by Masha Dark
“Aren’t you going to help me?” the girl asked him.
He walked up to her from behind and slid the bulky gold chain off her neck. Apparently, this accessory was stylish and cost a considerable amount of money. Humans loved gold, and the human substance of Alexander Soigu also coveted trinkets made from this yellow metal. But right now this substance longed to have sex, whereas the other substance, the one that was concealed inside, longed to rend, to torment, to devour this tanned female body. However, one did not preclude the other. Soigu now knew this to be the truth.
“You’re so big,” said the girl languidly as she turned to face him.
Soigu had not yet killed a single one of his victims in this bathhouse. He’d actually never killed in a bathhouse at all. Like all wild animals, he hunted in the forest. Well, in the forest belt to be exact. But why shouldn’t he deviate from his customary policy?
“Big and strong,” whispered the girl, slipping out of her light dress. “Come here.”
Soigu clasped her, so delicate and fragile, in his embrace. She groaned, trembling from passion. He was also trembling – from passion, lust and hunger. It was decided. He would kill her. Right here, in one of the private suites of the Centralbadet Bathhouse’. He’d kill her…. But first he’d fuck her good and proper.
Grinning, he knocked the girl back onto the table. She stretched towards him in an attempt to kiss him on the lips. He heard her thoughts. She was thinking about the five hundred dollars he’d promised her and at the same time marveling at the passionate desire that had awoken within her. In her opinion, it was ‘unprofessional’, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
Soigu felt the animal forcing its way out. Once he began to change all her desire would flee and she would scream so loudly that the glass would fly out of the windows of the building next door. That meant he needed to kill her now. A pity. He really wanted to satisfy both his desires, and besides, he still hadn’t thought about how he was going to get rid of the body…
“What’s wrong?” asked the girl.
“Nothing,” he panted. “Close your eyes.”
“No no no, there’s something wrong with your face,” said the girl, instinctively inching away from him to the edge of the table.
Her lust was rapidly changing into fear. Soigu hesitated.
“You look strange somehow.”
That was that. Her desire completely disappeared; now she was afraid of him. She was thinking about how to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible. And she no longer gave a rat’s ass about the five hundred dollars.
“I should go,” declared the girl and she shifted away from him, meaning to climb down from the table.
In a flash, Soigu hit her across the face with the back of his hand. The girl fell, smacking her head on the floor.
Catching sight of him in the next second, she couldn’t even scream from terror. Only a pitiful bubbling sound escaped her throat. She tried to wipe away the blood that was running from her broken nose, but her hands disobeyed.
“Don’t scream,” warned the thing, which until quite recently had been Alexander Soigu, in a rumbling bass.
The transformation was not yet complete, but even in this state the monster could startle a person into a dead faint. And that is exactly what happened – the girl simply crumpled, stretched out on the floor. Well then, she wouldn’t die as agonizingly as he would have liked, but it also wouldn’t be as loud as it could be.
Soigu reached for her with his disgusting hand-paws…
STOP!
Surprised, the fiend lost its balance and sank down onto its haunches. Then someone incredibly strong seized Soigu by the scruff of his neck as if he was a puppy and slammed him into the wall.
The monster tossed his head and recovered his footing. Then, slowly stretching his lips into a loathsome smile, he turned towards his guest.
How can you receive me so? The voice again thundered in Soigu’s consciousness.
“Hello. Long time no see,” growled Soigu aloud. “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t expecting you.”
His guest nudged the body of the girl with her foot. She was still unconscious. The guest strolled over the wall where Soigu was standing. This extraordinary woman had two legs, but her arms – there were six of them, and they all trailed harmoniously from her thin, graceful torso.
“Do you so enjoy human speech?” asked the guest.
At that her crimson lips, which stood out so vividly in her ebony face, elongated into a smile that resembled Soigu’s. But despite her evil grin, the woman herself did not look monstrous or deformed. Quite the contrary, her ebony form was captivating and beautiful, especially in comparison to the monstrosity that was Soigu.
“So you do enjoy conversing as a human?” the strange lady asked again.
Now her voice recalled the sound of thousands of tiny bells.
“I enjoy the human world,” snarled Soigu. “And human flesh. I enjoy it in all respects.“
The guest, black as coal, cast a narrow, intent look at the monster that was leaning against the wall. He was indisputably frightened of her, despite his swaggering display – barring his enormous fangs and spreading his curved, sharp-clawed fingers.
“You enjoy it,” nodded the guest. “To take what you want when you want.”
“And how I want,” the monster blurted out, spreading his arms wide.
“I understand,” declared the guest. “And I absolve you of it. But all the same you are going to have to change your way of living.”
“Why all of a sudden?” asked Soigu gutturally.
“Many are observing you,” explained the Black guest. “With your example, you suggest that freedom is without limit, but that is not the case.”
“I live by the laws of two worlds, but I actually exist beyond the bounds of these laws!” the monster snapped. “If this has upset someone – I don’t care.”
The Black guest took one step towards Soigu.
“Every creature wants to live by his own laws. It’s convenient. You travelled to the Middle World on your own, and now – here your abilities lack limits. But what if all my children took liberties and acted as you have? Then the world I prepared for them so long ago would be emptied, which would mean that the balance of the worlds would be undone. And that must not be.”
As if in support of her words, the pitch-black woman thrust forward one of her six arms. The monster Soigu, bellowing with pain, doubled over. He trembled, crossing his arm-paws across his exaggeratedly muscled torso.
“What do you want from me?” Soigu cried out.
His appearance again began to change, but this time in the opposite direction. The features of the monster melted into each other, and the monstrosity gradually gave way to his human visage.
Neither Soigu nor the Black Woman, who were surpassingly occupied with each other, noticed that the girl on the floor had regained consciousness. She watched as the monster, blanketed in flame, knelt before the tall, black figure. She watched as the monster literally began to melt as if it was a large block of wax. However, this liquefied wax quickly formed into something else entirely – the very man who had picked her up an hour ago at Inferno, the very man whom she had desired intensely before he began to turn into a sinister freak of nature. Were all those stories about werewolves really true? Fortunately for her, her fear for her own life was stronger than the atavistic terror that threatened to break free from her throat in an anguished shriek. So she did not scream; instead she cautiously stretched her hand out towards her clothes, which had been thrown off in the fervor of her departed passion, trying not to betray herself by any rustle or whisper.
What…do you…want, Soigu barely managed to say in the tongue of the Begotten of Old. The metamorphosis was complete and he was once again the attractive human man that bore the name Alexander Soigu.
Stop, came the answer of the Black Woman. Don’t be so insatiable.
But I am doing nothing more than taking what is mine, whined S
oigu. That which is allotted to me by right.
That right is not yours, objected the Woman. That right is not even given to me. You are taking too many lives. Recall moderation. Be abstemious. And the son, the one you begot on a human woman, should be your first and only child in the Middle World.
At that moment the door slammed shut. It was the girl, who flew like a bullet out of the suite, leaving behind her handbag and her gold chain.
“What did you do?” asked Soigu, his voice cracking. “Because of you she ran away…”
I preserved that which you wanted to destroy, answered the Lady, piercing Soigu with her severe gaze.
“But she saw and heard too much,” Soigu attempted to object.
She couldn’t see anything, declared the Black Guest. Nor could she hear. You shall not kill her, nor shall I. And the other humans also did not see or hear anything – I have taken care of it. Leave them alone.
“As you wish,” wheezed Soigu.
The Black Guest again scorched him with her gaze.
It is my fault that you behave yourself so. I always allowed you more than the others. As I do now. Remain here longer, if you so enjoy being among humans. But remember: I. Warned. You.
With these ‘words’ the Ebony Woman disappeared. Soigu, grinding his teeth from chagrin and pain, sank down to the floor like a sack of peat moss, unable to stand on his legs any longer.
The girl had no recollection of how she got away from the nightmarish creatures. Along the way she appealed to God – something she had never done before – asking him to deliver her from evil spirits and help to save her from persecution. She vowed that if she stayed alive, she would never again use drugs, she would no longer be a prostitute; she would find a normal job and she would live like a normal person…
She came to her senses only when she found herself outside. It was not yet dark, and things no longer seemed so ominous. There were no werewolves with melting skin, no Black Women, nor any other delirious fantasies. There were no steps behind her. It seemed that no one had thought to pursue her.
Another couple of minutes went by while she thought of what she’d lost. There was no doubt about it, the evening had been ill-starred. She had counted on earning five hundred dollars and instead she left behind her gold chain and her favorite Ollgari purse. Her wallet and keys were in that purse. Okay, she’d escaped from that maniac with the molten snout. The keys could be replaced; the purse, chain and money – they were a lost cause. When you got right down to it, the skin trade was one of the world’s most profitable professions. Especially with a body such as hers! She would quickly recoup today’s losses. And all that talk about giving it up was, of course, just an overreaction. All sorts of thoughts cross one’s mind in stressful situations…
The girl noticed an old, beaten up car behind her. It seemed it had been following her for some time, literally on her heels. The girl turned around. Behind the wheel of the trash heap on wheels sat a fairly attractive brunette.
The girl stopped and waited for the car to overtake her.
“Hey, why the hell are you following me?” she asked as soon as the brunette stopped her car two feet away from her.
“Hi there,” said the brunette in reply and cracked open the door.
“Who…who the hell are you?” asked the girl, beginning to seethe.
Dalana swept her curious gaze over the person who had wandered into her net.
Black Woman. Deformed creature. Terrible. Hardly skipped out. Werewolf. Too bad about the money… Dalana heard the chaotic flood of this woman’s thoughts. Well, well, well. And what was this about a Black Woman? She must be none other than a messenger from the Underworld.
He turned, then back again. Black Woman. He hit me. I’m afraid. He wanted to eat me. Oh God, a werewolf! Maybe he was just a lunatic? I’ll begin with cocaine. Black Woman. Afraid. And what does this chick want? What a bucket. She was so terrible. He was terrible. Skin melting right in front of me…
“My, my!” said Dalana softly as she absorbed the thunderous flood of thoughts gushing from the consciousness of the girl. “Did I ever luck out with you. You’re a walking font of information.”
“Are you sick or something?” asked the girl, looking askance at Dalana.
Too bad about the purse. And the money. Fuck me sideways – it’s all gone… And this one, what’s she want from me?
Dalana smiled. She had noticed the blood smeared across the girl’s face. And almost instantly after that she caught the scent of it. She stepped out of the car and blocked the girl’s path. She had to kill her in the car, but not before all the information contained in her pitiful little mind was transferred. So he was a shapeshifter, and what’s more – one from the Underworld. For the first time since she’d landed in Stockholm Dalana thought that eight million dollars might be too little for Mr. Soigu’s life. But she’d return to the subject of her fee later. Until then…
In the meantime, the girl tried to walk around Dalana, but she deftly anticipated the motion and once again placed herself in the girl’s path. The girl was starting to get angry; she was finally shaking free from her fright.
“Get out of my way,” she said.
“Nope,” replied Dalana, shaking her head from side to side.
“Well, what do you want from me?” asked the girl.
“I want to hire you,” said Dalana.
“Oh, so that’s it,” brightened the girl. “Well, that’s different!”
Fear, confusion and all the other emotions that had terrorized the girl in the last half hour instantly yielded to an intense professional interest. However, not without a modicum of curiosity.
She does have really nice clothes on. But it’s so strange – those clothes with that car?
“Do you have enough money?” asked the girl, grinning.
“I do,” Dalana answered.
Now she was very close to the prey. The girl did not notice how Dalana carefully started to herd her towards the open door of the car.
“I get a thousand a night,” said the girl.
Now she was one small step from the womb of the car, which was at the same time an arm’s length from Dalana.
“How long do you want me?”
“Forever,” said Dalana.
And then she broke into a wide smile, displaying all her teeth. Each and everyone one.
3.
Hoc erat in fatis.
Thus it was bound by fate.
“You are really quite daring, Dee. You drove that junk heap with a corpse in the backseat to the center of Stockholm. Bravo! Even I wouldn’t think to do such a thing.”
Squatting on her haunches next to the spread-eagled corpse of the prostitute, Vasilisa looked like a surrealistic painting come to life. The transmog had finally drained the circulatory system of the murdered girl, whose brittle, fragile body looked even smaller than it had before. As a rule a very hungry vampire could drain its prey dry. Once drained, the victim lost a lot of mass, in a sense drying up like a mummy. The strange thing was that on average one transmogrified vampire killed more humans a year than a Begotten of Old did over the same period of time. Bedeviled by hunger pangs – though even when they weren’t hungry, they were far from restrained – transmogs became insatiable monsters. Their hunger flamed up sooner and it was more difficult to appease. If the transmogs fully possessed the vital potential of the Begotten of Old, the destiny of humanity would be in danger. But, fortunately for humans, transmogs all died sooner or later.
“As for the first part of your observation, in the majority of civilized countries people couldn’t care less what kind of car you have,” replied Dalana. “The obsession with automobiles, as well as a host of other snobbish pretentions, is the domain of the Russians and Americans. Europeans and Asians pay almost no attention to what you drive around in. All the more so if you allow yourself to buy a really expensive suit.”
“Alright, alright, don’t get nasty. I get it. A run-down car…what kind did you steal this time
anyway? No one would bother search for it, of course. And thank you for the suit.”
And before Dalana had time to think of a reply, the transmog stepped up to her and, as a sign of gratitude, pecked her on the cheek.
“I’m going to go try it on,” said Vasilisa and she walked off to the bedroom.
And concerning your second point, Dalana switched to mental dialogue, when I bought the suit she was still alive. Just in a trance. I broke her neck when I got to the building’s front door. Or do you have something against that? Did you want to kill her yourself?
Touché! answered Vasilisa from the bedroom. I thank you both for the clothes and for dinner.
“Goody,” growled Dalana aloud. “And where is your tom?”
“She’s a queen, not a tom. She’s here on the bed. She’s finished playing for the day – she’s still little.”
And here I was thinking that you’d eaten her.
Dalana simply couldn’t resist teasing the girl.
Not funny, snapped the transmog.
Even though she honestly believed that she had a sparkling sense of humor, Vasilisa rarely understood or accepted jokes directed at herself.
She appeared in the living room a moment later, dressed in a dark blue suit and pretty as a picture.
“So, how do I look?”
“You look wonderful,” said Dalana.
“Thank you,” Vasilisa smiled. “I finally feel like a lady. And not like a beggar…”
“Don’t get too relaxed,” warned Dalana. “We still have to get rid of that.”
And she pointed to the desiccated girl lying on the floor.
“Should we summon Gal again?” asked the transmog.
“Indeed we should not,” spat Dalana. “We’ll manage.”
Of course, before she had snapped the unfortunate prostitute’s neck and fed her to Vasilisa, Dalana had put the girl into a trance and completely mastered her consciousness. Everything was falling into place with the shapeshifter Soigu. The pictures she’d drawn from the girls’ primitive consciousness, though graphic, were extremely telling. And Dalana was definitely concerned about that enigmatic Black Lady…