Sitting on the Ceiling

Chapter 4: Fight 2

Chapter 4: Fight 2



He had given me a powder and snorted it with me. It completely redefined my mood. I was in fits of laughter with him before we left again. It was a day or so. I liked spending time with him. It changed my mood, as I said. He convinced me that I should go out and dance more. I agreed with him soon enough, after he showed me what I’d be missing with other men.
I went out into the party. I saw Vladmer. He smiled at me. I smiled weakly to him. He distracted me. I ran into a man with a small chest. He had one of his nipples pierced. I looked up. I had seen him before. He had killed the woman I had had a dance-off with. With another man. He had shaggy pink hair and magenta eyes. His smile was warm, yet cold. He reminded me of everything I could have been. This caused me to cower. He looked apologetic.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he laughed, “A woman of your power should be less vulnerable.”
“Do I not meet your standards?” I asked, offended.
He laughed again.
“My standards are nonexistent. What? Are you going to hit me?”
“I never said that.”
“But you are angry with me.”
“Do I not have every right?”
“Hit me.”
“No.”
“Hit me.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“Hit me!”
I kneed him in the groin as hard as I could.
“Happy?”
He squealed and bent in half.
“I said hit!”
“I said no.”
He caught my hint of pride.
“Fine,” he gasped in a squeaky voice after a minute of pain.
I pulled him up and put my hands on his hips. He was curious. I directed his hips to sway like mine, smiling. He caught on and shook his head, tut tutting. He turned me around and backed my bottom up to his groin. I liked his touch. It was unique. He told me his name was Greg and his other friend, with blonde hair and pink tips with the magenta eyes and right nipple piercing was named Andrew. He was the person on the other side of the woman’s neck when they killed her.
“It’s like a band-aid,” he said.
“I want to feel it closer,” I whispered.
He giggled.
“I want to show you how I use it,” he said.
I turned to him and stuck my tongue in his mouth. He balked and followed my hands to my breasts. I laughed.
“Are you not ready for me?” I asked.
“It’s not that. You shoved your knee pretty far into my dick,” he explained.
“Want me to kiss it? That’s what Vladmer does to me. He kisses my wounds, licks them if he inflicts them.”
His hot breath exhaled in an impressed agreement. He was turned on, apparently. I kissed him so that he really felt my intentions. I wanted him to remember me. I had a problem of being deprived from attention. For most of my life, it had been this way. He was not as good as Heren at making me feel good about myself, but he was good at it generally.
“Yeah, you could kiss it,” he managed to say nervously.
I massaged his groin with my hand and felt his chest with the other one. We deffered into his bedchamber and ventured further into each other.

Later I awoke to Ferdel, Evan, and Vladmer speaking amongst themselves. They were watching me absently. I sat up. There was blood on and around me. I smiled peacefully, remembering the episodes with Greg and Heren. There was a lot of bloodshed between the two of them. Blood was the ultimate sensuality thought, the intimacy of sex and second death with another being was mind-blowing. I’d never done it before. Heren was the first to show me.
“Morning sunshine,” Vladmer said.
“Morning blossom,” I smiled.
“Have fun last night?” Ferdel asked.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I know what you did,” he said.
“You watched?” I asked, alarmed.
“No. It’s an educated guess. And with Heren being so old he’s probably been doing it forever.”
“What’s the blood for?” Evan asked.
“I was having sex,” I answered honestly.
“With blood?”
I smiled. I looked at Vladmer. Not wanting to explain what I had been doing I changed the subject. I moved my tongue around my fangs. They came from they’re concealment and said hello to the men. Vladmer in particular.
“Hello there. Wanna show Evan what I’m talking about?” I asked him.
I was joking, but it didn’t appear to be so.
“I’m sorry?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
I spread my legs.
“I said, do you want to show Evan, the guy sitting next to you, how to have a good time,” I said, really slow.
Ferdel was out of breath he was laughing so hard. I smiled, chuckling with my breath.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“No I do not want to screw you!” Vladmer said loudly, outraged.
“Are you sure? I mean, I’ll swallow if it makes you feel better,” I promised.
“No!”
“I can blindfold you and you can pretend its Kabri.”
He was sick. He left for outside for a few moments, then came back in.
“You are very easy to displace. You should work on that. You know, I’ve been thinking. Blackeye and the other five he was with haven’t come back yet. You think I killed them?” I said.
“Tesela, have you not learned your lesson? First off, evil cannot kill evil of the same power, meaning, that if you used the same light or shadow that they had themselves they could not die from it. Along with obtaining the power comes the immunity to it. You used a common light so they obviously didn’t die from it,” Ferdel said.
“And secondly?” I asked.
“Well, you’ve heard this before. You did not win the war. You won the battle. Nor did you start the war. A man started the war in the B.C’s. I can’t recall his precise name. It started with an H. What are those?” he asked.
“They’re called cigarettes,” I said stupidly, a cigarette in between my lips.
I lit it and took a long drag, sitting back.
“What? Where the Hell did you get them?” Vladmer asked, standing up and approaching me.
“Heren. Why?”
“Tess, I know you’re already dead, but you still shouldn’t rot your breath with those,” he said, holding out his hand.
I flicked the box toward his hand. A single cigarette poked through and touched Vladmer’s finger. I took my eyes off the ceiling above me and looked at him. A pair of eyes out the window was watching us. I felt it. I saw a shadow in the window. I laughed at the look on Vladmer’s face at the offer.
“Does it not entertain you?” I asked Ferdel and Evan.
Vladmer grabbed the cigarette in my mouth and held it against his palm until it extinguished itself. I was insulted.
“What a dick thing to do,” I commented dryly, pulling now a piece of gum from my other pocket.
“Well, next time I kiss you tobacco isn’t going to be the top desire to experience.”
“There is a next time?” I asked.
“Inevitably, yes, sometime before we die.”
“You certainly know your stuff.”
I stood up with his help and slid my hand down his body as I walked past. It met his penis and gave a short greeting. His hands immediately fell down over mine, pulling it off. I laughed, as did Ferdel and Evan.
“Am I the laughing stock of the show, here?” Vladmer asked.
“No, you’re the uptight one in our group. I can’t even fix that,” I laughed, smacking his back end playfully.
He instinctively turned around so I no longer had access to his butt.
“I’m not uptight!”
“And I’m a man,” I said.
“You are?”
“Touch me,” I said.
“No.”
“Please? It doesn’t have to be inappropriately. I just want to feel you.”
“Ewww! You’re gross! You sicko!”
“Toldja,” I laughed.
Ferdel and Evan chuckled good-naturedly.
Vladmer was appalled. I walked across the room and pulled out another cigarette. I lit it.
“You know, I’ve had cigarettes before. And these, my dear father, don’t taste like cigarettes,” I said.
Vladmer went even paler than he already was. He sniffed the ‘cigarette’ in his hand. His jaw dropped.
“Tesela! Heren gave you pot!” he cried and ran for me.
I held my hand out and took another drag. He tried to take it from me but my hand pushed his chest away.
“Remember this Evan?” I asked, tossing him the pack.
He laughed and caught it, hiding it from Vladmer. I tossed him the lighter. Vladmer still tried to get my weed. I flew above him, pressing my back against the wall and feet flat against it as well. He looked up at me. I spread my hands out, crossed my feet at the ankle, and exhaled the smoke with my head back.
“I am Jesus! Worship me!” I said in a deep voice.
Evan and I laughed uproariously.
“Come on Ferdel, smoke one with us,” I said.
“But I’m a demon,” he said.
“I’m a vampire and I can still get high with it. What are you going to do, die?”
He laughed. Evan supplied him.
“Ferdel!” Vladmer cried.
“Vladmer!” I mocked.
Vladmer flew up and tried to take my joint. I deffered it to the other hand. He went for that hand. I switched. He finally spread his arms out like mine, got really close, and checked both of my hands. I smiled. “You like this don’t you?” I wrapped my legs around him, put my arms around his neck, and made out with him. He made several grunting noises of protest before giving up.
My body changed and I was suddenly in Hell somewhere surrounded by tons of fighting men demons. They were watching a light behind me. I looked at it. It was G.D, kissing Vladmer, forcing his head into position. Vladmer was trying to shove him off, but was too weak. The demons were laughing.
I was horrified. G.D socked Vladmer in the face and took his head by the hair. He bashed his head into the wall. Ferdel was holding Evan back and Vladmer was being injected with all kinds of shadows. There was somebody looking through the window behind everyone in my bedchamber. I had seen him somewhere. He was laughing. Then there was another man. Then two others. There were four men laughing at Vladmer in the window.
I had almost forgotten about Vladmer and Ferdel’s episodes when a man came up behind me and grabbed my chin. I punched him. He was froze. I kicked his groin and pulled my blade, challenging anyone. They all ooed at me. “What are you going to do, woman?” a man asked.
I looked at him. Then the man behind him. They were my childhood fears. The two most perverted men I’d ever known. They were the ones that took my womb from me and raped me. They recognized me. I shrieked a battle cry and chucked my full power at them. All my lights, shadows, and powers from ESP. It was a tornado of power, a painful splay of misery, a full on vengeance for retaliation.
Hundreds of them were sucked in, but there were thousands of them to be there. They were not laughing at me anymore. They were silent. The tornado iced over and cracked. I was horrified. The body of the tornado was still moving, grinding the bodies up like teethed metal machines. Like ground hamburger. Vladmer was almost dead in the light. A demon was coming after me.
I laughed. I was obviously high. I jumped around in front of him and took another drag. He was running now. I flipped him off and jumped through the light. I was back on the scene. I kicked Ferdel to the ground and let Evan get on G.D. I went straight to the window. There was nobody there by the time I arrived. Just a black piece of paper. I picked it up. There was a single rose pedal pinned to it with its own thorn and the word ‘sex’ burned into it. I was flattered.
I knew where I’d seen the men now. One of them was the one that had made out with me and claimed to be Vladmer’s brother. He had challenged me to see how far I’d go with him. He offered me to be in his presence again. The other was the one that had eaten the woman in the grass. The one with the nipple piercings and no shirt. The other two I had never seen before.
I forgot about them for the time. Instead, I went to see Evan being beaten by G.D.
“Hey! Yeah, you! Buzz off! This is my life, not yours!” I told him.
He was depressed, you could tell, because his eyes were like mine. Dark circles were below them.
“I only wanted to warn you,” he croaked, “Warn you. But you would never believe me. I was never right. You have no life Tesela, and I’m making you one. So shut your fucking trap.”
He turned back to Evan, ran him through again, and deffered away. Evan fell to the floor.
“Ferdel, this is your fault. Fix it,” I demanded.
“My fault?” he asked, insulted.
“FIX IT!” I screamed at him.
He waved his hand across the air and everything was back to normal.
“And back?” I asked.
“And back,” he said, unbelievingly.
He went back in time before any of it happened. Only he and I remembered. Vladmer was back to making out with me, and Evan was back to getting Ferdel and himself high.
“Yeah, baby!” I whispered, reminding Vladmer who he was kissing.
“Ahhh!” he said.
He backed off.
“What the Hell am I thinking?” he asked aloud.
“Sex,” Evan laughed.
“Yup. Filthy pig sex,” Ferdel assured.
“Hey! Stay out of my mind!” Vladmer barked.
“So you admit it?” I asked.
“What? That’s like asking Ferdel if he likes you!”
“Ferdel likes me?”
“He fuckin’ worships you,” Evan said.
“Yeah! Hey, you ever think Tesela will ever think about fucking me like she fucks Heren?” Vladmer said.
“I never said any of those things!” Ferdel said.
Evan stroked his groin gesturingly.
Vladmer laughed and got behind me, humping my back end through our two pairs of pants. He was teasing Ferdel.
“I don’t know what your doing, but I wish you would do it harder,” I said.
I could feel how bad Vladmer wanted me. He chuckled and did it harder. I pressed him between my back and the wall and flipped. I entwined my fingers in his and put his hands up by his head. He shivered. I put my knees on the wall, trapping him between the wall and me. There was no escape.
“I would fuck you if you’d fuck me,” I whispered, kissing his top lip.
“I couldn’t fuck you though, I’d have so many men on my ass it wouldn’t be funny,” he whispered back.
“I would always have you. Even if every woman you’ve ever fucked from goddess to whore came back to bite my ass. Even the men I’m sure you’ve raped.”
“That’s pleasant.”
“No its not. I want to meet your brother. The one that made out with me a few years ago.”
“What? Marco?” he asked.
I stopped. He was totally turned off. I laughed and took another inhale of the joint.
“Yeah.”
“Well, you can’t. He’s in America.”
“No he’s not. I just saw him.”
“WHAT?”
“His name is Marco?”
I flew down to the ground and sat on the couch. I called his name mentally and waited. A man arrived who was terribly beautiful. Like I last remembered him. Long pitch black hair and nerve-shattering ice blue eyes that jumped out at you from beneath the dark sheet of hair. He was wearing a white muscle shirt that showed tattoos and muscles, purple veins and scars. Black baggy, chained pants and bright pink high heels with bright pink toenails and fingernails.
“Nice colors,” Vladmer commented, “You look like Kabri.”
“You know, she was pink on the inside too. Hot pink,” the man said.
“Fuck you!”
“I did.”
“I think he’s pretty,” I said.
“Smells like weed. I didn’t know you were into pot,” the man said to Vladmer.
“I’m not. She is. And him. And him.”
“Jeez, you must be the pussy of the group. DO NOT BE THE WRONG DOER!” he cheered, pumping his fist in the air and laughing.
“He fucks women that love him and then kills them. It’s his profession,” Marco said.
“No I don’t!” Vladmer protested.
“He has a cute little girly book that has all of his past victims.”
“I don’t!”
“He likes to make them scream his name and he likes to cut off all they’re connections. Boyfriends in particular.”
“That’s not true, Marco! God!”
But Vladmer was ignored.
“You, my distant lover, are…pretty, if that is the characteristic you call it. I call it beautiful. Sexy. Arousing. Something that gives me an erection. They’re all so perfect. But nothing of that matters. It’s what the words mean, not what they sound like. They are words of secret desire. Not necessarily from the heart, but from the dick, or, in your case, pussy. Like Vladmer, he can say them well. Just to warn you, he has a short dick. So don’t think he’s all big and strong on the true end. I cut it off once. It was funny. I’ll show it to you sometime—” he said to me, taking my hand.
“Shut up, Marco!” Vladmer shouted at him.
Marco looked up as if he were annoyed with his brother’s interruption.
“I remember you,” Marco said to me.
“And I, you,” I said.
“You’re the one that grabbed my dick.”
“I did.”
“You want to come over sometime? I mean, not now. We already have some whores over. But in a day or two.”
“No, she doesn’t Marco, you stupid little nympho. But your invitation is very appreciated,” Vladmer said.
“Fuck you, asshole! You can’t talk trash to garbage! Hahahahaha!” Marco spat foully.
They broke out into a fistfight, Vladmer coming out on top.
“Tesela, can I talk to you outside for a moment,” Vladmer asked, panting and holding the struggling Marco down.
“Uh-oh you guys, I’m in trouble,” I said.
Vladmer deffered outside and I followed.
“He’s leaving now,” he said.
“Why? We were just getting started,” I said.
“Because.”
“Because?”
“Because he can manipulate your mind to be anything he wants it to be. He’s like a military sergeant. He’ll break you down and reshape you like he wants you to be. I don’t want you to be his puppet. He’ll throw you away after he’s fucked you. I’m telling you, he’ll take you no farther than your walls.”
“Fine! But let go of my arm, your going to break it,” I groaned.
He let me go.
I smiled. He raised his eyebrows. I took the joint of mine he had in his hand and smoked it. He sighed.
“You want some?” I asked.
“I want you to not be like Marco.”
“I like that you care about me Vladmer. That’s what makes you a good friend.”
I deffered back into the room and smiled to Marco.
“Let me guess, I have to go?” Marco asked.
“I’m sorry. It’s Vladmer’s order,” I said.
“Well, I’m going to leave with dignity,” he grinned.
He approached me and gently pressed his lips to mine.
“TESELA!” Vladmer shrieked.
I licked Marco’s lips and stroked his hair, but he was gone.
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist.”
“Well resist it. The thing between his legs will eventually dawn on you like a piece of shit on a white carpet,” he said.
I laughed, and so did he. Ferdel and Evan were still laughing like stoned parrots.
“I just want to see your family closer is all,” I said.
“Well if you want to meet my other brother, he’s okay,” Vladmer said.
“I’m gonna go find a girlfriend,” Evan said.
“I want to come!” Ferdel said.
“Okay. Say, why don’t you find your own, eh?” Evan asked.
“Excellent idea,” Ferdel chuckled.
“You have another brother?” I asked Vladmer as the two left.
“Yeah. His name is Lewis,” he said.
I was going to call him but Vladmer interrupted me.
“No, I know where he is. I’ll get him,” he said.
He deffered away and returned 16 minutes later with another man. He was black and pale as well. I still believed that Vladmer was the hottest man I'd ever seen beside his brother and Evan, but his brother wasn't ugly. On the hot side, just not as far as others.
“Tess, this is Lewis. Lewis, Tess. Or, Tesela. Whatever you prefer.”
“Hi,” he said casually, looking around.
“Hey. Interesting isn't it?” I said.
“You could say that. It's more ancient than interesting. Are you the real Tesela?”
His eyes turned to me.
“Of course. Would you like to sit or is it in your best interest to stand?”
“I'd like to sit, thanks.”
He sat down and did a half smile, studying me.
“Are you going to flourish me with compliments as everyone else?” I asked.
“Not unless it is upon request.”
He knew my game already. Knew that I hated it when people other than Vladmer did this.
“You are a wise man. Very wise. So where do you come from?”
“Here.”
“Where have you been?”
“Everywhere. I just didn't want to stay in this palace. Especially under my brother's rule.”
“I'm right here,” Vladmer said.
“You were cruel to me! What was I supposed to do, stick around?”
“I didn't care if you went or stayed but you could bite your tongue for me once in a while!”
“What good would it do? Make you like me? You should like me because I'm made from you!”
“Sit Vladmer! Lewis, go on. What else did Vladmer do?” I asked, interested.
“Doesn't matter. He didn't torture me or anything. He just had a lot of problems. G.D was his pet, along with two others. Drunken fools they all were.”
“Are you guys over it?”
“I'm fine. As long as he doesn't ever touch me again,” Lewis said.
“And if you aren't the same freak I knew last time,” Vladmer muttered.
“Vladmer, what is your problem?” I asked.
“I'm fine with him. Honestly. He's right, I had problems back then.”
“I like meeting new people. Am I alone?” I asked.
“No, I like new people too. Better than the ones I have.” Lewis answered.
“Do you like them at all?”
“No. They’re plotting against me. We have our own thing going, attacking the witches and whatnot. Its working quite swell but we have our own disputes.”

The conversation went on from there and I eventually managed to patch up the hole in the two brothers relationship. We had stayed in there until our hunger became bothersome and we could no longer withstand it. We went into the city and looked around at the selections. There were many people out here today, all looking into shop windows. This gave me a good idea after we had eaten and I asked the others if they would like to go in it with me. I didn't tell them what I was going to do, only that it was fun and worth doing.
Breaking into somebody's car, I showed them to a seat in mock manners. Vladmer had forgotten about how I was in cars so he stepped in curiously. I showed myself into this yellow BMW and shut the door, hotwiring it quickly and driving off. At first, I checked the back mirror on Lewis every couple of seconds, Vladmer sitting beside me. I laughed to myself aloud and locked the doors. Realization dawned when he heard this, his face going white as he looked over at me. Flooring the gas pedal, I nailed the next pedestrian I saw with the car, slammed on the brakes, and watched two things. One was Vladmer's head colliding with the dashboard and the second was the witch who went soaring across the road like a dart. Lewis hit the back of my seat forcefully. I laughed as people outside on the sidewalk screamed at my wicked grin.
We all laughed as I took off again and nailed another woman who wasn't a witch. By this time, they had found something to hold on to. We flew around corners, skid across roads, and drove on sidewalks, plowing down anything that moved. Vladmer and Lewis liked my game. They liked it even more to yell out of the well-broken windows. I had about ten cops trying to avoid my trail of bodies but they only made the civilians more emotional by running over them like potholes. Driving into a side road, I deffered the beat up car in the courtyard of the palace and laughed it off.
The car was now red, inside and out. Dented up and ran like crap. I offered the wheel to Vladmer who was laughing but declined, then to Lewis who was holding on to everything he could and looked very scared but was laughing anyway. He too didn't want it. I kicked the door off its hinges and stepped out to admire it. It really was junk.
“Whew! That really can blow off some steam. How many was that?” I said.
“I think that was around thirty,” Vladmer thought.
“Want to see me in a semi?” I asked.
“Imagine how many buildings would fall victim to that. Bodies flew into windows like merchandise. That was awesome,” Lewis said.
“Why thank you, I'm glad we have a good start.”
“Yeah, at least I don't have to see the others for a while.
I felt sad for him. He really knew that if he continued to stay where he was he'd die. I was surprised Vladmer hadn't offered him to stay yet.
“You know, we all kind of live in my bedchamber. It’s got a whole other room we don't use. You can stay with us if you like,” I said.
“You want me to?”
“Definitely. Better than going back to death. I'd rather live with somebody I couldn't stand than know that I sentenced Vladmer's brother to death.”
“Well, uh, sure. I guess. But really—”
“Have you ever been to the movies?” I continued.
“Movies? Not really. Why?”
“Because me and Vladmer know a really fun trick. Come on, if you liked that you'll love this.”
We deffered into three seats, the two brothers chatting while I set off to steal some ammo. I came back and showed him how it was done and exemplified the hilarity. He loved it. I liked him a lot. Not as much as Evan or Vladmer but the equivalence to Ferdel. Ferdel was very thinly spread though he was interesting and he'd been off in his own land for a long time. He rarely ever came around anymore.
Lewis had a good target and a strong arm, pegging someone in the eye square. We never got caught and soon found ourselves in my bedchamber laughing about it heartily. We showed him around the palace and introduced him to random people. Even some girls he had eyed. When he asked me to deffer him back to where he had lived, I did so and left him there. He had to get some stuff that was important to the group. I stayed for a bit just to make sure nobody was in the house before leaving and promising my later return.
“Early October. So beautiful. Do you think we should have a party on Halloween or should we walk the streets and scare people shitless?” I asked.
“Party,” Vladmer said.
“Speaking of party, where did you go?”
“Everywhere. Danced, talked, scared, romanced. I did everything. I didn't see you though. Your the one who left,” he answered.
“Heren doesn't do ten minute stands like normal people”
“What now?”
His attention was focused on only me now.
“He does one night stands. One night and one day.”
“He can go that long?”
His voice was shocked.
“He is a prize fighter. And damn is he good. Finishes like he starts.”
“Oh my...”
“What? Can't you go that long? Or is ten minutes your best?”
I smiled a wicked challenge.
“I don't know how long I can work at it but the chicks I'm after aren't interested to stay with me that long.”
“Does that mean you’re not in any way interested in me?”
“Well, no, but your you. There's a whole different category for you.”
“Nice save. I was already looking for my blade.”
“Doesn't that make me feel loved?”
“Your no better.”
“But you are wrong there miss. Your loved, Tess. You’re loved very well.”
I froze for a second as he gently chuckled, “Let it sink in.”
He just told me he loved me. I looked at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. His hand was leaving my thigh. It was traveling to my cheek. I looked at it, terrified. He was smiling gently as if to promise himself to me. Now I was frightened. I quickly spluttered in barely legible speech, “I’ve got to go get your brother. Thanks,” and deffered to Lewis’s house.
I shook my head unbelievingly, shaking off Vladmer’s words. The house was almost silent. Except for the sound of fists hitting skin. Not like a fair fight, that was for sure. This alarmed me. I slowly moved across the floor as silent as a mouse and pushed the door open.
I stepped in and saw Lewis in the corner being beaten by two other men. They struck him relentlessly and yelled at him. The sight was disgusting. I could feel my stomach rising into my throat. I yelled at them, ordering them to stop. The men ignored it. I ran at them and stabbed them both in the back. Finally, a response. I got punched in the face twice by the men. I stumbled backwards in shock as they turned again, but turned back to me. There hands fell at their side. I rose up dangerously. Their faces were of deep disbelief. Using my powers, I squeezed their insides together and rearranged them.
I watched them cringe and laughed wickedly. They never stopped staring at me. I kicked them each in the face for punching me and watched them die slowly, their center pits eroding from their stomachs before their very eyes. But I didn't watch. I wanted to soothe Lewis before bringing him back to his brother. Vladmer would no doubt look down on him for shedding a tear from the pain. They had beat him with something other than their hands, I didn't know what. He was sat down in a chair with his knees up by his chest, clutching them for his life.
“Lewis, I'm sorry. I could have waited. They’re gone now though, or they will be,” I comforted.
“It's not...your fault...I took some stuff that wasn't mine and they got back early is all...please don't think ill of me.”
He paused to hide his sobs, lifting his face. There was a long cut from his temple to his chin on the right side. Bruises and cuts had already formed.
“No. I wouldn't ever. I admire you for not being afraid to do it. Any man I know would run around cussing and threatening anything that moved.”
“My brother...would...make fun of me...” he said, taking an extra time before speaking again.
I knew then that Vladmer had never had a reason to treat his brother so foul.
“You won't tell him...”
“No. I won't tell him. I couldn't do that. Come here.”
He let go of his legs and stood up, shaking. I too stood up and embraced him warmly.
“Just think, you won't ever have to come back here again. In fact, you get to stay with me and Vladmer and some other guys. And if you want to, we can even bring some of our own forces and take the rest of these guys out. What did they hit you with?” I asked when I noticed his body wasn't healing.
“Their fists,” he said.
“Why aren't you healing then?”
He hid himself away and muttered, “I'm not a vampire.”
“What? With all these other vampires? Why not?”
“I've never been one.”
So that was why Vladmer picked on him all the time!
“How old are you?” I asked.
“Twenty-seven.”
“What are you doing with all these vampires?”
“They found me. I don't know why they wanted me. Maybe so they could use my blood.”
“I've had your blood, it's different. But why would you give it to them?”
“I don't really have a choice.”
I still held him tightly, just enough to make him feel a little better.
“So they beat you all your life? Why did you leave Vladmer?”
“He was always drunk and with his friends. I was only 12. He tried to teach me things, I give him that. But it was always something useless, like how to get boozed up or something. He only took me because when he killed our parents with Marco I was left with nothing. No house to fake it out in, no way to eat.”
“That sounds harsh. I know how it feels though. Same story for me almost. But my parents killed each other. Who did you stay with?”
“Nobody. I enrolled myself for school over the telephone and lived in the park until these guys found me one night. Scared me half to death and kept me with them all the time. Eventually I became of some intelligence and was able to help them.”
“This is amazing. So your not new to all of this?”
“In a way. I've never left the ground or eaten anybody else or anything like that. I've only seen.”
I let him go and looked at his wounds. He could not support himself for very long so I sat him back down.
“They really make you look tough,” I smiled.
“Yeah, maybe if I didn't cry about it.”
“Crying is respectful in my view. Something I could never do. Not even if I were stabbed a billion times and shocked by lightening twice at once. I'd only be hateful and cruel. And lucky you, I'm the only person who saw.”
“That's very wise of you, but different.”
“Is there anything else you wanted to take?”
He gave me a weak smile and pointed to a big black briefcase. I picked it up and reached out for his hand, which he gave me. Deffering him into a chair in my bedchamber I set the case down.
“What did you do to him?” Vladmer's voice came from behind me, alarmed.
“I didn't do anything to him. What did you do to him?”
My voice was cold.
“I didn't...oh, so you know.”
“Yeah Vladmer, I know.”
“I had drinking problems, no priorities. You know how it can be sometimes.”
“My lady, its not anyone’s fault. It's the kind of world we live in. You know it is,” Lewis told me hopefully.
He was right of course. This was a sad world.
I pulled him up and helped him over to the bed saying, “Your gonna pass out soon. Might as well be prepared. I guess your right. And it was a long time ago. I'm sorry about this all. I would have never done the car the way I did if I would have known.”
He waved it away and lay on the bed numbly, his face white and red at the same time. I asked him one more thing before letting him rest.
“You want me to clean those for you?”
He held his breath to better face the pain of moving. His limbs were sore and beaten everywhere. I softly wiped off his face with my cloak at his signal. It was a little awkward since he smiled and said, “It's fine if you do it the way its done,” through more pain. He knew that we so boldly took liberties by licking each other up when we were wounded.
It wasn't as if I was afraid to do it, or even that I didn't want to. Just that it was Vladmer's brother that kind of threw me off. I did it anyway of course. I imagined it would have felt good with the warmth and was scary at the same time because a vampire was licking him. Luckily, he passed out before he could say anything. The blood came back out anyway and the cuts looked ten times worse. His bruises were black and purple.
I touched his cheek to feel his fresh blood. It was entrancing, the way it ran into my snow-white hands. Its bright red color reminded me of when I had taken Vladmer's blood. The way it felt inside. I'd never had that feeling. It was the same when he had told me he had a small crush on me. An unwelcome sensation that could not be forced away. This blood gave me the same thing. It wasn't anything bad, it was good in all cases, but I didn't like anything that could make you forget pain and hatred, therefore, it was bad in the greater part of my conscience.
I would have continued on playing with the blood but Vladmer's angry voice cut in.
“I admit my interest and you bail, on top of that you’re after my brother? Do you know how that feels?”
“Yes. I know how it feels all too well. I also know how it feels to be ignored. Do you?”
“If your talking about me ignoring him you can shut your trap! You don't know the damn half of it!”
I walked towards him and said, “Oh don't I? Why don't you explain it to me then. Tell me why you killed your parents when he was 12 and then took him in to have him starved and neglected without a thought of maybe sparing some of your time to help him.”
“You don't know what you’re talking about. I would have rather had him with me than worried whether he was alive or dead, gone or cringed in the corner. He had a better life with me than he did at home, it was just different for a human to see. He was 12. Nobody wants to be stuck at 12 forever. Would you?”
I saw what he meant and he was right to say I didn't know what I was talking about. I thought it was just anger that killed the parents but there was always something else. I should have remembered that. He started again.
“You’re changing the subject. It's heartless to do that, not that I've ever noticed any sign of care from you. If you didn't want me you could have said so before you gave me
the—”
“Vladmer, your flawless. What do you want me to say? I had to leave. And it’s a damn good thing I did or your brother would be dead.”
“How am I flawless?”
“Everything. You look good enough to eat, you have a good sense, just what I am. Savage but addictive. Or so I hear. What else do you need?”
“I want to know if you feel the same way about me.”
“I can't tell you that.”
“Why not?”
I sighed and said, “Because I am not sure myself. But when I know I'll tell you. Honestly, I think you have yourself wrong though.”
“Are you telling me I don't like you at all?”
He looked almost disgusted in disbelief.
“No, I'm not telling you anything I don't know. I believe you when you tell me how you feel. How long do you think it will take your brother to wake up?”
“A few minutes. He's tough Tess.”
“He doesn't look it.”
“He's made from scratch like you. He can hide things.”
We made small talk for a few minutes, reminiscing on the past. Lewis awoke with scabs on his face, his beautiful black eyes neglected. I stood up and presented myself respectfully. He smiled, but immediately regretted it. I walked over and sat on him. He was terrified, unfortunately. I bit my wrist and put it in his mouth. He spat it back out.
“Do you not want life?” I asked, “Because I can kill you as well.”
“What are you doing?” he said.
“Have you not seen this before?”
“I’ve seen it. But I haven’t done it before.”
“I’m doing what Vladmer should have done a long time ago.”
He shuddered and accepted my blood.
“Wait, does that mean I’m your Child?” he asked, spitting it back out.
“Yes, Lewis, you’d be mine. It doesn’t matter. I can have Vladmer do it if you’re more comfortable—” I started.
He went back on my wrist immediately. I laughed. You could tell when he was experiencing the pain because his muscles would clench and tighten and he would stop breathing. I let him squeeze my arm. He was shivering with the power. My power. What I had rightfully earned from Hell. And now replications of it were going to him. I smiled at the thought of having someone who knew a lot about me and saw things from my prospective.
His wounds healed and he became more handsome but less fierce. He looked up at me and felt his body, then his mouth. I laughed and looked at Vladmer.
“Oh look, your first Child together,” Ferdel interrupted, coming through the door.
“Shut up,” I said.
“So who’s this?” he asked, ignoring me.
“This is my brother Lewis,” Vladmer said, “And he isn’t my Kid.”
“I’m hungry,” Lewis said.
“Of course. I was wondering why you didn’t eat last time. Okay. Vladmer, are you coming?”
“Yeah, I feel like I’m deteriorating. We really should start taking care of ourselves better,” he answered.

Later, after a long day of picking fights and drinking at the bar we finally came back. Ferdel ended up coming with us and we met up with Evan sometime that day. We had all gotten drunk and asked the bartender for tabs under false names, drinking a great quantity of their Jack Daniels.
We came back just as the sun was setting, planning to come back out and grab a bite before returning for a longer amount of time. Ferdel and Evan were working on two prostitutes they had found on a corner. Vladmer, Lewis, and I were just talking. It was only at this time that the entire palaces’ evil vive froze, and not even the rain on the window made a noise.
I stood up and gestured for the two men to sit on the couch across the room. I walked slowly to the center of the room. The lights went out. All the torches in the palace were gone. On the floors below me, I heard a few people scream. A big orange circle was forming beneath my feet. I sighed.
I was only afraid of exorcism and the Greater Evil. This, I assumed, was not something to be afraid of. Little did I know. Suddenly, as if everything that had just went through my head had not happened, I was pulled to my knees and bestowed a great deal of pain.
Like splinters going through my brain, like swallowing needles and washing it down with gasoline, like thorns being shoved under my fingernails, I was dominated by my greatest fear. Satan was speaking to me. I could see nothing but a white emptiness, but I could feel the men staring at me.
I could feel blood running down my face from my mouth and eyes. I heard a voice. It was deep and unfriendly. It belonged to a man. And when the man revealed his identity, I was terrified. This truly was my greatest fear. For He was the Greater Power.
“I am disappointed in you. And for my disappointment comes yours. I am assigning my men to take out those of yours that do not belong. You will not disappoint me again. You will fight the war and you will win or you will lose your life as well as your reputation. Do not tamper with them, or it will be your head that is lost. My prizefighters, Tesela, do not belong to you,” the voice said threateningly.
I was caught in a hacking cough of which more blood spilled from my body. I could see now, and when I looked up, I saw a demon. He was standing over me like I was his prize. I was infuriated, the fear leaving me now that He was gone. I pounded my fist on the grinning demons foot. He gasped, hopping on his other foot.
“I HATE YOU!” I shrieked at him, standing up and beating him with my fist. He had done it again. All the immigrants that snuck into my palace were going to die.
He was taken by surprise, stumbling backward and trying to avoid my fists. I kicked his groin and pulled my blade. A hand grabbed my thrusting fist before it made it into the demons center pit. I screamed even louder in anger, kicking the demon instead. Blood still poured from my body like river down a mountain.
“Ferdel get your hands off me! NOW!” I shrieked at him.
“You don’t understand. I can’t stay here. They’ve recalled me. Don’t do anything stupid, love,” he said.
He kissed my cheek and was gone.
I was stunned.
“You can’t just leave,” I said to the demon.
I wasn’t talking to him. I was talking to Ferdel. But Ferdel was gone.
The blood did not stop coming. I tried to swallow it down but it only made me nauseous and ended up bringing more. There was a man standing above me, looking down expectantly. Like he was the greater force. I was choking on my own blood right now and nobody was helping me. It didn't stop but the man still stood, tall and bold like he owned me. I got up with a mask of plainness. He believed it at first before I belted him across the face so hard he fell to where my blood still lay.
“AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK OF MR. HADES, SIR!”
I did a military-like salute and looked straight ahead, stomping my foot down on the man's head furiously. I wanted to take my anger out on him but instead I danced around the room in mock cheer and repeated a few words.
“You will drop these immigrant fools, they are of no value. Instead, you'll take my fighters who will represent you for a piece of char. THEN YOU CAN SHOVE YOUR PRIZE FIGHTERS UP YOUR ASS DICKWEED!”
Vladmer was sitting on the floor against the bed, staring at me expressionlessly. I was still bleeding from my mouth, but not my eyes, so I felt better. Pulling the man up I asked him, “What do you want? A stick?”
“I was sent by Hades so if you don't mind I would like a little respect!” he spat at me.
I belted him again and said, “Well I demand respect. You get nothing but a good lesson if you ever talk to me like that again! Now get up and start over!”
He pulled himself up again and said, “Hades has sent us here for the purpose of fighting against the witches. It would be in our best wishes to stay and fight. May we?”
Vladmer and Lewis were silent. Evan was nowhere to be seen. I kicked the demon in the heads one last time. “Get out of my sight you disgusting piece of shit. And he says I disappoint him. This one can’t even fight off a girl. I don’t give a fuck what you brought. I want my men back or you can go fuck your friend. Pussy,” I spat at him.
He deffered out of sight. I felt those eyes on me again. They weren’t Evan’s. They were that stalker’s eyes. I was half turned on that somebody was so interested in me. I secretly hoped it really was Vladmer’s brother. But I doubted that. He was a very widely spread man. He wouldn’t be interested in just one woman. The relief was not one to last long.
I was left with relentless anger and blood still leaking from my mouth. I wiped it off and leaned against the wall, swallowing it all down. It finally ceased with a painful tug at my pit. I coughed a little and looked around to make sure nobody else was in here. When I was gifted with the knowledge that it was only us three I screamed as loud as I could, as long as it would come, pounding my fists into the wall. It was unbearable sometimes, when your temper was soaring above the moon. I couldn't stand letting it sit there to fester at my life. Tearing, biting, scratching any place I could reach on myself, I was once again bleeding from the cuts that prevailed.
I was really scaring the other two, even more when I slid down the wall, panting, and a stone from the wall fell on me. It didn't help my anger by any means, only got itself chucked across the room and through the other wall. Tossing my hand at the wall it fixed itself before my power, as did the wall behind me. I didn't know what to do. There was nothing to do. Ferdel wasn't here so I couldn't ask him, I couldn't go back in town because it would be a dead giveaway to the witches on what I knew, I couldn't hurt Vladmer or Lewis, and I had already excused the demon. Instead, I screamed one last time in an almighty roar and tore at my arms, unable to stand myself any longer.
Only did I stop when I had successfully lost a large part of my arm skin, at which point my throat was too soar to scream. I stood there, light headed, gazing at the wall half conscious. I slowly turned my head and said weakly, “I can't take it anymore. Ferdel is gone, thousands of able-bodied fighters, gone.”
“Tesela, I have something to help you, kinda,” Lewis said.
“No, its okay. I got it covered,” I said, lighting a joint, taking a long drag, and grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels I had stolen.
“You won’t get a hangover from it,” Lewis added.
“Nice try, but vampires don’t get hangovers. I’d rather get high. Just leave me alone,” I said.
My skin healed.

Later I told them what Hades had also said later, after I had gotten high. I was very calm now. Happy. As if nothing had ever happened. I’d also let Lewis give me the stuff he wanted me to have. It made me numb.
“Hades was talking to me. Said that the immigrants I had brought wouldn't work so he killed them. Gave me his lot and told me the witches would be here soon looking for a surprise attack. ‘Soon’ was his exact word. Threatened me, ordered me to do it right the first time or I'd be tortured. We'll never see Ferdel again. Don't know why. So what do you say we do? Do we tell the palace or will that scare them?” I said.
“Your the queen!” Lewis laughed, “But if life was dependant upon my answer I'd say your best chance would be to tell them. Soon could be very soon, we don't know. And you don't want them to think you hid it from them. Besides, you'll always be prepared that way.”
“And Blackeye could always tell you,” Vladmer added.
“He also said that Blackeye was about to blow it so we need to get him here now...” I called for him and he came.
“M’lady?” he asked.
“Hades says you should lie low. The witches are getting suspicious. Tell your gang to lay low for a week or two,” I said.
“M' lady, I'm not saying this to alarm you, but we don't have two weeks. They plan to attack in a few days. What is your number?” he said.
“Hmmm, hold on,” I summoned the demon I had beaten earlier.
“What do—was there something you wanted?” he caught himself.
“What did you bring?”
“1000 even your highness.”
I waved him off and turned back to Blackeye.
“3,183 in full number if I'm right.”
“That's not enough.”
“We have ghosts too, would you like them added?”
“Everything. Trolls, ghosts, vampires...everything.”
I looked at Vladmer nervously and said, “5,632.”
“That's not enough. You need more. The witches have far more than that.”
“What do they have?”
He closed his eyes and repeated, “26,997 witches, 40,000 faeries, 1,050 ghosts and 6,912 animals. All together that's 74,959...”
I went cold. Pure helplessness compacted my insides. I wanted to die right now and pass on the responsibility. I went into a deep concentration and tried to work out ways to approach this.
“Wait, Vladmer, I think Ferdel told me something…” I muttered.
“VLADMER! EVIL IS IMMUNE TO EVIL! VLADMER, WE CAN USE OUR SHADOWS!!!!” I cried, jumping up excitedly.
“Are you sure? I thought Ferdel said Evil would kill other Evil,” Vladmer said.
“No! He told me yesterday and told me to remember it! He knew this would happen! That dick! Oh, but how smart he was. And he left his blade here with me. Wait, there’s something on it,” I said, picking it up.
Vladmer looked at it beside me.
“He always kept this thing polished though. Why would he—” Vladmer started.
But I elbowed him gently and flipped the blade around. We followed the arrow that was carved on the back with the word ‘kill’ under it and the number two under that. I looked at Vladmer, he looked at me, and we had an understanding of one another. Vladmer causally stood up and walked to Blackeye.
“So how do you like being a witch?” he asked.
“I hate it. They’re all jocks, nerds, or bookworms. None of them are bad people. I hate it!” he cried.
“Have you taken a liking to any of them?” Vladmer asked.
“No,” Blackeye answered.
“Good.”
Vladmer stuck his hand out. Blackeye shook it warmly.
He failed to realize I had took his blade and was circling him.
“I think you need a refresher on your motivation,” I said.
Vladmer moved behind him.
“Unzip your pants,” I whispered, kissing him with my tongue.
He shook his head.
“I don’t want to do things in front of them,” he said.
“But they like to watch,” I argued.
“I don’t want to,” he begged.
“But I want you. I want you to bend my over a chair and—”
“What the Hell!” he cried as Vladmer pulled his arms behind his back and I reached into his cloak to pull out a red vial.
“What are you going to do?” he asked, eyeing the vial.
“Just going to teach you a little lesson,” I answered.
He pushed Vladmer backward at this, but Vladmer stood his ground.
“We aren’t going to hurt you,” I smiled.
I smashed the vial to the ground and two witches popped up.
I killed one and handed the knife to Blackeye.
“To prove your loyalty, kill this one,” I said.
Vladmer let him go.
“I don’t need that,” he said, rejecting the knife. I put it back. Instead, he pulled a sharp rock from his pocket and beat the witch in, her skull cracked and broken. I laughed.
“I like men that have imagination. They’re better in bed, but we can wait,” I said.
He smiled and deffered.
“Good. Now get out, round up the others. We've got the good stuff now!” I cheered.
I was standing at the head of everybody, proudly looking out at their mass, a few minutes later. Starting proudly, I yelled at them all.
“My beautiful wanderers of the night! My drinkers of the blood that so carelessly spills from the drunken glass! I present to you factual information that is not to be comprehended until I'm finished! The war will be in a few days and we've got about 6,000 people! Sound good? Well they have around 75,000! But wait! There's a catch to it! I alone could take out their army with a simple flick of a wrist, as could my significant other! But, I'm not all too sure you blood lovers want that! So, I'll make a deal with you. We settle the score so that they have 11,000 left and you take that on. What do ya say?”
Roars of approval burst in the air and a rather odd-looking man rose and whispered something in my ear. I shook my head in agreement and reasoning and yelled once again, “You guys have good ideas! Party we shall throw! But mind you, only til dawn! We don't want drunk or passed out war heroes!”
Another loud roar emitted into the air as people ran into the cave excitedly. I heard loud rock buzz from the cave as the last people entered. Shaking my head and gliding down to the ground I sighed in a humorous laugh, “They can't get enough of it. Cause to party, effect of a thousand lifetimes.”