Joe laughed again, “You too Kenneth, say hello to Ansuya for me.”
Kenneth nodded his head as he walked up the sidewalk toward the front door. The four hundred milliliters of blood he drank had fortified him, but the closer he got to his house the more focus and concentration he needed. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
He knew what he was going to find, but seeing it firsthand almost made him laugh. He had to fight the urge and instead took on a very stupefied look. The whole house was in complete shambles. The burned-out motor on the blender had left black soot and smoke stains on the surrounding tile and wooden cabinet it sat under. The coffee maker was smoking and the pot itself was black with burnt coffee remains and burnt glass. There were shattered dishes everywhere. The garbage disposal was still running, making a sick squealing noise as large carrots and celery were spinning around intermittently in an endless merry go round.
He turned around to face the living room and found the sofa and love seat ripped to shreds and the good stuffing was thrown out all over the room. The television was on blaring out some sitcom or other with two guys and a girl sitting in an apartment kitchen talking about French toast. Ansuya was nowhere to be found. He knew where she was of course; he could feel exactly where she was. He turned the television off and walked up the stairs.
He walked into their bedroom where Ansuya was diligently breaking the bathroom mirror into smaller and smaller pieces. He had to give her credit for her ingenuity. For some other illusion, splitting the particles into smaller and smaller pieces would eventually split the world, and the illusion would fall apart under its own weight and complexity. But this was so much more than just an illusion. The Shape shifter had no idea what she was dealing with. Still, her spirit was something to be admired.
He stood still with his mouth hanging open looking around at the carnage of the bedroom. The bed mattress was shredded, there were clothes everywhere ripped and torn into pieces. A hair dryer had been split open and lay in pieces strewn about the floor. The place looked like it had been victim to a CIA shakedown, a hurricane, and a group of twelve-year-old gang bangers, all on the same day. This was a disaster area.
“Ansuya? What are you doing?!,” he asked with shock and concern.
The woman looked up at him and smiled as she brought her hand down onto another larger shard of glass, shattering it into smaller pieces. Her hand scrapped the glass pieces onto the floor, leaving a long, thick, wide swath of blood from her hand on the counter. She smiled wickedly at him.
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“Ansuya, what have you done?! Our house is ruined!” Kenneth let some of his mirth out in an insane laughter that sounded pretty much what he expected any human to sound like after they had become truly unhinged from reality.
The woman simply smiled at him, blood dripping from the ruined flesh of her hands. If he hadn’t already eaten, the temptation to feed on her now would have been too great for him to resist, which may have been her point. She stood there, her nice business suit ripped and torn in several places. Her nylons had runs throughout and hung down between her legs in long strips of fabric. Her hair was disheveled and unkempt, like she had used a curling iron then used a flat iron and doused her hair in hair spray, then shoved a fork in an electrical socket. Her eyes were steady though; her deep brown eyes were just as steady now as when he first talked to her in her cell. She wasn’t insane, though she definitely looked the part.
Kenneth stared at her, “What have you done?” he asked almost in a whisper.
For the first time Ansuya’s eyes flicked an emotion. It was small and very subtle. If he hadn’t been a vampire he would have missed it. It was there for a split second, doubt, remorse? It was impossible to tell in that single flash. Her eyes were steady now and piercing, cool and in control. “Don’t you like my decorating?”
Kenneth ran his hands through his hair and turned away from the woman. He let out his laughter finally and kicked over a pile of torn and ripped clothes. He bent down and picked up a very expensive pair of Egyptian cotton pants, now split down the crotch into two single pant legs. He held up the ruined clothes to her. “These were my best slacks! What am I supposed to go to work in now?!,” he threw them aside partially covering the broken hair dryer.
Ansuya looked into his eyes and held his gaze calmly, “You and I both know you don’t go to work.” She held up her bloody hand. “I know you want this. Shall we end this charade?”
Kenneth stared at the blood as it dripped onto the beige carpet, forever staining it an ugly maroon. He closed his eyes and looked up toward the ceiling. He pulled every memory of human emotion that he could, he brought his focus to a point on himself and forced this human facsimile of his eyes to water. He opened his eyes as tears streamed down his face. He looked at the beautiful woman standing in the room with him. “Ansuya…I don’t know what has happened to you. I don’t know what I did, or what you think I did, but,” he blinked his eyes clear for a moment, “I can’t be here. Whatever madness has gripped you I want you to know that I love you and I want you back.” He turned away from her and spread his arms encompassing the room around them. “This is all just stuff that can be replaced, but our life together can’t be.” He lowered his head and whispered, “I want you back, Beautiful.”
He walked out of the room, down the stairs and out the front door. He got in his car and drove to the same house he drove to that morning. The sun had set in his world and the road was dark. There were a few cars on the road, which was more than normal. He pulled into the open drive way and closed the garage door. He got out of his car and walked through the door leading back to reality.