"She's his."
"Impossible."
"His mark is upon her."
"Where? In invisible ink?"
"Might as well be - his presence surrounds her like a murder of crows."
"Pfft! Superstitious nonsense!"
"Take your chances, then - don't say I didn't warn you."
Chad rolled his eyes as he walked away from his friend Jesse and toward the violet-haired woman ascending the stairs from the dance floor. He loved the way she moved, fluid despite her voluptuousness, head held high, taking in the crowd as a queen would take in her subjects. He had resisted Jesse's invite to the Goth-inspired club - himself more into hip hop and dupstep - but watching this dark beauty with her burgandy lips and pale skin was worth the annoyance of having to hear the copius amounts of metal and industrial being cranked out through the speakers. Seating herself at the bar, the bartender leaned in and kissed her full on the mouth as he placed what looked to be a vodka cranberry in front of her. He was a tall, striking figure with short brown hair, red bangs sweeping over his high brow, impossibly sculpted figure in a form-fitting, black long-sleeved shirt and black jeans, which set off his ivory complexion and blue eyes heavily lined in black khol. Chad could tell they were more than familiar, like former lovers turned friends, and sniffed at the way he smiled at her with his pink-glossed lips.
He'd show her what a real man was supposed to be like, what she was missing in the androgynous, daemonoid males she seemed to favor with her midnight-blue gaze.
Chad made to sit beside her and was blocked by a man in a white poet's shirt, thick black hair spilling over his shoulders in impossibly perfect curls. He kissed her forehead, whispered something in her ear, and she laughed - a hearty, husky laugh that sent chills through Chad's bones. Gods, he had to have her. The man turned to leave, giving Chad an amused smirk before disappearing onto the dance floor. He seated himself beside her, ordering a Bud Light, the bartender frowning at him as he was served.
"Hi, I'm Chad."
"Kiernan." The name was as unique as she was, her dark blue eyes appraising him.
"I just got to say, baby, you lookin good tonight." Chad leaned back to look her over - black tank top, leggings, lace-up boots - liking what he saw and displaying his clean-cut, muscular figure in wife beater and jeans.
"Fuck off."
Chad's eyes widened as she drained her glass, walking away with what he could've sworn was a flick of a tail.
"You want a taste of her?" the bartender asked, a curious smirk on his lips.
"Fuck yeah I do." Chad licked his lips like a rapper, which made the bartender stifle a snicker.
"Then you must ask her properly - I'm sure a Harvard-bred boy like you can figure it out." The bartender pat Chad.
"How did you - ?" But the bartender was already out of earshot, taking care of other patrons, leaving Chad to shake his head even as he rose to follow his mysterious queen.
Kiernan loved Korn, the way they made her feel so dark and silky, the feeling of velvet across her thighs as she twisted and undulated her body to the beat. When she was here, in the dance floor, she lost herself, senses becoming a cloud of rhythmic thrumming through her veins.
"May I have this dance, Milady?"
She turned with surprise into the jock from the bar, the annoying gnat that acted gangster but permeated Ivy League, yet the way he was grinding against her buttocks told her he had more than a little skill. Again she lost herself in the music, virtually ignoring the hands on her cleavage, on her hips, the way his hot breath brushed against her neck.
"You like my minion, hmmmm?"
Chad was so distracted by Kiernan he failed to notice the man that had joined them, fingers trailing over Kiernan's arm and cheek. He was an imposing figure, if not for his stature, surely his very presence, elegant in his Italian collared shirt the color of dried blood and black slacks, the silver buckles on his boots glinting off the strobe. He wore a spiky crown of burnished gold hair, chiseled face set with sapphire eyes and full lips, which leaned in to kiss her, but she playfully nipped him and rolled her hips into Chad's crotch like a challenge.
"See how she abuses me - wicked little witch." The man grabbed her hair and consumed her lips in a brutal kiss, making Chad more uncomfortable by the minute, but unwilling to give up the chase. "So, do you want her?"
Chad raised his eyebrows. "What's your price?"
The man growled, getting nose to nose with Chad, blue eyes flaring. "She is not a trinket to be bought or sold, asshole - she choses whom she wills, and I simply give approval. What price - stupid prick, never give insult like that again!"
He glared at Kiernan, kissing her on the cheek and whispering in her ear before walking off the floor to the VIP section overlooking the dance floor. Chad had thought she'd leave with him, but clearly she was perturbed by his arrogance as he was and instead chose continue her seduction, which Chad did not mind one bit. After two more songs, she took his hand and led him off the dance floor, passing by the VIP section to parade her prize.
"Deuces, motherfucker," Chad mouthed to the man glaring at him from his mahogany high-backed throne, baring his teeth when Chad threw up a peace sign.
Kiernan lead him along the outside of the dance floor, across black jacquard carpeting, to what looked like a hall of about six private rooms, the blood-red doors graced with gilt knobs and knockers. She opened one, peeked inside to make sure there were no occupants, then drew him in by his hand, Chad's face beaming with triumph as he shut the door behind him.
They were in some kind of fetish room, with what looked like a metal version of the rack propped in the center of the black marble floor. The walls were lined with upholstered seating places and brocaded pillows, while upon them hung whips and shackles - luxury mixed with sadism.
Kiernan laughed aloud at Chad surveying his surroundings with ever widening eyes. "Just part of the ambiance, think you can handle it?"
"Baby, I can handle anything you throw at me." Chad approached to kiss her, but she playfully backed away. "Aw, c'mon, sweet thing - I bet a gal like you hardly gets a chance with a guy like me."
"Hmmm, true." Kiernan reached out to toy with a cat o' nine tails hanging above her. "Then, praytell, what's a sorority boy doing with a gal like me anyhow?"
"Truth is, never been with a big girl before." Chad walked up to her and grabbed her hips, this time Kiernan did not resist. "Just wanna get my freak on, is that a crime?"
"To many, yes." Kiernan pulled him closer, breathing against his lips. "To me, I could give a fuck less."
Her lips were satin, perfect, just full enough to be sensual yet dainty enough to be sweet, and her mouth tasted like liquor to Chad's ravenous tongue. He ran his hand across her stomach, under her bra, playing with her ample breast, his desire straining with the confines of his jeans. Oh, gods, she was intoxicating! It felt like she was draining the life from him with every draught, but he could give a fuck less, yes, this was indeed a mess, tangled in her pores forever more, rhyming in time with the music and her mind.
"She works within you, doesn't she?" The man brushed his lips against Chad's neck, Chad trying desperately to break free but to his horror her lips held him fast. What is happening to me? his mind shouted, and the man, whom he suddenly knew was named Gackt, chuckled. "Her emotions, her imaginings, even the name of her lover ringing through your head. Makes most insane instantly - let's see how long you last."
Chad lashed put with his last vestige of energy, nearly back-handing Gackt before he was restrained by two intense presences behind him, his arms being painfully pinned behind him as Kiernan finally released her hold on his lips.
"What the fuck!" Chad looked over each shoulder, struggling with all his might, terror rising as the bartender and long haired man from the bar dragged him to the rack, slamming him against the steel platform and shackling both hands and feet in an instant. These were not normal humans, he thought, too strong, too fast, what were they?
"You see, Chad, while it's true that I don't get looked at once, nevermind twice by arrogant gits like you," Kiernan sighed as Gackt came up behind her to take her in his arms, "it's gits like you that make the mistake of thinking we can be controlled, taken advantage of, that we are so desperate for affection that we would stoop to deny ourselves just for the chance of killing loneliness."
Kiernan unzipped Gackt's slacks, reaching in to massage the hardness within. "You see, it is I who chooses, I who decides which lowlife scum to rid the world of - I ask his approval only out of courtesy, not because I have to."
"Wha- what did I ever to do you you sadistic slut!" Chad's outburst earned him a broken nose, delivered by the fist of the bartender, whom he only now noticed had enormous hands.
"Remember that girl you so sweetly raped and almost murdered two weeks ago?" Kiernan's grin widened at the dread coming into Chad's eyes. "Yes, she's alive - she was my friend. Time to pay the Ferryman."
The long haired man rumbled something in Japanese, perfectly menacing in tone and diction, making Chad shiver.
"U:zo says you smell rotten, but you will have to do." Gackt chuckled
"What is he talkin abo -"
Chad's voice broke into the most horrid scream, the sound of his throat being torn open by the two creatures on either side of him, his body going into convulsions with the shock and pain of being eaten alive, drained of blood and breath. Kiernan moaned, his howls music to her ears, and she again worked on Gackt's growing member.
"Gackt," she breathed, leaning into his chest.
"Yes, watashi no koi?" Gackt rumbled, lips touching hers lightly.
"You know what their suffering do to me." Kiernan rolled his slacks down his hips and they fell to the floor, revealing his erect manhood.
"Indeed I do," Gackt smiled, leading her back to the wall, seating himself among the pillows and pulling Kiernan with him.
"Then give me your pain."
Chad stayed conscious enough to see her straddle him, broad hips rocking to and fro, riding him like a Valkyrie in the Wild Hunt, her cries of pleasure mingling with his cries of mercy, until the world was no more.
Jesse stood outside the club, last call being announced almost an hour ago, pissed and drunk and tired and frustrated his friend had gotten what he wanted while he came up empty. Just then, Kiernan came out, and he reached out to tap her on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, but have you seen my buddy?"
Kiernan looked him over - polite, this one, he would not suffer the way his friend did as he had no part in his atrocity. "You told him I was his - he should've listened."
