NightWhere

by John Everson

  While Kharon had been in the room, she’d felt electrified with power. Now she could feel her life slipping away. It was hard to keep her eyes open, and when she stared at the blood-drenched walls, her vision fuzzed and faded.

  She blinked and forced herself to breathe.

  A burning hand stroked her hair, drawing the sweating, bloodied strands away from her eyes.

  Rae looked into the black eyes of Yvonna. The Night Mother smiled faintly at her, with blackened lips. Then she leaned down to kiss Rae.

  As the strange woman’s lips touched her own, Rae felt her pain and fears melt away. A heat built in her mouth and bled like a wave of honey down the back of her throat. The excruciating pain in her abdomen slowly turned to a pleasant burn; at the same time the acid-hot burning in her crotch and across her back where the skin had been ripped away faded to a pleasant hum of feeling.

  Rae felt adrift on a buzz of pain and pleasure, mixed up and cross-wired. She sighed as Yvonna’s face pulled away.

  “I’m dying,” Rae whispered.

  “Not yet,” Yvonna promised. She pressed two black fingertips, each one emblazoned with a tiny snake, to Rae’s eyelids, nudging them closed.

  “Sleep,” she whispered.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  A New Plan

  The dumpster top was bulging; clearly pickup day was near. Mark threw the lid back and looked for something he could use. Cars were beginning to pass by on the street out front; he could hear the quiet rush of the occasional vehicle echo through the alley. Selena stood like a sentinel nearby, clad only in a black robe.

  But Mark was clad in nothing, and he needed to remedy that so that they could find a way back to his house. Just a few blocks from the refinery was a strip mall that held a pizza joint, a 7-Eleven, a tailor and a cleaners. He was betting on some refuse from the latter two to cover at least some of his skin.

  He leaned against the cold green metal of the dumpster and shivered. He hated to touch the garbage bin with his bare skin, but what choice did he have? He pushed aside some boxes and a plastic garbage bag. Something smelled bad as he pushed the refuse around inside, and he prayed that he’d find some scrap of cloth or discarded pants before he found the reason for the stench.

  Bingo!

  Just behind a coffee carton, he saw a bundle of dark blue. Mark hung over the side of the dumpster and fished it out. He tossed it on the pavement and then went back in for more. There were several balled-up bits of clothing.

  He separated them on the ground and found that he had a woman’s sundress, drenched in something wet and foul, a fat man’s pants (the reason for the disposal was obvious-the seam of the rear end was completely ripped out) and a handful of stained or otherwise unwearably damaged business shirts.

  Mark shook out the fat pants and a blue striped shirt with a long yellow stain down the front, and pulled them on. He hated to think about the last thing to touch the material, but…he couldn’t walk naked down First Street during morning rush hour. Or ever, really.

  “What do you think?” he asked, pivoting briefly for Selena. He’d tucked the shirt into the pants, but to keep them up, he had to hold a six-inch bunch of the waist with his left hand.

  Selena smiled faintly. “You look like you’ve lost some weight,” she quipped.

  “Uh-huh,” he said. “Now we just need to find a way across town so that I can get some real clothes. And I’m guessing you’ll want more than a black silk robe eventually.”

  She nodded. “I wouldn’t mind.”

  “I don’t suppose you have any cash or a bus token hidden in that robe?”

  She shook her head.

  “Let’s start walking then.”

  “How far?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Tinley Park’s probably about ten miles so…let’s just say it’s probably going to be a late lunch.”

  They walked in silence for a while, though Mark kept sneaking glances at Selena. She held the black robe tightly around her with arms crossed. But he could still catch a hint of her cleavage where the robe V-ed. It was her face that really drew his eye though. Her cheekbones were high, her skin flawless. Her eyes were stunning, when she looked at you. Ice blue and large, when she talked directly to him, Mark felt himself lose all ability to think. The pale skin and thin eyelids and white-blonde hair…she made him weak if he let himself pay attention.

  Luckily, for a lot of the walking she looked straight ahead and seemed inclined to say nothing.

  “Why did you help me this time?” he asked. “You wouldn’t help me and take me to the club to find Rae before.”

  She looked at him sidelong before answering. A long, considered look.

  “I told you already,” she said. “I won’t help anyone go to NightWhere. But you deserved help to escape. You were prepared to give everything to save your wife. Even if she doesn’t deserve it, you deserve someone to help you after something like that. I didn’t want to see them kill you.”

  “Why were you there at all?” Mark asked. “I’ve gotta assume nobody gets in on those kinds of ceremonies as a newbie.”

  Selena nodded. “I’ve watched things at NightWhere for a long time.”

  “So you’re a Watcher.”

  “Not the way you mean.”

  “Then how?” Mark kicked a stone with his bare toe and grimaced.

  “I look for people like you,” Selena said. “And I try to convince them to go home, where they belong.”

  “Sounds like a lost cause.”

  “Most often,” she admitted.

  The traffic grew around them as they wound down Waverly to Pulaski, zigzagging their way west as people filled the roads on their way to work. They made a strange pair; Mark holding his ballooning pants on, and Selena walking in a silk robe. At one point, Mark heard a wolf whistle behind them. He refused to take the bait and turn around.

  When they finally turned onto less traveled roads leading past the forest preserve and suburban houses instead of strip malls, he was relieved. He’d been worried the whole walk through downtown that eventually a squad car was going to pull over and start questioning them. But aside from gapers, they passed through the suburbs unbothered. Selena didn’t talk much without prodding, and after a while, he let her be, to walk in silence.

  Mark’s calves and feet were numb by the time they reached his subdivision. He wasn’t big on walking in the first place, and had certainly never gone barefoot for hours before. He guessed they’d been walking for more than three hours when they finally staggered up the driveway to his house. He went around to the backyard patio and pulled the hidden house key from the statue they kept it hidden under (for just this sort of contingency…though they’d never imagined needing it quite for a reason like this). Then he unlocked the back door and held it open for Selena to enter.

  He locked it again behind them. He didn’t imagine that would stop one of the Watchers from reaching them, if they were so inclined. But it might slow them down a bit.

  The house felt…empty. The hum of the refrigerator was audible, and the LED on the microwave read 10:23. The morning light was grey, which didn’t help the mood. The sky had turned overcast during their long walk.

  Selena stood near the kitchen table, still holding her robe closed tightly.

  “So…” Mark said, “…do you want something to eat? Or shower and clothes first? I’m dying to get out of these things.”

  Selena smiled. “A shower would be good.”

  He led her up the stairs to his bedroom and showed her Rae’s closet and drawers. “You’re a little taller than Rae, but you should be able to find a T-shirt and sweatpants or something,” he said. “I can go shower in the other bathroom at the same time. We should have enough hot water in the tank.”

  He started to walk out of the bedroom, but then stopped at the look on her face. Her eyes had widened, and she’d taken a deep, halting breath as he’d moved towards the door. She was petrified.

  “What’s the matter?” Mark asked.
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br />   Selena blinked twice, then opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing.

  Mark stepped back towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. “What?”

  “I…just…” she gulped. “It’s silly, but just don’t leave me alone right now, okay?”

  “You want me to shower with you?” Mark asked.

  She bent her head slightly, as if embarrassed, but her eyes looked up, pleading silently. “Please? Would you mind?”

  Mark laughed. “How could I say no?”

  She didn’t smile. “I just need you to stay close to me right now. Don’t leave me alone.”

  “Okay,” Mark nodded. “Got it.”

  He began unbuttoning the dingy shirt. “And I’m not going to be shy, seeing as you’ve already seen the merchandise earlier today.”

  She did smile at that. “Yes,” she agreed. “In all sorts of compromising positions. You should be more careful of the company you keep.”

  The image of Rae kneeling above him with blades ready on each finger to slice him flashed in Mark’s head, and it was his turn to be grim. “Yeah,” he said. “Who’d of thought it would work out like that?”

  Selena let the black silk robe fall to the floor as Mark kicked the baggy, ripped pants away. She kicked the robe with one foot to land on his discarded clothes. “I don’t want to see that thing again,” she said quietly.

  Mark only half heard her comment. His attention was on her body. He’d known since their first meeting that she was beautiful, but she was more than that.

  She was breathtaking. Her skin was white as snow, flawless. Her waist was a perfect hourglass, framing the dark, thin pucker of her belly button. Below that, a short thatch of cream-colored hair covered her sex, while above she had two of the most sensational breasts Mark had ever seen. They were full, lush and seemed to answer to their own gravity; her wide, pink areolae boasted hard, darker nipples that stood straight out from her chest. His body responded to hers instantly.

  Before it got too obvious, he stepped towards the bathroom, pulling her by the hand. Once inside, he leaned into the tub area and turned the water towards hot. After a minute of waiting with his hand in the stream, the water warmed, and he pulled the shower switch.

  “Did you need to use the toilet?” he asked. He felt his face flush at the question. He felt terribly awkward right now, in a way he wasn’t used to. He thought Rae had trampled all embarrassment from him with her heels over the years. But right now, he felt like he was on a first date. A damned strange first date.

  Selena shook her head. “I think I walked it all out.”

  Mark considered his own needs and shook his head. “I got something.” He assumed she’d back out of the room as he lifted the seat, but instead, just as he let go, he felt two cool hands wrap around his chest from behind and the softness of breasts on his shoulder blades. Mark’s eyes widened, and his stream stopped for a minute at the surprise of her touch. Selena leaned her head on his shoulder and clung to him as he struggled to finish. Her closeness made the whole act a little shaky to complete, but finally, the last short spurts came out and Mark reached out to flush the toilet. Then he pulled the shower curtain aside for her to step inside. “Do you want me to sit here while you wash, and then I’ll get in?”

  She didn’t answer. Instead, once she stood inside, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside with her.

  “Okay,” Mark said, as the water hit him, and he found himself rubbing up unintentionally against her breasts. The woman was staring at him with those ice-blue eyes. Her gaze made him weak. It felt as if she could look inside his mind. “Shampoo’s right here,” he said, pointing behind her at the bottles sitting at the front end of the tub.

  Selena glanced behind and nodded. Then she put her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her, hugging him tightly.

  Her lips brushed his cheek, and she whispered in his ear. “Don’t leave me?”

  Mark rubbed his hand gently up and down her back and the curve of her ass. “Not going anywhere,” he answered. They stood like that, holding each other for a while, as the steam gathered around them like a cloud. Finally, Selena released him and turned towards the water. She bent to grab the shampoo bottle, and Mark gasped as she did. Not at the heart-shaped curve of her rear (which was amazing) but rather at her back. When she began to squeeze shampoo on her hand, he put his fingers on her shoulder blades and traced the scars there.

  “What happened?” he whispered. Everything about her seemed perfectly formed, her skin without blemish. She was the epitome of every Scandinavian model’s dream. Piercing eyes, wide white smile. Breathtaking curves. Beautiful skin. Except for her back. Angry pink scars puckered near her shoulders, as if someone had stabbed her twice and then twisted the knife around and down.

  “It was a long time ago,” she said.

  “But what…”

  Selena turned and pushed him under the water, moving herself out of the spray. “You’re going to get cold,” she said. He dunked his head back and then pulled it out of the water. She reached up without asking and began to soap up his hair. Mark raised an eyebrow but didn’t protest. Her fingers were long and gentle, and they moved from his hair to lather his chest, and then his crotch. She held his cock softly, stroking the soap along it three times before reaching lower to soap his balls. He felt a finger extend farther, prodding his ass gently.

  “Jesus,” he whispered, closing his eyes. For the first time in three days, nobody refuted the name.

  Selena bent to rub the insides of his thighs. She knelt in front of him then, but rather than touching him sexually, she seemed almost to be studying him. Memorizing him. She pressed her lips to his belly, and then moved her fingers over his skin, as if trying to sample every pore. She moved her hands slowly, lovingly, following the hair down the front of his thighs and then slowly stroking his calves and the backs of his knees. She cupped his buttocks and then rose to her feet again, trailing her hands up his ribs before resting them on his arms and leaning in to give him a soft, lingering kiss.

  Mark didn’t move the whole time, he couldn’t. He was lost in her attention. And then she reached behind her and brought back the shampoo. Handed it to Mark.

  “I’m unclean,” she whispered.

  “We’ll remedy that,” he promised and poured shampoo into his palm. Then he repeated the ritual that she had just performed. He slipped his fingers into her hair, massaging her scalp, and then rubbing the soap in gentle circles across her back. Then he slipped his hands back up to gather more soap from her hair. He moved the suds with a featherlight stroke along her neck and unconsciously held his breath as he rubbed his hands around her breasts, enjoying the way the soap and water shone on her porcelain skin. Her nipples hardened at his touch, but he followed her lead and rather than trying to arouse, he knelt and continued to soap her tummy and thighs. Hesitantly he moved his fingers across the wiry tuft of hair at her crotch and she moved her legs apart farther, allowing him to move his hand into the cleft, carrying the soap into the warmth of her sex and up to the pucker of her ass.

  He moved his hands down one leg, tracing the edges of her toes before moving to the other foot and then working his way back up that leg. When he’d pressed and kneaded and touched every part of her skin, he stood flat against her, chest to chest and tentatively, tenderly kissed her lips. She opened her mouth to him then, and he tasted her tongue for the first time, as it gently probed against his lips.

  Mark’s eyes widened as her hand reached around and held him by the nape of the neck, drawing him harder against her mouth. He could see the smile in her eyes at his reaction. He could also feel how close he was to entering her, and he longed to press that point. But…

  “Not here…” she said, drawing away from his kiss. She twisted away to turn off the shower and then pushed the curtains away. Mark stepped onto the throw rug that covered the bathroom tile and reached into a closet to get her a clean bath towel. She took it and ruffled it over her head before drawing it across h
er shoulders and around in front to dry her chest. The pink of the towel was striking against her skin; Mark thought she looked like a lingerie model as she crushed it across the swell of her chest. He pulled his own burgundy towel from the back of the bathroom door and dried himself, hurriedly. He didn’t want to lose the moment. He wasn’t sure if it was already lost.

  She finished drying herself before him and then stepped closer, taking his own towel from his hands. “Let me,” she said and bent down to run the towel up the backs of his legs. Then she let it drop and stood up. She took his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.

  The bed was still unmade. When Mark had gotten up the last time, he’d not bothered to fix the sheets. She pulled them to one side and pressed Mark down onto the mattress. He put his head back on the pillow and watched as she flipped one leg over his middle and slowly crouched down on his lap.

  Part of him was embarrassed to have such pure beauty touch his hairy flesh. He was not built for a model. She should be with someone who…

  Mark’s internal dialogue of insecurity was cut off when she reached down to stroke and then ease him inside her. He gasped at the feeling of her lips around him. She was warm and velvet smooth as her sex gradually let him in, sliding up and then down, up a little and down farther, easing him all the way, until their pubic hair was pressed flat, their sex joined tightly. Mark thought it may have been the most gentle, yet intense, start of sex he had ever had. Every nerve in his body sang with desire for her, and the room seemed to spin when she leaned down and her breasts tickled his chest. She took his tongue in her mouth and then pulled back, smiling.

  “…here,” she said, at last completing her sentence from the shower.

  Mark took a series of sharp, deep breaths as she rocked their hips in a steadily increasing rhythm. He moaned, without meaning to, and then nodded his head quickly in agreement.

  “Here,” he echoed.

  Chapter Forty-Six