***Just a warning…this is darker than my normal writing. I wanted to practice writing speculative fiction in a short story. Also, it’s a pretty mature theme, so don’t read on if you’re easily offended.***

As always, they froze when I walked into the party. The lust-ridden teens stopped grinding on the dance floor, the frat boys dropped their booze, and the girls scowled as their boyfriends gave me the once over. I could hear them salivating, their hearts pounding with desire. They smelled delicious.

Except for one. I saw her across the room, and she was beautiful. I wanted her. Still innocent and sweet, she had eyes only for the boy next to her. I watched her take a sip of beer, those red lips kissing, sucking the neck of the bottle. Her tongue darted out, catching a drop of liquid on the side of her mouth, and she tilted her head, laying it upon her boyfriend’s broad shoulder. She was a virgin.

I was going to take her.

I sauntered onto the dance floor, and at the snap of my fingers, the children returned to their dancing. I beckoned one of them with a seductive smile, luring the boy closer. His Adam’s apple bobbed as I moved on him, brushing my fingers across his cheek, pressing my body into his. His heart sped up, and now I had to control myself from slavering. The more we danced, the higher his adrenaline spiked, until I could no longer hold out.

I grabbed him, and we kissed aggressively as we made our way to the privacy of a bedroom. I hauled off his shirt and licked my way down his chest, as he unbuckled his pants desperately. The idiot boy didn’t even make it far. I felt him jerk beneath me, finishing himself, and a wave of lust surged into my soul, replenishing the energy I needed to maintain my life force.

I saw the moment when the euphoria began to fade. His desire was satiated, and he saw my human form morph into my true form, a fox demon.

“What the fu—” he started to scream, but I cut him off, plunging my claws into his chest. His heart tasted of pure lust, quenching my tongue with its sweetness. I cleaned off and hid his remains under the bed before returning to the party.

She was still there. Her boyfriend was kissing her neck, and she was trying, poor girl, to kiss him back. But I sensed her hesitation. It made me want her even more. He tried to slip a hand under her shirt, and she pushed him away. Muttering something, she burst into tears and fled. Her dumbass boyfriend swore and walked the other way. I followed her into the bathroom. She was crying, but I pretended not to notice and adjusted my bra straps.

“Men are such simple creatures,” I said. “So easy to seduce.”

She stopped crying to look at me. Outwardly, she seemed to disapprove, but I could hear her heart thump just a little bit faster. She was intrigued. Perfect.

“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” she said bitterly.

I scanned her, acting puzzled to hear this. “Whatever do you mean? Your boyfriend obviously thinks you’re hot. His hands were all over you.”

“You saw that?” Her cheeks flushed with shame, and I fought the urge to take her now. “Then you must have seen me push him away.”

“Yeah, what was with that?” I asked.

She looked over her shoulder, just to make sure no one else was present, before whispering, “Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course, darling.”

“I’ve never…never done…that.”

“Oh, you mean you’ve never fucked before?”

She gasped at my language. “How can you say that word so…casually?”

I shrugged. “To me, lust is just another daily need. Nothing embarrassing about it. So what’s the problem? Is your boyfriend pressuring you?”

“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “Jake would never force me, which is why I feel so terrible. I wish I could give him…that…but I’m scared. I’m not at all seductive like you, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to make him happy.”

“Listen Honey,” I said. “It’s not complicated. I can teach you if you’d like. Open up your eyes. Help you lose your innocence.” I would enjoy corrupting her.

“I can’t ask—” she started to say, but I waved her off.

“Nonsense! Come here!” I grabbed her arms, forcing her gaze to mine. She gasped, but she was too mesmerized, too overcome with curiosity, to look away.

“Focus your eyes on mine alone,” I murmured low in my throat. I bit my bottom lip, and her gaze drew to my mouth. “Yes…just like that.”

I kept my voice soothing and gentle, showering her with compliments. “You’re sexy. You make me hot. Believe it.”

My hand slid down, touching her waist, and her breaths became shallow. Her own hand drifted, slipping down to the side slit in my tight dress. I could feel her innocence dissolving, turning into a craving she never had known could exist. The mirror reflected two bodies, one an innocent exposed to desire for the first time, and the other, the ghostly outline of a fox, shining like waves of silver beams. I was in desperate need of this girl, or I would die.

Our breaths mingled, her mouth softly covering mine. Her tongue slipped between my lips, and I savored the silky sweetness, barely resisting the urge to moan as her virtue drifted down my throat. I took it in, swallowing, draining her spirit, until I felt her go limp. The girl’s innocence had replenished my youth for another hundred years. She was useless to me except for one thing now. I tore her skin with my claws, peeling her shell away from her bones.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by a boy’s voice. “Emily, you’ve been in there a long time. Are you all right? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier.”

I put on my new skin before replying in a sweet sing-song voice, the perfect imitation of Emily. “I’m fine, Jake. Just fine.”

She and I were one.