The room was dark, lit only by the five candles positioned at the points of the pentagram. A cowled figure was chanting and making motions with his hands over the folded bundle of cloth sitting in that same pentagram. If anyone had been there to see and hear, they would have been sure they had heard the language, but could not have told you what it was. The chanting was increasing in tempo, yet the hands continued their ritualistic motions at a measured pace.

When the voice peaked, the hands moved together and cupped the air above the cloth. Pulling apart, a sliver of light opened up between the hands, growing until it was like a flame hovering in mid-air. It danced in the air, looking so very solid, yet you’d know it wasn’t solid at all if you had been looking. It was a hole in space, leading to who knows where, though the cowled figure did. Then a black mass, both oily and vaporous, flowed out of the light and dropped onto the bundle of cloth. The substance seemed to soak into the cloth, yet there was no obvious change in texture or color like you might happen when cloth becomes wet.

It seemed to take forever for the substance to finish leaking out of the light hole. By the time it had finished, it had covered and been absorbed(?) into the entire bundle. The hands clapped and the light snuffed itself out. With a nonchalance that belied the strange events that had just taken place, the cowled figure rose and pinched out the candles with his or her fingers. The bundle was casually lifted and carried out of the dark room into a large room that resembled the clothing department at Sears with its racks of clothes spread out across the entire floor. The bundle was shaken loose, revealing the shape of some article of clothing. The darkness prevented any potential watcher from recognizing just what it was, though it was clearly intended to cover much of one’s body.

The cowled figure left the building and walked down the street, into the night.

“Marlene! I’ve got it! I found the perfect costume for the party.” Ginger Talrod slammed the door behind her with her foot as she carried the package into the apartment she shared with Marlene Haskil. Her roommate wandered from the bathroom with her face partially made up.

“It’s about time. You’ve been on this perfect costume search for almost a month. So what is it?”

“You just gotta see this. Wait right here, I’ll put it on. You can’t appreciate it until I’m wearing it.”

Ginger practically skipped to her room with her package. Marlene could hear tissue paper being crumpled through the door. A couple of minutes later, Ginger came back out. Marlene’s mouth opened and stayed open. The woman before her looked like she was naked. Yet, she wasn’t, she was wearing a skin suit of some sort. There were some oddities about the suit, though.

First, there was the horns. Two small horns stuck out of the head of the suit, giving it that devil look. This was clearly not, however, a devil costume. The only red on the suit was the red on the prominent nipples of the suit’s breasts and on the incredibly realistic pussy of the suit. For this suit was designed to look like an incredibly beautiful naked woman. A naked woman, who anyone who has seen one will recognize as being a highly aroused woman.

The other feature that struck the viewer as weird were the wings. Rising out of the back of the suit and spreading out several inches from her shoulders were bat-like wings. They looked very real and Marlene was almost surprised that Ginger did not glide out into the living room.

“My God! Ginger! What is this?”

“This is a succubus.”

“A succubus? Isn’t that a sex demon?”

“Got it in one. It’s a demonic spirit that feeds on the lust in men’s hearts while fucking them to death. The men die in pleasure and spend eternity in hell. Isn’t it simply to die for?”

“But, you look naked!”

“Yeah, I know. That’s the beauty of the costume. I look naked, but I’m not. So no one can complain about indecent exposure. Tom is so going to freak when I show up to his party in this.”

“I’ll bet. You certainly will gain some attention. I’m just not sure how people will react to it.”

“God, Marlene. Tom is the one who made the theme to his Halloween party, ‘Sex fiends and monsters.’ I just took him more seriously than most of his other guests. He can’t argue that I’m not dressed in the spirit of the party.”

“So, where did you find this, outfit?”

“The new costume shop down on 2^nd; Living Dreams. They didn’t open until Oct. 16, and still had most of their stock left. This little baby seemed to call to me. I’m going to have so much fun this Halloween.”

“I’ll bet. Too bad I have to work. Hey, if the party bombs early, come by the bar. I want to see you in public with this.”

“Deal!”

Tom Burdet excused himself to the young lady he was talking with. The doorbell had gone off again, signaling the arrival of another of his guests. “This theme was a smash,” he thought to himself. “I’ve never seen so much provocative dress in one place before.” People had taken his theme to heart, at least the sex part. His house had been overrun by sex slaves in bikinis and collars, leather clad sadists sporting whips and hand cuffs, a gaggle of Romans in togas and several scantily clad serial killer victims with knife wounds dripping fake blood.

He opened the door and simply stood there, staring at the naked woman on his porch. After a moment, he recognized the rubbery sheen on the skin and realized that it was a costume, and that the face was that of Ginger.

“Oh my! Ginger. Just what are you... ?”

“Tom! Don’t you know a succubus when you see one?”

“Ah. That would explain the nudity and bat wings.”

By now, several other guests who had been near the door were looking and pointing. Like a ripple across the pond, the heads turned, whispers hissed, and fingers pointed, all at Ginger. She cocked her head to one side with a playful smile.

“Are you going to invite me in?”

“Oh, sure. Come on in.”

Ginger entered the house with a flourish. The walk she had been practicing for the last week was the epitome of sensuality. Every head followed her as she walked over to the punch bowl and poured herself a drink into one of those small plastic cups that seem made for party punch. As she sauntered over, she had been checking the guys, looking for the one she wanted to spend the evening with and maybe go home with. Her gaze fixed on a black haired man in tight fitting black leather pants with a matching jacket. Metal buckles adorned the leather outerwear and the pants were tight enough that Ginger could see his cock hardening as he watched her. Handcuffs hung from his belt in two places and there was a bull whip draped about his neck.

Sipping her punch, she stared over the top of the little cup and fluttered her eyelashes. His gulp was precious and Ginger had to smile. She wondered, idly, if he had any experience using any of the accoutrements to his costume. She had played around a little with that kink, though it was not something she felt a strong desire for. If it helped the guy get it up, a little handcuff action was not too far out there.

Ginger did not hit on anyone right away, wanting to give the guys a chance to make their moves. You could tell a lot about someone from how he tried to pick you up. She suffered from no lack of attention. Coming to a party as a naked demon will do that. It seemed, however, that most of them were intimidated by her costume, rendered practically inarticulate with nerves. One guy, on the other hand, seemed interested in her without ever coming over. She did notice that he had no problem talking with others at the party. She had the impression that he was giving her space rather than ignoring her. She decided to make the first move.

Ginger walked over to him. “Hi. I’m Ginger.”

“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Darrin. That’s a really cool costume. It’s a succubus, isn’t it?”

“Yes. You know mythology?”

“Kind of. I’m into fantasy role-playing games. The picture in the Monster Manualã looks just like your costume. Are you planning to suck the life force out of anyone tonight?”

“I don’t know about life force, but I wouldn’t mind sucking the lust out of someone. Do you know anyone with enough to satisfy a hungry demon?”

Darrin blushed a little. “I’m sure if I search around for a few seconds I could find someone lusty enough.” He snaked a hand around her waist.

Ginger put both arms around his waist, letting him pull her closer for a kiss. A tingle went through her body as his tongue parted her lips and explored her mouth. Darrin’s hands tried to caress her back, but the fabric of the costume prevented her from feeling anything.

“I think we need somewhere more private.”

“My apartment is just a few blocks away.”

“Great! Lead the way, my pretty victim,” Ginger replied with a lusty smile.

Darrin led her by the hand, out to the street. It was nearly midnight and the trick or treaters were inside their homes. That was not to say that the streets here empty. Older teens and young adults were out in force, laughing and running about in their own costumes. Ginger did not speculate on just what mischief they were up to. With any luck, nothing more serious than soaped windows would result from this night of practical jokes.

They reached Darrin’s apartment a few minutes later. Both were grabbing at one another again, their desire having reasserted themselves. The two kissed and fondled their way to the bedroom. Darrin had a water bed with red satin sheets. Ginger ran her hands across the sheer fabric of the bed and shivered at the sensual feeling.

Darrin turned his back and started to undress. As Ginger reached to take her own costume off, the clock in the other room beeped midnight. Ginger felt dizzy and a black cloud of something oozed out of the costume. It spread to cover her whole body. Then it seemed to seep into Ginger herself. When she had absorbed the entire cloud, small horns poked out of her head and bat wings were part of her back. Her flawless skin seemed to glow from the inside. When Darrin turned around, his clothes off, her cat-like pupils bored into his soul.

“Uh ... where’s your costume?”

“I don’t have a costume.”

“But, you had one...”