Terrible Beauty

Word Count: 986

         He drove slowly through the streets, bathing himself in the beauty of the night. The car flashed brightly in the streetlight before slipping back into the ocean of darkness. Buildings lined the road. They loomed tall and strong, silent titans, monuments instilling wonder and fear into those on the ground taking time enough to notice. He always noticed. Sirens wailed in the distance. Thundering bass spilled out of the doors of a nearby club. The babble of a myriad of voices peaked and fell in harmony with the music of the night.

         He edged the nose of his car into a connecting street. The vehicle moved as calmly as the driver inside, an extension of the zen like state of the operator. A cocktail of nerve numbing substances and clarity of purpose brought him to this mindset of personal Nirvana. Tonight was a night of indulgence, a night where he would drink from the cup of life until his spirit burst.

         The scantily dressed women on the pavement moved and gestured at him in mechanical parodies of true seduction. His eyes slid past them with as little interest as he gave the street signs. Then he saw her. Standing at the edge of a pool of light, under shadow of a malnourished tree, stood a girl who snatched his attention. She was a skinny thing with dirty blonde hair. Her arms were crossed before her pulling the jacket tight around her body. Her spindly legs were exposed and accentuated by her short black skirt and knee high boots. Her face though decorated with immaculately applied rouge, lipstick and eye-liner held a fragile emptiness, the heart wrenching beauty of a soul whose recent expectations of the world had crashed back down to meet a disillusioning reality. He recognised a kindred spirit, at an awful oneness, with a terrible truth. He pulled his car to the curb.

         She met his eyes with an impassive stare. He waved a small bag in the window for her to see. Pausing for a moment, a distant calculating look swept across her forehead before she nodded at him in agreement and moved towards the passenger door. He reached across to brush the rubbish from the side seat and open the door. She crossed her arms and leaned against the window resignedly as he drove off into the blackness.

         They stopped underneath a flickering neon light promising cheap rooms within. He offered her his hand which she ignored as she left the vehicle and led the way through the doorway of  the crumbling building. The lobby smelled of mould and cheap perfume. He crossed the faded rug to pass money to the sweaty, balding male behind the perspex manning the counter. They walked up a shadowy stairwell until they reached their floor and edged down the hallway to their destination. The room contained a double bed made with a flower covered quilt which was tearing at the seams. The bedside table held a lamp that had been chained to the wood. The whole place brought a smile to the corner of his mouth with its confronting honesty.

         She took off her jacket, dropped her underwear and sat on the bed with a knee raised to expose her neatly trimmed nether regions. Sitting beside her he ran his hand from her knee to her crotch and back up the other leg slowly, enjoying every tantalising moment. He reached for her small pert breasts and she automatically pulled of her shirt obligingly. Her face was even more distant than when he first saw her as she went through the motions. This lady of the night made no attempt to put a glossy veneer on her lewd services. He revelled in her authenticity. Leaning in towards her breasts he put his face just close enough to feel the heat coming off her skin and slid his head down to rest on her thigh. He closed his eyes to relish the intimacy.

         Leaning over him she started working at his belt. brushing her hand off he stood to get a warm glass of water before producing the satchel and a pair of syringes from his pocket. An expectant, coveting look held her features as she watched on. Crystals were poured and stirred as a lighter flickered. A plunger was pulled back on one of the syringes, loading it with the carefully prepared nectar she craved. Her arm was held out exposing the marks of previous indulgence. He obliged her and she lay back across the bed satisfied. His senses heightened in expectation of his ultimate satisfaction.

         He lay next to her and stroked her hair. He looked on at her momentarily satisfied countenance eagerly. All at once she started shuddering violently. Her eyes shot open and a surprised gasp escaped her mouth. He held her head back and brought his eyes to stare directly into hers as the spike kicked in. Panic flowed out of those wide, blue eyes and excitement ran through his veins as he looked on lustfully. Her mouth opened and closed silently as the paralytic took over and she fought for breath. He spread himself over her to embrace the fullness of the moment, his eyes never wavered. The girl's body stopped moving yet for a time her eyes still darted around pleadingly. Soon even they rolled back into her skull. Still he looked on panting with the adrenaline caused by such intense stimulation. All his energy focused on taking in as much of her very essence possible as it flowed out past him and dispersed back into the universe.

         He rolled onto his back next to the naked corpse breathing heavily, a grin of fulfilment plastered across his face.  He didn't dare stand up just yet. He couldn't risk breaking the magic, magic brought on by the presence of such terrible beauty. Moments like these, he thought, are what we live for.