It’s time to get serious for once in my life. I can’t remember the last time I actually had to stop all forms of joking, both internal and external, but it had to be. Even in my worst moments, I would always find a way to bring a smile to my face. 

As Jessica and I locked eyes with each other, I knew that this was no time for jokes. The last time I saw her, we ended things on a poor and rather anticlimactic note. There’s no way she doesn’t hold a grudge against me.

“What are you doing here?” Jessica asks.

“I live five minutes away from here. I come shopping here all the time. What are you doing here?”

“I heard the place is cheap, so I decided to give it a try.”

This would normally be the time where I would say something along the lines of, Don’t buy shit here. You’d get better food from shopping at a dumpster. My throat locked up and nothing came out except a tiny whimper.

“Yeah, the stuff is cheap.”

The silence after that was so oppressive my chest tightened from all the pressure. My head only hurt more, and it was hard to focus as life forcefully stuffed me into its narrative. The whole reason I hate leaving my home was poking its head into frame. 

“You know,” Jessica paused, unsure of what to say. “I don’t blame you anymore.”

My heart froze for such a long time. I thought I would die right that second. My hands shook as if left in freezing cold temperatures, and my feet refused to move from where I stood. My sins crawled on my back and pushed me down, keeping me from running away like I always do. 

“What do you mean by that?” I need an answer. I need it now.

“After it all went down, I thought about it. I wasn’t ready to forgive you right away. I mean, what you did was unforgivable, but I put myself in your shoes for a moment. And, after a year of that and a bit of therapy, I finally learned that you aren’t to blame.”

Why must I cave into the narrative that life creates with tangles of yarn that’s being sewn together into a quilt of despair with it’s diabolical fingers? Can’t it see that my story is over. The introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution have already passed. There’s nothing left for me, no matter how much life says that my story’s still going. 

I could see it with my own eyes. My story may be over, but Jessica’s narrative is still going strong. Everyone’s story is still in their rising action phase, and the climax is still a far-off dream. Harmony, Jessica, and even Karina’s story is still being told, and they’re still living it. So why am I getting a revival?

Before I could apologize and tell her that she’s wrong about me, she takes a notepad and pen out of her purse and writes something down. When she’s finished, she hands the paper to me and I scan through it.

At first, I didn’t realize what I was seeing, but once I could process the words, I forgot how to breathe. After all this time, after how I left her and her family dry all the way back then, she’s still doing these things for me. 

Why? Just why?

“I think you know what that is?” She says it as a question.

“I have a sneaking suspicion.”

On one hand, I could jump for joy that I was finally getting this opportunity. On the other hand, I knew I didn’t deserve such a commodity. I’ve never done anything for her since we’ve known each other. Again, just why?

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow if you’re up for it.” Jessica smiles something fierce that warmed my heart so much that it went right back to beating again. Even if I don’t deserve this kindness, I should at least show her that I care enough to accept it.

“Yeah. I’ll bring some flowers.” 

“I’d like that.” 

With that, she walks past me and I can smell her glowing and powerful scent wafting off her hair. It was only natural for a woman as strong as her to give off such a powerful aura. It was almost hypnotic. 

In my frozen trance, I never even noticed Harmony walk up to me until I felt a familiar rough tap on my shoulder. I turn to my right and see Harmony looking at me with a worried grin.

“You look awful. If I knew it would affect you this much, I would have gone myself.”

I sigh and force a smile that’d hopefully dash away any of her worries. “Well, I’m fine. In fact, I’m more than fine.” Maybe. I still don’t know how to process what just happened. 

Harmony nodded, and it looked as if my fake grinning actually worked. “So who was that you were talking to?”

I thought for a second, and with my smile fully activated, I answer her. “She’s just an old friend.” Before I could go home, there was one thing I needed to do. “Harmony, how strong are you?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve never really tested myself.”

“Would you be able to carry all these bags back home? I need to go somewhere else first.”

Harmony looked at my buggy and counted all the bags. “If you help me put them on my shoulders, I could bring them back home. Where are you going anyway?”

“Somewhere that’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

Harmony sighed and picked up a single bag. “Alright, I’ll do it, but just this once.” 

I thank her and we proceed to overload her arms with so many bags she looked like she had paper wings stuffed with various cooking ingredients. I can already feel myself getting back into the flow again. 

***

Ty took off somewhere else nearly two minutes ago and in the meantime, I was getting stared at by everyone that walked down the sidewalk. A few people shouted insults at me since all the bags blocked their way, but it’s not like I can help it. A certain someone doesn’t even have a freaking car, which just made this a thousand times harder. I don’t know how to drive though, so maybe having a car wouldn’t change much.

It was sort of weird having everyone stare at me so oddly. It sent shivers down my spine and I could barely focus because I could only imagine myself in their positions. If I saw a woman walking with bags hanging down from her shoulders, I’d think she’s weird too. Is this what Ty deals with every time he leaves his house?

One and a half minutes away from Ty’s home, and I could see it from here. It was nothing but smooth sailing for now. Soon, I can escape everyone’s peering eyes. 

However, before I could make it, I felt someone bump into me. I lost my balance and my grip. Bags slid off my shoulder and landed on the sidewalk, some items falling and rolling out of the bags. 

“God dammit.” I curse and check who bumped into me.

Right next to me was a black-haired woman staring down at me. I could barely see her eyes, since the glasses she wore reflected sunlight, making it hard to see what was under them. She wore a grey sweater and tight black pants that failed to leave anything to the imagination.

Normally, my hunger would work its way up and I’d lose all reason and comment on how her vagina would look and feel like. However, there was something about this woman that sent shivers down my back and raised the hairs on my arm. I don’t know if it was the fact her lips weren’t in a smile or frown, instead looking as disinterested as possible, or if it was the fact I couldn’t get a good look at her eyes, but she radiated an aura that made the air freeze.

“I’m sorry about that.” The woman said in a toneless voice. “Want me to help you with that?”

I nodded, and she got down to her knees and began putting things back in the bags. With the sun out of the way, I could finally see her eyes. They were a mystical grey that looked so dead and lifeless that she could have been mistaken as a zombie. It was hard to look away from them, but I need to get all these bags back on my arms.

I gather some of the bags that were already full and placed them on my shoulder one at a time. I look back at her to see how she’s doing, and I saw her glaring at me. Goosebumps sprang on my skin. 

“Are the bags ready?” I ask.

She nodded and stood up with three in each hand. I handed my arm out for her to place them on my shoulder, but she refused to comply. 

“Can I be a good neighbour and help you out with this task?” 

I didn’t know what to say. She sounded so robotic, so lifeless that it was hard to believe she was a real person. What made it even creepier was that her eyes were once again hidden by the rays of the sun.

“Sure, I guess. My home isn’t far from here.”

Silence for a few seconds, then she nodded. “Alright. Lead the way.”

I’m going to regret this, aren’t I? I begin walking back home, this time with an extra pair of footsteps behind me. If having all those people looking at me felt awkward, it was a million times worse with this person.

What kind of face was she making? How hard is she staring at my back? This feels so far off from being safe, but I was probably just paranoid. She may be weird, but she’s helping me out of the kindness of her heart. Why am I shaming her for helping me?

It didn’t take long for us to make it back. Before we left, Ty told me the key was hidden under the welcome rug. My hands were full though, and I didn’t want to pick everything up again. 

“Can you get the key from under there?” I point to the rug. 

She looks at it and bends over, removing the rug and exposing the silvery key underneath. She picks it up and unlocked the door. Pushing it open, the door creaked agonizingly slow, sunlight leaking into the house, bathing the living room in its warm embrace.

“Thank you.” I said. 

I head inside and begin sitting bags down in the kitchen. The woman follows me in and looks over the place. With the sunlight gone, her eyes were showing themselves without obstruction now. 

“Can you set the bags over here?” I ask her. She does as told, but she still wasn’t looking at me, instead scanning the living room as if she were printing the look into her brain. 

“What’s your name?” It would be absolutely rude of me to thank her without addressing her by name. 

Silence. Then she looked at me. “That’s not important.” She did something that I absolutely couldn’t let happen. She tried to stare into my eyes. 

I broke our eye contact with each time she tried to look into them. It was for her own good we can’t look at each other like that. Looking into a succubus’ eyes, especially when the succubus is hungry, will work just like a sex drug. It’ll make them lose focus and get so turned that they literally can’t think about anything except sex. In the worst-case scenario, some even become unconcious.

However, because of that effect, it’s almost impossible for someone to even see a succubus’ eyes and remember them. As far as I know, Ty was the only person who looked into my eyes without the effect occurring too drastically. Either that or he held back a fuck ton so he wouldn’t hurt me. 

“So, I’ll leave now.” The woman said, still not telling me her name. “Goodbye.” She walked out the door and shut it without a single drip of flair.

Even though she left, I could still feel her presence nearby. What a weird woman, but she’s gone now, and I can finally eat.

***

“Hello again.” I said, walking back into my house. I looked around for Harmony but didn’t see her anywhere. 

I take my bags and walk to my room with them. She’s probably sleeping or something after having to carry the bags back so far and having to put them up. I’ll apologize later, but I have something important to do.

I walk into my doorless room, and who do I find except Harmony sitting in my room, playing a game on my computer. I look at what she’s playing and on screen a pink-haired girl is getting railed by the protagonist. Even better, she was sucking the dick of another man and calling herself a dirty girl. Truly a scene for the Oscars. 

“You have way too many fetishes man.” Harmony commented as I put the bags on my bed. “Just look at this.” 

She clicks out of the game for a second and returns to my files. I have them expertly organized into the categories of whichever fetish is most prevalent in the game I’m playing. That way, if I wanted to see a girl get deepthroated, all I need to do was head to that specific folder. Modern problems require modern solutions. 

“There’s milf, threesome, loli, imouto, deepthroat, cheating, harem, even urination? What the absolute hell.”

“I can have more than one fetish at a time. Some of them may be worse than the other, but if a man has needs, let the man satisfy them. Don’t cubbi do some weird sex stuff.”

“No, that’s weird as shit. That’s like saying that a human eating food through their ass is fine cause humans like to eat. We use sex to survive, not just to feel pleasure.”

“Wait, how does that work for you? Does it have to be in your pussy to feed you?”

Harmony shook her head. “No, as long as the opposite gender’s cum is absorbed into our bodies through sex, then it’s fine.”

“So that’s a bad analogy cause you can eat through your ass then.”

She stayed silent for a moment, thinking through what I just said. When she realized how truly right I was, she groaned and stood up. 

“Whatever. I’m going to make supper.”

“Sure.”

She left, and I was left by myself. I sat at my computer and opened up google and the most interesting thing popped up. Amazon appeared on screen and on the page was a door that looked almost like the one that was here before. 

 I sigh and close it. Supper’s getting started, and I don’t have time to play games right now. There’s still some preparations I need to make before tomorrow.