yess! 10,000+ words!
okay, more explanations:
succubus (plural form 'succubi') and incubus (plural form incubi) sort of like sirens. Succubi are female, incubi are male. They are an unearthly beauty and are basically physical forms of lust (a deadly sin).
I'll be hinting at a little back-story I made upin volving John and a succubus. I did in the previous chapter too. I may write it later, I might not. Oh well.
Chapter Five-Hell Hath No Fury…
'Don't be aroused by my confession,
Unless you don't give a good Goddamn about redemption
I know Christ is comin'; so am I
and you would too if the sexy devil caught your eye
She'll suck ya dry
And still you'll cry to be back in her bosom
To do it again
She'll make you weak
And mourn and cry to be back in her bosom
To do it again
Pray till I go blind
Pray cause nobody ever survives
Prayin' to stay in your arms just till I die a little longer
Saviors and saints, devils and demons alike:
She'll eat you alive'
'Eden' was printed in castellar font, standing out against the simple black-tinted glass in polite, soft white neon. The box-shaped building itself was three floors high. Aside from the title, the building from the outside was completely bare, save for the front door, which was also very simple. There was a small inlet, long enough to squeeze in three average people, wide enough for one and a half; with a plain steel gray door in the middle of it, and a small window, which at the moment had its black shutter closed, in the top middle of that. A small lone fluorescent light guided visitors to the entrance, an air of ominous about it.
John stood on the sidewalk, facing the building like an old foe. Well, in many ways it was.
Never thought I'd fucking end up here again, he thought to himself as he let a stream of smoke escape his mouth, before realizing that that was a lie, an outright filthy lie. He'd definitely thought about coming back here-many times, more than he even realized. Thing was, he'd never actually gone through with it, even the times when he was far from sober. He'd come up with what he'd considered at the time(s) very good reasons to come back, but he'd always woken up the next day with a bad headache and a sounder mind. Fairly ironic that the first time he had to actually physically step inside, he knew better. But there was no way around it; what he needed to know could only be found here and no other place on the planet, or in heaven or in hell, only in Eden.
Finally, he worked up the nerve and walked up to the door. He could hear the music that was playing on the inside. He couldn't place the band (who had time for pop culture in his line of work?) but the electric guitar and bass line seemed vaguely familiar. He pounded on the door-mostly because he wasn't sure if anyone could hear hi on the other side, what with the music being so loud. He figured he'd wait five minutes. If no one opened the door, he'd consider it a 'sign' and go home. That decision meant something-John Constantine did NOT believe in 'signs'.
"Be careful, John," said the voice behind him.
John didn't bother to turn around-he knew Gabriel was standing behind him, with that irritating look on his-her face.
"Angel's don't belong in a place like this," he sneered over his shoulder.
"Just here as a reminder, John," the angel said.
Now John turned. Gabriel was dressed in the usual androgynous clothes, this time sporting a white silk shirt that flattered the golden curls that hung only a few inches above the shoulders, a pink tie, and a blue pinstripe suit.
"I don't need-" John began, but Gabriel cut him off, something the angel only did when it was either in a hurry or not in the mood for John.
"You cannot be tempted, John," Gabriel said, looking seriously at John, and Constantine noticed that the angel was genuinely concerned-not that he gave a shit, "Not again. And especially not now."
"Then maybe you can save some time and just tell me what's killing things in the Sin District so I can deport its ass and call it a day," John said irritably. It was not his best retort, but his ego was getting considerably deflated, the way things were going, because for once Gabriel was right and Constantine grudgingly knew it.
Gabriel's familiar annoying look came across its face. "Oh, John," the angel said in that annoying and familiar tone, "Where's the fun in that?"
John glared at the half-breed. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he heard the black shutter open up from behind him.
He turned around to see a pair of red eyes glaring at him. Before he could say anything, he felt a warm hand slide into his, and a feeling of cold metal.
"It'll let you see clearly," the angel whispered in his ear. John was rather disgusted that the angel was so close to him, but before he could fully realize it, the angel was gone.
The doorman seemed rather impatient. "What do you want, exorcist?" he barked, saying the last like a curse.
John turned. "I need to see Lilith," he said briskly, as he straightened, trying to appear formidable.
The doorman snorted. "Gimme a reason to let you," he said snidely.
"Because if you don't," John said with gritted teeth, "I'll make you wish you were back in hell."
The doorman didn't seem all that awed by John's threat, though he did seem insulted. "Oh yeah, you piece of shit? I-"
He stopped suddenly, his attention turned to something off to his left. There was an exchange of words between the doorman and someone else in a language John didn't understand. Finally, the doorman glared back at John, though there was defeat that John was glad to see. The doorman closed the shutter and the door opened for Constantine.
Before stepping in, John looked at what Gabriel had slipped to him. It was a rusted metal pendant in the shape of a circle, Latin written on the circle: 'Adiuro Te Angelus Iniquitatis, Serpens Antiquus…Exeas Sine Lesione Corporis Et Anime. Data Est Enim Tibi Potestas Temptandi Et Non Possideni'. John glared at the words. He knew them all right, and his pride was somewhat damaged by Gabriel's gesture.
He sighed, put the rusted metal chain around his neck, and stepped into the room. It was much like Midnite's club, though the lights weren't so bad. There were some strobe lights, but they weren't everywhere. The only places really lit up were the stages, where girls danced on poles and took their clothes off, playing to the human male crowd. There were only three girls out of the seven performing that were humans, as John saw. The other four were all succubi. You could tell by the way their audience reacted to them: like they'd never seen a woman before. The Succubi and Incubi were able to cast spells of attraction of humans, making their victims their slaves without even knowing it. The succubi and incubi were also unique among the half-breeds: they didn't have ugly true forms. They were in their true form just as beautiful and human-like as they were in their illusions. That made them dangerous seducers. John knew that first hand.
John took in the girls dancing-he was human after all. He noted that the succubi had marks similar to that of the amulet tattooed on them: one had one on her shoulder, another had it on her thigh, another had it on her hip, and the prettiest (and apparently least modest out of the four) had the mark tattooed on her breast.
The doorman walked past Constantine-a big half-breed about six and a half feet tall, definitely not the type to mess with. John wondered why the guy had let him in, when his Good Samaritan wrapped a pale arm around his. He looked down to see a succubus with long blonde hair and pale skin looking up at him with green eyes. She was dressed in a black corset-like top that let the crests of her lovely breasts be fully realized and a short black leather skirt. She had a great figure, despite being a little short, and a nice face (aside from the glowing green eyes). John was instinctively attracted to her, but he knew better. Internally, he grudgingly thanked Gabriel for the amulet-had it not been for it, he just might have forgotten the reason he'd come to Eden in the first place.
"I'm Jodie," she said in a whispery voice that John heard despite the loud music.
"Where's Lilith?" he asked, getting down to business. He wasn't going to be toyed with, especially not after Gabriel's drop-in.
Jodie looked disappointed. "We can find her later," she said soothingly, "Why don't you relax…?"
She reached up to caress his face, but John caught her wrist roughly.
"I am not in the mood," he growled, "Where is she?"
Jodie looked considerably annoyed as she took her hand back. She eyed the amulet around John's neck and let out a low hiss of offense
"Fine. Follow me," she said irritably, the sexy voice abruptly gone.
She turned on her heel and started toward the back. John followed her closely, but only so that she didn't try to ditch him.
Jodie led him to the back, where on one stage two succubi danced to the tune of 'Rebel Yell'. John ignored them and followed Jodie passed an 'Employees Only' rope. Behind the stage, near the speakers, was an elevator.
Jodie gave a sarcastic sweeping of the hand to the elevator.
"Third floor, asshole," she said snappishly as she walked past him and back tracked the way the two of them had come.
John watched her leave and couldn't help but check out her ass, which fit nicely in the leather skirt. He turned back to the elevator doors once Jodie was lost in the shadows. He pressed the round button and the elevator doors slide open, any sound they made in the process lost as Billy Idol's voice launched into the second verse.
The interior was lined with red satin, cushioned with goose-feathers. The floor was soft red velvet and John did NOT want to think about where the stains on it had come from. He just hit the 3 button and the elevator doors closed.
The doors opened a few minutes later and John Constantine stepped into a room, immediately after finding himself surrounded. The room, like the elevator, was carpeted with red velvet. The walls were beautiful mahogany, with carvings of topless beauties (succubi, probably) in the corners. On soft, scarlet couches near the walls, succubi and incubi alike lounged, some drinking wine, some eating fruit from the porcelain bowls on wonderfully carved wood tables, and others touching and kissing each other. They paid little notice to Constantine as he entered, but they outnumbered him dramatically.
John kept to himself as he ventured further. There were grand doors on the opposite side of the room, guarded by two unusually large incubi. Still, despite their size, the two demons had a certain beauty about them. As John walked towards the doors, succubi and incubi did start to gaze curiously at him with green eyes. Some looked apprehensive. Others looked intrigued. One such succubus purposely ate a peach seductively, letting its sweet juice travel down her neck to her breasts, which were barely concealed by her low-cut red dress, but John ignored her.
He came up to the grand doors, and the two guarding incubi, who seemed indifferent toward him.
"I need to see Lilith," he said forcefully.
The incubi exchanged looks.
"She's busy," said the one on the right. He had long, curly brown hair.
"I don't care," John retorted.
With that, John moved past the two incubi and threw the doors open. He wasn't worried about the guards-the incubi and succubi were the weakest half-breeds in terms of strength. Most of their power was in creating an air of lust and temptation.
The room he walked into was large-but lacking in most forms of furniture. The floor was black marble. In the center back of the room, there was a grand canopy bed-black satin sheets, black silk curtains. Behind that, there was a large fireplace.
At present, the fireplace was roaring, but that wasn't the only source of heat in the room.
The curtains were drawn, but John could make out enough from the silhouettes: two people were lying on the bed, still clothed. A woman was straddling a man. The two of them were kissing heavily, though, it looked like the woman was the one running things.
The woman apparently noticed that she'd been interrupted, because she suddenly sat up, though the man reached for her, still wanting more. The woman snapped her fingers.
Three succubi, all in red dresses and beautiful pale skin, two blondes one with raven hair, came from the next room, flying gracefully past John and over to the bed. They parted the curtains enough for two of them to remove the man. He wasn't that good looking and looked in his late forties, but his ugly maroon shirt (which, like his thinning hair, was rather mussed from what he'd been doing with the woman) indicated a good financial status. He seemed in a sort of daze as the two succubi-one of the blondes and the one with raven hair-led him out of the room.
The other succubi stood dutifully by the curtains as-from what John could tell from the silhouette-the woman fixed herself up for her audience. Finally, the blonde extended a graceful hand and helped her mistress off of the bed.
She had tanned brown skin. Her hair was black and straight, hanging down to her shoulders. But it was the dress that caught your eye. It was black and skin-tight. The top modestly tried to hide her gorgeous breasts. It completely exposed her abdomen and back, connecting to the skirt from the side. The skirt was cut on both sides, and cut all the way up to her thighs. In essence, the dress was more of an illusion of clothing, and if you paid close attention to the structure, you noticed that the only thing holding up the dress was the flimsy ribbon around her neck.
Her grey eyes looked directly into Constantine's as she approached. He was instinctively attracted, but there were two things about her that kept him from full attraction. There was a reason the back of the dress didn't cover her back and hung low, exposing a little of her buttocks. She had wings. Big, black reptilian wings, about four feet high. She also had a whip-like black tail that, at present, was curling and twitching like a cat's.
This was Lilith, Queen and Mother of the Succubi and Incubi. She was the full embodiment of lust even with the wings, which came off more elegant than mutated, and the tail, which had a certain sex appeal of its own.
"John Constantine," she said to him, a playful smile on her red lips, "I can't tell you how badly I've been wanting to meet you, boy."
okay. well, I'm going on vacation for a while-don't expect new chapts for about a week, guys.
the song at the beginning is from Puscifer ('Rev: 22:20') and I think it fits Lilith perfectly.
translation of the pendant Gabriel gave John: (I adjure you, angel of iniquity, ancient serpent…to leave without harm to body or soul. For you are given the power of tempting and not of possessing)
