Mizrah's Ladder

Xia had bought a penthouse, of course, overlooking the Riviera. For cash, which she just had to let you know. You're still continually surprised that this section of town attracts the richest, most obnoxious of buyers, but you remember where glittering towers of steel and caste-privilege had loomed over slums and dirt-brown destitution when you visited Anjungvarnha with your father.

At this time of night you can see them filling the streets, like ants walking through a particularly inspired maze...students and workers, dealers and whores, everyone scraping by just to eventually see it slurped up by Xia and her ilk.

Greg was...

nothing

compared to this monster, oh the sheer hypocrisy...he knew Isabel wouldn't find it 'cheeky' if she learned he was trying to get off in a woman like Zhao Xia.

"You should have seen what a disaster this place was when I first bought it, Yusuf," Xia purrs casually as she leans against a pillar, decorated with genuine lacquered opera masks from Fuzhou. You've thought about wearing one while you rail her into her bed, but she'd probably get off on that, sick bitch. "Even

I

balked when I saw the thirty six million dollar pricetag, and the renovation...but I just, y'know, really

wanted to show you, Mizrah."

She smiles at you mirthlessly, her fingers delicately twirling a little crystal glass in her hand that probably cost more than what you take from the ATMs you Curse and Break. You turn from the window to look at her with an equal lack of warmth, only where she smirks you grimace, taking her in with equal parts desire and loathing.

"Hm. See you noticing my Moto and Junshi Salmon-Twilight Kimono...easily a year - maybe two? - of your salary to buy one but, you can rip it if you want." She sips from a cup of Maotai Custom Vintage Baijiu - ugh, she drinks like a rich old communist but talks like she grew up in Mayfair. "I have a couple others you can rip too." Xia's delicately pointed chin makes her look like a smiling, malicious praying mantis, slowly pulling up the hem of her robe to reveal ever more thigh.

Words fail you. You've been naked since you entered - there is no need to tent your pants in this place, she can see what she is going up against and you know she loves it...to be brought low in the bedchamber, treated like a back-alley prostitute; no doubt touching some strange part of her aristocrat's psyche, a sense of fluttering, atrophied guilt that needed silencing. Something about it makes you feel disgusting but you already feel transgressive and dirty, the things you've done before Isabel came into your life quietly reminding you that even among monsters, you were a

freak,

like Zhao Xia said.

Instead you wordlessly grab the decanter of whiskey sitting on a table near the window - it's made of crystal, probably hand-crafted with exacting care by someone living in a hut in Anhui, filled with whiskey that smelled incredibly distilled and pure. You're not the biggest fan of hard liquor but you're making a point as you tip it back, chugging it down (augh it's AWFUL) and breaking the empty decanter on the ground, wiping trails of acrid booze from your lips.

"You really don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself, about your own fucking gratification, do you?" you growl self-righteously at her...this, the only person you could even pretend to be morally superior around. Your approach is threatening, the hardness of your manhood bobbing before you but she knows you wouldn't actually

hurt

her; it was...different from Greg, it just was

She was a Mortal woman, and mama taught you to never raise a hand against them - creatures like Lana were a whole different story and frankly free game to terrorize and devour - so it was just...horrible what you became in her presence.

"Not...a single...fuck about

anyone

," she confirms with a breathy exhalation of excitement as your shadow falls over her. "I am a little sore though that you broke my Custom Design Dian-Yi-Pian Crystal De-

caaahhh fuck yeah...

" she trails off as you seized her wrists and press them down at her sides, spilling her drink.

She doesn't give a fuck. She'll pay someone to clean it.

"You gonna kiss me first, at least? That was Macallan 52 Year-Old you chugged. $90k a bottle, I didn't even get a taste." She does that

thing

she does, narrowing her slender eyes and biting lightly at you, shaking her head slightly...how else to describe a motion as predatory as your how you imagine your teeth clapping over her larynx and tearing it away. Like everything about this petit woman, it both excites and repulses you.

"Why should I kiss that liar's tongue, Xia? Why should I even bandy poisoned words with you, even if you do have the nicest smile money can buy?" But...you honestly can't help yourself, because her smooth, golden skin in the place where her jaw meets her neck is terribly alluring and you press your lips against it

"Because, you love what this liar's tongue does to you," she whispers in response and it is a smooth comeback...she gets off using it too.

You reward her, at least, by pressing a hard, ferocious kiss that pins her head back against the pillar. She's already untying the sash holding her robe closed, harsh exhalations and breathy sounds as your tongue-stud drags along her teeth, her hands reaching up to stroke your carven, defined shoulders

"

Nggghhh god

, you're such a goddamn savage Mizrah," she laughs, breaking your kiss. "You didn't get...any more...any more civilized, at all - ohh god bite me..." and you do. She arches her slight, pretty neck to you and you sink your teeth into it - Xia likes it rough. This arrogant bitch thinks she's invincible, no idea you could spray her evil little life all over her walls...you leave a trail of teeth marks down to her shoulder, down to the top of her breast. "Bet you can't...wait...to try and fit that thing in me, can you? Even...if I'm not

wet

- " she gasps as your tongue flickers low to touch her nipple, tracking a line up her golden skin to her jawline.

"Save it, kulak. You're a dripping mess, like a bitch in heat. Look at you."

You press your hips roughly against hers, the pierced, dark length of your manhood interposed intimidatingly between you. Her pupils dilate at the sight, pink tongue sliding across her lips as she spreads her thighs, your fingers moving between them.

Sure enough, past the thatch of short, dark hair covering her mons, she's drooling across her thighs and makes a lewd, wet sound when you spread her lips, gathering her juices and smearing them under her smiling maw; she licks them up with that same mantis-smile.

"Who says you gotta make it to my bed?" she asks with coquettish, infuriating calm, doing little to resist - as if she could, she was practically half your size

Your fingers crawl back between her legs and you roughly grind them against her clit, shutting her up as her eyes roll up into her head, her slight chest heaving before giving a surprised, shocked sound when you push into her wetness

You push her upper chest against the pillar, freeing her hands to eagerly reach out and wrap around your cock, squeezing at the base and just under the head and making a sharp, delighted groan as you start to roughly thrust your fingers in and out of her pussy.

The alcohol starts to make you feel warm and disconnected from your judgment, and as her vaginal walls clench and tighten around your fingers, you begin to feel less bad about this and just...fall into the moment. You let your higher thoughts recede and become that kind of animal, the one that Lena made you into for her own gratification. You seize her throat with your other hand, holding her there roughly while your thumb circles her clit and you press hard on those sensitive places inside her.

Xia's composure fails her as her hands reach up to dig into your shoulders for support, eyes clenching shut. Her pants become high pitched exhalations, clenching her teeth as you juice out her first climax - she's always been easy to bring to orgasm...for you anyway, and her arousal gushes over your palm. She convulses and shudders, a brief shriek of surprise leaving her lips when your teeth bite down roughly on her nipple and tug.

When her climax passes and she relaxes against the pillar, you pull your fingers from her, strings of her honey sticking between them. She slowly opens her eyes, pulling her nails from her shoulder...palm finding your cheek before -

-CRACK-

She slaps you roughly - in truth it's...hardly a thing because she's much smaller than you are, but it's degrading so you grab her, hard (more than you mean, lightening your grasp) and pull her away from the pillar. She's laughing with excitement, smiling widely as you throw her onto her couch and tear apart her Kimono, ripping it in twain like she'd invited so it was lying open around her

"You...fucking...bastard," she pants, running her index and middle fingers up the underside of your almost painful erection. "You're going to try...try and just stick that thing in - " Xia's voice is cut off when you give her what she really desires, and roughly grind your pierced, fulsome glans between her labia, threatening to penetrate her tiny, tight hole...pulling away, dripping her juices as she gives a scoff of disappointment.

"I still haven't decided yet if I'm going to give you what you want," you growl as you bring your cock to her mouth, and she opens wide to swallow you down eagerly. Your fingers knot in her short hair (not too hard, you don't actually want to pull it) and you guide her mouth up and down the length of your cock. "Does anyone ever say 'no' to you? Is there anything you can't just buy?"

She can't answer of course, even if she could you wonder if she'd bother to - she's got one hand pumping your shaft, the other feverishly working her sex with the kind of squelching lewdness you'd come to expect from her. There is the temptation to, of course, simply thrust and fuck her mouth but...you'd bruise the back of her throat with that piercing.

Why do you care?

...you don't know. You feel almost disconnected, like you're a step back from yourself and looking through your own eyes at this petite Chinese woman desperately deepthroating you and...it feels good but you also don't feel anything. Just disgust.

"Turn around. Spread wide. I don't want to have to look at your face."

You slide your cock from her mouth, sticky with her saliva; her cheeks are flushed and for a moment you wonder if what you said actually hurt her (why do you care?), but soon she's on her knees, grabbing the back of the sofa...looking over her shoulder at you with that little, mocking grin of hers.

Suddenly you're less concerned for her comfort.

You subject her to the intensity of your gaze, but she has no shame, slowly gyrating her hips side to side. The delicate, excited pinkness of her vagina is actually quite beautiful; her lips are fleshy and thick, and a trickle of her cream drips from her opening to her pink bud. Her whole body is similarly pretty, and she reminds you somewhat of her fox tattoo...lewd and open like this, her pert, round ass cheeks are separated, exposing her fully.

You tease her anus provocatively, provoking a short gasp of surprise. "What's the matter Xia, feeling self-conscious? That as far as your debauchery takes you?"

Did you really just say that to a Mortal woman? What is

wrong

with you?

She shakes her head and reaches back to put a hand on your hip, giving you a sinister smirk. "I've done it before but with what you're packing, I'd need a bit of preparation, don't you think?"

Fair enough.

"Besides..." her breathing slows down a little, running her fingernails over your lower belly. "I know you like to blow your load in here." Her fingers close around the base of your cock and tug you toward her vagina, splitting her juicy labia and entering the creamy warmth of her vulva. "You'll find that relief you're looking for here, stud."

She was right, he did; and with a rolling thrust of his hips he sank the head of his manhood into her. Xia immediately gasped and made a choked little noise in her throat at his girth, digging her nails into the couch and leaning her forehead against it. "Fuck ah

fuck

you're...you're really AH FUCK - "

Another thrust, you sink halfway into the dewy, avarice-soaked depths of her warmth and clap a hand over her ass, nails digging into the goose-fleshed skin. You can feel the spongy texture of her G-spot as you angle your manhood downward and grind your piercing, your fat cockhead against it.

By the fourth thrust you've bottomed out in her and each time you do, you feel yourself actually impact against her deepest place, eliciting a choked cry as she rode the line between pleasure and pain, just as she liked it. Her fingers are bent, knuckles white as you rail her, the bead of your Prince Albert pushing hard against places most couldn't reach.

You lean forward over her, hands coming down to grab her waist and you rut her like an animal. Biting down on her shoulder as you fuck her she arches her back, reaching down to rub her fingers in circles over her clit. "Anh, ANNGH

FFFUCK AFH

Mizrah, you're...you're different, you're...

ohhhhhh GOD

-" she throws herself back against your cock, studding herself until another climax causes her to tighten down over you, her thighs coming together on reflex as she makes a wet, creamy mess; she smells sweet, her skin is taut like that of a nectarine...if you pierced it with your teeth, she would flow down your throat.

The alcohol makes you feel dizzy for a moment as you stay bottomed out in her spasming, slight form. You can feel it, coursing through your blood and burning away, degrading through the furnace of your supernatural metabolism and your vision clears. You look down at her and feel a strange sense of dim loathing for yourself.

She's shaking beneath you and lets out a long sound as you slide your manhood from her, still no closer to ejaculation than you were. It's throbbing, shining and frothy with her cream, veins standing out garishly, and when she finally musters the energy to turn around and look up at you, it's to smile shakily and slick herself off the end of your lance.

"Heehee...you, it's never been...this good. Wow you must

really

be pissed about something Yusuf!" her mocking words stings you, her cruel smirk lashing your ego and your higher thoughts abandon you, your mind separating from your actions -

- her fingers dig into your hips as she hungrily slurps and sucks at your testicles, her hand slicking over your shaft above her face as; her other hand busily pleasures herself -

- carrying her quivering, slight form in your arms; she's holding on to your neck, panting with a wheeze...she massages her throat, laughing about how you're finally showing a little masculinity when you're not being emo -

- "UNNnnnhhh fuck yeah harder, harder you motherfucker hhhaaaNNHHH!" she bucks and writhes with each impact as you mate her roughly on her back. Your balls slap loudly against the backs of her thighs, her right breast clutched roughly in your hand - she mashes her left against her chest. The line between man and monster is blurring and you feel your nails hardening. She smells delicious but no NO -

You can't keep your thoughts straight...you're thrust inside of her but you practically can't feel your manhood as your stomach cleaves to your spine; you're hungry, she's there, helpless before you and completely lost in the overwhelming pleasure you fill her with. You taste your own blood as your canines become wolf fangs, eyes flaring red -

...time becomes lost. You don't know for how long, but you come to looking at your hands; your nails are black and sharp, but thankfully unstained with blood. Your facial features shift subtly, receding from savagery and there's an ache as you force your teeth to straighten and become as a man's.

You look up from your hands and find her at the other end of her bed, as far from you as possible, cowering naked and you feel awful. The light of Bedlam is fading from her eyes - soon her conscious thoughts will return. Zhao Xia is among the last people whose emotions you would care about, but you weren't a man who hurt the women he had sex with. You aren't that kind of animal that terrorizes women, not even Lena could turn you into that. Right?

You dare to break the silence, taking a step toward her carefully. "Xia? Hey...hey, you okay?"

You really have no idea what to say and it's pathetic.

"Yusuf?" She breathes uneasily, blinking away the shock from where she stands, stock-still and naked.

"Oh thank God," you breathe, crossing to approach and make sure she wasn't hurt before she screams in terror. Her arms shoot out, shoving you away from her - she's pathetically weak but her vehement terror takes you by surprise and you feel horrible /

you hunger

.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she shrieks as tears well up in her eyes, and you see it: the genuine, true fear. Usually Bedlam scrambled a Mortals' memories but she'd come out of it quickly enough that she was associating the memory of terror with his face.

"Xia, I - "

She throws herself across her bed for a drawer, choking sobs of fear making you feel like more a monster than ever before. Before you can say more she pulls a gun on you; where normally wolven instinct would see you behind cover, you're so mortified with yourself, standing there naked and still erect, that you just...register the way she pulls the trigger

-CLIK CLIK CLIK

She forgot to load it. She's just sobbing through clenched teeth, doing what she knows to do with a gun: pointing at the frightening thing and squeezing the trigger until it goes away.

You feel like you're going to be sick, and grab your clothing to dip. When you're at the door you hear her drop the weapon and sob, and suddenly she isn't a demon capitalist who devours the dreams of those who didn't inherit daddy's money like she did.

She's just another of your victims, Yusuf.

---

After you'd gathered your clothes and left her your arousal had thankfully ebbed, leaving you with a vague ache in your groin and a sense of helpless disgust. Your steps took you down toward the Riviera itself, a great canal carved through the rock flowing out to the Gulf; the water reflects the mostly-crimson neon of the district, flowing like a tide of cherry-bright viscera into the maw of the starving sea. You've never felt as distanced from the Mortal you once were as now, not even when Lena's claws were deep in your brain; at least back then, you could attribute it to active brainwashing, but this?

This was

evil

. You hadn't even meant to hurt or frighten her. She wasn't

Prey

.

Not exactly a lover since you despised everything she stood for (which was nothing but herself), she was still a woman who'd trusted you as a man to enter her bedroom, and you'd possibly damaged her mind...just another sin in your ever-growing litany of shame. Your hands grip onto the railing overlooking the flowing river, and you spot a few trash bags, filled to bursting, floating through the water...your sensitive olfactory pick up their contents and your stomach roils.

The seething herd of humanity trudging through the streets behind you, in varying degrees of euphoria and sorrow, painful sobriety and numb inebriation, bends slightly around where you stand...avoiding your presence. Like a river flowing around a black, jagged stone.

They have no idea what you are...even the Night-Things that certainly walk amidst the Herd cannot reliably penetrate the veil of your human form. They have no idea the horrible things you do, the people you've devoured and the lives you've ruined. They have no idea the transgressions you've committed unless one of them is like you and they happen to recognize your face...even then, they're just as likely to shun you as curse you for your role in beginning and ending the Long Night.