1: The Purple King
1702
Delanoe's fingers danced along the piano keys, he allowed the notes to infuse him, his instincts to guide him. There were those who dissected compositions, analysed them and strung the notes together in a vain effort to create their masterpieces. Delanoe had learned that was the worst way to create such work. If he dissected a cat and sewed it back together, would it be as grand? No, it would be lifeless, and so it was with their amateur works.
No, masterpieces were living breathing things to be nurtured, not dissected. This he had learned, and so he gave his work room to breathe, to grow, even if he did not fully understand the source of it.
But then, he in fact had a good idea the source of his inspiration of late. The naked beauty lying on his piano, gazing at him lovingly with her emerald eyes. Ever since they met he could not stop compiling pieces, just when he thought he had dried up of inspiration, this ethereal beauty came to him out of nowhere. This wanton and exotic goddess with a mysterious accent. Never had he been so in love, and it was the sort of wonderful love one felt when you realise the other was feeling the same way.
They had met in the city as he studied a year ago, but still he knew so very little about her. Apparently she was of a people to the east that were all gone now, making her a rare gem indeed. She went by the name of Nina, though Delanoe knew that was not her real name. But it mattered not, whatever her scandalous roots, Delanoe knew they were lovers.
Love is the death of loneliness, Delanoe decided. Of meeting the one who filled the void within you when you are alone with your thoughts. Never did he fill so enriched as when he was with her.
"Brother?" Delanoe gradually brought his music to an end when his sister walked in. She blushed upon seeing mademoiselle Nina on the piano, "Oh, forgive me mademoiselle."
"Nothing to forgive, Bernadette." Nina glided easily off the piano, "The female form is nothing to be ashamed of, despite what your local priest says." She circled behind Bernadette, taking her in, running a finger down the strings of her bodice, "Why you possess a fine form indeed, it is criminal to hide it away so under such dull fabrics."
For a brief instant, Delanoe felt a sense of foreboding, but he laughed it off, "Go help mother with the cooking sister, we shall be down shortly."
"Alas," Nina bemoaned, "I still have problems keeping my food down currently. I shall join you but shall not be partaking."
"Oh I do hope it is not a wasting illness." Bernadette felt Nina's forehead, recalled her nakedness, then blushed as she scampered off.
Delanoe laughed again and kissed Nina, "You are a shameless one Nina, it is what I love about you. Best put some clothes on lest you cause my poor mother's frail heart to stop."
Nina pouted, but went to retrieve the dress that cost more than what Delanoe earned in a year, perhaps several years. As she bent over and began slowly clothing herself, Delanoe drank her in. He was in love with her, but her presence did something else to him, something he found both wonderful and repulsive. He could not quite explain it. It was an eerie sensation that he could not shake away, such wondrous and hideous thoughts came unbidden when she was around.
Nina hooked her arm in his, "Shall we?"
******
Present
He was being watched, of that Levant was certain.
The woman gasped as he thrust into her, painted nails clawing against the alley wall in her ecstasy. She pushed her hips back to take more of him into her, not realising that every moment with Levant caused her mind to fracture that bit more.
Such was the consequence of being with a creature such as Levant, he could sense his prey's darkest, most depraved fantasies, play upon them to win them over so that he could feed in the act of lust. But too long in his presence and they would become broken nymphomaniacs, obsessed with fucking until it destroyed them. For he is what the mortals of this age call an incubus, or the Sumerian term of Irdu-Lili as his one time mistress preferred.
Levant thrust harder, although unsatisfying he had to make this fast. He had lured this one into the back streets after she emerged from the strip club where she worked, her miniskirt and crop top had made her predilections obvious without his abilities as an immortal creature of perversity. But it also meant it would not take much to drive her down the insane path. As a rule he fed only from those who were already nearly gone or needed to loosen up in their sexual repression. That his means of sustenance could cause harm was a constant torment for him, he had seen first hand the disastrous effects his prolonged presence could bring. Unlike the succubus who had somehow turned him, Kilili, he still cared for the well-being of innocents around him.
He sensed he was being watched again.
Levant paused in his feeding and turned, ignoring the stripper's protestations, but the alley was empty. Still, he was certain there had been something. He had never encountered any other of his kind, according to Kilili they were rare in the extreme. Apparently there are other supernatural creatures out there, but he had never encountered those either and, by all accounts, they avoided their sort since they were so depraved and dangerous. Still, whatever it was had left now. Levant turned to re-enter the stripper and finish his feast.
"Please dad," the stripper moaned tearfully, "Do me hard, I want it so badly it hurts."
"Fuck." Levant cursed, knowing she was on the cusp. If he hung around any longer she would be completely lost, he would have to leave without finishing lest she become mad with lust.
As fast as shadow, he left her screaming in frustration, her every shriek like a razor edge slicing across his blackened soul.
******
"Hello."
Levant had been idly wandering the streets of Soho, wondering whether to try again, when a woman boldly approached him, wearing nothing but a pink collar. At first Levant intended to ask what she was doing walking the streets completely naked, then he sensed her inner desires and realised she was utterly broken. The woman flicked her dark hair and puffed out her chest to proudly display the enormous breasts that no doubt had lured her predator in the first place.
Although the sight set Levant to hunger, he was more excited at the implication of her presence. "You, you were fed on by and Irdu-Lili weren't you?"
The woman giggled, unheeding the glares and whispers of the other passers-by, "Master sent me to escort you to him. He wishes to meet you, if you are willing."
"Is he...like me?" Levant asked, breathless at the prospect of finally meeting another like himself.
"Oh yes, he is soooo beautiful." She laughed, then took Levant's hand, "He sends his apologies for disturbing you while you were feeding earlier, and sent me to make up for it. Come." She tugged at Levant's hand and led him to a flight of stairs with a sign saying 'Models up here.', a common trope used to signify prostitutes. "Use me first, then I will take you to him."
Still hungering and further so for the sight of her, Levant allowed himself to be led up the stairs into a small room with a filthy bed at its centre, clearly well used. The woman seated herself there, the bounce causing her breasts to move in a delightful manner. She spread her legs invitingly, "Come, no need to restrain yourself with me. I am well versed in an incubus's brutal ways."
With a predator's growl, Levant's clothing vanished like shadow in sudden light. His instincts took over and he was upon her, ravaging her as only his kind could. He gripped at her breasts, bit at her neck and thrust into every hole of her. For the first time in years he fucked like a true Irdu-Lili and relished in it, not having to fret over one already so broken. The woman laughed and shrieked in joy, offering no resistance, relishing in the savage pleasure also.
When it was eventually over she lay there panting, whilst Levant felt more energised than he had for a long time. "Come," he said impatiently, knowing that he would be upon her again if they dwelled over long.
With quivering limbs and raw holes, she rose. Levant winced at the marks he left upon her, but she sported them proudly, a wide smile on her face, "Yes, at once." She stumbled, straightened, then gracefully led the way. As Levant followed her he wondered sadly who she used to be before her mind was poisoned by one of his ilk. Had she been a stripper or prostitute working here? Or had she been a nurse, a teacher, a mother? Had she been content with her lot before falling to the worship of lust? He could only shake the thoughts away, he could not save her now, he knew of no cure for such malady.
Again, Levant found himself down a dark alley. The woman halted at a nondescript door and knocked thrice then twice before speaking aloud, "Too many sluts out tonight." There were several loud clangs before the door opened to reveal a pair of ugly looking guards who gave Levant a murderous glare. One of them gave the woman a split-lipped smile, "Hey Dora, this the guy? Hurry it up will ya, I wanna be up your fine ass tonight." He gripped her collar and pulled her close, fondling her.
Dora giggled and began feeling his crotch, but paused at seeing Levant's disgusted look, "Come, master waits." Dora grudgingly left the two bouncers, giving a playful yelp as one slapped her buttocks as she passed. They stared daggers at Levant as he entered, he wondered if they knew he could kill them both in seconds if he had a mind.
They walked through what Levant assumed at first was a club. Lights flashed and music blared, but on closer inspection he realised it was a brothel. Men were seated, drinking here and there whilst women walked around naked like Dora, all wearing collars of various colours. Levant sensed they were all as sexually deranged as she, all victims of an Irdu-Lili's extended presence. One sucked the member of a customer at his seat, another was bent over the table and used anally. Levant sensed the men also, though not as strongly, and could tell they were all part of criminal gangs. Thugs who relished having women who were so easy and open. It reminded him far too much of Kilili's brothel before she burned it down in a fit of anger. He had half a mind to do the same to this place.
He was taken down a set of stairs and led into a vast chamber. Dora sealed the door behind them, cutting off the sound of the music above. Levant could only take in the room, aghast.