After almost a century of suffocating restrictions at the hands of an evil wizard a rebirth was happening. With the death of Richard Wilkins there was nothing to penning it in, curtailing its power to only the bare minimum, only enough to remain alive. It was a slow process returning to full power, the magic that had previously bound it meant that the limited energy it had available was dependant on the one life it was symbiotically attached to at the moment, and its partner was old his life almost at an end. But it had a plan. It was going to ensnare one of the warriors who killed the evil wizard. The most vulnerable. It would take an unhealthy expenditure of energy but it would be worth it in the end to have a young partner full of life and energy.
XXX
“Great Grand Uncle Rich?” Xander looked at the old man and was surprised that 80 year old was still up and moving. He looked like all that was left was bone and gristle and tanned skin.
The old man nodded his head, “Yeah. Now, I’m gonna cut to the chase, from what your parents tell me you got no job and no place to go.”
“That’s blunt.” Xander saw his heretofore unknown Great Grand Uncle’s stare while awaiting an answer, “Its still summer vacation.”
“And you graduated. And you ain’t in college. So that means time to get a job and a place of your own. You did a road trip? That was your fun time. Now it’s time to get to work.”
Xander let his shoulders slump. “I am looking. For both a job and a place.”
“I got both. I’m too damn old to do this job. So I’m gonna teach you how to do it. Perk of the job is you get a place of your own.”
“You do know I know nothing about apartment upkeep and handy manning.” Xander cast his gaze around the old apartment building he was standing in front of. “How old is this place anyways? The décor makes me think 70s.”
“The original building was built by the original Spanish settlers.” Great Grand Uncle Rich chuckled, “Originally it was a bordello.”
“Reallllly?” Xander drawled and gave the building a deeper look.
“Then them damn Wilkins came to town and shut it down. Made it a hotel. Hotel got a make over into apartments back in the 20s when the town boomed and started growing. Then in the 70s whichever Wilkins was in power had the bright idea to turn the building into a dormitory for the new college. That lasted for about a decade until the college needed more space and built new dorms making the old girl, here, surplus housing.”
“But now?” Xander prodded when his Great Grand Uncle trailed off.
“But now things is different. Wilkins got blowed up at your graduation and I ended up with the old girl. Just got to clear up some little legalities and get her back in business.”
“Gonna turn her back into a bordello?” Xander teased.
“Mighty tempting.” Great Grand Uncle Rich wheezed out a laugh, “But them legalitites won’t let me. Apartments again with contractual obligation to take in any college dorm overflow. An you get your choice of the best apartments as the caretaker.”
“Caretaker… I like the sound of that.” Xander looked at his Great Grand Uncle, “Okay, wanna show me what the old girl looks like on the inside.”
XXX
After almost two decades of solitude the simple addition of one more person felt like a feast. While It’s human partners slept It perused It’s new partner past. And It’s new partner was a bounty of new opportunity on top of new energy. So many female friends, so many potential sources of new energy. And as an added bonus It’s new partner had many a magical irregularity that could be made to benefit them both. It was slightly wasteful to expend It’s newly harvest energy but putting that power back into It’s new partner would pay off in the long run. It’s new partner had at one time used a magical love spell, a powerful spell, powerful enough that there were magical traces still present in It’s partner. Traces that could be reactivated. Not to the original power level but powerful enough to arouse interest and bring in new people in order to feed.
Looking towards more permanent residents it was obvious that there were ample choices. The cheerleader former girlfriend. The former demon girlfriend. The warrior woman. The warrior woman’s mother. The other warrior woman. The witch best friend. Another witch friend who had been turned into an animal, that one would have to wait as a reverse transformation would take power It did not have at the moment. There was even a vampiress that could be correctly influenced into behaving.
Spoiled for choice It wasn’t sure where to begin. Who to influence first. The Ex-girlfriends would be easier to play on emotionally but cost more energy due to distance. But the friends that were girls were local, costing less energy but requiring more work which would need more energy. Or It could just wait and see if It’s new partner could ensare enough random women to build up a surplus of energy before acting on more permanent choices.