Authors note: To everyone who's been hanging out for this new book
since part one was posted, I want to apologise for the wait. The truth
is I had new chapters of this story ready to rock and roll months ago,
and I was ready to post them when I had some friends read the early
drafts only to inform me that the quality just wasn't there: They were
rushed, too eager to reveal the secrets that I have planned for this
new series. Faye, Nick and the world of Delacroix are near and dear to
my heart, and the last thing I'd ever want to do is damage them by
releasing an inferior story.
So I took things back to the drawing board, wrote new chapters and
heavily edited the remaining content. The end result is massively
different to what I originally penned, only retaining a few of the
original, core elements. But I'm much happier with the result, and I
hope you are as well.
Lastly, shoutouts! first goes to Chefness: Read her story "The Platinum
Chef" please! It's events are actually set in the year between "Adam's
Song" and "Teenager of the Year". We've been collaborating a lot to
ensure that plot elements in her story are not only in line with the
overall Delacroix cannon, but they actually carry over into TOTY. It's
not required reading by any stretch, but you'll get a more complete
picture of the universe.
Thanks also to Liz Montoya and Nayko: You've been a big help with both
brainstorming and feedback on the story quality. Last but not least,
thanks to Amy K for her series "Amy" creating the world of Delacroix in
the first place!
Chapter one:
Life has a flavour to it, at least I like to think so. Psychologists
call it "Neuro-associative-conditioning" which tells you absolutely
nothing about anything. The gist of it is that as human beings, we
experience reality subjectively. And when we experience that reality,
we instinctively attach emotions to the experience.
Lemme give you an example: If I jumped on a skateboard and rolled
around aimlessly, I might totally love skateboards from that point
onward. If I jumped on the same skateboard and split my skull open, I'd
probably develop some kind of phobia toward unsecured vehicular urban
transport. It's the same principal.
A long time ago...I think I was happy. Not in the sense of a tampon
commercial where girls run giddy through a field of flowers. I just
mean...y'know, happy. Like in a "God's in his heaven, all's right with
the world" kind of way. Life just made sense to me. I could wake up in
the morning and feel like I belonged to something bigger than myself.
That I wasn't out of place. Whole and complete.
I couldn't tell you when that started to change. Sometimes things in
life happen so slowly you don't even notice. Some people call it "death
by a thousand cuts". At first, I kinda liked being different to
everyone else. It made me feel like an individual, like I was special.
I put up a front to hide who I really was to the rest of the world,
showing people what I thought they wanted to see of me. But as time
passed, I found myself putting up that front more and more. It engulfed
me, the front casting a shadow over everything else. The yearnings
within me grew more incessant, crying out to be fed with something I
could never give them. The emptiness grew day by day. Ever longer, ever
deeper.
Bottomless.
Then before you even realize it, you're alone. Angry at the world,
weary of being pelted by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Bitter and jaded, the darkness is all you have left. It's what defines
you now, a pillar of your identity. To challenge it seems unthinkable,
because that would tug at the seams of who you are as a person. So
every day you wear your mask, and every day the shadows behind it grow
just a little darker. It's an endless cycle from which you can't
escape: An ouroborous of self-loathing and disgust. It's no surprise so
many transgendered individuals end their lives the way I did.
But I found a way out, didn't I? What seemed impossible became a
reality, and I'd been given the one thing the yawing hunger within me
craved most: Femineity, pure and radiant. Perfect in every way. Down to
every cell and atom, written into every silken strand of DNA.
Strands of blond hair wrapped about my neck, carried by a wind that
howled faintly between the buildings below. Everything around me was
bathed in a luminescent hue of blue and white, radiated from an
enormous neon sign that was erected behind me reading "Crazy Apple."
Delacroix wasn't a big town by anyone's estimate. But it's large enough
that it has it's fair share of towers and offices. The Crazy Apple
billboard rested atop a five story business complex, roof access
provided if you could play Tetris with a few trash cans to access a
fire escape. I used to come here to think if I had a big exam coming
up, or if Faye had Zoe and Rachael around for movie night. If you sit
in just the right spot, you can see from the city centre all the way to
the ocean. On a night like this, waves sparkle in the moonlight like a
sea of jewels.
So why wasn't I happy?
I should be thrilled. Jubilant and irrepressible, heart soaring with
boundless wonder and energy. But there was something missing, I
couldn't put my finger on it...like the flavour was all wrong. How
could that be? I'd done everything right, and had everything I'd ever
wanted. But it still wasn't enough? That's not fair! What the hell else
could I do to get back to where I was happ-
The phone in my pocket squeaked with a dubstep ringtone, snapping me
out of my reverie. Scrunching up my nose in frustration, I plucked it
free and tapped the screen. Faye's number? Great. Girl never could take
a hint when I needed a little time to myself. Or she didn't care.
"What is it?" I asked, making no attempt to hide the undercurrent of
irritation in my voice.
"Hey cranky-pants." Her voice sounded muffled, like she was speaking
too close to the mouthpiece. "We're going to a party tonight up in the
hills. Super exclusive invitation stuff, completely illegal. You're
gonna love it."
It felt as though someone was twisting a knife in my stomach. I came up
here to be alone with my thoughts. Alone: The opposite of being with
people. "Not a chance, Faye. I thought you'd get the hint that this was
private time for me."
There was noise in the background, difficult to discern. Like a low
hum, rising and falling. And was someone else talking? "Obviously. But
you've been getting progressively mopier since we went shopping. I told
you life in panties is not a death sentence."
"So? I would have thought it was pretty obvious that I've got a lot of
problems to work through. Least of which being I'm in the wrong fucking
gender!"
Despite my growing frustration, she seemed unperturbed. "C'mon, you
need to stop focusing on everything that's bad and take a little time
to enjoy yourself. Blow off some steam. This could be a good thing for
you, just give it a chance."
"Good luck finding me," I snorted. "Wait a sec...you're in your car,
aren't you?"
"Yeeeeep. Handsfree is busted, so I'm multitasking here."
I narrowed my eyes. "You stuck the phone in your cleavage and set it to
speaker, didn't you?"
"I can turn on video chat if that will change your mind."
Interface: Palm to face. "No, all I want right now is some space,
alright? I promise I'll be fine, I just need time."
"What if I pick you up right now?"
"You don't even know where I am. You can drive around town all night if
you want, but you're not gonna find me."
"Lemme take a stab in the dark." She paused, and I heard the voice
again. Was it giving directions? "Two fifty, fifty second street?"
"What?" I balked, shocked that she knew. "How the fuck-"
"Your phone has a GPS locator in it. All I had to do was link it to
mine."
No. Fucking. Way. "You broke into my account?"
"Hey, I've seen the movie Hackers. I know how this stuff works." She
chided.
A pair of headlights lit the way as a white Lancer Evo, pinnacle of the
Japanese rice rockets, pulled into the alleyway below. Sometimes her
audacity shocked even me.
"Where are yo- oh, never mind. That's a long way up."
"Yeah," I muttered darkly. "I like it for the solitude."
"So you gonna come down, or are you going to make me come up and get
you?"
I hung up, not bothering to respond. Regardless of wether I told her to
get lost or not, my little piece of private time had been well and
truly destroyed. I stepped off the walkway and grabbed hold of the
stepladder leading off the roof. I swung my legs about and slid down
the handrails, quickly moving from one level to the next. I'd never
been slow as a guy, but becoming a teenage girl who was 5'5" and
weighed next to nothing? Flexibility and speed took on a whole new
meaning. It was the kind of thrill parkour runners must get:
effortlessly flowing from one obstacle to the next, moving like water,
never losing momentum as I flew between the levels, landing neatly on
the very same dumpster I'd used to ascend the fire escape.
"Holy shit dude!" Faye looked at me with genuine surprise as I climbed
into the passenger seat. "Fuck cheerleaders, you should try out for the
track team."
"I never said I wanted to be a cheerleader." No, that would be
fantastic and amazing.
"Right, sorry. My bad." I settled into the bucket seat, pulling the
seatbelt into it's clasp. She was wearing a tight printed tee with a
scooping neckline deep enough to reveal a valley of cleavage to anyone
with functional eyeballs and a heartbeat. The ensemble was completed
with a back micro-mini with a zipper running up it's side, the black
Chuck's that seemed to be glued to her feet every day, and a large
printed baseball cap.
"Look, I know you're pissed that I came out here. But this is for your
own good." She put the car into gear, slowly moving back to the main
street. "You need something to take your mind off what has happened.
Focus on something else for a change, y'know?"
"You hacked my phone," I hissed between clenched teeth.
"Puh-lease. Your password was Mitnick? Ex-geek here, remember?"
"Achievement unlocked: I'm still mad at you."
"And I'm sure you will be until I get you drunk enough to forget how
you even got to the party." She looked over her shoulder, merging lanes
with the traffic. "That might be quicker than you expect, by the way."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"
"Moping around, dreaming that you're a guy sure won't." She smiled.
"Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."
I let out a frustrated sigh. This was happening all wrong, dammit: I
didn't get to be the kind of girl that I always dreamt about. To make
things worse, going out shopping turned out to be the most mundane
experience I could have possibility imagined. Faye was so concerned
about protecting my "fragile mental state" that it was over and done
with before I even knew it, the whole ordeal reduced to quickly
scouring the women's section of a few boutiques and a freaking K-Mart.
On top of all that, I have to deal with...whatever deal I've struck
with a psychotic entity that wants to eat my soul? Fuck! It's not
supposed to be like this! I mean it...it's just not! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED
TO BE LIKE THIS! ITS NOT SUPPOSEDTOBELIKETHISITSNO-
"You've gone quiet. Something the matter?" Faye glanced at me with a
look of concern.
"It's nothing," I muttered tersely. "Just drive."
---------------------------------------------
The party as it turned out, was nothing like what I had expected. I was
always invited to parties that pretty much fell into the same category:
Someone decides to throw a party...and that's it. People show up with
the cheapest booze they can afford, get completely wasted, light a few
joints and wake up shivering in a pool of their own vomit. And if you
got lucky, you might wake up sharing that vomit with someone else.
Point is, it wasn't complicated. Or illegal. This party was neither of
those things.
Here's how it works: Someone scouts a suitable location, which can be
anything: Rural property. Townhouse. Penthouse. You name it. The only
thing they have in common is the owner is out of town.
Next step is the social media call goes out: Cash up front, deposited
into PayPal account. That buys you a call back with the details. You
need those details because two hours later the page has gone down
before cops catch the scent. Last step is another call going out three
hours before the event. Even if the police do catch wind of it, the
same call can be used to shut things down before anyone can show up.
It's elegant, simplistic, and impossible for anyone to stop.
At least, I'm sure that's what will be told to the owners of the
opulent five-bedroom, two story dwelling located in Delacroix's newest
housing estate for successful families and young professionals. What
was meant to be a comfortable escape from the drudgery of life for the
biggest fish our town could offer, failed on a single fundamental
level: Before completing any houses and allowing the families to move
in, one should hire security and order gates for the estate.
From the back seat of the car, I could only poke my head out
occasionally to see the skeletal framework of a house rising from the
ground like the corpse of some prehistoric beast. I was contorting
myself in the narrow confines, struggling to remove my current
ensemble. Evidently she'd anticipated my impending fashion faux par and
decided that jeans and a hoodie didn't make for appropriate party-girl
material, and packed me a new getup to compensate.
Stripped down to the my plain black panties and bra, I picked through
the backpack she'd prepared and felt my earlier darkness and despair
begin to slip away. Inside were clothes...but nice clothes! She'd given
me a few different options, along with a makeup bag and a few other
feminine essentials. My heart fluttered, hands trembling as I reached
inside. "You bought these for me?"
She grinned. "Those are Rach's. I swung by her place before coming to
rescue you from your little pity-party. You two are a similar size."
"How come she's not joining us?" I said as I greedily plucked a tube
dress out of the bag. "You two are usually inseparable."
"I dunno, she's been more focused on her grades since this is senior
year. Probably saw how her mom was a trophy wife who sold pottery at
Sunday markets and realized it was her future."
"Her loss." I looked at the dress for a moment, wondering just how the
hell I'd put it on. Was I supposed to step into it or pull it over my
head? Deciding that trying to get the top over my hips might prove a
logistical issue, I opted for the former and wriggled it over my head.
I wasn't really sure if I'd made the right choice, but I managed to get
it into place with a minimum of tugging and squirming. By the time I
was done, the hemline sat a little high up my thighs...or maybe it was
just tighter then I expected. Either way, the garment felt...heavenly.
It was all I could do not to let out a squeal of happiness.
Faye craned her neck back for a moment, daring to get a look at my
handiwork as she drove. "Not bad. You're gonna have to lose the bra
though."
"Really?" I furrowed my brow. "Wouldn't that make me look kinda
slutty?"
"You don't wear a tube dress not to get attention. Besides, your boobs
are small enough that it shouldn't make a difference."
"Unlike others present?"
"Shut up." She flashed me a smile. "Come on, you're gonna look hot. And
nothing raises your spirits like watching drunk dudes fall over each
other to impress you."
I arched my back, trying to find a way to remove the bra without
exposing my breasts at the same time. Faye was watching the road, but I
had a feeling she wouldn't miss an opportunity to catch an eyeful and
crash the car. "Feeling a little sadistic this evening?"
"You can kill a man once, but you can break him many times." The car
came to a halt as she cut the engine. "C'mon Cinderella. We've made it
to the ball."
Party? This was a support act for the apocalypse. Cars were parked
everywhere up and down the street, over front lawns and molesting
garden beds. People flowed into the party house like the growing tide.
Dubstep and breakbeats permeated the air for a mile in every direction,
if you could hear it over the cacophony of human cries and cheers.
Windows were broken, lawn ornaments trashed, and I'm pretty sure I
heard someone mention the toilet was on fire.
Faye took a moment to straighten up my appearance, adding some clips to
my hair before throwing on some makeup that she skilfully applied
despite the low light. Once she was done, she took a step back and gave
me room to breathe. "How do you feel?"
"Like I'm half naked. Oh, and my lips taste like cherries."
"Then we're set." She took my hand, leading me up the driveway. "You
got your phone with you?"
"Uh no..." I patted myself down through the thin cotton. "...I didn't
think this dress came equipped with pockets."
"Right, my bad." She paused for a moment. "Tell you what. If we get
separated, meet back at the car in three hours?"
That would make it around one am. I shrugged, figuring that it sounded
like a plan. "Sure."
"So what are we gonna call you?" She asked as we passed the front gate,
bedlam surrounding the house growing more visible with every passing
moment.
"What? Nick works as a girls name." I did my best to sound indignant.
"It's just short for Nicole."
"Yeah, and it's boring as hell. May as well skip to calling you
Esther."
I rolled my eyes. "Fine. How about Nicola?"
"You're a girl Nick, not a KGB spy."
"I don't hear any suggestions coming from you."
Faye paused, letting an idea roll about in her thoughts. "Nikki?"
"Could you pick a name that sounds more white-trash?"
She shot me an impish look. "That's why it suits you."
"I swear to god I will kill you, Faye. I'll start with the fingernails
and peel you like an onion."
"N-i-k-k-i," she chanted, adding a skip to her step.
"Nikki?" I turned my head to see a kid, no more than seventeen or
so...which I guess made us the same age....break off from his friends
and quickly move to intercept. "Is that your name? I'm Josh."
Oh great. I wanted to be a girl so I could distance myself from the XY
portion of the species, not encourage their congregation.
"Get lost, meatbag." The words left my mouth before I had a chance to
contemplate their existence.
Poor guy was too shocked to respond, instead letting us walk unhindered
on a stone path leading to the front door. "Holy shit. What was that
about?"
"I informed him of his meatbag status. He was unimpressed."
Faye shrugged her shoulders. "Just saying. If that's the only time you
get hit on tonight, you'll be lucky."
Inside, the party was wild enough to make Caligula blush: The wine
cellar had been located and summarily looted, spoils of fine liquor and
aged spirits were being thrown away like candy between the underaged
patrons. Everywhere you looked there was barely room to move between
the teenagers making out, thrashing to the wild beats, or simply
destroying belongings of the unlucky home owners.
"It's not a party until something gets broken, right?" Faye offered
helpfully.
"So you always say."
Okay, chill. I can do this. We're just a couple of girls out having a
good time. The fact that I've loathed any kind of public gathering and
chosen to insolate myself from reality as a gamer-geek should have no
impact now, right? A red cup was thrust into my hand by an excited
reveller, who offered Faye the same courtesy a moment later. As he dove
back into the crowd, I looked at Faye with a hint of uncertainty. "I'm
in way over my head, aren't I?"
She threw me a lopsided grin. "Welcome to my world, princess."
---------------------------------------------
"Y'know, I'm starting to reconsider this whole teenage-girl-thing." I
slurred slightly, finding that for future reference, it took at least
three drinks to loosen my tongue. Four to really start flying. "I mean,
I figured it's be a blast considering how much fun you've had with it.
New friends, new life. The whole modelling thing. But teenagers are
just so....fucking annoying, y'know? I mean, present company
excluded...they think they know everything, they're fucking noisy,
horny, confused, angsty...and this party completely proves my point.
I've only been here for what...two hours? And I've already seen three
fistfights, a beer pyramid both constructed and demolished, and a jar
of grandmas ashes used as a football.
Faye looked at me, her expression one of pure bewilderment. "What?"
I shook my head, determined to say what I had to say. "Listen Faye, I'm
sorry, okay? This...all of it is my fault. I wanted Lust to save me,
okay? I was jealous of you...I was sick of pretending to be a man when
I hated it. I wanted to be a girl, okay? Okay? Are you even listening?"
It was only when the purple haired girl stood up and proceeded to
pretend the last five minutes of her life never transpired, that I
realized it wasn't Faye I'd been speaking to at all. Which begged the
question of where exactly Faye had gone.
I stood up, stumbling slightly as I fought to keep the world from
spinning. I was talking to her only a few minutes ago by the
staircase...or at least I think I was. Maybe she's back there?
I made my way through the forest of human flesh, squeezing between
trunks of adolescent boys and girls as I struggled to make my way to
the landing area. Halfway there, a sensation hit me like a bucket of
cold water. For an instant, I thought I was going to throw up, but I
quickly realized it was something else...like a resonance? Kinda like
when you try to force two ends of magnet together that are both
positively charged...the same, but totally not supposed to be together
either.
"The prodigal daughter returns? I'll lay low, you two have fun now..."
A voice mewed softly in my ear.
I spun about, looking for who might have snuck up on me...but I
couldn't spot anyone likely to be an offender, beyond one or two guys
who had that I-wasn't-staring-down-your-top-a-second-ago look on their
faces. Instead my eyes came to rest on a girl halfway up the staircase,
who seemed to be surveying the party for reasons similar to my own.
Bobbie was tall, leggy, curvy in all the right places and blessed with
platinum hair so pure you'd swear each strand was forged from freshly
driven snow. Her eyes were pools of sweet blue that seemed a little too
large for her face, but only served to heighten the sense of purity and
innocence about her. Faye could have gotten her a job modelling in a
heartbeat, but she seemed far more content working at the local bakery,
churning out cupcakes that were the closest thing to sex science and
baking could manufacture.
Well, that and a sex tape kinda destroyed her reputation around town.
Forgot to mention that.
What's awkward is that I know Bobbie personally. Hell, she moved in
with Faye and I when her mom tossed her out of house and home. I
designed logos for her band and bakery. But there's no chance under
God's hot sun that she'd recognise me the way I am now. And I wasn't
about to tell her either, since I couldn't possibly imagine a single
reason that would help anyone right now.
In fact, it was quickly becoming obvious that the best thing I could do
right now would be to ignore her and pretend I hadn't spent the last
several seconds gawking at her like a brain donor. I turned about,
trying to exit the way I came when I found myself accosted by a guy in
his early twenties, wearing a t-shirt that read "Tree fell in the
forest and nobody was around to hear it. I bought the soundtrack."
sporting a moustache so styled with wax my first thought was to light
it at both ends.
"Some party, huh?" he offered thoughtfully. "You know, you're the
prettiest girl here."
Holy shit. Lust, are you listening? I want to be a guy again. Please.
I'll punch nuns in the face for you. I'll suck the blood from a wounded
puppy.
I was trying to think of a way to extract myself from the situation
that didn't involve complete hysterics, when I felt a hand slide around
my waist as another presence encroached on my personal space. Jerking
my head to the side, I was filled with a sense of confusion and relief
as I realized it was Bobbie, clearly deciding to take the cockblocking
duties upon herself.
"There you are." She smiled at me, blue eyes drawing in my gaze. For an
instant I thought she was going to kiss me, but El-Hipster-Magnifico
seemed to have already leapt to that assumption well ahead of me.
"Fucking lesbians. Unbelievable..." He muttered, disappearing into the
crowd in search of fresh meat.
"That was...impressive." I said softly, staring into the distance where
he'd vanished.
"I've had practice." She smiled warmly. "Besides, something told me you
could use the help."
I turned my attention to the platinum goddess at my side. Last I saw
her she was several inches shorter than me. Now she was easily taller.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks. It's nice to meet you," I said sheepishly, trying to
feign ignorance.
"Bobbie," she offered.
My mind reeled, struggling to think of a suitable name to offer in
return. Sadly in my inebriated state, I settled on the option I was
trying specifically to avoid.
"Nikki! Uh...my name's Nikki." I cringed inwardly, reminding myself to
find Faye and murder her as hard as I could.
She bit her lip, looking as if she was trying to see something in me
which had vanished right before her eyes. A moment later she seemed to
abandon the notion, opting to resort to banal chit-chat instead. "Fun
night, huh?"
I groaned softly. No, tonight so far had been the opposite of fun. It
was a hailstone in the shitstorm that was threatening to shred every
fantasy I'd ever entertained of what life as a girl was like.
"Yeah, time of my life."
Bobbie looked about as she spoke. A ripple of interest had spread
through the crowd. It was small at first, but seemed to be building
momentum as people began to migrate toward the living room. "I usually
bring cupcakes to this kind of thing."
I gave her a dubious look. "You bring cupcakes to house parties?"
"Yeah, free samples and stuff. I work at a bakery." Her response seemed
well practiced, like it wasn't the first time she'd been asked that
question. "But something tells me it wouldn't make much difference here
anyway."
"Makes sense." I nodded. "They'd probably be used as some kind of
assault weapon before anyone thought about eating them."
The crowds interest seemed to intensify as more people began filtering
towards mysterious event, eager to catch a glimpse of what was going
on. Bobbie gave me a confused look, obviously thinking the same thing
that I was. "Do you know what's happening?"
"Probably another fight or something." Still, we began to move with the
crowd, deciding it was best not to be left out of whatever was going
down. Making our was over was a struggle, and as we approached several
cheers went up from the growing audience. Someone twisted the dial all
the way to eleven as the air hummed with a raunchy, undulating hip hop
beat. Bobbie shot me a wary look as I stood up on my toes, finally
catching a glimpse of what all the commotion was about.
Standing atop a table, surrounded by what seemed like a hundred leering
fans, Faye was dancing for the crowd. Actually now that I think about
it, dancing wasn't the word for it: She was grinding, rolling and
teasing the fixated onlookers. Her every sublime curve oozed sensuality
and forbidden pleasures, every move whispering the promise of a one-
fuck-fantasy. She was trouble. The kind of trouble you -wanted-. Hands
traced the swell of her ample breasts, arching her back as she thrust
them out provocatively. At the same time she rolled her hips, Kanji
tattoo on the small of her back glowing faintly even as a sea of heads
craned to get a peek at what was hidden beneath her skirt.
It was art. Sexuality made flesh. And judging from how the drunk, horny
guys in the audience were having their restraint worn away with every
passing moment, there was absolutely no way it was going to end well
for her.
I stared at Bobbie in horror, realizing she was quickly reaching the
very same conclusion.
"We've gotta do something....right now."
Chapter two:
"I own this house, everything here is free to take!"
Nobody in their right mind could possibly be expected to believe the
outlandish statement that spouted forth from my lips. No way should I
get anything but a sea of empty faces in response to my blatant and
obvious deception. That being the case, thank fuck for the fact that
drunk teenagers didn't give a shit wether anything that I said had a
single grain of truth to it or not.
They didn't want truth. They just needed a distraction and an excuse.
Any attention that may have been lavished upon my busty housemate
vanished in a roar of excitement and chaos. In a heartbeat, the crowd
that had been focused on Faye turned around and began to set upon
anything that wasn't nailed to the floor. Hell, by the time I actually
had a moment to even register Bobbie's look of shock and utter despair,
I was pretty sure copper piping was being torn from the walls.
Of course, my wonderfully masterful plan, one that I had executed like
a well-played game of chess, had a small flaw: We were trapped in the
chaos with no visible way out.
Hundreds of people were screaming, fighting, smashing, throwing,
grabbing and tearing objects, valuables and each other.
"Okay, new plan!" I shouted over the cacophony of destruction and
upheaval. "We get the hell out of here!"
I couldn't hear what she said in response, but I could tell from the
look on her face she agreed with me. There wasn't time to grab
Faye...in fact, looking back to where she'd been dancing only moments
ago, the table had vanished. I couldn't see it or Faye, but I was able
to draw a correlation between the missing table and the cavernous hole
that was once occupied by the kitchen window.
This was starting to get dangerous. Like, actually going-to-get-
trodden-to-death dangerous. Doors and regular exits were out of the
question: Blocked by as many people trying to get in as those trying to
fight their way out. Spying the staircase, I realized the only way out
was through.
"C'mon, we need to get upstairs and g-" My sentence was cut short by
someone's head being jammed into my field of view, complete with a pair
of lips pressed against mine. My body convulsed, fighting against the
hands that slid around my waist as I pushed at what I assumed were the
assailants shoulders. But they were too strong, breath reeking of
alcohol and god knows what else as they held the embrace for several
seconds.
When the figure finally withdrew, I made out the features of a kid,
probably seventeen or eighteen with a mop of shaggy blonde hair, shit-
eating grin plastered across his handsome features. He looked at me for
a moment, eyes locked with mine...before he simply screamed jubilantly,
thrusting arms into the air in celebration as he dove into the crowd in
search of another victim.
That....fuck. That senseless, selfish, drunken asshole...he stole it
from me. The one thing I'd been looking forward to more than anything
else. That simple, little romantic notion that I had wanted to savour
more than anything else since I'd become a girl.
He stole my first kiss.
I don't even know what happened next. I felt someone take my hand...it
could have been Bobbie, or Faye....or that cock-gargling thunderfuck
who'd just taken whatever semblance of innocence I had left. I was
being pulled through the crowd, up stairs, into bedrooms, and out the
window....onto a rooftop that overlooked the front yard and the streets
beyond. My shoes clattered across ceramic roof tiles, causing me to
fight for balance against the slope.
"Wha...the roof?" I was still incoherent, given my drunken and confused
state.
"Seemed like the only opinion." Bobbie smoothed out her clothes,
tucking her knees into her chest as she sat down. "Fighting our way out
wasn't really an option."
"But...Faye's still in there." I paused for an instant, a little unsure
of myself. "I think."
"Oh come on, she's got rocks in her head and lead in her ass. She'll be
fine." She shot me a mischievous grin.
"Yeah, I guess." I took a seat beside her, watching looters stream into
the street, even as more arrived to replace them. Was she okay? God I
hoped so. As a guy, Kane had never been particularly remarkable. But as
a girl, Faye was possessed by a determination and resolve that you
rarely ever get to see in a person. If Faye was dunked into a tank of
phosphoric acid, the acid would learn to its horror, that it could be
stabbed.
Bobbie leant against the window we'd exited through. "I figure we just
wait it out for a while and see what happens. People will get bored
eventually, or the cops will show up."
"Why'd you help me back there?" I looked at her wearily, energy drained
from stress and anxiety. "You barely even know me."
She smiled warmly. "That's what I do. I help people....it's in my
nature, I guess."
"Fits your look," I muttered, noting her angelic mystique.
"So how do you know Faye, anyway?"
"Oh, friend of the family, y'know?" I said without a second thought,
shocking even myself with how easy lying was starting to become. "I'm
staying with her for a while."
People were starting to flow out into the streets now, clutching
whatever worldly possessions they dared to carry. Contrary to Bobbie's
earlier assertion, the mobs thirst for mayhem seemed only to be
building, the sound of broken glass ringing out as someone started to
ransack a nearby car. Jesus, what had I started here?
"Guess I was wrong about the crowd," she said, peering as far over the
roof as she dared without getting spotted.
"What was your first clue?"
"Like I said, cops should be here soon," she said with a distinctly
unimpressed air, surveying the carnage. "So much aggression..."
"Yeah, on second thought, my brilliant plan may have needed a little
extra consideration," I said grimly. "I hope these guys are insured."
As if to serve as an exclamation point to my statement, there was a
loud crash from behind us as someone physically kicked in the door to
the bedroom that had been resting slightly ajar. That wouldn't come as
so much of a surprise given that the house was being torn apart as we
spoke, except for what I heard play out in the room beyond us.
"Eat a dick, you inbred fuck," Faye spat. "Eat all the dicks."
There was the sound of a scuffle, followed by a male voice I didn't
recognize. "Aww baby, don't be like that. I just wanna have some fun
with you."
Bobbie and I stared wide-eyed at each other, our profile hidden just
below the windowsills. Holy sh...was this for real?
"I swear to god, if you touch me again you'll pull back a stump!"
Oh no. Not good....not good at all.
"Just gimme a chance, I swear you're not gonna regret it," the phantom
voice said without a hint of irony.
Bobbie knew what I was going to do before I even did it. She held my
hand, shaking her head silently. She was probably right...the smart
play would be to go and get help. Find a neighbour. Scream. Find a
weapon. Summon Voltron. Fuck, anything would be better than my plan.
Of course, my plan was that of the old Nick: The protective big
brother. The guy who knew his way around a few drunken fistfights. The
guy who wasn't a tiny blonde teenager who couldn't fight off a stiff
breeze.
I turned and stood up, pulling myself free of Bobbie's grasp. Before I
even knew what I was doing, I'd leapt over the window ledge, roaring
with fury as I sprinted toward Faye and her assai-
Shit. There's three of them.
To be exact, there was the ringleader holding onto Faye tightly, one
who was watching the door to make sure nobody interrupted the fun, and
one who apparently appreciated the fine art of voyeurism. The posse of
meatheads looked like they belonged to the football team, judging by
their bulky physiques and assorted popped collars.
"Whoa, now this is more like it," the voyeur said as I quickly skidded
to a halt. "I didn't know it was audience participation night."
I started to back away slowly, but there was nowhere to go: Rushing for
the door would only get me caught by the lookout, and jumping out the
window would give away Bobbie's hiding spot. Somewhere deep in the most
primal part of my brain, flight-or-flight kicked in, forcing me to make
an impossible choice: Save myself to no avail, or fight and get
destroyed by an enemy who outnumbered and outgunned me.
So I figured...fuck it. I already died once. I can't die twice, right?
Faye thrashed against her captor to no avail, who had her pinned
against him, one arm about her waist and forearm holding her by the
throat. I quickly evaluated my options: I was faster now, I knew that.
And surprise was going to be my only advantage in a fight where the
odds weighed so heavily against me. The irony of all this was I'd read
a thousand TG stories where the heroine found herself in a similar
situation. She always does the same thing: Goes straight for the balls.
Why? It's a pretty obvious plot device. She gets to be empowered and
rise above any obviously physical disadvantage, while exploiting a
weakness of a gender she no longer possesses. But when you think about
it in real life, there's a pretty big problem with that theory: It's
easily the hardest part of the body to hit. I mean think about it:
You're talking about trying to cleanly hit a couple of walnuts on a
dude who has legs like tree trunks. Unless he's a Russian ballerina
doing the splits, your chances of getting a clear shot are pretty
fucking limited. Especially when he's expecting a confrontation.
Given that nutshots were off the table, I had exactly four seconds to
think of a viable alternative before this asshole had me in the
headlock-happyplace right next to Faye. That might present a problem
for your regular girl. But I play videogames, son. And everyone knows
that when faced with superior numbers, the first thing you do is look
to your environment to get the upper hand.
The wooden chair beside the wardrobe had been serving as an impromptu
drying rack before I enlisted it as a weapon of deadly force. I'd like
to think the last thing that went through his head before the chair
collided with it was "Chairs: My one weakness!"
But I guess we'll never know. Not until he wakes up, anyway.
The other two captors stared at me, utterly lost for words as I
clutched the remains of the chair, which had broken apart from the
impact of beating several decades of gender equality into the voyeurs
skull. I let my eyes dart back and forth between the remaining two
assailants, letting silence hang in the air before finally deciding to
speak up.
"Anyone else want a shot at this?"
My answer came in the form of a 6'2", dangerously unhinged partygoer
lunging at me in an attempt to avenge his fallen brother-in-sexual
assault. My nerves were strung tighter than piano wire, riding a wave
of adrenaline that forced my senses into overdrive. Casting the broken
remains of my impromptu weapon aside, I braced myself for the impact:
If I did this just right, I could turn his momentum against him, moving
into a quick takedown. After that, it would just be Faye and I, two on
one against the last dude. Pretty good odds in my book.
The deviant swung at me, just as I'd predicted with a messy haymaker. I
raised my arms infront of me, crossed in an "X" motion for maximum
defensive power...only to crumple beneath the force of the blow. My
arms collapsed against my chest as I was driven back by the force of
the attack, crying out in pain as I slammed against the wall behind me,
knocking the wind from my lungs.
"Nikki!" Faye screamed, thrashing wildly against her captor before he
struck her across the cheek.
"Shut the fuck up!" he roared, clearly having had enough of our little
insurrection. "Open your mouth again, and I swear to god I'll break
it."
Shit, shit, shit...I clutched the forearm which had absorbed the brunt
of the impact, tears stinging my eyes as the second asshole grabbed my
shoulder, pinning me to the wall. Fucking stupid...I...god dammit...as
a guy I could have fought them off. I could have at least put up some
kind of resistance. I could have done -something-. Instead my stupid
quest for femininity had gifted me with a body that couldn't fight for
shit. I'd sacrificed everything I'd taken for granted as a man, and
been given nothing but misery and disappointment.
My assailant leered at me, firmly clutching my jaw, forcing me to meet
his gaze. "Just play nice, okay? I promise I'll treat you like a
princess."
Sure. Why not? Every time I figured life couldn't get any worse,
someone shovelled shit in my face just to prove me wrong. I went limp,
shoulders slumping as I resigned myself to whatever twisted fate this
asshole had in store for me. Why fight? What was the point?
He moved in close, I could smell his breath as he kissed my neck,
reeking of beer and cigarettes. As he hungrily sucked on the supple
flesh of my nape, I shut my eyes tightly. Was this what Lust had in
mind when she created me to be like this? Was I failure as a man and
woman, something to be used and discarded for sexual gratification?
Just as I was preparing myself for what was to come, I felt his grip
slowly relax, releasing me from his grasp as began to withdraw.
Hesitantly opening my eyes, I caught a glint of steel flash just below
his chin, as Bobbie wrapped around him like a snake, whispering in his
ear. "You even think about touching her again, and I'll cut that mouth
of yours to look like a Jack-o-lantern."
"Uh...just be cool, okay?" he said nervously, clearly realizing the
gravity of his situation. "We were just having some fun."
"The fuck we were!" I spat contemptuously.
"Brad....little help?" he said in vain, realizing he was clearly
outmanoeuvred.
"Brad's got problems of his own." A familiar figure strode purposefully
into the room. I furrowed my brow, recognising him as the blonde-haired
dude who'd kissed me in the hallway not that long ago. What the hell
was he doing here? Not that it mattered: Given the situation, I
wouldn't argue if Superman himself descended through the rooftop.
Faye was pinned to the bed beneath Brad, her shirt torn from his greedy
need to paw at her breasts. She was shaking, though from fear or rage I
couldn't tell. All that mattered was that Brad seemed to be wary of the
new challenger, perhaps even fearful.
"What have I told you?" The new guy said, grabbing Brad by the shirt
and hauling him off Faye, who in response gasped for breath, her
assailants weight lifted from her as he was thrown against the wall.
"You make one of us look bad, we all look bad."
Brad raised his hands defensively, trying to make the other relax.
"Chase, have you looked around? It's fuckin' chaos. That little bitch
started it with the dancing, nobody's gonna complain if she got what
was commin' to her."
Chase didn't hesitate, cocking his arm before striking Brad in the jaw
hard enough that he fell back against the wall once more, sliding to
the ground.
"You stupid asshole." He paused long enough to spit contemptuously at
Brad, who was now nursing his swelling jaw. "I'm going to help these
two. You better not be here when I get back."
"...Fuck you." He murmured under his breath, unwilling to meet Chase's
gaze.
Bobbie uncoiled herself enough from my attacker so that he was able to
back away slowly, her knife never more than a hair's breadth from his
throat until he nearly tumbled into the hallway. I let out the breath I
didn't even realize I'd been holding, my whole body shuddering as
adrenaline began withdraw from my bloodstream, leaving a gaping void in
it's wake. Bobbie rushed to my side, her blade clattering to the
ground.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly, sliding my arm around her shoulder,
helping me to stand.
Emotion started to flow freely within me. Not rage, fear, uncertainty,
or panic. Instead they all came at once, a torrent of raw, unbridled
chaos that would not be contained. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I
shook, every breath coming ragged and fast as I found myself completely
overwhelmed. "That fucker....I'm gonna kill him..."
Bobbie stroked my hair gently, trying to console me. Calm me down. It
wasn't working. The more I let the emotions flow, the more strongly
they powered out. It was a ceaseless river that fed back into itself,
growing stronger with every passing moment. I clenched my teeth
together, tight enough that I could feel enamel grinding as my fingers
curled into talons.
"GONNA...FUCKING...KILL HIM!"
Chase looked at Bobbie with obvious concern. "Can I do anything? I
mean...is she gonna be okay?"
"She'll be okay. Just give us some time." Bobbie began to lead me
towards the door. "We just need to get you home, right?"
I nodded wordlessly, unable to speak. Unable to think of anything. I
was beyond any logic or reason, just pure animal instinct at this
point.
"Okay." He nodded, content not to risk provoking the situation any
further. "I'll just help your friend and we can get out of here."
Chase turned to help Faye, who he'd not been paying attention to until
now. To his surprise, she had already removed herself from where she
lay on the bed, and instead stood over Brad, looking down at him
dispassionately.
Chase offered his hand to her. "C'mon, he's not gonna hurt you."
She didn't answer, didn't even move as she stared at the beaten rapist
with cold, unfeeling eyes.
"Faye...?"
Brad didn't have time to react as she swung her boot viciously,
connecting with his already bruised jaw. He howled in pain, a spray of
blood filling the air as he recoiled from the impact. But Faye wasn't
done, not by a long shot. She kicked him again...and again...and again.
Even as he curled into a foetal position, hands wrapped around his face
to try and shield him from the onslaught, she kept kicking him
remorselessly.
Chase for all his earlier gallantry, didn't do anything to stop her.
Even Bobbie was tempted, but seemed to abandon the thought just as
quickly. They didn't interrupt because they were cruel, or wanted to
enjoy the show. They held back for the same reason that I didn't lift a
finger act: This wasn't just revenge...it was a message to anyone who
ever thought they could touch her and get away with it. Anyone who
believed she was just a piece of ass to be claimed and conquered. They
needed to look at Brad and remember just how much it had cost him to
try and steal his prize.
As I was led out of the room, I promised myself that I would do the
same before this ordeal was over.
Chapter three:
The cops showed up eventually, though they may as well have not
bothered. By the time any arrests were made, the house was practically
deserted: Only a handful of stragglers remained, determined to tear the
last lighting fixtures from the walls. African predators couldn't have
stripped a carcass that fast.
Bobbie, Faye and I were all huddled in the back of Chase's van, parked
a good way down the street. Faye was still shaking lightly...maybe from
the shock of what had happened, or just the adrenaline starting to wear
off. By comparison, I wasn't doing all that badly: I had a few scrapes
and a couple of bruises, nothing that wouldn't fade in a week or so.
Instead most of the damage had been done to my pride.
My mind kept replaying the scene in my head, over and over, faster and
faster....no matter how much I wanted to, it wouldn't stop. Like my
subconscious was determined to remind me of what I'd allowed myself to
become.
Weak.
Helpless.
A target.
I clenched my eyes shut, at the same time fighting back a surge of
emotion that caught in my throat. This was nothing like what I'd dreamt
of. Every waking moment since I'd made a bargain with Lust had done
nothing but fill me with emptiness and regret. It stripped away my
illusions and presented me with the cold, hard truth: Being a girl was
nothing like what I'd envisioned. And honestly, the truth of that was
so depressing, I'd kill myself all over again if it weren't for the
fact Lust would probably be there to meet me again when I opened my
eyes.
My train of thought was derailed when the side of the van popped open,
Chase quickly stepping in before sliding the door shut. "Okay, the cops
are just packing up. Pretty soon we should be good to move."
"Remind me again why I'm not getting three assholes thrown in prison
right now?" Faye growled, her eyes narrow slits as she looked up at
Chase.
"Whoa, relax." He held his hands up defensively as he took a seat.
"You've got to trust me on thi-"
"Fuck trust!" I spat. "I don't owe you a goddamn thing!"
He let my words hang in the air, the silence broken only by the sound
of my rapid, panicked breaths. I inhaled slowly, trying to regain a
modicum of control before he spoke.
"You've got to think about this rationally." He said in a slow,
deliberate voice. "I heard about what happened from Bobbie. She got me
to come and help, okay? I know what they were -going- to do. We all do.
But the fact is that they didn't get a chance."
"And attempted rape stopped being a felony, when...?" Bobbie
volunteered a little too casually.
Chase let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not that simple."
"Try me."
Chase grit his teeth, trying to think of the least offensive way to
articulate the violently sexist fact he was about to divulge. "Those
guys are on the Blue Devils. We all are. And I don't know if you've
been keeping up on current events, but this town fucking loves the Blue
Devils football team."
Sadly....that was actually pretty true. Last year when they won the
state championship, the whole town lost it's goddamn mind. We had a
parade, banners all over the streets, team pride day all across town,
you name it. At the time Faye and expressed the zero fucks we had to
give about football by holding a private Street Fighter tournament for
the title of master of the universe, which explains how we kinda didn't
recognise any of them.
"Your point being?" Faye muttered darkly.
"My point..." he continued, "...is that being on a championship team
affords the players a certain level of privilege. We bring in funding
for the school, revenue for the venues, and tourism for the town. So
nobody wants to see a scandal hit the team, especially when it might
land their players in jail."
I shot Chase a look that could tear through him. "You're trying to keep
us from causing a scandal? Fuck that! I'd rather see the team torn
apart then let them get away with what they did to us."
Chase shook his head. "You're not listening. You can tell the cops all
you want. You can scream until your throat is dry and it's not going to
matter: They didn't rape you. Hell, you'd be lucky if you weren't the
ones hauled off in cuffs for the way you messed up Jake with that
chair."
I stared at him in disbelief. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"You think you're the first girls those guys have tried to rape? When
you're on a team that's worshipped like a pack of Greed gods, you start
to get a complex about entitlement. Everyone on the team, even me, has
broken the law. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's the truth. And so
long as nobody gets killed and there's no photos to prove it, the cops
turn a blind eye every time."
"Wait a minute." Faye seemed to be calming down, but her trepidation
was rapidly being replaced by scalding hot rage. "You've pulled this
kind of shit before too?"
"Me?" Chase balked. "Jesus...god no. I swear, worst I ever did was
trash a car one time."
"But those guys have?"
"Yeah...Yeah they have."
"If I had a week, I couldn't explain how wrong that is." Bobbie sounded
a little less emphatic, clearly a little downcast given what Chase had
said.
"Like it or not, you've got to live with it." He replied bluntly. "It's
how the town works."
"So we just do nothing?" I balked. "Just pretend none of this ever
happened, high-five in the hallway when we see them?"
"Not what I'm saying at all. Okay? Just...it's been a hell of a night.
Can we just get some rest and discuss options when cooler heads
prevail? You can still file charges in the morning if you want."
"You're serious, aren't you?" I could practically hear Faye's teeth
grinding together.
He nodded. "I swear to god, I am not doing this to cover anyone's ass."
"Whatever." She said under her breath as she stood up, shifting gears
suddenly. Clearly he'd struck more than a nerve with that last comment.
"It's late and I'm over this. You coming, Nikki?"
"Faye, wait-" Bobbie protested, but she was cut off as Faye waved a
hand dismissively. The van's side door popped open, and Faye hopped out
into the cool night air.
"So are you coming or what?" she muttered tersely.
I cast a weary look at my companions, but decided it wasn't worth
arguing. No point in losing more time lamenting time lost, and all that
stuff. I hopped out of the van, and began walking alongside Faye up the
hill to where the Evo was parked. Once we were out of earshot, Faye
decided to speak up.
"Can you fucking believe it?"
"Believe me, I'm trying not to." I rolled my eyes in agreement. "Are
you okay? You seem kinda out of it."
She shook her head. "Probably not. I mean....fuck! I've had my ass
handed to me plenty of times by guys like those assholes. That's not
what bothers me."
I shivered, my mind all to happy to remind me how easily I'd been
overpowered. "Yeah, tell me about it...those fuckers."
"Just...ugh. What they wanted? What they were thinking...?"
"I know, I know." God, it felt horrible just admitting it. "It's
just...I mean...-do- you want to talk about it?"
"I thought guys didn't talk about their feelings?"
I looked at her darkly as we approached the car. "That's not funny."
"I know." She was quiet now, almost whispering. "My bad."
Faye fumbled with her keys as she stood at the driver's side of her
car, first rays of the morning sun starting to glow against the
paintwork. I waited for her to unlock my side, hugging my arms against
my chest. I wasn't sure if the need wars born form insecurity or the
cool night air. "So what are we gonna do?"
"First? I'm gonna get some sleep," she said, popping the door open.
"Then I'm gonna figure out how we can pay those assholes back a hundred
times over."
I couldn't help but smile a little. Seeing Faye quiet and withdrawn
didn't suit her at all; This was much better. "Any ideas on how you
want to do that?"
"I want to find out what they love most in the world. Then I'm gonna
burn it."
---------------------------------------------
Sleep is one of those things we take for granted as adults. Roughly one
third of your entire life is spent catching shut-eye, which wouldn't be
so shocking if any of us could remember our dreams. Sure, some people
might, or they keep journals which they scribble in every morning to
capture the images conjured from their imagination, before the memories
scatter too far to grasp.
Personally, I never remember my dreams. Sometimes I might be reminded
of some vague detail a few hours after waking, but for the most part I
didn't really care. Dreams were dreams, and to dwell on something
immaterial and impermanent seemed like a waste of effort.
That was, until tonight. As I watched the paint flake from my bedroom
walls...ichor and languid smoke seeping in through the cracks between
the floorboards, I knew perfectly well that I was dreaming. That none
of this was real. Even as the room itself creaked and heaved like a
living creature, I knew that this scene was taking place inside my
head.
The only problem was, I wasn't alone.
"How's my favourite new thrall?" Her voice was playful and teasing as
before, a stark juxtaposition to the way thick beads of tar rolled off
her skin like water from a ducks back. She stood at the end of my bed,
no longer satisfied with looking like Faye, she had taken on a form of
my raven-haired doppelganger. "Been making new friends, I see."
"Lust..." I clenched my teeth, climbing off the bed sheets even as they
turned to ash. "...you know goddamn well this isn't what I wanted. None
of it is."
She tilted her head to the side, giving me a curious look. "No? And
here I thought you wanted to be a girl, just like Faye?"
"Exactly!" I snarled, the frustration of everything I'd endured since
our first meeting bubbling to the surface of my psyche. "Just like
Faye! Someone who's confident! Sexy! A girl who can get whatever she
wants in life! Not some waifish girl-next-door who's greatest
achievement to date has been getting beaten and almost raped!"
She smiled, shivering like someone who'd just tasted the sweetest
delight imaginable. "Ooooh...your jealousy is intoxicating. Not
particularly useful to me, but I appreciate a snack nonetheless."
"I don't give a shit what you enjoy!" I shoved my face right infront of
hers, but she didn't flinch even for a moment. Her eyes were black,
lipid pools that seemed to go on forever, not betraying the slightest
hint of emotion beyond what she wanted me to see.
"Oh, I know," she chided. "But where's the fun in it for me if I gave
you exactly what you wanted? Wouldn't really suit my purposes."
"Your purposes?"
"Please don't tell me you think I gave you that ring just for show."
Her fingers mingled with mine, leaving black streaks in their wake as
they brushed the ring. "You don't remember our deal, do you?"
I hesitated, wondering if I should try to bluff, before realizing the
futility of such an act: She was already in my head, after all. Chances
that she knew what I was going to say before I even said it were pretty
high. "Yeah...what of it?"
She smirked. "I'm sure not even Faye knows this, but the two of you are
hardly the first of my creations. I've had quite a chorus line of
pretty young things like you in my service."
I narrowed my gaze, not liking what I was hearing at all. "In your
service?"
She gave me a smile of sickly innocence. "I don't like to talk about
myself...but suffice to say that throughout the ages, I was called upon
to grant all manner of gifts and boons to magi and amateur alike. I
wasn't forced, I did it of my own free will...honestly I appreciated
the attention. But to create one thing, another has to be destroyed. I
had to get the energy from somewhere to bring their fantasies to
life...and sadly it meant that someone had to die to make it happen."
I recoiled at the implication of what she was saying. "You killed
people just to grant sick fantasies?"
"I did. It's an equivalent exchange, you see: You can't have one
without the other." She shook her head slowly. "But as the centuries
wore on, man's appreciation of the dark arts began to wane in favour of
science and the pursuit of profound knowledge. I needed energy to
sustain myself...without taking a little every time I was called into
service, I would eventually fade away into nothingness."
"You're breaking my heart," I sneered.
Her smile spread wide across her face like a hungry predator. "Oh? But
we're just getting to the best part...see, in my desperation, I
discovered a way to sustain myself without having to take a life. I
could bond a individual to me, make them an instrument of my will in
the material world. Their emotion, the raw energy of their passions and
pleasures was just as sweet as any life force I'd ever tasted. And in
turn, they could enjoy the power that I offered them to make their
desires a reality."
"So that explain Faye, huh? Funny, I don't remember her asking you for
anything."
"Not that you know of." She smirked. "You are right though, she never
did ask me for anything. Faye was a special case bought about by a
situation beyond my control. One that proved to be my undoing."
I folded my arms beneath my breasts, looking at her dubiously. "And yet
here we are."
Lust waved a finger disapprovingly. "Ah, ah. I already told you I'm not
giving that little secret away so easily. Besides, I think I've already
said too much."
"Then get out of here. Right now I should be dreaming about Optimus
Prime helping me save the universe."
She shook her head once more. "In a moment. Faye and all the other
thralls bear a mark that serves as the link between us."
My mind reeled, trying to picture what she may be speaking of...until
it settled on the painfully obvious. "The Kanji tattoo?"
"That's one type of mark." She nodded. "But I have others, like your
cute little ring. It has a much more special purpose."
I held my defiant pose, doing my best to gaze fearlessly into those
dark, soulless eyes. "Like what?"
"You're about to find out."
---------------------------------------------
My eyes flew open as a sharp breath punctuated the silence surrounding
me. I was still in the same room, but the signs of Lust and her
corpulent decay had vanished. I was left wondering if I'd even been
asleep at all...or if the whole thing had been some kind of waking
hallucination. Have you ever had a dream so real that you weren't sure
where it ended and reality began? Ugh...never mind.
I swung my legs off the edge of the bed, shoulders slumped as I tried
to brush away the last cobwebs of sleep cluttering my thoughts. Lust
words rang in my ears as I squirmed against the bed, whole body feeling
warm and flustered. I looked at the ring on my finger, pink stone
glowing faintly in the dark, as characters I'd not seen before, Kanji
written in another language along it's band radiated a purple energy.
"Okay..." I muttered softly, studying the object. "...that's a new
trick."
I bit my lip, heart quickening as questions began to race through my
mind. Was this what Lust was talking about? Should I tell Faye? What if
I tried to smash it with a hammer? Holy shit...maybe I should cut off
my finger?
I sat up, trying to force down the panic that was rapidly overtaking
me. I was taking short, sharp breaths...blood pounding in my ears. No,
I had to fight this. Faye fought it, right? I can too...I just need
calm down. Need to think.
But no matter how I tried...I couldn't calm down. My body felt hotter,
skin tingled with newfound sensitivity, causing even the brush of
cotton against my skin to feel like sandpaper. I shook my head,
swallowing hard as my addled mind tried to make sense of what was
happening. But then it hit me...and the only reason I didn't feel any
more stupid than I already did in that moment, was the fact that I
didn't have any knowledge what this sensation felt like until now.
I wasn't terrified. I was horny.
A hot, wet sensation grew in my loins as I stared at my crotch through
the dress in disbelief, I could feel my breasts wobbling on my chest,
throbbing...growing larger in the confines of the bra that cradled
their growing shapes. I shook my head, groping the swelling mounds
through the fabric of my top, wincing at the sensations that motion
sent through me. Oh god...
But it wasn't just my breasts; everything about me was starting to
change. I could feel my face twitch and pull in different directions,
features being re-sculpted by invisible hands as my hair turned from
honey blond to a lustrous black, strands glinting like obsidian shards
in the faint light.
My breasts felt enormous now, as every little movement seemed to send
them bouncing and tugging madly against my chest and the fabric that
strained to contain them. My hands grasped the sheets, desperately
clinging onto them as I instinctively spread my legs, thrusting my hips
against the empty air beyond them!
Moans and helpless whimpers slipped by my lips as arousal and desire
coursed through my veins like molten fire. I couldn't bear it any
longer. I needed this to stop...I needed release! I needed...god, I
needed....more than that? Freeing themselves from the sheets, my hands
tore at my clothes, frantically stripping one layer after another from
my body until nothing was left. I stared at my now hairless vagina,
folds glistening with juices. I could feel my labia parting, revealing
a pink, creaming slit.
I gasped, unable to stifle the sound of my strangled moans. I pawed
greedily at my chest, shocked to find that my breasts we