I focused my eyes on the woman sitting on the opposite side of the table from me. She held a menu in her hands that obscured most of her face. She’d been “deciding” on what to order, but I was sure that her occasional comments on the random items were just to keep the atmosphere lively.

“What are you in the mood for?” I asked, intently.

She lowered the menu, meeting my eyes. Her dressed, dark hair contrasted her fair skin, on which she wore a modest amount of makeup that complemented her appearance well.

“I wonder,” she deliberated, “I think I’ll go with whatever you want. I’d like to get to know your tastes.”

I locked eyes with her once more, and briefly closed my eyes before reopening them. Yeah-

“Alfredo Fettuccine, then?” I casually suggested.

She looked surprised. I mean it was a rather generic answer, but-

“What a coincidence! I guess we really do have similar tastes.”

We had met through a series of “coincidences.” That was true. However, one could also just say that our interests aligned, which enabled that to happen. In any case, I’m sure of one thing now, I reminded myself.

“I suppose we do. I frequent this place often, and the item is consistently good,” I added to keep the conversation going.

“Hmm, sounds good then,” she approved of the suggestion.

Shortly after, the waiter returned with our drinks, and took our orders. She retrieved our menus and then returned to her other duties. Left waiting for our meal, I decided to pry further.

“So, I must ask,” I started, “how familiar are you with the city?”

“A bit. I’ve recently moved here, so I haven’t seen much yet," she explained.

"Interesting. I'll make a note to show you around, that is, if this lasts long enough," I said, aiming to act casual.

"Oh, I'd love that!" She beamed her smile back at me.

I smiled in return. "It'll happen, as long as nothing terrible happens to inconvenience me. You know, like an apocalypse, nuclear war.. or maybe getting murdered."

Her lips, almost imperceptibly, twitched, but she quickly shook her head, relaxing her expression. "Don't say such things. Now, drink up, the food's coming."

"Oh, the food's here? How fast time passes," I said, before taking a sip of my drink.

----------------------------------------

Our food arrived, and we ate while idly chatting. After around forty-five minutes, we exited the restaurant.

"You were right," she said, "this place was very good. I'll have to come here more often."

"Glad you liked it," I smiled, following her down the labyrinth of the city streets. She had offered to go to her place, since it was closer. Works for me, I guess, I thought.

After a short walk, we approached her apartment complex.

"So, this is it," she announced, gesturing to the building.

The apartment complex was a long, low building, three stories high. There were balconies on every floor, and the paint was peeling off in strips. The whole place looked like it was about to fall down.

"Eh, housing market, amirite?" I attempted to make light of her terrible living conditions. Acting all nice and complementing it would be even more of an insult.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said, looking away from the building and back to me. "Thanks for coming with me tonight. I had a really great time."

"Don't mention it," I said, "I did too. Let’s try a different place next time."

I waved lightly, and started to turn away, when I heard a faint gasp and the sound of a purse being rummaged through. I stifled a grin and thought, so this is the game you’re playing? I put my hands in my jacket pockets and turned back around, catching sight of her attempting to find what I assumed to be her keys.

"Do you need some help?" I offered, innocently.

She gave a nervous laugh, and dropped her purse to the ground. "Yeah, I think I might've left my keys at work. I'm such an idiot."

"No problem," I said, approaching the door. "I'll show you a little trick."

I put my hand on the knob and closed my eyes, and then gave a half-assed kick to the bottom of the door, while turning my wrist. Just like that, the lock clicked, although inaudible to her over the kick. I gently opened the door, and turned back to her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Cool, right? Oh, and don't worry, I didn't break anything," I reassured her.

She looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and admiration. "That's amazing! How'd you learn how to do that?" I noticed something else in her expression, but couldn’t get my finger on it.

"Oh, my father once taught me it," I said, feigning a wave of nostalgia. Yeah right, I said to myself.

Her face softened. "He was a great guy," I added. I didn’t want to tread too far with the lie, so I stopped there. "Anyway, I’ll get going now. By the way, you dropped your keys on the walk here.”

I retrieved them from my coat pocket and dangled them in front of her. She looked a bit embarrassed and quickly took them back. What a great actor, I thought, did you think I wouldn’t notice you dropping them intentionally?

“Sorry for showing off. Have a nice night,” I said.

I began to walk away for the second time, but I could already guess what she would do next.

"Wait. You don't have to go yet, do you?" she asked, hesitantly.

With that, I all but confirmed my suspicions.

"If you insist, I'll stay," I said as I turned towards her.

She wasn't facing me however, and was already heading inside.

I followed behind.

----------------------------------------

She pushed me down on the bed and began to kiss my neck. I could feel her body heat against mine as her hands ran along my chest.

She paused, and then looked me in the eyes. "Do you want this?" she asked. The way she said it, however, seemed slightly out of tone for the context. Or to put it more simply, it was almost as if she was asking about something completely different than the obvious subject.

I didn't need to think about my answer. I was there for a reason.

"Yes."

She smiled, leaned in, and whispered "Okay, then." She then resumed what she had started earlier. Ever since entering her apartment I had been acting as a ragdoll, allowing her to do with me as she pleased.

I closed my eyes as she continued to caress me. I began hearing the sound of a fast, beating heart in my ear. However, I remained perfectly calm and focused on that sole, rhythmic sound. It rose and fell as we continued, but it was gradually rising in a crescendo.

Wait.. wait for it, I thought to myself. Nothing in the entire world was more important than that sound pulsating through my ears. It was the best chance I had at this.

My eyes closed, all I could rely on was touch and hearing. She removed her hand from my cheek and then I heard the sound of a drawer being opened. Something was retrieved from it. I felt her hand return to my neck, and for some reason it felt inexplicably cold now.

It ran down my cheek, and down to my neck. I felt a finger hover over the site of my carotid artery, and it pressed down gently.

“You're awfully calm right now..” she said.

I didn’t reply at first. I was focused on the fluctuations of the beating within my ears. I felt it rising, and finally-

It reached the peak.

“What about you?” I replied.

She suddenly lifted her arm and at the same time I sprung from my complacent dormancy. I stretched my neck to the left as something swiftly plunged down in its previous position. I felt the wind displaced in its path caress my ear, and it made a tearing sound as it punctured the pillow beneath.

However, by the time that this had occured, I had already thrusted my hand forward, towards the center of the person on top of me. Not their physical center, but the center of their existence - the soul.

With my eyes still closed, all I could register was darkness, but as I made contact with her chest, a flash of beautiful light grazed my soul. It was a light I had seen four times already, but memory couldn’t begin to compare experiencing it in the present moment.

As the flash subsided, the world around me slowed to a halt, and my mind was focused entirely on a singular thing. In front of me, surrounded by strands and webs of inter tangled light, layed a crystallized, thorned, red rose. It was both beautiful and deadly in its dark allure . It was a rose that brought to mind what it would be like if love and hate were one and the same.

I stood there, staring at the rose, and I knew that I had to have it. So, with my hand, also surrounded in the same light, I seized the rose, and ripped it from the depths of loneliness and despair. The light faded, and I was left with only the rose in my hand. It thorns punctured the skin in my tight grasp, and my blood was absorbed by it. It began to wither, but its power ran through my hand, through my arm, and to my chest. And there, as it was assimilated into my soul, it bloomed, and its power was granted to its new owner - me.

It was.. It was truly-

Vile.

I jolted my eyes open, and with a gasp of breath time resumed once more. My palm laid flat against her chest still, but her movement had stopped. Instead, she looked down on me, face pallid, eyes filled with shock

“H-?” She tried to speak, weakly.

“...” I kept quiet, trying to keep my calm.

She made a choking noise as blood began to dribble from her lip, and she began losing her balance. Her hand released from the grip of the knife plunged to the side of my neck, and she put it on my chest in an effort to support herself. However, she weakly fell on top of me. Her breath was shallow as its drafts grazed my ear. Her chin, laying on my shoulder, moved up and down as she struggled to say something. My heart ached.

“I’m..”

I swore I’d stay silent, but-

“I’m sorry,” I quietly uttered, “I have something I can’t fail.”

In response, I heard an attempt at a laugh, and she whispered into my ear,

“G.. go to.. hell,” and then her breathing faded.

I wasn’t religious, but I was sure of one thing- that was definitely where I belonged. I was selfish in my commitment to evil for self benefit, and no amount of excuses exonerated me for that. However, I was committed to my cause and I would not stop until it was sought through. Only then would I shoulder my sins. That's at least what I promised myself. In reality I was set to fail from the beginning once I realized the superficiality of my conviction.

So instead, I continued the weak laughter she started, all while tears flowed down my cheeks, mixing with the red that was all too reminiscent of that flower.