FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The lights are glaring as they pass on by; the streets are wet and the black ground like a mirror. It's raining and some people mind it enough to run in a hurry, others just taking there time and even enjoying it. There is a man of the former whose heels are making waves on the concrete in his fury and sounding of many metals in his pockets. It was soft sprinkles but that never lasts long, and it's full showers in the bad kind of way for him. Water is kicked up with every foot brought from the pavement and he's cursing the cold wetness. The cars are blaring on by, some bringing their own gusts of the following moisture in a wraith of a mist quickly vanishing into another not so far behind. Their lights are blinding in yellows and whites and the neon is never ending in their parade of drivers escaping to places and more. The green glow of a stop light muddles with the yellows to soon turn red across the ground. A neon mural over a darkening canvas of blues in the day only growing black.

It was not to be taken so meticulous and poetically for the rain did fall and most creatures did little enjoy the waters, the wetness it allowed with it. The man weaves from the side walk suddenly, finds a brake in the traffic lines and carries across the street with his haste. He's cursing the sky and getting the blurring in his visions. His hair is dripping of waters and his pants are catching at his feet. He hates the feeling of wet jeans and the same of wet anything but even for his understanding of the cityscapes, he' alluded the brightening for keeping an umbrella with him. The gold strand threads of his head are darkening brown and he's keeping them away from his eyes. Not so much further and he is racing with an upset as a bus passes him on a red corner. It's not this night that he's missing it, not in this downpour. He's dodging the few passing him by with an abandon and the bottoms of his shoes are trying their hardest to betray him in a slip up but he's regaining the hold every time. At last he's at the green bench, the tall sign of a bus glinting in the various lights. The smoke of gas and heat is rising from it like a thick cloud and he's at that open door.

His name is Aaron Tultz and he is the mess. The water is falling away from his tucked in shirt that's no longer white but a mixture of the thing with his skin. It might have looked kept another time but it sure as well had not then. His hand had been at his pants pockets to fish at some coins. He'd always had enough of them for the off days. " Good thing you got on here in time." the driver is chuckling in his chair and Aaron is sharing his smiling to be so polite. He doesn't find amusement in it however, quite the reverse effect for he's not of cheeriness and better days. He can't help but play along though; his is of quieter settings where his thoughts mock on back, just never from his lips. San Francisco is a kind of pretty place where many streets and roads vanish beyond the hills, and harbors bare the smelling of salt in the air as well fish...the fish is not so pretty. It's a place where the air is often cold and rain can happen in a matter of minutes, especially when one is leaving work. Aaron loves the waters and the green valleys beyond it. He enjoys the odd and ends of people, and they are plenty, on the streets in their ways and on destinations. It's probably the better of places he takes to living though rather expensive for the worth.

He finds his way passed the rows of seats. There are plenty open to him but it's not often he gets in on one. In fact he's looking for a particular spot of his own choosing that some might better avoid if possible but not him. He shivers because the cold is uncomfortable enough but it's far worse with the feeling of wetness traveling along the skin. At least it's a bit warmer in there...at least. He see's it now and is his luck in for the evening; he takes to a single orange seat with no window and a back to the wall. It's the place in the middle of a bus where two ends meet with an elastic black band. It's curious,it's amusing,it's weird. The bus has already started before he can truly get comfortable but he watches the band stretch and distort as the back portion does it's best to keep with the front in a tugging. The rows ahead him begin to shift and sway, bobbing up in down in a smooth set of waves and he can feel himself too shifting with them. It's a paled guilty pleasure with little meaning but it's an abnormal sight to Aaron that he can seldom resist and rarely not enjoy.

He's still smiling but he's not really all there. Maybe it's his quiet way of trying to make believe of a neutral feeling or he hasn't shaken off the static of his encounter just a moment's time ago. He's not that happy a man to be all smiles. Sometimes it's a grin in the idle chats of nothings with someone or maybe it's found in the shows he sometimes watches. He enjoys many things and he's not so worse in the financial want as others could be. He's just not enjoying much of his own life though. It's a hard thing to explain to someone on the outside perspective but there is a loneliness to him. He's polite enough but he's not outgoing, and he's got this humor to him but he seldom tells the jokes. He lives alone but he's never really alone and there is the curiosity. A lonely man who lives with a strange misery and exhaustion because of a unique roommate. They've little the inclination to leave him even when he's tried so hard to force them out, and they come in the strange times like clockwork, only clockwork with the threat to rip your eyes out and steal your soul.

Again, it is hard to explain at a distance and seldom have believed in the mentioning. San Francisco is nice though, even on the nights when it rains. Aaron doesn't care much for the rain but even that has a certain charm to it. The rows of seats keep bobbing along the road. Some people leave out the doors, some come through from the wet and cold air. His eyes are on the windows watching the street lights fill the corners and he's feeling the edge of cold skin drift away. Just a dip and incline further and he's pressing the button for his stop off. The doors fold open and he's out into the night again and all the wetness it might bring. He's not so far now from a place he's called home for a while to be a couple years now. There's more trees on the walk here. It's a pleasant enough place and on the ways before being in down town. It starts to look less city towards the outlining center of the place. It's where smaller business keeps up and the roads aren't as nice. Where the scenes are green and lush and the buildings look just a bit older than the rest. His pace is back in a run and he's hiding beneath the tree's for those brief moments of cover. They're nice and fleeting; the sky is near black now in the patches that show through. The lights seem to illuminate the clouds as if they're one big dimmer and it's just then when he's turning a corner that a new light tears across it in a vertical blink. The sounds of thunder following the lightning are loud enough to find their way against the collective sounds of water falling and the wheels of cars treading.

He sees the apartments ahead of him and the trees are best at obscuring it from the road. Not much artistic flare to it or style for it came from a time less interested in such things. It's tall and its colors are faded so that some patches may very well be white. There's a bit of a browning at its side just beneath a rusted open pipe and most of the windows are drawn closed up the various floors. It looks far worse on the outside than the in. For the price he pays just for a single bedroom,it's a haven and a king's throne. He doesn't need much, just needs something affordable. It's a place he would call a sort of home but he's not so happy to see it to the point of a misery as he slips passed the parked car's in its lot. He would call it home but it's not. He hasn't found a place so comfortable enough for a bit. It's not the neighbors,it's not the given up paint jobs or the cracks in the pavement. The graffiti on the first floor walls is actually tasteful in a way too. It's not the elevator whose doors held the sign " Service Difficulties " since he started living there, and probably twenty more years back. He doesn't find it so bothersome to climb the steps of the stairs up three floors and sometimes find the odd man lighting up in a stupor but out of the way. It's what's inside that home that alerts him most and it's a thing as external as laughter with torments filled with cruel nightmares.

He's no less dry and shaking as he pulls out his key. The lock is generous enough and doesn't put up a fight. It's a bit worn from the use. The lights of apartment 306 came on with a soft buzzing overhead. The walls were a pasty yellow and they were quite bare. The flooring had been of hardwood that just as easily blended in with the carpets. It's an ugly arrangement but some days are better than others for Aaron to forget that. He pulled into the kitchen and started for the fridge. He saw the lights blaring off the silver shine of the sink, probably the most newest looking thing in the place. He'd considered just calling it and having some water but he'd had enough of that for one evening. A can had been pried from one of the shelves and its purpose was to level the intolerance in Aaron. He tried not to drink so much because it never tasted so good and it hit him a bit at times in the wallet. It offered him a bit comfort though, at least the affect anyway. Alcohol is a curse for that damn taste and the odd dulling it provides. The window in the living room was open just as he left it and the night air is cold enough still. It's hard to keep it closed because the carpets have the smell of a thousand cigarettes. Maybe it was the previous renter or someone before them. Whoever it was, they cursed the shag so that the smoke might never leave no matter how much chemical drowned the strands or scented candles prevail the ash.

He didn't take of smoking. Probably tasted worse than the alcohol but he didn't want to try it. Can't get too much further with the things, he imagined. He brought his left arm up and peered at his wristwatch. 7:24. A sigh escaped his lips and he lowered it away once more. His fingers found at the can's top and cracked it open with a loud snap. The kitchen lights were turned off on his way out and he took a single deep drink. He'd wandered down the hall at his left and passed a linen closet. His cheeks had bulged a moment but they soon emptied that bitter taste down his throat. He'd let out an audible revolt " Oh that's bad." he murmured aloud and took a more modest sip with less an ease " Oh that's bad." he said again with each swallowing. He'd pushed the door open to his room and flicked on the light. It hadn't been so large but it afforded the modest needs. He found at his shoes with one another and pulled them off to kick them at the side. One had awkwardly managed a bit of a jump to come and land in a hollow thud on the wood and roll beneath the bottom skirts of his bed. It had vanished into the dark and the scene made him pause. He'd taken another sip and shook his head. He'd set the can on his night stand and turned out of the room to the bathroom. Both the fixtures had been there since the day he moved in. They might as well have been his while it lasted.

The man stood in front of a small mirror above the porcelain sink. He'd been patting and running a towel over himself and found at the buttons of his shirt. He needed the cold cling off. His pants soon came off as well. The air wasn't any more pleasant but the constant rubbing did him some good to bring feeling back to the flesh. When the towel draped at his side, he stared at the mess of hair on his head so forcefully dried. Seen the every now and then bits of freckles on his cheeks and the green of his eyes staring back in the reflection of the glass. So odd to Aaron because the man who he saw was seldom seen to himself. He had been out of his body some days and others he kept on an autopilot. He didn't let himself go to waste but he also did not stare so much for the vision to perhaps momentarily confuse him. He made an expression, gave a smile and raised both his brow. He wanted to see the man smile. The self indulgence made him shake his head once more. What the hell had he been doing? Maybe he was just a little bit nuts or maybe he was being silly again. It's hard to tell sometimes.

He'd tossed the clothes near his closet when he'd been back in the room. The white frame had a subtle soaking with the splat. He'd kept his socks and underwear on at least. his hand reached of the can and taken one last sip. That was all that was needed and could be stomached of for the night. The man found his way to bed and set his back to the blanket. The ends of his hair hadn't all been too dry and while Aaron shifted in the uncomfortable feeling, he kept his head down on the pillow. The ceiling is a light show and orchestra to the unsteady mind. It had been too soon to feel the distant buzz in his head or quieted posture fold on him but he traced on the speckles of the white textures. The ceiling lamp had been like a sun and at times from the corners of his eyes, he might see it shift in a blue or green ball in the matter of a single second. The wrist watch came back up and his vision focused enough. 8:17. Another sigh, more of anticipation and exhaustion. He hated all of this, the things that were about to happen and did happen every single night. Aaron's eyes drew to the can at his right side on the night stand. No, he had to remember himself the need wasn't so needed further again.

The overhead light flickered a moment, snapping his attentions back in the grounds of reality. Another flickering and soon another and then darkness. He laid there, hands on his stomach to be warmed and he whispered " Fuck me, let's just get this over with." the air had become more stiff and a haunting chill claimed it. Far worse than even the night air. His eyes found their bearing eventually and the lights that escaped from his window's curtains cast the world in soft grey. The door had still been open but with a gentle creek it came to shut and further close him in. He'd felt a strange force beneath his back like a pulsating bubble beneath the sheet rise and lower. It moved along his spine, down to his sides and soon away. The floor heavily sighed and groaned to an unknown weight and Aaron just rubbed at his temples. He closed his eyes and further cursed. Right on time as always. Of course it was. A terribly quieted laughter came from beneath the bed unlike anything to be described human. He'd opened an eye and watched his shoe raised before him. The one that had gotten lost under the skirt. It was held by a shadowed hand with finely sharp fingers and dropped once more.

" Not tonight." Aaron shrugged away and laid on his side to face at the wall and away from the other side. " You have no power over where we go, child." those dark whispers were of both man and woman and something worse. A darkened form slid further out from beneath his bed with a terrible crackling. A horrid sight that hid within shadows and tormented him. " I'm not in the mood for this shit. I said not tonight." he covered his ears like he had tried many times but its voice always found a way through to make the gesture pointless. " You cannot hide away from us. We are the worst of this world and the feeder of its children." " I am not a child, holy Christ will you knock it off?! I have a headache! " It shifted around the room, found its way between him and the wall and stared at him with a single bright orange eye. It glowed even in darkness and there had been rings of red around its black iris. " You will give us your soul finally. We would so gnaw at your bone and tear at your limbs for it." Aaron turned on his other side again " Will you cut it out?! I'm not giving you my soul! Get over it! " but the creature did not tire. It never tired. Their relationship had been that of a unique and odd history many years.

It started as innocent as a child's scream in the middle of the night. When he'd been Seven he feared the dark and all the things he thought might hide in it. Storms scared him, being alone scared him, monsters scared him. His mother and father were humored by his fears. They were just things that came with the morbid imaginations of the unknown and he would outgrow them. Sure most kids outgrow their fears and Aaron learned to lesser be bothered by the things that so bothered him. The only difference between himself and most others was that the fear didn't want to let go of him. It was a night where the rain came down so hard and the lights were off. The storm had taken the power with its downpour while the boy did his best to fall asleep. He'd found it impossible as he listened to the rain against the bedroom window's glass. He'd shook with every roar of the thunder. The room would now and again fill with a bright burst of light to illuminate all in a second and no more. His bed in the room's center faced closely to the closet but often more than not, the corner had an obscuring by darkness that hid the door. Every now and then his eyes would open for they were troubled and could not keep closed. He'd watch the walls ignite in the brilliant sudden lights and see all revealed. The door had been closed, never open; it terrified him what might be on the other side. Another flash and the door had been open yet no further passed the frame could the light show a thing.

It terrified the boy and his mind had less the intrigue to bolt from the covers and out the door than to hide beneath them as if that shielded him any better. He'd heard a soft crackling like the splitting of wood or popping of bone. Breathed deeply beneath the sheets and listened to his heart strike at the ribcage. The air was hot from his breath with the blanket suffocating him and when he slowly peeked out from the covers, a tall black figure stood beside the bed and his side. It stared down at him silently with a single orange eye and its mouth opened quietly with a series of pops to show teeth. It was tall enough to hunch at the ceiling and its head had looked like a German Shepard's split in half so that the folds of its mouth sagged in either directions. The things of nightmares to last a lifetime and its torn mouth grew with a warped grin to further share its sharpened maw. Its hand had risen from its side and reached for him, all the while it whispering in that terrible voice " A child..." and he'd screamed, tugged at the covers and lost the innocence of human normality in a panic. His arms blurred in the flailing and he felt the grip at his right hand. The door had opened to his room with a bolt to slam the knob at the wall and his father's shadow stood in the darkness.

The monster hadn't been at Aaron's bed or anywhere. His father had rushed to him and sighed with a relief. His mother too had eventually stood in the doorway. Nightmares. Terrible nightmares were the cause of such things in their minds. As he laid there in tears and horrified thoughts, only he could hear the closet's door click shut. The days that followed went without incident, perhaps a week even but his parents would relent the boy's crying out in the night. His talks of a creature inside his closet. After a while it started to pain them seeing their son with such anxiety and talk of horribly shaped creatures. They took pity on him to buy a night light but that didn't do a thing. All lights seemed to vanish when it came and nothing was spared in the dark. They'd try a different room but it would still be there at the foot of his bed in the late hours. Always whispering horrible things and terrible secrets. They'd moved eventually to somewhere else and Aaron had a room without any closets. Things had been fine for a while, maybe normal with his expectations in the night for the thing to come for him somehow. Just long enough for his guard to be let down and feel the comforts of something terrible finally being over.

Then one night it came to Aaron again. It had followed him, found him once more and it didn't need of closets to enter a room. It came from beneath his bed and it promised dark eternities for him in endless pains. It spoke of its hungers and how great a child might taste in their fears. His parents didn't know what to make of it when they learned his experiences again. Aaron had spent some time in a child's counseling session. He'd go there every other week and talk with different men or women. They'd ask him weird questions and pry at his feelings. The interactions were decent enough but they never seemed to acknowledge his persistence about the monster. Eventually he'd been seen by other people and his mom would give him a pill every morning. He didn't know what it was but she didn't let him off the counter until he took it. He'd sometimes feel weird like his head was cloudy and sometimes it was hard to think. All the while he'd lay helpless at night and learn the concept of his soul being taken from his body. The terrible monster that was going to rip him to pieces and hide his bones in the walls. The stranger that wanted to drag him into the closet and never be found again. It never did.

The years just went on and eventually he'd stop talking about it to his parents. Every now and then he'd make brief mentions at school, maybe to a friend and some even believed him. His mother stopped making him swallow the pill and he'd live the day as normal he could, fearing the night by himself. Every now and then they'd check on him and ask if he was feeling well. He was exhausted some days because it was hard to sleep. Aaron would just nod, put on a smile and lie to his parents about it. When he'd been in middle school he would sometimes try sleep aid to possibly keep himself under but he'd always awaken to it tugging at his legs as if to pull him off the bed. When high school came around he'd grown tired of the nightly visits. Years of disturbances and threats. " If you're going to kill me, just fucking do it!" he would hiss between his teeth at the creature but it never did. It didn't always come as the same thing. Sometimes it would have the head of a swollen skull and oozing beak. Sometimes it would be that much like a sheep with a splintered horn. It once had the face of a gnawed away black boar that bled over his covers. The stains hadn't remained passed the morning. Aaron had tried so many ways to capture the proof of its existence.

He kept a camera on himself once and when it had crawled from under his bed he'd gone to take a picture but there had been no flash. A black filled photograph. He'd once gone to a Christian church and asked a preacher for help but they weren't in the habit of waiting in a teenager's room in the middle of the night for fun. Confessions and prayers didn't do much either. He'd had nothing to confess but his desire to kill the beast. He'd go try other churches, any church at the chance. Maybe he needed an exorcism or something, anything! You would be surprised at how hard it is to be believed you're being assaulted by a demon or Satan. There are a lot of people who seem to talk about demons and the encounters. Problem is that most of them are not so well in the head. Granted, Aaron hadn't been that well either but that was grounded on the whole point he was stalked by a monster. Every now and then Aaron had even taking to praying himself. If there had been a god, their humor had been terrible. They hadn't moved again for all those years. When Aaron had finally graduated he'd decided quickly on college. He's packed his things, said goodbye to his folks and headed out of state. He'd settled in Colorado and applied room and board on campus. Things had been quiet again and it was nice to sleep through the night. Sometimes he would wake up out of the habit but quickly fall back to the unconscious places. Sometimes there would be nightmares, other times he'd have such odd dreams of a woman with long flowing hair in the winds.

He'd met some people in the months of his studies and stay. Genuine people of interests that took his mind off of the things he seldom found a way to shake. It made the course all the more bearable. He had been nearing the end of the first quarter when the familiar signs started to occur again. The distant whispers and laughter, the lights going out and eventually the monster had found him when the sun went down. The first night when it had shown its self he'd thrown one of his textbooks at it in the sheer frustration. It only laughed and given him the book back. He'd try to go on living life as normal as he could but he was already becoming burnt out on the many things stacking. The lack of sleep had came back with the nightly disturbances. He'd started seeing less of people just trying to rest during the day and continue work in the night, best in the moonlight if it were high enough. His nightmares would become more grotesque with such morbid gores and troubling sights. When he would dream it was only of that woman and she would always come closer and closer until he might see of her better. Her head was a shifting mess of many faces, changing with constance in a near blurring. Her voice had been many and it eased him. Her body had been so curved and enticing, inviting and surrealism of pure. Eventually along the nightmares he would find an erotic detouring with this odd woman with the long black hair more and more. They would touch of one another, bare a naked form and share intimacies he had never experienced. Every time it happened he grew more frustrated in the occurrence.

His scores had begun worsening in a gradual pace and he was a wreck of past encounters and stresses that made his face red. He'd given up before the year had even finished. Without a word he had left the campus without the intent to pay his loans and other such things. Just like that he broke down and found work in a small town. Small work in a small place with a certainty the thing would find him again. He wasn't so far but he wanted to get further away. Aaron would find kindness in the people he would stumble across. His ways were of a polite nature that betrayed his inner turmoil. Some would feel sorry for him and let him stay for short times in their home. Others had offers that didn't strike him the right way, not the right way at all. He would do many jobs and save what money he could, and once or twice avoided the considerations of the prospects for his evening company. One of them had been actually a rather kind woman who didn't come across so disagreeable. He might have done it, really wanted to, but he worried what might happen if that monster came around at the hour of eight in the dark. No one deserved that knowledge, especially in a state of intimacy. God how he wanted that some days.

Aaron had felt the shames of his departures and kept to himself. He'd taken to quiet places and done little to think on his mom and dad. Some days he wanted to call them just to say he was sorry but what good would that have done? He didn't want to hear the questions, didn't want to not explain himself and figure more lies. In their world he might have just vanished. The man would find habits of travel around other states. He would find a place and enjoy the quiet for a few months and then sure enough as always, things would start again and he'd yell at the monster in the night. He'd save what he could, cling to hardly a thing and be on his way somewhere else. Some places he would spend a year or two at most, others hardly any longer than a few months. Never around long enough to make friends, or find people worth being a friend. Maybe it was him ,maybe it was everyone else. Good conversation and connection was hard to find.

When he'd came to San Francisco he loved the surrounding waters and all the sights. It reminded him of a more crowded Seattle but that didn't take away the overall enjoyment. He'd found the apartments eventually and settled down. He was twenty six now and felt the tired body as well mind of an old man. Nineteen years of being followed, haunted, taunted and tormented by a thing discontent to leave him alone. He was miserable, tired of the travel, tired of the nightly visits, his hesitations to get so close to others. They might find him insane or worse. He was cursed and the anger just kept building in him year after year. As he lay there on his side with that anger and the alcohol running through him, he just shrieked out in a fury.

" WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME BE YOU HORRIBLE THING?! YOU WON'T KILL ME, YOU WON'T KILL YOURSELF, YOU WON'T VANISH OFF THIS FUCKING EARTH! " he felt tears in his eyes with the anger and he was growing hoarse in the voice so quickly " You took so much from me...how I hate you so much...just not tonight. Not this one god damn night..." and the creature did not say a word. It waited behind him, shifting without a sound and then he'd felt the weight leave his bed. The room had been empty. The monster had left. He laid there coughing at his new found scratchy throat, half drunk and still so angry. It had gone in the night and the light had flickered back on once more to blind him. His head was pounding and he drew his shaking legs from the bed's covers. He'd flipped the light switch once more and turned it dark. It was still early but he just wanted to rest. He needed it.

He needed rest for a lifetime. All the hours he might have missed so far, he only imagined. His world of darkness was a whole ocean in his unconsciousness where his body drifted without end. He'd shift and turn above the covers, go in and out of his empty dreams that he could not remember. He'd felt the sharp cold on his skin to stir himself almost awake. He'd felt the sheets tugged over himself in the early morning hours. Hardly been so aware to perfectly see the tall shadow above his bedside or the drooping beak whose mouth had opened with silence. It just stood there, the horrible thing beside his bed and it whispered nothing. He'd felt the odd ends of the sheets pulled in a tight manner and then it cracked, bent and returned away beneath the bed skirt, unaware perhaps of his half lidded concerns. It confused him and he was too tired to make reason of it.

When the alarm had went off and jolted him, he'd sluggishly met his hand on the clock at his night stand. Hadn't even felt like hours had gone by or the restfulness that might come with it. He sat there trying to remember the pieces. A dream of its own perhaps and yet...well why might the very horrid shadow do any such thing as pointless, or dare he even consider quietly helpful as what he thought it might have? His head didn't feel right and the man found seldom the want to care. There was a certain satisfaction he found, almost a triumph in casting the thing away. Imagine, for once it listened to him and didn't go on its torrents of ripping off this arm or forever detaining his heart beneath chains. The taste of beer had been on his breath and it had been something foul. His mouth was dry and he took himself for a shower to maybe hide away in the steam and heat. It was a small thing that seized whenever started. Aaron had never considered cleaning away at the white and powdered metal. The calcified ends of the tips that sprang forth the cold waters. It would soon enough be warm and he would lose the greater parts of his body in it.

The vibrations of the pelting water stirred him otherworldly, even with the pulsating pain in his head. He wanted to sit down, maybe ease between a wall with his eyes closed and just drift a bit more but he did not want to be so comforted. The man wasn't a morning person and he didn't need another excuse to longer pull out of his glazing stares. He'd watched the tiled wall and kept his arms from the forever cold surface. Watched the water drops trail and collect one another. Life's small comforts to half hangovers in the morning. His shift had been for earlier that morning and he'd known it to be no later than five. When the sun is still raising above the buildings and covering what it can. He was always up at the time though; with the history of years experience, there was always the need for more hours in the day. Something to cling onto before the ever so quick approach of the dusk and moon. The waters stopped, the closet opened and Aaron tossed the yesterday's wear into a pile. It was nearing the end of the week and he'd soon deal with that enough.

Although he was not often to look at himself, the man prided on some clothes. It did help ease the whole predicament of social graces. Eating choice varied though cooking was not always ideal a ready consideration. Like many things it had been a luxury in the expense when such cheaper crap had already been more available, less time consuming and far worse to be put in one's mouth. Utilities for the most part were free of his obligation but that did little to beat at the monthly expectations. It came with a high price in a literal way that conformed Aaron to the multitude of small and yet provably large decisions on a constant basis. It wasn't always the same days or nights of frozen meals. Every now and then Aaron might wander to an eatery or buffet; in San Francisco, the bay area had choices even if some were a bit on the expensive side. He just liked to sit among people sometimes and not feel so alone. It often helped but sometimes didn't really. A second job would have been manageable. Certainly would have picked up his wallet and opened further daily distractions. He'd tried it once and found it hard to keep up with the acute schedules coupled with the nightly visits. Frozen waffles were a king choice though they had lost a bit of their taste being kept awhile. Certain to find something else eventually in the day, he'd left it at that and soon left out the front door as well.

The streets were still wet, almost radiating a dull shifting of black and blue. Though the sky had been more opened in an early welcome, the distant rounding darkening of clouds lingered as a slow baring warning it would not remain that way. Not too many cars had been out on the roads and the distant sounds of their approaching, passing and vanishing to places further brought shivers to Aaron. Maybe it had been the chill air on the back of his neck even but it was pleasant to listen. Cities have a way of feeling so open when the constant noises aren't there to remind you how suffocatingly crowded they can be. Late nights grow more quiet and early mornings prove just the same. Harden Ave.'s sign stood proudly among many bushes, left in the wake of his passing the street. The cold doesn't bother him so much these days; he's had quite the while to better get used to them. The skin still seizes up and he can feel the shudders but he always forgets the need for jackets. Patches of sunlight spread across the street in a vibrant orange among the soft purple of the building's shade. It's almost as if an isolated part of dusk going in reverse. " The little things that keep me going." Aaron had thought, so focused on the scene he had missed his passing of an older woman in a faded red jacket.

He's still going in a loft of motion, not so quick but not so slow. She's stopped altogether with a strange look on her face, an expression of a sudden hold that worries her deeply. It's a horrible feeling in the back of her head like a soft pain and she does not feel it often. " Excuse me, sir? Sir?" she's turned around and called to him and Aaron is recalled back from the daze. Her voice is cracked, not so fine but shrill in natural design. Her head is covered in a hood with thick white fur far too large in size for her. She's coming closer and looking with a calm demeanor but there is a bit of discomfort in her expression still. " I hate to bother you but..." and she's pausing to choose her words carefully "...Are you religious?" the tone of sincerity in the concern coupled with her voice can't help but bring a chuckle from Aaron. No, he's really not but he's often been somewhat timid of that question because it's always tricky with people let alone strangers. He needs to be quick about it and he's put on his better smile for the start of the day.

" I'm sorry but I've sorta got to head into work real quick. Don't really have the time, I do apologize! " he thinks it's that simple a matter but it's not that at all. " Oh no, I'm not asking because- I know this is going to sound odd to you. I'll make it quick. You have this...thing around you." she motioned her arms and gestured to him. "it's really an awful thing and it's black like smoke. Here, let me just..." and she's pulling aside her purse to browse inside with a haste. She has his attentions but he's heard the kind of talk before. Random people on the walk by in places with the sudden urge to tell him the bad news of terrible vibes, feelings and things. " no Shit, I'm followed by a monster." he's wanting to say so badly but curse his politeness. He's certain what she's going to do next and sure enough she manages her hand out with a card. He's wanting to sigh. Of course it's a psychic. They're everywhere and he's had enough time, experience and paying to know the better of it.

" I used to study in the Chrislan practices and I do not want to alarm you but I've only felt things like that with demons. Oh I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from work." she appeared provoked and upset still as she waved her arms in the air and shrugged " My address is on the back. Please come and see me. I know you're in a terrible danger." she'd turned and paused a final time, looked at him once more and shuddered " ...I won't charge a thing." and went on her way once more with a quicker pace. He didn't know what to make of it really. Aaron had to admit she at least played the part well. He's been told many things though the directness of her words were a bit more intriguing. He'd look to the card with the consideration " Madame Pulse " it was not off to a good start. He'd known the street it was on but had never seen the building along the way. The man started his steps further and indulged the theories. she had said it would be free of expense. Disappointment aside he might only lose more daylight. His was a day where time could be found.

Anderson's Market had already been open and probably was one of the few stores that carried the hours for affording that excess. Funny things about a grocery store. No matter the time there can always be a few parked cars and wanderers to occupy it. Though the prospects weren't of high worth, Aaron had been in full time as a bagging clerk though the title did little in the ways of halting himself with other tasks than front end coordination. He'd found the environment calming enough with the overhead channels of quieted guitars and orchestral chitters from the speakers. The lighting wasn't so bright and the polished teal floors had a regal shine to them. It was the kind of job a man could quit in a hurry if he so needed, and the need was not wasted on the many jobs Aaron had managed before it. Quiet positions with lesser pay but it did afford the access. Maybe he didn't want the taste of better things to come his way so that he might lose them eventually. Maybe he enjoyed the budgeting in some strange way. He wasn't one for that many leisures or distractions, and often times he would leave everything to start again with nothing more than a bag of clothes to his back. Habits that persisted him and it was always hard at the start each time. Eventually it gets better, a little bit...for a while.

The employee's lounge had been empty with the few scattered round tables, as they were beside a vending machine with a pale light and warm hum. He'd at a clerk's vest and bound it to his shoulders and hips. It was an ugly thing of dull browns and a hint of fashioned green leaves in the bottom right pockets for design. Did little to ease the ugliness any better in the trouble. He'd found his hands shortly at the keyboard of a login terminal and watched the numbers fill a single bar on the screen. With a final punch he was on for morning shift and started out the door with a glaze in his eyes of afternoon meetings and the results they might bring. His mind was set on the wondering of the woman's intent and if she could provide more than simply squandered words to fall on his ears. When more cars came and the doors received of others it busied him with the advances of crowd. There's always a crowd right after Eight in the morning. It's often the more elderly that find their way first. Something about age in all of us that eventually drags us from our beds so early and resting just as early. At times it made Aaron feel that same age in the affect. He felt an old man when he was younger and the feeling never went away.

His hands would move with the hours. The bags would fill, his smile would remain and he'd do his best just to keep there. His thoughts would think of quieted nights and lives where monsters were myth. He thought of the covers being drawn over him so softly and wondering again the basis of their intent, if it had even been real or some sudden surge of thought in the flight of a doused brain. Time quickens around Aaron but he felt like he was trapped in place. Still with that smile and probably less behind it. The passages of his experiences vanish while his eyes are everywhere but in the store. A quiet man as always who is slowly finding more hope in self promises perhaps the woman in red might end this curse on his life. He's forgotten his brake again, long ago again and eventually tapping away at the terminal. It's only the afternoon now just a whisk from the evening. The time's reading 4:00 and he's set aside the vest and leaving out the store's front doors.

The flaring life of the many aisles reflected in small scale of a daily chaos on the out. Where cars idled in lines and their lights were already on to create a great combination of blaring yellows, whites and reds. The sky isn't that dark yet but it's already nearing. A short season indeed when the sky isn't so blue and is nearing the rings of dusk on its outskirts throughout an afternoon. He found the lot full and side walks fuller as he shrugged his way among the many people. To his relief the clouds aren't so taken together and leave the wide patches still to not threaten rain. His ears take on the sounds of exhaust and the thousand footsteps of people along and against him for the way. His eyes are hurting a bit from the jungle of hard sounds, people talking over one another and the throttling of engines. He knows where he's going for, Transla Avenue. It's a place of many fine foods. One might think they were battling to outdo the other in the wit of taste so close to one another. There's a set on the left hand side that lead to a locked gate and he's not so sure where they might ever go. Like a littering there are the more refined opened doors to such wears and goods. Places where a name on fashion sets the price just a little further.

Its a bit too cramped for comfort with so many people sharing the walk and the smell of trailing smoke isn't sitting so well. Aaron knows a better way and he's taken it enough times. It's not too far up the incline that an opening between two building's meet frees his steps alone into its alley. It's a place of quiet worded galleries where urban tagging baffles the senses. It's shadowed, it's always empty, it's a strange haven for the quiet soul on their way in or out. It's also not the long arrangement of passage where the other side is so easily viewed. Transla is busy that afternoon and it's little to change in that way on a Thursday. The many hip tall gates are the dividers of many filled chairs where men and women sit and talk or perhaps talk not at all. Just another day out for a bite or meeting. The cars here are less insistent but not forgotten while older children trace their steps upon the gutters and yellow lines of the side walk edge. The many smells are pleasing but they're in such a strange combination. His heart isn't on food though;it's all in his eyes watching for the subtle clues against the bright lit signs spanning the street. He's on his way.

Aaron's idling his hands with the persistent rubbing of a man making warmth in them. His reflection is caught on glass displays of under garments and hats. It's an odd sight as always. He thinks maybe to have passed it in the rushing lights and sounds but he hasn't at all. It's a rather small shop with a rather thin wooden door that's scraped. A drawn window houses an unlit neon-holder " Madame Pulse " There are other words painted on the glass but he's not so interested. It's not about palm reading or knowing his future. He's a bit hesitant to open the door and thinks maybe it's closed but sure enough it budges with his pulling. The soft rattle of bells against the other side are off putting to say the least. It's a cramped hallway with white and black tiled flooring. The air smells damp but it's dry enough to discomfort Aaron's throat. It's quiet in here, where the noise of the outside world is lost in muffles to a single door. " Do you have an appointment?" the voice is familiar in that shrill kind of way and before he can answer she's already poking her head out into it from an opening on the left. At first she's confused by the silence but slowly realizes " Oh! Yes, goodness. Please, come on in!"

He's already following and finding a dimly lit den. It's the kind of place you could imagine. A room of many strange items you can't begin to really describe. Credence and framed cuts from a newspaper. Aaron wasn't interested enough to read about what. Salt pyramids and colored stones sat in semi circles to unite on a shorter table to the far right of the room. Sigils on silken throws hung on the wall, some obscured by the outgrowing of potted plants. In here it smelt of jasmine and mint. The woman had been out of the red jacket from the morning. She'd been wearing a skirt of wild colors that blended towards her stomach and vanished in her black top. Her hair was a wild set of dull browns and silver ends. " Wait just a moment." she'd muttered in a haste as she vanished beneath a room divider of red and green beads that sounded in her passing. He'd been left to peer across the varied sizes of glass spheres. It's a calming kind of place but he's seen too many like it in the years. She isn't gone long and fully emerges once more without the loss in her speeding step.

" Now this right here..." she has something in her hand but she's paused in her words. " Now you're here because of this...thing around you, right? Have there been any disturbances? Things such as nightmares and vivid images? Have you ever been known to sleepwalk? Has food vanished in your home, objects been moved or a great sense of dread been overwhelming?" she was quick with the output. Might have been rather high strung and panicked or maybe it was just in her personal character. It took him a moment to even register the full extent of her talking. He wondered to even tell her the scope of his experiences; he didn't need to share all of them. "it's been following me since I was a kid. I can actually see it every night and it hides beneath my bed. I've tried moving but it always finds me eventually. " her eyes peered passed him for a moment, looked out into nothing and then back once more. She'd whispered something out in a language unknown to his fluency.

Her arm had came out with a closed fist to silently beckon for his open palm. He obliged with a confusion and found a cracked clear stone of a creamy white with sharpened ends laid between his fingers. It wasn't too large but also not small and it had a strange series of engravings, loops and smoothing. It confused him a moment as he stared at it " So...does this keep away the thing...?" he'd looked back to her but only found the woman shaking her head. " No, no. That is a Syntel rock. They're blessed stones christened and purified in eleven wraps of holy water. " she'd let the words settle on him before continuing. " Your soul is in danger. Your aura is like smoke,it's black. Demons feed on human energy until it's like shadows and your is..the blackest I have ever seen. Normally these stones would be kept for exorcism rituals and cleansing trials but it does not need it in this state. You need to take the stone, keep it close and when the demon comes for you, stab it with the stone. " " Wait you can actually kill this thing?!" the words left his mouth just like that but she was still shaking her head. " No. You cannot kill a demon, just force it away. They are in a state of unliving, unable to live or die. Most demons never return however from their plains with the Syntel rock. " He stared once more at it and examined the fine grooves. " There is one very important thing you need to know, and it cannot be ignored. The demon can resist the stone's influence and pierce if it's drawing energy... it can only be harmed and fled in a weakened state. Every demon has its weakness but it cannot be touched until that weakness is met. It can be many things, most often the knowledge of its name or even an object. Do not let it have knowledge of the stone until you are sure it cannot resist it." He didn't know what to say or even where to start. Aaron just stood there like an idiot with his finger feeling the engravings.

" The stone warns of the weakness. I've seen its use and seen a bright blue light glow. It's divine warning to strike." He'd thanked her, hell, Aaron even shook her hand. She'd told him to call if things got complicated but he wasn't sure what she meant. She insisted and he went on his way out the door. He laid on his bed that evening, playing with the stone and sighing. A weakness, he needed to find a weakness in that monster. He'd covered his eyes and sighed, felt his finger draw at the soft bags beneath his eyes. All he knew was of its dark promises of goring and disembowelment. It was always on about some dark business or the other to the point he had hardly any understanding of the thing at all. You can't just pull up any encyclopedia of known monsters either now can you? He'd been drawing blanks for a plan on the way home and he wasn't doing any better then. He'd checked his watch 8:13. The stone was placed in the drawer of his night stand in his anticipation of the creature's arrival. He'd pushed it shut, wished he wasn't so alone in the matter and that's when a strange thought began to form in his head. This crazy contemplation that was both maddening and idiotic.

Maybe the thing could tell him itself. All he needed was more time, more interaction. If he could learn more then he would understand better, and then have the advantage. The thoughts were fleeting and intense and why not?! He'd been so busy all those years trying to ignore it, maybe it was time to change all that. He'd sat on the edge of the bed and patted at his knee's, taking a deep breath and planning out his words with caution. He had a better idea. His steps took him out of the room and into the hall. He'd started on the switch of the small tv sited in the brown shag carpets of the living room to see its static glow fill the walls. He'd found it some weeks ago on the street corner and like many other things he'd learned to be thrown away, it was still able enough to function. He'd sat his back to the wall without a couch or even a chair, not really knowing what was on but also not caring either. Any minute now, he knew it would come. He sat a while longer, shifted himself into a more comforted position and stared at the slightly warped screen. The audio was still fine though. He'd just considered a pillow for the ache in his neck when he'd heard it. The soft cracking and shifting of footsteps. The distant whispers and quieted laughter of another beyond the room's wall and into the other behind the television set.

He'd heard the bedroom door come to a close and then soon open once more. The lights in the room hummed louder and louder until with a final buzzing flicked off. The television had persisted only a few seconds longer before Aaron had been left to the piercing night light's from the room's window. He'd seen it from the corner before the kitchen, staring out at him, that creature that hunched over and found its claws at the wall to draw down at it. The sound had been a soft whining meeting the sharpened tips of the monster's intricate force. " I was watching that." He sighed and pulled himself upright from his slouch. " We care little for our arrival is now. We have such dark things to show you." the multi voiced oddity came closer in a way that its tall body didn't even seem to register as moving but rather hovering. He'd seen the sharp horn on its head, the split iris of black surrounded by orange and red in its eye. The drooping and bitten at ears folded inward to its goat like face. It was the goat tonight. Fair enough. " I wanted to say sorry about last night...I've just been stressed."

" We do not care for your apologies or your stress. In the eye of eternity I will take you to such scopes of never ending damnation!" His eyes began to roll with the words " Yeah I know, damnation, plucking out my tongue. I know, I know." It had still been going on its talking " Yes, I get it! You can stop now!" and it did while its approaching continued. " I've just been stressed though and a bit lonely. I don't exactly like you but you're probably the closest thing I have to a friend all these years....so I wanted to know...Do you want to hang out or something?" its movement too had finally stopped midway across the carpets. its back stiffened and that great glowing eye blinked as it stood there for a moment. " ....Hanging out is pointless in the scope of the great oasis of oblivion that we shall-" " I know, enough with the oblivion! Do you want to hang out or not?!" it further stiffened at his words to the point its back had fully been erect and bumped against the ceiling. It just stared at him in a terrible silence for what felt like an eternity. The light of the television had ignited back on in a blinding scene. The voices of the screen filled the room once more and with the strangest display of reluctance the tall black form bent once more and it strode passed the light.It began to bend and take a sitting in a huddled mass of shadowed flesh in the corner away from him. " ....alright." he sighed and got comfy once more.

Every now and then his eyes would look over, glance at the mass of black and found it watching him like some stuffed animal on display. Even after a half hour he still wasn't sure what he was watching. Being examined didn't exactly put him at any ease and it ate away at any concentration that he had. All of it had been awkward, even down right unbearable the further it went on. He'd cleared his throat or at least tried; the smell of smoke, damn these carpets. " So...do you have a name?" He'd looked over once more and tried to keep his eyes on the monster but that goat like face sat in a hunch without movement. Even after all the years such the notion of it being a silent statue creeped him out most of all then. He'd found him up again and stretching on his feet " I'm going to grab something to drink. Do you drink anything...?" there had still been no answer and it pried at Aaron's patience. " You know, hanging out with someone usually entails some back and forth. Do you just not like talking about things other than what you normally go on about?" He'd heard a soft relenting sigh escape the thing, It made him almost jump. " We do not need to eat or drink."

He'd been in the kitchen but the lights would not turn on. The faucet at least was giving and he poured a glass full of water. Watched it swirl in circles at the bottom. " Okay so you don't eat and you don't drink. Do you have a name?" It growled, shifted and squinted at him with an anger at his question. " Fine. Let me ask you something else, then you can ask me something." he'd taken a sip and started back " Are you...a bunch of things? You've always said ' we will do this ' or that. Are you not one thing but many?" it further resisted, let a persistent growling relieve in to an escaped groan. " We are one, only one." The water had been set down carefully on the carpet and Aaron sat a bit closer against the wall and to the mass. " Well why do you do that?" it didn't answer him once more. " It just sounds weird as if you're crazy saying things like that. Maybe you are, I don't know." " I find all of this pointless." its claws dug into the carpet with a deepened impatience to its tone. " Fair enough. It could grow on you though."

There were credits rolling on the screen and they just sat through it. " So are you going to ask me anything?" it stiffened once more, hard lurched further a moment but remained in a guarded position. " You can ask anything. It's not like you know really anything about me, right?" the thing had taken on its legs, bent once more and shuddered " This is pointless. We are leaving." it kind of brought a chuckling from Aaron at the sight " Well what's your problem then?" It looked at him and further growled, the teeth baring from its open mouth as it snorted in defiance. " You waste our time with pointless questions! This is wretched." it hissed and began to the hall. " Waste of time? You want to talk about a waste of time?! How many hours of mine have you taken every night?" it kept the black back to him and left the room, heaving its form. He wasn't having any of it and got up off the rug after. He'd knocked the water over in the hurried motion. " You have nothing to say about that?! What's your hurry, are you scared? Scared of just talking?" its neck had snapped back in a near and vicious instant, popped from some deep bone so that it might face him and it howled " We fear nothing and no other, especially man!" its flesh had twisted and distorted, torn and formed a series of nightmarish hands reaching for Aaron but he stood there staring with anger on his face.

They had nearly been at his throat but they hovered from his flesh, reaching without ever meeting. " Silence your words, Child!" the voice had been a mixture of withdrawn weariness and fettered exasperation with the silent promise of violence but Aaron didn't back down. He'd felt his heart beating so hard, felt the cold in his legs and maybe even sweat on his forehead but the anger wasn't letting go of him. " Or you'll what?! Suck out my soul or cut me to pieces?!it's been Sixteen years and you haven't once done a thing! You're nothing but...fuck! You're nothing but all this talk and you never even do anything!" the hand curled, pulled away once more as the face snapped forward and away from him. His door had been slammed open and he'd watched it distort again, fold away and pull with a haste at the bed skirt and floor. " Oh no you don't! You don't just get off easy like that!" he found his arms at one of the monster's legs. He didn't even know what we was doing in the moment or why. It let out a piercing screech of a woman and animal as he gripped it between his arms in a tight hold. It had felt of cold weighted flesh, thinned at the surface to even be tugged and loosened. It kicked against him, clawed and slammed at his chest with a vicious pulling trying to get free but he pulled back with a grunt, yelling out his frustrations.

The kicking had stopped, the leg held limp in his arms as if dead. He stood there panting and feeling the pain on his chest from the struggles. The man just tried to get the breath back that had either left or been kicked out of him. He'd seen that goat's head slide out from under the bed, stare up at him with a bitterness. " You....do not fear us any more...do you...?" it whispered in a pained way. " No. No I don't. I haven't feared you in years..christ, man..." he'd said in a flat tone and shook his head. When he looked back down to it, for the first time he'd ever seen, and the sight took him in a strange way, He'd found a look of sadness in its eye.It had almost been a harmed glazing in the orange glow. its ears had folded, curled even as the head pulled itself beneath and away. He'd felt a final hard shake and the leg was free of his grasp.It slithered beneath the bed without another sound. What the hell just happened...?

He stared at the ceiling for awhile, just laying on his back and in the dark, left with his thoughts for the hours in the night. It could have gone better, sure. Aaron had been the master at patience and playing out the alternatives to his feelings. It was easy after so many years, but that monster challenged every micro scale of his character, found the heart of his emotions and easily disturbed him. It was easy to get angry, it was harder to find the room, grit his teeth and play along when he felt every bit otherwise. He didn't feel as satisfied as the night before though; could feel the adrenaline in his veins, could feel both arms twitch and feel the pulsing beneath his skin as his heart beat hard in the chest. At times the beat would skip, try and settle in the discomfort and eventually pick up again. Eventually he'd found the unconscious world if only for a little, uninterrupted so that he might turn over the pillow, find the trouble in his thoughts.

Work hadn't been scheduled that day but Aaron had been up still so that the air itself appeared blue. The streets had a haze in them, a fog so that the distant lights still on, cast blanketed layers of glowing outside his window. He probably should have had something to eat, anything really but a pit had been in Aaron's stomach. The window had been forced open to air out the place once more; the winds were calm and perhaps they would stay that way longer. It was an end to the week and that kept Aaron out wandering the streets so early with a large and black plastic bag hoisted over his shoulders. He's a sight in a less proper mess of clothes, looking of bedded hair and golden stubble across his chin. Aaron doesn't feel all that proper though with his feet carrying across the corners. His eyes are ahead himself, darting at the darkened window's reflections of the closed shops. Ears are listening to the every now and then car quietly trailing along in the cautions of a morning fog. It's a bit heavy out that day but the sun is slowly rising in the horizon. Soon enough it's nearing to trail the vivid lights among the tops of buildings. His eyes are watching the different hues of grey on the side walk but the mind's eye can't get rid of last night's encounter.

The man is troubled still and it's that face, the look in the eye like he's never seen playing out as a loop in his thoughts. The laudromat isn't a place so far from the apartments. Easy enough to spot in the hot pink of its paint;it's a place of heavy noise and often quiet people, often. The black bag is empty and the washer's door is shut. He watched the clothes spin the cycle, saw the pants and undearwear, tops and all mingle in the water and spin to reveal a dark center. His head felt like it was in that center, in the endless cycle. The overhead lights were distracting, even bothering as they always had. Made Aaron have to squint sometimes. An old man sat in a chair near the windows; long black hair braided in an excess. His head bobbed up and down as if he were an automaton. His eyes had been a bit shrunken in and he wasn't waiting for any clothes. When their eyes met he just grinned, bobbing and shaking without the ability to probably stop.

Probably homeless or something worse on the man. It's a scene Aaron can't imagine for himself but he'd been near that state of living once or twice. It's not a simple thing living on the premise you're not sure where home might ever be. He's been used to the contemplation of one day facing the probability, just never fell deep enough to be stuck. Every so often he thinks of the student loans and feels the exhaustion of a real fear. He wasn't ever around long enough in a place, never kept to banks, and he was afforded the distance to usually keep his head low. He regretted that he just couldn't be strong enough for many things.In all the years traveled, it would be alright for himself to still in the neutrality of his days. The threat never truly left him though, just sank to his legs and feet in the settling and then slowly rose back to the top in time when he picked up his steps again. He wasn't so sure where his thoughts really were though at that moment.

He just felt tired, confused and maybe still angry, even at himself for the reasons. The creature's pained stare set in the back of Aaron's head and it bothered him. It bothered him even more that he'd somehow felt a guilt, even sympathy for that look. It was easy to hate what it was. It was hard to even feel anything else about it and yet there it sat as a burden in his head with a weight known enough to sink his heart. He was the worst kind of good nature; the kind that spend lifetimes in a silent misery and eventually wind up dead for the troubles of that nature. Again, he wasn't so sure where his thoughts were. He'd just known how unhappy he was especially that morning. Just continued to stare into the center of those clothes, see the swirls and motion his head in a tired nodding as the man sitting near the window. "I want to be happy...I just don't want to hurt for that happiness..." the whisper is lost beneath the sounds of sloshing water and grinding machinery.

The stairs are a bit of a climb that day. Arms are weak and the hot weight in the bag brings a soft sweat to Aaron's back. The words are still with him when he's at the door of his apartment. When the key is twisting with a loud click and the clothes are spilled out over his bed. They've given a different consideration, perhaps an intolerable possibility that the monster truly is capable of even being hurt in that way. Hard to conceive the notion it can feel the emotions at all and yet...that stare, the tone in its voice. He's frustrated going in the circles of his brain and tries harder to shut it out. The stone is still in the night drawer, resting again the back among papers. The extent of his day is hung with the clothes, hidden behind the closet's door. Aaron's not so sure what to do at that point because that weariness is still on him that it would pain his steps further. He doesn't want out, he doesn't want to even be around people. Maybe he wants to eat but only maybe.

The rug is a bit more comfortable but it has an itch to it the longer he's sitting. The hands on the wrist watch turn with the help of dulled senses and uncertain anxiety. The afternoon is going by with the fleeting as if he's not on Earth any more but somewhere else where the revolutions of a day vanish in the wake of minutes. The man's feeling a bit sick in the self punishment of his conscious. He's got to eat as the sunset crawls along the living room window. A dollar meal feels like ten at least to an empty stomach. His tongue isn't one to usually mind the overly salted flatness of the heated textures. It's just not having any taste at all for him that day and whether that's his distanced mind or dislike for the frozen turkey slices, is open for the subjection. The window is covered in black and Aaron's certain he's made a human shape of himself on the carpet, at least the lower half of himself. He's idly checking the watch every now and then with a quieted suspicion. The time is passing before his eyes and all is quiet save for the television set's buzzing. It's late,it's never late. Five minutes, ten, twenty. He listened for the familiar sounds but nothing came. Maybe it wasn't coming back? The thought felt both a duality of relief and anxiety.

He'd turned the set off and stood there for a moment unsure of himself. It always felt amazing getting away, finding the silence and the emptiness in the night every time he'd take somewhere else and just eluded the creature. That was always on his terms though, because he was the one running. It felt so odd to him now just standing there never having even asked let alone wanting it at all. Maybe he'd been expecting it to just arrive again as always, haunt at him as it so often did and get him pissed off all over again. It was the state of his life, the natural rhythm of the exchanges. The thought of it not showing up grated at Aaron with a passion. His thoughts returned to last night and the struggles, the words and expressions. He didn't want to settle with the thought of sad faces. He wanted to be angry, yell at it some more and it do the same to him. He'd been so gone in that trail of thought he hadn't even noticed the darkening of the hallway or occupied space. Hadn't seen the fattened, bent form residing ahead of him. When he'd finally taken it in, the surprise came at him enough to force out the words " Oh- Hey..." they were sudden, taken aback and almost without a breath behind them.

its snout is bent, almost broken in a way, the shadowed skin of its strange arms and legs are as a series of spines. It's the thing of nightmares and yet its presence is concerned in the opposite way. It was off in a strange way, the monster just standing there with its usual hunching and yet there were no words, no air of morbid terrors and yet it was there. He'd cleared his throat, found one of his hands scratching at his head. It felt awkward again and that he did not miss. "...Did you come back to try again?" the spines bristled with his words yet it stood as stone. The eye hadn't been staring at him, it had been everywhere but himself. The ends of its shoulders lowered in a solemn bow " Why would you do this?" the words came from its sharpened lips straightforward enough. The shifting tones were of delicate whispers and yet they still confused him. He'd thought it was shaking but it was so hard to tell apart from the subtle twitching of the body. " You would not fear us any longer..." the words twisted and lowered " Why would you do this...?" it almost seemed sad in the approach.

He tried to find the right words, tried to understand and claw at the patience. It upset him, that question. 'Why not' had been an answer to start, or ' why not sooner?' because it was so simple. " Look, I get it. This...thing between us." he motioned his hand and tried to steady himself on the delivery. "it's good for you probably, I don't know. It's not good for me,it's never been. All you do is say weird things, wake me up and then... just do your own thing. I'm tired of it, I've been tired of it." His hand rested against the wall, kept him propped in minor distance to the spined thing. " I just wanted to try something different last night. I'm tired, man. I'm tired of the waking up, I'm tired of the clawing at my feet and the spooky laughter. I'm tired of being alone. You've been the thing longest in my life...in a way you're like the only friend I have now. I just wanted to hang out; I'm not scared of you any more. If that's not good enough, I don't know what to say."

its claws curled, hid behind one another as its chest heavily heaved in as if in a deep breath. " If it makes you feel any better.." Aaron had straightened himself once more " You terrified the living hell out of me when I was a kid." The words may have helped, maybe. A great sighing pressed a cold bit of air passed his cheek from the thing; it was strange to just say the words like that. " You would...have myself stay?" the eye pulsated, examined him. Was the creature actually asking? The actual chance of a liberation, the very power with just a single word to end the long line of horrid companionship. All these years, all the nights and it was finally Aaron who had control of its destiny. No more intrusions, no more dark promises, no more running. All he had to do was say no. It could all end here with the loudest finish; he could just...let it all out, tell it to go fuck off for all eternity and never come back again. Maybe it would listen, it had already ran away before. He wasn't afraid to say all those things.

His head swam with the want in the matters between a second. Then his ears finally heard further of the timid tone in the question, this odd...well..fear? It reminded him of the previous night holding that thing's leg and all that came after it. kind hearted modesty will eventually kill you. He'd cleared his sinus with an intake of air, bit his tongue in the haste between the right choice where quiet nights followed and the stupid one where he somehow felt less like a horrible person for just...letting go. " .........Yeah, yeah I would." he relented, held back the anger in his chest because like many other things in his life, he wasn't strong enough. He hid it behind a soft smile, silenced his thoughts so heavily screaming at him now. " You want to hang out?"

He can see the hesitation, the uncertainty as if somehow the question is wrong. The head nods with a slow reluctance and he's intrigued to find it stepping passed him without a glance. The television cracks on with a loud hiss, the channels passing in rapid succession. It's found the corner again where the walls meet; the fattened legs are snapping, curling inward in a grotesque display. The scene is unnatural, amazing even to Aaron seeing the towering spined thing grow smaller somehow, shake off the excess of its reptilian form and settle into the brown floor. It's a little late but he's curious now. He's been curious for years about so many things; finding his own spot isn't a hard thing but he isn't so close to it either. " Can I ask you something?" he's ignoring the sounds, seeing passed the screen but he's still looking. The silence is anything but a no. " Why me? Why did you follow me all these years?"

At the very least he knows the choice isn't lost on everything. It could have been easy sending the thing away, letting life and what was left of it to a silent resolve. Maybe he would have found the answers on his own terms, probably not. The teeth along its jawline quiver in thought, the claws digging into the carpet. " ...Your smell. We like your smell." he wants to laugh, maybe chuckle at the least with the odd revelation and reasoning. " My smell huh... Guess that's one way you've tracked me down all this time. You have one hell of a way for expression over what you like." the scene is coming into view for him. The glaze in the tiring of his body and mind makes the thoughts disperse behind his eyes. " Fear... is power." the words leave its lips so softly to be a murmuring of half garbled voices and crackling. It's a cryptic mentioning that brings just the slightest shudder to the back of Aaron's neck.

" ...It keeps others close." it takes a moment to fall in full to his understanding but it's getting there. His eyes widen a bit but he's not so sure. " Are you saying that all these years, every single night..all the crazy, horrifying things you would do was to make sure I...was too afraid to just...make you go away?" A growl had begun at its throat, deepened to shake at the carpets but it fettered off, trembled into a soft moan. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry maybe after, wanted to stand up and hit the thing. All the nightmares it had brought him and how empty a world it gave just because it didn't want to be alone. That was it, wasn't it? All the false threats and torments not to break him down but keep him just weak enough to not fight back. " You're a horrible thing...and I really don't like you." He's resting a hand on his head and can't help the laughter now. It's all he can really do in the moment. He's brushing his hair to the side, staring at it once more and smiling. He doesn't know why. Maybe it's the sudden human behind the creature that he's seeing. That maybe it is more afraid than he ever could be of things he's longed for even. " ...I'm glad you came back."

It was a surreal night where time had lost it's meaning. The yellowed walls reflected the lights and shadows of the two. All they did was just sit there, listen to the sounds of the city passed the opened window and each others voices. It had been a long time since he'd ever had a lot to talk about. It was awkward, it was revealing, at times even choked to a stand still. He'd watched every hour vanish into nothingness, see the monster's back further arch from the defensive curl. When the sky was a darkened purple, he gave a yawn, called it a morning and went back to the room. He watched the black flesh fold and warp, listen to the bone crack and see the further hesitations on its face. The same confusion that had been across its maw the whole evening. Listened to the hard wood floor bend at the weight and sigh with the easing beneath his bed. He didn't feel Euphoria as he took off his clothes and found his way beneath the blankets. He didn't find the anger or regret either. When his eyes finally closed, the sentiment had found him in the blurring of his conscious. He'd felt relief.

The skies were fractured cracks of broken stars and eternity. Where shifting rings of red and black melted into one another in a dark harmony falling to the world below. The winds were vicious and hot, the earth an ocean of sands forever drawing in the distance. A woman with black hair and a face that could never set came to him. He had seen her many times since in his life, in these dreams. Long before he could even recount otherwise or believe otherwise. She had been naked, drawn her bare feet in the sands to burn and sizzle at the touch. Her hips had swayed with a sensual dance in them, the motion of comfort and desire as she neared him. The body had been voluptuous to Aaron; every inch of the skin from the breasts and further down in perfection to perfectly define his understanding of sexuality. Her arms had been around him, that face ever changing in a series of bright flashes. The shadowed strands of her long black hair seemed to sweep around the two of them and they'd kissed. Felt the thousands of beautiful lips against his own and the hands at his chest. Her touch had been delicate, warmer than the burning air. It sent a spectacle of pleasures down his very nerve lines to stir him in many places.

A woman of his dreams that took of him, brought his own hands to her breasts to feel the natures of foreign sensuality and teasing. He had done this many times and yet always he found himself anew, stranded in the sea of awkward baring and gratified understanding. It was always slow, always filled with the sounds of their laughter, the varied touch and soon the motions of the bodies against one another. He would lay in the airs of that place, take in the sulfur of the burn and open his eyes to nothing. The dream as always left him wanting, out of breath even in the most stimulated of needing. The sweat upon his forehead and an aching over his body. He felt the pained stiffening beneath the blanket and boxers, contemplated the tired resolve to work himself up in the hand and end it there. Too tired, too messy. He'd probably been pent up for so long; he wasn't in the mood for that, no so early as whenever it had been. That frustration persisted if only a little but not all calls from the body are cared for. His had not by any other hand save for his own. Perhaps the eroticism of the dreams left him a scholar in more an indirect sense unknown to him. He wouldn't know, it always came to his full understanding as broken thoughts and imagery.

He'd almost found the way back under when the alarm sounded again. It drew a heavy sigh from his breath. He had done this to himself. It had probably been the most exhausted he'd felt in the last few years. It felt different though in an unfamiliar way. The kind that made him wonder of nights and new found interactions. He'd searched the drawer in a haze, seen the stone and looked it over, rubbed a thumb along the sharp edge. The cloudy white cracks almost sparkled in a stray finger of light trailing the room. Maybe it would find it's purpose yet but not today, perhaps not tomorrow. Aaron had learned things of the beast in their errant talking. Knowledge of a place beyond the scopes of human conception where there are no days, only nights and open windows of light lead to whole new worlds. Learned the creature had no concept of age or time in the matters of its own existence; a crisis of existential neutrality without end.

It fed of fears, sought the terror in one's heart and drained the poor souls so unfortunate enough to be caught in the wake of its appetite. It hadn't fed in a long time and the revealing words did little to surprise him. Why should it have been when fear had left so long ago and left a hollow life whose center was of maddening isolation and tired trails? " Why don't you just go find some other kid to freak out?" he'd only caught the full concept of how horrifying a fate he was insisting on someone else. The monster had traveled many places, seen far greater a sea of souls and of taste in the aimless wandering. The world changed quickly and the sun went down seemingly in the perspective of minutes to rise again just the same. Humans quickly aged, receded away the fears and forgotten of night terrors to vanish into the folds of short time. " We don't know." the answer had spoken of doubts and conflicted interest. He had been the only one it seemed to come for and when that well had dried up it stayed with the uncertainty. Maybe it had been used to finding him out, perhaps it reveled in the chase or maybe, in its own words, it enjoyed his scent far too much.

Eventually everyone faces the wholeness of their childhood. The perspectives develop, the mind grows and our understanding disillusions the wonders, fears and fantasy. To him it had been an unflinching god of sorts, with a hidden purpose that never swayed, perfect in the worst of ways. Even when the fear had stopped, even when he would just try and ignore it some days. Until last night, it had never even occurred to him how imperfect and even pathetic it truly had been. The flaws were showing and the final concept of his long ago life came to him in light so different it felt near alien realizing he was in the same world still. So where did everything go from there? He did not know; the stone had been forced back into the drawer, not forgotten but only hidden for the inevitable need. His thoughts turned of the dreams and left his breath pulse with the arousals and frustration. A shower would still the thoughts and he needed that stillness most for awhile.

The dynamics of his life had been altered in an abnormal fashion, a rhythm as it were. He would find the mornings like this, of silence and hot waters, steam to hide away in. October airs would greet him in the apartment's halls and the rain began to ease further up in its insistence. It's near symbolic of the polarity shifting in his gears. He's still tired, bringing the mop down to the teal flooring. There is always a spill or two on his shift. His hands are so dry from all the pulled papers and plastic at the checkout. Dim lights of the stock room are the reprieve and lord help him if the subdued strings of the speakers aren't getting to him some days. They're calming, entrancing and well enough faded as he's out in the distance, bound to the apartments again. Some nights are later, some days he's a bit sooner. The creature is there often enough, always enough in its corner no matter the form. He's still lonely but it feels less burdening in the odd company. They just sit there and watch the humming screen in the living room. When the silence is enough they start talking, it's all they ever seem to do or have.

" Are you male or female? do you even have a gender?" " Some days we would feel either." " What does that mean?" " It means what it means."it's still a clever thing, at times too clever and prideful. A messy inky blackness that puddles out in the carpet as a bleeding hill that seldom invites question but is not without them. Sixteen years and they hardly know the better of one another but in time both are learning. As it had been mentioned, the rhythm had been set and it was just as awkward, just as doubtful and new to each of them in the places of conversation. Some nights there would be only silence, just sitting there without any words, other nights Aaron would find the questions again, maybe speak of the day. The creature would sit and listen. It felt abnormal to have an ear in that way; there might have even been an interest in the repetition of his morning walks and habits. Sometimes the monster might speak too and Aaron would listen the same. He'd learned half truths and fractured identities piecing together the thing. He'd learned its fondness of Rome and the many paled statues of the city. It had not returned for a long time. He learned the strange realms of its inhabiting, the whitened windows of light and that there had been others, so many other creatures just like itself vanishing in and out of them.

He learned like himself that it had been alone indefinitely but it hadn't always been that way. It had been abandoned by another of its side though the recollections pained its confiding into silences, lost the track of long ago reasons. Some nights when they would go their own ways, one above the sheets, another below, Aaron would pull out the stone from his drawer. He would forget it was ever there and he was bothered by the admittances the weeks had allowed him to understand. He might have been starting to enjoy the monster's company, even looked forward to it. The past would greet him and struggle the right for his angers, to still hate it and that part might never let go, but a duality was starting to set. This comfort of companionship that eased his daily doubts, brought smiles to his face that were actually genuine. He wasn't finding nightmares waiting for him any more. No nights of terrible dreams that stirred him in the anxieties and terrors of otherworldly fears. There had been more dreams of the woman however. Dreams that grew far more intense and intimate, that harmed his mornings and stirred him to seizing of such frustrations he'd probably fuck his own hand if it were possible. He'd find the release but it never felt as satisfying those days.

On the times off, Aaron would think on finally going out, just meeting someone through a personal and seeing where it went. Of course he still did not have the excess for the ordeal nor a wallet to accommodate the desires. Lunch or dinner out was a luxury he could not afford for two let alone himself on the off times. It wasn't only the notions of finance however; with the passing evenings in the weeks, the monster would arrive earlier, find more of his time and drown away the night of his company. At first it had been overwhelming and yet it had grown pleasant, even against his own admittance otherwise. Eventually he had brought a covering over the blinds of the living room, denied even the moonlight through. They were harmed by the light apparently and would so diligently keep away from it. The action had not been lost on the monster, may have even pleased it in a profound way. The man would find it in the same spot curled, even in the afternoons before the sun crept away. " I know you're not going to give me a name so I might as well come up with one for myself. It just feels weird....how about..Aubrey?" its beak curls, drooling across the hard wood in a dismay but it gives in to the suggestion.

Aubrey it is then. They don't eat or drink but Aaron learns it can still consume. Even finds the creature to have an attraction to things of sweet or soured taste, just the taste only however. He finds out Aubrey has a genuine laugh although it is less sounding of one and more of shrill coughs. There seems to be more of that in the night as the poking and prodding of themselves turns to other things of stories, of humiliating past recognizing and mistakes, of science and dreams. The glow in its single eye isn't so piercing any more;it's soft and unguarded without purpose. He watches the clothes tumble in the dryer at the laundromat and still feels like he's in between the mess. Might as well get cozy for the sake because he's lost in a whole new way and isn't so sure how to feel any more. The idea of being some how happy is creasing his chest but his hands are guarding the covets of his passed ambitions. Some nights when he's finally alone again, the stone sits in his hand and he just stares at it not knowing what to do. His soul is in danger, probably, but he's hesitating to push with more insistence to find that weakness. He was right, Aubrey really had been the longest friend in his life from a distance. He was finding something beyond his expectations behind the tall form, in the shadows of its hidden truth. The thought of dismissing the recognition was slowly becoming more and more distasteful.

One evening as he's laying his back on the bed, he watches the fattened form break down, slowly dilute and disband to vanish away into the night under his bed. " You know you can...stay the night if you want?"it's an odd thing for him to say and he's not so sure why he's even making the offer. The broken tusks of its face lower, the mouth frowning with the uncertainty. " I don't know. You're just here every day and I figured why go through the trouble so late? " he watches the parts of it cloud over, pull back in a reverse course and without a word he finds it shuddering off the excess once more, growing smaller in size. It's hypnotic to watch. He feels the weight of Aubrey on his bed, feels the incline of its center groan to accommodate the unknown form. He wasn't sure what to expect but did not imagine firstly of the bed space being taken. He lays on his side away from it, feels the cold air moving around him in the darkness. He can feel a warmth coming from the thing and he never knew, never expected such. His breathing is out of rhythm, and he doesn't know why the proximity is so discomforting in a weird way. It feels nice to lay near someone.

His eyes are closed and he's no longer there. Aubrey lays beside him, tail curled from the edge of the bed. It lets out a soft sigh; there is that strange feeling inside, the uncertainty and quieted comforts. It's never been asked to stay, it never does stay. It cannot sleep at the time, not like him. its eye is drawn over, watching his back rise forth and pull down. His breathing is soft and deepening. They've watched the sight many times and only in secrecy. There is a peace in the expression and closed eyes, something of a world taking place beyond this one. It's a peace they wished for, admired without the intent of ever giving acknowledgement. He smelled wonderful. When they had first discovered the scent, followed through the black corridors of their world and found the boy, Aubrey became enthralled by the taste of his fears and crying out. He reminded of times long passed, of experiences that could never return. It was additively painful, enjoyful. They had starved for so long, not fed on those fears and remained aloft without intent. They are undying, eternal and alone.

He grows older, his mind develops and the child is evolving into a young man. He's less frightened but not above the influence of their words. It keeps trying to snare him further but the words are growing lost. That energy, that taste of him is vanishing. He gets angry, yells at it, throws things and tries to ignore it. Aubrey does not know why they persist, why they cannot stop. They're so used to him, even starting to starve again they find it hard to leave. He runs, vanishes from his places and tries to escape them. His scent still remains and it always takes some time. Eventually they're back together, torturing both of one another. It's all they seem to have,it's all Aubrey can truly feel passed the fear and confusion. They'd been lost so long and felt alone, the thought of being ' we ' than ' me ' became a savior for the mind. It staved the feeling of being so alone. When they would return from the other world, it felt the same kind of emptiness just as before it had found him. It began to follow in the wakes of his daily walks, hid beneath the sewers and peered from gutters, watched the world and taken the pain of the day light. Sometimes it would hide beneath the shades of trees and wretch in the horrid seizing of that light, just to watch him but it never truly understood the extent of that self mutilation.

When Aaron had asked for its company, the words frightened it. It had been the natural course of their exchanges from the start; the power it held over him, the distance and mystery that kept his doubts enough. Yes he ran, but eventually he would settle again, unable to truly stave off the creature and allow it the power over him. It didn't want the power, it wanted the comfort he would be able to beckon it away. The words frightened Aubrey because it wanted the interaction, it just did not want to give in to the weakness, the desire. It had known so little of Aaron but it had seen many sides. The nights where he was tired, when he was so angry and passed his limits, when he slept peacefully and it might pull the covers over himself just to retain the feeling just a little longer.

It had little left to lose when he'd yanked at it, actually touched the creature and fought its leave. In its eyes the end had truly came with is confirmations. It had thought of never returning, vanishing and stepping out into somewhere where it might exist no longer but it could not. It fought the reasoning, felt the fear and uncertainty and returned to him. It hasn't talked in a certain way for so long. The conversations are intrusive, flustering and at times even pointless. Hours seem to slow down, crawl along the wake of their pace when they're talking. He's insightful, calm and polite in a way Aubrey has never seen. The sight is captivating, even enjoyable. They're slow to the warming of dialogue;it's strange to be talking insistently and yet they start to find an ease in doing so with the many nights and weeks. Such a strange frontier of their very relationship as a whole. He's still young, his hair only seems to be let longer each year with his age, he's gotten more quiet even with the yelling but that's stopped for the time. He's handsome in a strange way to Aubrey. Has been for a long while.

There is a guilt in the admiration of his features. Humans have always been a rather repulsive kind of distilled features, unchanging form. A separate revolting species of known existence and yet their energy was so vastly serviceable. Found in the void of all things with minds that drew merit for its own worth of acknowledgement. To Aubrey, they were once the same matter of repulsing and ill form. With such experience, terrible interactions with them it had found a near attraction to the human body in time. The thoughts were disturbing at first and yet they grew with an ease, even a desire to more intimately understand it. The creature continued to listen to Aaron's soft breathing, drew somewhat closer and extended a claw to loom over his head. It breathed deeply, closed its eye and felt into his mind. A bright blue light had been trapped within the night stand's drawer, unknowing to either of the two in the darkness.

The dreams are more intense, the encounters far more tolling. The touch feels far more real to Aaron, and the dreams are becoming a more common occurrence. They leave him dizzy and pent up to the point of wanting to scream. The bed is empty when he wakes up, always empty come the morning. It becomes a schedule all its own in both their lives. The silent mornings, the hourly walks, the distant smiles and disconnection at work. He's talking a bit more, even got a bit more chat in him. He's home again and he's...well, he's happy. Tired but happy, and when the front door opens he finds the company waiting for himself, never failing in the appearance. It's almost as if Aubrey is living there now aside the vanishings so early on. The pace of his life is set on the reliving shift of their interactions and mental certainties. They're both tired, more tired than usual but they're smiling. It's weird for Aaron seeing the multiple faces grin. There seems to be character now to the creature, a less stiffened company. It's gradual but he finds the physical distance between themselves to find a lesser gap. The corner seems that much further to Aubrey so that they might finally sit beside one another in uncomfortable postures. The smell of smoke doesn't seem so distracting any more. The capacity for its emotional boundaries seem to widen, almost allow him further in. That's what his life has really become at the time. Of lone mornings, busied afternoons and quiet evenings just talking, watching the television slowly break down further. It was used after all and inevitable. In the quiet final moments of midnight they both lay in the same bed, sometimes facing away from each other and sometimes not. The days are a bit warmer and the dreams are far more erotic, physically draining yet the woman seems to want more and more.

The moon is near red, closer to the ground than the air, the size threatening of a harvest's moon. The streets are quite more busy and strange that afternoon. The air itself is rather stilled without a strong wind. The tree's have a bit more foliage to them now but it's the colors of red and yellow now, fallen into the walks and gutters. The sounds of radio from open car windows fill the scapes of the avenue. The trembling waves of vibration and sound are but only a choir among the many odd sights. Aaron is surprised to find stripped witch hats in the crowd. To notice men and women festively dressed in terrors alongside their children and otherwise. Not even night fall but there it is in the midst of the streets with a quiet celebration and festivity of Halloween. It's a pleasantry about that town and really the bay itself. They do enjoy their holidays in a peculiar way but the excitement has a way of making the man think on the years back. Now he can't even afford on the candy to even open the apartment door and the knocks did come even in that area.

The fridge is mostly empty now. Aaron had been meaning to find better avenues of shopping but the thoughts do exceed his remembering at times among other things. He notices a can of beer on the bottom shelf and tucked at the very back. It's been awhile since he's felt the need for the bad taste. It's an Annual evening though and he's in the right enough mood to finish it of only to not see the can again. The channels are of marathons and screams. Aubrey watches with an odd fascination and disbelief, changing the channels without even turning the set's dial. He's not quite sure how it's ever been able to do that, not that he would be given the answer even when asked. He manages passed the swaying tail rubbing at the carpet, can see the spines of its side embedded into the rug with its weight. He can see the eye on him, examining his hand and what he is holding. " what is that? Some form of drink I assume?" its finger gestures, cracks with the action. " This...well,it's alcohol. Can't really recommend it. Can't speak much for the taste but it's sort of for social events and celebrations. Not all the time though. I don't know, I guess I feel like celebrating tonight. It's Halloween. "

" Your kind always finds some way to distract itself" it sighs in a weary way. He's found a spot next to the black form and is sitting. The loud crack of the can disturbs the movement of its tail at the suddenness. " ..sorry." he clears his throat, pressing his lips to the aluminum. God he did not miss that taste; his right eye is closed, the other wide as he pulls away. " Actually it's more like I'm just trying to get rid of the last one." He feels the rushing air from his stomach at the throat but holds it down. The eye is kept on the can, watching it intently, silently. Aubrey had been more quiet lately, reserved even almost as if not so older times. The conversations still find their way and a smile can unfold across its varied features. It seems tired almost, exhausted even. He's not so sure any more about finishing the whole of the can and takes a final drink. He sets it down, shakes his head and rests it back at the wall. " Did you want to try it? " he's humored to ask. It's probably going down the sink any other route at that point. its claws are delicate to snatch its sides, examine the surfaces and bend the black snout in response. He watches the maw open and show the long sharpened teeth, some broken at the back of its great mouth. A thinned tongue presses out, scratches into the surface and opening of the can to squeeze inside and indent. It recedes quickly enough in a surprise. " Tastes of rot...rather enjoy it." he's surprised to hear it say " ..knock yourself out."

The tongue returns, pulsating and cracking at the opening as if it's a straw. The languished gulps were rather morbidly sickening but fascinating none the less. In a matter of even less a minute the tongue left, an empty can remained. He'd envied its ability to be so proficient; could not even tell if it bothered to taste what it had taken. " You're...something else, Aubrey." the can was set on the carpet without a word. " We're tired." it sighed, shifted further upright and stretched its legs out. Aaron knows the feeling but he's also learned of its needs, the abnormal taste it has denied itself. Perhaps it truly does need of the fear but he's unable to give that. He can already feel the slowed thoughts, the gentle buzz of his head dilute the more serious ventures. They birth weird ideas in his silence. " Do you know anything about Halloween? " he's reluctant to ask because he has the thoughts of an idiot at his conscious. " A limited understanding." he's on his knee's, feeling heavy at the shoulders " Alright, hear me out then... you require fear. Fear is..energy for you?" its head is slow to nod in agreement to the assessment.

He talked of the holiday, spoke further of the customs, the knocking at the door, the children. The further he went on the worse it sounded in concept but his mind was further indulged by the drink to see it in genius. He felt a reckless plan to wait for the knocking, to open the door but not by his hands. Children were easily frightened, perhaps it could prove of use. Maybe Aubrey had not been so resistant to the drink or maybe they had been desperate. It appealed to the suggestion, this plan of dumb founded intent. " Just..don't get carried away? " he had warned and the creature laughed at his request " We never have."

He'd checked his watch a few times, looked to the door more than twice and wondered if anyone would ever come. It was an uncommon sound to hear the door bell. The buzzer had been warbled but loud enough to draw their staring. His eyes looked to Aubrey, quietly nudged them from the sitting. He watched the blackened form so quickly and silently arise with a swift snap. The curled claws of its feet trailed with a modest haste until they vanished from his view. He couldn't see anything from where he had been sitting, did not want to possibly be seen. The sound of the door's lock being open, the frame being dragged so slowly in a loud creak. It was good at what it did; it was a master of fears as he could once recall. It had spoken words, whispered out from the darkness but he couldn't hear a word it said. Only heard the sudden shrill cries and screams, heard children in the grips of a horrible sight that might haunt them maybe. It was a guilty pleasure, he didn't even know why he was laughing but he was, even after the door came to close again.

The serpent returned, held a soft growling in its throat. Aubrey had been pleased, more than pleased and even excitable. He watched the flesh unfurrow of its arms, expand and even soften in a pulse like a heart beat. It's disgusting...beautiful. It waits in silence, a series of glowing eyes along its neck twitching with an anticipation. It's not the last ringing or knock. It's a night of screams without candy and sweetness. It's a show of terror and dark whispers. It almost feels like home again in the worst way. Eventually the knocking stops, the foots before the door don't come. The creature seems giddy in a unique way, breathing in shallowed breathes, moving every inch of its body, shifting, changing its many forms as if on impulse. " I don't think we're going to be expecting any more kids." Aaron's chuckling to himself, glad at least not to hear the loud pitching, the fears realized. Aubrey almost appears in bliss, shivering and closing the many eyes of its body. The familiar sharpened horn on its forehead sprouts, the face of a goat with dual eyes and sharpened teeth.

" We feel wonderful."it's cooing and such a weird sight seeing the smiles across its animal face. " You look different, not sure for better or worse but different." his head is swirling, not escaped from the beer. He feels its arms around him, this sudden lurching of its form. He's vanished into the fleshy burning form for hardly a second, panicked and alert from the sudden grab. He's imagining Aubrey to try eating him but it's not. He can feel the arms around his back holding him, the odd sensation of closeness and the vibrations of its body in a soft growl as if it's purring. His heart is racing but he's happy to not be dead. He hasn't felt the physical contact for so long it's comforting, dizzying or perhaps it's his head again. He looks up from its chest, finds the eyes on him and the long ears curled upwards in a U- shape. " Well at least you're happy." he's chuckling, feeling a strange weight in his legs. His thoughts are wandering on time and the night but his eyes are stuck on the creature's. They just stare back and all is quiet around them save for its purring. Aaron's unsure, not understanding what's happening but he feels the oddest compulsion, one that terrifies him. His heart is beating faster, harder in his chest now and a part of him is content to pull away but the smoke in his head is clouding his judgement.

Its leaned in closer, he can feel the black flesh and fur at his cheeks. It tickles at him but he's leaning closer in return. It's a sudden act, two lips meeting between the man and monster. Quick to start, quick to end. He's pulled away, can feel a trembling in his hands and cold in his chest. It felt good, it also felt wrong. He's wetting his lips, breathing deeply as if he's terrified, maybe he is. Aaron is looking away, maybe it's in shame or confusion. It just happened and he doesn't know why. There is a repulse in the sudden clarity, the consideration of what he's done. Is he so pent up, so lonely or desperate? He doesn't know and the indecision gnaws at him. Maybe he's astounded and dismayed it might be more than just that but he doesn't want to think further. His voice is trembling in the excitement " Maybe we should call it a night."it's quick, hushed. He can see the confusion in the gleam of its glowing eyes. Almost see a similar haze to his own.

The bed feels hot that night, shared in silence. His chest hasn't settled and his legs feel non existent. There isn't another word to be said between them and he's slipping away. He can see the hot sands, watch the sky break apart and see the woman nearing him. Her voice is of distant echoes, ever shifting tones and comforting. He feels far more distant with every step closer. He doesn't want this tonight, doesn't want the interaction. She's persistent, feels at his chest to further tease him but he's fighting at that touch. He wants to wander away and be alone, lost and confused but she's insistent, keeps him close. He's fighting, silently yelling and breaking away at the hold. He can feel the hot sheets, see the sands vanish and reform, leave him in the dark and away from the woman. Her hair is like night but it's soon misshaped as if a monster with glowing eyes. His head is muddled, eyes fighting to understand. He watches Aubrey's claw close quickly, withdraw from him in a jerking out of shock. It's panting, pulling away and he can see the dismay in the reveal. He's not sure what to make of it but he's realizing further in the breathless state. " You...you're the...woman?!"

He tried to pull himself up, felt the loss of control in his legs. He's half in and half out with his brain near igniting with the imaginings. He's horrified at the arrived conclusion, but also confused, so confused from everything else. It's silent, withdrawn from the bed and at the floor, shaken and near terrified in it's own right. He just stared, shivering and feeling a realm of emotions, thinking of the intimacies, the private giving of his imaginations. He can feel the anger in the shame, the regret in the misunderstanding. He can feel the confliction and passion, the lingering need. He doesn't know what to say, how to truly feel or do. The terrible silence fills every gap of his stares in the dark. He can hear the snap, see it's form distant as it retreat under the bed without a word so suddenly. He reached out for it, grabbed at a claw and held it tightly. He didn't know what he was doing or why he was doing it. Maybe it was drink, maybe it was the kiss, these...dreams. " Don't go, please." he can hear the words leave his mouth in a hiss of hurt and anxiety.

The claw grips back in return perhaps even more tightly to hurt his very bone. The same pained look in it's eyes from before. " ...We're sorry." it groans out, the ears folding and form lowering half inside the bed. He wants to be upset but he feels so weak. He's amazed, his mind blurring in what part to even accept of the truth. " I know." he lets go of the claw but it's still holding on to his hand with a fierce tightness. He's breathing deeply, watching the light's in the back of his eyes as he closes them. It's been in his head all these years, the quiet nights, the image of the woman whose face could never be stilled, never consistent. It was Aubrey somehow, unknown to any understanding of him, reaching inside of his mind, inside his dreams as the woman with the long black hair. He's terrified, further shocked and trying to settle his body. " Come to bed?" he's actually asking, laying back and feeling gravity keep him down. His eyes are still closed but he can feel the hesitation, the slow get up and feel the reluctant return to his side. " We're sorry." it whispers once more, further withdrawn and timid.

He's nearing out of the haze, feeling the fleeting thoughts be secured by the clarity. The faculties of his feelings are both numbed and igniting beneath his arms and chest. Aaron wants to be upset, he is upset but he's found in a compromise of his own thoughts, the concepts of his inner most desires having been shared with Aubrey unknowingly. This intimate realm of abstract worlds where their bodies met in many strange ways and in the mind, his mind. Strangers of nebulous passion and touch, the touch that went deeply down into his nerve endings and frustrated him, excited him in ways he had never known. His eyes are open, staring at Aubrey in a mixture of fear and need. He wants to be angry at the act but the more he thinks of it, idles in the thoughts of the remembered touch, he cannot help but be stirred by it loudest thought of all in his mind. He wanted to feel the touch again, wanted the closeness and didn't know to feel ashamed for the inner admittance or not. He didn't want to dream any more.

He's on his side, facing the slump of darkness above the blankets. He doesn't know what to say, can feel his pulse starting hard again as his hand finds the grip once more upon its own. There is a guilt growing inside him, the one of want but only from the creature;it's depraved, that want, that he would even consider. He peered into the orange glow of its stare, saw the rings around the slitted iris of its core. Had seen the reflections of shame and guilt, the sadness and fear of the consequence. "it's...Its okay." his voice is just as same the whispers before it. He doesn't know how to ask, how to act or what to do. The grip only gets tighter and his chest feels like it's going to explode. " Do you.." he's trailing, still finding the shame in the want " Do you wish to still touch me..?" his throat is dry, his forehead still cold just like the air. He watches the black claw raise, slowly with a hesitation rest above his head. He can feel the thoughts in his mind, see the woman reaching for him once more. " No." he takes of the claw and erases the imagery behind his eyes, feel the world vanish and leave him in the one where he lays facing a creature of all his nights and the nightmares that came with them.

" I want you.." he can see its form stiffen, straighten with the same hesitations and awkward thoughts. its body is of night and mutilated form, distended in the stomach and sides, almost human but not nearly the same. its head is that of a goat with a single sharp horn extending from the forehead and a mouth of sharp teeth. It's a horrid sight but it's been one he has known all his life. He fidgets, draws himself closer, unsure of himself and looking away. Their faces are so close now, upon the pillows with the heavy air of silence. its eyes remain away, troubled and saddened. His arm rests at its chest and he can feel the skin tremble all around it as if in a single impulse. He leans closer, finds the black lips once more and feels no resistance to the advance. They're soft, warm and strange. He can feel Aubrey's arm come around him, keep him closer as the snout pressed their kiss further.

He'd found the alien mouth to open, felt the soft breath of a sigh escape from it as he felt the velvet like tongue ease passed his lips. He'd allowed it, followed the unnatural feelings and found his arm further holding the creature close. its snout twisted, lightly turned slowly in motion to deepen the closeness, press its tongue further to his. He's never felt anything like it and the thoughts of the inhuman experience are of doubts and unexplainable enjoyment. Their lips parted, a fine strand of saliva between the two falls, disbands to vanish. Aubrey's shaking still, perhaps excited, perhaps scared just like him. Aaron can feel the sensations, take in the delicate claw at his back holding him so close so that their bodies might meet, touch together and feel one another's warmth. He can feel the shifting, feel a different kind of drunk in the head and the gentle tugging for the repositioning. Their breaths are both shallowed, one of a passionate heartbeat and the other of a whole new kind.

The odd posture of the monster on its back, grinding into the sheets, silently pleading him with the gentle tugging to crawl above it. There are no words, just the action, the hot air mixing with the cold and the feeling, lord the feeling neither know what they're doing. He's on knees, spread legs at the creature's sides so that its tail might pass between both. Aubrey stares to him, the claws letting go to fall at its sides. It's never been touched, not in the physical sense, not its body. It's never felt the want and desire; right now, it truly wants his in a great need that silences its voice. Aaron's hands are dry, smoothed and at its chest, gently feeling the black skin and trailing down, passed the belly and the sensation is unaccountable. He can feel the skin move around it as if every part is alive somehow, separate and electrified at the feel of his hand. its eyes dim, slowly lower and shut, its lower spread back legs come to close at a rest behind the man's own. They're firm, encouraging. Aaron follows the sounds, listens to the croons escape the creature's lips, take in the sensations of his own exploration and journey with the quieted gasping, the claws at his arms too tracing along the hairs to follow towards his hands.

This is so fucked up, what he is doing. Aubreys head is lulled back, Aaron can hear the scratching of that horn at his wall, see the black snout raised to the ceiling with a snort and fettered growl. The fattened stomach still shudders, its chest rises as if about to somehow rip apart but lowers once more in a great breath. He wants to feel repulsed, to somehow feel this sense of normality again, but he can't. It's an exotic body whose sight would otherwise be alarming in the paled mimicry of human and animal form. Almost a jigsaw of muscle and bone so easily displaced in its abilities, it could drive man or woman to the deep end in the display alone. It's Aubrey,it's always just been Aubrey. " You're beautiful." the words just come from him softly to hang in the air. He can feel the grip at his hand, the claw ease across his flesh and hear a soft whimpering from deep its throat. He doesn't know if its happy or something else but he feels a mile away in his mind quietly happy to have said it.

His hands meet with the nether regions, uncertain what to encounter or if there is even anything to encounter at all. It's a great alarming heat, he can feel the skin squirm at his touch and the hips rise against the hand's presence. The claws bare on his hands, assist them to further indulge and press against the area. He can feel the heat on his face, the reddening of uncertain expectations, the untamed, undisciplined experience of sharing pleasure or giving it for the matter for the first time. He's blushing in the thrill, letting it overtake him. He continues to rub, pressing his fingers without the knowledge of what else to do and feels the sudden giving, the wetted opening receive him in the trouble. It's surprising, perhaps even alarming to both of them that Aubrey near bucks at the sudden sensation, screeching at the intruding force. He's quick to pull his hand away as if he harmed the thing, rest it and maybe his heart. He might not survive the night with all these surprises.

He can feel the claw at his arm once more, the silent pleading for him to continue. Aaron's cautious, returning to the care and finding the opening once more. His fingers trace upon it, the strange furry lower lips, feel the near burning heat and thick fluids of the intimate region. The grip on his arm tightens so that it might distantly pain him. The hips are widening, opening further to accept his touch. " Aaron.." he can hear it whisper his name so softly, affectionately that the tone might make him shudder once more in an enticed way. He's still slow, pressing two fingers at the lips, tracing them to find a jutting roundness. He can feel the pain not so far any more in his arm, listen to the noises escape Aubrey's mouth, not so unlike an animal. He can feel the stirrings of his own desire at the action, find a different stiffened pain in his boxers.

Imagine being so enticed, aroused and intrigued by such a creature. For Aaron the thought never occurred, would never have been considered. In some way, somehow it truly is attractive to him. His fingers press further, touch the inner walls with the cautious proceeding. He can feel them closing, squeezing to draw them further, to also feel him in return. He can hear his name whispered once more, bringing his eyes to meet with Aubrey's own, see the half lidded gaze stare with a longing and need. " closer...Please...?"it's a pleading he's not ignoring, feeling the intimidation of the invitation. its stomach is hot against his own, arid almost. He's uncertain to bare his full weight down, somehow worried he might disturb the moment. His back arches at the sudden sensation, the feeling of the last ounce of wear to him is tugged at the front. The cotton is easy enough to give, the claws are intricate, shaking and with an ease pull further that his shaft might spring out. He gasps at the sudden gripping, this tightened embrace of the creature's hand to seize his most sensitive of skin and squeeze, feel the hardened flesh with both a curiosity and longing.

His chest shivers against its own, his eyes closed and breath dictated by every squeeze, every pull and rubbing at the head of his shaft. Aubrey watches all this, pleased and even met with the relief of the man's response. They've never felt anything like it but with every indulgence, every moan escape Aaron's lips, Aubrey wants to feel it in a new way that brings the hesitation, the further excitement. The claw is gentle with the direction and insistence; Aaron can feel the moist heat, feel the pressing of the opening lips and soon both of the creature's claws on his hip to rest. It wants him to press in, to want it just the same. Aaron finds his arms once more around Aubrey, doing just that and listening to the sounds of the creature's hiss in the mixture of glee and lust. He grunts at the sudden pressures, feeling himself guided further in to the excruciating heat and yet what pain he feels is of a distinct and extreme pleasure to draw further of his breath.

He can feel every abnormal texture, this new found realm of unexplored intimacy in the animal depths of Aubrey. The inner walls are a pulsating line of ridges and bumps, grooves so accepting of the intrusion for the first time. The further he pressed in, the greater this pressure built in Aubrey. It's abnormal an experience, the penetration of the human; it cannot help but bring its legs around him once more, shuddering at the mixture of pleasure and pain in such a virgin territory. Theirs hips meet again, the full extent of him deep inside the monster; both are resting, taking in the moment and one another. Aaron can feel the squeezes and nurturing seizing on ever part of his length and as he retreats every same curve and bump seems to further cling as if not wishing the departure. It's soon pressed in once more, wettened by the excitement of both their wants. The legs further close around him, guide at his pace and erotic motions that happened once only of dreams and different worlds.

They continue the experience, bring their bodies against one another in the intimacy, share the pleasures and unhidden moans of the encounter. The rhythm of the thrusts bringing Aaron in and out of the yielding entry. He's further rested against the creature, his head at its neck and arms hugging it close so that it might know the full exposure of his heart beating. Aubrey too has their arms around him, finding the hold at the back of his head and gripping at his hair errantly in the throws and thrusts. He can feel its back arch further, pull away at his departure and press against into his thrust with the wet noise of the motion between the two. Aaron can hear the creature pant and bleat, find the strange tongue at his ear and affections of its lips. He only holds tighter, burries himself further to feel their bodies closer even in the burning of its heat.

He can feel the pain on his back, the sensation of being pierced and probably letting lightly of blood. He grunts his discomforts, bites his lower lip to stifle; Aubrey screeches, further backs at him in a need. He can feel the spasms around his shaft, the tightness holding him in place. The twitching and pulling drives him in a frenzy but there is little to do against it. Aubrey pants out, fetters a deep groaning of pleasure absolute and at its height, the new sensation overwhelming. Aaron can feel its weight shift, feel the world above him turn over in a roll until he's pinned beneath the darkness and sheets. It's a sudden action, his shaft pressed further into Aubrey once more. He can see the bright glowing eyes, feel the full weight of the beast on him so that the bed might too groan deeply. They stare at one another, heaving and feeling the exhaustion and the frustration of so many years. He cannot say a word, only hold at it still, feel the hips raise and pull away to fall once more to a new sensation.

He holds at both its claws, holds them tight once more and can feel the blood they've drawn. He probably would have to throw away the sheets, no doubt about it. He can't look away, watching the black form rise and fall, ride him as he might ride out the pleasure building. The thrusts become further desperate, exhausted and needing so that the bed might screech with every ounce of their momentum. The monster leans further, bends at its back so that he might feel its pleasured pants on his face. The black lips meet with his, cover his passionate and pained motions, muffle his ecstasy in the near piston of the thrusts at both ends. He can feel the familiar pressure, the further building in himself in a greater way he's never felt. The goat tongue presses into his own, tastes of him and further excites his senses beyond. He wants to scream but he cannot and it finally happens. The seizing at his stomach, the explosion of lights behind his eyes, the culmination of the venture and climax wash over him as he feels the release into the creature. Their lips remain together, the inner walls receive of him, accept all that he gives and more.

The rising slows, the fall softens. Aaron can feel the easing into him, Aubrey's shoulders relax and lower. The kiss resolves, leaving them both an awkward mess of one another, of sweat, of blood and other such things. Aaron's mind is cleared, gone of the arousal, the needs and experience. His hands remain holding those claws until they move away. He watched the creature lay at his side once more, wait for their breath to find a normality and rigidity once more. He's not sure what to say laying there. Most people eventually grow passed their childhood fears. Some do their best to ignore it, others learn new things to replace it. Aaron had fucked the full extent of it in the most literal of ways. " Would you have me still stay?" the many whispers and tones find his ear from the creature. His hand is at a rest on his head and he can't help but chuckle, tired. " ...of course I would. I think...after all of this...maybe we need to talk more." he feels the arms around him, the closeness of the two in the sheets. A sigh escapes his lips and he's not sure what to make of it. The snout rests at his shoulder, breathing softly just as himself. He holds at the arms, laying there and realizing it was one of utter contentment.

He wakes up to the alarm, his eyes find the red light of the clock, find his fingers at the button and he finds the difficulty to pull himself up. He's surprised the black arms still draped over him, the bed occupied by not one but two. His brain feels like it's still in the washing machine, maybe he left it there quite a bit ago. The night washes over him, trickles the knowledge of their deed and union. The most erotic of moments in his life shared with the very thing that twisted and warped every part of it. Aubrey lays in silence, having finally answered his question if they very well could sleep. Maybe he really is fucked up and a mess to have ever even done such a thing, to have enjoyed it. His eyes notice the pale light, the creases at the night stand's corners in the haze. The light is bright, blue as an ocean and radiating from the stone. It's amazing to see and he holds it, grips it tightly to feel the engraving. He looks to the creature on his bed, watches the shudders, its rest. Perhaps even it is dreaming. " I guess I was your weakness...wasn't I..?" the thought is humoring enough to bring a soft smile to his face.

The one chance to beckon it away, the only chance perhaps. He holds the stone tightly, hides the light and finds his way from the bed and into his pants. He's stuffing the stone in, grabbing at his shirt and find the stirring of the creature to watch him from the scene. " Hey.."it's awkward for him to just say " Hello."it's just as soft so that the quiet grows between them. He finds at his shoes, closes the closet door and leans into the wall with a need to still regain the energy lost. " ...last night was-" he doesn't know why it's hard for him to talk. He's fought, yelled such terrible things before in the past but it's different now. " It was...I enjoyed it. I don't know why it happened but I don't...regret it." he can't help but come closer, sit on the bed's edge to maybe just feel less troubled by his words. He's not certain why it's so worrying to give them. " What we did...was it just..sex? Do we just go on and try to forget about it? " he can see the claws curl, the troubling question crease the creature and a sigh escape the tusked lips.

" Do you wish to forget about it?" the answer in itself is the question to him and he can feel the dryness in his mouth. Everything had been a blur over the past couple months. The suddenness, the shifting gears of his life. He was a confused wreck who hid beneath smiles and kept a distance. He'd thought maybe that the exchange, their shared intimacy had been in a state of pure agonized repression, the aggressive culmination of frustrated isolation. That when it ended, came in the climax, it might just somehow return everything to the way it was. It didn't. He looked to Aubrey and saw the monster in a different way; he'd seen the company when his days were alone, the conversation when he didn't have anything to say. He saw a unique and beautiful form to it that had been there his entire life. " I don't." He can feel the claw on his hand, watch the eyes stare into his own " We don't either, Aaron." He holds the claw, seems to look at the walls but really he's looking nowhere. " I was thinking sometime of maybe moving again. I don't know where but maybe some place nicer. I don't know when but some day...would you follow?"it's less a question from him with a softness that might even be an invitation. " ...yes." he smiles, look down and gets up from the bed once more.

" I'll be back. I need to handle something I've been meaning to do for awhile now. I'll be back soon, we can talk." He's chuckling, feeling the red at his cheeks and the awkward passed in his steps carry him from the room.

Transla Ave is a quiet place of great shades and filling light. Empty buildings and quiet streets in the morning air. Annette is grasping at her red jacket but she's better known as a Madame by any other. It's not so cold any more but eventually it will be. She's always been pre-emptive of the whole ordeal and cares little for the cold in general but the city has been a kind scape of many souls lost and found. She nears the door of her building, already reaching for the keys in her pocket when she finds a roll of folded paper between the knob handle of the frame. She takes of it, opens to find the stone and is confused. There is writing on the folded white. " Thank you for all your offers and help but I did not need the stone after all. " she's even more confused and examines the stone closely. Indeed, she can feel it, feel the embracing warmth of its purity course through her hand. " Now I wonder what he did to not need this." she's smiling, closing her eyes and feeling the paper. Though the talent is little known she can feel through objects, feel the presence and thoughts behind those last holding.

She's concentrating, clearing her breath and mind, tuning out the world and muting her ears. It always comes as a feeling, strange images and odd combinations of both. Her breath deepens and then...she frowns at first somewhat then gasping. " Oh dearest- that is...that is terrible! Just terrible!" her eyes open and revolt the paper from her grasp to fall away at the ground. " That man is lost.. to even consider that with a demon...disgusting!" she shudders, clears her mind of the thoughts and prays. Aaron is long gone and not planning on returning any time soon. The day light peaks over the buildings, reaches into the streets with the golden light. There are more people on the streets now, the day catches up and so do the cars, the smoke and exhaust, the blaring of radios and distant calls. It's quiet in the apartment's hallways especially outside the door of room 306. Aaron stares in the mirror, looking at the man who stares back as a stranger.

He's still not sure used to the appearance but maybe he'll start looking further one day, learn to live with it as he has so many other things. He feels a weight at his back, can feel the pain of the scratches left on the night prior. The creature's claws ease around his waist and it's an odd feeling being held close. There are no words, just the feeling. A new place of a relationship he never expected to be anything more than the death of him. " Vanerl" it whispers into his ear and he's confused for a moment as if it's spoken another language. " My name is Vanerl." its chin rests on his shoulder. " I have a feeling life is going to be a lot more interesting now. I think we have a lot to talk about, Vanerl." He holds at the claws, leans back in return. " So...why did you have black hair in the dreams?"

And they did talk that morning. They talked for hours, found the awkwardness to slowly fade in the days. They turned to weeks, months. Eventually Vanerl stopped vanishing beneath the bed and in a way took full possession of the apartment. It was odd for Aaron, strange to carry on as if things were the same and at the same time so different. To share the conversations, find the affections and even romance, the gentle embrace and kiss. He'd finally felt as if he had the peace he wanted but in a way that felt right. He would be moving, maybe some place smaller again, a town. He wasn't so sure yet but he knew eventually Vanerl would find him again. It always did. For once he was going to feel the pain of missing it while he waited, waited for the thing beneath the bed to find its way.