Addict
In 1492, Columbus went on a journey to prove the Globe was not flat and ended up in America. A mistake. And yet it changed the world as we know it.
19th century brought with it the discovery of electricity. Now we cannot live without it.
In 1969, a man stepped on the Moon and stuck a flag in it. Allegedly. No one knows if the whole thing was a set-up, or not.
Since then, humanity has done...nothing. Every ideal we have achieved has been before the 21st century before the phone migrated into our hands and took over our lives. If an alien ever came to Earth, he'd be wildly disappointed at how the mighty had fallen.
*
I pondered the circle of people before me with a bored expression. Embarrassed to be here, not one of them was able to hold the doctor's gaze as she scribbled bits of information on her notepad, listening with intent at how a woman I had never met before ranted about her perfect life. What could a sex addict want more than an infertile husband? The world lay at her fingertips and she made sure we all understood it.
Her speech was met with forced smiles, gritted teeth, moans and even a curse and she rolled her eyes, fumbling in her Gucci bag to silence a blearing phone.
Phones were not allowed in Room 4, but of course rules did not apply to her. She was the daughter of a highly esteemed senator or governor or whatnot. Her daddy made more money than all of us put together. I refrained from baring my fangs at her when she went out of the room to answer the damn thing, an increasing frustration bubbling inside me and setting my blood on fire.
Doctor Hayward remained unimpressed by her patients' complaints at the intruder, knowing full well how paranoid and unwelcoming we could be with a person we didn't trust. No one was prepared to confide with a stranger present, even if we had all been in her shoes.
My ears perked up when the doctor closed her notepad with a slap and opened a newer file, circling something on a pristine sheet, her pen as red as blood. My boyfriend noticed that little quirk too, his nostrils flaring.
Even so, I was surprised when he stood up and tried to excuse himself out of the room, his hands shaking, the rim of his irises shifting into an onyx-black. Matthew was fully capable of controlling his hunger and yet he now trembled like a leaf in the wind, the need for blood overcoming him just at the sight of a red pen.
What is going on? I shifted in my seat, panic overriding my natural calm demeanor.
"Matthew, please sit down, I will not tell you again."
The doctor's voice was chiding, but firm, her mouth a taught line on the background of her pasty face.
On the file, a hand holding a biro had neatly written Matthew Locksley.
My fingernails dug into my palms as I watched Matthew eye the file, sweating pooling on his forehead.
"I have to go," he mumbled, his clear voice now strained almost to the breaking point.
It sounded as if someone was drawing their fingernail on the blackboard and I did not like it. It made my skin fill with goosebumps, as they crawled all the way to my wings, attached on the pink flesh of my forearms. Matthew never hid anything from me. We had spent too many night crying together on his shabby mattress, willing all of it to go away so we could let our guard down enough to sleep. He had cradled me, and I had hugged him on never-ending nights, listening in silence to how the other wept.
Hot tears sparkled in his eyes and the doctor stood up, a cautious hand in front of her. Matthew would never hurt anyone. Would he?
I had watched as the man I loved went into the effects of withdrawal, coming out of it better than he had ever imagined. Why would he be going through it again?
Unless, of course, he had fed again.
His irises turned black and fangs split his lips. My fingers were already tapping the screen of my phone, notifying security we had a code red in Room 4. If the morphing vampire wouldn't be contained, he would go on a killing spree. I was not about to let Matthew trash two years of therapy for that. He would never forgive himself. And neither would I.
When sharp claws spurted from his fingers I knew we were in trouble. An animalic grunt, followed by a high-pitched squeal, let us know the hunt was about to start. Only the still morphing vampire didn't move fast enough as Broderick tackled him to the ground, their heads thumping against one another.
Matthew was trapped beneath an unconscious cyclops, with an addiction for gambling. Even as a vampire he had to be laughing inside. Before he could start chewing on the former war-veteran, the guards had kicked-in the door, shuffling inside and muzzling him like he was a mindless mutt. Bile rose to my throat and I spit on the carpeted floor, ignoring the look Dr. Hayward cast my way. A writhing creature was dragged out of the room. Until it was sedated it was best if I stayed away from him. That being was not Matthew. It was a fiend made entirely out of hunger, its only instinct being that to kill so it could eat.
*
"Hi, I'm Perry" a man I didn't know waved at me and I blinked, unsure of where I was.
Then I remembered men clothed in black taking my fiancé away, until his bloodlust subsided.
"I'm a doppelganger."
Gasps met that statement, but my thoughts were too focused on the fact Matthew had lied to me to notice the fact a soon-to-be-extinct being lay before my eyes. And his name was Perry!
"Tell us more, Perry" the doctor smiled her all-too-welcoming smile, so rehearsed I restrained myself from murmuring a string of profanities.
"Well," the newcomer stammered, playing with a tie too pink for my taste, "the person I doppelganger for is a pretty decent guy. He likes to volunteer in the community, so naturally I volunteer too. We go to work together we sleep in the same bed. It's like we're married but he doesn't even know I exist." Perry sighed and I chortled.
Cold eyes pinned me to my chair and an angry blush flowered on my cheeks.
"Go on Perry," Broderick gestured to me with a scowl. "Don't pay any mind to this meanie."
"She's just mad her boyfriend is sedated," Georgia enunciated through her plump lips as she did her best to make Perry gawk at the curve of her breasts.
I rolled my eyes, aware of the plays a succubus was willing to make to get some action. No wonder she was a hooker, addicted to substances I couldn't even pronounce. Perry would have none of it, seemingly more interested in Broderick.
I drew my tongue against my teeth, showing off my crimson feathers.
"Matthew is a vampire," I murmured, flashing dagger at Georgia. "He's going through withdrawal" I purred and batted my eyelashes at Perry.
No reaction told me what I needed to know. Perry, or rather the person he was doppelganger for, was gay.
"Sorry to hear." Concern flickered on Perry's face, only to disappear when Broderick shifted in his chair, and as he did so, we could all see his biceps flexing, some liking it more than others. "Well, I'm here today because my human is in trouble and I need help."
"Oh you���re a doppelganger for a human? How enticing," Georgia played with a golden lock of her hair, unaware of Perry's sexual orientation.
For a succubus, the woman was horrible at reading people.
"Is it?"
Genuine surprise marred the wrinkles on Perry's forehead, and I had to strain lest I burst into laughter.
"Of course. Humans are so...interesting."
Georgia did the unthinkable and went to the trouble of shaking her shoulders, so her breasts would bounce against one another. The doppelganger's jaw drooped, his eyes plastered on Broderick as the cyclops bellowed, one hand fondling a boob.
"Guys. Stop" the doctor watched them, rubbing her creasing forehead.
If Broderick wasn't such a gentleman, we would have been forced to be in the company of two horny teenagers until the session was over. As such, the cyclops excused himself and went to the bathroom, winking at me.
It was despicable, what Broderick was going to do. I tried not to think of him manhandling his crotch in the dirty bathrooms stalls, instead narrowing my focus back to Perry, who had resumed talking to get over the fact that his latest crush was heterosexual, not gay.
I was not about to tell him Rick was actually bi. It would be incessantly more fun if he found out on his own.
"Anyway, my human is struggling with addiction and he is too proud to ask for help. So I managed to break free of his will and come here, in hopes you guys have some insights on how I could...persuade him into looking for help?"
Perry pursed his lips and waited patiently for the info-dump to settle. Naturally, Georgia was the first to speak up, but her enquiry made me realize she was not entirely stupid.
"Well it depends on what he is addicted to. How strong is his addiction?"
"It had been growing this past month as he just got a raise."
"That's never good" Doctor Hayward shook her head and I felt the sudden urge to slap her.
I could have used a new cash-flow.
"What is he addicted to?" I asked half-heartedly, knowing I would regret getting involved.
I would have never guessed the answer, as Perry mumbled, blood roaring into his cheeks, "Books. My human has a book addiction."