11/23/18
The sky was sagging with the weight of the end— going rabid in some apocalyptic technicolor milkshake. The dying, frantic sunlight warbling between twilight and sunrise.
Party time— for the demons in human skin, that is. Their beautiful faces (some bare, some made up for the dance) bright in mischievous joy at the end of this world; they’d done it. They’d won.
I hesitated at the edge of the portal. Lightning licked at the ripple in space. Music blared, bodies crashed together— in the orgasmic revel, one human was easily lost against it all. If discovered, they would tear me to pieces. One last shining crumb of blood at the bottom of the bag to be deliciously ripped apart. One last morsel.
They'd finished all the others.
The tune changed. The revelers whooped and swayed, drank from red solo cups some ancient wine. One girl in a crimson satin dress tossed long, long hair about her shoulders as she moved. I wondered who it had once belonged to. How she'd killed the face she now wore. She caught me staring.
"What's wrong?" She shouted above the noise. "Can't work the bones yet?"
I froze. I had a human face, like them. If she could smell the life in me, she didn’t hint at it.
"It's difficult!" I shouted back.
A man behind her tugged her close. She swayed in his arms.
"Who's bothering you? She's mine, little bug! Hands off!"
He shoved at my chest, hard. I heard laughter as I hit the ground-- someone shouted You're drunk, Micah! Then a gentle hand grabbed my wrist. The earth trembled as I looked up.
August had managed to get through the portal unseen. His long hair kissed my face as he knelt down to help me.
"They’ve been eliminated on the other side,” he reported, “it’s almost done. It’s like they don’t care whether they live or die."
I righted myself with his help and gestured at the scene before us. “I don’t think they do," I shouted in his ear. "They live to destroy— that includes themselves. How much longer until the portal closes?”
“An hour.”
"You should go back. They haven't found me out yet. I think two humans would be--"
August shook his head. He still held my hand. "I'm not leaving you alone in this. We'll see it through to the end, together. Thirty seconds out, we run for it."
His gaze on me was fierce. There would be no talking him out of it if he’d made up his mind already. Not for the first time, it touched my heart.
I nodded and squeezed his hand. “Blend in, then. Dance. It’s the end of the world, after all!”
He took my waist, and I, his shoulder. The weight of his hand on my skin was nice. Comforting. We danced and swayed, packed together in the crowd like fish in a tin. I could smell his sweat in the air mixing with mine. I tugged him closer, and he came willingly. We danced against each other, body grinding against mine until I wasn’t sure where my body was.
But this was... we were on a mission.
I stumbled away, despite his reaching. I fought past bumping shoulders and feet stepping on my toes. We were practically in the middle of it all, surrounded by empty-headed demons who only lusted after excitement and death.
I found myself at the edge of a small, nearly empty swimming pool. A few demons were leaning over it, scooping what liquid remained into their plastic cups. They greedily drank it down, and one by one immediately collapsed into some euphoric stupor.
Not good water, I thought. Something bad. Poisonous, and fit perhaps, for demons only.
A hip knocked into mine, and I turned, stunned.
“Looks like you got the hang of it, bug,” said the girl in the red dress from earlier. She lowered herself into the pool, red heels clacking, and knelt down at the puddle. With cupped hands, she brought the liquid to her lips and drank deep of it
“How is it?” I asked.
“It kisses you from the inside,” she smiled. She brought full hands to her lips once more.