Tom didn't even remember getting into his car and driving to the supermarket. It must have been a conscious act, given that he made it safely, but the succubus' kiss had so scrambled his mind that it was all he could think about for several minutes.

He stared at the overloaded shopping cart. The contents were mostly random. He guessed that he must have just dumped things that looked tasty in there as he walked around in a daze. Pop tarts, candy bars, fruit cups, random cuts of meat, pasta…. A little bit of everything. What did monsters eat, anyway? What if they were allergic to some of the items he'd bought?

Tom shook his head angrily. Why do I care? He thought. I don't owe them anything! And yet, his righteous anger was dissipated, as if rendered meaningless by a single kiss. Am I in love? He wondered. No, he thought, putting that ridiculousness aside. It was pure lust, and he'd never been the type to let lust control him.

Tom made the best logical assumption that he could about what monsters ate. They'd admitted to cleaning out his kitchen. That meant that whatever he'd had in there, they obviously could eat. That at least gave him something to go on. He headed back to the cereal aisle and bought several more boxes of pop tarts, then hit the deli area for hot dogs. Finally, the potato chip aisle for various bags of chips, which filled the cart to levels that were beyond plausible and risked an avalanche of falling bags and boxes.

Carefully, Tom made his way to the checkout lane. So why am I doing this, if I'm not in love with that succubus? Sure, I want her in my bed, but that doesn't excuse a home invasion. Tom wasn't a stranger to stalker types. It came with the territory of being young, eligible, and rich. But that thought gave him pause. This wasn't a typical situation, to put it mildly. These women weren't even human.

Tom reached the checkout lane and waited in line, continuing his self analysis. He knew that he was usually easy with money. He didn't spend a lot on himself beyond his palatial home. The only thing he spent significant money on otherwise was wining and dining interested females. He was generous when it came to giving gifts or helping them with their financial troubles, even long after he'd lost interest in them, or they in him. But he had no patience for the stalkers and wouldn't give them a lead nickel. He valued his routine and his privacy, and stalkers were a direct threat to that. So why was he tolerating these….. monsters? And they weren't just looking into his window or knocking on his door, they were actually in his house! They were squatters!

He decided that the key term here was "monsters". Aliens. Probably from another dimension, assuming they hadn't escaped from a lab somewhere. They didn't seem to be lying, however. They were genuinely confused about their whereabouts and just as suspicious of him as he was of them. And if they were telling the truth….. then that means they needed him. It meant he was the only one that could help them. But help them what? Hide out at his place indefinitely? He wasn't sure he could tolerate that. But what would happen if they were discovered? Would they get taken to Area 51? Guantanamo Bay? A lab?

"Paper or plastic?" the cashier asked, breaking him out of his mental deliberations.

"Oh… uh… whatever's easiest for you," he answered.

He returned to find all five of them in his living room, sitting on the couches. He groaned at the sight of the liquid lady reclining on his expensive furniture. Oddly enough, however, he saw no evidence of a wet spot spreading under her.

"Do not fear for your fabrics, human," Erubetie assured him. "I have complete control of my form. I can suck all of the moisture out of anything I come in contact with, especially if that moisture is simply a part of me."

Suck out….? Tom felt himself getting aroused again, even though she'd meant no lewd intent. She'd simply stated a fact of her strange biology. If only the fox girl had such control. He could already see evidence of shedding where she sat. She giggled at his stare.

"My fur is a great gift, and I'm leaving it here for you since you're our gracious host," Tamamo said, a twinkle in her eye. "Don't do anything with my fur that I wouldn't approve of."

What would he do with her fur? He wondered. Except vacuum it up? Tom stopped staring and remembered why he'd gone out.

"Um…. Do you guys want to help me with the groceries?" he asked.

"Does this word groceries mean food?" Alice asked. "Because I smell food."

"Yeah, sure…. Food," Tom stammered. "I bought a lot and I need some help with it. Just take it into the kitchen and I'll put it away."

"You don't want us to help you put the food away?" Granberia asked.

"No, I like things a certain way," Tom replied. "I'll bring the bags into the living room, you guys can carry them into the kitchen. I'll take care of everything else."

"Does that include cooking us dinner?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Dinn- No, it does not include me cooking you dinner!" Tom snapped. "Besides except for the raw meat, everything here is microwaveable. You can zap it yourselves! Just…. Just don't touch more than you have to in there!"

The five stared at him blankly.

"You don't know what microwaves are, do you?" Tom asked.

Tamamo raised her hand. "I know what microwaves are, but how does that pertain to food? Do these microwaves…. Cook the food somehow?"

Tom sighed. He realized he had no idea what kind of world these ladies came from. Something had made him believe that they were from a futuristic world, genetically engineered by mad scientists. Apparently the world they came from was less advanced than his own, not more.

"Come on, help me get these into the kitchen and I'll show you how to use the microwave," he said grudgingly.

"Okay, so you just put the frozen dinner in the microwave," Tom explained. "And then you select a number for how long you want it to cook. Numbers one through five are one to five minutes. Nothing you'll need to cook in here takes longer than five minutes."

"Food goes from frozen to cooked in five minutes?" Alice asked. "But…. That's magic!"

"I think I understand the concept here," Tamamo mused, watching with interest. "Magnetism. I'm guessing if the food is bombarded with these microwaves, the food will vibrate and thus heat quickly."

"I… I knew that!" Alice protested.

Tom selected the number four and everyone waited as the microwave dinner rotated. The food under the plastic cover began to bubble and steam. The sound of steam escaping through small holes in the plastic cover whistled throughout the kitchen.

A loud series of long beeps signified that the meal was ready.

"Who's hungry?" Tom asked, removing the formerly frozen dinner from the oven.

Alice snatched the dinner from his hands and then did something incredibly disconcerting. Without even worrying about how hot it was, she opened her mouth unreasonably wide and inserted the entire thing into her mouth, holding onto a corner of it with her fingers. She slowly pulled it out, as if sucking the meat off of a chicken wing. She handed back the mostly empty paper tray, swallowing in satisfaction.

"Oh, sorry!" Alice apologized. "I'm a lamia. I can unhinge my jaw and swallow large things pretty easily. So I can eat really fast. Can you make some more?"

"May I make a suggestion?" Erubetie volunteered. "Perhaps Tom would be so kind as to make us ALL something and we could sit at the table in his dining room and eat together? I am sure there is much to discuss."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea…." Tom said uncertainly, the vision of Alice's gaping maw still playing on repeat in his brain. "Why don't you all go have a seat and I'll be out in about…. Fifteen minutes."

The ladies filed out of the kitchen, leaving Tom alone. Tom wasn't used to cooking for multiple guests. At most, he'd cook for a plus one, and his idea of cooking was to either order Uber Eats or nuke something. He realized that he'd made a big deal out of NOT cooking for them, and now he was doing what he said he wouldn't do. These women had been in his house all of an hour and already they were turning his life upside down.

Grumbling to himself, he tore open two packages of chicken breast. He turned on two burners on his stove and emptied the contents into them. He found his spice rack and selected thyme and rosemary to add some flavor. Tom wasn't a chef by any means, but he had become skilled at making himself and his dates simple things like this. While the chicken breast cooked, he began quickly preparing mashed potatoes in a large bowl.

The potatoes were quickly whipped, the butter and salt content just the way he liked it. Hmm… just one more thing. A vegetable? Yeah, good idea. He pulled out some frozen broccoli florets and threw the bags into the microwave and set it for five minutes.

"This is delicious!" Alice said enthusiastically, shoveling food into her mouth and talking with her mouth full. Occasionally she would issue a large belch, which Tom decided to take as appreciation for his efforts.

"It is really good," Tamamo agreed, eating much more daintily.

In fact, except for Alice, everyone was fairly well mannered. Granberia was the only other person at the table behaving oddly, stabbing at her food as if she was afraid it would try to escape before angrily chewing it and staring at the rest of the food threateningly, as if daring it to try something.

"More, please!" Alice requested, having finished her first plate before anyone else had gotten even halfway through theirs.

"I've got it," Alma Elma said, using a fork to serve Alice two more chicken breasts and scooping out some mashed potatoes onto her plate. A lot of mashed potatoes. Alma Elma herself was sticking to the chicken only.

"I hope I'm not being rude for asking this," Tom said carefully. "But I noticed that you have those sharp teeth and you're only eating the chicken. Are you strictly carnivorous?"

"It's not rude at all to ask me that!" Alma Elma said brightly. "But I'm not the only one with fangs."

Alice showed a pair of even longer fangs, which Tom was surprised he hadn't noticed before. Granberia bared her own, which were much smaller and looked less sharp, but definitely a lot bigger and sharper than human cuspids. Tamamo showed canines, which was not surprising given that she was a fox. Erubetie seemed to have no teeth at all, although Tom couldn't be sure since she wouldn't smile and was focused on slowly eating her food, as if she was uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the act.

"I am not used to eating this way," Erubetie said apologetically. "I can digest food with any part of myself. I normally absorb food. But since this is a social occasion, I am trying to be well mannered."

"It's okay, go ahead and eat the way that's best for you," Tom replied.

"Thank you," Erubetie said gratefully, gently picking up the plate and putting it directly into her abdomen. Everything, including the plate, dissolved.

"Don't…. the plate…." Tom stammered.

"Oh, that was thoughtless of me!" Erubetie exclaimed. "I have been a poor guest. I should make it up to you."

"No, it's fine, actually," Tom assured her. "The plate wasn't expensive, it's just…. Don't do that every time you eat. I'll have to buy more."

"I shall remember next time," Erubetie replied, bowing her head.

"in answer to your question," Alma Elma said. "I do prefer meat as my secondary diet. I'll eat some fruits and veggies, and I like sweet things, but my primary diet is semen."

Tom choked on his food. Tamamo reached over to him with a tail and slapped his back to help him expel the piece of chicken. Alice quickly snatched it from the table and ate it.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Tom blubbered. "Something that rhymed with….?"

"Semen," Alma Elma said matter of factly. "You've never heard of a succubus? It's our primary source of nutrition."

Holy shit, she actually did say semen! Tom had heard of the succubus. He'd played Dungeons and Dragons after all. They were deadly sexual beings who could lead men into temptation and weaken them, draining their energy with their touch.

"So… if you eat mainly semen…" Tom asked uncertainly. "How are you supposed to get semen….. oh."

Alma Elma was looking at him meaningfully. He remembered the feel of her sucking his finger. Her kiss. Oh my.

"Is that…. Safe for me?" he asked.

"Not in the slightest," Alma Elma said seductively.

"Don't let her scare you," Granberia interjected. "She has complete control. She can only hurt you if she intends to. The rest of us you won't have to worry about."

"Yeah, yeah, only the succubus eats semen," Tom said. "The rest of you I can feed normal food."

"Actually….." Tamamo began.

"Actually….?"

"Actually, we all eat semen," Alice said for her. "It's just not our main source of nutrition like it is for the walking obscenity."

Tom nearly fainted. An impossible soft, fluffy tail steadied him, keeping him from falling out of his chair.

"No need to panic, Tom," Tamamo assured him. "We don't need to eat that often, so if you help us get home quickly, the only thing you'll have to feed us is zapped food."

"And how long is quickly?" Tom asked.

"Oh, by tomorrow night," Alma Elma said.

When dinner was finished, Tom instructed the girls to head upstairs and select rooms. There were six rooms upstairs and five women, so he didn't imagine there would be a problem.

There was a problem.

"Do you have any place I can rest that is wet?" Erubetie asked.

"You mean… like a bathroom?" Tom asked.

"Nothing so… filthy," Erubetie replied. "Like… a lake. Or a spring nearby."

"You can't go out, Erubetie," Tamamo reminded her.

"I have an indoor swimming pool," Tom offered. "You can get to it through the gym."

"You have a gym?" Granberia asked, impressed.

"I thought you guys searched my house thoroughly," Tom said accusingly.

"I searched your house thoroughly," Tamamo answered. "The rest of them were too busy arguing, lounging about uselessly, or eating your food."

Aliceand Granberia rushed up the stairs to select a room. Erubetie made her way to the swimming pool. Alma Elma looked at Tom meaningfully.

"I know I said I didn't have to eat until tomorrow…." Alma Elma said gazing deeply into Tom's eyes and then gesturing upstairs.

Tom gulped. "Um…. Tomorrow sounds fine. Give me a day to…. Adjust to my new reality."

"Fair enough," Alma Elma shrugged. "It's just that my control is inversely proportional to my level of hunger. But, if you're a risk taker…"

Alma Elma slowly and sexily ascended the stairs. Tom's eyes were locked onto her plump rear as she climbed. She turned and gave one last wink to Tom before disappearing into an upstairs bedroom.

"Don't listen to her!" Tamamo giggled. "She's never killed anyone she didn't intend to."

"Wait, she's actually killed people?!" Tom blurted.

"We all have, except for Alice," Tamamo answered.

"Are you even good people?"

"That's a complicated question. Come on, take me to your room," Tamamo ordered. "Let's talk."

"Can't we talk here?" Tom asked, not willing to bring a child into his room. Or any of these women, at least not quite yet. He feared he was putting his life in their hands just by having them in his house. Being alone with one of these predators in his room seemed…. Imprudent.

"I'd rather speak to you privately," Tamamo said. "There are some things you should know."

"Besides the fact that you all eat…. And kill… and…."

"Don't be scared, I only bite a little," Tamamo said, not at all reassuringly. "I'll even refrain from nipping this time if you're worried. We've already imposed upon you enough as it is."

Something about her made Tom trust the little fox. He didn't get the same vibe that he got from the others. Granberia and Erubetie seemed straightforward, but there was a dangerous pressure whenever they focused their eyes on him, as if violence could break out at any moment if he said or did the wrong thing. Alice and Alma Elma seemed to be hiding their true selves, Alma Elma behind a flippant manner, and Alice behind a severe visage that only seemed to break when she was eating. Tom suspected that Alice was actually a pretty nice girl if she liked a person. There was also the fact that she hadn't killed anybody, which Tom decided for future reference would be a requirement for any future girlfriends. So, have you ever killed man? Would be the first thing he asked any future dates.

Tom led to Tamamo to his room. He groaned as she sat on his bed, immediately shedding small pieces of fur from her multitude of tails. Now that he had time to count, he saw that she had nine of them.

"Wanna cuddle while we talk?" Tamamo asked. "I love cuddles!"

"I think… I think I'll just stand here…" Tom stammered. "I know you SAY it's just a cuddle, but you eat semen and you're…. you're a kid! You can't eat my semen!"

"Young man, I am so much older than you, your mind can't even contemplate it," Tamamo replied, glaring at him.

"How old are you, exactly?" Tom stammered.

"I don't know what culture you come from here on your strange, science-y world, but where I come from it's rude to ask a woman her age," Tamamo replied, her glare deepening.

"I'm sorry, it's just… strange… you look like a child, but I can tell you're not really a kid."

Tamamo continued to stare at Tom angrily. Tom began to feel the same pressure he felt when Granberia or Erubetie stared at him. But suddenly the pressure broke. Tamamo laughed out loud.

"I'm just messn' with ya!" she chortled. "Let's just say I'm old enough that I should be worried that you're too young for me, rather than the other way around."

"Is everyone else older than they look?" Tom asked.

"Not nearly as much. Monsters do live longer than humans, some a lot longer than humans. Centuries. Alma Elma is pretty old, although I'm not sure exactly how old. Erubetie's age is more complicated, because she's not truly as single entity. Don't ask, it's not important right now. Alice and Granberia are actually young, probably younger than you by a few years. Don't worry so much. Where I come from, humans don't appreciate kids being sexual either. I guess it's a human thing. But for us monsters, when you have to eat semen, you don't tend to worry about such things. Even so, many monsters won't allow their children to hunt until they are old enough. They feed them semen second hand."

"Hunt?" Tom asked, gulping.

"Where we come from, humans are forbidden to give us our food," Tamamo explained. "That has forced us to take it by force in most cases."

"You mean.. .rape?!"

"That's exactly what I mean," Tamamo said evenly. "We have to eat and reproduce. Monsters are only born female. We need men both for food and to make more monsters. Since not enough men are willing to give us what we need, the relationship between monsters and humans is one of predator to prey. It's the natural order of things. It doesn't have to be, but they chose to be prey rather than lovers."

"But… But that's still not right!"

"Are we supposed to die, to go extinct, just because men won't have sex with us?" Tamamo asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, no, but… there has to be a better way!" Tom protested.

"I honestly with there was, Thomas," Tamamo said sadly. "Can I call you Thomas?"

"I guess it's better than Tommy-boy," Tom said, although he didn't really like being called Tommy or Thomas. But he decided not to make an issue of it with a woman who was a killer.

"You see, Thomas," Tamamo began. "Long ago I enjoyed being a predator. Nothing gave me a thrill the way taking a man did. Sometimes I did it simply for the thrill of the hunt. Stalk and eat my prey, sometimes take him before he even realized I was near."

"You…ate them?!"

"Oh, no, no, in those situations I simply raped them and let them go," Tamamo said quickly. "But there were other times….. especially with powerful men, like kings and priests. I would tempt them with their carnal desires and destroy them utterly as a result."

"Destroy them utterly? You mean… like their reputations?"

"No, I'd eat their souls. But only if they offered them up willingly. Semen I have to have, so I'll take it by force. But a soul….a soul isn't valuable unless given willingly. It tastes… unsatisfying when ripped out of a man. But offered….. nothing is sweeter."

Tom gulped again. Was she going to try to get him to give up his soul? Tom was pretty certain that nothing she could do would get him to do something like that!

"Of course, back then I was in my true form," Tamamo said. "The form you see in front of you is a diminished form. There's a long story behind that, a very sad story, but all you need to know right now is that being in this diminished form taught me to be a better person. I'm no longer capable of destroying souls, and I'm no longer tempting enough to get anyone to offer them up even if I could. I could still hunt, but fortunately I found a village where the men don't follow those stupid commandments from that megalomaniacal goddess. So I get fed willingly now. I haven't raped anyone in centuries unless they attacked me first."

"So… you don't kill anyone anymore?" Tom asked hopefully. "You're reformed. And did you say centuries?"

"Reluctant to let me eat your semen because I'm an old lady?" Tamamo asked, clearly amused.

"Let me… Let me wrap my head around the idea first!" Tom stammered. "Hopefully we can find a way to get you all home before you get…. Hungry."

"So, that's the most important thing I wanted to talk about," Tamamo said. "You know this world better than I do. Any idea how this could have happened? Who might be behind it?"

"Not a clue, honest!" Tom answered. "What happened to you…. That only happens in fiction! I've never heard of anyone being transported to another universe in real life! I wouldn't even know where to begin to look!"

"That doesn't sound very promising," Tamamo said gravely. "It's got me to thinking…. Maybe it wasn't someone on this side that brought us here, but maybe someone on the other side sent us here. Someone like Ilias."

"Ilias?"

"She's that goddess with the stupid rules, trying to eliminate us by denying us access to males," Tamamo explained. "She might have found a way to send us here…. To get us out of her way…. Oh no…."

"What?!"

"What if she's setting some diabolical plan into motion and found a way to remove the five most powerful beings that could stop her!" Tamamo yelled, pulling Tom close to her with her tails and screaming in his face. "We have to get back, as soon as monsterly possible! You have to think of something! You must know something in this world that can help us find the answers we need!"

"Stop shaking me!" Tom yelled.

"Oh, sorry," Tamamo said, gently setting him down onto the bed. "I'm mature because I'm old, but my brain is that of a child and I get a little freaked out sometimes when I'm scared."

"It's all right," Tom said, putting his hand reassuringly on her back and rubbing it. Tamamo reacted to that almost as a dog would a belly rub, her tongue lolling out of her mouth and her leg kicking. Tom stopped, startled.

"No, keep doing that!" Tamamo pleaded.

Tom resumed the back rub. This time Tamamo managed to maintain her dignity.

"You know…." Tom said. "Something that can help us find answers….. I might have something that could help."

"Really?" Tamamo asked eagerly. "What?"

"It's called Google. C'mon, let's go to my office!"