‘I’d love to,’ she answers.
The woman walks away. Before she follows Star remembers her friend. She pulls on Donna’s elbow and shouts into her ear.
‘I’ll be back in a minute.’
Registering Donna’s nod of understanding she rushes after her quarry.
‘What’s your name?’ Sarah asks.
After a moment’s pause, the woman answers. ‘Lilith.’
‘Lilith,’ Sarah repeats the name. The word feels familiar in her mouth.
‘What’s yours?’ asks Lilith.
Which name should I use? Sarah suddenly seems such an ordinary name, and she feels extraordinary this evening. Anything could be possible on a night like this. ‘Star,’ she says.
Lilith smiles and nods in approval. ‘What do you drink?’
Star feels she has drunk enough already. She doesn’t want to spend the rest of the evening heaving in swampy toilets. Will Lilith think less of me if I don’t ask for alcohol? She checks herself. Is this the new friend I want to make—another Raven, who I constantly have to impress? ‘Red Bull, please.’
If Lilith is disappointed she shows no sign of it as she turns and heads for the bar. A moment later she returns and they are together again. Lilith passes the drink to Star who cradles it in her hands.
‘Can we find some seats?’ Star asks.
Lilith motions for her to follow. She walks to a couch filled with people and bends over the mousey girl at the end of the row. She whispers something in the girl’s ear. The girl nods and passes the message to the next person who does the same in turn. When the Chinese whispers are complete the group stand up as one and wander towards the dance floor.
‘How did you do that?’ Star asks, amazed.
Lilith shrugs and sits down, leaving room for Star to join her. Star sits on the couch. It is soft beneath her, far more comfortable than her usual vinyl stool. She sits so close to Lilith she feels the woman’s arm brush hers as she reaches for her drink. The sensation leaves her breathless. She sips her own drink trying to stay calm. Does Lilith want me too or is she looking for a friend? She stares at the table, shivering and sipping her drink. What should I say? Please not something lame.
‘I haven’t seen you here before,’ Star eventually says. ‘Are you new to town?’
They are words and they might get Lilith talking. She desperately wants to hear the woman’s rich voice again. They seem so cliché, she should have thought of something better.
‘I am, but I’m very glad I came here tonight.’
When Star looks back at Lilith’s face it shines with pleasure. Her smile is wide and welcoming. There is not a trace of judgement in her eyes.
‘So am I,’ Star answers.
‘It’s too noisy to talk, don’t you think?’ Lilith asks. ‘Would you like to dance, or go somewhere more quiet?’
The choice. Star’s throat swells and she finds it hard to swallow. The music is amazing tonight and being here with Lilith feels like a dream. Would the dream be broken outside this room? If I ask to dance, and our bodies move as one on the dance floor for the next two hours, will Lilith make the same offer a second time?
‘Where do you wanna go?’ Star asks.
Lilith smiles again, a beautiful smile, which washes over Star, telling her everything will be wonderful.
‘I have a room near here. It’s nothing much but it’s warm and quiet.’
Star shivers as she exhales. This is it. This beautiful woman is offering me her body and I really don’t know what I want to do. This is crazy. Why is everything so muddled?
‘I have to let my friends know I’m leaving,’ says Star.
‘Give me your cloakroom ticket if you have one. I’ll get your coat.’
Star rushes across the dance floor. She bumps into dancers as she passes them mouthing apologies at their fierce faces. She cannot feel her feet on the floor. It’s as though she is gliding, skimming the ceiling with her hair. The bodies below seem insubstantial.
She reaches Raven’s table and three frowns turn to meet her.
‘Where have you been?’ Raven asks. Her voice sounds cold and her words are clipped.
‘You said you’d only be a minute,’ Donna says, shaking her head.
‘I–I’ve met someone. We’re leaving,’ Star replies.
Raven stands up. Her eyes narrow to see through the fog as she looks around the club.
‘Who?’ she asks.
‘The woman in the latex bodice. I was dancing with her earlier. She’s gone to get our coats.’
‘Really?’ Raven asks. ‘Why are you leaving then?’ She stares into Star’s eyes. ‘But, but you’ve never been with a woman. Let me see her.’
As Star walks unsteadily towards the cloakroom, her three friends follow her. Lilith waits by the stairs, Star’s coat draped over her arm.
Raven nudges Star and whispers. ‘She’s gorgeous. You have to tell me all about it tomorrow.’
The three walk away from her back to the music.
Chapter 24
Satori looks up from his books and feels a shiver of dread. Gasping, he holds his chest. Something is wrong.
He clears a space to meditate. Even though he tries to empty his mind, Star’s face lingers there, unwilling to give him peace. Is Star in trouble? He dials her mobile number. It rings but she doesn’t answer. It is eleven thirty, plenty of time to get changed and check out the club. She’s probably there.
He decides to take care over his appearance. Star never seemed happy when he arrived at the club in his old clothes. He straightens his hair and chooses a pair of skintight jeans and the red silk shirt which she always loved. It is almost midnight by the time he leaves, and when he reaches the bus stop the last one has just left. He looks for a taxi but the rank is empty. Unwilling to wait any longer, he walks along the main street towards the club, hoping to catch a taxi on the way. His walk is brisk and he reaches the club at half-past-twelve. The bouncers nod at him as he passes them.
Without stopping to check his coat, he bounds up the staircase and into the mist. It seems foggier than usual this evening and he can hardly see a thing. He walks towards the dance floor, she isn’t dancing but he can see two of her friends. Donna and Freya are swaying to Suspiria. They look tired and listless. Searching for Raven and Star, he spots Raven slumped in her usual spot near the dance floor. He crosses to her and pats her hand.
Her eyes flicker open and she smiles at him. ‘Satori.’
‘Where’s Star?’ he asks.
Raven’s eyes swim in their sockets, as though she is finding it impossible to think and focus on his face at the same time.
‘Star?’ he asks again.
‘Oh, Satori. My darling Satori. I’ll never know what you see in that girl,’ she answers eventually.
He feels his temper rise and struggles to control it.
‘Is Star here tonight?’ he asks.
‘She was,’ Raven answers, her words thick and slurred.
‘Was? Where did she go?’ he asks. Panic breaks his voice into squeaks and whispers. Raven slumps back down with a contented smile on her face.
‘Satori, why her?’
He leaves her question unanswered and rushes to the dancers.
‘Donna, Freya,’ he asks, summoning a look of humility he hopes will charm them. ‘I think Star’s in trouble. Where did she go?’
Donna frowns and shakes her head. Freya looks to her friend then back at Satori and shrugs.
‘For fuck’s sake, Donna. I know you hate me. Although fuck knows why, but this is Star we’re talking about. You love Star for Chrissake, why won’t you tell me where she is?’
Freya touches his shoulder. ‘She left with a woman.’
‘Who?’ he asks. He looks from one girl to the next. They do not answer. He runs back to Raven.
‘Who did she leave with?’ he growls into her face. Raven’s eyelids flutter. He looks around him. He wants to scream, but he needs to stop panicking. He cannot think if he isn’t
calm. Shaking, he tries to force the fear down from his chest and through his stomach, out of his body. It sticks and digs into his gut with tearing claws, twisting and writhing inside him.
The bouncers, maybe they know.
He jumps down the stairs, taking three at a time, and greets them at the bottom with a strained smile.
‘Did you see where Star went?’ he asks.
‘Your girl? De one wid de curls?’ the taller one asks.
‘Yes, yes,’ he nods frantically.
‘Ah, yes, she go dat way,’ the doorman replies, pointing towards the bridge which leads to Vermelho Road.
‘Thank you,’ Satori shouts over his shoulder as he runs.
The bridge casts deep shadows over the road as Satori tears under it. It is an age-old landmark and one which separates the city of commerce and the city of vice. He’s been along this road before. It’s where everyone goes to purchase mind-altering substances when the travellers aren’t in town. He has never been here alone. The first houses are barricaded. There are no signs of life, their purpose simply that of a portal, transporting and delivering. The lights of Vermelho Road shine a few metres away. He pants and runs harder.
He sprints into a street full of life. Noises and smells surround him. The stench of exhaust fumes mixes with fried chicken. Music crashes through car and house windows into the road. Everyone is talking or shouting. Lining the street on either side are women, young and old, dressed in short skirts, furs and high heels. Their makeup heavy and their faces tired. In doorways stand groups of men, mostly black, chatting and watching the cars crawl past.
He approaches the first woman. Her short hair is blonde and her lips vivid red. She stubs out her cigarette as he walks towards her.
‘Hello darling,’ she says. ‘Looking for something a bit special?’
‘Sorry, I’m just looking for my girlfriend. She came this way with another woman. Have you seen her?’
‘We makes it our policy not to notice people, lover.’
‘Thanks anyway,’ he says, jogging towards the next woman.
One of the men in the doorway looks up at Satori and marches towards him, intercepting him before he reaches the next woman.
‘She nat good enough for you?’ he asks, nodding towards the blonde.
Satori looks back. He shakes his head.
‘I’m looking for someone I know,’ he tries to explain.
‘Who dat be?’ the man asks.
‘A girl, this high,’ he puts his hand to his shoulder to indicate her height. ‘With black curly hair.’
‘White chick?’ the man asks.
‘Yes, have you seen her?’
The man smiles and shakes his head, turning away.
‘You betta get outta here boy,’ he says. ‘You no business round ’ere.’
‘I have to find her,’ Satori says.
Three other men join them. The first man whispers to the second and they all move forwards.
‘No, I don’t have time for this. I need to find her,’ Satori yells.
A fist connects with his nose and he falls to the floor.
When Satori wakes the street is quiet. The air is freezing and the sky has a pre-dawn paleness. He stands up, wiping his nose on his sleeve and looks around—empty. Looking at his wrist, he realises his watch has gone. He checks his pockets and discovers his wallet and mobile are missing too. Wiping his itchy nose again, he stumbles across the street. Every step makes him wince with pain. He looks at the boarded and paper-covered windows. No hope of finding her now.
He walks home. Every step away from Vermelho Road and knowledge of her safety is agony. Angry words echo through his head. He has lost her. Who is she with? A deep part of him already knows. Star is with Lilith. She has to be. He chastises himself for his arrogance, if only … As he passes through the city, he forces himself to think of solutions. Maybe he can summon Lilith again. Bring her back to his room. Find some way of binding her. It will be dangerous, madness perhaps, but… His steps are quicker now he is moving towards rather than away.
He doesn’t need much to summon her this time. The glyphs were useless so he does not replicate them. The tribute to bring her, the only thing he knows she will respond to – semen. He stands within his circle and calls to Lilith, succubus, serpent, temptress of Eve, first wife of Adam, dark mother. He jerks his hand back and forth as he calls to her, his voice becoming more urgent with every stroke of his fingers. And as his seed shoots across the room she appears. Naked and long-limbed, black hair wild, eyes angry, she materialises before him.
‘Magician,’ she screams. ‘What are you doing? I was busy.’
‘A trade,’ he says. ‘Will you make a trade?’
‘You for her?’ she asks, snarling.
He nods.
Lilith turns and crosses to the wet trail across the wall. She wipes at the spunk with her forefinger and brings it to her lips. Satori watches, transfixed, as her curved tongue flicks out to taste the wetness. She draws her finger inside her mouth and sucks at the tip. He gulps as he watches her: more aroused than horrified.
‘What a waste,’ she says. ‘What use is a tribute that’s been splattered over your wall?’
‘I have more,’ he says.
She steps closer.
‘What will you give me if I give it all to you?’ he asks her.
‘Hmm, a night with her? You want that don’t you? She won’t come back to you, you know.’
‘I don’t care. I love her and I won’t let you hurt her.’
Lilith laughs. ‘Who says I’m hurting her? She’s having the time of her life.’
She reaches him in three strides. She clasps his balls in the palm of her hand. Her nails bite into his tender skin.
‘Would you sacrifice what all men value most?’ she asks.
He is silent.
‘I thought not,’ she says. She waves her hand as if flicking away an annoying fly.
‘Wait,’ he pleads. ‘You said I could have a night with her.’
‘So I did,’ she replies.
She nods and disappears. No, she hasn’t disappeared, he’s moved. He faces the way she had been facing. He tries to turn his head to look behind him, but he cannot will his muscles into action. He feels her presence. Lilith is close. She is all around him. Oh fuck. I’m inside her. Her body is my body. Lilith’s body is his prison, and he has no control over its movements.
He feels his right leg move as she steps forward. As his foot touches the floor a different room appears around them, a dark room, with a grimy looking bed. Star sleeps there, wrapped in filthy blankets. Her shoulders and chest are exposed. They are covered in small bruises.
What have you done? He asks in his mind. Only what she wanted, comes the mocking reply.
Lilith pulls back the blankets, exposing Star’s body. The sleeping woman stirs slightly, shifts position and falls back into a deeper slumber. Satori imagines licking his lips. His tongue will not move and his mouth still feels dry.
He looks through Lilith’s eyes at the woman he loves. That she is lying naked and completely unaware of him is a powerful aphrodisiac. Her legs are bent at the knee and she lies half on her back and half on her right side. Her pale thighs and calves are splayed. Above and between them her triangle of ginger beckons him. He wants to nuzzle there, smell her tangy musk, and lose himself within her. Her stomach is small and soft. He imagines his seed inside her, sowing new life that will bind them together for perpetuity. And her breasts, the swell of these and their alert pink nipples, he could feed on them forever and never need to eat again. The most painfully beautiful part to look at is her face. A face that worshipped him once, and saw wonders in him. Her mouth whispered words of undying love. He wants to bend over that face, whisper into her ear to run and never look back, but it seems he is voyeur only.
Lilith reaches across the bed for Star’s ankles. Satori feels them too, delicate and smooth. She pulls her towards them, legs spread across the dark sheets. Star seems to wake. She
smiles at them. Satori wonders whose face she is seeing. She is so tired, though, that her eyes flutter down again within seconds of opening.
Now her sex is so close to him Satori feels himself respond. He hardens, engorging in blood. He feels Lilith’s body stretch to accommodate him. Lilith’s eyes look down at her new eagerly bobbing cock. Satori sees it too and feels the smile, which spreads across Lilith’s face. This is why she brought him here. Her dildo and her witness, he feels frightened for himself and Star, but his fear does nothing to dampen his ardour.
As Lilith bends down to suck at Star’s breasts, Satori feels his own tongue caressing the hardening nipples. He loses himself in the motion of licking and pulling, gorging himself on her. Am I doing this or is it Lilith? The boundaries are blurred; they both want the same thing. Gentle moans of pleasure escape Star’s lips, but her eyes remain closed. They move up her body and press their lips against her eyelids. Her eyes move quickly beneath. She is dreaming. Is she dreaming of this?
They fasten their mouth to hers. Her lips taste like honey. Their tongue flicks inside her mouth, hungry, eager for a response. She moves her tongue with theirs, a soporific dance. Their fingers stroke her hair then tug at it, the gentle movements become stronger until she opens he eyes again. Star does not protest, however, she grasps their head and pulls it closer, attempting to swallow their tongue in her passion.
The flesh and spectral hand moves from Star’s hair to her breast. They knead the flesh. She gasps at the strength of their grip and digs her fingernails into their shoulders. The pain makes them shudder.
Breaking the kiss, they stand at the end of the bed. Star raises her hips off the mattress in expectation, and they kiss her wet lips, letting her sweet juices run down their chin and throat. Her body twists on the bed and they push deeper. Lilith’s tongue takes Satori’s own farther into the pulsing orifice. Their tongue is a serpent, exploring the warm ridged cave, finding a new home. Star reaches an arm towards them, but they push it back onto the bed. She surrenders willingly.
Starblood (The Starblood Trilogy) Page 12