The Nymph's Saviour

4. Insomnia Don’t Wanna Be Ya

Ragna

I think I’m normal. A normal half nymph, half incubus. Normal when compared to my strange demon cousins and other incubi/succubus’ cousins or even Demon cousins. My cousin Mirage is the most normal one despite not being a demon herself or succubus. She’s the adopted daughter of my Aunt Julie, a succubus mated to a demon.

My mother herself is a succubus but she mated with a nymph and there are such things as true hybrids in our world, except for Mirage. We are either born incubuses or succubus or nymphs and none of my siblings are like my mother, as we’re all nymphs by nature.

The only thing very incubus of me is the need to feed through energy and I chose s*x, physical contact, and perhaps emotional connection. But the latter hardly makes me feel sated enough to last a week.

I’m not hungry, but I’m tired. I either want to feed or rest. I think I need both which is infuriating because I don’t feel like waking one of my multiple partners to feed. I don’t feel like it, too much time is already spent eating and feeding off of people’s s****l energy. Nothing settles as I lay on my bed and think of ways to help stave off this need inside the pit of my soul.

The need for this exhaustion to leave me, for my dreams to just be dreams. I sigh. glancing at the clock, I notice that it’s a crack of dawn. There’s no sleeping now. I sit up and wonder what I should do as I’m not undercover anymore. I don’t need to go anywhere or do anything. I have no job, but I have enough savings from selling the old relics to humans and the supernatural alike.

The human’s face rises to the forefront of my thoughts, which is weird because I should’ve thought of my family first. Maybe my mother or father of the four other annoying siblings that I have yet no, it’s her.

I find myself comparing her professional work smile to the smile she gave me in her apartment. I prefer the latter to the former. She was inebriated with her medication, but it was genuine all the same. I try to remember the meds she took, but I know it’s a sedative that is given to her by her “friend” whoever that person is, is slowly killing her.

That thought made me dress in new clothes and brush my teeth as I head out. I pulled on a hoodie and skinny jeans, which I should be too old to own at this point, but it’s been a while since I’m back to society. I have an excuse.

The moment I step out of the apartment building, Mirage is walking towards the entrance. She’s in her usual maternity dress. She’s becoming more and more used to wearing comfortable clothes ever since she went past her first trimester.

“Where are you going?” she asks her, a hand already on my shoulder. She’s shorter than me by afoot, but my cousin is strong when she wants to be. “And you look horrible”

I grimace. “Good morning to you too”

“Is there something wrong?” her brows crumple together in concern. Ever the soft heart, my cousin. One of the many reasons our Demon cousins like making fun of her. “Do you need someone to talk to?” And she’s a licensed therapist.

“I’m fine” I lie through my smile. Patting her head softly but not too long or her mate would track me down and annoy me for leaving a scent on her. “How’s the morning miss Luna?”

It’s her turn to grimace at the name. she’s still not used to being called that. “Uneventful, better I guess than most. The pregnancy is going well and I heard Aunt Sancour is looking for you so I thought to pass by your apartment”

I scoff. “She’s been demanding lately, my mother. Is there a chance that she’s pregnant?”

“I won’t put it past her to want more children.”

“God, I wish it’s a girl now. I’m getting tired of my brothers” I say. “Walk with me?”

“Where do you plan on going?”

I shrug. “Anywhere. Nothing in particular. Might as well use this morning walk to check in on my favorite cousin”

She squints her eyes at me suspiciously but matches my pace. “You’re lying. I’m not your favorite cousin”

“What?” I frown. “You are! Who do you think it would be?”

“Stephen”

I scowl. “That annoying scum? No way.”

As if summoned, our shadow demon of a cousin pops out of thin air at a distance. He’s leisurely walking on the pavement towards us. his blonde hair is in disarray but his conniving smile is not a good omen. “Hello, living plane dwellers”

Mirage forces her face in a placating expression already. “What did you do?”

His eyes widen in mock surprise. “What? I didn’t do anything”

Mirage grabs my shoulder and squeezes. “We’ll talk later, I need to handle this”

“I don’t appreciate how you’re trying to babysit every demon on this plane of the living Mirage. We’re adults. Hundreds of years old—”

“You put poison in Erina’s wine again, didn’t you?”

“—as ancient as—yeah, I did” He admits with a proud smirk. Leave it to this shadow demon to easily admit to poisoning his eldest sister. “She’ll die for a few minutes but she’ll pop right back in Mirage!”

“Stephen, I cannot believe you keep trying to kill your siblings. I know you’re trying to pass time, but that is not healthy…”

I step away as funny as the scene was, the unforgiving headache from my neck isn’t letting me enjoy any of it. I find myself walking aimlessly for an hour till I recognize the neighborhood that I was in, already familiar with Louis’ not-so-great apartment. It’s small and homey, but definitely not one you’d really want to live in. thankfully, her room is great.

The only saving grace from this suspicious neighborhood. It’s still early when I climb up her steps and face her door. I’m surprised that I remember the steps back to her place and got here without a car. I’m not tired from the walk, but tired of something else. Might as well visit the human I have been thinking about since the break of dawn.

I thought about knocking, but I have a feeling the door is going to be open, so I tried turning the knob first. It opens. Instead of being relieved and glad that it was open, I feel a lick of frustration. A human shouldn’t be so cavalier about her safety especially in this neighborhood.

I open the doors and enter her home. proving my point at how easy it would be for anyone else to encroach on her property. Thankfully, the room is how I left it. it’s not dirty but rather immaculate. Sure it was messy here and there, but there are no dust or anything spoilt. Her couch is a mess, there are still plates in the drying rack. A few books were strewn about the living room and a few hobbies left after being started on the sides.

There is still the empty medication on the side of the sink with its cap on the ground. She definitely tried to have more of it. I take my coat off and put it on the rack just beside the door. Her home is larger than I remembered, which is odd cause I remember it being small a few hours ago.

I hear snoring from her room. Her door was ajar. I see enough to know that she’s lying on her bed with dried tear tracks down her cheeks. I lock the door behind me and roll up my sleeves. I couldn’t sleep so might as well use the energy I have to clean up.

I put the pillows of the couch back to the couch. Trying to plump the couch cushions without making too much noise should be a skill. I straightened the rug under the couch and put the coffee table parallel to the couch. I pick up the projects laid about. The start of a knitting project, embroidery, and some sort of woodwork and put it in some sort of wicker basket. I collect the books around the floor and set it on the window where the other books are, it smells a bit stuffy, so I open the window to let some morning air.

I was about halfway done putting the plates back to the cabinets when I yawned. My eyelids are heavy and ready to sleep. I should sleep, so I washed my hands and fell to the couch. The pillows are in disarray again, but I’ll fix that later when I wake up.

And somehow, sleep took me. it truly took me.

“What are you doing here?” Someone says.

I pop open my eyes and meet hers. The same eyes that I was dreaming about. Eyes that remind me of the sky not only because of the color but also because of how vast it seems. She’s still in a large shirt but this time with shorts.

I smile. “Morning”

Her brows furrow together. “It’s already the afternoon” she whispers. “More importantly, what are you doing here? I could report you”

I smile. “Good morning”

She tilts her head with an exasperated look. “You already said that. You can’t avoid my questions forever and I already set you free so be free.”

“I am free” I agree. “I’m using my freedom to show gratefulness to the one that saved me”

She puts her hands on her waist. “I don’t particularly believe that you’re a nymph and all that, but I’m sure you’re something other than human. You need to be somewhere safer than my home”

“I am safe, don’t worry” I wink.

She frowns. “Get up”

I slowly do what she says, unsure of what she’s about to do but I’m curious. She sits on the space I left and stares at me, with the same sad eyes yet I like that she’s close. What still befuddles me is the fact my charms don’t work on her, not an ounce of my nymph abilities affects her at all. It’s confusing yet exciting at the same time. Here is a human that is nice just because.

She’s far enough that we’re not touching, and I don’t know why I have to notice that the most. She puts her elbows on her knees and props her head with them.

“Why are you here?” She doesn’t look at me when she asks this, looking more distant and tired. “And you better not answer that it’s out of obligation and gratefulness”

I don’t lie. I’m not known to lie in our family of demons and Succubus. I make fun and all of that but I’m not the kind to lie when it matters. And it matters.

“If you’re not going to—”

“Because I want to be here” I say. “I’m free now, yes. But I want to be here”

She finally looks at me, and she’s confused. Rightfully so. I don’t quite understand it too. “Okay, if you say so” She leans back to her couch and drops her head to the sidearm. Her eyelids slowly closed. “I warn you that this isn’t going to be fun for you” she whispers before falling asleep.

I hear her soft snores. Her even deep breathing as she slumbers. I don’t want her to sleep since it’s creepy, but I take a peek from time to time to see if she really was just going to sleep. I sit there, falling asleep myself.

“I’m not here for fun” I quietly admit. “I’m here for something I don’t have a name yet”

When I wake up, she isn’t beside me anymore. I hear her in her room, breathing just on her bed, a part of me should be conscious of knowing where she is too much, but another part of me is glad to have that knowledge. She might be immune to my charms, but at least my senses haven’t failed yet.

I can’t believe she doesn’t believe that I’m a nymph. What else could nymphs look like? Well…my nymph families are either one of the elements. One uncle’s skin is bark, and his hair is leaves. But my father chose a very human appearance, and it translates to his kids. Still, what else could nymphs look like other than pretty and handsome enough to lure in prey.

Now I’m upset. I sigh. stretching my body and hearing my bones pop in its joints. I look around her home again. I make sure to throw the container of her medication out of the trash and looked at her fridge. There isn’t much. Cold water in a pitcher and a few condiments that shouldn’t be in the fridge.

This is making my stomach churn. How did she care for herself with an empty fridge like this? I sigh again. I take out my phone and look at my savings. Mirage gave me more money than I need from her own pocket since Frier, her mate gives her more than she’ll ever need in this life that she just gave me her money. That soft-hearted girl with a heart condition is truly ironic.

I order groceries from my phone and waited for them to arrive. She doesn’t leave her room ever since earlier and I let her be. As long as I don’t sense anything alarming, I let her have her privacy. I’m not here to disrupt her life. I’m just here to help whenever I can. It’s been a while since I have slept that nice and I’m thankful to have some sort of peace.

Yet I find myself walking towards her door and almost pressing my ears to the door. All I hear is breathing, but then it comes out ragged. It took a few seconds before it registers to me that she was crying. I grab the doorknob.

But then what? What could I do? Who am I to comfort her? I can’t say everything is going to be okay when I don’t even know what’s making her sad. Why she takes medication from someone else's hands? I have no place in this house and I shouldn’t intrude.

She sobs loudly once before it quiets again like small scratching. I grit my teeth and pull myself from the hall and to the front door. I step outside and waited for the groceries to arrive instead.

I would’ve left, but crying is a small price to pay for my insomnia.