Nikki lost herself in the sunset, feeling the magic that Polyxia had passed on to her responding to the changing day. It was peculiar how spiritual the magic made Nikki feel. She had originally assumed that there would be a great deal of darkness and mysticism to her powers but they mostly seemed to respond to peaceful things—beautiful things.
She closed her eyes and focused on the tide coming in and then pulling out. She timed her breathing with it and felt as if she were one with the ocean for a moment.
Then a totally different sensation pulled at her as Saul came up behind her and placed his arms tightly around her waist. Nikki smelled salt water on him and shivered pleasantly at the feel of his chilled skin against hers.
“Enjoying the view?” he asked, nuzzling at her neck and kissing her on the cheek.
“I am,” she said. “A girl could get used to this.”
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You seemed really deep in thought.”
“I’m still trying to get accustomed to Polyxia’s talents," Nikki answered."When I see things like a sunset, they seem to go crazy. It’s a bit too much to handle.”
Saul took Nikki gently by the waist and turned her around to face him. “Do you regret it?” he asked.
Nikki shook her head. “No. I can already tell how this is going to define me. I can feel it, almost like some other presence, living inside of me. It’s not too dissimilar to what happened after I turned. I can’t imagine my life without either of those facets now.”
“Once you get accustomed to it,” Saul said, “you realize that you’ll be a uniquely powerful specimen, right?”
“I do,” she said, serious. She did. But what good did it to think about things she had no control over?
Nikki eyed Saul hungrily. He was shirtless and wore the trunks he had taken out on his swim. She pulled him closer to her and ran a hand over his chest.
“And speaking of powerful specimens,” she said with a grin, “how are you doing. Recovered yet?”
Saul smiled back, a bit shyly. Ever since Magdeline had nearly killed him, his body had been weak. He’s spent most of their week in Ireland sleeping it all off. He’d been tired, weak, and had felt ill. Much to Nikki’s dismay, he hadn’t had much strength—especially not enough to spend in the bedroom. That was one of the reasons he had decided to take up swimming these last few days… to get his energy back.
“I’m doing much better,” he said. Saul wrapped his arms softly around Nikki. His fingers found the clasp on the bikini top she had been wearing while tanning that afternoon. He unhooked and removed it, dropping it to the patio. He then pulled her close to him, their bodies pressing together.
“Are you sure?” Nikki asked, trailing her fingers over his mouth. “With this new power inside of me, I don’t want to hurt you.” She laughed as she said it, tracing Saul's lips with her finger.
Saul nibbled at the tip of Nikki's finger and gave her a devilish look. He then lowered his hands and hooked his fingers into the straps of the bikini bottoms. He wasn’t as gentle as he had been with the top; he pulled the straps hard, tearing them off her hips.
“Do your worst,” he said, and then kissed her.
It was a kiss that was both passionate and hard at the same time. It took Nikki by surprise, momentarily taking her breath away. She pressed herself into Saul and locked her arms around him. She tasted the sea still on his lips and felt him growing hard against her thigh. That, plus the dimming light of the day and the gentle breeze of the afternoon all combined to send her new senses into overdrive. There was a tantalizing moment where she thought she might have an orgasm just from the combination of those things alone.
But then Saul reached his hands down to cup her ass and she grounded herself. He squeezed lightly and then lifted her from the patio floor. He scooped her up and placed her on the railing so that she was sitting in front of him. Nikki wrapped her legs around his waist, pinning him to herself and continuing to kiss him.
Several weeks ago, Nikki would have been begging for Saul to be inside her as quickly as possible. But now, she found herself enjoying the lingering moments where they explored each other's bodies. She smiled warmly as Saul's kisses left her mouth and trailed to her neck, her shoulders, her chest. She ran her hands through his still-damp hair, feeling the grit and salt still there. The texture of it was somehow unbelievable beneath her newly skilled fingers.
And then something happened that she had not expected. Nikki focused on the grainy texture of Saul's hair with an intensity that sprang forth from Polyxia’s magic. It was absolute and, for a moment, engulfed her entire being. As she kept her hands in his hair, Saul did two things at once: he softly took her nipple into his mouth and he cupped her sex with his hand.
Something exploded inside of Nikki. She didn’t feel the orgasm building at all. It was just there and it was all over the place. She let out a gasp and shuddered against Saul, the muscles in her legs going tight and pulling him closer to her.
“Saul…my God…”
She didn’t think it was ever going to end. Just as the primary wave of pleasure lessened and seemed to be trailing off, Saul stroked her with his fingers and it was back, surging to her core just like the tide to the beach behind them.
When it was finally over, Nikki was drained. She felt every muscle in her body relaxing. But at the same time, she felt the need to please Saul in the same way. She didn’t know how she could use her new abilities to her benefit in the bedroom, but she was eager to find out.
Nikki reached down and slid her hand into Saul's swim trunks. He was fully hard and she took a moment to simply enjoy the feel of him in her hand. She ran her fingers down his length softly took him in her hand. She stroked him lightly as her mouth again returned to his. Still perched on the railing, she drew him closer to her, using her feet against his back to draw him in. She looked him directly in the eyes as she guided him inside and when he gave his first thrust, something in them locked through that eye contact. It felt like some sort of mechanical fitting—like elevator doors sliding shut or an electrical lock clicking tightly into place.
They moved slowly against one another for a while, Nikki's legs and arms wrapped around Saul's massive shoulders. Each time she pulled away and then drew herself back down on the entire length of his member, she felt herself on the brink of losing control again. But after a while, she seemed to get the hang of it.
What she began to realize, though, was that their current position didn’t give her enough control to properly sync their bodies. She could feel something else trying to lock into place, something that wanted to connect with Saul in a way with which she was not familiar. Nikki pressed her hands against his shoulders and made him withdraw from her. She got down from the railing — carefully, as her knees were still jittery from her earlier pleasure — and led Saul through the opened double doors and into their suite.
She started kissing him again, slowly maneuvering them so that she could still see the beach and the sunset through the opened patio doors.
“Lay down,” she whispered to him.
Saul nodded, still kissing her, his tongue playfully tracing the contours of her own. She knew that it was hard for him to submit to any sort of control at the moment, but Saul listened to her eagerly. He lay down on the bed and she started kissing his chiseled stomach. She travelled south, not taking him completely in her mouth, but simply tracing the shape of it with her tongue… from the very base of the root all the way to the tip of the head. When she was done, she slowly slid up, purposefully causing his cock to fit perfectly between her breasts on the way.
Nikki kissed and licked and nipped at Saul's flesh, slowly straddling him. She lowered herself onto him and when he was fully sheathed within her, they both let out a moan of pleasure. Saul grabbed her hips tightly but Nikki brushed his hands away. She sat straight up and rocked against him, making sure that every available bit of him was inside of her. She leaned back slightly, her palms flat against the bed, and rocked a bit har
der. She looked down at him and the sight of him writhing in pleasure beneath her put a smile on her face.
Nikki let out a deep, breathy sigh as she found the right angle. She sped up a bit and felt herself getting there again. She let the magic come this time, working with it, feeling her muscles tighten in preparation.
When it came, she let out a shout of pleasure that she thought could probably be heard from the other side of the island. And yet, she did not stop.
Saul's body responded to Nikki's increasingly frantic movements, thrusting harder. He tried reaching for her again but Nikki caught his hands with her own and interlaced their fingers. As she did, she felt that last thing snap together inside of her. Saul apparently felt it too; his eyes grew wide and he bit back a scream.
Saul thrust three more times, Nikki gasping in pleasure all the while. Her eyes widened because somehow, wonder of wonders, she was already on the verge again. When Saul gave his final thrust, she met it with a downward arc of her hips and they came together. She leaned into him in the midst of it and kissed him deeply. Nikki felt so relaxed and totally filled with bliss that she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
They continued kissing after it was over. Saul was laughing mildly as they collapsed onto one another. Nikki was busy catching her breath, her body a bundle of nerves. She wanted to ask him how it had felt and if he had sensed the extreme power that had come when they had connected in those final moments.
Nikki fell asleep before she could as much as open her mouth. Still, the sense of joy and ultimate peace lingered even as sleep claimed her.
2
Jill Benton left Red Creek for the second time in her life one full week after the battle with the Guard. She would have preferred to leave immediately, but duty — however self-imposed — made her linger for several days after Saul and Nikki's own departure. To Jill, that period of time had felt like a funeral—as if she were putting Red Creek to rest.
On the day she finally decided to leave, Jill had gone by Kara’s house. Getting there felt like a journey through the wilderness — like visiting a hermit that lived in the middle of nowhere. If there were any living survivors of what had occurred in Red Creek, they were hiding themselves well. Jill hadn’t seen another living soul outside of the Marked since things had come to an end with the Guard; the way to Kara's home was completely deserted.
Jill and Kara had sat on the front porch, looking out to the towering tops of the trees and drinking beer. Despite everything that had occurred, Jill still found the sight of the Red Creek forest breathtaking. Fall would be upon the town soon, turning everything green into shades of reds and golds.
“So what’s next for the Marked?” Jill asked.
“I don’t quite know yet,” Kara shrugged.
“You aren’t going to stay in Red Creek are you?” Jill asked.
“Doubtful. I do wonder though… in a few years when you go online and type American Ghost Towns into Google, do you think Red Creek will show up?”
“It’s a good question,” Jill said. And it was. She had thought of this herself, just not in those terms.
“I was thinking about the powers that presided over the Guard,” Kara said after a minute of silence.
“What about them?”
“Well, would they step in for something like this? An entire town has basically been wiped out because of something the Guard and other supernatural entities did. It seems like that falls right into their jurisdiction.”
“I don’t know. That’s a group that doesn’t even have a name, other than the one we use to refer to them. No one has ever been able to predict how they will behave. Hell, no one has even seen or heard directly from them in a few centuries.”
“But they are the beings that were responsible for selecting the members of the Marked, right?” Kara asked.
“As I understand it, yes, that is correct.”
There was silence after that, the only noise being the lifting and settling of beer bottles on the boards of the porch.
“How are the others?” Jill asked after a few quiet minutes had passed.
“They’re handling it much better than I would have ever expected them to. Penny and Ray are staying at Penny’s house. I don’t know if they’re in love or just sort of leaning against each other to cope.”
“What about Paul?”
“He’s drinking pretty heavily,” Kara admitted. “I visited him this morning and made him some breakfast. He told me that he’s having bad dreams and that he wakes up screaming. He sleeps with his rifle by his bed.” Jill winced.
“How about you?” Jill asked. “How are you holding up?”
“The blood lust is kicking in from time to time,” Kara answered. There was something like shame on her face when as she said this. Jill wanted to tell her not to be ashamed, not to even think twice about it. But she recalled how confusing it could all be when one was freshly Turned. So instead, Jill let Kara have her say; she let her vent, hoping it would help her to get used to the sort of creature she now was.
“Have you tried controlling it yet?” Jill asked.
“Yes. The other night I went out and killed a deer. I fed on it, taking my time to get adjusted to the act. It tided me over the worst of it, but something in me knew that it wasn’t exactly right. It wanted more.”
At that, Jill reached into her pocket and handed Kara a small slip of paper. “This is my cell phone number,” Jill said. “If it all gets to be too much, don’t hesitate to call me.”
Kara nodded and tucked the number into her pocket. “What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Jill said. “All I know for sure is that I can’t stay here.”
“I hear that,” Kara murmured, raising her bottle of beer.
The two women clinked their bottles and sat in silence until Jill stood, waved a short goodbye, and got into her car.
Jill drove around Red Creek twice, taking in the lay of the land one last time. She wasn’t quite sure where she was going to go. The same suitcase with the same belongings she had brought into Red Creek a few months ago at Saul's summons lay in her trunk. It only seemed fitting that she retrace her route and head back to where she had been before Saul had called to her.
At 11:00 that night, Jill made her way to the interstate. At 9:00 the following morning, she passed over into Florida. Jill put her sunglasses on, winced sweetly at the glare of the gorgeous Florida sun, and smiled.
3
The last time Kara had spoken to Jill, Jill had asked: So what’s next for the Marked?
As it turned out, the answer was a road trip.
Kara didn’t know exactly how she had come to that conclusion. The thought dawned on her one day that there was no way they could be the only members of a group like the Marked. Certainly there had to be other people—other places—that were filled with individuals with some sort of link to the supernatural.
She had met with the rest of the Marked and spent the better part of a day making a plan. Paul had cooked some steaks on the grill and they’d had a fairly enjoyable day together. Kara noticed that the subject of the Guard did not come up even once. She was uncertain whether that was a good sign: Were they choosing to repress the whole incident, or had everyone truly moved on? But Kara did not spend too much time wondering about that; her mind was too busy digesting the fact that the Marked did not seem afraid of her. No one treated Kara any differently now that she was a vampire — there were no suspicious looks thrown her way, no sudden flinching as she reached across someone to grab another can of beer or help herself to more mashed potatoes. Kara smiled as she realized that the Marked still saw her as one of their own. More than that, the human members of the group were looking to her for direction and guidance. The realization left her feeling touched, as well as determined: She would do her best to protect these people. It was her responsibility, as the strongest among them.
Kara proposed that they start looking for others who were like them. She w
asn’t sure how they would find them, but she felt very strongly that a group like the Marked surely wouldn’t be confined to a single little town like Red Creek. There was no argument from the rest of the Marked; everyone was eager to leave Red Creek, to find a new purpose.
It was on the third day of their journey, with all of them riding in a van they had liberated from Red Creek’s sole (and recently vacated) car dealership, that Kara began to understand for the first time why they had all agreed to her plan. They were having a small dinner in a diner outside of Little Rock, Arkansas when they had the conversation that changed the way Kara started thinking of not only herself, but her fellow Marked members.
“What if there are no more of us out there?” Penny had asked.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” Kara said. “I know there are more. I know it sounds clichéd, but I can feel it. I imagine that this might be what a goose feels like when it’s time to fly south for the winter.”
“I can’t say I feel it to that degree,” Paul said, “but I feel something. For me, it comes with knowing that town I lived in my whole life was overtaken by something outside of my control. There has to be something out there to explain it—something that is the polar opposite of what took our town away.”
Penny and Ray nodded in agreement. Those nods, in unison with Paul’s comment, were all that Kara needed to know that she had made the right choice.
She lay awake in bed that night, in a cheap hotel room, thinking about the future. Ray and Penny had taken a room of their own while Kara shared one with Paul. While Penny and Ray had tried to remain as quiet as possible, she could still hear the sounds of their lovemaking through the walls. In the bed beside her, Paul slept on.
There are others, she thought. There are other Marked members. And if I find them, maybe then I’ll not be alone any longer. Maybe this is what I was meant to do my entire life.
It was a pleasant thought and, whether it was true or not, followed her into sleep. After drifting off, there was the faintest trace of a smile left on Kara's face. That night, she got the best night’s sleep she had gotten ever since she and the rest of the Marked had put the little town of Red Creek in their rearview mirror.
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