No. She would simply wait it out. The bad feelings would be gone soon, and the pleasure would come in their place.

It's not that she didn't enjoy the things she did whenever She was with her. She always enjoyed herself. She always had. Even before She came along, s.e.x had never been satisfying unless she was in complete control, and even then it was mediocre. Often, even disappointing.

But, dark thoughts sometimes become dark actions, and with those actions come discovery. Her revelation had come so many years ago it seemed like forever. And, yet it seemed like yesterday.

She bent her knees and kicked then grasped the sheet in her hand and whipped it back in the darkness. Just thinking about it made an unreachable itch begin down below. She was already getting hot, and the cool air in the room felt refreshing against her warm skin. Staring at the ceiling, she wondered about the boy and what he was doing now. She couldn't even remember his name.

Mike...

Joe...

Kevin...

It didn't matter. There had been so many since him, and she couldn't remember their names either. But, they say you never forget your first, and she hadn't.

Even if she couldn't remember his name, she could remember the details...

She was a college freshman, and he was an uppercla.s.sman. While he certainly wasn't innocent, she was as far removed from virtuous as anyone could be, even if no one was the wiser. He'd been begging her for a date for more than a month, and it amused her. So much so, that it had set her mind to work.

When she finally agreed, it was on her terms, as always. She strung him along for two weeks, promising everything and giving nothing, just as she would do with any other boy. But, for this one, she had bigger plans. When she was certain he was primed and ready, she gave in, or so she led him to believe.

The room had been dank and dingy. The decor was so far out of date as to not even have a recognizable style. She was certain that it had been cheap, but for her purposes she didn't care. Besides, she was the one who picked out the fleabag motel in the first place.

It was private, sitting along a secluded stretch of blacktop just outside of town. It was a place where no one asked questions about what went on behind the red, chipped paint of the scuffed doors. It was perfect.

Had it been up to him, they would have just made it in his room at the fraternity house, but she had needed the privacy for her plans. She had insisted that he get the room, and by that point she was sure his family jewels were probably navy blue, so it wasn't hard to get him to sh.e.l.l out the cash.

Just like it wasn't hard to get him to strip naked almost as soon as they arrived.

Just like it wasn't hard to get him to go for something a little "different" when she pulled the cotton clothesline out of her purse.

Once he had let her tie him to the bed, it was all over. She'd had to rea.s.sure him several times when he complained of it being too tight, asking if she was certain she knew what she was doing, but by that point, for him, it was too late. She'd made certain that he couldn't move, and the cotton panties in his mouth with the duct tape over his lips made certain no one would hear. Getting those into his mouth had been the hardest part, and she was sure he was going to scream before she could get it done. But, somehow, she had managed to do it, and then she wound the duct tape around his head to secure it.

The struggle itself had aroused her, just as had the antic.i.p.ation.

Then, she had sat astride him on the bed for several minutes, not quite sure where to start. She had fantasized about this for as long as he had pursued her, working out the details of how to get him to this point. But, now that she was here, she didn't know how to begin.

After several moments, she simply slapped him hard across the face. The tickle that had been welling in her belly now became an itch, and she liked it. She slapped him again, harder this time, and felt him squirm beneath her as he struggled against the bonds. The itch grew stronger.

She remembered feeling herself smile.

She perpetuated the feeling with various mild cruelties. More slapping. Scratching him with her painted nails. Pulling his hair. But, her first true o.r.g.a.s.m had come at the exact instant she twisted a burning cigarette against his bare chest. As he writhed and squealed against the gag, she felt the itch explode. The intensity of the feeling had taken her by surprise, making her fall back across the bed, gasping for breath. The ripple had then driven through her, and it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. When it had finally died away, the only thing she could think about was having that feeling once again.

She remembered climbing back on top of him and looking down at his frightened eyes as she lit another cigarette...

She had untied him before she left. He was unconscious, pa.s.sed out from the pain, she a.s.sumed.

She was spent.

He'd had enough money in his wallet to cover the cab fare back to campus, and she had gladly taken it. That was also when she had taken her first souvenir. His cla.s.s ring. She wasn't sure why she had taken it back then, but it all became obvious years later when she met Her.

In fact, the ring was still on her altar.

Of course, that was then, and it had been wonderful. But after that night, as good as it was, she could never recapture the intensity of the feelings she had experienced.

That was until She came into her life...

Now, even the fond memory of the night paled by comparison to the depth of pleasure She had shown her. Not only was it better, it was better than she could have imagined. At times, the mere antic.i.p.ation of the pleasure was almost as good as the reward itself.

Of course, She took it farther than she was ever willing to go before. Then, it was play. Now, it was so much more...

For them both...

As the memory began to fade, she rolled and sat up on the edge of the bed in one fluid motion. Reaching out, she twisted the switch on the bedside lamp, bringing luminance into the room. Sliding her thumbs along her jaw line, she gathered her long red hair and tossed it over her shoulders to cascade down her bare ivory back.

The tickle was now a burning itch.

She was here.

It was time.

Thursday, November 24 2:13 A.M.

Saint Louis, Missouri

CHAPTER 25:.

I can hear the footsteps coming.

They thump hard against the wooden stairs below, but I know that is not where they will stay. They are already getting closer.

Each footfall comes louder...

Faster...

As if driven by sheer excitement, they move upward, coming for someone. I pray that this time it will not be me.

I can hear the wails of the others. They, too, know she is coming. Nearby, someone is sobbing. I think it is a woman but I can't be sure. It has been so long now that they have all begun to sound alike.

They are genderless...

Pitiful moans...

Terrified screams...

Barely even human...

They have become nothing less than a cacophony of anguished noise...

But, no matter how loud it becomes, even it cannot drown out the cruel sound of her feet against the stairs.

I listen in the darkness.

The footsteps are near now, just outside the door.

I wait.

I listen.

And, I wait.

But, the telltale creak of the hinges never comes.

Then I hear her feet shuffle, and the hard noise begins again.

The cruelty is there, but the excitement is gone. It is, instead replaced by annoyance.

This time they fade, growing more distant with each step.

Until, finally, they are no more than a fresh memory of an endless nightmare.

I rolled over in the bed and opened my eyes but found myself staring at nothing. I pondered this for a moment in my groggy state as I listened to my heart thumping. It was beating faster than it should for someone at rest, or so it seemed. But, it was quickly slowing, and with the afterimages of the nightmare still lingering in my head, I thought maybe that was a good sign.

This was the first time the terror had invaded my sleep since the night before Felicity's arrest. My ongoing headache had actually lessened to a dull throb over the past few days, and with the advent of several decent nights sleep in a row, I was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, I had been wrong. That perhaps by some miracle of the G.o.ds, this was going to all fade away for a change and leave us alone.

Of course, I knew better, but I could always hope.

The stab in the back of my head was working its way forward, but for the moment it was bearable. I was sure that I couldn't count on that lasting for long. I sighed and went back to considering my lack of visual input. I knew I was awake, so it wasn't part of the nightmare. As my eyes worked at focusing, it became apparent that the nothing I was seeing was actually a dark pattern. I shifted slightly and the pattern moved, brushing softly against my cheek.

Raising my arm, I pushed the pattern away and found that it was the comforter, which at some point I had pulled over my head. Blinking, I now found myself face to face with a pillow on the opposite side of the bed. The only problem my brain found with that picture was that my wife's head wasn't on it.

I pushed myself up on one elbow, eyes drowsily searching the room. Before any unwarranted panic managed to set in, however, my ears caught the sound of rushing water and a porcelain throated burp as the toilet was flushed.

Dropping my head back onto the pillow, I mentally chastised myself for letting my fears get the better of me and then rolled over to face the wall. I was tired, and it obviously wasn't morning yet, so I closed my eyes.

The nightmare hadn't been so bad this go around. Maybe it really was just a product of my overactive subconscious.

This time.

The reprieve had been too short, but then they always were. It's just that this one was even shorter.

Footsteps advanced once again up the stairs, pausing only for a moment, then proceeding, coming closer with each hard strike against the wooden planks. The sobbing filled in the short voids between them.

But, there was something different about their sound.

They were still excited.

They were still cruel.

But there was something acute about their tone. No longer the familiar thud, they had become a sharp clack. However, different as they were, I knew they belonged to the same monster.

And, the fear they brought with them bit deep into my soul, for this time I knew they were coming for me. How I knew, I couldn't say. But, there was no doubt that I was to be her chosen victim, and there was no escape.

I began to pray, but my request had changed drastically from what it had once been. Instead of asking to be spared as I had countless times before, now I prayed to die quickly and not linger, suffering for days-even weeks-like some of the others. I could hear myself whispering in the darkness, even above the growing cries and awful footfalls.

When they stopped outside the door, I was more than just simply aware my time had come. I could feel it deep within every inch of my body, and that just made the panic grow.

The door creaked on un-oiled hinges, allowing a swath of dim light to fall across the room. I couldn't keep myself from trying to raise my head, but try was all my weakened muscles could manage.

Terror made me strain and pull, trying to escape, even though I knew I was held fast. The flight reflex made me try yet again, but my wrists and ankles screamed with pain as something bit sharply into my flesh. I was left with no choice but to give in to my fate, horrific, as I knew it was to be.

The door creaked again as it swung wider, then the steps clacked closer, stopping near my head, just out of my sight. I felt my stomach tighten, then heave, as it tried to expel contents it didn't have. The bile rose in my throat, burning and making me gag. But even through that, I continued to pray.

There was a shuffle, and then the steps continued, clacking away across the room. But, I knew they would be back.

The moans of the others hummed in my ears, punctuated by animalistic wails that were born from the bowels of h.e.l.l.

A sudden, loud clunk sounded in my ears, and bright light flooded into my eyes. I had been in darkness for so long that the luminance brought only pain. A searing pain that made me squeeze my eyelids tightly shut.

The footfalls came again as they moved across the plank floor, returning to their station at my head. I continued to hold my eyes shut and struggled through a gasping breath as I began to sob with the others.

Now, instead of the acrid stench of rot and excrement to which I had grown so accustomed, the sweet smell of perfume burrowed deeply into my nostrils. Its thickness caused me to gag again, and my chest began to tighten.

Another shuffle and pair of excited steps met my ears. A moment later a pressure settled across my belly making it even harder for me to breathe.

I began to beg. G.o.d wasn't listening to my prayers, so I had no other choice.

As the mumbled words started tumbling from my mouth, a sharp sting lashed across my cheek, and a feminine voice, dripping with false sweetness drawled, "Wake up..."

I was jolted awake by the intense feeling that someone, or something, had just struck me hard in the face. My heart was pounding and my chest was tight. I felt as if a weight were resting on my stomach, causing me to labor for each breath. My head was throbbing with unnatural pain, and I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach.

The nightmare had returned, and this time the abject terror was fully intact. I started upward as I had done countless times before when awaking from this horrific vision, but got nowhere. In fact, not only did it feel as though something was pressing me back downward, an odd sensation bit into my wrists and arms. Confusion joined the pain in my grey matter as I fought to reason out what was happening. I was almost certain I was awake. I didn't have the odd feeling of disconnection that so often came with channeling a spirit. And, I had the headache. That was a pain that always remained within the boundaries of my wakefulness. Light was streaming in through the thinness of my eyelids, blood red and far too bright for comfort. I found that I was still holding them tightly shut, an artifact of the nightmare I a.s.sumed, but one I didn't mind. Since it appeared that light was now also invading my corporeal world, I knew its sudden influx would only serve to make the headache even worse.

Still, something was definitely off kilter, and I needed to know what it was. I was just about to take the plunge and open my eyes at least enough to get my bearings when another lacerating sting tore into my cheek.

This time I knew it was real.

"I said, time to wake up, little man." The nightmare woman's voice rolled into my ears, heavy with a sugary Southern drawl.

My eyes flickered open, and as I suspected, the glare of the overhead light acted as an accelerant on the ache in my skull. Blinking my way toward some semblance of focus, I looked upward toward the direction of the voice. Staring back at me was a visage that would have been comfortingly familiar had it not been for the frightening expression it wore.