Carnage

by Sandra R Neeley

  Chapter 14

  Carolena smiled to herself as she slipped the soft, silky nightgown over her head. Enthrall had chosen a pretty green that complimented her eyes. She had hazel eyes that could appear either green or golden, depending on the color she wore. She ran a brush through her thick, wavy, brown hair ‘til it shined. She pinched her cheeks ‘til they pinked, then, she pulled her lips back, checking that there was no food caught in her teeth. Satisfied that she was presentable, she took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. Carnage, who had been leaning on it, almost fell through it. He caught himself and turned around to better look at the vision that stepped from the bathroom. He let out a soft moan, his hand coming up to clutch his heart as he watched her wait for his reaction. He reached out a hand to touch her face, but just couldn’t quite make himself touch her. His hand lingered in the air, coming close once, twice, before she finally took his hand in hers and placed it on her own cheek so that she could cuddle into his palm.

  She raised her eyes to his and smiled at him again, before stepping into his arms and sighing deeply as he held her.

  “Ready for bed?” she asked.

  Carnage’s eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead, surely she couldn’t mean what he hoped.

  She realized she’d caught him off guard, “I mean, I know you slept here last night. With me. And I thought that, hoped that, maybe you wouldn’t mind staying here again. I slept so well with you here.”

  Carnage nodded, understanding now. He pointed to the bathroom, “Myy, keeen.” She knew he was telling her that he wanted to get cleaned up first and nodded, “Okay. I’ll wait,” she said.

  Carnage knew that Enthrall stood at the end of the hallway, still in the living room, but watching them. He turned to Enthrall and pointed toward the bathroom, an unspoken question in his eyes.

  “Of course, Carnage. Go right ahead,” Enthrall said.

  Then Enthrall turned and hurried from his own home.

  He made it as far as his own porch before ghosting away. He found himself in front of the little shack he sometimes used for fishing. It was far down the swamp, on a little finger of land that the locals called a barrier island. He strode from the open door of his little shanty to the edge of the water, where it lapped against the shore. When Carolena had stepped from his bathroom, her heart in her eyes, he’d almost swept her up and taken her with him, anywhere. He just wanted her so damn badly. But then he’d recognized that her eyes were only for Carnage. She’d waited, not saying a word for the huge male to give her any sign of approval. Then Carnage had respected him by asking permission to use his home and his bathroom, not just assuming it would be okay. He’d had to leave, immediately, or risk losing control. It wasn’t that he was in love with Carolena. He wasn’t. He was just so damn frustrated. The first female he’d met in decades that didn’t fear what he was, and she was meant for another. It hurt. A lot. She was kind, and sweet, and full of courage and adventure. And he really believed he could love her. But he’d never take her from Carnage, not that anyone could. She may not have spoken the words yet, but he had no doubt that her decision was made. He threw his head back and screamed his frustration to the night. After a near full two minutes of constant scream, he dropped to his knees in the briny water at his feet. Breathing deep, and cursing the monster that he was. The fateful night of his rebirth into this life, another cause for misery. He knelt there, for how long he didn’t know, before he gradually became aware that he was not alone. He raised his head, looking around. Then he saw it, a vague purplish haze to the fog permeating the edge of the small barrier island. He closed his eyes, inhaling the salty air into his lungs, preparing to face another.

  Finally, he stood and backed up a few feet, before dropping onto his bottom onto the sand and wispy grasses that grew in it. “Hello, Lore. What brings you here?”

  The fog seemed to gather and swirl, moments later the outline of a male formed just to his right, sitting beside him.

  “A wail of anguish I could not ignore,” Lore responded in a deep, rich baritone.

  “There is no lost soul, ready to give up, here for you to court,” Enthrall said, not unkindly.

  Lore chuckled, the richness of his voice sweeping over Enthrall, “Even if I searched still for souls to harvest, I would not take yours, my friend,” Lore said.

  “Is that because I’m your friend, or because I’m not suitable for your realm?” Enthrall teased.

  “It is yet to be seen,” Lore countered.

  They sat in silence for a while before Enthrall asked, “How do you do it, Lore?”

  “How do I do what?”

  “The years spent alone, the solitude, the loneliness,” Enthrall answered.

  Lore gazed out over the water, “I am accustomed to it. I lost my soul eons ago.” He waved his hand above his head, “She wanders, ever searching, never finding me, though I am seldom less than a day behind her. Then just as I think this is the end of it, I reach for her and she vanishes.”

  Enthrall looked at Lore, really looked at him, his image flickering in and out of focus, but the pain in his eyes so clear to see. “I am sorry, Lore. It is easy to forget that some have much more to deal with than I.”

  Lore turned to Enthrall, his voice when he spoke, hoarse and gruff, “She can’t see me, Enthrall,” he said desperately. “No matter what I say, no matter what I do, I can’t get her attention. We cannot be saved until she sees me!”

  “I know. How can I help?” Enthrall asked, sincere in his offer.

  “I cannot remain much longer. I have just lost her again in this lifetime. Now I must wait for her to return, watch in silence as she grows to womanhood, all the while hoping that she will see me in another. If she cannot, I may lose all hope. I am old. And I am tired, so tired.”

  “I’m sorry, Lore. Tell me, what can I do?” Enthrall reached instinctively for Lore, but his hand passed directly through the mist created image.

  Lore looked directly at Enthrall, his eyes seemingly corporeal in his misty appearance, “Pray for us,” he said as his image began to waver. Then, as he disappeared, his voice could be heard again, “Pray, Enthrall. For all of us.”

  Enthrall sat there, realizing that death had just asked him for prayers. His head shot up, and he looked around. His friend had never asked for prayers and always scoffed at those who did. Lore was one of the original four elements of the world, answering only to the great creator. He was a hedonist in every sense of the word, living for the sake of pleasure and satisfaction wherever and whenever he could find it. He’d never believed in any god or goddess, saying they were all invented by humans to worship him and his three siblings. They were not capable of understanding them, so they made up gods and goddesses to explain the things they couldn’t understand. Once he was banished, and cursed for eternity to wander the earth in search of his own soul rebirthed time and again as his female, harvesting the souls of evils in order to survive, he gave up any pretense of faith in anything. Not even in himself. But something was amiss; here he was, asking for prayers. Realizing how out of character that was, Enthrall rose from the sand, and calling on his Catholic upbringing, whispered a few well-memorized, though seldom-spoken, prayers to the winds — for Lore, for Carnage and Carolena, for Destroy, and even for himself.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Carnage ran the water in the tub and quickly cleaned himself, not even bothering to plug the water to keep it from running right back out.

  Once he was satisfied that he was clean, he dried himself and stood in front of the mirror, watching his reflection stare back at him. His smile slowly fell from his face. He was monstrous. How could his Leena ever want him. She was merely settling for him out of necessity. For the first time, he understood the words she’d spoken at dinner with Enthrall the other night. He wanted to be loved for himself, not settled for. He watched in the mirror as his hand reached up and traced a fingertip along one of his bottom fangs. There was no way she could possibly love him. He left the bathroom, pl
anning to go straight out of the front door and hide away from her, but she blocked his path. Carolena stood in the hallway, just outside the bathroom door, much the same as he’d done when she’d first bathed here. When he opened the door, he was startled to find her waiting for him.

  She lit up when he opened the door, her smile for only him. “I was waiting for you!” she told him excitedly.

  He barely smiled and wouldn’t meet her eyes.

  Carolena knew that something had changed, “What’s wrong? What has happened?”

  Carnage shook his head, meaning nothing is wrong.

  Carolena stepped closer, but he stepped back.

  “Why are you pulling away? What is wrong?” she asked again.

  Slowly, shakily, he raised his eyes to hers.

  When their eyes finally met, she pleaded, “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

  While keeping his eyes on hers, he lifted one hand and opening his mouth so that his fangs could be seen, he traced the same fang with a single fingertip.

  Carolena watched him.

  Then he reached out, gently pulling her lips apart, and ran his finger down her chin, across her soft skin, where there’d be a fang if she had one, only she didn’t.

  Then she got it. He was telling her he was a monster, he had fangs.

  He reached up and stroked one of his horns, then ran his hand over the top of her head, indicating that she had no horns.

  She watched him, the tears slowly gathering in her eyes. He was telling her that he couldn’t have her because they were too different.

  She did the only thing she could. She slapped his hands away from her, shouting at him, “No! No, I will not accept that!”

  He looked at her, startled at her outburst.

  “You are telling me that because we are different, we can’t be together. Well, you’re wrong! And I will not accept it!”

  He watched the little human, steadily growing more angry, and raised his hands in the air as though to ask, what do you want me to do?

  “You’ve claimed me since the moment you saw me. You brought me here with the intention of making me yours. Don’t deny it! I know you did!”

  Carnage didn’t deny it — he nodded slowly to let her know she was right.

  “And now that I’m ready to claim you, you want to back out because you believe, what? That I’m not enough? That you’re not enough?”

  He didn’t answer, only watched her in her fury — she was breathtaking.

  “Well, too bad! I’ve decided! I’ve chosen you. I want you. No one else, just you!”

  Carnage’s mouth fell open; he was shocked. He lifted a hand and placed it on his chest; his eyebrows rose in question.

  “Yes, you!”

  He watched her for a moment longer before pointing toward Enthrall’s bedroom, then back to Carolena.

  Then it was her turn for her mouth to drop open, “Really? You want me to choose Enthrall? What is wrong with you? Next you’re going to tell me to choose Destroy!”

  Carnage was certainly not going to tell her to choose Destroy. He shook his head vigorously.

  “Well, good. At least you haven’t totally lost your mind.”

  He glanced again at Enthrall’s closed bedroom door. The male would certainly be a better match for his Carolena than he, himself, would. He looked back at Carolena and jerked his head back when he found her only an inch from him. She reached up and grabbed his head in her hands, bringing it down closer to her. She locked eyes with him, “Mine!” she shouted at him.

  His eyes got huge as he watched her, but she wasn’t finished.

  Now that his horns were within reach, she wrapped her hand around one of them so that he couldn’t stand upright without pulling her off her feet. Then she threw her head back and screamed, “MINE!!!”

  Then, she looked right back at him, locking her eyes on his, “Do you understand?” she asked.

  He couldn’t nod because he’d dislodge her grip on his horns and maybe make her lose her balance.

  She grabbed his other horn, now holding him by both hands and shouted again, “Carnage is MINE! Do you hear me? Do you all hear me? I claim Carnage! He is Mine!”

  From somewhere outside, they heard a familiar male voice respond, “Good gods, we all heard you. Keep it down!”

  Carnage snorted a little, his form of laughter. She burst into uncontrollable giggles.

  Finally getting control of herself, she asked softly, “Do you agree to be my male, Carnage?”

  He couldn’t look at her, because she held him by both horns, and he was practically bending over, so she could maintain her hold on him. He reached up and took her hands from his horns, holding them in his own, as he straightened to stand before her. He looked her in the eye, wanting her to think about this, to be sure.

  He placed a hand on his own chest, “Gaaaahhhll” he said.

  She thought about it for a moment, then it clicked, “Yes. Goyle. You are a Goyle. I am a human. Glad we got that straightened out.”

  Carolena tried to reach for his horn again, but in spite of her jumping a bit, couldn’t quite reach them. “Lean down here,” she instructed.

  Dutifully, he leaned over. She reached up, grabbed one of his horns, spun on her heel and marched to her bedroom with him in tow.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Outside, Destroy leaned back against the trunk of the tree he sat under. He’d been waiting for Carnage to leave, so he could knock on the door and ask Carolena to read him a little more of the story that she’d read earlier. He wanted to know what happened next, and patience wasn’t one of his high-points. And since he’d decided to wait, he’d been witness to her claiming Carnage. He felt disappointed, but not entirely surprised. Besides, he thought as he relaxed a bit more, the claim wasn’t complete. Carnage may still screw this up, and if he did, Destroy would be there to seize any opportunity that may present itself. He would not mind in the least having Carolena as his female. She was nice to him. And she liked to talk to him, and she could read to him every night. He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the stars, imagining what would happen next in the story. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow evening — he hoped she’d read to them again.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Carnage couldn’t believe it; his Leena had chosen him. He’d tried to get her to consider Enthrall, not because he didn’t want her, but because he believed Enthrall a better match for her than he could be.

  He watched as she turned down the bed and climbed in. Patting the place beside her. “Come lay beside me, Carnage. I feel safest when you’re here.”

  Carnage turned down the oil lamp on her dresser to a soft glow and slid into bed beside her. She immediately curled up against him. “Will you hold me, Carnage?”

  He took her in his arms, arranging her body next to and on his. He sighed deeply, loving the feel of her in his arms.

  Carolena draped one leg over Carnage’s leg, her arm across his abdomen, her head on his chest. He lay perfectly still, allowing her to touch him at will. She stroked his chest; he maintained his control. She rubbed her leg against his; he rumbled just ever so slightly, but still maintained his control. She ran her fingertips down to his waistband, and lightly feathered her fingers across the button there, stroking the skin underneath. His hand shot up, trapping her fingers in his own.

  She looked up at him, his eyes locking on her in the near darkness of the room. He didn’t move, neither did she. They held their positions until she moved quickly, unexpectedly up his body to press her lips to his. Rather than close his eyes and enjoy, his eyes popped open, and he watched her until she, too, opened her eyes.

  When she finally did, she sat back on her heels and asked, “Do you not want me?”

  His forehead wrinkled as he realized that she thought he didn’t want her; he struggled for a way to let her know. He reached out a hand, pushing her hair behind her ear, “Mine,” he said quietly.

  Carolena smiled, nodded her head, “Yes, yours.”

 
He put a hand behind her head, pulling her slowly to him. He pressed his lips against hers, kissing her. He’d never kissed a woman before. He’d fucked, but never kissed. To him kissing was more intimate, more personal. You didn’t have to look at a woman to fuck her, but you had to look at a woman to kiss her. You shared the same close space, you shared breath, every essence of who she was could be tasted in her kiss. He softly pressed his lips to hers again, and when she sighed in pleasure, he took the opportunity to slip his tongue out and trace her lower lip with just the tip. Her eyes got huge, and she opened her mouth even more, granting him entry. He was careful not to hurt her with his fangs, kissing her gently, but passionately. Soaking up every sensation his first kiss brought him.

  Carolena leaned forward, pressing her breasts against his chest, and the length of the rest of her body against his. Carnage rumbled and traced the outline of her breast with his thumb. Tilting his head to kiss her again, which she eagerly allowed.

  She rolled her hips against his leg in response to him stroking the outside of her breast, and he froze. She felt him pull back and stopped as well.

  “What did I do wrong?” she whispered.

  Carnage shook his head.

  “I don’t understand,” Carolena told him.

  How to tell her that he wanted to go slow, make sure that he was what she wanted, that was his problem. He didn’t know how to make her understand without the words most others took for granted.

  He scooted down in bed, keeping her in his arms.

  He settled into the pillows, pulled her onto his chest, and closed his eyes.