Second Earth

26 Δεκεμβρίου 1995

Bright and hot, the sun was lazily following its daily route, its rays penetrating the calm waters of the lake. The little village was quiet. After the mid-day feast everyone would find a nice, cool place to rest, under the green bushes, thus avoiding the scorching sunlight. I stretched out inside my tent, on the warm but wet grass and closed my eyes.

No sooner had I begun to drift into the pleasant dreamworld, when my oldest son came to me, jumping and making a lot of noise.

"They are here father, they have come again! Wake up now, please!"

For a second I wished that this was a nightmare, a bad dream caused by too much undigested food. However, my son's eyes were bulging with terror and he was panting. The next moment I was up.

"Draal and his warriors?", I asked, hoping that the answer would be no.

My son nodded and despair overwhelmed me. It would not be easy, not this time. The village's best warriors were away on a long trip, to seek a better and safer place for our people. It was evident that we had been watched by Draal and his Rat minions, who now had a chance to attack our village.

"How far away are they Ruxx?". We had to move quickly, there was no time to plan ahead now.

"Not too far, father. At the south side of the lake, fastly approaching the village, a full legion of them!"

I could clearly see the despair in my son's eyes. He would be the successor to the throne, the leader of the people of Loegor as soon as I was too old to reign...or just plain dead to be useful to the Kingdom.

"Call the Elders now. The females and the children must set off to the caves immediately. Hurry up son!"

I wasted no time. As my son hurried off to wake up the rest of the village, I put my armour on. The leather straps were easily adjusted to accomodate my bulging stomach. The sound that the sheath of my trusty sword made, hitting against my lap, made me feel secure and almost ready. I was not a young king anymore, my skin was way too wrinkly and I could not move that fast nowadays. Still, the excitement was there, I had to defend my people, the females and the children and the Elder ones...and the land of our forefathers.

Out in the clearing it was scorching hot. The grass was yellow at places, spring had long ago passed and we were enduring the summer's most dangerous part. Hot and humid it was. Far on the horizon, distorted through wrinkles of rising heat, one could see a dark mass approaching. They would be here soon, to burn down the whole village, to loot and kill and rape...to bring death once again, as they had done so many times before.

The Elders were there, under the shade of the greenest bushes. They were old, older than their King perhaps, their wrinkly faces and crooked legs betraying their age. It was not possible to successfully fight off an army of savage, ruthless young warriors, even if we were many enough. The odds were that we would be outnumbered by this barbaric race, that only destruction and pain could bring to our village.

"Draal will be here soon, oh Elder people of Loegor. We are left to our own devices, as my youngest son Zarxx, leader of our army is now too far away to prevent destruction..."

As I spoke these words, I could feel inside me the same emotions that those old people were experiencing, and not for the first time. There was bitterness, disappointment...

Despair.

Ruxx had already gathered the females and their children at the clearing. Their faces, full of terror, aknowledged the well-known danger that was approaching fast, showing me that I was their last and only hope. I was their King, wise and just ruler of Loegor, leader and saviour. The females, holding their children tight against their bossoms, keeping them still so that they would not cry or make noises, looked at their king...looked at me, straight into the eyes, in silence.

The sort of silence that says it all, so deafening, so empty...yet so full. A distinct noise was there, a silent cry, so desperately wanting to rise from within their hearts: "Save us!"

I called my son to approach and he did so. Embracing him was all that I could do at this moment. I looked into his eyes, so full of sorrow from visions of a possible disaster, and held him tight.

"Ruxx, it is your duty as the next King of Loegor to protect our women and children. Use your knowledge, the things that you have learnt by being close to me as I ruled, and guide our people to safety. Together with your brother Zarxx make a new start, do not let the Rats lead our race to extinction. Be fair, just and brave at heart."

As I gave him the Stone of Loegor, I could feel my son's desire to remain here by my side, to face the barbaric hordes of Draal. Tears ran down my eyes...

"Go now, child! The Stone will show you the way to the Great Caves."

Soon after, he was gone, tightly clasping the sacred pyxis that would lead his footsteps across hostile territory. The party of females and children, under his guidance, departed. The road to the caves, beyond the Dry Mountains would be difficult and exhausting. Many would die in the process of reaching the protective climate of the caves.

The Loegor had to survive as a race...even if I had to die.

I watched my people disappearing on the horizon, turning from a live mass to nothing more than a dark green shadow cast against the Dry Mountains. Then I turned to the ones that had stayed behind, to fight the enemy. We were just a small group, composed of the Elders, a few young warriors that formed my Guard of the Lake and me...their King.

I could not lie to them...they knew the sad truth already.

"Brothers! Chances are that we are going to die, our blood will feed the land of our forefathers...our blood will be the seed so that the people of Loegor will carry on living ever after. We must defend our Lake for the sake of our people that will inhabit it in the future!"

They held their weapons tight and were ready to face the fearsome enemy. I could see in their eyes that the intruding barbaric hordes would have to pay dearly with their own blood...it would be an uneven battle, but we would fight right down to the last one.

Then the distant dark mass on the horizon became the savage army of Draal that we so well knew. They entered the village, the looter's madness gleaming in their eyes, carrying torches and scythes, to burn down and destroy everything. Shouting, their appalling mouths screaming out blasphemous chants of war, they started the sacriledge of our peaceful village.

At times such as this it is difficult to explain one's feelings. The survival instinct leads one beyond known limits...we fought back, at times using our bare hands, ripping out the Rats' eyes and cutting their fearsome heads off with our swords. The battle was held at close range, bodies fighting bodies, steel meeting flesh and flesh meeting the dusty ground. We fought with passion and bravery...but still, they were too many.

My people could not hold much longer, most of us had reached a certain age that prevented us from moving easily...I saw three Elders been single-handedly killed by a raging Rat warrior that moved his scythe in a full circle...it was a dreadful sight and worse was there to come...death itself was not the end.

Pain.

An arrow hit my left shoulder. I felt its sharp point penetrating my flesh, as fast as a lightning hits a tall, proud tree in the prairie. Then there was pain, slowly sucking my blood and strength away, bringing me down to my knees, cutting my brain to a million pieces.

Helpless I watched, as my youngest brother fell down, his heart being eaten on the spot by those savages, him being carried away, to be skinned and treated as they pleased. The pain that I felt from this sight, watching my brother's body being dragged on the ground and away, was devastating.

Anger, hatred and disgust renewed my physical power and I was back on my feet again. Along with my betrusted Guards, I cut off head after head of our enemies, smearing my skin with their blood in the process. All I wanted was Justice.

One cannot hold like this for ever though...my Guards fell, one after the other and the Elders were in a very tight spot themselves. There was nothing that I could do to avoid the oncoming end, noone that I could turn to...I raised my sword to the Heavens and prayed to the Gods.

"Oh Gods allmighty of the Heavenly world, reach down and protect the people that praise You, the people of Loegor! Save us, oh Gods, bring Justice to this land and make all bloodshed stop!"

There are times when Gods stop turning a deaf ear to those in need.

A trident of steel fell from the skies. And then another...and another. The tridents hissed through the air, like tongues of lethal snakes. Each one of them hit a Rat warrior, penetrating him from side to side and nailed him to the ground...onto the grass they fell, that was already stained with the blood of my people...and very soon, the battle was over.

The tridents, along with the dead Rat warriors, disappeared into the skies, as abruptly as they had appeared. The Gods had listened to my prayers...Nemesis had claimed her piece of the action.

The few remains of the savage army hurried off to where they came from, beyond the lake and the forest, totally out of sight. I looked around. The village was not in its best condition, a few houses were burnt down or otherwise destroyed. Blood was everywhere. We had lost a dozen Elders and seven Guards...and I had lost my brother...

I put my sword back into its sheath, Rat blood still running along its edge. Kneeling down on both knees I thanked the Gods for their intervention that had saved my life and the lives of my people...and had guarranteed the future of my race.

It was going to be a hard winter, but we would make it...

Looking back at the Lake, I felt its waters calling my name, King Graxx of the Loegor land, echoing through the forest and onto the mountains...and back again, in countless, eternal loops.

--+=:#(*)#:=+--

It was dark. The sun had set earlier, having dived in a glorius sea of low-flying clouds, painted the horizon golden with its ray-brush, then chose red and deep purple after that. Finally, everything turned grey. Only the smaller of the two moons had risen, its pale and scarred surface hardly illuminating the lake and its surroundings.

At the feet of a small and bare hill, behind the lake, a fire was casting the shadows of two people against the walls of a cave. Bright and yellow, the flames surrounded the small logs of burning wood, silently crackling upwards. Above the fire, just barely touching the flames, a pan was positioned on a metallic frame. It was a camp-fire that provided heat and cooked the dinner. Another person approached. A woman.

"What's cooking, Wilkins?"

She wore some type of uniform made out of polymeric material, with aluminum rings around her wrists, ankles and neck. Her boots seemed to be part of the uniform, as no laces or zipper were visible. On her left arm, a small circular patch. A flag.

"Isn't it lovely here on this side, Campbell? We have found a safe place for the craft, the air is breathable...we have a fire and..."

The man moved his head slightly upwards, pointing towards the yellow and orange fire that was preparing the meal.

"...food also. Say, it was time that we remembered our camping-out days!"

Campbell smiled, crouching in front of the fire, next to the man. Her face was changing colours fast, being illuminated by the fire in soft shades of yellow, red and orange. The other uniformed man was already tasting the food, having taken a long skewer out of the sizzling pan.

"This is really great, Wilkins...at last, real meat and not this tubed, dehydrated crap we had during the first trip. Tastes like pork, a real winner! Here, have some..."

He passed a juicy skewer to Campbell and one to Wilkins, who both took it eagerly. The second moon was rising now, an oddly shaped satellite with a reflective titanium surface that shed soft white light over the area.

Campbell looked at the two moons that hang up in the sky, like Christmas ornaments gliding along the silver galactic garland. A brand new world was under their feet and above their heads. She knew now how Christopher Colombus must have felt at the sight of the Carribean coast, six hundred-odd years ago. It felt as if they had found Eden again, here, so far away from home.

It took light 12.5 years to travel from this solar system through the galactic paths, curving at non-eucleidian angles caused by magnetic fields, across warpspace and through antimatter winds...towards the blue planet, the third from the sun...Gaia.

Wilkins spat on the ground. The meat of the cooked animal was sweet, spicy and overall very tasty. He picked his teeth with the sharp point of the skewer...with the middle one of its three points.

"Some of this stuff is hard to swallow, you think so Mathew? What the heck is this, leather or something..."

He spat again. Campbell smiled at him and stood up, stretching her neck and upper torso that had been facing the skies for quite some time.

"Guys, I'm off to sleep. Don't forget to put out that fire and lock the door behind you...'night."

She moved towards the craft's entrance. On the sliding door was the same flag as the one she had on her uniform, at shoulder level. A blue planet.
Looking back for a moment, she stood there as if she had forgotten to say something to the men outside, as if they would behave like two naughty teenagers that their parents left them alone.

"And hey! Get those utensils all clean for tomorrow!"

The two men laughed as she tossed the titanium skewer towards the dying fire...the trident crossed the orange flames like a shooting star, shiny and lethal, finally hitting the ground and staying there, upright, like an antenna to the stars...like a weapon from the Heavens.

The Outpost

December 7, 1995

It was yet another typical night at the barracks. Soft flakes of snow had been falling during the evening, and by 1am everything was all covered in a white veil. Luckily, there was no cold northern wind blowing. Seemed as if the snow itself had a mellowing effect on the weather. As I put my boots on, sitting on my bed, I realised that this would be the ninth night in a row that I was on duty.

I finished tying up my laces and put my thick overcoat on. I took my helmet and wore my gloves. The guy who was on duty inside the barracks unlocked the case where the rifles were kept. My FN rifle felt smooth and with almost feminine curves under the gloves. I undid the strap and removed the bayonette, keeping it safe in its sheath. The rifle soon found its place over my shoulder and I did my scarve before I exited the room.

Outside, the guys that it was their turn to guard the various posts were already there. I was the one that had to take them to their posts, making sure that everything was allright, both them and the posts. It was twenty minutes before 2am when we set off, me in front of a row of half-sleepy soldiers. Sure, my rank as a corporal brought me in the unpleasant position of acting both as a soldier and as an officer... However, I had the same time to spend in the army, anything from 15 to 19 months, and everything moved slow in the cold winter of this northeastern village.

The guys behind me cursed their luck, which apparently was to blame for being in the unfortunate position of having to serve here, so far from their homes, so close to the enemy. No-one, not even the hi-rank officers themselves were pleased to serve here, let alone the soldiers that considered their unpaid, full of dirty details time a full waste.

"God-dammit corporal, we're moving too fast! Those guys down there will sleep peacefully after, we can be 5-10 minutes late..."

I smiled, but didn't cut down on my pace. Changes of guard had to be done within schedule, or else someone might complain and it'll be truly bad for everyone. It was bad enough having to serve at this cursed outpost, no-one needed to listen to a red-faced major at 6:30 in the morning.

After a few minutes we reached the first point of guard. The guy there, apparently still in his first few months of service shouted loud and clear the words "Halt! Identify yourself!".

My reply, equally clear but with a distinct bored overtone, made him ease down. After the rest of the identification procedure was over, the guy said "Corporal, you surely bring 'em guys on time!". I ignored his hiding cigarette and signed on the post's book. Took the guy's ammo and examined with a glance its contents. At an early stage of our time as soldiers, we would count all ammo, bullet by bullet and it would take ages. Now, a glance at the edge of the magazine was all I needed.

"Right, you OK Jimmy?", I asked the guy who took over. He nodded warily and I handed him the ammo and the little paper with the signal codes. "Let's go now, no smoking back there!" I said and we started moving on.

The party was now mixed, the old guards that were in a hurry to get back inside the warmth of the barracks and those whose shift was about to begin. Those unfortunate ones, having to be on guard from 2 to 4 in the morning would suffer not only the cold but also the various surprise checkings of the senior officers. The snow made it all more difficult to move, as in only a few hours it had reached a height of 6 to 8 inches and it kept on falling.

I had been told that after exposal to extreme conditions, such as very few hours of sleep, hard work and loads of extra "dirty details" during the day, plus being away from familiar faces, a soldier's aggressiveness jumps to unknown heights. Many such cases I had seen during my 9 months of service there and had learned how to cope with these guys. Some had even developed strange manias, and the barracks doctor had been called in a few times. The most commonly reported phenomenon, was that of the appearence of a huge beast, something that looked like a wolf with the size of a lion. Even though everything as remote as this was laughed at among us, the doctor had always prescribed a few mild drugs and a couple of days off service. Reporting such a case was now a certain way to relax, although temporarily, from the army's fast pace of life.

The next couple of changes were of the same manner. We were now approaching the most remote post of this field, a place which was full of still waters and mosquitos in the summer, but all white and equally tranquil during those late December nights. A few metres before the opening where the post was, everything seemed extremely calm and silent. Just the sound of our boots was audible, squashing the soft snow and leaving deep footprints behind. Somehow I felt like I had to stop. Something inside me told me that things were not as they appeared to be. At a different time I would have laughed at myself, but the whole environment looked so deceptively tranquil, so unmistakenly evil. I made a signal for the rest of the team to stop and I crouched. The rest of the guys did the same, instinctively. I looked around. Nothing was moving, and anything that moved would be seen easily, all dark against the white background... unless it was white itself.

That came like a flash to me. I knew that something was out there, watching the whole team, like a beast observes its prey before the attack. I was the only one with a loaded rifle, and now I had to use it against all possible threat. Slowly, I removed the rifle from my shoulder. The cracky sound it made as I armed it, was apparently audible to whoever was close enough... including the guy whose shift of duty was now ending.

"Halt! Identify yourself!" came a yell from the clearing. My voice was about to leave my throat, to answer in the proper way. It never did. Instead I put the rifle to autofire, aimed and pulled the trigger. The whole magazine, close to 20 bullets left the FN's barrel in less than three seconds and the empty shells fell on the snow, melting it with a hissing sound. When no more were left, I kept on pressing the rifle's trigger, as if I could spit lead from inside me and through the rifle's heated barrel...I felt a hand removing the rifle from my clasp and I passed out soon after.

The next thing I saw was the doctor's calm face. "How are we doin' lad?" I looked around, disoriented. The room was warm and it was that of the officer's in charge. I was lying on his bed, my boots removed and my feet covered with a wollen blanket.

"Doctor, I am allright", I whispered. "Did I kill it?" I added, half getting up.

"Shhh! Now, now, calm down corporal and lay still. It'll be allright. And you know, I guess you could use some rest and relaxation, away from this damned place..." The doctor covered me with another blanket and I slept the rest of the night there, while the burning woods at the fireplace kept me company.

As I am now heading towards home, with no less than 20 days off duty, I can't but stand and think what happened. The scene is being replayed before my eyes, and I still swear that I saw it, the white lion-sized wolf, running in all its lethal glory towards my team of soldiers. I overheard the doc saying to the officer in charge that I am half-crazy and I have to be transferred elsewhere, but I know better. As soon as my leave expires I am coming back...and then the hunting season begins.

Incubus

=-= November 11, 1995 =-=

It was that time of the night when everything is so silent, the murmurs of the outside world fading away. My body relaxed, fell into the ever-waiting arms of Hypnos and my mind travelled on paths uknown while I was awake. Slowly, as if I was being left floating inside the ocean waters, my entity rose from my body. Without much effort, I exited my physical body, as if I were removing a shirt, an overcoat of mortal flesh.

It had happened before, but so much time had passed since then. The first time that I had an out-of-body experience, I was only 9 years old and it felt too embarrassing to talk about it. Now, more than double that age later I was prepared to exploit this experience, to explore the paths that were opening up in front of me.

The sensation was mind-blowing. Just by thinking, I lifted myself towards the ceiling, watching at my body that was peacefully sleeping on the bed. I slowly landed myself on the wooden floor and tried to walk normally. It was not easy at first, but then the sensation of the floor against my feet arrived. A full, yellow moon was visible through the half-open window, casting its light like a celestial light-house. I looked at myself and then at my physical body that was lying - "lifeless ?", I wondered - on the bed, and found no resemblance whatsoever. I walked towards the large mirror that was hanging from the wall opposite to my bed - MY bed? - but nothing appeared, no reflection of someone, as if I was made out of thin air.

Air... I sniffed the stale aromas of the room and there was something attractive there, something that caused me an instant excitement. I approached the bed, where some distant part of me was now sleeping on, and sniffed again, like an animal sniffs its prey before the attack. That scent, arising from this young man's body that I had just earlier exited, was a mixture of prespiration and other physical secretions. Why was I so much attracted to his scent, this I could not tell.

The young man turned in his sleep, facing the pillow and exposing his fine, naked back to me. I came closer, still sniffing the air and noticed some marks, both on his neck and on the small of his back. The marks on his neck, looked like bruises caused by some sort of suction, while those on his backside were most definetely marks that a fine set of nails had left behind, by deeply scratching his flesh.

Truth came like a flash to me. That mixture of scents, of marks and aromas that caused me so much excitement, were those of love-making. That was evidence that a female had been exploring the young man's body with her own, feeling his masculine power on her, while at the same time she had been exercising her possessive powers.

I took a deep breath of the scent and effortlessly moved towards the window. The next second I was outside, into the cool autumn night, not flapping any wings, but all the same, flying towards some uknown destination. Under the guidance of the moon, that shed short shadows of the buildings and trees below me, I followed the scent through the other fragances of the night.

Still at this late hour, the center of the city was much awake, with cars and people minding their business, having fun, enjoying the secrecy that only night knows how to offer best. The scent that had so deeply been etched onto my sensitive breathing nerves, finally led me to the fourth floor of a building. I only had to think of getting inside the target of my quest and - lo and behold - I was there, sniffing the apartment's air with so much excitement.

Inside the room there was no source of light, and yet I could see properly. For a few seconds I stood still, looking around. There was a small sofa right behind the balcony door, the television to the right of it. Facing the sofa was a heavy wooden desk, with a large leather chair and a small bookcase forming some sort of office. I turned to the right and noticed another room, just behind the TV, with a table and chairs forming some sort of dining room. An open book was on the table, as if someone read this regurarly over dinner. On the wall a papyrus, picturing an ancient Egyptian river boat, had been framed, the boat now sailing on the frozen waters of time.

I followed a long and narrow corridor. The main entrance to the apartment was on the right, and opposite to it a life-size mirror was surrounded by various hat and coat stands, a box for umbrellas and other winter items. As I walked by, no reflection of me appeared. I felt so strange, something inside me was beginning to slowly rise, affecting my regular thoughts with blasphemous wishes and needs.

Next stop, the kitchen. A dark and crowded place of scents and frangances, health foods and ginger roots, everything clean and tidy. I exited, uninterested, as my food was not to be found here... A few feet ahead and to the right, another room. I slowly turned the door handle, on which a couple of woman's bags were hanging. The scent that had kick-started my curiocity on the young man's body, was now everywhere. I felt a sudden rush of energy overwhelming me, my manhood rising, large and vigorous, ready to be used for the satisfaction of my beastly needs.

It was an office that I had entered, most definetely decorated by someone who was both a woman and a child. A short, lengthy bookcase was covering one side of the room. On it there were various items, apart from books. There was a small collection of wind-up toys, little artifacts from a childhood that either never ended or never actually existed. I also noticed a few articles that help the female vanity to its quest for the immortal beauty, such as a few lipsticks and some other things for facial make-up.

On the other side of the room there was a desk, all covered with books, notes on printed paper and a computer with a printer to the right part of it. I picked up a book and tried to read it, feeling strange as I knew that I was reading it in the dark. A book on logic. More books of the same kind were on the bookcase and I could tell that this was not a decorative bookcase. Everything in here had been used, had been exploited for the education of its reader. This was clearly a writer's den...

It was then that I noticed, silently snoring on a large round pillow on the floor, a white fluffy dog. I knelt down and felt its soft fur, slowly caressing its body and head. The dog opened its eyes and looked at me for a few seconds. I could tell it was happy to see me, as if I had been here before...and indeed I had been here before, in the form of that young man that was now sleeping on his bed, back where I came from.

The dog could have told me so many things just by blinking its eyes at me, but I asked it to go back to sleep. And as its snoring resumed, I spotted a few framed photographs that were put together on this far side of the bookcase. There was a photo of a middle-aged man with glasses, smiling calmly at the person who had been taking his photo. There was something kind about him, some sort of childish innocence still refusing to surrender itself to age.

There was a black and white photo of a couple, hugging and smiling. Still, their apparent happiness had some sad overtones that forced me to put the photo back on the bookcase, feeling as if I had commited sacriledge. I picked the third photo up, and it was then that my soul felt all warmed-up and gloriously happy. It was a photograph of two little girls, their golden hair and bright smiles bringing the black and white paper to life. As I focused on the girl on the left, I knew that I was looking at the past of a secret lover of mine...or of the man that was sleeping and whose body I had so strangely exited.

Who was I? Definetely not the same person that was now sleeping back where I came from, unaware of the fact that part of him was now so close to his lover of daylight. My body was that of a deamon now, all covered with thick, dark fur, split hooves as feet and a priapic erection between my legs. My mind was still that of a man but it was still changing fast to that of a beast, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I touched my face and it was the face of a hairy, horned creature that had somehow jumped from someone's wicked imagination. Sharp canine teeth were protruding from my mouth, and somehow I knew that my short nose with its wide nostrils had not always been like that. A few microseconds of panic soon drifted away, together with the last traces of adrenaline that caused it... Still, I was there and I could feel myself, I could hear myself breathing, I could feel my inner wishes wanting to be futhfilled.

I put the photo back on the bookcase, caressing for a final time the image of the girl on the left, caressing it with my hairy hand that now had sharp nails on the tips of its fingers. Slowly, I exited and closed the office door behind me. Opposite to it was the bathroom. The frangances of soap, perfumes and other substances temporarily blocked my ability to locate the source of the female body scent which had originally guided me here. The shower's curtains were pulled aside, still wet from the last time the water caressed someone's body, stealing away only part of this person's natural odors...

One room remained to be visited, one door remained to be opened. Opened? I simply had to think of entering the room and I was inside, as if I had passed through the closed, solid, wooden door. The scent was filling the room, like blood fills the walls of a surgery room, rushing from an open artery. She was here, a few feet in front of me, on her bed, sleeping. Not alone. I approached the man next to her and recognised that calm, kind face again, without any glasses on this time. I blew cold, magic air on his face, my beastly breath putting him to a deep sleep, from which no human voice or sound would ever lift him.

I slowly lifted the sheets and blankets that were covering her side of the bed and I looked at her fine body, crouched in the fetal position, sleeping so peacefully. I stroked her golden hair, running my sharp nails through it like a comb, feeling richer than a man who had striken gold. Her natural scent was so sweet, mellowing the deamon that I was now, leading me to a stupour so much resembling being drunk with alcohol. Her breasts were moving at the pace of her calm breath, rising and resting in an almost infallible rythm. Her long, slim legs were exposed below the end of her night-gown and I followed their contour with the back of my hand, from the tips of her feet to the roundness of her ass.

She moved a little, as if something had annoyed her sleep, let go a short sigh and went back to sleep again. I had been examining her close for some time now, noticing her fine long fingers, her slim neck and her broad shoulders that supported her goddess-like head, which rested on the pillow. I lifted her night-gown and examined her flat, juvenile tummy, her belly-button hole looking at me like an eye, unable to notice my beastly sight. I approached her tummy more and sniffed at her crotch. Her aroma was so musky, so much female that my manhood - or should I say, beasthood? - sprang up and out, like a gigantic love-mushroom that wanted to be watered by the sweet wetness of her pussy lips.

She was lying there, all woman, all mine, ready to be taken - by force if necessary - and to be led to ecstatic heights yet unkown... She moved again, changing her sleeping position, lying on her tummy, and her fine round ass was fully exposed to me. This was too much for the deamon that I was now. I fell on her with my full weight, pressing against her with animal lust. She screamed but it was a sound that only she and I could hear.

I ripped her night-gown and panties with one hand, my long nails cutting through the silk like razor-blades. Forcing her upper torso to stay still, I lifted her waist with my other hand and entered her from behind. My hard, deamonic cock penetrated her pussy in one painful thrust, spreading her pussy-lips like a rapier cuts through flesh. I fucked her hard and fast, feeling her pussy getting more and more wet with each thrust of my hairy buttocks.

I felt like I was deflowering a virgin, taking her most precious and well-preserved treasure away. She was letting short muffled sounds, unable to reject or fight back my invasion. My hands were now all over her slender body, grasping her breasts, twisting her nipples hard, almost painfully, pumping her now slippery pussy as fast as I could. She moaned with pleasure, not knowing whether this middle-of-the-night fuck was a dream or reality, whether this cock that was trying to feed her hungry pussy was human or deamonic.

As I felt that she was close to climaxing, by hearing her gasping breath and short moans, I withdrew and spread her ass-cheeks as far apart as I could with my sharp-nailed fingers...she moaned in pain, as I entered her ass, slowly at first but faster and faster soon after. She was enjoying this deamonic ride, this blasphemous copulation so much, letting short moans of pleasure and pain...she was being raped by an entity outside the known world, by someone that had somehow exited a human body and had transformed into an incubus, a male deamon that fed on sex. It was about time for her to face reality now. I exited her abruptly, putting a sudden end to her trip of mixed pleasure and pain.

As I was turning her around, grasping her slender body with my strong hairy hands, I could see her blue eyes opening wide in horror, scared by the sight of me, of the deamon that was still possessing her body. She let go a scream, and in reply I entered her pussy again, lifting her long legs and resting them on my shoulders. I pressed against her, got hold of her breasts and squeezed them hard, rubbing her distinctively erect nipples with my nails...she moaned again, and I rode rough and tough, going all the way inside and coming all the way out again and again and again. I bent closer to her face, forcing her knees to touch either sides of her neck, and I licked her face and mouth, sucked hard on her neck, leaving a few bruises behind...she was gasping and moaning all the time, and all she kept saying was "yes, fuck me, more, punish me!"...

I felt her pussy lips contracting, sucking on my cock so tightly that it felt almost painful...she let go a short series of moans and her mouth opened wide, her eyes closed in ecstasy. I exited her and forced her head against my hard, beastly cock. She took me inside, sucking me hard, her heavenly lips wrapped around my cock, driving me to a deamonic delirium...I came in her mouth soon after, in what felt like a million long bursts of evil seed, her hungry mouth swallowing it all. I was holding her golden hair, fucking her mouth and enjoying it all while finger-fucking her pussy...she sucked me dry, her angelic face now calmly looking at me, almost loving me, her deamon rapist, holding my hairy ass with a tender touch...I withdrew myself from her oral love-embrace, took her in my arms and put her slowly back on the bed, caressing her and stroking her hair...

As I was exiting the apartment, flying high above the city's dark buildings, her last words kept ringing in my ears, like the bells of a funeral, so sad and yet so beautiful...

"I hate you...I love you"...

My invisible wings took me high above the ever-busy city, close to the galactic paths that the full moon was still following... I had to re-enter my body before sunrise.

Night Stalker

=-= September 24, 1995 =-=

"One of the same, please".

The barman gave him a short, uninterested look and filled his glass. He picked up the tepid glass of vodka and slowly sipped it. The remains of the orange juice left a sour taste in his mouth. He coughed.

It was getting late and the few customers that remained were already considering moving on to more live places. Even the pianist at the corner seemed bored, hitting the keys with less excitement than a dead horse. Putting the half-empty glass down, he looked in the bar's mirror, staring at his own reflection. Still in his late twenties, the mousey-blond hair carelessly falling on his face, he looked both attractive and boyish.

The bar's clock seemed to have stopped at a quarter to midnight. He straightened out his hair...then he noticed her. She was sitting at a corner table, legs crossed, smoking. She seemed to be watching his reflection in the mirror and he felt her eyes examining him from head to toes. Slowly, he turned around to take a better look at this woman and their eyes met. She smiled in a way full of mystery and kept staring at him. He felt his male hormones awakening...it was an obvious come-on, an invitation to something more than a drink and a chat. He took his drink and walked towards her table.

"May I sit with you? This place is so silent and I could really use some nice conversation". She smiled, this time more emphatically. She put her cigarette out and he noticed her fine fingers, sharp nails polished, squeezing the cigarette into a butt.

"Please, have a seat. I feel rather bored, my date never appeared and staying silent for more than ten minutes is not in my nature".

He pulled a chair close to her and sat down. For a few seconds they examined each other, eyes working overtime. She was a beautiful brunette, with a fine light coloured skin, her green eyes penetrating him like light-house beams. He smiled.

"It's not very polite of people not to appear on dates. And I think that your date missed quite a lot, you truly look wonderful".

She didn't reply, but sipped her drink, eyes fixed on him. Her eyes had something very unique about them, some sort of animal magnetism that forced him to remain there, looking at her. Finally, she spoke.

"Yes...and when someone kicks his piece of luck, someone else picks it up". Now, that was a phrase that he would have used...he was very good at flirting with women, almost like a professional playboy. He would enchant them with his witticisms and cool manners and then...well, then everything would be easier.

"Actually, luck has never deserted me". He was bragging now, and it was evident but he felt that this woman was his equal. Again, he felt her eyes lighten up as he said that. He lowered his eyes and noticed a piece of jewellry around her neck. It was a small stone, deep red and shiny, set on a silver triangle. A reverse triangle surrounded the first one, and hanged from a thin silver chain that went around her fine neck.

She noticed him looking at her stone and breathed deeply. The red stone hid between her breasts. He shivered, both astounded and aroused by the woman's reaction. He felt like he had to have her.

"I like men that entrust luck...and Fate", she said, uncrossing her legs and standing up. He said nothing, but left a 20 dollar bill on the table instead. They exchanged one more look, feeling again her eyes sucking his mind out and they exited the bar.

It was a warm, late August night, the summer saying goodbye in a polite way. He directed her to his car, opened the door for her and got in. The engine started smoothly. He smiled inside...everything was going according to plan. Next to him, the woman sat relaxed and silent. They got into the main highway.

"It would be sacriledge to waste such a nice night", she whispered turning to him and he shivered again with each one of her words.

"Let's go to the forest by the lake". She looked deep into his eyes and he obeyed...he steered the car mechanically, her words echoing in his mind, her eyes obscuring the view like clouds.

It was not too far, and it seemed as if they got there by flying. He stopped the car and felt as if he had snapped out of a dream. He was not drunk, he had only had two vodkas, but still he felt dizzy. They got out of the car. A full moon was just rising between the twin mountain peaks and behind the lake, making the waters slowly glitter under the silent breeze.

They walked a bit, towards the lake and finally sat down at a clearing, away from any artificial light. He looked at her. She was beautifully pale and her eyes wonderfully bright, as ever. Getting closer to her, he softly kissed her on the lips. She felt like silk and smelled like myrrh. He felt her breathing becoming heavier, her body arching at his touch. She leaned towards him.

She unbuttoned his shirt, deeply kissing him, biting his lip with each button that she did open. She caressed his chest, kissing it with soft, slow pecks, sucking on his nipples not so gently. He moaned with pleasure and helped her out of her dress. It fell on the wet grass, revealing her slender body, totally naked under the moonlight. He removed the rest of his clothes and took her in his arms, slowly putting her on the grass, rubbing himself against her. She moved him around and straddled him. He was hard now, eagerly awaiting her to take him inside. She did so, in a quick and rough way, pushing herself down against him. He gasped, it was both pleasure and pain.

Holding his arms against the ground, she moved up and down, tightly entrapping his manhood in her sweet jail, bending forwards to caress his chest with her long dark hair. He felt so wonderful that he closed his eyes and opened them again, just in case he was dreaming. The woman made love to him faster now, swinging her waist around and pressing against him hard.

He felt his orgasm approaching, sweeping his body like a wave from head to toes and back again. He moaned with pleasure, and at the same time the woman climaxed, with a loud howl that broke the silence of the night like a thunderbolt out of nowhere...and near the end of his body's orgasmic spasms, he saw her, the Beast, with a body covered with dark thick hair, her eyes glowing in the darkness like twin fires from Hell. She fell forwards onto him, biting his neck, sucking his blood and devouring his flesh with her sharp, canine teeth...and as he lost conciousness together with the final moments of his life, he thought that he heard his own words again, ringing so ironically in his ears...

Actually, luck has never deserted me.

His body laid now still, lifeless on the wet grass, smeared with his own blood. The moon was well above the lake now, full and bright and evil...and chasing it, running after its bright trail was a wolf, with green glittering eyes and a chain with a red stone around its neck...

Red Moonlight

=-= September 6, 1995 =-=

Darkness his cover, he emerged from behind the thick bushes. His face up in the air, sniffing for possible enemies. Nothing but the smell of wet soil reached his nostrils. He looked around. Shadows of trees against a pitch black sky, their branches stretching out like arms.

Slowly, he started walking, silently passing over broken wood and fallen leaves. He felt cold. The nightingale's song broke the silence, accompanied by noises of insects...and the sound of his own heart, pounding fast.

He was now near an open part of the woods, a small circular area covered with short grass. He froze still, hidden behind the last trees of the forest. Nothing but shadows were there to see, but his sharp eyesight made out the outlines of two men. As the sparks from a flinchstone became small flames of light, he noticed a third person, lying on the yellowed grass.

He felt the urge to run away, hide back into the shelter that darkness offered him...then one of the men, his face lit from below by the yellow red light of the fire, started speaking. That voice, a silent murmur of long, uncomprehensible words reached his ears like a blasphemous chant... He let a silent growl pass through his teeth, in a mixture of anger and fear.

Now, the other man reached down to the body that was lying on the ground. As he pulled the person's long-sleeved gown open, the naked skin of a woman appeared, glowing like gold against the pale flames of the fire. Her long blonde hair, like a halo, surrounded her calm face. She was asleep, possibly drugged, unable to resist anything or defend herself from the two men.

He felt uneasy, his heart pounding fast as usual, but his mind knowing that what was happening was evil...so humanly evil. He came a bit closer to the forest's edge...

The first man finished with his chanting and produced a sharp, long knife that shone in the fire-light. Kneeling down, he stood opposite to the other man who had now removed the woman's gown, her golden-white body resting peacefully beside the fire. The man with the knife tightly clasped in his two hands, slowly raised his arms, up and over his head... The sharp edge of the knife cut the air with speed, approaching the woman's helpless body fast.

It never touched it. He reached the armed man in one gigantic leap, forcing him to the ground. The knife fell from the man's hands and into the fire. With rapid movements, his body swinging to the left and right, his head diving fast into the necks of the two men, he tasted blood. His teeth cut their skin deeply and devoured their flesh, in short lethal bites. He continued until their bodies lay still, each throat an open wound, offering the sight of its blood to the skies...

From behind the hill, the moon slowly appeared. Round and bright, its light glowed like a sun against the dying fire. He looked at the woman, the paleness of her soft white skin being illuminated by the rising moon. He approached her and licked her neck for a while, leaving a sweet yet salty taste in his mouth... He run for the hill, fast, as if he was trying to chase the full moon on its trip around the skies. The forest remained black, ever hiding its secrets in the darkness...

Down below, next to the dead fire, safe from the two men that were moistening the dry grass with their blood, the woman awoke. Up on the hill, surrounded by a fully round moon, the silhouette of a wolf howled to the stars...