DARKNESS

1. FIRST BLOOD.

"...The first kiss is the most important!...

That first time!...everything else (even sex is just a formality afterward, the order of things).

The first kiss is the most important, and that moment..."

... It's strange, but I didn't notice her entering the bridge.

Usually, or rather, always, I sensed someone climbing the stairs to the footbridge on the other side of the tracks.

Because the footbridge was built so that it absorbed every shock, and when you sat on the planks,

you could feel the slight jolts that signaled someone approaching.

I didn't notice this person, however, until they were already standing behind me.

A strange shiver ran down my spine. I slowly turned my head back, slightly surprised.

Standing motionless behind me was a small figure in a black leather coat with a hood.

The dim moonlight made it impossible to see the figure's face. Instinctively, I stood up and turned to face her.

I was standing a step lower, so the figure, who was actually shorter,

now had his face level with mine.

I stood there for a moment, slightly disoriented, wondering where she had come from,

why she was standing there, and why I had even gotten up. A moment later, the figure slowly raised a hand and removed her hood.

For a moment, I was gripped by fear, but when I saw it was a woman, the fear turned into mild excitement.

A woman, or rather, a girl, because she looked the same age as me.

So, the girl had an unusual beauty. I'd never met anyone else with a similar appearance.

She had a slender face with incredibly pale skin, framed by long, raven-black hair, slightly curled at the ends.

Her nose was small and slightly upturned at the tip, which seemed to add to her temperament.

And her lips were strikingly red, like ripe cherries or raspberries, seemingly a little too large for the rest of her face.

At first, the woman's face was tilted, staring downward, perhaps at my combat boots.

I couldn't see her eyes. But she slowly began to lift her head and bring her face closer to mine.

Her eyes began to emerge from beneath her lashes.

I felt my heart begin to pound. She must have felt it too, because she immediately froze and looked deep into my eyes.

Then my heart skipped a beat, and my breath caught mid-drag. Her gaze was like lightning, striking me directly.

It struck with sadness, pain, and despair. That moment lasted a split second.

So brief that I already thought it had vanished. Because right then, an incredible warmth radiated from her eyes.

A warmth that practically pierced me. There was something hypnotic about it.

The longer I stared at them, the more I liked it.

Her eyes seemed hungry. They gazed at me hungrily. I felt like she was devouring me with that gaze.

And strangely enough, I liked that feeling. All my thoughts vanished for a moment.

I wasn't surprised by the situation I found myself in, I didn't even wonder what she was up to.

I simply didn't care at the moment. I wanted to immerse myself in her gaze for as long as possible.

I have no idea how long that moment lasted. Maybe seconds, minutes, maybe an hour.

A gentle smile slowly spread across her lips.

Our faces were so close now that I could practically feel her breath on mine,

or rather, my own, because she was breathing incredibly freely, as if she weren't breathing at all.

I, on the other hand, was panting as if I'd just been sprinting at 100 km/h. And my heart was pounding.

Her face suddenly became serious, and her smile vanished, as if she'd remembered something disturbing.

Her gaze narrowed, and her tiny nostrils flared.

A strange grimace appeared on her lips for a moment, perhaps of pain, I wasn't sure.

For that moment, I felt like a small child having a lollipop taken away.

But the smile returned a moment later to the girl's delicate, pale face.

I immediately felt better. The smile of a beautiful, young woman, for she looked about 20, my age.

It slowly grew and widened.

Red, luscious lips slowly parted, and snow-white teeth began to emerge from beneath her upper lip.

What caught my attention now were her white, razor-sharp canines, which seemed to grow before her eyes.

I don't know why I accepted this fact so calmly.

Perhaps the uniqueness of this whole situation, this encounter, had already surprised me so much that nothing else could.

As I stood there, watching her mouth open wider and

the desire in her eyes grow, I wanted to finally say something.

I wanted to ask her what was going on, or at least say hello or something.

But I couldn't say anything, as if I were speechless.

I don't know if this moment of contemplation lasted long.

All I know is that now her small, delicate, and exceptionally pale hands—

though I'm not sure if that was her true color or if the moonlight cast those colors—

rested on my shoulders. She slowly lowered her lips to the nape of my neck.

Her lips gently touched the left side of my neck. Then I felt an incredible coldness.

So deep that it sent shivers down my spine.

I even thought I heard a piercing scream in my head, as if my own soul was howling in terror.

My companion seemed to sense it.

As if she knew what I felt. She quickly withdrew her lips from my neck with a look of slight disappointment

or surprise, as if some trivial action had failed her. As if something hadn't worked as expected.

The mysterious woman returned her heated gaze to mine. She still said nothing.

Slowly, a penetrating warmth and unimaginable arousal began to envelope me again.

The figure leaned closer and brushed her blood-red lips against mine. Then something snapped inside me.

Perhaps the last vestiges of common sense and rational thought.

I had no idea what was happening. My mouth opened automatically for a kiss, as if at the woman's command.

The girl didn't wait; she plunged her mouth into my parted lips.

With incredible greed and gentleness, she simultaneously pressed her lips against mine,

as if sucking milk from her mother's breast. I couldn't resist. My tongue deftly slipped into her hot, moist mouth.

It was a pure frenzy of passion. Our lips practically clung together in a torrent of saliva,

which immediately thickened in my throat, causing a drying sensation

that urged me to sink even deeper into her partner's mouth. She didn't remain indifferent.

She reciprocated with even greater commitment.

The gentleness had long since vanished.

Our tongues intertwined in an incredibly wild dance, rubbing against my teeth ever more fiercely.

It was so incredible that I didn't even realize I was now gripping her waist with all my might,

wanting to press her as close to me as possible. Her hands, however, were deeply entangled in my hair.

She held my head very tightly, tugging on my hair repeatedly. She pressed her lips against mine.

Truth be told, she even bit my lips. I tried to do the same.

It all seemed absurd then, though. In my head, I heard a woman with an angelic voice singing,

and in my nostrils I smelled an indescribably wonderful scent.

Some force was beginning to take control of me. I became more and more greedy, aggressive, lustful,

inflamed, more brutal, and determined.

Another side of my nature was coming to light, or maybe it was hers.

At one point, I noticed our combined saliva was starting to take on a slightly rusty aftertaste.

After a moment, I realized it was my blood,

It slowly flowed from my bitten lips and the split tongue from her devilishly sharp teeth.

She didn't mind at all, and it seemed to excite her even more.

When I noticed this, I decided to give her more. I don't know why.

I simply stuck my tongue out as far as I could and pushed it deep into her parted mouth.

She was clearly delighted.

She gave me a heated look and began licking the blood from my tongue with incredible tenderness and precision.

She licked and sucked it like no other had ever done before.

I was convinced that never in the past or ever in the future would anyone kiss me better or hotter

than this mysterious girl. I was approaching the limits of physical and mental arousal. My heart was pounding like crazy.

Compared to what she was doing now, running a hundred kilometers was a piece of cake. And my veins were filling with liters of adrenaline, endorphins, and other chemicals

that set my body on fire. I thought I was about to explode. My partner was also incredibly horny,

but in a different way. It was clear she needed something, that she was striving for something.

While I had everything I wanted at that moment, she yearned for something with all her might.

And I knew I had to give it to her. I didn't know what it was,

but whatever it was, I wanted to give it to her.

Here and now! She sensed it. She knew this was the moment, that she had achieved her goal.

I had gotten what I wanted, and I wanted her. And soon she would get what she so desperately wanted.

She deftly slid her lips down my chin to my neck, caressing my skin constantly. She moved to the left side.

She sucked and caressed my neck with her tongue as if it were the sweetest fruit in the world. I was completely lost.

For a moment, she brought her lips to my ear. She brushed her silky, blood-red lips against my earlobe and whispered one,

only one, yet so tender and eloquent word:

"Thank you."

Immediately, she moved back down to my neck and sucked hard.

In an instant, I felt a sting. A painful sting, but in its pain, very pleasant.

Part of my consciousness, or rather the remnants of it, wanted to break free and free itself from this kiss.

My subconscious sensed something terrible. My neck began to sting, to burn. I wanted to push her away, but I couldn't.

My body refused to obey me. I felt partially paralyzed.

She latched onto my artery like a leech, passionately biting my neck.

I felt something sticky and warm flowing down my neck, and the pain was lessening.

And I felt her nimble tongue between her lips and my neck, lapping up my flowing life.

I began to realize that this was about my life. I no longer had any doubts about what it meant.

But the word had already been spoken, and it was too late.

Now I didn't care. I felt so good that everything could have ended right then,

in this moment of overwhelming bliss and arousal.

Her lips, nestled against my neck, drank the hot blood filled with my pleasure.

And my gaze melted into the now blinding moonlight.

Dark spots filled my eyes, increasingly obscuring the beautiful moon's disc.

I felt every stroke she took. Every sip of my blood. With each sip, she and I felt more wonderful.

I felt the remnants of my consciousness, my strength, my arousal, my life at last, gathering in the left side of my neck.

She felt it too. I felt how many sips she had taken, and how much she still had left. And she really didn't have much left.

I knew she was about to take that last sip of blood, give me that last kiss on my neck, and vanish from my head.

Everything would then disappear, and I would be eternally happy, burning, fulfilled.

But it didn't happen! She stopped before she took that last sip. She didn't give me that kiss.

Slowly, she peeled her bloody lips away from my frozen neck. She straightened so I could see her.

She calmly licked her lips. Her long tongue, gracefully like a snake, collected the remnants of blood from the corners of her mouth.

Then she leaned even closer and looked into my barely parted eyelids and barely visible pupils.

Her eyes were different now. Full of life, and her pupils were large and wide, filled with the pleasure of a satisfied hunger.

I saw her less and less. My vision was getting blurrier and blurrier.

But I was sure I saw sadness in her gaze now, deep in the depths of her pupils, black as night.

A profound sadness. Completely out of place with everything else.

Something like a dull cry of remorse. Perhaps pity awoke for a moment.

The woman began to speak. But I could no longer hear her, for my ears were ringing.

I saw her lips slowly moving. I thought I knew what she was saying. I couldn't hear it, but I felt it inside my head.

She was saying:

"You gave me life... so I offer you life too...

But it won't be the life you've had so far...

oh no, you can revel in this life forever... if you only want...

however, you'll sooner hate it...

but I hope you'll understand and forgive me someday.

... and now drink, drink my blood, and your new life..."

A moment later I felt a bitterness fill my mouth, my throat, then my insides, and finally my mind.

That was the last thing I felt.

"...then I only dreamed of being able to look at this world again, breathe this air...

Now I think it would be better not to wake up to life again... To a life in which

human life has lost its moral value, and death has gained its price of satisfying hunger..."