Forever

I shouldn’t say that I got right back into the game. I spent the first year without Marie hitting on random girls only to creep into their dreams after, leaving them trying to reason why they’d fantasized about ‘the mysterious guy they met the night before’. Preferably, I’d have liked to hook up in the real world, but I could not afford to slip up, not after what I did. So, to play it safe, I stuck to treating ladies with one hot sex dream. It was better than nothing and it helped to keep my mind off of Marie. She was really the only thing I thought about anymore.

The upside to fucking girls in their dreams was that I was allowed to lose control. I had some very prominent features that were made to scare the living shit out of things that, in order to stay under the radar, I had to disguise. If I were to at all show any hint that I was not human in reality, I’d sent my catch running. But in a dream state, they would just think, ‘how odd is that?’ and continue to allow me to do as I pleased. More often than not, many of the women were actually turned on by some of my qualities. Like my rather long tongue, for example. It generally pleases them…if you catch my drift—what? I used my assets for what they were worth! I mean, when it came to good looks, I’d say I was quite gifted. Sounds cocky, I know, but I’m a pretty fucking cocky guy. Nevertheless, I could still be quite frightening. I suppose I could have just used my exceptional clairvoyant skills to tell my prey to shut the fuck up and take it, but when it came to fornication, I’d rather not deal with that. It took the fun away from it, in my opinion.

It was very hard to maintain my appearance when I was having sex because that was probably the most vulnerable I could be, despite the fact that I was always the dominating one. I made the mistake of displaying myself once and had to kill the whore on the spot to stop her screaming. People were around and they heard it all. So, of course, I took her soul and got the fuck out of there.

That sounds so weird.

Whatever.

With the loss of Marilyn, it seemed that everything reminded me of my past…the past that I wanted to forget. Once I felt compassion again, I remembered who I used to be and how I allowed my hate for my father to completely deform me into a sick, twisted…demon. That’s what I was--a demon. I never stopped to realize that before I met Marie. I mean, I knew, but it didn’t quite sink in. I was never good, per se, but I wasn’t extremely bad. Not like my father, at least.

I wished I could have just told her the truth about me. My real name, who I really was…But I couldn’t, and I knew that. The agony from her loss was worth saving her life.

Yet, she deserved to know.

She deserved answers to her unasked questions.

I tried not to think of her and how much of a liar I was by drowning myself in blood, sex and booze.



After one particularly good romp with a brunette about eight months after I left, I decided the night was nice enough that I could materialize and wreak some havoc. That’s pretty much all I did when I wasn’t screwing.

I did whatever the hell I wanted to do, I guess.

Anyway, I thought stopping at a bar and fucking with some drunks and scoring a few drinks off the bartender sounded like a good time. Before I did, however, I took a walk down the streets, to get an idea of where I was. It didn’t take me long to figure that I was in Oakland. I’d been there before…I just couldn’t remember why. It didn’t really matter, though; I’d already been most places on the planet at some point.

I always liked the California weather, so I continued walking. I ignored the odd stares as I passed and no doubt due to my eyes. It was hard to qualify as normal with practically neon irises, but in the right lighting or with good persuasion—my previously mentioned mind control—I could usually get by.

I looked up at the street name as I hit another block after about ten minutes.

27th avenue…

Why did that seem so familiar—so recent?

I could only come up with the letter ‘b’.

B…B…Be…Ben. Ah! My last harbor! Benjamin lived around there. I had met Marilyn after I wasted the kid. She’d been celebrating her birthday visiting her grandmother who lived in San Francisco or something.

I smiled, proud that I‘d dug up that memory. I totally forgot about that little punk. Benjamin. That was his name. It wasn’t often that I would be able to recall past harbors unless they were particularly significant and I couldn’t say that he was. In retrospect, I almost felt bad about how much I lied to him. I couldn’t name many cases, but I remembered when I allowed him to see me, I gave him some shit speech about how we could be together because I killed someone, therefore I could become ‘real’, when obviously, I could actually become ‘real’ whenever I fucking wanted to. I played a lot of trick on his expense, too. The last one I did, which I could recollect clearly, was not as much of a joke as it was a warning, I guess. I had no shame in ending the kid, but I felt awful just appearing out of no where and stabbing him, so I prepared him enough by pulling that stunt with the bloody shirt.

It felt pretty gross to wear, if I recall correctly.

But it did the job.

Though, I never could figure out why I’d cried when I knifed him. I don’t think I remembered enough about Benjamin or that day to fully conjure up a good reason.

I shook of the memory and continued strolling.

It didn’t seem like much longer before I had the need for a smoke. I noticed a skinny, tanned girl with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Good enough. She leaned against a concrete wall, secluded from two slightly taller men talking a few feet to her left. She almost looked like a Cheeto. What an odd thing to resemble. I really have to get a pack, I thought. I’d run out the previous week, and I hadn’t had the chance to grab another. If I’d have taken enough time to get my own, I wouldn’t have had to ask living Cheetoes for a smoke.

You’d think, in the California sun, one wouldn’t waste time on a spray tan when they could just sit outside and get a natural one.

Faking it, in order to get on her good side and because I found the fact that her skin was a shade of orange to be fucking horrid, I gave her a sexy look as I approached. In an even more seductive tone, I smiled and spoke, “Hey, babe. Could I bum one off ya?” I gestured toward the Marlboro pack in her bony hand with a nod.

She grinned and opened her mouth to speak, but she didn’t get a chance, for one of the others noticed me, “Hey, you asshole! Don’t get frisky with my girlf-” the dark haired man beside her defended before I cut him off by shooting him a glare. With that one look, he pacified and shut up. His friend didn’t question me, either.

After watching what I had just done, the girl seemed a bit frightened. She cowered away before I pressed my right hand on the brick wall beside her head and leaned in close. She met my manipulative eyes and melted, “You got me, don’tcha, baby?” I purred.

She gave me a mystified smile, quickly pulled out a fag and handed it to me. She lifted her Zippo to light it for me.

Before striding further down the sidewalk, I winked at her after taking one puff, “I owe ya one, dollface.”

I felt all three sets of eyes watching me as I left. Normal people would’ve stuck around and to chat when they grub off someone, but I was not exactly normal, was I?

Only some thirty paces forward, the gray cement wall abruptly changed to one of a reddish-orange. Several steps more and there was a short section of wall made of large stones. I was immediately drawn to the deep red lights glowing above the windows and entryway. I peered into the dark cubby too see a metal door.

I couldn’t help but feel attracted to go in. I looked to the left to see a window at eye level, about two feet tall and five feet wide. It revealed various drinks and glasses. It appeared like a dive bar. My kind of place I said to myself.

As I stepped forward to grasp the handle, the door flew open and two blondes stumbled out. Unlike the Cheeto, I did not mind these chicks.

They didn’t seem to mind me either. When they saw me, almost in unison, but bumping into each other, they stopped and stared. The couple giggled and the slender woman in the front gave me a drunken grin, “Well, hey there mister.”

I answered her with a dirty smirk, drinking the both of them in with my eyes, “Hey, honey.”

The shorter, curvier one poked her friend and they both cackled and batted their lashes.

I bit my lip alluringly and dragged my long finger across her exposed collarbone. She shivered. I loved that I had that effect on women.

Without a word, gently pinched the other’s chin and left them to their imaginations.

When I stepped into the dark, sketchy building, I grinned. The illumination was only a rich, blood red and the ceiling was coated in smoke and graffiti.

As promised, I began to sweet-talk the bartender, whose name tag revealed her to be named Libby, into giving me a few drinks on the house. She was particularly easy to impress and it only took me a minute or two.

“Oh, what the hell,” she smirked as she leaned forward, pressing her breasts together and purposefully giving me a nice view, “You’re a charmer, you know that?”

“No kidding!” I feign surprise, and we both laugh at my blatant acting, “Well, could I charm a pretty girl like you into giving me a little kiss?” I rested my forearm on the glossy wood and placed my other hand on my waist.

“You probably could, and if I wasn’t on my shift, you might’ve been able to get a little more than a kiss,” we were both got closer and I could sense the envious glares of men around me, clearly wishing they were able to bag a girl as quick as I could. However, contrary to sweet Libby’s wishes, I did not plan on doing anything with her.

“How about one right here?” I simpered and pointed to my left cheek, turning it toward her. She blushed so hard that I could tell despite the crimson lighting and quickly placed her lips against my skin. I grinned smugly.

A bubble of laughter escaped her thin lips and she drawled in her thick valley girl accent, “Three shots of tequila and a Pabst, comin’ right up.”

When she scurried away to retrieve my order, I glanced at my surroundings to find a booth of girls watching me with dazed expressions. The bar seemed to be infested with horny women. I loved it and wondered why I’d never been to that heavenly place before. They noticed that they’d been caught and I could see the near-panic and embarrassment in their eyes. To ease them a bit, I turned up one corner of my lip and winked. When Libby the bartender returned, I thanked her dismissively and hastily downed the shots, palming the Pabst Blue Ribbon and meandering over to the group of ladies with wandering eyes. They all whispered to each other when they spotted me accosting them.

“I couldn’t help but notice you three from over at the bar.”

“What a line!” the chocolate haired one in the corner scoffed, but still looked to me adoringly.

“What?” I throw my hands up, beer still in hand and say, “I like a girl to know when she’s beautiful, and I’d say you lot fit the bill, yeah?”

I flashed them my perfectly crooked teeth as they chortled. I think I was the only man who could get away with using a pick-up line and not making an ass of myself doing so. I knew how to get ‘em without the cheesy shit, but it was way more fun to come up with new, clever things to say.

“You ladies mind if I join?”

Heads were shaken eagerly and I slid into the booth beside a babe with short, honey-blonde hair. I could feel her nervousness radiating off of her and I shot her a glance out of the corner of my eye paired with a sly smile. I was honestly glad that she had been the one of the three girls to have open seat next to. I had a thing for blondes.

I flirted for a moment with the others, finding their names to be Maxine and Sylvia, but it seemed that with my minor signal to the blonde, who I also learned was called Terri, she now had every intention of having her way with me. She scooted close so that I could feel her tits grazing against my arm lightly.

Of course, I played along. Sure, I had some alcohol in my system, but not enough to where I could not control myself. It had been too long since I’d slept with someone outside of their dreams and I was more than happy to lay a subtle hand against her thigh and torturously glide it upward, hiking her skirt up on her leg. I could feel her lust-filled gaze as I casually finished the job and ran my middle finger against her wet panties. I heard a short intake of breath and took that as my cue to shoo everyone else away.

I flicked my eyes between the pairs of sapphire and hazel ones across the table, “I’m sure two beauties like you have men waiting in line. I’ll bet you have dates to meet up with, right?” I know, not my best excuse, but I was kinda preoccupied by a set of digits slithering under my arm and to the button of my jeans.

As expected, the two others obliged almost robotically to my question-disguised command. The moment they were out of our hair, the woman beside me threw one leg over my lap and smashed her lips to mine. It didn’t take much time for her grinding against my pelvis to make me rip our mouths apart to growl, “Get up and get your pretty little ass outside.”

She followed my orders with a squeal as I reached around her to finish off my drink. We snaked through the dancing crowd of people to get to the back exit. The chilled air hit us a second before I forced her body flush to the alley wall and shoved my tongue down her throat.

To say I was excited was an understatement. I didn’t go out that night thinking I was gonna get laid, but I sure as hell did not protest at the opportunity.

But perhaps I was too inebriated to handle myself, I mean, it really had been too long and I was sorta losing my mind with glee. However, I didn’t notice that I’d been letting go until the girl squirming in my arms stopped and cried, “What the fuck?”

I stopped my assault on her neck to look at her with a confused expression. Her eyes grew wide as the settled near my mouth. That’s when I realized I was still licking her from at least a foot away to its spot of contact.

Fucking motherfucking shit.

I snapped the goddamned thing back in, but the damage had already been done. I even felt my sharpened teeth as my tongue retracted. I then decided that I no longer had anything to hide, and smiled evilly. Maybe I wouldn’t get sex, but I’d make a meal out of her, all the same.

If cute, little Terri found me scary already, I couldn’t wait to see the fear in her eyes when I showed her what else I had hidden up my sleeve. At that moment, I’d felt so deprived of the addictive sound that I would not have stopped her had she started to scream.

Just as I’d let my eyes turn a sick obsidian to induce her erotic shrieking, an inhuman voice rang out from behind me, “You’re getting careless, brother.”

I froze, not breaking eye contact with my catch and sending her a look that sealed her glistening, pink, blood-filled lips...

And with the thought of her maroon liquid, I’d completely forgot about our visitor as I bared my teeth and snarled at her.

I was aroused by the hot tears that rained down her lovely face.

“I’m serious, Strychnine, you better think about what you’re doing.”

At the sound of my name, a name I’d not heard in centuries, I stopped entirely to snap my neck around to find a familiar face from not even an hour ago…Libby. Though, her eyes were not brown as they had been at the bar. Instead they were an oceanic blue.

“What the hell?” I raised a brow.

“Oh, Strychy-boy, I thought you’d recognize my voice! But perhaps it’s been too long and you need a little help.”

Just then, Libby’s eye glazed over and another entity gradually appeared behind her.

“Mercury, I should’ve known!” I smile genuinely, determining the figure to be my own kin. I had the urge to embrace him, but I chose against it. I truly fuckin’ missed my family…apart from my father, of course.

It took only a moment for Libby to collect herself, look to me with terrified eyes and then turn to my brother. She let out a short howl before he covered her mouth in a flash and grinned at me, electric blue eyes transitioning to a brilliant white, “Excuse me for just one second.”

I chuckled and turned to Terri, “You’ll love this,” I look back to the scene playing before us, “Though, I hope you weren’t close with dear Libby…”

I watch as my sibling gripped the back of her neck and leaned the helpless girl back so that he towered over her. He tore his hand from her face and she opened wide to call for help. Little did she know she just made the job that much easier. Before she could emit any sort of signal, her brown eyes frosted over as he’d already positioned his mouth above hers and had begun extracting the ghostly lavender mist from her.

When he’d finished, he dropped her cold, pale body and walked toward me, “You should really take care of this, Strychy,” I followed his gaze to Terri, shaking in fear and biting her lip in order to try to stop her jaw from quivering. It was hard not to pounce on her when I noticed the skin breaking from pressure.

“Yeah,” I sigh, “Too bad, too. She was gonna be fun.”

I pressed my index finger to her forehead and pushed it back, “Don’t look so scared, baby. I’m not gonna hurt you,” at my words, she focused her stare to the taller man beside me, “Oh, he won’t either. You’ll be all right, beautiful,” I brushed a stray hair from her pallid cheek, “You look a bit faint, honey. How about you go take a walk…Get your mind off things?”

As soon as I took my hand from around her waist and released her from my control, she tried to run away, out of the alley.

I caught her wrist, “Ah-ah-ah!” I scolded, “Not so fast, baby. Where’s my goodbye kiss?” I heard Mercury snicker and I reeled in the helpless woman. My lips press passionately to hers; drinking up the sweet elixir still flowing from her plump, lower lip. After a moment or so, I broke away and waited as her face went blank. Yet, I could still see the utmost fright in her pupils as she ogled at me.

I planted one light peck to her mouth before she rotated on her heels and calmly sauntered away.

“You scoundrel,” Mercury praised knowingly as we watched Terri step right out into the busy road, “Did you do that?” he joked.

“I even sealed it with a kiss,” I grinned as we watch her body get hit by an oncoming car.

When the vehicle abruptly stopped, my beaming faded.

I could only see the lifeless, bloody form in the street to be Marilyn’s.