The room was cozy and warm, just like David had wanted it to be. The floor was clean, there were no clothes thrown all over the furniture, the air was freshly scented. The low, ambient light came from a small night-lamp as well as a handful of candles placed on strategic locations. He had truly done his best.
“So, are we doing this or not?”
Katie was sitting cross-legged on the couch, her face illuminated by the sheen of her laptop.
“Sure babe, if you want. But I was thinking there could be other, more pleasant ways to spend the evening…”
“Oh, come on Dave, it’s Halloween! We’ll have enough time to fool around later. Let’s at least try, alright?”
“Sure, sure.” He made a fleeting grimace, then came over and sat next to her, peering into the screen. “So where do you get this stuff from anyways?”
“I have this friend, you know Stacy, the chubby one with the curls from work, she’s really into the occult and she knows a lot of people from different groups who in turn know a lot of other people…. you get the idea. Long story short, she came up with this website and swore to me it was absolutely the real deal. Even warned me to be super careful and all.”
“The real deal, huh?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, don’t be like that! There’s so much that we don’t know about the world. Keep an open mind for once, will you?”
“Ye ye. So are you going to show me this website or what?”
She began typing into the address bar, though the name seemed like a jumbled string of letters without any meaning. To David’s surprise, when she hit enter, the page actually loaded, showing a welcome screen in heavy gothic tones with red and black text all over.
“The spectral catalogue” he read out loud. “We should order a banshee to go, with extra fries.”
Katie chuckled at that, though she tried to hide it. Instead she clicked on the link, jumping to a page that contained a list of names.
“Lady Spades, Bloody Mary, The Drowned Bride…. wow, it seems that all of the urban spirits are women. Talk about equal workspace opportunities.”
“David!”
“Fine, fine. So, which one do you want to try and summon?” he nonchalantly placed an arm around her shoulder, brushing his hand along her thin little neck.
“Stacy recommended doing something safe and simple, like calling Lady Spades in front of the mirror.”
He looked at her with a skeptical expression. “Look babe, if you’re going to make me look like a fool and chant some crazy stuff, we might as well go big, right? That way we’ll know if we’ve succeeded or not, instead of getting a cold breeze and calling it a success. Isn’t it what that’s really about? You wanna see a spirit for real?”
She hesitated, but didn’t protest when he took the laptop from her arms and placed it on his own knees.
“Alright, let’s see what they’ve got. Ah, advanced rituals.”
“Dave, I’m not really sure that we should…”
He ignored her and scrolled down.
“Greenskin. Look, this one even has a little warning triangle next to it! And it’s male, I think. Let’s check it out.”
David clicked on the link and they were met with a wikipedia-like page containing a few paragraphs of text as well as a number of what seemed like hand-drawn sketches of a man with a lizard-like face and hollow eyes, though the different artists didn’t seem to agree much on the rest of the features. Their eyes glided along the first few lines:
Greenskin is an evil spirit with reptilian features and an appetite for young, non-single girls. He is believed to be a master shape-shifter, easily taking the appearance of any man. The spirit feeds on infidelity, appearing to girls that try to fool around behind their partner’s back.
“If this is correct, some of your friends might have met him already.”
“Not funny, Dave.”
If such a girl is unsuccessful but persistent in her attempts to satisfy her lust for the evening, Greenskin can manifest, seeming in the eyes of his victim as an attractive young man. For others he would appear as an older and usually deformed man, making the chosen girl look all the more desperate for choosing him, It is believed that he comes late at night, and tries to lead his victim to an unknown place. The girls who go with him may not come back, or if they do, they are changed forever.
Summoning: despite being a malicious entity, it is possible to draw benefits from Greenskin, though it is extremely risky. The key is baiting the spirit with the prospect of stealing a young girl away from her lover. Greenskin is known to accept challenges from young couples, willing to wager on the purity of their love. If a couple decides to undertake such a wager, Greenskin would test the man’s love for his partner, while the girl will be oblivious to what’s happening. If the man is found to be pure and loyal, the spirit can bless the couple with youth and wealth for many years. But beware, because the wager is not easy. Greenskin comes because he believes he can win and you have been foolish enough to call him. If the man fails the test and Greenskin wins, the consequences can be disastrous.
“So how about this? Do you think you can prove your love for me is pure and strong?”
“Look babe, I’m basically as good as a white knight on a unicorn with a rainbow sword. You’ll be safe.”
She chuckled, though he could see a note of nervousness in her, or was that simply excitement? After all, so far he had never been willing to take up her occult shit seriously. Perhaps the night could be fun after all.
“So, wanna see how to summon him?”
She nodded.
Ritual: While we strongly recommend not to call upon this spirit, for those adamant to try, here is what needs to be done: take a photograph of the couple together, it helps if it shows a happy memory. Each of you must write on the back of it:
The boy: “I vow that my love for (girl) is pure and I challenge Greenskin to prove me wrong.”
The girl: “I trust that (boy)’s love for me is pure, and I challenge Greenskin to prove me wrong”
You must then….
The text continued with a complex set of instructions, which they carefully read.
“Wow, they put so many warnings on this thing, it almost sounds like they really believe it.”
“Dave, but what if it’s real? I’m getting a bad feeling, let’s try something else.” The nervousness in her voice was tangible now.
“You’re the one who started with this spirit nonsense in the first place, Katie! What, are you afraid that some lizard will come and take you away? I’d punch him right in the green nose!” he exclaimed gesturing the punch in the air. She gave a quick smile, but didn’t seem convinced.
“It’s just that Stacy…”
“It will be alright babe,” he said, rubbing her shoulders with both hands. “We summon the spirit, do the stuff, win money and health and whatever, and have a great Halloween! And if nothing happens…. well, I’ll have to find some other way to prove just how much I love you.” His hands moved down from her shoulder and around her, giving her small breasts a firm squeeze.
“Stop it, Dave,” she said, laughing. “Fine, okay, let’s do this, it’s Halloween after all.”
They had completed all the preparations, found and old photo from their trip to Italy, and written the words on the back. They sat face to face on the floor, cross-legged in near darkness. There was one remaining candle. Katie placed the photo in a circle drawn on an old piece of cardboard, then looked at David and nodded. The strange incantations were said and gestures were done. David set the photo aflame and blew the candle out.
As it burned away their faces were illuminated by the dance of flame and shadows, which brought the rest of the room to life for a few short seconds. They held hands tightly as the fire consumed the last of the paper, then the light faded into eventual darkness.
The seconds ticked.
“What do we do now?” whispered David.
“Hush, give it some time!”
More seconds passed.
“Nothing is happening. I’m going to go turn on the lights.”
“Wait, David! Don’t leave me right now!” her hand tightened around his. The room was pitch dark by now, such that they could barely make out each other’s silhouettes.
“Katie I’ll just be a moment, I need to get the matches from the table.”
“Please just stay with me for a few more-”
“Chill, babe, everything’s gonna be fine in a second.”
Despite her tight grasp he managed to pull his hand away and get up from the floor. It was so dark he couldn’t see anything, but the table was only a few steps away. He made a few paces and reached out his arms, but grasped only air.
“David, I’m scared,” came Katie’s voice from behind.
“I’ll be there in a moment, baby.”
He made a few more steps forward. Suddenly the room felt colder, as if he had swam into the deeper side of a pool. The air was thick and heavy. David felt a wave of confusion. His hands reached around him, trying to grasp anything that could help him orient - a wall, the table, a chair.
Suddenly he felt the velvet back of an armchair, the one which was besides their bed. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea how he had gotten past the table and to the other side of the room, but all he had to do was walk around the bed and light the lamp on the other side. He could worry about the matches later.
He went around the armchair and reached forward to the bed, but grasped only air again. There was nothing around as far as he could reach. Despite his heart racing and a line of sweat dripping down his forehead, the room grew colder again.
“David?”
There was a sudden invisible force that pushed him backwards and onto the arm chair. As he collapsed on it his back stuck like glue. His hands pushed down on the armrests, struggling to push him up, but they got stuck too, sinking within as if the chair was made of some sort of thick jelly.
“........” he cried. His voice was stuck too, stuck in his throat. No sound came out.
“I’m here babe, don’t worry.”
A match was lit and David saw the back of a man that looked just like him walk over to Katie and light the candles.
“Thank goodness, I was so scared!” she said, plunging into his arms. “I know it sounds stupid but for a moment I felt as if something was here.”
“Everything’s fine now,” came the voice of the man. “Come, let’s lie down for a bit.”
They turned around. David could have seen his shirt, his own arms and legs, or perhaps even noticed his own watch hanging around his wrist. But the only thing he could see was that terrible green face, and those long, vertical eyes staring coldly at him.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH,” he screamed. Ever so faintly, the ghost sound reached his ears before being muffled.
The thing and Katie approached David and sat on the bed in front of him.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” she said. “It was silly and I got scared, I shouldn’t have-”
He silenced her with a kiss, his green scaly mouth opening and plunging a slimy tongue inside of her. David began to writhe uncontrollably, fighting to get free. His girlfriend’s small, delicate mouth open wider and accepted the lizard’s offer. Then his hands were on her, David’s hands, pulling her shirt up and undoing her bra, and then she was on him too, unbuttoning his shirt and pants until the two rolled onto the bed naked, still kissing.
“Come over here, babe,” said Greenskin, positioning Katie on all fours on top of the bed, her ass facing straight at David. Despite everything, he couldn’t help but admire her petite little figure, her small tight ass and soft round breasts, as well as the tight clean shaven pussy that was the center of his view. Even under the current circumstances, David had to admit that Katie was by far his best catch. She did occasionally babble on about things he didn’t care about, but that body was all worth it.
The thought was infectious and filled his mind. As if hearing it, David on the bed smiled and caressed her slit, making Katie shiver with anticipation. Then the thing smiled at David in the chair and its face rippled like the surface of a pond.
Suddenly where just moments ago David could see a version of himself, now there was another man. A man he recognized all too well even after so many years. His face hadn’t aged one bit from the days when he shoved him into a locker and beat him up for his lunch money.
Brad continued to caress his girlfriend’s excited pussy. David’s stomach turned. For many years, Brad had been his worst nightmare. He was a square-jawed, muscular jock who hung out with the most popular kids and bullied everyone he didn’t like. David had never been on his good side and received several harsh beatings for it. But it didn’t end there.
For some reason, Brad had wanted to make his life truly miserable. There was a girl, Sarah, that David really liked in high-school. She was a shy but sweet, pretty girl and despite some awkwardness in the air, she had started to hang out with David after school and things were looking very good. David had wanted to ask her out to prom, but when pretty faced Brad learned about it, he beat him to it and she said yes.
That prom night had been the worst day of his life, seeing them dance and later kiss in front of everybody. When the prom eventually ended, David had been unfortunate enough to follow the two out of sheer spite. Sarah was drunk and Brad could barely wait to get to the nearby park to bend her over a bench and pull down her panties. Hidden behind a bush, 18 year old virgin David could catch a short glimpse of her before Brad stepped forward and slid inside her. He still remembered her moans, her hands tightly gripping the top of the bench, and the clapping sounds of thighs against ass as the bully had his way with her.
The worst, most shameful part, the reason why David hated himself, and Brad, and Sarah so much, was that he could never get it out of his head. For months he masturbated to it every night, filled with self-pity and self-loathing, thinking of Sarah being pounded in the park and cumming over and over again.
And now Brad was smiling at him and caressing his girlfriend’s pussy. He slowly slipped a finger inside her and she pushed back, her hips eagerly rubbing against his hand.
David was starting to get hard. He knew it was wrong and he knew that he shouldn’t, but there was nothing he could do about it. The handsome bully smiled smugly and began fingering Katie deeper, toying with her until eventually David was rock hard and throbbing.
As if given permission, Brad rose up and effortlessly flipped the petite girl around, so that now her head was facing David. She couldn’t see him, that was immediately obvious. He tried to scream again and to pull her gaze to him but she just stared through, as if he was thin air. Then Brad got behind her and dropped his pants.
David saw the exact moment her eyes widened and then rolled up in pleasure as the big cock slid inside her already wet pussy. His hands grabbed her thighs and began rocking her back and forth, stealing louder and louder moans from her with each thrust.
David had never felt so aroused in his life. His dick was painfully hard and pulsing, the instinctive desire to touch himself stronger than ever. But he was helpless, he could only watch but not move, the desire building inside of him with every second until it became unbearable.
Then in an instant his right hand was free. He didn’t have a moment to think, so quick was the subconscious reflex with which it darted down and began stroking his cock. It was so shameful and embarrassing and utterly beyond him to control. With Katie’s face so close in front of him he could feel every nuance of lust and pleasure that passed through her, every moan and bit lip.
He had never seen her this aroused. Her usually small nipples were hard and erect, her whole body was shaking.
“Please pull out, it’s a bad time!” she shouted with a winded breath. “I want it, I want it so bad… but you have to pull out.”
Brad accelerated the pace and she started moaning again, her hands clutching the sheets. Sweat was glistening on her naked breasts and her legs were spread wide for deeper access.
“David please be careful…” she said in a hushed voice, as if she was not certain if she really wanted him to hear her.
David’s hand was moving fast. The pleasure was overwhelming and it was impossible to stop now.
“Please don’t, please don’t cum in me…”
She looked straight ahead, almost at him, almost as if she could see him this time. Even so, he was powerless. He was over the edge now. His movements accelerated into a final sprint. As if mirroring him, Brad accelerated his thrusts at the same time as him. Seeing Katie’s body destroyed and hearing her moans,
David burst into an orgasm, spraying a thick white load right underneath her face. At the exact same time Brad gave off a cry and thrust forward one final time, holding Katie in place. David saw her eyes widen again, a mixture of lust and terror. Despite her words her whole body pushed back, pressing her cunt tightly against the other man, balls deep, and lowering her head down in submission as he continued to grunt and spray inside her.
When David looked up Brad was gone and the green lizard face was staring at him again, cold and mocking. He knew Greenskin had won.
Slowly, the lizard thing backed away, letting Katie collapse on the bed. Then he shifted into Brad again, gave David one last condescending smile, and dissipated into green mist.
The warmth returned to the room and David leapt to his feet.
“Katie!!”
She raised her head up slowly.
“Oh, you came over here,” she said in a distant voice. “You know, I didn’t think you had it in you. To take control, to take responsibility like that. You’re more of a man than I thought, David.” She smiled.
He just stood in front of her, his cock still dripping droplets of cum.
“Let me take care of that,” she said playfully, leaning forward and taking it in her mouth. Her lips were warm and hungry and by the time she’d cleaned him up he was hard again.”Sorry but I’m a little spent right now,’ she said apologetically, seeing his reaction. “But I’m sure you can fill me again in the morning, if you want.”
She gave him a wink and rolled over to the other side of the bed, making space for him. Instinctively he sat next to her, staring into the void, not knowing what to say.
“You know, David, it was really nice. It was really special,” she whispered with a sleepy voice. “Call me superstitious, but I want to spend the night with this inside me.”
David felt his stomach turn again and something heavy weigh down on his chest. A few paces away, on the floor there was a cardboard with a circle on it, and in the center of the circle there was a small pile of ash that used to be a photograph.