Kat disengaged from the sleeping seminary student. He whimpered as he rolled over. Her visit would be dimly remembered as a dream. His sheets would bear testimony to it and he would pray with extra zeal to be delivered from the torments of the flesh. Possibly he would never learn of having been visited by a succubus.
She kissed him on the forehead, nodded to the crucifix over the door, and slipped out of his room.
Kat made her way to Britt's apartment and slipped into it as she had the last three mornings. The girl in the bed looked even more ill than she had the day before.
Kat manoeuvred around the sleeping form, doing what she could to make Britt more comfortable. She felt Damian projecting to Britt, a sudden concentrated wave of hunger and yearning. The hair stood up on the back of her neck. She felt a pang of guilt, as though she were eavesdropping on an intimate conversation. Britt writhed on the bed, tormented, but not a whisper of response returned to Damian.
Kat exited the apartment, furious at her helplessness.
She returned home just as Damian emerged from the forest that bordered the edge of the farm. He had taken to disappearing from sundown to sunrise, as though his absence from the farm would disguise the fact that he was not hunting. With each passing day, he grew fainter and more lethargic.
"You're not eating," Kat said.
"Don't worry, mom," Damian replied with a weak smile as he passed her.
"I do worry," Kat said, just like a mother.
It was infuriating.
Three days after posting the story, Kat received anonymous feedback that consisted of instructions to contact someone through Skype, followed by a name and a local time.
Kat paced the study in the farmhouse, impatiently watching the morning sun creep across the hardwood floor.
At the appointed time, she made the call. Her fingers tapped a nervous tattoo on the oak desk as her call went unanswered. Posting a story on the internet had been a long shot. The chances that another demon would notice it and recognize it for what it was -- a desperate plea for help -- were ridiculously small. Her heart fell as the computer continued to emit monotonous beeps. Even if the story were noticed, what were the chances that another demon would be able to help her? Next to none. She would have given anything for a health handbook for the ailing demon.
Kat nearly jumped from her chair when she heard a voice from her laptop. "Hello?"
"Forgive my delay. I trust I am speaking to the author of the story?"
"Yes you are. Thank you for contacting me so soon," said Kat.
"You tell a fascinating tale, if a little over the top sexually."
"Sorry. I was in a hurry."
"It's nothing to apologize for. I'm quite a fan of exaggerated sexual exploits, for an old lady."
"Would you like to go to video?"
"Yes."
The woman who appeared on Kat's screen was stunningly beautiful and far from old. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, wore her hair in an up-do that was reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She had porcelain skin and refined features that no rural internet connection could diminish. She wore an elegant strapless black dress and a string of pearls around her neck. It looked as though she were about to attend a premiere at the theater.
"I'm sorry if I'm keeping you from something," said Kat.
"It's of no matter. I suppose introductions are in order. I am Isabel d'Avignon," said the woman, employing the ancient demonic practice of identifying the geographical area of their earliest circle of influence.
D'Avignon, thought Kat with some astonishment. Her story had been caught up in of one of the oldest branches of the family tree.
"I'm honored," said Kat, inclining her head.
Isabel smiled faintly.
"Katarina von Regensburg," Kat then said, reluctantly using the same convention. "But please call me Kat."
"Regensburg. I haven't heard that name for a long time. But of course, you were among those sent to the new world."
"That was a long time ago."
"Yes it was," said Isabel sadly. "But we have more pressing matters to discuss, do we not?"
"I'm afraid so."
"When this is over, I would like to have the opportunity to speak with more leisure. As it is, I have read your tale with interest, Kat."
"Thank you."
"Let me see if I understand then..." Isabel encapsulated the problem quickly and succinctly. Kat added a detail here and there, but Isabel appeared to grasp the issue with surprising intuitiveness.
"It puts me in mind of a similar situation -- one that occurred in Prague in the middle of the nineteenth century," said Isabel.
"As long ago as that? I hadn't heard of it."
"Communication was far more sporadic and difficult then, no? Particularly for those who were banished?"
Kat regarded Isabel and pressed her lips together, refusing to rise to the dig.
"Let me ask you something," continued Isabel. "Are you and the incubus bonded?"
"I wear his ring. Yes."
"Good. That makes matters much easier. May I ask his name?"
"He is Damian... of Pannonia."
Isabel closed her eyes. "Another name from the past. A powerful, ancient branch. Any more names such as these and I shall become maudlin. It is fortunate that you and he are together. I don't think the matter can be resolved without the involvement of another member of his circle."
"What can you tell me of his ailment?"
Concern etched Isabel's fine features. "This girl, I believe, responded to Damian in a unique tone, something that distinguished itself from all the others and proved irresistible to Damian. It is impossible to know. What I suspect, though, is that this girl possesses within her something latently demonic. What has lain dormant has now been awakened under Damian's attentions. It's very rare, but has happened in the past. It would explain the unique power of this girl to feed and ensnare him.
"Our few historical precedents tell us that the demonic will grow within her. She still possesses the human attributes that attracted him, yet he is now also repelled by that which he has awakened. And she, poor thing, is intimately connected with a being with whom no long-term intimacy can be achieved. I'm sorry if I'm sounding a bit like a psychoanalyst, but it appears that we have a paradox. Each is simultaneously attracted and repelled by the other to the exclusion of all else. The paradox has essentially trapped them, precluding any other normal relations. I'm afraid that without intervention, the paradox will strengthen until it ultimately consumes them."
Kat shook her head. "You say that she carries with her the demonic. How can this be?" Kat had her suspicions, but needed confirmation.
"Forgive me. I have the advantage of knowing precedent." Isabel explained herself more fully.
"Oh, God," whispered Kat when Isabel had finished.
Isabel raised an eyebrow. "God cannot help them, but you can. You must act quickly."
Shortly after the conversation with Isabel, Kat debated waking Damian and telling him of what she had learned. Instead, she jumped into her Range Rover and made her way directly to Britt's apartment.
