"Samuel?" His name had scarcely left my lips when my hearing returned, the light turned off into the pitch black of night. I faced the woods, the glow of the campfire behind me—illuminating the dark edge. I was on my knees and leaned over a block of wood that my chin rested against. My arms were stretched to the sides and tied to stakes in the ground. I was unclothed and the tears fell against my exposed body.
"Wake up, darling." That smell, like charred flesh! His nails twirled and tangled into the hair on the back of my neck. "Is this what he does? Is that what you like?" I choked back a sob. He pulled my hair and the pain of it caused me to gasp. His breath burned against my neck as he licked the edge of my ear with a bifurcated tongue rough as sandpaper. My insides turned to a solid and unfeeling mass as my consciousness left my body, like a limb severed—like I was watching the scene unfold on a television. He took a seat in front of me, cross-legged on the ground. His eyes sparkled a poison green, an emerald jewel in a corpses skull. He was soulless and delighted, fangs white as bone and sharp as death.
"I have a theory," he posited, "that he would greatly enjoy your pain."
I gulped and felt the pine needles dig into my shins.
"Yes. We will test my theory. Now, I have here in my pocket, my dear, something just for you." He smiled as I strained against the ropes. "Don't be silly—that hasn't worked since the Great War. No, no, what I have is a little gift for you and Samuel. An awakening, you'll see. That block you rest against is outfitted to explode if I press the button I hold in my pocket."
I began to choke on my tears.
"Shh...shh..." he whispered and daubed at my face with his tattered sleeve. "All you have to do is climax, and all he has to do is make you." I tried to bite at his hand, but my teeth struck my tongue instead.
"Now, Elyse, it's no wonder I am always jumping out of windows. Your rebukes always break my nonexistent heart, but watching you squeal and shudder from the pain I compel him to inflict on you will more than compensate." His voice softened and he took a milk-white vial from his pocket and uncapped it. "I can't have you all tense like that. Drink this."
He pinched my nose between his charred and yellowed fingernails. I shook my head and he pinched harder, my eyes felt like they would explode from their sockets when I gasped for air and he poured the liquid down my throat. It burned--I sputtered as some dribbled down my chin. He wiped my face with his sleeve again.
"I think," he tsked and ran his thumb over my lips, "that you will enjoy it, too. I'll be sure to hand you off to the proper authorities when we are finished with our little game. You'll need treatment, I suppose."
"Why?" I asked, my vision became hazy and my extremities began to relax, and a euphoric warmth spread throughout my veins.
"Why?" His eyes widened, incredulous. "Why, because I can. Oh, and the two of you are just so sickeningly sweet, I'd like to add some bitters to the mix. Can't afford to be getting any cavities, now can I?"
I rested my cheek against the block and fell into a dreamless sleep.
