The Savage Garden

Slovakia

There were two full moons that night outside the isolated lake-house high in the Carpathian Mountains of Northern Slovakia. One hung fat in the night sky above the illuminated lake, snowy peaks and forests etched in charcoal. Its mirror image shone in the waters below, amongst the flocks of sleeping geese.

Through the open double doors of their bedroom, a moonbeam entered the room and crept across the tile floor towards their bed as night passed. In measured steps, it climbed their bedpost and when it kissed Darla's foot, she awoke, gasping.

Eyes wide, Darla rolled onto her side, stroked her fingernails over the contours of Grey's face to awaken him. Grey's eyelids fluttered and the full moon shone in them

"Lovely, isn't it?" She asked softly.

"Yes. Is it time?" he replied.

"You know it is..."

"Spin us a disc first, okay? A little mood music..."

"I love it when you talk sixties to me, Grey," she said, giving him a small peck on the cheek.

"Glass Animals?"

"Yeah, the side with--"

"I know, Golden Antlers."

"You remember..."

"How could I forget? Incidentally, a succubus is not a woman who sucks your blood. I looked it up."

"Really? What is she then?"

"She's a female demon who has sex with sleeping men."

"The 'suck' in succubus must have thrown me off. Tell me more."

Darla picked up her smartphone and read:

"According to the Urban Dictionary, a succubus is 'one who leeches on and eventually completely consumes the very essence of a man's soul, leaving an empty and shattered shell of what once was a free and ultimately superior human being destined for greatness.'"

Grey laughed and said:

"True tragedy."

"What?"

"In literature, a man must fall from a great height to be considered a tragic figure. Julius Caesar, for instance. The rest of us are merely pathetic."

"You're forgetting I don't sleep with losers, or pity them."

"If you were a real succubus, then wouldn't I, of necessity, be a man destined for greatness?"

"You're great for me Grey, and that's all that matters." 

"But not great enough to resist you?"

"Why would you even want to try?" She chided him good-naturedly, and continued:

"Also known as 'bitch,' 'heartless whore,' 'evil slut,' or 'lying cunt.' The evil spirit of these heartless creatures is almost invisible at first sight; however, after a few months, one could find himself with: no money and no friends, a lack of hobbies, little or no sense of reality, and/or self-respect.'"

"Sounds familiar..."

"We're together now, safe at last." 

"Yeah, it feels good not being hunted or haunted for a change."

"Here's the last of it, want to hear it?"

"Yeah, you know me so well."

"'These evil demons begin their hunt at age 14 and continue until they have successfully stripped a man of all his pride.'"