warning: violence


She didn't even try.

She didn't stray far at all. I was surprised by that given the amount of time she had. A considerable head start she did not use. She must have imagined she was unwatched as she inched farther and farther away and no-one stopped her but the eyes we had on her simply had no permission to interfere. In a way I felt she wanted to be found and the idea nearly soothed me. She couldn't bring herself to simply wait for me to return because that would be admitting to herself that she did not wish to escape, but leaving the state and getting caught allowed her to maintain her own lies to herself.

"They are so like children, are they not?" Jane said as we waited for the sun to go down, watching Marina and the human boy from afar. "They don't know what they want and even when they do they cannot accept it. Don't know what is best for themselves." She sighed with faked sadness. "Someone must choose for them and still they defy it for the sake of rebelling. What is left is to force obedience."

I laughed and turned to her.

"It is quite lovely in a way, is it not? To see their innocent attempts at making their own decisions and then have them fight for control and lose."

"It is lovely," she agreed, "and I suppose you will enjoy her defeat so very much."

I certainly would. I could almost feel myself tingling with anticipation. Most of all I would enjoy the boy's defeat greatly. Watching my Marina with him for hours in the old streets of that city only fuelled my desire to take my time and savour his death. I pictured numerous different scenarios as I saw her touch him and laugh at his jokes, I could hear his screams in my head every time she used terms of endearment to refer to him, every time she kissed him.

It was dreadful to watch. I felt feverish with the impulse to lunge at him every time she kissed him. She did it so easily too, softly and carelessly, nothing like the way she had kissed me, and I consoled myself with the thought that she would never feel so intensely for him as she did for me and that was why she was so mild when she touched him.

As the sun made its disappearance they conveniently split ways. He entered a store and she sat outside to wait for him.

More like to wait for me, alone and in the dark.

I wanted to go there and just take her as soon as she sat down on the bench but Jane was ready to fight me on this.

"You go have the boy first, I will talk to her. Girl to girl."

She giggled and made her way to Marina, who opened her bag to look at something inside. Whatever it was, it had her full attention, she was abstracted enough that she did not notice the sun setting or Jane sitting by her side.

I looked at the coffee shop the boy had entered earlier and caught sight of him through the glass doors, standing in line. I went inside as well and stood by the doors to intercept him on his way out.

There was one security guard in there. At that point in time I had enough knowledge of the human to anticipate his reaction to my presence with some accuracy and thus I knew he would follow me out of the shop to wherever I led him in hopes of preventing me from going to Marina. He would even try to hurt me, he must have wanted to make me suffer for upsetting her so much though he could never achieve such a thing.

It happened just as I expected.

Upon seeing me by the doors on his way out, a coffee cup in his hand, he stopped abruptly. He took a few more steps towards me after his initial shock and I could tell he was ready for a confrontation.

"Fuck, you really did follow her" he hissed, hovering over me in what he must have thought was a menacing manner, "how very brave of you."

I smiled.

"You just took the words right out of my mouth."

He snorted and placed his cup on a table.

"I don't know what you're trying to do but you have scared her enough. Get the fuck out of my face and leave her alone."

He raised his voice and I glanced at the security guard, who happened to be eyeing us suspiciously.

"Let's talk outside."

He eagerly obliged, and even tried to shove me as we reached the street. It must have bruised him but such a small mark would soon become invisible underneath all the other ones I planned to inflict on him.

Once we were outside I lost no time. I grabbed him effortlessly, passing one arm around his torso and ran, fast enough that no human prying eyes could catch a glimpse of us. I had to go quite far from the square to reach a secluded area but it did not bother me, it was all worth it.

I wanted the pleasure of hearing him scream.

There were a few spots in the city which any resident knew to avoid. Many of them were narrow old streets downtown, perfect to ambush distracted pedestrians. I turned into the first deserted one of those I could find and joyfully threw the boy on the ground.

"Let's talk privately ."

He grunted and looked around, confused. I could tell he was nauseous from the run and would need time to process what happened. I got rid of the awful contact lenses I bothered to wear to go into the shop, crossed my arms and waited for him to speak.

When he met my eyes his widened in shock.

"It's true?" He spoke more to himself than to me, his voice barely above a breathy whisper. "She was right, I can't believe it."

He tried to get up but I put a foot on one of his shoulders and pushed him back down. He hit his face on the piss covered concrete sidewalk.

"Stay down. I rather enjoy seeing you at my feet where you belong."

I watched as he got increasingly afraid, the reality of his situation hitting him. He could never outrun me, he could not win against me. He could not even defend himself, he was alone and powerless. More than that, he was completely at my mercy and I intended to have none.

"She will never forgive you" he tried as I knew he would. It was the only thing he had left, his last resort.

"The day will come when she will have no memory of you."

He whimpered and crawled away from me and I laughed at the pathetic sight.

"How can it be," I pondered as I slowly walked to him, deliberately keeping some distance between us, "that I was so jealous of you? There is nothing to be envied here, you have nothing I could want." He tried to get on his knees and I kicked his arms, making him hit his face on the ground once again.

"Not even Marina's love" I went on and pressed his face down with my foot. "If she cared for you at all you would not be here facing your death. You would be safe in your home, oblivious to what I am and you would never have to see me again."

He started crying loudly, sobbing even. I released his face and crouched down beside him, grabbing his hair and pulling his head back so he could look me in the eyes.

"Whatever she sees in you I cannot tell. To think she would ever choose you over me seems laughable as I look at you now."

"You're a filthy demon" he bravely spat, every word punctuated with anger and disgust. "A vile, revolting creature. She will never love you. Who could ever love a monster like you?"

I laughed as loud as he was crying.

"Someone who is just like me."

"She is nothing like you, leave her alone, just stay away..."

I smiled at his ignorance.

"You really think you know her."

"I have known her for years , you have no idea..."

"And what is that worth" I pulled his head farther back "if she was never honest with you?"

He grabbed my arm with both his hands to try and get mine out of his hair but it was futile. Upon witnessing that feeble attempt at overthrowing me I released my mist and watched as it enveloped him. I observed as he went under and contemplated what I would do to him while he was unconscious. He would feel it all once he woke up.

I slowly dragged my nails across his neck, drawing little droplets of blood. They went down his pale skin in thin lines and I felt my throat ache as the image and the smell hit me, but ignored the thirst to prolong the moment. Shredding his shirt I went down to his chest and sunk my nails deeper, making the blood flow heavier than before.

I drew back the mist and watched as he regained consciousness, gasping for air and flailing around. He groaned when he started to feel the pain from his injuries and then he screamed when he saw his wounds.

I sighed in pleasure as I finally heard it.

"Fuck, you're totally sick. Stay away from her, don't hurt her."

He started to mumble incomprehensibly, his face swollen and bathed in tears. I had no patience for his cries, I wanted him to scream until he lost his voice and his throat burnt even more than mine. I wanted to see him nearly passing out from pain.

"Snivelling, loathsome creature." I took one of his arms and broke it in a swift movement. He started to scream again and I pressed it to hear it louder.

It was like a song.

"I wonder how much you can take."

I lifted him to his feet, pressing his back against a wall. He immediately clung to his broken arm, still screaming in pain. I had to support his weight as he was barely able to do it himself but quickly kicked one of his legs and let him go. I could hear another bone cracking and rejoiced as I watched his face scrunched in agony. His voice got gradually hoarser and he collapsed to the ground.

I smiled as another idea came to me.

You did it so avidly, Marina, let's see how good it feels.

I took his hair in between my fingers again and mimicking what I had seen Marina doing to the customer that attacked her, I repeatedly hit his head against the ground. His protests eventually became inaudible, his face unrecognisable. He was covered in his own blood and it was blissful. I let a moan escape my mouth as I ruined him and before he stopped moving completely I slashed his throat with my teeth, finishing him by draining his body of the blood he still had.

You know it, love. It did feel incredible.

It was cathartic, really.

I allowed myself to admire his lifeless form for a few moments, replaying his screams in my head before I set him on fire. I could almost hear his voice echoing through the street, as if he was screaming all over again.

Once I was done I had to get myself clean. I had not worried about getting his blood all over me as I didn't want the distraction so I needed to change and wash it all off of my skin before I met Marina.

I could already hear her running through the streets nearby.