Author's Note: I'd like to warn the reader in case this is upsetting. Eventually, one character will attempt to choke another during sexual intercourse, but it won't last long, and it will be dealt with very swiftly and justly. No death or permanent injury will come from it.
***
On Christmas morning, Ana woke up nude and with a vague memory of something. She assumed that something was a dream because it felt rather sexual, and her body was begging her to remember anything substantial.
Her eyes weakly scanned the white ceiling. Her toes pulled and scratched at her bedsheet. Her knees made soft hills under her blanket.
Flashing, spinning emotions, watered down images distracting her from the ceiling.
What ... what in the world ...?
Ana's nipples were tightening and aching. A hand went to soothe one of those nipples, pulling, tugging, rolling and pinching. Even though her hands were small and soft, her brain supplied a sensation like a man's hand. There seemed to be more weight, more strength, but not too much.
"Ah ... ahhhhhhhh!!"
Her eyes closed, allowing her imagination to conjure all sorts of enticing things. She thought of a kiss, a tongue, and a nibble all on her breast. Her other hand rushed down to her pubic hair, where her nails dug out lines.
Ana imagined Vlad's voice, not exactly his words, but his tone, growling, purring, emboldening her heart and more.
Two fingertips slid against her clitoris.
"Ah, yes! Yes!!"
Hot, hot, hot nudging and rubbing, making her toes spread out, making her breath loud and grainy.
Her buttocks clenched. Her cunt felt like it was stretching and folding, and it was pressing out liquid like a mangle. She felt it trickle down her flesh and dampen a few spots on the bed.
She sunk her middle finger inside herself, pressing up into her G-spot, and that was when a rainbow's worth of spots exploded in her eyelids.
"Ahh!! Damn it!!"
Her back curved. Her wrist was sore. Her brain was frying.
And then it was over.
But she was suddenly thinking about dog roses and tripe soup. Then, as she flipped her blanket away and sat up, her arousal evaporated.
Hmm. Her panties were on the floor. Did she kick them off while sleeping?
Oh well.
She thought of more things, like her maternal grandfather laughing. Then, she was thinking about her grandfather picking her up by her waist and telling her she was a good little dancer. She was definitely little at that time. She remembered her own feet in shiny black Mary Jane shoes. She'd been dancing on a shiny floor in front of an audience of adults. There were other little girls too, weren't there?
Ana was washing her hands in her bathroom. Her brown eyes turned hard as she wondered why she'd been thinking of silly parts of her past that didn't matter.
Then she thought about Vlad smiling at her. She hoped he was having a Merry Christmas.
Mama.
Ana was drying her hands.
Mama had once told her, "You can't look to your future if you don't remember your past."
"Should I try to remember everything?" Little Ana had asked.
"You can't remember everything. That's not possible. But try to remember everything you can."
But her stupid brain was acting as if Vlad was related to all that stuff, and he clearly wasn't.
Ana wiped her thighs and backside with a towel. Then she looked at her reflection in her bathroom mirror. Her face was pink, especially her lips. She had her mother's lips. Her dad once tapped her mouth with his fingers and said, "Did you know your Mama gave you those lips?"
Little Ana had lifted her arms and said, "Mama gave me kisses too!"
Japanese words from a teenage girl. "The way you speak of your father ... he seems to love you very much." Takagi-san.
"It's difficult to find a father that doesn't love his children." Fujioka-san.
Whatever happened to Takagi's father?
As far as Ana knew, while she was in school in Japan, he was alive and well, although he was in mourning over the loss of his child. Ana had wanted to ask if he'd been questioned or arrested over what happened to his daughter, before the suicide, and before she got all those scars, but she didn't want the other students to know about it. So, she called the police to ask about it, even though she wasn't a family member and she had no right to know much. They wouldn't tell her much of anything, except for the fact that Takagi Senior wasn't arrested.
Once she was back in America, she lost the ability to gain any more answers. Not even Uncle Daniel knew much.
Funny thing, though. Ana never learned who cut up Takagi-san's skin and chopped off all her pretty hair. Ana had mentioned that to the police too, because no matter who did that or how the poor girl felt about it, that was just plain messed up.
She heard her cell phone buzz. She went to pick it up and sit back down on her bed. It was a text from Kennedy. She wanted to know what time Ana would be over. Ana gave an answer. Then she decided to give her paternal grandfather his yearly Christmas phone call. He was in Florida, which sometimes bothered Ana. She always thought of the infamous "Florida Man" and worried that something might happen to her grandpa.
Later, she thought she should probably give the Dalcas some nice texts. She sent a pleasant Craciun Fericit to both of them. She didn't get an immediate response. Ana shrugged and assumed they were busy with their own Christmas activities.
Ana bundled up and went to her parents' house for a while. They ate all the best food they had and watched the typical Christmas cartoons and movies on TV. It was a wonderful visit. She was feeling very happy and toasty on the drive back home. She ate thick, glitter covered cookies out of a bag and watched scary movies when she was back in her living room.
Around late afternoon, she received responding texts from the Dalcas. They were very friendly.
Some minutes after that, there was a phone call.
Vlad!
She coughed anything she didn't want out of her throat, took a sip of milk, and answered her phone. "Hello?"
"Good afternoon. How are you?" His voice had a gentle, rolling quality to it.
"I'm having a wonderful Christmas. I hope you are too." Ana swallowed down the rest of her milk.
"I am, but I do miss seeing you."
"Oh, already?" Ana got up with her glass in her hand. "That's a problem that requires a solution as soon as possible. Maybe I could lounge around your place?" She started rinsing out her glass in her kitchen sink. "We could watch a show on Netflix? Play a board game?"
