Tom waited at the traffic light, impatient for it to turn green. He had already been out longer than he'd planned to be. Tom didn't get out much. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy being out and meeting people. He just preferred to do it on his own terms, not because a needy client wanted a face to face meeting. It was 2023, for chrissakes! Why couldn't this guy communicate like a normal person, through Zoom or something?!
Tom could have turned the contract down. He already had more money than he could spend in a lifetime, at least given his relatively frugal spending habits(for a rich guy, anyway). The only thing Tom had ever splurged on was his home, an impressive mansion in the suburbs of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He wasn't sure why he owned a mansion, being that he lived alone. He guessed that he'd just always dreamed of having a mansion, so once he'd had a few million the bank, he'd traded his little $600/month apartment for a $6 million mansion.
The light finally changed and with a sigh Tom continued towards home. He'd had to meet the client in downtown Lincoln, about twenty miles from his beloved house, The rational part of Tom's mind understood: the man was entrusting his considerable fortune to a whiz kid who hadn't even gone to college. Mr. Goodwin was an old fashioned type. He wanted to size another man up in person before deciding to work with him. But the ultra rational, even obsessive compulsive part of Tom's mind, chafed at the necessity. Mr. Goodwin was aware of Tom Wilson's record. Over the past ten years, he'd achieved 40% annual returns for his clients on average. No "professional" investment companies could claim that. What more did a client need to know? 40% was better than 10%! But they were always skeptical that someone so young could beat the pros at picking stocks.
Tom wasn't sure why he had this particular talent. He wasn't sure why he could look at a company and its stock and determine that they were headed for big gains over the course of a year or two. It was as if he could see patterns no one else could. His parents had suspected that he was a savant, but aside from being a little OCD, Tom had no obvious mental or emotional problems that would justify him being labeled so. He simply had a talent and he had found a way to make money off of that talent without even finishing high school. At sixteen he'd made his first million. At the age of twenty-six he had twenty of those millions. By thirty he expected to have fifty million, and then he'd probably retire.
Tom opened the gate using the remote in his car and drove up to the house he spent nearly all of his time in. He was eager to get back to his computer and check on his and his clients' investments. Sure, he could have checked on the his phone, but he disliked browsing through pages and pages of statistics. He liked having it all on one display. So he never checked the investments while out. Not that he needed to check. Whether the market was up or down, nearly every day saw the stocks he chose outperform the market averages.
"Home sweet home," Tom sighed, opening the door and taking it all in from his foyer.
The place was a bit of a mess. His OCD did not extend to keeping things clean, so much as keeping things just so. He knew where everything was. But looking at the poor organization of what should have been a lovely, posh, upperclass home, he realized that perhaps he should hire some staff. Part time only, of course. He didn't want a butler or maid actually living with him. That might disrupt his carefully cultivated existence.
He walked past the door to the basement. He smiled and briefly considered going downstairs. Downstairs was his fun place. He'd built a movie theater down there that sat twenty. Not that anyone but him had ever been down there. There was also a game room with classic pinball machines and arcade games. There was even a concession stand, although he had to man it as well as be its only customer.
Upstairs were six bedrooms, furnished but unoccupied. His own bedroom was on the main level, very close to the front door. Perfect for coming in and just collapsing onto the bed when he was tired, which he usually was when he left the house to go downtown for whatever reason. But on this day he found he had more energy than usual. The client hadn't kept him too long. It was only four in the afternoon. The stock market had just closed for the day. Perhaps the study?
The study was where Tom worked. His computer with its massive five screens on the wall was in the study, along with his massive book collection. Tom was a voracious reader, among his other interests. There was even another bed in the study in case he didn't feel like walking back to his bedroom. Books never left the study. Sometimes Tom would curl up with a good book in the study's bed and fall asleep mid-paragraph.
Tom's stomach growled. Nope, what I need right now is food, he thought. Normally he'd have picked up something on the way home, but he'd been too absorbed in thought and too eager to return to the safety and comfort of his home to bother. I'll see what I've got in the fridge, and if I don't like anything in there, I can get Uber Eats, he decided.
Tom halted, the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Something wasn't right. He looked at the four couches which were arranged in a perfect square formation, all facing each other, about ten feet apart. Were they a little further apart than normal? Or were they crooked? As if… someone had sat in them? Tom had a sudden flash of fear that an intruder had come in and robbed him.
He inspected one of the couches. He furrowed his brow at a discovery and picked up a small tuft of golden fur. He sniffed it. An animal? It smelled clean and almost human, but not quite. Had an animal gotten into his home somehow? That would explain why the furniture had been jostled.
Tom saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye and panicked. He had only a fraction of a second to flinch before he was thrown onto his back onto the couch. He felt something hot and sharp press against his neck and froze.
The feel of the blade wasn't the only thing that caused him to freeze. The face of the intruder was like none he'd ever seen before. It was human and yet….. not quite human. Her hair had an odd color that he couldn't quite place, and it didn't look like any kind of hair a normal human being would possess. Her clothing was just as unusual, or the lack thereof. She didn't wear clothes so much as armor. She was all leather and steel, the only fabric being a cape. Tom glanced at the arm holding the sword to his neck. She had scales! Scales?!
"Who are you?!" the woman demanded to know. "Why have you brought us here?! What diabolical evils do you have planned for us!? I will beat the answers out of you if I must!"
"Why don't you just cut him open and read his entrails, Granberry?" a voice from behind his assaulter chirped. Tom couldn't safely move his head in order to see who this second woman was.
"You know that's only superstition!" she scaly lady shouted back.
"She was obviously joking, idiot!" another voice said. A THIRD woman?!
"Alice, perhaps you should handle this man's interrogation before Granberia hurts him and then we don't get any reliable answers at all," a childlike voice said. The three women had brought a kid along as well?! Yet the voice, despite belonging to that of a child, was authoritative. As if the child was in charge here. What the hell is going on? Tom thought.
The woman who must be Granberry, or Granberia, sighed and removed the sword from his neck. No sooner had that hot blade left his flesh than he felt something grab him and he was yanked off the couch and pulled in close to another woman.
This woman was even more alien than Granberia. Her skin was blue, her hair silver. Her features were exotic, impossible for him to connect to any known ethnic group on Earth, even if the blue skin hadn't given away that she wasn't quite human. He looked at his bound body. Was he wrapped up by a snake? They have a snake too?! A trained snake?!
Then Tom realized with horror that the blue skinned woman was the snake. Her human torso, a very attractive human torso at that, terminated at her waist. Below her waist, her body was that of a snake. And most of that boy was wrapped around him and squeezing.
"Allow me to introduce myself, human male," the snake woman said, with a tone that was not very friendly at all. "I am Alipheese the Sixteenth. Do you know what that means?"
"Not in the slightest," Tom gasped.
"I don't believe you," the snake woman replied. "Give me an answer that's more plausible."
"Alice-" the child cautioned.
This time Tom actually could safely turn his head and the sight shocked him even more than the sight of the scaly lady or the snake lady. His eyes fixated on the source of the tuft of golden hair he'd found in his couch. She was a child, yet didn't carry herself like a child at all. Nor was she any more human than the other two women. She had several tails of golden fur, and her hair matched that golden hue. And there were others. Tom caught a glimpse of a woman with black wings, and another woman….. what… what was she?!
"Eyes on me!" Alice ordered. "Why did you bring us here?!"
"You're in my house!" Tom protested. "I didn't invite you! You…. You're… burglars! Or something! Maybe squatters! Or…. Or aliens! You're aliens! Or monsters!"
"Well, he got the answer eventually," the winged one muttered.
"Yes, we're monsters," Alice confirmed. "So I'm going to ask again, why did you summon us here? Don't act as if you have no idea what is going on. Humans shouldn't have this power. And I'm going to destroy whatever it is you used to summon us, as soon as you tell me where it is! So I'm going to squeeze slowly, and you can just signal to me when you want to breathe again and I'll let you breathe long enough to tell me what I want to know."
Tom felt the air in his lungs escape as the snake woman squeezed with bonecrushing force. He instinctively pushed back, flexing his fairly strong arms that he'd honed in his weight room, also on the main floor.
Alice's face pinched as she applied more pressure. Tom had no idea how strong she was, but her long snake body sure looked powerful. He'd read that snakes half her size could strangle a man his size.
"You're strong…." Alice grunted, bearing down. "Humans aren't normally this strong, are they?"
"Most definitely not," Granberia confirmed, watching the struggle with interest. "This is all the more concerning. Not only does the human wield powerful magics, he is physically formidable. We have no idea how dangerous he is."
The quiet struggle continued a few moments longer. Sweat began to form on Alice's brow. Tom's muscles were burning from the effort of maintaining the ability of his lungs to expand enough for him to drawn breath.
"Just…. Tell me….. who you are…. And why you did this!" Alice roared, her eyes jerking back and forth in a very odd manner.
The good news was that the pressure loosened. Apparently, Alice had given up trying to squeeze information out of him and had chosen some other approach. And that approach was…. To twitch her eyeballs.
"Are you…. Okay?" Tom asked.
"Answer my questions!" Alice ordered, her eyes continuing to twitch.
"Why are you eyes doing… whatever that is?" Tom asked.
"Alice-" the furry child tried to interject.
"How are you resistant to my eyes of compulsion?!" Alice asked in disbelief.
"Eyes of…. What?" Tom countered.
"Alice!" the child exclaimed. "Open up your senses. There's nothing wrong with your eye magic, aside from the obvious."
"The obvious?" Alice asked. "What do you- oh no! He's dispelled our magic!"
"Let me get answers from him!" Granberia urged, raising her sword. "I need no magic to deal with this…. This man!"
"He's dispelled nothing," the child said, approaching Tom. "Alice, release him. I don't think he's responsible for any of this."
"As much as I distrust humans, I agree," the weirdest woman of them all said. Her form rippled as she too approached Tom. What in the world….?
"He admitted this was his domain!" Granberia argued. "Are you the only one who lives here, human?!"
"I am!" Tom answered, backing away from the women now that he was free of Alice's coils. "And my name is Tom! You wanted to know who I am, that's my name!"
"Are you a hero, Tom?" Granberia asked in a tone that would brook no stonewalling.
"You don't have to answer that, Tommy-boy," the winged one interrupted. "I can smell him from here. He's no hero."
The scaly one leaned in and sniffed.
"You're right, Alma Elma!" Granberia exclaimed. "Why would a wizard so powerful summon monsters as an unbaptized human? Is he so powerful he needs no such protection?"
"Wait, baptized?!" Tom exclaimed. "Wizard? Who are you people? Or monsters? Or… whatever? Why are you in my house?!"
"I'll answer everyone's questions," the child said gravely. "The male is no wizard. He didn't dispel our magic. Dispel spells have a signature aura. I sense no such aura. In fact, I sense no auras of any sort. There is no magic here."
"I don't think we're on our world anymore, guys," Alma Elma continued.
"But if he didn't use magic….." Alice stammered.
"We searched this house thoroughly for pentagrams or other signs of magic use," the watery woman said. "If this man uses magic, he does not do so in this lair."
"Perhaps there's a secret magic room?" Alice asked hopefully.
"I can detect secret doors and traps without fail," the child said, shaking her head. "There are no such rooms in this house."
"Then he used technology!" Alice hypothesized. "This house is full of technology! Tell us what machine you used to do this to us!"
"Tom?" the child asked expectantly.
"Look, ladies, monsters, whatever you call yourselves," Tom said, slowly retreating. "Yeah, this house has a ton of the latest technology, but nothing that summons monsters from mythology, I can assure you of that."
"My gut tells me to believe you," the golden child replied. "But I need to be sure. What do you use all this science-y stuff for?"
"I know this is hard to believe, but really it's for entertainment and work!" Tom said defensively.
"Did you summon us here for entertainment?!" Alice demanded to know. "Did you bring us here just to satisfy your perversions?!"
"I'd like to think he's that interesting," Alma Elma giggled. "But I doubt it. Tom seems like the most boring human in existence. That's what my own gut tells me."
"I'm not boring!" Tom protested. "I… I analyze financial markets!"
Alma Elma yawned. "I don't know what that is, but it sounds pretty boring."
"Well…. what do you do for a living!?" Tom asked in a challenging tone.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alma Elma replied slyly.
The child sighed in resignation. "I have to conclude that he didn't do this," she said. "Tom, allow me to introduce myself and the others. My name is Tamamo. I'm a fox girl."
"A fox girl?" Tom asked. "Okay, that makes sense. The tails, the fur. Wait, that doesn't make sense at all! How are you part human and part fox?! How are any of you…. What you are?"
"We are monsters," the liquid one answered. "I am Erubetie. I am a slime."
"Wait, like in Dungeons and Dragons?" Tom asked in disbelief.
"Are we speaking the same language here?" Alice asked.
"I think we're in a different world," Tamamo said. "As Alma Elma theorized. Humans don't know what monsters are, there's no magic…. This situation is far more dangerous than we first thought. It's a good thing we didn't try to leave this house. Without our magic, we're vulnerable. And this human, while strong, doesn't appear to be very remarkable. He's probably quite average among his people."
"I'm the furthest thing from average!" Tom protested, insulted.
"Well, you smell delicious enough," Alice retorted with a smirk, licking her lips in a very disconcerting yet alluring way.
"We shall have to stay here for the time being then," Erubetie said, agreeing with Tamamo.
"We'll make the human go find answers for us, assuming he is innocent of this deed," Granberia suggested.
Tom had had just about enough. "I'm not doing anything I don't want to do!" he roared. "You women are in my house, illegally, I might add! Illegally!"
"That words seems important to you," Alma Elma giggled. "I wonder what it means?"
"It means… It's against the law for you to be here without my permission!"
"Even in our world, it is rude to intrude upon someone's abode," Erubetie ponted out. "I know that I do not take kindly to intruders."
"Nevertheless, it's too dangerous for us to leave here at the moment," Tamamo pointed out. "Tom, look me in the eyes and tell me you had nothing to do with this."
Tom had no problem with that. He stared directly into her old soul and assured her that he was as confused as they were.
"Fine," Alice said. "Whatever. The food was good. Go get us some more."
"The food?!" Tom exclaimed. "You ate all my food?!"
"We were hungry," Alice shrugged.
"Actually, Alipheese was hungry," Granberia said. "She ate the bulk of your food. We only took as much as we had to."
"Well now I have to get food! I'm hungry too and you ate it all!" Tom yelled.
"Well, now that you have a reason to go get food…." Alice said with satisfaction, folding her arms.
"And while you're at it," Tamamo suggested. "Go ask the local scientists if any of them summoned us."
"No!" Tom raged. "I am not getting you food! You are not staying here! This is my house and I live her alone and I like it that way! I'm going to give you all ten seconds to head towards the front door, or I'm calling the police!"
Tom pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a 9.
"Is that a weapon?" Granberia asked.
Tom dialed a 1.
"I don't think that's a weapon, but I don't like it," Tamamo observed.
Tom reached out to dial the last 1. A soft hand intercepted his finger. Tom found himself staring into the eyes of Alma Elma. His other hand, which had been holding the phone, dropped it.
Alma Elma gave him a fetching smile. Her perfect white teeth were gorgeous, even with the disconcerting, short fangs.
"Are you…. Are you a vampire?" Tom asked, entranced and frightened at the same time.
"Close," Alma Elma said seductively. "Vampires are related to my race. But vampires are cold, and pale. Do I look pale to you?"
While Alma Elma's skin was fair, it at least looked healthy.
"And do I feel….. cold?" Alma Elma asked, bringing his hand to her mouth and slightly sucking on his index finger.
Her warm mouth sent shockwaves of pleasure through his finger and directly to his groin. Alma Elma giggled at the obvious bulge in his pants as she ran her tongue along his sensitive fingertip, her soft lips sucking it lightly. Tom thought he might collapse, so amazing was the feeling of that amazing mouth. Tom was no virgin. Being rich meant a lot of gold digging women hanging onto him. But what Alma Elma was doing to his finger felt better than what even the best of those women had ever done to his penis.
Alma Elma removed his finger from her mouth and let go of his hand.
"I'm a succubus," she said. "Do you know what that means?"
Tom shook his head silently.
Alma Elma kissed him.
"It means you can stay as long as you want," Tom said breathlessly.