“Doors?” Felicia asked. “How many are there?”
“Three, we think. But don’t worry, once we pass through the First, the rest shouldn’t pose a problem.”
“Okay.”
“And as for my clothing,” Winter said, “I find it helps me stay out of trouble if people can’t tell that I’m a Pixie.”
“I can imagine,” Felicia said. Pixies do have a habit of attracting a lot of attention. Then she realized what Winter meant. “So you do have wings then?”
“What?” Winter said with some surprise. “Of course I have wings!” She touched a finger to the top of her leather garment at the front of her neck, then drew it downward. Somehow, as her finger passed, each clasp became undone with a small pfftt sound, revealing a stripe of Winter’s skin down to her navel. Felicia’s eyes were drawn to the newly exposed skin, from the slight curve of her breasts to the surprising suggestion of abdominal muscles.
Winter shook her shoulders and her outfit slid forward, closing the stripe of bare skin at the front, and somehow releasing her wings. They burst into view, shimmering with silver and black.
Like being in the darkest of night and suddenly having the moon appear from behind a cloud.
For half a moment, Felicia was dumbstruck. As striking as Winter had seemed before, her wings enhanced her beauty tenfold. Felicia wondered if she would ever be able to pull her eyes away.
Then, in the next half moment, something caught her eye. Behind Winter, through a small window that lead into an antechamber of some sort, was the pink-haired Pixie.
“Who’s that?” Felicia found herself saying, as she slid sideways in her chair, trying to get a clear view past Winter’s wings. The Pixie was gone.
She stood up quickly. Her chair tipped over and fell to the floor. Glancing around the room, she saw a door she hadn’t noticed before. She ran to it and pulled it open, revealing the antechamber, but no pink-haired Pixie, and no other way out.
She turned to the other three Pixies, who were staring at her with surprise, concern, and maybe fear. “Where is she?” Felicia demanded.
“Who?” Winter asked. She was the most surprised but also the most composed. “Who did you see?”
“The pink-haired Pixie.” Felicia looked around the room. There were only three ways out: the stairs they had arrived by, the stairs up to Winter’s room…
And the stairs down to Felicia’s own room. “There!” she said with certainty and ran to the stairs and started downward.
“Wait!” a Pixie yelled.
This stairway was dimly lit and very narrow. There was a door at the bottom. Felicia felt certain the pink-haired Pixie was waiting just beyond.
“Watch out for the—” another Pixie said.
She took a step—
…what…
—her mind refused to process what happened next.
Discontinuity
“FELICIA?”
She awoke with a start and sat upright—too quickly, causing a wave of dizziness to wash over her. She closed her eyes for a moment to let the sensation pass, then looked around. She was in a small room, simple and square. It had grey stone walls and was completely bare of any ornamentation, yet felt warm and welcoming thanks to the bright sunlight streaming in through many small windows.
But nothing was familiar about it. “Where am I?” she said.
“Your room,” said the Pixie standing on the right side of her bed. It was Mint. “You passed out when you ran through the discontinuity.”
“You really should avoid doing that,” said another Pixie, Tulip, sitting in a chair to Felicia’s left and glowing brightly in a ray of sunshine.
Felicia’s mind was still stuck on one word. “Disconti… what?” she said.
“Discontinuity,” Mint said. “It crosses your doorway. Kind of like the curtain we went through yesterday.”
“Actually, it’s nothing like the curtain,” Tulip corrected.
Felicia could almost feel the glare Mint was giving Tulip.
“Well, it isn’t,” Tulip said, “not in the slightest. The curtain is a shortcut between places. The discontinuity is a just a broken place where nothing exists.”
Mint continued to glare for a few more seconds, then turned her attention back to Felicia. She leaned closer and spoke in a softer tone. “How do you feel?”
“Fine, I guess,” Felicia said. The dizziness had faded and otherwise she felt normal.
There was a brief burst of white light, and a third Pixie appeared at the foot of her bed. It was the Goddess Ariel, and she didn’t look happy.
“You’re awake,” Ariel said, and without waiting for a response, “The Pixie you saw. Describe her.”
Felicia felt a warmth spread through her body. The pink-haired Pixie! How could I forget! She found herself trying to climb out of bed, but both Mint and Tulip reached in and gently held her down. “Who is she?” Felicia said eagerly. “Is she here?”
Ariel stared unblinking into the Vampire’s eyes. “Describe her,” she said with more intensity.
The image of the Pixie floated through Felicia’s mind, and she sighed before speaking. “She’s beautiful, with pink hair and soft blue eyes.”
“What shade of pink?” Ariel asked. “Like cotton candy?”
“No. Darker. With maybe a hint of purple. It looked very glossy and soft.”
Like it wants to be touched.
“She has short hair?”
Felicia shook her head vehemently. “No, it’s long, maybe past her shoulders, perfectly straight.”
Ariel muttered something that could only be a curse and disappeared.
Felicia looked at Mint. “She knows who it is, doesn’t she?”
Mint paused, then said, “Yes.”
“And you know who it is too?”
Mint glanced at Tulip, then nodded her head.
“Take me to her now!” She started to push herself out of bed again. The Pixies were still holding her down, but couldn’t hope to keep Felicia from getting up if she really wanted to.
Tulip touched two fingers to Felicia’s forehead. Suddenly Felicia found herself very sleepy.
“Rest,” Tulip said and Felicia decided to close her eyes for a moment.
~ ~ ~
The pink-haired Pixie stood at the foot of the bed and started to take off her clothes, ever so slowly. Felicia reached out to help, but she was just out of reach. The Pixie continued to reveal more and more of herself, showing more skin, more of what Felicia wanted to see, and to touch, and to taste.
Yet, somehow she never became naked, never removed any of her clothing.
Felicia was puzzled, but enchanted, and couldn’t look away. Any moment now she would be able to see more…
~ ~ ~
“Awake.” It was Tulip’s voice.
Felicia opened her eyes, instantly feeling awake and not as if she had been sleeping and dreaming just a second earlier.
Dreaming… the Pixie had just started lifting her skirt. I could see her knees and halfway up her thighs, soft and pale, eager to be caressed. I was about to lose control, I wanted to slide my hand between her legs, find out if she was wet, find out if she was ready for me to taste her.
But before Felicia could say anything, before she could repeat her demand to be taken see the pink-haired Pixie, Tulip spoke. “I’m going to take you to her now,” she said, speaking in a level voice, obviously trying to hide her feelings on the matter.
Felicia jumped out of bed. The touch of cool stone on her feet made her look down, and she realized that she was still barefoot and wearing only the undergarments she had been wearing the day before. “Should I change?” she asked Tulip.
Tulip looked at Felicia, letting her eyes wander down the Vampire’s body. “I wouldn’t,” she said, her voice now suggestive and laced with possibility.
Despite of her eagerness to meet the pink-haired Pixie, Felicia found herself tempted to dally with the Pixie right in front of her. She smiled at Tulip and, thinking of
their little secret, said very quietly, “Is there still a part of you that you’d like me to bite?”
Tulip locked eyes with the Vampire, then gave a subtle shake of her head and looked away. “We better go,” she said, her voice level again but with a tinge of disappointment. She led Felicia to a door, which opened to a stairway leading up. “Close your eyes when you put your foot on the fourth stair. It’ll make it easier.”
“What?” Felicia looked at the fourth stair, which looked exactly like all the others. “You mean…”
“The discontinuity,” she confirmed. “Don’t worry, if you’re expecting it, then it’s not so bad.” She started upward, and when her foot touched the fourth step, her body seemed to waver and warp for a moment before it disappeared.
Okay…
Felicia followed, and with only a brief hesitation, closed her eyes and touched the fourth step.
She felt a brief dropping sensation, as if she were falling in twenty different directions that were constantly changing. Then it stopped. She opened her eyes to see Tulip watching her.
“See, not so bad,” the Pixie said.
They walked up to the main room where they had met Winter the night before. There was no sign of other Pixies.
“Where is everyone?” Felicia asked.
Tulip continued walking and didn’t look back. “Ariel said everyone should avoid you until this gets cleared up. I’m the only one here right now.”
“Cleared up? What does that mean?”
Tulip stopped at the top of the main stairway and looked back. She opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind. “I’ll let Raspberry tell you.”
“Raspberry?” The name sounded unbearably delicious. “That’s her name?”
“Yes.” Tulip started walking down the stairs.
Raspberries. When was the last time I tasted one? The thought of one on her tongue made her mouth water.
They quickly reached the twisted part of the stairs and continued past it. A few minutes later Tulip pointed at a window that looked much like all the others. “That’s where we came in last night,” she said, but didn’t stop walking.
They passed more twisted and deformed areas, and walked until Felicia was certain that they must be nearing the ground level, when Tulip stopped at a closed wooden door.
“She’s in there,” Tulip said.
Felicia felt her heart race. The moment’s almost here! “This is Raspberry’s room?” Even saying the name was exciting. Raspberry.
“No, it’s actually my room,” Tulip said, then with some reluctance added, “One of my rooms.”
Odd. How many rooms does a Pixie that doesn’t live here need?
But she didn’t say anything. She reached toward the door to turn the handle.
“One thing,” Tulip said. “You won’t be able to see.”
“What?”
“You won’t be able to see her,” Tulip repeated. “Ariel’s rules.”
“I don’t understand,” Felicia said, in a tone that she realized sounded whiny. “What’s the point then?”
Tulip shrugged. “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.” She turned away and continued walking farther downstairs.
Felicia’s hand was resting on the door handle. Well, it’s not like I’m turning back now. She turned the handle and slowly pushed the door open.
Dark
IT WAS BLACK INSIDE. Not just dark. Black. She pushed the door inward and it disappeared almost instantly, as if sliding into a pool of ink. Her hand followed suit, disappearing up to her wrist.
Felicia pulled her hand back with a start, but it emerged undamaged and felt perfectly normal.
“Hello?” she called into the room.
There was no response.
Tulip called out from below, her voice echoing. “You have to close the door behind you.”
Taking a deep breath, Felicia stepped into the room. When her eyes crossed the threshold everything instantly ceased to exist. Her world was blackest black. Not even her night vision was of any use.
She reached forward and found the door handle, then the matching handle on the other side. She took hold of it and pushed the door closed. It made a click.
Nothing changed. It didn’t get lighter, and there was no way it could get darker.
“I’m sorry,” said a quiet voice that made Felicia’s heart soar.
“Raspberry?”
“Yes.”
“The pink-haired Pixie?”
“Yes.”
The words I Love You popped into Felicia’s mind, and she quickly pushed them out. That’s ridiculous!
Instead, without really thinking, she said, “You’re beautiful.”
There was a pause. “Thank you,” Raspberry said. “You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that.”
Felicia reached out with her arms, wondering if Raspberry was close enough to touch. The Pixie’s voice didn’t sound like she was far away, but neither did she sound close.
“There’s nothing near you to touch,” Raspberry told her.
“You can see?”
“No, not exactly, but I can tell where things are, and I can tell what you’re doing.”
“Where are you? I can’t tell where your voice is coming from. Can I touch you?”
“No,” Raspberry said, sounding defeated.
“What?”
“I’m not actually here. You can’t touch me.”
Felicia didn’t say anything. Her spirits were plummeting and she didn’t trust herself to speak.
“I’m sorry,” Raspberry said again.
“Sorry?”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Raspberry said, her words tumbling out, sounding as if she was trying to hold back tears. “I just wanted to see you. I thought that there was no way that you would notice me, but somehow, every time, you knew exactly where I was.” She paused, and there was a definite hitch in her voice. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Felicia’s heart was being torn apart, listening to the sadness in Raspberry’s voice.
What’s going on? I don’t even know this girl. Why does she affect me like this?
Regardless, Felicia couldn’t ignore the feelings that were sweeping over her. It was torture, listening to the Pixie, not able to touch her, not able to comfort her. “I don’t understand,” she said, trying to sound calm. “Who are you? Why did you want to see me?”
There was a long silence, broken only by the sounds of the Pixie’s soft, uneven breathing. Then she said, barely loud enough for Felicia to hear, “I am your Key.”
“What?” Her own voice sounded like a shout in contrast with the Pixie’s.
“The final Door that we need to open—”
“A Door?” Felicia interrupted. “Winter… she mentioned a Door.”
“Yes,” Raspberry said. “She is looking for the First Door. It won’t be that difficult to open, and neither will the Second. The Third one…”
“The Third Door—that’s the last one?”
“Yes, and we—if everything goes perfectly—are the only ones that can open it.”
“Because… you are the Key?”
“No, I am your Key. You are the only one that can… use me.”
Use her. She imagined the pink-haired Pixie, eyes closed, mouth open, and a gasp of pleasure escaping from her lips. She tried to push that image out of her mind. “Wait. If I’m supposed to use you, then why am I not allowed to see you?”
“I can only be your Key once. The first time that you–” and she paused, as if trying to avoid the word ‘use’. “The first time that you make me come will be the only time that will open the door.”
Felicia wasn’t really surprised. Make her come. All Pixie trails lead there. Yet she understood. “You think that if I see you, I won’t be able to resist you.”
“Can you resist me?”
The answer to that was clear. “No.”
Raspberry laughed. “Even if you could resist, do you real
ly think you could stop me from wrapping my legs around your head?” Then her voice took a more serious tone. “I thought I would be able to look at you, just once. I really thought that would be enough.”
“Someone should have warned you,” Felicia said. “I’m irresistible.”
“Ariel did tell me. I didn’t believe her.”
Felicia suddenly remembered Ariel. “The Goddess, she’s here, isn’t she?”
“Yes. She’s quite angry with me.”
“She told you to see me? I mean, meet with me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wants me to make you forget.”
“Forget? You?” Felicia’s mind balked at the thought. “Is that even possible?”
“Yes, but…”
“But?”
Raspberry hesitated. “I want you to remember,” she said, sounding embarrassed, “that these are Ariel’s words, not mine.”
“Okay.”
“She said your need for me was too strong, that it would be impossible to make you forget me.”
“Unless…”
“She said we need to break things a bit more so she can put them together again.”
“Which means…”
Raspberry said nothing.
Then Felicia felt the light touch of a hand on her breast. Not through the fabric of her chemise, but directly on her skin. Her knees buckled. “I thought…”
“You can’t touch me,” Raspberry explained, “but I can touch you.”
Five
FELICIA FELL to her knees. The floor had a soft carpet, but the impact still hurt. Not enough to matter though. Her fall had broken contact with Raspberry, but in a moment something touched the top of her breast again, brushed along her skin and curved underneath. She breathed in sharply. Somehow, until this moment she hadn’t even realized that she was aroused, but now she felt as if her body had been quivering in anticipation for hours, begging to be touched.
Then Raspberry found her nipple and squeezed. Felicia cried out and almost pulled away. The Pixie’s touch was gentle, yet somehow too intense to bear. Felicia tried to remain motionless and let the sensation wash over her.
A Raspberry in the Dark - Tales of a Lesbian Vampire (The Pixie Chix) Page 3
