Midsummer's Eve, First Kiss

"Make me immortal with a kiss."

-Doctor Faustus, Act V, Scene I

***

"What do you mean you've never even kissed a girl?" Jordan said, stopping short and turning around, shining his flashlight right into Miles' face.

Miles stumbled and caught himself on the lowest branch of a nearby tree.

"Just what I said," he replied, shaking his hand. The bark had scratched him. Jordan cocked his head and looked at him out the corner of his eye.

"How old are you?"

"You know I'm 18."

"Yeah, I know that. I just can't figure out how the hell it can be true after what you just told me. Never kissed a girl, not once, seriously?"

It was a fair June night, with a breeze in the trees. Other than the slight rustle of pine needles, the woods were quiet. Miles hitched his hoodie up higher. "There's nothing wrong with it," he said. "I'm just waiting for the right girl."

Jordan turned around again, shaking his head. "We're not talking about marrying the damn girl, we're just talking about rounding first. How right does she have to be?"

Jordan continued down the path. Miles could have moved faster if they hadn't accidentally left the second flashlight behind, but as it was he had to step carefully in the dark. The moon was full, but little light broke through the trees.

"I'm fucking well embarrassed for you," Jordan said. "Hey, does this mean you're gay?"

"No."

"Dude, if you're gay, you can tell me, I'm fine with it. I don't—"

"I'm not gay."

"Okay, okay. Would have made more sense if you were. Hey, what about Penny Dreuer?"

Miles ducked under another low branch. "We were never actually dating, she just told people that so that the football team would stop hitting on her. I think she actually is gay, but I'm not sure."

"For real? Why didn't you say anything?"

Miles frowned. "Why the hell would I? People thought I was dating Penny Dreuer."

Jordan laughed. "Miles, we have to fix this. You can't start your senior year of high school this way. You'll grow up to be a serial killer or something."

Miles' hoodie caught on a manzanita bush and he had to stop to make sure it didn't rip. "I don't think that's how it works. Are you going to tell me why we're out here?"

"Because it's Midsummer's Eve."

Miles stopped. "What the hell does that mean?"

"No idea." said Jordan. 'All I know is that Katherine Frye and her friends are having a bonfire party out here tonight and she asked me to come."

"Katherine?" said Miles. "That girl who tried to sue the school to break up Mrs. Fredinini's prayer circle because she said it infringed on her rights as a pagan?"

"That's her."

"She's nuts!"

"And she's got nice tits," said Jordan, grinning. "We have summer school together. She told me at lunch that it's Midsummer's Eve and her friends are gonna be out here talking to the spirits of the solstice."

"What does that mean?"

"Fuck, I dunno. When she talks about that kind of thing I mainly just nod. She said they needed some 'primal male energy.'" He clapped Miles on the shoulder. "You hear that? These girls wanna get primal. It's your lucky night."

Miles groaned. "If you'd told me what we were doing I'd have stayed home."

"That's why I didn't tell you, and you're lucky I didn't. Never kissed a girl, damn." He shook his head again. "I blame myself. We need to get you out of the house more. Just follow my lead tonight and you can round second, easy."

"I'm not interested in Katherine."

"You better not be, she's mine. But there'll be plenty of girls here. Some of them are even college girls!"

Miles stopped to catch his breath. The trail lead up a steep incline and his legs were killing him. There was a drop off on one side and a sheer wall on the other.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" he said. "We're a long way from where we parked the truck."

"Well they have to go a long way out to avoid the Forest Service. We don't exactly have a permit for this bonfire. Katherine gave me directions though, let me check."

Miles saw what was about to happen before Jordan realized it: When Jordan stuck his hand into his pocket, all his weight shifted to one leg, and a rock broke away under his foot, bouncing down the slope on one side of the path. Jordan stumbled, and then he was teetering on the edge, arms flailing, mouth open, too surprised to even cry out.

Miles jumped caught his friend's arm. He pulled and Jordan forward, and Miles' legs tangled with his, tripping him, and then before he knew it Miles was the one who was falling. "Oh—!" he said, and that was all he had time for.

He slid down the embankment on his back, loose dirt and stones tumbling after him, until another manzanita bush broke his fall at the bottom. He landed in a heap. Jordan's flashlight landed next to him a second later.

He heard Jordan's voice from the top: "Miles! Shit, Miles, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Miles groaned.

"This doesn't feel like rounding second," he said.

"Are you hurt? Can you move?"

Miles untangled himself from the bush and looked himself over. He was cut and bruised, and his hoodie was shredded, but nothing was broken.

"I'll live," he said.

"I lost my flashlight," said Jordan. "Do you see a way up?"

Miles picked up the light. It was broken. "No," he said. "It's too dark down here."

"Shit. I'll go back to the truck for the other light. Don't move, okay?"

"I've moved enough for one night," said Miles. His head hurt.

Miles heard movement at the top of the hill, and then he was alone, in the forest, in the middle of the night.

"Great," he said. "Don't worry about me, I'll just stay here and mind the bears and coyotes."

"There are no coyotes," said a voice right next to him.

Miles screamed. He spun around, tripped, and fell again, landing face down in the dirt.

"That's not much of a coyote call," said the voice. "But I'm sure you'll get better with practice."

The girl was his age, dressed in a green flower-print dress with blond hair down to her shoulders, and she was helping him to his feet, pulling him up by his arm. She was very strong.

"You scared the hell out of me," he said. Then, remembering his manner, he added: "Thanks for helping me up though."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "You're scared? You're the one who almost fell on me."

"I did?" Miles leaned against a tree trunk and waited for his heart to stop pounding.

"Uh huh," she said. She rubbed one bare arm and traced in the dirt with her foot. She wasn't wearing any shoes. "I was standing right there when you fell. Another foot to the left and I'd have broken your fall."

"Sorry," he said. "I lost my balance up on the trail."

"Are you hurt?"

"Just bruised. I'll be fine. Are you one of Katherine's friends? Are you here for the bonfire?"

"We're having a fire, yes. It's Midsummer's Eve."

"I keep hearing that, yeah. Is it close? My friend knows the way, but he had to go back."

"It's not far," she said. "Come on, I'll show you."

She took him by the hand. Miles' heart did a little leap. Down boy, he thought.

"Hang on," he said. "We should wait for Jordan."

"It's not far," she said again. "He'll be able to find us. What's your name?"

"Miles."

"I'm Syrella."

"That's a pretty name," he said. She was pulling him along with her through the trees, pine needles and loose twigs snapping with every step. How can she walk around out here without any shoes, he wondered?

"I've never seen you here before," she said. "Is this your first time?"

"Yeah. Jordan is friends with Katherine. She invited us. He says she did anyway."

Up ahead, Miles saw orange light between the tree trunks. "It's just through here," said Syrella. "The others are waiting for us."

She took him into the clearing where a fire blazed. Picnic blankets were strewn around. Syrella sat on one and indicated that he should sit next to her. On the opposite side were two other girls, one with dark hair and high cheekbones, the other strawberry blond with a snub nose. Syrella lifted Miles' arm halfway up and said:

"Look what I found! Everyone, this is Miles. Miles, that's Holly," she indicated the dark-haired girl. "And that's Annette."

"Um, hi," said Miles.

"A man?" said Holly. "Are we allowed to have men?"

"We used to have men here all the time, before you scared them off," said Annette. "I think he's cute."

Miles ducked his head as he started to blush. Annette twirled her hair around one finger while she looked at him and then, seeming very earnest, she said: "Are we going to eat him?"

Miles laughed. No one else did.

"We'd better," said Holly. "He doesn't even look like a man to me. He looks like a boy. Boys are tender."

"I'm a man," said Miles, then regretted it immediately. Everyone snickered. Syrella patted his arm.

"I guess we'll find out soon," she said. "Where's Sonia?"

"Still out looking," said Annette. "Maybe if she catches something we won't have to eat him. It would be better."

"Speak for yourself," said Holly.

Miles had little experience with parties, but he didn't imagine that this was normal conversation.

"Um, is Katherine around?" he said. "We were supposed to meet Katherine. Jordan will be looking for us. He had to go back."

"More men?" said Holly.

"Don't be a bitch," said Annette. "I like having men around sometimes. They're useful for certain things." She giggled.

Holly smirked. "Not this one. I can tell by looking at him."

Miles sighed. He stood and brushed his jeans off. "Okay, fine, I get it, I'm going."

Syrella caught his hand. "Oh no, come on, don't let her get to you. She's always like this. The rest of us want you to stay."

Miles shook her off. "I didn't want to be here anyway. I came because Jordan had some stupid idea of getting me my first—"

He shut his mouth. Syrella and Annette looked surprised. Holly howled with laughter.

"Not that!" Miles said, blushing even harder. "Just...a kiss. That's all."

"First kiss?" said Syrella. She raised her eyebrows.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," said Holly.

"Ohh, how adorable!" said Annette.

Miles shrugged. "Yeah, well, anyway, nice meeting you all."

"Hold on," said Syrella. She stepped in front of him. "Have you really never even kissed a girl?"

Miles looked away, hands in his pockets. "It's not a big deal," he said.

"Would he even know?" said Holly, and Annette slapped her elbow.

Miles wasn't sure he felt comfortable with the way Syrella was looking at him. It reminded him of the way a hungry dog looks at fresh meat.

"I'm, uh, just going to find my way back to the trail..." he said.

"No," said Syrella, "you're not."

She closed the distance between them in two steps, grabbed hold of him, and, before he even knew what was happening, she kissed him.

Miles felt the ground lurch under his feet, but he managed to stay upright. Syrella's lips were warm and soft, and her delicate little fingers squeezed his. They kissed for a long time, and when she broke off Miles had to gasp for air. He was light-headed and felt flushed all over.

Syrella was smiling at him again.

""Aw, I wanted to do it!" said Annette.

Syrella let go of his hand. "Now do you still want to go?"

"Wow," was all he said. She took him back to the fire and sat down with him.

"I'm keeping him," said Syrella. "No one gets to eat him."

"For fuck's sake!" said Holly, throwing up her hands.

Annette leaned in and whispered: "How did it feel?"

"Wow," he said again.

"Well this is adorable and all," said Holly, "but if Syrella is going to keep every stray she finds then we're all bound to go hungry. And I get really bitchy when I haven't eaten."

"Really?" said Miles. "You must not have eaten in years."

He hadn't meant to say it. The words just came out of his mouth. The girls all froze, plainly unsure what was going to happen next. Holly tensed, and Miles prepped himself to run if he had to. Then a new voice interrupted them:

"It's taken care of."

Everyone turned at the same time, and Miles' jaw dropped.

A very tall woman, older than the girls at the fire, entered the clearing. She had long black hair and an olive complexion, and she was as naked as the day she was born. On top of that, she was leading a dappled brown doe into the clearing by hand, stroking its muzzle and singing to it under her breath. The deer's big black eyes blinked at the firelight.

Miles was sure he must be seeing things.

"See," said Annette. "I told you Sonia would catch something. And what a beautiful animal."

"I still want the kid," said Holly.

"I'll fight you for him," said Syrella. She sounded serious. Holly flinched.

Sonia led the deer to the fireside. Miles' mouth was still open. She didn't appear to notice him. He swallowed and tried to think of something to say. All he came up with was:

"You're not Katherine's friends, are you? This isn't her Wiccan party, is it?"

They all looked at him. Annette giggled and shook her head.

"We're the daughters of the earth," said Syrella. "See?"

She held out her hand, and Miles saw five black spots making up the points of a pentagon on her palm. "What's that?" he said.

"A sign," said Syrella.

The other girls showed him the same marks on their hands. Sonia said nothing, and still didn't acknowledge him.

"You'd better take your clothes off, Miles," Syrella continued.

"What?"

"Your clothes, off." Syrella pulled her dress over her head. Miles gaped again.

"Rules are rules," said Annette, ditching her dress too.

"What are you, I mean, why...huh?"

"Come on, snap to it," said Syrella. "Right now."

"I, uh, I don't think—"

Sonia looked at him for the first time. She frowned. Miles froze, and that was al he took. Then he took off his shirt, hopping up and down to pull his pants off one leg at a time.

"Good boy," said Syrella.

He hesitated before taking off his underwear, but he didn't think there wouldn't be any exceptions made for modesty. Syrella was diplomatic enough to look away, and Holly only rolled her eyes, but Annette looked right at it. Thank God it's a warm night, he thought.

"So, uh, what's going on?" he said.

"Shh," said Syrella. She pointed to Sonia and the deer. Sonia put one hand on the animal's neck and one on its chest. The doe trembled, but didn't run.

"How does she do that?" said Miles.

"Practice," said Syrella.

"Are we ready?" said Sonia.

"Yes!" said the girls in unison, making Miles jump.

"This, on Midsummer's Eve, we give to the earth," said Sonia.

"To the earth," repeated the girls. Miles mumbled along with them.

Sonia pushed her face up to the doe's neck. Miles thought she was going to kiss it. He wondered what was going on. Some kind of a vegan thing?

Then, as he watched, Sonia sank her teeth into the animal's neck and jerked her head away, ripping it's throat out in one bite.

"Jesus Christ!" said Miles.

Holly's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, squeezing so hard that he dropped to his knees.

"Don't ever say that again," she said. He nodded and gasped and she let go.

The doe staggered and fell without a sound, legs twitching. Blood dripped from Sonia's mouth. She swallowed the hunk of flesh, then stuck her hand into the doe's wound and pulled away a strip of raw, bloody venison. This she held out to Holly, who ate it from her fingers.

Miles gagged. Definitely not vegan, he thought.

Holly then tore a piece off of the carcass and fed it to Annette. Annette swallowed the raw meat and kissed Holly's bloody fingers. Miles's stomach rolled over. Syrella was holding him up again.

The smell of blood was right under his nose. He realized that Annette was holding a bloody hand out to him now, offering something. He shook his head, backing away.

"Oh no," he said. "It's okay, really, I already ate. In fact, I just became vegetarian. Right this second."

"Miles..." said Syrella, but he kept talking.

"Really though, that's nice of you, I appreciate it, just, um, pass it on, or something."

Sonia looked at him. Blood was all over his mouth. "This is the Midsummer rite. It's a rite for hunters."

"And if you're not the hunter," said Holly, "then you're what we hunt." There was blood on her teeth.

Syrella hissed in his ear. "Miles, this is not optional," she whispered. "You're cute and all, but if you don't do this you're next. My teeth aren't as sharp as Sonia's, but I'm sure I could get it over with in one bite."

He looked in her eyes. She was serious. His body debated whether this would be a good time to pass out. It apparently decided that the answer was no, which Miles wasn't sure he agreed with.

Leaning forward, trying very hard not to think about what he was doing, Miles opened his mouth. Annette stuck her fingers in, something he normally would have enjoyed, but in this case it was hard to ignore the sour stink of hot blood or the raw, rubbery mass she fed him.

He swallowed, choked, gagged, and swallowed again. It tasted awful.

"Good," said Syrella. "Now the next part."

Miles' legs wobbled as he approached the deer carcass. It was still twitching. After several seconds' hesitation, he stuck his hand into the torn throat. It was slippery, and he couldn't tear the meat free until Syrella helped. She ate from his fingers without comment, and then Syrella fed Sonia, finishing the circle.

"Good," Sonia said. "That's done."

And then she grabbed the deer by its haunch and, as Miles stared, dragged it away with one hand, into the brush and out of sight.

Did any of that really just happen, he thought. Then he tasted the blood in his mouth again and knew that it must have. Oh God, he thought, please don't hurl, please don't hurl...

Syrella stroked his arm and whispered in his ear again. "You did fine. The first time is hard."

"Is it over?" he said.

"The hard part is," Syrella said. She kissed him again. Her lips tasted like blood.

"Who are you?" Miles said. "Who are all of you? What is this?"

"We're just people. Most of the time. Don't ask so many questions Miles, just try to enjoy yourself. Look." She pointed. Miles looked. Holly and Annette were kissing.

Flickering orange light from the fire reflected off their naked bodies. Holly's hands were in Annette's hair, and Annette's fingers raked Holly's bare back. Both girls' breasts were crushed against each other while hips pressed to hips.

As Miles watched, Holly lay down on one of the fireside blankets, pulling Annette after her. Annette pretended to struggle. "Help, help, she's an animal!" she said. Holly responded by biting Annette on the side of neck, and she gasped.

Miles felt a pain in his shoulder. He cried out. Syrella laughed in his ear. She'd bitten him too, hard enough to draw blood. "What the hell?" he said.

"Sorry," she said, kissing the other shoulder. "Sometimes we play rough. You don't mind, do you?"

"I..." he said, then trailed off. Syrella's naked body was pressed against his back, and her hands were roaming all over him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and ran her hands over his chest, then licked away a drop of blood that was running down his body from the shoulder wound.

Her tongue was very, very red.

She led him to the other blanket. Holly and Annette were very busy nearby, a thrashing, tangled mass of limbs, mouths open in a constant stream of hot kisses. He blushed and turned away, but Syrella turned his head back. Annette saw him and winked.

Syrella's hands moved lower. They glanced against his hardening cock and he jerked. She murmured in his ear, but he couldn't make out the words.

"Syrella?" he said. His voice sounded very loud all of a sudden.

"Yes?" she whispered. She was sitting in his lap now, trying to push him to his back, efforts against which he provided only minor resistance.

"I don't understand anything that's going on," he said.