Music

Barbra was shocked by it: she could feel it, the warmth and fluidity; she'd never been able to feel come inside her before. This time she felt her body suck it up; when Music sat back and flipped out of her, his come was gone: her body had absorbed it.

Music swayed on the floor, smeared in blood, sweating. Barbra left him there, keeping him trapped for the time being, while she went in the antique bathroom and showered in a clawfoot tub. She watched blood swirl down the drain like the PSYCHO shower scene. She stepped out, dried off, and wiped herself off carefully. She saw woman's stuff in a basket on the top of the toilet. Music had a girlfriend. She shook her head; too bad. She wasn't a part of any of that anymore, although the girlfriend wouldn't see it that way.

Thinking, she searched briefly for a bedroom, and found a laundry basket with female clothes in it. They were too big, but she got dressed in them anyway, a skirt, shirt, and jacket. She found a pair of flipflops and slipped her toes onto them. She walked into the main room, and for a while watched Music moan and sway, kneeling on the floor. She looked around in his mind and found his girlfriend; she was named Felicia. Barbra felt a little bad. It wasn't really his fault. Although, the incident at the door, him inviting her inside to fuck her... that hadn't been under her control. He'd made that decision by himself.

She decided to be nice anyway, and told him, "This is a dream." She wasn't sure what he could say about the claw injuries, but she knew they didn't look like fingernail scratches. He was on his own with that. Barbra willed Music to clean up and shower, then willed him to collect his clothes and get dressed. She sent him on his way, and watched as he walked down the street, an hour late for a date with Felicia. When he was almost out of sight she let him go and disappeared from his mind.

She gathered up the bloody clothes in the rug, sacklike, and trotted down the stairs, back into the chilly streets. A few blocks away she dumped the rug and contents into a dumpster, or tip or whatever they called it here. A few more blocks and she heard police sirens: someone had found the bodies.

Barbra walked down the sidewalk, and started swinging her arms, singing a tune under her breath, feeling endless energy. She'd done it; and, she had hours of amazing, lovely darkness to explore in, to gallivant. She could go anywhere, do anything. She thought she might go to a club and do some dancing, she was so exhilarated. She decided to do that, and stopped a well-dressed man who got out of a cab.

"Hello," she said, and looked into his eyes. He gave her a wad of cash out of his wallet and walked away. She got into the cab. She knew she didn't appear in the rear-view mirror, so she told the cabbie to look at her. He did it.

"Take me to a dance club," she ordered. "A nice one." The cab pulled away, into the sparkling city lights.

Barbra felt wonderful.