Posted by PK on October 16, 2002 at 16:10:23:
"Not enough," Alanna said. "I can't..."
Amanda stopped and turned. She took Alanna's shouders in hands no more resistable than a
vice. "Listen to me. Let it go, or you'll follow her."
Alanna spat, "Who the fuck do you think you are? Death personified?"
Amanda looked back at her. "Don't get into that one with me. Seriously."
Alanna wanted to say something else but her leg was about to give way.
"Lean on me," Amanda said. She supported Alanna for a few steps, but it was painful
progress. "Ever ride piggy back?"
This is ridiculous, Alanna thought. Sitting on Amanda's shoulders, hands on her head, legs
round her neck, ankles in Amanda's hands, she rode unsteadily back to the cabin. The
huntress barely seemed to notice her weight, she strode easily through the woods, humming
to herself, lost in reverie. She had time to think. What had Amanda meant? And, she had to
admit, why DID she need to know?
"Look!" Amanda said brightly. "See the squirrel?"
Alanna's crotch met Amanda's spinal column as the huntress paused in her gait. Her neck,
covered with thick red hair. It teased her intimately. "What..."
"Red squirrel," Amanda said, delight in her voice.
"Missed the bugger," Alanna muttered. Too much on her mind.
"Dear Prudence," Amanda sang. "Won't you come out to play?"
The sun is out
The sky is blue
It's beautiful
And so are you
Know what? What Karen had experienced? How could she ever know that?
"Last stop," Amanda said. "Everybody off the bus."
She put Alanna back on her feet, lifting her easily.
Amanda laid Karen down on the bed. She inhaled Karen's scent. Clean and sweet, spiced
with desire and a dark undertone of fear. She kissed Karen's ankle, tasted the skin, felt the
pulse beneath, heard Karen inhale just a little more sharply than usual. Took her right ankle,
just above the heel, between her teeth.
She liked that, Amanda noted. Tickle her feet? Yes. Soothe her. Ease the fear, harness it,
transmute it. The alchemy of desire. She nipped Karen's toes gently. Kissed her legs, moving
upwards, watching the fine hairs rise.
She kissed Karen's bare pubis - mons veneris? - filet? Juicy bits, anyway...and stuck in her
tongue. Little Jack Horner sat in a corner - eating what? Some sort of pie - stuck in his thumb
and pulled out a plum -
If only they knew, Amanda thought. Mother Goose would be banned by the Vatican. It
probably was. Rearrange into a well know phrase or saying, "Pope: Fuck: The." Thank you
Henry VIII. She flicked Karen's clitoris and moved upward...
I'm food, Karen thought, trembling. She remembered looking at a mushroom, watching
insects and grubs. All fighting their little battles, eating and being eaten. Me too, she
realised. Food for worms. Sooner or later, there I go. Buried in the cold, cold ground and the
worms eat me. Not now. Amanda eats me. Here in the warm. She looked up. Time...
Contact, Amanda thought with some satisfaction. Two strings beating in sympathy.
Resonance. The lineaments of gratified desire. She leaned down to kiss Karen. Stuck in her
tongue.
Karen looked up and saw the face of the predator who would devour her. There was no
longer any doubt in her mind that this would happen. She did wonder, just for a second, how
she had come to this. And whether Amanda would simply eat her tongue right now..
Alanna endured the sheer torture of Amanda dressing her wound. Pain made her angry and
impatient.
"I want to see her," she said again.
"Of course you do," Amanda remarked. "Follow me, follow..."
To the bedroom.
Karen was sleeping, or so it seemed. She didn't look dead. Alanna regarded the pale, pretty
face, the girl's eyes were closed and she looked peaceful. She knelt by the bed. Her injured
leg protested, she ignored it.
"Perchance to dream," Amanda said quietly.
Alanna touched Karen's hand. She was still warm. The room smelled, not unpleasantly, of
sweat and musk. Karen might have fallen asleep after making love. Except, of course, that
she had no pulse. That and the fact that Amanda had admitted killing her.
"I'm sorry," Alanna said. "Sorry I couldn't do more."
Amanda considered reminding Alanna that she'd done her best, and decided that the
comment would be unwelcome. "I'm going to start cooking her shortly," she said, shortly. "Do
you want a minute alone?"
"It's funny," Karen said. Amanda had her right breast in her mouth. The Huntress was arched
over her like a tigress devouring a fallen antelope. Karen could feel her tongue on her nipple
and the edge of her teeth. At any moment, Amanda might bite her tits off. What would that
feel like? It would probably hurt like hell. So far, Amanda hadn't hurt her at all.
"What's funny?" Amanda said. She raised her head, her tone light and playful.
"Oh, all sorts of things," Karen murmured. In half an hour or so, she'd be dead. Her legs were
sprawled apart wantonly. She was dripping with her own juices and Amanda's saliva. She felt
half digested already. The first climax had come after Amanda had tasted the skin of her
inner thighs and arms. Being licked in the armpit...not quite being bitten off at the shoulder.
Amanda kissed her at the base of the neck, biting her gently. "Anything specific?"
"You'd really like to eat me raw, wouldn't you?"
"Mmm.. got me there. Sorry, no can do. I love women but I couldn't eat a whole one raw...."
A lost thread of sanity reared it's head. "Do you really have to kill me?"
"No, I don't have to. I'm going to anyway. I'm going to eat you because I want to. It's what I
like to do. People rarely survive it. I'm going to eat you and I'll thoroughly enjoy it. No
offense."
No way out, as Karen had known all along. "None taken," she said. The mouse doesn't
usually get the option of talking to the cat. Just one thing remained.
"Let it go," Amanda advised gently. "You're food. You can fight or cry, it won't make any
difference." She ran her fingers over Karen's belly, circling her navel. Put in a finger. The
Mock Turtle's song came to mind. She cupped Karen's left breast. "Maybe I'll let Alanna
share. Would you like that?" Beautiful soup.
Amanda watched Alanna stand up stiffly. She saw her take on an Aspect. The gentle grey
eyes were darker than before. Oh bugger.
Avenger. Nemesis. Fury. Righteous anger.
"Don't," she warned. She had prepared herself to settle for a nice, quiet evening. Some juicy
bits of Karen for dinner, a glass of wine, a good book and the late news on TV. Maybe watch
Star Trek. At the same time, her canine teeth lengthened, figuratively speaking. Alanna was
a qualified killer, she couldn't be taken for granted. Zeal of the converted.
Oh, bring it on. It would be SO much fun to fight, kill and eat Alanna...but not a fair fight..
I promised, she reminded herself. But there are limits. One last try...
"Don't even think about it," she muttered. Oh fuck. American macho shit. I really have to stop
watching cop shows.
Dark grey eyes confronted hers. Alanna was not afraid. She indicated Karen's dead body with
a gesture. "Explain this to me," she said.
Amanda considered flippancy: - 'That's Karen, you met earlier, she's dead now,' - but
discarded it. She took a second to evaluate Alanna as a threat. She still had the knife, but
she hadn't drawn it. She was shaking a little, but not with fear. Anger, or exhaustion, or both.
Amanda sighed. "What can I tell you that you don't already know?" she mused. "Haven't we
just done this one?"
Alanna shook her head, partly in negation; partly as if fighting dizziness. "I don't understand
......how..." The Aspect slipped away; the anger remained mixed with confusion.
Amanda didn't pretend to misunderstand. "How I could kill poor, defenceless Karen in cold
blood? Is that it?" Alanna said nothing, just stared. She was swaying slightly.
"Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once," Amanda said, suppressing a smirk at the
quote. She'd always wanted to say that. At least she'd left out the bogus French accent.
"Nothing I can say will give you what you want. You didn't complain or reproach me when I
was just hunting you. You didn't whine or beg, though you knew what I intended to do to you.
That's because you knew what I was like and you accepted it whether you understood it or
not. You can't understand, you're not like me and you never will be."
But I have to try, Alanna thought wearily. Don't I? Why was she pushing her like this, and why
was the huntress letting her? She realised she wasn't making sense, she could only badger
Amanda into doing something drastic. And that would be the end of it, she wouldn't last ten
seconds. "Why didn't you kill me?" was what came out of her mouth. Why her and not me?
"Why her and not you?" Amanda said it for her. "You chose the partners for this dance." She
waited. Let Alanna get involved again, start thinking and not reacting.
"No, after that." Alanna frowned. What had Amanda said? Karen bought you this one, you
won't get another. Amanda hadn't been lying, she knew now. She hadn't come after her to kill
her. Why not?
"You don't think you stood me off with that bow, then?" Amanda teased, smiling. "Marks for
realism. Sorry. It was a good defence, but you're right, I'd probably have got you anyway if I'd
wanted to. I told you: Karen asked me to help you, not to hurt you." She sighed inwardly.
Things would have been a lot simpler if she hadn't. Her own fault, of course.
"Maybe I'll let Alanna share. Would you like that?"
"You're going to invite her to dinner? To dine on me?" Karen smiled. "How...cosy. I'm going
to be a romantic meal for two." She spread herself out, imagining it. "Wine, soft music,
candles..."
Amanda caressed her, feeding the mood. "You're a whole banquet," she said, her voice soft
and throaty. Let her believe it. No point explaining that Alanna wasn't gay. Or that she might
kill her too, if Ed hadn't already. Besides, it was an appealing notion, even if it would never
work out that way. Let the girl have her dream. Her last consoling fantasy.
A bad thought struck Karen, Amanda could feel it in her body, she tensed slightly. "Don't let
Ed...if he wins..."
"Oh, I won't," Amanda assured her. "Either way, he won't have you." That was easy enough
to promise, it was the truth. "Besides...." she paused. "I think perhaps he isn't going to win."
As she said it, intending to reassure, she realised that she did think that. Before today, she
wouldn't have said so. Was she sure? No. Forget it. "Alanna..." she started to say. Fox paws.
"...might enjoy that."
"I wouldn't mind if she did," Karen murmured, still away with the fairies.
Whew. Saved. "Should I be jealous?" Amanda teased.
"Should I?" Karen riposted archly. "I know you like her."
Alanna didn't know what to do. It was impossible to disbelieve Amanda. Karen had forgiven
her for failing? "She really said that?" It sounded pathetic. 'I don't believe you' would have
sounded worse, petulant and stupid.
"She did," Amanda confirmed.
"But.."
"Why wouldn't she? She was a nice person, like you. Not like me. You tried to help her, she
tried to help you. Simple."
Alanna frowned. It was hard to think. Something was missing here.
"It's not that hard, Alanna. You're in shock, you're hurt and tired. Low blood sugar. May as
well finish the job." She magicked a flask of brandy and handed it over.
Alanna took it and drank. Damaged, bedraggled and wounded, Amanda noted, despite her
own recent satiation, the woman was still enchanting. Her lanky brown limbs had a charming
coltish grace. And those eyes...enchanting.
"I do like her," Amanda admitted.
"Because she's brave and beautiful."
"Like you," Amanda said kindly.
"I'm not brave. I'm just food. You said so."
"No, I said you're food, Karen. Not 'just'. Subtle distinction there. Alanna is food if I catch her.
Don't belittle yourself."
Enchanting and delicious. And she'll never be mine. Why not just kill her? Because...
"There's something you're not telling me," Alanna said. That sounded right as she said it.
"You could have had us both. You say you let me off because Karen asked you to.."
"Yes."
"If she hadn't asked, you'd have killed me too. Or tried to." Pride there. Silly. Amanda
wouldn't have tried, she'd have done it.
"Yes. Well, maybe. I hadn't decided."
Alanna felt better after the alcohol. It was illusory, she knew. Damage. Amanda was watching
her, perfectly still. "There's still something you're not telling me," Alanna said again.
"You wouldn't believe me if I did," Amanda said. "Now, are you going to make a futile attempt
to assault me, or can I just get on with cooking my dinner?"
Alanna was in that remarkably intuitive state that comes when seriously drunk. Exhaustion
and tension can make one drink a psychotropic dose. "Oh," she said.
"Oh? Oh what?"
"You said 'I fucked her and I killed her'." Amanda nodded. "But you don't rape." Another
minimal assent. Alanna couldn't remember where she'd heard that, but she felt it was true.
Amanda had apologised for mishandling her before the hunt. Would she have raped her
afterwards, if she'd caught her? Somehow she thought not. Karen had consented to the sex.
There was no scent of violence in the room. Amanda's patience and calm afterwards didn't fit
with the aftemath of rape, somehow. "Good, was she?"
Amanda hadn't wanted to press the point, it would have sounded like self justification. But
now -
"Since you ask, yes, she was. She chose her way out. I respected her wishes."
"Sure you did. And you didn't want to tell me all of that because?"
"Because, dear Alanna, you wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't worked at least half of it
out yourself. You wouldn't have wanted to. You're still angry with yourself because you
couldn't save her. I told you that you did the best you could, but that's not enough. You want
to make it all right, and you can't. You want to punish me for that, but you can't."
"No, I said you're food. Not 'just'. Subtle distinction there. Alanna is food if I catch her. Don't
belittle yourself."