Three Days In February

And God help me, I did it. I fucked Genesis, imagining that she was Virginia, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this whole thing would be gone in the morning, and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. And after Genesis and I fucked, she and Virginia both crawled into bed with me and we all fell asleep.

Well, I'm sure you can guess where this is heading.

In the morning, as promised, Genesis was gone, and so was her car. Virginia was still there, though, and when I woke up, she was reading the Dear John note that Genesis had left behind. It was three words.

"I'm sorry. -Genesis"

Virgina and I didn't really talk much that morning, but after an incredibly silent cup of coffee, Virginia said she was going to find out what was happening to me, no matter what it cost her. Those were her last words to me.

It turned out that Genesis had left Santa Cruz. She'd driven back early that morning, packed up all her shit into her pickup and had left. That unbreakable bond she'd had with her hometown of Santa Cruz? Apparently all it took was one fuck with me to shatter it.

A week later, Virginia's car was found abandoned on a Santa Cruz beach. Nobody's seen her since. Neil and Rachel were going to fly out to see Rachel's folks for Christmas, and when they headed off to the airport, I hopped into a warm bath, popped a handful of Vicodin and attempted to slit my wrist. As it turned out, their flight got cancelled and they came home to find me passed out in the bathtub. Neil said it was the damnedest thing he'd ever seen. The bathtub had, like a bunch of my blood in it, but the cut on my wrist wasn't severe at all. The paramedic said it sounded stupid when he said it aloud, but it was almost like I'd bled out into the tub and then my arm had just regenerated, and that the blood loss wasn't enough to do me any real damage, regardless of how awful the bathtub looked.

I mean, look at it. This was barely two months ago, and you can barely even see a tiny little hint of a scar, but I swear to you, I cut deep and hard with a straight razor. I know I fucking did. I mean, I get that I've got quick healing - believe me, Neil finds it hilarious every time he gives me a new tattoo, because most people are still wincing in pain a couple of days later, but I'm completely fine. Don't even get me started on how baffled he is why the ink never really fades in my skin.

So yeah, here I am again, completely at a loss of what to do. Seems I can't even commit suicide right. I know, shouldn't be so funny, but it is, right? It's like that old joke I remember about the idiot trying to commit suicide who says, "If I don't get this right, I'll kill myself." I know, I know, I shouldn't laugh, but at this point, if I don't know how I'm going to get through the day.

What's that? No, I don't even recognize that word. Okay, translates into 'dragonborn' from what language? I've never even heard of it. Okay, because at this point, my life is full of enough weird shit that I guess I'm going to believe you. Oh, sure, sure, only one-eighth dragonborn. I mean, how often do you met anyone who's even half dragonborn these days? Well, what kind of stupid defense mechanism is that? Okay, but what if I don't want to live to be 200? I mean, if I can't have emotional connections or whatever, what's the point of living that long?

Hey, at this point, Jonas, I'm just trying to go along with whatever you're telling me, because you were, like, the only person other than Neil to believe me the first time I told you this story.

Well, shit, man, if you knew there was a way for me to fix all this, why didn't you tell me that back when I first told you the story? Right right, but that's my choice to make, Jonas! If you'd asked me back then, I'd have told you the same thing I'm telling you now - I don't care if means I don't live as long, or if it means I might get sick more often or that I might die tomorrow. That's part of being human. That's the risk anyone takes just being alive.

Okay, but I promise you, no matter how hard you think this thing I'd have to do is, I'd fucking do it. What do you mean 'interesting window of opportunity?' Look, explain it to me and let me decide for myself.

...

Yeah, I see what you mean about it being a real bitch. An entire year where I don't see or talk to any more than two people face-to-face? 'Going to happen anyway?' What the fuck are you-

Okay, I get it, Jonas, you've always seemed to know a little more than you should about anything, but saying I'm going to get limited like that anyw-

No, I don't think 'knowing it's happening to everyone' is going to make me feel any better. Oh sure, if it has to happen, maybe I should take advantage of it. Like I said, I'd do fucking anything to get Virginia back into my life again. I didn't even fuck her, and I still lost her. I, just... I don't know what to do any more, Jonas. I'm at the end of my rope now.

Yeah, I can follow instructions but-

Yes, I know the myth of Orpheus and what a dumbass he was for looking back right at the v—

Okay.

Okay.

Right.

These specifically?

Sure.

Exactly this size, and directly over my heart. No, I got it, and if I tell Neil a tattoo can't change at all from the reference, he'll do it exactly how it is. I mean, you had him do that tattoo on your girlfriend Kelly and he even used that exotic blue ink you gave him, so him using this pattern and these inks won't be too much of a problem.

Wait until the last day of March? Really? Okay, I get it. I get it. You're the guy who knows things and I'm the guy who needs to trust the guy who knows things. But tell me how it's going to work.

Right, so last day of March he puts the tattoo on me, in the exact spot, using the exact inks. Then I can't talk to anyone else in person other than him and his old lady for a whole year, but it won't be a problem, because there'll be a lot of that going around. And then, on Valentine's Day, 2022, the whole curse will be broken, and my life will start to make sense again?

I'm not going to lie, Jonas. It sounds like a load of horseshit, but at this point, I am willing to try just about anything. But, I have to ask, why do this for me? Ha! That's funny, Jonas, but if you say so. No no, I totally believe you... grandpa! C'mon, if you were really my grandfather, shouldn't you look older than me, and not, y'know, younger? I mean, shit, I think you look younger now than when we first met! Oh right, right, dragonborn regeneration...

Look, whether or not I believe you makes no real difference. I'm going to do what you told me to, because I don't have anything left to try and because I'm at a point in my life where I'll do literally anything to get out from under this curse. I guess I'll tell how I feel in a couple of years' time.

Wait, what do you mean I won't see you again? How the hell are you going to know if it worked if I don't? Heh. Okay man, I guess you're right - trust does go both ways.

Well, whether or not it works, I guess I should say thank you anyway. For at least giving me a little bit of hope and a fighting chance to try and get this funk out of my life. So thanks for that. No no, don't worry about it. You and Kelly's drinks are on me. I got it.

Hey Jonas?

I really hope you're right and this works, man.

Thanks.

Feb. 15, 2022

Neil. NEIL. Wake the fuck up, man! That's why I'm whispering, man, so to not wake Rach! C'mon, we need to talk out on the porch! Then grab the blanket from the living room and put on a hoodie! I don't care how fucking cold and early it is! This shit's important!

...

Thanks. Yes, I know how fucking early it is. My watch says the same thing as yours, quarter 'til five, so don't you think I wouldn't wake you up if it wasn't this fucking important? So you remember that weird tattoo I was so particular about a few years back? Yeah, the one I had you do here, after the pandemic started. Well, that was from Jonas. Yeah, no, I figured you'd guessed that based on how particular I was about it, and how I had you use those specific inks he gave me. I didn't want to tell you, but he said it was going to break me of the Dear John curse.

Right, and that's why I always made you or Rachel go out and get the groceries during the pandemic or answer the door for the DoorDash guy or whatever. Because for a year after you gave me the tattoo, I wasn't allowed to see anyone other than you or Rachel or the shit wouldn't work or something, I dunno. Jonas gave me some speech about Orpheus and how if he'd just trusted and not looked back, he could've gotten his lover out of the underworld, and I took that shit to heart, man, and I wasn't going to look back for any fucking reason at all.

That's what I'm telling you, dude! It worked! The tattoo you gave me based on his designs using his inks? It did what it was supposed to! The curse is fucking broken! How do I... Fuck you and Rach must've been zonked last night, because I have no idea how you slept through... all of that!

Okay, right, from the top. So, I told you I was going to go out to The Staggering Poet again, now that they were opening back up, right? Well, I get there, and the first thing when I walk in the door, guess who's tending bar again? Athena! She and her husband split up last year, and so she decided to move back to San Francisco, and since the bar is dead quiet, she's basically just spending most of her shift talking to me at the end of the bar since there's fuck all else to do.

But eventually a couple more patrons came in, and here's where shit gets strange. The door opens and it's Virginia. She's not dead, man! It turns out she went to a Santa Cruz beach to think, and a rogue wave came and washed her off the beach and out to sea. She must've hit her head or something, but apparently this fishing boat found her down way past Monterey and she was comatose without any ID on her, so they just put her in a hospital, where she was until, like, the middle of the pandemic, when she couldn't leave the hospital. She didn't remember anyone's number so she had to wait until someone could actually bring her back up to San Francisco before she could get ahold of anybody. Even weirder, Virginia wasn't alone - she had fucking Genesis with her.

Yes, that fucking Genesis! And they're laughing and giggling, and they spot me at the end of the bar and rush over and practically fucking two-team tackle me in this massive hug. And Virginia's crying and I'm crying and we're both laughing, and it's super weird because Genesis is there, but she says she's back. She'd left and yet, about a month ago, she felt like it was time to come back to California, back to Santa Cruz. She'd been living in Australia the whole time, completely unable to put into words why she felt like she had to go in the first place, but like a month ago, it just... evaporated. And she wanted to come back.

I told Virginia the whole story, everything Jonas had told me, about how I was one-eighth dragonborn, and how they were generally cursed to walk alone forever unless they renounced their supernatural healing, and that Jonas had told me how to get a tattoo to do that, and now I wanted to know if we still had a chance. I couldn't promise her that I was going to be able to make it work, but I wanted to try with her, because I'd missed her so fucking much.

Somewhere in the middle of it, she kissed me, tears streaming down her cheeks, but tears of joy, and she told me that she and I were going to make it work even if it killed us. But! But, here's where shit gets weird, man. Genesis asked... she asked if it was okay if she joined us. Like, she said the sex with me had been the greatest thing in her life, and that the time she'd had sex with Virginia, it had been the second greatest thing in her life, so she kinda wanted to try and combine the two together.

At first, I thought they were putting me on. I mean, right? No girl wants to stick around for a repeat performance and now she wants to pair up with another girl? But! But, dude, I'm just getting started! I laughed and tell Genesis I don't believe her, and so she grabs me and kisses me up against the wall hard enough that everybody else in the bar is cheering her on. And when the kiss breaks, I look to Virginia, because I'm convinced she's gonna be freaking out, but she just picks up where Genesis left, and she takes a turn pinning me against the wall, jamming her tongue down my throat. And when that kiss breaks, I'm trying to catch my breath, and then Athena hops in to take a shot, and she starts kissing me like that one dream I had back when she was just starting to date Bobby.

So there I am, having just kissed three different women, all basically within the span of two minutes, and the bar is howling like I just won the World Cup. And I'm completely unable to speak at that point when Athena asks Virgina if it's an open party, and that she'd like to get in on the action, if they don't mind one more play partner, to which Virginia says the more the merrier.

She calls up Little Timmy and tells him to get his ass down to the bar, because he's covering the rest of her shift for her, because she's invoking the hook up clause, which is apparently a real thing at The Staggering Poet. We hang around until Little Timmy shows up to relieve Athena, and then the three of us pack into my Rav4 and start heading back to the house when Virgina asks me to make a quick stop at the 7-11 along the way, and so I'm thinking, right, right, they want me to pick up condoms or something, but Virginia hops out of the car with me and leaves the other two laughing and joking in the back seat as we head into the 7-11.

"We've got one last thing to pick up," she tells me, leading me into the back, by the coolers, where I start to think, oh, we're going to get soda or water or something, sure, I get that. But that's not what we're there to do.

Leaning with her back against the cooler, looking far more beautiful that I could've possibly even imagined, was Erika with a K. Yes, dude, our fucking Erika! From back home! The one we grew up with! And holy shit does she look fucking good. I mean, she was fucking hot back in high school, but now she's, like, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift and Alexandria Daddario all rolled into one, dressed in a cut off t-shirt that's left most of her toned stomach exposed, and sweatpants, her jet black hair covering her face. And she looks up at me, and I swear to you, for, like, a minute, I think my heart stopped. And the first thing she says to me is "Took you long enough."

Then I realize, she'd not talking to me¸ but she's talking to Virginia, who's standing next to me. "Yeah, well, he parked further away from the bar than he used to, so it was a bit of a walk."

"E-e-Erika?" I finally stuttered.

"Didn't I tell you we had a pickup to make?"

"It's good to see you again, Karl," Erika said as she walked up to me and folded her hands behind the back of my neck. "Lemme show you how good." And then right there in front of the drinks cooler in the 7-11, she just kisses me like she's trying to top all three of the other girls I'd been kissing just a little bit ago.

We still got a couple of two liters of Coke to go anyway.

When we got back to the house, you and Rach were in the living room watching that ridiculous rom-com you watch every Valentine's Day, and I think I was afraid if I told you we were home, they'd all vanish like I was Orpheus. Yes! Like Jonas said a few years ago!

So, the five of us go upstairs and close the door to my bedroom, and Virginia heads over to the stereo, turning it on and dialing it up a bit. She even put on my favorite Charlatans album, "Some Friendly," with the funky Hammond organ setting the perfect sexy backdrop.

I'm not sure where to start, but then I notice, the girls are starting without me, and they're all peeling off their clothes like there's no tomorrow, like there's no place I can look in my own bedroom that isn't covered with gorgeous naked girlflesh. And then just as quickly, there are eight hands practically ripping my clothes from my body. They toss my clothes all around the room and shove me back onto the bed, and at this point, I'm convinced that I'm dead, that I stroked out and that I'm a corpse sitting in my car outside of the bar or something.

But before I know it, they're crawling all over me. Thank God I didn't have to make any decisions, because I wouldn't have known where to start, but Erika tells me they've decided to fuck me in chronological order, to make up for lost time. She stresses that Virginia gets two in a row, though, since she hasn't even had a first go yet.

Erika crawls up into my lap and just shoves her pussy down onto my cock, and I'm thinking to myself, all the other girls are going to be so pissed, but I glance over, and they're circled around me, one of each of their hands touching me while the other's between their own legs. And they're all smiling.

I don't know where I got the energy, but shit, the five of us fucked until at least four, and I mean they wanted it all. A-frame, double blowjobs, together, in shifts, I fucked Virginia in the ass because she demanded I do it, and I watched Genesis lick my cum out of Erika's cunt and... no! I'm not kidding! I have no idea where all this endurance came from, but my cock was ready to go each time one of the girls even so much as looked at it.

But here's the thing, man... they're all still there. Nobody's snuck out. Nobody's said they need to go. In fact, in the middle of all the fucking, they were talking long-term plans. Like, how they were going to need to completely strip out the closet so they'd all have room for all their stuff.

All their stuff, Neil!

I thought they were talking shit about all sticking around but-

...

One of them is right behind me, isn't she?

Oh, hey Virginia! You remember Neil, right? Yep, he still lives here, him and Rachel. They own half the house. I was just...

Okay.

Okay?

I mean... are you sure?

All of you?

No no, I get it, you're tired. You should sleep.

Heh. Yes, I promise, I'll be back in the pile in just a couple of minutes. I wanted to let Neil know that you four said you were planning on sticking around for the long haul, now that I'm human after all. Hey, those were your words, not mine! Ha ha. Okay. Give me, like, two minutes, tops. Love you too.

They're staying, Neil. They're all staying. Forever.

Twenty-five years of never waking up with a girl in my arms, and now I'm always going to wake up with four of them. Can you slap me, just so tha- OW!

Yep. Not dead, not dreaming.

Fuck it man, the nightmare is over; long live the dream. I'm going back to bed, and we'll get up whenever the fuck we feel like it.

This tattoo right here? You and Jonas saved my fucking life, man.

Hope he knows just how much...

...

...

...

Holy shit, I wonder if that means he really is my grampa?