Chapter 13
Slugs.
Worms were EVERYWHERE.
In the kitchen sink.
On the kitchen floor.
Hanging from the curtains and chandeliers.
Dead fish, shiny with glistening pink guts flowing like tiny ribbons littered the floors of every room downstairs.
The funny thing was that this was not a dream. Samosa came home from work study and shopping only to find her and Stone’s place in ruins. In fact, she smelled the stink coming up the driveway.
“What in the…” Her bags fell to the floor and her nose begged for closure. It was just like her dream, except Stone wasn’t overlooking serene green pastures and she will not bite his hand. In fact, his hand materialized in hers just as the sun went back down. Daylight Savings has become a blessing for him. Spring went forward and now they fell back. Less sun.
Her black boots squished something and her nose turned up as she saw it was a slow writhing slug.
The house looked as if someone threw buckets of entrails at it. “This is bad.” Stone groaned.
“Tell me about it.” Samosa picked her bags up and stomped over the creatures. “The Grand Marid’s behind this. Isn’t he?”
“This seems a bit childish even for him. He already made his statement.”
“So someone else is behind this?”
“I’m assuming so. I need to call up Korin. This is unlike the GM. Even if he is wicked to the core.” Samosa nodded, suddenly tired and hungry. Her stomach howled and so did she.
“Are you okay?” Stone rushed over to her, put a hand to her shoulder.
Oh God, please don’t let me munch on his hand. I’m so hungry!
“You’re hungry again,” Stone’s face went hard before he went through the slimy cabinets looking for something.
He found a jumbo bag of beef jerky and tossed it to her. She caught it midair and ripped the pouch open. Her nails lengthening as she ate the Teriyaki flavored meal. Stone was staring at her.
“What?” She said, some jerky string dangled from the corner of her mouth. She was quite certain that by now he felt he lived with two dogs.
“I need to clean this up.” With a few words in his own language and a wave of his hand, the slugs and fish levitated and went up into the air, disappearing. The floors were shiny once again and Samosa could smell the fresh scent of lemons too.
“I see not all of your powers left you.”
“All I can do is burn things up or make them disappear and even that leaves me breathless.” He found another bag of jerky in a bottom cabinet and tossed it to her.
_________
“You’re right,” Korin said that night while they sat in Stone’s library. “This does not appear to be the work of the Grand Marid. It’s a little less class…familiar also.”
“That’s right!” Stone sat up in his chair. “This is not his work. It sends a clear message but it’s vulgar.”
Korin ran a hand through his wavy hair. He picked up Samosa’s scent. It was wildly feminine and erotic. He wondered what she was up to now.
At that particular moment he saw shapely hips clad in beige leggings and a fitting black top enter the room. He and Stone both sniffed the air and smiled- Stone’s quickly became a scowl and Korin reminded himself to be respectful.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were here.” Samosa came over to Stone and a leaned to kiss his lips. Korin felt a twinge of jealousy. Just a twinge. He could have any woman he wanted but Stone had someone who totally loved him back and not just for what he could provide her either.
“I can materialize anywhere, My Dear.” She smiled at Korin’s true statement.
“I forget you are supernatural beings. Genies.” She stood facing them both.
“Korin believes that someone else is behind what happened here. I need to secure this place or- or we move.”
Korin saw Samosa’s face drop. “Move?”
“I need to protect you.” When he said that Sugar Rocks came in, his furry chin dark and slick-probably from drinking water out of his bowl.
“I know.”
“You’re thinking of your mother,” Stone said.
“I don’t want to be too far from her.”
“We have a way that you’ll always be able to see her. However, after the ceremony she may not want to see you. You will be joined with him according to the Dark Scrolls. You will taste demon blood and go through the ritual.”
“But we will be okay though, right?” Samosa pressed.
Korin could see his dear friend was hurting. In a deep funk of sorts and Samosa was fast becoming a bottomless pit that can eat and eat and eat. “As I said before, it depends on what ‘okay’ means to you. Stone may be transformed back to his natural state and your cravings may disappear completely, but you will have demon blood swimming in you.”
“I think we should leave,” Stone spoke up and gathered Samosa in his arms, ran his hands down her arms slowly. “Moving will not solve anything. The Grand Marid can find you anywhere. You know that. He can find the birthmark in the butt crack of a nine hundred pound man without even looking hard. So moving is asinine.”
“I’ll put up a prayer of protection over this place.”
“Jinn pray now?” Stone half joked.
“This one does,” he said and eyed Samosa’s silver cross over her heart. She was a Believer. Will her God protect her or will He ignore her? Only time will tell.
________
He was back in hell.
That’s where he was born anyway. The Grand Marid can lie all he wish to the other jinn but Stone knew that the intergalactic space where he was born- from that foul and bloody crafted Womb was hell in the skies.
Then he was somehow jettisoned to the outskirts of Saturn’s rings. Unfortunately, he remember the event well. He remembered landing there and remembered how cold it was. He sometimes wished the Womb hadn’t spat him out at all.
Now he was standing over Samosa’s sleeping body; imagining her soul deeply embedded inside of him. His old ways cherished these sleeping moments of humans or their drunk moments. He would take all of their soul lost in the grogginess as he begged them to keep wishing, and then he’ll feed from it hungrily, the GM was always so pleased. Stone’s attractiveness even wooed men and made them tell that last wish. They only got three wishes as was standard for those who did not bear the mark.
And here she was. Trusting him and daring to love.
The room became stifling for her. Curls of smoke twisted from all around him. His eyes felt hot. His face. His skin! The room glowed with power he thought he’d lost and as he leaned over Samosa, he heard her soft breath utter the words “baby” and her mouth formed a cute little O; shocked he staggered back. Surprised at what he was about to do.
He was going to drink her soul.
________
Samosa’s eyes cleared and she saw through their slits, Stone’s true aura sparkled around him. She knew it was his true aura because when she first met him, he seemed nice but otherworldy…evil. And now, whether he knew it or not she could really see him. He reminded her of a cougar waiting for a beat of a moment or some small movement to pounce.
And she was the meal.
Oh Good Lord. She mentally said a small prayer: Lord protect and watch over me.
Stone approached her slowly. Each step deliberate.
She mouthed his name, hoping he’d come out of his stupor- but with a confused look in his eyes, he drew a hot finger down her forehead.
“Show me your mark, woman.” His voice sounded like a million people all at once and it frightened her. Even with her newfound strength and keen senses she was no match for Stone.
“Wh-what will you do with me?” she slid further back onto the bed; his eyes went to her smooth knees and calves, exposed under the milk white quarter moon.
“Just do it.” Then he said something low in his own language. Samosa could hear it perfectly but she knew not what it meant.
“I can?
??t let you do this. You’re bewitched, Stone!” Her attempts to stop him were futile. His arms encircled her waist and he harshly turned her on her stomach. His hands were so hot she thought her skin would blister where his hands touched.
“I need this. We…need….this.” Stone murmured in her ear, and then he licked it before crooning the song she enjoyed. It was a song from his time, somewhere out there when he was a little boy. It was a cross between the Legion of voices and a child singing and it sounded so beautiful. It haunted her during their lovemaking the first time and each time after that he would sing something in her ear, filling her soul with beautiful lies that they can be together forever.
She tried scooting on her knees and reached behind her to grab him but he was way too strong. He pushed her to her stomach with his body. The tickling feeling of his tentacles grazed her back. Even they were burning her.
“No!”
“I will seek your one true, wish! You will hand it over to me.”
Stone waited, making sure the raised bumps on her similar mark opened slightly before he slipped a few of the penile tentacles inside. Her body could not help but become aroused and the holes in her back spread open, willing. When Stone’s tentacles pierced her there the shock of it was purely delicious and she screamed her delight and terror all at once. He was going to seek some deep want and then-
He was going to drain her.
He seemed hypnotized and “forced”. But by whom?
Samosa struggled with the need to remain there and enjoy the tentacles playing in her body or sitting up and slapping sense into him.
When he pressed down harder, placing all of the tentacles into her back, she moaned and soon drifted into that place of mixed images and that part of her life as a young adult, then a teen..and those memories began to dissipate in bubbles. Noooo! Her mind screamed. He was seeking her essence.
Taking her memories.
Just then she felt a chilling breeze sink onto her skin and she welcomed it. Something was being sucked off her back.
But Stone wasn’t there.
Eyes the color of gemstones met her vision and Korin’s chiseled, perfect face loomed in view. He held Stone away from her. Stone was flailing wildly, his tentacles were a juicy crimson and dripped with fluid. His eyes feral. He was not himself. Or maybe he was?
“Korin?” She pulled the satin sheet up to her chin.
“It’s only been a few days. The jinn aren’t ready. You should leave, My Dear.” Korin held Stone fast.
“Give her to me!” He growled, a string of saliva leaving his mouth. Samosa shook, afraid.
“There has to be another way.”She cried but Korin shook his head quickly.
“What you see here,” Stone slapped Korin on the side of the face and Korin quickly punched him in the head, causing Stone to fall to the ground in a hump. “Is what we truly are. We feed from souls.”
Spiritual vampires.
Samosa bit her lip, tasted blood then fisted her sheets. Not wanting to expose herself to Korin’s changing eyes.
“I don’t want to leave him.” She eyed Stone’s body which began twitching in the corner. He was waking up.
Korin produced a small satchel in his hand, magically. It was a deep mauve color. “Take this.” He tossed it on the bed. “There is money and a change of clothes and a cell phone. Only my number is programmed in it. I will call you when the jinn are finished their elixir. Until then, you must go somewhere for the next two weeks.”
Samosa thought about her mom. Could she live there again? It was not like her life was bad there, but Lyle knew where her mother stayed and her mom would pry.
Korin raised an eyebrow. “I’ve supplied you with lots of cash. Find a hotel and lay low.”
Samosa slid from the bed cautious of Korin’s eyes on her and she pulled on some sweats and beige shirt quickly and plucked up the nice bag Korin “made” for her. She saw Stone rising to his feet.
“Go!”
Korin’s yell got her feet moving. She made a beeline downstairs and ran past Sugar Rocks who lifted his head from a night nap. Once outside she spotted the silver and black Fiat 500L and hopped inside. Looking through the windshield and peering up she saw the two bodies, shadows moving, dancing.
No. Not dancing.
Fighting.
Oh God.
Her tears fell.