“Okay.” To her relief and satisfaction, Evie didn’t say anything more about it; she just walked to her room. After a few minutes, the muffled sound of Evie’s voice talking to her boyfriend emanated from her bedroom
“Phew! That was close.” She stumbled into her room, and threw off all her clothes “I hate clothes: they are such a nuisance.” To remedy her unfortunate situation, she put on a comfortable nightgown. She stretched, and then rubbed the nightgown, luxuriating in the softness of it. “Ahh: a luxurious silk nightgown; now this is much better.” In an odd way, she enjoyed the soft feeling of the nightgown. As Poisonous, hard, brittle scales covered her body; as a daughter of Eve, soft skin covered her body. This and the soft nightgown contributed to a very pleasurable sensation. She could get used to this. Maybe being human wasn’t so bad after all.
A loud, long belch snuck out of her before she could catch herself, and it felt good. Covering herself with bed linen staved off the goose bumps. Settled and comfortable on the bed, she began thinking of men she might know here in D.C. She had tormented many, but Shane and his friends jumped to mind right away. For a moment, her heart leapt. The thought of Shane made her heart start pounding, and wistful memories of her recent encounter with him—as well as having trained him well to be a player—drifted in and out of her mind. Then, a lonely ache in her heart swept the thought aside. Being sad and lonely were two things she wanted to avoid at all costs.
Shane’s good friend Roger Bonilla frequented many of his bawdy parties. The mobile phone she had just acquired got her Roger’s address, which showed up in the personal numbers in the non-business section of the online phonebook. She remembered the address to be in the U Street Corridor of the Shaw neighborhood. The numbers entered on her new cell phone put her through to Roger’s phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi! Is this Roger Bonilla?”
“Speaking. Who’s this?”
“Hi, Roger, I’m Perri Loliyekar. I’m an old friend of Shane Logan.”
“Oh really? I don’t think we’ve ever met.”
“No, we haven’t, but I’ve just recently moved to the District from being out of town, and I thought I’d start getting to know the locals better. I thought maybe we could meet over coffee or something. I like Shane, and I’d like to get to know some of his friends as well.”
“Well, sure. Any friend of Shane’s a friend of mine.”
“Good. I’m looking forward to... you know... getting better acquainted.” The last phrase must have had a positive effect: first, he cleared his throat, and then said, amiably, “Sure. I’d really like that. Why don’t we meet at the Starbucks in the Chevy Chase Pavilion?”
“Sure; sounds nice.”
“Do you need a ride?”
“Oh, no thanks; I prefer to take the train.”
“Okay; how ‘bout four o’clock?”
“Sounds wonderful; I’m looking forward to it.”
“Okay, I’ll see you there.”
The End button disconnected the call. A flush of adrenaline coursed through her as she pondered the hunt. My first prey...mmm.
The thought floated softly into her mind and pricked her heart. The thought of his face floated in her mind, arousing her desire for him. “Oh why not?” The routine for Roger repeated. The phone rang a few times.
“Hello?”
Her heart started pounding and her palms became sweaty. Emotions overcame her, making a strange feeling come over her. This was a man she was attracted to, and not just out of lust.
“Hello? Who’s this?”
She started shaking, unable to control her body. A thumb quickly disconnected her cell phone before she could let her emotions go astray and say something stupid, making a fool of herself. She stared at the wall and said nothing. Thousands of thoughts of all the years of filling Shane with lust and sexual desire bounced through her mind like the ball in a pinball machine in an old gallery of arcade games. Tears dropped from her eyes as thoughts of Shane lingered, surprising her.
When she finally calmed down, she chided herself. “What in the name of seduction is wrong with you? Why do you think of Shane like a lovesick human? He’s just someone you tormented for many years, and well, I might add. You’re beginning to disgust me, Poisonous. Do not have feelings for this human. Demons do not love; even demons that pose as human.” She jumped out of bed, ran to her bathroom and washed her face in cold water to calm herself. “I need to leave before I think of him again and feel those emotions.” Needing a respite from emotions rendering her helpless, she headed out the door. As luck would have it, Evie was still talking to Carlo in her bedroom. Thank Lucifer for small favors.
Four
The magazine rack had every variety of things to read: Gossip rags, current events—you name it. Magazines for men were higher up on the rack, and next to them, she found what she wanted. “I’ll take the Washington Night Scene, please.” Magazine paid for, she headed down into the subway station. Reading every word, images of hapless victims filled her mind; a wet tongue ran slowly over lips as each page turned. “Oh yes. I must try that club, and soon.” Adrenalin and blood flowed faster until her entire body trembled in anticipation. Thoughts of leading men or women astray, and most likely, eradicating them filled her with a heightened sense of bloodlust. She took out a notebook and jotted down a list of things she needed to do.
Then, she saw a forum, where
