Good morning, sweet succubus (Venus)
The family tribute room was in our basement, but we were never allowed to go in. “That’s the She-Devil’s room. Mama and I are the only people allowed in.” Father would say. This had always confused me, because sister Vesta had told me that it was where sister Venus slept. When I asked Father about it, he said: “She is not human. Never ask me again.” So I didn’t.
Once a month, Father would tell me to write on a sheet of paper everything that had gone wrong the month before. Every bad grade, every weird tasting food, even if I left the house with my shoes untied one day. When I was ten, I figured out that the longer my list, the longer Venus would scream and cry that night. But if I listed nothing, or not enough, it was worse. So I started putting 10 things on the list, everytime.
Our little piece of land in Oregon was hardly touched during the Crisis. Yet, at least once a week, I would hear Mama talk about how the “She-Devil” was causing strife and distress in our country. This was about the only time we would hear her talk about anything political related. Even our history lessons would avoid talking about anything but our beliefs.
It was close to midnight during Venus’s Coming of Age, and we were walking through the woods after Ritual. Despite our isolation, we heard the telltale sign of footsteps.I feared a wendigo, Janus a werewolf. Our parents, the truth: a witch. She dashed towards Venus, who was bound by chains across her whole body, shuffled along like a slave. Father tried to stop her, but it was as if she didn’t exist, moving through him like the wind moves through silence. What the witch told Venus that night, we will never know, for she left as quickly as she came, and Venus refused to tell. But she did change. My quiet, soft spoken sister would suddenly lash out at me, calling me many of the “banned words” without any of her trademarked stutter. Her monthly beatings suddenly became weekly altercations, and then daily skirmishes. Papa stopped making statues for our shrine after Venus cracked Vesta’s skull with one.
Today was my 16th birthday. Where many children would receive money, video games, maybe a car, I received a box at eight in the morning. Inside were three things: A pair of white robes, a weird leather mask, and a note. *Come to the basement tonight at ten. Wear what you have been given. Do not be late or early.* The mask, as I would later discover, was human leather.
I waited outside the entrance until 9:59. As the clock struck, I quickly resolved the nerve to open the door. The staircase down was lined with fine gray stone, and lit with beautiful candles. I descended the stairs quietly, but quickly. Unlike the rest of our house, the flight of steps refused to creak, as if they were created and maintained with extreme duty. Or better yet, the flight was so short and unused that it never saw heavy usage.
The basement used the same fine stone as the staircase, except that various runes lined the room in carefully measured intervals. I was able to recognize many from my lessons, *Protection*, *Wealth*, *Love*. But there was one that littered the room, from head to toe: *Demon*, etched so deep that you could see outside through the cracks. What confused me the most, however, was that there was no bedroom furniture. The only exception was a small rectangle carved into the ground, with the word *BED* etched in the center. Venus’s clothes laid in a neat pile at the foot of the crude sleeping spot.
Father wore a robe mask like mine, with Antlers sprouting from his. Mama wore a hood and plague mask, cloaked in all black. Vesta wore red, wearing one of those anonymous masks that movie hackers have. Venus… wore nothing but chains. They hung from her limbs, dangling her from the ceiling like a wind chime. Her face looked sullen, almost neutral. It morphed into fear as she noticed my presence. I could not meet her gaze, so I followed the scars down her left side, starting at her cheek, and ending at her heel.
“Mama,” Venus asked. “...Why is Veritas here? I thought you said that-”
“Quiet demon. Veritas.” My mother said to me, “Come over here.” I hesitated. **”NOW!”** I was at her side the next moment, scared at the first time I had ever been yelled at. I looked to Vesta for guidance, but she refused to hold my gaze, instead staring at the runes on the ceiling.
“Veritas, let me introduce you to Angra Maihu.” Father gestured to Venus. “We humans are plagued by evil at every turn. Demons infest our lives, using sin and disaster to lead our lives into death and damnation. The devil before you is the twisted mother of every imp, monster, and devil that exists. Each month, we purge our sins on her, to keep ourselves pure. You are of age today, so now it is your responsibility to join in her punishment.”
The look on Venus’s face changed, from fear and shock to anger. We all knew what it meant- her “other side”, the one that the witch had created, had taken over. __***”No! You promised! You no good, cowardly, pieces of-”***__ her speech was cut short as Father struck her in the chest. Blood came out of her mouth, but she was silent.
“You may beat, cut, maim her. But do not kill her, for it will release the evil to all the world. And do not defile her, lest you become a host to evil as well.” Mama held the knife to me, which I grabbed after a brief hesitation.
I hesitated. Earlier that day, Venus had helped me find my shoes. The day before, we had made dinner together. And last week, I played board games with her for hours. But… I had seen her almost kill Vesta. The days when she was beaten the hardest led to clear skies and a large harvest the next day. She had called me banned words when she changed, and her apologies never felt… real. I looked at her.
“Your sister Vesta has developed special gifts, granted to her by the Earth Mother. Save death, she can cure any ailment you wish to inflict. Do as you may.” Unlike everyone else in our family, Venus’s eyes were red. They shone like diamonds, and as a child I was always infatuated with them. Tonight, they filled me with rage.
“So, I can slash her eyes?” Father smiled. Mama nodded. Vesta looked away. Venus gasped.
“V-Veritas… why?” Tears fell down my sister’s face. I approached her. “Whatever I did today, I’m sorry! Just please don’t…” Venus broke down into sobs. The sound annoyed me like a whining dog annoys its owner. I grabbed her neck with my free hand, her cries ceasing as the demon struggled for breath. Blade in my raised hand, I prepared to strike, when suddenly, I stopped.
My head spun. The stiff air changed, becoming a violent haze as the dagger clattered onto the stone. Father’s voice sounded concerned, but his words were drowned out by the sound of something *breaking*. Through my foggy sight, I saw Venus hit the ground, before suddenly rushing into me. I flew through the air, and I lost my breath as I hit the wall.
There was a scream. The shape of Venus flew at the shape of father, and I watched as his horned visage flinched, staggered, and then fell. Venus followed him as he fell, her hand flying up and down at his face. As my vision returned, I saw why: she had picked up the dagger that I had dropped.
Mother was next. She and Vesta had opted to flee, but only made it halfway up the steps. Venus looked at them, and Mama suddenly fell backwards. Vesta, who was behind Mama, matched her path. The only difference was that Vesta didn’t hit her head. Mama’s skull crunched on the stone, and she did not move. My sister screamed, but for some reason, she was unable to shift the corpse on top of her.
I looked back at Venus, who seemed satisfied with her work to Father’s mutilated face as she rose. She took her time walking over to the screaming Vesta, and kneeled gently at her side. If mother was the luckiest, dying instantly from head trauma, Vesta was second. Venus slit her throat, and she was unconscious in seconds.
__***”…Why do you hate me, Veritas?”***__ Venus asked. I was too scared to move, or answer. __***”It’s okay, even if you don’t love me, I love you. Which is why, I won’t kill you, but…”***__ The flash of the knife filled my vision, as my eye was sliced from its socket. I screamed in pain, but when I lifted my hands to clutch the wound, Venus pinned them down. __***”No! You don’t get the luxury of coping with your pain. You will suffer like I did, to understand.”***__
Venus let me go when I stopped struggling. As I lay there, sobbing, she dressed herself and left. I wish I could say that her last words were impactful, but no, she destroyed my eye and left. I managed to crawl out of that dreaded basement, where I called the police. They took the bodies away, and declared Venus a villain to be caught by parahumans. Once they left, I used Father’s tools to seal the basement shut.
It’s been about three years since then. I still own the house, and I work a steady construction job. It’s very lonely, so I visit Father, Mama, and Vesta’s graves every day. Each time, I wonder, if I had refused Father and Mama that night, would they still be alive? Would I still have my family in my life, my mother, father, and two sisters? Would Venus still live in that basement, chained up and beaten every night for a crime she didn’t commit? The thought bothers me, so I put it all out of my mind.
But, she’s on my mind today. It’s my birthday, and the three year anniversary. I was watching the news, and the reporter was talking about the “Succubus of New York”, who had been cornered by a warden but managed to escape. When they showed her picture, I cried. My older sister Venus, with that wicked smile, was on the screen. I had to by a new television that night, because *something* destroyed mine in that instant. It wasn’t me though, I promise. I refuse to be like Venus.