person much smaller than her, detective Rellin's voice soon turned desperate. "Ra'zizi, god damn! Let me go!" she urged, kicking her feet back, and trying to grab the succubus's arm. Once she began pushing her away, Ra'zizi calmly strongarmed her, making the detective wince and yelp while her arm was being twisted aside.

"Stooop! Sttooooop!" she cried in pain, trying to kick at Ra'zizi—all in vain.

"I do not care for your commands," the succubus slowly inched her face towards Natasha, and when she was close enough to bump noses with her, she added with a smile, "It stops when I say it stops."

Ra'zizi began to slowly unfurl her wings transforming herself into her adult form in front of the shocked, flailing detective. She held Natasha up against the wall by her neck, sliding her up throughout until at full height, where the detective's legs didn't make contact with the ground anymore. She flailed around, kicking at the succubus, eyes wide open, filled with terror and disbelief. More women stepped out into the corridor, and I heard them gasping, watching with fear.

"Ra'zizi!" I yelled at her.

She turned her head to me, eyes burning bright in the dimly lit corridor.

"Let's get this party going then...?" she said with a demonic grin.