Subject: Date Night with the Grim Reaper
Preheader:
Content Warnings: This story includes stalking by the Grim Reaper, an attempted suicide (off-page) that the narrator is a bit flippant about, humanly impossible sex with a very large smoky appendage, and mentions of close family, coworker, and pet deaths (off-page), which the narrator views as "romantic" rather than upsetting. The narrative voice on this one is meant to be humorously delulu and is definitely not an accurate representation of any mental illnesses or trauma.
The Ultra Rosa flavor of Monster could count as ambrosia, right? I stared at the instructions in my grimoire, then contemplated the pink can in my fist. That witch I met at a sex party last year said that spell ingredients weren't always
literal
. Because, like, why would anyone rip out a poor little newt's eyes, y'know? It would totally discriminate against vegan witches! So a spell that called for "ambrosia", which Google said was the fruit of the gods that gave them immortality and power, could probably substitute in Monster Energy Drink, right? Original recipe 4Loko would've been better, but Ultra Rosa was the second best option. Because no way an Ancient Greek mind could've conceived of a zero-sugar, uber-caffeinated pink lemonade the color of cotton candy. So, like, it was probably basically the same thing as ambrosia.
I poured my last can into the cauldron and crossed my fingers. And my toes. The grimoire I stole from that witch while she was experiencing anal for the first time and too busy to notice me snooping in her house said that the liquid would turn pitch black and bubble if it worked right. Did it mean sparkling bubbles or like boiling water bubbles? I guess I would find out. A real witch probably got trained on stuff like that, but I wasn't a witch. I was just
extremely determined
and willing to ruin my best saucepan to see my boyfriend again. He totally couldn't doubt my loyalty once He saw I used my favorite mac-n-cheese pot to summon Him. Hopefully He didn't ask too many questions about how many dicks I sucked between the front door of that sex party and the secret lair in the basement to get to this grimoire.
I adjusted my top, pulling it even lower on my chest so that He'd be too distracted by my tits to ask silly questions like that. Not that He'd ever asked me any questions before. But that was just because He was shy! And today I was going to change all of that. No more hovering ominously over my bed while EMT's tried to resuscitate me. No more leaving dogs in my driveway so I could accidentally run them over just to have an excuse to drop by. It was time to DTR because I was DTF and it wasn't the 1700s. He didn't need to meet my parents and my aunt Brenda and my boss before we could do it! I mean sure, I get it, you date an immortal eldritch being and you have to expect some old-fashioned sensibilities. But enough was enough already! I wanted to find out what He was hiding under those shadowy black robes and show Him what I had under my black leather miniskirt. Again.
My nana always said a watched pot never boils, so I decided to check all of my wards and bindings one last time. He was
not
getting out of this room without Defining The Relationship. Or at least having, like, a single conversation with me. According to the grimoire, the Grim Reaper would be completely under my control once He was summoned inside the pink chalk lines I drew on my apartment floors. I was more of a submissive type myself but in my experience, when you're dealing with a shy guy, sometimes you have to top from the bottom to give them a little confidence boost. I just hoped the cute little table and chairs I put inside the circle didn't mess up the lines and let Him go without at
least
a little kissing action.
I checked that all the guests were still in their spots, fluffed up the black bow in my hair in the mirror, admired how my nipple rings with the little skulls on them stood out under my tiny pink top, and then went back to check on my 'cauldron'. The concoction had turned as black and impenetrable as the hole in His hood where most people had a face, and as I watched, one giant bubble slowly rose from the top and then burst. I squealed and spun around, looking for my man.
On every surface in the living room, my pink candles' flames flared high. The cute pink crystal ball I had on a bookshelf turned pitch black. So did the thrifted white Fran Drescher-style fur coat where it hung on a coat rack, before decomposing until it collapsed to the floor in a pile of ash. The grimoire next to my now-bubbling saucepan started to seep something purplish blackish out of its pages like it was bleeding. Oops. I'd totally meant to return that!
I was frantically dabbing paper towels on it to try to stop the mess from spreading when I felt Him. It was just like that time I accidentally on purpose almost kind of temporarily killed myself. I'd been lying there, my chest hurting like you wouldn't believe because the EMT's were giving me CPR, and then...there He was. And I knew immediately who He was, too. Even if He hadn't been wearing the cool shadowy robe with the hood and the menacing smoke. I'd known He was there to take me to wherever He took people like me. He'd hovered over me and it was love at first sight. For both of us, I was sure of it. I'd stared up at Him and He'd stared down at me and we'd just shared this incredible emotional, erotic connection. And then those assholes had whisked me out of there to a hospital before I could even tell Him my name!
And then there'd been the first dog. And He'd stood there looking down at it (breaking news: all dogs maybe do go to Heaven!), and then He'd looked at me. And I'd been so excited to see Him again that I hadn't really been able to say anything except a lame "
hi.
" I was way more prepared by the third dog. Which, by the way, total tragedy that was
so
not my fault! I definitely usually sometimes used my rearview mirrors! And anyway why didn't anyone ever keep their dogs on leashes or behind fences?! But by the third one, I knew what was up and I did what any reasonable woman would do when she was being stalked by a stupidly handsome guy who left her little dead dog presents like a cat providing for its humans: I spread my legs and flashed my waxed pussy at Him.
Then He went and killed my mom and dad like the hero in a regency romance asking for the hand of the virginal debutant He just compromised. Which was like
so
romantic of Him, even if it was a little old fashioned and totally bummed me out for a little while.
When I turned around in my kitchen to look at Him, He was somehow even more handsome than I remembered. 8 feet tall, broad-shouldered, made entirely of smoke and darkness. I couldn't see His face under His hood, but I felt His eyes on me. I posed for a moment to let Him take in how cute I looked for Him, and then launched myself into His arms. Or, well, not really
His arms,
because He clearly had some toxic masculinity stuff going on, but I did hug Him around His shadowy waist for a long, long moment even though He didn't hug me back.
"I missed you," I said, pressing my ear to His almost corporeal chest and reveling in the shrieks of terror and pain I heard coming faintly from inside Him. For a moment, I swore I heard Aunt Brenda scream as her car careened off a cliff. I never thought I'd get to hear her voice again. He was so good to me!
He didn't respond but that made sense. Men had such a hard time with affection.