Author's Note: Once again thanks to CarrotsGoMeow for proofreading and editing help. Also thanks to everyone who took the time to read my story. It means a lot.
Once more I was standing on the white beach, surrounded by angry darkness. The black sea roared in fury as lighting raced across the sky. With each bolt of lightning I could see glimpses of great tentacles that would have easily stretched the length of Waitwich twice over, maybe more. They seemed to be of no color and every color, moving lazily through the sky as if searching for something.
"Magnificent, is it not?" The Arab asked from behind me as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I had not heard him approach, but I was too engrossed in the terrifying majesty of the airborne tentacles to even be startled.
"Mighty Shibaroth grows ever closer," the Arab said. "We must close our deal soon, before she comes for what is hers."
"What are my orders?" I questioned emotionlessly. I believed myself beyond salvation; the mask no longer needed to compel to seek orders.
The Arab smiled his infernal smile. "I will let you choose this time. I want my last prize to be a girl you would pursue if you had a will of your own. And I'm sure you know, you cannot fool the mask. So don't try."
I bowed my head. "It will be done."
"Tomorrow night you go into the embrace of Shibaroth, to know pain and ecstasy beyond description. The Inkwell line will be extinguished and I will have my revenge. The anticipation would be driving me crazy if I did not have 3 helpless beauties to occupy me. Tonight the dark haired one will fight my first mate. It will be most entertaining."
I said nothing, I barely felt any fear anymore, not for myself nor the women I had cruelly kidnapped. I only wanted to carry out the Arab's will.
"Go!" the Arab said. "Bring me one final prize and seal your damnation!"
With those words, I was flung out of the dreamworld for what I was sure would be my final hours among the living.
I was in the carriage, barreling towards my final crime. It was like I was being torn apart. I felt both soul weary yet more powerful than I could have ever dreamed of. I was filled with dread at what was to come while at the same time overwhelmed with anticipation, as fantasies of every type of woman imaginable struggling in my ropes played in my mind.
I looked out the carriage at the scenery racing by. I knew Waitwich like my own face, and I knew that we were in the seaside section of the town. It was the roughest section of the city, a den of thieves, drug peddlers, and prostitution. The ports drew the desperate, the dangerous, and the mad. My family at the height of its power had sought to tame the docks, but avarice and evil had endured while we Inkwells withered and faded away. It was fitting that the act that doomed the last of the Inkwells would occur here.
I wondered why the mask had taken us here. Unlike before, my thoughts did not trigger a flash of images that informed me of our target. So I could do nothing but sit back until the black carriage parked itself in a filthy ally and the mask compelled me to exit, clutching my black medical bag.
Despite the lateness of the hour the streets were still buzzing, as drunken men sang and fought in the streets. As I exited the alley I saw a burly sailor step into the path of a slight young man in a well worn but clean suit. The larger man had exited the tavern connected to the alley I emerged from just as the slender young man was attempting to enter.
The sailor gave the smaller man a shove while saying words I could not make out. I still hung back in the shadows, even though I was sure no one could see me if I did not desire for them to do so. But I had noticed that a few men and women who stumbled by glance nervously in my direction, as if they could sense my presence.
The young man attempted to sidestep his drunken aggressor and enter the tavern, but the sailor simply stumbled into his path, giving him another light shove. The young man stood completely still for a moment before unleashing a flurry of movement. Even with my enhanced senses I could barely keep up with his graceful motions.
He produced a small club from his inner jacket and proceeded to rapidly beat his opponent about his head. The larger man hit the ground after the third blow broke his nose with a loud crack. The young man studied the drunken fool for a moment to make sure he was down and then stepped over him and entered the tavern, his arrival greeted by a wall of rowdy cheer.
I drifted in after him, the boisterous atmosphere washing over me as I trailed the young man. He gave a quick nod to the portly, balding man working the bar before heading upstairs. No one noticed me as I moved through the tavern, though many a conversation stopped as I passed by, causing the participants to shiver silently and glance around before returning back to their business.
I shot up the stairs and entered the rooms of the young man a step behind him. I used my powers to cloud his perception of me. The room was small and well-kept, with another clean but well-worn suit hanging from a battered armoire.
The young man sighed, before removing his bowler hat and tossing it onto the well-made bed. He shook his head and waves of golden blonde hair came pouring down.
A woman I thought, as the cursed mask finally saw fit to give me the knowledge it had so far withheld. Her name was Kit Wilis, she was 22 years old and had lived on the streets of Waitwich her whole life. She had just been another scrawny kid for most of it, but in recent years she noticed that men took far too much interest in her golden hair and her slim, womanly curves.
So she had reinvented herself as a young man while still using the name Kit. She ran errands for various figures of dubious repute, including the owner of this tavern, who provided her with rooms in return. She was shrewd and dangerous, always preferring to strike first rather than give someone the benefit of doubt and pay for it later.
I studied her features as she removed her suit. Her eyes were large and blue, her mouth a pert pink pout. Her nose was small and upturned, her jaw strong and defined. I could not see how anyone could mistake her for a man.
Nor did I see how the mask thought this would be my ideal woman. She was lovely, but her life and mine were hardly compatible. She was fiercely independent and ruthless; the mask showed me images of her being far crueler to other men than the drunkard she had brained just a few moments earlier. Before this horrible mask had been forced upon me I had hesitated to kill even insects.
But my confusion gave way to my lust as she revealed more and more of her superb body. Her limbs were sinewy and shapely, the definition speaking to the strength with which she had used to take down a much larger male opponent. Removing her shirt revealed wrapped breasts and a muscular midsection. I was entranced, not even Vesper Dare had such a defined physique. I should have found it manly, but instead it only intensified my attraction to her.
Her unwrapped breasts were small and perky, pink nipples hard as she began to remove her pants. She stopped for a moment and glanced around the room, a puzzled look on her face. She looked right through me, but I smiled at the fact that she could sense me at all. After a moment she removed her pants and stood there slim, nude, and glorious.
No longer able to contain my hunger I unveiled myself. I was dimly aware that I was in control now, that I could stop and not take this beautiful woman to a fate worse than any I ever could have imagined. But I did not want to, I knew I was damned and it no longer mattered what I did. If I must suffer, then let her suffer with me.
She reacted to my presence quickly. No screams of terror, no begging and pleading for her life. She looked at me, her big blue eyes widening, before diving into her clothes and pulling out the club she had used so effectively moments before. Without hesitation, she charged at me naked with murder in her eyes.
I made no move to defend myself as she swung at my head with all her might. At the last second I caught her wrist and flung her on to the bed as if she were no more than a doll. The little club went flying from her hand and she hit the bed with a loud grunt.
She had no time to react to what had just happened, as I came to stand beside the bed and grabbed her long golden hair. From the pocket of my overcoat I pulled a black leather strap with a massive ball in its center. I jammed it deep into her open mouth, firmly but with enough care to not injure her.
I buckled the ballgag in tightly as she struggled futilely to stop me, her slender fingers grappling with my large, powerful hands. With the gag secure I grabbed her wrists and wrenched them behind her. I pulled her up from the bed and held her close as she strove to break free.
For a moment we stood there as I was lost in the ecstasy of her struggles. She kicked her bare feet at my shins and attempted to stomp my booted feet, when that didn't work she pulled with all her strength in an attempt to free her wrists from my supernatural grip. All the time grunting and attempting to speak through the massive black ball filling her mouth.