20 comments/ 126996 views/ 56 favorites Nightshade By: Mused "I tell you Nate, you should go. It would do you good. The United Hotel only holds one Halloween Ball a year. Music, food and beautiful girls. Best there are masks, so even if you do dance with an ugly girl you wouldn't know it." "It's not right, Jack," Nathan said locking the door of the general store, "trying to drown out the funeral organs with waltzes and laughter." "Did you clean out the feed bins like your father asked?" Nathan nodded. "Nate, your Lucy's not coming back, it's just not possible." "I'm not thinking just of her." "Yes you are, you always are." "I'm not. What about those poor widows, Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Manners?" Nathan asked. "Their husbands were sick and old to begin with, it was only a matter of time," Jack said. "What of the Kramer's youngest daughter, she was barely four, was it 'just a matter of time' with her as well?" "Doctor Hooper says that these diseases tend to strike the old and the very young, so in a way, yes. Please at least tell me you will consider the ball, it's still a few days away." "For your sake I will," Nathan said, his mind already made, and at last the two friends parted ways. Nathan trudged through the mud, an orchestra of crickets sounded under the bridge as he approached, then went silent until he had crossed. The crickets were joined by a chorus of bullfrogs as he passed by Miller's pond. A twilight symphony, Lucy used to call it. They had come to this park many times at night. They would spend an hour or two lounging in the downy grass waiting for the sun to set so they could watch the stars and the fireflies, sometimes it was hard to tell one from the other. The little church was dark. Nathan wondered what the Reverend was doing out so late on a Wednesday. The gate squeaked as Nathan entered the little cemetery in the churchyard. He went straight to Lucy, careful to avoid the loose earth covering the three most recent graves. "Hello Lucy," he said dusting off her marker with his palm. Her tombstone was so plain, just a gray chunk of flint with Lucy Aberdeen 1849-1869 chiseled into it's face. She deserved so much better, but it was all that their father could afford. "Sorry I don't have any flowers for you tonight, we had a frost last night and it killed the mums in our garden. Don't worry though because I have a surprise for you. I've been saving up to buy you a proper memorial. I'm having Willie Granger carve you an angel statue, just as soon as I can afford to buy a block of marble from the quarry. I know you would be kind of embarrassed about having the fanciest tombstone around." Most of the dead in the cemetery were buried with similarly utilitarian headstones, a few were decorated with stone crosses. "I think if anyone deserves an angel it's you." The church bells rang nine. He must have been wrong about the Reverend being out. "I better be getting home or father will have a fit. I'll bring flowers tomorrow night, even if I have to swipe some dried ones from the store." Nathan blew a kiss toward the heavens before following the gibbous moon back to the main road. Nathan walked alone through the muddy streets of Nightshade. He followed familiar trails of ruts that led to he and his father's home. Along the way he found Doctor Hooper and the good Reverend Blake outside of the Kramer's house. The two men appeared to be sharing a solemn council on the front porch. "Dr. Hooper, Reverend," Nathan called out as he dashed across the street. "Is something the matter?" Reverend Blake placed a hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Ernie Kramer has passed." "The plague," the night doctor added. Nathan knew all about the plague. A month's worth of fevers, shakes, then watching the color and life slowly drain from the victim's body. Then expiration. That is how it was with his younger sister Lucy, that is how it had been with all of the others. "Nightshade's fifth death in nearly a year." Cruel fate had seen that Lucy died on the eve of her twentieth birthday. Her beloved older brother had squeezed her hand as the final agonized breaths of life passed her violet lips. The church bell had barely tolled nine o' clock that evening when it rang again to invade the silence of the night. The death knell. The people in the little town of Nightshade had known for whom this bell tolled. The evening before All Saints Day, Nathan Aberdeen lost the thing he loved most. The undertaker stalked out of the doorway, he had been prepared for this night, behind him the Kramer's two oldest sons and Willie the cemetery's caretaker carried a small black casket. Nathan couldn't bare to watch. His own house was illuminated by a few gas lamps, his father was still up. Nathan pushed open the door to find Frank Aberdeen and Baroness Latos playing cards in the parlor. "Good evening father, evening Ms. Latos." His father was a widower, Nathan's mother having died in childbirth with Lucy. The two were laughing as Frank Aberdeen threw down his cards and folded. "That's eight straight hands you've beaten me. Oh, hello son. Care to join us for a game?" "No father, I'm not in the mood tonight." He considered reporting the news about little Ernie but did not have the heart to spoil their cheerful mood. He would tell his father in the morning. Nathan climbed the staircase and trod to his room. He removed his coat and eased open the old window. He breathed deeply the crisp air pouring in through the cracked window before gazing at the Kramer's darkened house. After some time of turning in his sheets he fell asleep thinking about the terrible plague and who would be it's next victim. A fitful night of sleep finally ended when Nathan hit the wooden floorboards. Had he fallen out of bed? He hadn't done that since childhood. His neck was sore, he stumbled to his dresser where he lit the lamp and examined himself in the mirror. There were two red bumps close together on his throat. Mosquitoes. He cursed himself as he shut and latched the window. The sun was just beginning to rise, he glanced at his watch and cursed the fact that he would have to get up in another hour. Nathan fell back on his pillow, breathing in the sweet scent of rosewater. He instantly drifted to sleep. *** "Why do you keep scratching?" Jack asked the next day at the general store. "These damned mosquito bites," Nathan said raking his fingers over the swollen red bumps. "How long have you had those?" Jack asked. Nathan told him he had woken up with them. "Funny, I'd think the freeze would have killed them all off." "Must have had a couple of the bloodsuckers in the house." "Must have," Jack echoed. "Have you thought about who you are asking to the ball?" Jack Mercy was a master at changing subjects. "I'm not asking because I'm not going," Nathan said unambiguously. "I know you're in no mood for parties and no mood for dancing, but you will be some day," Jack said, "I know you miss her terribly, but you need to forget this guilt you're carrying around. You did all you could, you stayed at her bedside for a month. Besides it's not like a little dancing ever killed anyone." Nathan Aberdeen knew it was true, every bit of it. He had made the same argument to himself repeatedly the last year. *** Nathan closed the door to his room and turned the lock. He struck a match to light the kerosene lamp on his dresser. He cracked open the window a bit enjoying the rush of crisp autumn air. Outside owls hooted and crickets chorused. He listened for a moment, then remembering the sores on his neck, lowered the pane and latched it tight. Nathan tossed his coat onto the bedside chair, he unbuttoned his shirt and slid out of his britches to change into a nightshirt. He folded his clothes and laid them gently on his dresser right beside his most cherished possession. There had been a photographer at the county fair two summers ago. Nathan had spent two dollars for the portrait of his sister. It was the best investment he ever made. She looked so beautiful in the silver frame. She always looked beautiful, even after she got sick. The man who took the photograph had asked her not to smile but she did anyhow. Nathan was grateful that she never took direction well. He wished his sister goodnight before dousing the lamp, he then collapsed into the warmth of his featherbed. Pulling the blanket over his chest he sank into the downy pillow, eyes falling shut. He glanced at his clock, eleven. Cursing as he crawled out of bed he ambled over to the gas lamp on his dresser. He could have sworn he put out the light before he went to sleep. He doused the flame bathing his room in a primordial darkness. His muscles were stiff from the icy wind that poured in through the open window, he thought he had closed that too. Was he growing senile at twenty-six? The church bells rang their death knell for another unfortunate victim, the sudden noise caused Nathan's startled heart to jump. He grasped the pane and was about to pull it shut when he spotted a figure on the front lawn gliding about gracefully to the tone of the church bells. Nathan could see that it was a young woman dressed in a white gown. Was she crazy to be outside in the middle of the night? He threw on his coat and some slippers and scurried down the stairs to the street outside. The bells of Nightshade's little chapel were joined by others, unseen, their horribly beautiful waltz was carried by the icy October wind. The scent of rosewater tickled his nose, but no sign of the girl. "Have you come to ask me to dance?" Her question nearly stopped Nathan's heart. He spun around to find her leaning against the garden fence, plucking dried, dead mum blossoms. Mouth agape he could not answer. He had never seen anything like her. She was dressed in a thin white gown, it was a sleeping gown but upon her figure it looked more elegant than the finest dresses in Europe. Her long raven's hair hung in curly rivulets all the way down to her backside. Her arms and face glowed like the moonlight She smiled with the side of her mouth. "Lucy what are you doing out here? Are you trying to catch your death of cold?" he asked. Something was amiss. "Dear brother, there is little danger of that." She flashed the same grin, her green eyes narrowing like a cat's. "You died." He remembered the funeral, the cemetery and the headstone. Her shrill laugh pierced the night air. "My dear Nathan, with so many ways one can die, it should come as no surprise that some are less permanent than others." She approached, the scent of rosewater became stronger. "You aren't making any sense Lucy." Then it occurred to Nathan that he was dreaming. He had had many dreams about Lucy the past year. The church bells intensified their haunted waltz as Lucy held out a small hand for her brother. What a peculiar dream, he thought as he found himself in the middle of the streets of Nightshade, in his nightclothes no less, dancing with his dead sister. She was graceful as an angel, gliding through the muddy streets clasping her brothers hand. They stopped so he could rest on a bench in the garden. He studied every feature of the beautiful young woman. Her pale skin and dark and tired eyes looked exactly as they did before her death. He ran a trembling hand along her soft cheek. "Lucy your cold as stone," Nathan said as the music faded in the wind. Come inside and warm up a bit." "My brother, do you insist?" she asked. A strange question since it was her house, or at least in life it was. "I do," he said taking her icy hand. "Sit down and I'll start a fire," he led her to the couch where their father had entertained his own female companion. "No," she nearly shouted. "No," more quietly, "take me to your bedroom." Nathan blushed and nodded. They sat on his bed, she did not take her eyes off of him, nor could he her. "Even though this is only a dream I am glad that you're here. I've been so alone without you." "You've had father." He huffed. "Father, please! He's been far more interested in the affairs of his little Baroness than those of his own son." "You mustn't be so hard on father, after raising two children alone he's entitled to some happiness." "I know that," Nathan said, "it's just I've had so little happiness since..." Lucy snuggled into his shoulder. She was still cold. He pulled his blanket over her chilled body and held her in his arms. She looked up through dark and hungry eyes and planted a sweet kiss on his mouth. Nathan pulled away slightly to give his sister a questioning look. "Nate, you're entitled to some happiness too." She kissed him again only longer this time. He accepted her kiss and returned it, he lacked the will to fight it. He helped Lucy unfasten her silken nightgown. She peeled it over her head slowly, revealing her tantalizing body an inch at a time until she was completely naked. Her perfect body was on his bed, dark curly hair spilled onto his pillow, her creamy legs were tangled in his blanket. His eyes were instantly drawn to the ebony triangle of hair where her feminine treasure lay ready for him to claim. On all fours he hovered over his beloved sister lowering his head near her crotch. He breathed her musky aroma. His nostrils were immediately enchanted. He extended his tongue to taste her unique spice, sliding it slowly along the length of the little furrow. For a long while he supped between her legs like a starving man, earning muffled cries of delight from his younger sister. He had just discovered her erect clitoris when he drove the girl to stiffen and shudder. Lucy moaned his name, a bit loudly, as she reached orgasm, and bathed his feasting mouth with even more of her liquids. "Thank you Nate," she pulled him up even with her for another kiss. She could probably still taste herself on his lips. His penis was hard, almost painfully so when she took it in her frigid hand. Nathan reclined on his pillow as her hand rocked his dick. In moments he felt a stirring deep within his loins as warm wetness spurted forth. Her stroking slowed as the torrents of sperm subsided, he had never felt so satisfied in his life. Lucy cuddled into him resting her cool cheek on his stomach as she idly traced her finger in a pool of semen on his stomach. Nathan had closed his weary eyelids when she softly called his name. "Nathan." "Would you give me something if I asked?" "Anything Lucy, I would give you anything you ask." "I know you would," she twirled her fingers in his brown hair, her cool breath falling on his neck. Nathan Aberdeen drifted to sleep. *** The next morning he awoke much later than usual. He stumbled over to shut his window, using some effort to turn the rusty latch. A cold front must have moved in overnight, he was positively frozen. He glanced at his clock, he had slept through most of the day. When he went down to find something for his raging hunger he found his father was already back from the store. "A little warm for a coat today don't you think son?" "Warm? I'm frozen solid." Nathan said using gloved hands to rub his neck. Sometime during the night two more mosquitoes had managed to make a meal out of his throat. Frank Aberdeen placed his palm on Nate's forehead. "You're not running a fever, it must be from leaving your window open in the middle of October, like a madman." "Yes, I suppose." Nathan pulled his leather gloves off and stuffed them in the pocket of his coat. "Why didn't you wake me?" "I figured you were having trouble sleeping again. I had Jack come in." This was supposed to be Jack's day off. "Don't worry, that's what friends are supposed to do. He said you knew how to pay him back." "Unfortunately I do," Nathan said scratching the bumps on his throat until they were red and raw. "I couldn't be happier," his father said, "the Ball will do you good. Maybe you'll even meet a nice girl." Nathan shivered as a chill racked his body, he remembered the dream from last night. The waltz of the church bells, the lingering scent of rosewater upon the wind and Lucy. He bundled up his coat and on shaking legs made for the door. "Where are you off to all of a sudden?" "I have to see Jack." *** Jack was rocking on his porch reading the day's paper and enjoying the warm weather when he saw his friend Nathan. "Good to see you up and about Nate," he said. "Judging by the way you're bundled up it looks as if you planned to hibernate through Indian summer." "I saw her last night," Nathan said. His breath was deep and ragged. "She came to me." "Saw who?," Jack's eyes lit up. "What are you talking about?" "It was Lucy she came back to me." Jack grasped his friend by the arm and led him under the porch and out of the sun. "I danced with her last night." Nathan's knees buckled and he almost went down. Jack guided his friend into the rocker. Jack Mercy examined his pale, sweating friend a moment. "You're burning up beneath that thing." He pulled his friend's heavy coat off. "I knew you wouldn't believe me, no one would." Nathan Aberdeen blinked black ringed eyes. "But it was her." "You were only dreaming---" "It was no dream!" Nathan bounded from the chair. "I held her in my arms. I can still smell her rose perfume." He pulled the coat back on, buttoning it tight and trembling with cold. "You don't look well." Jack latched on to Nathan's shoulder. Nathan tore free from his friend's grasp. "Where are you going?" "My Lucy is here, somewhere in Nightshade. I have to find her." Jack made no attempt to follow, there was nothing he could do for his friend. *** Nathan Aberdeen stumbled into the graveyard just as dusk settled. "Lucy, why did you leave me?" he said dropping before her simple tombstone. "Didn't you listen to the doctor? I was sick." A young woman was reclining in the grass behind his sister's grave. She patted the soft grass at her side. "Join me dear brother." Nate squinted into the dimness. Lucy had come back to him again. He fell to his knees beside her. She grabbed his coat, tugging it off. He shivered as a night wind blew across his back. Lucy embraced her brother, she was still cold to the touch, but he would gladly be frozen to the bone if it meant being close to her. "Be still," she whispered trying to calm his trembling body. Lucy kissed his pale cheek. "I am so sorry Nate," she whispered. "Sorry?" he asked. "What reason have you to be sorry?" "I would never harm you," she replied in a whisper. Lucy trailed soft kisses across his frigid cheek down to his neck. She stopped near his mosquito bites. She rubbed the four red lumps with soothing fingertips. She kissed him on the mouth, momentarily stealing the breath from him. "Never." She kissed him again with much more force, stilling his tremors for the moment. Just as she had last night, Lucy reawakened very old feelings that he had managed to repress during her lifetime. He felt a rush of blood and new life wash over his sick body. She molded her soft body into his, willingly receiving his returned kisses. He had always felt this way about Lucy. He had supposed these feelings were not abnormal for young men with sisters as beautiful as his. He wanted Lucy, he had always wanted her. Nathan reached behind her to unfasten the nightdress. He slid the silken material up her perfect figure and over her slender shoulders. She was nude before him again, her skin still pale as moonlight, her hair still dark as the shadows. He took her hand and raised it to his lips, planting tiny kisses starting on her fingertips. He stopped at her wrist, pausing a moment to breathe deeply of her scent. Her bare arm smelled of rosewater and something more earthy. Nathan stopped abruptly. That she was his own sister was bad enough, but making love to a corpse would seal his damnation. But she did not look dead. Her body, though pale, slinked and slithered with feminine life. Her eyes, far removed from the glassy stare of death, bore into his own. Lucy Aberdeen may have no longer been counted among the living, but she was anything but dead. Nightshade I had heard about the club called Nightshade ever since I first started college. It was a well known interracial club. To be more specific, it was a club where white women and black guys went to hook up. There were a few black women who went there as well, but not many. For the most part, they resented the white girls and about once a week there was a cat fight because some girl was grooving with the wrong guy. I had never dated a black man. I hadn't dated much at all in high school, and since I was only two months into my freshman year I'd only had a couple of dates in college. It wasn't that I didn't have the looks for it. I was reasonably attractive; 5'5" and 115 lbs with long red hair, jade green eyes and 34C breasts. I was shy by nature. I preferred a quiet evening with a good book to wild parties and drinking. Growing up, my parents were very strict. They made sure I always did my homework, studied hard, went to church, and avoided the wrong kind of friends. They would have freaked had I told them my roommate Karen was openly bisexual, was dating a black football player among others, and was one of the biggest sluts on campus. One night Karen and Jerome, the football player, decided it was time to break me out of my shell. "Come on, Nikki," she said as she took the Fundamentals of Biology book from my hand, closed it and tossed it aside. "We're going to a club and you're coming with us." I started to protest that I needed to study for a test, but it was a Friday night and the test wasn't until Tuesday. I let them talk me into it because it sounded like fun and I could use some fun. I made it clear I was NOT looking to hook up with anyone. I believed that sex was something that people in a loving, committed relationship shared. Karen assured me that all they were going to do was go dance, and I could dance with Jerome and her. I really didn't have any club wear and Karen was NOT going to let me go in jeans and a T shirt. She loaned me a pair of black mesh stockings, a short black skirt and very racy black lace tank top. I have to admit. Standing there in front of the full length mirror in 4" heels, I looked pretty good. I couldn't wear a bra with the top, but it fit well. Karen and I had about the same build. Karen was blonde, a couple of inches shorter than I with steel blue eyes and a wild streak a mile long. She looked me over and said, "Nikki, you look good enough to eat." I blushed. "Thanks, Karen," I said. I knew she meant it. He had let me know several times already that she wanted to give me my first girl on girl experience. I told her it was never going to happen. I was wrong, of course, but that came later. I had black panties to go with the skirt but she insisted I wear hers. She said they matched the skirt better. Actually, I think they simply matched her plans better. When we got to the club it was smoky, loud and packed. All three of us were under 21, but so was about half the club. Nobody cared and nobody carded us. The music had a good beat, but I was more of a classic rock girl. I had one drink and spent most of the next hour on the dance floor with Karen and Jerome. A number of guys danced around us, but I wasn't interested. Actually, I was kind of scared. I was totally out of my element. It was an unnerving but strangely erotic feeling. When the music switched to one of the rare slow songs, I started to go back to my seat to let Karen and Jerome dance. As I started toward the table, someone took my hand and a deep voice asked, "May I have this dance?" I turned to see who had stopped me. The voice belonged to a man who looked to be about a foot taller than me and who must have weighed at least 280 pounds. He was wearing a pair of jeans, Reebok tennis shoes, a sleeveless T shirt that was too small for his impressively muscled body and a disarming smile. His hair was cropped short, like he may have been in the military. He was probably ten years older than me. I started to refuse just because I always did, but I decided to dance with him anyway. His name was Lee. He had been in the Army for six years, but he was now a foreman for a local construction company. I never asked him if he was married. It didn't matter. We were just dancing. Lee was an EXCELLENT dancer. He showed me some moves and we actually made a pretty good team. An hour later he was sitting at our table and we were all getting along like old friends. He made me feel good. He didn't use flattery, but he found many things to compliment me about. I was really having a good time. Karen had to use the bathroom, and of course that meant it was time for me to go as well. When we were in our respective stalls, Karen informed me that she and Jerome were going to make a parking lot run, which meant that they were going to go have sex in the car. I told her to NOT leave me at the club. She assured me that she wouldn't. She was just in the mood and Jerome was "Brick hard." Before we left the bathroom, however, Karen demanded her panties back. "They're mine, Nikki, and I want them," she said. "Besides. Your skirt covers everything anyway." I protested of course, but saying no to Karen was not an easy task, especially when she had her mind made up. "Fine," I said as I reached under the skirt and slid them off. "But when you two get done, we're going." I'm not sure what I was feeling, actually. I should have been mortified but I wasn't, and I wasn't altogether pissed off. The skirt DID cover everything, the club was dark, and I wasn't going to get on stage and impersonate the rockets. Besides, it felt kind of delightfully naughty. She stuffed the panties in her purse, gave me a quick hug and told me to relax and have fun. She'd be back in 10 minutes or so. We went back to the table and finished our drinks. Then Karen and Jerome headed for the parking lot, and I went back to the dance floor with Lee. It felt strange dancing in the club without panties, but after the first couple of songs I started to enjoy the naughtiness of it. I did NOT let Lee know, of course. I felt comfortable with him. He had a gentle nature that put me at ease, and he was big enough that nobody tried to cut in or mess with us. About a half hour went by with no sign of Karen or Jerome. Lee and I were on the dance floor in the middle of a slow song when he leaned in and kissed me. There were couples making out all over the dance floor so it wasn't like we were making a scene or anything. I hesitated at first, and then I figured what the hell. I kissed him back and we began to make out too. The whole scene was one big erotic turn on. I was living out most of my taboos. If my father had seen me at that club in the middle of the dance floor making out with an older black man who was probably married, he would have come unglued. However, I was 300 miles from home, I was 19, and I was having fun. When the dance ended I told him we needed to go find out what was keeping Karen and Jerome. We walked out to the parking lot and looked for Jerome's car, which was not where he had parked it. How could they have just left me there after Karen had promised not to? Lee and I started to walk across the parking lot looking for Jerome's car. Lee reassured me that he would get me home safely. I knew he would so I wasn't scared, just a little pissed off. Well... more than a little. When we walked past a grey Ford F-250 pickup, Lee turned me so my back was against it, pressed in close to me and kissed me. I slid my arms around him and kissed him back. I felt his hand on my thigh but it quickly slid higher, under my skirt. Before I could stop him, his hand was on my ass. So much for nobody knowing I wasn't wearing panties. "Very nice," he said with a smile. He pulled his hand back and then slid his hands up under my top to caress my breasts. I normally would have slapped him, but tonight I made no effort to stop him. I looked into his eyes. I had never in my life done a one night stand, but tonight Lee was going to fuck me and I was going to let him. It wasn't love at first sight. It was a simple carnal attraction that overpowered my usual moral clarity. I was so worked up if I had panties they would have been soaked anyway, as Lee found out a moment later when he slid one of his thick fingers into me. There was no saying "No" now. He opened the door to the truck and I got in. My head was swimming. Was I really going to have sex with a man I barely knew? He walked around to the driver's side and got in, then started the truck. He unfastened his pants and pulled out the longest, thickest dick I had ever seen. It lay there like a sleeping black python as he backed the truck out of the parking place and pulled out onto the street. Then without a word he reached over, put his hand behind my head and pulled me down to his lap. Without taking time to think about what I was doing I gripped that thick shaft in my hand and put my mouth on his dick. I could taste the saltiness of his sweat and the faint taste of pre-cum. That taste got stronger as I continued to stroke and suck him. I wasn't paying the slightest attention to where we were going. I knew we weren't going to the dorms and I was pretty sure we weren't going to his place. Lee reached over and pulled my skirt up with his right hand and began to work his finger into my pussy. It felt incredible. I hoped we were in the right hand lane so nobody would see me, but I kept my head down anyway. My jaw began to ache from being stretched over that thick cock. When we slowed down I started to rise up and look where we were at, but Lee put his hand over my head. I could tell we were pulling into some kind of parking lot. He stopped the truck and put it in park, but left it running for the moment. His dick was throbbing in my mouth and my tongue was coated with pre-cum. I thought about pulling away so he could shoot, but his hand was in my hair again. His fingers lightly curled a handful of my hair and I heard him curse, almost in a whisper. I knew I was about to get a mouthful of cum and there was no place to spit it. I was going to have to swallow it. His body tensed and suddenly he unleashed a torrent of cum in my mouth. I drank it as fast as I could, trying not to think about what I was doing. If I gulped it I wouldn't have to taste it that much. He must have read my thoughts. After the first couple of spurts he pulled my head up so just the tip was in my mouth. "Hold it in your mouth," he said. "Don't swallow it." I did just that. I wasn't sure why I was letting him control me, but I was. He pulled me off him and left me with a mouthful of his somewhat acrid tasting cum as he fastened his pants and got out. I looked back over my shoulder and saw that we were at a Motel 6. This wasn't going to end with a blowjob. Lee was going to get his money's worth with me. I dropped my fingers to my clit and began to rub it. That was a bad idea, because when I came about two minutes later I nearly choked on the cum in my mouth. When he returned he looked at me and said, "Show me." I opened my mouth and showed him his cum. He smiled and said, "Good girl. Don't swallow it yet." I wasn't a big fan of the taste of cum, but I was getting very well acquainted with it now. Lee drove the truck up in front of the first floor motel room and opened the door for me. He unlocked the motel room door and held it open for me as well. He could be a perfect gentleman, it seemed. "On your knees, Nikki," he said to me when he had closed and locked the door. I went to my knees and looked up at him. "Lose the top," he commanded. I reached down and pulled it off. Here I was in a motel room with a black guy I had just met, half naked with a mouthful of his cum and all I could think about was feeling that black cock inside me. "Show me," he said. I opened my mouth and again showed him the pool of milky white fluid that filled my mouth. "Okay, now swallow it." I did so, and I licked my lips afterward. To me it still tasted like nasal mucus, but I pretended to enjoy it. He smiled broadly and told me, "Good, Nikki." He reached for my hand to help me back to my feet. His hands dwarfed mine. They were leathery and bore the calluses of years of hard work. When I stood up he gave me a big hug and kissed me again. Then he reached down to unfasten my skirt. I just put my hands on his shoulders as he unhooked it and let it fall to the floor. I stepped out of my shoes as I stepped back away from it. He was still fully dressed, and I was naked. I sat on the end of the bed and watched him as he undressed. He took his T shirt off and tossed it into a chair. His upper body was very well muscled with maybe the beginnings of a paunch starting to show, though he was NOT what I would call chubby. He didn't wear underwear. I guess he preferred the commando feel. Seeing that thing in the light of the hotel room was even more daunting than seeing it in his truck, because now it was going to go inside me. I suddenly got very apprehensive. However, I was already naked in a hotel room with him and I had a load of his semen in my belly. Had I said no he could have raped me and no jury would have convicted him. Saying no, however, was not in my plans. I was still so horny I could scream. Lee pulled the blankets and top sheet off the bed and then lifted me to place me in the middle of it. There would be no covers and the light was staying on. I felt like SUCH a slut. He climbed up onto the bed and slid down between my legs. I had heard that black guys didn't eat pussy, but I soon found out that was a myth. Lee not only dove into to me, he did so with skill and enthusiasm I had never experienced before. He had me squirming in seconds and cumming in minutes. He pulled me open as much as he could to get his tongue deep inside me. The way he used his tongue on my pussy and used his teeth as he sucked and chewed on my clit was amazing. He brought me to climax and then nibbled on my thighs for a moment to allow my hypersensitivity to wane. Then his oral assault began all over again. I was building on my third climax of the night when he slid his thick index finger into me and began to work it around. As I began to climax he pulled that slickened finger back out and pushed it into my ass. I think they heard my squeals of ecstasy three doors down. I had cum four times before he finally straddled my shoulders and slapped my face lightly with his dick. I opened my mouth and began to suck him as he pumped back and forth. I'd like to say I deep throated him easily, but that didn't happen. When he tried to push it into my throat I gagged. I never COULD do that. I gave it a valiant effort, but in the end he had to settle for thrusting into my mouth and hand. After about 15 minutes I could tell he was getting close to cumming. I thought for a moment that he was going to cum in my mouth again, but he stopped and climbed in between my legs. I remember feeling an instant of panic. Lee was huge... but he was also gentle. His strong hands lifted my legs behind the knees and I felt the tip of his dick rubbing against my opening. I felt a steady pressure which increased until my muscles yielded and the tip of his dick entered me. I gasped and gave out a sharp cry that was entirely too loud. At this rate the entire motel was going to know I was being fucked, but at the moment I wasn't concerned with that. There was a tree trunk inside me! His knees were inside of my thighs, keeping my legs apart as he pushed deeper inside me. I was doing what amounted to a mixture of Lamaze and pornographic yiping. I felt like I was giving birth, only in reverse. Lee was rocking his hips, pushing in, pulling back, pushing in deeper and pulling back. Inch by inch my pussy was being invaded by 11" of thick black cock. I was nearly seeing stars. I came again before he ever got it completely into me. I must have blacked out for a moment because the next thing I knew Lee was pumping that black python deep into my pussy. I was moaning with each thrust. Frankly, it hurt. It was erotic as hell but it hurt. As time went by it hurt less until eventually my muscles got used to it and then it didn't hurt at all. Lee kept pumping into me and I was really getting into it. I think I came twice more before he rolled me over and put me on top. His dark hands caressed my breasts and stood in stark contrast to my almost milky white skin. I never could tan without burning. My legs were astride him and he slammed into me as I rode him. It felt incredible. I was hooked. When he came in me it felt like someone splashing my insides with a hose. He held me tightly against him as he unloaded into me. Then he moved my legs inside his and held them tightly together with his legs. We lay there for a few moments, just cuddling and catching our breaths. His dick was still hard inside me. He caressed my back and my ass, and he kissed the base of my neck which gave me goose bumps. After a short time he sat up on his knees and lifted my hips. He pumped into me for a few moments longer and then he rolled me over without pulling fully out. He still held my hips as I put my knees under me, taking him now doggy style. His hands gripped my hips. I rested my upper body on the bed as he held me securely in his hands and pumped all 11" into me. Considering he had already cum twice, Lee had remarkable staying power. He pumped into me from behind until I had cum twice more. Then he pulled me more or less Indian style. I was sitting in his lap facing him with my legs behind him. It wasn't good for movement, but it suited Lee's purpose which was to cram as much of that dick into me as he could and keep it there as long as possible. By the time Lee came again, this time in my mouth, my pussy muscles were cramping like mad. I was glad he was through. I lay back on the bed and tried to gather my thoughts. I'd acted like a complete slut tonight. I dressed like a slut, I let a married guy pick me up, I sucked his dick in his truck and then I let him fuck me. And fuck me. And fuck me. "I need to get back," I said to Lee. "Karen will eventually wonder where I've been. "Yeah, I gotta go too," he said. I knew he did. Home to his wife. "Wanna grab a quick shower?" he asked. I needed a shower, so I agreed. He caressed my body and lathered me up, but he didn't get sexual with me. He was the perfect gentleman. He did give me a pat on the ass as I got out of the shower. It stung! After all we'd done I felt kind of cheap. I had a strange desire to ask him to spank me. I knew he would. Maybe it would have been therapeutic at that time to be punished for my behavior, but I didn't ask. I'd had enough deviance for one night. When he drove me home, Karen told me that they had simply moved to the very back of the parking lot. She had seen Lee and I at his truck and had watched us taking off. She said she knew I was going down on him before we left the parking lot. I was embarrassed. She wanted to know every last detail. I was reluctant at first but with a little prodding I told her everything. I even told her about feeling the need for punishment afterward. She loved that part best of all. She agreed that I definitely needed to be spanked for my slutty behavior. It turns out my night was far from over. But that's another story... Nightshade becomes Nightslut A beautiful and athletic woman is alone at the top of a building. She is dressed in a superhero uniform. The superhero uniform is black leather and very tight. The woman is blonde and has a black mask. The woman's name is Nightshade and is a famous superhero. The woman is voluptuous and very tempting though it is thirty-eight years. She has big tits with big nipples, beautiful long legs and a big ass. It is night. The super-heroine is waiting. She received a letter two days ago citing it in this place for a fight with an unknown woman. Nightshade cannot refuse to fight because she is a super-hero and very brave. Suddenly, the super-heroine hears a noise. She turns and faces her enemy. The enemy of the super-heroine is a young woman .She is a woman of twenty-three years and is dressed in jeans, a white blouse and black boots. She has a beautiful long black hair. She is a young woman thin-skinned, with small breasts and athletic body. The super-heroine approaches the young woman. - Why you want to fight me? - Nightshade asked the young woman. -"Because I'm better than you and I know I can beat you, "replied the girl. -"I'm a super-heroine and I can beat you easily. However, I do not want to hurt you. You are too young.- -"Shut up, stupid, "said the girl, I'll give you a beating and then I will humble you. You can run away, if you want. Do not tell anyone you are a cowardly slut. -"I'm not going to run away, girl. I am a super-heroine, the best super-hero of this city and I will give you a lesson. Nightshade launches an attack on the girl, but fails. The young woman attacked the super-heroine quickly and gives her a punch in the face. - Augh! - the super-heroine cries .- Slut! How dare you hit me! - The super-heroine launched another attack but the girl is too fast and fails again. Then the girl gives her a punch in the stomach. - Argh! - screams the super-heroine - My belly! The young woman dances around the super-heroine and gives her a kick in the ass. - Augh! - shouts the super-heroine. The kick was very strong and the famous masked woman falls to the ground, face down. The super-heroine attempt to rise, but the girl is too fast and gives it another kick in the ass. The beautiful masked woman falls back to the ground face down. - Do you want more kick for you, stupid? - says the girl, laughing. The super-heroine stands up and tries to attack again. Again, the girl avoids the blow and gives her a punch in the face. The masked woman back, sore and scared. The girl strikes again to the super-heroine and gives her four slaps. The masked super-heroine tries to defend, but is useless. The young woman, laughing, gives her more blows. Nightshade tries to cover her face but then the girl hit her in the stomach. - Augh! - screams the super-heroine, scared. The girl gives the super-heroine another kick in the ass. The kick is strong and super-heroine flies a few feet before falling on the floor face down. - Argh! - the masked woman screams. - "This girl is too strong for me," - thinks Nightshade. Then, the brave masked woman gets up and starts running. The super-heroine is fleeing. However, the girl is fast. Reaches the super-heroine and grabs her by the hair. - No, please, please ... let me go, I beg you! - screams the brave super-hero with tears in her eyes. The young woman laughs aloud. The famous super-heroine has been defeated. - Stupid super-heroine! - cries the girl - I'll give you a beating you will not forget. - No, please, I surrender! - the super-heroine cries, terrified - You have beaten me. I have lost. I am a famous super-heroine and I am much older than you are and you have beaten me. "I will not let you go, Nightshade. You have been defeated and now you will pay the price. - No, please no! - again begs the super-heroine. The young woman laughs and gives her four slaps. The super-heroine is humiliated. The super-heroine is crying. - Shut up, idiot! - shouts the young woman - I will give you a beating. "No, please, I'll do anything, but do not hit me more, I beseech you.- "Of course you'll do anything, coward. First, I will give you a beating. - says the young woman. Then gives her a few slaps. - Augh! Augh! - screams the super-heroine - I am defeated. I am humiliated! What more do you want from me? - - Shut up, stupid! - cries the girl. Then the girl gives her two punches in the face. - Argh! Please give me no more punches! - shouts the super-heroine. However, the naked girl laughs and kicks her in the belly. Nightshade falls to the ground, kneeling. The young woman grabs her by the hair and gives her many slaps. - Please, I beg you! Do not hit me more! Do not hit me! Please, please! - begs the famous super-heroine. The young woman goes back and gives a strong kick in the face of the super-heroine. - Argh! - The heroic super-heroine screams in pain. Nightshade falls down his back, crying with fear. The girl sits on the chests of the super-heroine and gives her many strong blows. - Augh! Augh! Please! Please do not hit me! Augh! Not slapping me more please! Please, you're gonna tear my face! "You win! You win! I am defeated. I am humiliated! You have given me a terrible beating! Please stop hitting me! - The super-heroine is afraid. Nightshade cries, overcome. The eyes of the super-hero show terror. The young woman smiles with satisfaction. The girl stands up. - Get up, stupid! - orders the young woman laughing with pleasure. Nightshade, terrified, obeys the order. The super heroine has lost the will to fight. Nightshade had never been defeated. Now, it has suffered a total and utter defeat by an unknown girl. The super-heroine is doubly humiliated. She has been humiliated as a super-heroine because an unknown girl has beaten her. She has been humiliated as a mature woman because a much younger girl has beaten her. - Does it really do anything else that I order you, Nightshade? - - Oh, yeah, yeah, I will! I'll do anything. But do not hit me, please. Do not hit me. - Nightshade replied, embarrassed. "Well, then, Nightshade, I want you naked .- says the young woman, looking coldly at the super-heroine. - I am a super-heroine. I cannot get naked! - Nightshade replied with dignity. The young woman comes to the superhero and gives her a brutal slap in the face. - Argh! - Shouts the famous hunter of criminals. - No, please no more. - Take your clothes off, slut! - Orders the young woman again- Get naked! "Yes, I will. I will, but do not hit me more. - says the super-heroine. "Get naked! - orders the young woman again. The super-heroine is dominated. Night shadow starts to strip slowly. First, it removes the uniform top, revealing her big tits. - You are a big titted super-heroine!- Nightshade continuously stripped and removed the lower part of the uniform. Now, the super-heroine is dressed in a fine black panties and her mask. Embarrassed, the super-heroine covers the enormous breasts with her hands. -"I'm naked, "- says Nightshade. - Nude? You are not naked, slut! "Take off your panties! - ordered the girl angrily. "-No, please, my panties not. I cannot take off my panties! I am a super-heroine and I cannot take off my panties! - says the super-heroine, with dignity, but scared. -"If you do not remove the panties, stupid slut, I'll give you a terrible beating. - says the girl, moving toward the defeated superheroine. The brave superheroine, trembling with fear, begins to drop her panties. -"Okay, but do not hit me, please. Do not hit me. I take off my panties. – the super-heroine says, crying. The beautiful blonde super-heroine took off her panties. Now, the famous super-heroine called Nightshade is completely naked. Nightshade is only wearing her mask and nothing else. -"I'm naked. I have obeyed you. Please do not hit me. I am very humbled. - super-heroine says, tears running down her cheeks. -"Yes, you're naked. - said the young woman - You are very beautiful and have big boobs. Turn around, Nightshade; I want to see your ass. Embarrassed, the brave super-heroine turns around and shows her gorgeous ass to the girl. -"Yes, you have a great ass, Nightshade. - says the young woman, laughing. - Now, turn around. Nightshade turns. Embarrassed and humiliated, the super-heroine covers breasts and crotch with his hands. -"No, Nightshade. I am going to get angry. I want your hands away from your body. I want to see you completely naked. - says the young woman. The super-heroine obeys and hands away. -"Well, you have a well-shaved crotch, super-heroine." - says the girl. - Now, come here. Come here crawling with knees and hands, slut. The superheroine moves across the floor, leaning on her hands and her knees like a dog. Facing it is the young woman, staring with a smile of satisfaction. -"You have big boobs and a great ass, Nightshade. - says the girl, patting the buttocks of the superheroine. Then suddenly, the girl gives the superheroine a strong spank on the ass. - Augh! - screams the superhero - Please, you said you would beat me no more! "Oh, yes. However, this is not hitting you; this is ... spanking your ass. This is humble yourself. I want you to feel humiliated. Moreover, it is fun to give spanking. The young woman gives her another slap on the ass. Then another and another. The super heroine's ass is red. - Argh! Augh! My ass! "You're hurting me!" Please stop hurting me! - begs the superheroine. The superheroine feels very humiliated. She is there, completely naked, on hands and knees, being spanking in the ass by a woman much younger than she does. Nightshade knows she must fight, but she is afraid. She feels scared to get another big beating. The masked mature woman thinks it is better to obey. The girl gives her another slap on the ass. - Augh! Please, it hurts! - screams the super-heroine. The young woman uses her right hand to spank the buttocks of the superheroine. She continued spanking the ass of the superheroine, despite pain in his right hand. The young woman knows that Nightshade feels humiliated. - Aurgh! Augh! - Nightshade exclaims, feeling pain in the buttocks - Please, I beg you! Do not give me more spanking! I cannot resist!- The spankings are becoming stronger and seem to be endless. The big ass of the super-heroine is very red. - Please! Please! Please! - begs the super-heroine in tears of shame and pain. However, the spankings continue for several more minutes. -"Well,"- said the girl - will not give you more spanking, if you do one thing.- - Yeah, yeah, whatever! I'll do anything, please! I cannot stand to receive more spanking; it is too painful and too humiliating for a super-heroine! - Nightshade replied, embarrassed and grateful. -"Well, stupid super-heroine, "- says the girl - Lick my boots! -"No, not that, please. I cannot lick your boots, would be too humiliating for me. - says the super-heroine, looking with fear in her eyes. Night Shade, obey or I will continue to give you spanking. Then when I tired to give you spanking, I'll give you another beating. Do you understand, stupid? - says the young woman, angry. -"Oh, yes, I understand, "- says the brave super-heroine, with tears in her eyes- but you also have to understand, never before has anyone had beaten me. I had never suffered a humiliation like this. Please just let me go! Let flee from here. I cannot bear such humiliation! - exclaims the super-heroine. The young woman lost patience and slapped hard at the masked woman. -¡Augh! - Scream in pain the humiliated super-heroine.-¡No, please, do not give me another beating, I beg you! -"Lick my boots, harlot. - The girl softly whispers -"If you do not lick my boots, bitch, I swear I'll give you the beating of your life. Do you understand, dirty whore? – -¡Yes, yes, I understand you! - Exclaim the nude super-heroine – I am going to lick your boots. Please, do not give me another slap. The girl gives her two strong and humiliating slaps in the face. - Augh! Augh! – Scream, scared, the beautiful mature woman - Why did you do that. I told you that I would obey! - I want you to understand one thing, stupid bitch, and it is this: here I command and you obey. I am your mistress and you are my slave. Do you understand? You are my sex slave, cheap whore. Now, you're not a super-heroine, but a sex slave. You're my sex slave. Therefore, things are, stupid. If you do not like, you can fight me ... if you dare, cowardly bitch. The naked superheroine looked down, whimpering. She knows that is completely defeated, totally humiliated, but becoming the sexual slave of the young woman is too hard for her. On the other hand, she also knows that the girl is stronger and trained than she is. If she dares to fight, is sure she will be defeated and will receive a brutal beating. Besides, she knows that the girl frightens her. Worse, she knows she feels excited. It is horrible, but the super-heroine feels very excited. - Would it be your sex slave ... forever? - Question scared the super-heroine. "Oh, no, I think one week I will have enough, super-bitch. Therefore, you have to choose: either retain your dignity, fighting against me and get a terrible beating, or lose all your dignity, you become my sex slave for a week, but do not receive a beating. What do you say, cheap whore? Are you really a cheap whore or you're a super-heroine? - The super-heroine does not dare to look at the face of his enemy. "I am ... I am a cheap whore. I'll be your sex slave for a week. However, do not hit me, please. Give me no more slaps, punches and kicks. Please. - I knew you were a cheap whore, Nightshade. Do not worry; it will hit you no more. Only I will spank you all the days. - says the young woman. - No, please, "- says the super-heroine - I'll be your sex slave, but please do not give me spankings. That's too humiliating. -"No, super-bitch, things are not so. I am your mistress and you are my sex slave. I command and you obey. During that week, there will be you always naked, always ready to satisfy all my sexual desires. You just carry over your black mask. Just take that and nothing more. In addition, you will no longer be more of a super-heroine in that week. You'll be a whore, a slut, a nasty bitch to my service. Now, I want you to get to lick my boots, but first I want to hear you say, loudly, who you are. Remember that you are no longer a super-heroine. I will have beaten you easily and well, I've obligated to take off all your clothes. You are now naked and you've given up fighting. You're afraid that I give you another big beating. In addition, for that reason, has agreed to become my sex slave for a week. Therefore, you're not a super-heroine. I want to know who you are now, bitch. Night Shade does not feel like a brave super-heroine. The defeat was so terrible; the beating has been so complete and definitive, that the beautiful masked woman feels like a mature woman submitted by a girl. Nightshade feels humiliated, and cannot do anything about it. The girl is too strong, too agile, too trained for her. Nightshade is totally and utterly defeated. -"I'm a whore - super-heroine says - I'm a dirty whore, a stupid bitch. I am a coward. I am now your bitch and my only mission is to give you pleasure, mistress... - Well, well, my little slut - said the young woman - now I want to finally putting you to lick my boots. Your name, from now, Nightshade will be no more, but will be calling Night slut. -"Yes, okay. My name is now Night slut. – says the coward super-heroine. The young woman laughs, satisfied. The super-heroine is doomed. Night slut knows this and, trembling with fear and humiliation, she starts licking the boots of the girl. -"Oh, yes, I like this, Night slut. - says the young woman Night slut licks the boots of the girl. -"Hey, Night slut, tell me something that makes me horny, please. - ordered the girl. -"I am Night slut and I'm a bitch. I'm a whore. I am a coward and you've beaten me. Now, naked and humiliated, I will be your sex slave for a week. You have given me my due. I'm not a super-heroine, I am nothing. I am just a stupid cheap whore. -"Well, Night slut - the girl says, grinning - I think we're going to entertain you and me, bitch, because this is just the beginning. Nightshade His left hand stayed busy on her breasts while the right one snuck down to the forbidden junction between her legs. He grazed the dark hairs, soft as lambs wool, then placed a finger within the furrow. He dragged his index finger slowly all the way north to her clitoris, Lucy sucked in a breath when he touched that. She turned around, momentarily breaking contact. Even now, naked in his own bedroom she looked perfectly innocent. He had never seen anything so beautiful in his twenty-six years. He wondered for the hundredth time that night how such an angel could possibly be the monster Doc Hooper claimed she was. She wrapped her arms around him, and planted a passionate kiss, mashing her soft breasts between them. He felt her fingers at his waist undoing the belt and button that held up his trousers. She kissed and nipped his mouth while pulling down Nathan's pants totally exposing him. "I need you Nate," she kissed him and gave a short stroke to his very erect penis, "give me life." He gathered her light body in his arms and carried her to his bed. The same bed where two nights ago he had tasted her for the first time. The same bed where she had brought him pleasure, the likes of which, before that night he had never experienced. His bed, how he wished he could make it their bed. He lowered her to the blankets where she rested her head on his pillow. He climbed in beside her, pausing a moment to arrange her long dark hair. He kneeled between her silky legs and inhaled trying to capture as much of her musky scent as his nostrils could hold. He needed to taste Lucy again, his tongue longed for her flavor. "Nate, no." She yanked his face away from her sex and climbed on top of him. "Give me life." She looked down on him with dark gray eyes. "Who's life, mine?" "No," she answered taking his penis and sank her vagina down on it, "ours." Nathan laid back and let his sister take command. She rode his penis hard thrusting down on him, while he entertained himself with her pendulous breasts. The sounds of their union: slapping flesh, heavy breathing and moaning filled the otherwise silent house. He loved his sister more than anything in the world and he took the opportunity to tell her. She smiled at him, her pretty face obscured by strands of long hair. "I love you too, and no matter what happens tonight I will love you for eternity." She climaxed on him, her vaginal walls tightened around his penis, milking it with added zeal. Her orgasm had passed but still she rode on. "Please Nate, give..." she trailed off in the throes of a second consecutive climax. This time Nathan could not hold out. He held her hips and drove up into her body as the first shot came. He drove harder trying to plant his seed as deep inside as possible, slowing only after every drop of his sperm had been deposited within her. He wanted to sleep, he hadn't realized how exhausted he was. "Nate, it's time to go, we must," Lucy's whispered voice was like a lullaby to his ear. "We have no choice." She was right, no matter how badly he wished she wasn't. The United Hotel spared no expenses for their annual ball. Before he was even out of the carriage Nathan could smell the iced layer cakes, stacked as big as wine barrels, in every flavor the baker could conjure up. He took hold of Lucy's hand and helped her down. Lucy was clad in a snow white gown that had belonged to their mother. It fit Lucy's curves perfectly, however since Lucy was not as tall as their mother had been the dress fell to the floor. She had only worn it once before, at Christmas, her last one. No one was in the lobby when they entered the hotel, the ball was well underway by then and all of the revelers were gathered in the ballroom. A hired orchestra played behind ballroom door. Within there was mirth, a feeling Nathan had long forgotten but would be reminded of, if only for the course of a melody. The door to the ballroom opened as a gentlemen and his date appeared. "My mask," Lucy whispered as Nathan hastily tied his own around his head. She ducked behind him to wait for the couple to pass. Even through the paper mache mask of a wolf Nathan, recognized the voice of his dear friend Jack Mercy. Judging by the slurs with which he was addressing his companion and the way he was being led out of the hotel, it appeared Jack had drank his share of wine. He wanted to go say hello to his old friend but as far as Jack knew, Nathan was at home sick. "I must have left my mask in the carriage." "I'll get it for you my darling," Nathan said. "No, you go in and wait for me, this will only take a moment." She gathered the hem of her gown and hastened outside. *** Frank Aberdeen had not felt festive that night. This time last year he was burying his precious daughter for the first time and now it was only a matter of time before he did the same for Nathan. Baroness, bless her soul, had stayed at his side all evening, proving herself to be an invaluable crutch. He had planned to propose marriage to her, but the recent circumstances had altered those plans. The conductor tapped his pedestal and the music started again, a haunting melody, familiar and yet like nothing Frank had ever heard before. "It is the music of my homeland," Baroness said over the humming of the orchestra. "Come dance, this one time." She took Frank's hand leading him to the dance floor where after a few steps the pair almost collided with another couple. The tall young man and his lady were extremely graceful on the floor, moving in perfect symphony to avoid Frank and Baroness. Frank lamented the fact that he had accepted Baroness' invitation to dance and even more so that he had let Doc Hooper convince him to come at all. His eyes stole looks at the newly arrived couple, the young woman was very beautiful in a flowing ivory gown that draped her generous figure and almost dragged the floor. Both were unrecognizable beneath half-masks, but there was something familiar about the way they clung to one another. *** As they danced Lucy moved her fingers over his irritated throat, soothing the red lumps with her touch. "I wish this night would never end," She whispered in her brother's ear as they glided across the ballroom. He wished she could stay in his arms forever. All too soon the waltz ended, the revelers, their father among them, applauded the orchestra and applauded the couple who had danced so flawlessly. Arm in arm Nathan led Lucy to the empty hotel lobby. constantly feeling for the stake within his coat pocket and desperately wishing it weren't there. Each removed the mask from the other. Nathan leaned down to plant a tender kiss upon her moist lips, when he pulled away he saw the bodies by the door. A young man and woman, skin colorless, eyes lifeless. They were dead. Jack Mercy and his date had been drained of every drop of blood. Lucy tried to back away from the bodies but Nathan caught her arm. "Lucy, how could you?" He wished she had stayed with him the whole evening, at least then he could still have a shred of doubt, but she had insisted on going back for her mask alone. Tears filled her eyes when Nathan placed the pointed stake at her heart. "Finish it," the calm voice of Dr. Hooper said. He was also in the lobby enwreathed by smoke, more smoke than his pipe alone should account for. Lucy's eyes narrowed as she regarded the night doctor. "Finish it before more innocents die, like your father." Lucy regarded the doctor with as much viciousness as her pretty face could muster, but when she turned back to her brother she appeared as angelic as ever. "How could you Lucy? How could you? The children, the old men, now Jack." "I didn't kill them," She gasped as he pressed the point harder into her bosom. "I've had urges, uncontrollable urges that I am powerless to stop. You were the only one I trusted myself with, the only one I would never take too much blood from. I love you and would never harm you. I swear I've never touched anyone else." "She's lying Nathan, one of the vampire's greatest powers is the ability to cloud the mind." Lucy appeared to be struggling inwardly as if fighting some unseen force. Nathan didn't know what to believe at the moment, but regardless he found himself pulling the stake down. The doctor held out his right hand then slowly curled his fingers into a fist. Lucy shuddered and almost collapsed, Nathan caught her small body in his arms. Whatever control Doc Hooper had over her was broken in that instant. "He's the one who's lying." She raised a finger to the doctor. "He's the one who's been killing, and the one who turned me into this monster!" "Whore! You will pay for this betrayal." For the first time Nathan saw the razor-like fangs protruding from the doctor's lips. Nathan placed himself between his sister and the real monster, he gripped the stake tightly. The doctor raised his arms to the ceiling before dropping them straight down toward hell, then as if he had no bones his body crumpled to the floor. All that remained on the lobby carpet was a suit of fine clothes and a pile of black ashes. Nathan poked the pile of ash a few times, but it appeared that the doctor had disintegrated. The ashes glowed to a fiery red, Lucy gripped his arm to pull him away just as an enormous bat materialized from the debris. Thick leathered wings beat the air overhead as the bat swooped over the siblings. "Look out," Lucy shrieked pushing her brother to the floor. The bat's talons scraped across the young woman's face leaving a streak of red blood across her smooth cheek. The bat turned it's attentions back to Nathan. He had just enough time to roll out of the way of the shrieking creature. The bat circled like a vulture, finally making it's attack, Nathan thrust the wooden stake at the creature, desperate to penetrate it's heart. Strong talons seized the end of the stake, tearing it free from his grip. Now in possession of the weapon the vampire bat swooped straight at Lucy, the girl backed into the lobby desk cutting off her own escape. Nathan sprang towards the desk catching the beast before it could harm his sister. The bat flapped angrily as Nathan held it. Lucy screamed and kicked at the creature as she thrashed across the hotel desk. She finally worked free from beneath the bat and rolled to the floor behind the desk. Nathan knew he couldn't wrestle the stake from the creature but next to him on the desk he spotted a silver letter opener. He grabbed it, then with a quick motion slashed into one of the bat's leathery wings slicing it in two. The creature shrieked as it tore free from Nathan's hold and fluttered on one wing, crashing a few yards away. The bat collapsed to the floor where it disintegrated into another pile of ash. "Lucy are you alright?" Nathan knelt down to where his sister had fallen. She nodded as he helped her to stand and they saw what was left of the bat. The pile of ash ignited, consuming the wooden stake. The flame glowed a hellish crimson, from within that fire a creature arose. The creature's skin was dull and gray, it's form was human but it's hairless face looked at once to be both bat and feline. For all appearances this creature seemed to have come straight out of hell, and Nathan reckoned that it probably had. Saliva dripped copiously from it's mouth, black pearl eyes watched the young man and his sister separately. It's smoky, sinewy body was lightly dusted ebony quills, it's hands were tipped with hooked claws and it's feet were cloven and scaly. Swiftly it advanced, trapping the siblings between the desk and the wall. It grabbed at Lucy tearing her dress at the shoulder with it's hooked claws. Finally it grasped the squirming girl, lifting her high above it's head. Nathan stabbed the beast repeatedly with the letter opener but could inflict no damage. The creature tired of his efforts and swatted him away like an insect. Nathan crashed into the wall. The creature carried her towards the door. Nathan gasped for his wind, as Lucy screamed for him to stay away. "Nathan," the Reverend Blake appeared in the lobby. "Dear God," he muttered, laying eyes upon the demonic creature and it's prey. The reverend reached into his jacket and produced the wooden crucifix that had been pried from his altar. The creature shuddered and dropped the girl, using both arms to shield it's eyes from the Holy Cross. "Nathan use it," Reverend Blake said as he flipped the cross to the young man. Nathan caught it and as soon as he had he saw that the bottom end had been whittled to a very sharp point. The creature lashed it's claws, blindly trying to strike out. Without hesitation Nathan plunged the sharpened cross into the beast's chest right into it's black heart. The beast exhaled deeply as it reeled backwards. It fell against the wall before slumping to the ground where it disintegrated into a mound of clotted blood. "Is it---" Nathan began to ask. "It is destroyed," the Reverend confirmed removing the Holy dagger from the muck. Nathan dropped to the floor where Lucy lay motionless. The spell that had claimed her soul was broken and now it appeared she was truly dead. "Oh Lucy," he whispered taking her into his arms. She was heavier now, her body firmer and more substantial. There was something else, something important. "She's warm," he said hugging her tighter. He used the sleeve of his coat to wipe a trickle of blood from her rosy cheek. "Warm with blood!" The girl stirred, cracking open her eyes, her radiant green eyes, and smiled warmly. Still cradling her, he pressed his lips to hers not caring if the reverend was watching, he wouldn't have cared if the whole town had been. "She's alive?" the reverend asked feeling for her pulse to see for himself. "It's a miracle," Nathan said refusing to release his sister. "You have given me life," Lucy said placing her hand over her stomach, over her womb, the place where earlier in the evening their child had been conceived. Nathan Aberdeen had brought life to the undead, restoring not only Lucy's immortal soul but her life as well.