Blog Unbound: Wraith of Lust

Disclaimer: This adult short story is a work of fiction. It is meant for those eighteen and older. There is sexual and fantastical content. All characters are eighteen or older. Though there are inspirations from other fictional sources, any similarity to real people, live or no, is merely coincidental.

Author’s Note: This story is an indirect sequel to The Fresh Scent, as it is also set in the main Unbound Mythos. Inspiration is taken from an episode from a show inspired by Ivanhoe, involving evil Wraiths. While that storyline was fairly black and white, the one here aims to add both a degree of realism and several shades of gray. The story follows Monster Hunters Brandon and Ron, who call on their folklorist friend Jessica for aid in a series of unexplained, sexual murders. As is the nature of their work, nothing goes as expected. Enjoy!

Unbound Edition: eBook

Wraith of Lust

“Deader than a doornail!” the greying Detective Louie Brannough stated. They were looking over the files of what the department saw as linked deaths. The office was quiet and subdued.

Brandon and Ron were constantly taken off guard by the detective’s lightness. They figured it was his way of dealing with murder. The two were really Monster Hunters, but they did not always work together. Serendipitously, they separately found articles online about multiple murders in the rural town of Scranton, New Hampshire. Hunters are brilliant at pretending to be some kind of law enforcement official, but never amongst themselves. The two chuckled at the not uncommon chance meeting, and patterned up, as they did numerous times.

“Would you mind going through what you know?” Ron as FBI Agent White asked seriously. His fair hair contrasted with the dark suit. As was typical, they introduced themselves as the expert Agents on “unusual” cases.

“Well,” he took a deep breath, “as all the files state, there is no clear cause of death. Heart failure was initially listed in two of them, but the two were 19 and 21, good health. Further investigation, as you know, countered with no clear cause like the others. All deaths appeared to occur either during or after sex. All were found naked in their beds. In at least on instance, a female brunette was seen with the victim the night before, but there was no better description. There was agreement that all the deaths were connected, if only in how they were found. I can’t shake the feeling that this is some kind of serial killer, but the cleanest one I’ve ever studied …”

“Cleanest?” Brandon as Agent Edgurton asked. Clean, messy, stinky were all significant clues to whatever was hunted.

“Serial killers usually like to leave or take something. It’s a kind of trophy or self portrait. They like to show off sometimes. I always interpreted it as a kind of power trip. They take the life, and they want others to know, including themselves. All the deaths here have nothing given or taken, except for the lives cut short.”

“Do you mind if we borrow these files, Detective?” Brandon asked calmly. His dark hair matched the suit.

“Go right ahead! This is the strangest case of my life, and you guys do look like you deal in strange, as you said.”

“You have no idea!” Ron exclaimed lightly …

“So what do’yah think, Ron?” Brandon asked in their motel room. “A Succubus?”

“Died in the throws of passion would suggest that …” he started ponderously. Ron was one of the smartest Hunters Brandon ever knew. He looked over the crime scene photos, and continued, “A Succubus, demonic or no, rarely kills to my knowledge. Think about it, Brandon: they feed on sex. So, why would they just kill someone they decide to feed on? Spending a couple nights with a hapless Human, letting him live is beneficial. The Succubus is both satisfied and not being chased by anyone. Even better, she can come back for seconds!”

“That’s true,” Brandon nodded. “I know I’ve never needed to take out a Succubus, let alone meet one as far as I know.”

“Jack McKinney went up against a demonic one that went utterly nuts a while ago. Physically, they aren’t the hardest to fatally wound. A good bullet through a vital organ of hers worked for him. Still, she was acting like Brannough’s serial killer. She was regular kleptomaniac!”

“I’m sure she was the sexiest klepto in history!”

“He said it was an utter shame to take out anything with a body like hers! … Anyway, I’m thinking about calling in Jessica for some consulting. I really don’t think we’re up against a Succubus of any breed.”

“Oh, sure …” Brandon muttered.

“Still got a thing for that fiery redhead? She is pretty awesome, body and mind!”

“Yeah,” he deeply sighed, “I guess … Too pretty for me …”

Jessica had that sexy librarian look when she had on her thin glasses. She was a little farsighted. Her skin was fair, while her eyes green. Her hair was a fiery red. Her body was slim yet full and athletic. Brandon wasn’t sure if she knew he had a more than serious crush on her, but she didn’t seem to be looking for anyone at the moment.

The woman had a masters in history (folklore concentration), and considered herself a “Consulting Hunter.” She was a walking encyclopedia, who loved learning the truth behind the folklore. She never killed anything, but was always willing to help after Brandon saved her from a poltergeist problem.

“Wow! You guys always find the interesting ones!” she exclaimed. She wore a loose, green blouse and red skirt. She slipped off her glasses.

“What do yah mean, Jess?” Ron asked with a smirk.

“I think you guys found a Wraith of Lust!”

“A Wraith?” Brandon chimed.

“Not what you’re thinking exactly. An alternate name for them is Sex Wraith. They are very much like Succubi, including feeding on lust! They are even all omnisexual females. But … they aren’t corporeal like us in their true form: gaseous, in modern scientific terms. Hence ‘Wraith.’ They’re NOT Demons, but the lore suggests the first were created by the Demon Master Asmodeus like the first Demonic Succubi. Unlike Succubi, they typically do kill who they feed on night one. They get away with it, because they are like ghosts. No physical traces we can currently detect. All they really want is pleasure, lust. They can masquerade as a Human very effectively, and from what I remember, its the form they had when they were Human Women. If I remember, only the most ancient of them can alter their false flesh form to any degree. It is unusual for one to feed and kill multiple people in a short span of time, but feeding frenzies occasionally occur. Once a century or two?”

“Great, but how do we kill it?” Ron asked bluntly. As a coworker, he was amazing, but was always very cold toward what they hunted.

“Without looking more deeply, I remember some lore suggesting you can’t! They are ghostlike. Sure, starvation is a possibility for all living creatures, but don’t expect to ever hold one long enough! Still, some lore suggests that Wraiths of Lust can kill Wraiths of Lust, and they may also be unable to handle sudden shifts in temperature, especially to the extreme. Like I said, they’re gas not energy. Freezing or frying may or may not kill them, but may be a means of binding them.”

“Do you think she’s done, Jess?” Brandon asked.

“I want to say yes, but I can’t. I don’t remember anything in the lore that gives any length of time for a feeding frenzy.”

“That means we need to find and freeze the bitch,” Ron said bluntly.

Brandon glanced at the very cold Ron, and asked Jessica, “So, have any idea about finding her?

“Well, she is very much like a Succubus. They’ll hide and hunt in the open. So going to places were people meet people. We can canvas the bars, major hangouts. This town doesn’t seem to have much in that area — lucky for us, but there must be a passionate enough scene here for her to conduct her frenzy.”

They decided to stick together, insomuch as go to the establishments at the same time. Individually, quietly, they looked for anyone that appeared hungrier than the others. Not much to go on, but the want for passion may make their Wraith of Lust stick out …

“People are so good at self deception,” a woman suddenly chimed next to Jessica at the bar counter.

“What?” Jessica looked over to a beautiful woman. She had pitch black hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She wore a black, loose, and subversively suggestive dress.

“A serial killer may be on the loose, but look at all these people!”

“I guess we’re just as bad as all of them!”

They both laughed.

“I’m Brianna. What are you having?” They casually shook.

“Jessica. Sangria.”

“Always like that one! Well, the name more than the drink. Always thought it sounded like a personal problem,” she said lightly, before ordering two of them.

“I guess so!” Jessica was no fool. The chances were high that Brianna was the Wraith of Lust. Hunters stick out to the hunted. They’re targets as much as protectors. “Guessing you’re not from around here, Brianna.”

“Yeah, just passing through. Guessing you’re the same?”

Jessica was playing the conversation cautiously. Brianna may just be a regular Human passing the hour.

“Let’s cut through the bullshit, Jessica,” Brianna suddenly stated. “We know what we are. The first true thing you need to know about my kind is we are of lust not lies. I would like you to come with me, so we can chat more privately. I promise I will not kill you.”

Heart racing, Jessica foolishly reached for her cellphone in her purse.

Brianna grabbed her wrist and guided it and the phone onto the counter. “We won’t need that, Jess. This era has many distractions, and I would like your full attention!”

The Wraith grabbed Jessica’s arm almost casually, and guided her out …

* * * *

Jessica found herself in a cabana at an inn on the other side of town. Brianna had her sit on the bed, while Brianna sat casually on the chair across.

“You’re not gonna fuck me to death?” Jessica asked awkwardly.

“I told you, I won’t be killing you tonight … Instinct is very important my kind, as it is for Hunters. I felt the need for feasting, and I came to this rather dull place. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happing with my meals here. But … This isn’t really a place you would expect a Wraith of Lust to go on a feeding frenzy. I’m even satisfied, but yet, I’m still here!”

“What are you getting at?” Jessica croaked. Something deep inside her knew what was about to happen, but she dared not interpret. At the same time, she felt powerless toward what the deep, secret part of herself already knew.

“You, Jessica. I couldn’t quite figure out my urge to stay, until I saw you. Sometimes fate plays a key role in all our lives. Some things are mutable, and some things aren’t. The moment I saw you, I could feel your potential. I can transform another completely, but they must be capable first. You are. Your soul, your very essence has the strength to become everything. Transformation is such a tricky thing … I’m going to make you like me.”

“No …” she breathed. What truly scared her was how she wasn’t running.

Brianna put on a large smile and stood. In a wisp of utterly black smoke, the Wraith flew out of her clothes, and formed a humanoid shape not unlike her false form. She opened her bright red eyes.

The Wraith then flew into Jessica’s inexplicably open mouth. Waves of dark pleasure flowed through her unprepared body. She pulled off her clothes, and fell to her back, writhing in epic pleasure. In her mind’s eye she began to perceive the dark Brianna within her, fucking her very soul. The more she fucked Jessica’s soul, the more it became shaped like Jessica. Almost the moment Jessica’s soul was in the exact shape of its body, Brianna shoved a suddenly existent member into the metaphysical pussy. Brianna thrust wildly, inflicting thunderous waves of indescribable pleasure throughout all that was Jessica. Soon, they both exploded in an orgasm beyond orgasms, Brianna spewing dark seed into Jessica’s soul …

* * * *

“Hey, did you just see Jessica leave with someone?” Ron asked, walking up to Brandon.

Brandon looked around the establishment. It wasn’t particularly crowded. Jessica was nowhere. “Humph, I’ll call her …”

A phone chimed and buzzed on the bar counter nearby. The two walked up to it. The bartender saw what they were doing, and handed them phone.

“Was she a friend of yours?” the young bartender asked.

“Uh, yeah, where’d she go?” Brandon asked.

“Left with another woman. Err, dark hair, pretty. Didn’t get a good look at her. Always doing something back here! Anything the matter?”

“Oh, I don’t think so …” Brandon answered nonchalantly. “Just have to get her phone back to her!”

“One less thing in that lost and found!” the bartended chirped.

“Thanks!” Ron exclaimed.

* * * *

The triumphant Brianna flew out of the transforming woman, and morphed into her false Human from.

“Oh, fuck …” she breathed, feeling herself change from her very soul. Pleasure and utter lust painfully flowed through her body, while she uncontrollably positioned herself on her knees. “What the fuck is happening to me!?”

“Feels good to morph to Human form. The pleasures of the flesh, right, Jessica?” she said darkly, sultrily. “We always take pleasure in the flesh.”

“We …?” she barely blurted through the all encompassing pleasure of lust.

Darkly smiling, Brianna slithered down to be face to face with the transforming woman. “The pleasures of becoming a Wraith of Lust is almost as good as the pleasures that comes with being one.”

“Oh, my fuck … I’ve never felt … ERGUH!”

“Don’t you feel it, Jessica? The dark lust transforming your very soul. We are no demons; though, the Demon Maser Asmodeus did create the first of us. Of course, you already knew that. Your life of knowledge was leading you to this.”

“OHH … ugh …” In the dark, painful waves of passion, she pulled back her head, eyes rolling back into her.

“Feel it. Embrace it. Give into it.” Brianna reached out, and lightly touched the convulsing woman’s neck. As expected Jessica’s body began to grow cold. “I planted the seed of dark lust inside you. I know you felt it. Lust is already within all Humans. The seed is the key to embracing it without consequence. Let it mesh with your very being. Become one with our lust!”

“UNGUH!” Jessica cooed, her body as overwhelmed with lust as her soul. “ERRRR-AHHH!!!” Through the lustful chaos, Brianna said the truth. The dark lust was always within her, as it was within everyone. Her soul now had the power to truly embrace it with utter glory. There was no way to turn back now, even if she wanted. Yes, she embraced it. Even with no choice, she wanted to embrace it, needed to embrace it. “YESSSS!” she screamed in a dark, lust filled growl.

The growl wasn’t from Jessica’s vocal cords, those no longer powered by her body. Indeed her whole body was shutting down. Yet, she wasn’t dying. Her transforming soul was outgrowing it. As her body ceased to scream pleasure, her soul screamed more. Though, her soul was becoming more than just a soul; it was becoming her. As such, it absorbed every last bit that was also Jessica in its own, metaphysical way. Her body dyed and stilled, becoming nothing more than a husk, a cocoon her new self would use as the final piece to complete the transformation.

Jessica’s dark screams of passion were deafening. The sounds now more than a replication of what her husk of a body once made, resonating in haunting tones. Then she felt it: a final orgasm of dark truth. All she wanted was that orgasm. In a final scream of near endless passion Human ears could never fully comprehend, she consumed the husk, making it a mere template for her false form, and exploded in all directions in a dark smoke.

The newly born Wrath of Lust slowly reformed herself into her true, black silhouette form in front of the overjoyed Brianna. Jessica opened her bright red eyes, and formed a distinct smile. There was no love between them, only lust.

Brianna reached out to Jessica, and said lustfully, truthfully, “My sister …”

Jessica found this new existence remarkable! The world was what it always was, more or less, but at the same time, it was hers for the fucking. Pleasure was all that was important now. Jessica felt she was finally what she was always meant to be.

“How ‘bout some incest, my sister?” Jessica offered.

“Of course!” Brianna exclaimed.

Brianna then morphed into her true form, and the two flew into each other, fucking every particle of their gaseous being. The powerful pleasures were beyond awesome. While not a single entity, they were inside one another’s minds, allowing them even to share thoughts of pleasure and lust. Brianna took the moment to dump all her sexual knowledge into her new sister. The pure lust between them was inhumanly orgasmic …

* * * *

“I dunno, Ron,” Brandon said into his cellphone while sitting on the mediocre motel bed.

“Like I said, she’s a smart one. She’ll turn up! It’s not the first time she ran off on a lead.” He was out to have an impromptu meeting with the Detective.

“I hope so …” he ended the call …

He lay back on the bed, and just lay for a while. A sudden tapping on his door made him leap out of bed. Muscle memory allowed him to grab his gun. Not that a gun always helped.

“Hey! It’s Jessica! Let me in,” she called calmly, “and put that thing down.”

She knew the occupation! He peeped through the hole to see the wonderful woman, and opened the door for her. She casually walked inside, and parked on the bed.

“Where the hell did you go, Jess?” He sat next to her. There was something off about her, but he couldn’t understand what that was. Sure, she wasn’t wearing her glasses, but that wasn’t it. He was comforted by the fact that Wraiths of Lust were not known to be true shapeshifters.

She smiled disarmingly. “You know me! Thought I had a lead, so I went for it. Someone that knew what the Wraith of Lust looked like. Not that it was clear if she would feed here again. It’s not that exiting a town!”

“That’s great, Jess!”

“You have my phone?”

“Yeah, it’s on the table …”

Jessica looked up and down Brandon with a slightly hungry smile. “How come we never … You know?”

Brandon’s heart skipped a beat! “I … didn’t know you were interested, Jess …”

She shrugged with a slight chuckle. “Maybe I always was, just never thought about it ‘till today, Brandon. You don’t exactly lead the safest life.” Jessica slowly leaned over, and kissed him passionately. “Lets just do it, Brandon.”

Second thoughts were impossible for Brandon right then. This was the woman of his dreams. A rejection was all but impossible!

Every motion was utter passion, especially from Jessica. Their clothes flew away, meaningless. They fell onto the bed feeling, learning as much of their bodies as they could. With a surprisingly forceful motion, Jessica pushed Brandon onto his back, and began to ride his cock wildly.

“It’s good? You like that?” she asked hungrily, perky breasts bouncing.

“Yeah!” he answered amazed. Was this the woman he always imagined loving? Her motions were too good for him to answer that question right then.

“Oh, yeah! FUCKING CUM INSIDE ME!” she screamed violently, licking her lips. “I’m so fucking hungry!”

Before he could even feel shock toward her behavior, he exploded into her. She came a split moment later. The orgasm was like utter glory for her, making her naturally shift back into her true form. Her red eyes glowed almost blindingly from the feed.

“Oh, fuck!” Brandon exclaimed in both shock and confusion. The feel of her shifting kept his cock rock solid within her. The new feel was like a pussy, but not as warm, while silken and ponderous.

“My lead was the Wraith of Lust herself,” she resonated, while floating down to him. “She made me as she is. Now, I will consume my old life, and begin anew!”

“HOLY SHIT, JESS!” he screamed, while she took control of his cock to extract every bit of passion he had.

Brandon could not deny that cuming every other minute felt utterly awesome, but every time he did, he felt less alive. Time slowed, while he desperately tried to focus his mind. Yet, what could stop her? Even if Ron showed up with beer and pizza for no reason, she would just consume him, too!

There was nothing he could do to save himself, he thought. So, he decided to just blurt out what he always wanted to say to Jessica. “I love you …”

The black image that was Jessica suddenly stopped, feeling confused. She asked with an odd fault to her resonance, “What?”

Brandon couldn’t believe she even stopped, but telling her the truth was all he had left. “I’m in love with you, Jessica …” he said in a grinding whisper. “I’ve always been … Even now, I love you …”

Confusion flowed through the young Wraith. Why did such a confession make her stop? There was no love left in her, right? But wait, she may longer be Human, but was no Demon. Where did her love go? Was it still within her? Was it?

With her bright red eyes, she looked down onto the man she wanted to see as her prey. Yet, he was not prey. There was love in his eyes past the fear. Was there love in hers? Maybe … Yes, there it was, she finally felt. It was as strong as it ever was, just shrouded by lust. Yes, she could love even as a Wraith of Lust, not that most others ever realized that. Of all her wild rhetoric, Brianna knew so little about their kind. She could feel love for him. She did feel love for him. In that revelation, her love became just that much stronger, equalling her lust. Her powerfully red eyes melted to an almost warming blue.

“Jessica?” he barely called, seeing her change.

She morphed back into her false form, and tightly held Brandon. “I’m so sorry … I wanted to consume you, but I can’t, I won’t.”

“What happened?” he breathed.

“Love doesn’t conquer all, but it does color things differently … I didn’t think I could love anymore after becoming a Wraith, but now I understand things no other may know. I do feel great pleasure in that! Wraiths of Lust have more choice in them than they may ever know. Love doesn’t go anywhere, but we certainly don’t feel it after we are transformed. There is so much lust in us … Thanks to you, I’m much more balanced, and can choose a different path. I … I don’t want to kill anyone now if they don’t deserve it, especially you …”

They lay holding each other for a few moments, letting it all settle within them. Plus, Brandon was utterly wiped out. He dared not think about how much longer he would have lasted if she didn’t stop.

“It’s so strange, Jess …” he observed quietly.

“What?”

“Your false flesh feels so damn real. I can feel a pulse!”

“That’s what you notice?” she said unhappily. “I’m not Human anymore, and somehow accepting that already. I’m all but a monster. I was a monster! I can fuck the life right out of you or anyone … I don’t even know if this can work between us. You can never truly satisfy me, while I don’t even know how often I’ll need to feed! There’s so much more love than lust between us. I’ll have to feed on others sometimes …” Sure, she found great pleasure in finding a different path than her new kin, but there were still dangerous realities, especially in untrodden paths. So much was unknown to her now. She was the light within the sea of darkness of the Yin and Yang

“If you don’t kill anyone you don’t have to, I think I can live with that.”

She put on a large smile. “I think you got the idea!”

For a Hunter, he was always very pragmatic. That aspect was becoming more prevalent amongst Hunters ever since the first Vampire Lilith and her new friends asked Hunters to help finally end virulent brood life peacefully.

They kissed deeply.

“Will you help us take out Brianna, Jess?”

She rolled over onto her back, and let out a distinct, resonating growl of frustration. “I have to, but I won’t kill her for you. She brought me to this new life; I cannot deliver her onto the hands of death.”

“If we can, will you let us kill her?”

She rolled slightly over to face him with her all to real green eyes. “I won’t stop you, but I don’t think you have the means. Instinct and knowledge are suggesting to me that I could suck the life out of her not unlike what I could do to you. We may even kill each other in the onslaught! But, no, I won’t do that … Freeze her and smash her into pieces. Then keep those pieces frozen and separate. Synonymous to suspended animation. She won’t hurt anyone again for a long time …”

“Ron may be able to obtain some liquid nitrogen. Then, we’d need to trap her somehow. You’re not really solid …”

“I told you, I will help you. I have no choice. I have to prove myself, if not for you, for me … I’ll bring her wherever you think is best. You freeze us both after I apologize to her. We can’t read each other’s minds when we’re not pleasuring each other from within. My fate will be in your hands, Brandon. Is that sufficient?”

He nodded with a subtle discomfort. The simple fact that she suggested sacrificing herself suggested to him she was now no monster. Even then, there was uncertainty. He was literally burned more than once by allowing a monster to live. The few that didn’t try to kill him or others after helped temper that. Still, Hunters were natural pessimists. “You were a practically Hunter and may still be, so you know the disquiet I’m suppressing. Ron won’t suppress that as easily.”

“Don’t worry, he can’t kill me!” she chuckled awkwardly.

Brandon smiled, and kissed her deeply, with great want. It was a want for her to be that Wraith of Lust and Love, for her to still be Jessica within the shadow …

* * * *

“You look kinda piqued, Brandon. You all right?” Ron asked concerned. They all sat in the motel room after midnight.

Brandon sipped his coffee. “I’m all right.”

“So, what’d you find out Jessica?”

She answered. “Too much. Brianna is the Wraith of Lust. She’s the one I left with in that bar.”

“And … you survived!?” Ron was rather confused.

Jessica put serious thought into the answer, not being Human anymore. “Yes, I suppose so … Stay calm, Ron …”

“What?”

She quickly morphed into her true, black form with the striking blue eyes, and flew right in front of Ron’s shocked face. He pulled out his gun on impulse.

She morphed back into false flesh, loving the pleasure of the morph, and put her hand on his gun. “I won’t kill you, and you can’t kill me.”

Ron looked over to Brandon, and shouted, “With the fuck is happening!?”

Brandon walked over. “Brianna transformed her, but she’s not as expected.”

“Apparently …” Ron spat cynically. That small spark of pragmatism Brandon helped him develop kept him from foolhardily attacking Jessica.

“It’s true,” Jessica explained. “I am a Wraith of Lust now, but Brandon made me realize that the love I had as a Human went nowhere before I completely consumed him. I embraced that love. My real eyes actually turned blue! I’m balanced between love and lust, more so than the average Human. Whatever the fuck I am, I’m not a monster, not anymore.”

“What can you do to prove to me you won’t ever loose that balance, Jess?” Ron growled, tucking his gun away. “You were a part-time Hunter; you know the consequences of mistakingly putting faith in monsters.”

“Yes …” she answered. “I can kill so easily, pleasurably, but instead, I’m helping you stop Brianna. You probably won’t kill her, but you can bind her. Freeze her. Smash her into bits. Oh, she’ll be pissed when she comes back together in a century or so, but I’ll deal with that when that happens. Lust and revenge don’t really go hand and hand … I hope …”

They discussed the plan, worked out the details. Ron kept a close watch on Jessica. His suspicions just barely overrode how attractive he found her. At one point Jessica offered to “take his anxiousness away” as a tease. By the end, Ron was a little more relaxed around her, the Wraith doing nothing really provocative, and everything was worked out. Ron could find them some liquid nitrogen by morning (he had inexplicable connections), and Jessica would lead her virulent sister into the trap. They worked out the timing as best they could, and set out …

* * * *

“Where have you been, Jess?” Brianna asked curiously.

“Forming my future, my sister,” she answered honestly.

They were in Brianna’s cabana, in the flesh. If everything was worked out properly, all Jessica needed to do now was bring her to an old warehouse not far away. They were obviously going to fly there in their true forms to save time, so the trick would be to keep Brianna from noticing Jessica’s true eyes right away. The overall deception should not be difficult. A Wraith betraying another basically didn’t happen.

Jessica licked her tasty lips, and stated, “I have surprise for you, my sister.”

“Really? I’m hungry already!”

“Follow me!”

Back to her sister, Jessica morphed into her smoky self, clothes falling to the ground, and flew out. Brianna happily followed. Jessica felt bad about what she was about to do, no matter how much she needed to do it. As a Human, Jessica never betrayed another Human. Now as a Wraith of Lust, she was about to betray another Wraith. She wasn’t yet sure how to deal with that reality …

They soon landed in the dark warehouse. Jessica turned around to reveal the truth.

“What happened to you, my sister?” the Wraith asked in shock, reaching out to her.

She recoiled slightly to prevent any physical and mental connection in that moment. “You said it yourself, Brianna: We are not Demons. Love is within us. It just stays shrouded by all the lust until you find it.”

“How?” she asked in a faltering resonance.

“I tried to consume the man who loved me, and before I did, he told me how he felt. All he could do right then. It sounds simpler than it felt at the time!”

Brianna found herself thinking back to when she became a Wraith so long ago. She consumed a man who may have loved her. Yet, he never told her, even right before the end. “I don’t know, Jessica … I’ve done so many horrible things for pleasure and sustenance. How can love survive that?”

“Can we just freez’em now, Brandon?” Ron grunted in the van outside. They listened in through a planted microphone. “Wraiths getting all mushy is kinda weirding me out!”

“No, wait,” he ordered. This wasn’t part of the plan, but he understood what she was doing. This was Jessica being Jessica: suggesting hope in a what looks like a hopeless situation. She wasn’t Human anymore, but he now knew for sure she was no monster. “Let Jessica do this. She needs to do this …”

“Come inside me, my sister,” Jessica requested. “Let me help you find the love you thought you lost.”

They slowly flowed toward each other, dark hands outreached. Then, Brianna pulled away.

“No … I don’t want to be a good Wraith like you, my sister!” Brianna growled with subtle pain from how she never knew the choices she could make. Yet, she could not go back on the choices she already made.

“I won’t kill you, but I won’t let you kill anyone else …” Jessica said in pain. “When we meet again, I hope you will finally understand. I’m sorry, my sister …”

At the word, gallons of liquid nitrogen fell from the trap door above, subduing them both. They looked like two carved, onyx statues. Their blackness was as mesmerizing as the almost blinding shimmer. Their beauty was beyond breathless and deadly. They were still conscious, but that was fading while their body temperature stayed below their freezing point. It was nearly fatal, but neither died. Jessica now knew for sure that only Wraiths can kill Wraiths with total certainty. Though, she was also sure they were both lucky to still be alive from the attack. The shock was far worse than she anticipated.

Ron drove up with a forklift, pushed over the statuesque Brianna, and unapologetically smashed her into pieces. It took all of Ron’s trust in Brandon to not do the same to the equally as helpless Jessica. Brandon and Ron placed the chunks of Brianna into separate buckets of liquid nitrogen he drove in with the van. The barrels were to be kept apart at significant distances. In archaic terms, she was utterly bound.

Slowly, Jessica’s frozen haze lifted, and began to move, happy Ron didn’t scoop her up as well. Some Hunters would still see her as a threat. She may be the only good Wraith of Lust. The moment she was able, she affected her flesh form, lusting the feeling as she always will.

“Thanks for not keeping me as a statue!” she said the them both.

“Don’t make me regret it, Jessica,” Ron said with a chilling seriousness. “I only did it for Brandon.”

“You did look pretty damn good as a statue!” Brandon complimented lightly, less than secretly looking over the naked Wraith. The irony that she was the love of his life finally hit him. She was both reward and cosmic joke for following his deadly calling. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jessica smiled teasingly, and began to passionately make out with him as further thanks. The embrace was tight and true and more than arousing. She was a lustful being!

“So what do you think, Jess. A full time Hunter that just happens to be a Wraith of Lust?” Brandon asked casually, glancing at the amazed Ron. They knew how effective she would be, fighting at their side. Broadly, it wasn’t even unprecedented. Vampires aided almost regularly now, much to the amazement of the more hardened Hunters. Not every inhuman being was evil.

Still, Jessica saw many unknowns with herself now. Maybe she could become unbalanced one way or another. Maybe she could really hurt someone by accident, if she let herself become too hungry. Yet, maybe, none of that mattered. There would be true joy and pleasure in discovering what she can be as a lustful Wraith that rediscovered her love. “Why not?”