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Two For One |
| Night had fallen. The stars were not shining brightly, there were no crickets chirping, and there was no moonlight at all. The only sources of illumination came from streetlights, stoplights, and the windows of people who either refused to sleep or couldn’t sleep at all. In front of an alley along Sherwood Drive, a single man puffed on a cigarette and avoided the light. He was a tall fellow, long black hair falling around his head, weathered rawhide jacket across his back, worn denim jeans on his legs, and old cowboy boots on his feet. He stood there, plotting to himself and smiling. For his New Year’s resolution, he had vowed to fulfill his deepest and darkest desire; break as many laws as he could, no matter how wrong the principles hiding behind them were. Last week, he had robbed a convenience store somewhere along Sterling Drive. Five days ago, he had tried to murder one half of this sweet little couple at the Grand Ole Coffee Shop at the corner of Florence and Redding. Tried to, anyway, if it weren’t for that damn KPD officer tossing him through the window when he wasn’t looking. He had barely gotten away from that one, his legs still ached from all that running. He looked down the street, towards the blond in bright yellow leather, leaning against the lamppost and basking in the streetlight at the corner of Florence and Sherwood. ‘Oh yeah, this is gonna be a good night...’ He grinned, and dropped his cigarette and mashed it under his foot. She was a lovely woman; a little too much make-up on, he’d grant anybody that. She wasn’t a natural blond either, but what could you do? It didn’t matter anyway, he’d probably soak himself in wine when he was done, and forget what she looked like anyways. For now, all that mattered was that she was marvelous eye candy, and wore a very short skirt. ‘Heh, maybe she’s got some trinkets in that jacket she’s wearing? That’ll turn tonight into a two-for-one deal. Violation of personal space and theft of personal property. I love this stuff.’ She turned her head as she heard footsteps coming towards her. At last, a customer. It had been a slow week, and she was beginning to worry that she might not’ve been able to meet her monthly payments. Getting a new car sucked, especially when your insurance didn’t cover ‘destruction by random fire-breathing demigods.’ She turned a smile to him. “Looking for a thrill, mister?” She should’ve seen something in the smile he was wearing, for as soon as he was within an arm’s length, he reached out an smashed the back of her head against the lamppost she was leaning on. Everything was a haze in between that and waking up. She didn’t remember him stripping her of the jacket, and dragging her into the nearest alley. He was standing over her and taking off his jacket when she finally shook off the daze. She tried to move, but felt him keep a single foot on her chest. It clicked immediately. She wanted to scream, cry in terror for help, but she couldn’t get a sound to come out. All she could do was squirm and thrash and try to get out from under his boot. There was a flash of light and then a temporary fade into darkness as he reached down and belted her across the face. He grinned. It was probably better that she be awake for the experience. It would make the feeling of fulfillment even better, and there was the fact that she might actually enjoy it. He reached for his belt, undid that, then unzipped his pants... Neither was quite sure what happened after that. He felt a blade slash across the back of his left knee, cutting deep enough to sever a few tendons. They both gave yelps of pain as his weight shifted to the foot placed on her chest. He went sprawling in a second, falling into a pile of trash. In Apartment E-27 of the Third Sherwood Apartment Complex, someone had broken an antique glass lamp worth some $450. Instead of attempting to repair it, this person decided against giving it the effort, and threw the entire thing into the trash. More pain ripped through his left leg as a large piece of glass jammed into his thigh. That leg was rendered useless. Several smaller pieces of glass stuck in his hands as he tried to push himself up onto his working leg. He managed to look over his shoulder before getting up... ...in time to see a young brunette catch a knife that appeared to have flown into her hand. He did not see Jessye’s face, only seeing a faint outline on her shadow-cast silhouette. She strode forward slowly, purposefully, ignoring the woman in yellow leather slowly trying to crawl away. He got to his solely-functioning leg, and reached for the back of his pants. He still had a bowie knife on him, it was just a matter of getting a good grip on it... But he didn’t find it in time. She walked right up to him, grabbed him across his chin, and slowly pulled him down to her level. He grabbed her arm, trying very hard to tear her away, but to no avail. She was strong for a kid. Jessye slowly applied more pressure to his jaw, and he felt his mouth open. The knife was away; that should’ve been a relief. Then she reached into a pocket on her skirt, and pulled out something. He couldn’t tell what it was... “This is my body, this is my blood. Consume it and know that it purifies your soul, and is your salvation from Hell.” Her whisper was barely audible above his struggling. After hearing it, he stopped struggling, just for a second. Did she just say what he thought she said...? She placed whatever she had taken out of her skirt into his mouth, and a strong taste of bitter iron filled his mouth. He knew what that taste was. He tried to spit it out, but she clamped his jaw shut. No, he didn’t want to swallow it, the only blood he had ever swallowed was his own. He didn’t want to swallow, wanted to spit it out and get rid of it, didn’t want to... He felt it slide down his throat, and felt her grip release. He collapsed prone, gripping his throat in an attempt to try to stop it from going any further. He squeezed, nearly choked himself half-to-death to stop the piece of humanity that was not his humanity from entering his gut. But, he could not stop it. He laid on the ground, curled up, only his knees and head touching the ground, as he writhed in anguish. The woman in yellow had slowly and shakily gotten to her feet. She watched as her assailant fell to the ground, quaking strongly, and watched as Jessye kneeled, and clasped her hands. “Uh, thanks.” Jessye looked over her shoulder, her prayer interrupted by... “I think you just saved my life...” ...a lady of the night. A prostitute. Jessye had just saved the life of a filthy whore. She did not feel ashamed for saving a miserable creature such as she. All were equal in the eyes of Redemption, all sinners would be given forgiveness. “...but what did you do to him?” Jessye stood up, leaving her prayer unstarted, and turned to look at her. “I purified him.” “...purified him?” Jessye nodded, and slowly walked up to her. “But what do you mean by that? It looked like you made him drink some kinda acid or...” She was not given a chance to finish before Jessye clamped a single hand around her jaw, brought her down to her level, and forced her mouth open. She took out another blood-soaked cloth from her skirt as the piteous soul she held flailed and tried to scream. “This is my body, this is my blood.” There were some who would often refuse the penance Jessye offered. “Consume it and know that it purifies your soul, and is your salvation from Hell.” They were often the ones that needed it the most. Before leaving the criminal and the whore to their own devices, writhing in the experience of having just a small part of another person inside of them, Jessye kneeled, clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and bowed her head. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you...”
Written by Ren Start - 05/10/2002 End - 05/14/2002 I was told that the guy was not developed well-enough for people to hate him. I’ll change that one of these days... |
The C. Force © 1996-2002 Matt Laskowski --- The R. Force and other assorted crap © 1995-2002 Ren