It comes with a price... and a reward
Moments after I thought I shouldn't ask what's next, a young woman approached me. She was dressed as a sexy witch, with an overdone costume. It was almost a caricature of a witch.
She looked at me and asked, "Can I have a moment of your time, Ms. Calypso?"
"Sure, why not. Maybe I should eat you?" I playfully growled, and brought my hands up to show the fake claws I wore.
"Ooh! I'm so scared! But seriously, I have a favor to ask. Let's find a place to talk, it's too loud out here."
"Well, the back rooms are discounted tonight, and if you want talk instead of sex, I won't complain."
She looked pensive for a moment, then briefly nodded to herself, then said, "Sure. Lead the way."
Once settled in the room, and the financial transaction completed, I asked, "What kind of favor do you want?"
"My name is Lisa, and I am a member of a group of people who care a lot about our community. There is a nasty problem menacing us, and we cannot handle it, ourselves."
"What is the group, and the community?"
"We serve San Jose, and our group is a coven of witches."
"Well, I know the city, but witches? In this day and age?"
"We're not evil. We don't harm ordinary people. But we do keep watch over the city, turning away bad stuff, if we can. Unfortunately, we cannot handle this monster. But we think you can."
"I'm just a dancer. The best one here, but still, a dancer. I'm not a fighter."
"You are more than a dancer. You are a succubus, and a werewolf."
"Werewolves don't exist. This is just a costume. Also, I only play a succubus sometimes, for certain clients. My horns and tail are props."
"They do exist, and you are one. We've been studying you for over a month, so we're sure."
"Well, I don't believe you. I think our time is at an end, unless you also want sex?" Looking at her, I saw her temptation, but she declined eventually. "Leave the door open when you leave." I then returned to the party.
That was odd. I must have spent at least ten minutes thinking about it in the back of my mind, before thoughts of the party took over. I did take care to leave looking like someone else, so I wouldn't be followed. Hopefully, no one was watching my car. At least, it didn't look like it.
Two days later, I was relaxing at home on a day off, when I was called to the parlor where a guest was. When I rounded the corner, I stopped in my tracks for a moment. The woman was in a business suit, with a light-blue coat over a white shirt and a slightly darker-blue skirt. It was the same woman I had seen in the club. But since I didn't look the same, I decided to pretend ignorance.
"Hello, miss. Can I help you?"
"Mike is such an odd name. I am curious how you got it. No matter, I am here to ask you again to help us."
"Have we met?"
"Yes, Calypso, we have."
"Why do you call me that name?"
She looks about, then pulls a notebook from inside her coat. There is no way it could fit there, yet it did. "Let me show you."
"How did you fit that in your coat?"
"Magic."
"There's no such -"
She interrupted me with a quick phrase, and her coat and skirt changed to a light green over a darker green. She waited a few seconds, then did it again to return the blue.
"Oh..." I thought for a moment, then said, "This is not a matter to be overheard. Follow me." I headed off to Terry's home office, where he had a tiny conference room table and three chairs. I offered her one, and closed the door after she sat.
Then I said, "So, you are the real deal. How did you find out about me?"
"The library book you took. We're not sure how you took it out, but we noted its return, and used spells to follow where it had been. We thought you were just an ordinary human who was bitten, and we expected you to hide at the full moon and the days next to it, but you went out those days. We followed and watched you, and so learned of Calypso and your true nature as a succubus.
"That both scared and excited us. As a succubus, you are a sexual predator. Not something we feel confident in handling, yet we realized the potential to deal with a monster problem we have. Some watched you here and at the country club, and others watched your evening performances. That is how we learned of your feeding habits, and how you were hiding your tracks to avoid being noticed. You also did not feed too much on any one person, making your tracks even fainter.
"The coven discussed this at length, and finally decided to ask for your help. You appear to care for your community, like we care for ours. When you dumped me at the club, I had to change my approach, so I am here now, with evidence to show you what our problem is. Will you help us? We beg you."
"Hm... You have piqued my interest. Tell me about your problem."
She opened the notebook, and discussed the pictures within. Over a dozen dead people were pictured. They were torn apart, with plenty of blood. She told me the blood was cow's blood, and that there was very little human blood at the site. The 'wild animals' that attacked were actually werewolves under the control of a vampire, and not the local wildlife. They wanted me to take out the vampire.
"I'm a lover, not a fighter."
"You are uniquely suited to fight him. Your succubus nature makes you resistant, if not immune, to his sexual fascination. Likewise, your ability to feed by touch can get through his defenses before he knows what you are doing. Lastly, as a werewolf, you may have some influence with the pack he keeps to do his bidding." She then went to the back of the notebook, and showed me the pictures of the werewolves.
I looked at those pictures, and saw something. "What are those collars?"
"They are magically invisible. We used enchanted cameras to take these pictures. On a regular camera, and in person, you won't see them. We think they are how he controls or summons them. We haven't gotten one yet to study, so we don't know. But they do not seem to be weapons, at least, they have never done anything but wear them. They may provide some passive benefit."
She turned a final page at the back, and there were two fuzzy pictures of another man.
"This is your target. Not even the enchanted camera can fully pierce his enchantments against cameras. We don't know how he is going about in the daytime, but he does."
"You think I can handle him?"
"Yes. We know where his hunting territory is, and the kind of person he preys on. You can easily look like his preferred prey, and we'll give you a charm to keep your own nature hidden. Back at the covenstead, we have additional information, including videos, about the area and the werewolves. Also, several others will tell you more about the situation, and can answer your other questions."
I sat back and thought about it. I looked through the notebook again, then finally agreed. She gave me a card, with an address and a phone number to set up a meeting, then left.
I spoke to Terry, and later Dick, about the situation, and we came to an agreement that I should do this. We also decided not to tell William, my stepson, as he was not aware of our supernatural nature. So I called Lisa, and set up a meeting.
Two weeks later, I arrived at a fishing lodge, and met Lisa. She welcomed me, and took me inside, where she introduced Sophie, the librarian, and Betty, their leader. I recognized Sophie from my visits to the library.
I asked, "Sophie, are you the reason your library has such a good selection of unusual books?"
"Yes. While our coven contributes some of them, I also have contacts with other covens, and other groups with unusual interests. Most of those books are in the restricted room, which our members and contributors routinely use when they have need. I am still not sure how you got access, but it seems you have not abused the books.
"The collection is monitored, and is not supposed to leave the library without authorization from the coven. We only knew the book was out, as though an ordinary book, so we set a watch for its return. When it came back, we used our spells to find out where it had been, and so we found you. We also learned you made use of a ritual it describes, so we knew you were a werewolf."
Betty added, "We didn't know anything more about you then, so we set up a magical watch. We were concerned you might be uncontrolled, and thus a problem. Your life at home seemed normal, as did your life at the country club. However, at the strip club, we knew you were there, but could not find you. It took a while, but we eventually learned of your other identity, and were shocked. We also learned you stayed home on the nights of the full moon, but not the nights before or after. That told us you understood your curse, and took care to hide when you were least under control.
"A full coven council was called, and we discussed what we knew about you, and we decided to confirm our suspicions, and what to do with the information. We did, then had a second executive council to decide who to send. We chose Lisa."
"So, you know all about me?"
