Aviatrix

The succubus is not herself.

Chloe is doing a nickel for burning down the Mulberry Place Mall,

As if one less Dollar Store makes any difference.

The succubus' work gets sloppy.

One asshole woke up and they wrestled like maniacs in the dark,

Slamming and banging their way down the hall and into the kitchen, where she brained him

With his own stupid Mr. Coffee.

Thinking a trip home might settle her,

The succubus follows the scent of brimstone until things start to look familiar.

The incubus is already there, smoking a big stogie.

He is taking his meds now,

And looks much better.

"Remember that aviatrix? She dreamed she was flying," says the incubus with a snort.

"Because she was," says the succubus, because she always does, and knows he expects it.

The succubus remembers Amelia and the little control panel, and that Fred guy, both of them dead asleep in the blue sky,

And the ocean seeming to invite them into itself,

Like a pillow.

"I dreamed I was flying, too," whispers the succubus,

And, impossibly,

She begins to cry.

Her tears hiss and steam as they fall to the floor,

Just like smoke over Mulberry Place Mall,

Just like the gasps her victims used to make at the very last moment,

When she was sharp, and right,

And just something to behold,

When she had Chloe to come home to,

Spiralling into her eyes like an aviatrix going down,

Never to be heard from again.

___________