Mutual Destruction

[† Emotional Outlet]

Were his hands dripping with blood?

 

Michael blinked and shook his head. There was no way. Just a lack of sleep making him see things. Trick of the light. He could explain that away.

 

The stack of cash in front of him, however, was a challenge. Next to it was a bloody wallet perched on a neatly folded towel. On the opposite side of the money was a stack of papers.

 

He swallowed and picked up the wallet.

 

There was nothing out of the ordinary. Driver’s license, credit and debit cards, crumpled receipts and wrappers, an expired condom. He pulled out the license.

 

Some kid named Jason. Only twenty; just a few years younger than him.

 

He rubbed his fingers together, now sticky and tacky with drying blood. He had no friends (”Bar one,” he muttered), and it was hard to correlate the money with the kid.

 

After setting the wallet and license back on the towel, Michael took up the papers. Overdue bills and collection notices, some of them wrinkled and torn from frustrated handling.

 

There was an unfamiliar piece of paper in the stack. He pulled it out and saw it was filled with crude scribbles and scrawls. He squinted and tried to make sense of the writing.

 

“owed payment”

“hand inside”

“mealmealmealmealmealmeal”

“crushed … penis”

 

None of it made sense. The further he read, the more nonsensical the writing became. The bottom of the page was smeared with blood. He left dark fingerprints on the paper.

 

Michael put the note aside. He wiped his hands on his pants.

 

He swore he could hear a woman giggling as he sat down at the kitchen table to count out the money. He grit his teeth and ignored it.

 

He kept seeing his hands covered in blood, dripping red and burning with fading vitality. That was harder to ignore.

[† Emotional Outlet]

The cool air rushed over her warm cheeks, the fabric of her long skirt fluttering as she stepped into the alley behind the club. The energy around her shifted and she sent out a warning.

 

An unfamiliar voice came from behind her. “I’ve no interest in stealing from you.”

 

Alyssa smiled and turned around. “What brings you here?”

 

The stranger shrugged. “Curiosity. A stray caracomi besought a meal recently.”

 

“You’re the first to wander into my territory for some time.” Several cars roared down the street, overwhelming her words. She kept her voice level. “No wanderers have approached me but you.”

 

They put their hands into their pockets, casting a sidelong glance down the alley before meeting Alyssa’s eyes again. “The lamb made quite a mess. I suspect the host has not been especially cooperative with feeding.”

 

“You’ve not much right to talk, your host is dead.”

 

“And yours little more than a parasite.”

 

She laughed, clasping her hands behind her back as she leaned against the brick of the building. “Very well. I will concede.”

 

“I confess the lamb left me in a rather… compromising situation.” They took their hands out from their pockets.

 

“You’ll find no comfort here either, I fear.”

 

The stranger pressed up against her, hands flat on the wall on either side of her head. Alyssa simply looked up, narrowing her lips, as they whispered into her ear. “I’ll not be denied twice.”

 

“How unbecoming, to think you can overwhelm me.”

 

They buried their face against her neck, humid breath enveloping her skin. Their hands grabbed her wrists as they bit at her neck, their teeth and tongue slick and hot. They shoved a knee between her legs, their thigh firm against her. Alyssa sighed.

 

“This is quite enough. Control that shell of yours.”

 

Her skin burned and cracked, the pain nigh overwhelming as it fell away. The stranger chuckled as she crumbled in their hands and slipped into the stream. She swirled about them, poking into the weaknesses of their shields.

 

“You’ll not want to make an enemy of me, fool rueru.”

 

They waved dismissively. “You understand a body’s needs.”

 

“You understand I still share mine, parasite or not.”

 

They leaned against the wall, returning their hands to their pockets. “You’ve crossed twice, have you not?” Alyssa made no effort to reply. “Then you must be aware of their machinations.”

 

“Have you anything of worth to tell?”

 

“I suspect an interest in widening the gap and further blurring the lines.”

 

Alyssa let the stream carry her away, leaving the stranger to their own devices. She had nearly left their grasp when they called out once more, snatching her back with an entreating voice.

 

“If they manage to farm a host strong enough to approach the gap, we’ll be the first to be devoured. Unspoken tradition does little to keep us safe, does it not?”

 

She pulled away and buried herself in the stream. It wasn’t her concern.

[† Emotional Outlet]

She smoothed out her clothes and adjusted her hair in the mirror before opening the bathroom door. Her bedmate was awake, wearing a silk robe loosely tied at the waist and a cup of coffee in his hand.

 

“I didn’t want to walk in on you by accident.”

 

Crystal shook her head. “I’ll be out of here shortly.”

 

He lifted a shoulder and smiled. Under normal circumstances she would have found him attractive, with his straight nose and the pleasing curve of his mouth, the way the fabric of the robe draped over his hip.

 

All she wanted to see now was a man who had taken advantage of her. To imagine otherwise would be devastating.

 

“Listen…” He took a sip of his coffee and the way the light caught the lashes of half-lidded eyes nearly caught her off-guard. “I want to make sure we’re still on the same page about what happened.”

 

She cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “I believe we’re certainly clear.”

 

“Then I suppose I don’t need to give you these…?” He took out a small pastel box from his robe pocket. “I don’t mean to doubt you, but you’re young. I understand what it’s like.”

 

Crystal felt her breath stick in her throat. She wanted the box. Needed the box. But taking it would mean acknowledging something she wasn’t ready to face.

 

It was apparently enough for the man to hand it to her. He smiled kindly. “Take it anyway. I had a feeling you weren’t exactly yourself last night.”

 

She swallowed as she clutched the box. “If you knew I wasn’t okay, why did you do it anyway?” Her fingers trembled on the cardboard. She pressed them tighter together.

 

“I didn’t mean it like that. You just…” He scratched the side of his nose as he looked up at the ceiling. “You had a desperate look to you, like if you didn’t get what you wanted, something would happen. Don’t take it the wrong way.” He drank from his coffee again. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”

 

She wanted to be mad at him. When she moved to leave the bathroom and he moved aside, making no attempt to stop or pull her back, she couldn’t follow through with slamming the bedroom door.

 

Nor could she bring herself to throw the emergency contraceptive away as she left the building.

[Kinara Uzumaki]

Will we be seeing more of this or is it on hiatus? I've returned after a long break and I can't keep track of what's going on.