Chapter 115Of Light and Skin

He moved back, probably finished with writing and cleaned his arm once more before he pulled his sleeve back down. Again I noticed how methodical it all was. He stood up and blew over the sheet to make sure everything was dry and walked to the circle. Even though the darkness was our cover, we moved to the side of the window smoothly, making very careful he wouldn't see us. Then, to my surprise, he started to undress

Did I want to see this? I wasn't sure, but I decided I should keep on watching regardless.

He removed all his clothes and folded them neatly, placing them in one big pile. Another thing that surprised me was that his body was in remarkably good condition, well-trained and clean. He must take care of his body with the same attention to detail as he did with the writing. He looked around the circle after he removed his underwear. I heard Faith giggling softly beside me, despite the heavy weight of the situation.

He walked away and through a door in the back. It looked like a stairway heading down. Probably the basement then. We could both hear some muffled sounds until he dragged a girl behind him up the stairs. He forced her into the living room and closed the door behind her. My eyes focussed on her in surprise and wonder.

She was young, but that wasn't what surprised me the most.

She was beautiful, but that wasn't it either.

She was naked, which certainly surprised me, but it still wasn't the top.

It was her skin, her deep brown skin that reflected the light in curious ways and made her lovely curves all the harder to see. A glance sideways made me see Faith staring as much as I did. It was hard to tell her age, she looked about my age judging by her height and body. But something about her looked younger. What horrors was he planning to do with her?

There was a piece of tape over her mouth and her hands were tied together. Her short black hair and her body were clean and free of scars or anything that showed a violent history. How did he get her, what was she meant for?

He placed her in the center of the circle and walked back outside the room. She just sat there, meekly, without moving. Why didn't she try to escape...

Her eyes. She looked right at us, the clear white in her eyes so bright in contrast with her skin. She looked dazed, drugged. Completely off this earth. She smiled though, the sort of lost smile of someone about to be eaten by a tiger.

She diverted her eyes as she heard him return. The door opened and we stayed hidden as best we could. He was still naked with a sharp knife in one hand and a bowl in the other. My thoughts immediately ventured to the story that Valerie told me, of the bowl fed to her.

The girl wasn't a vampire, was she?

No, she lacked that sort of intensity that vampires appeared to have. That total control of the body, that hint of over control, making it look unnatural to trained eyes.

He turned her around to face him, their mutual nudeness till tugging on my mind as his member was moved in front of her face. There didn't seem to be a sexual tension as such, but it bothered me.

She didn't appear to respond to anything really.

He walked around the circle and cut his arm carefully. Drops of blood aimed at the points, three drops for each candle. He wiped his arm again with a piece of cloth that laid on the floor and stood in front of the girl again. He offered her the bowl and she took it automatically.

She drank from it and returned the bowl to him. He cut both her arms softly, but enough for a few drops of blood to be spilled on the ground. He moved out of the circle and sat down in a meditative position. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly. The girl inside the circle was moving around, but in a sort of slowed down state.

Like the boy, she moved like she could see things happening around her, while for the outsiders nothing changed. Did the man think this would make it work stronger?

She started to speak.

"Lies of old uncovered soon. Lies of new uncovered too." Her voice was surprisingly clear, as if she saw the visions very vividly.

Perhaps that is why he chose her.

"Silver, gold and brown together. The circle and the child. Books still lost and missed forever. Choices running wild." She stood up and turned around, looking right at us.

"Spying birds that see the world, time that passes by. No one masters these two girls, even free to fly." She turned back to him again.

"Your work at risk, as well your life. Discoveries afoot. Little change through cost and strife, the path that no one could" She fell like a puppet. Spent.

The man stood up and walked to his desk, spending a minute writing down all he had heard. He walked back to her to pick her up. And kissed her

It was just a soft kiss on her cheek, but it was so unexpected. What did that single kiss mean?

He picked her up and carried her back to the basement. They were still both naked but I had a strange feeling he would not touch or harm her. As soon as he was out of sight and out of earshot, I heard Faith sighing deeply.

"Wow..."