Sebastian Westbrook is the pseudonym for an unassuming young undergrad from the UK, just starting his adventures in writing. He enjoys RPG video games a little too much and spends more time on them than he should. When he can peel himself away, he reads fantasy fiction in the main, but also enjoys the horror genre, particularly movies
COUGAR
by
Sebastian Westbrook
No one believed me, and then it happened again. The first encounter was on Friday evening, and I had finally worked up the courage to go to the Fuchsia Vixen. It was a nightclub in town, and I’d never been brave enough to set foot in there before. I’m not exactly what most women would consider conventionally attractive, and even if looks aren’t everything, I have an extremely low alcohol tolerance, two left feet, and the social skills of a brick wall.
Despite all this, for my nineteenth birthday my parents suggested I treat myself with a late night out with friends. Friends: right… Still, I saw this as an opportunity to get myself into Fuchsia Vixen and conquer a fear. My night was going fairly well, too, all things considered. Sure, I’d thrown up a couple times and any girl I got talking to already had a boyfriend much hotter than me, but I was enjoying myself, more or less.
I was eventually approached by an older woman, I guess in her late-thirties. She sat on the barstool beside me in a black leather jacket, fishnet tights and high heels. She ordered a drink and then eyed me up with a mischievous smile.
“Hey, little guy. You look lonely,” the woman remarked. Her voice was dripping with seduction.
I felt my face flush pink. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Maybe a little. I haven’t been here before, to be honest.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re looking for someone? Well...” She slid closer. Suddenly, she pulled me almost into her lap and held me close.
“Uh, ma’am?” I stuttered nervously.
“No need to be so formal. My name is Suzanne, but you can call me Suzie. I’m looking for someone too, and I love young guys. Like you. Always so fresh.” Suzie proceeded to move her tongue across my neck. I could feel her canines ever so slightly against my skin. They felt surprisingly sharp.
Suzie began caressing my cheek. Her nails were pointy, and the backs of her hands – was that some kind of downy hair? Strange, especially for a woman. Her nails pricked my cheek, her teeth – somehow longer now – pricked my neck, and when I looked into her eyes again, they were glowing an odd yellow colour.
As Suzie attempted to pull me closer, I wrestled myself out of her grasp. “Sorry. Just need the loo,” I half-lied, and fled to the bathroom. I waited in there for five minutes, taking a piss in the meantime, and then left, using the direct route across the dancefloor as a means to escape undetected by the freaky lady.
I got home and checked she hadn’t left any visible hints from her seduction attempts. I was relieved to find no scratches or bites. Verification over, I logged into Reddit and searched for r/SupernaturalOccurences. I mean, I had to tell someone! I typed in the night’s events and asked for people’s thoughts on what had just preyed on me.
The replies came in and none of them were kind. A few were things like: “That was just a regular cougar and a trick of the lights. Quit being so paranoid!” Some were harsher, like: “ You wimp! You just missed out on a good time,” or “What an idiot. Who cares if she’s a bit wild. You don’t turn down free pussy.” Nobody took it seriously. I decided the internet wasn’t going to help if all they were going to do was call me a loser.
To make up for my early return the previous night, I tried again at a bar across town the following evening. As I was sipping my third mocktail of the night – no risks this time – I noticed Suzie across the room. She hadn’t spied me but was seducing another young guy with similar tactics, only this target was totally smitten. They left shortly after, and despite my relief at not being noticed, I couldn’t help but worry for the guy. Suzie rubbed me up the wrong way. Not just her strange, physical features, but what she’d said at the Fuchsia Vixen the previous night. Always so fresh.
Sunday. I woke up late-ish and decided to have a lazy day in. I looked at my phone. A news story popped up as a notification; it was provoking a lot of chat. I gave it a read.
The police had found a teenage boy dead by the dumpsters outside the bar I’d been drinking at the previous night. Mauled to death with claw and bite marks all over his body.
I felt chills. I knew Suzie was responsible for this. I didn’t have any solid proof, but it had to be her; there was something off about her from the moment she first approached me.
As I closed the news story, my mother called up and told me to get moving as we were having a guest over. So much for a lazy day I thought as I put on my dressing gown and trudged downstairs to make waffles.
I was chomping on my third one when the doorbell rang.
My mother was uncharacteristically flustered. “Oh. That must be her! Straighten up your dressing gown, James. I want you to be sociable.”
“Who is she anyway?” I asked.
“Just someone who responded to an ad I put out for some help around here. It’s not like you and your father help, is it?” She went to the door; I took my last waffle into the living room.
“Lovely to meet you.” I heard my mother say. “Just through here.”
My blood ran cold as my mother walked in with Suzie just behind her. She was dressed more appropriately than when we’d first met, but I was no less scared. “Tea?” and then mother disappeared into the kitchen.
As soon as we were alone, Suzie stared directly at me and licked her lips.
And then her sharp teeth.