Vresas the Demoness
(Futanari Demon Stories)
1
Iranon, Pennsylvania, 1923
"He's so. . . handsome."
"And he's rich. His father is the owner of how many mills? Seven?"
"Yes, seven."
It was a typical Saturday afternoon. Emily and her sister Anna were doing the dishes and discussing boys. Anna had her eye on James Louis Armondâthe heir to the Frakes & Kingston Law firmâand Emily had her eye on Galen Amano. His father owned seven mills.
Neither one of them had any chance. Both were poor peasant girls. They had only seen these men from afar, gathering what they knew from gossipânot hard to acquire, considering they went to the same Church. True, both girls were beautiful, but beauty in those days meant nothing without family connections. And Emily and Anna's familyâthe Scofield clanâwere the poorest of the poor. Their father was in prison and their mother had remarried their uncle. Together they all lived in a cramped three-story house on the end of Briar's Lane, gifted to them by their great aunt, Matilda. Both of the sisters appeared destined for spinsterdom or marrying low-caste menâin either case, a life of drudgery awaited them, just like all in their family.
But, for now, they had their dreams.
"What would you do with all that money?" Anna asked.
"Buy a larger wardrobe. Some horses. Maybe a ranch."
"These dishes never end."
"No, they never do."
"What would you do with the money?"
"I would hope to travel."
Though separated by a year, Emily and Anna had little in common in terms of personality. Emily, 23, was shy, reclusive and melancholy. Anna, 24, was gregarious, adventurous, active and almost always cheery. Physically, they were also quite different: Emily was small, frail, thin and pale, with long black hair and big dark eyes. Anna was taller, plumper and blonde like her father. Despite this, they got along well. They had no one elseâmost in the town shunned them for their poverty and the sinful ways of their family line.
After the dishes were done, Anna went to the market and Emily retired to her room to read a book. While Anna enjoyed being out and about, Emily's preferred to read. Books gave her something nothing else didâbooks and the occasional game of Chess with her sister. Luckily, Iranon had a fine library, and when Emily had her fill of books there, she could always find more obscure works at the University.
On that fateful August evening, Emily had five books at the ready:
Godsea: Legend of the Gilded Ausprey
Confessions of St. Augustine
Tales of a Time and Place
The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts
The Maiden, Lyra
She didn't expect anything grand from them. She had once tried to read the
Confessions of St. Augustine
but found it too terribly boring.
Perhaps I'll use it as a sleep aid,
she laughed to herself. The others merely had interesting titles. In any case, her schedule was filled till supper. And after supper, she planned to read more. To read herself to sleep was one of her favorite activities, though she needed to be careful not leave the candle burning.
She looked over the four volumes, not knowing on which to start. She knew it wouldn't be
The Confessions.
Closing her eyes, she picked one at randomâ
Tales of a Time and Place
. She then plopped into her chair and began reading.
2
An hour later, there was a knock at the door.
"Emily? Emily are you in there?"
It was her mother.
"Yes, mother. I'm here."
Emily got from out of her chair and unlocked the door.
"Emily," her mother said, exasperated, "I am making roast tonight and I can't find the the large black bowl. Where is it?"
Emily thought a moment. "I don't remember us washing that. When was the last time you used it?"
"Oh, you're right. I left it at Martha's house on Wednesday. I should have known."
Emily rolled her eyes.
Her mother left.
Emily returned to her book. The distraction had made her lose her place and, in any case,
Tales of a Time and Place
was proving to be quite boring. She wanted something a little more exciting.
She picked up
The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts
âa book she had read many times before, but always enjoyed reading again. Magic was a topic that intrigued her since she was young, and though she knew it was forbidden by the Church, she still read the occasional book on the subject. She figured it was harmless, and she only went to Church for her mother's sake, anyway.
As she opened the book, she noticed a slip of paper tucked away in its middle. It was folded like a bookmarkâand the library never removed bookmarks, for some odd reasonâand the paper looked quite old. It was yellowing, brittle and creased in odd ways.
"Curious," Emily said. She held the paper up to the window. There was writing on it. It looked to be two pages, actually. Not wanting to tear it, Emily walked over to her desk and spread it out flat. It was English writingâexcellent penmanship. The second page also had a strange sealâa seal which looked quite similar to what she had seen before in books of magic, akin to the symbols used to designate demons.
She felt a twinge of fear. Then fascination.
I should make some tea before I read it,
she thought.
Savor the moment.
She left her room, went downstairs and put on a pot of tea. Her mind was already racing with possibilityâsomeone, or some
thing
, had taken the time to write a two-page note, composed or transcribe a demonic seal, and leave it in a library book. Perhaps it was intentional âthe book was on the same subject, after all. She could barely contain her excitement.
Her mother was also in the kitchen. "You look odd," she said. "Smiling like that."
"Sorry," Emily said.
"I wonder if your sister will remember to get some eggs."
"I'm sure she will."
"I need eggs for the biscuits."
"Right."
After the tea was done, Emily poured herself a cup and returned to her room. She had work to do.
3
Before reading the strange paper, Emily looked at the handwriting again. Though excellent, she noticed a few oddities: the
s
was a little lower than the other letters, and the
t
would be crossed twice. She wondered where in the country people wrote like that. It certainly wasn't local.