Deep dark purples, blacks and blues contrasted with the otherwise unmarred skin. The claw marks on her back had already healed and even as she stared down at the slow-healing discolorations, made only two evenings prior, she found herself craving the pain and the rush of pleasure it brought with it once again.
Two excuses, two lies, one to Dawn as to why she would be home late, and one to Willow as to why she'd rather go on patrol alone. The funny thing, she found as she made her way along those familiar streets to the cemetery, is that there wasn't even a twinge of guilt. Only the hunger, the need; the emptiness only he could fill.
She threw an insult the second she entered but there was to be no witty banter tonight, he wasn't there, he wasn't waiting. Taking a step inside she glanced around; the whole crypt seemed to echo like a hollow shell with the sound of her footsteps. Without him it was dead, like everything else in this place, like her. Without him she was just as lifeless, just as empty. As she wandered through the room she could feel it all draining away, feel herself getting colder, emptier.
The chair was suddenly all too welcoming. It invited her in with soft whispers and promises of rest. She told herself she wouldn't fall asleep, promised herself she would only sit down a moment, she was better than all of this, this wasn't who she was.
Almost immediately as she sank down into the chair her eyes closed. It was as though his arms were around her then; as though she had the conclusiveness of a long battle behind her and the comfort of waking up with someone who would understand.
When her eyes did open again he was with her, she was nestled in his arms, both of them lying in the bed below the crypt itself. For a moment she froze, uncertain what to do. Something about it made her heart twinge.
A few moments later she was out the door of the crypt slipping into the early haze of the morning. She hugged herself tight, making her way back toward home, not quite sure what to make of what had occurred, not even sure if she could face him again. Even as the thought surfaced, however, so too did the hunger.