Dark Music

I ran my fingers through my shoulder-length, hipster hair, dusting out the occasional snowflake. It was near freezing, but here I was a 6'2" man in his early forties afraid to enter his childhood home.

I knew my father had been very sick. after retiring from his factory job, he got diagnosed with late-stage bowel cancer. I knew he'd been hospitalized with a grand mal seizure but That was a little over a year ago. He'd asked me to come home, to say goodbye, maybe share a beer at the old tavern by the lake. I should have come home, now all I had was memories and not even a drink. "Now where the fuck is that key?"

The paperwork from my pop's lawyer laid out the timeline of his last year. when chemo proved ineffective, my dad stayed in hospice care for a few months, but he opted to die in his own home. "Yeah, after the health insurance booted your ass out." I laughed out loud at my own ignorance. "I forgot this is Canada. I spent way too long working in the states."

The worst part was how many times he tried to make contact. he called my Cali home when I was in NY, Chicago, Atlanta. He'd always leave a message. Thankfully I managed to keep them on my voice mail, for times when I needed a dose of courage.

"It's your pops," he spoke slow, through pain-stricken breaths. "I just wanted to say I'm proud of you..."

*beep* 'Next message.'

"I love you and your mother with all my heart." I could barely hold my phone in my trembling hand. "Call when you have a chance."

*beep* 'End call.'

I put my phone away, focusing on the key in my hand. the cold piece of metal was attached to a paper tag. It didn't feel real. I expected the door to fly open, to be welcomed home to a warm, well-lit house. I could practically feel his soul greeting me at the door. "Hi Dad," I said as I put the key in the lock. "Sorry, it took me so long to make it back here."

I immediately noticed the door catch on something; a large cardboard box that seemed to have been there for a while. Thankfully, I'd thought ahead, to bring a flashlight. Catching the shipping label in the light, I saw a small post-it note that had fallen off. The package itself had been addressed to my father, but the faded blue paper read, "For my boy." As far as I knew that meant me. I pulled out my pocket knife and went to work, cutting open the box as carefully as I could. And I'm glad I did.

"Wow." During the final days of his life, my father managed to buy a gorgeous vintage model guitar, the kind I'd had always dreamed of owning. It was left just there, shoved into a corner behind the front door. I guess I should be glad the package didn't get stolen after his body was removed.

Ormond, Alberta was never the safest place. looking around I could already see several windows broken. Locals had already made off with the tv, speakers, and other random electronics (I had no way of knowing what exactly was missing other than judging by the empty spaces.) And then there was the liquor cabinet. The cheap wooden door had been kicked in. "Well, fuck me." Whoever passed through here needed the crap more than I did. This town had been a dying truck stop for decades. Especially, after the closure of the old ski lodge. (And that place closed in the late '80s. I don't even think my parents got to experience its luster.)

I looked around to find what I could find; there was a half-empty pack of cigarettes and numerous containers of expired food. I took a seat on a recliner that had seen better days. What did I want to do? I could have just left, driven all the way back to California, to reunite with my empty house (and my loyal pup, Diana, a three-year-old rottweiler with a heart of gold.) Then I thought about the ski lodge, Mount Ormond. I knew I had one good memory; in high school when I was at my lowest point, a group of kids paid me to write their gang name, 'Legion' in blood-red lettering. It actually came out kind of cool. Part of me wondered if it was still there.

I returned to my car, and headed up the dark abandoned road. On my way, I passed a gas station and picked up a six-pack of whatever they had on sale. My plan was to spend the night, in the snowy wasteland looking up at the stars.

That was until I saw the lights. There was someone inside. As I got closer, I could hear the sound of retro alt-rock.

"I've become so numb.

I can't feel you there

I've Become so tired

So much more aware."

There were shadows dancing all around me, as I parked, approaching the main entrance. I could feel bodies, voices, but there was no one there. And then, the pink-haired girl caught my eye. Let's just say, she wasn't the type of girl you'd marry, she was the type to bleed you dry and fuck your corpse.

The sexy goth with the candy-pink hair was laid out on the old leather sofa, legs spread, with her panties at her knees. By the light of the fireplace, I could see she was penetrating herself with a foreign object. It was the hilt of a knife, the kind you'd use to skin a deer. She was gripping the blade cutting her hands up kind of bad. The strange girl wore a dark blue hoodie, a black lace bra with a matching thong. Her eyes were closed, mouth agape as she moaned.

I wanted to ask if she was okay. Was she alone? But the words that fell from my lips were a little different. "Are you cold?"

She threw her head back with laughter. With her pale skin bathed in the moonlight; she was ethereal, like a goth angel sent straight from Hell.

I watched in shock as she removed the knife with her blood-covered hand. She licked her fingers one by one. "Do you want to help me?"

"Help you?"

She sat up, looking at me with a sarcastic eye roll. "Take a seat." She pulled up her underwear and scooted to the side to give me a place to sit. "Come on." With a sweet, sexy smile she patted the filthy, dusty space next to her.

Clearly, she was insane, but even if she didn't have the knife I still would have obliged. I put down my flashlight and removed my leather jacket. The room was surprisingly warm and comfortable despite the lack of electricity.

"Good, very good." The mystery girl crawled on my lap, like a house cat. She held the blade to my throat, cutting just deep enough to draw blood. "How attached are you to this shirt?" She didn't wait for an answer before cutting. The blade was surprisingly sharp, (admittedly a little scary, but that was her goal.) "I could kill you if I wanted to, but I don't want to."

"What do you want?"

She giggled sweetly. She held the knife in her mouth, to free her hands. with vicious energy she tore into my jeans, tearing at my belt and zipper with unnatural force. "I bet you're so fucking big."

I wasn't. And her laughter confirmed my fears.

"I guess I'll be the one to help you." Her hands were cold but gentle, as she jerked me off using her blood as lube. She pressed her lips to my ear, sending a tingle down my spine. "Do you like to touch yourself? On those long lonely nights?"

"What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," she said as she kissed my cheek, tracing a finger along my unkept facial hair. "You didn't ask."

"I'm asking now."

"Suzanne Anders," she said in a breathy whisper. "My friends called me Susie."

"Susie?" That sounded oddly familiar. I had memories of a girl I went to school with, but that was twenty years ago. This girl didn't look a day over nineteen.

"That's my name don't wear it out."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she had pulled on her hoodie and headed towards a set of stairs. "Wait, are you leaving?"

"Nah I'm just heading upstairs for some fun." She adjusted her skirt while leaving behind her panties. "You ever been to the attic?"

I shook my head. "I didn't even know this place had multiple floors."

"Yeah, well that's because only the cool kids get invited to party in the attic."

With my dick hanging out, I pulled up my jeans as best I could as I attempted to follow her up the oddly hidden staircase. At the top of the stairs, she met me in the doorway, cupping my face for a deep sensual kiss. This was when I first took notice of our height difference. She was maybe 5'3", but her power was immeasurable.

With every kiss she led me to a bare mattress that had seen better days. I assumed the cold killed off any smells but I could still see the yellow and white crust of past parties. I flinched in disgust but that only made her laughed even harder. With my body pinned down she moved my hand to her thigh, allowing me to feel the heat between her legs. "Jeff?" she asked in a baby voice. "Do I have your consent?"

"Consent for what?" I asked with a forced chuckle. At the time. I didn't even think to ask how she knew my name.

"My love." She continued to cut off my clothes. The attic was much colder causing me to lose what little of a hard-on I had prior but it seemed she had a plan. Susie dragged the blade of the dirty knife along my shaft, down my sack to my taint. She was using only a whisper of pressure, just enough to toe the line between pleasure and fear. "Your balls are so hairy. Kind of like my daddy's." She leaned in for a kiss, letting her hair fall over my face. "Can I circumcise you?"

I laughed, assuming she was kidding.

Thankfully she replied with an adorable giggle. Susie kissed my neck, down my chest, biting my left nipple. She moved my hand to my cock, covering my shame. "Do you like it when I hurt you?" She gripped the knife, gliding it along my rib cage. "I don't like to hurt people, but I do want you hard."

I started to masturbate, jerking my shaft as my body felt a rush of heat. Within seconds I felt my muscles tense, my balls ached. "I'm going to cum."

"Not yet, sweetie, not yet." she got on her hands and knees, placing her glossy lips to my swollen head. She was licking the precum like a baby cow craving her mother's milk. "You taste so good." She guided my hand away, taking my whole cock down her throat.

I gripped her hair with one hand while I raised my upper body to a seated position. From my time as a roadie, I'd received more than my share of blowjobs. I liked the idea of looking down on a girl, running my fingers through her hair. I hate to admit it but it gave me a sense of superiority. "You like that don't you?"

That was when Susie stabbed me in the hip. She paused in her work, looking up at me with innocent eyes. "Do you want me?"

"Yes, please." I laid back, letting her take control. Hopefully, she would ride me a little before taking my life.

"Good boy." Susie lowered herself onto my cock, rocking back and forth with slow deliberate motions. She gripped my hands, moving them to her tight slender ass.

"You're not really my type." I gave her ass a squeeze, followed by a weak slap. "But I'll take what I can get."

"Yeah, right." She squeezed my fingers. "Do it again, hurt me the way your daddy used to." Susie closed her eyes grinding her hips like a jackhammer. "Your daddy, he gave me drugs, he sold me, he let those men break me," her voice drifted off, becoming distorted like radio static.

I forced a laugh as I struggled to hold on to her hips. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your mother saved you, or else you would be broken just like me." Susie leaned in for a kiss. "God, you look so much like him." She giggled sweetly, stroking my face. "You really don't remember me?"

"No," I replied in a whisper. "I'm so sorry."

"Do you remember Mr. Hagen's art class? That was when I first fell in love with you."

My heart froze in my chest. Was this a time warp? A dream? Maybe I was dead. "You left town with that new kid."

"Aww, you do remember me," Susie said with a cheeky smile. "But to be fair, you left town first. We're not all lucky enough to have mothers who love us."

I didn't know what to think. Was she a hallucination? I didn't remember taking anything, I wasn't even drunk. That was what scared me the most.

"You were this skinny nerd with glasses, working at a video store, but look what you grew into." She removed her warm, wet pussy from my still erect cock. "You're so fucking gorgeous." She picked up the knife, making a soft, gentle cut through my left nipple. It hurt for only a moment before she started to lick and suck on the blood. "Now be a good boy and spread your legs."

I relaxed, lifting my knees, to present my sweaty, unshaven ass. "Do your worst."

"Trust me, I will." The grip of the knife was still slick with blood and her juices as she slowly penetrated my hole. "Do you like that?"

I had to admit I loved ass play. On the road I'd participated in bi-sexual threesomes, allowing both men and women to put things inside of me; beer bottles, candles, flashlights, anything that could be used to fuck me to an intense, anal orgasm. (Once I was past the point of no return, I could take a cock in my mouth, or tongue fuck a pussy without much effort.)

"Your daddy always liked it." Leaving the knife inside me, she moved to sit on my face. "I was there, by your daddy's side when he passed on."

"Prove it," I muttered between gasps. I could taste her pussy; warm, wet, and sweet. Her juices tasted like white chocolate and mango candy, as I sucked on her clit.

Susie moaned, running her fingers through my hair. "I put in the order for the $5,000 vintage fender. It was your daddy's money but he didn't know shit about how to use the internet." She gave my scalp one last tug before maneuvering herself into a position to suck my cock. "And I was the one who made sure it didn't get jacked by meth heads before you had a chance to come home." Susie casually rubbed her ass to my face, while she peppered my cock with licks and kisses like a popsicle on a hot day.

"So, the guitar was from you?" I muttered between mouthfuls of pussy.

"Yeah, I figured you can sell it if you want," she replied as she briefly came up for air. "Your daddy told me it was your dream to just touch the darkness of the wood; caressing the neck, playing with the strings. Whatever you musician types like to do."

At that moment I didn't care. It had been so long since I felt, for lack of a better word, happiness. Suddenly, my mind opened and I could remember everything; sitting in art class, watching the cute goth girl sneaking sips of vodka from a water bottle. She smiled at me in passing, as she snuck out to smoke cigarettes with her hot, sexy, loner friends. I spent so many nights dreaming of fucking a girl as hot as her.

Now, on that filthy, decaying, STD infected mattress, I was about to blow my load in her mouth. My body tensed, back arched, my ass clenched nearly swallowing up the blade. I closed my eyes as my senses were overtaken by her quivering thighs. Susie was moaning, screaming, as she choked on all six inches of my meat. Both our bodies seemed to burn in unison, melting into a realm of pure hellfire.

"And when I opened my eyes I was here, in the realm of eternal darkness, with all of you lovely people."

Meg, the red-haired former athlete, mouthed a silent 'Wow.' While Dwight, the middle-aged former office manager, looked confused. Jake, the cocky rich boy laughed, as did David (the former underground boxer.) We were all just pieces on someone else's gameboard.

Claudette, the former biology student, giggled as she cleaned her glasses on the fabric of her shirt. "I was already here, the night you arrived in the hub dimension. If you were naked with a knife up your ass, I think I would have remembered."

"I arrived here the same as all of you, wearing the last clothing I remember."

Kate, the former singer, chuckled. "So you don't have the knife inside of your rectum right now?" The other survivors seemed to just shake their heads in disbelief.

I took a seat on the ground, comfortably sitting cross-legged in my dark-wash jeans.

By the light of the campfire, all our faces looked dead, defeated. But the one thing we all still had was our memories. "Well, that's my story, who's next?"