The Devil's Box Part 4

Luxuria

Her scent slammed into him as he ran against the wind and it was intoxicating. He could almost taste the salty sweat running down her ivory skin, longed to run his hands through her tawny locks and couldn’t wait to make her heart race with his every move. He hadn’t touched her yet but he knew her body would react how he wanted. She wouldn’t be his first, he had taken plenty before her, but he knew this girl would be different. There was something special about her, something delectable in the way her mouth curved. The wind whipped her hair as she ran through the trees and his chest burned as he raced towards her. He couldn’t keep his golden eyes from her body and this game was making him eager and hungry.

The moonlight shone down through the tree tops as he neared her and when close enough he reached out to stop her in her tracks. One hard landing on the leaf dusted path and the chase was over. He wanted his mouth on her, over her, everywhere he could put it. Her dark eyes, tumescent and dilated, searched his as her body quivered beneath him. There was fear as well as excitement and so palpable he could taste it. He pressed his body hard against her and couldn’t decide what he was hungrier for. If the moon hadn’t been full tonight he would already be inside her and fully satiated but now, like this, that could never satisfy him. The night was calm and the scratching and hooting of animals in the distance couldn’t muffle her ragged breathes. As he licked her throbbing neck he felt that stunning body shiver against him and he wondered if he could do both.

He had been human only an hour ago but that part of him was fading fast. If she had left like he told her to this wouldn’t have happened but now they were here and it was done. When she begged him please it was too late. His hands stung as his claws lengthened and blood dribbled down his chin as his fangs ripped free. Somewhere inside he wanted to stop and his heart broke because he couldn’t. She was going to die tonight. Then the blackness covered his eyes and all he could think was hungry.   

Avaritia

Survival in the dance world was almost non-existent unless you were a healthy principal. She couldn’t count how many times she had heard “Alisha you just need to work that much harder.” “It’s all about the time you’re willing to put in and how devoted you are to being the best.” What a load of crap she thought. Alisha spent the most time in the studio. She was always the first for warm-ups and the last to leave the rehearsal space. After two years of extreme devotion to her craft they had finally noticed and bumped her up to soloist but it wasn’t enough. She deserved more. Alisha had put her whole life on hold for this company.

So she started off small. Some of the soloists in line before her became ill, a little poisoning never really hurt anyone she thought, just enough to keep them from standing on their toes. Plus, who wants to cast someone who is always sick around show times? Up the ladder she went again. But no matter what she did she would never get to be a principal as long as Katarina was there. An older ballerina, Katarina was exquisite and despite being in her early thirties was still one of the best dancers in the country. If she headlined a show it sold out. If she sponsored a shoe or a leotard it flew off the shelves. Millions of girls wanted to be her including Alisha. She was so close. Katarina had seen her hard work and had taken Alisha under her wing. Little did Katarina know Alisha had wormed her way into her life, winning over her friends and spending time in her husband’s bed, all in an attempt to become her.

When the time was right all it took was one push. One single shove while walking home from a bar and Alisha was headlining Giselle while Katarina lay in a hospital bed in a coma, skid marks still seeping from where she hit a speeding BMW and then the black pavement.

As Alisha stood in the darkness waiting for her cue she didn't think on Katarina or what she had done. She happily stood in the dark and waited. It was where she was comfortable, where she belonged and where she would stay.   

Look for the final installment of The Devil's Box next Thursday.